New ESF website

I see that the ESF has redesigned its website. It looks much better (it could hardly have looked any worse!) but it seems rather light on content - though maybe that will change.

There is an informative page on governance, but no sign of the forums returning.

More on the IB

In this week's Education Post, editor Katherine Forestier uses her "What We Say" column to write about the International Baccalaureate (IB challenge for local curriculum) :

Interest in the International Baccalaureate is bound to increase now that the first established elite local school has registered its intent to offer the diploma (IB diploma plan 'will stem the brain drain'), and English Schools Foundation schools take their final steps in becoming IB schools.

The IB is already highly regarded within international education circles as well as university admission offices, including in Hong Kong.

The diploma, which involves students studying a mix of native and foreign languages, maths, science, humanities and arts, spiced with theory of knowledge, research and creativity, action and service, has also been helping to set the pace for curriculum reform in many countries, including Hong Kong.

The diploma is bound to be popular in Diocesesan Boys' School, as it will be in other direct subsidy scheme schools that plan to offer it. However, the principal of this school, which is one of the most competitive to get into in Hong Kong, thinks it will suit only a minority of motivated boys.

This contrasts with the confidence of the ESF centre, that the vast majority of its intake, who are not selected by academic ability, will manage, as they have done in Sha Tin College, the first in the ESF to make the move

The problem, of course, is that not all children can cope with the IB Diploma (see earlier post and the comments from concerned parents) and some prefer A-levels for various reasons.

Also from this week's Education Post - International Baccalaureate inspectors descend on four ESF schools:

Authorisation visits from the International Baccalaureate Organisation are under way for four English Schools Foundation secondary schools, which they must pass before being able to offer the IB diploma programme from the next academic year.

The regional director of the IBO, Judith Guy, said: "We have standards that schools must meet regarding their philosophy, how they plan to deliver the curriculum, whether staff have been appropriately trained, whether the school has the facilities and ... structures in place to support the programme."

The visits to Island, West Island, South Island and King George V schools last up to three days.

IBO officials gave South Island School positive feedback about its preparations for introducing the IB programme when they visited the school this week, principal John Wray said. He said an IBO official, who had authorised 60 schools across the world, said South Island was one of the best-prepared schools he had seen.

I understand that the IB visit to Sha Tin Junior at the end of last term (in relation to the PYP) was also successful. Which makes sense, because the ESF and the IBO seem to have similar philosophies.

More on laptops

Last week, Education Post had a follow-up to the story about Renaissance College and laptops (School rules that laptops must stay in class).

As English Schools Foundation schools launch plans to require students to buy and use their own laptops, a school that gave students computers has reversed its decision after several were damaged.

Kiangsu-Chekiang College's international section in North Point gave each secondary student a laptop - funded by school fees - when the school opened five years ago.

The computers remained the property of the school but parents had to agree that they would be responsible for repairing any damage.

While no computers were stolen, headteacher Jane Daniel said a few children damaged their computers by dropping them, including one student who broke the screen three times.

Ms Daniel said this contributed to the school's decision to keep the laptops at school and have students bring their work to school on memory sticks.

"There were one or two people saying: `Technology has moved on, is there any need for them to be taking their laptops home every night?'" she said.

Most parents surveyed by the school said they would prefer to buy their child a memory stick rather than be responsible for a laptop.

This week, they published a letter questioning the usefulness of memory sticks (Complex endeavours can't be done on a stick):

I am curious to know the professions of the parents referred to in "School rules that laptops must stay in class" (Education Post, October 14), who suggest that taking a memory stick to school would be as effective in creating authentic, student-based learning as having a laptop for each child.

All the professionals I know who are engaged in intellectual pursuits such as engineering, architecture, teaching, graphic design, etc use specialist software for the sort of complex tasks that they work on each day. To suggest that they can simply carry a flash disk with them and use a shared computer from a bank of workstations would be considered insulting and would show a lack of appreciation for the needs of creative professionals carrying out intellectual tasks.

If you think that schools do not have equally complex and specialist software or that children are not capable of learning complex software then I invite parents to ask their child to show them how they use a drawing package or other complex software that adults take expensive courses and invest lots of time in yet children seem to master very quickly.

Comment: Personally, I have found it possible to work on multiple computers and transport files on a USB drive, though I agree that it has some disadvantages.

Lack of places in Kowloon and the New Territories

There's a letter in today's SCMP about a perennial problem (Closed catchment area creates discrimination):

We live in the catchment area of King George V School which has, due to overcapacity, been closed to new applicants for two years and will stay that way indefinitely. With all the new developments going up in West Kowloon and Cheung Kwan O in recent years, plus more primary schools becoming part of the English Schools Foundation, it is not difficult to see why KGV has today's bottleneck problem.

The situation, coupled with the current ESF admission policy, unfortunately has Kowloon's applicants downgraded to second class when they knock on the doors of another ESF school. My child is one such victim because a lower status was accorded to her in other catchment areas. She applied early but she still missed out.

She is a category one applicant (high priority), confirmed by the ESF. However, even category two applicants (low priority) were admitted instead of her. So, saying that they treated my child as second class is already an understatement. In effect, they put her under a new category. That is, category three. The population is not going to age overnight. The ESF will for decades continue to effectively discriminate against Kowloon applicants unless it changes its admission policy - treating applicants from school-closed areas equally or rezoning.

Given the subvention, the ESF should realise that I do not pay less tax than those living on Hong Kong Island or in the New Territories. Why should my child be discriminated against?

NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED

There is undoubtedly a problem with Year 7 places in Kowloon and the New Territories (i.e. KGV & Sha Tin College). The government refused ESF requests to build a new school in the New Territories, and now there is excess demand at both primary and secondary schools. It's more acute in the secondary schools, and as a temporary measure an extra class was added at Sha Tin College. In the longer term, the number of places in years 4, 5 & 6 of the Junior Schools will have to be managed to reduce the demand for Year 7 places.

As so few students drop out, even being on the waiting list is no guarantee that a place will become available, so it is inevitable that there will be arguments about who should get priority.

There has been some limited re-zoning, but the fundamental problem is a shortage of places in ESF schools, and the only way that will be solved is if the government allows expansion of the system - but realistically if it is to happen it will be through the Private Independent School scheme (without any subvention).

Spoiling the environment?

I know this has nothing to do with the ESF, but I noticed this article in the SCMP today (Principals disappointed over housing site):

Principals are disappointed that a public housing estate is being built a stone's throw from a new schools complex, creating construction noise and spoiling the environment.

A four-block estate is being built in Shek Mun, adjacent to newly-opened Baptist University Affiliated Wong Kam Fai Secondary and Primary School, and International Christian School's new campus, due to open next September. Both are fee-paying.

Lilian Chan Lui Ling-yee, head of Baptist's direct subsidy scheme school, said she was disappointed public housing was being built so close to the primary school. "Public housing doesn't match the schools being built here," she said

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the these two schools got the land from the government without having to pay.

Laptops

From Saturday's Education Post - Laptop plans sparks concern from parents:

Plans for two English Schools Foundation schools to have students bring their own laptops to classes have sparked concerns among parents over whether children should be responsible of carrying such expensive machines every day.

Renaissance College plans to have each secondary student bring a laptop to school within the academic year and South Island School is considering introducing a similar programme next year.

But some parents were worried that students, especially those in the lower years, might not be able to look after a laptop, said the chair of the Joint Council of Parent Teacher Associations, Sarah Rigby.

"Is it reasonable for the children to have that pressure to look after the computers? I think the school has to really prove to parents that it's necessary for them to have them," she said, adding that computers could be accidentally left in places such as school buses.

Ms Rigby said families with two or three children in secondary school would have to spend a significant amount of money.

"On top of that parents will have that lingering doubt of what happens if one of them drops it in the first week." she said.

South Island School parent Mary Mason said she worried children might lose their laptops and be targets for theft, particularly when they attended after-school activities with students from other schools.

She suggested students carry computer files on data storage devices, such as flash disks.

Comment: I think I would agree with the concerns raised. and the last point seems worth considering - you can carry around all the files you need (and even the Operating System) on a USB drive and plug it into a PC as required.

The other interesting issue is whether or not it is a good idea to ask students to use laptops in lessons. My initial thoughts were that it could be a very bad idea, but now I'm not so sure.

I have been in plenty of meetings and some training sessions where most of the participants have laptops, and my observation is that they can really distract people. Answering emails, sending messages, and reading websites can be much more attractive than listening to whoever is speaking.

However, I realize that things do change with enquiry-based learning, and perhaps the teacher becomes more of a facilitator, helping the children to discover things for themselves. I'd be interested to know whether that really works or not.

However, I wonder whether Peter Kenny is getting a bit carried away:

Having their own laptops would let students take advantage of podcasting and record lessons to help them review their work, he said. "Students don't have to be next to each other to collaborate on assignments or be in the classrooms to access teachers," he said.

I doubt that would work, because if you are sitting at the back of the class the microphone would pick up so much background noise that the recording would be useless. The obvious solution here is that the school records the lesson and makes it available for download as an MP3 file. This would also mean that laptops could be switched off so that the students could concentrate on what they are being taught.

As a parent, I'd like to know a lot more about how laptops would be used, and what can be done to ensure that they really are useful.

The ESF and the IBO

It seems clear that the ESF has already decided to become part of the IBO system. It started with Sha Tin College offering the IB Diploma about 5 years ago, and all ESF secondary schools will follow suit from the 2007/8 school year. Now Sha Tin Junior School is leading the way with the Primary Years Programme (PYP) and all primary schools look set to follow.

Renaissance College is the most IB-centric of all - the principal (Peter Kenny) joined direct from the IBO, the Head of the Primary School (Max Muller) has strong IBO connections, and many staff have experience with PYP, the Middle Years Programme (MYP) or the IB Diploma.

This is quite a big change for the ESF, given that for many years it has followed the English National Curriculum leading to GCSE and A-level examinations.

I think there are two main reasons for the switch. The first is that the ESF is rightly trying to be more international, and the second is that A-levels are somewhat discredited.

Back when I took my A-levels the pass rate was fixed at 70% and only 10% got grade A. Now the pass rate is over 95% and and around 23% of candidates get grade A. This has created problems for universities, who have difficulty distinguishing between the best candidates when so many get the top grade (see this from The Independent).

Criticism of the IB Diploma seems mainly be based on the fact that it is more challenging, and that it is not possible to specialise in the same way that you can with A-levels. In fact, the IBO website says that the Diploma programme ensures "breadth of experience in languages, social studies, the experimental sciences and mathematics" and clearly it is meant to be more challenging.

A third concern is whether the IB Diploma is accepted by universities. My understanding is that it is now widely accepted, and it was recently announced that from 2008 it will be part of the offical UCAS Tariff for UK universities. In fact, some universities have expressed a preference for the IB Diploma over A-levels, and there has been talking about the UK adopting something similar to the IB Diploma (I found this story about a UK state school that has dropped A-levels and switched to the IB Diploma)

I cannot comment on any consultation regarding the IB Diploma, but I can say that Sha Tin Junior seems to have done a very thorough job regarding the PYP. Parents, the PTA and the School Council have all been informed about the plan, and there has been some informed debate about the advantages and disadvantages and possible alternatives. In the end, there was strong consensus that this was a good thing, and now the school seems on course to become accredited very quickly.

Of course the switch to the IB Diploma is more complex, because it means dropping A-levels, and some children could lose out as a result of this change. Whilst I don't think anyone would dispute that the IB Diploma is a good choice for the most capable students, it could be a problem for the less able. We also have to remember that (unlike many of the independent schools in the UK that have adopted the IB Diploma) the ESF has no entrance exam and prides itself on being non-selective and catering for all levels of ability. However, having said that, ESF schools do achieve good results and presumably some less academic students leave at 16, so there is a strong argument for challenging the students in years 12 & 13.

Comment: Everything I have read and heard about the IBO makes me believe that the ESF is right to make this change, but clearly not everyone agrees.

Has the ESF got its priorities right?

Today the SCMP has published an opinion piece that I wrote about "The Way Forward", Business gets in way of focus on teaching:

In recent months, the English Schools Foundation (ESF) seems to have decided that it is a "business". It was therefore no surprise that it should produce a business plan ("The Way Forward") that talks about "business opportunities" in Hong Kong and beyond.

The South China Morning Post reported that during the first of the meetings about "The Way Forward" concerns were raised with the ESF about the emphasis on business in the document. I attended the second meeting (at Renaissance College) and raised a similar question. The response from Heather du Quesnay was to ignore the substance of the question and explain that the ESF needed to be more professional.

I think all parents and teachers would agree that the ESF needs to be more professional and would hope that the ESF management can continue to focus on that. However, there is a big difference between running the ESF professionally and operating as a business.

Commercial organisations need to have business plans. Their owners or shareholders want to know how the company will increase profits, and companies often decide the only way forward is to expand geographically or into new business areas. These ventures are inevitably risky and take up a lot of management time and attention, with the strong possibility that the core business will suffer while everyone is focused on e-business or whatever else seemed attractive at the time. Sometimes the problems are so great the company closes down or is acquired by a rival.

The English Schools Foundation has no shareholders. Instead, it has stakeholders, principally the pupils, their parents, teaching and support staff, and (arguably) the government.

I am not aware of any pressure from any of these stakeholders for the ESF to pursue the "business opportunities" that the management has identified, or for the ESF to become a "bigger player in Asia". Indeed, I suspect that quite the opposite is true. At last week's meeting at Renaissance College to discuss "The Way Forward", most parents were concerned about more mundane issues such as the move to the primary, middle and diploma programmes of the International Baccalaureate, and the teaching of Chinese.

The subvention was also mentioned and this is a major concern for parents. This issue is confused because the ESF has already opened new classes that are not covered by the subvention and now it has a new private independent school that receives no subvention (with another one on the way). There is a new ordinance that will change the way that the ESF is run. The new IB curriculum and Chinese teaching are also significant challenges. So I believe the ESF has plenty to do without worrying about "business opportunities".

The Way Forward - meeting the stakeholders

I attended the meeting at Renaissance College on Monday to discuss "The Way Forward". This was the 2nd of 3 meetings organized by the ESF (the first one is mentioned below) .

The meeting was chaired by Chris Forse (Head of Parent and Student Services), and started with a short introduction by Heather du Quesnay (Chief Executive). We also heard from Kendy Wong (Finance Director), Graham Ranger (Education Development Director) and Peter Kenny (Principal of Renaissance College). Then questions were invited from the audience.

[My original intention was to write a neutral account of the meeting and then offer my comments, but I concluded that this would make it rather disjointed. So I'm afraid you'll have to make do with my opinionated account.]

Comment: I found the meeting interesting, but if the objective really was to consult with the "stakeholders" I don't think that it was successful. Very few ordinary teachers attended, and I suppose that the members of the school management teams (Assistant Principals, Deputy Principals and Principals) felt obliged to attend but unable to challenge their ESF bosses. There were some parents, but mostly from Renaissance College - parents at Sha Tin Junior School appear not to have been told about the meeting, which might explain why so few turned up.

Unsurprisingly, the meeting was used as an opportunity to raise questions and concerns about day-to-day matters, mainly related to Renaissance College. Peter Kenny fielded these well, as you would expect, but they should really have been raised in another meeting. The teaching of Chinese also came up (as it always does), but it seems that Wang Xiao-ping (the ESF's Putonghua adviser) has not yet finalised the plan he is working on - though two schools (presumably Sha Tin Junior is one) will be starting a trial of the new curriculum in January.

Even for those who had come to talk about "The Way Forward" and managed to read the document in advance of the meeting, there was a whole lot of background information that was missing. Heather du Quesnay did spare us from "death by Powerpoint" but it might have been helpful to explain more about issues such as the constraints placed on the ESF by the government, the history of Canadian International, Phoenix & Renaissance, and the relationship between ESF Educational Services Ltd (which runs Renaissance College) and the ESF, and between ESF Centre and the schools.

Instead Kendy Wong struggled to explain the way that the ESF in investing in Renaissance College (rather than property), leaving Renaissance parents concerned that their school fees were being used to give the ESF a return on its investment and other ESF parents to wonder why the money from their school fees had been used to invest in the new school.

Heather du Quesnay's answers were clearer, but not always related to the questions that had been asked. When challenged as to why the ESF had a "business plan" and was looking for "business opportunities" she explained that the ESF needed to become more professional (which is not quite the same thing).

There was some discussion about the IBO. It was clear that there is a strong momentum towards adoption of the PYP, MYP and Diploma programs, but Renaissance is the only ESF school that is fully committed to all three and decisions are being left up to the individual schools (though all secondary schools will offer the IB Diploma from next year).

The issue of the subvention was also raised. Heather du Quesnay said that she felt that the chances of retaining it had improved since she had joined the ESF but that it was still not clear what would happen. Her view is that the ESF must make plans for the future without waiting for this decision to be made, and she also pointed out that the go-ahead for Renaissance College was given before she joined the ESF.

As I said at the beginning, what I found most disappointing was that it didn't seem that this was really about consulting the stakeholders. Although there was plenty of time for questions, the speakers avoided dealing with some of the more difficult issues and never once did they ask whether the questioner was happy with the answer or invite supplementary questions.

I wonder whether the lack of debate on the key issues made the meeting a success or failure in the eyes of the ESF management.

SCMP article on The Way Forward

Today's SCMP has more on "The Way Forward" and the meetings organized by the ESF to talk about this strategy. In an article entitled ESF gets down to business as it sets out plan for the future, Katherine Forestier writes about the document and the first meeting:

In a draft "business plan" released to staff and parents earlier this month, foundation chief executive Heather Du Quesnay put forward the leadership's ideas for the future. These embrace everything from the ESF's place in Hong Kong and its values, to its curriculum, special needs and Putonghua provision, the need for students to have a greater voice and to make professional development for its teachers a priority.

"Excellence in learning, through team-work and commitment to students," are the lofty words it spells out for its aim.

It also details opportunities to be had from running a new profit-making company, opening more kindergartens and, in the long term, expanding beyond Hong Kong.

So far this document has not stirred the emotions released a year ago when Ms Du Quesnay launched the consultation for a 10 per cent cut in teachers' pay and benefits. Only a handful of parents and teachers turned up to the first open meeting to discuss "The Way Forward" with the ESF's big guns from Stubbs Road headquarters, held at King George V School earlier this month.

Parent Dennis Ng Chi-chum reflected some unease about the business tone, including guidelines for fees placing the ESF up to the "mid-point" across international schools and plans for the profit-making company. He also touched on the big question mark hanging over the ESF - whether it would retain its subvention which now accounts for about a quarter of its income.

The future, he suggested, could not be planned until the battle for the subvention had been fought and won. "If you have the subvention the government can impose some kind of obligation," he said. "Without it the ESF can do what it likes."

Ms Du Quesnay defended the more business-like direction and the need to make plans now. In the document she states that the ESF would argue for retaining the subvention but should plan to ensure it can survive if it is withdrawn. "Organisations need to develop. Either they are aspiring and moving forward or they stagnate and decline."

I wonder which managment book that comes from. Ill-considered expansion can be just as bad for an organization as stagnation.

The document suggests the new company could in future extend its business overseas. But Mr Ng urged Ms Du Quesnay to concentrate on the needs of students in Hong Kong which were not yet being met.

The blueprint envisages the ESF curriculum being both more international - with moves to International Baccalaureate programmes - and more local, with greater emphasis on the Chinese language.

But the complex issues surrounding how and which form of Chinese should be taught are controversial. Mr Ng and his British wife Sarah Rigby are wondering how their Eurasian children - and the many more like them in ESF schools - will fare, not in the mainland but where they live, but in Hong Kong which demands knowledge of Cantonese and complex Chinese characters.

Wang Xiao-ping, the ESF's Putonghua adviser, called for parents to be open-minded and "not prejudiced" over the Putonghua curriculum which was being enhanced and differentiated for different children's needs.

The issue of teaching Chinese is certainly a complex one for the ESF. The majority of children attending ESF schools have Cantonese as their "mother tongue", and yet this is neither used nor taught in the schools. All the focus is on Putonghua and on learning Simplified Chinese characters.