What to ask at a Hong Kong school open day

Ask for the Monday-to-Friday timetable for the year your child would enter.

Check the start and finish times, recess and lunch breaks. Look at how much time children spend on Chinese, English and PE. Ask whether they have enough time to eat before their next lesson.

You can compare the school’s description of its teaching approach with how staff organise the day. If someone says children get plenty of time to play, ask them to show you those periods.

If staff can’t share a timetable during your visit, ask who can send you one.

For my family, this is one of the first questions.

I want my son to get help learning Chinese and spend time learning alongside Chinese-speaking children. Ask staff to explain how they arrange both.

You could ask: “Will my child join the same class as Chinese-speaking children? During Chinese lessons, will he stay with that class or attend a separate group?”

Follow up on how much time children spend apart, what teachers cover in those sessions and how staff decide when a child can join the main Chinese class.

Hong Kong’s history makes this worth asking. Under the former “designated school” policy, non-Chinese-speaking pupils concentrated in a group of schools. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child criticised the policy as de facto discrimination.

In a 2013 statement, the Education Bureau acknowledged that a lack of an immersed Chinese-language environment hindered pupils’ learning.

Reporting in 2016 described some former designated schools where non-Chinese-speaking pupils made up as much as 98% of enrolment.

One Classroom brings together further reporting and research on this issue.

Ask: “How do you help children build friendships and feel comfortable speaking up in class, especially a child who’s quiet or still learning the language?”

Then ask for an example. What does the teacher do when a child spends recess alone, classmates leave someone out, or a pupil is afraid to answer because they might get it wrong?

Find out how teachers respond to teasing and disagreements. Do they help children understand what happened and repair the relationship? How do they involve parents if a child keeps struggling?

Listen for something a teacher has done in their classroom. “We encourage kindness” gives you less to work with than an explanation of how they helped a child join a game or handled a hurtful comment.

Your child will spend much of the day with this teacher and these classmates. You want to understand how the adults help them treat one another.

My son’s move from kindergarten to Primary One means a longer day, a new classroom routine and homework. I’ve spent a lot of time wondering how he’ll cope.

Ask staff to describe the first two weeks. Find out whether they offer shorter days or an adjustment period, and what they do when a child cries at drop-off after the first few weeks.

Ask about homework in September and December. You’ll get a clearer picture if a teacher describes what a child takes home at each stage.

If staff give a broad answer about helping children settle, ask for an example of how they helped a child who struggled.

Get the pickup and drop-off times for the stop you would use. Ask how long your child would spend on the bus.

At one school I had put at the top of my list, the pickup at my estate was 6:55am.

Check the journey before you commit. Ask the school or bus operator to confirm the stop and times for the coming school year.

Request the fees in writing, including:

• Tuition and the number of payments per year
• School bus and lunch
• Books, stationery and other supplies
• Uniforms and school bags
• Required activities or other charges
• Any debenture or capital levy

Ask staff to distinguish required payments from optional spending. Separate recurring costs from one-off payments so you can compare schools on the same basis.

I felt awkward asking about money at my first visit. I needed those figures to work out whether we could afford the school.

Look through the Chinese textbook, English reader and maths workbook your child would use.

Consider what your child can manage and where they would need help. If you don’t speak Chinese, ask: “What help does the school provide when a child can’t complete Chinese homework and their parent doesn’t speak the language?”

Ask staff to explain that support: who provides it, when children receive it and whether families pay extra.

Look at a sample of daily homework too. Find out whether children need a tablet or computer, whether parents need to print worksheets, and how much adult help teachers expect.

I want to understand my part before September, including what happens on the evenings when I can’t help with the Chinese.

Write down the answers while you remember them. Keep a separate list of anything staff have promised to send, with a contact name.

You’ll have seven areas to compare across schools: the timetable, Chinese-language support, classroom culture, the P1 transition, transport, costs and homework. You can then discuss which arrangements your child could manage and which would put pressure on your family.

I’m Kanwal, and I’m going through P1 admissions this year in English. I found a full-day place for my son while seven months pregnant, with help from a friend who had visited the schools.

I’m building HKSchoolPal to make that search easier for other parents, with school information and published fees linked to their sources.

If you know a parent preparing for school visits, send them this list.