education
imitate mentorship. So it makes perfect
sense to prepare for boarding school
by getting immersed in the same
teaching method.”
In seeking secondary education
abroad, one of the first things to
appreciate is that the academic
difficulty of a top boarding school is
far beyond the pale of anything most
students have experienced in Hong
Kong. There is more science, more
math, more literature, history, and
foreign language material than any
school here will cover. So if a student
goes to boarding school but sticks to
an old way of doing things, the result
will be a disaster. A good mentor can
help a new student study ahead so that
the transition into boarding school will
be less stressful. A good mentor will
introduce new areas of interest while
encouraging deeper understanding of
existing knowledge. The scope of this
undertaking is difficult to grasp without
a competent guide.”
The Ampla boarding school package
also includes interview preparation
—varying between three and eight
hours depending on the needs of the
applicant. “We don’t over prepare
students, so for interview readiness we
usually recommend about five lessons.
We do it with different interviewers so
students can get used to different styles.
And we won’t ask the same questions;
but offer multiple scenarios. While some
schools do group assessments, we try
to take different cases where they can
break down the problem and try to solve
it,” says Julianna.
“One of the tricky things about
school applications”, says Julianna,
“is that different schools have different
processes and different timelines, so
we need to make sure we understand
them. This is especially important for
parents living in Hong Kong as they will
need to fly over to the UK or US, so
we need to make sure to work out the
best strategy.” It takes an awful lot of
juggling and keeping on top of—take it
from somebody who is going through
this now! So, if a company can help you
navigate all of this, why not utilise it?
Ampla offers help with exam
preparation, academic tutorials and
school applications—in all forms.
Autumn 2019
51