International schools in Vientiane.?

The school year started a few months ago and I wonder what the experiences are so far according to the International/ Bilingual schools in Vientiane?

The school year starts each September. There are a number of good international schools in Vientiane. I ave written a post with a list of these schools with contact details. Just look through the posts listed in the schools section of the forum categories list. upper right hand side of this page.
Our daughter goes to Kiettisack International school which is one of the best available with a good curriculum and great teachers. She started there at 3 years old, is now 9 and gets high marks for her exams.

Thanks Stumpy. Is just wondered if there were any people with views on the schools after the 6 weeks of school. Good to read that your daughter is doing very well over there!

I would recommend that you ask to see the overall student results in international examinations.  KIS, PIS, Vientiane Pattana and Oscar's Bilingual all use the Cambridge International Examinations curricular.  Students can score well on examinations that their teachers create but how they do when sitting exams that have an international standard is a way to really see how well the school is teaching them the curricular. 

As a teacher, who has taught at two international schools in Vientiane over six of the last seven years, I know that exams are not the be all and end all but they can tell us something about the standards of the school.

Oscar's Bilingual does not teach the CIE curriculum. If you have taught at 2 schools then you should know this.

Well if Oscar's Bilingual doesn't offer the CIE curricular then I stand corrected.  I was advised this by a former Oscars teacher and didn't check it.

  As for your comment,
"AS levels are accepted in all UK universities and carry half the weighting of an A Level."
No this is not correct. To get into a university, you need a minimum of 3 A levels, not AS. The best you can hope for with AS levels is to get into a Foundation Year course, and even then you need at LEAST 4 AS levels".

This is true for the better universities but there are hundreds of universities that accept IGCSE results for matriculation (not that I would ever recommend that to a student)

You should check out the following link:

http://recognition.cie.org.uk/

AS levels ARE accepted by all UK unis. I did not state that they will automatically get you in to 1st year.  2 A levels and 2 AS count for the same as 3 A levels. However, this is moot as AS levels are being phased out anyway. 4 IGCSE s will get you into a foundation year. In fact you can get into a foundation yr with just high school graduation. 5 IGCSEs will get you directly into into some unis, but not most obviously. Most require a grade of E or higher in 3 A levels. However this varies from uni to uni of course.

Your post above is a reasonably accurate assessment of schools in Lao. VIS does not require a Masters, but does view IB PYP MYP experience very favourably.
I would also dispute the fact that a native speaker might be "under stimulated".  KIS offers the AS and A levels, and while not many students choose to do these there are some who do.

To answer your queries:
Does KIS actually provide the full amount of training recommended by Cambridge to do the A and AS level courses
Yes they do.
and do they have the resources? Do they, for example, have a fully equipped lab to perform the experiments required in the practical science portion of the exam? VIS does, but I don't believe any of the other international school's do.
You are correct on this point. IGCSE Science "yes", but for AS to A level Chem for example, the answer is "no."

"Unless the A and AS level students have a separate class from the IGCSE level students, I would venture to say they are not being stimulated enough."
They certainly do. IGCSE is taught at 9/10 at KIS, AS level at Yr 11 and A level at Yr 12.

Final Verdict: which is the best IS in Vientiane (excluding VIS)?

Kiettisak International School.

Hi ANyone send kids to Sharon?

I have worked in several schools in South East Asia and have to say that Australian International school in Vientiane is by far the most poorly managed. There is a culture of bullying from management and they do not have a clue about the Cambridge Curriculum. Students studying for AS level who have either never studied for IGCSE or failed at that level. Not a place I would advise anyone to work.