Hi
Overall I"m quite comfortable with Catiline....Block 35 is better as space is more, and play area is central and everybody can see. My kids are very happy about the school. Current fee is $17xx and some misc fees (which I forgot now), teachers are very caring too.
Ah yes, i also tried their playgroup before K1 and it was quite good...at least my girl leant to be less shy during the time and had started to enjoy it. I also participated in the playgroup a few times so I also saw how it was done.
in fact, I buy the idea of "背經典文學"...my son and daughter are studying there and seeing them resiting these poems, they actually know some of the meaning, like we have to respect our parents, we have to stand properly not leaning, etc. Doesnt' matter if they're just memorizing and not understanding 100% I still think it's helpful for their vocabulary and just training on memorizing. Even K1 can now resite many paragraphs.
On English side i think if you're relying just on the school the effects won't be too different. But they do have 4 NETs which sounds like more than genearl local kindies. At least I know many of the kids are not afraid to be approached by foreigners. Of course it is not an international school.
What we had last year, was 1 hour for 2 sessions (Tue and Thu) and I think it was 1:15 - 2:15 pm. Not too expensive, about HK$80 each. One adult is needed so when I had leave I also went with my mm and she was extra excited. They have various sessions within the one hour and I felt the timing is quite right, like 10 mins music, 10 mins playground, 10 mins Eng or Mandarin, then bathroom breaks, tea break, etc. Very easy to finish though some of the topics they talk about look too advanced for some babies who might still be only 18 months old.