Island School Blog

Matilda Charities: Chairman's Trophy

2012-01-12T22:02:00.000-08:00

"Our sedan chair charity committee work to support the Matilda Sedan Chair event and race team by raising funds for charity. We are pleased to see Island School has once again won the Chairman’s Trophy as the Best Fund Raising School. In just 6 weeks they were able to raise a total of over $40,000, for the sedan chair charities fund. This fund aims to help many different charities within Hong Kong. The group pictured improved on our previous best of $36,000. Sara KELLY (12F) led a very enthusiastic team that included Ryosuke HOSHIYAMA (12N), Mia LAU (12N), Zoe LAU (12F), Beverley CHU (12R), Janis LEE (12R), Audrey CHAYTOR (12F), Judy TAM (12F), Arnold YUNG (12W), Divya SHETH (12E), Karen TSANG (12E), Heinok FAN (12W), Tina CHIN (12F), Mike CHAN (12F). They were able to raise this year’s total money through numerous pizza and cup noodle sales, a dress casual day, Year 8 sponsored silence, and outside donations over the 1st term. Thank you to students, parents, teachers who helped out or gave donations."

Derek Irwin - Leading Teacher of Mathematics

School redevelopment

2012-01-12T22:00:00.000-08:00

It is a great feeling now that the school redevelopment process has actually become a reality. Whilst there is still a great deal of uncertainty about timeline and on what site we will eventually redevelop Island School - the process is definitely underway. We know that by the end of August 2012 we will have a detailed concept brief for the next design stage and we will have a full technical feasibility study for both the existing and the alternative site at North Point.

Whilst we may have our own personal views on which route would best benefit the community, it is essential that we explore both as ultimately the decision as to which one we take will not be in our hands.

It is such an exciting time as we are now developing a clearer idea of how our curriculum will develop over the next 2-3 years; the timing of the redevelopment process has helped us here. Imagining what bricks and mortar need to exist in order to support our vision for teaching and learning has literally helped to make our thinking more ‘concrete’!

We are asking ourselves fundamental questions about how the new campus can best reflect our core educational aims. We are agreed that we need to identify what it is about our existing building that we might need to ‘take with us’ and what essential elements of the Island School spirit need to be embodied and made explicit in the new design. Clearly we need to ensure that all that is great about Island School is held onto and cherished by the new design, but at the same time we need to ensure we are more outward looking and take the best features from cutting edge designs from around the world.

A conversation about school design does not get very far without focusing on the need for flexible and agile learning spaces. Future buildings need to be able to adapt to accommodate changing educational trends and the emergence of new technologies. They need to be able to support different modes of learning and yet still allow for specialism by subject. Of course it is very difficult to have a dependable ‘crystal ball’ with regard to these issues, but we do know that standard classrooms with one teaching focus area are just not good enough for our students anymore.

We are fortunate enough to be working alongside the architects Ronald Lu & Partners who really value stakeholder input and want to ensure that whatever design we develop reflects the real needs of all groups within our school community. To that end there will be opportunities to be involved in developing the vision for the new school. To kick this process off we will be holding an Information Event for Parents at 7.00pm in the School Hall on Wednesday 18th January. Please join us to hear about the project in more detail and to find out how you can contribute your ideas and views.

Gareth Stevens - Vice Principal

Odetta wins prize for an essay

2012-01-12T21:59:00.001-08:00

Congratulations to Odetta Li of 9R, who received the Gold Award in the age 12-14 category of the Royal Commonwealth Society 2011 Essay Competition. The theme of the competition was "women as agents of change". Odetta wrote a short story about a boy, his sister and a "mermaid".

Odetta is one of 3 major winners from HK this year. Deep Vase, Head Boy in Island School, won the grand prize - the Senior Prize (age 14 - 18 category). Another girl from HK won a Gold Award in the age 14-16 category. The Awards were given out by Mr. Andrew Seaton, British Consul-General, at the British Consulate General, HK, on 7 Dec 2011.

Well done Odetta!

Please see Odetta’s essay …here

Teri Eves - Leading Teacher of English

Chinese Website

2011-12-07T17:55:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Island School’s Chinese Website. This website is made for each and everyone of us in the Island School Community to share our achievements in the Chinese language field.

The purpose of making this website is to create an alternative environment for Island School students to learn Chinese in a more engaging and interesting way. Instead of having lectures in classroom only, here in Island School we use an interactive way to help students to learn efficiently, which is to introduce another online platform for them to access anytime, anywhere.

Throughout this school year, we have three main themes, which are CAS week, Chinese New Year and Chinese food. The current one is CAS week and essays about it are currently being uploaded onto the website. Moreover, there is an ‘Excellent creative writing section’ to display the outstanding essays written by our students to encourage creativity.

On the other hand, a ‘Reading Section’ is coming up soon which provides students with a large variety of Chinese literature such as fiction books, articles and reading materials selected by Chinese teachers to our students.

In our Chinese Website Team, we have three groups, namely Translation, Chinese Website and Tuition, which consist of around twenty members from Year 9 to 12. We are responsible for different parts of it, for example, in the translation team; we help the school office to do some translation work each week such as the newsletter and school website. We also made a video about the school and translated most of the content on the school website into Chinese last school year. Furthermore, for the Chinese tuition part, we have some volunteers from Year 12 to tutor Year 7-9 students that may have difficulties on learning Chinese. We try to use an approach that is easier for them to learn on a one-to-one basis either during lunchtime or afterschool. As students, we understand the difficulties that one may encounter when they are learning and we are here to break through these obstacles with them in order to enhance our Chinese level as a whole.

Last but not least, we would like to express our utmost gratitude to our teacher advisors Mr. Stevens and Ms Cheng for their continuous support and guidance. Without them, this website can never be launched.

Please follow the link to the Chinese website...here

Chinese website team

The War on Drugs: How Parents can Survive – How Kids Can Win

2011-12-07T17:52:00.000-08:00

On the 3rd November Island School hosted a drug information evening, with excellent presentations given by guest speakers Dr Mark Gandolfi (Clinical Psychologist and Director of St John’s Counselling Services) and Senior Inspector Paul Lewis (Narcotics Bureau).

The presentation used by Dr Gandolfi can be found here.

Given its success, and at the request of many parents, we hope to re-run the evening later this academic year.

Jenny Hodson – Vice Principal

Formative Assessment

2011-11-24T15:52:00.000-08:00

Improving Learning in Island School Classrooms

Are pupils learning enough, and learning it well in our classrooms – and how can we tell? Can our teachers not only measure the progress made by students, but also identify their learning needs and respond to them? How are we trying to address these questions?

Tests and examinations are a classic way of measuring student progress. These highly visible forms of tracking progress, known as “summative assessment” are also used by you the parents as a measure of how well your child is doing.

But this is only part of the story. To be truly effective, assessment should also be “formative” – in other words, identifying and responding to the students’ learning needs. In classrooms featuring formative assessment, teachers make frequent, interactive assessments of student understanding. This enables them to adjust their teaching to meet individual student needs, and to better help all students to reach high standards. Teachers also actively involve students in the process, helping them to develop skills that enable them to learn better.

Many of our teachers incorporate aspects of formative assessment into their teaching. Formative assessment is used as a framework for teaching, teachers set up learning situations and guide students toward learning goals, we are changing the way we define student success.

Formative assessment builds students’ “learning to learn” skills by emphasising the process of teaching and learning, and involving students as partners in that process. It also builds students’ skills at peer-assessment and self-assessment, and helps them develop a range of effective learning strategies.
Students who are actively building their understanding of new concepts (rather than merely absorbing information) and who are learning to judge the quality of their own and their peers’ work against well-defined criteria are developing invaluable skills for lifelong learning.

Look at the ARR system on the Gateway, we are actively trying to get our students to self assess their progress, to work to criteria upon which their skills are assessed, to look at progress, not just judged to a grade or a level but to look at the reflective feedback. Different types of assessment are set across the curriculum to provide students with challenge and the opportunity to show their skills.

It is about the learning journey that the students are on not just about the grade outcomes. If we all focus on the grade and miss the process of the skill development, we will limit the learning that is happening.

Remember discuss with your child the information that is on the ARR, get them to explain to you the process they have been through on each of the different types of assessment. We need you to become part of the formative assessment. The more opportunities your child has to discuss their learning the greater their understanding and the more progress they will make.

If we took all the grades / levels away would you still be aware of how your child is doing?

If the answer is no, then you have not had a learning conversation with your child. Use the grades as a guide to the progress but the conversation as the opportunity to allow your child to show you their strengths and some areas of challenge. That way you will have a better understanding of the way you can help your child further develop.

Join in, go to the ARR, set a date with your child, let them take you on a learning journey!

Trudy Lant - Vice Principal

Between the Wars

2011-11-24T15:50:00.001-08:00

On 6th and 7th October, Island School Drama and Music students collaborated on this extraordinary multi-media, multi-genre show which showcased stories from around the globe in the time period between WWI and WWII. More than 80 students were invovled in bringing to life stories from the Last Emperor of China, to the struggle of the Wiemar Republic to the brutal reality of the American depression. Congratulations to the performers, musicians and technicians involved in a truly collaborative effort.

Mary, Lowanna and Gilbert – Drama Department

Student's photographic skills recognised by the University of Hong Kong

2011-10-27T22:51:00.000-07:00

Congratulations need to be extended to Annie Lye (12F) who has achieved great success in a recent prestigious photography competition entitled "Celebrations”. This was organized by the HKU Museum Society to commemorate the university’s centenary. Both amateur and professional photographers were invited to submit their best shots on several themes. Out of 733 submissions the best 100 were selected for exhibition. This selection process was blind so the Judges had no idea who the photographers were.

Four of Annie photographs were selected for the exhibition which was opened by the Vice Chancellor of HKU, Professor Tsui Lap Chee and his wife, Mrs Ellen Tsui, on October 11, 2011. To see Annie’s work framed next to with other wonderfully composed photographs was visually stunning. The tall exhibition space was decorated by a large art/ikibana installation by the famous artist, Masayo Mizukami. Annie also aided on the construction of this piece.

Annie says “I am thrilled to have been involved in this event.
It has been a very encouraging and educational experience for me to see my work displayed against the work of established photographic experts. It was also really inspiring to be able to meet with them and talk to them. I look forward to continuing to develop my photography skills”.

Annie’s winning pieces are attached for your viewing. They were shot in Baiwan on last year’s CAS week Trip and in Portugal during her summer holiday.

Morning…here
Day of Fury…here
Baroque Style…here
Portugal (Judge's Choice award)…here

Fleming House staff love the dominant red colour of “Day of Fury” so much, (the subject is spent firecrackers after a celebration), that they have asked Annie to donate us a framed copy for the Fleming House office wall. Well, we are the red house after all.

Well done Annie.

Mrs. Worthington and Mr. Tudor – Senior Head and Head of Fleming House

Letter from the Japan Consulate / CNN report from Island School

2011-10-27T22:49:00.001-07:00

I am sure that you remember about the Japan Week which involved students, teachers, non-teaching staff and parents. Thank you again for your generosity. Now, all the messages have been received by Education department in Ibaraki prefecture. I am pleased to let you know that Island School has received a letter of appreciation by Consulate General of Japan in Hong Kong. I would like to share this news with the Island School community.

On the 11th March, 2011, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck Japan, triggering a tsunami with waves up to 10 meters, taking away over 15,000 innocent lives. In response to this tragic incident, the Island School Japanese Community came together in effort of relief support. We understand the magnitude of this tragedy, not just for the lives that were taken away, but also for the loved ones left behind in pain and grief. The Japanese Community responded immediately in an effort to raise awareness throughout Island School. Several Japanese lunch stalls were set up across several days, along with a dress casual day held in remembrance of those who have passed away. In addition messages to support those in Japan, were written and sent to the areas struck by the disaster. With the enthusiastic support of Island School students, teachers and faculty members, we were able to raise a substantial amount of money for the aftermaths of the earthquake.

On the 4th October, the Japanese Community of Island School was invited to the Japanese Embassy in recognition of our efforts in support relief. The students were all very nervous as the formality of the event was beyond their expectations. However, the ceremony went on smoothly and flawlessly. On behalf of the Island School Japanese Community, Island School students Karin Yamauchi 13W , Frances Cassidy 13D, Ryosuke Hoshiyama 12N and Go Suzuki 12N were awarded appreciation certificates in recognition and gratitude of those Japanese citizens whom were affected by the tragic disaster.

Madoka Rei - Teacher of Japanese

CNN report from Island School on the passing of Steve Jobs…here

Nansen Biathlon and Opening of the Textiles Room

2011-10-02T19:07:00.001-07:00

On Tuesday 20th September Nansen held their annual sponsored biathlon in memory of Amy Coxall and Gui Vezzaro. This involved members of the house participating in pairs, or as an individual, to complete the run to 2nd Pagoda, Bowen Road (2.5km) and 16 lengths. There were some great performances by the students and staff and results will be announced at a later date. We were particularly pleased to see so many of 7N participating as individuals.

Following the biathlon we had the official opening of the new Textiles room which is in memory of Amy Coxall as this was one of the subjects she was passionate about. Amy’s parents and brother Josh attended along with staff and students. There is a lovely picture of Amy in the room and a large decorative glass panel containing one of Amy’s designs. Simply a great room, airy and light….all the working conditions Amy loved. Thanks to Claire Tait and ESF for all their hard work in creating this new Textiles environment. Existing funds and money raised through the biathlon will be used to purchase other pieces of equipment required for this room.

When you visit school please take some time to view the new bench to the right of the main entrance. A huge thank you to Matt Smith and the Technology department for the time spent designing and making the bench in memory of Amy and Gui. Students, staff and members of Amy’s family have also decorated pebbles/stones which are underneath the bench. This area is in front of Amy’s tree which was planted last year and is continuing to flourish.

All in all a really positive lovely afternoon and celebration in memory of Amy and Gui.

Amy and Gui, you are missed but always in our hearts and thoughts.

Please see Nansen Biathalon’s photograph album...here

Please see Amy's Memorial 2011-12’s photograph album...here

Cath Hopkins - Senior Head of Nansen

Fleming Charity Week

2011-09-25T17:42:00.000-07:00

Fleming’s proud association with Katja house is long standing. For those of you new to the House this is an orphanage in Nepal that was set up and run by Island School. It has provided shelter for about 60 children whose ages range from 4-18. We have had a fun filled week without forgetting that we are raising money for a charity close to our hearts.

Under the guidance of our Heads of House, Mrs. Worthington and Mr. Tudor and with the support of the Fleming form tutors, the help of 12F charity prefects and with everyone in the house pitching in, this has been a very successful week. The 2011 charity week has been one of our best ever. It kicked off with a Dress Red Day, followed by the entire House forming a giant letter ‘F’ for Fleming on the green area. 7F took part in a Sponsored Silence for a whole school day, which was challenging but also created a quieter environment around school. 8F really enjoyed sponging the teachers. Mrs. Worthington, Mr. Tudor, Mrs. Boag, Mr. Nicholls, Mr. Rutter and Mr. Reed all kindly volunteered to be hit with soggy sponges to raise money. 9F treated the school to a delicious bake sale; we could have some budding Jamie Olivers or Nigella Lawsons there! 10F cooled down in the pool for their Sponsored Swim whilst 11F baked in the sun for their Sponsored Run with Mrs. Worthington. The grand finale of the week was the Fleming Carnival which involved 12F and 13F working collaboratively to put together a fun and lively afternoon which included balloon drops, tie dyeing, pizza sales and rousing vocals from Fleming students.

In the weeks to come we look forward to our Fleming prefects, who are travelling to Katja House during CAS week, reporting back on their experiences and hearing how the money will be utilized. Mrs. Worthington and Mr. Tudor would like to thank all Fleming students and staff for their energy, enthusiasm and support with the Fleming charity week. The week has so far raised an amazing HK$28,000. Well done Fleming!!!!

Please see photograph album…here

Nigvi Tam & Michelle Kung - 12F

Kids4Kids

2011-09-25T17:40:00.000-07:00

Last year 3 year 12 students, Charles Yau, Ted Clifford and Kimmy Piedmont got together to form the Island School branch of Kids 4 Kids, a completely student led charity focused on helping other young people around the world, with the mission ‘For kids, by kids’. We participated in Books For a Cause, a massive effort to collect and donate educational and junior books to students and schools in need around Asia, but particularly in disadvantaged parts of Hong Kong and China where students lack appropriate reading and reference material.

Island School alone collected and shipped over 500 books to Kids 4 Kids. As a group we just wanted to thank everyone who contributed by donating books, in particular the Island School English department for their generous donations, and everyone who showed up to help us pack them. We’re all looking forward to participating in the event again next year and furthering Island School’s involvement with this great cause.

Ted Clifford – 13F

Dr Willie Smits Visits Island School

2011-09-25T17:29:00.000-07:00

On Friday 26th December Dr Willie Smits of the Masarang Foundation will be visiting Island School. The aim of the Masarang Foundation is “to save the environment through the active participation of local people. Through its projects, the foundation works on solutions for the most pressing problems the world currently faces: climate change, extinction of plants and animals, destruction of ecosystems, poverty and underdevelopment.”

One of the Foundation’s projects is the Tasikoki Animal Rescue Centre in Sulawesi. This November a team of Island School students will be working at Tasikoki for their CAS week. Together with WAMBO (the school’s environment group) and other members of the Island School community, the Taskikoki students will be helping to raise funds to support the Masarang Foundation. We hope that this is the start of a long association between the school and the foundation.
For more information on the Masarang Foundation please look up their website Masarang…here. You can also look up the Masarang Hong Kong which has been set up in HK to raise awareness of the work of the foundation Masarang HK. It is also worth watching Dr Smits TED talk to find out more about his reforestation projects TED Talk.

Mathew Rappel - Advanced Diploma Co-ordinator/ Teacher of Business Studies

Island School Mela for Future Hope

2011-06-09T23:40:00.000-07:00

What will HK$30 get you?

A cappuccino … a panini … a taxi fare?

Island School Mela for Future Hope

Tuesday 28^th June 2011 1pm -3.15pm

As we approach the end of term we are looking forward to an important event that will provide an entertaining afternoon for the whole school community and also serve the needs of another community that is close to our hearts.

Chris Binge has communicated with you recently about the student led fundraising for Future Hope, Kolkata. This initiative is now gathering momentum and will culminate on Tuesday 28^th June with the Island School Mela (fair) for Future Hope.

Throughout the afternoon there will be live sponsored performances from junior and senior students, ranging from cup dancing, to break dancing, to beat boxing. House Stalls, organized by Year 10 students, will provide further entertainment and supply tasty home-made refreshments. What’s more, leading up to and on the day of the Mela, second hand books, T-shirts (designed by five children at Future Hope) and wristbands will be on sale.

But perhaps what is most exciting about this event is that we are now 99% sure that we will be joined by six girls from Future Hope who will perform Bengali dance within the programme of entertainment. Thanks to very generous donations from parents, we are now in a position to help pay for flights for them to come to Hong Kong. Tim Grandage (Founder of Future Hope) has assured us of his years of experience in dealing with the administrative powers in Kolkata and is extremely confident of securing their passports within the next few days. This is unprecedented: it will be the first time that any girls from Future Hope have had the chance to travel.

So, if you’re keen to get involved and support us in reaching the $80000 target, here are just a few ways:
• Encourage your child to buy a T-shirt ($80) and a wristband ($10)
• Encourage your child to donate a book and buy a book ($20-50)

And perhaps most importantly:
• JOIN US AT THE MELA!

Tickets - $100 – will go on sale the week before and will be sold on the day
And let’s think again … what will HK$30 get you?
A book at the second hand book sale …
And that will help feed two children for a day at Future Hope

Thank you for your support
Jenny Hodson – Vice Principal

Chairman's Trophy won by Island School fundraisers

2011-03-16T16:14:00.001-07:00

In November we celebrated the continued success of our Sedan Chair race team. Behind the scenes however worked a dedicated small group of year 12 students and their aim was to win the “Best School Fund Raising” award. In Pacific Place One on the 14th March they were awarded the “Chairman’s Trophy”. Different team: same result! Once again we became the most successful fund raising school for the event that collectively raises over 3.5 million dollars for local charities. Emeline SANDT, helped by Saniya MEHRA and Tarini MEHROTRA worked hard throughout the first term selling pizzas and plastic strap sports watches (amongst other things!) to raise $30,000. Well done, an excellent CAS effort!

Derek Irwin - Leading Teacher Mathematics / Sedan Chair Team Coach

Inter-House Athletics Final 2011

2011-02-14T22:39:00.000-08:00

Please click here to visit our school website for photos.

Island School Solar Panel Group

2011-01-23T16:35:00.000-08:00

Date: 22nd January 2011
Press: SCMP

Shining example of power-saving

Jonathan Kong Chun-ho sits in an Island School science laboratory and peers into this monitor. A series of cleanly laid out figures and a bar graph pop up, but he is not in a conventional science lesson.

"What you can see here is a calculation of how much electricity we have saved at school today." he says.

the figures he was looking at link directly to a one-storey-high turbine and nearly 15 square metres of solar panels on the roof of the science block. Together, they supply about 10 per cent of all the power going into the block, every kilowatt of which is measured and recorded for any of the school's 1,100 students to access online.

The figures for that the rooftop systems should produce about 5 kilowatts of power, but they can produce up to about 10kW depending on weather conditions.

nearly 275kW of electricity has been produced, avoiding the burning of fossil fuels that would have sent 200 kilograms of carbon into the atmosphere, in the three weeks the project has been running.

The system also tells Jonathan that HK$280 has been saved in electricity costs in the past month - more than 10 per cent of the roughly HK$2,000 electricity bill the science block usually pays.

It is also an educational tool. Island School launched an International Baccalaureate course in environmental systems this year, which will take advantage of the raw data recorded 24 hours a day. But the benefits extend to geography, maths and science classes of all years. Physics pupils will carry out practical experiments in the efficiency of photovoltaic cells. The carbon involved in setting up the system should be neutralised in 1.5 years and the equipment has a lifespan of 50 years, with little maintenance.

Jonathan, one of the founders of the team of 10 pupils and a teacher, is in his final year of secondary school and came up with the idea in 2009. After 15 months, 700 student signatures on a petition and HK$320,000 from the government's Environmental and Conservation Fund and Environmental Capaign Committee, the system was up and running.

Howard Chow, another pupil involved in the project, said:" When the solar panels were first launched last year, the student body were a little bit doubtful of the efficiency of how it was going to work.

"When we finally saw the wind turbine starting to spin faster and faster our group was basically standing on the playground staring at it in relief. Our hard work had not gone into the rubbish bin."

Chris Ip
SCMP

Gui Vezzaro

2010-12-07T00:43:00.000-08:00

It is with great sadness that I have to inform you that our much loved maths teacher and Head of Nansen House, Gui Vezzaro, passed away on the evening of Tuesday 30th November. As you know he has been in a precarious position between life and death since his heart attack in August. While there were signs of improvement in some aspects of his status, he was always very open to the damage an infection can cause. This danger arose in the last few days and he succumbed eventually to pneumonia.

The school is in a state of mourning as we remember our lively, vibrant friend, colleague and teacher. It will be very difficult for some of our staff and students, who were particularly close to Gui, to deal with this untimely loss. Some of your children will be deeply affected, and may well need the counselling help that we are setting up. Please do not hesitate to contact us, whether it is to set up some support, or just to let us know that your child is upset and that we should watch out for them. While allowing for those most affected, we will carry on school life as normally as possible.

The way in which the community has supported Gui over the last three months shows our love for him and the esteem in which he is held. The shock of his departure will be felt well beyond the confines of the school, and we all need to pull together and support each other, as well as Gui’s family and closest friends.

Gui joined Island School as a Maths Teacher in 1995. In 2004, while continuing to teach Maths, he joined the Guidance Staff, first in Fleming House, and then as Head of Nansen House. When Island School adopted the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, Gui used his experience to greatly add to our teaching of Theory of Knowledge. He has been much sought after by the IB Organisation as a workshop leader in TOK, around the world, to help teach less experienced teachers. Alongside his curriculum teaching has been Gui’s enthusiasm and tireless support for the wider aspects of school life. Whether it was Inter House Sports, School Volleyball, Maths Competitions of the Award for Young People, Gui was always ready to give his time for his students.

Those who were taught by Gui remember a committed and talented teacher, always prepared to spend that bit of extra time to explain the complex ideas. Those in his house have always commented on his care for those in need and his easy communication with children and parents. As a colleague, Gui will be greatly missed as a supportive friend who brought his sense of fun to the staffroom.

A Celebration of Gui's Life

On Thursday 9th December at 2.00pm Island School will hold a memorial celebration of the life of Guillermo Vezzaro. This will take place in the school hall. There will be music and readings from students and his colleagues in the staff, and we hope to capture some of the memories that Gui has left us. We look forward to many people joining us for this event and the doors of the hall and the hall balcony will be open from 1.00pm. There will be refreshments after the event provided by the Island School community with the support of many sponsors.

We hope to video this event and make it available as a live stream on the internet for those who would like to watch but are unable to attend. Please watch the Island School website for the link to be posted.

Fund raising for Gui

Many of you have donated to a fund that was initially set up for Gui’s long term care here and in Argentina, and I would like to express my gratitude to all of those who have contributed so generously. The purpose of this fund going forward has been the subject of much discussion among those at school who were closest to Gui. While the conclusion is not yet completely firm, we have decided that there are two aims that Gui would have appreciated and supported.

In the first place we know that Gui supported his extended family in Argentina, sending money back to support the further education of family members. We feel it is entirely appropriate that that commitment is honoured by this fund. In the second place we would like to set up a trust in Gui’s name that will be designed to support, in some way, families in the ESF community who are struggling with the financial commitment to education due to a bereavement. Gui was a man of tremendous humility and social conscience and believed in the power and value of education. We know he would support this aim.

If anyone has contributed to the fund by cheque, under the original aim, and feels uncomfortable with the new targets, we would like to give you the opportunity to withdraw your donation. If you would like to do this, please contact Betty Tsu at Island School.

Yours sincerely

Chris Binge
Principal

Nansen Biathlon

2010-11-03T00:33:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday 15th September Nansen house participated in a sponsored biathlon to raise money for the Amy Coxall Memorial Fund. This date was chosen as the following Sunday would have been Amy’s 16th birthday and we wanted to have time together as a house to remember this day and celebrate Amy’s life in a positive way. What was particularly great was how everyone embraced the event and virtually the whole house and a large number of staff participated.

The actual race was done in pairs starting with a run to 2nd pagoda and then a swim of 16 lengths. In true Nansen spirit there was a competitive edge to the afternoon especially when the staff started! For some individuals the run and swim was not too difficult but what was so admirable was seeing some of the younger students determined to finish 16 lengths even if swimming was not their sport.

Results

Fastest runner Bernard Luk/Philip Leung
Fastest swimmer Yasmin Daswani
Fastest pair Rishabh Mulchandani Deep Vaze
Fastest soloist Mia Lau

Fastest Staff Pair Derek Irwin Abbi ‘Ironwoman’ Stead

Prizes were also given for the individuals who raised the most sponsorship money. An amazing amount of money was raised by Angus Reid-Kay 12N ($20, 230) and Derrick Tan (13, 500). This was a great achievement and both boys should be very proud of their efforts. The class sponsorship prize went to 9N who raised $13, 826 and they will be having a lunchtime pizza meal as their well-deserved reward. At the house assembly the week before the event we had set a realistic target of $50,000. At the last count we had raised a staggering amount of $96, 720.90!! This is a tremendous amount of money and we are very proud of everyone in the house for their efforts.

A big thank you needs to go to 12N for their help with the organisation of the afternoon especially Emeline Sandt and Kevin ‘Mr Spreadsheet’ Chan!

Amy was a very special student and she is sorely missed, both in Nansen and Island School. Amy you will always hold a very special place in our hearts and we will never forget you.

Cath Hopkins
Senior Head of Nansen House

ESF Soccer Tournament

2010-10-11T05:17:00.000-07:00

IS C grade boys win the plate in ESF Soccer Tournament

On Saturday 9th October, Island School entered 2 teams in the ESF C grade soccer tournament. The A 1st team was composed of mainly year nine and a 2nd team was a mixture of year eight and nine.

Players of the 2nd team were: Lucius Hatherley, Ben Sargant, Matthew Mortimer, James Chalkley, Kenji Ichikawa, Samir Mangharam, Kristian Dodds, Kristian Glemao, Henry Lee, Lewis Arboit, Aakarsh Bhatnagar, Rohit Daswani.

I was very impressed with efforts made by both teams. They played well in their opening games but didn't quite make the cup semi finals (on goal difference). It came down to Island School 1 v Island School 2 in the plate semi finals which went to penalties. Island School 1 missed but Kenji put his away and so Island School 2 were in the final where they met RCHK.

Again it went to penalties. Level pegging to the 4th. But they showed great determination. Rohit saved the RCHK shot and Ben put his away. It was a big achievement for the year eight boys.

IS D grade Boys win ESF Soccer Tournament

The following boys were part of the squad that won the Cup in the ESF soccer tournament at KGV on Saturday 9th October: Owen Turner, Chirag Bellani, Patrick McGillvray, Aaron Stanyard, Bill Beaves, Mark Swainston, Robbie Stamp, Rory Lonergan, Connor O'Hanlon, George Wyatt, Kurt Leimer.

In the group stages they beat South Island School 5-0 and then West Island School 3-0. They then lost their way against Shatin College losing 1-0. However they bounced back against KGV 2, winning 2-0. They came 2nd in the group and faced the pre-tournament favourites KGV1 in the semi finals. However the Island School team were not phased and trounced them 5-0.

The final against HKIS got off to bad start, and the IS team went a goal down, but the lads rallied, equalised and got a late winner. Victory was ours. The boys played magnificently but also in good spirit and we have the makings of a great team. Robbie, Rory and Aaron were outstanding. Owen was also very solid in goal. I would like to congratulate the boys!

Paul Chillingworth

Alice in Wonderland

2010-09-14T20:18:00.000-07:00

Viveca Chow 12N and Hannah Chan 12N were selected from all the winners at the 2009 Speech and Drama Festival for their performance of Alice in Wonderland at the TVB Pearl's ETV presentation earlier this year.

On and off, Island School has taken part in the Hong Kong Schools' Speech, Drama and Music Festivals for almost twenty years. We now enter students for both the Chinese and English competitions within the Speech and Drama festival and we have had some great successes.

This last year 19 students participated in the English section and all achieved merits, with some students also achieving placings. Viveca Chow achieved first place in both the Solo-verse: non-open section for secondary 5 students and with Hannah Chan in the Dramatic Duologue section. Further members of last year's 9W also achieved first place in their competition for Thematic speaking.

The applications for this year's competition is taking place this week. Please hurry if you would like your son/daughter to take part. Please contact mlv@mail.island.edu.hk.

Message from the Principal

2010-08-30T01:51:00.000-07:00

Dear Parents,

Welcome to a new school year at Island School. I extend a particular welcome to all those families who are joining the Island School Community for the first time. I hope that the settling-in process for you and your children goes as smoothly as possible. Please make sure you contact us quickly if there are any problems.

In this newsletter I will be looking back on the events that have happened during the summer. This will include the exam results and University destinations of our graduates as well as the renovations.

IB Results and HE destinations

I sent out a summary of our IB results as soon as they came out in the summer, which is also included as an attachment to this newsletter. As you can see, we are very pleased with these results as they are significantly better than the world averages and also a measurable improvement on last year.

The following summary of the data shows that the United Kingdom and the United States are the most popular destinations this year. Our most popular three colleges are spread between US, UK and Canada.

There are still one or two students for whom we do not have data, but this is certainly more accurate feedback from the students than we have had in the past. I am very grateful to Simone Salier, Roger Wilkinson and the HE team for gathering and putting together this data.

GCSE Results

As I write this the GCSE results are coming in. We use different examining boards for different subjects and these boards report their results at different times, and there is still one subject to come in. While we have not had time to analyse the results fully the first glance indicates that the results are at least as good as last year, when we had an outstanding set. About 60% of all the grades achieved by Island School students are either A or A*, and 93% at are grade C or above. We have three students who have achieved A* grades in all their subjects and a further 25 who have achieved A or A* in all subjects.

Summer Renovations

As soon as the students left school on the final day of term in June, the team of workmen came into the school to start the renovation of the main group of general classrooms. As you will know the Science labs have been renovated over recent years and other specialist rooms like the Music rooms, and the TV studio were done last year. This year it has been the turn of the general classrooms where the work was certainly necessary. I am pleased to say that 33 classrooms and 6 house offices, as well as the staffroom were completed on time for the start of the new term.

The work in the classrooms has included repainting the walls, re-carpeting the floors and completely refitting the furniture, storage and whiteboards. We are particularly pleased with the innovative storage solution behind the whiteboards that gives us much more teaching and learning space in the rooms. There are now plug sockets all round the rooms to enable laptops to be charged. The rather ragged looking curtains have been replaced by easy to use blinds to keep the bright sunlight out when showing video or using the interactive whiteboards. All in all the rooms are many times better than they were and are an attractive learning space that we must all maintain in their present state.

If you have visited the school you will have noticed that we now have a large banner and a series of large scale displays with the Island School Values on view to all. There is also a large metal plaque in the entrance with the values on. You may remember that last year we worked with a group of students, parents, staff and friends of the school to come up with value statements that could express what we are about and that we could use for framing future policy. These are now loudly proclaimed on the campus. In the first assembly of term the four senior prefects presented what each of the statements meant to them to the whole school. They did an excellent job in using their own experience to exemplify the values, which I hope will help to provide inspiration to the younger students.

The whole feel of the school has created a very positive atmosphere at the start of the new year and one which bodes well for a successful term for all our community. I wish you all a happy and exciting school year when we can all Pursue Excellence, Embrace Responsibility and Celebrate Individuality.

Island School team comes up with a winning promotion for charity project

2010-06-24T19:20:00.000-07:00

When Island School student Claudia Lo Wai-yu entered a competition to created a marketing plan for a charity organisation, she knew she was in for a one-of-a-kind experience.

Please click here for the article.

Junior inter-house debate competition

2010-06-22T18:41:00.000-07:00

For the past month students from all Houses have been battling with words in the junior inter-house debate competition. Discussing such motions as; the computerisation of education has gone too far, sporting heroes/heroines make poor role models and TV has a malign influence on society all Houses performed very well and the Final between Rutherford and Einstein was a closely fought debate.

The final standings were 1st Rutherford,2nd Einstein,3rd Nansen,4th Wilberforce,5th Fleming, 6th DaVinci. Congratulations to Louise Hannaford ( Captain ), Daniel Lancaster and Sophia Rommel the Rutherford winners and thanks to Alex Li, Eric Vestervall, Ernest Leung and Mr Faulkner for officiating.

Year 8 Technology Challenge Days. 3rd and 4th June

2010-06-22T18:10:00.000-07:00

Congratulations must go to 8W who were the undisputed winners of both of the Year 8 Technology Challenge Days on June 3^rd and 4^th this year. This was a new event for Island School aimed at giving year 8 students a unique experience combining all subjects in the Technology Curriculum Area (Design & Technology, Food Technology, Textiles Technology supported by ICT) in an extended learning opportunity. Students were unaware of the challenge that they were to undertake and in the space of about 4 hours had to produce a food product, a packaging concept for their food with a striking logo, uniforms and a point of sale display.

The contest was judged by external judges who are all working professionals in either branding, catering or the food and beverage industries, and the prizes were sponsored by Noon Copenhagen. We would like to extend our thanks to Ken Wathall, Liz Seaton and Lone Hesselbjerg Morup for their expertise and time on these days.

See the full photo album, click here

The 6th HKFA Annual Tournament

2010-06-07T18:09:00.000-07:00

On 30th May, Island School entered two teams into the 6th HKFA annual tournament, a seven a side soccer competition. Our teams were composed of year seven and eight players taking part in a competition that featured mostly club teams and which went up to year nine age. The two teams each played 6 games in their group, some of these consecutively.

Island School 1 came second in their group having not conceded a goal. Indeed the only goal conceded came in their semifinal match when the opposition King's Park scored in the very last minute of the game.

Island School 2 consisted mostly of year 7 players and the size difference between them and other teams proved difficult to overcome. But they showed great determination and really held their own, the most memorable game being their 2-0 win over HKFC in their last game.

The players were: Alfred Poon, Jeff Chan, Colin Ross, Adrian Leung, Erik Vestervall, Matthew Mortimer, James Chan, Tony Cho, Rohit Daswani, Jonathon Turnbull, Adam Chillingworth, Joseph Stuart, Ben Sargant, Louis Reed, Michael Slavin, Lucius Hatherly, Thomas Cooper, Lucas Socha,Kenji Ichikawa and Daniel Cavalante-Chung. Daniel and Erik were awarded the player of the tournament for their respective teams.

Congratulations!

Paul Chillingworth

Group IV Project. 31 May to 2 June 2010

2010-06-07T18:04:00.000-07:00

For three days the science labs and technology rooms were even busier than usual, as our Year 12 students threw themselves into the Group IV Project. The purpose of the project is to work in interdisciplinary teams were everyone brings different skills and knowledge to various projects and individuals are assessed on their teamwork, motivation, communication and their ability to reflect upon their learning. Most students were involved in environmental projects stemming from fieldwork carried out in Quarry Bay Country Park whilst others were involved in Food Technology projects (which strangely enough were over-subscribed!). The project is compulsory for all IB students, but our teams were enriched by also having BTEC students add their skills and abilities to the teams.

The three days culminated in an exposition, in which team B6 were judged to be the final winners for their work on how leaves are adapted to disperse water, cope with varying light intensity and the density of their stomata.

Congratulations to Sarah-Jane CULLINANE, William HOWARD, Vivian LEE, Belle LEUNG, Ernest LEUNG, Zahid MUGHAL and Marsha TEO.

Paul Bayne
Head of Physics

Romeo and Juliet

2010-06-01T21:28:00.000-07:00

Mr Oliver's Year 10 English group were given a short film project to complete on any aspect of 'Romeo and Juliet' they wanted. They had only two weeks to compete all the planning, filming and editing. This is one of the winning films, judged according to the following criteria: entertainment value; educational value; technical skills.

BTEC Interactive Media students are looking to connect with professionals in the Digital Media industry

2010-05-24T23:29:00.000-07:00

BTEC Interactive Media students are looking to connect with professionals in the Digital Media industry who might be prepared to spend 20 minutes of their time being interviewed by these students on camera as part of their assessed coursework. The idea is for these students to produce a short video that could be used as a teaching tool for this course. The interview will focus on either financial issues and current market trends in the interactive media industry of Hong Kong or on contractual, legal and ethical obligations in the interactive media industry. The interviews would take place around the end of May.

If any of you or anyone you know may be able to help us out with this request we would love to hear from you. Please drop us an email or a telephone contact and we will get back to you shortly.

Mark Roper

Learning Without Frontiers Competition - 24 April

2010-05-24T23:24:00.000-07:00

3 year 11 students from Island School, Claudia Lo , Tommy San and Lauren Engel took part and won the first learning without frontiers competition on April 24th . This competition involved 13 teams from across Hong Kong and aims to challenge students to show just what they can do with their ICT skills. The Island School team won thanks to their strong understanding of exactly what the client, in this case the Rainbow Foundation needed. They were able to show a broad range of skills based on a common theme and more so than any of the other teams they were able to construct a complete concept for the Rainbow foundation. Winning was quite an achievement from the team as they were competing against mostly teams of 5 or 6 students. What they did show, was that students are capable of producing near professional quality outcomes when given the freedom to explore ideas themselves and this fits well with the aims and objectives of our KS4 ICT course the IEAward in Applied ICT.

The current crop of Year 10 students are about to start thinking about their projects for next year and if there is anyone out there who has a need for some talented ICT students please let us know and as are encouraging all our students to work on real projects for real clients.

CAS exchange programme between students from Island School and Yan Chai Hospital No 2 Secondary School, Tuen Mun

2010-05-20T01:27:00.001-07:00

Mr Davis, CAS co-ordinator extraordinaire, along with Mr Chris Durbin of the ESF, met with teachers from the Yan Chai Hospital No 2 School in Tuen Mun to arrange an exchange programme on 28^th April. Students from Island School gained an insight into the environment and educational system of a local school, while students at the local school had the opportunity to practise their English.

Rutherford 1976 Reunion

2010-05-13T19:17:00.000-07:00

Rutherford 1976 Reunion

Fashion Show

2010-05-10T00:43:00.000-07:00

On the 23rd of April, Island School held the first ever fashion show for its own charity organisation, TrunkAid. Tickets were completely sold out, raising a grand total of $40,000- solely from tickets, lucky draw tickets and merchandise sales on the night.

Gecko Maths Competition

2010-05-10T00:38:00.000-07:00

On Monday 8^th of March, 24 Year 7 students and 32 Year 6 students competed in the Island School Hall for the Championship of the Gecko Maths competition.

Mr. Binge with the Champion team, which consisted of Claudia Lau, Ryan Yip, Justin Yim and JJ Cheung.

More photos:

http://picasaweb.google.com/Islandschoolphoto/GeckoMaths2010?feat=directlink

Island School Photography Competition 2010

2010-05-02T21:26:00.000-07:00

Island School recently held a photography competition with the theme “My Island School”. We have received many entries. The judges for the competition were Mr. Chris Binge, Mr. Gareth Stevens and Ms Belinda Halcrow. We judges took the decision to split the first prize between two students. Amanda Zhang of 13E was awarded one prize for submitting a technically excellent photograph and Louise King of 12N for being able to communicate the ‘school spirit’ through her shot of Island School students.

Louise King

Amanda Zhang

IB Higher English - No Ordinary Lesson!

2010-05-02T17:53:00.000-07:00

On Thursday 15th April, Ms Eves' English IB class undertook a lesson unlike any ordinary English lesson. They did cooking! Four dishes were made based on the recipes in the novel Like Water for Chocolate: Danette Chan and Adele Lee made Oxtail Soup, Grace Lant and Hannah Pho made Christmas Rolls, Evie Lant and Emi Robinson made Beans with ChileTezcucana Style and Michael To and Alex Thomas made Cream Fritters.