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EARTH H O U R
May 2017
CONTENT WHOLE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE
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KELLETT NEWS
6-7
Congratulations Student Leavers Welcome to our New Staff Staff Leavers
highlights 8-11 Kellet Cares Library Annual Fund
FEATURE 12-13 Well-being
Preparatory
Prep Across the School
14-17
French FOBISIA ICT Pok Fu Lam
HIGHLIGHTS 18-24 Head of Preparatory School School Council Reception to Year 6
Arts & languages
24-26
Art Music Chinese Studies
Extras 27 ECAs Kellett Cares
Sport 28-29 Kowloon Bay
HIGHLIGHTS 30-34 Head of Preparatory School School Council Reception to Year 6
Arts & languages
35-37
Chinese Studies Kellett Cares Music Art
Sport 38-40 Kellett Summer school
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Senior HIGHLIGHTS 42-53 Head of Senior School Student Leadership Business Studies Geography Global Citizenship Global Issues Network 852 Conference Learning Service Programme Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) Kellett Cares Science History Maths Economics English
Sport 54-55 Arts & languages Art Modern Foreign Languages Design Technology Music Drama
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PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE
The quality and expertise of our teachers lays at the heart of the outstanding education we seek to deliver for all of our students at Kellett. The task of recruiting and retaining great teachers is not unique to us, and it is perceived by many as one of international school Heads and Boards’ greatest challenges. It was certainly the topic of the day at the recent FOBISIA Headteachers’ Meeting in Beijing, dominating many conversations.
International Schools Consultancy (ISC), advisor to the UK government, reports that Asia now has 54% of the world wide international schools market, and 60% (2.6 million) of all international school students. ISC predicts that the current total international student population of over 4.3 million students is predicted to grow in excess of 10 million in 2026. Furthermore, the current 417,000 international teacher supply is anticipated to grow to 613,000 in 2022. Hong Kong alone has at least five new international schools scheduled to open or expand within the next three years.
“Training a sufficient number of new teachers of the right quality is key to the success of all the money spent on England’s schools. The Department, however, has missed its recruitment targets for the last four years and there are signs that teacher shortages are growing. Until the Department meets its targets and can show how its approach is improving trainee recruitment, quality and retention, we cannot conclude that the arrangements for training new teachers are value for money.”
“Looking to the future, the most significant concern for international schools will be the sourcing and hiring of enough suitably qualified teachers and leaders. No one really knows where they are going to come from. One thing is certain; demand by parents for places at international schools with predominantly western teachers who have respected western qualifications, is unlikely to be satisfied.”
UK teacher professional associations argue that the decline in training numbers has existed for far longer. Indeed, it is not unusual for senior appointments in UK state schools to remain unfilled for months at a time, shortages in maths, science and languages are particularly acute. Additionally, some of the new ‘value for money’ UK teacher training routes are failing to achieve international recognition, further diminishing supply. The Hong Kong’s Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications is particularly uncompromising in its qualification requirements for overseas teachers.
It will come as no surprise that Kellett School relies predominantly upon British trained teachers. Whether drawn directly from the UK or from other respected British International schools, they, after all, are best placed to teach the English Curriculum. The shortage of British trained teachers is not just a challenge for international schools, it is an increasing concern within the UK itself.
I first began recruiting teachers for Kellett School in 1996. Back then, prospective employee questions predominantly centred on salary, personal safety and Hong Kong’s then notoriously high cost of living. Twenty years later whilst salary is just as important, career focussed teachers first ask, ‘If I take your post how will Kellett School help me to progress my career?’ and increasingly more directly ‘What is my CPL entitlement?’
Nicholas Brummitt, Chairman of The International School Consultancy says:
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Amyas Morse, Head of the National Audit Office (UK) reported on 10 February 2016
KELLETT DRAGON NEWSLETTER
ISSUE eighteen MAy 2017
PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE
In today’s competitive recruitment market, conversations regarding individual school’s offerings and reputations are no longer limited by word of mouth. Recruitment is dominated via the numerous online teacher chatrooms with unlimited global reach, where in one overnight posting a school can find itself, all-be-it carefully couched in code, on an international ‘apply at your peril list’, ill-informed or otherwise! It is of course able, enthusiastic, reflective and ambitious teachers that Kellett continues to seek to attract and retain. As a community, we need to understand the climate in which British International Schools, and Kellett in particular, operate. It is rapidly changing and increasingly competitive. An attractive salary in itself is no longer enough to recruit and retain the quality teachers we desire.
Continuing Professional Learning offering needs to at least stay inline or preferably exceed market sector expectations.
WHOLE SCHOOL
Prospective and experienced international teachers of today research potential employers to the nth degree, and are quickly dismissive of those schools who, by reputation, fair or otherwise, are perceived to employ able and ambitious teachers only to ‘wring them and kick them out’ a few years later, having provided little or no CPL during their tenure. Indeed, less than ten years ago, the Times Educational Supplement issued full page articles of such practises opposite its international teacher vacancies, as a stark warning to those considering moving abroad.
This academic year over 30 of our teachers successfully completed either the National Profession Qualification (NPQ) for Middle or Senior Leadership. Kellett School and the individuals are all the richer for the knowledge and experienced gained. More importantly, as a result of NPQ, the benefit to student learning has been visible. CPL and the development of a vibrant professional learning culture is central to Kellett School’s teacher retention strategy. In this addition of The Dragon, the Heads of School share further aspects of our Continuing Professional Learning.
Ann Mc Donald Principal
Value added offerings are increasingly important and at the top of the list is a rich and relevant Continuing Professional Learning programme that enable teachers to progress and stay at the top of their chosen profession. Quite simply, the implications for Kellett School are that in order to retain our reputation as a leading employer of teachers, our
our iPhones Learning some new tricks with
CPD Leaders FO BISIA Conference KELLETT DRAGON NEWSLETTER
ISSUE eighteen MAy 2017
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KELLETT NEWS WHOLE SCHOOL
CONGRATULATIONS BABIES •
Jennifer Lam – Hadassah Rae Lam
•
KK Yeung – Yeung Sze Lam
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Katie Weily – Sienna Elizabeth Weily
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Daniel Hilton – Hektor Hilton
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Hannah Wright – Alexandra (Lexi) Eleanor Wright
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Luke Bromwich – Noah Samuel Bromwich
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Nicola Bruce – Poppy Rose Jane Bruce
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Shannon Wake – Sophie Christine Wake
Sienna Eliza beth Weily
m Yeung Sze La
ce Poppy Rose Jane Bru
Hektor Hilto n
ich Noah Samuel Bromw
Sophie Christine W ake
Alexandra (L exi) Eleanor Wright
Hadassah Rae Lam
student leaverS A number of students left Kellett School at the end of last term. We wish them all the very best with their future endeavours.
Pok Fu Lam Prep
Kowloon Bay Prep
Alice Bevan
Lorcan Mahtani
Emily Kimpton
Katharine Bindloss
Oliver Seeley
Jamie Gordon
Nikolas Sittas
Senior School
Lola Lamble Thomas
Hannah Whisker
George Bindloss
Leo Mahtani
Zach Williams
Alexander Ludwick Olivia Woolhouse Hillary Yip
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WHOLE SCHOOL
KELLETT NEWS
welcome to our new staff Whole School Yusra Abdul IT support officer
Pok Fu Lam Preparatory Pingzhi Zhang Mandarin TA
Alice Lam Administrative assistant
Kaho Yoshikawa INCO TA
Laura Simpson School Nurse
Claire Hudson Class Teacher (Maternity Cover)
Kowloon Bay Preparatory Heather Donovan French Language Assistant
Senior School Shannon Kavanagh English Teacher (Maternity Leave Cover)
STAFF LEAVERS Whole School
Terri Li VLE/Web Manager
Kowloon Bay Preparatory
Jennifer Lam French TA
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HIGHLIGHTS Kellett Cares Kellett Cares Kindergarten, Bacolod: “I wonder…” This year’s group of visitors to the Kellett Cares kindergarten in Bacolod included three members of staff and four Kellett families. The travellers had a thought-provoking trip, and when prompted on their return to wonder one thing about the experience there was a mix of sadness, hope and special memories.
“I wonder… …if little Leianne will remember her happy giggles when Mr Wilford picked her up and ran with her under his arm during a very exciting game of Duck, Duck, Goose…” … when happy children turn into worried adults...” ...what the kitchen in their homes look like, and what you would do with HK$4 a day…” …if, sometime in the future, Jennifer will teach her younger siblings and her own children to count and read using these cards…” …what it is like to be a child at the Kellett Cares kindergarten, and how they could be so willing to play with us and have fun despite their hard life…”
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…why anyone would think twice about putting a toothbrush in a care package...” …if the tiny box of raisins I gave that little girl in the village had to be shared with her six siblings when she got home…” …how the kindergarten teacher, Miss Cathy, would use the space and facilities we have at Kellett if she was given the opportunity…” Jo Laufer, Kay Gibbs, Frazer Wilford, Vivian and Maya Cheung, Annie, Muru, Arjan and Naran Sundavadra, Isabella and Thomas O’Sullivan and Charlotte and Abby Heathcote visited Bacolod this year.
HIGHLIGHTS WHOLE SCHOOL
Library The rise of the graphic novel in the Kellett Libraries The link between reading for pleasure and improved literacy is well documented1, and the school libraries strive to offer a range of resources to encourage all of our students to read and foster their love of reading. Our best moments are seeing students curled up with a book in the library, either in their library sessions, or catching a moment to themselves during breaks or lunchtimes, fully engrossed in their latest read. Our challenge though is to offer something for everyone, and to try and appeal to those who are less inclined to read. To this end, we have actively been increasing the range of graphic novels in our libraries. The perception of graphic novels, or comics, is gradually changing, and their value in promoting and encouraging reading is now recognised. They can be less intimidating for the less assured readers as the artwork allows the reader to follow the narrative at a faster pace and offers visual prompts if they are struggling to understand particular words. Graphic novels can also be less intimidating to those who baulk at large paragraphs of uninterrupted text. There is also some evidence to suggest that graphic novels can be the first step in encouraging non-readers to pick up a book, who may go on to read the original text version of the graphic novel. In the Senior School library, we have a wide selection of graphic novels, from the age old favourites such as Asterix, the graphic novel versions of novels such as the Percy Jackson series, GCSE texts such as ‘An Inspector Calls’ and ‘Romeo and Juliet’, to novels written specifically in graphic format including the Pulitzer prize winning story ‘The Complete Maus’ by Art Spiegelman, and ‘Boxers’ and ‘Saints’ by and Gene Luen Yang. Even if the student wishes to stick with the graphic novel genre there is wide scope for them to broaden their reading for pleasure. In the Prep School libraries, we are seeing a huge demand for graphic novels. Roughly 5% of library loans are graphic novels. Some of the titles we cannot keep on the shelves are ‘Drama’ and ‘Sisters’ by Raina Telgemeier, both of which have been on the New York Times bestseller lists. Another popular title is ‘Amulet’ by Kazu Kibuishi, an award-winning graphic novel series which has been mentioned in a Library Journal list of ‘Graphic Novels for Reluctant Readers’. It also ranked fourth on Goodreads’ ‘Best Graphic Novels for Children’ list. Finally, El Deafo, the Newbery Honor Winner 2015. All quality reads that we hope will encourage those reluctant readers to pick up a book and discover the pleasure of reading.
Department of Education (2014), Reading: The Next steps Clark, C and De Zoysa, S. (2011). Mapping the interrelationships of reading enjoyment, attitudes, behaviour and attainment: An exploratory investigation. National Literacy Trust.
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Crowley, J (2015), Graphic Novels in the School Library, The School Librarian, Vol 63, No.1 KELLETT DRAGON NEWSLETTER
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HIGHLIGHTS Annual Fund SUSANNA SAW CHORAL WORKSHOPS 7-9 FEBRUARY 2017 From 7 – 9 February, Choral Expert in Residence, Susanna Saw, conducted a series of workshops for students from Reception to GCSE level across both the Kowloon Bay and Pok Fu Lam campuses. Courtesy of the Annual Fund, Susanna taught the students a range of fun songs in English and Malay, adding some simple ostinato and harmony parts to some. The children were encouraged to express the music through their bodies by moving through the space in the auditorium, and focusing specific rhythms to parts of the body. A fun day was had by all! Like at Kowloon Bay Prep, every Pok Fu Lam student had the opportunity to work with Susanna, who introduced them to a variety of vocal exercises, songs from Malaysia as well as some new English songs. Susanna also taught the students a lot of fun Kodaly movement exercises to aid the musical learning taking place in each song. Reception and Key Stage 1 particularly enjoyed the frog movement song, where they had to get into all kinds of funny positions at the end of each verse. The children all had a great time working with Susanna and we are very grateful to the Annual Fund for making this visit possible.
Susanna spent her day in the Senior School working with our ABRSM Examination Choir, who enjoyed her workshop immensely. She then held a Vocal Masterclass for our GCSE and Advanced Level students, where she focused upon vocal technique, expression and the production of sound. In the afternoon, she worked on vocal composition and harmony with our GCSE Year 10 students. The students made tremendous progress and were able to compose using various chord voicings, including A Capella singing. After school, Susanna worked with our Whole School Choir and the students sang and danced their evenings away. The Senior School Music Department was most impressed with the outcome of the day and are grateful to the Annual Fund for providing this opportunity.
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WHOLE SCHOOL
HIGHLIGHTS
FRANTIC ASSEMBLY DRAMA 7-8 MARCH 2017 We welcomed internationally renowned physical theatre performance group Frantic Assembly from 7 – 8 March, through the generous donations to this year’s Annual Fund. Students in Year 9 and the GCSE, AS and A-Level Drama students took part in tailored workshops to explore some of the skills Frantic Assembly are famous for. Students were empowered with the Frantic method to participate, educate, collaborate and make thrilling exercises of their own. They were also taught how to demonstrate the physical confidence needed to be brave and bold with the material they are making. The workshops aimed to enable students to transfer techniques into their own productions.
The workshops were followed by an even ing performance of ‘This Will All Be Go ne’ in The David Kid d theatre to all Year 9 – 13 students and parents.
DAVID SADDINGTON, CLIMATE CHANGE SPEAKER 9 MARCH 2017 Senior School students and parents listened with avid interest to climate change specialist David Saddington on 9 March as he spoke about “What exactly is climate change and why should we care?” David was in Hong Kong to present at the British Council’s Science Alive Project and spoke at Kellett courtesy of the Annual Fund.
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FEATURE
Well-being Wellbeing. This word is the latest buzz-word in professional development in corporate circles although it has long existed for students, with schools recognising that a holistic approach to academic success also included the promotion of the social and emotional development and wellbeing of students. Well-being is difficult to define. It includes cognitive, emotional, social and physical aspects and is often referred to as the balance point between a student’s resource pool and the challenges they face. The characteristics of well-being may be summed up as: a positive mind-set, resilience, satisfaction with relationships and other areas of one’s life, effective functioning for age and the maximising of potential. Kellett School actively promotes student well-being from Reception to Year 13 in the provision of safe, supportive and respectful learning environments. Student well-being is everyone’s responsibility in the school setting and Head of the Well-being Team, Justin McLaughlin, works closely with members of staff on well-being initiatives. Inspired by an Annual Fund sponsored course on Positive Education that Justin attended at Geelong Grammer School in Australia, Justin returned with a determination to disseminate the impact of Positive Education on students and staff that he had witnessed first-hand. “In assisting our students to be confident and resilient with a capacity for emotional intelligence, they will perform better academically. Kellett’s well-being programme is about educating and improving the person as a whole, to in turn help lead to a happier school life. As a knock-on effect, a happier
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school life will normally equate to good grades, a healthy school and home-life involvement and a mind-set that enjoys continuous learning and responsible lifestyles.” says Justin. Whilst many people would assume the greatest stresses occur in the latter stages of one’s schooling journey, it is important to remember that difficulties in life are relative and subjective and can affect everyone. Therefore, Kellett focuses not only on those who face important GCSE or A-level exams, but all our students including the youngest who may not know how to vocalise or cope with their difficulties. In the Prep Schools, there has been a particular focus on mindfulness. Kellett has been visited by yoga specialists who spoke to our children about a guided visualisation approach in order to aide breathing and calming oneself down in stressful situations. We have also had all of our Year 6 children undertake the ‘Mindfulness Matters’ programme, which was delivered by Doreen Jowharsha, our speech therapist at Pok Fu Lam. This 8-week course, designed by Mindfulness pioneer Eline Snel, was specifically designed for children and young people, and focuses on awareness of feelings, thoughts, and being compassionate and kind towards others.
WHOLE SCHOOL
FEATURE
As well as these, our PSHE co-ordinators have been trained in Positive Education, in order to continue its development throughout the Prep Schools.
Moving forward, Kellett is eager to ensure that we remain proactive in our approach to student well-being. In November, various members of staff will be attending a Positive Schools Conference, which is an opportunity to share experiences and learn from other leading schools as to how they are approaching well-being. These opportunities are becoming more frequent, as the network of schools paying close attention to well-being increases. With so many other schools, businesses and organisations now realising the critical importance of well-being, it is a really exciting time to see how we can lead, what we can learn from others, and where the next stage of our journey will take us.
In the Senior School, the introduction of ‘Feel Good Fridays’ has been a welcome addition, and a fantastic way to end the week. This initiative is the work of both staff and students, as weekly themes are devised and agreed upon by both parties, with the aim of providing relaxation, fun and happiness, in preparation for the weekend. So far, themes have included ‘Feeling Awake’, which highlighted the importance of a good night’s sleep in celebration of World Sleep Day; ‘Feeling Green’, in celebration of Earth Hour; and ‘Feeling Relaxed’, which featured yoga and meditation for students and staff to participate in. The feedback from staff and students has been very positive and encouraging. Following the success of this initiative in the Senior School, the Wellbeing Team are now looking to spread ‘Feel Good Fridays’ across our Prep Schools as well.
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PREPARATORY
PREP ACROSS THE SCHOOL
French French students continued to thrive last term across the two Prep Schools. Year 3 learnt about clothes and including colours into their descriptions with the correct adjectival endings. Pok Fu Lam students held a fashion show to express their opinions and describe their outfits. Kowloon Bay students looked at some designs by celebrated French designer Jean-Paul Gaultier. They then designed some new school uniforms, mimicking JeanPaul Gaultier’s style! We then learnt about breakfast items, gave our opinions and discovered how to give reasons. Both campuses finished this topic with a French breakfast, where a lot of French was spoken! Year 4 looked at sports and hobbies and giving opinions and reasons on these topics. We also filmed interviews to discuss our feelings about different activities and looked at how we ask questions in French. Students also studied countries and nationalities, presenting where they come from and where they live. At Pok Fu Lam, students began the New Year by baking Galettes Des Rois to celebrate Epiphany. Both campuses learnt about hobbies and used this as a basis for an in depth study of the present tense. We have been practising the conjugation of ‘-er’ verbs and using these to write descriptions of what is happening.
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In Year 6, we learnt about adjectives and adjectival agreements. Using these and the verb ‘être’, students spent some time describing the personalities of members of their family and playing guess who by describing teachers and friends! Year 6 students also spent time looking at reading and listening skills, in preparation for their language lessons in the Senior School. Please keep an eye on the iLearn pages to see curriculum updates, vocab lists, photos and videos. Well done on some great work!
PREPARATORY
PREP ACROSS THE SCHOOL FOBISIA Music Kellett was chosen as the host school for the FOBISIA Primary Performing Arts Carnival this year, and the event was held over the weekend of 24 – 26 March. The Carnival provided not only a fantastic opportunity, but also a great challenge for those students involved. Our students were joined by children from 12 other schools in South East Asia, and combined to make an orchestra and choir totaling 257 pupils! Just seeing this amount of children on the stage together was impressive enough, but when they began playing music collectively, it was quite breathtaking. The progress made by each of the students involved was absolutely staggering, and this was facilitated through instrumental and choral specialist teachers sharing their skills in intense workshops and masterclasses. Every corner of both the Prep and Senior School campuses were alive with the sound of glorious music. It was an awe-inspiring experience for all, and resulted in a truly magnificent concert consisting of some very demanding and complex music, that left the 800 strong audience completely spellbound!
KELLETT DRAGON NEWSLETTER
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PREP ACROSS THE SCHOOL Learning Technology Justin As technology has become all-encompassing in the way we live our lives, we are very aware that student use of technology extends way beyond the classroom. It’s also true that the availability of online instruction, via the likes of YouTube and other portals, enables students to follow their personal interests to achieve quite deep levels of learning. Hong Kong is also blessed with external companies that are able to provide specific expertise to support students in this extended learning. One of our students has recently been working with one of these tech providers and has received national acclaim. Justin may only be in Year 6, but he is already achieving remarkable things. Justin first became interested in coding when he was introduced to Scratch during lessons in Year 4. He spent time outside of lessons learning to code more complex scenarios and also joined the First Code Academy. His skills caught everybody’s attention and he was rewarded when he was the only Year 5 student to be selected for the Kellett FOBISIA Coding Competition last year. True to form, Justin, partnered with three students from Kowloon Bay, produced the excellent game Mission to Mars, beating over 40 other entries to win the overall title. Buoyed by this achievement, Justin decided to enter the Hong Kong Appjamming Competition, an event requiring students to design and create a healthy lifestyle app to run on a mobile device. Justin’s app, which encouraged the user to undertake various physical challenges to earn currency to help them take care of a virtual pet came about after an intense brainstorming session. After successfully coming through the first round of competition, Justin was able to get support from the staff at the Academy to add complexity and depth to his app.
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As the final approached, he also tested his app, mainly with the help of his family, as well as acting upon the feedback he received from the 1st round of competition. On the day of the final Justin had to present his app to a panel of judges prior to allowing members of the audience to try out his invention. Despite favourable responses, Justin was convinced that he would not be able to compete with some of the apps presented by students up to 5 years older than him, apps which he described as “amazing.” Despite his youth, from all the entries from across the region, Justin was announced the “Overall First Runner-Up”, narrowly missing out on a trip to MIT, the home of the Scratch programming language, devised by the much-heralded Seymour Papert. Finishing second has not diminished his enthusiasm at coding and his new aim is to improve his skills in the Python programming language, as well as thinking of some ideas to enter next year’s competition with. Earlier this term, Justin, who is always very modest, spoke to a school assembly, outlining what he had done. It was truly eyeopening to see a student who had achieved so much through determination and self-motivation. As Justin wisely told the assembly: “I would just like to say that you should never give up on anything that you really want to do because if you put your mind to it, anything is possible!” Justin… you heard it here first!
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PREP ACROSS THE SCHOOL
Terri Li (Left) Terri Li pictured (Left)
Terri In many organisations, and schools are no different, there is often a person who is essential to so many people in so many ways, yet who largely remain unheralded publicly and in the background.
discussion with the vendor as she attempts to sort out problems and issues faced by teachers. Terri is the reference point for teachers as they create their pages, having trained most of them at some point during their time at Kellett.
Since it was announced that Theresa (Terri) Li would be leaving us during the Easter holidays, there has been much gnashing of teeth and shaking of heads as teachers wonder quite how they will cope next term.
Given her extensive knowledge of these core-school systems, it’s easy to forget that Terri initially joined us in 2001 to work in our Resources Room at Pok Fu lam. Whist carrying out this role, Terri also completed her Masters in IT in Education at the University of Hong Kong.
Quiet and unassuming, Terri is proficient in many of the systems that make Kellett tick as a learning institution. For many years she was the administrator of SIMS, the management system that holds all the data about students and their learning, the system that generates the reports and takes attendance. Whilst she no longer holds a responsibility in this area, her knowledge is still relied upon. She is akin to a walking back-up disk. She is also the administrator of our Google domain, and the connected GSuite (Google Apps) functionality that goes with it. A function so essential to day-to-day teaching and learning that it’s difficult to imagine how we could prepare our students for the future without it. Terri has a great understanding of how the technical aspects of the system work as well as the implications on teaching and learning for any update or tweak to the system. Her email inbox documents hours of discussion with Google on problems she has discovered in the system which can hamper teachers and students in their workspaces.
After ensuring that our resources were in order Terri then transitioned to her role as database Manager and even found time to teach technology to the Reception classes for 2 years! After conquering SIMS, she then oversaw the development of the new school web site and was instrumental in the launch of our iLearn VLE, training staff throughout the school in its use. When Kellett moved to Google Apps for Edu, Terri became the administrator of that resource, running the system on a day-to-day basis and ensuring that Google were kept on their toes when it came to any glitches or problems. Google Apps, or G-Suite as it is now known is a core element of learning at Kellett. Terri is admired and respected by all her colleagues and we are losing a tremendous asset who has contributed hugely to our development over the past 16 years. We wish her all the best for the future.
If that were not enough, Terri also manages our iLearn Virtual Learning Environment. Again, Terri has an extensive knowledge of how this system works, so much so, that the company that makes iLearn often refer to her for expertise, knowing as they do, that her knowledge often exceeds that of their representatives! Again, her inbox documents hours of
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HIGHLIGHTS - POK FU LAM
“The quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers” (2007 McKinsey Report), is a statement that rings true with most educationalists. High performing schools and school systems can only offer the best education if those responsible for delivering it are at the top of their game, are passionate, highly competent and continually look to refine, reflect and improve.
In order to be at the forefront of innovative, engaging and impactful teaching and learning, Kellett needs to ensure that all within the teaching community continue to engage in high quality professional development, and the school must provide opportunities for those to do so. After all, great schools are improving schools and should unashamedly support a love of learning for all. At the heart of all high performing schools, and this would be the case at Kellett, is a strategic and rigorous commitment to providing Continuous Professional Learning (CPL) for teachers (and all those working within the organisation). For the benefit of this article, I will focus solely on teacher CPL. Continuous Professional Learning is made distinct from Professional Development in that is focuses specifically on developing and improving teaching skills, and is a continual ongoing process. Reference to CPL is often one of the key questions that prospective candidates should be asking at interview – ‘How will you develop me? How will you help me to be an even better teacher than I am already?’ It is critical that CPL develops as part of the school’s development culture.
What is Continual Professional Learning? CPL is the means by which teachers develop and grow their professional expertise in order to maintain and enhance the quality of their practice. High quality CPL is based on the key principles outlined below: • improves teaching and learning and is outcome and impact focused • is well-led and planned • is evidence-informed and involves evidence-creation • is a collaborative endeavour, sustained over a period of time, with expert input or facilitation • includes leadership development Effective CPL has a positive impact on the teacher, student and the school. There are a wide range of methods and approaches in offering School based CPL.
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Identify the Need Throughout the year teaching and learning is monitored through a range of both formal and informal procedures. These include lesson observations, learning walks (where professionals drop into a series of lessons for up to ten minute periods) and scrutinizing work through book sampling. These processes provide Teachers and Leaders with evidence of practice and standards across a range of Year groups, classes and identified groups within age phases and subject areas. The information gathered provides teachers with opportunities to reflect on feedback and engage in discussion. The focus of the ensuing discussions is bound by two key questions; “What was observed to be good practice? What could be further improved?” The discussion and analysis of the evidence gathered then informs the, ‘What next?’ approaches, and drive how CPL should be strategically planned and delivered.
What does it look like? CPL should be developed over time and provide opportunities for practitioners to exchange ideas and discuss how they approach aspects of their practice. An example of this was a recent CPL ‘Swop Shop’ session, which focused on differentiation (the means of personalising learning for students within a group through a range of resources, pedagogic approaches and techniques). The initial foci were based on the facilitators’ observations and findings during their monitoring across the school. This led to highlighting best practice and extracting specific examples and approaches which informed discussion. This in turn provided on going reflection and further reference via an online network. During the workshop meeting, identified teachers with the relevant skills, strategies and subject knowledge, provided 20 minute interactions where colleagues were invited to contribute, share and respond through discussion in order to identify best practice. Teaching colleagues selected the focus group and carousel led facilitators of their choice. Following the workshop discussions, an online teaching community was set up where facilitators and colleagues could share more about their ideas by referencing specific articles, blogs and multimedia examples, and pull together themes and suggestions through the Google virtual networking. In doing so, threads of ideas and approaches could be applied and refined over time.
We have been increasingly adapting and adopting the use of technologies to support and enhance teaching and learning. The use of video technology for example, is a highly effective means of being able to isolate and analyse aspects of teacher delivery in order to share and improve best practice. Developing virtual learning communities further provides opportunities for virtually sharing and resources and new ideas can be easily shared with those engaged.
and improve their practice. Schools benefit from ensuring that effective CPL supports identified school development priorities and underpins the culture of continuous improvement.
A wide variety of coaching models are also actively in role and serve practitioners, particularly middle leaders across the school. Much has been written about the coaching model, not only in education but other industries. At Kellett, coaching is a means of refining how whole school strategies, such as appraisal and monitoring, are developed using the GROW model. This requires expert questioning and listening from the coach in order for the coachee to: identify the outcomes and goals (G), assess the current situation – the reality (R), options for achieving the goal (O), and identification of which personnel it will involve (W). The use of coaching systems is a now a very well established means of structuring and scaffolding solution focused bespoke and group based learning opportunities that enable the coachee to reflects and as well as the reviewer benefitting from the exercise.
“... the kind of education needed today requires teachers to be high-level knowledge workers who constantly advance their own professional knowledge as well as that of their profession.” (Schleicher, 2012:11)
PREPARATORY
HIGHLIGHTS - POK FU LAM
A recent Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report makes clear, professional learning in the teaching profession is more important today than it has ever been:
Ben Dixon Head of Preparatory School, Pok Fu Lam
Who benefits? It is essential that the school utilises the expertise of practitioners within the school setting, in order to benefit from their particular skills, knowledge and interests. This ranges from members of the Senior Leadership Team, Middle Leaders, Teachers working with their colleagues and in some cases students working with adults to offer feedback and co-construct ways forward. Ultimately, good CPL is beneficial for the recipients which, in turn, has a direct impact on our students. However, teachers also benefit from ensuring that they have opportunities to consolidate, refine
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School council The School Council thought about ways in which we would like to improve our school. Three main things were discussed. 1. Having a school fish tank/aquarium. 2. Having more plants in school. 3. Making sure every classroom had a book shelf to store books. Class Councils voted, and the most popular choice was having some fish! The School Council reps talked about why this was a good idea. People thought the fish would be nice to look at and that they would be quiet and calm in the Dragon’s Den; our book choosing and reading area. Mr Dixon has asked the School Council to look into whether this idea is feasible. We plan to discuss this and do some research in the coming month. We also had to think of ways to fund raise. The most popular vote was to have a Pyjama Day! Our Pyjama Day took place
Reception Last term our first topic was all about transport. This gave us lots of opportunities to use our imagination to go on different adventures and explore a range of ways to travel. We started our topic ‘All Aboard Kellett Airlines’, piloted by Mr Silvester, who took us on a flying adventure around the world. We also went on a bus on our trip to the Maritime Museum, where we were able to explore different types of sea craft from history to the present day. We were able to use our Maths knowledge to complete traffic surveys, as well as test our ideas on floating and sinking and construct airports that could rival some of the world’s best! During our second topic, ‘Countries Around the World’, we learnt all about different places, their cultures and the animals that live there. We had a great time dressing up in our final week of the topic as a country that was important to us. We had some colourful Indian sarees, some All Black rugby players, and a few Australian cork hats! It was a great way for us to celebrate the international make up of our classes and share and learn from each other.
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on Monday 3 April, and everyone had a great time! The School Council also asked their classes to think about how to make sure our school is eco-friendly. We would also like to organise a fun event towards the end of the year! As you can see, we have lots to think about and discuss. We will keep you posted!
HIGHLIGHTS - POK FU LAM PREPARATORY
Year 1 thinking about ways these can be improved. During the topic we made our own islands using Papier-mâché, and added human and physical features to them. During the term, we also had an unexpected visit from a panda, which truly kicked off our Book Week! The children were visited by two Authors and enjoyed reading with our KS2 buddies. We decorated our book doors and paraded the school playground as some interesting book characters.
Year 1 were extremely lucky to receive a visit from the Jurassic Garage to consolidate our ‘Amazing Animals’ topic. We had been learning about animal classification and we were able to meet a selection of different animals and learn about the different countries they were from, their habitats and how they are cared for at the zoo. The students had great fun touching and learning about snakes, lizards, and other animals. With such a close encounter we could truly understand and appreciate the animals texture, detail, beauty and much much more!
Throughout each topic, we have produced some fabulous writing and created our own non-fiction texts. We have also continued to work on our maths topics and have become much better at our quick thinking addition and subtraction and are now learning how to multiply and divide! Another fantastic term!
Our ‘All at Sea’ topic began with a wet yet wonderful trip to Cheung Chau island. We learnt to find human features on the island, giving reasons why they are beneficial, alongside
Year 2 We had a very busy and exciting Spring Term! We began the term by learning about healthy eating in our topic, ‘You Are What You Eat’. As part of this unit, we enjoyed investigating, designing, making and evaluating both healthy smoothies and sandwiches; they were delicious! We learnt all about the digestive system and wrote our own explanation texts all about how it works. We then moved onto another exciting topic, ‘Who Changed the World?’, where we studied various significant people and the impact they have had on our lives. Whilst learning about Alexander Graham Bell, we investigated making our own cup and string phones. We had a lot of fun! As part of our Literacy we also studied a very important person, Florence Nightingale. For this unit we created our own information fact files about Florence Nightingale and the impact she had on hospitals in the Victorian era and how she has impacted our lives today. Last term, Year 2 also showcased our fabulous assemblies to the school and our parents. 2AG performed, ‘Little Red Riding Hood’, with a twist! 2AOC shared the story of St Patrick’s Day, and 2LK debated ‘Who is the greatest?’, based on our topic, ‘Who Changed the World?’ We also enjoyed participating in special events including Book Week, with visits from Matt Cooper and Val Bloom and Science Day, with a very exciting workshop from Active Kids where we got to take part in a variety of weird and wonderful experiments! It’s been another fantastic term in Year 2 and we look forward to more exciting learning to come! KELLETT DRAGON NEWSLETTER
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HIGHLIGHTS - POK FU LAM PREPARATORY
Year 3
At the start of the term, it was finally Year 3’s chance to entertain the school and showcase our amazing acting talents. First up was 3KG, and their assembly entitled ‘Remember, remember…’ which sought to explain the background of the ‘Gunpowder Plot’. After this wonderful performance including Henry VIII and his many wives, our fantastic storytelling continued as 3ML wowed us all with their version of Roald Dahl’s ‘Danny the Champion of the World’ and an incredible portrayal of the dramatic events in this well-loved children’s classic. Finally, 3JM educated us with their informative overview of how we celebrate Chinese New Year as well as some brilliant performances acting out the exciting events in the great race. Once our thespian skills had been showcased, our attention turned to being super scientists. As part of our ‘Smile’ topic, we learnt all about different types of teeth and produced some excellent models which helped us to understand the structure of a tooth as well as how tooth decay occurs. We had a chance to find out how well we were brushing our own teeth, using disclosing tablets, and then shared our learning about looking after our teeth to ensure we could reduce toothache! During our investigation into tooth decay, the pungent stench of vinegar nearly overwhelmed our classrooms, but it was very interesting for us to learn all about how dangerous acidic liquids are! Continuing our Science learning, we also celebrated ‘Science Day’ and enjoyed a magnificent morning of activities across Year 3 and 4 (with many of our Year 3s even getting the chance to visit the laboratory for the first time!).
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A real highlight of our children’s experience at Kellett is our residential trips, which start in Year 3. Having changed the location of our camp this year to Cheung Chau, the children enjoyed an action-packed and fun-filled few days, including caving, tie-dying and catapult building. The evening barbeque was a super success, and although the children definitely were keen to enjoy more s’mores, it was soon time for bed (and some of us even managed to get some sleep!). Huge congratulations to Year 3 for being so brave on their first school trip away from home overnight; we are so proud of you all! Last term we also really enjoyed our ‘Book Week’ activities, and were incredibly lucky to meet some very talented authors, including Valerie Bloom who inspired us with her poetry. As ever, our character ‘dress-up’ day was a real success and it was wonderful to see such inventive costumes and the children really celebrating reading.
HIGHLIGHTS - POK FU LAM PREPARATORY
Year 4 sneezed back into the auditorium onto a large handkerchief, that has thankfully now been washed! 4HH also went adventuring in their assembly, this time to Poetryland, where speaking in rhyme was done all the time! They wowed the audience with all they learnt about figurative language and types of poems, particularly through their own polished performance of 'Heard It In The Playground'. Lucky 4JK had their assembly in Book Week. Inspired by the story 'I Want My Hat Back', they entertained the school with an all-singing, all-dancing, hat extravaganza! What better way to enjoy a book than to become the characters yourself! It has been an exciting Term 2 in Year 4! Whether adventuring on camp, performing in their class assemblies or learning together in class, the children have amazed and impressed their teachers with their boundless energy and enthusiasm! Through our topics 'Moving and Growing' we learnt all about how our muscles work and created some informative and engaging multi-media presentations to explain. 4TF continued their learning about the body by journeying through one in their class assembly! By first getting eaten and then travelling through the bloodstream, they shared facts galore before being
A highlight of the term was the much anticipated and very exciting Year 4 camp on Lantau Island. Building on their learning during the topic 'Junior Navigator', it was fun to explore the places that had been studied with maps photographs and websites in the classroom. While away from home, the children participated in a wide range of activities from archery, climbing and rope courses to exploring the fishing village of Tai O and the Po Lin Monastery. There they met a bolshie buffalo that was intent on joining the Kellett party! With all of that, and many more adventures going on, there was plenty of sleep to be had in the dormitories. Well... some, anyway!
Year 5 The Year 5’s had a busy and exciting term. In the first few days we designed, created and tested egg protection units by launching these from the first floor to the playground. Most eggs were protected and there were hardly any eggs hurt in the experiment! In literacy, we started by reading Michael Morpurgo’s, ‘Kensuke’s Kingdom’. From this we generated lots of different types of writing which included letters and descriptive writing, whilst continuing to broaden our technical vocabulary. Valerie Bloom also visited us during ‘Book Week’, and we learnt how to speak in Patois, helping to develop our performance poetry by reciting some of her fantastic poems. In Science we have been learning about the sugar content of different foods through designing and making our own smoothies. This was complemented in ICT with us creating our own label for our smoothies using the app ‘Assembly’. Mr Dawes explained CARP, (Contrast, Alignment, Repetition and Proximity) the principles of which we used to help design our labels. The delicious smoothies were then made and tested! To finish off the term, we read Carol Wilkinson’s ‘Dragon Keeper’, which was a stimulus for finding out more about China’s history. In addition, we researched China’s First Emperor Qin, in preparation for our Beijing trip. KELLETT DRAGON NEWSLETTER
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Year 6
Year 6 became rock stars at the start of the year, imagining we were jetting around the world and being interviewed by ‘Rolling Stone’ magazine. Through our Journalistic Writing unit in Literacy, students acted out the ‘jet-set’ lifestyle and became singing sensations. Also in literacy, the controversial topic of graffiti was hotly debated in classrooms, and pupils created their own ‘tags’ for display. What is your ideal holiday? Booking a holiday, especially when a family is involved, can be a daunting task. However, there is no need to worry with Year 6 around. During the spring term, Year 6 Students studied tourism throughout their ‘Destination Investigation’ topic. Research skills, analyzing results of questionnaires and using IT to design holiday villas
required our students to think creatively and work together to solve problems in teams. The result of all this hard work was extremely impressive: a set of holiday villas located in a range of well-researched destinations. Well done Year 6 on a very successful term!
Art It is the Year of the Rooster. Each student in Pok Fu Lam Prep created an artwork using a rooster as their subject matter in celebration of Chinese New Year. From Year 1 to Year 6, students celebrated the Chinese New Year through collage, painting, mixed media, ceramics and drawing. The results of the student’s efforts are amazing. As the year continues, each year group will be continuing their artistic journey by exploring a variety of visual art techniques which include textiles, mixed media, acrylic painting, drawing and ceramics. Students will be looking to working and master artists as their inspiration as well as subject matters which include self-portraits, landscape, animals, dinosaurs, traditional Chinese architecture, and floral still life. In addition to the set curriculum, students will be creating several collaborative artworks which will be on permanent display around the Pok Fu Lam campus towards the end of 2017.
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PREPARATORY
ARTS & LANGUAGES - POK FU LAM Music Last term was a whirlwind of exciting performance events for the PFL Music Department! Back in January we held our very first Music Eisteddfod for Key Stages 1 & 2, in which over 80 children performed instrumental solos or in small chamber ensembles. We all enjoyed learning some Welsh folk songs and a traditional Welsh folk dance as well! Every student who performed should be hugely congratulated, as well as our Eisteddfod winners from each year group: Ryan Lee, Amelia Peech, Danny Baxter, Hugo Mellor, Natalya Taylor and Anya Gorthy. Towards the end of February, we had this year’s Musical Production ‘Fiddler on the Roof Jr’, which the cast, crew and scenery club all worked extremely hard towards, delivering a very mature and polished show from start to finish. The cast
gave an absolutely brilliant performance, and it’s fair to say that as well as having a brilliant time throughout the rehearsal process, both students and staff learnt a huge amount about the historical and cultural context behind this epic musical. In March, we had two more big performance events. The first of these was the FOBISIA Primary Music Festival, which was this year hosted at KLB from 24 – 26 March. The standard of music created in these few days by children from schools across Asia was absolutely breathtaking. Needless to say, they also had a huge amount of fun! When they were not rehearsing, the FOBISIA students were involved in an array of other activities; dance workshops, drumming workshops, flag making (to prepare for the final concert!) performing in the talent show and of course finishing off with a fantastic party to send all of the visiting schools off in style! A couple of days after this musical extravaganza, we were back over at KLB for this year’s Annual Concert! Again, we were incredibly proud of all the performers who played and sung as part of the Orchestras and Choirs. As well as individual items, the children also had the opportunity to combine with both KLB Prep and KLB Senior for some of the larger numbers. We were incredibly proud of the students last term. They delivered time and time again, and I’m sure they enjoyed a well-earned rest over the Easter holiday!
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ARTS & LANGUAGES - POK FU LAM Chinese studies This year is the year of Rooster and a 9-foot tall handsome rooster stood proudly in the PFL Dragon Den area ushering all the good luck and good health to the campus. Students of all year groups enjoyed learning Chinese New Year traditions through cultural talks, videos, songs, project work, the making of chicken and rooster related art work and other Chinese arts and crafts. Students from KS1 had great fun playing with the lion dance. Students from Beijing Xinxian Hutong Primary School, our Beijing sister school, visited Kellett PFL campus in January. They enjoyed playing games in the classroom, watching a class assembly, participating in Scottish dancing and finishing with a bite of our local pizzas. Students benefited a lot from our Chinese and English reading activities and game days with our local sister school, Hok Shan Primary School. The best part was the lion dance performed by Hok Shan students to entertain Kellett students and staff. We are looking forward to our upcoming Beijing trip!
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PREPARATORY
EXTRAS - POK FU LAM ECAs
Netball
Painting Chinese
Cross Country
tre Musical Thea
Flute
KeLLEtt Cares squares, write a Chinese character and place it on the Dragon for a chance to win a Bookazine gift card. Our lucky winner this year was Noah from Year 2. A total of HK$17,654 was collected from the Christmas concerts donations. A cheque was made out and delivered to the food bank at St. James’ Settlement. This year we added foreign coins to our Coins for a Cause collection. Amazingly, HK$29,961.43 in foreign currency was collected from 58 Countries! These funds were donated to UNICEF. A total of $8,877.90 in Hong Kong Dollars was collected for Kellett Cares. Congratulations to 3-JM who collected the highest amount of Hong Kong Dollars. Once again, the Kellett Community came together to make last term as productive as ever for Kellett Cares, and, as is always the case, none of it would have been possible without the efforts of all the volunteers. Years 3 and 4 ran pizza sales, which are always a big hit with the students, and raised valuable funds for Kellett Cares. In order to celebrate Chinese New Year, we had the yearly Dragon Scales sale where children were able to purchase red
As always, the Kellett/ICM trip to Bacolod, Philippines, to visit the kindergarten we sponsor was an amazing learning experience and opportunity to see where the funds we raise have such a significant impact. See whole school Kellett Cares for details. Next term there will be an Assembly so the participants can share their experiences with the students. Again, a big thank you to everyone. None of this could have been accomplished without you!
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SPORT - POK FU LAM PREPARATORY
PE Term 2 was another packed term for the PE department. Outside of normal ECA Sports and training sessions there have been 30 different events this term that our young athletes have been taking part in!
Curriculum PE Last term during curriculum PE we focused on Gymnastics throughout the school. Reception children participated in lots of lessons where they learnt and refined the basic skills of rotation, inversion, flight and balance. They enjoyed working on the equipment and attempting new skills like cartwheels. Our Year 1 – Year 5 students spent time working through their proficiency awards and working hard to execute skills with control and fluency. On completion of the awards they moved onto apparatus work, using ropes and ladders to improve climbing and rotating as well as the high balance beam and the boxes for rolling, headstands and cartwheels. It was pleasing to watch the children support each other in their learning and challenge themselves on the harder equipment. Our Year 6 students worked through the Sports Leaders Award from the UK. The Playmaker award involves them working with our younger students to plan, practice and lead sports sessions. They worked hard in the different theory lessons to improve their ability to lead the sessions. In games sessions, Year 3 and 4 worked hard on their basketball and rugby skills and Year 5 continued with their curriculum swimming, where we have seen wonderful progress in both technique and stamina. Year 6 have been working hard on their rugby, both touch and contact, and in cricket we were lucky enough to have a one off session with the Kowloon Cantons coaches and players who were participating in the Hong Kong T20 Cricket Bash!
FOBISIA Trials Our FOBISIA trials took place in the month of January, with a new look format for FOBISIA team selection this year. All the children who took part in the trials did so with great enthusiasm and determination. The sportsmanship during the trials were exemplary, and all the children who participated should be commended for their efforts. Well done to those children who were selected. We are looking forward to the annual FOBISIA Primary Games in May in Brunei.
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FOBISIA Games Squad 2017 Year 5 Boys William Gore
Nicholas Murfin
Hugo Mahe
Dylan Mayooran
Coen Moorrees
Dylan Bettle
Hamish Walls
Oliver Holden
Felix Spooner
Erwan Kermaidic
Girls Jemima Bateman
Lucie Gordan
Matilda Edwards
Eleanor Lewis
Elise Keefe
Charlotte McAuliffe
Molly Mackel
Chloe Meenan
Pia Nichol
Year 6 Boys William Dingley
Adam Graham
Sasha Jivkov
Jamie Ireland
Ben Irvine
Charlie Maltas
St. John Smith
Harri James
Shodai Kobayashi
Tom Fabiani
Girls Kristina Akova
Bella Barnett
Belle Chang
Simisola Bergkvist
Jessica Boa
Katherine Dijanosic
Molly Hughes
Jasmine Mellor
Chloe Davies
Joy Oliver
PREPARATORY
SPORT - POK FU LAM Year 6 GSIS Champs Year 6 Boys 2nd
3rd
William Dingley
Owen Arnaudy
DC “The Race” Results Year 4 Boys Year 5 Boys 1st Overall / 72 runners
3rd Overall / 68 runners
Callum Arnaudy
Nicholas Murfin
Year 5 Girls 3rd Fastest Team overall / 16 teams
Rugby The rugby season was well and truly upon us at the start of January. With 8 official ESF and International tournaments last term, and various friendly matches during our ECA sessions, the rugby girls and boys had plenty of competition to get involved in! Through the International Schools and ESF tournaments, our ECA players were able to participate in touch, tag and contact tournaments throughout the term. The results in all tournaments saw all teams reaching the finals and semi-final stages of the competitions. A huge well done to all the boys and girls who took part, many of them dedicating a lot of time to represent the school last term and putting in such a great effort during each event!
Cross Country Our Cross Country season was also a busy one with GSIS – Kellett Championships taking place at Happy Valley for our Year 3 – 6s. We also had friendly runs against KLB around Hong Kong, and the final event, which was hosted by Discovery College on Saturday 11 March, was a fabulous competition which saw 36 of our runners participating. Here is a list of the awards and achievements. Well done to all who took part in the ECA and also the events.
Year 3 GSIS Champs Year 3 Boys 1st
2nd
3rd
Max Shaw
Ben Bateman
Wilfred Austin
Jemima Bateman
Chloe Meenan
Waka Horie
Eleanor Lewis
Elise Keefe
Swimming The swimming programme at Kellett continues to develop. We had our very first whole school entry into the CIS run International Schools event. The Kellett Prep students worked extremely hard, with many recording PB’s and working through events which were maybe not their specialism. The importance of points definitely came into play, and it was fantastic to see the Kellett combined Senior and Prep team come 1st over all out of the big swim schools in Hong Kong! Well done to St. John Smith who topped the leader board in his age division!
Kellett PFL Swim Team for CIS Invitational Adam Graham Pia Nichol
St. John Smith
Kristina Akova
Charlotte Ducanois Brodie Whittingham
Philippa Papworth Some of our Year 5 & 6 swimmers took part in a three-week Kellett Invitational meet that happened over three Thursday afternoons at Kowloon Bay. Teams competing were Kellett KLB, Kellett PFL, GSIS, NAIS, JIS and DBIS. Both teams did Kellett Prep proud on the days that they swam, and we were delighted to take the overall point’s trophy back to Pok Fu Lam after the three meets! Well done to all of the students who swam in the meets!
Year 4 GSIS Champs Year 4 Boys — Joint 1st Callum Arnaudy
Sam Sofoluwe
Year 4 Girls 2nd Eva Seddon
Year 5 GSIS Champs Boys Girls 1st
1st
2nd
Nicholas Murfin
Chloe Meenan
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HIGHLIGHTS - KOWLOON BAY Imagine how you might react if the surgeon who was about to operate on you, paused as you were being wheeled into the operating theatre and said, “Don’t worry, I’ve been doing this procedure exactly the same way for the last twenty-five years… I know what I’m doing.” You may well feel quite anxious. Your assumption would be that significant advances and breakthroughs in medical science and technology would have occurred during that period which would dramatically improve the likelihood of a successful outcome. You’d be wondering why your surgeon hadn’t felt the need to stay current and adopt any new procedures and techniques!
When it comes to professionals such as surgeons and doctors, we have an expectation that they have kept completely up to date with any, and all, advances in their field. Do we ever think about teachers and education in the same way? Shouldn’t we have the same expectation? Like a surgeon, a teacher should be approaching their profession with the most up-to-date knowledge and methods available. The idea that ‘what was good enough for me when I was a child is good enough now’, overlooks the evergrowing understanding of the concept of ‘learning’. Research on ‘learning’ is regularly uncovering new understandings of this complex and abstract process. As new information on the brain, how it functions and the ways humans learn comes to light, the effectiveness of different pedagogical approaches is re-evaluated. Teaching needs to be a constantly evolving and advancing profession, and a commitment by every teacher to Continuous Professional Learning (CPL) is essential to stay current, delivering the best and most effective learning strategies for students. Continuous Professional Learning can be accessed by teachers in many different forms. Regular reading to keep abreast of current research is key. This sits alongside participation in short courses delivered by other professionals, Action Research Projects in the classroom, observing the practice of colleagues, weekly school INSET and workshops and online or further education courses. These all give teachers new tools and strategies to maximise student progress. One of the many ways teachers at Kellett School can pursue CPL is via our membership to The Federation of British International Schools in Asia (FOBISIA). This network of schools collaborates on many aspects of CPL but in particular takes turns to run JAWS events. JAWS stands for Job-Alike-Workshops; gatherings of teachers who have a similar specialism or area to develop such as Mathematics, Early Years or Music, for example. The Job Alike Workshops (JAWS) embody the spirit of sharing good practice, collaboration and developing new ideas. It is expected that those who participate in JAWS actively contribute to discussions and host workshops. In addition, a JAWS may also involve a guest speaker or expert who shares new developments in an aspect of education.
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In recent months, Kellett Prep teachers have attended JAWS events for Inclusion Leaders, Early Years Practitioners and Lead teachers for Technology. Our teachers have shared expertise by presenting examples of their own practice and have enjoyed presentations and workshops led by teachers from around the region. FOBISIA schools take turns at hosting these events, providing the added opportunity for teachers to look closely at the different ways international schools are designing and arranging learning environments. In recent years, Kellett School has hosted a JAWS event for Inclusion Leaders on Gifted and Talented Provision and one for CPL Leaders in schools on ‘Coaching’. Both have been effective ways of sharing good practice and of showcasing our school. In addition to the Job Alike Workshops, FOBISIA provides other means through which teachers can evolve their practice. Our involvement in sporting competitions and music events gives our teachers opportunities to collaborate with teachers in similar schools. Observing others and working alongside them is a great way to sharpen and refresh skills and be inspired with new ideas. These collaborative platforms are also a great way for teachers to form long lasting links and networks with colleagues in the region. Like all professionals, teachers have a responsibility to develop and grow their knowledge and skills, and our commitment to the JAWS programme and FOBISIA events provide effective vehicles for this. As we move into 2017-18 Academic Year, FOBISIA will continue to be an important pillar in Kellett School’s Continuous Professional Learning Strategy.
Jo Laufer Head of Preparatory School, Kowloon Bay
PREPARATORY
HIGHLIGHTS - KOWLOON BAY School council The School Council last term were busy constructing a research questionnaire for all students in the school to complete. They aimed to discover what improvements the students would like to see, and what event they would like to take part in during the third term. The School Council also visited our local charity ‘The HUB’, and spent time socialising with students, taking part in various games, arts, crafts and sporting activities. The students were able to share experiences with the children, and see where the money raised from Pyjama Dodgeball Day was used.
RECEPTION Countries from around the world and looking after the environment were our focus for the second-half of the Spring term. We used our research skills to find out about Australia, Kenya, India and China and then shared our knowledge in different ways from art to non-fiction books, storying telling to dance and music. It was wonderful to have so many parents in to talk to us about different countries and to share some of their traditions with us. A highlight of the term was our presentations on countries that were important to us. It was a great opportunity for us to practise our speaking skills in front of a group, and also work on the art of asking questions and listening to others! We finished our topic off with a dress up day to celebrate all the different countries in the world.
Another highlight from last term was Book Week! A panda had escaped from the zoo and was seen on CCTV footage playing in our covered area! We found out lots of information about pandas over the week from a range of non-fiction books and designed posters and signs to ask the community to look out for the panda! We also learnt about having good manners through the book ‘Please Mr Panda’, and thought of our own ways that we could show others our beautiful manners. We loved dressing up as our favourite book characters on World Book Day and shared our most loved stories with our Year 1 friends.
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HIGHLIGHTS - KOWLOON BAY year 1 Did you know that cheetahs cannot roar? Did you know that pandas can poo up to 40 times a day? Did you know that a poison dart frog has enough poison to kill 20,000 mice? 1BN and 1VA know it all! Sir David Attenborough’s legacy returned to Year 1 for an Amazing Animal topic-filled Spring Term! Once again, this topic captivated a real love and interest for learning amongst the children. Using their new found facts and knowledge about various different creatures, they have been totally inspired to read, write, research and present on anything and everything animal related! Following on from becoming budding zoologists, Year 1 moved on to their new topic ‘All at Sea’. Shiver me timbers! A real highlight on this adventure was a rather exciting treasure hunt, following Captain Redbeard’s old map and discovering puzzling clues along the way! North, South, East or West, Year 1’s direction skills are now the best! Linked in to this, the children loved extending their navigational skills by writing directions for their own treasure maps. They even created simple algorithms for the beebots, making them go here, there and everywhere!
year 2 Year 2 had a sensational and very busy Term 2! Our focus for the first half of term was ‘We Are What We Eat’. Learning about the different food groups and the effect on our bodies, the children discovered what we need to eat to have a healthy and balanced diet. The children then applied this knowledge to create their own super healthy pizzas! A pesto base packed with vegetables was a popular favourite! We had many visitors help us learn how we can stay healthy and how we grow. Nurse Sue came and spoke to us about medicines and the importance of sleep. We had several babies and toddler siblings and their parents present how human needs change as we grow and develop. We saw how we become so much more independent as we grow!
Meanwhile, in English, we wrote diary entries by the Hungry Caterpillar showing our ability to get into the mind of a character and use the first person to write. Later, we learnt about persuasion so that, at the end of the term, we were able to create beautifully presented and very persuasive leaflets about healthy living. Following all things healthy, we began researching significant people in ‘Who Changed the World?’ We learnt many interesting facts about historical figures from George Stephenson, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Helen Keller and the Wright Brothers. We celebrated all things Science with a fantastic Science Week! The focus was on Change - changing states and chemical reactions, how we can build structures and change their shape to hold more weight. Ms Astle led an explosive assembly to kick off the week and inspired Year 2 to investigate change. We now know how to build tall structures with only two materials and power a boat across water using only soap!
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HIGHLIGHTS - KOWLOON BAY year 3 very first journeys on the Star Ferry and The Peak Tram. A truly memorable day, with 3BF just beating 3PI to the finish line and becoming 2017’s Race to the Peak champions.
What a busy term it was in Year 3 at Kowloon Bay. We kick started the term with our ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’ topic. After planning our own routes around Hong Kong, using as many methods of transport as possible, we embarked upon our epic adventure; The Race to the Peak! This was with the purpose of finding out all about the city we live in and exploring our surroundings. If you ask any of us, we will be able to give you fascinating facts, exhilarating anecdotes and show you the spectacular sights that we saw during the day! Some of us enjoyed our
We have been finding new ways to challenge ourselves this year. One of the best ways to demonstrate this was when we tested our independence skills to the limit by spending our very first night away from home at camp. On a grey Wednesday morning, 43 excited children met at Central Ferry Pier 5 to take the ferry to Cheung Chau; a first time visit for KLB Prep. We were met by our activity leaders from Dragonfly who soon brightened up our day with songs and team building games. A highlight for many of us was the secret pirate cave where we climbed into the deep, dark depths to see what we could find. Luckily the only pirate down there went by the name of “Captain Whitey”. After a fun-packed day which ended with making s’mores, we snuggled down, hoping for a good night’s rest, which only some of us managed to get! Sadly, the next day we had to return home but before we did, we continued to work in our teams. We were cheered on and supported by our friends as we braved the climbing wall. Later, while developing our communication skills, we managed to build some impressive sand sculptures. After all of this excitement, we left for the ferry to meet our parents who, we are sure, missed us very much.
year 4 Moving and Growing After a well-deserved break over the Christmas period the children returned to a new topic, ‘Moving and Growing’. We explored the topic by tackling a scientific investigation head on. The children were posed with the statement, “do bones change with age?” They had the task of planning and creating a fair test, measuring and collecting data and writing up their findings and conclusions. This topic was linked with English. The children learnt about different non-fiction texts and the similarities and differences between information, instruction, recount and explanation texts. They created fantastic explanation texts related to muscles, their growth, repair and movement.
Camp Season Following on from the first major event of Year 4, the Pantomime, the children were thoroughly excited to embrace the prospect of camp on Lantau Island. From meeting at Pier 6 early on Wednesday morning, to heading home from the same spot on Friday afternoon, it is safe to say the children enjoyed every moment. They were submerged in activities once they arrived at the YWCA. Archery, orienteering, the rock wall and rope climbing were all on the menu. Year 4 got to experience the the history and beauty of an old fishing village with a visit to Tai O and the Big Buddha. A massive thank you from all of us for the help and support from parents who threw themselves into the 3-day camp. It ran smoothly due to your hard work and commitment. It would have been impossible without you. Thank you! KELLETT DRAGON NEWSLETTER
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year 5 ‘who wants to be a superhero?’ Year 5 were transfixed by this brilliant array of science wonders, and how it proved that science really can give you superpowers. Who would have guessed that Term 2 of Year 5 would be so thrilling? We kicked off the term with a scrumptious start, when we were introduced to our advancing topic, ‘Feed Me Now’. As Year 5 students, we were eager to start when it was mentioned that we would be inventing and creating our own healthy smoothie. After a vast amount of determination and perseverance our nutritious smoothies were complete. Not only were they delicious, but they were packed with vitamins as well. ‘Feed Me Now’ gradually evolved into more science based activities that consisted of not only dissecting a pig’s heart, but the more practical things, such as investigating the circulatory system. As a result of our continued efforts, we were rewarded with an action packed excursion to the Science Museum, where so many wonders awaited us; we didn’t know where to begin! However, we are certain that the majority of us found the lecture by far the most phenomenal section of the trip. This entertaining lecture was based on the philosophical question,
Before we knew it, mysteries crept slyly into our Year 5 English books, and without hesitation we investigated the intriguing pages from the uncompleted Mysteries of Harris Burdick. When Book Week arrived, the whole school was astounded by the sheer brilliance of our own personal chronicles of Harris Burdick, that contained hidden twists and decoys. With Harris Burdick done and dusted, Year 5 were requiring a new topic, and China appeared to be ideal for the purpose, as the upcoming trip to Beijing was rapidly advancing nearer. To awaken new interest in the Year 5 students, we had a China hook day. On that singular special occasion, we undertook an array of educational yet amusing activities. These included traditional Chinese board games, a complex chopstick and pasta game as well as dumpling making and ancient terracotta warrior molding. Well, if this was what Term 2 presented us with, who knows what wonders await us in Term 3! Written by Matilda Edwards and Bea Fox
year 6 Panto season! Throughout last term, we were extremely busy working on lots of different projects and had loads of fun through our learning. In English, we all became journalists by publishing our own magazines, with a book review and an article on our chosen scientists. Through lots of preparation and assignments, we gathered enough information to write our articles and successfully launched our magazines. They were marvellous! After our journalistic writing, we started studying Philip Pullman’s incredible book, ‘Northern Lights’. As a class, we made our way through the book and grew fully immersed in every page. We wrote many exciting pieces of work, including newspapers, description texts, and action texts. Teachers commented that, “This was the best piece of work they’ve ever written!” Eventually, we finished the book, which ended on a satisfying cliffhanger, and we all can’t wait to start reading the next one in the series! We also got to be Mad Scientists! In this topic, we experienced a hands-on lesson about solids, liquids and gases. Over a stretch of time, we achieved the most educational and intriguing animations about particles yet! As well as that, we studied atoms and the density of one another. We were truly absorbed with this subject and have definitely learned a tonne! 34
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Furthermore, we investigated our most recent topic, ‘Destination Investigation’. We were all very fascinated! During a splendid time of a Science afternoon, we learnt about animal adaptations and evolutions. A very exciting visitor trip helped us think more about tourism impact on the environment. In conjunction with this, we were learning about argument and debate, and held a furiously fought class debate. We designed habitats, and within them, designed a tourism resort that wouldn’t have a big impact on the environment. We then constructed them with our parents on our DT day. They were a huge success! By Mischa, Sophia and Eloise
PREPARATORY
ARTS & LANGUAGES - KOWLOON BAY Chinese studies Thank you to our enthusiastic parent volunteers for coming into classrooms to support Reception to Year 2’s Chinese New Year activities. Year 6 children explored CNY traditions through performing the Kitchen God Story drama at our assembly. Year 3 children made a video naming 12 zodiacs. Year 4 children had a fantastic time visiting Buddhist Chi King Primary School’s CNY market day and engaged in Chinese calligraphy couplet writing, Chinese painting and food tasting activities to welcome the Year of the Rooster. In return, Chi King visited us in February, Year 5 children gave their buddies a Mandarin speaking school tour of Kellett School to introduce our facilities and enjoyed spending an afternoon together playing Chinese board games and learning about English drama.
kellett Cares Year 3, followed by Year 2, hosted their pizza sales this term, which continue to be very popular with the children. Thank you to all the very willing volunteers who delivered and served the pizzas in the classrooms. With coins from more than 35 countries sorted and counted, we received official notification from UNICEF HK that the total amount raised during the latest Coins for a Cause collection converted to just over HK$11,000. The charity wrote: “On behalf of the Hong Kong Committee for UNICEF, I would like to express our heartfelt thanks for your generous support… Your generosity definitely helps many children in need over the world.” In March, the group that visited the KC kindergarten in Bacolod included members of staff from Kowloon Bay for the first time. Four Kellett families were joined by Ms Laufer, Mr Wilford and Ms Gibbs as they saw first-hand the real difference the money we raise can make in this ultra-poor community in the Philippines. - See whole school Kellett Cares for more. In the Spring term our brilliant volunteers soon got to work on their Chinese New Year projects - the Dragon Scales and CNY Cookie Sales. Many thanks to everyone involved in both initiatives, particularly those who helped the children make the cookies, and all those who ate them - 505 pieces were sold this year! Special thanks also to the Kellett Mandarin team who so happily gave us their time and expertise.
Shortly before the end of term, Sports Day for Reception to Year 4 classes gave us the opportunity to run a Bake Sale as well as pre-loved uniform and KC merchandise stalls, raising additional funds for our good causes. The KC team would like to thank all the children, families and Kellett staff who continue to get involved in the many projects that take place throughout the school year.
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Music
If it is possible, last term was even busier than the first! We ended Term 2 with two of our biggest and highest profile events of the school year, the FOBISIA Primary Music Festival, this year hosted by Kellett KLB Campus (see ‘Prep Across the School’ section for details), and the Annual Concert. As such, our choirs and orchestras were really pushed to the maximum last term, learning a vast amount of music for both of these highly anticipated events. The ECA programme continued to go from strength to strength in Term 2, with the choir building on their great performances at Christmas and learning some harmonically complex, yet inspiring and powerful songs for the Annual Concert. We prepared ‘Roar’ by Katy Perry, ‘Sing’ by Gary Barlow and ‘He Lives in You’ from the Lion King by Elton John. Each song was arranged into three separate harmonic parts, which provided the children with a great challenge and really stretched them musically, developing their aural skills as well as their vocal skills. They did an amazing job learning such high-level material at their young age, even managing to master a dance routine and actions to add to their performance! Our orchestra also made a great deal of progress last term. Having only started playing together in September, and with a number of beginner instrumentalists in tow, they really settled and focused throughout the term and began working as an ensemble. Their progress has been really apparent in the sound they make together, and they will look forward to tackling more
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complex music next term! They worked tirelessly on several pieces including the ‘Theme from Star Wars’ by John Williams, the ‘Theme from The Magnificent Seven’ by Elmer Bernstein and ‘Can-Can’ by Offenbach, all performed in the Annual Concert. However, several members of our orchestra and choir also took part in the FOBISIA Primary Music Festival, meaning they had to manage learning several more pieces in preparation for this event. At times, I do not know how they have managed to cope with such a vast and varied amount of material! They have showed great resilience, commitment and responsibility, proving that hard work really does pay off. I am particularly proud of all of our orchestra and choir members this term. Well done all! Within curriculum Music lessons we focused on the Xylophones and Marimba. Each year group learnt to play a range of suitable pieces as a whole class and in smaller groups for performance. Children learnt how to get the best sound from the instrument, how to perform rolls and sustain notes, to use left hand/right hand technique and add dynamic contrast. We also learnt about the science behind these instruments to tie in with Science Week; how they make their sound and change their pitch. During book week, Year 5 and 6 learnt how to play the Harry Potter Theme on them. Recorder progress was also great with Year 4 performing a 3-part arrangement of ‘Stormy Skies’, and the Year 5 and 6 Supergroup performing an arrangement of ‘The James Bond Theme’ in our end of term assembly. ‘Annie’ fever well and truly took over the music department last term. Auditions were held before Chinese New Year and we were really impressed with not only the number of students who wanted to be involved, but also with the standard of their auditions. It was evident that students really took the time to learn the audition material and were very keen, enthusiastic and hardworking in the dance auditions. As a result, we were able to cast 52 children in the production and we are looking forward to entertaining you in June with the results of our hard work and endeavour. From what we have observed in the rehearsals so far the ‘sun really will come out tomorrow’- it promises to be a ‘hard knock’- out!
ARTS & LANGUAGES - KOWLOON BAY PREPARATORY
Art Year 1 Year 1 had a very creative start to the year. Our artist focus last term was Gustav Klimt, and we looked at the beautiful earthy and metallic colours he used. We created our first textiles art, weaving a gorgeous piece, and then painting our own trees of life to hang with them. We have celebrated the Year of the Rooster with our large paintings and used acrylic paints to overpaint and pattern. We then looked at the work of Vincent Van Gogh and painted pieces based on his beautiful Sunflowers.
Year 2 In Year 2 we opened last term looking at the work of Henri Matisse. We took our inspiration from this amazing artist’s collage work, or as he called it, “drawing with scissors”. We worked in 3D and had a beautiful installation in the atrium! We had a big focus on clay and we built clay roosters for Chinese New Year using slab techniques. We also had our first photography outing. We took our cameras to Kowloon Bay Park and searched for opportunities to photograph different textures in our environment. We took the pictures back to school and worked on replicating them in our printmaking. We learnt that texture is an element of art and to talk about it when we work on new projects!
Year 3
Year 4
Year 3 worked extensively on colour mixing last term and we produced beautiful abstract trees in amazing colours, all of which we mixed ourselves! We can talk about changing the value of a colour, which is important because value and colour are elements of art. We also worked in watercolours, creating beautiful, splashy rooster paintings to celebrate Chinese New Year.
Year 4 learnt all about the properties of acrylic paint last term, including using other materials with the paint for added interest and texture. We created mixed-media roosters in close up for our Chinese New Year celebrations. Things all became very mathematical after that, with lots of learning about perspective, both for abstract and landscape work. We then created beautiful landscape pieces on canvas.
Year 5 We looked at the art of Mandy Johnson and were inspired by her cheerful beachscapes and architecture. Our Chinese New Year roosters were created as linoleum prints. We drew and designed roosters and feathers that were printed and framed as a large collaborative piece. Our focus was on drawing from life and we carried out an urban sketching morning at the Kowloon Walled City garden. The architectural sketching techniques we learnt should inform our sketching work in Beijing.
Year 6 We went straight into our clay work last term which made up our Chinese New Year project. Our roosters started with a slab which we made into a cone and then added pieces to, with relief embellishments for character. They were then displayed in the Prep atrium! We then studied the American artist and photographer Chuck Close, who has an amazing portfolio. We looked at his “cell” paintings and learnt to use a grid to replicate images. We used this technique to replicate our own portraits from a photograph onto a canvas and used his style to paint the “cells” in several colours. KELLETT DRAGON NEWSLETTER
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SPORT - KOWLOON BAY
Curriculum PE Last term, students practiced balancing, jumping and rolling! We continued to improve our gymnastics skills through various different challenging gymnastic movements. KS1 students focused on basic movement patterns and various different forms of travelling, balancing and jumping. KS2 developed their gymnastic skills further with counter balances and putting them into routines. Some of the work of our students was outstanding, and everyone showed huge amounts of progress.
Sports Day On 6 April Reception to Year 4 had the pleasure of taking part in Sports Day. On a cool April morning, Reception and Year 1 started off the proceedings, with students running, jumping and throwing. The Year 6 students were essential to the running of the day as they encouraged, led and explained all the activities to the KS1 students. A wonderful morning was had by all, and students showed what fantastic progress they have made in their first two terms! Next up, Year 3 and 4 took centre stage. With a more competitive edge to their Sports Day, students were in coloured teams and were competing to be the best team across their year group. We also had the extra competitive ‘final’ races at the end to determine the best runners across each individual year group. I am sure you will all agree the level of ability of all students was very high. The star of the show once again was the long distance race with some pupils showing expert tactics to win! Well done to all the Year 6s who showed what fantastic leaders they are, explaining each station to students and running the scoring in a fair and professional manner. Well done!
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Year 6 also lead KS1 games, putting all their practice into performance. The KS1 students enjoyed the variety of games and leadership styles the Year 6s showed – well done everyone!
Running After several practice meets against GSIS, NAIS and Kellett PFL, we attended the annual Road Race at Discovery College. Students from across the board showed up exceptionally well, with Erwan Kermaidic winning his race for a third year in a row! A special mention to Hattie Hawkins and Michelle Ryan Gamez ,who had turned up to cheer on their siblings, and ended up racing due to students being off ill! Top Performers: Erwan Kermaidic – 1st Sam Blackburn – 8th Nathan Daniel – 11th Charlotte McAuliffe – 14th Muru Sundavadra – 15th Aline Lindman – 17th Alex Jones – 17th Carys Choi – 23rd
SPORT - KOWLOON BAY PREPARATORY
PE
Swimming Last term saw the first International School Swim League hosted by Kellett Kowloon Bay. NAIS, Japanese International School, DBIS, GSIS and Kellett PFL all attended three Thursday afternoon meets. Students from Kellett showed some fantastic swimming, and it was a good opportunity to show off all the skills learnt at early morning swim ECA. After three weeks of meets and over 156 races Kowloon Bay ended up a very respectable second place, just being pipped to the post by Pok Fu Lam. Over 25 students from across Year 5 and 6 represented the school incredibly well – a huge congratulations to them!
special memory for all the girls involved, and a very special year group who will be sorely missed. It would be impossible to single anyone out, as all students really worked incredibly hard to improve their skills!
Touch Rugby
Contact Rugby Boys
What a fantastic term it was for our students and their touch rugby ability. We have managed to reach the final in every single competition we have entered! Quite an incredible feat, considering the small number of students we have at our campus. A painful loss in the final against Kennedy School during the mixed competition was put right by the girls beating the same opposition in extra time in the final of the Girls Touch Rugby Tournament held at Kowloon Bay. A very
The boys enjoyed friendly fixtures against DBIS and Harrow last term. This all lead up to the Hong Kong International School 7s competition hosted once again by Kellett at Kings Park. The A Team fought incredibly hard to battle through, with three wins and three losses. That allowed the team to finish a very respectable second place to a very strong Australian International School team. The boys showed good progress throughout the term and should be very proud of their achievements. Well done chaps!
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SPORT - KOWLOON BAY PE Contact Rugby Girls The words ‘outstanding progress’ come nowhere near to describing how well the girls did last term. They exceeded all expectation and showed what incredible abilities they all have. Within the space of three weeks, the girls had gone from not knowing what rugby is to playing full matches with scrums and lineouts against older opposition! On a wet Sunday morning, the girls braved the weather to go and play against Valley Fort RFC. The girls enjoyed some training with them, and faced them in a very competitive match. We then welcomed Harrow for two matches on our Sky Pitch. Harrow brought a Year 7 girls team, which we competed very well against! We finished the afternoon with juice, biscuits and speeches in the dining room in true rugby style. The girls once again showed what fantastic progress they have all made. The hope is now that some of them will sign up for local rugby clubs, and I am sure one or two of them may end up playing at the HK 7s!
HK Primary Touch Rugby Tournament 2017 On 24 April, 22 students compete for the first time in the HK touch rugby tournament at Kings Park. With 28 schools registered to play, the day could not have gone any better. We entered three teams; two boys’ teams and one girls’ team. After a very successful morning all teams topped their groups and found themselves playing in the cup semi-finals. After some hard fought matches, all teams managed to squeeze through to the cup finals! Both the Year 5/6 girls and boys team finals were real nail biters with both going into extra time. The students showed huge resilience, with both teams becoming eventual winners of the cup! The Year 4 boys team also managed a fantastic win in the final, meaning all three teams came away being cup winners! This is a fantastic achievement, and one that will not happen very often. Sometimes fairytale endings do happen!! This success was down to the hours of hard work invested by students, and their willingness to continue to get better every time they trained. The students should be very proud of themselves, they have exceptional attitudes, and as a result now have exceptional results!
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SENIOR
SENIOR HIGHLIGHTS Professional Learning in the Senior School At the heart of a great school like Kellett is a continuous focus on teaching and learning. Teachers excited about teaching, talking about teaching, planning teaching together, observing, evaluating, and learning about teaching, and sharing effective teaching pedagogy, all combine to create a vibrant learning community from which students absolutely benefit. At Kellett, learning with each other and learning in collaboration with professional organisations are two of the many facets which underpin our vibrant professional learning community.
Learning with each other This academic year, the Senior School staff participated in Continuing Professional Learning (CPL) Workshops. In essence, these are small teams of teachers bound together by a common interest in a specific area of pedagogy. This approach is supported by literature reviews of effective approaches to CPL in schools.
Effective CPL activities Focuses on student outcomes Is sustained over time
problem solve, and create. Teachers share what they learnt, what they tried, what they observed, what happened with students, and what they still need to work on. (Chappuis et al., 2009, p2) Staff have chosen one of four CPL workshops which are linked to the Senior School Development and Improvement Plan. • Harkness Teaching Method (Flipped Learning) • Independent Learning • Google Classroom
Allows teachers to identify their own needs Is grounded upon robust research Emphasises collaboration and teamwork Utilises peer-support to ensure engagement
Ineffective CPL activities Focuses on teacher satisfaction Is episodic and fragmented over time Treats all teachers exactly the same Reacts to the latest government initiative Expects teachers to make changes in isolation Ensures participation through supervision The following quote illustrates how such teams work: Learning in learning teams […] begins with an influx of new ideas – through hearing a presentation by an expert, reading books or articles, or viewing an instructional video or footage of classroom practice. Next, it involves shaping the new ideas into classroom practice. Teachers transfer this information in their own contexts by doing such things as preparing lessons, materials and activities to use with students. Participants then observe and reflect on the results, asking themselves such questions as, “What worked?”, “What is the evidence?”, “What needs fine-tuning?”, and “What do I need to learn more about?” Finally, participants meet with others to discuss, 42
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• Developing Digital and Online Resources When teachers were asked what impact their CPL had on student learning, these are some of their comments:
Harkness Teaching Method “Students start to realise and work on their research and presentation skills… becoming better independent learners.” “It facilitates opportunities for students to lead their own learning… it seems particularly valuable that the classroom I develop here is one that instills in students skills that will be transferrable and retained…” “It allowed students to share ideas and formulate a clear answer to questions on complex issues.” “Much deeper analysis, application and evaluation of concepts by students. Improved confidence and skills in independent learning, discussion and evaluation.” “Students are much more engaged and there is more individual participation. They are relying less on me to tell them if they are right or wrong and debating it themselves. Really interesting!”
Independent Learning “More engagement with the lesson from students, a positive start to each lesson that gets the students to think hard and encourages perseverance and resourcefulness.”
SENIOR HIGHLIGHTS “Definite shift in focus with students being more independent.” “During lessons KS3 ask each other much more questions and are more supportive of each other. In KS4 & 5, students have been encouraged to be more self-directed….” “Students are taking more responsibility for their learning, developing skills particularly for exam technique and improvements.”
Google Classroom “It has allowed me to create work that students can move through at their own pace as well as providing a place for students to find work they missed due to being away or that they wish to go over again.” “Individualised tasks that combine together to create one whole class document have saved time and targeted students’ different needs, as well as, students having the opportunity to see their peers’ thoughts on contemporary issues covered in Geography to cross check their opinions with.”
Developing Digital and Online Resources “Personalised homework based on learning in lesson.” “It enabled them to be more independent during lessons and learn at their own pace. As the video is a tutorial, students can rewind and skip to the relevant section.” “(with regard to digital resources used or developed) Helping students think about thought processes when answering exam questions.”
Learning in collaboration with professional organisations The school uses a number of examination boards to provide International GCSE, GCSE, International A-level and A-level qualifications for our students as pre-university qualifications. Keeping up-to-date with changes to the qualifications, and ensuring that teachers are well informed on current assessment models and expectations, is a continuous focus for the school. The Heads of Subject liaise with the examination boards and teachers are able to access up-to-date training and information. This is often done face-to-face, though there is a rapid increase in using online conferencing as the mode of delivery. In addition, staff can attend professional training courses related to their subject areas and Job Alike Workshops (JAWS) via our FOBISIA network. These workshops provide excellent opportunities to share knowledge, expertise, opinions and advice. To give a flavour of some of the support we access, below are comments from some subject leaders.
Design & Technology - Mr Wood I attended a Design & Technology Association course in the UK regarding the new GCSE D&T specification which will be starting in September. This was primarily about the different approaches taken by the different examination boards. In addition, we have
a coursework adviser who I can email in relation to GCSE and A-level work and of great impact is the ability to bring in the ex-Chief Examiner, Brian Russell, to Kellett on an annual basis to work with our students and teachers.
SENIOR
“It has been positive in Year 12 and 10 as students are asking and answering their own questions.”
Languages - Mr Falconer Online training in the form of webinars has provided excellent contact and networking for Modern Foreign Languages, especially regarding curriculum changes at GCSE and A-level. Although teachers sometimes have to stay up until 2am due to the time difference with the UK, we have all willingly participated!
Music - Ms Gomaa Mrs Tang recently attended a Musical Futures course, which positively impacted our Year 7 to Year 9 curriculum. In the summer I attended a Cambridge International Examinations course, which allowed me to glean much information/resources and be part of discussions for our new A-level course. Recently, I completed an online course for Edexcel 9-1 GCSE Music which has been helpful.
History - Mrs Wood Our first face-to-face training will be the Bangkok course in April for the CIE International A-level (IAL). It will not only help us to ask the questions we need to ask directly, but also to network with other IAL teachers, which is important when working internationally. I have completed online training a couple of times with AQA both at Kellett and at previous schools for coursework feedback. This has always proved useful for tweaking teaching and support for the current year’s cohort. These are UK based and are accessed online so normally involve a late night or a very early morning!
Drama - Mr Hall With the introduction of new specifications for Year 10 to Year 13, we have accessed training online for the new GCSE Drama and face to face for the new AS and A-level Drama and Theatre.
Science - Mr Brown Members of the Science Faculty have been attending face-to-face sessions with Chief Examiners here in Hong Kong and also in Macau regularly for many years. These sessions are incredibly valuable as they offer learning about the assessment and insight into syllabus changes, to ensure we continue to provide the best preparation possible for our students. Online courses preparing us for the 9-1 changes have also been attended but the format and timing of them means that we intend to continue with the face-toface sessions for as long as they are on offer.
Mathematics - Ms Shek Mr Francis and I recently attended a training course in Hong Kong: Getting ready to teach the Pearson Edexcel International GCSE (9-1) Mathematics (A&B) specifications. The course proved useful as it provided information of the new content in the International GCSE course so that our schemes of work can be updated accordingly as well as explored possible teaching and delivery strategies for the new qualifications.
Simon Giddings Head of Senior School KELLETT DRAGON NEWSLETTER
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SENIOR HIGHLIGHTS
students from other international schools. Upon returning they proposed a re-design of our Student Leadership team, both in terms of the appointment process and the structure. They proposed changes which were agreed by the School Leadership Team providing greater student voice around the new appointments, whilst putting more emphasis on the candidates to be visible figure heads throughout the school.
Student leadership The end of the spring term is an exciting time at any senior school. At Kellett Senior, students in Years 11 to 13 begin the final preparation for their public examinations through Study Support, whilst our Student Leadership team hands over from one team to the next. Our ethos is, and always has been, to provide leadership opportunities for students of all ages, with their responsibilities growing each year. Our Student Leadership model reaches from Reception all the way through to Year 13 and we are very proud of the leaders who emerge. They are a credit to their parents and to every adult who has worked with them. As we welcome in our fourth Student Leadership team, it feels like an appropriate time to reflect on the important role that our Student Leaders play in the community, and to share with you the work that they do, the reforms that they have lead, and to thank them for a job which has been done very well. The Senior School Council meets each week under the leadership of our Head Boy and Girl; Oliver Overman and Lily Pettifar. They meet each week and discuss a range of issues, taking student voice whilst raising money for our Senior School charity umbrella – Kellett Cares. The Student Leaders conference in Penang enthused and motivated our Student Leaders who worked together with
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Furthermore they have developed five student forums which will be led by Senior Prefects – a new position in the Senior School. These forums will lead changes in specific areas; the Digital Forum, the Environment & Nutrition forum, the Mentoring Forum, The Global Outlook Day Forum, and the Kellett Cares Forum. Ensuring that our Student Leaders work with students of all years, Jon Crawford, Harry Ginns, Eliza Kidd, and Chloe Ng, (Deputy Head Boys and Girls) have really enjoyed spending time in our Prep Schools, giving out Kellett Dragons to new students and working at important events. They have co-led the Senior School Council, which to date has raised over $160,000 towards our Kellett Cares appeal. Our four House Councils, are made up of representatives from all years, led by the House Captains Sophie Krantz, Catherine Martin, Emma Destexhe and Anisha Turner. This structure allows information to feed in and out of the School Council, and into the Tutor Groups; it provides an excellent structure for student voice. I hope that all Kellett Students will look at the excellent job that our Student Leaders have done and be moved to take up one of the many opportunities for leadership which are open to them. The whole community should look at our Student Leaders of all ages with great pride. They are articulate and confident young adults who are leading and inspiring others within the student body. I am really looking forward to working with them as they develop even further. I am delighted to announce the new Student Leadership team which will lead the school through to Easter 2018 will be:
SENIOR HIGHLIGHTS
Head Boy
Jeffrey Turner
Head Girl
Emily Harber
Deputy Head Boy
Liam Doherty
Deputy Head Boy
Long Long Turner
Deputy Head Girl
Lucy Mann
Deputy Head Girl
Kirstie Taylor
SENIOR
Student leadership
House Captain, Bowen
Tayler Coates
Assistant House Captains, Bowen
Beth Caves and Matthew Tam
House Captain, Clementi
Kalina Benhamou
Assistant House Captains, Clementi
Charlotte Weener and Matthew Kiely
House Captain, MacLehose
Kate Donowho
Assistant House Captains, MacLehose
Laura Bastos and Dhruv Chaubal
House Captain, Youde
Kea Herewini
Assistant House Captains, Youde
Jasmine Turner and Ansh Sahay
Prefect Team 2017-2018
Senior Prefect
Ryan Lee
Fate Kaur
Aretha Teh
Jessica Irvine
Jasmine Fordham
Georgina Jarrett
Anthony Fong
Matthew Bennett
Jemma Abbs
Samuel Panjiwijaya
Simone Morris
Lucy Roper
Shaanthi Rajah
Orien Daly
Madeleine Walker
Carrie Tsai
Ryan Lockett
business studies IGCSE Business Studies Year 10 Business Studies students demonstrated their presentation and communication skills when they were set the task of explaining the marketing mix of any product of their choosing. All of the groups delivered a concise, interesting, and informative presentation. It was really pleasing to hear the students relate their knowledge and understanding of marketing to the everyday products we see all around us. Year 11 Business Studies students completed their second and final IGCSE mock examination. All of the past papers for this specification have now been covered extensively through end-of-section tests and mock examinations. It was very encouraging in marking the students’ papers to see that their knowledge, understanding and examination skills are maintained at a high level.
International A-Level (IAL) Business Studies Year 12 students competed Unit 2, Business Structures and Processes and they then focused on revising and making final preparations for their summer examinations. They also completed their second mock examination in February and all students were given specific targets to work on to improve individual performances. Year 13 students completed Unit 4, Making Business Decisions in March, and also started revising and refining their examination skills including planning responses, application, evaluation and time management.
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science
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geography The geography department was out and about Hong Kong last term on field trips working on both familiar and new issues within this fantastic world city. • Year 12 students embarked on research into the impact of the new extension of the MTR lines on traffic congestion and related socio-environmental issues. This was in preparation for their Edexcel Paper 2 Fieldwork examination later this year. Students used a combination of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) mapping, using Geotagging in the field and Google Earth. Further to this, they used real-time data collection of vehicle occupancy and secondary data on pollution levels using Phone applications. • In February all geographers in Year 10 embarked on a transect walk of Hong Kong Island as part of the research phase of their IGCSE coursework. The students walked from the Peak through Mid-Levels, finishing at Queens Road in Central. The urban landscape of Hong Kong provided our students with a fantastic location to investigate the application of traditional land use models and bid-rent theory to some of the residential environments of Hong Kong Island.
• The Year 7 geographers discussed the concept of development, looking at reasons for differing levels of development between countries. The students particularly enjoyed the Trade Game in which they were given the opportunity to simulate the condition of Free Trade between countries. • The awe and wonder of Plate Tectonic movement and associated hazards was a focus for students in Year 8 this term. In addition, both Year 8 and 9 have been getting creative combing the worlds of food and geography to make ‘River Cakes’ and ‘Coast cakes’ in the classroom. • Students in Year 11 and 13 worked hard in preparing for their summer exams and have recently completed their mock examinations.
Global Citizenship
I am Healthy An integral part of the Global Citizenship curriculum is the personal literacy schemes of work which focus on a student’s personal, social and health education. This term has seen all year groups have a real concentration on this area, which is so important to their development as informed, confident and resilient young people. Year 7 and 8 in particular have been working on an ‘I am Healthy’ topic which has covered aspects of a healthy lifestyle, personal identity and friendships. As an important part of this topic, Justin McLaughlin (Head of Student Wellbeing) has delivered a series of Wellbeing Workshops to each Tutor Group. This has allowed Year 7 the opportunity to pratice mindfulness and other stress and anxiety reducing activities, to improve their self-esteem, explore the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships and develop the skills to manage the challenges that can arise within friendships. Building on their workshops last year, there has also been the opportunity in Year 8 for valuable discussion and reflection on mental health, resilience and personal safety. Year 9 and 10 have also been exploring the features of healthy and unhealthy relationships, whilst Year 11 to 13 have participated in workshops on managing stress and anxiety in relation to their examinations. 46
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David Saddington’s lecture on Climate Change was a brilliant frame of reference for Year 9 Global Citizenship students who will next year, begin to explore a range of Global Challenges that include environmental issues. They will be working in small groups to choose one challenge related to the United Nations Global Goals and research it further to produce an informative and engaging TED Talk to their peers. Not only did the lecture provide the students with an opportunity to gain a greater insight into the issues surrounding global warming, but it also provided them with a model example of presentation skills. David Saddington himself has delivered a number of TED Talks on the issue of Climate Change, and these will provide an excellent frame of reference when the students come to plan and prepare their own! Thank you to the Annual Fund for inviting this very inspirational speaker!
SENIOR HIGHLIGHTS SENIOR
Global Issues Network 852 Conference Last term, Mr Stephen and Ms Whitwood from the Geography and Global Citizenship departments collaborated to take the first group of Kellett students to the annual Global Issues Network 852 Conference. Ten of the Year 10 students joined over 100 students from other international and local schools from around Hong Kong to discuss global issues such as Racial Discrimination, Education for All, Digital Divide and Gender Equality.
The students worked diligently in advance of the conference, collaborating to plan and deliver a workshop on local issues in Hong Kong. They delivered this at a very well attended session and received very positive feedback from students from other schools. The students represented Kellett at the highest level, leading confidently in the workshop, making thoughtful contributions to group discussions and speaking knowledgably in their final presentations on stage. All students really enjoyed the experience and learnt a lot not only about global issues, but about leadership and team work too! The conference however is just the beginning, as students will continue to collaborate with students from other schools to implement their action plans and tackle global issues at a local level. They are eager to pursue their projects over the coming year and hope to make a real difference in their local community.
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Learning Service Programme Mother’s Choice Youth Leadership Council A youth-centered advisory group designed to bring high school students together to discuss social issues encountered by Mother’s Choice services, and how their collective voices can be used to make a difference in our community. The Kellett chapter is composed of two project teams. The Sixth Form project team worked on an inter-school filming project to promote “choices”, “self-esteem” and “self-confidence” in teenagers. Meanwhile, the Year 9 and 10 project team planned for Feel Good Friday activities to promote these concepts in Kellett.
China Coast Community A care and attention home for English-speaking elderly in Hong Kong. Elderly at China Coast Community enjoyed mentally challenging activities. They were so involved in finding the differences between the two pictures provided, as well as memorizing and matching the tiles. A bit of knowledge pop quiz can always keep the elderly updated and connected with the modern world. And of course, stretching exercise is one of their all-time favourite!
Sai Kung Stray Friends Sai Kung Stray Friends, funded by local community, is a group of volunteers who rescue stray dogs and puppies in Sai Kung, provide them with shelter, food and medical care to help stray dogs have a better life that they deserve. Other than routine dog-walking, the team also got to play with 7 adorable newborn puppies. Witnessing their growth over the months, the team feel like the puppies grow up so quickly and they would never have enough time to hug and play with the puppies! Year 10 student Ansh Sahay has selfled a fund raising campaign for SKSF, scan the QR code to see the video.
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Room to Read Collaborating with Room to Read, the service team tells English stories to local Primary school students in an interactive way through games and various activities to share the love of reading. Story telling is an effective way to engage and encourage local primary school students to speak and write in English in pre and post-story activities, and most importantly, have fun!
Roots and Shoots The Roots & Shoots Project is an educational programme which aims at empowering young people to care for environment, community and animals through action. KS3 and KS4 Assembly The team introduced themselves and promoted their work to Kellett students in Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 assemblies. The team worked hard to educate Kellett students on recycling, as well as encourage them to participate in recycling activities so as to raise the awareness and cultivate a green habit in Kellett. Green Bake Sale One of the recycling activities from last term was a Green Bake Sale. The talented team made around 100 tasty baked items, which attracted students and staff to bring in recyclable items (cans, bottles, newspapers) in exchange for a piece for a cake during break and lunch on 23 March 2017. Students also helped decorating boxes for recycling plastic bottles in school. Great job everyone!
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Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) The Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) continues to grow in terms of both student numbers and diversity of project title. Recent projects have included the staging of monologues from The Crucible, the design and delivery of Japanese lessons and the planning and performance of a Maori Haka. The EPQ provides a wonderful opportunity for students to carry out an in-depth exploration of things that fascinate and inspire them. The qualification is highly valued by universities worldwide as an independent, university style project which allows students to demonstrate their skills as life-long learners with a confidence for life!
Kellett Cares Kellett Cares in the Senior School (KC Senior) has come a long way since its birth in 2015, as you will have seen from the ‘Kellett Cares Senior School 2016-17’ booklet which was distributed earlier in Term 2. The lion’s share of the energy for the fundraising initiatives comes from the ever-creative Kellett Senior School students, led by the Student Council, with this term’s main event being the popular Valentine’s Disco. As you will know, the Student Leadership Team is elected during the
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Spring term and takes office after the Easter break - so next year’s KC Senior student representatives will be looking to do even better than this years have done. Pre-loved uniform continues to sell well at parent/teacher and student-led conferences and this will continue. Work is also going on with Kellett’s Global Outlook partners to try and develop an overseas donation programme for our pre-loved uniform, so that things which do not re-sell very well to the school
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community here can be re-used by those children whom our students support during Global Outlook week. Many thanks for your continuing support of KC Senior.
SENIOR HIGHLIGHTS SENIOR
science The Science Faculty at Kellett is powered by a shared sense of innovation and enthusiasm for learning in our subjects. Last term was no exception. Our outstanding team of teachers spent time investigating and developing new and exciting practical work to help students enhance their investigative skills whilst securing improvements in understanding and developing confidence in their learning. Our wonderful Technician team discovered a new method for making algal balls to enable students to measure rates of photosynthesis under different wavelengths of light. We brought in some new technology that enables students to carry out genetic cloning experiments, in this case the end results were a cloned piece of cauliflower. Also, our hi-tech Vernier light gates enable students to gather data on moving objects to a vast degree of precision that is not possible with more traditional methods. That said, lo-tech solutions such as using slinkies to model wave patterns still have a place in our Physics lessons! Meanwhile, our Chemistry team continued to set things on fire – in this case gas that was used as a reducing agent to produce copper from copper oxide. It was another superb term!
history
History classrooms became newsrooms as Year 8 worked together to produce magazines and newspapers based on the topic of ‘Transportation to Australia.’ Students took on the role of sub editors, writers and designers to showcase their knowledge.
Something old mixed in with plenty of new kept the History Department busy last term.
Year 9 enjoyed their annual trip to some of Hong Kong’s WW2 battlefield sites with local historian Jason Wordie. The trip reveals some surprising locations around the city, such as the tunnels at Shing Mun as well as the very human stories at the Stanley War Cemetery. Previous work on life in Nazi Germany saw students coming up with inventive ways to teach each other – with a puppet theatre being a stand out moment.
Year 7 delved deeper into the lives of medieval kings. They studied their king of choice and created pieces of bunting to demonstrate the significance of their particular monarch. The students used this topic to further develop their source analysis skills and PEE paragraph writing.
Year 10 students were also involved in a new initiative for teaching and learning at Kellett this academic year. They took part in the ‘Harkness’ discussion based lesson centred on the League of Nations. This was entirely student-led and enabled students to talk around focus questions and make links between them.
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SENIOR HIGHLIGHTS SENIOR
maths Gold: Joseph Rabey, Jay Chow, Harrison Fullwood, Ethan Kim, Jacob Lo, Jamie Li, Christelle Ko, Molly Hammond and Hugo Chow. Jacob achieved the school’s highest mark of 101. Silver: Holly Farrall, Qi Jiang Ng, Matthew Tam, James Barrett, Alistair Blair, Christina Fisher, Maximilien Winkler, Rebecca Mak, Kala Davies and Magnus Chan Bronze: Elizabeth Knight, Hannah Hanselman, Benjamin Stonely, Daniel Storey, Andrew Knight, Laura Bastos, Ansh Sahay, Florence Clifford, Madison Slight, Toby Farrall, Ritika Mehta, Eleanor Bennett, Julian Marchington, Alana Crane, Findlay Mayo and Takano Kobayashi
Year 8 Maths Trail – Ocean Park On 23 February, we took all of Year 8 to Ocean Park to compete in a Maths Trail. They had to use their observational skills to find information around the park and then use the information to solve a mathematical problem. The answer told the students where to go next. The winners of the competition were Bowen house! Congratulations to them and also well done to the rest of Year 8 for their hard work on the day. Individual team results will be announced shortly.
Our top 12 students got through to the next round of the competition and we are awaiting their results!
Dragon Maths On the 8 March we took 16 students from Year 8 and 9 to the German Swiss International School to take part in the Dragon Maths competition. This is a Maths relay event and had 24 International Schools from around Hong Kong taking part. Although this year we were unable to overthrow HKIS to the crown, our students did us proud and we would like to congratulate them on their hard work. Year 8: Yves Yuen, Kento Waugh, Quincy Ng, Damian Jarrett, Luke O’Boyle, Peter Whittington, Adithi Phadke and Oceane Kermaidic Year 9: Molly Hammond, Takano Kobayashi, Hugo Chow, James Barrett, Alistair Blair, Rebecca Mak, Kala Davies and Loughlin Davidson
Pi Day – 14 March
Early Entry Results - January 2017 This January we had two students in Year 11 taking their IGCSE Maths exam and they successfully continued our record of 100% A* grades for early entry. Congratulations to Alex and Anandita! We had further success with our Year 12 Further Maths students in their first module, Decision Maths. Special congratulations go to Edmond Lo, Long Long Turner and Benjamin Wu for their A grades.
Intermediate Maths Challenge - 2 February Last term we entered 4 classes from Years 9, 10 and 11 into the Intermediate Maths Challenge. Over 4000 schools worldwide entered and students were faced with a series of tough, mathematical problem solving questions. Congratulations to the award winners who were
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Every year on the 14 March (or 3.14!), we celebrate Pi day and all things round. As well as the staff enjoying a number of varieties of pie, this year we ran a competition for Year 7 and 8 to see who could recite pi to the greatest number of digits. Congratulations to Jacob Abate and Chamonix Orvay who both managed 40 digits before Jacob won the tie breaker!
SENIOR HIGHLIGHTS SENIOR
Economics IGCSE Economics Year 10 students progressed well last term, and have completed the microeconomics section of the IGCSE course. Their focus so far has been on supply and demand, elasticities, labour markets and the theory of the firm. Students have looked at the case for and against privatisation of the Royal Mail, and discussed the use of policies to promote competition in markets. Year 11 students finished the IGCSE course and began working through banks of past paper questions in preparation for the final exam. They focused on how the individual economies work and how they interact in the global economy.
A-level Economics Year 12 students finished the AS Level course and worked through a series of past paper questions in preparation for the final exam. They focused on how markets and the economy work as a whole.
Like Year 11 and 12, Year 13 also began working through past paper questions, having finished their A-level course. The key focus for them was how firms operate and the global economy.
English Year 8 Dragons’ Den The Year 8 students spent the first half of the Spring Term designing and promoting their product for judging by Kellett’s own Dragons. There were some amazing products and parents, staff and students spent an enjoyable hour hearing about all the latest inventions that will make our lives better.
Blaire Reeve Visit Late in the term, Year 7 and Year 8 students were treated to a poetry session by Blair Reeve, a New Zealand poet now living in Hong Kong. His books are written in anapestic rhyming verse and the students enjoyed the exploits of “Greta Von Gerbil and Her Really Large Lexicon”.
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SPORT SENIOR
sport Senior School Swimming Team Kellett had a successful Spring Term in the Swimming Pool with Senior School students gaining some excellent results over the course of the ISSFHK mini meet programme. We attended meets at Australian International, Discovery Bay, Renaissance College, Harrow as well as hosting two meets here at Kellett. We managed to top the pointscore at our home meet and were near the top in all away meets. The ISSFHK Swimming Championhips were a great success for the School. We won 4 medals on the day with Peter Whittington taking the Gold Medal for the 100m Backstroke, Katelyn Tang winning the Silver medal in the 50m Butterfly, LongLong Turner won a Bronze medal in the 200m Freestyle, and Emily O’Dell finished in the Bronze medal position in the 50m Breaststroke. We also managed to finish in 4th place in a total of 6 events. Those students were Mia Walls, Katelyn Tang, Peter Whittington, Matthew Fung, Toby Hughes and LongLong Turner. The U15 FOBISIA Games Swimming Competition was also a very tough swim meet and our swimmers managed to win numerous medals and finish in 4th place overall in the point score. The girls were particularly impressive with Rebecca Mak winning a Gold medal in the 100m Freestyle. Sophia Tang took on the blue riband events and won medals in all of her individual races. It was also pleasing to see such a variety of girls winning bronze medals throughout the afternoon. The highlight of the day was the girls 4x50m Freestyle relay team. A team that led for the majority of the race, but were relegated to the Silver medal position on the last leg. The final event of the term was the inaugural ‘Kellett School Knock-Out Swimming Championships’. This event allowed all age groups to come together for an internal Swimming Meet. Racing was fierce from the first event, and medals were awarded to those swimmers that managed to survive the knock out rounds, and then have enough left to swim the final. It was most pleasing to see the commitment and passion on display on this evening.
Cross Country Report 2017 The Cross Country Season was very successful at Kellett School. The season begun with the HKSSF Championships and our boys were unlucky not to get promoted after finishing a close 2nd in Division 3. Our girls maintained their Division 2 status, and there were some amazing individual results on the day. The ISSFHK season began shortly after, and there were a series of mini meets in the lead up to the championships. It was apparent from the beginning of the year that Kellett School was going to be very strong in the younger age groups. At the ISSFHK Championships Kellett won the U12 Boys and U12 Girls Overall Championships and the girls team managed to take out all of the top 5 places in the event. Jacky Moorrees took the gold medal for the U12 Girls. The U14 age groups also had Kellett students featuring in the medal ceremony with Loughlin Davidson finishing with a bronze medal. Overall the U14 boys finished in 3rd place and the U14 girls also finished in 3rd place. In the U16 event Joe Rabey was very strong and finished in the medals. The boys team also managed to finish 2nd place overall. The Open race was dominated by two outstanding runners and Long Long Turner managed to win a silver medal for the School in the U20 boys division.
HKSSF
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Cross country team
Grade C Boys Rugby Report First of all, the Grade C Rugby Team would like to thank Mr Ridgway and Mr McClellan for coaching throughout the season and helping us develop as a squad. We had a mixed season with a number of results not quite going our way, regardless of the results we trained hard and the commitment from all those involved was excellent. Our best phase of the season was our final 7’s tournament where we won two out the four games we played. As a whole, we played incredibly well together that day and our passing and tackling were our strongest attributes. We scored a number of good tries that were scored by our back line due to the accuracy and timing of our passing. Our first game against Harrow School we drew 7 - 7 but as we had scored the first try, we went through to the next round where we faced the Australian International School (AIS). It was
an extremely physical game, and the lead was exchanged between ourselves and AIS numerous times with the victory finally going their way on the final whistle. We then went onto play Harrow again, there was to be no draw this time as we won the game with the final touch of the ball, precise passing from our backline resulting in a score in the corner making the final score 12-7 to Kellett School. Our final game, where a victory would have seen us make the semi-finals, was against French International School (FIS). This again was a hard fought match that ended in their favour. We played extremely well, suffering from fatigue we just couldn’t find a way to break the FIS defence to win this last match. All members of the Grade C Boys Rugby Squad played their part throughout the season, improvements were made both as a team and individually as squad members in both attacking and defensive skills. As a squad we are eager for next season already and can’t wait to get make our most successful one to date.
Caymus Choi Sebastian Drew Prop
Mason Edwards Nicholas Jivkov Cameron Grant Long Long Turner
Centre
Tomos Lewis Aldo Mahe
Fly half
Bastien Hersey
Hooker
Austin Edwards
Scrum half
Seb Harley
Second Row
Wei Han Low
Second Row (C)
Damian Jarrett
Swimming
Morgan Lawrence Wing
Julian Marchington Jack Miller Finn White KELLETT DRAGON NEWSLETTER
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ARTS & LANGUAGES SENIOR
ART On Friday 24 March, the Year 10 GCSE & A-level art students and teachers were all very excited to visit Asia’s premier annual art event, Art Basel Hong Kong. Over 240 leading galleries from around the globe were housed under one roof at The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, with the work of over 4,000 artists displayed for viewing, commentary, analysis and purchase. With many famous modern painters from Europe, USA and Asia, showing a vast array of contemporary pieces, our students were feverishly absorbed in the creativity, reflecting on the different artistic approaches to draw inspiration for their own work back in the art studios. Here are some of our student reflections: “I found it inspirational to look at different artists, for my own artistic development now and in the future. I was particularly inspired by the mechanical kinetic installations and sculptures, and especially the ones that you could interact with like the huge bamboo maze-like structures that members of the public could walk through. Looking ahead, I think I will definitely take this experience of interacting with the audience further within my own artwork.”
Shaanthi Rajah “It was my first time going to Art Basel. I found numerous pieces that I really liked and found creative and innovative artworks, especially in the use of lighting and audience participation in one particular painting which when exposed to a camera flash was transformed from a textured painting to something reminiscent of lava. I was also taken aback by the ultra-detailed ink paintings of George Boorujy that featured realistically rendered animals in violent situations that the viewer was forced to confront.”
Gautham Hareendra Nath
“I found it incredibly satisfying to be able to use my knowledge of art history to recognize artworks such as Grayson Perry who I am currently studying and to talk about and discuss the links between artists with like-minded people. It was so wonderful to think that all these people were there for the art, and it was nice to feel a sense of belonging to the arts community.”
Breanna Bowra
Modern Foreign Languages Term 2 always marks one of the most important events in the Language Faculty’s calendar – Chinese New Year. As ever, the whole Kellett Senior community was engaged in lunchtime workshops, decorating the atrium and assemblies delivered by students in our Advanced Mandarin Stream. Students needed no reminding of the importance and indeed pleasure of studying a culture alongside language. New GCSE courses in Year 10 European Languages have introduced translation to the final public examinations. In anticipation of this, the Language Faculty introduced a weekly translation challenge in all languages. Students have risen to the challenge and names were drawn from a tombola at the end of Term 1 awards assembly. Congratulations to all of the students who received a gift voucher of their choice. We are looking forward to drawing the Term 2 winners! 56
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cuit during Josh works on his cir Year 8 the of the manufacture t jec MP3 Amplifier Pro
SENIOR
design technology
Year 7 boys take part in the ‘race o after comp ff ’ leting the n ew Critter Projec
t
Peter screen printing durin g his Year 8 Te xtiles Project.
Atticus and Harry (Year 5), winners of the environmental design competition set by Mr Wood in the Senior School. They designed a ploughing system using old DVD’s and a device to encourage the re-use of carrier bags.
new Mia and Harry build the school’s fitted have They car. ng GreenPower Raci and , ents pon com ring the floor and stee ng the are currently hard at work assembli braking system.
Music Susanna Saw visited us as part of the Annual Fund bid we made for Artist in Residence, and we were delighted at the response from our vocal students and choirs. She gave us much to digest and many new skills and techniques to engage with.
Term 2 was filled with much to celebrate. The Music Department was extremely busy. Firstly, House Music, then Annual Fund Choral Workshops and finally Annual Concert. The curriculum was also filled with frenetic activity and music-making. Students in Year 7 looked at the instruments of the Orchestra and Keyboard Skills. Year 8 students worked on Gamelan and Minimalism, whilst Year 9 delved into the Musical Futures Band Project. GCSE and Advanced Level students diligently prepared for their coursework deadlines and summer examinations and we have heard some wonderful compositions and performances, many of which will be highlighted in our Senior Recital Evening.
Our Annual Concert was a wonderful highlight of students’ efforts. Particular thanks to all the students involved with the many ensembles. From Vivaldi’s ‘Gloria’, to Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It’, there was certainly something for everyone to enjoy. The commitment to weekly rehearsals and working together, as a team, shows dedication and maturity. This is to be commended and also highlights the growing impact of the Senior Music Department, as our numbers continue to grow and students flourish. I would like to add my personal thanks to our wonderful team within the Senior Music Department, who have given hours of their time, notably Mrs Tang, Mr Cox and Mr Tse. Not to mention our vast team of Peripatetic staff who assist with rehearsals and performances.
Ms. Gomaa Director of Music KELLETT DRAGON NEWSLETTER
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Drama ISTA: International Schools Theatre Association 2017 In February 2017, the Senior School drama department took 19 students from Years 9 – 13 to the ISTA Bonsai High School Festival hosted by Dulwich College in Beijing. ISTA strives to provide high quality experiences that develop creative learning and internationalism through theatre. Throughout the festival, we explored many different workshops and styles of theatre from all over the world, focusing predominantly though on Asia. Kung Fu, Chinese Stick Fighting and Victorian Melodrama, were just a few of the many skills we were taught by the inspirational workshop leaders. Being able to work with a range of international students within a fun and interactive workshop setting allowed us to explore new things and to learn about different cultures. We have since brought our learning experiences back to Kellett and have incorporated them into our own work. One of the many highlights of the trip was the final showcase performance. On the final day and using our own inspiration, we devised pieces that were performed for parents, teachers and the Dulwich community. It was an amazing experience to see everyone coming together expressing themselves through their own creations. Meeting new people, working together and exploring Beijing is something that none of us will forget. Although this amazing trip was only four days long, the Kellett drama family returned stronger, closer and ready for what Kellett drama has to come. We hope that ISTA continues in the years to come so that many more drama students and enthusiasts alike can experience all that it offers.
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Frantic Assembly Article by Kalina Benhamou and Georgina Jarrett in Year 12. Frantic Assembly is an internationally-renowned theatre company that inspires innovative practice to unlock creative potential. It creates thrilling, energetic and unforgettable performances by using unique physical styles combining movement, music, design and text. The amazing work of Frantic Assembly not only attracts new and young audiences, but it also had a great impact on our work as drama students when they came to Kellett from 7 – 8 March, courtesy of the Annual Fund. It was the first time Year 9 got to participate in the workshops, and an opportunity for Kellett students to see their work live in The David Kidd Theatre. The workshops held at Kellett were a great experience for all; being equally fun, interesting and relevant to the drama curriculum. They particularly helped the GCSE and A-level students with their devised work. The devised theatre is a large portion of GCSE and A-level drama courses, and Frantic helped the students to approach devising in a different way, encouraging them to look at performance from a movementbased angle. The project benefitted the school in a variety of ways, helping drama students to develop not only their decisions and movement skills, but also encouraging us to explore our creativity in order to express ourselves. It also helped build teamwork within the group whilst exposing us to a range of dramatic techniques and styles.