KGV
Vol. 23, Issue 2 MAR 2016
Newsletter
KGV
Newsletter
A Triannual Magazine for King George V School
Vol.23 Issue 2 | MAR 2016
Contents Head of KGV’s Welcome
2
LRC News: HKU Visit
3
10
Le Beux’s Introduction to Nanotechnology 4 LSC Christmas Party
5
TED ED CLUB
6
Kindness Week
7
More News
8
Community Service at KGV
9
CAS Updates - February
11
Challenge Week 2015
15
Festival of Creativity
19
KGV Fair
21
The LION Yearbook 2016
26
ESF Trip to China
27
KGV Sport Updates
29
Alumni Updates
33
King George V School, 2 Tin Kwong Road, Homantin, Kowloon, Hong Kong www.kgv.edu.hk | office@kgv.edu.hk +852 27113029 King George V School Hong Kong All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without prior permission from the King George the Fifth School (KGV), Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR.
Editor Kevin Tong Design Kevin Tong Contributors
Judy Cooper | Yasmeen Ashraf | Amanda Barton Dean Beard | Riley Cameron Alexandra Carlile | Tim Carrell | Chia Chu Scott Hooper | Sean Kao | Xanthe Knight Michael Lam | Jon Lau | Kingsley Lau | Helen Law | Martin Mak | Ciaran O’Halloran Saman Sen | James Shepherdson | Anna Wong Ingrid Wong | The Yearbook Committee
Special thanks to
Judy Cooper | Jane Angwin | Josh Armstrong | Katell Le Goff | Marj Van Bever Donker Matthew Whiley & All those unmentioned
00
Head of KGV’s Welcome Welcome to the KGV newsletter. In this issue, we celebrate the wide range of activities which take place at KGV School. These articles are testament to our commitment to an education which is inclusive, creative, culturally diverse, challenging, holistic and also lots of fun! Challenge week is always a highlight for both students and staff. For students, it’s an opportunity to develop skills and often do something for the first time. The most memorable challenge week activities are where students challenge themselves to work outside of their comfort zone and do something they know will be a huge achievement for them individually. Challenge week could not run without the commitment, dedication and hard work of our teachers and support staff. I was so impressed at the appreciation shown by the students at the end of the week. The Festival of Creativity showed me just how creative KGV students are. I enjoyed all the events and activities and the general buzz of excitement around the school. So many students got involved and showed how creative they can be. The school fair was a great way to end the week and I know everyone enjoyed themselves playing games at the stalls, sampling the food from around the world and listening to music performed by students past and present. We continue to build relationships with KGV alumni and the London reunion was an opportunity to share stories of KGV through the decades. The event was well attended with KGV graduates from every decade including some 83 year olds! They are all taking part in the KGV story as we track the evolution of learning through the years and project into the future to form the vision statement. Enjoy this issue and the opportunity to celebrate with your sons and daughters,
Best wishes,
Judy Cooper Head of KGV Newsletter KGV | 2
LRC News: HKU Visit
Author
Jon LAU Student: 12C07S
As part of a CAS project, I along with a group of other Year 12 students have been investigating how to support others in our year group with their Extended Essay research. We quickly discovered that while the LRC has access to a huge number of resources but many students were in need of support in how to search them effectively. We only had a vague impression of the vast databases available prior to joining this project so our first job was to familiarize ourselves with tools such as – EBSCO, Questia, JSTOR and the Hong Kong Public Library catalogue. Through taking some time to explore all the features we each became quite expert. We then decided one way of sharing this knowledge would be to create screencast instructional videos students could use as and when they needed them. To make sure that we were learning skills that would be applicable to undergraduate study, Mr. Shiel and Ms. Lam took a group of us to the Hong Kong University for a tour of its resources and a chance to ask questions of their librarians. There were bookshelves there, of course, but also collaborative spaces, microform readers, and a collection of electronic databases far exceeding our own in size and 3 | Newsletter Vol.23 Issue 2
breadth. I was impressed the most by the modernity of the environment, and the vibrant, hard-working atmosphere. We also left with other ideas about what research skills would be useful for students to develop before continuing their studies after KGV. Now the videos are complete we will share them with others in our year group in the hope it helps them with their research process. Also, following our visit to HKU we were taken by the idea of using an electronic tool to help keep track of our references. We are now trialing several systems as we write our Extended Essays and will make a recommendation as to which we feel should be provided to all Senior School students on the future. Finally we will be sharing our experiences with students from South Island School who have been involved in a similar project. The hope is that we can learn from each other and develop our work further next year. MORE VIDEOS FROM OUR STUDENTS ON LIONEL 2 (LOGIN REQUIRED): https://goo.gl/FcTr09
Le Beux’s Introduction to Nanotechnology
Author
Riley CAMERON Student: 13R01S
Before Christmas break, we French students had the unique opportunity to have Professor Le Beux visit our school. He is a professor in nanotechnology, currently conducting research in France.
electronic devices in the future such as 3D transistors which, if successfully implemented, can help make electronic devices smaller than ever.
In our French lesson, he talked about his field of work, and we were able to ask him questions about his personal life as well as his opinions on different aspects of science, all in French. At the time, we were looking at the Science and Technology topic in our course so having the talk allowed us to learn some complex, relevant vocabulary, as well as practise speaking and listening skills that will no doubt be useful in our individual orals. After Professor Le Beux’s visit to our French class, he gave a talk in English in the LRC that was open to all students who wished to attend. He talked about the history of nanotechnology and how the smartphones of today are as powerful as the personal computers made 10 years ago. This is a trend that nanotechnologists such as him seek to continue, this constant increase in processing power accompanied by a decrease in size. We also got to learn about the different technologies that we may be seeing in the future. Professor Le Beux and his colleagues study different options that may help advance
I found the French lesson particularly useful as living in Hong Kong, there are very few opportunities to speak to native French speakers, especially those willing to talk about complex topics like technology. Professor Le Beux was very patient with us even when we struggled to ask our questions, and he spoke slowly when we didn’t understand what he was saying. From the session he hosted in the LRC, it is clear that he has real passion for his field of work, and hopefully that passion is something that KGV students can share, be it nanotechnology or other fields. Newsletter KGV | 4
LSC CHRISTMAS PARTY The annual LSC Christmas party and LSC Christmas play have always been one of the biggest highlights of the school year and this year was no exception. It was a massive collaboration between CAS students, LSC students, teachers and EA’s. Planning of the party started at the beginning of the year, and CAS students distributed assignments amongst themselves to facilitate a successful and enjoyable party. In the meantime, our LSC students spent hours preparing for this year’s Christmas Play – “The Sad Little Christmas Tree”. A lot of time was put into rehearsing for the Christmas play; students and teachers worked together to practice their lines and choreography to create a fun and engaging play. One of the highlights of the play was the sign language performance of the song ‘Silent Night’. The students practiced with Ms. Manning to make sure their actions were in unison. Overall, the play was a massive achievement for the LSC students. At the Christmas Party, we were joined by our friends from Jockey Club Sarah Roe School, where the CAS students organized food and drinks for all our guests. To add to the festive atmosphere, party games were set up around the GLT and a karaoke session was set up
where both LSC and CAS students shared their singing talents. We also had a guest visit from Nisarg Shah, who is an alumnus of the LSC. He made sure that the music was lively and upbeat by taking the role of the DJ. Following the tradition, Dr. Wickins came to the Christmas Party dressed as Santa Claus to give out sweets and presents. The event was a great success and we look forward to preparing an even better one next year!
Author
Helen LAW Educational Assistant
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TEDEd believes in the power of great ideas and the benefits of spreading these ideas. As the internet only becomes more integral and embedded in our lives, ideas evolve into increasingly powerful and influential forces that can transform our world. Through discussion, development and discovery at TEDEd, you may inspire or be inspired. TEDEd not only provides you with a platform to brainstorm ideas which intrigue and absorb your mind, but allows you to share and develop these potential ideas which may one day make a difference. TEDEd hopes that by instilling young minds with fresh and novel ideas, they become the forefront of human thought and lead the world through fantastic and dynamic change. At TEDEd, it is a cooperative and collaborative environment, where your passion is given the opportunity to thrive and develop into something of your own. It is an opportunity to inform, to educate, to share, to alert, to raise awareness, to discuss, to show that what you have is an idea worth spreading. Learning about new topics is integral, whether it be quirky, amusing topics such as the Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics or highly logical, prominent themes such as the Role of History in Modern Day Society. The club is conducted in a series of stages throughout the time span of twelve weeks, in which students discuss potential ideas with one another, prepare their speeches and finally present their interests to the wider community. Although a rigorous process,
TEDEd places importance on key skills such as cohesion, research and preparation, and meeting limited time frames; feedback sessions not only ensure that the entire community benefits from improvements, but act as a stepping stone for students to enhance their confidence and oral communication! That’s not all! The breadth and scope of ideas is completely yours to decide, the spectrum is unlimited. TedED strives to incorporate a plethora of diverse ideas which touch upon a variety of themes and concepts; what matters is that they captivate you and you’re motivated to instill your passion in the minds of others. And remember: don’t be afraid to make mistakes – after all, it’s a learning process. Author
Sean KAO & Saman SEN Students: 11C09S, 11C03S
Newsletter KGV | 6
K
INDNESS WEEK Author
Amanda BARTON Head of College
Kindness week was bigger and better than ever at KGV this year, kicking 2016 off to a great start. KGV joined the global Kindness Movement alongside over 5 million students across 8022 schools in 61 countries, as part of the great Kindness Challenge. Over 2500 thank you cards were sent and received by students and staff at KGV to show their appreciation for each other. These kept our Kindness Committee very busy indeed, sorting and delivering cards every day and into the following week. They somehow still found time to create the Kindness Checklist Challenge, designed for students, by students, which featured many ideas for spreading Kindness, such as: donating unwanted clothing, helping out with chores at home (without being asked!), being kind to yourself, and encouraging random acts of kindness all week.
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$1500 for our school charities. We were delighted to welcome a guest speaker to KGV and Sarah Roe to talk about acts of Kindness across the globe. Maxime has been travelling since May, 2015, and has covered over 40,000km overland from France to Hong Kong. He spoke passionately to students about how his journey has been made possible by the generosity and trust of strangers he has met along the way.
A new edition to Kindness Week was the vibrant Kindness Wall in the LRC; it was made of hundreds of colourful notes written by students at KGV and visiting P5 students. This was set up and run by The Pride, a Senior School student group. Bright yellow wristbands were also on sale for the community to demonstrate their support for the week and we raised over
Finally all middle school students had the opportunity to take part in a Kindness poster competition as part of their LPS lessons. The winning entries will be made into a book kept in the student support area of the school, where you can also find the Kindness Monsters to brighten your day. You truly are part of a global Kindness Movement. Thank you to everyone for making such a positive difference at your school, in your community, and in our world. There’s no doubt about it, your Kindness Matters!
MORE NEWS
Senior Maths Competition at Harrow Intenational School, November 2015
The Senior Team Maths Challenge was organised with an aim to promote mathematical dexterity, teamwork and communication skills. We also wanted to give students the opportunity to compete against students from other schools in Hong Kong.
Fantastic Mural By Student Artists Over the Chinese New Year Holiday Mia Barrell, Georgia Barrell, Charlotte Chan, Jessica Cowe and Siobhan O’Conner, a group of very talented artists came into school to paint a mural on the wall of the Vertical Extension corridor. The brief I gave to Mia was ‘Human Rights’. The girls produced a fantastic mural of the Statue of Liberty, carrying the scales of justice with barbed wire tangled around the whole thing. The colours are bold and the message is clear. It has been a real talking point with students, staff and with the parents who came to the Year 11 parents evening.
Over 100 students and 20 teachers from Hong Kong were welcomed to the School to compete in three rounds of fiendish mathematical problems. A calm first round of ten questions was followed by a manic crossnumber round in which the intricate marking challenged the teachers as much as the questions challenged the students. The final round required passing answers to and fro in a shuttle format. There were 192 points on offer across the competition. KGV came joint second and fifth out of 27 teams.
I would like to thank the girls for their commitment, their fantastic artistic skills but most of all the way that they completed the task with humility. They are great ambassadors for our school Thank you and well done. Author
Alyson TSUI
Author
Anna WONG Teacher: Maths
Learning Director: Individual & Societies
Newsletter KGV | 8
Community Service at KGV The Community Service Committee has been working closely together to provide opportunities for students at KGV to serve and to raise awareness of the needs of the wider community in Hong Kong. Our long-term teaching projects include English teaching at Tsung Tsin Primary School on Saturday mornings, Buddy reading with students from Farm Road Primary School and other local schools. At Baptist Hospital, volunteers visit the young patients at the children’s ward three times a week to keep them company. We also have a partnership with Christian Action Chung King Mansions Center, where their refugee clients attend ICT classes taught by our volunteers at KGV every Thursday after school.
Author
Chia CHU Teacher: Maths/Charity
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For those students who are keen to be involved but cannot commit regularly, we offer one-off opportunities include selling flags on Saturday mornings to raise funds for local NGOs, participating in the Stride for a Cure Walkathon to support the Hong Kong Cancer Fund and visiting low-income families who live in subdivided flats and wood partitioned homes.
December 12th, 2015 marked the 21st anniversary of our annual Christmas Party for the refugee children from Christian Action and Innercity Ministries. As we know, these children come from low-income families and they seldom get to celebrate Christmas like we do. Our goal is simply to give them a party filled with games, food, presents and more importantly, laughter! On the day, we had more than 400 children and their families who attended the party, with around 150 student volunteers helping out. We wish to thank the Charity Committee for preparing the food hampers and organizing the catering, Holly Brown for providing more than 400 pastries for free, Mrs. Wiedemann for donating 70 boxes of new clothes for the clients and all of the teachers who helped out on the day! We are hoping to provide new opportunities for students, parents and staff members to volunteer in the coming term. If you would like to find out more about our work, we invite you to LIKE our Facebook page KGVCSC in order to receive updates regularly. We look forward to serving with you in the near future!
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT KGV’S COMMUNITY SERVICE ON KGVCSC
Newsletter KGV | 10
FEBRUA
Updates
RY
Author
Dean BEARD CAS Coordinator
Student Led CAS continues to grow as a substantial part of the KGV co-curricular program and was given the annual boost at the KGV CAS Fair early on this year. Student Led CAS is a program designed to allow students to propose, plan and lead their own co-curricular activities for fellow students giving them the autonomy they desired. This opportunity has been greatly received by Senior School students, in particular, the Year 12 students, and the various activities have continued to gain momentum. Students leading these activities have organized the materials, planned the activities and supervised/ demonstrated/ taught the other students. They have responded extremely well to the opportunity demonstrating superb leadership skills and should be congratulated for further enriching KGV’s co-curricular program. In addition to the student’s commitment to the program, teachers have also selflessly given up their time to support the students, providing them with the much needed adult supervision. So a huge thanks to all teachers who have volunteered this year. An exciting prospect is underway for this year expanding on the concept of ‘Student Led CAS’. October 2016 will ‘hopefully’ see for the first time, a Student Led Challenge Week Trip. Following this year’s Challenge Week, a group of students applied to design, plan and lead a trip for school. They have been working with external organizations to come up with an idea that fulfills KGV’s requirements for challenge week trips. Already, I have been extremely pleased with the students approach demonstrating the quality of CAS students at school. I am sure whichever trip gets the approval will be a success and I will update you on progress later in the year. Also on the horizon, is extending the Student Led CAS clubs to the Middle School. I would like to see Year 10 students and/or even Year 9 students also leading their own cocurricular activities, further enriching the opportunities on offer at KGV – watch this space. To give you an insight in to the students that put themselves forward to lead CAS activities, a few were visited and interviewed.
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steps on the whiteboard, the students can easily refer to them when folding the origami object, allowing them to have a better understanding on how to fold the object.
ORIGAMI CLUB WHO ARE THE STUDENT LEADERS?
Kaitlin Tang, Cynthia Wong, Vivian Man, Kania Pang, Youyee Chen, Yi Go.
WHY DO YOU LEAD THE SLC ACTIVITY?
To gain more experience in organizing events/ activities, and to take initiative in teaching other people about a hobby/skill.
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT FROM A CAS PERSPECTIVE?
From a CAS perspective, I learnt that taking initiative is very important whether it is planning what activity to lead, or what to do during the sessions. I think that perseverance is also a valuable aspect to have when teaching someone, especially when that person is a beginner in the activity that they are doing. Teamwork is also handy when planning on what to do during the sessions. With the slightly large amount of leaders for the activity, we could easily cover for each other if one of us is busy during a lunch time, this decreases the need to cancel the session if one of the leaders are unavailable.
WHAT IS THE BEST ASPECT ABOUT LEADING A SLC ACTIVITY?
I think the best aspect about leading a SLC activity is definitely learning new things yourself while you are teaching others. Throughout the activity, the other leaders and I learnt new ways to make the sessions more organize as well as ways to make the teaching easier to understand for the participants. For example, by printing out the steps of the origami object and drawing the
RECREATIONAL TABLE TENNIS CLUB WHO ARE THE STUDENT LEADERS?
Michelle Wong, Carly Lam, Sevilla Ng.
WHY DO YOU LEAD THE SLC ACTIVITY?
We wanted to lead an activity not only for the experience, but for the chance to do something fun with a group of friends. We also wanted the opportunity to be able to know students from the other years whilst doing a fun activity.
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT FROM A CAS PERSPECTIVE?
In table tennis you will learn to communicate and work with others, building teamwork and table tennis skills. Moreover, you can gradually incorporate more fitness into your routine and also could also relieve any (academic) stress as this activity is non-competitive and exists to suit the interest of our student interests.
WHAT IS THE BEST ASPECT ABOUT LEADING A SLC ACTIVITY?
The best aspect about leading a SLC activity was being able to take the initiative and use this opportunity to practice organisational, leadership and interpersonal skills. We were able to challenge our creativity by coming up with lesson plans, as well as thinking of different ways to put student’s skills to the test. Newsletter KGV | 12
try new things that out of my comfort zone. I love how leading a group instill new challenges, overall, CAS has significantly increased my awareness of my weaknesses more than my strengths and allowed me to grow as a person is many ways I could not imagine before.
THE ECO FRIENDS CLUB WHO ARE THE STUDENT LEADERS? Meggie Cook and Paco Yuen.
WHY DO YOU LEAD THE SLC ACTIVITY?
I always wanted to be build on my social skills, meeting new people and challenging myself to try new things that are out of my comfort zone. I believe that leading a SLC activity would give me the chance to do just that.
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT FROM A CAS PERSPECTIVE?
I started to work with Ms Pang on my CAS project called ECO Friends composting. I was very reluctant to do any work related to gardening and composting at first. However once Ms Pang showed me how things were done, I began to develop somewhat of an enjoyment towards composting. We started a small group which consisted of 3 students including myself with Ms Pang and collected left over vegetables from the canteen every Thursday to turn into eventual compost. This overall experience definitely raised my awareness of global issues and awareness of how I can make a small impact in the society I reside in, by reusing food waste instead of disposing of them.
WHAT IS THE BEST ASPECT ABOUT LEADING A SLC ACTIVITY? In my opinion the best aspect of leading a SLC activity is the chance to meet new people and 13 | Newsletter Vol.23 Issue 2
FILM SOCIETY WHO ARE THE STUDENT LEADERS?
Alisa Chau, Anson Tso, Sakshi Chandrasekhar and Tara Tang.
WHY DO YOU LEAD THE SLC ACTIVITY?
Film Society is open for anyone and everyone who is interested in watching and discussing films, regardless of whether or not they take Film/Media as a subject in school. Our goal was to pique interest in unconventional, independent films. We also wanted to discuss aspects beyond the narrative with them and get them to consider different ideas and perspectives presented. The club ran every Wednesday lunchtime in ME3. Once a month, we had an afterschool screening, we worked in conjunction with HKYAF’s Jump Cut School Movie Express and individuals working within the film industry. It gave Film Society participants a chance to learn more about the world of film and to develop our discussions further. This showcases creativity as film is a creative, subjective medium and everyone’s opinion can be challenged. The service aspect stems from the organisation on the founders’ part.
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT FROM A CAS PERSPECTIVE?
Apart from the first few sessions, Film Society ran quite smoothly. We had insightful,
informative discussions about the films we watch together, engaging in topical issues that affect the real world. Club-goers who don’t study the subject have gained a lot of new knowledge and a further creative interest in film. We have developed our planning and showed initiative by collaborating with fellow founders to establish and organise this long term activity.
What is the best aspect about leading a SLC activity? Sharing our hobby and teaching others. Watching our peers improve is the best part of leading the activity.
WHAT IS THE BEST ASPECT ABOUT LEADING A SLC ACTIVITY? The most rewarding part of being a student leader for CAS is being able to see the participants’ change in attitude towards film. It is particularly moving to be able to notice the influence of the films and thought provoking discussions on the students who joined the activity, it meant that we were able to share our passion with them and transform them into people who share our interest and love for film.
THE WORLD SCHOLAR'S CUP CLUB Who are the student leaders? Fatih Ozer, Jake Smith and Cecilia Chen.
WHY DO YOU LEAD THE SLC ACTIVITY?
THE STUDENT LED VOLLEYBALL CLUB
To develop a group of students who will represent KGV at the annual World Scholar’s Cup.
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT FROM A CAS PERSPECTIVE?
WHO ARE THE STUDENT LEADERS?
That to teach the skills needed for the competition is much more complicated than applying the skills itself.
WHY DO YOU LEAD THE SLC ACTIVITY?
WHAT IS THE BEST ASPECT ABOUT LEADING A SLC ACTIVITY?
Megan Ho, Hofung Ko and Jaime Au.
We decided to create this activity to share our hobby with others. We also wanted others to gain experience for the sport.
The satisfaction of successfully leading a group where 24 students start and 24 students finish.
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT FROM A CAS PERSPECTIVE?
From the CAS experience, we’ve learnt more about teamwork and how to lead a group activity efficiently. We also try to come up with interesting drills. Newsletter KGV | 14
Author
Tim CARRELL Vice Principal
CHALLENGE WEEK 2015 2000 students and staff engaged in a wide variety of activities around Hong Kong (26 activities locally plus Year 7 and Year 8 camp) and around the World (21 overseas activities) as part of Challenge Week 2015. New for this year was a fully residential camp for Year 8, using the new facilities at the Sai Kung Outdoor education training camp and the expertise of NorthStar. The team building, confidence building and skill building were great to see. The camp also set the scene and introduced some key academic ideas for the Year 9 experience that these students will be the first to experience next year. The school subsidised Year 11 parents 25% of the cost of language immersion experiences again this year. Once again we had students engaging in deep and immersive exsperiences int he language they are learning. I have spoken to a number of students recently following their oral examinations and all of them described using their challenge week experiences to help. Our portfolio of activities will continue to create long-term social and experiential memories, and now more immediately for the language immersion students, academic benefits as they approach their written and oral IGCSE language examinations. Students took part in activities that formed new friendships, extended their understanding of the world, pushed them out of their comfort zone, and challenged them mentally, physically and emotionally. Our students represented KGV with integrity, pride and honour during the week. We are very proud of them. Our teachers and support staff invested an incredible amount of time and energy organising the logistics, safety and supervision of all the activities, an investment that was repaid by the excitement and enjoyment of our students. Work is well underway for Challenge Week 2016 with teachers finalising budgets, doing safety checks and editing the website information for student choices for next October.
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FOR MORE POSTS AND IMAGES FROM CHALLENGE WEEK PLEASE VISIT OUR BLOG
NewsletteR KGV | 16
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Author
Ciaran O’HALLORAN Learning Director: Creativity & Performance
When I first came to KGV, I was amazed by the creative output of KGV our students. The school year is punctuated by huge celebrations of music, swimming, dance, cheerleading, talent, and of course knitting. Our student’s accomplishments in these are inspiring. But I was also struck by how competitive and formalized a lot of these opportunities were. As Learning Director for Creativity and Performance, I felt there was room to celebrate the arts and expressive abilities for their own sake –for the enjoyment they bring. We got together the Heads of Department in the faculty to talk about how to celebrate our Art forms. This was the genesis for the Festival of Creativity – the emerging aim was to put on a week long festival featuring a range of artists and performers drawn from a school community, performing at times where our students could go and appreciate them. As well as our students, we put the call out to alumni to come in and share what their successes with us.
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stival ng new or The week of the fe they tried somethi as ts onderful. en ud st r ou g in pect to see was w ex ’t dn di ey th was a joy – watch t in ar ing from Y13 boys mance or piece of nc or rf da a pe a gr an ss ro bh u ac pt e cam finale the improm ios, the wonderful a few stand out – s, ud ie St or rt A em e m th y e an id m ts Of ation ou , morning e graffiti transform the theatre festival of d en e th at za g the drum circle, th hu mances on the piaz t, the cast group or er rf nc pe co ed n is tio ov ira pr sp im of the in r, and the igs. the chamber choi had found some w ho coffee listening to w 9s ar ye by stage
But for me the longest lasting was from a lunch time dance performance by a Year 8 student. As she performed I stepped back to observe the audience. The group of her friends sitting in front of the stage, the middle school students and staff who were passing through the quad, the seniors and heads of college along the balcony and a few passing members of our canteen staff had all come to a complete standstill. As we watched on in silence we were frozen by the power of the performance. None of us had expected that to happen, but the experience we shared would stay with us and we would share it with others. That small moment demonstrated the unpredicted, immeasurable and experiential side of the creative experience, and captured the essence of what we tried to do. Newsletter KGV | 20
KGV
F A
I R
Author
Yasmeen ASHRAF Community Development Manager
The KGV School Fair (themed as ‘International Fair’) held this year was a superb evening of fun and laughter. The atmosphere was festive and exciting. The entire school, parent and alumni community came together creating a successful fundraising event! KGV was turned into an arcade of amusement and laughter. There was something for everyone, from soaking the teacher to lounging at the Piazza listening to openmic music performances. Throughout the evening student performers took center stage to the delight the audience. The school hall was transformed into a concert stage with live band jamming sessions. The front driveway was filled with dozens of stalls
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Principal Dr Wickins. The celebratory atmosphere was just fantastic bringing an end to a week-long of Creativity at KGV.
Special thanks to our many students, alumni, parents, staff and volunteers who helped and games offering everything prepare and run the evening from. and making it possible. As well as all those who donated The PTSA put on a spectacular items and purchased them. International food festival. We appreciate our supportive The field was crowded with school community! spectators cheering on the Alumni vs. Staff football teams playing their best match refereed by our Executive
teachers, some other parents were very considerate and understood how nervous I must have been.
Emily Chung 10U05M That was a night full of wonders and joy, things we never thought would happen came true. We never thought that we could pour a bucket of cold water on our vice principal; we never thought we could receive “bounce” vouchers in a school activity and most of all, I never thought I would be there doing something for ourselves, for the students. It was an opportunity The Lion Fund offered on the night of The Creativity Fair (early Christmas Fair). Guests were swarming in and out of the front drive as I stood there hopelessly with a smile. To be honest, it’s the first time I’ve seen so many guests coming to KGV. Past Christmas Fairs were just different. It was nerve wracking to start a conversation with the guests, let alone asking for donation.
I would like to thank all the guests that donated and for making this such a good experience for me.
Jennifer Ding 9N13M
Promoting the Lion Fund during the Festival of Creativity International Fair was a great experience overall as it allowed us to push aside our nerves and approach many different groups and individuals to explain the cause of Lion Fund and share the benefits it would bring to our own school.
We brought our enthusiasm levels and persuasion techniques to the maximum to enable us to present the Lion Fund to people in the best way possible. Conversations held were friendly and most people approached showed a great deal of interest in supporting the Lion Fund in its act to provide extra financial resources to help KGV improve and take steps forwards in the future.
Explaining the Lion Fund to parent after parent, being rejected by one after another, some finally donated. Although some were from students and Newsletter KGV | 22
Jon Lau 12C07S
On the night of the Fair, our stall drew an impressive crowd. Their attraction must have stemmed from the fun involved: participants in this particular stall flung, for a fee, a soft, yellow ball at a red, circular target. Clunk - and the shivering victim below would receive another bucketful of water. Splash! - or maybe the fun came from seeing a normally well-demeanored member of staff getting drenched. Either way, that was part of the idea. The thing had been borrowed from West Island School, and stowed in the parking lot. It took half a dozen people to set it up. Although the mechanism was doubted initially, this system would work flawlessly many times throughout the fair. Once we were ready, the first of the brave teacher too arrived, and throughout the night, Ms. Pinder, Ms. Steel, Mr. Carrell, Mr. Beard, Ms. Grantham, and Mr. Styles took 23 | Newsletter Vol.23 Issue 2
their turn on the seat when there was a gap between the tutees. And the business really did seem endless, from the very beginning onwards. The numerous Thursday tutor times involved brainstorming, planning, and poster drafting, as well as a formation of an alternative plan if West Island School could not provide. Things appeared bleak for a moment, but one intense lunchtime of final preparation insured against mediocrity. The stall, like the fair, was in full swing by 6:00 pm. Many people would choose to join in when the ideal victim arrived, and pay anywhere from $10 to $70, and throw any number of balls from 1, to as many as possible in the space of 60 seconds. The best thing was the energy and enthusiasm sparkling in the atmosphere. The stall’s staff were scurrying around on any number of jobs, the transfixed crowd was cheering, gasping and laughing, and the customers would crouch on the line, draw their arms back, take aim, and throw‌.
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Evan Wen
Youyee Chen
Phoebe chan
Michelle Wong
Lawrence Zhang Ji Yun Lee
Bonnie Yeung
Alex Li
Rubaiyet Quader
The LION Yearbook 2016 Author
The Yearbook Committee Students
Gosh – this feels a bit strange, being asked to write about ourselves instead of other people… Well, we are the students currently heading up the production of the LION Yearbook. There are four departments: design, photography, editorial, and marketing, as well as two editors-in-chief. Each month we hold meetings to ensure we’re all working in coordination with each other, and discuss any improvements to make. It’s a challenging task to be sure, and one full of responsibility – the LION Yearbook is to represent the whole school after all, and we try to include all aspects of the incredible diversity at KGV. Below we’ve shared a bit about our experiences on the yearbook team these past couple of years.
“The design team designs each page of the yearbook, and we coordinate the team and give feedback on their work. Managing and organizing the design team is a difficult task, but we’ve become better communicators, and better at giving constructive feedback rather than straight off criticism.” Evan Wen and Ji Yun Lee (Heads of Design)
“The photography team is in charge of getting all the photos for the yearbook, and my role is to coordinate who takes what photos and when. I think the most important thing I’ve learned is that I can’t be too lenient on my team, or they won’t listen to what I have to say.” Phoebe Chan and Michelle Wong (Heads of Photography)
“The editorial team gets all the articles for the yearbook and, we oversee all the deadlines and do a final edit of every article. It’s a challenging position: there’s lots of work behind the scenes, and knowing that every word is finalized can be quite stressful!”
“My job is coordinating the marketing team, which finds sponsors for the yearbook and manages advertising. I’ve really enjoyed guiding my team to find new sponsors, watching them grow into their roles as they develop their skills independently.” Rubaiyat Quader (Head of Marketing)
“As editors-inchief, we make sure everything is on track. Leading such a large publication team, we’ve spent lots of time working closely with individual team members, and that teamwork has been a really enjoyable aspect of the position!” Lawrence Zheng and Alex Li (Editors-in-Chief)
The LION Yearbook is very much a labour of love for all of us, and we’re very glad to be able to share it with you all. We hope students can enjoy and cherish the memories in it for a long time to come!
Youyee Chan and Bonnie Yeung (Heads of Editorial)
Newsletter KGV | 26
Author
Martin MAK Teacher: Chinese
KGV students went to the peak of Xiqiao Mountain and took a great picture in front of the Buddha!
ESF Trip To china nanhai, guangdong 2015 In November 2015, 10 middle school students at KGV joined a trip to Nanhai organised by ESF. Through school visits, cultural activities and sightseeing, our students have their deepened their understanding of China, improved their Chinese and developed new friendships.
Foshan. And the Nanhai paper cutting is an all-year-round custom for people to decorate their houses. Our students learned how to do it during the trip.
Nikhail Wadhwani (left) and Austin Chow (right) showcasing their finished work of paper cutting
NANHAI: YIP MAN, WONG FEIHONG AND JIANZHI (PAPER CUTTING) Nanhai is a county in Foshan which is known as one of the ‘Four Tigers of Guangdong’ because of its prosperity. But Nanhai is famous for its kungfu culture and the art of paper cutting. Wong Feihong and Yip Man were born in 27 | Newsletter Vol.23 Issue 2
SCHOOL VISITS During the trip, students went to visit several schools. On the day they arrived they went to Nanhai Central Primary School. Our students had a chance to use Chinese to talk to the students there and new friendships have developed. It was an excellent opportunity for our students to practise their Chinese while the
KGV Students standing in front of the main entrance of Nanhai Central Primary School
A Lion Dance performance by Nanhai Minle Primary School
students there practised their English. On the second day our students went to Nanhai Minle Primary School and the whole school performed outstanding performances in front of the visitors. The children there were only 8-10 years old but they could already deliver impressive performances. It was an enjoyable experience. A whole-school performance by Nanhai Minle Primary School
Our students were enjoying themselves in a school visit
Kareena’s buddy Justine was explaining how different the Chinese curriculum there is from the one she is studying at KGV.
THE MOST MEMORABLE THING IN THE TRIP The most memorable thing was interacting and meeting the Chinese students in Nanhai. It was really great to see new friendships developed and KGV students did so many activities with the local students such as hiking and treasure hunt during the trip.
FIND US ON FACEBOOK ESF NANHAI TRIP KGV 30 NOV-2 DEC2015
Karena Vora said, ‘On the last day when we were leaving, it was a really sad moment because we made such great friends. And we all said that we should always keep in touch. My buddy in Nanhai just emailed me a few days ago!’
NewsletteR KGV | 28
KGV SP RT UPDATES
Author
Scott HOOPER Head of Sports
INTRODUCING THE NEW...
What is KLC Run Club?
It is a 3k run for our Kowloon Learning Campus Community (KGV, KJS, JCSRS). We welcome students and staff to get involved.
When is it?
It is held every Wednesday at 3.45pm. The first run will take place on Wednesday 17th February!
Where is it?
The event takes place around the KGV campus. Complete 3 laps of a set 1km course, record your time and you’re done, as easy as that!
How fast do I have to be?
The aim is to have fun. Please come along and join in whatever your pace! Each run/walk will be timed and recorded so you can track progress.
How do I sign up?
Please register before your first run. Sign up can be found on the student bulletin and the banner on the LIONeL. 29 | Newsletter Vol.23 Issue 2
I don’t want to run but would like to volunteer?
We also need student volunteers to help lead on this weekly event. Please let Ms Pinder know if you are interested in volunteering and gaining valuable experience.
Prizes will be awarded for ‘most run attendances in a month’, half marathon/ marathon distances achieved between February and June etc
Run Sign up:
http://goo.gl/forms/7CAVqVakgV (Sign in required)
Volunteer Sign up:
http://goo.gl/forms/44RpL8bFpb (Sign in required)
Author
Michael LAM Student : 13U02S
MICHAEL LAM’S 10K RACE
The Standard Chartered Marathon is by far the most prestigious distance running competition in Hong Kong, attracting over 70000 runners from all over the world each year. This year I competed in the 10k race. Waking up at 3am in the morning in order to prepare for the 5am race start is definitely a part of the challenge. This year I just missed the podium in the open category by coming 4th but I am still glad I managed to secure a Silver medal in the Junior U20 category with a time of 33:52. Hopefully I will be able to carry the same fitness into the D1 HKSSF athletics meet in February where I will be running 5000m and 1500m.
SENIOR GIRLS HOCKEY (Y10 –Y13) The KGV team is a young and dynamic team with lots of potential. We had a challenging season, but the team never gave up and fought hard against some tough and older wellestablished teams. The scores were always very close and we had a very exciting last match of the season drawing with HKIS 2-2. The team and I look forward to a successful season next year together. Thank you to Sydney Kwok the captain for her dedication and Amelia Ku-Neale our only Year 13 player, we wish her all the best for her future. The team consisted of Connie Boeree, Renee Chan, Georgia Desideri-Zigante, Katharina Gerigk, Louisa Konrad, Amelia Ku-Neale, Sydney Kwok, Ellen Liu, Michelle Marsh, Rachel Mason, Rika Mio, Tania Nainani, Shirley Ng, Joan Pang, Francesca Pesci, Maxine Poelmann, Amy Pyle, Simran Ramchandani Balani, Maya Renwick, Zoe Shing, and Paridhi Surana.
Author
Xanthe KNIGHT Teacher: PE
FOR THE MOST UP TO DATE INFORMATION ON KGV SPORT, PLEASE VISIT KGV SPORTS’S FACEBOOK PAGE KGV SPORT
Newsletter KGV | 30
JAMES SHEPHERDSON IN MEN’S ASIAN CHALLENGE
Author
James SHEPHERDSON Student: 12N07S
Ever since I can remember, I have had a hockey stick in my hand and a smaller one in my brother’s hand. I started playing for the Hong Kong Football Club when I was just four years old and I have progressed through the mini, junior and youth sections of the HKFC hockey section. I am currently playing for the U16 boys youth team as well as the Men’s B team, who are currently playing in the highest league in Hong Kong. I have also played for the school hockey team, starting when I was in year seven, this open grade competition helped me tremendously as I was given the experience of playing against eighteen year olds when I was just eleven. Throughout my hockey career I have achieved numerous successes, such as scoring every year for my school hockey team, or winning many best player awards for mini hockey but nothing tops the moment I received an email saying I had been selected to play for the Hong Kong Men’s team. Getting to this point in my hockey career was not an easy task, I have trained and played hockey for twelve years including summer camps and extra trainings with fitness on the side. But once I was selected for the national side, I trained three times a week with the HK side as well as one training with my club team and two match days. This combined with extra strength and conditioning as well as work from school meant I was not getting much sleep! Finally, the day of tour came. We boarded the plane heading to Myanmar for the 2nd Men’s Asian Challenge. Six teams were originally going but Indonesia and Sri Lanka both dropped out in the weeks before the tournament. That left China, Chinese Taipei and Myanmar as our opposition. 31 | Newsletter Vol.23 Issue 2
Our opening game was by far our toughest game against China who are nineteenth seed in the world, meaning we got beaten 8-0. Our next match against hosts Myanmar was a disaster match for us, we lost 2-1, playing badly and conceding silly goals. But, this game was also the highlight of my trip as I was fortunate enough to score a goal on my debut tour and so was leading goal scorer on the tour! The final group stage match we had was against fierce rivals Chinese Taipei, we played some very nice hockey, attacking with much more ferocity and drive which had been slightly lacking in our previous games. Ultimately, we lost the game 3-2 due to one silly mistake in the dying minutes of the match to lose our third game of the tournament. Our final match was a 3v4 playoff to determine the bronze medal winner. We were matched against Myanmar, the game started off badly as straight away we were put under pressure and conceded within the first five minutes – with a little bit of home side bias from the umpires. We went on to lose 2-0 and finish fourth place in the tournament. Although we did not play as well as we wanted to and did not place in the desired third place, many of the team, including myself, were not very happy about the end result. But, I did learn a lot from this week long tour and developed myself as a player. Hopefully, there will be more tournaments to come!
Author
Xanthe KNIGHT Teacher: PE
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Newsletter KGV | 32
Author
Judy COOPER Head of KGV
Alumni News : London Reunion 2016 On a chilly London day on 31st January over 60 KGV alumni including some ex-teachers and friends of the school gathered at The George for lunch. It was a pleasure to meet everyone and to have alumni from such a range of graduating years! There were familiar faces who I taught a few years ago and the oldest alumnus in attendance was 83 years old! I really enjoyed hearing about memories of KGV. They loved receiving personal cards from KGV teachers and wrote plenty for me to bring back! With such a great turnout, it was a bit of a squeeze in the venue - I think we will need a bigger room next year! The highlight of the event for me was singing the school song. This highlighted the importance of the heritage of KGV and how the song connects so many people who have been through the school. We intend to start singing it more frequently at school and have the words displayed as part of the visible identity of the school.
33 | Newsletter Vol.23 Issue 2
I hope we can continue to build links wherever possible. We encourage alumni who live in, or visit Hong Kong, to come to KGV and we will provide a tour so you can share your memories with your family. At the reunion, we also collected contributions to the KGV Story – we will let you know when it is published! If you are an alumnus and haven’t completed the questionnaire, please contact Yasmeen who will be able to help. Many thanks to Ms Yasmeen Ashraf and Ms Clara Leung for planning the event.
STAY CONNECTED KGV ALUMNI RELATIONS
Your Gift will Make A Difference
THE
LION FUND
The KGV community development team have been working on several alumni reunion events this past term. It has been an amazing journey tracking lost alumni and bringing them together to reminiscent over their time at school. We had the opportunity to chat with alumni from across eight decades. Some of them are celebrating their 80th birthday with us this year. Whether they attended the reunion with friends or alone they met up with school mates that identified themselves with the same connection- their fond memories of KGV. Everyone engaged in memorable conversation with endless joyful memories. We hope our alumni will continue to connect with us and amongst themselves that way. Beneath is a photograph of Alumna Joy Ford (who started KGV in 1948) with her classmate Patrick Farrell (attended KGV from 1949-51) at the
The Lion Fund is an opportunity to support the school. It provides a means of making a financial contribution at any time.
recent London Alumni reunion.
At KGV we believe in the powerful impact of collective unrestricted gifts: every donation counts no matter the amount. Your contributions have an invaluable role in increasing the resources available to the students.
Joy and Patrick were both prefects at KGV - Joy is standing second from the left in the back row, and Patrick is second from the right, in the middle row of the guys.
The financial support of the KGV community enables the school to look beyond the school fees and the ESF contribution devoted to teaching, administrative costs and school maintenance.
Let’s just imagine ourselves looking back 65 years from now.
To find out more, please contact our Community Development Office at 2711 3029 or yasmeen.ashraf@kgv.edu.hk
Our upcoming reunion events are in March. The first one will be the 10th anniversary for the graduates of 2006 and then the Mega Reunion event just before the Easter break! We hope our graduating students are all registered now on our KGV Alumni website, as we look forward to inviting them back in future too!
Author
Yasmeen Ashraf Community Development Manager
Newsletter KGV | 34
KING GEORGE V SCHOOL 2 Tin Kwong Road, Homantin, Kowloon, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2711 3029 | Fax: (852) 2762 9806 | Email: office@kgv.edu.hk WWW.KGV.EDU.HK