KGV
Newsletter
May 2014
King George V School 2 Tin Kwong Road, Homantin, Kowloon, Hong Kong General Enquiry: (852) 2711 3029 Website: www.kgv.edu.hk Email: office@kgv.edu.hk
Volume 18, Issue 2
Introduction
Table of Contents 2 Principal’s Message 3-8
Student at Work
9-10
Panache Fashion Show 2014
11-12
Philosophy Day, Charity Event
13-14
PTSA, Lion Yearbook
15-16
Opening of the new school field & World record bleep test
17-18
Evening of Music & Dance
19-20
Interhouse Music Competition
21-22 Basketball, Badminton 23-24
Rugby, Cross-Country, Gymnastics & Hockey
25-26 Football, Equestrian 27-28 Ski Trip 29-30
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Community Service
Principal’s Message I am delighted to introduce another superb newsletter packed full of exciting student activities at KGV. We have enjoyed another successful few months with the perennial high points in the school calendar living up to expectations. This annual rhythm is an important one for the school and I take delight in recognizing how powerful it is when there are so many potential disruptions.
In June we will be opening the Fung Learning Resources Centre. Over the last week we have had access to the new facilities and it has been a real pleasure to show students, staff and parents around. The most common reaction is “wow” ! Gradually it will come into use this term and I am sure you will hear stories about the opportunities it will bring.
This term marks an important point in a slower rhythm of development and change. Last year the development of our new buildings concluded but two other exciting initiatives were quietly progressing and this term they reach their conclusions. The celebration of the reopening of the school field was a magnificent KGV event as the whole school participated in a joyous and fun celebration. All our VIP visitors were overwhelmed by what was achieved. We think we broke the world record and I commend to you the video of the event which captures its spirit.
Public examinations have just started and we wish all students who are being challenged in this way well over the next few weeks. Look on it as an opportunity to show what you have learnt ! Best wishes.
Ed Wickins, Principal
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Student News
Students at Work Outstanding Cambridge Learner Award KGV is delighted to celebrate the outstanding achievement of 5 students in last year’s IGCSE examinations. Narumi Wong was joint “Top in the World” in Additional Mathematics as well as “Top in Hong Kong” in Economics. This is a remarkable achievement and reflects the breadth of her academic talent. Christina Qi was “Top in Hong Kong” in World Literature, Kimberly Lai and Timothy Yeung were joint “Top in Hong Kong” in Chinese as a Second Language and Melanie Halim was commended for “High Achievement” in Foreign Language German. Congratulations ! Back Row: Timothy, Melanie and Narumi. Front Row: Christina and Kimberly Ed Wickins, Prinicipal
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DragonMaths Competition 2014 This year’s Dragon Mathematics Competition was held at South Island School on the 16th of January. Over 205 Year 8 and 9 students, chosen to represent international schools all over Hong Kong, took part in this competition. From our school, we entered two Year 9 teams and two Year 8 teams, with the following members: Year 8 Team 1: Renata Lai, Calvin Lam, Helen Lee and Kevin Wong year 8 Team 2: Gilbert Chen, Ivy Li, Adela Wu and Malvina Yau Year 9 Team 1: Rachel Au, Jahan Balani, Joan Pang and Billy Siu Year 9 Team 2: Rahul Arya, Brendan Ng, Ansel Yap and Clifton Yip
Everyone worked together in their respective teams very well. In the competition, the teams each had to find the solution of as many challenging questions as possible, finding an efficient way of breaking down a complex problem to find the ultimate answer as quickly as possible. When an answer was received, one team member, the designated runner, would bring their question (running) and answer to the judge in order to get it marked and to receive the next question. And of course, there was a strict time limit, so our teams had to compete against time as much as they did against the other teams. Everyone from KGV tried their best to solve as many of the given questions in the limited time period, but unfortunately we didn’t win any awards this year. Hopefully, however, the new year 8’s and 9’s of 20142015 would be able to compete with all their might (and brainpower) against all the other competitors of their grade level and if possible, win. Rachel Au (9C03M) and Joan Pang (9U02M)
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Student News
Students at Work Daring to be different: four KGV students gain accolades in local writing competitions The next generation of original storytellers is on its way, and two are part of KGV’s vibrant and creative community. Two KGV students also gained success in the first Hong Kong Junior Writers awards. This is a new competition intended to raise awareness in secondary students about social issues and to encourage them to express their opinions on these issues in writing. As an entrant in the Junior division Joan Pang achieved an overall top 100 place in the Junior Writers competition supported by the South China Morning Post. Her essay ‘What is my role in society?’ will be published in the winners’ anthology. Edward Mak was the runner up in the Intermediate division. His essay addressed the topic ‘What does the Rule of Law have to do with me?’ As runner up Edward won a prize of $3000 and his essay will be published in the South China Morning Post. Edward has already established himself a columnist for the Young Post.
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Both Joan and Edward had to devote much time in the final days to finish their entries by the deadline. Gathering ideas and organisng them into good shape, within the requirements of the contest, was hard work. In retrospect they were both glad to have made the effort. Leanne Ng and Angelo Wong were recently runners up in local creative writing competitions. Leanne Ng was second place in the junior section (12-17 year olds) of the South China Morning Post and RTHK competition, where the theme was ‘Celebration’ and there had to be a Hong Kong connection. Angelo Wong gained second place in the WiPS Student Writing Competition for his composition ‘White Feather’, in response to the theme ‘Flight’. The judges described the choice of winners this year as particularly difficult. Leanne won a trip for two to Taipei, as well as ten Pan-Macmillan books. She was also invited to be
a reporter for the Young Post. Her piece, ‘Tristan’, will be published in both the Young Post and South China Morning Post. Angelo gained $600 for his second place, and was invited to attend the launch of the 2014 edition of ‘Imprint’ on March 28. Asked about their first reactions to the news of their success, Leanne says that she was contacted by phone with the news, and after her initial expletive of excitement her next thought was of how proud her mother would be. Angelo recalls how his heart skipped a beat, and then he thought, “Oh my God, clichés do happen.” Leanne explains that she wanted to write about marriage and chose gay marriage because of “all the problems that go with that – acceptance, family.” Angelo avoided the standard idea of flight in ‘White Feather’, aiming to make his fiction sadder than the clichéd association of flight with hope. What resulted was a mixture of joy, sorrow and mystery surrounding a girl’s strange desire to, and then ability to, ascend to heaven. Angelo differs markedly from Leanne in his approach to writing. He sketches the outline first, scene by scene. He then leaves it to ‘sit’ for a while, usually due to lack of time. When he composes the final product he pays attention to the craft. “Plain prose is boring”, he says. On the other hand, Leanne scribbles down
all she can before she loses the inspiration. She writes very fast – ‘Tristan’ was written in only an hour. Refusing to be interrupted, Leanne wrote ‘Tristan’ at her grandmother’s house, calling out “No, wait, I’m writing” instead of going straight to dinner. However, like Angelo she revises her first draft a number of times, and says the final work is not much like the original. Leanne says she has always been determined to make something of her writing. Second place in the competition has made her feel she has a chance of doing this, as the recognition makes it seem more possible. She carries a beautiful notebook with her in order to record whatever inspires her, either in words or as a sketch since she is also a talented visual artist. Asked if they have any advice for aspiring writers, Leanne offered, “If you want to improve your writing you have to think about everything: every little thing you see, you have to think about. Try to find a story in anything, even random everyday objects. Find extraordinary things in the ordinary.” Both of these young writers are certainly doing that.
Marcus Turver, English Teacher
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Student News
Students Work Student atatWork Graduation Class 2014 It was sad to see our Y13 cohort “officially” graduate at the end of last term. The graduation photo is normally taken on the steps of the school field but this was not possible due to the refurbishment this year. So this above photo was taken in the quad and what a smart and smiley group they are. Congratulations to Y13 and we wish you well in your future challenges. Ed Wickins, Principal
Exploring our emotions through Art and Craft On the 4th March, the LSC was very fortunate to Welcome Lizzie from Lizzie Bee in to work with students. Lizzie Bee Foundation Ltd is a Hong Kong registered Charity. They develop and deliver art workshops, bringing art, artist and community together. They believe that art and making art can trigger change. Therefore everyone should have access to meaningful art projects in order to promote education, empower communities, enhance lives and encourage positive social impact. The LSC students made flowers and wrote messages expressing their happiness to display in the ‘Garden of Goodness” an Art installation we have displayed in the LSC. The Garden of Goodness was created by Special Needs people all over Hong Kong. We jumped at the chance to display it in the LSC when it was offered to us. It was a wonderful, creative morning for us and we look forward to welcoming Lizzie back for another Art project in our Garden next year. Jane Angwin, Head of Learning Support Centre
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Putonghua Speech Competition for NonChinese Speaking Students 2014 At YMCA Christian College on 12 April 2014 ten KGV students participated in the Putonghua Speech Competition for Non-Chinese Speaking Students organised by HKU. The competition aims to stimulate students’ interest in learning Chinese and to develop non-native students’ confidence in public speaking skills. Our students participated in both the Solo Verse and the Choral Speaking sections. Year 9 student Saman Sen beat more than 100 fellow students from 18 schools (both local and international) to win the second runner-up in the Solo Verse Speaking section. All our students completed the competition and received a certificate of participation. Parents also came to support and watch the excellent performance of KGV students Mandarin speaking skills. This was our first time participating in the competition and with more experience we are very confident that we can build on this outstanding achievement in the future. Martin Mak Head of Foreign Language Chinese
HKYWA Award ceremony On the 30th April, Catrin Anderson and Ethan Gomez were recognized for their achievement in the Hong Kong Young Writers Association Award ceremony at Cyberport. Not only were both nominated but both were winners in their categories.The competition was based upon the theme of ‘the Gobi Desert.’ Using the HKYWA website, which gave students access to a wide range of information and multimedia resources on everything from the animals and plants to the indigenous peoples of the Gobi Desert, students were able to research. Ethan wrote a fiction piece entitled “The Adventures of Tom G oblin.” Catrin’s piece was a poem entitled,” Gobi Desert Poem.” We were incredibly proud of this prestigious achievement. Jane Angwin, Head of Learning Support Centre
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School News
Panache Fashion Show 2014 On March 8, KGV hosted its 4th annual charity fashion show: Panache 4. This event has grown enormously in scope and impact over the last four years: testament to the talent of the student teams who take on the daunting prospect of an industry-standard fashion and entertainment extravaganza each year. This year, the Panache team was headed by Bhavik Mulchandani. Global fashion names that graced the runway this year included Versace, Aftershock London, Buffalo Jeans and Storm London. Alongside these high-end designs
were dazzling creations by student designers including Trisha Bhavnani, Danica Borges, Sabrina Lau, Rachel Tam and Dianne Gupta. This year’s chosen charity was The Make A Wish Foundation. Through sponsorships and sell-out tickets, the student team was able to raise a profit of over $100,000 - an amazing contribution to the Make A Wish Foundation!
Josh Armstrong, Teacher
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School News
ESF Philosophy Day Year 12 and 13 students recently had the chance to be a part of the ESF wide Philosophy Conference. The world renown philosopher, Peter Vardy was the key speaker and he led the students through the wonders of applied ethics, the problem of evil, the mind body problem and a series of complex philosophical dilemmas. Students were able to debate the issues and KGV students were key contributors to this debate. The day was both enjoyable and educational. Students left the event feeling inspired and challenged.
Kirrily Foley, Teacher
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Charity Event Charity at KGV – Wear a Hat Day. March saw the third KGV Wear a Hat Day event. This event upports Brain Tumour Research. Brain tumours kill more people under 40 than any other cancer but only has 1% of all cancer funding dedicated to it. The KGV community came to school is a variety of crazy hats, aiming to raise awareness of this issue. They also donated $12 000 to the fund to help fight this illness. As always, this event is dedicated to the memory of Ian Leatham.
Kirrily Foley, Teacher
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School News
PTSA The PTSA has had a fantastic range of Parent talks this year covering topics such as Cyber safety, Higher education, Eating disorders, Bullies, Parent coaching, Drugs etc. We have collaborated with our Careers Department, external psychologists, NGO’s, Police department as well as other organisations to provide the best range of topics and specialist speakers to present these valuable seminars. We shall continue to hold more useful seminars to support our parents. In addition to the talks, for the very first time we hosted an event outside of KGV. This was the ‘Lunch with the Principal’ held in March at ‘Guru’ Indian restaurant. This was a casual social event to get to know the school Principal and Vice Principal. The lunch was well attended by parents who thoroughly enjoyed themselves. We shall hold another such lunch in Kowloon in Term 3.
We hope to see you at our upcoming events: 27 May – ‘Tackling difficult conversations with your teen’ by Jadis Blurton. 30 May – ‘Lunch with the Principal’ – T.S.T. 17 June - ‘Making successful university applications’ – by KGV Alumni 19 June – ‘Positive Children and Positive Families: Strategies for Supporting your Kids and Yourselves!’ By Tim Conroy Stocker. We are proud to announce that the PTSA shall be financing the new jogging track on the field.
Rishika Chandiramani, PTSA
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Lion Yearbook Each year, a team of superlatively talented and committed students work tirelessly on creating one of the defining trademarks of KGV tradition and record keeping: the Lion Yearbook. This 300-page-plus tome is a celebration of the students, the staff, our achievements and organized events across a year in the life of our school. The Lion aims to be more than a record of all these things, and more than a memory for the staff, students and alumni who collect a copy each year; it aims to serve as a voice for the members of our school community, and to showcase the tremendous student talent fostered within our classrooms, on our fields, on stage and out in the community at large. This year’s team is headed by Charles Lam and YoYo Wong. These two exceptionally talented Editors-inChief are responsible for managing four teams, each of up to fourteen dedicated photographers, writers, business coordinators and designers. The synthesis
of information, student contributions, records of achievements and photographic imagery from all four teams finally ends up on the screens of these two Editors-in-Chief who are then charged with the daunting task of collaborating and quality checking the overwhelming number of designs, text and photography to ensure an ever higher standard of student-produced work. This is the fourth year following our bold move to switch the yearbook layout to a more modern ‘landscape’ orientation, maximizing the potential that landscape holds for stunning visual imagery and more panoramic design principles. As with each successive year of production and publication, our team this year are confident that the 2014 eition of The Lion Yearbook will be another exceptional publication: one we hope is worthy of reflecting the tremendous variety and extent of creative, academic, sporting and community service achievement here at KGV.
Josh Armstrong, Supervising Teacher, KGV Lion Yearbook
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Development Update
Opening of the new school field World record bleep test On Tuesday 29th April we formally reopened the school field. We thanked our guests who have been instrumental in the completion of the field either through its construction (engineers, architects, ESF support and KGV personnel) or in sponsoring the refurbishment (HK Rugby Football Union, HK Cricket Association, Educational Service Lts, ESF and KGV PTSA). The partnerships that have developed through the process are vital in building a “culture of excellence� in sport at KGV. We took the opportunity to present Mr Riding with his HK RFU Cap to commemorate his career as an international rugby player in the 1980s.
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All members of the school then took part in our World Record Bleep Test attempt and we think over 600 were successful thus smashing the existing record of just over 300. We hope this will be confirmed shortly. It was a colourful and impressive site to see so many students running on the new field in this way. Finally the school teams played touch rugby against the HKRFU National squads and gave the internationals a run for their money. All our guests commented on the excellent spirit of the school and we certainly made the right impression. What was also pleasing to see was that the inter house touch rugby competition began as soon as the guests had left. The field is now well and truly open !
Ed Wickins, Principal
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Performing Arts
Evening of Music & Dance On January 29, 2014, eight dance teams, a Middle School and Senior School team from each house, competed against each other in one of KGV’s largest inter-house events. The school hall was completely filled with excited students, family and friends, eager to witness the creativity and hard work of the dance and music performers. As always, the evening began with a captivating Indian group dance performed by Year 13 students, followed by invitational dance and music performances. Then came the Middle School dance competition, an excellent exhibition of the dancers’ agility, grace and teamwork as they worked together to interpret the theme ‘Espionage.’ From spy academy to dance rivals, each team delighted the audience with original stories, dance choreography and seamless transitions. While the judges conferred, the audience was treated to a dance performed to live music by Charles Lam, Rhiannon Bird and the KGV Band. In the latter half of
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the evening, many invitational performances followed. One of the highlights was an energetic and emotional Indian solo dance performed by Nisarg Shah, one of our LSC students. As the Senior School dance competition started, it was clear that the quality of the dances was pushed to higher limits. In the end, Upsdell’s Middle School dancers and Nightingale Senior School dancers won their respective competitions, with Upsdell snatching the overall title. The Sam Rodda Memorial Cup for the best performer of the evening was awarded to two Year 13 dancers, Sabrina Lau and Chin Chin Lam. Congratulations to all the performers and dance captains for putting together such an outstanding and enjoyable evening!
Anna Fok, Teacher
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Performing Arts
Interhouse Music Competition What is world music? It’s a form of music which uses different types of instruments, different styles, but most importantly, the theme for the 2014 Inter-house Music Competition! This year’s competition was better than ever, especially considering the added difficulty for the Captains in incorporating at least one world music element into each ensemble’s performance. The result was extraordinary - some houses added in aspects of world music such as polyrhythm, countermelodies, or the ever-loved call and response. Others did a great job by adding in different languages and different instruments, such as Swahili, Indonesian and Arabian, as well as Djembes, Metallophones and a Gu Zheng. The Solo Competition was held on Thursday the 3rd of April, judged by Ms. Jo Trevanna and Ms Bethan Greaves, both from Island School. The competition boasted quite a large variety of instruments, ranging
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from Western instruments like the piano and violin to the more unconventional oboe, viola and guitar. The winners for the solo competition are as follows: Middle School Solo Instrumental: Shirley Ng, Year 9, Rowell - Gu Zheng Middle School Solo Vocal: Leif Tse, Year 9, Upsdell (Plaisir D’amour) Senior School Solo Instrumental: Oscar Chan, Year 13, Crozier - Piano Senior School Solo Vocal: Sophie Matthews, Year 13, Upsdell (On An Evening in Roma) The Ensemble Competition was held the next day, with a surprise for the students - our school’s own “Red Stripes” band! This band comprised of teachers, namely Mr Croft, Ms Coulton, Mr Stanley, Mr Busbridge, Mr Thompson, Ms West and professional guest drummer Ferdz, accompanied by Mr Fisher, Ms Steel, Mr Wightman and Mr Deakin on backing vocals.
They were a huge hit and we truly hope that they will be able to play for us again next year! This year’s ensemble competition was dominated by Crozier, who won both Senior and Middle School Ensembles with “Pompeii” by Bastille with an African influence, and “Demons” by Imagine Dragons with a Hawaiian influence respectively. The overall competition was won by CROZIER congratulations to all their soloists and ensembles!
Alexandra Carlile, Music Teacher
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Sports
Basketball, Badminton Badminton (All Grades) Well done to all the students who attended the KGV Badminton training session this year. The highlight for the girl’s teams was the B Grade Team winning the B Grade Girls Kowloon Division Two competition, winning all of their matches and finishing in first place out of 10 teams. The players included Margaret Cheng, Yu Sum Ma, Joylynn Chen, Megan Ho, Yuqi Shi and Yi Go. For the boys teams, the A Grade Boys teams finished in third place overall out of fifteen other teams and the C Grade Team got through to the Quarter Finals but were knocked out.
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It was also nice to welcome future stars Saloni Metha and Chak Ming Tung in to the C Grade Teams. Both students are in Year 7 and both are training with the Hong Kong Team! The future is looking bright for KGV Badminton. Next year Badminton training is due to be held at KJS Perth Street on a Monday evening. All students welcome, just sign up during CAS Week or speak to Ms. Ip the Activities Manager for more information. Neil Horton, Teacher
Boys Basketball (B grade) Our B-Grade Boys basketball team had a fantastic season finishing as runner-ups in the ESF Final. We started off strong and finished with an overall record of 7 wins and 4 losses. The boys commitment and determination stayed strong throughout and the team camaraderie was especially fun to watch. Highlights were Ryan Chan’s ‘5 three pointer game’, Harry Wang’s ‘Put-back buzzer beater and freak athleticism; followed up by Alan Au’s ‘Beast Mode’. We were led by our unstoppable floor general Nick Yuen and backed up by Ricky Yu’s tenacious defense and sweet spin moves. Evan Shang was a monster ‘on the boards’ snagging every rebound in sight while Jeffrey Cheung and JJ Cheung contributed some silky smooth scoring. Justin Ma was fearless driving to the basket while Fred Verhaeghe knocked in three’s from his sweet spot in the corner. Tomson Pong was a force to be reckoned with on the defensive end while John Chen could play any position on the court. I’d like to thank all of my amazing players for such an enjoyable season. I wish the Year 11’s well in their A-Grade season and look forward to next year!“ Ryan Warriner, Teacher
Boys Basketball (C Grade) The KGV C Grade Boys Basketball Team had a very successful season in 2014. They won 12 out of their 14 games scoring an average of 43.93 points per game while conceding just 16.14 points resulting in an average point differential of +27. 79. The team finished 3rd in the HKSSF league (out of 36 teams) beating Kowloon Tech in the 3rd place playoff. KGV were also the champions of the ESF League winning 41-6 in the final against West Island. Thank you to the students for their hard work and dedication throughout the season and to the parents and families of the students for all their support. KGV C Grade Basketball Team: Francesco Brassesco, Albert Bucks, Philip Fan, Loughlin Fitzgerald, Aris Katafygiotis, Ryan Kwok, Joshua Lai, Adrian Lee, Julian Leung, Eric Shang, Lokel Wong, Harry Yuen
James Corrigall, Teacher
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Sports
Rugby, Cross-Country, Gymnastics & Hockey Girls Rugby (All Grades)
Boys Rugby (B Grade)
The Girls’ Rugby season has concluded with our A grade Girls, the undefeated champions for 3 years running winning the overall championship title in the league as well as the Bill Williams 7s Tournament in January which was the icing on the cake. Our girls are experienced players for both KGV as well as the National U-18 Hong Kong Squad locally and internationally.
This year’s B grade season proved to be a case of ‘what might have been’ for the KGV boys. Despite having issues with injuries and availability due to exams and inter-house events throughout, the side put in some excellent performances through the league campaign winning all but one of their games, a very brave defeat to a very strong South Island School in a game in which we only had 12 men. This meant that the team finished second in the league and went on to the semi-finals with high hopes of winning the tournament.
For the KGV B Grade Girls Rugby Team, it was a season that is both rewarding and challenging at the same time. Our girls played passionately and intensely with plenty of grit and determination. Although we were defeated during the final fixtures due to injury, the girls have only narrowly missed out on being the top school team in their age group. Our KGV C Grade girls have shown that they are a force to be reckoned with. With zero losses on the score board, they were undefeated and has dominated the competition and proven that skill, knowledge, team work and all the other traditional values in sport held in high regardwere some of the qualities the team possessed which led them to be champions in their age group. Once again, great job and congratulations to all the girls who played rugby for KGV this year in all age groups. Rachel Grantham, PE Teacher
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We were drawn against Hong Kong International in the semi-final, a team we had comprehensively beaten in the league campaign, and with a full strength side, the players had high expectations. Unfortunately HKIS brought an intense physicality in defence that our lads couldn’t break down and used their size advantage in the forwards to great effect. Despite having a huge advantage in the backline, we were unable to get clean ball to them and HKIS ran out deserved winners on the day. A number of the side where year 10 and will be back next year to play B grade again and I’m sure they will use this season’s near miss as inspiration to go one better next year. Dave Mercer, Teacher
Cross Country Well done to Jake Smith & Amy Pyle. Jake won the under 18 race comfortably and Amy was 6th in her race at the 2nd Asian School Cross Country Championship Selection Trial that took place on Saturday May 10th. Both now progress to training for the Hong Kong team for the Asian Championship in Mongolia. Scarlet Ip, Activities Manager
Gymnastics Our gymnasts have proven that they are quite a team! Once again they are the Champions of the HKSSF 2013-14 Interschool Gymnastics Competition at the Junior Level held during the Easter break. The girls also showed great results at the HKSSF Gymnastics Competition Finals in May. Well done Girls! 1. Kiki Wong (Yr 10) came 8th runner up in Floor Exercise and 9th runner up in Balance Beam. 2. Kessandra (Yr 10) came 8th runner up in Vaulting. 3. Janice Wong (Yr 8) won the Champion in both Floor Exercise and Balance Beam, and came 4th runner up in Vaulting Scarlet Ip, Activities Manager
Girls Hockey (C Grade)
KGV C Grade Hockey Team: Sydney Kwok (captain), Rika Mio, Amy Pyle, Molly Smith, Rhea Rodrigues, Tania Nainani, Shirley Ng, Sarah Bourk, Katharina Gerigk, Nina Melwani, Neha Melwani, Simran Kalathiya, Khushi Patel, Rachel Mason, , Lauren Laroche, and Michelle Marsh. Also Supported by; Yasmin Gooch, Julie Joubert, Tiffany Turner and Alison Wong.
KGV C Grade Hockey Team played well this season against some tough opposition. They were Runners Up in their Pool which qualified them for the Semifinals for the Hong Kong Schools Championship. They came up against German Swiss International School and in the last 5minutes of the game ended up drawing the game 1-1. They then unfortunately lost on penalties. This meant they were now in the 3rd and 4th position playoff against West Island School. This was an excellent game and they fought hard to the end. Despite missing some key and dedicated players in the final match they all worked hard but were denied and lost the match 2-0 against West Island School. Not the result we wanted to end on, but a valiant effort. Memorable moments were some stunning saves by our Goal Keepers Lauren Laroche and Michelle Marsh (The splits!). Outstanding covering and support by Molly Smith, Amy Pyle and Kathrina Gerigk. Also I would like to thank the ever cool captain, always leading by example from Sydney Kwok. Xanthe Knight, PE Teacher
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Sports
Football, Equestrian Football (C Grades) The C Grade football season is now at an end. On reflection, it was a season that promised much but did not live up to expectations. The optimism was brought about by a fantastic performance in the first match of the season against the perennially tricky opponents from La Salle College. A handsome 6-0 victory was slightly over-shadowed by Daryush Irani’s rise to Youtube sensation with an audacious piece of skill that has gained him some interest from local media and featured on some very prominent social media websites. The second match of the season was against St Joseph’s, the eventual winners. After going 0-2 down by half-time, a stirring team talk from captain Phillip Fan, team spirit and fantastic play saw us bring the match back level. A much disputed penalty was enough to hand St Joseph’s a 2-3 win and leave us feeling that we were only beaten by a bad refereeing decision. The team bounced back with another big victory, 9-0 against Wah Yan Kowloon to set-up a winner takes all match against ESF compatriots West Island. In a tense and nervy match where West Island were able to stifle
our strong attack, we eventually narrowly lost by a single goal. Although the effort and spirit could not be faulted, we perhaps showed a little fear and offered the opponent too much respect instead of focusing on our own strengths. The final match of the season was against Ying Wah where there was little to play for but the pride in finishing in third place in our group. The lack of motivation told at times where we struggled to put away a team that we should have beaten more easily than the 2-1 scoreline suggests. Still, the spirit was there to come back from a 1 goal deficit to win with almost the last kick of the ball, a fine finish from Jahan Balani. It has been a pleasure working with the C Grade team this season. There was some really exciting football played and perhaps more importantly, the way in which the team conducted themselves throughout the season was reflective of our school motto. I look forward to continuing with some of the current squad who are still eligible for C Grade next year but wish the year 9 students every success as they make the step up to the B Grade next season. Derek McApline, Teacher
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Equestrian For the 7th year in a row the KGV 1 Equestrian team have qualified for the Cheong Li Interschool Equestrian Finals in May. The team of Yu Xuan Su, Tania Poelmann, Yu An Su and Nathaniel Chan qualified by riding brilliantly and scoring enough points in their heat in March. The team is the defending title holders having won the event (and a week in the UK) in 2013. They will now compete against SIS 1, SIS 2 and Discovery College in the 2014 edition of this prestigious event to be held on Saturday 10th May. In their qualifying heat KGV were up against the mighty GSIS, HKIS and RC. But KGV were too good on the day, winning the heat and securing enough points to qualify them for the final. Individually Yu Xuan was the star, winning the dressage and coming second in the jumping. Not far behind was younger brother Yu An who came 5th in the dressage and 3rd in the jumping. Nathan gained a 5th ribbon in the jumping and Tania rode well only just finishing outside of the ribbon winners. All riders are now busily preparing for the final to be hosted by Lo Wu Saddle Club and are eager to win another trip to the famous Ingestre Stables at Staffordshire in the UK. Like all KGV sides they will be trying their best. Many thanks to junior riders Rachel Mason, Jocelyn Cheng and Annabel Dyson who
penciled for the judges on the day and supported the team. Also many thanks to the parents of all riders who continue to offer their support in many ways. In other news Patricia Chan continues to display her talents on the international equestrian scene. Her most recent achievements are single handedly qualifying the HK Junior Equestrian side for the Youth Olympics and representing Hong Kong in an CSI 1* international show jumping event in Kuwait. Here she was the best of the HK riders finishing 7th out of 47 in the 1.2m class and 5th out of 17 in the 1.3m class. She was also the recipient of the 2014 KGV World Class Award. Congratulations Patricia! David Grady, Teacher
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Trips & Activities
Ski Trip Once again the KGV Ski Trip flew off to Verbier in Switzerland for another fabulous week of spring skiing during the first week of the Easter Holidays. With Easter falling later this year, the snow had begun to melt a little but nonetheless the conditions were still excellent, the sun was shining every day and the temperatures were very pleasant indeed! This year Sha Tin College, West Island School and French International School were all at the Les Elfes Chalet in Verbier during the same week so it was a great opportunity for the students to make some new friends from some of the other international schools in Hong Kong. The students that took part in this trip this year were: From Year 7; Brendan Au, Johnson Oh and Nono Tseng. From Year 8; Emily Chung, Michael Lee,
Kevin Wong, Calvin Lam, Stephanie Chu, Jerry Leung and Justin Lai. From Year 9; Ruchi Mohanani, Araanya Daryanani and Nanthaniel Chan. From Year 10; Jasmin Wilson, Seya Tam, Jasmine Ko and Lokel Wong. From Year 12; Hiu Chun Kam, Yoyo Wong and Joyce Mau. Well done to all the students who took part. As always you were a credit to yourselves, your parents and the school.All the photographs are available on the KGV Ski Trip Facebook page so ‘like’ the page to see more. Next year’s trip will also be taking part during the first week of Easter. Leaving on Friday 27th March and returning on Saturday 4th April. For more information, please contact Mr. Horton.
Neil Horton, Teacher
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Trips & Activities
Community Service The KGV Community Service Committee (CSC) has organized a wide range of meaningful activities for students to volunteer, to experience and to learn about the local community that we live in. These opportunities include teaching English on Saturday mornings at Tsung Tsin Primary School, sorting out donated goods at the Crossroads, bringing hot soup to the elderly in the cold, organizing a Christmas Party for the refugee children, selling flags to raise money for different non-profit organizations, and many more. I am certain that each and every one of these activities, whether one off or long term, provided invaluable experiences for the volunteers and inspired them to help out in the wider community.
Chia Chu, Community Service Coordinator
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Musical Performance at Princess Alexandra Red Cross School The saying goes that music brings people together and this year, at Princess Alexandra School, we witnessed the very power of it in the infectious smiles of the class the KGV students were performing to. We also brought in instruments from KGV – a little bit of interaction there – and when the students from PAS were into a song, they would respond with a glorious uproar. Thankfully, Ms. Chu captured their animated faces with expertise and snapped a few of ours too – see, it was actually fun performing to a responsive audience! Sometimes profound ‘feels’ can be found in the simplest of actions like, humming a well-known tune to someone who truly loves it too! We have the power to give and in return, we find something more in our lives to appreciate from the people we meet. This is why Community Service is awesome – to give to be appreciative.
Celina Wong, Volunteer
SKH All Saints School English Teaching Program
Flag Day
The past 2 terms have given the secondary students from SKH All Saint’s Middle School and KGV a great opportunity to bond, interact and learn from each other. Each week students from KGV organize various different games and activities for the SKH students to promote their English speaking skills. Games that have been incorporated include Charades, Pictionary, 2 Truths 1 Lie, Chinese Whispers and Bingo amongst many others. In return, the SKH students surprised us with a fun, yet unexpected game that involved water guns and umbrellas in the last session!
I have a newfound appreciation for everyday Hong Kong citizens. At first, it was a little intimidating to sell the flags as it was Causeway Bay and most people brushed us off due to them rushing off to work and were unwilling to donate. But once the busy office workers all left, it was the housewives and the shop keepers who were more than happy to help us out. This flag day was organised by the HKSKH Lady MacLehose Centre, to raise money for elderly and children in need in Kwai Chung area, one of the poorest neighborhoods in Hong Kong. Many people congratulated us on our “hard work”, but really, this is nothing compared to the work that the elderly did perhaps 20 years ago for the society we have today. I believe that I need to work towards being more charitable, “globally-minded”, and not take things for granted, as I’m much more fortunate than many others in our society in Hong Kong.
Ethan Chiang, Activity Organizer
Nicole Wong, Volunteer
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