Return to School Plans

We have submitted our plans a number of weeks ago, and are continuing to work with the Education Bureau (EDB) to gain approval for having students at school for full days. However, we have been informed that EDB has closed their approval process temporarily and, as a result, KGV School will not be able to move to full days at the moment.

You may be aware that some ESF schools have been able to gain approval for full days. This is merely a timing issue (approved before the process was suspended) and we expect to gain approval for full day school as soon as the process is re-opened. We expect that this may not happen until the start of Term 2.

Inclusivity and Equity 

There is some exciting work happening with regards to the Inclusion and Equity agenda at KGV school. Our Steering Committee, Student Resource Group and Staff Resource group have been meeting regularly to unpack the data from our student survey. Six key themes are emerging from this work that will form the basis for action moving forward next term. The foci areas are:

• Our Mission, Vision and Values: reflecting and refining these statements to ensure a strong inclusivity and equity focus, and consider ways to make our values ‘come alive’.

• Policies and procedures: reviewing our policies to make sure they reflect and cater for the diversity in our community, and continue to promote equity in all that we do.

• Voice: Working with students, staff and parents to ensure we establish even better channels for feedback and ideas.

• Education and professional learning: Work to deepen our individual and collective understandings around key issues such as diversity, inclusion, equity and belonging.

• Celebrations: Continue our work to reflect on how we can get even better at celebrating our diverse community and cultures, and how this can be done in sustainable and meaningful ways

• Curriculum: review our curriculum and seek opportunities for promoting student choice and to access to a diversity of texts, ideas and perspectives

Year 11 and 13 Mock Exams

As many will be aware, our Year 11 and 13 students will be undertaking their ‘Mock’ Exams in the first two weeks for term 2. I appreciate that these exams can be a common discussion point amongst students and parents. I would like to clarify below the structure and purpose of the Mocks:

• The exams are written to assess learning in the work covered so far, and are not designed to cover all aspects of the course. However, some exams will if all content has been covered.

• The Mock exams usually follow a similar format and style to the actual IBDP and IGCSE exams

• The exams serve to provide point in time feedback to students about what they know, understand and can do at this stage of the course.

• The exams provide important feedback to teachers about what students know, and what they may need to go back over and re-teach

• The Mock exams are one of many pieces of evidence of learning that inform judgements about grades and levels of achievement (e.g. predicted grades). At KGV, Mocks are never used as the only source of evidence in determining a predicted grade.

In the Year 11 and Year 13 sections of this newsletter, there is a detailed Mock exam timetable, and an outline of how subjects are preparing students for these exams.

Have a good weekend.

Mark Blackshaw

Principal

Elevate are providing very valuable parent webinars about study skills, and time management. The next webinar is scheduled for 6.30pm on the 1st of December and the topic is exam preparation. Please click here to sign up

From Elevate last week we learned that the best ways for students to feel healthy and well are sleep, diet and exercise. Please help your child to get to bed at the same time each night, switching off screens and stopping work well before bedtime. Teenagers need between 8 and 10 hours sleep per night. A healthy diet and regular exercise (30 minutes a day) help too.

Absences. Just a reminder that absences are submitted using the Absence button on the front page of the app. This will prepopulate a message for you and makes the process very simple. Please do not try sending emails to the old absence email addresses from last year.

The deadline for option choices for next year is today, Friday November 27th. Once choices are submitted, parents will receive an email message asking for confirmation. We will not enter your child's choices into the system until both you and their tutor confirm. If you have any questions or require assistance, please start by contacting your child's tutor.

Mock exams for Year 11 will be over a two week period beginning Monday January 11th. The timetable for the exams is available here. Subject teachers will work with students to ensure they are prepared for revision before the end of the term. They will be given:

• Instructions regarding format and timing of paper(s)
• Content, including the syllabus statements, covered in each exam(s)
• Guidance on revision techniques for each subject 

We encourage you to contact your Subject Head of Department if you have any questions or concerns regarding the Mock Examinations

Elevate are providing very valuable parent webinars about study skills, and time management. The next webinar is scheduled for 6.30pm on the 1st of December and the topic is exam preparation. Please click here to sign up

Absences. Just a reminder that absences are submitted using the Absence button on the front page of the app. This will prepopulate a message for you and makes the process very simple. Please do not try sending emails to the old absence email addresses from last year.

Dear Parents and Year 12 students,

Our Year 12 Learning Review will take place on Wednesday 9th December.

This is an opportunity for you to meet with subject teachers and receive feedback regarding academic progress. The booking system opens at 6pm on 27th November. Bookings close at 6pm on 8th December. To make or check bookings, please go through the Lionel link on the app and scroll down to the icon for teacher appointments. Please do not print off your appointments as this is a live system and will reflect changes up to the last minute.

If you find that a teacher is unavailable, this means they have already been booked at that particular time.

The Google meet link is live and available in the app.

Each slot is 10 minutes long. We would please ask that you adhere to the timings out of respect to other parents and our teaching colleagues.

Dear Parents and Year 13 Students,

The Year 13 Mock Examinations will take place between 4th and 12th January.

Please see the schedule below:

Year 13 Mock Examinations Timetable

Before the end of term, all students should receive:

• Instructions regarding format and timing of paper(s)

• Content, including the syllabus statements, covered in each exam(s)

• Guidance on revision techniques for each subject 

We encourage you to contact your Subject Head of Department if you have any questions or concerns regarding the Mock Examinations.

Dear Parents,

This week during our Year 8- 9 assembly we updated students on our continuing Inclusion & Equity work. There will be opportunities in Term 2 for Year 8 - 9 students to get involved in some of our emerging projects e.g. celebrations and school values, plus a range of student voice/ student leadership opportunities. I will be contacting students via email with details on how to apply for a position within the Year 7-9 Student Council. Year 8 students can also apply to become Student Leaders: Transition, where they will be responsible for supporting Year 7 students in their transition to Year 8 – 9 tutor groups. Year 9 students can also apply to be House Captains. We are really looking forward to seeing what our amazing students can achieve in these roles.

Year 8 Information

Following the Christmas break Year 8 students will make a small number of option choices. They will look to choose 2 out of their current 3 Creative Arts subjects and then make a decision as to whether to continue with their current foreign language options or whether to tweak these slightly. More details to follow after the break.

Year 9 Information

Thank you to all parents and students for meeting the options deadline. Mr Tranter has since sent you all a message via the app for parents to confirm these choices.

We will be sending more information out after the Christmas break with regards to Further Maths and Triple Science possibilities. Please wait until then and we will answer your questions and explain the possibilities.

Have a great weekend

The Year 8-9 Team

Carole Beer, Vice Principal - carole.beer@kgv.edu.hk

Duncan Shiel, MYP Coordinator - duncan.shiel@kgv.edu.hk

Ashley Tranter, Senior Head of Year 8-9 - ashley.tranter@kgv.edu.hk

Anna Pinder, Head of Year 9 - anna.pinder@kgv.edu.hk

Tom Clark, Head of Year 8 - thomas.clark@kgv.edu.hk

Message from Year 7 Team

Dear Parents

This week during our Year 7 assembly we updated students on our continuing Inclusion & Equity work. There will be opportunities in Term 2 for Year 7 students to get involved in some of our emerging projects e.g. celebrations and school values, plus a range of student voice/ student leadership opportunities. I will be contacting students via email with details on how to apply for a position within the Year 7-9 Student Council. There will also be opportunities for Year 7 students to take on leadership opportunities, working with Mr Wrigley and helping Year 6 students transition to KGV School. A big shout out to 5 students who worked with Mr Wrigley to put together our latest transition video.

Momoka, Arav, Yuta, Masaki and Yujun

As promised, over the coming weeks, Duncan Shiel, our MYP Coordinator will be sharing with us some useful videos to help parents access the MYP curriculum and to support our understanding of the assessment and reporting processes. The hyperlink below takes you to this week’s video. Originally, we had scheduled the Parent Session for 3rd December. We have had to move this to Tuesday 8th December, 5pm – 6pm. This Parent Session will be organised to answer any questions you still have, after watching the videos put together by Duncan. Please complete your details on the Parent Sign Up form, if you plan to attend. We will send Google Meet details out to those parents who sign up.

6th November - How do I know what my child is studying?

13th November - Understanding MYP assessment

20th November - What reports will I receive?

Today’s video - Understanding MYP Unit Designs

8th December - Parent MYP Session (Parent Sign Up Form)

As always, let us know if you have any questions or concerns we may be able to help with.

Have a great weekend.

The Year 7 Team

Carole Beer, Vice Principal - carole.beer@kgv.edu.hk

Quinton Wrigley, Senior Head of Year 7 - quinton.wrigley@kgv.edu.hk

Sean Miller, Head of Year 7 - sean.miller@kgv.edu.hk

Stephanie Cantwell, Head of Year 7 - stephanie.cantwell@kgv.edu.hk

Duncan Shiel, MYP Coordinator - duncan.shiel@kgv.edu.hk

Ellie Hitchings, RTI Coordinator - ellie.hitchings@kgv.edu.hk

Friday 27 Nov: Year 11 Options Deadline

Wednesday 9 Dec: Year 12 Learning Review

Friday 11 Dec: Last Day of Term 1 for students

Monday 4 Jan: First day of Term 2 for students

General Information

Lion Yearbook 2019-2020

Thank you for your patience and understanding. We look forward to distributing the yearbooks to those that have purchased before the end of this academic term.

Dear All

On Monday November 23rd, KGV hosted its first ever Virtual NGO Fair aimed at Year 9 and Year 12 students.

This was an exciting opportunity to introduce students to the world of service and give them an opportunity to engage with various NGOs that might spark an interest or act as stimuli for their upcoming community project in Year 9 or as service in the Year 12 CAS Program.

In total we engaged over 500 students across 3 sessions connecting them with 24 NGOs/Charities and 3 KGV student groups (NGO information: LINK). The sessions covered:

• Raising the profile of each organisation with young people in HK

• Discussed the problem/causes their organisation is tackling and how they have identified the needs of the community

• Let students know what their organisation is doing to address these needs

• Discussed the challenges and inspirations of working in the service sector

• Conveying to students the power of every individual to drive change and take positive action.

• Suggest how students can support organisations or the identified cause 

• Highlight skills students may have that could be an asset to NGOs - e.g. social media, web design, communications, creative campaigns - going beyond fundraising

Conducting the fair this way was certainly a necessity in the current climate, but also opened our eyes to creative ways we can connect KGV students with the service sector in Hong Kong. I really do hope everyone involved during the afternoon got something positive out of the experience and I wish the students well with their respective service projects.

Kind Regards

Dean Beard

CAS & Service Learning Coordinator

King George V School

Hong Kong

Some comments from the NGO’s

KELY Support Group

• We were grateful to take this opportunity to share our mission and youth empowerment work with close to 50 students on a virtual basis despite pandemic. Just wondering if the students could turn their cameras on when using Google Meet so that we could have better interactions and engagement next time? We look forward to meeting all those students in a physical CAS fair as soon as possible

The Mekong Club

• “I really enjoyed the opportunity to present at KGV. As always, the students showed a keen interest in the topic and had amazing questions. I’m sure some of the students will go on to be human rights activists like me.”

The Hong Kong Shark Foundation

• 'HONG KONG SHARK FOUNDATION WAS HONOURED TO PARTICIPATE AND HAVE OVER 84 KGV STUDENTS JOIN IN AT THE NGO FAIR 2020. WE HOPE STUDENTS WILL BE THE CHANGE AND HELP TO EDUCATE FAMILY AND FRIENDS TO SAY NO TO SHARK FIN SOUP!"

Kids4kids

• What a great event! We were delighted to know that there are a lot of students who are passionate in helping the community despite the current pandemic

Orbis HK

• Thanks again for giving us the opportunity to join the virtual NGO fair. Its definitely our pleasure to share our mission and vision to your students. It will be great if we can have more chances to engage your students with different activities in the future.

Plastic Free Seas

• Plastic Free Seas is proud to be working with KGV and the students on plastic reduction and behaviour change. The school has taken the lead by removing plastic straws from the cafeteria a few years ago and supporting PFS with the proceeds of the sale of paper straws. Students are working hard to raise awareness at the school on the issue of plastic, and taking action to both reduce unnecessary waste and make sure that things that can be recycled, get recycled. So far this year we have worked with the Y7s, and met with Y9 and Y12 students at the online CAS Fair. We look forward to continuing to work together in the future! Thank you for being so supportive.

KGV Careers Office is lining up webinar information sessions (15min presentation by speaker + 15min Q&A) for our Year 9 to Year 13 students. These webinars aim at helping students to have a more thorough understanding of industries, so that students can have an idea on expectations and subject choices in GCSE, IB, BTEC and universities.

Links and preparation materials will be sent to students approximately one week before info sessions on Google Meet.

Date: 8 December 2020, Tuesday

Time: 16:30-17:00

Topic: Technology isn't only for technical people

Speaker: Ms. Rowena CHENG (KGV Class of 1992)

Pre-registration Deadline: 27 Nov, 15:00

More information & registration: Here

Date: 12 January 2021, Tuesday

Time: 17:00-17:30

Topic: Investment & beyond!

Speaker: Mr. Parth SHAH (KGV class of 2009)

Pre-registration Deadline: 5 Jan 2021, 15:00

More information & registration: Here

Our Remarkable Story
URBAN LOVE IN POETRY!

A massive congratulations to KGV School’s English language teacher, Florence Santos and our students Jiana, Christine and Kristy.

We are extremely proud of their achievements in the 2020 Hong Kong Literary Festival Contest

What a delight!

Read their poetry here.

The next e-newsletter will be published on 4 Dec 2020.

Copyright © 2020 KING GEORGE V SCHOOL, All rights reserved.