Dear Parents

I hope you have all had a good week. This morning, I enjoyed a positive online conversation with a small group of parents during our regular ‘Feedback Friday’ question and answer session. Connecting with parents in an informal and online format, is a powerful way to listen and connect. We are striving to ensure that at KGV, every person has the opportunity to feel known and heard.

At the meeting we had an interesting conversation about ensuring that every student, no matter what their abilities, has the opportunity to feel valued, and to shine. Often in our Facebook posts, we celebrate our ‘most’ remarkable students. Our KGV purpose states that our fundamental goal is for every student to ‘be their own remarkable’. Through our Inclusivity and Equity agenda, we are making a more conscious effort to celebrate and acknowledge a wider range of achievements. Everyday we have over 1851 student stories of striving and thriving, and we want to share more of these stories to highlight individual journeys of learning and success.

On the same theme of our school striving to ensure all students feel known and heard, this week we have been participating in a highly successful “KGV Pride Week”. Pride Week is another example of celebrating diversity and providing opportunities for students to see aspects of their own identity in our school. This sense of belonging builds trust and connection, and underpins learning and sense of self worth.

Our school also works hard to offer a range of opportunities that match the diversity of aspirations and interests of our students. We are excited by next week's “Addams Family” musical to be performed to a sold out and “socially distanced” audience. We are very much looking forward to this opportunity for our students to shine on the stage.

Secondly, our athletics carnival is planned for 8th December (7, 8 and 9 students at school) and 10th December (10 to 13 students at Kowloon Tsai Sports Ground). Details of these events were sent out via the App earlier this week. 

Finally, I would like to thank our retiring PTSA members Matthew Yip, Treasurer Madeleine Lok and President Kim Gan. The contribution of our PTSA volunteers is outstanding, and we sincerely appreciate their leadership and contribution to our school. We welcome Purvi Shah as the new PTSA President, and we look forward to working with her in the future. If you have any PTSA enquiries, please contact our Parent Engagement Officer and PTSA organiser Kiran Budhrani (kiran.budhrani@kgv.edu.hk).

Have a good weekend.

Kind Regards

Mark Blackshaw

Session 3 - Friday 19 November 2021

Our third Feedback Friday session was held this morning, with Principal Mark Blackshaw and Vice Principal (Y7-9) Carole Beer.  Thank you to the six parents who attended the session.   

Principal update:

• Pride Week - This week we held a week long events around Pride, to raise awareness and support the LGBTQ community.  This is part of our inclusivity and equity initiative and one of our improvement agenda items for this year. Our intention is to promote inclusivity and respect everyone’s individuality.

• Addams family Musical - We are having our school musical next week, which parents can attend.  This is the first event after a long time, where we have been able to invite parents.

• Athletics Sports day - we are planning an athletics sports event on 10 December. 

There was a discussion about school uniforms and the range of items.  We explained the two main types of uniforms being, the formal and sports uniforms.  The formal uniform includes the KGV shirt/blouse and the shorts/skorts/trousers, to be worn to all lessons except PE and drama lessons. The other uniform is the sports/drama kit, to be worn during these lessons, respectively.  Our uniform intends to set standards and social justice.  

There were concerns on the number of times students need to change in and out of uniform kits, especially on days where PE and drama were timetabled on the same day.  There were concerns regarding lost property and weight of school bags.  Although this is understandable, we explained that students need to use their lockers more frequently and ensure their items are named. However, the school is working with tutors on strategies to help management of items and will also look into timetables to explore solutions.

There were questions regarding the school tie as a part of the uniform.  We explain the long KGV tradition of wearing a tie and this is more of a personal preference.  KGV has recently trimmed down the uniform document and is leaning towards a more gender inclusive uniform. This allows both genders to wear trousers, shorts and skorts to respect individual choices.

We discussed assessments and the understanding of metrics around our system.  There were questions on feedback for students.  It was explained that our formative assessments provide individual feedback for each student.  At present we are carrying out an assessment review. We will explore this area in more detail soon.

CAS activity booking was also discussed.  We recently changed our CAS system from a face to face to an online system which includes a new website and electronic booking system.  We will explore how we can make this new system even more user friendly.

Last but not least, we had a chat about how to thrive when not thriving.  Here we reinstated that our mission is for every student to ‘be their own remarkable’.  Students should take advantage of every opportunity given and do their best. KGV is now focusing on student voice and celebrations internally. Every student will thus be celebrated.

Year 12 students will now have their Learning Review on Wednesday 5 January.

Please gently remind your son/daughter to remember their tie as we are now in Winter Uniform.

We also would like to remind all students that commercial food deliveries are not permitted at any time on the school premises.

Wishing you a great weekend.

The Year 13 IB Mock Examination timetable is available to view on the link below.

Year 13 Mock Timetable

Please gently remind your son/daughter to remember their tie as we are now in Winter Uniform.

We also would like to remind all students that commercial food deliveries are not permitted at any time on the school premises.

Wishing you a great weekend.

1:1 conversation with tutors are ongoing and these will help to ensure we are supporting the individual needs of every student.

Naturally at this point of the term, many subjects are completing their first units of learning. Students will find they have more than the usual number of assessments. Please help your child to keep these in perspective. These assessments should motivate them to revise and learn their material better, they are part of the learning process. The assessments are a good way to find out what they have learned so far and what they need to work on. They are not high-stakes assessments and students must not be sacrificing sleep and exercise in order to study. If you have concerns, please get in touch with your child's tutor.

Naturally at this time of the term, units of learning are drawing to a close and students may be experiencing more assessments than usual. These should provide good feedback to help them prepare for their mock exams in term 2.

We are finalising the mock exam schedule now and will publish it very soon. Mock exams are scheduled to run from 17 to 28 January. These will give students a realistic experience of their final external exams and provide detailed feedback from which to revise and prepare.

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

This week was KGV’s Pride Week where staff and students demonstrated their support for our LGBTQ+ community and our drive to make sure all of our community members feel an authentic sense of belonging. Well done to our GSA (Gender Sexuality Alliance) who organised a wide range of activities this week.

Thank you to those parents who have provided feedback this week either through the whatsapp chat or by attending our Feedback Friday session today. We have been reflecting on the comments and suggestions made by parents regarding the need to change for PE and Drama. We are currently looking at timetables to see which classes are most impacted e.g. those with PE and Drama on the same day, and will see how we can support these students. Tutors will speak to students about the use of lockers and the need to only carry around school items needed for the following lesson or two. Lockers should also be used at lunchtime to make sure items are kept safe. We will be speaking to all students in tutor time next week and checking that all items of kit (PE, Drama) plus additional outerwear (fleeces, windbreakers, jumpers) all have students written in them to help  with identification when/ if items go missing.

The PTSA will be emailing families next week with details of the named items they still have left in Lost Property. Please can you ask your child to visit the PTSA shop should they have misplaced an item.

Good luck to the students and staff involved in next week’s school productions. We hope some of you were able to purchase tickets for our Addam’s Family show.

Advance notice that 8th December is the Year 7-9 Sports Day which will take place at KGV School. More information can be found in the message sent earlier this week. 

Have a lovely weekend.

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Welcome to our new families joining Year 8 this week. Brandon Tam and Yuma Tsuchikawa joined KGV on Monday. We hope you enjoyed your first week as KGV students.

This week was KGV’s Pride Week where staff and students demonstrated their support for our LGBTQ+ community and our drive to make sure all of our community members feel an authentic sense of belonging. Well done to our GSA (Gender Sexuality Alliance) who organised a wide range of activities this week.

Thank you to those parents who have provided feedback this week either through the whatsapp chat or by attending our Feedback Friday session today. We have been reflecting on the comments and suggestions made by parents regarding the need to change for PE and Drama. We are currently looking at timetables to see which classes are most impacted e.g. those with PE and Drama on the same day, and will see how we can support these students. Tutors will speak to students about the use of lockers and the need to only carry around school items needed for the following lesson or two. Lockers should also be used at lunchtime to make sure items are kept safe. We will be speaking to all students in tutor time next week and checking that all items of kit (PE, Drama) plus additional outerwear (fleeces, windbreakers, jumpers) all have students written in them to help  with identification when/ if items go missing.

The PTSA will be emailing families next week with details of the named items they still have left in Lost Property. Please can you ask your child to visit the PTSA shop should they have misplaced an item.

Good luck to the students and staff involved in next week’s school productions. We hope some of you were able to purchase tickets for our Addam’s Family show.

Advance notice that 8th December is the Year 7-9 Sports Day which will take place at KGV School. More information can be found in the message sent earlier this week. 

Have a lovely weekend.

Dear Parents and Caregivers

Welcome to our new families joining Year 9 this week. Noah Bailey, Rachel Ho, Candice Castillo and Jasper Wong joined KGV on Monday. We hope you enjoyed your first week as KGV students.

Year 9 Learning Review

The Year 9 Learning Review is scheduled for Wednesday 1st December from 3:45pm to 7.45pm. 

Meetings with subject teachers will be in 5 minute slots, online through Google Meet. The links for each meeting will be shown once you have successfully booked a meeting slot.

The system will open for bookings on Friday 19th November at 6pm. The system will close on Monday 29th November at 6pm to allow teachers time to prepare for these meetings. We highly recommend that your child joins you for these meetings. 

In the App, tap the "Lionel 2 VLE" button and scroll down to the appointments icon. 

If you don't see a teacher listed for a particular timeslot, it is because they are already booked for that time.

It is not possible for every parent to see every teacher on this one evening. So, while this is the only formal opportunity we set aside where all Year 9 teachers are available, please know that teachers will discuss issues or answer questions about your child at any time via email or phone. Email links for all teachers are available in the App.

In Other news......

This week was KGV’s Pride Week where staff and students demonstrated their support for our LGBTQ+ community and our drive to make sure all of our community members feel an authentic sense of belonging. Well done to our GSA (Gender Sexuality Alliance) who organised a wide range of activities this week.

Thank you to those parents who have provided feedback this week either through the whatsapp chat or by attending our Feedback Friday session today. We have been reflecting on the comments and suggestions made by parents regarding the need to change for PE and Drama. We are currently looking at timetables to see which classes are most impacted e.g. those with PE and Drama on the same day, and will see how we can support these students. Tutors will speak to students about the use of lockers and the need to only carry around school items needed for the following lesson or two. Lockers should also be used at lunchtime to make sure items are kept safe. We will be speaking to all students in tutor time next week and checking that all items of kit (PE, Drama) plus additional outerwear (fleeces, windbreakers, jumpers) all have students written in them to help  with identification when/ if items go missing.

The PTSA will be emailing families next week with details of the named items they still have left in Lost Property. Please can you ask your child to visit the PTSA shop should they have misplaced an item.

Good luck to the students and staff involved in next week’s school productions. We hope some of you were able to purchase tickets for our Addam’s Family show.

Advance notice that 8th December is the Year 7-9 Sports Day which will take place at KGV School. More information can be found in the message sent earlier this week. 

Have a good weekend.

Y13 Higher Education applications. Our team of H.E. Counsellors are busy finalising documents in support of our Y13s’ applications. Students are reminded that they should log in their applications on Unifrog, to ensure that all necessary documents are sent in time for the right applications.

Y12 H.E. preparation. We hope our Y12s are settling in well with their new experiences with IB/BTEC. When we return in Term 2, we will get our Y12s started with researching and planning for their post-KGV moves

School reference (non-higher education purposes). The Careers Office coordinates all KGV student references including exit & summer schools. All requests should be directed to careers.office@kgv.edu.hk. Please allow at least 4-6 work weeks for teachers to work on school references. School reference for higher education applications are done in a separate process.

Ideas for programmes during term break. Some higher education institutions are offering winter pre-college programmes. Check the Careers website for ideas.

Our Careers Calendar lists many university events. Refer to the Calendar for event details and registration links. Highlights of events in the coming week:

U.K.
- 15-26 Nov: British Council Study UK Est Asia Masterclass series

Canada
- 20-22 Nov: York University Virtual Fall Open Days

Europe
- 20 Nov: Utrecht University Bachelor’s Open Day for international students
- 20 Nov: University of Twente Bachelor’s Open Day
- 20 Nov: Paris College of Art & National Portfolio Day – Undergraduate Virtual Session
- 22 Nov: Dutch Research University Consortium Virtual View

Singapore
- 30 Nov - NUS Info session for ESF students

From: KGV Careers & H.E. Team

Tues 23 Nov Year 8 Geography trips start

Wed 24 Nov to Fri 26 Nov Whole School Musical

Wed 1 Dec Year 9 Learning Review

Year 11 Dec Year 9 Learning Review

PTSA News!

We held our Annual General meeting on Thursday 19 November, where our Chairperson Kim Gan and Treasurer Madeleine Lok stepped down from their long standing positions.

Kim Gan, who has carried the position of Chairperson for five years, has been our key member of the committee.  Her commitment to the association and to KGV School has been unwavering, especially through turbulent times and continuous change.  We are forever grateful to her for all her time and energy in representing and supporting our parent community, providing feedback, advice and ideas to the school and overlooking the overall affairs of the PTSA. Thank you is just not enough!

We would also like to express a huge thank you to our Treasurer, Madeleine Lok who has completed her term of six years with the PTSA committee.  She has always worn the accountant hat to ensure our finances and systems are in order. Madeleine has committed a large amount of time and her expertise towards the betterment of the association, for which we are hugely grateful. From introducing new systems to accounting procedures and valuable suggestions, not only have we saved resources and funds but also improved the efficiency of the shop.

Spread Cheer This Christmas with Zubin Crackers
Purchasing the Zubin Cracker, is an easy way to support racial equality, sustainability and Hong Kong’s ethnic minority community.To buy click here.

We promise it will be fun!

Insert video: https://youtu.be/-rcfWWt5Cjk

For more information, contact zubinshop@zubinfoundation.org. 

Sodexo Service

For next week menu, please view in the attachment.

Please charge up your Octopus Cards with credit before coming to school.

Michael recently competed at the 2021 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair, the world’s biggest pre-college science competition with almost 2000 finalists from 64 countries. His invention, a magnetically-powered degradable microswimmer, won the Grand Award (Second-Place) for Robotics and Intelligent Machines, and a Special Award for Best Use of Systems Engineering. Michael’s achievement was the best result for a Hong Kong delegation in the last 8 years. Michael will also have the honor of having a minor planet named after him.

Michael was congratulated by the Secretary of Education, Mr. Kevin Yeung, who commented “I trust that participating in an international competition of such a scale has been a rewarding learning experience as it has widened your perspective and horizons”. Michael was presented his award by the Permanent Secretary for Education, Ms. Michelle Li, who praised his commitment to learning.

Michael was recently invited to present his invention to the Secretary for Innovation and Technology, Mr. Alfred Sit, and the Commissioner for Innovation and Technology, Ms Rebecca Pun, at InnoCarnival 2021. Both officials praised the thoroughness of Michael’s work and encouraged him to continue promoting Hong Kong’s Innovation and Technology development.

Michael would like to thank his teachers at KGV for nurturing his love for learning and curiosity.

Our students achieved some especially amazing things this summer at Collaborative Innovation Bootcamp hosted by HKU Business Academy for the Talented! Here are Chelsea, who won Pegasus Internship Award; Justin who won the Best Team Player Award and Katherine who won Best Project Award.