Dear Parents and Guardians,

Thank you again for your support this week. We are now entering our third week of online learning since the Chinese New Year break, and it is likely to be this way for a number of weeks ahead. On a positive note, our students and staff seem to be in a regular rhythm, and online lessons are being consistently delivered, and students are generally engaged.

We are continuing with our approach of teaching all lessons synchronously, with the teacher explicitly teaching the key concepts and skills, demonstrating these skills, allowing student practice, and providing feedback to students. We have also been working with our teachers regarding online tips and resources to enhance checking for understanding, in this online learning environment.

Maintaining connections with students is always a priority. This is why we have maintained Tutor time each day, and we see this social interaction and connection as vital. Please reach out if you have any concerns, or would like us to provide any additional support for your child, our student.

We appreciate that the current environment is causing some concern and anxiety for our students and community. If you like to share a ‘virtual cup of tea or coffee’, please register for our Feedback Friday session 25 February from 10.30 to 11.15am. This is an informal way to get together, chat about the school and provide feedback. If you would like to attend this or other sessions this term, please sign up on this form. For enquiries contact Kiran at kiran.budhrani@kgv.edu.hk

Stay safe and warm.

Enjoy the weekend.

Kind Regards,

Mark Blackshaw

Principal, KGV School

We continue to be impressed at the way students are engaging with online lessons and making the most of this situation.

The Year 10 learning review has been pushed back one week. It is now scheduled for March 15th and bookings will open to parents at 6pm on Friday March 4th.

Please continue to help your child stay organised by encouraging them to keep their unread emails at zero, to check over their online learning log the night before and encourage them to ask questions in class so they keep up. 

Our Year 13 students continue to impress our teachers with how they have been coping with our return to online learning.

We will be hosting an online Year 13 assembly next Monday 21 February during tutor time to give our students a chance to communicate any feedback or concerns directly with our Year 13 team.

Next Thursday 24 February our Year 13 students will receive a talk from Relationship Coach Valentina Tudose. Ms Tudose will be addressing the fundamentals of happy relationships and sharing some key skills to master before launching into our search for the right person.

What will be discussed in this talk:

• Relationship Fundamentals - Chemistry vs Compatibility and how to define standards and boundaries that ensure happiness and relationship success
• How to define and enforce standards and ensure boundaries are expressed and respected
• Asking and giving consent
• How to deal with rejection and move on from breakup

Wishing you a great weekend.

Our Year 12 students continue to impress our teachers with how they have been coping with our return to online learning.

We will be hosting an online Year 12 assembly next Wednesday 23 February during tutor time to give students a chance to communicate any feedback or concerns directly with our Year 12 team.

Wishing you a great weekend.

Mock exams are behind us now and we are now preparing for final exams in May and June. Students will be having 1:1 conversations with their tutors to help them get organised and to prioritise revision and work to be as prepared as possible.

A key part of this will be completing a review of their mock exams. For your reference, here is the form they will work through. You may like to ask to see your child's completed form.

Grades and feedback from the mock exams for each subject are being added to the CCF system and you can see any completed feedback through the CCF link in Lionel in the App. A summary will be published soon.

The options system opens again today for students to make their final requests for subjects for Year 12. Students should take into account their career and university aspirations as well as their enjoyment of subjects when making decisions. They should talk with their tutors and can reach out to their subject teachers or Mr Ferriday for more detailed support

The GCSE exam timetable for May and June is available here. This may be helpful for students to start planning their revision. Note that the start times may change slightly, but the dates are fixed.

From this point onwards, PE lessons for Y11 students can be used as study periods. PE will still run and PE teachers will be available during timetabled PE periods, however, students now have the option to use them as additional study periods and to do exercise at a time that suits them. Other subjects are also planning to run tutorials on specific topics during these times and the Y11 team will use these as additional meeting times to support students with option choices and exam preparation.

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

On Wednesday, Year 9 students will be involved in the next Community Project activities. They will work with Mr Beard and the team in Periods 1 and 2. Please also look out for Mr Beard's other post about the ‘CNN Freedom Day Sweatshop Challenge’. This is a wonderful opportunity to engage together with your child in a service related event addressing one of the current global issues.

Next week we will be switching Period 4 and 5 lessons on Monday. This is to share out the lesson which students will complete asynchronously, as staff participate in Monday collaboration. 

Don’t forget to sign up for Friday 25 February, Feedback Friday, if you would like to meet with Mark Blackshaw and the team to give you feedback on your experiences of online learning. Please contact kiran.budhrani@kgv.edu.hk for more information.

Take care and have a lovely weekend.

The Year 9 Team

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Thank you so much for the parents who joined Rowan Turner, Mark Blackshaw and I at our second parent session looking at MYP reports. We have a lot of very useful feedback, which Rowan will share next week. In the meantime, if you were not able to attend, please click here to watch a recording of the first session.

Rowan Turner and I will be meeting with Year 7 students next week to start our journey with them on how to set effective learning goals/ targets. Our aim for the end of this term is to make our students hungry for feedback. We will keep you up to date with our progress.

Next week we will be switching Period 4 and 5 lessons on Monday. This is to share out the lesson that students will complete asynchronously, as staff participates in Monday collaboration. 

Don’t forget to sign up for Friday 25 February, Feedback Friday, if you would like to meet with Mark Blackshaw and the team to give you feedback on your experiences of online learning. Please contact kiran.budhrani@kgv.edu.hk for more information.

Take care and have a lovely weekend. 

The Year 7 Team

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

A big shout out to one of our Year 8 students, Brianna Searle who recently completed a big personal challenge called ‘Peak Master’ where she climbed 125 of HK’s highest peaks.  She is the youngest Peak Master in Hong Kong. Great to have some positive news to share from our Year 8s in this challenge time. She is mentioned as one of our special stories in this week’s newsletter. Way to go Brianna!

Thank you to those parents/ caregivers who have already signed up to attend the Year 8 Learning Review on Monday 28th February. The appointment system closes at 6pm on Thursday 24 February. Please sign up in the next couple of days.

Next week we will be switching Period 4 and 5 lessons on Monday. This is to share out the lesson which students will complete asynchronously, as staff participate in Monday collaboration. 

Don’t forget to sign up for Friday 25 February, Feedback Friday, if you would like to meet with Mark Blackshaw and the team to give you feedback on your experiences of online learning. Please contact kiran.budhrani@kgv.edu.hk for more information.

Take care and have a lovely weekend.

The Year 8 Team

Friday 25 February 2022, 10:30am

We are committed to supporting our parents through their journey at KGV, therefore have created several opportunities for you to engage with the school.  ‘Feedback Friday‘ is one such opportunity for you to engage in a personalized, small group session on a Friday morning, to chat with the Principal, Mark Blackshaw on various topics or areas you would like to discuss.

Sessions will run online from 10:30am to 11:15am, and are limited to 15 parents.

Our upcoming session will be on Friday 25 February 2022.

Once you sign up for a session/s, a link will be sent to you closer to the time of the meeting.

If you would like to attend this or other sessions this term, please sign up on this form.

For enquiries contact Kiran at kiran.budhrani@kgv.edu.hk

School references

School reference (non-higher education purposes) (Link to policy on Lionel)

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 references for higher education applications are done in a separate process.

Careers & Guidance
Y13 Higher Education applications
Communication between students & their H.E. Counsellors are key. This is especially so when application deadlines for many institutions are fast-approaching. Submitting an application without informing the H.E. Counsellor in advance may result in missed relevant documents to support applications. Students are reminded that they MUST inform their H.E. Counsellors of applications they are making, to ensure that supporting documents are sent in time.

Y12 1-1 H.E. meeting
The HE Counsellors are continuing the 1-1 meetings with our Y12 students. The meeting is an opportunity for students to discuss their post-KGV plans and intentions. Students have received their appointment details. They need to complete a questionnaire at least 48 hours before their meeting to facilitate a meaningful and constructive conversation with their H.E. Counsellors. Parents are reminded that students will be individually online with their own H.E. Counsellor during these one-to-one conversations, please reach out to the Careers Team (careers.office@kgv.edu.hk) if this is of concern. Details of the Yr 12 HE presentation series will be released to the Yr 12’s soon.

Y11 Options Talk
The Careers Team did a presentation to Y11s on 16 Feb regarding their post-Y11 options, various factors for consideration, resources and how they can make use of Unifrog as a research tool for careers and subject options. Student can email careers.office@kgv.edu.hk if they would like to book a session for more indepth discussions.

External Events
Our Careers Calendar lists many university events. Refer to the Calendar for event details and registration links. Some highlights in the coming weeks:

General
- 1 Mar: Unifrog Webinar: Explore Computer Science & AI for Students
- 4 Mar: Unifrog Webinar: Explore Art – Performing Arts & Creative Media
- 5 Mar: UnivAssist WebFair – East Asia & SEA

U.K.
- 7 Mar: UCAS/Discovery
- 8 Mar: World Class Study in London Virtual Event: Engineering
- 9 Mar: World Class Study in London Virtual Event: Medicine
- 10 Mar: World Class Study in London Virtual Event: Law

Europe
- 18 & 25 Feb: Tilburg University: Application & admission webinar for Bachelor’s programmes
- Various dates in March: Les Roches Masterclasses

U.S.A.
- 18 Feb: Northeast Public Universities: Preparing to Apply
- 19 Feb: Johns Hopkins University – Financial Aid 101
- 24 Feb: Johns Hopkins University: Application Workshop: Breaking Down the College Search
- 25 Feb: Johns Hopkins University: Admissions Q&A

KGV Careers Team

Teenage Addictions and Substance abuse

2 March 2022
6:30-8:00pm
Online workshop

We have invited Kely Support Group to provide their expert knowledge in the area of youth addictions and substance abuse. 

This talk will provide basic knowledge on drugs, smoking (cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and cannabis), and alcohol including its risks, recommended guidelines, and legality. It will share how to improve empathy and encourage parents to become positive role models for their children and provide techniques on having candid communication.  There will also be harm reduction techniques and resources on help-seeking channels.

There will be an opportunity to ask questions at the end of the talk.

To attend please register here.

For enquiries contact Kiran,  kiran.budhrani@kgv.edu.hk

Key Dates

Monday 21 Feb Period 4 and 5 swap for Monday only (reflected in Lionel)

Monday 28 Feb Year 8 Learning Review

Tuesday 15 Mar Year 10 Learning Review

ESF Career Webinars are an online series designed to provide students with insights and information about different industries and help them take the next step in their journey.

The next webinar will be held next Tue:

Introduction to Sociology and Career Paths into Academia
22 Feb 5:00-5:30 pm

Kieron Barclay, Island School alumnus, Associate Professor in Sociology at Stockholm University
In this webinar, Kieron will provide students with an insight into the context of Sociology. He will also share the career options in higher education, strategies for preparing for this career track, and the rewards and challenges of these careers.
Anyone interested in choosing Sociology at the university level can participate in the webinar.

The registration link is HERE.

Dear Students and Parents

I would like to invite you to be part of a very exciting and worthwhile opportunity. 

In collaboration with the Mekong Club Hong Kong and CNN in support of CNN’s Freedom Day (March 14th), we are inviting parents and students to take part in the ‘CNN Freedom Day Sweatshop Challenge’, offering participants a taste of what it is like to experience a sweatshop situation and to raise funding for the Mekong Club. 

• Proposed Date: Tuesday 1st of March
• Proposed Time: 5pm - 7pm

We are looking to recruit 30 - 50 student/parent teams for this event and will allocate on a first-come first served basis. Please complete the following form to express an interest in the event. Application Form

Why are we doing this?

Post-COVID, the number of human trafficking victims has increased significantly.  At the same time, funding to address this problem has been diverted to health-related activities.  We are hoping to raise much needed awareness and funding to work with the private sector to help encourage them to address the problem.  

We are proposing a parent/student approach because this will allow families to work together on this challenge.  For the CNN taping, both the parent and the student will sit together while they are doing the challenge.  Ordinarily, this event would be done in person.  But with COVID restrictions in Hong Kong, it will be done online.  

This approach is used to have students/parents experience what it is like for people who work in a sweatshop situation.  The simulation allows participants to “walk in their shoes”  in an innovative way to “feel and experience” their pain embodying a KGV value of Empathy.  It also will allow parents and students to combine as teams – a way to show that families can work together to respond to this issue. 

Participants will gather donations by encouraging their supporters to pledge a fixed amount for each hour they do this task. During the event, the participants can encourage their friends, family members and colleagues to support them. Once completed, a short feedback session will be held to process the experience.  Some of the responses will be recorded and used by CNN for their Freedom Day Asia program.  

This 2-minute video summarises the points outlined above.

Kind regards

Dean Beard

CAS, Service-Learning and Activities Coordinator

Our Remarkable Story
Congratulations to Brianna on her recent achievement. 

Year 8, Upsdell student, Brianna recently completed a big personal challenge called the ‘Peak Master’ where she climbed 125 of HK’s highest peaks.  She is the youngest Peak Master in HK.