Principal's message

Dear Parents and Guardians,

We had another positive week at school and seeing our new Year 7 students settling into the swing of school is encouraging. They seem to be growing in confidence daily, and fewer seem to be getting lost!

This week, we have been working through the new Government Covid requirements regarding vaccination levels and eligibility to participate in extracurricular and mask-off curriculum activities (e.g. swimming). Generally, students will need to have received three doses by 1 October to participate in extracurricular activities/CAS activities. Having said that:

• 5 to 11-year-olds are required to have only two doses of BioNTech or three doses of Sinovac. 

• A student is not required to have a third dose to be eligible to participate in ECAs, if they have received two doses before or on 1 October and are still within the time interval waiting to receive the third dose.

• Generally speaking, a person infected with COVID -19 before or after any vaccination requires one less dose of vaccine. For example, an 11-year-old student with one BioNTech, and a 14-Year-old student with two BioNTech/Sinovac doses would be able to participate in ECAs if infected.

To ensure students can participate in the full range of CAS and Challenge week activities, we request parents consider arranging for students to receive any additional vaccine dose on or before 1 October. 

A reminder that our Challenge Week runs from Monday 31 October to Friday 4 November. The Challenge Week website for 2022 was launched last week, and we encourage students and parents to go onto the website and consider the options. Students in years 7 and 13 will have a week of activities organised for them, and we will provide details on the website soon. There will also be information on which activities students can participate in if they cannot meet the new vaccine requirements.

We look forward to welcoming our Year 7 Parents and Guardians to campus this Monday for the Laptop Induction evening. Please check your emails and ESF App for parent/visitor vaccine requirements for entry and also the programme of events. A critical outcome of the evening is that we give each parent ‘their’ laptop, which they can then hand over to their son/daughter to use!

I hope you have a great weekend.

Kind Regards,

Mark Blackshaw

Principal, KGV School

Year 10 students completed the Yellis baseline test this week. Results should be available soon and we will share these with you.

Option changes can be requested this week. It is a paper-based system that requires signatures from the tutor and parents before we will attempt any changes. Not all requests will be possible as the timetable is set and some classes are full. The request form can be collected from the Y10/11 office or printed from this file.

Challenge Week sign-up takes place during tutor time next Wednesday, 7 September. Activities available are listed on the Challenge Week website. Please note that some activities require students to be fully vaccinated to participate.

Please remind your child to bring earphones to school. We often use learning materials that include audio and visual content.

It was lovely to celebrate our Year 12 students’ fantastic achievements at GCSE in our special assembly this week. The students have made a superb start to the academic year. A reminder that the options window closes for Year 12 on Monday, 5 September.

Students please remember to bring earphones to school if they need to plug them in for a lesson.

We all still need to complete a RAT Test and take our temperatures, recording this on the ESF App each morning before coming to school each day. Please maintain the routine of completing this each morning.

Year 13 Message

Our Year 13 students have made a super start to the academic year. We are looking forward to our Year 13 assembly next Friday, 9 September, which our student leaders will host.

Could students please remember to bring earphones to school if they need to plug them in for a lesson.

We all still need to complete a RAT Test and take our temperatures, recording this on the ESF App each morning before coming to school each day. Please maintain the routine of completing this each morning.

Year 11 Message

Challenge Week sign-up takes place during tutor time on Tuesday, 6 September. Activities available are listed on the Challenge Week website. Please note that some activities require students to be fully vaccinated to participate.

Please remind your child to bring earphones to school. We often use learning materials that include audio and visual content.

We are currently performing a data review and looking to meet with students who are not making the progress we would hope. 

1:1 discussions will begin with tutors from 13 September. These will focus on initial thoughts about a course for Year 12 and 13, progress to date, and actions required to prepare for exams.

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Yesterday our community participated in our first fire drill for the academic year. Our Year 7 students took it all in their stride and were excellent ambassadors for KGV as they conducted themselves maturely and responsibly. 

We have talke to students, parents and staff about our return to school and the return to getting changed for specialist lessons, such as PE and Drama. There were several teething issues this week as students have been misplacing items of clothing and would benefit from more support and suggested strategies for organisation. Our tutors and PE staff will be working with Year 7-9 students our the coming weeks and reinforcing the need to

1. Name all items of clothing, including footwear

2. Using lockers when they have days where they need to change uniforms. They do not need to be carrying around all their belongings all day.

3. We will monitor the situation where students have PE and Drama in lessons with a ‘non-specialist clothes’ lessen. We will work with a small number of students to see if not changing between PE and Drama helps with their day.

4. We will ask PE teachers to check changing rooms and offer practical guidance on how to look after belongings. If parents could offer strategies at home too, that would be great.

We will separately contact the families affected by multiple changes during the day for PE and Drama. Thank you for your patience while we work through this together and maintain our high uniform standards.

 Next week, as students are participating in Inter House Tug of War, Year 7 students have been permitted to wear their PE kits all day on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 6, 7 and 9 September. Please make a note of this.

We look forward to seeing many of you at Monday’s Parent Information afternoon. Remember that the event starts at 3 pm and parents can arrive after 2:30 pm. Please complete the Health Declaration Form and meet the COVID requirements (blue code). If your child needs to travel home in the normal manner and not stay at school for the event, please email olivia.pang@kgv.edu.hk . We assume all students stay at school to be part of the event unless we hear from you. 

Thursday, 8 September is our MIDYIS baseline testing day. A reminder that students cannot prepare for this and the data it produces is used internally to help inform our support and extension strategies. 

Upcoming events

1. Parent talk - Top Tips on Digital Safety -  Tue 13 Sept 2022, 6:30-7:30pm. Please sign up on https://forms.gle/mfuphMTV3sknvqay9

2. Y7 Parents Coffee morning – Wed 14 Sept 2022, 10:30am. Please sign up here if you would like to attend. https://forms.gle/RZ9HLraXpVgUKkYg6

Have a lovely weekend and see you on Monday!

The Year 7 Team

Our Year 8 students have had a very productive week of lessons. 

We have been discussing with students, parents and staff the requirement for students to change for specialist lessons, such as PE and Drama. We have identified that a number of students have been misplacing items of clothing and would benefit from support and suggested strategies for organisation. Our tutors and PE staff will be working with Year 7-9 students in the coming weeks and reinforcing the need to:

1. Name all items of clothing, including footwear.

2. Use lockers. They do not need to be carrying all their belongings all day.

3. We will be reviewing the scenario where a small number of students have PE and Drama with a ‘non-specialist uniform’ lesson in between.

4. We will be asking PE teachers to check changing rooms after lessons and also offer students practical guidance on how to better look after belongings. If parents could also offer strategies at home, this would be beneficial to the students. 

Thank you for your patience whilst we work through this together and also maintain our high uniform standards.

Challenge Week sign-up takes place during tutor time next week. Year 8 is on September 9th. Activities available are listed on the Challenge Week website. Please note that some activities require students to be fully vaccinated to participate.

Please remind your child to bring earphones to school. We often use learning materials that include audio and visual content.

Please note our upcoming Parent Talk - Top Tips on Digital Safety 

Tue 13 Sept 2022, 6:30-7:30pm

We would like to share some top tips on how to manage digital safety.  Join us for a virtual session with Lewis Glover, Learning Tech Co-ordinator and Head of Computer Science, who will share his expert advice on how parents can help their child/children keep safe with their digital devices.  

Please signup on https://forms.gle/mfuphMTV3sknvqay9

Our Year 9 students have made a great start to the academic year. 

We have been discussing with students, parents and staff the requirement for students to change for specialist lessons, such as PE and Drama. We have identified that a number of students have been misplacing items of clothing and would benefit from support and suggested strategies for organisation. Our tutors and PE staff will be working with Year 7-9 students in the coming weeks and reinforcing the need to:

1. Name all items of clothing, including footwear.

2. Use lockers. They do not need to be carrying all their belongings all day.

3. We will be reviewing the scenario where a small number of students have PE and Drama with a ‘non-specialist uniform’ lesson in between.

4. We will be asking PE teachers to check changing rooms after lessons and also offer students practical guidance on how to better look after belongings. If parents could also offer strategies at home, this would be beneficial to the students. 

Thank you for your patience whilst we work through this together and also maintain our high uniform standards.

Challenge Week sign-up takes place during tutor time next week. Year 9 is on September 8th. Activities available are listed on the Challenge Week website. Please note that some activities require students to be fully vaccinated to participate.

Please remind your child to bring earphones to school. We often use learning materials that include audio and visual content.

Please note our upcoming Parent Talk - Top Tips on Digital Safety 

Tue 13 Sept 2022, 6:30-7:30pm

We would like to share some top tips on how to manage digital safety.  Join us for a virtual session with Lewis Glover, Learning Tech Co-ordinator and Head of Computer Science, who will share his expert advice on how parents can help their child/children keep safe with their digital devices.  

Please signup on https://forms.gle/mfuphMTV3sknvqay9

The Careers Office is busy preparing our senior students with their preparation for higher education applications.

Our Year 13 students were given a presentation on H.E. refresher presentation, reminding them of what needs to be done and deadlines. Starting next week, Y13s will have their individual 1-1 meetings with H.E. Counsellors. Students are reminded to upload their personal statements on to Unifrog in order to make the meeting productive.

Our Year 13 should have received an email about Parent Information Session on 15 Sep, 18:00. Please sign up here. Meeting link will be sent in the morning of 15 Sep to those who have signed up.

We haven’t forgotten our Year 12 students. We have delivered an introduction to H.E. presentation to start them thinking about post-secondary pathways.

The Careers Team is here to support of students with their higher education application process. Do email us at careers.office@kgv.edu.hk for any assistance.

KGV Careers Team

Seeing the amount of interest in the CAS program is great. There have been approximately 2400 active sign-ups in the last two weeks. Sign-up closes on Sunday, 4 September and allocation is happening early next week, so please see some notes about what happens next:

• For any activities that are oversubscribed, the system will randomly allocate students.
• You will receive an email/App message informing you if your child has been successfully placed in an activity. 
• If students are not allocated, they will remain on the waitlist and be notified when a space becomes available
• Activities will begin the week of September 13th. 
• There will be several activities that still have space and students are encouraged to browse Lionel and continue to sign up until the end of next week. 
• For activities that require an additional fee, you will be notified of what that fee is and how to pay the provider. 

A reminder that only students that have received their second dose of the vaccination (or have 1 vaccination plus a recovery certificate) will be eligible to sign up for CAS activities. If you have experienced any problems with signing up due to your Vaccination records, please try again as the system is now updated to accommodate the different scenarios..

Remember to check the new KGV CAS Activities website especially designed and dedicated to all things relating to the activities program (https://www.kgvcasactivities.com/).

Useful links to help with the process:

• CAS Activity website             
• How to sign up – Student instructions
• How to sign up – Walkthrough video
• Parent Instructions (Pre-approving)
• Parent view (ESF App video)

We have a few students who have missed their school photos for various reasons. If they wish to have their photo taken, they can make an appointment to visit Techniphoto at the address below. Please do so by 30 September 2022.

Techni Photo

Flat C1, 3/F., Phase 5, Hong Kong Spinners Industrial Building,

No.760-762 Cheung Sha Wan Road,HK.

Tel: (852) 2803-5988 Fax: (852) 2575-8083

MTR - Lai Chi Kok Station (Exit B1)

We would like to encourage KGV students to learn a musical instrument - particularly the rarer ones 'endangered species' (viola, oboe, trombone, french horn, trombone, trumpet). If you are looking for an instrumental teacher, please see our list below. You can contact the teachers directly to arrange lessons. We also offer our Music department facilities for instrumental teachers to use after school. 

We have a selection of instruments available for students to borrow for the school year if having instrumental lessons. Please get in touch to find out availability.

Can you recommend an instrumental teacher for our list? or would you like your current teacher to come and teach at KGV?

Please contact Ms Alex Carlile directly in the Music Department - alexandra.carlile@kgv.edu.hk

KGV INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC TEACHER LIST

Message from MTR

To bring further convenience to students applying for the MTR Student Travel Scheme (“the Scheme”), the following updated arrangements are in place for eligible students for Academic Year 2022/2023.

1. Advanced Opening of Online Application

To further facilitate the eligible students to apply for the Scheme, we are pleased to inform you that the online application platform will be opened earlier from 9 am, 18 August 2022. Meanwhile, the hardcopy application will start as usual from 1 September 2022.

*Important remark: From this Academic Year onwards, the purchase of temporary Octopus will not be provided before the application is approved. Students in need are advised to submit their application once the online application platform is opened to enjoy the concessionary fares.

However, for the students who are already holding the previously approved Personalised Octopus with “Student Status”, as usual, the concession will expire no earlier than 31 October 2022.

2. Additional Student Identity Verification Method

For new applications, students who do not have a student identity card yet at the time of application, the enrolment certificate for the Academic Year 2022/2023 issued by the school will also be accepted as a special arrangement.

3. More Online Payment Methods

Various online payment methods for the application fee, including Octopus, Alipay HK and Credit Card, are introduced for New Applications.

4. Communication Pack

To facilitate communications with students and parents on the digitalised process, a communication pack and lazy pack with a tutorial video ([Web Link]) are attached.

Should you have any enquiries, please contact Ms. Tin on 2756 3087 or Ms. Chan on 2798 3488 during office hours (8:30 am to 6:00 pm on weekdays except Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays).

Congratulations to Adrian Mak (Year 13) who joined HKU Legal Academy of the Talent and became one of the five students who participated in the "Early Insights Programme" at the leading law firm Deacons. 

Over the summer, Aadit Bhandari (Year 13) and Kartikay Singhal (Year 13) took part in Inter-school Model United Nations Hong Kong and won The Best Delegate Award. We are proud of our students.

Sodexo Menu 5-9 Sept