Principal's message

Dear Parents and Guardians,

As previously discussed, we are currently reviewing the ‘student experience’ at KGV. We are keen to understand more from our students about their lived experiences at KGV. To do this, we have created student focus groups of 8 to 12 randomly selected students and engaged with them in some conversation starters about their experiences in and out of the classroom. 

The feedback has been inspiring, affirming, and challenging! The unique aspect has been hearing the ‘multiple stories’ of experience. The feedback has focused on our resolve to deliver on our vision to personalise learning and truly create a ‘school for one’, a place where each student feels that the school was created just for them. Through a lived experience, we all feel a deep sense of belonging, identity, and purpose. 

We will provide further information about the student feedback and specific aspects of our school that we wish to keep, stop and start doing in the future.

This is a reminder that we plan to continue our series of sessions on emerging AI technologies. We ran a parent webinar on this topic in February, and we would like to invite all parents to a follow-up presentation about changes in the AI landscape since then, the work we are doing, what we are learning about large language models and the impact they will have on learning and schools. Please attend our webinar ‘Generative AI in our school context’ on Thursday, 11th May, at 7 pm. Please Register for the webinar here. We will use this list to send you the Zoom link 24 hours before the webinar.

I hope you have a good weekend.

Mark Blackshaw,

Principal KGV School.

Year 12 & 13 Message

Our Year 13 IB students have continued to give their all during their examinations this week and we wish them the very best of luck over the coming weeks. Our Year 13 BTEC students have had great success in completing outstanding units of work.

Our Year 12 IB students and BTEC students studying IB subjects have had a very fruitful week, focusing on further work developing their CAS, TOK, and IA data collection alongside enhancing and developing their Extended Essays. Our Student Leaders have reported back to us the benefits of being given this time to consolidate their learning ahead of a busy few weeks coming up in the lead-up to their Term 3 Assessment Week, beginning 5th June.

Wishing you a great weekend.

Year 7 Message

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

This week our Year 7 students supported their School House and participated in our Inter-House Rounders competition. It was great to see so many students playing or supporting their House.

Today, twelve members of our Year 7 Transition Team visited Clearwater Bay School where they talked to the students about their KGV experiences. Mr Miller, who accompanied the students was super impressed and felt they were magnificent KGV ambassadors.

This week we launched the Year 7 Spelling Bee competition. The Year 7 team, in conjunction with the English Department, is encouraging students to sign up and take part in this competition! For those artistic Year 7s, there is also the KGV postcard competition,  where the winning design will be published on official KGV postcards.  Year 7 students should check the bulletin for more information.

Have a great weekend.

Year 8 Message

For Year 9 Options, the system on Lionel will close end of the day Sunday. Mr Tranter e-mailed parents and students last week to remind them of this and provide an overview of the choices. Tutors spent time this week checking with Year 8s that they know what to do and have completed their options on Lionel. 

As we head into Week 4 of Term 2, it is good to remind your child of our KGV expectations:

• Swipe in by 8.10 am. 

  • KGV School promotes excellent punctuality records across all years to ensure students and staff have the maximum possible time to enable effective teaching and learning. A reminder is that students who swipe into school after 8.10 am are considered late. With two weeks of Term 2 left, a few Year 8 & 9 students are accumulating many 'unexplained lates' to school. Please see our KGV Punctuality Guidelines for more information and our tiered response. 

• Be in complete and correct uniform (including shoes). 

  • A reminder that when students are in KGV uniform, including PE and Drama shorts, skorts and shirts, all items should be ESF/KGV branded items and comply with our KGV Dress Code. 

• Check their timetable and bring PE or Drama kit as necessary

• Bring the correct textbooks and stationery according to their timetable

• Use their locker to store items throughout the school day. 

Have a great weekend.

Year 9 Message

Teachers involved in the Year 9 Maths/Science/WIN Pathways have been conversing with students and recommending appropriate pathways. We were planning to formally share this with parents and students at the end of this week; however, we have had to delay it until next week. We will offer a Pathways online information/Q & A session for parents on the 15th of May before students are required to make final selections. For any subject questions, students should speak with the relevant teacher.

We are working on the Year 9 MYP Community Project Assessment and Exhibition and Year 9 Graduation Ceremony for students, teachers and parents. Please save the date in your calendars for the afternoon of 12 June 2023, 3.30 pm - 5.30 pm. We look forward to sharing more information regarding this event with the broader community soon. 

As part of our Year 9 Graduation, we are organising a trip to Ocean Park on Thursday, 29th June. We are in the process of confirming this with Ocean Park, but we have also given Monday, 26th June, as a backup if they can’t accommodate us on the 29th. The students are excited about this opportunity to celebrate their achievements and will bring home permission slips for you to read, sign and return to school. 

Have a great weekend.

Year 10 Message

Year 10 students have had a science exam this week and have more assessments looming. Please help your child to keep these assessments in perspective. We hope they will take them seriously, but not let them get upset or be unduly stressed because their main purpose is to provide practice and feedback.

Year 11 Message

This week we have had Geography and two English exams. I am very proud of the way students have turned up on time and have been well-prepared.

Next week we have First Language Chinese reading on Thursday and Computer Science on Friday.

The full exam timetable is available here.

Please help your child to manage a balance of rest, healthy eating, preparation, exercise and sleep during this time. As well, please check they are organised and know exactly what time they need to be at school for their exams.

If your child is ill or tests positive for COVID on the day before or day of any exam, please get in touch so we can ensure we put proper arrangements in place for them. Email me, Mr Kent and the exams office. tim.carrell@kgv.edu.hk, tristan.kent@kgv.edu.hk, exam@kgv.edu.hk

Careers & H.E. Guidance

Our email address: careers.office@kgv.edu.hk.

KGV Careers Website is another platform where we share information and resources on higher education, scholarship, external events, enrichment programmes and many more.

HE Resources via Google Classroom for Y12 & Y13. All resources for higher education applications are available via Google Classroom, including internal deadlines. Students should look out for announcements & reminders. Y13s should ensure they are keeping their paces with applications.

Student official full names are used on school transcripts. We would like to ask parents to check that their children’s official full name in the school record matches that on their identity documents. This is especially so when students are known in school by their preferred names which may not be their official names. Unmatched names may cause difficulties with university offers.

Year 13
We wish all our students doing IB exams plain sailing through the process.
- Y13 Exit plan – Parent presentation at 18.00 on 8 May. Zoom link will be sent to all Y13 parents on the morning of 8 May. Login with a Zoom account is required with this session.
- Close communication with HE Counsellors. Apart from keeping to internal deadlines, students should work closely with their HE Counsellors and keep informed of their HE applications. Any missed communication may result is a delay in providing necessary support for applications, which may result in missed offers.
- Application Status & Offers. Applicants are starting to receive offer decisions. Students should have regular communications with their HE Counsellors on their application status.
- IBO Result Service. Students doing IBDP or IB courses are recommended to subscribe to the IBO Result Service that sends student’s final results to the institution they specify. Students were briefed at Tutor Time on 2 Mar on how to do this. Our Exam Office is coordinating this service and an email was sent to Y13 students about subscribing to this service. For queries about IBO Result Service, please email exam@kgv.edu.hk.

Year 12
- 1-1 session with HE Counsellors. The 1-to-1 meetings are completed, except for those who missed their schedule appointments. These students should reach to their individual H.E. Counsellor at the soonest.
- Higher Education Presentation Series. The H.E presentation series started a couple of weeks ago.  So far, we have covered: UK apps., Personal Statement, HK apps, Oxbridge.  We will look at these topics in the upcoming weeks: Medicine, Dentistry & Vet, USA apps, USA Personal Essay, Canada apps, Non-mainstream, UCAS setup, and Summer Action Plan.  Detailed presentation schedule is shared to all Y12 students via their H.E. Google Classrooms.
- Y12 – Parent presentation. We are planning a Zoom session before end of this school for our Y12 parents on how the Careers & H.E. Team support our students and students’ action plan over the summer break. More details will follow.

KGV School References – All KGV students
The KGV Careers Office is coordinating all references for students (except extension /gifted & talented programmes). KGV School has a closed reference policy. School references are treated with the strictest confidentiality and are sent only to the institution that makes a request. Students and their families do not get to see their school reference.
- Reference for Y13s’ higher education application: All current Y13 students have a school reference in place as one of the support school documents. There is no need for students to make a request. Students should work closely with their H.E. Counsellor for their applications.
- References for non-higher education purposes, including potential exit, summer school, scholarship, etc.: Parents should inform the Careers Office by email, providing purpose and contact for sending the reference. The normal lead time for teachers to work on school references is 4-6 working weeks.

University Events on the KGV Careers CalendarHighlight of upcoming events:

Unifrog Webinars (Student login to Unifrog required.)
15-16 May: Managing Your Wellbeing During Exams

U.K.
10 May: Study Medicine in the UK Seminar + HK Alumnus Doctor Sharing by U of Bristol
25 May: BridgeU Webinar: A Beginners Guide to UK Liberal Arts Degrees

U.S.A.
10 May: EducationUSA Seminar: U.S. Community College – Secret Weapon to U.S. Higher Education (sessions are in Cantonese)
17 & 22 May: Engaging Distinctive Universities (Emory, Michigan, Rice & Washington)
19 May: College Board BigFuture Live: Pro-Tips for College Visits

Europe
20 May: Bocconi Open Day (Italy)

KGV Careers & H.E. Team

Feedback Friday with the Principal

Friday 19 May 2023, 10.30 - 11.15 am

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.

Our upcoming sessions will be on: 

-Friday 19 May 2023, 10.30-11.15 am

-Friday 16 June 2023, 10.30-11.15 am

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

Student Wellbeing

The school social workers recently organised a lunchtime activity for students to express their emotions creatively. The students were invited to sketch a display of their feelings and emotions, which proved to be a rewarding and insightful experience. It was fascinating to see how the students expressed and experienced similar emotions differently.

In addition, the school social workers have collaborated with LevelMind@JC to organise group activities in May-June that will further enhance the students' understanding of emotional expression and regulation. We believe that learning how to regulate and manage emotions is an important life skill that can have a positive impact on mental health and wellbeing.

Mother's Day Flower Arrangement Workshop

Friday 12 May - 1.30-3.00 pm
Wednesday 17 May - 1.30 - 3.00 pm

We're excited to announce a special event in honour of Mother's Day: the 'Flower Arrangement Parent Workshop', which will take place at KGV School. This workshop presents a wonderful opportunity for parents to gather and acquire a new, enjoyable skill that can be applied in their own homes. Participants will have the chance to witness a hands-on demonstration of the art of flower arrangement. The workshop will be divided into two sessions, each accommodating up to 20 participants. Don't miss out on this unique experience!

The allocation will be on a first come first serve basis.

If you would like to join a session please register here. 

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

For 8-12 May