Interim Principal's Message

Dear Parents and Guardians,

As we settle back into our usual school routines, this week has been a good time to reflect on a variety of successes and experiences that our students continue to enjoy. The buzz from Challenge Week has continued throughout the week, our Y8 students have explored one of Hong Kong’s Geo-Parks and Y12 students developed further insights on The Science of Learning from Jared Cooney Horvarth. 

The Diwali celebrations have brought a festive atmosphere to KGV. A big thank you to the PTSA and our student team for ensuring we celebrated this important festival in such a joyous manner. To all those in our community who will celebrate Diwali in the coming days, I wish you a happy, prosperous and light-filled year ahead.

Next week will also bring the opportunity to celebrate student success with our Colours Awards throughout the week, and  KGV’s 99th Speech Night that will happen on Thursday. We are proud of all our students, and these events provide a chance to recognise their remarkable achievements across academics, sports, arts and a whole range of other domains.

Have an enjoyable weekend ahead.

Best regards,

Mark Poulsum

Interim Principal

We held a welcome back assembly for our Year 12 and 13 students this week after half-term and Challenge Week.

Our student leaders shared important information their peers around KGV chosen charities and upcoming important events in our school such as Pride Week.

Some of our Year 12 students were treated to an excellent workshop this week with world renowned neuroscientist and educator Jared Horvath. Jared explained to our students the importance of working offline when studying at home. He highlighted that we are not built for multitasking and how we need to space out our revision, assisting our memory recall by revisiting little and often in our quest for success!

A reminder that ties are required with our Winter Uniform next week.

Wishing you a great weekend.

This week students have shared their Challenge Week experiences with each other during tutor time and have provided feedback as the staff in charge begin planning for Challenge Week 2024.

Today they helped us celebrate Diwali with music, dancing and entertainment during morning and lunch breaks.

Next week our winter uniform kicks in. In Year 10 and 11 the only difference is wearing a tie. Please make sure your child has a tie ready to go for Monday.

Next week is pride week and we have our colours assemblies where students are recognised for their participation in co-curricular activities.

Students have had a productive return to school after half term break and Challenge Week. 

Your child's Interim Report from before the half-term break is available to access on Lionel under progress reports. Please get in touch with your child's subject teacher for further information if needed. Learning Reviews with your child's subject teachers are coming up this half term. 

This week, the Year 8 students enjoyed their Geography Field Trip, completed their baseline testing and had consolidation work in their classes. Next week, the Year 8 Students will present their English and Science IDU’s to a judging panel made up of KGV staff, including senior leaders, teachers and support staff. Students have put many weeks of planning, collaboration and research into their 5-minute presentation. The subject of the IDU is Environmental Activism: Bringing a Sustainable Change to KGV. Through the IDU, each group of three or four students has identified an area of improvement within KGV linked to a particular UN SDG.

From Monday, all students should wear their Winter Uniform, a school tie. As the weather gets cooler, our uniform expectations stand. Please consider ordering warmer items from our Uniform Supplier now if you need them.

Our Inter-house Competitions continue this half term with Ultimate Frisbee on Wednesday for Years 8 & 9. Please encourage your child to participate and support their house at these events. 

MYP Approaches to Learning (ATL) Focus for our Parent Newsletter: Research Skills. Researching.

The research skills of interpreting, analysing and presenting information are essential skills to develop. The 5 E’s of Learning are: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate. 

Your child should always plan the topic they are to research. When planning their research, they should consult their teacher first and make sure they: 

• Understand the research goal; understand how the statement of inquiry and key concept connect to the research goal. 

• Know what information to look for

• Start with specific resources they suggest

• Are aware of the depth of research they are required to undertake

• Understand how the teacher wants them  to present their findings (written, oral, digitally, multimodal, etc.)

Your child has many research options available to them, so make sure they use them; libraries, the Internet, Government departments and corporate organisations, for example) 

Your child should always organise the information they collect under headings and subheadings so they can easily refer to the information. 

They should make sure their work is academically honest. 

They should record where they obtained their research data using a recognised convention such as MLA or Harvard. The conventions will require author, year, title, page number and publisher, database and website details, and the date they accessed the website. This is called a bibliography or a works cited page. 

Additional Actions for Parents:

Ask your child what are two things they will start doing to improve their focus on research. 

If you and your family are celebrating Diwali, Happy Diwali! May this Diwali bring you the utmost in peace and prosperity.

Have a great weekend.

Students have had a productive return to school after half term break and Challenge Week. 

Your child's Interim Report from before the half-term break is available to access on Lionel under progress reports. Please contact your child's subject teacher for further information if needed. Learning Reviews with your child's subject teachers are coming up this half term. 

Thank you to all those parents who attended the Online Option Choice Meeting yesterday. Please ask your child to show you on Lionel for more information. Year 9 Option Choices open Monday, 13th November, and close Sunday, 19th November.

From Monday, all students should wear their Winter Uniform, a school tie. As the weather gets cooler, our uniform expectations stand. Please consider ordering warmer items from our Uniform Supplier now if you need them.

Our Inter-house Competitions continue this half term with Ultimate Frisbee on Wednesday for Years 8 & 9. Please encourage your child to participate and support their house at these events. 

MYP Approaches to Learning (ATL) Focus for our Parent Newsletter: Research Skills. Researching.

The research skills of interpreting, analysing and presenting information are essential skills to develop. The 5 E’s of Learning are: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate. 

Your child should always plan the topic they are to research. When planning their research, they should consult their teacher first and make sure they: 

• Understand the research goal; understand how the statement of inquiry and key concept connect to the research goal. 

• Know what information to look for

• Start with specific resources they suggest

• Are aware of the depth of research they are required to undertake

• Understand how the teacher wants them  to present their findings (written, oral, digitally, multimodal, etc.)

Your child has many research options available to them, so make sure they use them; libraries, the Internet, Government departments and corporate organisations, for example) 

Your child should always organise the information they collect under headings and subheadings so they can easily refer to the information. 

They should make sure their work is academically honest. 

They should record where they obtained their research data using a recognised convention such as MLA or Harvard. The conventions will require author, year, title, page number and publisher, database and website details, and the date they accessed the website. This is called a bibliography or a works cited page. 

Additional Actions for Parents:

Ask your child what are two things they will start doing to improve their focus on research. 

If you and your family are celebrating Diwali, may this Diwali bring you the utmost in peace and prosperity. 

Have a great weekend.

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Today we celebrated Diwali as a KGV community, with performances at lunchtime. For those families who celebrate Diwali, on behalf of KGV we would like to wish you a Diwali filled with happiness, prosperity and joy to you and all your family.

Next week is KGV's Pride Week. This is a week where we celebrate all individuals in our community. It is a time when we recognise and acknowledge that our strength comes from our uniqueness and individuality. The GSA (KGV's group which unites the LGBTQ+ community with allies) has organised a week of opportunities for students and staff to embrace our differences. We will be showing videos, holding performances and allowing students to wear bright-coloured accessories with their uniforms next Friday.

Next week is also the official start of our winter uniform season. This essentially means all students MUST wear ties! 

Have a great weekend.
The  Year 7 Team.

Mathematics Mock Examinations

Dear Year 13 parents,

Apologies we did not get this guidance to you sooner, but please note we will be using the November 2023 series of IBDP papers for our January mock exams in all Mathematics courses. These papers were released in the current sitting, which ends today.

We ask you to support and encourage your child to avoid seeing these papers before our mock examination period. This will help ensure they have the most authentic experience during the mock exam, to best prepare them for their real exams in May. For the mock exams to be authentic – and of best value for them – they need to practise being in the Hall, under exam conditions, tackling questions that they have not seen before. If they have already seen these papers, please ask them to come see us as soon as possible so we can organise alternative test papers for them, to provide them with this authentic experience.

Be aware that some online revision platforms (such as “revisionvillage” and similar) will publish worked solutions to these November papers very soon. As such, please remind your child to be extra vigilant in checking the source of questions they look at on these sites from now on, so as not to spoil their mock exam experience.

Note that achievement in these mock examinations cannot be used as evidence for raising predicted grades.

Thanks for your support and best wishes for the weekend,
KGV Mathematics Department

Careers & H.E. Guidance

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

Year 13
Y13 students should stay in communication with their counsellors and keep up to date with google classroom for materials and announcements.

Year 12
Students are welcome to find us in the Year 12-13 Office, if they would like any help from the Careers & H.E. Team.

Google Classrooms. Our HE Team has set up Google Classrooms for Y12 students for communication on higher education issues.

Check our KGV Careers Calendar for known H.E. events. Some highlighted events are:

KGV is not responsible for the quality of any external events. All information is subject to change by event organisers.

Visit @ KGV (Lunch Break @ SSC1-2, Students only)

10 Nov: CampusConnect with SCAD, Middle Tennessee State, Full Sail & IE Spain
22 Nov: St George’s University of London

H.K.
18 Nov: The Hang Seng University of HK Info Day

U.K.
11 & 17 Nov: Norwich University of the Arts Online Open Day
Various dates in Nov: Bangor University Webinar Series

U.S.
13 Nov: Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering – Info Session
Various dates in Nov: Minerva University Virtual Events
Various dates in Nov: UCLA Undergraduate Virtual Admission Info Session
Various dates in Nov: UCSB Virtual Presentations for Future Freshman Applicants

Canada
7-11 Nov: Queen’s University – Virtual Fall Preview

Europe
27 Nov: The Liberal Arts & Sciences: University Colleges in the Netherlands

Australia
23 Nov: International College of Management (ICMS), Sydney – Parents’ Info Evening

Singapore
18 Nov: National University Singapore Virtual Open Day

KGV Careers & H.E. Team

Elf the Musical

Please come and join us for our school musical this year.  With 70 students on stage, in the band or behind the scenes, it promises to be a great family night out for all the community, full of seasonal cheer.

Performance dates are 29th and 30th November, and Friday 1st December, Wednesday to Friday.  Each performance begins at 7.00 pm in the school hall.

Tickets will go on sale soon at $50 each.

More details in next week’s newsletter about how to buy yours.

The Elf Production Team

Inter House Music: Event takes place in term 2

IHM Solo Auditions are due next Friday 17th November.  The link to the google-classroom is on the student bulletin.

IHM Ensemble sign up: Students should contact their leading Music House Captain - see the student bulletin for the details.

Winter Fair Performers: Friday 8th December. Students should look out for a sign up/audition form on the student bulletin if they are interested in performing outside at the fair. 

13 - 17 November

There will be a promotion of Northeastern Chinese Cuisine on Wednesday.