Principal's Message

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

This week we have a group of Year 9 students embarking on a life changing educational experience as they join the Limitless programme. This 6 week programme in Australia focusses on applying the skills they have learnt in the classroom and using them to solve problems in a unique and unfamiliar environment. We wish them well over the coming weeks, and I am sure they will enjoy both the excitements and challenges this adventure will bring.

By fostering key skills, we create an approach to learning that supports students both academically and in their wider lives. Through our Y7-9 MYP programme and beyond, we focus on a range of key areas, including Thinking, Communication, Research, Self-Management and Social Skills. The development of these approaches to learning is interwoven with academic knowledge and understanding to ensure the best possible outcomes for all students. 

Developing these skills has certainly benefited our graduating class. Congratulations to all of our Year 13 students for exhibiting resilience, determination and self-management throughout their exams. They have now finished their exams, and I am sure they will be looking forward excitedly to the upcoming graduation events. 

I would also like to congratulate our Y13 BTEC students, who continue to amaze us with the exceptional quality of their work. The BTEC Art Exhibition reflects the strength of this programme, with the dedication of our KGV teachers providing the platform for the students to demonstrate their talents. Well done to everyone involved!

Have a great weekend ahead.

Best regards,

Mark

A reminder that our Year 13 Graduation Ceremony is being held on Thursday 30th May at 6 pm in our school hall. Each student is allocated 2 tickets and the tickets are now ready for collection from the Year 13 office.

Please see below the event rundown for our annual Year 13 KGV Graduation Ball, held this year in Hotel Icon on Friday 31st May. Parents are invited to a Welcome Reception from 5.30 pm with the meal being served for our students only in the Silverbox ballroom from 7 pm. Please note that the event will finish at 11 pm.

Event Rundown for Graduation Ball 2024 May 31st 2024 @ Icon Hotel TST

Wishing you a great weekend.

Congratulations to Alex Li in Year 8, who performed Sonata In D by D. Scarlatti on the piano in the assembly on Thursday. 

During our assembly, we took the opportunity to celebrate the achievements of our students who received Honours Certificates for excellence in attendance, punctuality, uniform, and exemplary behaviour both within and outside of KGV. We recognise their commitment and dedication to these essential aspects of their education and personal development.

The Lionel system for Year 8 Options to finalise Language and Arts choices will close on Monday. 

As mentioned in the newsletter two weeks ago, we are currently engaging with KGV students at all levels to enhance their understanding of the power of language and the impact of words. During Thursday’s assembly, our Student Inclusion and Equity Group addressed the Year 8 & 9 students, shedding light on the etymology of some slurs and emphasising our school's steadfast zero-tolerance stance on such language.

Tutors, Heads of Year, and the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) were all present to provide additional support and guidance to students during this educational session. The primary focus of the discussion was to encourage students to pause and reflect before speaking. We urged students to understand the meaning of their words and empowered them to speak out against peers who make inappropriate language choices. Moving forward, tutors will continue to work closely with students to help them develop a strategy for intervening when faced with unacceptable language.

Please talk with your child about yesterday's assembly and its significance. We've been made aware of students using unacceptable language on social media platforms, WhatsApp chats, and face-to-face interactions. Your support in assisting your child to confidently address inappropriate language while empowering them to make positive language choices is immensely valuable and deeply appreciated.

Have a great weekend.

Congratulations to Alex Li in Year 8, who performed Sonata In D by D. Scarlatti on the piano in the assembly on Thursday. 

During our assembly, we took the opportunity to celebrate the achievements of our students who received Honours Certificates for excellence in attendance, punctuality, uniform, and exemplary behaviour both within and outside of KGV. We recognise their commitment and dedication to these essential aspects of their education and personal development.

As mentioned in the newsletter two weeks ago, we are currently engaging with KGV students at all levels to enhance their understanding of the power of language and the impact of words. During Thursday’s assembly, our Student Inclusion and Equity Group addressed the Year 8 & 9 students, shedding light on the etymology of some slurs and emphasising our school's steadfast zero-tolerance stance on such language.

Tutors, Heads of Year, and the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) were all present to provide additional support and guidance to students during this educational session. The primary focus of the discussion was to encourage students to pause and reflect before speaking. We urged students to understand the meaning of their words and empowered them to speak out against peers who make inappropriate language choices. Moving forward, tutors will continue to work closely with students to help them develop a strategy for intervening when faced with unacceptable language.

Please talk with your child about yesterday's assembly and its significance. We've been made aware of unacceptable language students use on social media platforms, WhatsApp chats, and face-to-face interactions. Your support in assisting your child to confidently address inappropriate language while empowering them to make positive language choices is immensely valuable and deeply appreciated.

Thank you to those who attended the Year 9 Pathways Online Q and A yesterday evening. 

Here’s the link to last night’s recording of the Year 9 to Year 10 Maths, Science and WIN Pathways Online Q+A  Session

Here's  the link to the slides from the Year 9 to Year 10 Maths, Science  and WIN Pathways Online Q + A Session

During the session, two questions were not able to be answered. The answers are below: 

1. What are the option change windows for other Year 10 subjects (e.g. history to psychology)? It is now closed until the beginning of Year 10. If students (and parents) want to request a change now, they can email Mr Kent (Head of Curriculum for Year 10/11) at tristan.kent@kgv.edu.hk. It will only be a request at this stage of the timetabling process. Otherwise, the students can have the option to change two weeks after the start of Term 1. 

2. Where can we get a copy of all the IGCSE syllabuses for all subjects? The syllabus for the different subjects is on the exam board's websites. Students get these links at the start of Year 10. For reference, the subject exam boards are:

Have a great weekend. 

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

This week has been Mental Health Awareness Week at KGV. Students have participated in a variety of activities designed to highlight the importance of prioritizing our own mental health. This fits nicely into our ongoing work,  as a school, of making sure that all our students feel seen, heard, safe and supported.  The recent focus on language use is also supporting this work by promoting positive and respectful conversations and listening to be understood. Staff in school are currently reading “The Anxious Generation”, written by Jonathan Haidt and focusing on our overparenting in the real world and under parenting of mobile devices. We will be using this work to further develop mental health and wellbeing approaches at KGV.

Year 7 students will be talking to their Creative Arts teachers next week and discussing which of the four subjects – Music,  Drama,  Media and Art – they  will drop in Year 8 to focus on the remaining three. Please continue to have these conversations at home so you are involved in the decision-making process.

Year 7 students will meet their Year 8-9 tutors on Friday 31st May, as the transition to Year 8 begins.

Have a great weekend.

The Year 7 Team

We've had a lot of exams this week and students have been working hard. We had three exams on the public holiday, including Psychology that did not finish until 9pm. We have another late Psychology exam next week. The late timings are because Psychology is a GCSE rather than an IGCSE and our key time must be the same as the one in the UK. We do the GCSE version of Psychology because the content of the course was felt to be better suited for alignment with the IBDP program and promoted better skills and understandings for our students.

Next week we have:

• Monday: Computer Science & English
• Tuesday: Sports, Business, Further Pure Maths and Economics
• Wednesday: English and Physics
• Thursday: Music and Psychology
• Friday: Chinese Foreign language

The following week there are no exams.

Find the exam timetable here

Find all exam regulations and guidance here 

Today was the inaugural tutor group quiz challenge where Year 10 students competed with general knowledge questions and obscure photos from within the school. The objective is for students to face fun challenges together. There are more on their way next week.

1:1 tutor conversations are ongoing with a focus on prompting students to start thinking about option pathways for Year 12. We will soon be announcing an information evening for parents and more detailed information for students and families.

Careers & H.E. Guidance

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

Year 13

Congratulations to all Year 13s who have completed their exams and coursework!
- IBO Result Service. It is a service provided by IB to send final results directly to the institution(s) students have chosen. Students are briefed about the procedures. Students have until 24 May 2024 to complete the request coordinated by the KGV Exam Office. It is necessary for IB students to sign up to this service so that their final IB results will be delivered directly by IBO to the higher institutions as soon as results are released. This ensures no delay in securing offers.

- Universities have started sending out offers. Students are most welcome to chat with their HE Counsellors any time.

- If students plan to take a gap year or apply to Australia after graduation, we would appreciate it if they can inform their HE Counsellors about their plans so that we can support them when it’s time for them to make their applications.

Year 12
- Google Classrooms. Our HE Team has set up Google Classrooms for Y12 students for communication on higher education issues.

- Y12s’ 1-to-1 meeting with their HE Counsellors.  Those students who have yet to do the 1-to-1 meeting should reach out to their HE Counsellors at the soonest.

- Y12 H.E. presentation series. We have done presentations on H.E. Refresher, Unifrog, Personal Statement, UK Applications, Advanced Unifrog, HK Applications, Oxbridge, Medicine, Dentistry & Vet Med, USA Applications so far. Other upcoming presentations will cover these topics: USA Personal Essays (22 May), Canada Applications (29 May), Non-mainstream destinations (5 Jun), UCAS Setup (12 Jun), and Summer Action Plan (19 Jun). Students have received the presentation schedule via Google Classroom.

Parents’ Support for KGV Careers Fair and Careers Exposure
The Careers Office organises various opportunities for our students to explore careers options. The annual September Careers Fair and various work experiences are some of them. These could not have happened without our wonderful parent’s support. We are hoping to introduce more opportunities for our students.

For parents who would like to collaborate with KGV, please take two minutes to complete this form here. Our team will get in touch with you to discuss further the opportunities that you may bring to community.

We truly appreciate your support. Thank you!

Enrichment/Summer Programmes
- Our Careers website has a page that lists known opportunities by region. Check this page for ideas.
- KGV does not take responsibility for the content or quality of external events and courses.
- If students need school references to support their application to enrichment/summer programmes, they should email careers.office@kgv.edu.hk. Our normal lead time for teachers to work on recommendations is 4-6 working weeks.

KGV Careers Calendar
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.

Hong Kong
18 May: HKUST “Unboxing Admissions”
29 Jun: HK IVE Hospitality “Fun Day 2024”

UK
31 May: U of Bath: Supporting your child’s UCAS application for 2025
7 Jun: UAL Pre-departure briefing by Chamberlain in HK

USA
29 May: EducationUSA Pre-departure Orientation 2024

Australia
19 May: Australian Nationald University – HK Information Day

Europe
18 May: Bocconi (Italy) Online Open Day
22 May: Bocconi Open Lecture for High School Students – AI Evolution: From Leonardo to ChatGPT
29 May: EHL Taster Classes

Japan
25 May: Ritsumeikan University Webinar: 2025 Applications for Prospective Students

KGV Careers & H.E. Team

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

The KGV Careers Office coordinates all our student references including exit & summer schools.

For students’ privacy, parents must give KGV their permission to release their child’s reference to a specific list of schools they are applying to. KGV only liaise directly with those schools with parents' permission.

To facilitate a smooth reference process, parents are suggested to contact the Careers Office (careers.office@kgv.edu.hk) with a list of institutions and names of teachers nominated to write references. Please allow at least 4-6 working weeks for teachers to work on school references. School references for higher education applications are done in a separate process.

If students are pursuing gifted and talented programmes outside of KGV, they should contact Mr. Krishin Hotwani directly.

KGV Careers & H.E. Team

Dear Parents and Students,

If you have ordered but haven't paid for The Lion KGV Yearbook 2023-24, $150/copy, please pay the invoice on your Parents' App immediately (the deadline was 30 April 2024).

We have to confirm the quantity with the printer next Monday 13 May 2024, and we will not be able to reserve any unpaid copies.

Thank you for your support.

20-24 May