Principal's Message

Dear KGV Families,

As each student strives to be their own remarkable, it is important they take the opportunity to reflect on the success they enjoy through their educational experiences at KGV. Each week there are so many examples of such successes. From performing at Lion Rock, developing innovative ideas at Science Fairs, through to building debating skills in the student Model United Nations. Success also lies in the smaller day-to-day moments as students overcome challenges in their learning.

Throughout each success story, students reflect on the key skills they have developed, as well as how they persevered and demonstrated resilience to overcome obstacles. Further to this, they find meaning in what they do, have ownership and agency of their learning journey, and enjoy a strong sense of achievement.

Our aspiration is for each student to be able to tell their own success story as they strive to be their own remarkable. One question you could ask at home is ‘What is your success story this week?’ It is these positive conversations that help our young people recognise the progress they continue to make.

Have a wonderful weekend ahead.

Best regards,

Mark Poulsum

Year 7 Message

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Please read carefully the message sent out from the school nurse to Year 7 families.

Have a lovely weekend.

Year 11 Message

On Wednesday, we spent an hour with Year 11 students helping them to analyse their performance in the mock exams and identify where they might improve or focus ahead of their final exams.

Please look at the mock exam report with your child when you can.

Please consider talking to your child about distractions during their revision time. Research shows that students are distracted and less effective when they are aware of message notifications. Our suggestion is that smartwatches and phones are off and/or kept in another room for chunks of time while studying. Checking and responding to messages can then be used as a break or a reward.

Learning reviews are next Monday and the system is closed for bookings now so that staff can prepare. If you have questions for one of your child's teachers, please reach out by email.

Year 10 Message

There are a number of assessments coming soon for Year 10 students and we can help by doing two things.

1. Looking out for any signs of anxiety
2. helping them to revise effectively

Effective revision means they can still have time for other things like family, sport, exercise and being with friends. It also helps students to feel more successful and in control.

We suggest encouraging your child to remove their phone and smartwatch from their study area and only access them as a reward during a break. Students have been given revision techniques and a discussion with them will remind them about creating 20-30 minute focused sessions and ensuring they are actively studying. Active study means retrieving the information from their memory by rewriting it, turning it into a diagram, doing past papers, testing themselves by covering it with their hands and explaining concepts to you. 

If you notice signs of anxiety, remind them that any assessments at this stage are only to help them identify areas that need focus. It is helpful when a test turns up something they don't know or thought they did know.

Year 8 & 9 Message

This week’s assembly opened with yet another testament to the dedication of Ms Carlile and the Music department . Euphoria band members , Mikaela Hong, Ophelia Wong, Alissa Wong, Vicky Chow , all from Year 9 set the tone for the assembly with their rendition of Bad Romance by Lady Gaga. Well done, girls!

Mr. Poulsum had a hard act to follow but the girls provided a perfect segue to his presentation on Success. Mr. Poulsum’s message was to encourage us all to rethink our view of success, which is traditionally as a straight line of upward trajectory and to instead focus on the meaning we make in our lives , the agency we create and the sense of achievement we develop. In our ongoing commitment to nurturing the growth of our Year 8 and Year 9 students, we encourage students to embrace the idea that success is not a straight line but rather a fluid and sometimes messy journey. By acknowledging that setbacks and detours are part of the process, we hope to instil resilience and a positive mindset in our students as they navigate their educational paths.

For our Year 9 students the week was marked by the next stage of the Community Project and congratulating the students for their work on Wednesday. I was really impressed with their I want to congratulate the students on their motivation and enthusiasm when engaging in the morning’s activities.  The next follow-up day is scheduled for the 6th March. On this day, groups will be developing and writing their first ‘Proposal for Action’.  Thank you to Mr. Beard for organising this enriching experience for the students. 

Wishing you all a lovely weekend

Year 12 & 13 Message

In just over a week, our Year 12 BTEC and IBCP students will begin their two-week work experience placements on 3rd March. This valuable opportunity allows students to gain practical experience in professional settings while representing KGV across Hong Kong.

Final preparations are now underway, and all placement documentation should be completed immediately if not already done. Parents and students are reminded to ensure all consent and Code of Conduct forms are signed and submitted.

We look forward to our students' return on 17th March with new skills and insights from their workplace experiences.

Wishing you a great weekend.

Challenge Week 2025

The Challenge Week website is live right now. We are still updating some of the activities and adjusting prices and itineraries, but students and families can see the options available for them during Challenge Week in November this year.

Most of the activities have costs involved so please look at these carefully with your child. Ensure you have more than one choice in mind as we have limited places on each activity.

Please use the menu at the top to navigate to the year level for your child. If they are in Year 7, they should look at the Year 8 page because they will be in Year 8 in November. If they are in Year 8, they should look at Year 9, etc.

The student signup will be in school during tutor time from 4th to 11th March.

RUGBY

This term sees 4 KGV rugby teams take to the field. Currently we have B and C grade boys and B and C grade girls competing in their respective competitions for th Hong Kong Schools Rugby union league.

The C grade girls team are playing 7-a-side rugby and have had a mixed start to the year. The team has been working hard at training and enjoyed success in their first week. However, they played a good CDNIS team and a strong Kellett team in week 2 and had a couple of losses. The team lost Emily Craig to a broken arm which didn’t help their cause. But the girls have been turning up and working hard at training and we expect they will show good improvement over the remainder of the season. When asked how the team has been going, Siobhan Marley said that ‘the team has managed to cooperate together well, we react quickly in games and our attack has been pretty good.’ Anika Chainani is captaining the team this year and she said ‘I hope to see improvement in more contact,tackling and passing as this are vital parts of the game.Despite these improvements that could be made we excel in many other ways including how the team is great at supporting each other and everyone is willing to learn more every training session and they are willing to teach and help other teammates.’ Good luck for the remainder of the season.

The C grade boys team have a mix of experienced players and a few that are new to rugby. They have put in some good performances so far this season including a good 20-5 win over CDNIS. One of the key players for the season is Flynn Wilkinson. He said that ‘the team has a lot of promise and we have improved a lot during this season. I’m hoping for the team to keep improving, keep getting better, getting stronger and to grow as a team’. He said the team has good unity and everyone is supportive of each other regardless of experience. The C grade boys take to the field again next week and will be up against Kellett and HKIS. We wish the C grade boys all the best for the these games and the remainder of the season.

The B Grade Girls rugby team is a very strong squad. Numbers have exceeded 20 players which is great and the level of ability is very high. Coach Mr Mitchell expressed that it is becoming increasingly difficult to know the strongest team and he said we could put out two very good performing teams with the players we have.

They have started the season well but came up against very good SIS and Kellett teams last week, resulting in defeats. Mr Mitchell said this shows the importance of getting down to training and working hard to improve. The girls will now focus on their next matches against HKIS and WIS/Harrow combined. We hope they can bounce back and return to their winning ways.

The B Grade Boys rugby team has started the year with some very strong performances. Like the girls, the numbers of players has been excellent and more new players such as Anson Lee and Jerry Zhang are joining the game which is great to see. The team have started with 3 wins from 3 games and are putting excellent performances in. Mr Varty sai that the manner in which they are winning games is impressive. ‘Maintaining possession, recycling the ball, and using our skills to find space has been really strong and shows a great skill set of the players.’

When asked about goals for the season, Emil Chan said ‘I am hoping for us to win the remainder of our games and win b grade rugby. I also hope that our new players will improve, make some new friends on the pitch, and most importantly enjoy the game.’ Both Emil and Kyle Ohya said they really enjoy the team environment and the support and care from players and coaches make it a very enjoyable team to be a part of. The team next play Malvern College and WIS. We wish them well for these matches and the rest of the season.

The KGV Careers Office coordinates all our student references and grade summaries, including potential exit & summer programmes.

To protect our students’ privacy, parental permission is required before KGV can release any student information to external parties. KGV will only fulfil requests once we have received this permission.

To request a school reference or grade summary, parents are kindly asked to complete this form.

Students should not use their KGV account to log in to this form. This is to ensure that parental consent is obtained before we release any student information.

Students should reach out to teachers to invite them to be recommenders. It is beneficial for students to provide teachers with information about the programme for which they are applying, as this helps in preparing meaningful recommendations.  Please be mindful of additional workloads on teachers when making these requests.

Typical lead time for teachers to prepare reference is four working weeks.

School references for higher education applications are managed in a separate process.

If students are pursuing external extension programmes outside of KGV, they should read and follow the information on this website: https://sites.google.com/kgv.hk/kgv-extension-opportunities .

KGV Careers & H.E. Team

Careers & H.E. Guidance

Year 13
Students should continue to keep their H.E. Counsellors informed about their applications and regularly check Google Classroom for updates and resources related to higher education.

Year 12
Google Classrooms for Y12s are set up to share H.E.-related information is shared.

The Y12 1-1 H.E. meetings have started Feb. Our HE Counsellors have started meeting Y12s individual to discuss their post-KGV plans and intentions. Full information on making appointments and details of the meets are shared to students via Google Classroom. All appointments are now scheduled.  Students should refer to the schedules posted on Google Classroom for their appointments.

We are exploring opportunities for campus visits at local universities in Term 3 and will share information with students and parents once details are confirmed.

Our KGV Careers Calendar lists known H.E. events.

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

H.E. Visits @ KGV School. Due to the short duration, H.E. visits are open to students only.
11 Mar: University of Colorado Boulder (SSC1-2)
13 Mar: Keele University (SSC1-2)
17 Mar: University of Calgary (SSC1-2)
19 Mar: EU Business School (SSC1-2)

H.K.
26 Feb: CUHK Medicine HOPE's Seminar on Paediatric Sleep-disordered Breathing

U.K.
22 Feb: UCL HK Alumni Webinar: “Career Diversity and Pivoting into Tech & Start Up”
22 Feb: Norwich University of the Arts: International Post UCAS Deadline Application & Portfolio Webinar
Various dates in March: Falmouth University online event, various topics

U.S.A.
21 Feb: Embry-Riddle Webinar: Using Machine Learning to Create the Future (Faulty Panel)

Canada
26 Feb: Queen’s University – Arts & Science Masterclass @ CDNIS HK

Europe
25 Feb: Stay informed about Dutch universities

Japan
27 Feb: NUCB Global BBA Virtual Info Session

KGV Careers & H.E. Team

24 - 28 February 2025