Principal's Message

Dear KGV Families,

There has been such a vibrant atmosphere around KGV this week, with Spirit Week being thoroughly enjoyed by all involved. Spirit Week provided the opportunity for our Crozier and Rowell students to continue to build a strong sense of belonging and community through a variety of activities, whilst raising funds for our school charities. 

Alongside Spirit Week, it was wonderful to see our students immerse themselves in a whole range of experiences. We hosted the ESF Computer Science Conference (ESF CoCo) last weekend, an incredible student-led event that provided a whole host of engaging challenges for those who are passionate about Computer Science. A significant number of our Y12 students started their HKAYP programme, whilst Year 8 students enjoyed a visit to the Sai Kung GeoPark as part of their Individuals and Societies curriculum. Alongside these activities, our sports teams continued to enjoy success across such a wide range of sporting disciplines.

These activities are an integral part of the rich educational experience that KGV students enjoy, and Challenge Week will provide another opportunity for our student community to build magical memories. I would encourage all students to fully immerse themselves in their chosen activity, whether in Hong Kong or overseas. It is their chance to develop their interests, build skills and engage in something different as part of their educational journey. I wish all students an enjoyable and successful Challenge Week.

Looking much further ahead, the ESF KGV Calendar for 2026/27 is now available. Please look out for further details in this newsletter and through a separate app message.

Have a good weekend ahead.

Best regards,

Mark

Years 7 | 8 | 9

With Challenge Week on the horizon, students have been displaying a healthy mix of excitement and nerves. Thank you parents for your partnership with trip leaders as information has been shared back and forth to prepare students for a stimulating and meaningful week!

Year 9 Options
These are now open. Students have until 17th November to enter their preliminary choices. There is no confirm button –choices can be altered until the system closes.

Box of Hope
Collections continue until 14th November.

Year 10 & 11 Message

Year 10/11 assembly.  We discussed keeping safe and making the most of the Challenge Week experience. Ms Gallie talked about the importance of sleep, and our senior students talked about the Winter Festival and running their own stall if they wish. 

We celebrated:
- Chloe Chiu, who received the Shine Tak Foundation Outstanding Junior Athlete Award by the Hong Kong Sports Institute, and performed impressively in the 15th National Games in Huizhou
- Alexia Lee, Alice Qi, Allison Chang, Sophie Li, Zarine Samtani, Lincoln Fong and Dhrish Bhankaria whose work was shortlisted in the Film Stylo Awards 2025
- Ellie, Mikayla, Nina Zhang, Darryl Tse, Kevin Lee, Kavya, Livia, Anneliese, Jasmine, Hyewon, Gemma and Abby and Isabel, who won 2nd and 3rd place for their teams, developing project proposals targeting youth mental health in Hong Kong in the Mental Health Hackathon organised by the Lee Kum Kee Family Group and the TryGym group

Year 11 students enjoyed multiple presentations during the week to give them insight into the subjects and options they can choose for next year. All supporting resources are available in Lionel for students to access. 

A parent seminar was held on Thursday evening to support the option choice process. The slides used are available here.

We wish all our students a safe yet challenging week ahead.

Year 12 & 13 Message

Year 13 Challenge Week Overview (3rd-7th November)

Dear Year 13 Parents and Caregivers,

This is a brief overview of the upcoming Year 13 Challenge Week, which runs from Monday, 3rd November, to Friday, 7th November. The week is a custom-designed program focused on academic support, skill enhancement, and personal well-being for our Year 13 students.

Key Logistics and Schedule

• Attendance: All students must arrive at KGV by 8.45 am for a 9.00 am start in the Hall each day, Monday through Thursday.

• Uniform: Please note that students do not need to wear the school uniform during Challenge Week.

• Core Programme: Monday to Thursday will be held on campus, featuring compulsory keynote speakers, the mandatory Collaborative Project (CP) on Monday, and the personalised Intervention Programme.

  • The Intervention Programme is tailored to each student's individual needs. Progress in meeting academic goals in these sessions is the priority.

  • Street Photography with Michael Kistler is mandatory for BTEC Media and IBDP Film students.

• Optional Friday Trip: Friday, 7th November, is an optional student-led day trip to Disneyland. Students attending the Disneyland trip must make their own way to the park and will have staff supervision from 10.30 am to 3.30 pm.

  • Please be aware that attendance at the optional student-led afternoon activities and the Disneyland trip is contingent on the student completing all set academic requirements in their Intervention Programme.

Information for Students

All of the detailed information, including the full schedule, specific session times, and speaker profiles, has been made available to the students in the presentation linked here.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1n7hXXYDQPJ3kXqwY60Yhw0F3H3TxyBBTp0YNGFEiOvA/edit?usp=sharing

We look forward to a rewarding and productive week that will greatly benefit our Year 13 students.

If your child requires an appointment with their HE Counsellor, our HE team is available all week, but an appointment must be made.

Sincerely,

ESF KGV Calendar 2026-27

As we plan forward, we are pleased to share our school calendar for next academic year. Please note the starting date for students will be 12th August 2026. We will share further details in due course.

Challenge Week

Challenge Week has started with our first 52 students flying out last night. For the next week there will be 18 trips outside of Hong Kong and more than 40 local activities taking place all around Hong Kong. This is experiential learning and sense-making that provides balance for the classroom work we do most weeks. We hope our students make new friends, develop new understandings about the world and acquire new skills.

In case of absence from their Challenge week activity any day next week, please follow the procedure below.

Year 7 or Year 13
Use the absence system in the ESF App as normal

Year 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Email the trip leader for your child's activity directly. Find all details for your child's activity, including an email contact on the Challenge Week Website.

Dear Year 13 parents,

Please note we will be using the November 2025 series of IBDP papers for our January mock exams in all Mathematics courses. The first of these papers will be sat on Monday 10th of November.

We ask you to support 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 the real exams in May. For the mock exams to be authentic – and of best value to your child – students need to practise being in the Hall, under exam conditions, tackling questions that they have not seen before. If your child accidentally sees questions from these papers anytime between now and the mock exams, please ask them to come see us as soon as possible so we can organise alternative test papers, 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.

Please also note that achievement in the mock examinations cannot be used as evidence for raising predicted grades.

Many thanks,
KGV Mathematics Dept

YEAR 13

Link of the week: UK scholarship resources by British Council

Y13 1-1 H.E. meetings started since Mon, 18 August. Students are encouraged to book their appointments via Google Classrooms at the soonest.

UK Early applications. All UK Early applications for KGV students were submitted.

US applications – Early Decision & Early Action applications. Students should have inputted their list of applications into their Unifrog accounts by 13 Oct, to ensure that all necessary supporting documents are ready to meet individual institution’s application deadline. Failure to do so may result in applications not properly supported.

YEAR 12

Link of the week: Unifrog CV Builder & Profile Quizes (KGV student login required)

All Year 12 H.E. Google Classrooms are set up for students by their H.E. Counsellors. The Google Classroom will serve as the primary platform for sharing H.E.-related information.

In the meantime, students are encouraged to reach out with any questions related to higher education.

H.E. EVENTS shared via KGV Higher Education Events Calendar

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

HE Visits @ KGV (Students ONLY)
13 Nov – Cornell University
30 Nov - ie University

H.K.
1 Nov – HKUST Info Day
1 Nov – Lingnan University Info Day
4 Nov – CDNIS Hong Kong Universities Day
8 Nov – HK Metropolitan University Info Day
15 Nov – Hang Seng University Info Day
29 Nov – HKU Live Moot Court Showcase
22-24 Jan 2026 – Hong Kong Education & Careers Expo

U.K.
12 Nov – Nottingham Trent University online event for international students

Various dates from Nov onwards– University of Bath – Parent info webinar series

U.S.A.
Various dates in Oct & Nov – USC UG Academic Virtual Info Session
Various dates in Nov – UCLA Student Webinar series
Various dates in Nov – UC San Diego Student Webinar series
5 Nov – Milwaukee School of Engineering: International Online Session
20 Nov – Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Webinar

CANADA
4 Nov & 6 Dec – University of Toronto (HK) Foundation Scholarships Info Session

EUROPE
19 Nov - University of Twente - Online Bachelor Open Day
29 Nov – ie University Undergrad Admissions Day in Hong Kong

IRELAND
Various dates in Nov – RCSI webinar series

JAPAN
8 Nov – Ritsumeikan University: How to apply to English-medium programs
13 Nov – Ritsumeikan APU Japan online info session
19 Nov – Japanese College Fair 2025 Fall

SINGAPORE
15 Nov – NUS – Admissions & Faculties Sharing 2025

KGV Higher Education & Careers Team

Well done to everyone involved in the KGV Sports Days. Unfortunately, the weather played a part for the Senior day, but it was great to see them all brush this aside and compete with high effort across the various events. Well done to Rowell house for winning the overall competition.

You can find the results for each event on the document here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1aiI88gbNCo8SofVOnabR_DVZXpYe82E5nC4UJqBDVYA/edit?usp=sharing

I would like to highlight some new KGV records.

Annli Horiuchi - Year 11 Girls 100m Hurdles

Byung Ho Bryan KANG - Year 11 Boys 100m Hurdles

Bob Li - Year 12 Boys 100m Hurdles

Jacob Mak - Year 8 Boys 1500m

Irene Chow - Year 8 Girls 100m

Viktor Samus - Year 13 Boys Shot Put

Chloe Chiu - Year 11 Girls Triple Jump

Issac Ng - Year 12 Boys Long Jump

Well done to all these athletes.

Also as a relatively new event, lots of new record holders for the Quoit throw as well.

Dawisa Cecchi - Year 9 Girls Quoit Throw

Emma Curren-Shephard - Year 13 Girls Quoit Throw

Bruce Felen - Year 13 Boys Quoit Throw

Rice Koo - Year 11 Girls Quoit Throw

Alice Jung - Year 12 Girls Quoit Throw

Shubh Malik - Year 12 Boys Quoit Throw

Millie Noble - Year 7 Girls Quoit Throw

Samar Shek - Year 7 Boys Quoit Throw

Freya Dong - Year 8 Girls Quoit Throw

William Tao - Year 8 Boys Quoit Throw

Well done to all these athletes.

Some outstanding results over the days and more impressive with the seniors competing in wet difficult conditions. We now move our focus to HKSSF Athletics where our top athletes will compete against athletes across many schools. Looking at the results from sports day, we should have some good success.

Thank you to all staff who were involved for running a smooth operation and special thanks to Ms Knight and the PE Department for all their organisation in running the event.

The KGV Higher Education Office coordinates all school references and grade summaries, including potential exit & summer programmes.

Due to student privacy protocols, we require parental permission before releasing student information to any external party. Requests will only be processed upon receipt of parental permission.

To request a school reference or grade summary, please complete this form. Please allow a minimum of four working weeks for teachers to prepare the references.

NOTE: This process does not apply to higher education applications, as those references are managed separately.

Students interested in external extension programmes for gifted & talented students outside of KGV should refer to the information on this website for guidance: https://sites.google.com/kgv.hk/kgv-extension-opportunities

3 - 7 November 2025 CHALLENGE WEEK

Please be reminded that, SALAD BAR (EAT); BOWL LUNCH and PIZZA HUT will be closed during Challenge Week.

We will keep serving SALAD BOX and PASTRIES at Leo’s; TWO lunch choice and a quick lunch at Social Kitchen (Main Canteen).