eNews Issue 28

Parent Teacher Conferences are routine in schools around the world and we don’t generally feel the enthusiasm building for conferences the way it builds, say, for the annual Secondary School play, the Community Fair or a SCISAC tournament on campus. Nevertheless, there was definitely a certain buzz on campus with parents, students, and teachers taking time to reflect together on everyone’s learning and progress along their pathways to individual excellence. I truly hope you enjoyed your conferences and learned something new about your child(ren).

  

While the conversational exchange that takes place over conferences is extremely important, as a dynamic community of learners, we also know that we don’t have to wait until conferences to talk to teachers and administrators, share ideas and concerns, and ask the questions we feel are important. HKA takes seriously its open door policy. We are now a bigger school than we were before but the open door policy remains the same.

  

The door is always open to me, other school administrators and teachers alike. And the HKACO is also eager to hear your thoughts and ideas. If you have something to share, please do!

 
Have a great weekend, whether or not you have tickets to the 7's!

eNews Issue 27

At Hong Kong Academy we strive to ensure, what our mission statement calls, pathways to individual excellence. For some students that may mean the full IB Diploma experience and indeed, many of our graduates choose this option. And a few years back, one of our students even attained a perfect 45 on the IB exam.

 

But IB Diploma is not the best pathway to individual excellence for all of our students. Therefore, HKA offers multiple pathways, including IB certificates. In addition, HKA has always offered an accredited high school diploma that is sufficient for applications to post-secondary institutions around the world. If you’d like more information about HKA’s Secondary School pathways please contact our MYP co-ordinator Jen Swinehart.

 

Today’s a big day for the performing arts at HKA! The Primary School dazzled at its Hot Cocoahouse this morning and this evening the Secondary School’s Community Coffeehousewelcomes some members of the local Sai Kung community to participate.

 

And thanks to the Grade 3 parents who attended the G3 Community Evening on Wednesday night. We host four to five grade level community evenings throughout the year and I always find them to be informative and helpful. Thank you!

eNews - Issue 26

HKA is always on the move! Whether it’s for sport, drama, debate, conferences or professional development, HKA faculty, staff and students always have passports at the ready! I’m writing today from the ACAMIS conference in Guangzhou. ACAMIS, which stands for the Association of China and Mongolia International Schools, is an important organisation for HKA. Our students compete in sports through ACAMIS, and our faculty and staff take advantage of its professional development offerings. I serve on the ACAMIS board, and for this particular conference, I’m joined by IT Director Andy Birch, Finance Manager Jojit Au Yeung and our Athletics Director and Activities Co-ordinator, Aaron Cook.

South of Hong Kong, a team of Secondary School students is in Singapore for the Global Issues Network (GIN) Conference. At GIN, students learn about and actively respond to pressing issues such as environmental sustainability and education. Special thanks to SS faculty Richard Reilly and Ellen Thorne for making this possible for the students and accompanying them to Singapore.

And our Grade 3’s, along with PS Principal Virginia Hunt and Assistant Principal Dean Johnson, are at camp! While not far away physically (just up the road in the Sai Kung Country Park), the camp activities will stretch, challenge and engage them in learning beyond the classroom.

eNews Issue 25

The Secondary School students will soon be returning from their Learning Outside the Classroom Experiences in Hong Kong, China and Thailand. Based on parent feedback from last year, we modified several aspects of these trips and we are pleased with how things have gone. Thanks for your support in providing this sort of educational experience for the Grades 6-11. The Grade 12's have continued their work on campus this week, taking the Mock IB exams in preparation for the real thing in May. 

While the SS has been away, it’s been quieter at home for many of us but it has definitely not been quieter on campus! The Primary School enjoyed a fabulous Literacy Week, complete with pyjama day, the continuous reading chair and special guests (including parents) on campus for reading aloud, skype chats with other schools, and visits from visiting authors. Thanks to all of you who helped make this year’s Literacy Week a great experience! Last weekend was full of life at HKA and for HKA, too. 

The girls’ netball team continued to wow in inter-school play (report below) and on campus we hosted an IB conference for 400+ educators from all across Asia. As an IB World School, we are happy to host these events as a part of being a lead international school. Things don’t slow down this weekend either! I’m looking forward to the Gala tomorrow night. Special thanks to the 40+ volunteers who have made this event possible! 

Lastly, I want to thank you all for making our first experience with Online Re-enrollment such a success. Many of you responded to the email within the first 24 hours, and we are greatly appreciative. If you haven’t had a chance to fill out the form yet, please view the earlier emailto all parents for more information.