Newsletter-Friday, 1 December 2023
Dear West Island community,
As members of a diverse community, we recognise that how and what we communicate matters and we strive to create new and better connections. So, in this week’s newsletter, we travel with our students through their creative journeys.
From a student newspaper to a student podcast, to various innovative designs made by Year 10 product design students, these works that emerged from individual and team projects inside and outside the classroom, guided by teachers, have proven their potential to open our minds to others’ perspectives and new ideas, creating conversations and solving problems.
Communicating creatively requires planning and many stages of development. It also takes courage for students to do something new and the perseverance and resilience to try again should it not work. Through trial and error, creative thinking can be fostered, which is valued highly and is part of the spirit and ambition that drives our school. And employers prize it as well. According to the World Economic Forum’s article this year, analytical thinking and creative thinking are the top two skills that are the most in demand for the current and future job market.
Thank you to the teachers and support staff who have supported our students in the projects highlighted in this week’s newsletter. For product design–Mr James Playford, Mr Francis Kirstein, and Mr Joey Ng; For the podcast, Mr Chris Jordan and Mr Joe Rolfe; And for the newspaper, Ms Fiona Mullholland.
It has been a busy week for our sports teams as they entered the final stages of their tournaments. Thank you to Mr. Owen Cobley, Head of PHE and our staff, both PE and other teaching staff for coaching and supervising students through each competitive event. Please read below to find out about their wonderful achievements.
Finally, a huge shout-out to Year 11. We are all thinking of you as you undergo your mock examinations. Remember- the worst that can happen is you make a mistake, and the best thing that can happen from making a mistake is you learn from the experience so you can improve. You are amazing!
Best regards
Clare Haworth
Interim Principal
Table of Contents
About product design
About student newspaper
About student podcast
Launch of ESF Policy Portal for parents
A link to a new site that has all of ESF’s various policies and compliance documents has now been loaded up onto WISDOM.
Like every big organisation, ESF has a number of policies and guidelines in place to help ensure that we are working efficiently, effectively and are consistent in how we go about our business. You can now access a page within WISDOM that allows you to view some of those policies – particularly the ones that are most relevant to you as an ESF parent. To access the policy page, just look for this icon within WISDOM.
Wins in HKSSF Division 1 Hong Kong Schools Cross Country Championships
West Island runners achieved outstanding individual and team results in cross country. This great success did not come overnight. For many, training for the Division 1 Championships began over a year ago when individual goals were set and a desire to make this elite team started to burn bright.
Congratulations to all runners who were selected for this team and also to the runners who this year did not get selected but who challenged for places and therefore indirectly raised the teams’ standard. Top 10 individual runners and top 4 teams in each age group receive medals.
For all runners times and finishing positions please go to: http://www.hkssf-hk.org.hk/hk/sec/events/cc.htm and scroll down to results division 1. WIS placed in both male and female categories and were the top co-educational and International school only being out run by larger single gender schools. Top 4 places are recognised with medals and cups
Results:
Girls C grade-4th
Girls B grade-4th
Girls A grade-4th
Girls Overall-4th
Boys C grade-3rd
Boys B grade-2nd
Boys A grade-4th
Boys overall-2nd
Individual medal winners: 4th Jiro Loasby, 7th Charlotte Work, 4th Tomos Williams, 3rd Koppany Szentes. 7th Emily Faulkner, Tor Man 9th
Girls hockey team win
West Island’s senior hockey team had a hard battle against HKIS. WIS won 2:1 and will face HYS in the HKSSF finals on 12 Dec.
Boys win bronze medals in inter-school rugby competition
Six West Island students won Bronze medals in the BOCHK Rugby Sevens Cup in Boys A Grade. It is an all Hong Kong inter-school competition.
Cross country runners race at Aberdeen Country Park
WIS cross country runners competed in a race at Aberdeen Country Park.
Three students win medals in CASA Short Course Swimming Championship 2023
Year 13 student Jody Lee, Year 11 student Owen Yeow and Year 12 student Giselle participated in CASA (Chinese Athletics Swimming Association) Short Course Swimming Championship 2023.
Owen and Jody broke the 4x50m freestyle Relay Meet record together.
Jody won 4 Individual Gold medals, 2 Relay Gold medals and broke 3 individual Meet Records (100fly, 50fly & 100free).
Owen won 100m Backstroke Bronze medal in the Division ll Age Group.
Giselle won 2 Individual Gold medals and 1 Gold and 1 Silver medals for relays.
Student races in the China National Roller Speed Skating Championships 2023
Year 12 student Kotick Chan participated in the China National Roller Speed Skating Championships 2023 as an athlete.
Kotick said: “It was an incredible journey! It was a challenging competition, with impressive skaters from different parts of China. It was inspiring to witness the skills, speed, and resilience of all the skaters, and I have learned so much in terms of skills and tactics by observing and racing alongside them. I left the competition with a renewed determination to train harder and improve.”
Student wins silver at Interschool Equestrian Competition (Higher Division) Warm Up Dressage Show
Year 10 student Anya Law took the 2nd place at the Interschool Equestrian Competition (Higher Division) Warm Up Dressage Show, held at Tuen Mun Public Riding School.
The Competition will continue in February 2024 for the Heat and April 2024 for the Finals.
Geography field trip
The geography department had a trip that took place Thursday in Sai Kung Country Park. Students busied themselves surveying various points along the Pak Sha O River to enhance their data collection and data processing skills. In the words of our geography teacher ChrisHead who led the trip: “You can’t beat practical hands-on learning.”
Earthwork students’ banners
Students in Earthwork created sizable banners that were displayed at school on the last day of Horizons Week (last Friday).
Year 10 and 12 students teach English to local primary students
Throughout Term 1, students from Years 10 and 12 enthusiastically participated in delivering English lessons to local primary students at Precious Blood Wah Fu Primary School in Aberdeen. They learned how to moderate their own communication skills, structure an engaging lesson and understand the challenges that were faced when having to work with young students.
Keira Hui from Year 12 said it was a rewarding experience, testing her patience but also learnt how to adapt her teaching style to different age groups.
Year 12 Megan Lee has also been inspired and said that she wants to pursue a career in education after university.
Student plans to produce a film in Incubation Project
Year 12 student Sytric Chan participated in ‘Film Incubation’ held by Babel Film Workshop, a year-round program which allows students to gain hands-on experience of professional film production. Through it, they have been able to explore the depths of their creativity and challenge their comfort zones, as well as develop their communication skills.
In the upcoming year, Sytric and her teammates will begin their production process of the film titled “Crushing”, a coming-of-age teenage romance.
Sytric has also attended the Outstanding Cambridge Learner Awards ceremony by Cambridge Assessment International Education as an awardee for having achieved the top mark in Hong Kong for IGCSE Computer Science.
Two students win multiple art awards
Year 12 Charlotte Tam and Year 7 Yvette Tam have recently received awards from different art associations. In Hong Kong Youth Drawing Contest 2023 by Hong Kong Youth Creative Arts Association, Charlotte came in second place in the 2007 group, and Yvette won gold award in the 2012 group.
In the Kentucky International Youth Art Competition 2023 organised by Morehead State University and Kentucky Folk Art Center, both students won gold awards. Both are to represent Hong Kong to enter the final to be held in Kentucky, competing with entries from all over the world. Meanwhile, their paintings are being exhibited in the Kentucky Folk Art Centre.
In the Little Artist of UWEE Louvre International Art Exhibition 2023-24 by the British Art And Education Group, Yvette won a gold award and her painting is to be exhibited in the Delorme exhibition hall of Louvre Museum in 2024.
Food Drive
A group of students have hosted a food drive this week for the food bank Feeding Hong Kong, and over 1,000 cans of food have been collected.
The drive started on Monday and the students have been collecting donations outside of the school this week.
This is an Inter-Dynasty event and dynasty points will be awarded with every donation made. A winner tutor group will be announced next week.
The students who organized the food drive are Zoe O’Donnell, Ishina Khatri, Keira Slaughter, Jasmin Kaur, Martha Ali, Liyana Hussain.
Beach cleanup
Year 13 student Miriam Lo organised a beach cleanup of Secret Beach, Mui Wo, Lantau Island on Friday 24 November to contribute to environmental protection in her home community. This event was registered with the Environmental Protection Department’s Clean Shorelines project. Miriam and four other Year 13 classmates collected rubbish on the beach, sorted it into different categories, and then completed data reporting.
Horizons Week feedback collection from parents
We invite parents to share your thoughts and feedback about Horizons Week by completing this form. Your feedback can help us prepare for Horizons Week next year better. Thank you.