Newsletter-Friday, 12 January 2024
Dear West Island community,
Happy New Year! A warm welcome-back to all students, parents and staff and a warm welcome to new students and their families that have joined WIS this term.
Whether you travelled during the holidays or spent your time in Hong Kong, we hope you benefitted from some rest and are ready for another term of holistic learning. In our December assembly, we acknowledged the many ways that our students had engaged with their learning and committed to activities beyond the classroom. As we approach a new term and a fresh offering of CAS activities, we look forward to celebrating your continued development of skills, interests and ways to make a positive difference to your WIS and wider community.
This term, we continue to celebrate and appreciate our community spirit through assemblies, whole school and wider community events. Looking ahead, the PTA is well underway in the planning of our WIS Bazaar that is to take place on 2 March. The WIS Bazaar is so much more than stalls; it brings families, teachers, students and friends together. Last year, I met with alumni, friends of parents, cousins and even grandparents who were visiting their families from overseas. Please do save the date and if you can spare any time to help the PTA in their preparations, please email to pta@wis.edu.hk. We look forward to seeing you there.
Students and teachers are busy organising events for this term including Culture Week in January, Mental Health Week in February and our Chinese New Year celebrations. In March, there is Book Week and the Visual Art department will host the annual IB Visual Art Exhibition featuring curated works from the Year 13 IB Diploma art students.
To receive more school news, in addition to our weekly newsletter, you can access our Instagram and Facebook posts too. Also, please check your app messages and emails regularly so you don’t miss important updates. If you have any general questions or concerns, or if you need any help from us, you are always welcome to call our reception desk at 2819-1962 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. during school days.
Year 13 students are well underway with their mock examinations this week. They have impressed us with their determination and mindset. We know that this is a challenging but important learning experience for you all and we wish you well for week two.
Last but not least, we wish you a fulfilling new term and a wonderful 2024 at West Island.
Clare Haworth
Interim Principal
Table of Contents
“Most Cans Collected” second-runner up
West Island School has won second-runner up in “Most Cans Collected” by the charity foundation Food Angel in “Canstruction Hong Kong” - Junior Citywide School Contest 2023. A big thank you to all our students who helped organise food drives in term one.
WIS Bazaar
Call to Parents to volunteer for food stalls with New Cuisines
Last WIS Bazaar we had amazing stalls from Asian countries. We want to add new flavors from around the world to WIS Bazaar 2024. Please connect with us if you would like to introduce cuisines from your region/country or a cuisine that you are passionate about so that we can make the event inclusive. We welcome families from all backgrounds and cultures to share the cuisines from the countries you belong to. By doing this we can get introduced to different flavours within the school community. Together we can make the WIS Bazaar Food Court an amazing experience!
Calling Small Business Owners to Showcase their Products at WIS BAZAAR
While the WIS Bazaar is an exciting experience for our students, it is also a place for our parent community to connect, enjoy, and unwind. What better way to do this than add an element of SHOPPING? We have included a "Market" area in our bazaar and are now inviting external vendors to apply for a commercial stall space in the WIS Bazaar. If you own a small business with products that cater to parents, children and families in general and would like to showcase it, come be a part of our "Market" area, and send us your application as a vendor.
To apply for a stall as a commercial vendor, please complete this form and read the Terms and Conditions. Please note that submitting your application would deem acceptance of these Terms and Conditions. The Forms will open on Monday, 15th January, 2024. The terms and conditions segment will answer most of your queries; however, if you still want to know more, drop us a line at bazaar@wis.edu.hk.
After you submit the form, we will assess your application and notify you by email if it has been approved. Please do NOT make payment till we approve your application. Application Submission Deadline - Thursday, 25th January 2024, 6:00 pm.
Donations of pre-loved Books, games, new goods, making a cash or in-kind donation $$$
The PTA is starting to collect donations that can be sold at the WIS Bazaar on Saturday, 2nd March, 2024. Please drop them off at the Main office 6th Floor during school hours, before Thursday, 22nd Feb 2024 The donations will be collected, sorted and priced by WIS PTA volunteers. Kindly look into your closets, cupboards, shelves and - - donate your second-hand or new books, toys, games, and sports equipment in good condition with all pieces intact. - donate new items you don't need and are taking up space - electronics, bags, gifts, kitchen or bathroom products, and things that can be re-gifted. Please note: toys, books and other donations must be clean and in good condition for resale. Please do not donate anything with torn pages/covers/spines, magazines, periodicals, half-used colouring and activity books, etc.
We would like to encourage every WIS family to donate money to the Bazaar, no amount is too small or too big, but it is important that we have as many families participating as possible. You can indicate how you would like to contribute on this form: https://forms.gle/T2SnzqVitofh8bE89 This year, the donation could be made in two different ways:
1. If you have in kind donations (food to donate, baked goods, supplies for henna, face painting etc.) please email pta@wis.edu.hk or let us know on the form.
2. You can make an EFT / Bank Transfer to West Island School: * HSBC Account number 111-146536-017 (Please email the receipt to pta@wis.edu.hk) You need to provide us with the receipt / EFT record so we can allocate your donations to the Bazaar.
All proceeds of the Bazaar will go towards the 2023/2024 PTA fund for school improvement projects, curriculum support and the support of school-sponsored charities. Any queries, please e-mail: pta@wis.edu.hk
Year 11 graduation ceremony and formal dates
Please find the dates below, and kindly note the last day of teaching for Year 11 will be Tuesday 23 April 2024.
Year 13 graduation ceremony and formal dates
Please find the dates below, and kindly note the last day of teaching for Year 13 will be Tuesday 16 April 2024.
Students help at Nations International Netball Tournament
Four students (Eloisa Deayton, Nica McMahon, Tilly Roberts, Ines Murchie) have been picked to help out as ball girls at the International 4 Nations Netball cup happening in Hong Kong this week.
On sale— student-designed charity red packets (lai see)
Year 12 BTEC Digital Design students at West Island School have designed & manufactured CNY lai see... with a 21st century twist!
One can scan each red packet design with a phone camera to watch it come to life with AR features! Students will be selling these to our school community to raise money for charity over the coming weeks. Staff, parents & students can purchase a set of 3 different lai see packets for $20 from B603.
Red Packets 2024 (1).mp4Sustainable Swap Shop
On Tuesday 16th January 2024, the Technology faculty are hosting West Island Schools annual Sustainable Swap Shop for Year 7 students!
Students are invited to bring in one unwanted, reusable item to swap eg. book, board game or toy. In return, students will be given some tokens (depending on the item) and will be able to trade their tokens for something else that has been donated to the Swap Shop that day.
During this learning activity, we hope to raise awareness for the importance of recycling and reusing unwanted items in a bid to save the planet. This project links to several of the Sustainable Development Goals and during the tutor period, students will learn about the 6 R's and how to be 'Green Consumers' moving forward.
We have put together a slide of Swap Shop FAQ's to support this activity and more information will be shared with Year 7 students via their tutors on the first week back. Please support us at home by discussing this event with your child and helping them to carefully decide on a suitable Swap Shop item.
Student academic paper published by the International Journal of Social Science and Humanity (IJSSH)
On 6 January 2024, Year 13 student Leanne Nguyen presented her paper entitled: "How Have Changes to the United Kingdom Modern Slavery Act Affected the Conceptualisation of ‘Race’ and Racism in Society?" at the 2024 10th International Conference on Humanity and Social Sciences held in Nagoya, Japan. The paper has been accepted for publication in the International Journal of Social Science and Humanity (IJSSH).
Year 8 student wins swimming competitions
Year 8 student Marcus Kor was awarded the following medals in the Eastern District Age Group Swimming Competition 2023/24, Boy aged 12, in November.
100m backstroke - Gold
100m freestyles - Gold
50m freestyles - Gold
Year 7 student wins 1st runner up in district age group tennis competition
Year 7 Kurtis Ho has won 1st runner up in the Eastern District Age Group Tennis Competition 2023, Men’s Singles 12 or below at the Finals held on 17 Dec 2023.
Sports fixtures
Girls basketball (U12A) won the ISSFHK Basketball Girls fixture on Tuesday, competing against Stamford American School, scoring 24-2.
Girls basketball (U16A) won the ISSFHK Basketball Girls fixture on Tuesday, competing against Christian Alliance International School, scoring 29-12.
Girls tennis (U14A) lost the ISSFHK Tennis fixture on Wednesday, competing against The Independent Schools Foundation Academy, scoring 14-19.
Girls football (U16A) won the ISSFHK Tennis fixture on Thursday, competing against Chinese International School, scoring 7-1.
Boys basketball (U16A) won the ISSFHK Tennis fixture on Thursday, competing against German-Swiss International School, scoring 43-36.
Boys basketball (U20A) won the ISSFHK Tennis fixture on Thursday, competing against South Island School, scoring 73-52.
Photo by student photographer Adita Dagur
Higher Education and Careers
12/01/2024
University Visits @ WIS: Open for students only (only for the Year 11s, 12s and 13s)
CUHK
23 Jan 2024 - Time 01:20 pm to 02:05 pm | Venue: C402
HKU Space
26 Jan 2024 - Time 01:20 pm to 02:05 pm | Venue: C402
University of York
30 Jan 2024 - Time 01:20 pm to 02:05 pm | Venue: C402
Norwich University of Arts
31 Jan 2024 - Time 10:45 am to 11:05a | Venue: C402
For details on University Visits and Webinars, please Click Here
Year 13
The deadline for submitting university applications for Year 13 students in Hong Kong, the UK, Canada, and the US was December 1st. However, students who have not yet submitted their UK applications should aim to do so by Thursday, January 25th, 2024. If any students need assistance or guidance, they should contact their Higher Education Counsellors as soon as possible.
Students have now started receiving conditional offers from the UK, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and the US.
Year 12
The Higher Education team will be meeting with all Year 12 students before the Easter break for a one-to-one meeting to discuss the university application process.
Year 11
The Higher Education team will be meeting with all Year 11 students and parents between January 22nd and February 29th. The email and details will be shared shortly with students and families.