Dear West Island community,

Two evenings of stage performances have brought our community together for celebration in action. Thank you to Ms Rochester, Ms Delgarno, Ms Cunliffe, Ms Cerrone for bringing the talented dancers together for Cabaret and the Evening of Dance. Thank you to the parents and community members who have supported these performances. 

In this week’s newsletter, we feature five students who have been nominated for different categories in South China Morning Post’s Student of the Year awards. We hear a few of them say that curiosity, commitment and willingness to embrace challenges are what they value the most in themselves. 

While being recognized by an award is good news to celebrate, we trust that every student has their own unique way to shine, with or without an award.

Next week is diversity week, when students will be taking part in activities to promote making the school more inclusive. We will also celebrate student athletes and teams on the upcoming Tuesday at the Annual Sports Award. We hope to see you then.

Have a lovely weekend.

Vicki Hallatt

Principal

Thursday saw the resurrection of the Circle in the Water, Cabaret Night. What a showcase of the talent here at WIS from improvisational art, mind-blowing card tricks, sizzling dance performances, and outstanding musicians and singers. The whole evening was a true celebration of all that Creativity can and should be. The Mamma Mia finale definitely left the audience dancing out of the cabaret venue. Three cheers for all the performers, parents, staff and support staff that made this such an incredible event. 

The semis and finals of the ISSFHK touch rugby championships took place last week. After a closely fought semi final the U14 boys competed in the 3/4th place play-off and secured a bronze medal after beating KGV 5-1. The U20 mixed team defeated KGV in the semi final with a nerve shredding golden-try in extra time after the game finished 5-5 in regular time. They played a strong ICHK team in the final and despite their best efforts came away with a silver medal. The attitude, effort, and progress shown by the team was fantastic to see - well done to all players! 

Last weekend, a group of Year 10 students embarked on an Outward Bounds trip. They engaged in activities such as kayaking, climbing, hiking, outdoor cooking and camping. The mission of Outward Bounds HK is to enable young people to discover and develop their potential to care for themselves, others, and the world around them through challenging experiences in unfamiliar settings.

“Participating in Outward Bound was incredibly tough (although it was fun). It was physically, mentally and emotionally challenging; demanding resilience, and teamwork. The most memorable moment of the trip was when we went kayaking around the islands. It was an incredible experience and it is mind-blowing to think that erosion over thousands of years has shaped the islands. I think that living in a city where we heavily rely on technology, we sometimes forget the beauty of nature and biomes. Kayaking around the islands reminded me that it is important to acknowledge nature's creations and take a moment to step back from our busy lives and take a moment to appreciate nature's works.rk, and determination.” - Henry Hyde

“I felt happy to be with my friends and go away from the city to Outward bound which is more peaceful and there is more time to do activities unlike the city.” - Ash Gurung

“The Kayaking trip was quite memorable, it was thrilling, enjoyable but quite exhausting. The waves were quite strong and keeping up the group wasn’t going to plan. But it was a cool experience, highly recommended for anyone who wants to see island landscapes up close. A takeaway for me is better teamwork is necessary to survive and work together. It makes the overall progress more efficient, sometimes working alone makes the experience fatiguing so let’s all try to work together if possible.” - Robin Chan

“If going camping again, I’d be sure to bring the correct gear.” - Samson Ip

A huge well done to the students for fully embodying the mission in Outward Bounds and showing enthusiasm and commitment to each and every challenge. And thank you to Kenny Chan, our school counsellor at West Island School from our partner organisation Aberdeen Kai-fong Welfare Association Services Centre, who organised the trip and accompanied the students.

The Y12 Language Acquisition students have been working on a cooking unit, where each student selected a traditional recipe from their own country or region. The students enjoyed preparing and sharing these dishes with their classmates and friends, exploring the diverse culinary traditions represented in their language studies. 

The students have sampled a variety of international foods such as burritos and quesadillas from Latin American cuisines, churros from Spanish cuisine, and mochi from Japanese cuisine, among others. This hands-on experience has allowed the students to develop their culinary skills while gaining a deeper appreciation for the cultural heritage of the languages they are learning. 

BTEC Level 3 Extended Engineering Students recently had the pleasure of visiting the Techtronics Asia Industrial Park in Dongguan! The four-day visit aimed to enhance their knowledge of engineering through showcasing real-world industry practices in manufacturing and product innovation. During their time they embarked on an exciting hands-on project, crafting wooden trolleys using the incredible MILWAUKEE power tools! 

West Island School's Engineering Department takes great pride in our partnership with TTI since 2016. Together, we have enriched the learning experience of engineering students through workshops, internships and industry visits.

It was incredibly rewarding to witness the enthusiasm and curiosity of the students throughout their visit. We are delighted to have two students from the group to join TTI for a job shadowing experience this summer! We are excited to see these future talents flourish into accomplished engineers and we are committed to nurturing young talents and fostering a culture of innovation and excellence. 

WIS took 50 excited singers and instrumentalists to take part in a music making day at KGV Thursday last week. Our students joined 100s of other musicians from the other ESF secondary schools in rehearsals throughout the day and an informal showcase of the work at the end. Students represented WIS as members of the ESF Orchestra, Big Band, Concert Band, String Orchestra or choirs. Averie Wong of 8Y2, who joined the ESF choir, said of the day, "It was a really memorable experience because I got to meet students from other ESF schools who enjoyed singing music together too."

The day was also part of preparations for a performance at City Hall on November 25th 2024 which we are looking forward to inviting parents and friends of WIS to and sharing more information about in the next academic year.

Please start clearing up your lockers and make sure there is nothing left in your locker by the end of term.

After the end of the term, the school will collect any belongings left in the lockers. The collected items will be discarded by September if no one claims them.