Dear West Island community,

Dynasty spirit was high last Friday, as students gave their best shots on rowing machines, at dodgeball courts and in science labs. Mr Harding announced through the school speakers of how the results were very tight, but in the end, Han was pronounced the winner of the day. The last Dynasty Day of the year finished strong.

Please read on to see the exciting photos from the day, and all the ensuing events and student achievements over this week.

These events include Thursday and Friday’s career fair and alumni events in which professionals and entrepreneurs from different industries and disciplines shared the stories behind their successes, and our alumni’s sharing of their university lives.

Student achievements include a Biology contest, ESF Chinese debate competition, and, as always, the fantastic sports achievements from basketball to netball. 

We hope that the strength of our school’s diversity can be felt in all of these wonderful achievements below, as we are here to support every student’s educational journey suited for a variety of learning.

Have a lovely weekend.

Vicki Hallatt

Principal

WISMUN 2024 took place on the 1st and 2nd of June guided by the theme “PEACE THROUGH DIVERSITY.”  More than 50 delegates participated in the conference after preparing speeches and conducting research for several weeks.  What was special about this conference is that many delegates were attending their first conference and 7 out of the 8 chairs were new to chairing.  It was an inspiring event full of hope for the future and the spirit of cooperation.

“WISMUN IV has been a challenging, thrilling and rewarding experience. Nothing is better than seeing dozens of delegates enjoying themselves at a conference you have organised with your team! Walking through the halls and witnessing all the delegates embrace the spirit of debate, we were filled with a sense of pride for our community - where other than West Island would you find almost 60 people willing to spend their weekend debating global issues? We are also thoroughly proud of our brilliant chairs, who led the debate and played a key role in guiding newer delegates. One of the biggest challenges was managing the high number of delegates, with drop-outs and no-shows common throughout the process of assigning delegations. We managed this by staying in close communication with each other at all times, moving allocations around where necessary, and promptly communicating this information with delegates and chairs. Overall, organising WISMUN was immensely challenging, but it also strengthened our skills in communication and organisation enormously, and we will take that with us forever!” 

—Nikaash Daswaney (12S2)

Secretary General, WISMUN IV

“WISMUN IV has not only been an incredible experience but extremely rewarding. Delegates at the conference passionately connected their debates to the theme of "Peace through Diversity," celebrating unique perspectives, cultures, and backgrounds. Embracing our differences is crucial for fostering a harmonious global community. Discussions spanned topics like human rights, cultural preservation, and conflict resolution, highlighting inclusivity in addressing global challenges. By engaging in respectful debate, active listening, and seeking common ground, delegates built bridges and found collaborative solutions, emphasising empathy, understanding, and acceptance for a peaceful world. We are proud of our team whose vision brought this conference to life. Thanks to passionate delegates for embracing the theme and contributing diverse perspectives. Your open-mindedness embodies the spirit of peace through diversity. Let's reflect on our success and remember our role in creating a more peaceful world. Thank you to all who participated in this journey. Together, we can make a difference and build a world where peace and diversity flourish hand in hand.”

—Ajab Barma (12M2)

Deputy-Secretary General, WISMUN IV

Award Winners

Best Delegate

Ashutosh Tripathi, Delegate of Bolivia, General Assembly

Lara Beed, Delegate of China, Human Rights Council

Jeffrey Shin (10T1), Delegate of USA, Security Council

Gianni Bizos (11M1),  Delegate of Greece, Crisis Committee

Most Improved

Ella Ng (10T2), Delegate of Denmark, General Assembly

Yuvi Kaul(8M2), Delegate of Egypt, Human Rights Council

On May 25, our students participated in the ESF Chinese debate. Twelve well known international and local schools were involved.

Eight West Island School students in Year 9 and Year 10 attended all three rounds of the competition. Although our students did not make it to the final competition, they demonstrated exceptional language skills in Chinese, displaying confidence and determination. The ESF centre highly commended the students for their performance and presented them with certificates.

Y10 David Zhao

Y10 Austin Zheng 

Y9 Ella Nie

Y9 Jan Poon

Y9 Tara Cheung

Y9 Luna Ling

Y9 Raina Liu

Y9 Ziao Chen 

Students Daniel Cheung and Tony Hung have made it to this round in Royal Geographical Society's Young Geographer of the Year - People's Choice Award. 

We encourage you to click here to vote for them.

Friday 31 May marked the ESF wide transition day for P1 and P6 students.

For West Island School, this was the final day of 3 visits to our school and an opportunity for children to meet in their dynasty groups as well as some of the new year 7 tutor team. 

The children enjoyed a day learning about our school values and the practical steps of being a WIS student, including how they will get to and from school, what food the canteen offers, our school uniform expectations, where the hatch is located and how their tutor will support them. During the day the students also had time to complete a set of trivia questions such as how many litres of water are in the school swimming pool.

It was a fun day with the children leaving positively having all received a student handbook which answers all their questions and gives lots of advice and tips to help prepare them over the summer holidays.

In the evening, we were joined by the new parents who listened to staff presenting about our school curriculum and managing technology as part of our general welcome. Our PTA provided light snacks and encouraged parents to sign up for voluntary roles.

Thank you to everyone involved from our outstanding Pre16 student leaders, staff; both teaching and support staff and members of the PTA.

We look forward to welcoming our new Year 7 cohort in August.

Dear students, 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.

Thank you for all parents and students who have ordered a yearbook. Please see below for some FAQs for your reference.

-Why couldn’t every parent/student who has placed an order receive a copy? 

We have received an unprecedented high number of orders of the yearbook this year, so we have liaised with the printing vendor many times to make sure we accommodate the number of orders. 

However, because we still received many more orders after placing the last order, we can no longer accommodate new orders due to time constraints and the printing vendor’s capacity.

-What can I do if I still want a copy?

We will publish the yearbook as a digital flipbook and a pdf that you can freely download on our website, so the digital version is available to everyone.

-How and when can I collect my copy of the yearbook?

If your order was placed successfully, you will receive an invoice to proceed with your Epayment. The invoice will be issued to you no later than this Friday (May 31).

Once we receive your payment (which can take 1 or 2 days), you can collect your copy at the 6/F Communications Officer’s desk. 

If you need to collect your copy before the payment is received on our end, please show your receipt of your Epayment when you claim your copy.

-What is the printed yearbook's price?

The yearbook price is 265 HKD per copy to cover all relevant printing costs. The school does not make profit from the yearbook.

-How to make the Epayment?

DESKTOP

1) Please log in to Gateway with parent user access (https://wis.tg.esf.edu.hk/login.php?CurPage=/);

2) Click on the "Payment" button under the student profile;

3) It will open up a screen with outstanding invoices to view under the header "Outstanding";

4) Please choose payment method: by clicking "Pay selected" for a choice of PPS or credit card via Paypal;

5) Input payment details and click "Submit".

OR 

ESF APP

1) Download the app named "ESF app" from the app store on your phone;

2) Follow the instructions to set up the profile by entering the required email address;

3) Click "Wisdom" in the profile and go down to "ePayment account";

4) Click the link "transactions/balance" for the eWallet account.

5) Select the invoices and click "Pay" for a choice of PPS or credit card via Paypal. 

Attached please find the information booklet for your further guidance (West island website>Life at WIS>Payment system). 

Please contact the helpdesk (helpdesk@wis.edu.hk) for any Gateway login information, including password reset.

-Why was the yearbook printed this year? And will there be printed copies available next year?

The school yearbook had not been printed for the previous two academic years.

The decision to print the yearbook this year was made by listening to students’ feedback and surveying parents regarding their interest in purchasing a copy. 

Because there was enough interest, we were able to find a vendor to have it printed. 

Whether the yearbook will be printed next year will depend on the demand and interest from parents. 

From this year’s experience, we will start taking orders for the yearbook next year much earlier in advance to make the process more efficient and streamlined.