Newsletter-Friday, 10 November 2023

Dear West Island community,

As a school, our vision is for ‘every learner to be the best they can be.’  As we head towards the end of term one, we decided to find out from students across the year groups, about ways they have been approaching their learning to develop their personal best.

Perseverance, courage, and open-mindedness, and a willingness to learn something new are echoed among their reflections. Please read their insights and wise words below.  

In addition to developing the right attributes to develop our personal best, we also know there is science we can apply to help us in our learning.  We were delighted to welcome Professor Jared Cooney Horvath into school today who held two workshops for Year 10 and 12 students  on the “Science of Learning'.  Find out more about this topic in the section below.  

As a school, we provide many kinds of scaffolding to help students learn better. Another such event that took place this week was the PTA’s first Fireside Chat to parents on the topic "How to support your child through Examination years”. Tips, experiences and resources were shared and discussed. Thank you to all the panel members, which included current Yr 13 and alumni.  If you have a future topic idea in mind that you would like to share, please email your suggestions to pta@wis.edu.hk.

A huge round of applause to the cast, dancers, technical crew and band involved in the school musical ‘In The Heights’.  You took us on an immersive journey into the diverse community of Washington Heights. As an audience we marvelled at your lifelike acting and our spirits were lifted by your vibrant musical performances and energy.  We left feeling elated, wanting to sing, dance and even try a little rapping! You certainly lived and breathed community spirit and invested time and effort to achieve this well-deserved success.  Thank you so much to the Creative Arts team for your time, commitment and energy in coordinating and leading this event, in particular, Ms. Susan Salter, Ms. Helena Murchie and Mr. Ben Jolly. Thank you as well to the PTA for providing the refreshments and to you, our wider WIS community and staff for supporting the event. The auditorium was full and it was an absolute pleasure to see you all.  Just like ‘In the Heights’ –community really does matter.

Finally, as I walked into school this morning, I was greeted by some beautiful decorations to celebrate Diwali, the Festival of Lights.  Thank you to Mehroo and Aparna, two of our parents, who gave their time on Thursday evening to sprinkle some joy on our reception area. And on opportunities to share joy–next Thursday, the PTA’s annual Diwali Ball is to take place, and ticket sales have been extended to midnight on 10 November 2023. We encourage you to reserve tickets as early as possible by filling in the order form here. We look forward to seeing you and sharing in this celebration. 

Happy Diwali 

Clare Haworth

Interim Principal

The West Island School Diwali Ball’s ticket booking is extended to midnight on 10 November 2023. 

To book your tickets, kindly fill in the order form here.

If you need assistance, please drop us a line at pta@wis.edu.hk. Please fill in the order form and submit it before Friday, 3rd November 2022.

Our Diwali Ball’s theme this year is – “Lights, Camera, Romance,” and it takes place on Thursday, 16th November 2023, from 6 pm onwards at the West Island School Auditorium. Tickets are limited and are issued on a first-come, first-serve basis.


Ticket Price
Priced at $260 per ticket, it includes the show, a full buffet dinner and canned drink. You do not need to order a ticket for your child if they are performing in the show. We will invoice for the Diwali Ball Buffet Dinner at $120 for each performer that chooses this option.

Dr. Jared Cooney Hovarth, a neurologist and educator, talked to Year 10 and Year 12 students about the science of learning. 

During the talks, Hovarth brought findings of cutting-edge research in his field to students and demonstrated how these findings in areas such as neuroplasticity or epigenetics can be applied to students’ own learning and exam preparations.

He said the stories we tell ourselves about what we are good at in learning can have a profound impact on our learning outcomes.

“Our stories drive our perceptions. Not the other way around,” Hovarth said.

Year 10 student Albert Chen said: “The experiments (in Hovarth’s talk) are fun. Keeps me engaged.”

Year 10 student Grace Carter also said the talk was interesting and made her think about perceptions of reality, when Hovarth talked about how no ancient civilizations had mentioned the colour blue, therefore the colour did not exist in people’s perceptions.

Like Grace, Year 12 student Kush Zingade also said he enjoyed listening to the psychology behind learning. “We learned about better ways to revise and study.”’

Year 12 student Mira Chung said: “Self-awareness of why and how we learn is important.”

During the week, Year 12 biology students worked intensively over two days, applying research and inquiry skills to complete their practical investigations as part of their Internal Assessments ably guided by Ms. Dawn Strachan, Ms. Patty Kelly, Ms. Anna Ravenscroft and Dr. Carol Song. 

Today is Call to Earth Day. The WISustain Environmental Council hosted a game stall and had a scavenger hunt during lunchtime for both individuals and teams today (Friday, 10 Nov). Students followed clues, raced friends, and won prizes including credits, candy, and stuffed toys. Ticket was $15 per person, and the proceeds will be donated to Eco Drive, a nonprofit organisation that promotes the awareness and reduction of single use plastic in Hong Kong.

Jasmine Poon and Ivana Hung represented WIS in the HKSSF All Hong Kong Schools Jing Ying Badminton Tournament. 

Jasmine said: “Both of us were very nervous as it was our first time going to Jing ying, knowing how big of a competition it was going against all the schools in Hong Kong. We had to go through a trial that our Coach organised, giving an option to choose between singles and doubles. Almost everyone chose doubles, and only 4 of us chose singles. After the two of us got selected, we trained for around 1 and a half months, doing different drills that would improve our techniques. Even though we took a loss, it was a great learning experience to find out different areas of improvement and ways to do better. It was also really interesting to watch other players compete and learn different techniques. We both tried our best, and thank Coach Pok for taking the time to train us and support us throughout training and the first game of the season. Overall we were both really happy to have the chance to compete, and hope to do even better in future competitions.”

Jovian Law was part of the Hong Kong National Team in a basketball competition in China.

Jovian (in the photo below-second from the right, bottom row)  said: “...it has been a humbling experience seeing the level of competition from all these different countries and cities. I hope I can use this gained experience to help West Island achieve more wins in the future.”

Last Saturday WIS table tennis made history. For the first time in 11 years, our A-grade table tennis team is through to the second round of the HKSSF tournament. This is the  first time any WIS team (A , B or C grade) has achieved this.  

Unfortunately, the 2nd round is while the team is away on Horizons week. However, we are delighted with this win and see this as a victory and look forward to more success in future matches.

Téa McMahonm, Zoe O'Donnell and Emily Faulkner in Year 10 have been picked to play netball for Hong Kong in the upcoming U15 Netball Championships in Singapore.

Congratulations to the WIS A grade Volleyball boys for an epic win at HKSSF. The U20 boys faced MSCHK last Saturday and left the game triumphant, having won both sets. After an unfortunate ISSFHK season, The team is on the strong path to redemption with HKSSF with a total of 2 wins so far. 

Photo by student photographer Adita Dagur

Among parents, educators and panelists, the first West Island PTA Fireside Chat on the topic "How to support your child through Examination years” generated fruitful discussions.

Going by the success of our first event, the WIS PTA would like to do more such talks and is open to suggestions on topics for our upcoming Fireside series. If you have a topic in mind that you would like to share, please email your suggestions to pta@wis.edu.hk

Student Arjun Pradhan won a bronze medal in the Hong Kong Student Judo Championships 2023.

Year 13s 

Currently, Year 13 students are engaged in the task of submitting their university applications. The deadlines for Oxbridge applications and Common App ED/EA, which were due on November 1, have now passed, and students have successfully submitted them.

Simultaneously, students are in the process of submitting their applications for early rounds at Hong Kong universities.

Students have also started receiving conditional offers from universities in the UK.



For Year 11s, 112s and 13s


University Visits @ WIS: Open for students only  (only for the Year 11s, 112s and 13s)

For details on University Visits and Webinars, please Click Here

On November 09, 2023, we were delighted to welcome representatives from Savannah College of Arts and Design, USA, Full Sail University, USA, Middle Tennessee State University, USA and IE University, Spain. The students got an opportunity to interact with the university representatives.

Student Ivana Hung, Teachers Shanice Welsh and Tim Collins have been included in a BTEC newsletter that was sent to all schools running BTEC across Greater China. The section was titled “How BTEC works for West Island School ''.

Please click here to view the BTEC newsletter.

Year 13 BTEC Digital Design students have been working closely with a local brand - Taboocha, producing solutions in response to a real packaging design brief. 

Taboocha selected Caton Kwok’s design to take forward and mass-produce. The bottles will be sold in various supermarkets across HK in December, including City Super. 

This project will be a powerful addition to students' University portfolios, demonstrating their ability to work closely with a real industry client to solve real-world problems.

Thank you to Taboocha for agreeing to work with our BTEC students and to Ms. Borrelli for leading the project, working with students to produce high-quality creative outcomes.

During the recent Dynasty Day on 29th September, the students raised a total of HKD 23, 376. This has now been donated equally to support victims of the Libyan floods, Moroccan Earthquakes and the Maui fires with money being donated to three charities–Maui Strong Fund, International Federation of the Red Cross, International Committee of the Red Cross.

Kennedy School is holding a Festive Fair to celebrate the season of togetherness, sharing and giving. Come down the road for an evening of food and drinks, musical entertainment, gift shopping and maybe catch a glimpse of a special visitor (Hint: He usually wears red).  

Details are in the poster below.