Newsletter-Friday, 13 October 2023

Photos by students Christopher Teoh, Oscar Yan and Multimedia Displays&Events Coordinator Nick Tsang 

Dear West Island community,

In this week’s newsletter, we turn the spotlight on the student-led annual talent show–ID(Inter Dynasty) Star Search. 

From Wednesday to Friday, thirty students rejuvenated the stage in our 3rd-floor auditorium with their creative talents.

This was truly a collaborative endeavour with twenty students taking on roles such as co-chair, organisers, judges, promoters and performers.  Year 12 student Hayley Graham, co-chair of ID Star Search, said she liked leading and working with peers. Chloe Leung, co-chair of ID Star Search, said she liked applying her leadership skills to her love of music. The team worked hard to go through all the application videos they had received– they were very impressed by the 70 students who had sent a video of their performances!   

We are delighted when we see students thrive not only academically, but also holistically.  Whether you were on stage or behind the scenes, you should be very proud of your creative efforts.  You have embodied what being a risk-taker means, an IB Learner Profile attribute that could cultivate a life-long habit of becoming the best learner you can be. 

A thank-you to Mr. Ben Jolly who helped oversee the event. Mr. Jolly said: “We will announce next week the category winners and winning dynasty. The WIS community will (also) vote on an overall lower and upper school winner.”  Also, thank you to the audience for being so encouraging and supportive of everyone who performed. 

Last but not least, the cast of “In the Heights”, our school musical this year, are to bring on their show next month. You may find details about ticket sales and other information about it in the weekly bulletin below. Ticket sales to the general public open today (Friday Oct. 13). Thank you to Leigh Dalgarno, Head of Creative Arts, for bringing the musical to us. We look forward to seeing more creativity flourish at West Island in the weeks to come.

Best regards 


Clare Haworth

Interim Principal


Year 12 student Giselle Lee competed in the Hong Kong Age Group Long Course Swimming Championships 2023 in Kowloon Park last weekend. This is one of the highest local swimming competitions, and her most notable achievement was earning a bronze medal in the 200m backstroke event on Saturday. 

“Although the final day of the competition was cancelled due to Typhoon Koinu, I am hoping to bring more good news when it is rescheduled,” Giselle said.


Year 7 student Kurtis Ho has won 1st runner-up in the North District Age Group Tennis Competition 2023/24, Men’s Singles 12 or below at the Finals.


At the beginning of the academic year, three Y12 students - Starley So, Tasha Ngan and Yuteeka Yeole entered the SEAM Business competition, along with a student from the UK. The competition gives students the opportunity to take on various managerial roles in a business and apply business problem-solving skills. The WIS team worked with Onthelist, a HK-based social enterprise, looking at both the external and internal environment of the business and producing a 5-minute presentation analysis. The team were runners-up in the competition, beating 44 other teams, and received their award at the Onthelist showroom on 5 Oct. Well done Starley, Tasha and Yuteeka on this fantastic achievement!



The Creative Arts Faculty | Circle in the Water is thrilled to present the musical theatre production of In The Heights by Lin Manuel Miranda on Wednesday, November 8th and Thursday 9th November, 7:00 pm in the WIS Auditorium.

Tickets are now on sale. Students, parents and non-WIS community members may pre-order tickets using this form. 

Tickets will be issued upon payment.  Please place your order for tickets early to ensure you don’t miss out.

In The Heights is set in New York's Washington Heights (USA) and explores storylines related to relationships, identity and conflicts of culture. It has Latin American cultural references. The show premiered on Broadway in 2008 and features rap and Latin dance movements.

 

Show Dates
Wednesday 8 November, 7 p.m.
Thursday 9 November, 7 p.m.
West Island School Auditorium
The show includes an interval and will finish at approximately 9 p.m.


Adults $206
Students $103 (must be below 18 years old and in full-time education)

Tickets will be issued to your oldest child in tutor registration. External parties may collect their tickets from the school reception or at the door on the night. If you are unable to use your ticket(s), and wish to transfer the ticket to someone else please contact wis@wis.edu.hk to register the transfer. No refunds will be given.

 

Seating
The school will allocate audience seating based on the time stamp indicated on the order form.

Mobile phones
Please do not use your mobile phones during the performance.

Video recording
No video recording is permitted due to copyright and licensing agreements.

Parking

There is no parking available at the school each night of the show.

 

Refreshments

Refreshments will be available prior to the show and at interval. 


Enquiries

wis@wis.edu.hk

Please join us for a night of great musical theatre entertainment.


The first canned food drive of the year has raised 986 cans so far, with some more still being donated as we speak! A huge thank you to everyone who has participated for the benefit of our wider community. This could not have been achieved without the behind the scenes work of the CAS Project Team and all of the support staff who have helped to make this a massive success including Ms Lau,  Ms Cheung and Ms Hui in the front office and the caretakers who have helped move heavy boxes of cans around the school! It is much appreciated.

The CAS project team members said: “Thank you, West Island School for helping us raise 8 boxes of cans to Food Angels who will distribute them to Hong Kong’s underprivileged…It was a very successful CANpaign.”


Congratulations to the A-grade Boys Basketball team for carrying on their winning streak in HKSSF. WIS went against YCK Memorial College no.2 this Thursday and dominated the court with an incredible score of 58 - 19. Even after facing a few adversities such as not having their coach with them, the boys showed resilience and determination, alongside Mr Le Pocreau who adopted the coach's role with great fortitude. 


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

HKUMed (only for the Year 11s, 112s and 13s):
17 October 2023 - Time: 13:20 to 14:05 | Venue: TBC

University of Calgary:
19 October 2023 - Time: 13:20 to 14:05 | Venue: TBC

Mini Fair with the following universities:

Savannah College of Arts and Design, USA

Full Sail University, USA

Middle Tennessee State University, USA

IE University, Spain

09 November 2023 - Time 10:45 to 11:05 | Venue:TBC

*For more details on University Visits and Webinars, please Click Here

Careers Session with the Year 13s

The Year 13 students now have the opportunity to participate in informative and engaging Careers Sessions organised by the Higher Education (HE) team. The HE team has prepared these sessions to equip the Year 13s with the necessary knowledge and resources to make informed decisions about their university applications and career pathways. 

Year 13s 

All Year 13 students now have access to Google Classroom. The university lists for college applications have now been submitted to the careers team. We kindly request parents to sign the university application form and remind students to review their list and submit the same if it has not been done so already.

On 11 October 2023, we were delighted to welcome The Chinese University of Hong Kong. The session was interactive, providing an opportunity for students to participate in insightful discussions and have their inquiries addressed.

In celebration of our 30th anniversary as an integral part of The English Schools Foundation, ESF Explore is relaunching 30+ popular after-school courses for a 6-week period, starting 30 October. This exclusive programme, catering to children between 6 months and 17 years old, welcomes new and returning students to try out selected courses for a shorter period of time at your preferred location. Click here to see our 30th Anniversary Special programmes! You can click on the individual sections to view programmes by age group.

It's not too late to sign up for our Autumn Camps, running this October 24-27th! We offer both one-off and one-week courses, with flexible schedules. Register for our Autumn camps here!

Check out our schedule for West Island School here. Click here to see our full range of term 1 programmes, feel free to click into the individual categories to view their available classes.


WIS Allies continued with our theme of inclusion. Students were offered the chance to have a small flag painted on their wrists using face paints, they could choose from the rainbow pride flag or any of the flags that represent the LGBTQ+ community.

Head of Visual Arts Tony Fryer’s artwork was selected by an auction fundraiser that occurs once a year in Christie’s HK - only 55 artists are selected some from prestigious galleries around the world. The artwork can be seen below.