Issue No. 5 (5 November 2021)

Congratulations to Anna Nishakova, Ines Chiu Gonzalez, Lim Zhi Yang (Mark) and Rohan Munro Williamson for representing South Island School and being one of the top three school teams to secure funding at the Nature Works Pitch Day on Saturday 30 October 2021. 

The South Island School team stood out amongst the 14 other school teams from all over Hong Kong. The team provided the judges with a compelling case matched with an excellent presentation. Their pitch was centred on a solution they devised in response to an environmental problem they had identified in their local community.

During the Nature Works programme, the team discovered that their school throws over 10,000 plastic whiteboard markers every year, which sadly is equivalent to 23,000 plastic bottles! Using a more sustainable crayon that lasts up to 13 times longer than a regular marker, they envision all 22 ESF schools together will be able to save 8,400kg of plastic waste annually.

The other winning teams were Li Po Chun United World College with a water conservation initiative and the Independent Schools Foundation Academy Team 1 with an energy-saving initiative. 

Well Done SIS!

This term’s Mindfulness Colouring-In Challenge has proved especially popular with Year 7. Run by a group of Year 12 students, the monthly colouring-in challenge is open to all year groups. Students completed a colouring-in page and their work was displayed in the foyer and in The Space. There is a new SIS Stingray design available starting from Monday 25th Oct, and we are especially excited about December when the design will be one drawn by one of our own Year 13 students!

Year 9 Fine Art students have been exploring the artist Tiffany Chung and her creative use of viewpoints and mixed media approaches. Their overarching MYP statement of Inquiry ‘How does our perspective of reality reflect the narrative of our way of life’ has led students to explore the process of map-making, in particular recording a ‘map of memory’. Students have experimented with watercolour, collage, stitch, and intercutting surfaces. Embedded within their work is a personal perspective through mark-making techniques and symbolism.

Click HERE to see the students work. 

The Year 11 Geography students visited Lantau Island on Thursday, October 21st in order to practise their primary data collection skills in an authentic context. The students conducted a series of measurements to calculate the discharge of a local river in Shek Mun Kap and then completed a beach profile exercise in Pui O.

In addition, they visited the central plaza in Tung Chung in order to conduct an environmental quality analysis and various pedestrian counts. All of these skills are potentially tested in the final exams and so the opportunity to engage in a practical data collection exercise of this nature should prove an invaluable aid to student success. It was also a pleasure for all of us on the trip to be out in the field visiting sites that really emphasised the incredible diversity of environmental features and human landscapes that exist in Hong Kong.

Thanks to everyone at SIS, the SHTEPI House Making a Difference Week, 4th – 8th October, went extremely well!

During the Shtepi MaD week, students raised a total of $17,000! The Shtepi team will be donating $10,000 to Room to Read, an international NGO that helps children in low-income families by giving them an opportunity for education, and $7000 to Bring me a Book, a non-profit organization that gives Hong Kong children access to books and supports family literacy.  

The response to the Book Drive was incredible: over 1501 books were donated, with Shtepi donating the most with 475 books. Congratulations! 

1. Shtepi: 475 books
2. Maison: 255 books 
3. Kuca: 250 books
4. Casa: 210 books
5. Bahay: 208 books
6. Namas: 103 books

The Shtepi Book Trivia Quiz in the Space on Thursday was also a huge success, with more than 10 teams participating! The Shtepi Book Trivia Quiz in the Space on Thursday was also a huge success, with more than 10 teams participating! On Friday 8th, both students and teachers were very creative with their costumes for Dress as a Book Character Day, with many wonderful individual and group efforts.

Congratulations to all the winners, who have received some great prizes! Thank you everyone for the support and donations! Keep Shteping it up! 

In September, South Island School students participated in a unique Inter-house event – MusicFest! Student musicians performed in one of six concerts, each watched by a live student audience in the same year-group and broadcast live on the SIS YouTube channel. Thanks to all involved for such a fun and diverse event! You can watch the highlights in the video below: 

Episode 13 of TTB, the first in the third series offers a more high-tech approach, shot using a multi camera set-up. Appropriately, the focus of the show was Film! Presenters Iain Williamson (Head of Film, Media and Digital Literacy) and Chloe Jazzy Lau (13B1) had the opportunity to discuss film in several contexts: a career working on Hong Kong; filmmaking in the South Island School Film/Media department and the future of the medium. Guests included Jon Curran (professional cinematographer) and Alison Thomas, a member of the SIS Class of 2011 and co-founder of Scene 852 film studio, here in Hong Kong. In addition, Larisa Curran, one of our own Film/Media teachers and former film editor, joined the show alongside current IB Film, Year 13 student: Nicholas Tam. As well as the video version, which can be found below, you can also catch all previous episodes of the podcast on the SIS YouTube channel and Spotify.

We would like to congratulate the following SIS students for successfully completing their HKAYP Bronze Awards. These 14 students have worked incredibly hard over the last 18 months to complete all the Hiking, Skills, Service, and Physical Recreation aspects of the Bronze HKAYP Award.

1. BOON Gino Francis
2. CHEW Wei Yen Adeline
3. CHIM Tania Yi Wye
4. CHONG Shing Wang David
5. KWOK Allison Wing Sum
6. LEE Ching Tung Venus
7. LEUNG Chun Ngai Aidan
8. STILGENBAUER Maximilian Ou
9. TANG Pok Chun
10. YIP Marcus Jun Hong
11. LEONG Zheng Hao
12. POULTON, Kara Grace Campbell
13. SHANKS James Alexander
14. WONG Joshua De Qi

Here are some of the students proudly showing their certificates!

Students last month were tasked with creating a logo for the PTA which incorporated the colours of the school logo with the theme ‘One family with love’. Well done to Chloe Hyun (07B1), winner , Charlene Lam (12S1), 1st Runner-up, and Connor Massey (08N2), 2nd Runner-up of the competition.

Well done to Summer-Fay Sit and Summer-Jane Sit this year for their success and progress in Sabre Fencing. Summer-Fay has been ranked number 1 in the cadet category and number 2 in the junior category whilst Summer-Jane is ranked number 1 in the under 14 category and number 3 in the cadet category.

This year, between both of them, they have received an incredible 11 trophies so far, 2 of which Summer-Fay achieved in the open competition. Furthermore, they will both represent Hong Kong to compete in 2022 Asian Juniors and Cadet Championships. Congratulations!

Congratulations to Kristy Poon (12N2) who was awarded a Certificate of Merit and a scholarship to attend the HKU International Symposium on STEM Education. Congratulations also to Jet Yue (13N2) who was awarded a Certificate of Excellence at the HKU International Symposium on STEM Education.  Both students have been selected for the HKU Academy for the Talented Program.

Congratulations to Alyssa Hayward (10N1) who has been selected by the Hong Kong Ballet to dance in their new Christmas production of the Nutcracker. She will be dancing the part of a jockey and will be required to attend a large number of rehearsals to prepare. Please look out for Alyssa if you do go and watch the performance.

Alyssa also danced in the Alice in Wonderland production with the Hong Kong Ballet as a Daisy over the summer and is due to sit her grade 7 ballet exam very soon.