Issue No. 4 (8 September 2017)

South Island School opened its doors on September 5th 1977 and exactly 40 years later, the School devoted a whole day of birthday celebrations to mark this significant anniversary.

The day started with some fun as the whole school sang ‘Happy Birthday to SIS’ on the Campus before the entire body of students and staff headed off on a Sponsored Walk (from School to Deep Water Bay and back). “We felt that our SIS mission, Making a Difference, was best celebrated by a ‘giving’ birthday celebration. We challenged our students to get as many sponsors as possible for this walk. The money raised will be going towards our pledge to the Jumpstart Kindergarten /Family Academy fund in the Philippines,” said Annette Chapman, Vice Principal. The brilliant news from the day was that our school community raised an amazing HK$172,000 with more funds still being counted.

All students were also treated to a piece of our birthday cake upon their return from the walk. The giant cake, designed and crafted by our own food technology staff, was big enough to be shared by 1,400 students and 200 staff, with cake to spare!  In the afternoon, the students engaged with activities planned and led superbly by our senior students. These included, SIS’s got Talent, Creative Hat Making Activities, A History Quiz, A Time Capsule project and a Scavenger Hunt. It was a fun and meaningful day for all.

Principal, Graham Silverthorne, commented, “Over 5,000  graduates have passed through our school since 1977. SIS is nowan established and highly successful international school, with a global reputation. Today, we wanted to commemorate our founding by providing current students with a day that they will never forget and by modelling our values of giving rather than looking to receive on a birthday. I think we accomplished both of these ambitions, admirably, it was a wonderful day”.

The 40^th celebrations are not over, in fact, they have just started! In October, SIS will welcome hundreds of our alumni back from all ove r the world to connect with current students and reconnect with each other. In November, our huge community fair is 40^thfest!! An amazing archive has been built in School to share with students and become an area of study. As life shows all of us, we need to learn the lessons of history.

If you would like to participate in the Speech Festival (Chinese), please submit your application form and cheque to D35 Ms Cheung or D 4/F Flora Wang.

第二届凯旋杯香港中学生联校普通话辩论比赛  Victory Cup for Mandarin Debating Competition

 If you are interested in Debating Competitions, please come to join us! Our first formal practice will be on 12th September 3.20 – 4.20 p.m. in D45.  For any queries, please email Ms Huang huangx1@webmail.sis.edu.hk or Ms Hu zhu@sis.edu.hk .  Our first competition will be on Monday, 9th October.

Come and join us!

Spotlight on Piano
On Tuesday 19^th September SIS Music Department will be welcoming international piano virtuoso, Warren Lee, to work with our young musicians.  At 9.00am he will be conducting a masterclass with Ashley Lau (Y12), Grant Chen (Y12) and Reagan Lee (Y11).  Our other pianists and music students will be observing as he takes them through their pieces.

Following this, at 10.45am, Warren is giving a talk on Practice Technique, in which he applies scientific research to the area of music practice, introducing students to strategies to make their practice time more effective and learning more rapid.

Both sessions are open for parents to attend. If you have ever wondered what your child’s practice SHOULD sound like, the talk will be of particular interest. Both sessions are in the School Hall.

MusicFest Auditions
MusicFest Auditions start on Monday 11^th September and last for two weeks.  Each house has two lunchtime and two morning break audition sessions.  The schedule for each house can be found on the iSAMS bulletins, in a recent email and on the noticeboards in the Music Department.  If you want to audition, please make sure you check your times. At the end of these two weeks, the House Captains will decide their chosen acts for the finals on 26th October.  Good luck to all our entrants!

Daniel Lawton Scholarship
This annual award recognizes the achievements of one of our wind players. Students audition and are interviewed on their musical commitment to help the judges select the student who demonstrates the greatest potential.  We are delighted to announce that the 2017 scholarship has been awarded to Roisin Byrne in Year 12.  Roisin is a clarinetist, double bass player, an IB Music student and she has also been a loyal member of SIS’s Sinfonia and Wind Band since she arrived in Year 7.  Well done, Roisin, very well deserved!

Final Call for Ensembles
Although activities have already started, if there are any students who would have liked to join Sinfonia (Friday 1.30, D62) or Vocal Academy (Tuesday, 8.15, D61), they can still register by emailing me on djones@sis.edu.hk.  Chamber Choir and Stage Band are now full, sorry.

Debra Jones
Director of Performance / Head of Music