South Island School

South Island School
File:South Island School Badge.png South Island School
Location
50 Nam Fung Road Aberdeen Hong Kong
Information
Type	Private, comprehensive, international, secondary, co-educational.
Established	1977
Principal	Mr. Graham Silverthorne
Enrollment	approx. 1,400
Grades	7 - 13
Website	http://www.sis.edu.hk/

South Island School (Chinese: 南島中學) is an international school founded by the English Schools Foundation of Hong Kong, located at 50 Nam Fung Road, Aberdeen, Hong Kong. The motto is Educating the International Leaders of Tomorrow.

History

In 1977, South Island School was founded as a nucleus of additional classes to accommodate students within the ages of 11 and 18 from Island School, a fellow English Schools Foundation School. The school moved to its current location at 50 Nam Fung Road in 1983. The first version of the school consisted of the Ching Ling Soong Block and an outdoor swimming pool.

As the school grew in size, more facilities were required. The next big change to the school came with the construction of the Stephen Hawking Building (named after physicist Stephen Hawking), and the swimming pool became an indoor one, allowing all-year round swimming lessons.

By 2003, the increase in student population warranted the construction of a new school block. Construction began on a new eight-storey building that would accompany the C-block and the S-block. By 2004, the new block was completed, and was designated the Da Vinci Building.

The school year of 2007 - 2008 marked the opening of the TeeJay Centre, a section of the school designated for International Baccalaureate students in Years 12 and 13. This was renamed the Diploma Center in the school year of 2009-2010.

Just recently, in November 2010, the new John Wray Atrium, named after previous principal, John Wray, has opened up to students from years 7 to 11. It features a new refectory, a balcony with a full view of Nam Fung Road, and a new learning space to utilize and learn efficiently. The carpets are of cobalt blue hues and there is also a wheelchair ramp for the disabled or for refectory carts. It is deemed to be very popular with students and is constantly buzzing with the hum of eager pupils.

Academics

Students in Years 10 and 11 usually complete a GCSE or iGCSE qualification, whereas students in Years 7 through 9 complete a Key Stage 3 course which outlines the fundamentals of GCSE (Key Stage 4).

The Class of 2008 was the last cohort to sit the A Level exams. The Year 13 class of 2009 will become the first cohort to enter the International Baccalaureate Diploma. An alternative to the IB program is the BTEC National Certificate which is starting to be popular in the United Kingdom. Newly introduced to South Island and (equivalent to 3 A- levels)they offer the BTEC business course, BTEC Art and Design (Fashion and Clothing) and the BTEC Sport (Development, Coaching and Fitness) courses. There are also AS/GCE subjects available within the school's Advanced Diploma in which students can combine AS/GCE courses with IB subjects (This Applied A-Level Advanced Diploma saw its last year during the 2009-2010 academic year)

At the end of each academic year, Awards are given out to recognize achievement in all areas of school life. Great emphasis is placed on students' personal best. The awards are chosen by teachers, and are usually given to the two best students in each year for each subject. There are also commendations generally awarded to a few students per class, for effort, progress, and achievement.

There is a wide curriculum, and teachers are trained in learning techniques on a basis. Maths, English and Science are standard. Subjects include Physical Education, Learning Futures (New), Food Technology, Design and Technology, Textiles, Music, Art, Drama, Chinese, French/Spanish/German, Geography, Religious Studies, Philosophy, History which are all compulsory during the KS3 Stage. Media Studies, Economics and Business Studies are then introduced at GCSE, where students have a selection of four subjects to study and qualify in (not including Math, English, or Science) and must choose based on four categories: Creativity, Humanities, Language, and one Extra from any category. Economics and Business Studies can not be chosen in conjunction with each other.

The students taking the iGCSE and GCSE exams in 2008 yielded some of the best results in the world ever recorded. This proved that South Island School is also academically strong.

Houses

South Island School operates a House System, whereby all students are allocated into one of the seven houses.

The members of each house compete against each other in athletics, swimming, music and debating, etc. Each house is awarded points depending on the finishing place in each sport. At the end of the year, the House cup is presented to the house with the highest score in the last Assembly before the summer holidays

Each house is named after a notable person and is represented by a different colour:

• Aylward - Yellow (Gladys Aylward)
• Hillary - Blue (Sir Edmund Hillary)
• Jefferson - Purple (Thomas Jefferson)
• Marden - Orange (Anne Marden)
• Noble - Light Blue (Christina Noble)
• Schweitzer - Green (Albert Schweitzer)
• Tolstoy - Red (Leo Tolstoy)

Upon the new school year, information has been released about the new houses which will follow Graham Silverthorne's new "family system". The houses are as follows, (all different translations of the word 'house'. New Houses:

• Maison (French)
• Namas (Lithuanian)
• Kuca (Croatian)
• Casa (Casa)
• Skiptia (Swedish (pronounced Skëpti)
• Bahay (Filipino)

Technology

Over the past years, South Island School has developed a great stress in use of technology. The school's classrooms were upgraded with the installation of interactive whiteboards, while the renovation of the C-block continued. South Island school has started its 1: 1 laptop programme, where students are required to bring a laptop to school, and MacBooks are optional.

Activities

Extra curricular activities at the school include squash, netball, basketball, football, debating, swimming, chess, tennis, singing, rugby union and cricket. Every student is obliged to take part in inter-house athletics and interhouse swimming. As well as inter-house competitions, South Island School competes in various inter-school competitions such as basketball and football. The school also has a demonstration team of two Asian martial arts: Taekwondo and Kendo. There are also thriving musical activities culminating in a range of performances throughout the year.

The school stresses the importance of extracurricular activity, and each student must participate in at least one Creative, Service and Action-related activity. The school aims to create well-rounded "Rainbow Warriors of Tomorrow".

The school also organizes International Evening, Diwali Night etc. annually, where one gets to experience different cultures. Such events are wholly managed by the student body, who create an electrifying presentation which doesn't fail to stun the audience.

Faith Community Church

On Sundays, the school hall is used by Faith Community Church to hold its services at 10:30 AM.

The John Wray Atrium

"The vision of turning the rooftop refectory into a covered multi-purpose learning atrium dated back two years ago from our former Principal, Mr John Wray. The concept started in November 2008 and the actual construction commenced in November 2009 after one year of planning and public consultation. On November 29th 2010, the John Wray Atrium was officially opened. The Opening Ceremony started at 4.30 pm with out Principal Mr Silverthorne giving a brief introduction of the project and a slide show on the making of the Atrium. Mr John Wray also sent his greetings from Canada via a video clip. Ms Heather Du Quesnay (Chief Executive of English Schools Foundation (ESF), Mr Chris Erving (Vice Chairman of SIS School Council) and Ms Gabrielle Sanchez (Year 12 student and winner of the Atrium Logo design competition) all joined Mr Silverthorne in the curtain opening cremony of the John Wray Atrium plaque. The student Lion Dance team joined the party by surprise and amazed all the guests with their lively lion dance performance.

The John Wray Atrium is a refectory outlet during break and lunch times, and is also designed for small group teaching. The spectacular outdoor balcony has become the most popular corner for students and staff to relax under the warm sun and breeze. The Atrium is also fully equipped with projectors and professional public address system to cater for seminars and assemblies. The sustainable design minimizes the need for artificial ventilation and lighting and thus reduces energy consumption. We hope all students will respect the hardware and interior in the John Wray Atrium and keep the area in its best condition in the many years to come."

-Lydia Yu
Business and General Manager of SIS

Trivia

Scenes from the movie Connected 保持通話 [2] (Asian version of Cellular) were shot at South Island School.

Some students coined the 'John Wray Atrium' as the 'Wraytrium' (or a similarly spelt homophone), which is a portmanteau of the former principal John Wray, and Atrium. Jefferson was called "Purple People Eater"...coined by Phil Wallace.

External links

• Official website