The busiest time of the school year started this week on Monday with the CPD Day (Continuing Professional Development). For a whole day, all staff of the school were able to focus on the Strategic Plan of GSIS for the next few years. This is the final result of a two-year development process which started in Autumn 2017 with a comprehensive stakeholder survey (MMG Stakeholder Survey). After numerous meetings, workshops and in-service training sessions with all those involved in school life, it resulted in a Strategic Plan with a mission statement, vision and the identification of strategic pillars. The school will now develop the strategic objectives and work out specific steps.

I am very pleased to be able to send you the Strategic Plan 2019-2023, so you will soon be able to have the printed version in your hands and get an impression.

The BLI, about which I had informed you in Gazette No. 7, is another important review coming up. Please allow me to remind you that on Wednesday, 6 November at 6 pm we will be holding an information session in the IB Hall where we will provide more details about the Federal State Inspection, to which I would like to invite you once again. We kindly ask for your understanding that this information session will be held in German.

The BLI team will give feedback to the school community on 22 November at 5 pm, to which you are also cordially invited in our IB Hall.

It gives me great pleasure to invite you to another interesting talk. On Thursday, 14 November, we will welcome the former governing mayor of Berlin, Mr Klaus Wowereit, at our school. He was governing mayor of Berlin from 2001 to 2014 and one of the Deputy Federal Chairmen of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) from 2009 to 2013.

At 11 am he will address some of our students in the IB Hall talking about "How I experienced and developed Berlin". You are also warmly invited to join as guest listener. Please note that this event will also be held in German.

I wish you all an enjoyable and relaxing weekend.

Ulrich Weghoff
Principal

The Association Board is pleased to announce the strengthening of the Board with the addition of a new director.

Mr Peter Fuellemann is from a Swiss-Chinese family: he is a German speaking Swiss, his wife, a French speaking Sino-Swiss born and raised in Shanghai, China. They have two trilingual kids, currently studying at K03 and K05 in the German International Stream. Mr Fuellemann notes that, “As we see how much our kids can benefit from our mixed cultures, our belief in diversity and multicultural inclusion has ever become stronger. Personally, I lived in Switzerland, UK, South Africa, and now together with my family, we enjoy living in Hong Kong, a most vibrant place thanks to its openness and intercultural exchanges across its population. Despite its size, Switzerland has long enjoyed high ranking as a very competitive economy, which is well-known for its ability of adaptation and innovation. Fundamentally, Swiss Education has and is playing a vital role to maintain the source for that innovation. Personally, I followed the classical Swiss curriculum, and hold a Master Degree from the University of St. Gallen.”

Mr Fuellemann heads the Property & Casualty Business Operations at Swiss Reinsurance Company for the Asia Region. Over his almost two decades with the firm, he has held numerous strategic and operational leadership positions across the group. Since 2018, he has been an active member of the GSIS Finance Committee.

Mr Fuellemann adds, “Given the ever increasing complexity of our world, what are the skill sets that our kids should master to thrive? My wife and I have kept asking …and we believe, GSIS, with no exception, must adopt its thinking in teaching to embrace changes while keeping its long-valued tradition, one of which is the multiculturalism. With joining the Board, I am committed to bringing in a broader view, and jointly with all stakeholders making GSIS an even better place, creating an environment where students will develop to their highest potential.”

The Association Board is grateful for Mr Fuellemann’s continued support on the Finance Committee and his willingness to serve on the Association Board.

Roland Müksch
Chair of the Boards

As part of the 50th anniversary year we would love to celebrate the diversity and different cultures that we have amongst the GSIS community. On Thursday it was wonderful to bring Diwali to the Peak campus. A huge thank you to all the parents and students who helped provide the delicious samosas and coconut laddoos for students and staff across both streams to enjoy as well as creating a colourful display on the story of Diwali and how it is celebrated. In primary we were especially lucky to have a group of students - Aarika Phadnis Y03B, Ashima Agarwal Y02C, Shuchi Ray Y06C, Siya Agrawal Y03B and Vedika Agarwal Y05C perform a traditional kathak and modern Bollywood dance.

We would also love to hear from you about other traditions and festivities that you would like to see being celebrated at GSIS.

50th anniversary celebration cupcakes
Hopefully you have all received a message for your KPR/ class parents to let you know about the plan for a celebratory cupcake for each student on Monday 11th November. We would like to work with the parent community to ensure that every child at school can enjoy some cake if they wish. Each class is responsible for making  24 cupcakes. Either 1 parent can make all 24 cupcakes or the parents can share the workload between them. To keep things simple we would like to keep to 3 flavours - vanilla, chocolate and lemon. Please note that all the cupcakes need to be nut free. If you are able to help please add your details to the Google Sheet here.

In addition it would be great if we could have some allergy free cupcakes - gluten, egg or dairy free etc - please contact us directly at parents@gsis.edu.hk if you are able to help with these.  We have recipes to share for all the different cupcakes if you would like.

There will be a table set up for dropping off the cupcakes on the morning of Monday 11th November in the main reception areas in the Lower and Upper Buildings at the Peak as all the students (including those from the Pok Fu Lam campus) will be celebrating together at the Peak. If you would like your containers returned please mark them clearly with your child’s name and class as well as your telephone number.

Thank you for your help in making the celebrations fun and memorable for the students.

Anouska Mutreja
Chair of Parents@GSIS

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Online Yearbook 2018-2019 Now Available

The Yearbook 2018-2019 is now available online for parents/students and staff. A limited quantity of print editions is currently in production and available for pre-order at https://mygsis.gsis.edu.hk/shop/. Orders will tentatively be ready for collection from school by mid-November, however, please wait to be notified by email that your order is ready for collection.

Project Privates

Dear Teachers, Parents and Students,

We are Ronny Chan, Julian Chow and Nathaniel Yeoh, a group of year 12 students who have created a group called “Project Privates” to raise awareness and remove the stigma for various issues regarding men's health specifically, such as testicular cancer and prostate cancer. As many of you may already know, November is Men’s Health Awareness Month, and over the next few weeks, we will be hosting different events such as presentations and bake sales to raise awareness on Men’s health.

But first of all, we will be hosting a “Movember” competition, where anybody can compete for the best moustache in the GSIS community over the month of November by taking a photo of themselves every week and receiving ‘votes’ through donations by fellow members of GSIS. This means that even parents or ex-members of GSIS can participate in the competition and raise awareness for this important issue of Men’s Health. At the end of 4 weeks, the person with the most votes will receive a prize and be crowned with the best moustache in the school.

In order to sign up, please fill in the form below and further instructions will be sent to you:

https://forms.gle/J98GbvVgr7TnCU8b7

We hope to see you all grow a moustache for November!

The Project Privates Team

Senior Netball Team reaches ISSFHK Division 2 Final

Congratulations to the GSIS senior netball team, which has reached the ISSFHK U20 Division 2 Final against Harrow School. The game will take place on Monday 4th November at 3.45pm on the Lower Building Rooftop Astroturf court. Supporters welcome! Good luck to the team!

Susan Hood
Deputy Head Pastoral & Co-curricular, ESD

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