Primary Corner

What a pleasure it has been to have the children in school for the entire year and to see the return of sporting competitions, sports days, overnight camps and educational visits - there have certainly been many things to celebrate!

The Primary School classes at the Peak celebrate this with the "Days of Friendship" while the preschool children say goodbye to the Pok Fu Lam campus.

Friendship Days

Monday, 19 June: Scavenger hunt through the primary school building with community games and team building.
Tuesday, 20 June: Hike to the Peak with games
Each day, children will come to school and go home as usual. More information on how the days will run, checklists etc., will follow over the next week.

Report cards

The children will bring their report cards home on the last school day. In the afternoon of the same day, you will also have the opportunity to view the report cards in Veracross.

Priska Erni: Thank you and "Uf wiederluege"

These will now also be my last days at GSIS. I would like to thank you all very much for the wonderful time. Our common goal - to educate your children, and our students, to become people eager to learn - has always been our focus. I was pleased to be able to work on this together with you.

Now comes a quieter time for me, a time to see how life goes. Of course, I will miss the school with all its members and will certainly come back to visit. And you know, Hong Kong is a village - we will surely meet again.

Priska Erni Head of German Primary Department Email

Beate Weinhardt Deputy Head of German Primary Department Email

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Departmental News and Announcements

From Head of Stream

Discovery Week 2023

We have placed 362 students on overseas trips so far for Discovery Week 2023.

Of these students, 316 (87.3%) received their first or second choice following the selection algorithm operated by SchoolsBuddy. Unfortunately, we lost one of our intended trips just before the allocation, which led to around thirty Year 7 & Year 8 students needing a place on a trip to Europe, which was hugely disappointing. However, we are working now to source an external provider who can provide a replacement trip as soon as possible, and we will contact these families when the programme and costings have been agreed.

The planning for Discovery Week 2023 has undoubtedly been challenging. Despite the significant demand from parents at the start of the year, we could only begin serious planning once restrictions were relaxed in February. Even then, the frequency of flights was not the same as before the pandemic, and many carriers did not release their October schedules until May. Some airlines also impose a limit to group bookings on some flights. I could go on, but I won’t! Thank you to Connie Zavou, Angelin Yam and Ian Tam, who have been working tirelessly for months to get the structure of these trips organised.

For those students remaining in Hong Kong for Discovery Week, we will share the options before the end of the term.

World Scholars Cup Success

Last weekend, a team of Year 7 GSIS students took part in the Hong Kong round of the World Scholars Cup. They were competing against older students up to Year 9 and, apart from one debate lesson per week, had received relatively minimal training. I was fortunate to encounter the group while they were taking their photograph earlier this week, and they showed me their fifty-five (!) medals. Thanks to Krystyna Butchart, Libby Donohoe and Sadhbh McCarrick for supporting the students.

Primary Concert

Friday evening marked the end of an era as Jennifer McLachlan directed her final school concert after fifteen years of dedicated service. The programme was an eclectic blend of popular songs from the sixties and seventies and a memorable performance of Sing! that brought Ms. McLachlan to tears due to the power and passion of the young performers - an unforgettable evening for primary music and a great send-off for a dedicated and well-loved teacher.

Bands@The Wanch, 3 June 2023

The music continued on Saturday afternoon at The Wanch in the middle of Wan Chai as many student bands played to a very professional audience of parents and peers. They did not disappoint; we hope to see this event feature again soon. Thank you to Mr. Goldring and Ms. Kelly for arranging the opportunity.

IB Evaluation Report

I am delighted to announce that the school received an excellent report following the recent IB Evaluation that takes place every five years. A Team from the International Baccalaureate oversaw the school’s second formal evaluation. This process involved a review of all critical documents, a comprehensive programme evaluation based on a Self-Study Questionnaire involving all stakeholders and a three-year Programme Development Plan focused on improving student wellbeing.

“The School is strategic in providing services to support students' wellbeing and enhancing access to learning opportunities... It can be seen in the team-based approach the school instigated to support students by integrating the support provided by the DP coordinator, the Head of Y12/13, the University Guidance team, and the Head of Academic Support into the "Diploma Programme Support Team".

Student Leave Requests

A gentle reminder to families that if you wish to request leave for your child before the end of term, please make this request at least three full school days before your intended departure date. Confirmation of any activities that necessitate this missed time would help support your application.

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Primary Corner

We are rapidly approaching the end of a very successful school year. What a pleasure it has been to have the children in school for the entire year and to see the return of sporting competitions, sports days, overnight camps and educational visits - there have certainly been many things to celebrate!

We have also been delighted to be able to bring back our musical performances. Last Friday's Summer concert was an outstanding success and a fitting tribute to Ms. Jennifer McLachlan’s 15-year career at German Swiss. We will be very sorry to say goodbye to Jennifer, but we are glad she could end her time with us on such a performing high! We wish Jennifer a very happy and well-deserved retirement. We also have to say a sad farewell to another long-time member of staff, Ms. Erin Gillespie. Erin will be moving to Japan and is returning to class teaching - we do not doubt that she will continue to enrich the children’s learning with her impressive tech skills and understanding. We will all miss Ms. Gillespie’s positivity and outstanding contribution to the department. Mr. Budwill will also leave his position as a part-time PE teacher to pursue other options in Hong Kong. We wish him well and thank him for his work this year.

As we say goodbye to some of our teachers, we welcome new staff to the team. Ms. Mary Champney will join us as Head of Music. She has held whole-school music teaching and leadership positions throughout Australia, England, Egypt, the Philippines and Hong Kong. She is a classically trained pianist passionate about curriculum development and cultivating children's love of music. Ms. Christy Bicknell will join us as our teacher Librarian. Christy has taught in Hong Kong for 16 years as a classroom teacher and teacher-librarian. We are excited by her experience making the school library into a community space and look forward to her ideas for further igniting our children's passion for reading. Next year we will also welcome back Mr. Don Benson after his sabbatical year. Don will take on a new and exciting role as a specialist Art teacher, working alongside homeroom teachers to share his artistic talents with our children.

Donna Morley Head of English Primary Department Email

Eleanor Cowling Deputy Head of English Primary Department Email

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Departmental News and Announcements