I am sure you have already spent a lot of  time sharing your memories and talking about our 50th Anniversary celebrations with friends and family. And yet, I would like to come back once more to this very special event.

Our 50th Anniversary celebration was the most beautiful and memorable school festival I have ever experienced, and I have attended a great number of school functions. The various events of our three-day celebration offered something for everyone. On Thursday, our Alumni in particular had the chance to meet and catch up with each other and their former teachers. At the Evening of Celebration at Ocean Park event on Friday, the entire school community came together and enjoyed a wide variety of entertainment, great food and drinks, two great gala concerts, a special dance and light show, dancing to the rocky tunes of our IT team and much more. The gala concerts especially were second to none, amazing and truly spectacular, culminating in the world premiere of our school song "Spread Your Wings", composed by Christopher Tin, a world-renowned composer living in California.

Saturdays' "Heritage and Reflection" event was also a wonderful opportunity for the school community to come together in a smaller setting to celebrate 50 years of GSIS history and to enjoy a similar atmosphere to our traditional  Christmas Bazaar.

All in all, I felt that our festivities were a complete success, where everything was just right and the perfect weather combined with the political calm contributed to it. We were certainly very lucky, but above all it was the amazing commitment of so many people who gave everything during the months of preparation to create a fantastic event which will be a lasting memory for all of us.

I hope that much of this positive spirit in our community will last well into the future.

With my very best wishes

With just over 2 weeks till the Christmas holidays we started to getting in the festive mood with a Christmas dinner at the FCC where it was wonderful to mingle with parents and staff and learn more about how different families celebrate. 

As well as enjoying the festivities it is also a great time of year to help those less fortunate and a big thank you to those of you who have already spent time collecting and donating items for Vision First and the refugees in Hong Kong. The Global Initiatives team is still collecting new and old items in good condition:

• 2nd- 4th December: Clothes & Shoes for adults and kids
• 5th- 9th December: Dry Foods
• 10th - 12th December: Cutlery, Crockery and Stationery 
• 13th - 17th December: Toiletries

Don’t worry if you missed the date for an item as they will still accept everything till Tuesday 17th December. Collection points are located in the cafeteria, reception, sports hall and the primary building at the Peak.

For more information please contact Julia Surman (JSurman@gsis.edu.hk).

Now that the cooler weather has finally come to Hong Kong we look forward to our rescheduled hike on Monday 9th December. The hike will follow the Maclehose Trail section 5 with a small variation. Whilst it is a little challenging it will reward you with amazing city views from Kowloon Bay/ Hong Kong Island and Sai Kung with a final visit to the iconic Lion Rock.

If you are interested in joining the hike or have ideas for the new year please email us at parents@gsis.edu.hk

Get Your Christmas Goodies

If you didn't manage to do all your Christmas Goodie shopping at the Heritage and Reflection Celebration of our 50th Anniversary last week, you're in luck! Now available for purchase through the GSIS Online Shop, only while stocks last, we still have the following German seasonal treats in stock for you to fill up those Christmas stockings!

Check it out on the GSIS Online Shop here for all of that, as well as an assortment of other merchandise still available. Payment can be made by credit card through the GSIS Online Shop, and your goods picked up from M101 Middle Building (next to the Accounts Office), Peak Campus.

Movember

In the month of November, GSIS held its first Movember campaign, where some teachers, students, and parents alike grew out their moustaches in order to raise awareness for prominent men's health issues, namely testicular and prostate cancer. For the three of us who started Project Privates, we believe that this issue needs to be talked about, because of how common these cancers are for men, and also because of the taboo nature of these issues. This campaign has taken quite a lot of time and effort to organise, but we feel that it was worth it to help our community talk about men’s health in a more knowledgeable and open manner.

We would just first like to thank the entire GSIS community for supporting the event. In particular, those who listened to what we had to say on Parents Information Day and were willing to participate in the creation of our moustache wall. Although the main goal was to raise awareness for men’s health issues, we are immensely grateful for the HK$9000 we received in donations, all of which will be going to the Movember charity in order to further testicular and prostate cancer research. Furthermore, thank you to all who participated in Movember, because we know that it was not easy and must have been frustrating. Finally, we would like to thank Mr Markwick, because although he did not appear in any poster, he was integral in helping us plan and execute the entire campaign. Hopefully though, he'll agree to participate in our movement next year!

Once again, thank you all for your support and generous donations. Hopefully this is just the first year of what will be a long GSIS tradition!

The Project Privates Team
Julian, Nathaniel and Ronny (Y12)