From Head of Stream
Dear Parents
Over recent weeks we have received reports of students being approached by uninvited third parties via chatrooms of games such as Roblox or through Discord as well as other social media apps. Whilst this is concerning, it is something all users need to be aware of and although we have been addressing this in school our advice is for you to have a conversation with your son or daughter to ensure that they understand the risks of sharing data with third parties, particularly our younger students who seem to have access to a range of platforms. Here is a useful video that might help initiate a conversation in which teenagers share their thoughts.
I am also sharing a link to a website that outlines security settings and advice for parents and young people for a range of these apps; please review those that are relevant to your children and ensure you have enabled the correct privacy settings: https://www.webwise.ie/category/parents/explainers/. If anyone wants to further advice or discuss a particular incident, please do contact me at any time for a confidential discussion.
EIS Staff Departures & Recruitment
Kindergarten
Troy Decoff will be leaving us after many years’ of valuable service to return to Canada; the recruitment for his replacement as Kindergarten Student Support teacher is currently in progress.
Primary School
As many of you will know, Mini Franks left us at Christmas after 18 years’ service and is enjoying semi-retirement in Spain. Her position as Head of PE was taken over by Andrew Champion and Jamie Tsang joined us in January to bring the EPD PE Team up to full strength. Our German language teacher, Simone Schock, will be departing at the end of the academic year; the recruitment of her successor is nearly closed.
Secondary School
Zara Clayton, our IB Diploma Coordinator will be leaving Hong Kong at the end of this academic year. Zara has taught English for ten years and led the Diploma programme since early 2017 and under her supervision, our students have flourished. Zara will be replaced by Sean Wray who currently works within the ESF group leading a Curriculum Team and serving as Chair of the Committee of Teachers. Sean has just completed co-writing an IBDP Economics textbook and is studying for a Masters degree in Ethics. Zara’s English teaching responsibilities will be taken over by Francessca Adamson.
Our Head of University Guidance, Sue Prinsloo, will be leaving the school in mid-September to join her husband in South Africa. Sue will continue to work with her current cohort of Year 12 students until the end of the calendar year as they complete their university application process. We are very pleased to announce that Claire Wilkins will be taking over from Sue. Claire has been with us since the start of the school year and brings with her extensive knowledge of international admissions and a large global network that will have a positive impact on our students and university guidance programme. We have started the search for an additional university guidance counsellor to bring this team up to full strength from August.
Hedda Schuurmann left the school just before Christmas after many years’ service in order to be with her family in Canada. Alongside her role as a teacher of History, Hedda established the popular Social & Cultural Anthropology course in the Diploma programme and acted as the Extended Essay Coordinator. Jonathan Chan-Combrink has taken over Hedda’s SCA classes since the start of 2021.
German teachers Petra Lemm-Markus and Barbara Hlavaty will be returning to Europe at the end of the school year. Petra was a previous leader of the subject and Barbara has led the Hamburg exchange in recent years, we are very grateful for their service. They will be replaced by Lisa Mangles and, someone you may remember, Petra Leunig, who will return to the school.
Earlier in the school year, Brad Munt’s PE position was taken over by Katie Etchells-Bailey when Brad returned to New Zealand with his family and Kerry Haines’ music role was filled by Elise Kelly following Kerry’s departure to Japan just before the Chinese New Year. We have also recruited a Visual Arts teacher to replace Vanessa Phung who has returned to the UK to support her family.
We wish all our departing staff well for their future endeavours and warmly welcome all our new staff to the GSIS family.
Student Success
Earlier this week some of our students took part in the first online version of the Hong Kong Model United Nations, an event that has been running since the late 1980s. Shayona Sengupta was the Secretary-General, Arya Killa and Dylan Robinson were Committee Chairs and David Won and Aristobulous Lam each won best delegate awards. Congratulations to all of these students for their achievements and for representing the school so well.
On Saturday we have a team of debaters in the semi-final of the Singtao Debating competition. They are up against Diocesan Girls School so the competition will be fierce. Thanks go to Krystyna Butchart for leading the team and for supporting them throughout the year as well as during the upcoming break.
School & Public Examinations
Our Year 12 students will commence their School Exams straight after the break and our Year 11 and 13 students will start their Study Leave a week later. We are fortunate that we will be able to run most of our public examinations this year and would very much like to keep the school open during this time. The whole community can help ensure this by observing all the appropriate social distancing measures both in school and outside. Please do be cautious about your engagement with large groups of people and remind your children to wash their hands regularly, wear a mask and keep their distance.
Wishing you a peaceful Easter break
Simon Misso-Veness Deputy Principal / Head of English International Stream Email |
|
[TOP]
Kindergarten Corner
Dear Parents
This term has proven to be the most fruitful and successful in celebrating school events at school so far this school year.
We have been able to host the Sports Day and our Easter Celebration/Easter Egg Hunt.
Our Kindergarten children waited anxiously for the Easter Bunny's appearance, but instead, they found Easter baskets and chocolate eggs in the playground! The Easter Egg hunt brought much fun and joy. However, the mystery surrounding the Easter Bunny has still not been solved……
We hope that this beautiful experience will remain in their memory for a long time. The teachers and TAs have been a mastermind behind these events' success, and we would like to thank them for their continued dedication to the children and the school.
We wish all of you a very blessed Easter and a wonderful time over the Easter holidays and would like to leave you with some pictures of the Easter Baskets.
We are looking forward to seeing our students back after the Easter Holidays.
Sophie Burdel Head of Kindergarten Email | Eileen Mah Deputy Head of Kindergarten and Deputy Child Protection Officer Pok Fu Lam Campus Email |
Departmental News and Announcements
No updates / announcements this week.
Primary Corner
Dear Parents,
We have enjoyed our additional time with the students over the past few weeks.!
We are in preparation of our learning plan after Easter. Information and updates on scheduling and arrangements will be sent by email during the Easter break.

Kim Cunningham Head of English Primary Department Email | Donna Morley Deputy Head of English Primary Department Email |
Departmental News and Announcements
No updates / announcements this week.
Looking for what's been going on in class this week?
Secondary Corner
Departmental News and Announcements
No updates / announcements this week.