Dear Parents and Members of Staff

I hope you and family had a joyful and relaxing mid-term break.

We have just completed our CPD day where we realigned ourselves with our strategic objectives and supported our members of staff with tools and resources needed for another productive academic year with our students.

Time flies, it is now November.  As shared during the Summer, I will be leaving GSIS at the end of November and when I joined, I shared what a privilege it is to work for this legacy school.  I have enjoyed serving students, parents and members of staff over the last two years and have given my best efforts.  This is a journey that I have greatly cherished and will remember all those community members that I have had the honour to work with along the way.  Thank you for your relentless support.

Upon reflection, I thought that I'd share some of the key developments and challenges faced in the last academic year.  Most importantly, please continue to support the school, the Principal, the Senior Management Team and all the staff to take this school to the next level.

The 2020-2021 Academic Year was probably one of the most challenging years in the history of school operations.  The ever-changing pandemic situation and its subsequent restrictions imposed on schools in Hong Kong were unprecedented.  I am impressed with the agility and resilience our team demonstrated throughout.  The numerous resumption applications to the EDB and the actual implementation would not have been possible and approved without the relentless hard work and support from all staff, especially the Administration Team.

We had a rocky start due to the task given by the government (taking fortnightly PCR tests without legal support).  However, although difficult, we were able to eventually align all staff towards the goal by providing extra and individualised support to those in need.  I was also grateful for how our staff and community united together to create a safer environment for us all, by supporting and encouraging all to vaccinate.  Our staff and student vaccination rates were top among schools in Hong Kong and this would not have been possible without active participation from each one of us.

Despite a challenging context, we were still able to achieve substantial progress against our 5-year strategic plan and the yearly strategic objectives, on top of our daily operations and special measures required due to the pandemic.  In summary, 2019/20 was a year that the structure, process, policy and revamped procedure were put in place in priority areas to modernise our school and enable our operations.  Roles and accountability were clearly defined and in 2019, the Performance Appraisal system was launched to measure the progress and performance, as well as to identify, support and develop career aspirations.  Such work enabled us to focus on efficiency enhancement in all areas for Academic year 2020/21.  Although GSIS is a not for profit educational organisation, we strive to maximise the value and impact for our students through good management and utilisation of the tuition fee income entrusted by parents.  Through the established performance driven culture, we were collectively able to achieve great KPIs and outcomes.

Longer term, we received encouragement and reassurance from the parents that the overall improvement of the traffic condition had been improved and the measures in place were working.  The school engaged parent representatives for two years for the annual tender to recruit a new bus company to bring better services to students and parents at costs.  Most importantly, it is preparation for a mandatory bus policy which will be necessary once the construction at Mansfield Road starts. Furthermore, it was felt that in order to implement this, the school must ensure a reliable bus service to move forward with this. Many schools in Hong Kong who use KCM are equally frustrated, but the worry and risk associated with bringing in a new service provider is a challenge.  We are the only international school to have successfully made the switch.  The school has done its best to manage the tendering process and endorse the decision of the Bus Company Selection Committee, and to support Synergy to settle in its operations at GSIS.  Together with Synergy, the school will continue to evaluate and support Synergy’s services; we thank parents’ understanding and support in the school's initiative and action of bringing in a new bus company.

In partnership with the Police, Transportation Department, District Council, Developer (Wheelock), the school is also exploring an off-site drop off area and shuttle bus should the traffic worsen due to construction.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank staff members, parents and community members for the support given to the school. After two years in post, I am leaving the school at the end of November 2021 proud of what we have achieved together.  I ask for your continuous support and encouragement of the school, particularly to the Administration Team who have cared deeply and given their best efforts in every way possible.  Many of them are the silent and reliable heroes working behind the scenes to turn everything from a plan to a reality.

I would like to share below some highlights from 2020/21:

Enhanced Efficiency

• Consolidated Incomes & Expenditure (Association & Foundation), after intercompany contribution between Association and Foundation.

1. Income: 2% below the budget
2. Expenditure: 6% below the budget.  Although a small portion of cleaning force was outsourced in 2020/21 for better cleaning quality required for pandemic, the major saving had been achieved from administrative personnel costs starting from March 2020 (Academic Year 2019/20) due to active and conscious manpower utilisation by redefining and merging roles etc in preparation of economic downturn and potential declined tuition fee income.
3. Surplus: HKD 172% over the budget

• Headcount for Administration Staff 

1. 2020/21 Budget: 96 pax
2. 2020/21 Actual: 79 pax (active manpower utilisation started from March 2020: Academic Year 2019/20 by redefining and merging roles etc in preparation of economic downturn.  A small portion of Cleaning Force was outsourced in 2020/21)
3. 2021/22 Budget: 79
4. 2021/22 September Actual: 73 pax

• Student and Administration Staff Ratio:

1. 2020/21 Budget: 12.8 (each administration staff supporting 12.8 students)
2. 2020/21 Actual: 15.3
3. 2021/22 Budget: 15.7
4. 2021/22 September actual: 16.9

Better Service at Costs

• A new bus company was tendered and selected to enhance students’ and parents’ experience and in preparation for mandatory bus policy at Peak Campus
• Thorough implementation of tendering and procurement policy to elicit better services at costs and for compliance.

Finance Sustainability

• Procedures and policies were refined to enhance the efficiency and the roll out of the entire ERP.
• Overall operations will be further streamlined once SAP and portals are synched and rolled out in 2021/22 with solid progress achieved in 2020/21.
• Capital levy was announced and promoted for the intake in 2021/22 to recruit a variety of families to selected year groups.
• All school fees were re-formalised with the EDB such as debenture, capital levy, 60-day late notice fee and registration fee etc.  Phased implementation was introduced in 2020/21 to tie re-enrolment with registration fee that enabled the school for better resources planning and protected the school’s financial sustainability.

Facility Management

• Facility Management Team transformation was audited in Summer 2021 and scored 75% which was an outstanding result
• Key summer projects completed to enhance school facilities
• Legacy Air Conditioning problems at Upper Building were diagnosed and will be resolved between October to Summer 2022.  Contingency plan well in place to address ad-hoc issues when solution works are in progress.

Project completed in summer 2021.

Compliance to Regulatory Bodies’ Requirements

• PICS (Personal Information Collection Statement), Community Communication Policy, Tendering and Procurement Policy were launched to strengthen the school’s operations, harmonise the community and provide protection to the school and community at the data privacy protection and compliance areas.
• New Membership Application and Renewal procedure were launched to build a robust membership database and to prevent irregularities from happening.  A new Membership Portal has also been built and will be launched in 2021/22 to further strengthen the database and application and renewal procedure.
• Newly refined re-enrolment and new membership procedure and portal ensured all parents and community members consent to PICS and other policies which not only enabled the school conduct its duties, but it protects the entire school and community re data privacy and usage.

Community Engagement & Communications

• The school’s timely communications via emails and Gazette have become a reliable source of information for students and parents.
• The readership of Gazette has increased substantially and parents surveyed appreciate the weekly updates from the school
• Our social media has successfully achieved the goals: (1) showcased the GSIS spirit and community engagement (2) delivered our brand promise: showcasing students’ achievements in all areas (3) generating interest for GSIS events and admissions enquiries.

Admissions

• Assessments and interviews were successfully implemented despite the challenges faced in pandemic.
• Seats were filled and healthy shortlists were created.
• Number of withdrawals were modest compared to others and on track with the budget and previous years, due to close communications and follow-ups.
• Re-launched re-enrolment, satisfactory result was achieved with more understanding and compliance from parents.
• Registration Fee was fully implemented and ready to be brought forward to March in 2021/22.  These new policies in place would provide a better forecast of student number and have been updated in all relevant documentation.

HR

• New Welcome Package and Induction Programme tailored to meet individual’s needs in the context of pandemic which was well received by all new staff.
• Support the leadership and all staff to take testing and vaccinations through open communications and individualised support and coordination.
• Staff retention and recruitment was the focus which was a challenge faced by all schools.
• Dedicated support to staff members’ well-being from counselling services to personalised support when in need

IT Operations as an enabler

• Data Security audited and action plan in place for partial implementation in 2020/21 and 2021/22 onwards.
• Upgraded PFL wifi network and firewall to improve online learning experience for Kindergarten and Primary students
• Enabled major events participated by hundreds: AGM/EGM, Career Day, Townhalls
• Upgraded the firewall at Peak Campus to provide better IT security for the school
• Updated and managed all license for online learning
• The design and deployment of SAP to enhance finance efficiency (a system to streamline and connect budget, expenses and procurement)
• Implemented and supported the Redefined Membership Application and Renewal Process and designed the new portal to strengthen the membership database and relevant operations.

Finally, as you know, 3rd party independent consulting firm has been commissioned to conduct an engagement survey for the school.  Your active participation is needed, so we have your encouragement, suggestions and feedback to build a school for the 21st Century.