CPD Day Cancelled 11 March 2022 - Online School Day

We have decided to cancel our second CPD Day this academic year, which was scheduled for Friday, 11 March 2022. We will use this day as an online teaching day. Our staff are invested in their professional development and online learning expertise. To ensure ongoing training opportunities happen for staff in the second semester, Professional Development will be arranged individually for each department by the respective Head.

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Meeting of KPR Secretaries and School Management - 1 March 2022

We are looking forward to our second meeting of this academic year, which will be held on 1 March. Following the meeting, the minutes will be shared with you and further updates of our arrangements will be provided through the KPR system.

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University Guidance: Upcoming Events (External)

The following events are suitable and available to all students and parents of students in Y10-Y13 and K09-K12:

GERMANY: OKEANOS FOUNDATION FOR THE SEA

Okeanos Foundation for the Sea is a German philantrophic organization active in the Pacific and in Europe. We support Pacific island states in their efforts to operate and build fossil-fuel traditional sailing canoes (Vakas) for passenger and cargo transportation needs, culturally based education and research. In Europe, we focus on ocean and environmental protection through mindful, experience-based education.

Waves of action

Summer Camp Opportunity for Environmentalist for students 16-20 years: 2 weekends in Germany and 2 weeks in France - one sailing on a Vaka!

Costs: €300,- and travel costs to the 2 weekend seminars in Darmstadt.

You have an idea with which you want to contribute to the protection of the oceans, but you don't know exactly how to put it into practice?

Send us your project idea and tell us what your motivation is behind it and in which area you are looking for support. To help you get your bearings, we have put together a few examples for you. If your project idea convinces us, we will reset the sails together! In the truest sense of the word, because we invite you to the Mediterranean coast of southern France for two weeks. In the first week, you will meet professionals at the summer camps who will give you practical tips and assistance for your needs. The second week you will spend at sea on our Polynesian catamaran and discover the oceans from an exciting new perspective.

Send us your project idea and apply here.

HK: HONG KONG RUGBY UNION COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

Service opportunity for rugby enthusiasts

The Hong Kong Rugby Union Community Foundation is pleased to launch the SHINE programme in collaboration with RUN, a local NGO that rehabilitates refugees through sport and education, and our long term partner Laureus. We’ll be helping refugee children learn new skills and knowledge as well as having a whole heap of fun during a 12 week rugby and team activities programme. We can’t wait to engage with the kids as soon as social distancing restrictions allow!

Please keep an eye on our website for future opportunities.

https://www.hkrugby.com/community-foundation/hong-kong-rugby-union-community-foundation

UK: IMPERIAL, KING’S, UCL

World Class Study in London Virtual Events For Students

Staff from three of London’s leading institutions – Imperial College London, King’s College London and UCL – will be holding online information sessions for students from Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau. Discover more about studying in London from our current students and our academics from Engineering, Medicine and Law.

Schools Q&A

The live event will be a Q&A with student officers. We will also be joined by some of our current students, so that prospective students can ask them about their experience at our institutions and student life in London. Upon registering, the students will be able to view a pre-recorded presentation that we recommend they watch before the live event. The presentation will give them all the practical information we think they will need - unique opportunities for students in London, career planning tips, an overview of our institutions and programmes, plus application advice.

Please sign up for only one of the following events as they will be the same.

Tuesday 1 March 10:30am-12:00pm GMT (6:30pm-8:00pm HKT)
Register

Wednesday 2 March 10:30am-12:00pm GMT (6:30pm-8:00pm HKT)
Register

Thursday 3 March 10:30am-12:00pm GMT (6:30pm-8:00pm HKT)
Register

Academic Q&A

This is an opportunity to ask questions to our academic staff directly. The event has three sessions and each one will cover a popular subject area: Engineering, Law & Medicine.

Students are requested to register for the subject(s) they are interested in. Upon registering, they will be able to view a pre-recorded presentation that we recommend they watch before the live session(s). The presentation will give them all of the practical information that we think they will need about that subject area. The live event will be a Q&A with an academic member of staff from each institution. They will each give a brief overview of the subject area at their institution and then the Q&A will commence.

Engineering

Tuesday 8 March 10:30am-12:00pm GMT (6:30pm-8:00pm HKT)
Register

Medicine

Wednesday 9 March 10:30am-12:00pm GMT (6:30pm-8:00pm HKT)
Register

Law

Thursday 10 March 10:30am-12:00pm GMT (6:30pm-8:00pm HKT)
Register

USA: BOSTON UNIVERSITY

Summer Journalism Academy at Boston University

Boston University presents a hands-on experience for high school students interested in journalism, writing or photography. Our program gives students ages 14 to 18 the opportunity to expand their skills and prepare for college, either through a residential experience on campus or through remote instruction from home.

For 13 years, our program has taught high school students core skills in news reporting, interviewing, and writing, while focusing on hands-on experience in and around Boston and their home communities. Taught by award-winning working journalists such as Pulitzer Prize winner Lara Salahi , students learn how to follow facts and get to the heart of stories affecting communities.

Students are challenged to step outside their comfort zone and experience life as a working journalist. In the past, our students spoke with policymakers, reported from a massive immigration march, and highlighted issues affecting teens during the pandemic. They learned how to interview strangers, ask probing questions, and assemble information in a concise story with a deadline. Students learn practical skills over each two-week session, but they also get a taste of how a newsroom operates.

For students living on-campus, they have the opportunity to:

• Meet with Boston University's representative to discuss the college admissions process
• Explore what it's like living in a residence hall and studying in a university environment
• Experience Boston museums, historical sites, and neighborhoods during free time

Two-week sessions begin on June 20, July 4, and July 18. Students decide if they would like to attend in-person or virtual programs. They also have the option to participate in the writing and reporting program, photojournalism program, or both.

For more details and registration, please click here

If students are accepted to the program and pay the registration fee by 31 March, they will receive a special discount of $400 off the in-person tuition (EARLYCAMPUS22) and $200 off tuition for the virtual program (EARLYRLFH22).

USA: UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

Virtual Model Class Updates from UChicago

Interested in experiencing a UChicago class? UChicago is hosting these upcoming virtual model classes that will introduce you to exciting topics and UChicago’s Life of the Mind atmosphere. We welcome you and any interested family members to join in on these classes!

Topic: Neuroscience

Friday 25 February 9:00am-10:00am CST (11:00pm-12:00am HKT)

Join us for a model class with Professor Megan McNulty, Associate Senior Instructional Professor in the Biological Sciences Collegiate Division. Professor McNulty's model class will draw upon her undergraduate Neuroscience course for non-Neuroscience majors.

Register

Topic: Data Science

Tuesday 15 March 10:00am-11:00am CDT (11:00pm-12:00am HKT)

Join us for a model class, "An Example of Misinterpreted Data", with David Biron, Assistant Senior Instructional Professor in the Department of Statistics and Director of Undergraduate Studies in Data Science.

Register

USA: 15 U.S. LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGES

 15 on the 15^th - monthly virtual college fairs with 15 U.S. liberal arts colleges

Designed for international prospective students and counsellors, our goal is to provide students with the opportunity to get to know our institutions in-depth at their own pace.

On the 15^th of each month, March through December, we will come together to offer "15 minutes of Tips" for the college application process followed by an hour-long virtual college fair. Each institution will have its own Zoom room for students to meet with an international admission officer and a current student or alum. The format is the same every month with different opening topics and tips.

March – October on the 15^th 9:45am-11:00am ET (9:45pm-11:00pm HKT)

November – December on the 15^th 9:45am-11:00am ET (10:45pm-12:00am HKT)

You only need to register once. Before each college fair, registrants will receive a reminder email with the Zoom links to access the main webinar and each college's room.

Meet the colleges of 15 on the 15^th and register here.

INTERNATIONAL: WRITING COMPETITIONS

Do you love to write? Please find here a sample of some upcoming writing competitions open to international high school students.

1. Ocean Awareness Writing Contest

The Ocean Awareness Competition provides a platform for young people to understand environmental issues through artistic creation and creative thoughts, explore their relationship with the changing world, and become advocates of positive change.

Eligibility: International competition. Any student age 11-18 who is/was enrolled in middle or high school (secondary school) while the contest is open. For example, if you are in the 12th grade in September 2021 and graduate high school in May/June 2022 , you can participate in the 2022 Ocean Awareness Contest.

Junior Division: 11-14 years old

Senior Division: 15-18 years old

Competition theme: The theme of the 2022 Ocean Awareness Competition is “The Funny Thing About Climate Change.”

Competition time: The deadline for submission is 13 June 2022

Official website of the competition

2. New York Times Summer Reading Competition

Since 2010, the New York Times has held a summer reading competition for middle school students from all over the world every summer. So far, more than 50,000 middle school students have participated. The Summer Reading Contest invites students to choose something in The Times that has sparked their interest, then tell us why. At the end of every week, judges from the Times newsroom pick their favorite responses, and the winner’s work will be published in NY Times.

Before the end of the competition (August), participants can choose any article, essay, video, interaction, podcast, or photo published in the New York Times to analyze, write about, and submit to the competition. Every Tuesday after the start of the competition, the previous week’s winners will be announced and their writing pieces will be published.

Competition time: TBD

Suitable for students: 13-19-year-old students from all over the world.

Students aged 13-15 can submit via the form in the link to the weekly article, subject to parent or guardian consent;

Students aged 16-19 can directly submit in the comments of the weekly articles.

Official website of the competition

3. Write the World Series Writing Contest – Science Fiction

Students envision a future that will undergo tremendous changes due to technology, the environment, or new social order. You can write about artificial life, unexpected encounters, novel societies, or cli-fi (climate fiction) utopian or dystopian futures. In a short story, conjure a reality that no one else has dreamed of, and transform our vision of tomorrow’s world.

Competition time: TBD

Suitable for students: 13-18-year-old students from all over the world

Official website of the competition

4. John Locke Essay Competition

The John Locke Essay Competition is organized by John Locke Institute, an independent education organization located in Oxford, UK. The John Locke Institute encourages young people to cultivate the characteristics that turn good students into great writers: independent thought, depth of knowledge, clear reasoning, critical analysis, and persuasive style. All of their essay prizes are judged by senior academics from the University of Oxford. The judges will choose their favorite essay from each subject category and an overall ‘best essay’ across seven subjects. Read more about the complete guide to John Locke Competition here.

Competition time: February 2022 (GMT Time)

Suitable for students: 2 Levels – High school students 18 years old or younger and Middle School students 14 years old or younger at the submission deadline.

Official website of the competition. 

Here is a list of some other writing competitions that take place each year for you to explore. Some are still open for this year, others you will need to keep an eye on for their next cycle.

• Columbia Young Authors Writing Competition
• River of Words Poetry and Art Contest
• Annual DNA Day Essay Contest
• New York Times STEM- Writing Contest
• Princeton- 10 Minute Playwriting Contest
• New York Times Students Editorial Contest
• Young Reporters for the Environment Competition
• Jane Austen Society Essay
• Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest
• Bennington College Young Writers Awards
• HUEA/HER International Essay Contest
• Leonard L Milburg '53 High School Poetry Prize
• Marshall Society Essay Competition
• New York Times Personal Narrative Writing Contest
• New York Times Student Review Contest
• New York Times Summer Reading Contest
• Stanford CGCP Student Writing Contest
• Write the World Series

Claire Wilkins Head of University Guidance Email

Beatrice Ugolini University Guidance Counsellor Email

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