Principal’s Message
Dear Parents, Staff, Students and Friends of WIS,
I was hoping to write to you last Friday and let you know about some exceptional achievements from members of the community. During half term, teachers from West Island School were accompanied by students and parents to take part in the Hong Kong Breast Cancer Pink Walk. The group of 17 have kicked off our upcoming Pink Week to raise funds for this deserving cause. Congratulations to Mr Harding for pulling this together and generating HK$3800 towards the project.
We have also received news during half-term of several students who should be celebrated for their excellence in sport. Annette Chan entered and came first in the Asian Junior Figure Skating Challenge held in Hong Kong, competing against entrants for across South East Asia. Thiabult Minnie will also represent Hong Kong in a regatta this week and is currently ranked 10th at Hong Kong National level – not bad for a student in Year 8. Finally, both Amy Tao and Erin Rose have been selected to represent Hong Kong in the Schools Intersport Cross Country Championships during December. These students should feel very proud of their hard work and consistent effort over many years. So too, Seb Buddell, who was featured in Around DB. His achievements and drive must be commended.
Before half-term, I didn’t get the opportunity to congratulate everybody who had taken part in Star Search. Following a number of rounds held at lunchtime and after school, the final day was an incredible performance of talent. There were a wide range of acts from singing with body popping to classical harp. An extraordinary showcase of expertise in the Creative Arts and I hope that many of you were able to tune in to our live feed.
On Thursday last, we watched almost the whole community run our cross country course and earn points for their House. The organisation was slick and the competition was strong. Congratulations to Year 7 on their first of many and well done to Amy Tao (Year 11) for the fastest overall female and Swiss Duangthip (Year 9) for the faster overall male. Qing Dynasty came in first place followed by Han and Tang. It seems as though Qing are indeed out in front having also come first in the Bake Off Individual Finals, again followed by Han in second.
I have been asked by one of our families to share the awareness raising campaign currently being undertaken by Hong Kong University to encourage body donations. We were very proud to see one of our alumni who is now a medical student at Hong Kong University being interviewed during a recent documentary. Myra Fung can be seen in the film encouraging donations to support medical research and training. The brief documentary is in Cantonese and we would be happy to provide some translation or further contact information for those who may be interested.
Lastly, you may have received on your school email a notification to join West Island School on Remind. Remind is a free smartphone and web messaging app that assists in sending secure electronic notifications. Remind has proven to be a very effective tool for keeping parents securely updated on their child’s field trip(s). As such West Island School has decided to use this tool as the primary notification tool for all our Horizons Week activities taking place in November 2016. You can read more about Remind here. If you have any questions about Remind, please contact us at the school.
Enjoy your weekend.
Christopher Sammons
Principal
