Principal’s Message

Dear Parents, Staff, Students and Friends of WIS,

What an exceptional week. On Monday, our students won the overall HKSFF Cross Country for Hong Kong. To see the final results of our runners please click here.  This has been part of a series of wins during the last term. Our weekly running club has fostered talent, aspiration and achievement. What I am most impressed by is our student’s sense of team.

However, the award also made me think deeply about our school motto, West is Best.

During our assembly on Wednesday, we talked about how language is critical to our sense of self and our shared growth. Whilst the motto makes us proud to belong and proud to contribute, it can also be daunting. For some, West is Best can bring self-doubt if you don’t feel as good as others around you. Some get the first place in their sports, some get the highest marks in their classes, some are the most confident in their Chinese or English.

Some are not.

There is a skill which all young people (and some adults) need to learn in identifying the best around you and using this constructively to identify and bring out your own personal best. What really matters is that “West is Personal Best”. It doesn’t trip off the tongue with quite the same flow, but it matters to tell our young people this on a daily basis. The cross country challenge being a perfect example: a shield won by the whole team of runners who each placed in very different positions in different categories. The overall result has put us first in Hong Kong – but was won by individuals who were bettering themselves as part of a team.  I truly hope this achievement gives all our learners the feedback they need at this point in time – the only person you are competing against is yourself, and improving your personal best. If that’s where you put your worry and focus, the rest will look after itself. Everybody is of equal value and worth in our team at West Island School.

And I think that is an education worth having.

So too, the team work seen through Pink Week (Breast Cancer Awareness Week). Students and staff worked together in different ways to help raise funds for the cause: from walking around The Peak at a Sponsored Walk, to hosting a Pink Day at WIS and staff participating in a triathlon over the weekend, West at it’s Best. The week raised $33,000, three times the funds raised last year, all of which will all be donated to the Hong Kong Breast Cancer Foundation. Our thanks to the student organisers Victoria and Megan and Mr Harding for their hard work and supporting such a noble cause.

Have a restful weekend.

Yours,
Christopher Sammons
(Principal)