Dear Parents,
Join us in celebrating our Secondary International Day on Thursday, 13th June! We are seeking parent volunteers to represent various countries and oversee tables at our Secondary exhibition. Our students (and staff!) are eager to immerse themselves in diverse cultures and savour some delicious culinary treats. Your assistance in making the last few weeks of the school term unforgettable would be hugely appreciated.
Parent volunteers needed!
It is not essential that you are from - or a strong affiliation with - a particular country; if you are willing to help then it would be hugely appreciated.
Key information:
Date of Secondary International Day: Thursday 13th June
Venue: Kwun Tong Campus Auditorium, 2nd Floor
Time of Exhibition: Open to students from 8.50am to 12.45pm
Exhibition set-up times: Wednesday 12th June 5.00pm - 6.00pm and/or Thursday 13th June 7.15 am – 8.40am
Lunch: Sandwich lunch and refreshments provided by the PTA for parent volunteers on Thursday 13th June
If you are free to support this event, please complete the link below by Friday 24 May at 2pm. The PTA will then be in touch with you.
Parent Volunteer Sign Up
Thank you very much for your support.
VIRTUAL MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR
As part of the Nord Anglia Young Musician of the Year competition four of our year 9 students, Roselyn S, Yu Wen C, Siena C and Winston W, entered the ensemble category and were awarded 3rd Place.
This competition is open to all Nord Anglia schools across the world and in this ensemble category there were over 700 entrants all competing for the top spots. Our students have played extremely well to be awarded 3rd prize across the world.
You will most definitely have heard them play at any of the school open days or concerts but if you have not, you can! They will be performing again in our summer concert later this term and we look forward to seeing you there.
SPORTING UPDATE
On Tuesday 7th May, NAIS Knights U14 Boys Touch Rugby had another resounding victory, beating Sha Tin College 13-0. A great team performance saw the tries shared widely amongst 6 players. 1 try each for Pablo and Andrey, 2 for Captain Efe, Oliver, and Eli, but all eclipsed by player of the match, Seb, who bagged 5! This was a well-rounded display with the team showing maturity and control in their structure and patterns but also an opportunity to welcome two debutants and first-time rugby players Kabir and Andrey, who both learnt a lot from the game. Congratulations team!
On Thursday 9th May, in a hard-fought match, the U14 Boys Touch Rugby team faced off against a speedy and agile KGV team. NAIS Knights took an early lead with an impressive individual try from Oliver, but KGV quickly responded with two tries of their own. Eli finished off a sweeping move to equalise the score 2-2 at Half time. In the second half, KGV came back strong, scoring three more tries. Despite the challenging second half, NAISHK demonstrated commendable bravery in their try-line defence, making crucial tags to save potential tries.
On Wednesday 8th May, NAIS Knights U12 Girls Volleyball team travelled to ASHK. From the off it was clear the girl's meant business with some superb serving and defensive digs being played. The girls fought hard and came away with a 3-0 victory! Superb team effort and excellent progression shown by all. Keep it up girls!
Our U12 boys football team went into this week's fixtures in a positive mood following their strong performance against MCHK two weeks ago. After a wait at Quarry Bay Park for kick off, the game got off to a ferocious start. A high tempo, physical and well experienced VSA team immediately applied pressure and sustained this for the rest of the half. Lewis in goal was working miracles to deny the onslaught as much as possible. At half time, the score was 0-4 to VSA. The second half followed a similar pattern - the post and bar came to our rescue as did Lewis once more several times. In a game dictated by the VSA captain, ably supported by his team, the end score was 0-6.
The following day saw the team travel to KGV school. A game that saw our boys team grow with confidence saw us go into half time losing 1-2, with captain Edwin scoring a long-distance strike. The half time team talk on maintaining standards, trying to play a passing game and using the wings more was quickly forgotten when our game management let us down by gifting KGV 2 goals for little effort. The team continued to work hard and an end result of 1-6 saw a promising first half not realised. Whilst the scores were not what we wanted, the effort and desire to play with maturity was continued and will serve the boys well in the long term. The results of this week will not define them as the future players they are working hard to be!
GEOGRAPHY SPOTLIGHT AND HIGHLY COMMENDED
Geography Spotlight
Year 12 IBDP
Year 12 students continue to make great progress in IBDP Geography. In Higher Level, we have completed Unit 4: Power, Places and Networks, and are now firmly into the exploration of Unit 5: Development and diversity. Through this theme, we have been exploring the global spectrum of traits as well as the effects of global interactions on cultural diversity across many global societies. At Standard Level, students have recently completed their studies of Paper 2 Core. This is a fantastic achievement so early in the academic year. We are now half-way through Option G: Urban Environments in Paper 1. This is a fundamental part of their syllabus as they will soon be undertaking their IAs with a trip to explore the changes within Hong Kong’s bustling urban area. As shown in the following photos, they can be seen taking part in a new and fun experience of designing their own urban designs in a competitive team game!
Year 10 IGCSE
Year 10 students are rapidly approaching the end of term having made their way through almost two thirds of the IGCSE course content (Themes 1 and 2 of Paper 1). Our final area of focus is on Climate and Natural Vegetation as students seek to uncover the mysteries of plant and animal survival in these extremely hot climates!
Since the start of 2024, we have progressed brilliantly through Theme 2: The Natural Environment. We have covered plate tectonics, rivers and coasts in depth. Despite the complexity of some of the physical processes students must learn in these topic areas, our students have been able to make solid progress. This is in part due to how our curriculum at IGCSE builds on the foundations in these topic areas that our students cover in Years 7-9.
It has been a productive year for all 45 of our Year 10 students. We look forward to the upcoming fieldtrip to Yangshuo, China, where our students will be undertaking important data collection and analysis ahead of their Paper 4 (Alternative to Coursework) examination in the summer of 2025.
Year 9
During Term 2 and 3, our Year 9 pupils have been exploring the concepts of Globalisation and Development. Through a detailed investigation into the global clothing industry, students have learnt all about the causes and effects of globalisation. We have explored our increasing interconnectedness and evaluating the main causes and consequences of the changes. Pupils have learnt about Transnational Corporations (TNCs) and had the opportunity to create their own. They then mapped global patterns of trade and industrial sectors.
In Term 3, our pupils will gain an understanding of how to measure development, by comparing different development indicators. Alongside theories of development, students will also look for reasons why some countries struggle to develop and what solutions could be found to reduce the development gap.
Year 8
Year 8 pupils finished last term producing some brilliant team-based posters on extreme environments in Antarctica. Groups were given choices between science and exploration, tourism, challenges on the continent, governance, and climate. The groups then worked together to research different aspects and create vibrant and informative posters to display their findings.
This term we have started learning about the population explosion of the last century. Students have drawn graphs to show how little the population changed for centuries, before exponentially increasing in recent years. Then, we explored reasons for these changes before learning how to interpret population pyramids to compare countries at different stages of development. Next, students will choose a country with a low birth rate to research. They will independently investigate the main causes, consequences, and solutions to this 21st century issue.
Year 7
In Term 3, our Year 7 pupils have revisited their map skills by being challenged to survive an unfortunate shipwreck on Rig Rha! They have spent the past few weeks exploring their newly discovered island and have had to navigate to avoid dangers; find food to prevent starvation; find reliable water supplies; and enquire about the island’s many unique ecosystems.
Our students had the wonderful opportunity to use the creative platform ‘Flipgrid’ where they documented and recorded video blogs about their survival adventures. Our Year 7 pupils relished the opportunity to show off their incredible talents. They will end the academic year exploring the contemporary topic of climate change before the summer holidays begin.
Highly Commended
Year 7, Aiden J
Year 8, Audrey C
Year 9, Jack L
Year 10, Aubrey L
Year 12, Summer M
ART SPOTLIGHT AND HIGHLY COMMENDED
It has been an extremely busy and exciting few weeks in the Art Department! The exam period for Year 11 and Year 13 is always action packed and this year has been no exception. It has been a pleasure to see the broad range of high-quality artwork that has been imagined and realised. The Art rooms have been open morning noon and night, as well as productive Saturday sessions for our dedicated and creative students.
Year 13
It is my pleasure to announce that the Y13 Art exhibition is open on the lower ground floor. We have invited the parents and friends of Year 12 and 13 to celebrate the creative achievements of our Art and Music Students next Friday. This promises to be an exciting event in the school calendar. The exhibition will include the Year 13 artist’s final show, which will be accompanied by music written and performed by our talented Y13 musicians. The collaboration between Music and Art has produced some beautiful soundscapes and imagery that creates an immersive experience not to be missed.
Year 12
IB student had a fantastic trip to Art Basel Exhibition at the end of March. Art Basel is usually held annually at the Hong Kong Exhibition Centre and our students relished the opportunity to see 240 International galleries exhibiting under one roof. The work on show was amazing and students have been inspired and energized with new ideas and possibilities that are bubbling through their process portfolios to begin creating final pieces. As many of you will know and love, there is a rich artistic community here in Hong Kong. I look forward to making gallery trips a regular experience for our students.
Year 11
Final year IGCSE students completed their Art exam in the past weeks. Both student portfolio projects have now been sent to Cambridge, England to be marked. I have been really impressed with the scope of work that has been realised. The self-led exam project begins with students selecting from five topics, which ranged from themes such as ‘Glass Containers’ to ‘Just in Time’. Students research artists to gain ideas for their artistic expression. This leads to experimentation with a range of materials and processes towards imaginative and unusual final pieces. Jessica J is one of our many talented artists. She chose the theme of ‘Disorder’ and worked with the concept of pollution and marine conservation. Her beautiful development work gives an insight into the creative process and technical skills that IGCSE Art supports and develops.
Eva Zhang, also in Year 11, selected the theme ‘Just in time’ and became fascinated by ancient sculptures and artefacts that she photographed in museum collections. Her project developed to discover ideas of Buddhism and meditative states, resulting in her fabulous illustrative paintings showcased below.
Year 10
We have been working with the theme of ‘Natural Forms’ this term. The course is designed to explore many artists from different socio-historical-cultural backgrounds. Students have recently been learning about the drawings and sculpture of Henry Moore, as well as the macro photography of Karl Blossfeldt and abstract paintings of Georgia O’Keeffe. Students have experimented with a range of media to develop observational study skills. They have also experimented with mark making, texture and colour through reduction printmaking.
Year 9
Students have been learning about figurative artwork through the ‘Expressive Bodies Project’. One of the key aims of this project is to encourage open discussion and empathetic approaches to mental health issues. Students have developed their skills with oil pastel by studying the work of Henri de Toulouse Lautrec. Year 9 have particularly enjoyed collaborating in small groups to develop their photography skills. These photoshoots have then been digitally edited to further student’s comprehension of composition. We are currently completing a dynamic final piece that explores acrylic painting and drawing media.
Year 8
Students have produced some lovely stylized lino prints to raise awareness of environment protection and biodiversity through their ‘Endangered Animal Project’. Following this we have begun the ‘Sustainable Architecture Project’ where classes have created artwork in response to the work of the scientist and artist Ernst Haeckel. Watercolour studies of the seemingly infinite structures and variety of radiolarian have been translated into 3D cardboard sculptures informed by architects such as Jean Novel and Zaha Hadid. I am looking forward to seeing these models move towards collagraph print making which is a direction that this project has not taken before.
Year 7
Year 7 have been working on two schemes of work. Some of our students have completed their ‘African Masks Project’ which are firing in the kiln as I write this update. Students have been excited to work with clay and learn glazing techniques. The most recent project undertaken has been ‘Energetic Packaging Design’. The unit of work helps inform students about healthy lifestyles and is also a great way to build understanding of visual communication. Students are guided through idea generation whilst exploring drawing, painting, print making and digital manipulation skills. We are looking forward to seeing the final product prototype cartons of these imaginative drink brands.
Highly Commended
Year 7, Megan L
Year 8, Valerie K
Year 9, Roselyn S
Year 10, Ivanka W
Year 12, Charis C
UPCOMING EVENTS – TERM 3
Have a fantastic four-day week.
Fiona Thorndike
Head of Secondary
