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Annual marketing competition
 The Fourth Annual ESF Marketing Competition took place on 11 March at Renaissance College, Ma On Shan.
The annual competition requires participating Year 12 students to produce creative marketing strategies in response to three real-life business scenarios developed by the event sponsor, Kukri Sports, a worldwide manufacturer of sportswear and accessories and the official kit supplier for the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens.
Out of 14 teams of six students, the prize for developing the most innovative marketing strategies went to team ‘Prestige’ from Sha Tin College. In photo: Team Prestige with judges Geoff Lam (far left) and Kane Jury (far right).
Judges at the event included Kane Jury, national under-15 assistant coach and analyst, Hong Kong Rugby Football Union; Virginia Morris, senior marketing executive and consultant of Bamboo Difference; Russell Williams, associate professor, Baptist University and an ESF parent Board member; and Heather Du Quesnay, Chief Executive.
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Innovation fashion show - South Island School
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 On 6 March 2010, South Island School hosted the third Innovation Fashion Show. The event was organised by a group of Year 12-13 students and open to all ESF schools as a platform for students to gain experience in the fashion, business and event planning industries, as well as to to showcase their talent and creativity. Students submitted three designs based on this year's theme 'Lumière’, with the top four designers appearing in the fashion show.
The Innovation Fashion Show is held to raise awareness and funds for The Children's Heart Foundation, to aid children suffering from congenital heart conditions in Hong Kong and abroad. This year the event raised HK$40,000.
Congratulations to South Island School student Kalvin Tsui, 14, who has been selected by the Quintessentially Foundation to showcase his designs at the "Style 4 Schools" charity event being held next November.
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For more photos of the fabulous event, please click here
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Bright sunshine greeted the 16 teams contesting the annual mixed tag rugby tournament at Stanley Ho Sports Ground on March 19.
Teachers and parents cheered themselves hoarse encouraging the sides as they sprinted, passed and tackled their way through the group matches. Renaissance College looked strong but eventually ran out of steam at the semi final stage. The final saw Hong Lok Yuen beat Kellett School in a closely contested game.
Full credit to Tim Luck of Kennedy School for organising a highly enjoyable event played in a spirit of exemplary sportsmanship.
Please click here to see more photos of the tournament |
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ESF schools submitted their entries to the Hong Kong Young Writers Awards in January, and the judges, chaired by Nury Vittachi, have been busy selecting the winners. This year, the organisers received 328 written and 10 artwork entries from 55 schools in Hong Kong, 12 of which were ESF schools.
Students whose work has been chosen to be published in the New Tales of the South China Sea anthology will receive an invitation to the awards ceremony, taking place on 23 April—William Shakespeare’s birthday. The award winners will be announced at the ceremony.
Best of luck to all the young writers!
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On Saturday, 20 March the ESF competition for Tournament of Minds (TOM) was held at Beacon Hill School. TOM is a problem-solving program for teams of students who are required to solve demanding open ended challenges.
Eight ESF primary schools took part this year and the students were given challenges in the Language Literature discipline. Each team presented to an audience their pre-prepared solution to a problem they had been given earlier in the term. Following this, they were given another challenge, in private, and required to produce a creative solution within four minutes as a team.
Both challenges were judged and the results across the schools were very close. The judges were particularly impressed with the teamwork and creativity shown by all the students.
Clearwater Bay Primary School won the competition, followed closely by Peak School and Beacon Hill School. Congratulations to everyone who took part.
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Kindergarten and PIS fees and pay
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On 22 March, ESF Educational Services (ESL) announced its decision to increase kindergarten fees to cover a rise in operational costs and the on-going investment to enhance the high level of education provided by the kindergartens.
The kindergarten fees for 2010-11 academic year will be HK$53,600 (HK$5,360 x 10 months), an increase of HK$260 per instalment (5.1%).
The initiatives aimed at preserving the high level of education that ESL is able to provide its students include:
- Important investments in our ICT provision so that learning can be enhanced by advances in technology. There will be more interactive whiteboards and computers for the children to use, as well as other electronic equipment necessary to deliver the curriculum in all our kindergartens;
- Language development – including enhanced ability to track and report on students’ progress;
- Updating our play equipment in order to further develop children’s gross motor skills, which are essential during early childhood as part of a child's physical development;
- Increases in operational costs associated with the rental, up-keep and maintenance of the kindergarten premises;
- Increase in salaries for all staff by 2%.
We are sensitive to the financial impact of fee increases on our parents and have made every effort to keep these to a minimum while still enabling us to meet the increasing costs and to deliver on our commitment to improve the education of children.
This increase is subject to approval by the Hong Kong Education Bureau.
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Stars in their eyes - Island School
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On Wednesday, 17 March 2010, Island School Music Department held their annual spectacular called ‘Stars In Their Eyes’, where ten acts competed for the title of SITE Winner 2010. As always, the show was very popular and was sold out within the first few days.
Not only was it a lot of fun, but it was also a great opportunity to make new friends and learn from each other. The night was based on the British television talent show in which performers dress up as a particular artist or band and perform their song. |
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Primary parents who have been involved in the development of the Mother-Tongue Maintenance Programme were invited to attend a celebration at Bradbury School on 5 March. The celebration was in thanks for the continued hard work that these parents devote to strengthen the many language communities across ESF. Japanese, Korean, Spanish and Finnish students all took part and performed traditional cultural songs and acts that delighted the audience, before parents were asked to take the stage to receive a certificate of thanks for their dedicated support.
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Primary performing arts day
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 ESF Primary schools recently held a celebration of the arts occurring in our schools, with Renaissance College hosting schools in Kowloon and New Territories, while Discovery College and Kennedy hosting schools on the Hong Kong Island.
Students had the opportunity to fine tune their performance at each host school, then shared their creativity and skills with each other at a large assembly.
The diversity and creativity of the arts presented and the explicit links to learning across the curriculum were apparent. The performances included a wide range of innovation in the use of expressive and technical skills.
Please click here for more photos
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ESF Educational Services updates
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Enrolment for Term 3 is now open. ESF Sport presents a programme of activities designed to encourage young people to become physically active, learn through fun and improve their confidence and focus.
There are classes for all ages in sports including Swimming, Football, Basketball, Gymnastics and more…please visit for more information and online enrolment www.esf.org.hk
New Head of Swimming - Linda Wilson
ESF Educational Services Limited is delighted to announce the appointment of Linda Wilson as Head of Swimming.
Linda brings with her excellent sporting credentials, as an ASA qualified coach, tutor and school swimming manager. An accredited Tutor, Linda can deliver ASA qualifications and training courses, thus improving standards and levels of achievement in ESF. Her coaching experience includes all levels from beginners to squad and those with disabilities. She also has a keen passion for water polo and synchronised swimming.
6th Annual Gymnastics Tournament 2010
The 6th Annual Gymnastics Tournament 2010 was held on Sunday, 21st March 2010 at South IslandSchool. There were more than 180 gymnasts participated in the event. The tournament was an outstanding success with lots of positive feedback from parents and gymnasts.
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Countries our teachers are recruited from for the 2010-11 academic year
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Percentage |
| Hong Kong (including promotion positions being transferred within ESF) |
52% |
| United Kingdom |
26% |
| Australia |
6% |
| China |
5% |
| USA |
5% |
| Other |
4% |
Currently, the voluntary turnover rate of ESF & PIS teachers is 6.45% compared with 8.4% in the previous academic year.
We continue to conduct pre-employment screening for all new teachers and support staff. The screening process checks previous employment, reasons for leaving, qualification and where appropriate, previous pay. To date, more than 190 pre-employment screens have been conducted with approximately half of that number being teachers, and one quarter being supply teachers.
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Do you have suggestions for this e-newsletter? If so, we would like to hear from you. Please email to info@esfcentre.edu.hk.
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ESF annual marketing competition
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