ESF News (September)

Subvention review

The Education Bureau presented a report to the Legco Education Panel on progress with the review on 11 July 2011.  In the days before the meeting, many parents and stakeholders wrote to Legco members and senior officers of the Education Bureau to make the case for the continuation of the subvention.  This undoubtedly helped to ensure that ESF’s case received a fair hearing.

The report prepared by EDB for the meeting emphasised ESF’s dual role in educating English-speaking children from local families as well as the children of foreign nationals.  It recognised ESF’s role as the only educational organisation providing English-medium education established by law and acknowledged ESF’s commitment to work as the agent of Government.

The report stated that it was worth considering whether some form of Government subvention is necessary but expressed a wish to ensure that the case of ESF could be ‘ring fenced’ from ‘other private international schools’.  Various conditions and controls such as a time-limited service agreement would accompany the continuation of the subvention.  The paper expresses concern to maintain the quality and affordability of services but also states that ESF would be expected to optimise its income-generating capacity.  EDB says that they will examine whether ESF is able progressively to migrate towards eventual self-financing without prejudicing the quality of education offered.

During the meeting Legco members spoke positively about ESF’s contribution to Hong Kong and not one member spoke against the subvention.  The Education Bureau officials were also broadly supportive of ESF, but at the end of the debate the point about examining a possible move to self-financing was repeated.  The general feel of the debate was positive.  Members asked for a further progress report in December.

We hope that parents and stakeholders will keep the public debate about the subvention going, particularly in the period leading up to the Legco Education Panel meeting in December.

Legislative Council members visited ESF schools

During the run-up to the LegCo Education Panel meeting, the Chairman of ESF, Carlson Tong, the CEO, Heather Du Quesnay, and other Board members met LegCo members to make them aware of ESF’s case.  Following the meeting, the Chairman issued personal invitations for members to visit ESF schools.

We were delighted to receive a positive response from several members. The Hon Emily Lau visited Quarry Bay on 2 September, Starry Lee, Chairman of the LegCo Education Panel, and Tam Yiu Chung, visited South Island School on 12 September and Audrey Eu and Tanya Chan Bradbury School on 16 September. The visits were extremely positive and we are grateful to the Principals, staff and students for making the LegCo members so welcome.  We will create opportunities for other members to visit as the occasion arises.

Please go to the photo galleries on our website to see some photos taken during the visits. www.esf.edu.hk/legislative-council-members-visited-esf-schools

Examination results

Our secondary schools continue to achieve outstanding results in public examinations. In the past summer, we’ve celebrated the excellent IB Diploma, Advanced Diploma and GCSE results.

Of the 763 students who sat the IB diploma examinations, six achieved the perfect 45 points - Angela Wu and Dorothy Yang, Alex Su from King George V School, Myron Lam from Island School, Rachel Robertson and Christina So from Sha Tin College. Fourteen students achieved 44 points. Over 100 students have achieved 40 points or more, an increase of 3.3%. 47.5% of students have achieved 35 points or more, which is a 10.7% increase.  

Over 8300 GCSE examinations were taken by 967 ESF students, over 4,500 (55.0%) of these were awarded A* or A, by comparison with 23.2% in the UK.

41 students achieved eight or more passes at A*, including ten students who achieved ten A*s. They are Alvina Fok, Amelia Chao, Ivan Siu, Shirley Wang and Dominic Fung from South Island School, Adrienne Chan and Juanita Chui from Sha Tin College, Shreenidhi Subramanian from West Island School, and Natalie Au and Hubert Leung from Island School.

We congratulate these students and their teachers for their accomplishments.

ESF Chairman's Award for Excellence

The inaugural award has been established to recognise our students’ outstanding performance in IB Diploma, GCSE examinations, our Advanced Diploma programme as well as in Jockey Club Sarah Roe School. Over 150 students were nominated by their principals for the award, including students who have achieved 45 points in IB Diploma examinations and those who have received ten or more A*s in GCSE.

The award ceremony was held on 22 September in the John Wray Atrium of South Island School, over half of the award winners and their families attended and received the honour from our Chairman, Carlson Tong. 

For photos of the evening, please visit our website: www.esf.edu.hk/chairmansaward

*Please note that only low-resolution files can be downloaded from this online gallery. The original photos will be emailed to all students in early October. Thank you for waiting! 

New School Development Adviser, Primary

The end of October will see Debbie Graham resign her post as School Development Adviser, Primary in order to return to Australia. Debbie leaves after four years of outstanding service during which time she has provided invaluable support to Principals, 

school leaders and communities and to the Education advisory team. Debbie takes with her our thanks and best wishes.

The recruitment process to fill Debbie’s position has been completed and David Fitzgerald was the successful candidate. David is currently Principal of Clearwater Bay School and comes to the position as an experienced Principal and with a strong knowledge of and commitment to ESF.  

 The Carmen Project - an ESF and Scottish Opera Collaboration

The first of its kind in Hong Kong, The Carmen Project was performed at the Drama Theatre of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts on 23 September 2011. 

Around 200 Year 10 to 13 students from seven secondary ESF schools have been working with artists from Scottish Opera to produce a cross-curricular expressive arts project based on the music and plot of Georges Bizet’s opera Carmen. They took on various roles---as singers, orchestral players, composers, librettists, costume designers, stage designers and film makers.  It was an innovative education initiative which integrates music, arts & design, theatre studies and film making into an integrated learning experience for both teachers and students. Through this partnership with Scottish Opera, students have been taken from their classrooms to an artistic realm where there was no limit to creativity.

Please go to the photo galleries of our website to see more photos of the night.
http://www.esf.edu.hk/scottish-opera

ESF Therapy Centre Open Day

The newly established ESF Therapy Centre has been providing consultations for schools since April. On 29 September it will open its door to the community to enable parents and staff to gather some first-hand information about the services it provides. 

Address: 1/F 2A Tin Kwong Road, Homantin, Kowloon
Date: 29 September (Thursday)
Time: 11:00am – 2:00pm
           4:00pm – 7:00pm

Discovery College Nomination Rights Scheme

Discovery College has recently introduced a limited and voluntary nomination rights scheme which gives students the opportunity for priority placement, provided they meet the English language requirements. The nomination rights cost HK$400,000 per student and are available from 1 to 30 September 2011 for students seeking entry to Year 1, Year 2, and Year 7 in 2011-12. Children whose parents buy nomination rights will be interviewed immediately after applicants who have a brother or sister already at the College. Nomination rights are also being offered to applicants for other year groups beginning 1 September.

ESF Continuous Professional Development Day

For the ESF-wide continuous professional development (CPD) day on 30 September, Primary schools have chosen the theme ‘Creative Connections’, emphasising the place of the Arts in the curriculum. ESF staff will be actively involved in the process of inquiry through the Arts. Session leaders include ESF as well as external providers.  For the first time we have colleagues from the Hong Kong Gifted Academy presenting on the day.

There will be school displays where each school will be sharing examples of good practice. These will include resources, unit planners, books, students’ work, photographs or a display about a school-based Arts event.

An addition to this year’s event is the use of Twitter. Staff can comment, share, collaborate or network by following ESF ‘Creative Connections’ tweets at twitter.com/search #ESFCPD

New teachers' induction

In August, we welcomed 134 new teachers to ESF and 46 existing ESF teachers into new or promotional roles. Of the new teachers, 30 were already based in Hong Kong and 104 new teachers came from a wide variety of countries including UK, UAE, USA, China, Canada, Australia, Germany, Vietnam and New Zealand.
New teachers participated in a one-day induction at ESF Centre where, in addition to hearing about ESF, they were equipped with information on how to quickly establish themselves in Hong Kong, including learning introductory Cantonese words.

The induction was followed a few days later with ESF’s Amazing Race style “Treasure Hunt”, sending new teachers around Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. Participants familiarised themselves with using Hong Kong transportation, seeing both popular and treasured aspects of Hong Kong.

In partnership with the Education Team, the induction programme continues with follow-up sessions in late October and November to ensure teachers have the best possible start at ESF.

ESF Educational Services update

ESL Sports – Still time to Enrol!
ESF Educational Service’s sports programme is continuing to take enrolments, so it’s not too late if you haven’t enrolled your child. There are some fantastic sporting activities to choose from for all ages and abilities that are sure to capture your child’s interest.  Sports include Swimming, Football, Basketball, Tennis, Gymnastics, Kung Fu, Taekwondo and our newest addition, Netball.   You can see the detailed schedule and enroll easily online through the ESL website www.esf.org.hk where you can also download the Term 1 brochure.