Island School

Island School was founded in 1967 as the first secondary school of the English Schools Foundation. [6]

It is a diverse school, home to children from a large number of countries.[7]

It was located in a former British military hospital from 1967-72, until it permanently settled in 20 Borrett Road, Mid-Levels from 1972-2017. During the move in 1972, students were involved in the carrying of tables and stationery.

Stephen Loggie is the current principal of Island School. During his career, Stephen has been a Foundation Principal at two schools one of which being the Queensland Academy of Science Maths and Technology, Australia’s leading IB World School. He attributes his success in these roles to high quality consultation and collaboration between the parent, student and professional communities and prioritisation of open communication between stakeholders.

The previous principal was Christopher Binge, who had been secondary principal at the La Châtaigneraie campus of the International School of Geneva. Binge studied mathematics at St. Catharine's College, Cambridge, was head until June 2009. Binge left to become the head of Markham College.[8]

Island School's former campus consisted of seven blocks ranging from five to seven floors high, with blocks 1 to 6 arranged in a rectangular fashion. Students could travel to adjacent blocks by linked walkways or footbridges. As the campus was situated on mountainous terrain, blocks located close to the mountain were placed at a higher altitude than their counterparts, and as such the floors between different blocks were often not correlated. The former campus was then demolished and all learning was diverted to the two replacement campuses.[3][4]

The two replacement campuses, Sha Tin Wai and Tai Wai, house two different sets of levels. Sha Tin Wai houses Years 7, 8, 12 and 13, while Tai Wai houses Years 9, 10 and 11.[9]

Upon returning to Island School's new campus in August 2022, the new school will include a performing arts centre, an indoor swimming pool, a sports hall, basketball courts, modern laboratories, sky gardens, a central café, innovative learning environments and creative studios. Built over eight floors, the campus will significantly enhance the current teaching facilities to a level much higher than the former Island School building. As well as a range of other facilities there will be a designated parking for school buses under the school buildings to facilitate pick-up and drop-off and thus relieve pressure from Borrett Road itself. [10]

Island School runs a variety of courses in different subject areas. They are led by the following:

• English: Gary Corlett
• Maths: Matt Fowler
• Languages: Li XinYing
• Physical Education: Marc Sexton
• Individuals & Societies: Maryanne McPhee
• Sciences: Paul Bayne
• 

  A class at Island School, circa 1970s
  Arts: Paul Mccracken
• Technologies: Mark Roper

Junior Phase: Year 7-8

Studets moving tables and stationery from the Old Military Building to their new campus at 10 Borrett Road, 1973

The school's curriculum is designed to engage younger students and to engender in them a love of learning. By encouraging a love for learning, we hope that Island School students become more responsible, creative, analytical, engaged and happy. The students experience a wide range of subjects, so that they can begin to find new strengths and develop existing interests.  This breadth is maintained until the end of Year 9, and informs their GCSE subject choices. ‘Island Learning’ unique to Island School, encourages students to make connections between their subjects and the real world. The Island Learning units are at the heart of our curriculum. The Year 8 Island Learning ‘Monsters and Moons’ unit brings together Drama and Languages. Over an eight week period students learn, produce scripts and perform plays based on folklores from their countries of study. (Island Learning has been accredited by the IB organisation as part of their MYP programme). IB World Schools share a common philosophy – a commitment to high-quality, challenging, international education – that Island School believe is of utmost importance to its students. [11]

Senior Phase: Year 12-13

In their Senior Years, students will choose whether to study the IBCP (Careers Programme) or the IBDP (Diploma Programme).

Island School offers the International Baccalaureate (IB) Career Programme. The IBCP offers students who want to focus their education on preparing for their career a specialist pathway. Students on the globally expanding IBCP choose a mixture of IB Diploma Courses and BTEC subjects. The 3 BTEC Courses they choose are as ‘applied’ as possible, this means that when studying the Business course they will be running a business and the TV and Film course sees students doing a lot of filming and editing. They are vocational and are only recognized globally as university entrance but Island School has an exceptional record of placing students from this pathway.

The previous campus of Island School in 2016

The International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme is an academically challenging and balanced curriculum that prepares students for success at university and beyond. It has been designed to address the intellectual, social, emotional and physical well-being of students. The programme has gained extensive recognition and respect from the world’s leading universities.Students have to choose six subjects for the full IB Diploma. This must include at least one from each Group 1-5. Students then opt to take up a Group 6 Subject or choose an additional elective subject from Group 1-5. Students must choose 3 subjects at Higher Level and 3 at Standard Level.All IB Diploma students have to complete the IB Core. This includes the Extended Essay, Theory of Knowledge and CAS (Creativity, Activity and Service). [13]

Any child joining Island School will be placed in one of six Houses: Da Vinci, Einstein, Fleming, Nansen, Rutherford or Wilberforce.

The House system dates back to Island School’s beginning in 1967, the Houses are what alumni, of all generations, affectionately remember as The Spirit of Island School. The House represents a family within the whole school community. For new students it is the central point of reference for all that they do. The House group is also their form group for many courses in Years 7 and 8. It is often the main friendship group throughout the school and the group in which many sporting, artistic and academic activities are undertaken. The House staff – Form Tutors and the Senior Heads of House – will be the first point of contact for parents and the people who get to know individual students best from their arrival to writing university references and beyond. [16]

• Da Vinci - Named in honor of Leonard Da Vinci, an Italian Renaissance; polymath, painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomised the Renaissance humanist ideal.
• Einstein - Named in honor of Albert Einstein a remarkable German scientist who developed the theory of relativity and sparked a revolution in physics. He was considered one of the most influential scientists of the 21st century and he also received the 1921 Nobel Prize for Physics.
• Fleming - Named in honor of Sir Alexander Fleming a Scottish bacteriologist and Nobel Prize winner, best known for the discovery of penicillin. In 1928, while studying influenza, Fleming noticed that mould had developed accidentally on a set of culture dishes being used to grow the staphylococci germ. The mould had created a bacteria-free circle around itself, and after experimenting further, the active substance was named penicillin. Fleming wrote numerous papers on bacteriology, immunology and chemotherapy. He was elected professor of the medical school in 1928 and professor of bacteriology at the University of London in 1948. He was elected fellow of the Royal Society in 1943 and knighted in 1944. In 1945 Fleming, Florey and Chain shared the Nobel Prize in Medicine.
• Nansen - Named in honor of Fridtjof Nansen – a zoologist, athlete and adventurer. While a research professor at the University of Oslo, Nansen published six volumes of scientific observations. He led several oceanographic expeditions into polar regions. When the first world war started he became increasingly interested in international political affairs.
• Rutherford - Ernest Rutherford (1871 –1937) was a New Zealand-born British physicist. In early work he discovered the concept of radioactive half-life and later won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. In 1907 Rutherford and Thomas Royds proved that alpha radiation is helium nuclei. He is widely credited with first “splitting the atom” in 1917 in a nuclear reaction between nitrogen and alpha particles, in which he also discovered (and named) the proton.
• Wilberforce - William Wilberforce is remembered today mainly for his long parliamentary campaign for the abolition of the slave-trade. The Act of Parliament for Abolition finally became law on 25 March 1807. Wilberforce students should take inspiration from his dogged stance, standing up for what is morally right.

Strong student leadership characterises Island School’s spirit. All that the school does aims to enhancing the student experience by:

• Providing opportunity
• Broadening horizons
• Supporting wellbeing
• Promoting ethical and responsible citizenship

The extra-curricular programme at Island School is viewed as an integral part of the development of all students. Through a rich and diverse programme, students experience safe, enjoyable, and challenging activities, enabling them to develop and grow into successful and happy young adults. To that end participation in the ECA programme is compulsory. The school has high expectations that students will engage fully with the many and varied activities on offer. Students are expected to participate in two activities a term.

Students learn how to work collaboratively through being part of a team, whether it is a sports team, or playing in an orchestra. They learn about commitment and responsibility to themselves and one another.

• Education in Hong Kong

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