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26 March 2013

The monthly community newsletter

SchoolInsights

Stephen Dare,Head of School

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2Xiao Xi 26 March 2013

Dear HKA Community,

In the last issue of Xiao Xi, we had just returned from the Lunar New Year holiday. Now, we are heading off for Spring Break. The school year is fly-ing past, and it always seems to pick up speed at this point. It has been a busy 5 weeks, with another successful round of Parent-Teacher Con-ferences, a Board Election, all of our Secondary students exploring and learning off-campus, and our Grade 3 camp; just to list a little of what has been happening.

Then there is the new campus building project in Sai Kung, which is rapidly approaching the last 50 days of construction and the receipt of HKA’s occupancy permit. More than 5 years ago, the school embarked on a journey to create a permanent home for HKA. Some of you still here wrote letters of support for the project. Whilst the school has grown since then, graduates are heading off for further study and the commu-nity has experienced turnover, as happens in an international school, the commitment to HKA’s founding principles is as strong as ever.

The community support the school has received as we’ve undertaken this enormous project has been extremely gratifying. This strong com-munity is one of the reasons many of you cite for choosing HKA in the grade level evenings held this year. As the school continues to mature, and we transition to a permanent home, that commitment to a strong community is one of the things that will remain as the HKA journey con-tinues.

Many of you have shown your support of the project through the dona-tion of a theatre seat or recycled glass leaf. On behalf of the entire Build-ing for the Future committee, thank you. There’s still time, with forms available from the reception desk, on the bulletin board next to the Tuck Shop, or through the Communications Department.

As we head off for Spring Break, whether you are remaining in Hong Kong or traveling, I wish you all a relaxing holiday with your family and friends.

Regards,Stephen Dare, Head of School

3Xiao Xi 26 March 2013

Admissions Reminder

Please remember that if you will be leaving Hong Kong or HKA, we re-quire THREE calendar months’ written notice, or THREE calendar months’ tuition in lieu of such notice. Please complete a Withdrawal Form (downloaded from FirstClass or obtained through the Admissions Office) as soon as you have secured your departure plans. The THREE months’ notice will begin as soon as the Admissions Office receives the signed form.

Feel free to contact Sarah Baur, the Admissions Coordinator, at 2655 1112 if you have any questions.

3

HKA World Wise News

The World Wise committee is a driving force of parents, teachers, students, and Administrators, all working together to help achieve our goal of becoming a more sustainable school, in order to prepare our children for a lifetime of sustainable living.

HKACO Events

Quiz Night12 April 2013

Don’t miss another fun Quiz Night at Delaney’s in Wan Chai. You can join as a team of 4 or sign up individually and we’ll help you find a team on the night. Drinks starting at 7:30pm; quiz starts at 8:00pm. Hope you can join us. Register here.

Save the Date4 May 2013

Join other families in Sai Kung for a fun, family-friendly daytime event. Details to come shortly after the break.

World Wise achievements over the course of the 2012/13 academic year have included:

• Reducing energy consumption and improving the school’s drink-ing water quality by introducing eco-friendly water filters across the school

• Reducing the use of disposable cups, plates, and plastic across the campus

• Introducing $1 off discount at snack shop when bringing a re-usable cup

• Purchase of a reusable catering kit for use at small-medium size school functions

• Developing eco-friendly purchasing strategy for school equip-ment and supplies, including paper and cleaning materials

• Reducing energy by introducing guidelines for operational staff for switching off lights / equipment

• Installing recycling bins; an Earthwise student-led initiative• Encouraging a Lunar New Year costume swap• Recycling rubbish for use as art supplies• Working with all HKACO to achieve our common goal• Planning for Sai Kung campus initiatives, including pest control,

catering, healthy snack machines and composting• Working towards the goal of developing a comprehensive Sus-

tainability Strategy for HKA

3

Technology Update

Things have been quietly bubbling along in the background for Technology, though we have had some notable events take place in recent times.

The closing of the Board Elections on 20 March signaled the end of the first online Board Election for the school. 30 families chose to exercise their democratic right over the internet, amassing over 60 votes. The board will release the results of the election shortly.

On 8 March another Technology and Parenting (TAP) event focused on getting to know your computer. The pre-sentations can be found on the school website under Learning > Parent Resources. Feel free to join the next TAP event on 18 April at 8:30am about Video Gaming which will be in conjunction with the Primary School Counsel-lor Coffe Morning. More detials can be found on the website.

With things online, there is a very insightful video about privacy and personal data protection. Take five min-utes to review the video here and reflect on your children’s and, for that matter, your own digital footprint.Have a great spring break.

—Michael Taylor, Director of Technology

Xiao Xi 26 March 20134

Learner Support Update

On 6-8 March, HKA welcomed Bill and Ochan Powell to an 8-day Cognitive Coaching training course for over 20 faculty staff. They also worked directly with the whole faculty on our Wednesday professional development day to look at effective co-teaching models. Many of the HKA community participated in the parent evening they facilitated entitled “Emotional Intelligence and learning: Why EQ is Critical to Learning.” Their presentation shared how parents can develop “Fixed” and “Growth” mindsets and how that affects learning.

HKA’s continued commitment to being a lead learning school has allowed us the opportunity to not only en-gage in discussions around inclusion with international schools around the world but to be a representative of a model that truly supports diverse learners.

The Next Frontier: Inclusion initiative held its third conference in Johannesburg, South Africa on 14-16 March. I attended the conference with “almost a hundred international school heads, board members, principals, cur-riculum directors, special educators and classroom teachers to have in-depth, structured conversations about the inclusion of children with special learning needs in international schools.”(NFI: Johannesburg). The initia-tive supports high quality education for all children and discussions explored both philosophical and practical issues around Learner Support Programs. I presented as well as participated in these discussions.

The Next Frontier: Inclusion design team also includes Bill and Ochan Powell, Kevin Bartlett - Head of The Inter-national School of Brussels (ISB), and Kristen Pelletier - Head of Learner Support at ISB. Collectively they have organized an opportunity for international schools around the world to share in rich discussions and put forth a plan of action to make inclusive education accessible to children all over the world.

—Kristel Solomen-Saleem, Learner Support Director

Virginia Hunt,Primary School Principal

PrimarySchool

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From the Head of Primary School

Dear Parents,

It was great to see so many of you on campus last week for parent teacher conferences. I hope they helped to inform you of your child progress and development as well as provide you with a forum to cel-ebrate your child’s learning alongside their teachers.

These are busy days in the Primary School, especially for our upper primary students as our G2’s completed their mini exhibition sharing how they express themselves through the arts, movement, music and poetry. Our G3’s had their very first camp experience of two nights and three days, it was a time of challenge by choice and wonderful oppor-tunity for teacher see the Learner Profile applied in a setting outside of school. It’s all lights, setting, camera, costumes, and action for our G4’s as they prepare for the G4 Play. Our G5’s have been working steadily on their culminating event of the PYP, the G5 exhibition. This is a wonderful opportunity for our students to reflect on their years in the PYP and apply their understanding to an issue of importance to both themselves and the larger world. On 13-14 May our students will share the journey as well as their commitment and plan of action.

Action is one of the five essential elements in the PYP. Action is also part of the Inquiry cycle and can happen along the way as well as at the end of the inquiry as a result of new knowledge and understanding. The goal is to inspire and guide students to take responsible and sustain-able action.

Service learning and action often go hand in hand and are becoming commonplace here at HKA as students are regularly coming forth with initiatives. Action can come in many forms, both small and large, and in and out of school.Perhaps you will see your child taking some action over the spring break!

Wishing all of you rich family time over this spring break.

Kind regards, Virginia

5Xiao Xi 26 March 2013

6Xiao Xi 26 March 2013

Inquiry-Based Professional Development

Last month, 20 HKA educators were most fortunate and excited to attend a professional development workshop with Kath Murdoch, an experi-enced educator well known for her work in inquiry-based learning.

Her presentation deepened our understanding about the vital role of metacognition in learning. Some of the guiding questions I noted were - How are you harnessing the power of the unplanned moment. Can we get kids to pursue their own interests more often? What about the unexpected information that came at you and what you did with it? What challenges did you see to unmindfully grow the inquiry? Murdoch suggests a way to help students explore their interests and/or discover what they may be passionate about through what she calls “the Genius Hour”.

Genius hour or personal inquiry time moves away from the inquiry about the question. The idea is that a student would start with an action and work their way backwards. Students become inquirers; they become curious and seek further understanding about issues that are impor-tant to them. If a student says “I am interested in learning how to make something”, then the inquiry would be solely that students work. For instance, a student might take an old laptop, dismantle it to discover what was inside, and use photos and notes to document the process. To get the Genius Hour started in a classroom, teachers might suggest that students can bring a small notebook to class to collect ideas and record thoughts and findings from their inquiries. Further information can be found in a blog post by Gallit Zvi, a fellow educator, and in a TED Talk by Daniel Pink, whose ideas about motivation have, in part, sparked the creation of Genius Hour.

Murdoch’s final suggestion is that educators model for the students and be the inquirer that you want to see. Share your curiosities, your fail-ures, your process and your questions. Start by furthering yourself. Think about the possibilities and see the passion. The talk was an inspiring way to be reminded that inquiry is not something we do, but rather a philosophical stance.

—Leslie Stitt, Learning Support, 2ren

PS Counsellor News

Parent Coffee Morning - Thurs-day 18 April, “The social and emotional effects of internet social networking and gaming on children”

This coming month’s parent cof-fee morning will be about how children use gaming and social media in today’s technological society. It is a team effort with Michael Taylor (Director of Tech-nology) where we will explore:

• The implications and need for gaming and social net-working.

• How to create balance. • What goes on in the brain

during gaming. • How to put strategies in

place to create balance for your children and how to empower your child to take responsibility for their time online.

More information to come. Look-ing forward to seeing you there.

—Carla Nagel, Primary Counsellor

Gymnasts in Zhu Hai

A group of seven HKA children, from G1 through to G6, were invited to attend the Zhu Hai International Gymnastics Competition in China from 8-10 March, organised by ESF Sports.

Not only did they bring home a fantastic collection of medals, but they were also able to practice their mandarin skills with new friends who are training to become future olympic gymnasts.

Well done Dragonflies!

Douglas Musco,Middle & High School Principal

Middle&High

School

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8Xiao Xi 26 March 2013

From the Head of Secondary School

Dear Secondary School Community,

In the midst of a very busy March, this is a quick check-in from my chair!

G12 IB Students Congratulations to our G12, Class of 2013, students on the comple-tion of IB Mock Examinations. The week of exams simulates the actual protocols and environment in preparation for the formal examination. Students sat five days of exams and received significant and meaning-ful feedback from teachers. Revision began during the China Studies Programme week and we are now into the final review period. Exams run from 2 May through 21 May and our soon-to-be graduates will be able to enjoy Senior Week activities prior to Graduation on 31 May.

China Studies WeekA warm welcome back to our students and teachers in G6-11 from our newly designed China Studies trips. We retooled these trips this year to focus on Chinese culture and service learning. We feel we now have a much clearer vision and purpose for these trips. Trip leaders and I met last Friday and de-briefed on all trips. There were positive improvements this year and a great deal of new learnings. Overall, we like the new pro-gramme and will continue to refine and improve these trips. A focus next year will be to strengthen the curricular ties and to begin preparatory work earlier so that we are well prepared for the March 2014 trips.

Upcoming events in the Secondary school: 4 April: G6-8 Open Gym evening (details tbc)13-16 April: ISTA Hong Kong (French International School)17 April: Special Class of 2013 Assembly18-21 April: ACAMIS HS Soccer in Beijing, China19 April: Last day of classes G12- revision week begins23 April: G8-9 Transition parent evening (details tbc)26 April 26th: Coffeehouse #3

Have a well-deserved break with your family. We look forward to seeing everyong back to school on Monday, 8 April.

Warmly, Doug

Douglas Musco, Secondary School Principal

SecondarySchool

7

Xiao Xi 26 March 20138

Service Learning

HKA has worked to incorporate a greater degree of service learning in the Week Without Walls China Studies trips. This will be work in progress but early reports suggest that it has been quite successful this year.

Service components included a significant amount of work in the fields for the students. The G8’s proudly pointed out what they were able to achieve in 2 hours normally requires a whole day’s work by the farmer and his team. Interacting with young school children was also a signifi-cant component of the trips and something the students always enjoy.

—Michael Sparks, CAS Coordinator

Week Without Walls in Thailand

On 10 March, G11 students went to Thailand for a brilliant 6-day trip that incorporates biology, physics, and chemistry.

The first two days were spent in Kow Sok National Park, a protected wild-life conservation. We stayed in boat houses where we could jump into the lake right in front but it could get stuffy with 8 boys in one room with no air conditioning and only 6 beds. Despite this, we enjoyed campfires and an incredible array of stars at night.

The next two days were spent further south by the beach which involved the science aspect of the course: stream studies and a line transect. We did our final experiment on the last two days: a lincoln index that involved counting snails, applying nail polish to the snails, and trying to find the tagged snails the next day.

Overall it was a brilliant experience. Although we were all exhausted and longed for our soft beds and hot showers by the end, we were all opened up to how wonderful the world can be.

We displayed all three aspects of CAS which are creativity, action, and service through the activities. Creativity was a smaller part of the camp that included tagging snails. Action and service are closely connected and included many of our science-based activities such as the stream study where we were looking for micro-invertebrates and gathering in-formation for scientific use. We also did a number of physical activities including snorkeling, kayaking and a lot of walking!

—Aaron Francis, G11

Secondary Counsellor News

Where has the month of March gone?! With the China Studies programme, PTC’s and Spring break just around the corner, it seems to have evaporated!

Many thanks to those who managed to attend the coffee morning earlier on this month. We had some great discussions and shared some valuable tools for the parenting bag of tricks.

We have one more Counselor Coffee morning scheduled for this school year which will take place on 7 May. We are looking into the possibility of holding this off campus in the afternoon to see if this may help more people in being able to make it. Specific details will be sent out in due course. Please also make sure that you check out the Counseling Weebly for updated information on Summer pro-grams, as well as helpful links and past coffee morning presen-tations.

I wish you all a great Spring Break vacation.

—Laura Cowan, Secondary Counsellor

RESOURCES AND REFERENCE

The monthly community newsletter

Stephen Dare Head of School stephen.dare@hkacademy.edu.hk

Virginia Hunt Primary School Principal virginia.hunt@hkacademy.edu.hk

Douglas Musco Middle & High School Principal douglas.musco@hkacademy.edu.hk

Xiao Xi 26 March 2013

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