ESF Secondary School Annual Report

School Annual Report

Sha Tin College

28 October 2015

Sha Tin College

*School’s mission, aims and values: Following the extensive work of the Philosophy and Objectives group during the CISWASC review period, a new mission statement and sets of values and aims were established and accepted by the school community in November 2010.

Mission Statement

'Ours is a culture where we take responsibility for fulfilling our own potential and that of others for the good of humanity at all levels.’

Values Statements At Sha Tin College we value- Holistic learning

Positive relationships

Curiosity and passion

Persistence and resilience

Creativity

Integrity

Community

Sha Tin College Aims

A love of learning will permeate everything we do, uniting all members of the community.

At Sha Tin College we aim to:

1. Foster a spirit of inquiry, a sense of adventure and develop self-confidence and self-esteem in all members of our community. 2. Develop and consolidate a balanced, rigorous and relevant curriculum adaptive to the needs of all students. 3. Form and maintain meaningful communication with parents, partner schools and the wider community. 4. Maintain an English speaking and learning environment which embraces our multilingual community. 5. Induct all those new to our school in accordance with our values and beliefs so they are encouraged to feel part of our enterprise and mission, and embrace our culture. 6. Promote the ethos of creativity, action and service throughout school life and all curricula. 7. Facilitate opportunities for leadership, in its myriad forms, at every level. 8. Adopt an active, socially conscious and informed approach to both our own environment and the world around us so we can live in a safe, clean and sustainable world. 9. Work individually and in collaborative, interdisciplinary teams. 10. Listen to, and value, all voices, so we are a truly inclusive school. 11. Optimise relevant research about intelligence, thinking, the brain and the ways we learn, in order to reflect upon, and continually evaluate, what we do. This way every individual will flourish. 12. Enjoy life and nurture in everyone the feeling that their time at Sha Tin College is pleasurable and rewarding. 13. Encourage each individual to exceed their best in a culture where excellence is recognized in its multiple facets. 14. Prepare students to achieve ambitions beyond school: in further education, careers and in balanced ways for life-long learning, inspired by the values of the people at Sha Tin College.

*Curriculum and whole school development:

Sha Tin College was the first ESF secondary school to gain full accreditation from the Council of International Schools (CIS) and Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) – awarded in July 2009. This was the culmination of two years of consultation and self- evaluation involving all school stakeholders. Sha Tin College remains in good standing with both CIS and WASC.

Sha Tin College successfully completed its five-year review at the end of the 2014-2015 academic year by the two international educational accreditation bodies, the Council of International Schools (CIS) and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). Sha Tin College is proud to announce it has been awarded a five-year accreditation extension. The review culminated with a visit by representatives from CIS and WASC who thoroughly examined the College’s official documents, observed classes and met with several representatives of the school community from 27th to 29th October 2014.

Visitors from CIS and WASC found many aspects of the College worthy of commendation, including:  Sha Tin College’s commitment to ensuring high academic achievement  The use of the CIS-WASC accreditation processes and recommendations to drive school improvement  The school’s persistent aspiration of constant improvement of the quality of students’ learning and all factors that support such high quality learning for all students, irrespective of their abilities and potential  The implementation of a range of methodologies and learning activities to suit the content being taught and the needs of the students  A student body that is fully engaged with learning and which contributes significantly to the life and development of the school

 The teaching, administrative and support staff for their overall enthusiasm, dedication and willingness to put in additional time to ensure that individual needs of students are well catered for  The energetic, positive and professional leadership of the school  The creation of a strong sense of community and well-being, recognised by all sectors of the College.  The review took a year to complete and involved the College examining various aspects of our educational practice. The review involved all teachers, members of the support staff, students, parents and school counsellors. Sha Tin College is delighted with the findings and commendations in the 60-page report from CIS-WASC. We received our CIS Membership certification in September 2015.

Paul Hoang Vice Principal September 2015

*Curriculum enrichment and CAS activities

CAS Activities play an integral role in the life of the student at Sha Tin College. There are a wide range of activities on offer at all age ranges throughout the school year.

Creativity Anime Music Club Art and Design Business and Economics Creativity Origami Club Card and Gift making Chamber Choir Chinese Drumming Chinese Orchestra Chinese Painting Choir Creating Platform Games Cooking Crew Creative Writing Food Club HK Speech Festival Glee International Penpals Jewelry Making Jumpcut Film Screening Knitting Looming Mad

Modern Japanese Music Model Making

Orchestra Patchwork club Puzzle solvers School Production (Aladdin) United Magazine Voice Young Filmakers Club

Action Aerobics Athletics (6 teams) Badminton Ball Hockey Basketball (12 teams) Biathlon (4 teams) Boxing Canoeing Cardiovascular Training Chess Club Chinese Dance Cross Country (12 teams) Dance Dartslive Dodgeball Dragon Dance Football (4 teams) Iceskating Trampolining HKAYP (bronze, silver and gold) Hockey (6 teams) Cricket Netball (8 teams) Rock Climbing and Bouldering Rowing Rugby (5 teams) Running

Sailing Slacklining Swimming (8 teams) Table tennis Tai Chi Tai Kwon Doe Tennis Tumbling Ultimate Frisbee Volleyball Yoga Zumba

Service Amnesty International Activities Newsletter team English Fun days at Kei Oi Primary Sch English Homework and Reading Club Flag Day for Bapist Chuch Social Service Global Issues Green Fingers Healthy Lifestyle Project Homework Club Stride for a Cure Knitathon Library Monitors Media Team Missing Maps for Humanity Priceless Sha Tin Sketchup Visits to Elderly Mei Lam Estate

Others Battle of the Books Board Games Carnegie Reading Group Einsteins Relativity for Beginners F1 in schools HK Speech Festival Aromatherapy Japanese Culture Junior Achievement Business Enterprise Latin

Liverwire Christian Fellowship Debating Mandarin debating MUN Philo Soc Planet Science Psychology in Action Puzzle Club Scrabble Club

CAS Placement This is our second year in placing year 12 students in service volunteer placements in the local community. After 4 weeks at the various community CAS placements the students have definitely felt the experience to be both valuable and challenging. They were placed in a range of service projects that included teaching English to local school students, physically and mentally disabled youth/adults to conducting creative activities with the elderly.

It was overwhelming and stimulating to see how well our year 12 students coped with the challenging situations they encountered. For example they dealt with disabled adults throwing tantrums, keeping primary school students on task and entertained and developing and adapting their activities for elderly clients up to the age of 70 years old. On reflecting the students have for sure been pushed beyond their comfort zones and given meaningful experiences in engaging with the local community.

CAS Project – DEAFiance

In February 2015, six students in Year 13 had details of their CAS Project published in IB Review, the new flagship magazine from Hodder Education (http://goo.gl/K4FAs4).

CAS is a core component of the IB Diploma Programme (IBDP), although it is not formally assessed. However, students reflect on their CAS experiences as part of the IBDP, and provide evidence of achieving the eight learning outcomes specified for CAS. It enables students to enhance their personal and interpersonal development by learning through meaningful experiences.

Germaine Yuen, Hilary Lok, Heidi Chen, Lena Chan, Theodora Ng and Siu Yu Yeung formed the DEAFiance group to look into the issue of hearing impediments and deafness in Hong Kong. As part of their CAS Project, they were involved in the following activities:

. Taking classes offered by the Hong Kong Association of the Deaf for 5 weeks . Producing a YouTube video to raise awareness of the issue . Conducting “Lunch & Learn” workshops at school to teach staff and students the sign language that they had learnt . Raising awareness during Year assemblies 9

. Leading GTS classes in school to demonstrate the way of life of the hearing impaired in Hong Kong and the wider issues they face.

Take a look at the DEAFiance video on YouTube, Deaf for a Day, available here: http://goo.gl/rl4RYJ.

A copy of the published article can be downloaded from the College website here: http://www.shatincollege.edu.hk/sites/shatincollege/files/01_03_CAS_DEAFiance_Group.pdf

*Charities

Our students continue to provide services in the local and wider community and raise monies for charities throughout the whole school in the spirit of the IB CAS programme. The College raised a grand total of $376,192.40 at various events during 2014/15:

Accelerated Study Notes $ 8,000 .00 Climbathon Fund Raising $24,438.00 Dol Dol Project Fund Raising $4,971.90 Global Clinic Fund Raising $17,726.40 Habitat for Humanities $52,126,10 Knitathon Fund Raising $1,620.00 Lai See Packet Fund Raising $10,106.70 Liberty Asia $1,500.00 Masarang Fund Raising $3,764.00 Nepal Earthquake Fund Raising $33,307.00 Pegasus and Dragon Charity Week $15,085.60 Phoenix and Griffin Charity Week $17,949.90 Save the Rhino Fund Raising $804.70 Stride for a Cure $150,155.00 United Magazine Fund Raising $4,808.00 USmile Knitathon $19,300.00 Vanuatu Typhoon Fund Raising $10,529.10

*Staff turnover 2014-2015

i. New Teaching Staff Appointments from August 2014

Grant Altoft Geography maternity cover Pravin Bhardwaj P/T Teacher of Business & Econs (temp) Meher Hodgson Drama maternity cover Joan Morgan Drama maternity cover Raluca Paraschivescu Head of European languages TLR 3 Kimberley Ryou LSC teacher Adam Webster P/T Teacher of Business & Econs (temp) Nick Wong Chemistry maternity cover

ii. Teaching Staff Leavers

The following teachers left Sha Tin College in the 2014-15 academic year:

Laura Brown Head of Biology Malcolm Godsman Head of Music Neil Hodgson Vice Principal Bibi Lee Mandarin Teacher Meiling Tsang Business Studies Teacher Amanda Walker Head of History Lesley Watkins Learning Support/Languages Teacher (part-time)

iii. Teaching staff Sabbatical Leave

The following teacher will take a year’s sabbatical leave:

Wendy Ho Biology teacher / CAS Coordinator

iv. Support Staff Appointments from August 2014

The following support staff joined Sha Tin College during the academic year:

Jamie Bilbow Educational Assistant Mandarin Angel Chau Educational Assistant Kathy Cheng Educational Assistant (part-time) Elena Cheung Laboratory Technician III Choo Yee Boon Senior Administrator Sam Chui Laboratory Attendant Maria Flanagan Educational Assistant (part-time) Alex Lee Resources Administrator Eileen Leung PTA Administrator Sue Lucas Laboratory Technician III Stella Ng Educational Assistant Nicole So School Health Professional Jenny Wong Mandarin Educational Assistant Jill Wong Library Assistant

v. Support Staff Leavers  The following support staff left Sha Tin College during the academic year:

Jamie Bilbow Educational Assistant – Mandarin Richard Carman Educational Assistant (part-time) Elena Cheung Laboratory Technician III Sam Chui Laboratory Attendant Ho Thai Hang Laboratory Technician II Patricia Lai Senior Administrator Ray Lai From Laboratory Attendant to Laboratory Technician III Michael Lam Chi Kong Laboratory Attendant Kelly Lane School Health Professional Nicole So School Health Professional

*Buildings and facilities:

The main focus of summer works and development this year was the replacement of all old air-conditioners and the associated re-roofing works at Block 2 which was built in late 1980s. Most of the air-conditioners and roofing had nearly reached the end of the workable life. The new air-conditioners having the heating function like those in Blocks 1 & 2 and the new roofing will provide protection for the building for another decade. We also took this opportunity to replace the astro turf, roofing, drainage system, metal fence, lighting and roof netting on the roof playground of the Sports Complex. This new G3 astro turf provides a better and safer surface for sports like rugby, football and hockey. It would have been a massive job to replace all these items in the summer break, for this reason the works were scheduled to be finished by the half-term break in October.

The flooring used on fifth floor corridor is extended to fourth floor, it is non-slippery and provides much better acoustic effect. We hope that such flooring work will be extended to lower floors in the coming school years.

We are working closely with ESF colleagues on the proposal of redeveloping the undercover area of block one in order to address the issue of room shortage and maximise the potential of the existing building footprint. The tendering of the consultancy contracts have started in October. The date of the actual site work is targeted to commence in the coming summer break. We will keep the community posted of the progress.

*Achievements and successes: Academic

(I)GCSE Results: May 2015 – Sha Tin College

The (I)GCSE results from May 2015 are excellent and reflect the hard work of students to perform at their best academically. When compared to other schools internationally and within ESF we have achieved at the highest levels and staff and students deserve congratulations for maintaining this incredible level of performance consistently over the past six years. This highlights the supportive learning environment at Sha Tin College where all students are encouraged and feel motivated to achieve at a very high standard. Although the proportion of A and A* grades is down slightly on last year’s cohort, the results for the year are at or above average for results since 2009 and the value added for this Year 11 cohort was much higher than last year (meaning that they performed significantly in excess of their predicted grade levels). This May 2015 performance is incredible when you note that 60.8% of results were at an A or A* and 83.1% were a B grade or higher. This means that four out of every five exams sat by Year 11 students from Sha Tin College were awarded a B or higher grade.

% of students in each grade 100.0

90.0 A* 80.0 A 70.0 B 60.0 C 50.0 D 40.0 E 30.0 F 20.0 G 10.0 U 0.0 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Of particular note where the performances from Vera Ho, Joey Wong and Jeffrey Yam who achieved all A* results in their examinations. In total 44 students gained either an A or A* grade for all of their examinations. 77 students achieved 8 or more A*and A grades compared to 69 in 2014.

Four subjects with particularly high levels of student success are PRS (Philosophy and Religious Studies) achieving 90% of its grades at A* or A level and Geography and Economics both achieving 72% at A* or A level. ICT students complete the CIE Diploma assessment where possible results range from B at GCSE up to an A Grade at A -Level equivalent. 27% of students achieved an A-Level grade, higher than IGCSE A*, and have already earned UCAS points for their future university applications. Zachary Guard, Elwin Young and Elena Jim all achieved an A grade A Level equivalent and this is worthy of special mention.

Whilst we are proud of the students mentioned above we are particularly proud of the students who have performed at their best. Many students who were expected to find their (I) GCSE examinations particularly challenging have gained the five grades (between A* and C) necessary in order to progress into the IB Diploma Programme. In fact 98% of our students achieved 5 or more grades between A* and C.

Table 1: Overview of (I) GCSE Results May- May- May- May- May- 15 14 13 12 11 Number of students entered for 170 171 173 177 174 (I)GCSEs

Number of students achieving 5 166 169 172 174 167 A* - C grades

% of students achieving 5 A* - 97.6% 98.80% 99.40% 98% 96% C grades

Number of students achieving 9 135 142 148 145 115 A* - C grades

% of students achieving 9 A* - 79.4% 83% 86% 82% 66% C grades

Mean GCSE grade scored 6.68 6.89 6.79 6.63 6.7 A* = 8, A = 7, B = 6 through to a G = 1)

Greg Thornton Vice Principal

IB Diploma and Applied Learning Provisional Results: May 2015 – Sha Tin College

Sha Tin College is extremely proud to announce another excellent set of IB Diploma results. What is particularly remarkable about the students’ achievements is that Sha Tin College is an inclusive school which educates students of all abilities and it is pleasing that this year’s students set a record high Diploma score of 37.0, breaking the previous record of 36.3 points set in 2012. The average total score for Sha Tin College students achieving the IB Diploma was almost 7 points higher than the world average.

We are delighted to note that, for the fourth consecutive year, over 98% of our students achieved the full Diploma, which is almost 20% above the worldwide IB average.

An impressive 72% of our students achieved 35 or more IB points compared to a World Average of 25%. Even more impressive however is that 42% of our students achieved 40 or more points, which is a new record for the College and the English Schools Foundation (42% compared to a World Average of less than 7%). This further demonstrates that Sha Tin College students are able to achieve a great deal of success, comparable with some of the most able candidates in the world. Some notable achievements were Stephanie Cheung, Ellen Hao, Justin Cheng and Hei Tung Wong with the maximum Diploma score of 45 points (only 0.31% of candidates worldwide were awarded the maximum 45 points). Andrea Chan, Justin Fan, Oliver Ho, Matthew Mui, Clarence Ng and Oswald Tong all attained 44 points and Heidi Chen, Sum Kiu Ma, Joyce Ng, and Eleanor Ngan-Kee were awarded 43 points.

Whilst we are extremely proud of the students mentioned above we are also particularly proud of the many students who fulfilled their personal potential and the students who were expected to find the Diploma Programme particularly challenging, yet through sheer hard work and determination managed to achieve more than the 24 points needed to pass the Diploma.

Average grades for IB subjects are well above worldwide averages for all IB subject groups at Sha Tin College, and this is an indication that our students are achieving well across the curriculum. The average grade for our students is 5.8 points per subject compared to 4.7 worldwide. This represents a slight increase for the third year running, and the highest average score in Sha Tin College history.

* IBO Worldwide data for May 2015 was not available at the time of writing so May 2014 data has been provided. The worldwide data has stayed fairly consistent over the last few years.

We are very pleased with the number of Bilingual Diplomas our students have achieved over the past five years (averaging 22 students a year). A Bilingual Diploma is achieved when students study two languages at native or near native level. A significant amount of work has been done at Sha Tin College to ensure that students take a level of Chinese which is appropriately challenging. Twenty one Sha Tin College students achieved this prestigious qualification this year.

Table 1: Overview of IB Diploma Results (2011-2015)

May May May May May Worldwide

2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 (May 2014) Number of students entered for the full IB Diploma 156 159 141 142 150 67,492 Number of students achieving the IB Diploma 153 157 139 140 145 53,552 Number of students achieving a Bilingual Diploma 21 29 13 20 27 15,321 % of students achieving the 98.1% 98.7% 98.6% 98.6% 96.7% 79.3% IB Diploma Mean points score for all IB 37.0 35.2 34.3 36.3 30.1 Diploma students 34.3 % of students achieving 30+ 53.2% IB Diploma points 92% 86% 82% 88% 79% % of students achieving 35+ 24.9% IB Diploma points 72% 59% 47% 63% 48% % of students achieving 40+ 6.8% IB Diploma points 42% 21% 15% 35% 16% Mean grade for all subjects 5.8 5.6 5.5 5.7 5.4 4.7

Sha Tin College wishes to congratulate its graduating students on all their achievements, many of whom have secured higher education places in a variety of prestigious university destinations across the world. We are also very proud of our staff. Sha Tin College is fortunate to employ an extremely talented and professional group of teachers and support staff who have worked tirelessly to support these students in their magnificent record-breaking achievements.

Paul Hoang Vice Principal

* University Application/Destination Report 2014/2015

The Careers and Higher Education Department supported 179 students’ applications to tertiary institutions linked to the 2014/2015 academic year. These included:  Graduating Year 13 students (842 applications – avg. = 5.4 applications per student)  Gap Year students from the previous graduating classes (21 apps – avg. = 2.3 per student)  1 Year 11 student is enrolling in 1-year Foundation programmes, hoping to qualify for degree courses a year earlier (1 app made)  Former students who had enrolled elsewhere, for whom supporting documents sent for transfer/restart applications (27 apps – avg. = 5.4 per student) The success rates for these groups are as follows:  Graduating class – 658 offers/acceptances (to date -- S. Hemisphere results incomplete); Success rate = 78.2% (to date)  Gap year students – 17 offers/acceptances; Success rate = 89.5%  Year 11 student – 1 acceptance – foundation course; Success rate = 100%  Former students – full details and success rates unknown (these are students who left before graduating, and applied from other secondary schools – we send supporting documents as per their requests).

For Graduating Y13 Class only:

Overall Application Success Rates: Students experienced a high degree of success in their applications, with many students having 100% acceptances/offers from their applications. The number of students having less than 25% positive replies to their applications was 4, with most of these applying to extremely competitive courses/colleges as a strategy, knowing that such replies were likely or very likely. Of these 3, have secured places to study, usually in their ‘Safe’ course/programme, but in one case, the student applied to only 2 schools, which were High Reach, and was able to secure a place after correspondences and a remark – having missed the offer, the university subsequently adjusted the offer and accepted the student onto the course.

Replies from Universities

Negative Replies 22%

Positive Replies 78%

Students rank their applications according to the likelihood of success in their applications based on their research and individual profiles.  High Reach is defined as: Very unlikely to receive an offer, but want to have a try, as they believe it may be a very challenging, but positive match – like a ‘dream school’. We would normally expect a 0 – 15% positive reply rate from such applications.  Reach is defined as: Unlikely to receive an offer but showing a good degree of alignment, and want to apply as they believe a challenging, but positive match – like a ‘really good place’. We would normally expect between 15 and 35% positive reply rate from such applications.  Mid is defined as: A good match in many ways, though far from a sure thing as it is a competitive application environment. A good match and a place where the student will be happy and well suited, with about a 50/50 chance of having a positive reply.  Safe is defined as: A good match in many ways, with the college/university course/programme expectations being less than what the student has to offer. A place where the student will be happy to study and live. We would normally expect between 70 and 90% positive reply rate from such applications. We normally advise students to have an even spread between High Reach/Reach, Mid and Safe applications.

Application Profiles: This year’s graduating class tended to apply to with high aspirations and in an optimistic manner, though virtually all had a sense of reality in their applications. This can be seen in the range of High Reach/Reach, Mid and Safe applications made.

Student Applications - HR/R/M/S

High Reach/Reach Mid Safe

15%

49% 36%

Students experienced higher than expected level of success in each of the rating categories mentioned above. The High Reach and Reach have been pooled in this report, due to feedback from students stating that they found it difficult to distinguish between the rating categories. Additionally, the data was fairly consistent across the two categories.

Success by Application Rating

Positive Replies Negative Replies

53.9 Reach/High Reach 46.1

82.4 Mid 17.6

97.5 Safe 2.5

Applications by country: Students, as expected, applied to a range of countries, based on family and cultural heritage preferences, as well as choosing the best match courses/programmes for them. The majority again applied to our ‘big five’ destinations of Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, UK and USA. The details of these applications are listed below (**please note that the information related to Australia applications is incomplete at this time, due to the application timeline for Southern Hemisphere applications).

The following table shows the number of applications by country submitted: UK HK Canada USA Australia Number of Applications 285 188 152 128 29 Number of Students 73 64 49 31 9 Average Apps per Student 3.9 2.9 3.1 4.1 2.3

There were an additional 60 applications sent to 8 other countries, but these were limited to one or two students to each country.

As most students applied to more than one country, the differences in success rates was more dependent on the individual student application profiles, more than the differences between the systems applied to. For example, a student who applies to both Canada and USA, may have Reach and High Reach schools in USA, and Mid and Safe schools in Canada. Such a profile is quite common for multiple country applications as families consider relative costs and world rankings, as well as future career pathway options when setting their HR/R/M/S applications. It should be noted that there are students who had 100% success rates in each of our ‘big 5’ destination countries.

Application Success % Rate by Destination

Australia 93

USA 67

Canada 91

HK 74

UK 77

Enrollment by country: While many students were successful in their applications to more than one destination/country, final enrollment decisions seem to be based on a combination of factors, which vary in importance individually. Students reported that final enrollment decisions, in relation to both countries of study, as well as course/university final choices were based on the following factors (please note that this is student reported data, and is not rigorously verified, but does reflect some important factors in final decision-making) – in alphabetical order, NOT in order of incidence, nor importance):  Citizenship  Cost  Family/Heritage links  Future Career Opportunities  Location (weather/setting/community-culture)  University Reputation/Ranking It may be noteworthy that there seems to be a somewhat consistent trend over the past 10 years showing a steady increase in Hong Kong applications, as well as the number of students who choose to stay in Hong Kong for their university studies. This may be linked to the rise of Hong Kong institutions’ rankings in world university tables, as well as the relatively ease of career progression made possible through studying in Hong Kong, in addition to the relatively low costs linked to such programmes.

Enrollment by Country Australia Others 6% 3%

USA UK 11% 39%

Canada 17%

HK 24%

It should be noted that of the final destinations for all students, nearly 80% of these were for courses and/or institutions which they had rated as either High Reach or Reach applications (please note that Australia enrolments are not yet confirmed, and these, along with gap year details, are not included).

Enrollment by Application Rating

High Reach/Reach Mid Safe

The most popular places for universities is quite similar to recent years. The following show the most common destinations by university for our graduating class. This information does not include Australia bound students, as their university applications are being submitted and considered this term.

It should be noted that all other destinations for our students have a total of 4 or fewer students enrolling. Please also note that our graduating class will enrol in more than 40 different institutions.

Enrollment by University 13

9 9

7 6 6 5 5

HKU CUHK UBC KCL (King's) Bristol UCL LSE UofT

A fuller list of all universities is attached below in Appendix A1.

Enrollment by course/major:

There was a significant shift in the number of students applying to specific programmes in this year’s graduating class. The list below shows the most common course/specialisms that students enrolled in. It should be noted, that as was expected, the number of different programmes remained over 30, as in previous years, showing that students applied to a variety of programmes, most closely linked to their personal or individual talents and interests.

It should be noted that the number of Medicine and Law enrolments are unusually high this year, but are very much in line with individual students’ interests and talents. It would be expected that this is not a ‘trend’ but rather a reflection on these particular students’ preferences.

Enrollment by Course/Major 17 16 15

Medicine Sciences Business Law Art/Design

A fuller list of all courses that students are enrolling into is attached in Appendix C.

We feel very proud of our graduating class and wish them all the best in their studies and future careers, as well as in their future roles in both their families and communities.

16th September, 2015 – Sha Tin College Careers and Higher Education Department.

** Please note that all data is up-to-date and accurate based on information provided by students on or before 11th Sept, 2015

University Country Course Applying Australia AUS Business & Management Applying Australia AUS Physiotherapy/Medical Science Applying Australia AUS Applying Australia AUS Bachelor of Science Applying Australia AUS Commerce/Business Applying Australia AUS Education/Humanities & social studies Management/commerce/Art/City Applying Australia AUS planning Applying Australia AUS Science Applying Australia AUS Science in Exercise & Health Applying Australia AUS Applying Australia AUS U of Toronto CAN Business Commerce U of Toronto CAN Life Science U of Toronto CAN Astrophysic U of Toronto CAN Law U of Totonto CAN Computer Science U of Waterloo CAN Arts UBC CAN Arts UBC CAN Commerce & Arts UBC CAN Computer Science UBC CAN Psychology UBC CAN Commerce & Arts UBC CAN Computer Sciences UBC CAN Economics/Arts/Science UBC CAN Life Science UBC CAN Sciences Western U Ontario CAN Chemical Engineering U Catholique de L'ouest France Pre-medicine City U of HK HK Creative Media CUHK HK Medicine CUHK HK Business Administration CUHK HK Journalism CUHK HK Medicine CUHK HK Medicine & Surgery 29

CUHK HK Nursing CUHK HK Journalism & Communication CUHK (FT) HK Medicine & Surgery CUHK(FT) HK Medicine HKU HK BA HKU HK Economics HKU HK English HKU HK Medicine HKU HK Medicine & Surgery HKU HK Science HKU HK Social Sciences HKU HK Business & Management HKU HK Medicine HKU HK Science HKU (FT) HK Business Administration HKU (FT) HK Medicine HKU (FT) HK Medicine HKU (FT) HK Medicine & Surgery HKUST HK Business HKUST HK Business & Management HKUST HK Aerospace Engineering HKUST HK Science Poly U HK Product Design/Communication Poly U HK Science/Surveying Savannah College of Art & Design HK HK Sequential Arts SCAD HK HK Art & Design U of the Arts London HK Graphic Design Rotterdam Sch of Management, Erasmus U Netherlands International Business Admin U of Groningen Netherlands Medicine U of Maastricht Netherlands Science Applying South Africa S. Africa Central St Martins Coll of Art & Design UK Painting Durham U UK English Literature Durham U UK Financial Accounting Heriot-Watt U, Edinburgh UK Economics Heriot-Watt U, Edinburgh UK International Business Management 30

Imperial College London UK Mechanical Engineering Keele U UK Physiotherapy King's College London UK Geography King's College London UK Law King's College London UK Law King's College London UK Nutrition King's College London UK Philosophy, Politics & Economics King's College London (U of L) UK Law King's College London, U of L UK Law Lancaster U UK Fine Art Loughborough U UK Sport Management LSE UK History LSE UK Law LSE UK Law LSE UK Law LSE UK Sociology Newcastle U UK Biochemical Science Newcastle U UK Fine Art Newcastle U UK Law Newcastle U Upon Tyne UK Computer Science Nottingham Trent U UK Architecture Nottingham Trent U UK Marketing Queen Mary Uof L UK Law Queen's U Belfast UK Medicine Royal Veterinary College (U of L) UK Veterinary Medicine SOAS U of L UK History & Chinese U of Brighton UK Architecture U of Bristol UK Biology U of Bristol UK English U of Bristol UK Law U of Bristol UK Medicine U of Bristol UK Medicine U of Bristol UK Music U of East Anglia UK Medicine U of Edinburgh UK English Literature U of Essex UK Economics U of Glasgow UK English Literature/History of Art 31

U of Hull UK Marketing U of Kent UK Drama & Theatre Arts U of Leeds UK English Literature & Theatre Studies U of Leicester UK Aerospace Engineering U of Leicester UK Medicine U of Nottingham UK Finance, Accounting & Management U of Nottingham UK Int'l Media & Communications U of Nottingham UK Law U of Nottingham UK Nutrition U of Sheffield UK Architecture U of South Wales UK Media U of Stirling UK Psychology U of Surrey UK Musical Theatre U of Sussex UK Music Technology U of Sussex UK Business & Management U of Warwick UK Law U of Warwick UK Mechanical Engineering U of Warwick UK Politics with Int'l Studies UCL UK Applied Medical Sciences UCL UK Geology UCL UK History of Art with Material Studies UCL UK Pharmacy UCL UK Pharmacy UCL UK Philosophy, Politics & Economics Babson College USA Business Boston U USA Education Boston U USA Social Sciences Cornell U USA Biological Sciences Northwestern U USA Journalism & Communication NYU USA Fine Arts/Visual Arts Parsons New School for DesignNY USA Fine Arts Rice U USA Environmental Science U of Chicago USA U of Rochester USA Political Science/Government U of the Pacific USA Dentistry U of Virginia USA Life Science UC Irvine USA Business Administration 32

UCLA USA Communication Studies USC USA Civil Engineering/Biophysics Vassar College USA Environment Analysis Wellesley College (ED) USA Business Wellesley College(ED) USA Gap Year Gap Year Gap Year Gap Year Gap Year Gap Year Gap Year

*Sports:

Sports and physical activities continue to play a very important role during and in addition to the school day. The Sha Tin College Sports Programme incorporates throughout the year a very wide range of competitions for all ages. In 2014/15 approximately 650 students took part in 60 teams which participated in 280 matches and 42 tournaments.

Inter-House sports: swimming; athletics; cross country; netball; basketball; dodgeball; tag rugby; volleyball; rounders; football

HKSFF (Hong Kong School Sports Federation): netball; hockey; basketball; football; rugby; cross country; swimming; athletics; fencing; table tennis; rowing; sailing; tennis; badminton; equestrian.

ESF league: basketball; football; rugby; table tennis; cross country; swimming; athletics; volleyball; biathlon.

Basketball Athletics ESF League HKSSF A Grade Girls 3rd Place C Grade Girls 4th Place B Grade Girls 3rd Place A Grade Boys Runner Up Fencing B Grade Boys 3rd Place HKSSF Individual A Grade Girls Champion HKSSF Leagu Individual B Grade Girls Champion A Grade Boys Champions Individual C Grade Boys Champion B Grade Boys Runner Up Boys Epee Team 4th Place C Grade Girls 5th Place Gilrs Epee Team Champions

Hockey Biathlon HKSSF ESF Junior Boys Champions Year 8 Girls Champions Senior Boys Runner Up

Rugby Football HKSSF A Grade Boys 3rd Place AB Grade 7’s Girls Champions B Grade Boys 4th Place A Grade Boys 7’s Champions C Grade Boys 3rd Place B Grade Boys 7’s Champions

Swimming Badminton ESF ESF Junior Gala 3rd place Open Grade mixed tournament ABC Grade Swimming Gala Runner Up Champions

Cross Country A Grade Girls 4th Place Equestrian C Grade Girls Runner Up Hong Kong Equestrian Lower Division Champions

Climbing and Bouldering International Honours CHKMCU Rugby – boys and girls 26th HK Open Sports Climbing Hockey – boys and girls Junior Girls – Champion Fencing 2nd place Climbing 3rd place 4th place HKSSF – Sha Tin and Sai Kung District 5th place Overall Championships (52 competing 6th place schools) Hong Kong Bouldering Girls – 7th Place Girls Junior – Champion Boys – 8th Place 2nd place 3rd place 4th place 5th place

National Bouldering Women’s Amateur - Champion 2nd place 4th place

*Student and Staff Achievements:

Outstanding Cambridge Learner Awards

Two of our Y12 students have won awards for exceptional achievement in the June 2014 Cambridge examinations. We are very proud of them. They are:

Vanessa Kam Tsz Wing – highest mark in the world for Cambridge IGCSE Co-ordinated Sciences (Double Award) and,

Shimali Ruanthi De Silva – highest mark in the world for Cambridge IGCSE Drama

SCMP Junior Reporter Awards 2014

Congratulations to Henry Lui, 11G2 who won the SCMP Young Post Junior Reporter Awards 2014 for Best Workshop Report with his piece, "Musical awareness on a whole new level", a report on Sony's high-resolution audio workshop. http://yp.scmp.com/junior-reporters/reports/article/91484/phil-lam-and-sony-shows-yp- junior-reporters-newest-high-res

66th Hong Kong Speech Festival

We would like to congratulate Elin Chan of 10X2 on her magnificent effort in the 66th Hong Kong Speech Festival. Elin was incredibly successful in all of the competitions that she entered:

Shakespeare Monologue – Non Open Under 15 – 1st place Solo Prose Reading – Non Open Secondary 4 – 1st place Public Speaking Solo Secondary 3 & 4 – 2nd place Dramatic Duologue Secondary 3 & 4 – 3rd place

Elin has worked incredibly hard and we are all proud of her. Well done Elin!

Hong Kong Young Writers’ Awards 2014

Congratulations to Yoki Chan of 7D1 and Elin Chan of 10X1 for being short-listed for this year’s Hong Kong Young Writers’ Awards. HKYWA is an annual writing competition which receives thousands of submissions from students in Hong Kong and Macau. This year students were asked to submit writing based on the theme of ‘New Tales of the Pearl River Delta’. Both Yoki and Elin have been short-listed for their Non-Fiction submissions in their respective groups. Yoki’s piece, ‘The Power of Things Past’, and Elin’s, ‘Embracing a Pearly Future’, will be published in HKYWA 2015 anthology and both girls will be attending the awards ceremony in April when this year’s winners will be announced. Good luck to both Yoki and Elin and well done for writing such inspiring and well-crafted pieces!

Yoki Chan

Elin Chan

China Hong Kong Mountaineering and Climbing Union Bouldering Championships 2014

The China Hong Kong Mountaineering and Climbing Union (CHKMCU) organised the national bouldering championships at the Go Nature climbing centre on 18th January. There were two categories of entry – Men/ Women’s Open and Men/ Women’s Amateur with no age restriction in either category. The Sha Tin College climbing team entered the competition in the amateur category and were competing against university students and adults.

The competition was organised in to a qualifying round of bouldering problems with the top climbers being invited back for a final round of problems in the afternoon. Against stiff competition, the Sha Tin College team put in a superb performance and displayed excellent technique on very challenging problems. Their reward for such an outstanding display was to finish 1st, 2nd and 4th in the Women’s Amateur competition!

The final placing were as follows: 1st Denise Wong; 2nd Sally Lam; 4th Vanessa Kam

Sally Lam and Denise Wong

‘A Close Run Thing’

The 2014-15 Inter-School Rugby Sevens (NT) - Boys A Grade Finals was won by STC in a nail biting finish which went down to the wire. After going ahead, Sha Tin went behind and were chasing the game. With 1 minute to go in the last play of the match from a scrum Sha Tin equalised with a try from James Hawgood. It took a carefully and cooly timed conversion by Dominic Lam to win the game deep in injury time with the last kick of the game.

The squad over the 3 days of competition were the following Dominic Lam (Captain), James Hawgood (Vice Captain), Damien Lee, Mervyn Mckinley, Malcolm McNicol, Ho Yee Cheung, Michael Ting, Adrian Lau. Ryman Lee, James Atter, Alex Zalvin, Simon Won, Mathew Mui, Rocco Cheung, Alex Tonks.

Girls: The Girls A and B grade rugby team came 2nd in the Inter-Schools Rugby 7s. They went through the pool rounds winning every game convincingly, only 2 tries were conceded in the whole tournament. The girls came up against a tough team in the final, it was a close finish which resulted in the STC team losing by 1 try to nil.

Squad: Elspeth Laidler (Captain), Kathleen Arthur, Kat Esser, Sarah Lucas, Katie Beattie, Hollie Key, Brittany Arthur, Jessica Eden, Jessica Barnes, Nicole Leung, Katie Ngan Kee, Ching Hei Cheung.

Clive Graham 9X1: ESF Sports Star 2015 championship

Congratulations to Clive who was runner up at the ESF Sports Star 2015 championship organised by the ESL Educational Services Ltd (ESL).

ESL hosted a season long ESF sports star initiative which selected the top four students from each of the main core sports: basketball, football, netball and swimming. Clive was identified as the top swimmer within the ESF Sharks swimming programme. He experienced a wide range of sports activities throughout the year and thoroughly enjoyed his time.

Clive Graham – third from left (in blue t-shirt)

The Other Hundred Exhibition at Sha Tin College

Sha Tin College hosted an Exhibition of photographs entitled “The Other Hundred.” The Other Hundred is a unique photography project aimed as a counterpoint to the Forbes top 100 and other media rich lists by telling the stories of people around the world who are not rich but whose lives, struggles and achievements deserve to be celebrated. Its 100 photo stories move beyond the stereotypes and clichés that fill so much of the world's media to explore the lives of people whose aspirations and achievements are at least as noteworthy as any member of the world's richest 1 percent.

All students at Sha Tin College visited the Exhibition; as they viewed the photographs and read the stories they were encouraged to reflect upon the question ‘What is a successful life? Students completed a survey about their own view of success and some of the results are shown in the video below.

As part of the Exhibition everyone at Sha Tin College, students, teachers and staff were asked to contribute a photograph which encapsulates the concept of achievement or meaning in their own lives. The collection is a testament to the energy, enthusiasm and creativity of our student body. And together it is a powerful symbol of the unity of the school. Here is a link to a video which captures the Exhibition at STC: https://vimeo.com/114330508

Hong Kong’s Stride for a Cure!

Another year, another record broken! This year, we’ve raised over HK$150,000 beating last year’s record of $130,000 and once again winning the HK Cancer Fund’s School Cup. As a team, we cannot express how thankful we are for the constant generosity and willingness of the Sha Tin Community - your kindness has inspired and motivated us throughout this entire project. We are so incredibly proud of the Sha Tin Community and we’re especially proud to be able to be a part of this.

HK Cancer Fund’s ‘Stride for a Cure’ have written to Sha Tin College thanking us for our participation in this year’s walk. They wrote: “Your generous gift has helped us raise the funds needed to support ongoing cancer research programmes here in Hong Kong! Your support has helped enable scientists to increase the rate of early detection and improve treatments, as we make every effort to improve the lives of those touched by cancer…”

*Arts

As well as music, drama and fine arts are particularly strong within and outside of the formal curriculum.

This Year’s Art GCSE exam unit, namely, Apart and or Together, challenged over 55 young artistic minds to create a piece that personified their best work to date. It was obvious from the preparation and organisation from many that they were ready to show to the world what they could do. They did not fail.

Each student produced a work that best reflected their skill to date and highlighted the Arts as a supreme way for each student to express themselves, problem solve, be creative, relieve stress and enjoy themselves.

Below is just a snapshot of what was produced from our Year 11 Art students during the GCSE Art exam this Year. It represents the high level and diversity of Art produced here at Sha Tin College. A very well done to each Art student for the work produced throughout the two years. Each students work will be on exhibit this coming September.

Year 13 IB Visual Arts Exhibition March 2015

There were 21 students involved in the final IB Visual Arts exhibition this year and each were given their own space in which to display their work. The results were very impressive.

How to apply to Heaven by Caught in the Act

The Drama department hosted a group of talented actors from Years 10-12 who were performing in a play written by our Year 11 student, Shimali De Silva, entitled “How to apply to Heaven. “This student run performance group has been active for some months now and they call themselves Caught in the Act.

Shimali’s thought provoking and original drama was set in a fictional institution that may or may not have been modelled on our own college, and in which the inhabitants were trying to figure out the best way of getting into Heaven. The production was both funny and clever and an audience of around 50 friends and parents attended and stayed behind for a discussion after the performance in which audience raised ideas such as the inspiration for the writer (Uni applications amongst other things!) and the theme of religion.

Shimali should be commended for her dedication in writing a great short play that may become a longer piece soon and also may be performed again for a wider audience.

*CAS Week

CAS Week at Sha Tin College is intended to offer a wide range of challenges and opportunities for students which are not normally encountered in a classroom situation. The activities are intended to challenge students, provide opportunities for personal growth and to foster awareness and appreciation of life outside academic studies. For the 2014-2015 academic year CAS Week took place between Monday 13th and Friday 17th October 2014.

Embracing the ‘Activity’ strand of CAS, Year 7 were at a camp on Lantau. They participated in a wide range of physical activities such as archery, rope climbing and bubble football, as well as a wide range of team building games. The week was designed to offer the students both new challenges and the opportunity to bond as a team. The week was successful and well organized and we shall be using the same provider for CAS Week 2015.

Year 8 were immersed in a ‘Creative’ theatre workshop as Sha Tin College played host to the organization, Scottish Opera. Students spent four days preparing two musical productions which they performed to family and friends at the end of the week. Students said “it boosted our confidence to try new things”, “the mood was always happy and joyful” and “it was imaginative and enjoyable”. This was the first time Sha Tin College has worked with Scottish Opera and we will develop our working relationship with them when they return to reprise their workshop for CAS Week 2015.

Students in Year 13 use CAS Week to complete their IB Group 4 project and to write their personal statements for University applications. This ran smoothly this year and we will continue with this programme in 2015. As the Group 4 project assessment has changed, this has provided us with an opportunity to review the CAS Week experience for Year 13 students in the future. From the academic year 2016-17, Year 13 students will be allowed to attend CAS Week activities and their work on their University applications will take place in a redesigned Year 13 Induction Programme in August 2016.

Students in Years 9 to 12 were able to select their CAS Week experience from a wide range of choices.

Sha Tin College students supported local Service projects in Hong Kong such as the David Exodus Kindergarten, Jockey Club Sarah Roe, SPCA and taught English in a local school. Year 12 Student Leaders also supported the Year 7 and 8 activities. Historic Walks and The Amazing Race gave our students the opportunity to learn and be challenged in a range of ways around Hong Kong. Purely actively-minded students specialized for the week in Boxing or Sailing or were coached professionally in a range of sports in Mad About Sport Week. Creativity options for students ranged from the traditional disciplines of Mural Painting, 55

Pottery and cooking up a Global Feast to innovative digital disciplines such as App Development and DSLR Photography. Musicians could either play at Rock School and learn the craft of making their own instruments at Ukelele Making.

Over 350 students travelled to a variety of international destinations. Blending in a range of creative, active and service elements, students travelled to Bali and Komodo, Borneo, California, Cambodia, Jordan, Morocco, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Students travelled to Berlin and Paris for a European perspective on creativity and its application in everything from architecture to cuisine. Separate treks to Kanchenjunga and Everest Base Camps and a Rock Climbing course in Krabi provided the opportunity for students to overcome a tough physical challenge.

CAS Week Berlin

Scottish Opera

CAS Week Borneo

Murals and Stage Set Painting

Teaching English at a local school

Kanchenjunga Base Camp

*PTA Update

Each year the PTA co-organises the Year 13 Graduation Ceremony with the school. Also, the PTA each year awards monetary prizes to Year 12 students for Academic Excellence, Academic Progress and Overall Contribution to STC school life. The plaque in the School Hall is a permanent record of those who have been awarded the prizes. We offer our congratulations to last year’s students, chosen by Sha Tin College staff. Each student received $5,000.

School Fair: The College’s share of the proceeds from the 2014 Fair was $178,598 out of which $38,870 was donated to House charities. The PTA used this income and other surplus to fund the school’s piano, Health Week activities, tournaments, Christmas and CNY celebrations, Year 12 and Year 13 Graduation Ceremony as well as other functions and projects.

*Statistics: turnover, ethnicity, nationality, first language

Turnover rate

Total no. of students Total no. of student in September 2014 withdrawals by end June 2015 Year 7 178 5 Year 8 175 7 Year 9 174 15 Year 10 170 10 Year 11 171 20 Year 12 156 5 Year 13 157 1

Ethnicity

Other Total East no. of Chinese Caucasian Eurasian Indians Others N/A Asian students Countries

1,180 850 61 107 47 39 22 54

Nationality Total no. No. of No. of No. of No. of No. of No. of Others of Chinese Americans Australians British Canadians Hong students PRC Kong 1,180 43 78 68 218 130 475 168

First Language Total no. of English Cantonese Mandarin Korean Other students 1,180 802 302 33 15 28

Ethnicity

Other Total East no. of Chinese Caucasian Eurasian Indians Others N/A Asian students Countries

1,180 850 61 107 47 39 22 54

Nationality

Total no. No. of No. of No. of No. of No. of No. of Others of Chinese Americans Australians British Canadians Hong students PRC Kong 1,180 43 78 68 218 130 475 168

First Language

Total no. of English Cantonese Mandarin Korean Other students 1,180 802 302 33 15 28