AISHK Lion Rock 2019 Term 4 Volume 33

Rock

THE LION

AUSTRALIAN iNTERNATIONAL sCHOOL hONG kONG Term 4 2019 | Volume 33

Connecting AISHK uniting for wellbeing and community

AISHK Re-live the Term’s events with our recap videos!

STUDENTS REPRESENT Students review highlights and achievements of the SRC

Behind the Scenes Get to know the 9/F team and their favourite AISHK memories

CONTENTS AISHKTV

Look out for the following icon to watch exclusive video recaps!

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Messages from The Board Chairman and Head of School Coming Up in Term 1 2020 AISHK In Action Updates from the school and its community

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Jingle and Mingle recap

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Behind the Scenes: Meet the 9/F Team

Connecting Through Wellbeing AISHK uniting for wellbeing and community

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AUSTRALIAN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL FOUNDATION LIMITED A NON-PROFIT ORGANISATION Board Members Professor Richard Petty Board Chairman and Governor

Mr Tom Corkhill Immediate Past Chairman and Founding Governor

Dr Dan Hooley School Supervisor, Past Chairman and Governor

Dr Joseph Lee SBS, JP Development Committee Chair and Governor

Mr Andrew Macintosh Finance Committee Chair and Governor

Mr Adrian Jenkins Facilities Committee Chair and Governor

Mr Ken Gordon

Governance Committee Chair and Governor Subscriber and Ex-Officio Governor Rep. Australian Consulate General - Hong Kong

Ms Jenny Huang Governor Subscriber and Ex-Officio Governor Rep. Federation of Australian Alumni Associations

Ms Helen Lee

Governor Subscriber and Ex-Officio Governor Rep. Australian Chinese Association of Hong Kong

Mr David Chan Governor

Ms Kym Fortescue Governor

Mrs Tracy Gliddon Governor

Mrs Joanna Hartnett

Governor Subscriber and Ex-Officio Governor Rep. AISHK Parent Association

School Leadership Team Mr Mark Hemphill Head of School Mr David Christmas Business Administrator

Mr Brendan Kean Head of Primary

Mr Cameron Reed

Dean of Studies (Primary)

Ms Cathryn Moore

Head of Early Childhood

Mr Howard West Head of Secondary

Mr Chris McCorkell

Dean of Studies (Secondary)

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THE LION

Rock Volume 33|DECEMBER 2019

Rock

THE LION

www.aishk.edu.hk

@ais_hk

Produced by the Development Office. Feedback and submissions to: development@aishk.edu.hk

MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD CHAIRMAN

Professor Richard Petty AISFL Board Chairman

On behalf of your Board of Governors, welcome to the final edition of The Lion Rock for 2019.

This issue explores the topic of connecting through wellbeing. The results of the Parent Satisfaction survey, conducted in Term 4, indicate student wellbeing as one of our school’s top strengths. During what has been a challenging term, this strength has been pivotal in galvanising our community spirit and in ensuring the continued success of AISHK. Despite a number of adjustments and postponements to school events, our students have continued to proudly represent AISHK this term; from the Primary Visual Arts Exhibition in our very own auditorium, to the AISA sports tournament in Malaysia, where some 60 students competed against schools from around Asia.

In community events, we saw the recent Jingle and Mingle carols evening take place with a strong turnout and plenty of festive flair. Thank you to the AISHK Parent Association, staff and all parents who attended this event and gave a helping hand to make this event not only possible, but also memorable.

I thank the school community for working productively with me during my first year as Board Chairman. It has been my honour to serve the School this year.

Congratulations to our students and staff on their many achievements in 2019. I look forward to seeing you all in 2020, and to celebrating our School’s 25th Anniversary year with you.

Wishing you a safe and relaxing holiday ahead.

MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

Mr. Mark Hemphill Head of School

It takes many different teams to ensure the effective running of a school. Some of these teams are very obvious but others are behind the scenes working hard every day to make sure that AISHK runs smoothly. One of the most important ‘behind the scenes’ teams at AISHK is our 9/F team who all do a remarkable kob in servicing our community.

In this feature of Lion Rock, we would like to acknowledge our incredible 9/F team for all their hardwork, commitment and dedication. You may know some of them but we hope you enjoy learning more about those you don’t know.

As the 2019 year draws to a close, I’d like to thank the school community for their support and friendship. Although we have faced many unique challenges in the latter part of the year, 2019 has been another hugely successful year for the school thanks to the commitment of our amazing community.

I hope that the upcoming holiday break gives everyone an opportunity for some rest, relaxation and time spent with family and loved ones.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas, safe travels during the holidays and a healthy and happy 2020.

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Upcoming Events Term 1 2020 @AISHK Back to School (Yr1-12)

29 January

Prep Introductory Sessions Back to School (Reception)

29-31 January

30 January

Welcome Festival

SEAMS Fashion Show

SDRC Volleyball

ACAMIS Senior Swim Meet

Primary and Secondary Camps

7 February

13-14 March

22 February

12-14 March

Year 3 Camp

25-27 March Year 4 Camp

25-27 March Year 5 Camp

24-27 March

Secondary Activity Week

22-28 March

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Term 1 School Holidays: 4-20 April

AISHK World Teacher’s Day On Friday 25 October we celebrated World Teacher’s Day. On this day we thank teachers both past and present for the impact they have on the lives and minds of young people.

We are incredibly fortunate at AISHK to have teachers who are committed and dedicated and really care about their students. Thank you to our AISHK teachers for all they do for our community. Watch the video below to hear what students have to say about their favourite teacher.

AISHKTV

Jump Jam Returns in Term 4 With Term 4 bringing cooler weather, Friday mornings jumped back into action on the field. Jump Jam took on an exciting new format with House groups taking on the organisation of the Jump Jam routines on a fortnightly basis. House Leaders and students from each house decided who would lead up the front on behalf of their house and the playlist order.

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AISHKTV

in Action Year 7 and Prep Play Playground Games How can we live to be 100? Year 7 had been pondering this question in their PDHPE classes during Semester Two. One of the common traits of communities with a high incidence of centurions is utilising opportunities to be active. The others are having a varied and balanced diet, feeling connected and having a sense of purpose.

At school, our greatest opportunities to be active are during recess and lunch breaks. Our primary school students are fortunate to have lots of engaging equipment set out for them during breaks each day, but Year 7 saw an opportunity to teach the Prep students some traditional playground games.

These included handball, skipping, tag and even hide and seek. Their challenge was to use as little equipment as possible and stay moving for the entire session.

AISHKTV

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Year 6 Beijing Camp

For another year, the skies hung in a glorious blue over the city of Beijing where our Year 6 students explored and learnt over five nights and four days. With bag loads of zest, courage, perseverance, resilience, kindness and social intelligence, the Year Sixes certainly gave their all and took risks to make the most of their much anticipated week away. Language skills were tested, tastebuds were trialled, footsteps were trod, packs filled with shopping, questions asked and minds intrigued.

Over four full days of exploring China’s capital, our Year 6 students were treated to the incredible sights of: The Forbidden City, The Summer Palace, The Temple of Heaven, The Drum Tower, a wander through the Hutongs and of course, the unforgettable day when over 100 Year 6 students together climbed the Great Wall of China. They were also kept busy and active with Jianxi (shuttlecock) kicking, calligraphy painting, Peking Opera mask painting, shadow puppet crafting, Chinese cooking and meeting the famous Cricket Master!

Thursday was a particularly special day of our itinerary. It was one of those experiences that are off the tourist track and certainly cannot be found in a Lonely Planet guidebook! Our students had the opportunity to visit the impressive Shi Jia Primary School, our sister school in Beijing. Excitement was in the air (and certainly some shyness) as all students approached each other. Although within a short amount of time, gifts were exchanged, laughter and chatter filled the air and some new friendships formed.

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Year 8 Science Fair

At the Year 8 Science Fair, students in pairs chose a scientific topic that interested them. They planned, carried out, and reported on investigations for an assignment. Finally on 12 November they presented their work at the Science Fair in the auditorium. Students from Primary and Secondary attended as well as parents.

It was great to see Year 8 students enthused about scientific topics and pass on their curiosity to younger students. This was a great opportunity for them to engage with visitors and students while embracing their creativity. They are all to be commended for their achievements.

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Year 4 Arcade Games has become an institution at AISHK and this year’s was bigger and better than ever. This is the culmination of the integration of many areas of curriculum: Digital technologies, Art and Geography. It involved problem-solving and collaboration at every stage beyond the initial programming. So, in 4Y and 4B the scene was set; the lights dimmed. Then began the hustle and bustle with disco lights, arcade game music and students eager to share their learning with parents, teachers and classes from the Primary School. A special thank you to staff in Digital Technologies, Art, Design Technology, Administration, ICT, our own Year 4 teachers and Mrs Stapleton.

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On Monday 9 December, AISHK’s inaugural Year 3 Robotic Olympics was held in our Level 4 gymnasium. Students created, collaborated and competed using Milo the Science Rover, built using the WeDo2.0 Lego system. The event was the culmination of our ICT program for 2019 which was led by the inimitable Carl Ohlson.

Students were challenged in four events: a drag race, a hill climb, a race track and an obstacle course.

Students built unique robots for each event working together to beat the clock, their peers and gravity. It was clear that everyone found the morning extremely challenging and a great deal of fun.

As can be clearly seen in the photographs and video below, student teamwork and engagement was crucial and the event is sure to be a hit in years to come. Many thanks to the Year 3 staff and assistants for all your work helping to ensure it was a robotic ripper. Keep an eye out for some brilliant programmers and Milo in 2020.

AISHKTV

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Jingle and Mingle

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Not even the dip in temperature could keep the festive fun away from the 2019 Jingle and Mingle!

Students, staff and families rugged up to enjoy the last community event of the year on the AISHK Field The evening started with musical stylings of the school Guitar Ensemble, followed by Christmas Carols sung by Primary in each of the four Houses. A range of impressive vocal and instrumental performances continued with the Secondary Rock Bands taking to the stage for the duration of the night.

Keeping attendees warm were the BBQ, Homemade Food Stall, mulled wine and other Christmas delights. Thank you to the Commercial Stalls who purchased a booth in order to share their goods and services with our community.

Cards by Ben | Facebook: @cardsbyben Handmade and bespoke greetings cards.

Charlie Ware | Year 6L Student Aussie Lolly Stall Not Only Olives | Facebook: @NotOnlyOlives Homemade goodies; chutneys, olives, cheeses and Mediterranean food.

Two Monkeys | Facebook: @twomonkeyshk No slip, no bounce, affordable, polarised sunglasses by Goodr.

Venture Studios | www.venturephotography.com/hk Bespoke photography to capture your family’s unique story.

Where the Honey Runs | Facebook: @WhereTheHoneyRuns Essential quality and eco-friendly partyware.

32nd West Kowloon Brownies | Facebook: @EnglishSpeakingGuidesHK The Bauhinia Division of the Hong Kong Girl Guide Association (HKGGA), providing an English-speaking Guiding experience to girls in HK ages 4-15.

Thank you to all parent and staff volunteers who lent a hand at the Bar, BBQ, drink stalls and many other areas behind the scenes. To all who attended, we are so appreciative of your participation which made our final 2019 community event so enjoyable and memorable.

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TEDx@AISHK TEDxYouth@AISHK was a huge success on Friday 25 October providing inspiring and thought-provoking talks as well as good company from across all of Hong Kong. The well-organised night was one to remember as guest speakers gave their perspectives on the theme of ‘Pressing Pause’; an idea which is so relevant and applicable to the fast-paced city of Hong Kong.

Joonsung Kim and Rebecca Leung delivered relatable content and shone light on the hidden truths within society. J Lou explored the idea of ignorance and the forms in which it exists, whilst allowing us to reflect on our own personal relations with close ones. A heartening talk from David Begbie broadened our horizons and left the audience empowered as he shared his fascinating and spontaneous journey.

TED’s mission of “ideas worth spreading” was well achieved as the event surely sparked conversation and thought with all those who attended. The recorded talks are now available to watch via the Tedx Talks YouTube channel. Learn more about the presenters and watch their talk below.

TEDx Talks Organisers Edwina Sze and Emily Kwok

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Executive Team Alina Martin Hayden Young Justin Or Sharman Tam Ella Fraser Ocean Hartnett Krsna Hemlani Ashvin Malkani

Box of Hope Box of Hope is a registered charity which was set up in Hong Kong in 2008, with the aim of providing children with the opportunity to provide a present to people less fortunate in places like Hong Kong, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. AISHK collected a total of 604 boxes this year. Thank you everyone for their very generous donations.

Year 9 Peer Support As part of the school’s ongoing commitment to strengthening our Student Wellbeing and Student Leadership opportunities, our Year 9 students completed two half days of Student Leadership Training on 2 and 3 December 2019. The Year 9 Student Leadership Training provided an opportunity for students to acquire and practise leadership skills to then apply to a range of life and schoolwide experiences, while also reflecting on and utilising their personal strengths.

The Secondary School Peer Support Program seeks to increase connections across the school through vertical groupings. This allows students to form positive relationships as well as develop empathy and a sense of responsibility for students which they might not typically engage with. The structure and content combined seek to build protective factors such as sense of self, sense of possibility,

connectedness and resilience, as well as establish a shared language across the school community.

Modules are designed to equip young people with skills to deal proactively with life experiences, develop a sense of self-worth and belonging, and to encourage taking responsibility for decisions and actions.

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Secondary Interhouse Touch The last of the sporting Interhouse competitions wrapped up on the 1st November after some fabulous team performances throughout the year in Soccer, Basketball, Volleyball, Swimming and Athletics. With the weather just starting to cool slightly, it was a great time to hold our touch football competition, which culminated in the much-anticipated Staff v Student Prefects’ game.

In the Year 7 and 8 division, Jacaranda took on Waratah in the final with Waratah running out winners 1-0 after a number of drop-offs. The Year 9-11 division again saw Jacaranda contesting a final, this time against Wattle. Despite a tight tussle, Wattle took the spoils on a beautiful Hong Kong afternoon, 2-1.

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The Staff vs Student Prefect’s game allowed staff to showcase their skills and supreme fitness. With some reputations on the line, the staff were able to hold off a surging student team with the final score being 2-1. Tries to Mr Walsh and Mr Murphy for the teachers.

Special thanks to students Lucy Fuge and Kingston Tam for their photography.

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SRC Achievements of 2019 Early Childhood Disco

This term, the Primary Student Representative Council (SRC) were happy to host the Early Childhood disco. The theme for the disco was ‘Recycling’. The SRC buddies also helped with the organising and everyone had so much fun working together as one big SRC team. Not only did the Early Childhood students have a great time, but plenty of the Primary helpers were seen boogying too!! There was awesome music provided by our 6 lucky DJ’s, Kylie Roberts, Mia Gollogley and Tom Christmas from 6S, Sarah Broderick and Oliver Moore from 6K and Matilda Dear from 6A. Primary SRC had so much fun making the prizes, working with our Early Childhood buddies and getting to see the happy looks on the younger students’ faces when the music came on. We hope that next year we can do it all again!!

- Matilda This year the SRC students hosted the Early Childhood Disco in Term 4. It went really well. We had great disco music, groovy dance moves and the Early Childhood buddies really liked the stickers we gave out. We awarded a range of recycled prizes like cardboard, egg cartons and plastic bottles to the best dancers. They were so happy because they could turn the prizes into anything they wanted. The Early Childhood students really enjoyed the disco!

- Michael

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Jump Jam At the beginning of the year, we did a Jump Jam with SRC Buddies. The Primary SRC students went down to their classroom and rehearsed the dance moves. The whole school came down onto the field, and we invited Kowloon Tong Government Primary school to dance with us! The Primary SRC students and SRC Buddies even got to lead the whole school in this Jump Jam session!

- Bonnie & Feena

Nursing Home Visit I loved the nursing home. The elderly were so nice and are always happy to see us. I went four times and it was 400 times better than staying at home. I made a drawing of Jim with Ms Yeung (in the picture I’m the sun).

- Luke Going to the nursing home was a great experience! The people there were really friendly and they have amazing stories to tell about their past and their jobs. Some were in the Navy and some were sailors. We read stories and played board games with them, but we mostly had conversations. The people there said that they love it when we come and that we keep them company. Not only did I just meet them, but they certainly had become my friends too!

- Natalie

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SRC Suggestion Box 2019 This year the SRC students have made a suggestion box. The suggestion box is a box where anyone can put in their suggestions to make the school a better place. The suggestions were shared at meetings and taken into consideration. It takes a lot of time to make changes, but we enjoyed listening to everyone’s feedback. Taj and Noah have worked hard this year to make some changes to the current sports uniform policy. Stay tuned for an official announcement soon!

- Breah & Florence

Star Cards This year in SRC we did something called Star Cards. Star Cards are basically value star awards but for everyone and they will make their day as happy as can be. What we had to do was to hand people a Star Card and a pen and to give them some advice or suggestions of what to write. Their names could be anonymous, but they could also write their name down so it could mean more to the person who was receiving it. It was fun and the SRC loved seeing lots of people writing cards. If we get the chance we would do it again!

- Keira & Sasha

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KTGPS ECA Lion Rock KTGPS stands for Kowloon Tong Government Primary School and they came to our school from 3:20pm-4:00pm every Thursday in Term 2 for a fun afternoon.

“I loved it when those students came to our school! I made lots of new friends and I even have one of their contacts! I learnt so much about their culture and life in school at the KTGPS. We played different games with them. We also did a ‘get to know you’ game. What I loved the most about the ECA was making new friends and communicating with them. I really hope that we can see them and meet them again soon!”

- Natalie “I think it was a great experience to be able to go to the ECA because we made a lot of new friends and got to know our neighbour school. I loved speaking and playing with some of the students. We had an amazing time playing card games and board games. For Mother’s Day we made a special card for all our amazing mums! I really hope we can do something like this again because not everyone got to do this and I would like everyone to try it out.”

- Melina “I thought it was a great experience to meet the students. We had a fun time talking and playing games with them. I personally liked when we got to eat vegemite bread because lots of people got to try vegemite for the first time and I like vegemite so I went back for more. I think that anyone who has the chance to do this ECA should try it because they might like it.

I hope I can meet them again soon!”

- Alexandra

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Primary Art Exhibition 25 - 26 Nov

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AISA Games Recap The Australian International Schools Association sporting carnival was hosted in Kuala Lumpur by AIS Malaysia. This competition encompasses numerous sports including Swimming, Netball, Basketball, Touch and Soccer.

The aim of this carnival is not only to foster friendships and healthy competition between our schools in the Asia region, it also encourages our students to participate in a number of sports across the three day competition.

This year, AISHK took over 60 athletes to the AISA Games. In hot and steamy conditions, our teams performed strongly across all disciplines.

Results were as follows:

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Connecting Through Wellbeing Schools worldwide are increasingly taking wellbeing very seriously. There is a growing body of evidence that demonstrates the strong association between safety, wellbeing and learning.

Learning communities are progressively promoting student wellbeing, safety and positive relationships so that students can reach their full potential.

As a responsive world-class international school, AISHK created the Director of Student Wellbeing (P-12) role in 2019 to enhance the success of the existing student wellbeing programmes across primary and secondary and to further develop student wellbeing as a schoolwide focus. In my role as Director of Student Wellbeing, I am a member of the School Leadership team and work in partnership with the Head of Primary and the Head of Secondary to provide leadership in all aspects of student wellbeing (P-12) within the school.

The thinking guiding my first year in the role of Director of Student Wellbeing (P-12) has been consolidation, collaboration and communication. We have been working to further define wellbeing by our whole-school approach to positive relationships and learning. There has been much consideration of contemporary research and best practice including engagement with reputable wellbeing frameworks both out of Australia and internationally. Reviewing whole school policies and practices which connect to student wellbeing schoolwide continues to be a work in progress.

Student wellbeing at AISHK currently includes a focus on developing coping strategies, helpseeking skills, student self-efficacy and supporting others. In addition, we believe social and emotional learning capabilities are central to maintaining student wellbeing and for lifelong success. Momentum has been gained this year by working alongside all staff and students on existing and new projects with student wellbeing at the centre. However, the most thing for me this year has been building relationships and trust with students, staff, parents and the wider community; this has been at the heart of everything I do and will continue to be in the future.

- Kiely Murphy | Director of Wellbeing

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Supporting Wellbeing in the Parent Community During Term 3 and Term 4, there have been four parent workshops offered: 1. ‘Creating Compassionate Conversations with our Tweens and Teens’ Communicating with compassion was the main focus of the workshop. Insights into understanding common adolescent behaviours and the underpinning neuroscience were shared.

2. Welcome to AISHK The focus of this workshop was to consider the relocation/transition process for children and for families and to plan for ways to improve the overall experience of adjusting to life in Hong Kong.

3. Responding to current events in Hong Kong As a response to the current situation of social unrest in Hong Kong a presentation was delivered to parents to cover helpful support systems for children and families.

4. ‘Digital Dilemmas - A parents’ guide to keeping children and young people safe in a digital world’ Bernadette (Secondary School Psychologist) and Jean (Primary School Psychologist) work proactively across the school in order to provide psychological support for the entire school community. They also work with groups and/or individual students to help support their psychological health and their capacity to achieve their personal best.

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Some of the psychology behind digital behaviours, app development, and the use of (social) media was shared. Online safety and responsible digital use were discussed, including Susan McLean’s (‘Cybercop’) three rules for online safety: Respect, Responsibility and Reputation.

Supporting Wellbeing in Curriculum Our school’s focus on wellbeing is embedded in to our curriculum through a number of subject areas, including Personal Development, Health and Physical Education (PDHPE). PDHPE is a mandatory subject from Reception to Year 10, with a new syllabus being rolled out across all stages of learning in 2020. This new syllabus takes into account the diverse needs of all students in both movement and health. PDHPE, across all year levels, aims to develop the knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes required for students to take positive action to protect and enhance their own and others’ health, safety and wellbeing.

In Early Childhood (Reception – Year 2), Health lessons allow students to develop a range of skills related to four key topics including Identity, Relationships, Healthy Lifestyles and Safety. In Primary and Secondary (Years 3-12), weekly Health lessons focus on developing Health, Wellbeing and Relationships as well as Healthy, Safe and Active Lifestyles. Topics covered include self-identity, relationships, healthy eating and drug education. Opportunities are provided to enhance selfmanagement skills and interpersonal skills to assist students in making healthy and safe choices throughout life.

PDHPE staff also work closely with our Sports and Activities Department to integrate our wellbeing program, ensuring we are equipping students with important and essential life skills such as resilience, teamwork, concern and respect of self and others, advocacy and aspiration.

- Kath Ellis | Head of PDHPE, Reception - Year 12

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Meet the Level 9 Team Evan Cheung | Accounts Office Assistant Duration at AISHK: 12 years Role: School fees receipting, fees enquiries, autopay, sundry charges.

Fondest memory so far at AISHK: Won 1st prize (2 tickets to Sydney) in the School Fair Raffle.

David Christmas | Business Administrator Duration at AISHK: 7.5 years Role: As Business Administrator I oversee the finance of the School, capital expenditure and the maintenance of the School facilities.

Fondest memory so far at AISHK: Seeing my children extremely happy at the School and making some great friends.

Beatrice Lam | General Administrative Assistant Duration at AISHK: 5 years Role: I work both in the Primary Office and 9/F Administration Office.

Fondest memory at AISHK so far: The visit by then Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in 2017. What a great honour.

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Carmen Lo | Accounts Payable Officer Duration at AISHK: 12 years and 10 months Role: Complete payments and control expenses by receiving payments, plus processing, verifying and reconciling invoices.

Fondest memory so far at AISHK: During the Fair, although we worked 12 hours on average per day reconciling raffle tickets, the final fundraising results were very encouraging.

Tracey Manning | Office Manager and Head of School PA Duration at AISHK: 18 years (Community member since 1995) Role: Work closely with the Business Administrator, Development Office, Division Offices and School Executive to ensure they are all supported in any way they need from the 9F Administration Office.

Fondest memory so far at AISHK: With the exception of my eldest who attended AISHK from Yr 3-Yr 9, all of my other three children have gone through the school from Prep to Year 12, so seeing them graduate were probably my fondest moments - definitely emotional.

Leung Che Wai | General Office Assistant Duration at AISHK: 8 years Role: Set up venues, maintain clean and tidy staff centre.

Fondest memory at AISHK so far: Friendly staff; too many good memories.

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Brigitte McNamara | Director of Development and Community Relations Duration at AISHK: 5 years Role: Marketing, communications, fundraising, capital projects, media relations, community, government and corporate engagement, events and the AISHK alumni.

Fondest memory at AISHK so far: The first AISHK Fair I worked on with the Development Office and PA in 2015. It was truly rewarding to see so many attendees, the students having so much fun and witnessing staff, families and the broader Hong Kong community coming together to support us.

Jen Ng | Marketing and Communications Coordinator Duration at AISHK: 3 months Role: Part of my role includes developing marketing materials, media content (photography, video), publications (Dhanara, Lion Rock, Yearbook) to help promote and celebrate the wonderful initiatives and achievements of the school.

Fondest memory so far at AISHK: I will never forget how welcomed I felt when I first arrived at AISHK. It’s a pleasure coming into work everyday and saying hello to everyone you walk by.

Charmaine Ngai | Receptionist Duration at AISHK: 9 months Role: As a Receptionist, I provide clerical and administrative support to the school administration team.

Fondest memory at AISHK so far: I am new at AISHK. I have met many new faces in the new environment which has been very exciting. I am glad to be a part of this family. When you have time please drop by to say “Hi”.

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Po Yuk Fun | General Office Assistant Duration at AISHK: 22 years Role: Set up venues, maintain clean and tidy staff centre.

Fondest memory at AISHK so far: I am very happy to work at AISHK with friendly work colleagues. I also enjoy seeing the students grow up.

Angela Tung | Accountant Duration at AISHK: 10 years Role: I work with other members of the finance team to ensure smooth daily operation of the Accounts Office, provide accounting and finance support to Business Administrator, including the maintenance of the payroll system.

Fondest memory at AISHK so far: : I joined our secondary teachers and staff to attend the Senior Formal a few years ago. I had a fantastic and memorable evening with the Year 11 and 12 students.

Doris Yip | Purchasing Officer Duration at AISHK: 2 years Role: Research potential vendors both locally and internationally to find the best price/quality teaching resources for the school.

Fondest memory at AISHK so far: Everyone at AISHK is energetic. They are good team players who support me and make me happy every day.

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Welcome to The 2020 PA Committee Following the PA AGM which took place on Tuesday 26 November, we are pleased to announce the 2020 PA committee.

President: Joanna Hartnett VP Secretary: Claire Doherty VP Treasurer: Pandora Hui VP Events: Alane Marder Co-VP New Parent Co-ordinator: Yvonne Gibson, Kwai Lee VP Community: Yvonne Gibson (Interim) General Committee: De Arna Megaloconomos

Kim Leung

Kitty Wong

Michelle Hughes

Ning Zhong (Jolin)

Sharon Ding

Ting Ting Lai

Veronica Moreno Dy

Victoria Kemp

Winnie Leung The role of the Parent Association is to promote and support the activities of AISHK and to encourage close co-operation between parents and members of the School. We are also active participants in assisting the School, in conjunction with the staff of AISHK, to ensure AISHK is the best it can be through various fundraising activities. All funds raised by the Parent Association go directly to the enhancement of the learning and recreational environment of our school for the benefit of the students.

With the AISHK 25th Anniversary occurring next year, we are very much looking forward to updating you on a number of events to celebrate this special occasion.

The first event to be held in 2020 will be the 25th Anniversary Welcome Festival, to be held on Friday 7 February. Be sure to mark your diaries for this event.

As usual, a number of Welcome Coffee Mornings and Settling Into Hong Kong Forums will be held at the commencement of the 2020 school year. Stay tuned to email and the AISHK App for more detail on these gatherings.

In the meantime, on behalf of the Parent Association, we wish the AISHK community a festive, safe and relaxing holiday with family and friends.

I look forward to seeing you all in 2020!

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- Joanna Hartnett | President, AISHK Parent Association

AISFL Board Wins HKIoD Award

On 28 November, for the second consecutive year, the Australian International School FoundationLimited (AISFL) Board received the Hong Kong Institute of Directors Award for Board of the Year (Not-For-Profit category). This award is testament to the Board’s commitment to maintaining sound governance and a balanced Board membership which reflects the diversity of AISHK. The award is also a reaffirmation of our school’s founding principles and mission to provide a world-class international school where students, through active participation, achieve their personal best and graduate as skilled, influential and responsible international citizens.

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Thank You and Farewell Mr Chris McCorkell September 1996 – December 2019 23 Years and three months at AISHK Mr Chris McCorkell’s contribution to AISHK cannot be easily summarised in a mere few minutes. His commencement at the school more than 23 years ago was as the music teacher, having recently arrived from a teaching stint in Japan, from his original home in Melbourne.

As the school steadily grew, Mr McCorkell was there all the way; teaching, leading and sharing. This included writing and leading the production of the school song in 1997.

With the growth in Secondary, he took over the teaching of humanities subjects and eventually the HSC subject Business Studies and the IB’s Business Studies and Management.

Mr McCorkell also readily assumed the leadership mantle of Head of Years 11/12, then the Senior Studies Coordinator role which became the Dean of Studies, Secondary role.

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Always, through this administrative work, the focus of his attention was on the students.

Importantly, since 2006, Mr McCorkell has been the IB coordinator, where his work has made an enormous contribution to the on-going success of that program; including the linking of AISHK with other IB schools in Hong Kong.

Over his time at AISHK, Mr McCorkell’s devotion and service has been a significant part of the schools’ continuing success.

The raising of his children Jack and Sakura, and educating them through AISHK, is a further sign of his engagement in the life of the school.

Mr McCorkell’s thorough approach to his teaching, his open and accepting support of all who come in to his office, his warm and gentlemanly approach to both friendships and collegial relationships are an exemplar for us all.

At the centre of his work is always the students of this school, and never a day goes by without him happily and effectively advising and counselling one, or some students, about their coursework or their program of study.

He is a great friend and colleague to many, who also has a prodigious and impressive knowledge of all things sporting. We wish him well in his retirement from AISHK and we wish both Mr and Mrs McCorkell much joy and prosperity in the years that follow this very special engagement with AISHK. Chris, our lives here at AISHK are all the more richer for having had you here with us.

- Howard West | Head of Secondary

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