Renaissance College Annual Report 2014-2015

Renaissance College Hong Kong Annual Report 2014 – 2015

ESF School Annual Report 2014 – 2015 Contents page 1

Introduction

page 2

Vision and Mission

page 3

Learning at Renaissance College

page 4

Student Support and Well-being

page 5

Curriculum Updates

page 9

Curriculum Enrichment

page 20

Academic Achievement

page 25

Student Destinations

page 27

Alumni Relations and Development College Council and RAPT

page 29

Facilities

page 30

Staff

page 31

School Statistics

Introduction by Renaissance College Council Chairwoman Welcome to our annual report, aimed to provide the ESF Board of Governors, the Chief Executive Officer and the RCHK community with an overview of life on campus and achievements during the 2014-2015 academic year. It will also keep you abreast of current developments at the college.

Opening of the multi-purpose sports field in December last year highlights the facilities enhancement at the college. Building works for the primary block extension have commenced and at this time the foundation works are progressing as scheduled.

Academic accomplishments by the students, particularly evident in the recent IB examination results, have been extremely encouraging and we hope to reach further milestones in the coming year.

Ms. Anne Choi College Council Chairwoman

Introduction by the Principal There were many extraordinary accomplishments in all areas of student achievement including academics, athletics and the arts during the 2014-2015 school year.

The seventh IBDP cohort did remarkably well on the highly competitive IB examinations. The Class of 2015 had the highest passing rate ever at RCHK with 99% earning the IB Diploma. Sharon Cheng earned a perfect score of 45 points and nearly 20% the class received over 40 points. Once again, these marks are far above world averages which demonstrates the exceptional quality of teaching and learning at RCHK. With the approval from the government for the use of the adjacent property and our partnership with the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union (HKRFU), the new all purpose sports pitch was opened this year. This amazing pitch now provides athletes from RCHK, HKRFU and ESL Sport to enjoy a large outdoor playing field uncommon in Hong Kong.

Another important step in the application of internationalism at RCHK involved us teaming up with Chinese International School (CIS) to provide a small group of Year 10 students the opportunity to study and live abroad for a year at the CIS campus in Hangzhou, China. We hope that our students who participate in this one-year program will bring back to RCHK a deeper awareness of themselves and a greater appreciation of the Chinese language and culture.

Since opening in 2006, RCHK has grown at a steady pace and now enrolls over 2,060 students. Our unwavering commitment to a truly holistic education from primary through secondary school defines who we are in the community of international education and will help us to recruit and retain the most dedicated and successful staff and students.

Dr. Harry Brown Principal

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Vision And Mission Renaissance College Hong Kong.

To seek. To serve. To strive.

Vision Renaissance College (RCHK) is a student-focused international teaching and learning institution.

Through a curriculum that is both rigorous and holistic, the college will develop global citizens who strive for academic excellence, appreciate aesthetics and are empowered to take progressive action.

Mission RCHK strives to build a culture that promotes peace and democracy, values diversity and works towards a sustainable future for all.

College-Wide Objectives

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Model the International Baccalaureate (IB) Learner Profile to build and sustain relationships with families and colleagues, creating a culture of lifelong learning dedicated to a holistic and international education. This will be measured by observation, feedback from parents and retention of staff and students.

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Implement the IB programmes with fidelity, integrating curriculum, instruction and assessment within and across the PYP, MYP, DP and CP. This will increase student achievement and create a continuum of learning between year levels, as measured by observation as well as formative and summative instruments.

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Provide students opportunities to pursue authentic learning experiences in the local and international community. This will make the curriculum relevant, and service to others genuine, as measured by increased participation in programs and survey feedback from stakeholders

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Utilize instructional technology tools to increase student achievement. This will actively engage students with the curriculum and one another, as measured by observation and student performance.

Learning at Renaissance College RCHK is proud to lead the private independent school sector in Hong Kong as one of a select group of “through train� schools offering the IB curriculum from Year 1 to Year 13.

RCHK is also fortunate to have all of our students on one campus, providing rich opportunities for older students to mentor their younger schoolmates.

The Education Outside of the Classroom (EOTC) curriculum in primary and secondary gives our students the opportunity to engage in real-world learning, which contributes to a vibrant school community. In addition, our students give back to the local community through their Creative, Action, Service (CAS) programme, which allows our students the opportunity to volunteer at local charities, hospitals and aid organizations.

All this has been made possible by the Education Bureau of Hong Kong, which approved the transfer of sponsorship from the English Schools Foundation (ESF) to ESF Educational Services Limited (ESL). In 2004, ESL entered into a School Sponsoring Body (SSB) agreement with the Education Bureau with an initial tenancy of 10 years at our current premises which now has been extended to 2019.

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Student Support and Well-being Renaissance College is a large through train school that educates over 2,050 students on one campus. It is important that all of our students feel safe and respected, make friends and know who to go to for help.

In the Secondary School, students in every year level are placed into House advisory groups. Each advisory group has a teacher advisor who takes registration every morning and is the first point of contact for students, parents and teachers. There is a Head of Year for each year group. These Heads of Year look after the academic, social and emotional well-being of the students in their respective years. They work closely with the Vice Principal for Student Support and Wellbeing. They also lead each year level team of teacher advisors. The Heads of Year move up with their year groups from Year 7 to Year 13, with the Head of Year 13 becoming the Head of Year 7 the following year. The teacher advisors do not move with the Heads of Year. They remain in the following teams: Year 7, Years 8 & 9, Years 10 & 11 and Years 12 & 13.

There is also a Well-being Team of counselors. This comprises of one full-time counsellor, two parttime counsellors and a full-time social worker, as well as a government funded social worker for four days per week. This team works with any student who needs particular emotional guidance or support. They also work with parents.

There is also a House Director for each of the four houses: Ming, Qing, Song and Tang. These House Directors work with their respective House Captains to provide a number of school-based opportunities for all students to compete and cooperate with each other.

A ‘Transition Week’ towards the end of the academic year helps to prepare Year 6 students for life in secondary school the following year. During this week the Year 6 students meet their secondary advisors and experience MYP lessons in the Secondary school.

The school also has an extensive network of support services, including: The Learning Enhancement Team (LET) – covering Special Educational Needs (SEN), English as an Additional Language (EAL) and Gifted and Talented Education (G&T) Library and Information Resource Centre (LIRC) - staff here often provide students with guidance on how to research effectively, as well as avoiding issues of academic dishonesty Further Education Counsellors College Nurse Primary Student Council During the 2014-2015 academic year, Renaissance College continued to introduce a Primary School Student Council. This was the second year in which the Primary School have had a student council which consists of two students from each year group in the Primary School (apart from Year 1). After the initial selection, the students would meet once a week to discuss a range of school initiatives. These initiatives have come directly from the school population through questionnaires and google forms.

Once the council gathered the information from the Primary School, they went about trying to implement some of the ideas. Many related to playground games, so we approached Mr Hureau to see if we could get some games painted on the playground. He was very open to this idea, and the blue team was able to paint handball onto the playground.

The Student Council also had meetings with the environmental group to discuss initiatives relating to enhancing the schools sustainability.

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Secondary Student Council In 2014-2015, all students on the Student Council were elected by students in their respective year groups. Each year level held elections and there were two students from each year level on the Student Council. There were two co-chairs as well as two students assigned to the RAPT Committee as well as two senior students assigned to the College Council.

The Student Council met almost every Tuesday lunchtime to discuss student issues and advocate for their fellow students. They were often part of the decision-making process with regards to the issues with which they dealt.

Each year level also had a student focus group which comprised of volunteers from their year group.

They met at least four times per semester. These focus groups were chaired by their respective Heads of Year and dealt with year-specific issues.

Curriculum Updates PYP The major focus within Language for the 2014-2015 was the planning process, including ongoing professional dialogue around the purpose of language, in context of units of inquiry. This process was mirrored in Chinese Language unit planning. In addition to this, the team spent time auditing which reading strategies (with a focus on comprehension) were addressed in each year level. Discussion centred around the further development of a grammar scope & sequence to support teaching and learning.

Our single subject teachers have continued to strengthen their own curriculum as well as making authentic links to the programme of inquiry. Each single subject collaborates on a minimum of one unit of inquiry per year with every year group. With other units single subject teachers have worked to establish connections through elements of the units of inquiry.

Based on the previous academic years’ mapping of concepts, learner profile, art skills & experiences, artists, media, and learning outcomes, the Visual Arts created a comprehensive programme for primary students centred on the artistic experience. This academic year saw this programme put into practice in teaching and learning, being refined as needed.

The Music team consolidated the unit of inquiry for Ensemble that caters for Years 1-6 students. The team also created a ‘world music’ planner which supports students to explore culture, place and dance. Further still, key music skills were identified for each unit of inquiry.

The PE team continued to work on their units of inquiry that cater for Years 1-6 students. This gave the team the opportunity to look at how we build upon skills each year in the areas of gymnastics, games, athletics and adventure challenge and also how they can assess these in the context of the strands of PE. In addition to adopting the new language planning format, the Chinese team continued to collaborate with one unit of inquiry per year level. The plus one model is in full effect and is enabling further differentiation within classes. RCHK had representation on the committee that helped to create a draft Chinese language scope and sequence continuum. Teaching staff continue trialing the document, offering ongoing reflection and feedback within school and within ESF.

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Our teacher librarians are collaborating with two units of inquiry per year level, except for Year 6, which works around a model that creates the opportunity for ongoing skill development. This has been a very successful model and has allowed for our librarians to be further involved with the students in their classrooms rather than “borrowing time” in the library.

Technology Integration Coaches are aligned with year levels and single-subjects and work to support on-going ICT skill development amongst teaching staff. This support occurs initially in a half-day upskilling workshop and then in planning meetings. Teams continue to evaluate and reflect how technology might be used to ‘modify’ or ‘redefine’ learning.

An exciting addition to our programme of inquiry review, the single-subject teachers confirmed where mathematics pervaded their stand-along units; in addition, they aligned these units with the transdisciplinary themes.

MYP This has been a year of creative curriculum development and innovation in the MYP. Each department has designed and delivered a new scope and sequence crafted to embed the development of skills, concepts and content from Years 7 to 11 and to prepare students for the IB Diploma.

Focus for departments has been the ongoing review and development of their curriculum in line with their new subject guides and the MYP framework. Service as Action is now planned within units providing contextualized student learning experiences. ‘Booktober’ was launched in 2014.

This event is designed to encourage and support student reading as well as raise awareness of global literacy through the charity ‘Room to Read’.

Aligning interdisciplinary learning with the new framework has been a major focus for creative curriculum development from Years 7 to 11.

With students from only three year levels remaining in school, the week of November 17 saw a collapse of the timetable for Years 7, 9 and 10 and the introduction of an integrated, interdisciplinary and wellbeing week. Year 7 students focused on their thinking, practical and physical learning skills.

Year 9 were taught by a group of Year 10 on gritty issues related to social inequality culminating in a exhibition and a peaceful demonstration along the Ma On Shan waterfront. Sustainability was the focus for Year 10 with a creative approach to plastic recycling involving music, dance and mother tongue rapping. Students were then led by their Heads of Year through a wellbeing programme enabling them to reflect upon ethics, personal health and relationships.

In semester two, Year 8 explored the concept of ‘empathy’ through a range of service lenses and Year 11 researched heritage in Hong Kong producing a physical product to represent their findings.

In response to the positive student feedback, plans for this year’s Inter-Disciplinary experience are well underway.

RCHK is piloting the new IB BQC (Building Quality Curriculum) programme. This is a curriculum evaluation process to ensure we are providing our students with high quality learning aligned with the philosophy and the structure of the MYP.

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DP The curriculum in Years 12 and 13 is layered on the Renaissance College High School Diploma which is accredited by CIS and WASC. The students on top of this can opt for one of our following three IB programmes; IB Career-related Programme (CP), IB Diploma Programme and IB Courses.

The IBCP is entering its second year and the joint programme that we offer with the Savannah College of Art and Design is growing strongly. This specialist programme allows students who know they want pursue a career in art and design to take university/college courses and gain first year university credit. This specialist programme is the best preparation for students that want to access art design colleges around the world.

The IBCP cohort has grown by 67% and we expect this strong growth to continue in the coming years. The Renaissance College and SCAD joint venture has prompted much interest from the IBO and other schools within the region as an innovative programme that puts into reality the ideas of leading educational academics such as Ken Robinson.

The partnership with SCAD has lead to enhancements in our overall curriculum. We have had many opportunities to bring in visiting lecturers and use SCAD expertise to enhance the teaching learning experience in both Art and Design. The cooperation has extended into areas such as fashion shows, design days and sustainability.

The IBDP is continuing to develop strongly with year on year improvements and historical highs.

The Wellbeing, Mindfulness and Pastoral programme is maturing now with involvement from a strong group of teachers including Principal Dr. Brown. The programme supports student wellbeing; through positive psychology, the latest research on learning and by supporting the students learning in the IB Core.

In the Diploma Programme we have been able to expand our course offerings using the only IB authorized online provider in Pamoja (a non-profit organization). This has allowed students to take French Ab Initio SL, Information Technology in a Global Society (ITGS) and Philosophy. We have also seen very encouraging growth in Music as an option for the IBDP and the Sports, Exercise and Health course will now be offered at Higher Level.

The options process has been enhanced and developed to offer a cohesive number of events and opportunities for our students to make the most informed selections that they can for their Year 12 and 13 courses. Students have a personal interview about their choices with a senior member of staff, and we included former and current students in the student options talk. For the first time this year we will include a careers evening in addition to the options evening. The university fair and the work experience week are all timed to occur within the option process. Students also have the additional option of being able to get personalized vocational analysis from InterQuest.

The IB Courses programme allows students to take a specialized programme that does not need to conform to the IB Diploma’s rules and regulations. The students taking this option can now take core components such as Theory of Knowledge (TOK), Creativity, Action and Service (CAS) and the Extended Essay if they think they will benefit from the education experience that these core options will provide.

A new exciting curriculum development is our pilot programme with the Hong Kong Sports Institute and the IB to help support professional athletes while they complete the IBDP. This approach allows the athlete time to compete and train intensively while meeting the academic challenges of a rigorous academic programme.

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Curriculum Enrichment PYP The enthusiasm and engagement of our Primary School learners for the House system at RCHK continued to be an inspiration and a joy to behold throughout last year. The rousing House segments of assemblies were as uplifting as ever, and it was truly wonderful to see our learners proud to belong to their House.

The House system acts as an additional safety net for us in making a big school feel small, contributing to ensuring that students aren’t lost in the crowd. There were days when students come to school dressed in House colours, and the playground was a riot of shades of blue, green, red and yellow; the excitement in the air for supporting the Houses was palpable. The four staff House Directors remained committed to bringing engaging and interesting activities to the students during lunch-times. During lunchtime on House Wednesdays, every other week, a range of activities took place, orchestrated by the House Directors, supported and managed by teachers and eagerly attended by students. Activities were planned to provide a variety of active engagements such as scrambling over the indoor climbing wall and indoor and outdoor team games, but there were also quieter pursuits including drawing and board games.The chess tournament, which also took place on a Wednesday in the Primary School continued to be popular and offered a great opportunity for links with the Secondary School.

In addition to these regular House Wednesday events, there were occasionally larger scale offerings such as the all-inclusive House volleyball match. By offering these throughout lunchtime, as many students as possible were able to join in. Another popular lunchtime event provided by the House team were the periodic House discos that took place in the Performing Arts Centre. Teachers and students alike dispelled some excess energy and demonstrated real joie de vivre dancing to the latest music for half an hour at lunchtime.

Some of the most popular House occasions for the students were the larger scale events that typically encompassed two year groups.

Early in the year Years 5 and 6 engaged with the swimming gala, which included both serious and fun events with plenty of House Spirit surrounding them. Later, Years 3 and 4 expressed themselves in multitudes of ways with ExpressFest celebrating Art in all its forms. The inclusion of external providers DrumJam was a superb addition, bringing a new experience to many students. Finally, in the hot days at the end of the school year, Years 1 and 2 showed a joyous outpouring of House Spirit at their HouseFest, a range of activities including the ever-popular water games providing cool and welcome relief from the heat.

As well as being an opportunity to mix with students outside their own class and year group, the House system continued to develop a sense of community and belonging in the students and teachers.

It also gave a great opportunity to develop leadership. Last year, for the first time, the House Captain elections were participated in by all students in the Primary School. The Years 4 and 5 students standing for election made videos to share and showed their skill as communicators as well as being risk-takers in being prepared to take the step to stand. Sixteen House Captains represented the Primary School last year, acting as MCs in assembly and developing skills in leadership with guidance and support in weekly meetings with the House Directors.

The opportunities for student leadership do not stop with the House Captains. The PALs (Peers Always Listen Service) continued apace, with a fresh group of Year 5 students trained and deployed to support students who are feeling lonely during break and lunchtimes. The Peer Mediators also continue to offer their time, having been trained to help resolve disputes between students in the school community. Our Student Council, consisting of student representatives from Year 2 to Year 6 was active in sharing ideas for school improvement, and offered another way for students to show leadership and be involved.

It is crucial to us that our students are able to enjoy and engage with school, forming, as it does, such a large part of their lives. The opportunities for leadership, enrichment, commitment and fun provided through the House system, PALs, Peer Mediators and the Student Council are one part of helping to develop that school spirit which is so important to the happiness and wellbeing of our student body.

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Primary EOTC Year 4 The Year 4 EOTC experience took place on the 9th and 10th of October 2014. Dragonfly, an outdoor education provider in Hong Kong, led the camp. The teachers supported the Dragonfly leaders by working alongside them to assist with the groups. The students had a two-day programme, which focused mainly on helping the students to work in groups collaboratively and enjoy exploring the outdoor environment. It was a positive experience for everyone.

The locations for the camp were Hoi Ha and Wan Tsai. The students engaged in exciting activities, which included a mangrove walk, conducting science experiments, team building games and a scavenger hunt. Each session gave the students a chance to develop skills like communication, cooperation, responsibility, decisionmaking, and inquiry. Apart from all the learning that was related to the Unit of Inquiry being studied in class the students had great fun working with their peers from other year four classes.

Year 5 Exploration leads to discovery and develops new understandings. This was year five’s central idea for our third unit of inquiry. The students started with a key question: Why do people explore and how does that change them and change the world? Students began to answer this question for themselves, when they went on a overnight camping experience in Mui Wo on Lantau Island. Students and teachers were guided by the experts at Dragonfly and embraced the challenge of visiting new places and trying new things. It was an amazing experience for all.

We learned to kayak with a partner, to hike across different terrains, to bicycle up hills and down hills, to use maps and compasses to find key landmarks and to work together to reach goals that we could not accomplish alone. For many students, this was the longest they had ever been away from home, but they confronted their fears and came home happier, stronger and definitely dirtier!

All of the students stayed in dormitories where they were expected to take care of themselves. They had to make their own beds, plan and get ready for the day without assistance and organize a shower rota. This was an excellent opportunity to use the skills and ideas that we explored in our governance unit of inquiry.

Camp was an excellent opportunity for students to connect with the feelings and motivations of true explorers. They used these experiences to develop questions and goals for their personal explorations later in the Where We Are in Place and Time Unit of Inquiry. It is possible that many of them may have caught that exploration bug and will have tales to tell for years to come.

Year 6 - Laos This year was our third year of offering the students in Year 6 an International CAS experience in our Primary School but it was a camp option for all students during school time. This unique opportunity allowed 11 students to be accompanied by a parent, while working alongside RCHK teachers and CLI (Community Learning International) in Luang Prabang, Laos.

We travelled along the Mekong River on the Library Boat to a remote village to distribute resources for the children to use. While we were there we joined in singing/dancing, storytelling and artwork with them and supported them with reading some of their books. Another activity we were involved in was visiting the local library and gaining a better understanding about how the NGO CLI provides a variety of services for the people of Laos.

We travelled to Nan this year and visited a learning centre. This required us travelling inland on a sealed road now; to another remote area and doing similar activities as mentioned above. This year we were fortunate to be able to visit the Elephant Conservation Centre (ECC) to learn about the work this NGO does to educate others about elephants and the importance of respecting them so they do not become endangered in Asia. While another group, had an opportunity to work with a group of children from the learning centre sharing games, activities, art work and visiting a waterfall. They also observed the ladies’ dragon boat festival that was part of this region. This year we stayed overnight in Nan and were invited to a community evening in the local village hall. We observed various musical and dance performance that showcased Laos culture. We were also presented with a special gift (hand drawn pictures from the children) from the Mayor of Nan to show his appreciation of our continuous efforts with supporting CLI. 10

We were also fortunate enough to experience the beautiful culture of Laos by visiting temples, markets, waterfalls, art activities, cooking classes and the giving of the alms. Being there for the Fireboat Festival enabled us to participate in and understand special customs that take place during this time in Laos.

This continues to be an amazing opportunity to provide a service for others who have a right to an education and for RCHK community to experience a culture very different to Hong Kong. This will continue to be offered as a camp option in Year 6 for 2015-2016.

Year 6 - China A total of 15 Year 6 Renaissance College students attended a camp in Zhaoqing, Guangdong, China as part of their ‘Education Outside The Classroom’ (EOTC) experience between October 7-10. The camp this year was changed to a 4 day, 3 night visit. This year we travelled through to Zhaoqing by train from Hung Hom, Hong Kong.

The China camp was again facilitated by the fantastic outside service providers ‘Dragonfly’. The ‘Nine Dragon Resort’, situated on a beautiful man made lake, provided the students with excellent comfortable accommodation, set in some stunning scenery. The resort more than catered for the active students with scrumptious food, served in abundance.

The China camp had two main objectives, firstly to provide the students with a variety of personal challenges, which took them out of their normal ‘comfort zone’. They engaged in a variety of team building challenges, which included an exhilarating ‘Cableway hike’ through the local woodland, over streams and waterfalls. They completed a ‘Great Race’ challenge in the beautifully scenic surroundings of the Seven Stars Park in outskirts of Zhaoqing.

The second objective was for the students to be provided with a Chinese cultural / language exchange experience. They were given opportunities to practice their Mandarin, whilst meeting and playing games with students from a local school. They were able to discuss with the local Chinese students how their school day operated and make comparisons between the educational systems. To further enhance the Chinese cultural experience they were given opportunity to practice the local specialism of ink stone carving, for which Zhaoqing is recognized as a center of excellence in China.

The students were asked to consider three words which best described their China camp experience, in typical fashion students came up with the following responses: • Awesome, Cool, Terrific, • Awesome, Excellent, Amazing, • Fun, Surprising, Interesting • Intense, Awesome, Unpredictable Our camp with Dragonfly in Zhaoqing, China was truly a wonderful experience to be remembered.

Year 6 - Sai Kung From October 7-10, a group of 140 students attended the Year 6 EOTC at the Sai Kung Outdoor Training Camp. The very first time at this particular campsite and with the provider Oceanic, proved a rewarding experience for all. The facilities at the campsite were amazing, including brand new dorms that overlooked the sea. Providing a range of outdoor and indoor activities, the students were able to work cooperatively in their groups using their communication skills to solve challenges such as tower making and creating a Roman canon. There were a number of team building games with greater emphasis on developing thinking skills and strategies in order to successfully complete tasks such as marble transfer, octopus galaxy and crossing the river. Team spirit and collaboration also came through as the students took an active role in the competitive games such as bubble soccer, dodge ball and tug of war. Throughout the camp, students were encouraged to reflect on the new experiences they had been involved in and a real sense of belonging and camaraderie developed among the students. A challenging hike, a visit to a Mangrove, a BBQ and a ‘flag and tails’ game completed the Year 6 camp experience.

Teachers, students and camp leaders working together to promote a wonderful outdoor experience that will be remembered by all for many years to come.

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Primary Visual Arts 2014-2015 has seen students engaging in a wide variety of art making experiences to activate the imagination and to delve into the creative process for understanding and conceptual experience.

The Year 1 students collaboratively worked with music and their homerooms to showcase their imagination during the How We Express Ourselves unit culminating in showcasing their work during the Imagination Gallery. They also explored clay, with a very scientific inquiry into the changing state of clay, from the ground to the kiln. This was in collaboration with their unit How The World Works, exploring the central idea ‘Understanding the way materials behave and interact determines how people use them’. They each created pinch pots, and enjoyed visiting the secondary Visual Arts department to see the Kiln.

Year 2 students explored the shared concepts between Music and Art, such as pattern, tone, composition and form. They created a number of artworks including watercolour paintings using salt and glue to create texture in their compositions. One of the students’ favourite unit of Inquiry was sculpture. The students carefully made sculptures that originated from their own drawings of various bugs and built up their 3D artwork over many weeks. Starting from newspaper armature they added layers of paper week by week, finally painting and adding details to their fantastic bugs.

Years 3 and 4 participated in the fifth annual Arts festival. This year the students focused on an exploration of Mandala art. They looked into the history and culture behind the art of Mandala to find out about the originals of this fascinating and mindful art form. Students explored and learnt various designs and techniques, some very free form and others following geometric designs. They created large collaborative artworks using recycled materials. These have been proudly displayed around the school.

Year 4’s explored how artists are inspired by nature and used different media in response to the work of Hundertwasser. Analysing colour and shape the students created initial drawings. These then led to beautiful coloured polymer clay tiles in vibrant colours. In the Unit of Inquiry under “Sharing the Planet”, students raised awareness about the environmental issue of the use and waste of plastic.

Students created sea creatures from recycled plastic which are now displayed in the school canteen.

Tuning in to the central idea ‘Arts provide opportunities to explore our creative potential and engage in a personal artistic journey.’ Year 5’s visited the DP exhibition. They created instant responses to their favourite art works. The year 5s then created a piece in response to their favourite secondary artists work using charcoal and acrylic to create inspired pieces of artwork.

Year 6 students explored how artists can create work for social and environmental change. They were very enthusiastic to explore the work of Keith Haring and created artwork relating to the UN Rights of the Child to express an idea with which they had a personal connection. During the Unit of Inquiry “Sharing the Planet” students inquired into Environmental Art and Land Art. They created stunning art works using natural materials, which then became the inspiration for a number of abstract works using various media.

Artwork from RCHK’s primary students is promoted in various forms including publications like RCHK World and the RCHK Yearbook.

The culminating experience for 2014-2015 was an exhibition of student work from Years 1-13. This was another fantastic opportunity to see artwork from the three IB programmes and to promote the continuum between them. All three programs of inquiry are continually developing as a result of student driven inquiry and continuous collaborative teacher reflection – it is an exciting place to be for both student and teacher.

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Primary Music Through the transdisciplinary nature of the music program at RCHK, students are able to make connections across other subject areas and to the world around them. Students experience music from other times, places, and cultures, and as a result, they develop a unique perspective on the effect that music has on so many facets of our daily lives.

In 2014-2015 academic year, students were engaged in activities that allowed them to create and respond to music through movement, singing, composition, playing instruments, listening, research, music reading, and improvisation and develop music vocabulary.

Students were given the opportunity in class to sing, play a variety of tuned and untuned percussion, and all students in Year 6 learn to play a band instrument.

Outside of class, students had the opportunity to sing in “Little Voices”, Pop Junior and Pop Senior choir which took place either at lunchtime or after school. Students in Year 6 had the chance to join an elite group classed the “Band of 40”. Through these opportunities students learned to work cooperatively and enjoy creating music together with their peers, while developing the skills necessary to perform at a high level.

There were several performance opportunities for our students to participate, like in the bi-annual ESF Choral Concert and ESF wide Orchestra Jam day.

Students also had the chance to listen to, watch, perform with, and learn from a variety of guest performers, secondary peer mentors, private music tutors, ICT music technology programs, and music-based field trips.

PYP Music at RCHK is a challenging yet rewarding journey for students.

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Primary Sports In 2014-2015, many exciting things happened in the Primary Sports.

Season one kicked off with Netball and Football.

Our Netball team has come a long way, especially as many girls have never competed in a netball tournament before. They now have a better understanding of the rules and strategies involved in the game. Our football team competed in a number of organized tournaments and friendly games with other schools. They did exceptionally well in the ESF tournament and exceeded all expectations by reaching the final of the cup, only to be beaten by a strong Discovery College team.

Season two focused on Hockey, Basketball, Touch Rugby and Cross Country.

Hockey was a new addition to our Primary Sports program and the team had some outstanding achievements. For the second year running on ‘home soil’, our Basketball team played off against and defeated the Australian International in the final. All students exhibited a high degree of enthusiasm, sportsmanship and teamwork. Our Touch Rugby team has improved tremendously, which resulted in winning several games in the tournaments they entered.

Our Cross Country team had early training sessions on Monday mornings at the MOS Sports Ground.

Students competed well in both events they entered. The CIS Road Race was a big event with over 800 students taking part, which made it a very competitive and tough race.

Cricket and Track and Field were the main sports in Season three.

Our Track and Field team competed in a mini meet hosted by RCHK and the ESF Athletics meet hosted

by Harrow. We had some amazing individual results and our students displayed great enthusiasm and perseverance. Our Cricket boys loved their training sessions. They competed in a tournament, which involved schools from the Kowloon side and the overall ESF Cricket tournament, which took place at KGV. The team did really well and loved the experience.

Our swimming enthusiasts competed in the Aquawiz, which was a run/swim/run event at Repulse bay.

Our Year 5 boys came second overall, which was a great success.

Years 5 and 6 students also had the opportunity to compete in a swimming competition hosted by Discovery College. Our students competed well in both events.

This year we also provided primary students with the opportunity to participate in horse riding lessons.

Some of these students competed in the Interschool Equestrian Challenge. The results were amazing and the riders showed great commitment and dedication to the team. One of our teams made it through to the finals and came second overall.

Physical Education In primary PE we focus on a variety of different learning experiences. These include: • Individual pursuits (Athletics, Swimming) • Movement composition (Gymnastics) • Games (a variety of game skills and strategies) • Adventure challenges (solving problems) • Health related fitness (the aspects of a healthy lifestyle) One of our highlights in Primary P.E. was the Years 5 and 6 Swim Gala in October, which was a great success.

Overall House Swimming Champion was Song with 250 points followed by Ming with 167 points, Tang with 166 points and Qing with 151 points.

The spirit award went to Tang.

15

Another big event on the calendar was our Primary Sports Day in March.

Everybody thoroughly enjoyed participating and supporting their houses during the event. In almost perfect weather conditions, students competed in a diverse range of fun activities designed to encourage teamwork and school spirit.

While our lower primary students focused more on athletics related skills and games, our upper primary students participated in more traditional events, such as the high jump and long jump.

A number of upper primary students also participated in our 100m Championship races. We had some amazing athletes competing in this event.

Our Friday Sports Program has seen some changes this year. While the Years 3 and 4 program stayed the same due to a big overhaul last year, the Years 5 and 6 program has seen some new activities on offer. Water Polo, which was on offer in rotation 3, was a big success. The students also loved Invasion games, which focused on a variety of different skills and strategies involved in invasion games.

Our Year 4 students participated in the Inter-School Sports Day with Discovery College and Discovery Bay International Day. This Day was funded and supported by the Discovery College PTA and encouraged students from different schools to interact with each other.

The students competed in a number of games, such as Angry Birds and Human Foosball. It was a fabulous day with lots of laughter and new friendships being formed.

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MYP/ DP Secondary Performing Arts 2014-2015 for the Secondary Performing Arts faculty proved to be another equally busy year.

For the curriculum there was a complete review and re-write of the new MYP Music and Drama curriculum. In addition to this, in Year 11 Drama there was a look at ‘Empathy’ and ‘Social, Emotional Learning’ following two professional training days on ‘Growth Mindset’ and ‘Positive Education’. The department continues to develop its middle years programme and the content of each unit. The Diploma subject areas are growing in student numbers and stature in and around the college.

The academic year started off with our annual Music Scholarship concert but this time at the Maritime Museum in Central in association with the Nesbitt Centre. It was a great event with our Music Scholars showcasing their incredible talents on their chosen instrument and the director of the Nesbitt Centre giving a speech on our continuing relationship; a most wonderful charity event. However, this was not the only charitable event that the Music department supported this year. We also performed at ‘The Butcher’s Club and the ESF Grappa’s Music event and, within school RCHK fair and organized our bi-annual Winter Concert. We were also extremely fortunate to invite Graz, a professional DJ and designer who performs on the world stage for a composition and film-scoring workshop to speak and inspire the Year 12 DP Music students.

The Drama and Theatre department were equally busy with a teacher directed Year 12 theatre performance of ‘Decade – short play about 9/11’. At the time of this event the Year 12s were only 3 years of age; conducting an interview with Principal Dr. Brown and in depth research for them to fully understand the impact of that particular day. The Year 12s were so inspired by their interview with Dr. Brown that two Drama scholars wrote a short play about his experience (then as a Vice Principal in a school in the US) and the impact it had on the students that day. The students performed with commitment, sensitivity and passion. Following the teacher directed piece the students were then put into two companies, each given a set text – ‘Richard III’ by Shakespeare and ‘Frankenstein’ by Nick Dear and they were to put their own ‘creative spin’ on each play. The students did a fantastic job.

On writing this report the Secondary PA department having started the year with our bi-annual musical of ‘Bugsy Malone’ ready for December 2015. We are incredibly privileged to invite Zoe Watkins (from the US) to run a week workshop with our Year 9,10,11 and 12 Drama students and then an elite Drama workshop with our Drama Scholars in November 2015.

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13

Red Door 2014-2015 was yet another exciting year for learning technologies at Renaissance College. Here are the major highlights: Teaching and Learning with Technology 1:1 Programme in Years 1 to 5.

We expanded our 1:1 learning environment to all our students in Years 1 to 5, every RCHK student has a personally allocated internet enabled device: 500 iPads in Years 1 to 3 and 335 laptops in Years 4 and 5. We also re-distributed over 300 used devices to new locations within the RCHK community.

Teacher Training All Primary classroom teachers and EAs participated in a half day ICLT training. This is a unique opportunity for year level teams to develop new and enhance existing instructional strategies within an identified unit of inquiry facilitated by the Learning Technologies PYP Coaches.

STEM Students and teachers in Year 5 were introduced to app coding using GameSalad. In addition to learning coding, students needed to apply mathematical concepts as well as physics, for example velocity when developing games. Lego robotics after school club has grown substantially and attracted over 40 students in Years 5 to 7.

Bauhinia Trainers Student Programme Twenty Year 6 students underwent intensive training to become trainers both to other students and teachers. They regularly help at the Red Door Centre helpdesk, during parent and helpers workshops and had an opportunity to run a workshop at the “Teach a Teacher” evening alongside secondary students from other international schools.

Parent University In addition to our parent workshop session, Red Door Centre organised open days for parents in Years 1-3 to share how learning in a 1:1 environment looks like. We extended our workshop offerings to domestic helpers.

Phi Development Additional modules were added to Phi, our Secondary VLE System: homework, bulletin, banners and Data Hub (staff use only).

Infrastructure Network Upgrade Recabling of all Primary and Secondary blocks including PAC and Sports Hall, using “fiber to classroom technology”, has now been completed and all areas and devices switched to the new network.

1:1 Infrastructure New storage and charging stations for over 800 new devices in the Primary school.

We have joined the Volume Purchase Programme (https://volume.itunes.apple.com/) for software, making it easier and affordable to purchase apps. To improve installation processes we also joined the Device Enrollment Programme (http://www.apple.com/education/it/dep/) and further developed our Mobile Device Management solution “FileWave” (https://www.filewave.com/) . We also streamlined preparation of students owned laptops by adopting local accounts approach and a “Red Door Kiosk” for self- downloading licensed software, thus replacing our lengthy laptop imaging process.

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Helpdesk In order to keep better records of helpdesk requests and visits we implemented a new helpdesk system integrated with an electronic queuing for “walk in� services.

System We launched an in-house facilities booking system (http://facilities.rchk.edu.hk/) for staff and event management system for community use (http://events.rchk.edu.hk/) . e Attendance reading system for 1000 Secondary students.

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Sports 2014-2015 was another bumper year for the Renaissance College Black Kites. As the school continues to grow, so too does the sports programme. With record numbers of teams competing across 4 different leagues, Renaissance College continues to put itself forward as one of the most competitive international schools in Hong Kong with in excess of 500 students involved in the programme.

Our swimming programme showed the extent of its growth and development taking home our first ever HKSSF age group championship in the Under 20 Girls division. Our senior girls gymnastics team too, repeated their achievement of the previous year to once again take victory. In addition to this, RCHK also had some outstanding individual performances most notably Dawnie Lau who took home gold in the 800m and 1500m events at the HKSSF Track and Field Championships.

In the ISSFHK league, many of our teams claimed medals. However it was the achievements of our badminton teams that shone brightest with all 6 teams placing in the top 3 for their respective divisions and of these, 3 were crowned champions.

This year again saw us travel abroad to compete in ACAMIS Volleyball, Basketball and Swimming. Despite the international stage, our athletes seemed un-phased and were extremely competitive in all sports. In Volleyball our girls team were victorious, which was particularly special given many of the girls would this year graduate from RCHK. Winky Cheng showed her dominance being crowned MVP for the 3rd straight year. In the Basketball competition, despite going down in the final Hui Tung Lam was rewarded for an outstanding tournament by also being voted the female MVP.

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Creativity, Action, Service (CAS) Creativity, Action and Service (CAS) is a core component of the IB diploma and offers students opportunities to engage in meaningful experiences to develop personally and socially. CAS is not about counting hours but about the quality of activities students are involved in. Each CAS programme is unique, designed by students to be enjoyable and be a life changing experience.

CAS fosters reflective thinkers, who take on new challenges and roles as they engage with our school community, Hong Kong and overseas communities in need. It provides occasions for students to recognize their responsibilities as global citizens and engage in long-term projects that have meaningful outcomes.

CAS week in November allows Year 12 students an opportunity to be out of school for a week and travel to communities RCHK supports through SP@RC. We have long standing relationships with organizations such as Community Learning International, Laos, United World Schools, Ratanakiri, Cambodia, Indochina Starfish Foundation, Phnom Penh, Side by Side Farming, Bali, Bilit village homestay members in Sabah and a medical clinic in Darjeeling, India. Our students’ travel to these destinations to volunteer their time and to learn from the communities they visit.

Some of our Year 12 students elect to remain here in Hong Kong and participate in service opportunities close to home. We see students volunteer with Jockey Club Sarah Roe School, the Nesbitt Centre and Ark Eden.

CAS is not, however just about doing Service. It also involves being creative and enjoying a healthy lifestyle through physical fitness (Action). Throughout the year our students challenge themselves by learning how to surf, sail and paddle board. They are involved in hiking, biking and of course playing hard for The Black Kites to name but a few of the Action activities.

Creativity such as Trashion, Ingenium, Imagine, Dance without Boarders, Art for Action, Photography for Change, VoiceUp, RCHK Podcasts, ARC, and music ensembles only starts the list of ventures our students initiate and participate in.

At the end of the two-year diploma programme, Renaissance students are able to demonstrate their self-awareness, growth and accomplishments in a final interview. Experiences are celebrated and reflected upon; thinking about how they can affect change as they leave our school for university and beyond.

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Service and Action Service and Action continues to be at the core of our culture in RCHK and is embedded in our curriculum.

Students during 2014-2015 have been involved in a range of activities in the local and global communities.

The students have not only been integral members of the Hong Kong Community but have offered a wide range of school based activities for their peers and the younger student body. We have had students doing beach clean ups, creating awareness of the LGBT community, scuba diving to do sea clean ups, flag selling, 24 hour charity races, and even traveling internationally to provide service in their countries of origin.

In school students have been providing extra curricular activities, assisting with RCHK events through first aid, our very own Black Chambers photographic club covering all school based and local events, serving on Jie Jie Day, Booktober, Back to School Night and the Service Fair, creating School Fair Games Stalls and volunteering at various booths, running reading programs, teaching English and helping out with Friday Sport just to name a few. Students also support a wide variety of charities and non-profits in the community such as Feeding Hong Kong, Plastic Free Seas, Room to Read, and Crossroads.

Many students have gone above and beyond the service requirements and embraced service as a life long commitment. However, Natalie Law and Anushka Purohit, received student service awards for their quality contributions not only to RCHK but to the wider community.

Secondary EOTC Renaissance College’s EOTC program has continued to promote students’ development and personal growth. It offers students an opportunity to fully enact the IB Learner Profile attributes in a non-academic environment. The EOTC program is able to get the students moving and engaging in a way, which a classroom cannot offer. In an age of modern technologies and conveniences that takes away from appreciating the natural world, as well as the physicality of life, EOTC provides that component of being physical and connecting with the natural world. It is a fantastic way for the students to appreciate the world around them as well as to get to know themselves and their capabilities.

EOTC in the Middle Years Program focuses on experiences that encourage independence, selfmanagement, organizational skills, resilience and personal responsibility. Challenge and risktaking activities provide leadership opportunities and develop self-confidence. Essentially, EOTC guides adolescence towards effective adulthood by developing invaluable life skills.

During 2014-2015 the EOTC experiences were as follows: Year 7 - Hong Kong based trips focusing on peer inter-relationships, independence and team building. This being a transition year, allows the students an opportunity to get to know their peers whom they will be working with throughout their MYP years.

Year 8 - Hong Kong based trips focusing on open water competence and confidence. Many adventures that the students will go on throughout their lives will involve water activities. This program really focuses on developing their comfort level in and around water, while at the same time continuing to develop interpersonal and leadership skills.

Year 9 - Hong Kong based trips focusing on high adventure challenge, hiking or water-based activities. This program allows the students to choose which camp they feel they would enjoy the most. The activities for these programs increase in physicality and independence for the students to truly allow them to push the limits of their comfort zone..

Year 10 - trips have also been delivered in Hong Kong as well as in; Fuxing in Taiwan, Yangshuo in China, and Tioman Island in Malaysia.

The Year 11 - EOTC experience has continued as in previous years, consisting of the highly successful work experience week.

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Academic Achievement PYP Standardized Assessment At the beginning of the academic year, all Year 1 students completed an adaptive on entry assessment called Performance Indicators in Primary School (PIPS). This baseline data, undertaken alongside teacher assessments, enabled teachers to gain significant insights into the strengths and areas for development for their students in areas including reading (incorporating phonics), writing, Mathematics and short-term memory. The timing of this data collection allows teachers to more specifically target the learning needs of students and cater to address these needs as students begin primary school education.

Students in Year 2 also completed the second part of the PIPS assessment with their teachers. This provided each student and teacher a one-on-one assessment opportunity that allowed each teacher to collect invaluable data to use for planning and teaching, specifically to address differentiation.

The PIPS assessment system enables the school to track the progress students have made throughout Year 1. This information is also used to evaluate the success and effectiveness of the written, taught and assessed curriculum.

In September 2014, Years 4 & 6 completed the full suite of the International Schools’ Assessment (ISA).

This is an externally marked assessment that provides data for writing (narrative & exposition), reading and Mathematics. The statistics obtained from ISA allows RCHK to track individual students’ progress as well as examine class and year-level trends. ISA generates an individual report for each student that is uploaded to Gateway to facilitate parent access; a hard-copy also went home with students this year to facilitate parent access. As with PIPS, much of the information obtained from ISA is used to evaluate the success of our curriculum.

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The Year 6 PYP Exhibition at RCHK continues to adapt and grow to further support learner agency, skill development and sustainable action. As in previous years, each student was able to authentically follow their passion and share what they had learned with a wider portion of the school community.

Students were supported throughout the Exhibition by mentors, including parents, through a series of ‘coaching questions’ which prompted them to take stock of where they were in the process, create goals and develop action plans. Mentors were aligned with individual students and would check in with them periodically to support them in the process. The Exhibition saw a new format as well with three presentation sessions on offer throughout one day.

As with last academic year, parents were informed about reporting within English and Mathematics. At the beginning of the academic year, parents could access the suite of reportable outcomes within these two disciplines to gain a sense of not only what students were learning but also when they could expect to hear from teachers about progress against various learning outcomes (Term 1, Term 2 or within Portfolios). This enhancement within reporting will continue in the academic years to come .

MYP Results Owing to the introduction of e-assessment, 2015 was the seventh and final year of MYP moderation.

RCHK will continue to submit and moderate the Personal Project. To align with the IB DP, scores for MYP have changed in 2015 and the total score is now 6 subjects out of a total of 49 points. We are very proud of our two students who achieved a perfect score for the first time since the start of the MYP at Renaissance College.

Summary of results: • Total number of entries: 155 • Students achieving the MYP Certificate: 95% • Average point score: 38 (out of 49) • Highest score: 49 • Average grade per candidate: 5.38 • World average: 5.04 Renaissance College will continue to work closely with other Hong Kong MYP schools to ensure consistency of assessment and marking across the Year 11 cohort.

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IB Diploma Programme May 2015 Examination Results The May 2015 results saw new milestones for Renaissance College with historical highs in the overall pass rate at 99.2%, along with over 90% of our cohort gaining greater than 30 points for their IBDP total scores. For the second year running we had a student gain 45 points, one of the small number of 160 students worldwide out of a cohort of 141 884 that achieved this tremendous feat. The average points score increase to a historical high of 35.1 points and this terms of UCAS points is equivalent to 4 grades of A in A Levels or five top grades of 5 in Advanced Placement subjects.

The average subject grades showed that IBDP teachers are preparing and supporting our students very successfully. The average subject grade for May 2015 was a very impressive 5.5..

Statistical analysis of our results confirmed the reliability of the MYP programme to prepare students well for the DP, and it also to allow us to predict outcomes for our students starting the DP to ensure that we an are enabling our students to achieve their potential.

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The following graph shows how the distribution of our IBDP results have been shifting towards higher scores over the last three years due to teaching and learning developments within the secondary school.

In comparing the May 2015 cohort with the May 2014 cohort it was noted that the May 2014 students performed generally better in the MYP and therefore the improvements for the May 2015 students in the IBDP demonstrated better-valued added performance. The graph below shows a comparison of the MYP results for the two cohorts..

In comparing the May 2015 cohort with the May 2014 cohort it was noted that the May 2014 students performed generally better in the MYP and therefore the improvements for the May 2015 students in the IBDP demonstrated better-valued added performance. The graph below shows a comparison of the MYP results for the two cohorts..

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An overall summary table below indicates a year on year comparison May 2015

May 2014

May 2013

May 2012

May 2011

Worldwide May 2014

Number of students entered for the full IB Diploma

122

134

119

84

56

67,492

Number of students achieving the IB Diploma

121

130

117

83

55

53,552

Number of students achieving a Bilingual Diploma

53

57

50

51

33

15,321

99.2%

97.0%

Mean points score for all full IB Diploma students

35.1

34.6

33.3

33.5

32.1

30.1

% of students achieving 30+ IB Diploma points

90%

82%

76%

76%

68%

53%

% of students achieving 35+ IB Diploma points

57%

52%

39%

39%

30%

25%

% of students achieving 40+ IB Diploma points

17%

20%

11%

10%

5%

7%

5.5

5.4

5.3

5.3

5.1

5.7

% of students achieving the IB Diploma

Mean grade for all subjects

98.3% 98.8% 98.2%

79.3%

It should be noted that 100% of students who were eligible for the bilingual diploma achieved their bilingual diploma. A bilingual diploma is awarded when a student takes two language A (native language) courses, or takes a language A course that is different from the language of instruction of the rest of the IBDP subjects. The percentage of students that took a bilingual diploma was 43% of the cohor.

IB Diploma Results – Class of 2015 RCHK’s IB Diploma Programme results once again were impressive. The pass rate was a remarkable 99.2%, and 17% of our Diploma students have achieved more than 40 points. Not only do these results represent a good margin above world averages; they also show that standards have been both maintained and improved upon, as RCHK has experienced a significant increase in enrolment.

May 2015

Class size

124

Number of students entered for the IB Diploma

122

% of students achieving the IB Diploma

24

99.2%

No. of students achieving a Bilingual Diploma

53

Mean points score for all IB Diploma students

35.1

% of students achieving 40+ IB Diploma points

17%

% of students achieving 35+ IB Diploma points

57%

% of students achieving 35+ IB Diploma points

90%

Student Destinations The majority of students are now studying at higher education institutions in Hong Kong (32%), the UK (25%), Canada (17%) and the USA (13%). Six students have decided to gain knowledge outside of academia by taking a gap year (e.g. joining an exchange programme or having work experience) before they head off to university.

With guidance and support from our further education counsellors, students were encouraged to apply to universities based on a strategy of selecting “stretch,” “realistic” and “safety” choices. Students submitted an average of five applications each and generally they received multiple offers, ensuring an extremely high success rate in securing places at university.

The majority of our graduates are now studying a diverse range of subjects around the world including art and design, law, medicine, sciences and engineering, sociology, literature, film studies, hospitality management, economics and business.

Final Destinations – Class of 2015

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College Matriculation – Class of 2015 Australia (2) Monash University (1) The University of New South Wales (1) Canada (21) McGill University (3) The University of British Columbia (7) University of Toronto (7) University of Waterloo (2) Western University (1) York University (1) Germany (1) International University of Applied Sciences Bad Honnef (1) Hong Kong (40) Centennial College (1) Community College of City University (1) College of International Education (1) The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (1) Savannah College of Art and Design Hong Kong (SCAD HK) (3) The Chinese University of Hong Kong (14) The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (9) The University of Hong Kong (10) Malaysia (1) Monash University, Malaysia (1) South Korea (1) KAIST Switzerland (2) Le Roches International School of Management (1) University of Geneva (1)

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UK (31) Cardiff University (1) Coventry University (1) Durham University (1) Goldsmiths, University of London (1) Heriot-Watt University (1) Imperial College London (1) King’s College London (1) Oxford University (1) Queen’s University, University of London (2) Royal Holloway, University of London (2) University College London (1) University of Bristol (1) University of East Anglia (1) University of Edinburgh (3) University of Exeter (3) University of Glasgow (1) University of Kent (1) University of Nottingham (1) University of Plymouth (1) University of Portsmouth (1) University of St. Andrews (1) University of the Arts London (2) University of the West of England, Bristol (1) University of Warwick (1) USA (16) Bently University (1) Boston University (2) Carnegie Mellon University (1) Foothill College (1) New York University (2) Pepperdine University (1) Syracuse University (1) University of California, Berkeley (1) University of California, Davis (1) University of California, San Diego (1) University of California, Santa Cruz (1) University of Maryland (1) University of Portland (1) University of San Francisco (1)

Alumni Relations and Development While Renaissance College is a relatively young school, alumni relations and development is not forgotten. We see alumni as the college’s ambassadors in their communities and as mentors to current students. Through alumni gatherings twice a year and a dedicated website, we link alumni with the college and with each other, and to foster the growth of the RCHK alumni community.

In the 2014-2015 academic year, following the initiatives of the previous year, RCHK continued with the subsequent events: • Overseas alumni reunion event was held in London in January 2015 • Local alumni reunion event was held in August 2015

College Council and RAPT College Council The Nomination Rights and Building Levy schemes introduced by the College Council a few years ago have not only provided the college with guaranteed financial stability, but funds to support various projects for the College, including the primary block extension. We are pleased to see more applications to enroll as students for the new term and a steady increase in number of students on roll.

There have been changes in the Council membership, with our former Chair Mr. Benny Ng stepping down and some other long-serving members finishing their terms. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our predecessors for their unfailing support and contribution in the past years. As the new Chair, I look forward to working with the Council in the coming years to continue to achieve our long term strategic commitment to fulfill our vision.

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RAPT The 2014-2015 was a new and challenging year for RAPT as both experienced and enthusiastic CoChairs, Nikita Mehta and Peter Halliday, stepped down simultaneously after 6 years of service. With the energetic new members and the help of 300 parent volunteers, RAPT organized the ever-popular College Fair and over 20 more memorable events and activities during the year.

Events included: Welcome Back BBQ in August 2014 The 2014 College Fair in November 2014 6 Coffee mornings/afternoons in 2014-15 Sale of “pre-loved” uniforms in February and May 2015 The annual Joyful Fruit Day in April 2015 RAPT also made significant donations to the school in the following areas: • • • • • • •

Production of Black Kite T-shirts Seed money for the Trashion Show Refreshments for parent information evenings Years 6, 11 and 13 Graduation events Upgrade the A/V System of the control room in the PAC Purchase the Entrak System (an energy consumption tracking system) Upgrade of the swimming pool changing rooms

Beside organizing different activities and donating money to the school to meet the students’ needs, RAPT also made contributions to the RCHK community by inviting experts and professionals to talk about their experience and share their knowledge with the parents in the RAPT coffee mornings/ afternoons, and contributed in the development of new school website. The NutriAgent Team worked closely with the school to promote healthy eating in RCHK, by doing lunch/snack surveillances and organizing healthy cooking workshops and Joyful Fruit Day. To enhance the efficiency, RCHK will collect the RAPT membership fee through e-payment starting from the academic year 2015-2016.

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Facilities Renaissance College boasts state-of-the-art facilities at its campus, which is easily accessible by public transportation, including a direct subway link to Heng On Station on the MTR Ma On Shan Line. The college facilities are used extensively during and after school hours, as well as on weekends by other ESF affiliates and the local community. Our facilities include • • • • • • • •

• • • • •

Performing Arts Centre / Black Box Theatre Library and Information Resource Centre (LIRC) Seminar Rooms Cafeteria / Café Refurbished Rooftop Astroturf Sports Pitch (2) Outdoor Basketball Court (2) Outdoor Multi-purpose Astro-turf Field College Gymnasiums (Primary and Secondary) and Climbing Wall 25-metre Heated Swimming Pool Science Laboratories Art Studios Music rooms ICT Center (Red Door Center)

The works for an additional four-storeys Primary building in the existing campus has begun in June 2015. The new Primary block will house various Primary departments (Chinese, Arts, LET, etc.) and completion is scheduled in August 2017. The additional purpose-built space will facilitate the continued successful development of the Primary curriculum.

Staff Renaissance College has a team of experienced international educators. Members of our faculty come from around the world, including Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom and the United States. Our dedicated teachers provide much more than academic guidance. They embrace the philosophy of the International Baccalaureate and believe that the way we approach learning makes a difference. The school year opened with 152 teachers. 14 left to purse opportunities elsewhere when their contract was completed in June 2015.

School Statistics Enrolment Numbers Total no. of students Sept. 2014

Total no. of students Sept. 2015

Total no. of withdrawals June 2015

Year 1

162

163

10

Year 2

162

167

11

Year 3

156

162

9

Year 4

168

162

6

Year 5

163

162

2

Year 6

168

169

Year 7

162

163

14

Year 8

163

161

10

Year 9

160

163

13

Year 10

153

157

Year 11

153

147

12

Year 12

136

151

7

Year 13

137

131

5

TOTAL

2043

2058

133

12

22

Nationality Total No. of students

Chinese

British

Canadian

American

Australian

All Others

2014

2043

1093

284

187

99

93

287

2015

2058

1082

264

155

111

87

359

Cantonese

English

Mandarin

Korean

Japanese

First Language Total No. of students

All Others

2013

2043

815

1093

57

30

10

38

2014

2058

756

1171

62

22

11

36

31

Budget

*Actual 2014/2015

Budget 2014/2015

HK$’000

HK$’000

223,574

Donation

1,000

225,310

Rental

8,111

7,800

Others

17,758

15,714

250,443

248,824

182,014

181,353

36,685

36,044

4,110

4, 110

Income Tuition fees

TOTAL INCOME

Expenditure Staff expenses Other expenses - Operational

_

Development and Operating Agreement (DOA)

10,250

10,250

Scholarship

22,357

22,531

TOTAL EXPENDITURE SURPLUS/ (DEFICIT)

255,416 (4,973)

254,288

(5,464)

*Note 1: Draft results as of October 7, 2015, before intra-company adjustments. *Note 2: Funds generated by the Nomination Rights Scheme and Non-Refundable Building Levy are not P&L incomes.

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Renaissance College Hong Kong 5 Hang Ming Street, Ma On Shan, NT, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 3556 3556 Fax: (852) 3556 3446 www.renaissance.edu.hk