It has a storied history and state-of-the-art makeover, but it’s the students’ attitude that really sets KGV apart. By Adele Brunner.
It speaks volumes about a school and the way it is run when its principal can approach two teenage students on a whim, know their names and get them talking happily about themselves and their school. That’s no mean feat in a school of almost 1,800 students. Step forward Ed Wickins, principal of King George V School, better known in Hong Kong as KGV (pronounced KG5).
Part of the English Schools Foundation, the secondary school caters to students aged 11 to 18 and is located in Ho Man Tin. Its feeder schools are ESF primaries Clearwater Bay, Beacon Hill and Kowloon Junior, but KGV also accepts children from other schools. Its students are 60 per cent Chinese with the rest from Indian, Korean, Japanese and Western families. Almost all are permanent residents.
“KGV has a very strong sense of community,” says Wickins, who has been at the school since 2004. “A lot of our students even went to primary school together and we don’t have the same sort of transience that many other Hong Kong schools face. About 97 per cent of students stay from one year to the next with very few leaving at the end of year 11, which is when students typically head off to boarding schools.”
The school is non-selective in terms of academic ability and is “proudly inclusive” with a learning support school within the main school that caters to children with conditions such as autism, Down’s Syndrome and cystic fibrosis. This allows these students to join mainstream classes as much as possible but accommodates them in subjects where they can’t access the full curriculum. KGV follows the International Baccalaureate system but offers IGCSEs at the end of middle school in year 11 and both the IB diploma and B-Tech in the final two years.
In 2014, the school celebrated its best set of IB results to date with 27 students attaining 42 or more points and four achieving the maximum of 45 points. All students have their own laptops and access to the school’s virtual learning environment, Lionel, which features coursework, homework, social activities, individual merits and concerns. Parents also have their own separate accounts and daily emails letting them know exactly what homework needs to be done and when.
KGV has a strong sense of heritage. Built in 1936 before there was a tower block in the vicinity, many of its original buildings are still in use as well as the four school houses – Upsdell, Crozier, Rowell and Nightingale, named after former principals – to which each student belongs. A dedicated room off the new Learning Resources Centre replicates the way the school used to be, complete with parquet flooring, black-and-white photographs, old wooden desks and the uniform worn way back when. “I’m keen for KGV to be modern and forward thinking but I also want to keep its history and heritage alive,” Wickins says. “If any two alumni meet, the first thing they will ask each other is which house they were in. The houses are important for sport and socialising.” For all its tradition, KGV has undergone extensive renovations.
These include a new state-of-the-art science building, lecture theatre and performing arts block, complete with a TV recording studio, music rooms able to house a full orchestra and a rooftop performance space. “There was a whole range of people involved in the design and layout of the new blocks,” Wickins says. “For example, I don’t like walls, so this affected the layout of the Learning Resources Centre [an open-plan space with two libraries, reading rooms, individual study pods and a café]. Students in year 10 worked on the design of the study pods. They came up with the idea for a world map showing all the places our students come from and found the quotes from famous people that now adorn the walls.
Almost everyone has had a hand in the way the school looks today.” With financial support from the Hong Kong Rugby Union, the Hong Kong Cricket Club, KGV’s Parent-Teacher-Student Association and ESF Educational Services, the school’s playing fields were also given a makeover. Rare in Hong Kong, they stretch the entire width of the school at ground level and incorporate a full-sized football pitch and facilities for rugby, cricket, netball, hockey, basketball, track and field activities, cementing KGV’s reputation as one of the territory’s sportiest schools.
“The playing fields are spectacular and are in constant use for PE lessons, after-school and social activities, at lunchtimes and even weekends,” Wickins says. “They make the school come alive but also give something to the community which uses them too.” The ethos of the school is summed up by an anecdote Wickins tells about an interhouse knitting competition. “In England [where Wickins worked in the past], few would show any interest and certainly there would be concern about putting their hands up to volunteer.
Here, everyone wants to participate – and participate to the best of their ability. There’s no cynicism or negativity. The school character is one of enthusiasm, positivity and energy and that’s all down to our students and how they feel about their environment. You just can’t fake something like that.”
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