Head of Secondary Message, Term 4, Week 8 2025

At this week’s Secondary assembly, we paused to remember and honour the victims of the catastrophic Tai Po fire, following Hong Kong’s official period of mourning. The tragedy has brought immense grief and sadness to our city and there remains a long road ahead for thousands of people affected.

As a school, we stand in solidarity with all people affected by the Tai Po fire and express deep gratitude to our emergency services workers who have responded so bravely in the face of extreme adversity. Next Wednesday’s ‘Jingle Mingle for Good’ event will be an opportunity for our school community to unite and raise funds for the Red Cross and Feeding Hong Kong, two charities at the frontline of fire relief efforts. We can all draw strength and inspiration from the way Hong Kong has shown unity and compassion in the wake of such a devastating tragedy.

Helping others and giving back are key tenets of our school ethos. Well done to all student teams who competed in last weekend’s 24-hour Race which aims to stop human trafficking and slavery. Once again, AISHK had the highest number of participants – including Luka, who served as the event’s student marketing director. This week, Year 10 students have made visits to Crossroads headquarters in Tuen Mun and assisted with the redirecting of donated goods to places in dire need. Our end-of-year mufti day next Friday will raise funds for Crossroads, one of our longest-term charity partners.

Also taking place last weekend were the AISA games, which were a wonderful three days of spirited competition and camaraderie between the Australian schools of Asia. While winning isn’t everything, it was certainly very exciting and thoroughly deserved for our Kangaroos athletes to see AISHK win the overall competition – albeit by the smallest of margins. Congratulations to all students who participated and displayed such fantastic sportsmanship and team spirit. And a huge thank you to Mr Tait and all staff colleagues who worked so hard to make the event so special and successful.

With only a week to go until holidays, please note that we will be tightening up campus safety and security next year after school. With the exception of students who have after-school activities, classes or fixtures – or other permission – Secondary students will be required to leave campus by 4:00pm. This includes use of the field, unless for supervised sport fixtures or training.

We are looking forward to Tuesday’s Speech Day when we will celebrate academic excellence and personal bests achieved by students this year. With no regular Secondary assembly next week, we took the opportunity this week to farewell valued staff colleagues who are leaving AISHK at the end of 2025. Goodbye and good luck to: Mr Tom McLean, Ms Sakura McCorkell, Mr David Emery, Ms Julie Zhu and Mr Anthony Murphy. We thank you for your service to AISHK and wish you every success in the future.

There are a number of new teachers coming into Secondary next year and we look forward to welcoming the following into our community: Ms Haze Kwok (Chinese); Mr Sean Wray (HSIE and Careers); Ms Malini Nageswaran (Mathematics); and Mr Joseph Wilson (HSIE).

Secondary school ends for Christmas holidays next Friday at 12:30pm. Whether you are travelling or staying here in Hong Kong, may the festive season be a special and relaxing time with family and friends. Thank you for your continued support of AISHK and I look forward to seeing everyone refreshed and recharged in 2026.