Message from the Head of School, Term 4, Week 3 2025

Dear Families, 

It has been an inspiring, first few weeks of term, filled with remarkable team and individual student achievements across the school.  

Student Achievement  

I am delighted to highlight some of the recent dedication, success and talent from students: 

• The Swimming Team – showcasing both skill and perseverance at the HKSSF with the Boys A Grade team winning Overall Champions!  

• SDRC Football Championships – the U14 boys emerged champions, and our Girls’ team proudly secured bronze, demonstrating teamwork and resilience. 

• Year 11 Community Action Projects – Students pitched outstanding initiatives aimed at leading future service and positive change in Hong Kong. 

• 89th Steinway and Sons International Competition Final – Brandon (Year 7) won Championship in the Amateur Group (10 to 13 years) and will go on to represent Hong Kong and Macau in the finals in Shanghai in December 

• Primary Students in the Australian Mathematics Competition – We celebrate our young learners who ranked among the top scorers nationally. 

• Year 12 HSC and IBDP Examinations – Our senior students are giving their very best in these crucial assessments, and we commend their focus and determination. 

Academic excellence and striving for personal potential are hallmarks of our school. Yet, our school’s core belief extends beyond the importance of academic achievements: we strive to provide a well-rounded educational experience that nurtures character and empowers students to make a positive impact—now and in the future. 

PROSPER in 2026 

In 2026 we will continue our commitment to nurturing our students' character so they can be proud to be part of our community with respect and kindness at its core. Every day, we witness kindness, empathy, and care in action from our students.  As Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (related to the theory of human motivation) reminds us, belonging is foundational before success can flourish. The school’s PROSPER framework enables this and will continue to support student wellbeing and connection. 

Respectful relationships between peers matter deeply in our school. If you have any concerns about your child’s relationships or their experience with peers at school, please contact their classroom or homeroom teacher and they will take action accordingly. These staff are pivotal in a student’s wellbeing and this was positively reflected in the MMG survey results. 

Thank you for partnering with us in creating a safe, supportive, and thriving environment for every student. Together, we ensure that your child’s academic achievements and their character development go hand in hand. 

MMG Survey 

This term you will receive more detailed information from the MMG survey completed by parents and students in August. The feedback from all the surveys was generally very positive with some areas highlighted for further reflection and review. One area of notable strength was feedback from families which supports the importance of belonging.  Parents reported that student attitudes to school life and their satisfaction with student and teacher relationships are very good. For example, in the table below 85% of parents said their child likes coming to school.

Review of PDHPE and Sport 

Recently we informed everyone that Paddy McKenna was supporting the school in a review of its PDHPE and Sport provision. Paddy works with many leading schools in Australia and concluded his visit last week and more information will follow to support the school to ensure we continue to provide high quality experiences in this important area of student learning and consider improvements for the future. Thank you to all families for engaging in this process and we will keep you updated as we move forward from this review process. Below are some commendations which were shared by Paddy after spending time with students, staff and parents last week: 

“AISHK continues to uphold its reputation as a warm, inclusive and community-driven international school. Staff demonstrate unwavering commitment to delivering educational excellence, underpinned by a culture of collaboration, mutual respect and professional support. The strength of inter-staff engagement fosters a dynamic and collegial workplace, where shared values and teamwork contribute meaningfully to both staff wellbeing and student success.  

The school offers a broad and diverse range of opportunities that enrich the student experience within an international learning environment. Feedback from student focus groups was overwhelmingly positive, with students expressing high levels of satisfaction with their education at AISHK. A small number of areas for improvement were identified and will be addressed in the subsequent section. Parent feedback also reflected strong support for the school’s direction and educational offerings, with various insights and potential areas for improvement provided for this review.  

Within the PDHPE department, individual staff members are working diligently to meet the demands of a complex and changing curriculum, while simultaneously managing a wide array of co-curricular and extracurricular commitments throughout the academic year. They demonstrate a strong commitment to delivering positive student experiences, both in the classroom and on the sporting field.”  

(Paddy McKenna, October 2025) 

Reminder  

Please reinforce with your child that mobile devices on the school bus service may only be used (if they are given one for the journey) to listen to music. Students are not permitted to view videos (e.g., YouTube) when traveling on the school bus service. 

We respectfully invite all families to have a general discussion with their children about their conduct when using public transport (e.g., MTR) on the way to and from school as they are representatives of our community when in public. This is also important when they visit shops at Festival Walk after school.