From the Head of Secondary 19.02.2024
Kung Hei Fat Choi!
Welcome back ! Nobody could have missed the growing excitement around town over recent weeks as the city prepared for the Lunar New Year festivities, and this was reflected on the 9th February in school with our own celebration. The whole school turned out to be entertained by the Lion Dance, a long standing tradition at KIS.
There seem to be different accounts of when and how the Lion Dance became such a strong tradition. The Kung Fu association says that Lion dancing is an ancient ritual dating back to the Tang Dynasty (618-906 A.D.) and although its exact origins are unclear it can be traced back to two historical possibilities. The first possibility is related to bands of Persian performers who roamed China. During the Tang Dynasty the Chinese exchanged cultural influences with other countries and the lion was one of the many acts in the Persian ‘new day’ festival. The second possibility is that lion dancing can be traced to the annual cleaning of the imperial palace. Each New Year the palace was cleaned; physically and spiritually. Men dressed as twelve sacred animals made three passes through the palace. The lion was one of these animals.
However, as we watched the Lion Dance on our basketball court yesterday we were not really thinking of its origin but rather of the splendour and spectacle which gripped us all! For me personally it was a wonderful reminder of my 19 years living and working in Hong Kong, where as you might imagine, this time of year is extremely special and very very colourful!
With the Year 11 Mock exams well and truly over, and reports sent out, on Tuesday we welcomed parents into the hall to meet with teachers. The event was well organized by Mr Bromley, Head of Key Stage 4, and many important conversations took place. Our examination students in Years 11, 12 and 13 will be starting their study leave on April 24th. In the run-up to that date teachers and students will be finishing off syllabuses and having intensive revision sessions. During study leave the students will be coming into school to take their exams according to the schedule set by the Cambridge Examination Board, and also to have pre-arranged revision sessions with their teachers. Some of these sessions will also take place online, according to need, suitability and convenience.
In May 2023 we finalized our ‘Use of Generative AI Tools’ policy, which came out of a cross-school working party led by Mr Ghanbari. Artificial Intelligence cannot be ignored in the modern world, and certainly not its potential use [and misuse] in education. This week I met with Mr Ghanbari as it is time to review the policy and to start that process we are investigating the extent to which it is used in school, and its potential positives and negatives. At the moment Mr Ghanbari is collecting evidence from teachers with a series of relevant questions and we will look carefully at what that shows before we move ahead with the review.
Have a wonderful Lunar New Year holiday and enjoy this special time with your family!
Mrs Margaret Renshaw
Deputy Principal / Head of Secondary
