Island School - History

History

The school opened in 1967 to meet increasing demand for schooling for the children of expatriates living in Hong Kong. As there were no secondary schools for English speaking children on Hong Kong Island, the Hong Kong government established the English Schools Foundation (ESF) in 1965 to provide additional schools for expatriate British children. Island School was the first ESF secondary school, adopting the Chinese name of 英童中學, literally translated as "Secondary school for British children".

The first Principal of Island School was the Reverend Geoffrey Speak who was appointed from St Paul's School in 1967. Rev. Speak, a graduate of Selwyn College, Cambridge, combined the principalship with managing the ESF between 1967 and 1971, during a rather inauspicious time. In 1967 the Cultural Revolution was in its throes with bombs detonated in Central, water was rationed to four hours every fourth day and with Prime Minister Wilson's devaluation the prospect of working in Hong Kong became less financially appealing. The Rev. Speak will be remembered at Island School for his introduction of the "House System" as the basis of pastoral care and for teaching, a system which is still in place today, and as a pioneer of extracurricular activities.

In 1971 C. Ronald Rivers-Moore was appointed to succeed Rev. Speak as Principal. Rivers-Moore, a Cambridge graduate, continued Rev. Speak's vision both in academic policy and through the continuation of the extracurricular program. The introduction of the Nepal Trek, the School Camp, a school zoo and the Student Union are examples of his commitment to that vision. Chris Forse, former Deputy Head and Island School Historian, referred to Rivers-Moore as a man who combined his "integrity with liberal benevolence in roughly equal proportions".

Succeeding Rivers-Moore in 1978 was Charles Jonathan (Jonty) Driver, a graduate of Trinity College Oxford. Driver extended the Island School curriculum to include Drama, Photography and Computing and a pastoral curriculum. A believer in community education, Driver founded the Island School Evening Institute which provided adult education to parents and friends of the Island School community. It was also during Driver's tenure that Island School's lasting student periodical, "The Islet", was established, succeeding the original student newspaper "The Echo". Jonty left Island School in 1983 to become Headmaster at Berkhamsted School, later moving to the prestigious Wellington College in Berkshire.

Dr. Colin Niven, a graduate of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge and Brasenose College, Oxford, was Principal of Island School between 1983–1988. During his tenure, Dr. Niven raised the prestige of the school internationally, tripling Oxbridge entries while gaining membership of the elite Headmasters Conference. There was a major investment in a new library and the school uniform was replaced. After leaving Island School Dr. Niven became a fellow at Westminster College, Oxford and later the Principal at the prestigious Alleyn's School in London.

Mr. David James became the school's first internally appointed Principal in 1988. Mr. James was an innovator, introducing the new British National Curriculum, vocational education and the International Baccalaureate at 16–18. He enhanced the responsibilities of the Sixth Form enabling "students to become surrogate teachers and leaders of the school". He broadened the profile of Island School's out-reach efforts in both Hong Kong and abroad through the encouragement of student participation in community service programs among them the Summerbridge and School After School program through which Island School students taught English and life skills to less privileged children. In 1990 Island School became the first ESF school to introduce an Interim Week during which the regular timetable was abandoned for a range of alternative challenges in Hong Kong and overseas.

Mr James retired in 2005 and was succeeded by a deputy principal Mrs. Michelle Hughes, a graduate of Open University. Mrs Hughes tenure began in difficult circumstances with a pay dispute between the teachers and the ESF which resulted in some curtailing of the extra curricular program and support for parent run activities like the school fair. Her tenure has been characterised by its attention to meeting the modern imperatives of quality assurance and in increasing role of "student voice" at Island School. Mrs. Hughes left the position in June 2009, and was replaced by Mr Christopher Binge, previously Secondary Principal at the "La Chataigneraie" campus of the International School of Geneva.

A fuller history can be found in Chris Forse's "No Ordinary School" written for the school’s 40th anniversary in 2007, and which is available from the school. The summary above is a distillation from this publication, which is copyrighted.