Welcome from the Principal

The History of Island School, written in 2007, is titled “No Ordinary School”, and it is true that the combination of our students, our staff, our wider family and our special location add up to something rather special.

Island School boasts a unique location on the thin line between the green and the city, half way up the Peak on Hong Kong Island. We look down the centre of Hong Kong and have a front row seat on one of the most exciting and bustling cities in the world. Across the harbour we look out across Kowloon towards mainland China. If you turn round and look upwards we are on the edge of thick forest leading into Hong Kong’s magnificent island parklands.

Island School was opened in 1967, in buildings across the road from where we are now, while the current site was being built. We were the first school on the island to teach through the medium of English. The English Schools Foundation began at Island School in those early days and has, since then, added many other schools to join our club. Our unique identity straddles the gap between Hong Kong schools and International schools.

Our students come from all over the world and central to our international heritage is the celebration and understanding of each other’s cultures. They are described by all who meet them as extraordinarily confident, thoughtful and caring. They learn to care for each other, for their environment and for other people through our rich co-curricular programme and the family atmosphere of the house system.

Whenever you meet Islanders, whether they left here 4 years ago or 40, the first thing they will tell you is what house they were in. These families are central to school life. Students work in houses, compete in houses and gather friends in houses. In their houses, the older students work with the younger ones to learn the responsibilities of leadership.

Our academic record is excellent, with our students going on to the foremost universities and colleges in the world. You will find details of the qualification on offer at Island School, through IGCSE, the IB Diploma and the Advanced Diploma, elsewhere on this website. Our aim is not just to get each student into the most prestigious university possible, but to recognise that each student is an individual and to find the right match for their individual skills and strengths.

I hope you find the information that you need on this website, but to get a real picture of Island School you must come and visit us and meet our extraordinary students in our unique location.

Chris Binge

Principal