Guidance & achievement

Guidance and Support at Island School

Aims

At Island School we care about the holistic education of children and young adults. We aim to ensure that:

• Students feel happy and secure within an international school environment which promotes respect for all.
• Students feel comfortable with and have the skills to communicate effectively with their peers and teachers.
• Students develop a sense of responsibility as citizens of the school, the Hong Kong community and of the world beyond.
• Students are able to take responsibility for their own learning.
• Students are able to take part and achieve success both inside and outside the classroom.
• Students’ progress and success are celebrated and rewarded.

The House System

A student entering the school will be put into one of six Houses: Da Vinci, Einstein, Fleming, Nansen, Rutherford and Wilberforce. The vertical House System is a great strength of Island School and allows for continuity of pastoral care and guidance from entry at the beginning of Year 7 until departure at the end of Year 13.

The Guidance Team

Mrs Jenny Hodson ( jah@mail.island.edu.hk )
Vice Principal: Guidance

Specific Roles

The Senior Heads of House and Heads of House (listed above) will have a depth of understanding of the broad needs of each child and will develop a close relationship with both student and parents.

Each student is placed within a tutor group. The form tutor will be a member of their House and will support and guide students, both socially and academically, on a day to day basis. This tutor will, under usual circumstances, remain with the group for two or three years. The Heads of House oversee the guidance process and are also responsible for supporting the tutors in guiding students to find appropriate pathways through their Year 9 and 11 Options, and for Higher Education.

Communication

The Guidance Team welcomes regular communication with parents to ensure that students are happy and successful at school.

The main points of contact at school should be:

The Form Tutor; the Heads of House; the Vice Principal: Guidance (Jenny Hodson)

Contact can be made in the following ways:

The School Diary

This is an important part of any student’s stationery and they are expected to record all homework and important school dates within it. Teachers and parents can communicate with each other through notes in the diary, including notification of absence. Both parents and the form tutor are expected to check and sign the diary on a weekly basis.

E-mail

All members of staff have a school e-mail address and this is often the easiest way to contact the form tutor or a Head of House. In this event we will always endeavour to respond within 24 hours.

Telephone

Parents should also feel free to telephone pastoral staff but should be aware that, due to teaching commitments, we may not always be readily available to speak. We will, however, respond as soon as possible.

Additional Support

At Island School we are fortunate to have systems in place to offer additional support for students on both an academic and on a social or emotional level.

Individual Needs

Please refer to the Individual Needs website for further information.

Counselling

We recognize that as children grow up, they can face problems which are more easily solved if they are able to speak with someone in confidence. For this reason, in addition to House Staff, we have two counsellors who visit the school regularly.

Kamy Yeung, a social worker from Hong Kong Children and Youth Services is with us all day on Mondays and Thursdays. She can be contacted at swkamy@mail.island.edu.hk

Jackie Li and Sonia Basili from St John's Counselling Service spend 2 days in school every week. They are contactable at jackie.li@mail.island.edu.hk and sonia.basili@mail.island.edu.hk respectively.

WELCOME TO ISLAND SCHOOL COUNSELLING SERVICES

Your school counsellors are Sonia Basili and Jackie Li (St John's Counselling Service) and Kamy Yeung (Social Welfare Department)

Ms. Kamy Yeung, a registered social worker from the Hong Kong Children & Youth Services. She enjoys working with adolescents and finds that everyone has the strengths to grow up. She believes that "the problem is not a problem but the coping is." (Virginia Satir) and hopes to work together with people to find more choices in their lives.

Apart from casework counselling, she can also offer programs like social skills training group, volunteer service training, joint-school social projects and community services to the students.