The Lifelong Friends of the School programme has been developed to give Islanders, the opportunity to support the school’s future and preserve its legacy. Everyone in the community is invited to become a Lifelong Friend of the School. There are three ways you can do this, with a: Friends, Family or Class and Groups donation.

When making a donation, we kindly request that you specify “Lifelong Friends” under the order notes section. This will help us accurately allocate your donation to the intended program. Thank you for your support and generosity.

If you would like to become a Lifelong Friend of the School please click this link. 

https://www.backtoborrett.com/

In 1997 a group of students and staff from Island School travelled to Nepal on a trekking expedition. The stunning beauty of the country provided a sharp contrast to the child poverty on the streets of Kathmandu – so affected where the group that they decided to do something about it. They raised the money to buy some land and build Katja House.

Katja House opened in 2001, supporting the 80 or so children in its care from primary school through to tertiary education, providing a loving and safe environment that permits them to grow into successful and happy adults.

Twenty years later and the school remains a vital partner of Katja House, with students and staff returning annually to work with the children and undertake maintenance and building repairs.

Baiwan is an isolated community in the northern part of Guangdong province. It is 90km awayfromthe nearest city Qing Yuan.

Since the closure of the cement factory, agriculture is the main source of income; farming poor rocky soil for ever declining yields. As a result, many adults of working age have been forced to move to the city, leaving behind a population of children and the elderly.

Thanks to the drive and vision of a member of the teaching staff, we have been working in Baiwan since 1998 offering the communities’ children English lessons. Starting out with an annual community service visit for Quest Week, this has expanded to include fundraising, a Summer trip and other return visits fromcurrent and former students.

Island School needs your support to continue it projects.

• Classroom maintenance and covered walkways.
• School meals to help provide a balanced diet and a healthier community.
• Provision of computers and other materials.
• Grants to allow students access to secondary and tertiary education.

“I suddenly realised how much I took everything for granted. They sacrifice so much for their education, but their education still lacked so much.” an Island School student.

Island School’s temporary home in Sha Tin Wai and Tai Wai enabled us to make new community partners with the students from Christ College and Ng Yuk Secondary Schools. A number of English Language projects across everything from ‘STEM’ subjects to Art, Music and Drama developed as a result.

This is one student story…

“I’m an 18-year-old student currently studying Computer Science at Charles Darwin University in Australia. I enjoy ice skating, bouldering, dancing and fencing. During our normal English lessons at NYSS, we would usually sit down with textbooks and do exercises and past papers. At NYSS, I was an English Ambassador. My job involved memorising and delivering the script for morning assemblies. These assemblies were sort of like news updates, but we did have holiday-themed assemblies like for Christmas, so that was quite fun since I got to learn a little about the festivals. Aside from that, my exposure to English in a realworld context was quite limited. With Community English, it was a lot more interactive and we did some pretty interesting activities. Some of the ones I remember were a basketball event and decorating Easter eggs with the Island School students. While I had to miss out on basketball, I had a blast decorating the eggs! As a student in a Chinese secondary school, I didn’t have many opportunities to practise speaking English—so that became my motivation when I joined Community English. When I first started secondary school, my English was quite bad, and I could barely string together sentences. But through Community English and my studies in Australia, I found myself engaging in conversations, improving my accent, and increasing my fluency. I developed a genuine interest in English, and found ways to practise, like conversing more with native speakers and watching English Netflix shows.

Not only that, but my school grades also improved, and so did my speaking skills. Community English was such an invaluable experience for me. It provided a space where I could practice English and have fun doing it. That led to a genuine interest in the language, and it helped me improve my fluency as

The Spirit Fund, making a difference to Island School students’ lives. The generosity of the Island School community means that the Spirit Fund now plays a key role in the school’s development and success. Last year the Spirit Fund paid for: guest speakers and workshops from the HK Literary Festival, it published students’ books, drama productions and workshops, science, filming and food technology equipment and trips to Maths competitions in Korea.

The Nicola and Kenneth Bursary Fund is a charity that was started in memory of two Island School students who died in 1985. Each year, with the support of their families the Island School community has raised money to help children in severe financial need. Principals from different Hong Kong schools nominate driven and committed secondary school students for a bursary award. Each awardee is given $3,000 which they use to support their education. Bursaries are typically used to cover tutoring costs, exam fees or textbooks. Sometimes they are spent on basic living costs such as food or transport. 

One Form 6 student, received the bursary. He explained, “In Secondary 4, my father was no longer in my life, leaving my mother to support my life and education.”

He used the money to purchase reference books for his DSE examinations as well as food. He said, “The money was very useful to support my living expenses and relieve the stress on my mother. I am very thankful.”

Student 2 said, “I come from a poor family and my parents can just earn enough to keep the wolf from the door. I did not have a chance to join any extra-curricular activities. After receiving the grant, I can join different activities to widen my horizons. I can also buy more learning materials. It helps me to prepare for exams effectively.”