Sha Tin College

Template:Infobox School II Sha Tin College (Chinese: 沙田學院) is a non-selective secondary school in Hong Kong and a member of the English Schools Foundation – the largest independent schools organization in Asia. Established in 1982 as the Shatin Annex for students living in the New Territories, based in KGV School in Kowloon Tong and later relocating to Fo Tan, the school follows the British system of I/GCSE and the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) Diploma. The school is currently led by David Cottam. Enrolment stands at approximately 1200 students, drawn from New Territories and Kowloon areas. Sha Tin College was until recently the youngest of the ESF secondary schools, being founded in 1982.

In 2006, the school achieved an average grade of 36 for the IB diploma, with 25% scoring above 40 points, and one student receiving a perfect score of 45. Students graduating from Sha Tin College enrol in universities around the world, with predominant areas being Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States and Hong Kong itself. A small number of students opt for Australia. The IB Diploma is the most widely recognised high school qualification in the world, meaning Sha Tin College easily has a high rate of university enrolment in its graduates, from institutions ranging from Oxbridge and Ivy League to community colleges.

Sha Tin College is located on a hill above Wo Che in Fo Tan, Sha Tin and provides education from Year 7 through Year 13. Sha Tin College's houses are based on an explorer theme and each of the six houses is named after a famous explorer.

The school had its own indoor gym built in 2002, with two basketball courts, six badminton courts, three volleyball courts, and a rock climbing wall; there is also a swimming pool, astro-turf, two cricket nets, and extra classrooms for its neighbouring primary school, Sha Tin Junior School.

Students

Sha Tin College third block

The school currently has some 1200 students enrolled, from ages 11 to 18.

Sha Tin College accepts students from an academic perspective, mainly students fluent in English already. Thus, even though the school accepts foreign students over local ones, the student population and demographics are predominantly Asian – notably middle class Hong Kongers carrying dual citizenship – when compared with other international schools.

Students from the New Territories and Kowloon are generally assigned to this school, with the exception of Sai Kung and Clearwater Bay.

Tuition

As a member of the ESF, the foundation receives by an ongoing subvention from the Government of Hong Kong. However, students are further required to pay a substantial tuition fee equivalent to that of many universities across the world, in addition to supplementary costs such as uniforms. As of 2006/2007, tuition was HK$82,600 (US$10,570) per annum.

Curriculum

GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) is the curriculum designed for Years 10 and 11, and is broad and balanced. Sha Tin College offers both the international GCSE and GCSE programs, which are interchangeable.

All subjects are compulsory, but there is a choice to suit the aptitude and interest of students. This choice is structured in a way that it is balanced and it ensures students can build on their strengths whilst keeping their options open in the future.

All students taking the GCSE course have to study the following: a core of English consisting of English Language and English Literature; Mathematics; Science (dual award), split into Biology, Chemistry and Physics; PE and iPSE, which does not lead to a GCSE qualification. In addition, they must choose a subject from specific areas. Four electives must be taken at GCSE level. All students elect a second language, such as French, Japanese, Mandarin or Spanish. As well as this a Humanities subject must be elected, subjects such as Business, Economics, History, Geography. The remaining two electives may be subjects from Humanities or second language or from another stream, such as Drama, Art, DT or ICT.

The elective subjects are mostly subjects already studied in Years 7-9 (with the exception of Business Studies and Economics), thus providing continuity. Box D allows students to specialise by taking a second subject from one of the previous boxes. This gives good degree of choice within a structured framework.

The IB Diploma Programme is the curriculum for the senior school (Years 12 and 13). Most students elect English A1 and Mandarin B2, with the remaining four groups scattered through various subjects of Humanities, Maths, Science and a sixth choice.

Houses

In accordance with British house system tradition, the entire student body is divided into six separate houses upon admittance into the school. Students remain in these houses until graduation and attend sporting events and various other activities as part of their house.

Originally there were four houses of Armstrong, Drake, Hillary and Scott, named after various explorers throughout history. This is a departure from tradition of other ESF secondary schools, whose Houses are generally named after school benefactors or school founders. In 1998 two more houses were added to increase competition and a growing demand for more student places by school applicants and their parents. Tasman was derived from the house of Scott and Hillary, and Kingsley was derived from the house of Armstrong and Drake. In the 2006/07 school year, a new form, 7Z, joined the 6 original forms consisting of 7A, 7D, 7H, 7K, 7S and 7T. However, students in form 7Z are split up into the 6 normal houses, so 7Z students support their respective houses in house events. There will be no more 7Z in 2007/08, but the existing 7Z will be in 8Z.

The students engage in the annual Sports Day and Swimming Gala whereupon points are earned and compiled according to houses. Other inter-house competitions include volleyball, cricket, rounders, basketball and badminton, among others. Credits and commendations earned by students also contribute to the final house total.

Each house is headed by a sixth form Head of House, Charity Head and two Sport Heads. The Heads are in charge of organising the events within their house throughout the year.

There is a generally a trend for siblings to be placed within the same House.

Uniforms

File:ShatincollegePEOLDTE.jpg

A student wearing the old PE uniform

All students in Years 7 to 11 are required to purchase and wear the issued school uniform. Uniforms are generally school specific in terms of colour and style. Students in Years 12-13 are allowed to wear casual clothes that are presentable. On the last day of Year 11 it is customary to get signatures from fellow classmates and friends on one's uniform.

Sha Tin College uniforms consist of a standard white button-up shirt with the school logo emblazoned on the left-chest pocket. Boys are expected to wear the straight-legged navy trousers while girls have the option of navy trousers or skorts. [1]

No tie is required but the uniform also includes a navy jumper, navy fleece, navy scarf and navy physical education shorts with the gold and blue school logo emblazoned on all.

The PE uniform has changed since 2002. It used to consist of a white polo shirt with a diagonal stripe across the front in one's house colour. The new uniform is a polo-styled shirt in yellow, blue, green, purple, red or orange according to the student's house colours, with navy collars or navy tracksuit bottom (optional). [2]

Standard issue swimming caps must also be purchased according to house colours and swimming costumes or trunks that are navy.

Sports

Sports play an integral part in the students' lives. A wide variety of activities are available. Facilities include a swimming pool, a multi-purpose sports hall for badminton, basketball, volleyball and climbing facilities, and an astro-turf. All are shared with Sha Tin Junior School, Sha Tin College's neighbouring feeder school.

Additional activities such as canoeing, sailing, rowing and hiking are available to students during camp and many extracurricular activities exist that offer golf or other sports. The annual inter-house Sports Day is commonly held at the Hong Kong Institute of Education stadium in Tai Po. Given the school's mountain-top location, the inter-house cross-country run is held on-site. Students are expected to run up the mountain, circle back down around Mei Wo Circuit, a neighbouring residential area, run back up the mountain and finish at the gates of the school.

Basketball has been a long standing tradition of Sha Tin College. The school is often regarded as the best ESF school at basketball. Competitions are held at both the inter-house level and at the inter-school level. A-Grade boys have beaten every single ESF school this year by an average margin of around ten points. This shows the dominance Sha Tin College has over other schools in this respect.

Netball is a popular sport at Sha Tin College and is an inter-house as well as inter-school sport.

Volleyball is an often neglected sport in Sha Tin College, the only major event being the annual staff-student charity volleyball game.

Rugby is a popular choice for students; previously, the school had an excellent reputation for it, but due to the graduation of most of the senior players, and the school slowly becoming more local, academics has become the top priority. The brand new U19's girls squad recently won the U19 'B' League.

Badminton is a quite popular choice for students during their selection of activities for P.E. classes. Badminton is also normally used for charity events; such as '24-hour badminton' where students go on shifts to play badminton continuously for 24 hours and stay sleeping at school.

CAS Week

Since the implementation of the IB Diploma into the school, CAS week has become a vital and predominant part of the high school culture of Sha Tin College. Students from Years 7 to 9 take part in whole-year camps at various facilities around Hong Kong whereas students from Years 10-12 take part in CAS week activities ranging from trips overseas or school-based activities such as "Rock School" or "Video Journalism". CAS stands for "Creativity, Action and Service", an important part of the IB philosophy and curriculum, and activities during CAS week usually revolve around these three themes.

School Fair

The Sha Tin College and Junior School Fair takes place at the start of November each academic school year. The goal of the school fair is to raise additional funds for school equipment, such as computers and interactive whiteboards . 10% of the proceeds gathered from the Sha Tin College Fair is donated to various charity elected by the Houses individually, such as the Esther Benjamins Trust and Habitat for Humanity.

The School Fair usually comprises of musical entertainment, game stalls and a Raffles sale.

Cafeteria

The current cafeteria in Sha Tin College is managed by Chartwells, although it has yet to be named. In the previous years, there were two cafeterias, Mr Sy's and Café Concepts. Due to contract issues, according to the school, Mr Sy's stopped operating, which only left one cafeteria for students to buy from.

In 2007, the school decided to change the cafeteria to the present one run by Chartwells. Although they have spent $1 million on renovating kitchens and dining tables, students' opinions differ on the quality of food and service, with opinions tending to be negative. The Chartwells Cafeteria has an all-Chinese staff body, and although a minimal amount of staff speak English, foreign students occasionally have difficulties in ordering food.

Although the school has a policy restricting the inflation of prices, there is no policy regarding food quality. Chartwells is proposing to expand throughout Sha Tin College.

See also

• English Schools Foundation

External link

• Official Sha Tin College Website