King George V School (Chinese: 英皇佐治五世學校), often shortened to "KGV" (pronounced as: K-G-Five) is a co-educational international secondary school of the English Schools Foundation, located in the Ho Man Tin area of Hong Kong. KGV currently serves 1,700 students in the Kowloon peninsula. One of the oldest schools in Hong Kong with a long history and many traditions, the students take GCSEs followed by the International Baccalaureate. KGV has a unit for children with special needs. The campus is 10.2 acres in size.
History
KGV is the oldest of all the schools in the English Schools Foundation. It first opened in 1894 on Nathan Road and originally catered for Europeans living in Kowloon. At that time the school comprised just one small building. It was destroyed in a typhoon in 1896. In 1902 Kowloon College opened in its place. A huge opening ceremony took place. Many of the Hong Kong colony's elite, such as Major General Gascoigne, the Apostolic Vicar of Hong Kong Louis Piazzoli, J.H. Stewart Lockhart the Colony Secretary were there. The school was built using donations from Sir Robert Hotung.
Pre-WW2 period
In 1937, the Japanese army invaded China. Lots of European women and children were evacuated from Shanghai to Hong Kong. They needed a place to stay in the summer and the school was used as a refugee camp. When World War II started in 1939, the government started to worry about the safety of the children. In August 1940 the government ordered the evacuation of European women and children, and the school site was occupied by British forces as a hospital. When Hong Kong surrendered in the Battle of Hong Kong, the school site was taken over by the Japanese and used as a hospital for prisoners of war. It is rumored that the clock tower and/or Pavilion was once used as a morgue or torture chamber under the Japanese occupation and that ghosts of tortured victims inhabit the clock tower and room P14. Dead bodies were also said to be buried under the school field. What is known, however, is that when classes at KGV resumed after WWII, the back of the stage still had the Rising Sun flag (of the Japanese military) painted on its back wall.
When the news was received that Japan had surrendered, the General commanding the school left holding his sword high. As soon as he had left, the school raised the British Flag. It is probably the first in Hong Kong. After the end of the war KGV was used as a military hospital and British doctors lived in the school. The following message was inscribed at the Hall's main entrance: "Never in the field of human conflict" - a reference to Winston Churchill's famous speech given to the British Parliament on 20 August 1940. To this day the quote still remains at the Hall's main entrance.
WW2 period
The school re-opened in the summer of 1946 and in 1947 children of all nationalities were able to join the school. Since it was no longer only for British pupils, the school's name was changed on speech day 1948. It is now called King George V School. George V was King when the foundation stone of the Peel Block was laid.
In 1974, the principal Miss A. Smith decided that KGV should join the English Schools Foundation, and in 1979, the transfer was complete. KGV is currently the oldest school in the ESF.
Post WW2 period
There are approximately 1,700 students of some 28 different nationalities enrolled in the school. Students are accepted from many feeder primary schools in the English Schools Foundation such as Kowloon Junior School, Beacon Hill School, and Clearwater Bay School.
The house system is the basis for all school competitions such as in sports, music, and dance, and often sees fierce competition between the houses. Each student at KGV belongs to a house, named after former members of staff. However, to prevent competition between members of the same family, brothers and sisters are usually placed into the same house.
The houses, and their associated colors, are as follows:
For pastoral purposes, students are allocated year groups ranging from Year 7 to Year 13, depending on their year of birth. These year groups are further split into form groups, named after planets and heavenly bodies: A (Asteroid), E (Earth), G (Galaxy), H (Halley's Comet), J (Jupiter), M (Mars), N (Neptune), P (Pluto), S (Saturn), V (Venus). A form group consists of roughly 30 students, and is allocated a form room, where registration (i.e. attendance) is taken, and any notices such as the Daily Bulletin are read out.
A student's form group originally remained unchanged throughout his or her school career, i.e. a student placed in group 7S would precede to 8S, 9S, and 10S etc. In September 2001, students entering Year 9 had their form groups reshuffled to encourage the students to be more familiar with the rest of the year, but the old system was restored in 2004. Form groups are normally reshuffled again at the beginning of Year 12 to account for leavers after completion of Year 11. Students were formerly picked arbitrarily into form groups, but as of September 2005, senior school students in Year 12 and 13 are placed in house-based form groups. The years are mixed together, known as vertical tutoring, so groups will consist of Year 12 and 13 students. Such groups are named 6N1 (Sixth Form, Nightingale, Group 1) as opposed to previously, where students were placed in groups named 12E, 13M, etc.
Crozier (green) - a teacher who fought to defend Hong Kong in WWII.
Nightingale (yellow) - headmaster who first asked for a new school building, which is now the current school site.
Rowell (blue) - a teacher who designed part of the current site of the school.
Upsdell (red) - the first headmaster to serve in the school building located at the current school site. Students and the house system
Students in KGV have to wear a uniform. In summer, girls in Y7—Y11 wear a blue skirt or blue trousers, a white blouse with the KGV logo, black leather shoes and a pair of plain white socks. Girls in Y12-Y13 wear a khaki skirt or trousers, white blouse, black shoe or sandals and a pair of white socks. Boys in Y7—Y11 wear blue trousers or shorts, a white shirt with the KGV logo, a black leather belt, black leather shoes and a pair of black socks. Boys in Y12-Y13 wear khaki trousers or shorts, a white shirt, a black belt, black shoes and a pair of black socks.
In winter, girls in Y7-Y11 wear a blue skirt, a white long-sleeved blouse, dark blue tights, a yellow tie for Y7-Y8, or a blue tie for Y9-Y11, white socks and black shoes, V-neck pullover or a navy blue blazer. Y12 -Y13 girls wear a khaki skirt or trousers, a white long-sleeved blouse, a blazer or pull-over, dark blue tights, white socks, black shoes and a blue tie. Boys in Y7-Y11 wear blue trousers, a white long- sleeved shirt, a pull-over or blazer, socks and shoes the same as summer uniforms, and yellow tie for Y7 - Y8, blue for Y9-Y11. Y12-Y13 boys wear khaki trousers, a white long-sleeved shirt, a blazer or pull-over, blue tie and shoes and socks as the summer uniforms.
Dress code
The Senior Student Council consists of 14 members, all of them from Year 12. Half of them are elected through direct student voting in the senior school (Years 12 and 13), and half of them are voted from within form groups. The President and Vice President of the Council are then voted in by Year 12 students.
The Senior Student Council listens to the student opinion, through form representatives, assisting the school's development and improvement. In recent SSC elections, issues of concern for KGV students have included congestion in the school's stairways , the lack of means through which students can voice their concerns, and the replacement of malfunctioning computers in the Senior Student Centre Resource Room.
Senior student council
KGV School Council is responsible for the government of the life and work of the school. The Council has a number of responsibilities including monitoring, reviewing and evaluating the School Development Plan; the appointment and promotion of staff; approving the school budget; ensuring the condition and state of repair of the school premises and also acts as a link between ESF management, the school and the community as a whole.
Mr. Donald Yap
Mr. Simon Tsang
Mr. Naresh Khiatani
Mr. Edward Chiu
Mrs. Sue Leatham
Ms. Kirrily Foley
School council
The motto of KGV is Honestas Ante Honores which means "Honesty Before Glory" in Latin.The school song is also called Honestas Ante Honores as well. It is sung at school events such as the Junior School Celebration and Speech Day.
School motto and songFacilities
This is the list of buildings on the KGV campus as of 2007.
Completed: 1937
This block is named after Sir William Peel, the Governor of Hong Kong from 1930-1935. His name can be found on the foundation stone on the north-east side of the building. This is the first block built on the present school site. It is protected under Hong Kong law because of its age.
The building has a shape of a reversed letter E, and has two stories, housing the Hall, fourteen general-purpose classrooms on the ground floor and an extra four on the first floor, seven senior science labs all on the first floor, the Reading Centre (a junior library), a computer room, two multimedia suites, the staff room and offices, and a lecture theatre. The clock tower sits prominently on the front side of the building. There are also two paved quads for various activities.
Since the KGV site was used as a hospital and a dungeon by the Japanese in World War II, there are many rumours about this block. Many have said that the computer room is haunted and was a torture chamber during the Japanese Occupation, while others say at night footsteps can be heard on the Peel Block's roof.
The Hall, located in the centre of this block, has hardwood flooring in the centre and marble flooring on the side walkways and up halfway along the wall. At the front of the hall is the stage, and to the rear, there is a second balcony level. The hall is outfitted with advanced sound and lighting equipment, and used for events ranging from weekly Assembly to Speech Day (an award ceremony for Year 9s and above) to music and dance competitions.
Completed: 1964
This building, situated on the south side of the campus, is three stories tall. There are two design technology rooms, two textiles technology rooms, and the school's Sick Room on the ground floor; two graphics technology rooms and two food technology rooms on the first floor; six junior science labs, and two general-purpose classrooms on the second and third floors.
Completed: 1979
The school's swimming pool is just behind the Peel Block, and is open during the summer and the autumn for P.E. lessons and after school activities.
Completed: 1982
The Annex Block houses two classrooms on the ground floor and two on the second floor. These classrooms are mainly used for teaching Chinese; there is a Languages Store room as well.
Completed: 1983
Formerly comprised of two squash courts, the Activities Centre now houses two Drama Studios and Drama Department Office, boys' and girls' P.E. changing rooms, and a boys' drama changing room. (The girls' drama changing room is on the ground floor of the Link Block.)
Completed: 1984
This five-storey building literally links the New Block, the Peel Block and the Activities Centre, with covered walkways on connecting floors. This building houses two Design and Technology rooms, a D&T office and store room, as well as a drama studio and girls' drama changing room on the ground floor. The two middle-school pastoral offices, three computer labs, and the School Library are on the first floor; fourteen general-purpose classrooms are spread out amongst the the second, third and fourth floors; three music rooms are on the fourth floor; three art rooms are on the fifth floor.
Completed: 1986
The Jockey Club Sarah Roe Centre was built with funds donated from the then Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club and named after Mrs. Sarah Roe, an occupational therapist, who was a founder of the Child Development Centre at the Matilda Hospital. It originally contained the Jockey Club Sarah Roe School in the Garden Rooms on the ground floor (which moved to new accommodation underneath the Senior Student Centre later in 1996), support offices, and a professional development and resources centre for ESF staff on the floors above.
Over the years, the building has been used for different purposes including housing the offices of ESF Educational Services Ltd, Sally's Place (ESF's Self-Access Language Learning Centre), the ESF Professional Library and KGV using the Garden Rooms as classrooms. Currently, KGV uses the Garden Rooms for teaching purposes whilst the first floor houses KGV's Junior School Office. The remaining office space houses the ESF Education Development Center's satellite office, its conference facilities and the ESF Professional Video Library.
Completed: 1996
The Hong Kong Jockey Club]] Sarah Roe School is housed on the KGV site, and occupies the first two storeys of this building. This facility educates students with special needs across the English Schools Foundation, and is the only such unit in the entire foundation.
KGV occupies the remaining floors, designated by the letter E. The third floor of the building houses the Senior Student Centre (SSC) which is a common lounge/study area reserved exclusively for senior students. There are five classrooms in the Senior Student Centre used by students from all years, as well as a lecture theatre and a computer room. Offices for senior school pastoral staff are also housed there.
In 2001, a vertical extension to the building was completed. The fourth floor of this building provides ten more classrooms as well as a computer lab. There is also a second staff break room there. This floor is technically not part of the Senior Student Centre, but is often referred to by junior students as the "SSC" floor anyway.
The roof of the building has a tennis court. Tennis courts used to be on the ground floor before this building was erected.
Completed: 1999
These six ground-floor classrooms were meant as "temporary" classrooms, but as KGV grew, these classrooms became necessary and thus a permanent fixture. Modern Languages are taught predominantly in these six rooms which occupy the "piazza" area encased inside the square formed by the Peel, New, and Link blocks.
Completion Date Not Known
This block occupies the south-west corner of the school field. Prior to the reconstruction of the field, two classrooms (X1 and X2) were housed in this block, and storage shed and maintenance shed occupied the ground floor. The classrooms have now been converted into changing rooms. Many students and teachers believe the Pavilion was used as a torture chamber during World War II when the Japanese occupied the school.
Peel Block (P)
New Block (N)
Swimming Pool
Annex Block (AN)
Activities Centre
Link Block (L)
Jockey Club Sarah Roe Centre (JCSRC)
Sarah Roe School (JCSRS) / Senior Student Centre (SSC) (E)
"B"-block (B)
Pavilion Block Buildings
As of 2003, KGV's artificially turfed field has become the ESF's multipurpose sports facility. It has markings for various sports such as football (soccer), and also has a track running the perimeter of the field.
Prior to the astroturfing, there was opposition to the use of artificial turf. However, huge amounts of money were spent on maintaining the natural grass on the field's base of hard clay, and so was uneconomic and impractical: Inevitably, after a month or two of use the field would become a large dust bowl and students would often get injured playing on the field. Over HK$16 million was spent on the conversion, which started late in 2002.
KGV has an outdoor, 25 metre swimming pool with six lanes, normally in operation from April (usually after Easter break) to November.
The Canteen block is located next to the swimming pool, houses the canteen (Sodexho), the weights room, the PTSA shop, as well as offices for the PTSA (Parent Teachers Student Association).
Field
Swimming pool
Canteen block Other facilities
There are plans to amalgamate the KGV and KJS (Kowloon Junior School) Perth Street campus to allow KGV to grow further. This would involve the replacement of the canteen block and swimming pool with state-of-the-art facilities including a performance hall, indoor swimming pool, and gym facilities.
Curriculum
KGV, being such an old school, has many traditions in place. The list below is by no means exhaustive.
Formerly held Monday and Friday mornings, they are now held Wednesday afternoons. Assemblies are where announcements are made to the whole school, performances are given, and, in general, is a common bond that holds the school's students together. However, due to the growth in student numbers since 2003, assembly can no longer be held with all students under one roof as was the case then. Currently, assemblies are live broadcast to other venues. These are Drama Studio 1, 2 and 3.
The Pantomime, otherwise called the "panto", is performed by Year 13 students on the final day of the fall term, near to Christmas. Generally making fun of the school or its teachers, this event is invariably a great comedy show for all students.
A concert given by the KGV Orchestra and Choir, open to the general public. White Christmas has been a staple of KGV Christmas Final Assembly for as long as anyone could remember. Originally at KGV sung by W. McMahon, a teacher, no Christmas Carol Concert or Christmas Final Assembly is complete without the singing of this song. After Mr. McMahon's retirement in 2001, White Christmas is now sung by a senior student.
Known as the KGV Karnival prior 2007 or Spring Fair prior 2003, this event is held every year in March or April where KGV is set up to be like a bazaar. Students set up games stalls, merchants set up small shops, and there are performances by student groups as well as the Orchestras (Junior Orchestra and Senior Orchestra) and the Jazz Band.
An elimination game is held on the school field or Hall where a $10 entrance fee is charged, and a series of questions is asked. Proceeds from this game go to the school charity. This is always held at the last day of every school year.
A final assembly on Year 13's final day before exam leave in the summer. Usually, a performance is given by Year 13 students, and final goodbyes are said. There is a recital of Rudyard Kipling's poem If— by the Head Boy, and Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou by the Head Girl. At the end, a band of teachers play Summer Holiday by Cliff Richard while the rest of staff (on stage) and school sing along. Prior to 2002, students would spend the night at the school as well; this tradition was scrapped due to safety concerns.
Assembly
Year 13 pantomime
Christmas carol concert
KGViva
KGV survivor
Year 13 final assembly Trivia
Michael Hutchence – deceased lead singer of Australian band, INXS .
Martin Booth – deceased author of novel Industry of Souls
Dermot Reeve – England cricketer, known as an unorthodox all-rounder.
Kemal Bokhary – Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal, Hong Kong
Tim Atkinson – Player in Australia's Rugby Sevens team
David Millar – Professional Cyclist on the Saunier-Duval Prodir Team & Tour de France Stage Winner
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