History

SIS moved to 5 Eastern Hospital Road, So Kun Po near Causeway Bay opposite the British Army sports ground. The buildings had been used as another school before SIS moved in and were loaned to the ESF.

SIS had 800 students and 52 teachers. The school moved to Nam Fung Road its present site. Mike Taylor wrote “At Nam Fung Road we shall be, initially at least, about half a mile from any other buildings, surrounded by an expanse of green hillside”.

Roger Brookin took over as the new Principal. Roger was a Classical Scholar and unusually was able to speak Mandarin Chinese.

The stairway from school down to Glendale was built and in 1990 the access road to Deepwater Bay Road was constructed.

Roger Brookin retired and returned to England. Chris Evans was appointed as Principal. There was a change in the school uniform. Annexes were created on the 5th floor with new sitting out areas.

The Sports Block was finished by building over the former open air swimming pool. The Senior Common Room and Careers Centre were built.

The previous school logo/emblem (a dragon over a shield with 4 corners, each coloured) was replaced by the present school logo.

Chris Evans retired as Principal. The school welcomed John Wray as the new Principal.

The Da Vinci Block was opened and all the other blocks were re-named as the Ching Ling Soong Block and the Stephen Hawking Block.

The 30th Anniversary of South Island School, the introduction of the IB Diploma replaced ‘A levels’ and the IB Centre was completed and opened for senior section students.

The school became a laptop school with all 1400 students carrying their own laptop to school.

Introduced Advanced Diploma Programme as an alternative to the IB Diploma with 3 BTEC subjects. IB Centre was renamed to Diploma Centre. Established sister school partnership with No.2 School in Jiangxi Nanchang, China for language immersion exchange opportunity.

John Wray left SIS to take up a position as Head of Mulgrave School in Vancouver, Canada. The school welcomed Graham Silverthorne as the new Principal. The John Wray Atrium was opened.

Introduced 3 new Learning Families (Family Newton, Family Chapman and Family Healy) and 6 new Houses (Kuca, Maison, Namas, Bahay, Casa and Shtepi).

New Learning Families names are introduced as Family Bauhinia, Family Bamboo and Family Banyan. These three names are in association with the school’s core principles – supporting our community, celebrating life in Hong Kong and being mindful of the power, beauty and sustainability of the natural world. In November, the renovation of the library was completed and reopened as Learning Resources Centre (LRC).

Formally announced its partnership with the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union. A newly created Sports seminar room established within the completely renovated SIS Sports Hall.

In February, the school opened the new multipurpose facilities The Space together with the top grade, rugby appropriate Astro Turf. In November, the school completed a redesigned School Hall with state-of-the-art facilities and a 400-seat auditorium, providing a top-class performance arena for the South Island community.

Following an ESF’s decision that all High Schools should move to the MYP Programme for Years 7-9, SIS became an early adopter school. At the same time, the IB Career-related programme enhanced the existing BTEC offer. School Foyer and Refectory were renovated.

The school’s 40th Anniversary. Graham Silverstone left in December to take up a position as Head of UWCSEA East in Singapore.

Annette Chapman becomes Acting Principal for six months, prior to the arrival of Tom Vignoles as the new Principal in August.

Tom Vignoles left to take up the role of Headmaster at The International School of Milan in Italy. Carolyn Andrews took over as Acting Principal in August.