South Island School Celebrates 40 Golden Years
South Island School opened its doors on September 5th 1977 and exactly 40 years later, the School devoted a whole day of birthday celebrations to mark this significant anniversary.
The day started with some fun as the whole school sang ‘Happy Birthday to SIS’ on the Campus before the entire body of students and staff headed off on a Sponsored Walk (from School to Deep Water Bay and back). “We felt that our SIS mission, Making a Difference, was best celebrated by a ‘giving’ birthday celebration. We challenged our students to get as many sponsors as possible for this walk. The money raised will be going towards our pledge to the Jumpstart Kindergarten /Family Academy fund in the Philippines,” said Annette Chapman, Vice Principal. The brilliant news from the day was that our school community raised an amazing HK$172,000 with more funds still being counted.
All students were also treated to a piece of our birthday cake upon their return from the walk. The giant cake, designed and crafted by our own food technology staff, was big enough to be shared by 1,400 students and 200 staff, with cake to spare! In the afternoon, the students engaged with activities planned and led superbly by our senior students. These included, SIS’s got Talent, Creative Hat Making Activities, A History Quiz, A Time Capsule project and a Scavenger Hunt. It was a fun and meaningful day for all.
Principal, Graham Silverthorne, commented, “Over 5,000 graduates have passed through our school since 1977. SIS is nowan established and highly successful international school, with a global reputation. Today, we wanted to commemorate our founding by providing current students with a day that they will never forget and by modelling our values of giving rather than looking to receive on a birthday. I think we accomplished both of these ambitions, admirably, it was a wonderful day”.
The 40th celebrations are not over, in fact, they have just started! In October, SIS will welcome hundreds of our alumni back from all ove r the world to connect with current students and reconnect with each other. In November, our huge community fair is 40thfest!! An amazing archive has been built in School to share with students and become an area of study. As life shows all of us, we need to learn the lessons of history.
