History of ICHK
A brief look into the history of our school.
Nearly 40 years ago, a small group of parents in a beautiful leafy area of Hong Kong joined together with a shared vision. They wanted to create a school at the heart of their green and spacious community, a world away from the bustle and crowds of the city.
A school with a solid education programme, led by inspirational teachers and one of the first international schools in the territory to offer Chinese.
Thanks to their passion and dedication Hong Lok Yuen International School was born.
By 2003, a shortage of secondary school places led to discussions about a new school being set up. In 2005, a Year 7 class was started at Hong Lok Yuen, with eight students. In November 2008, the school was awarded the site of the former Sha Tau Kok Government Secondary School. JIS and KIS joined as partners, with the three primary schools providing the funds to set up ICHK. The intention was to provide a secondary destination that, in feel and philosophy, matched the visions of its primary feeders: it should be small, student centred, and community focused.
A major renovation programme followed, with the school’s four main buildings upgraded, ready for ICHK to reopen in 2009.
Since then, ICHK’s reputation as an innovative, progressive school has grown, and we have been acclaimed as an adaptor and cutting edge practitioner by world leaders in education.
Cambridge Strategies has recognised us as one of the top 100 schools in the world for innovation, and our forward-thinking approaches to education have been shared extensively at global conferences.
Innovations that animate ICHK’s epistemic apprenticeship, like Human Technologies, 5+1, Deep Learning, and Free Learning have been widely discussed and explored on the international stage and have won us a strong reputation. ICHK has proven that it can be a successful part of systems like the IB and simultaneously be able to think deeply about and ‘do’ education ‘differently.’
But what has remained central to our philosophy is the strong community ethos, which spurred our beginnings. It is the strength of community spirit, which makes our school truly unique in the overcrowded metropolis that is Hong Kong.
History Of ICHK In 100 Objects
In January 2010, the BBC began broadcasting a 100-part radio series called A History of the World in 100 Objects. The series drew on the expertise of the British Museum’s director, Neil MacGregor, who used each episode to explore the historical and cultural significance of a different object from the museum’s collections.
This inspired our own History of ICHK in 100 Objects – what a great way, we thought, to explore the evolving history of our school and to examine its values, ethos and character through the material technologies that resonate with us as its users. Each of these objects has a story to tell, is woven round with memories and emotions, and acts as a lodestar for teachers and students who join the school.
Following MacGregor’s lead, we too are travelling back in time, to see how the ICHK community has shaped its world and been shaped by it. It’s an ongoing story, to which we are constantly adding.