Excellent education that never stops

Hong Kong International School wins at the HKB National Business Awards 2022.

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic that brought so many challenges to educational institutions around the world, Hong Kong International School remained true to its mission and vision as a bastion of learning, winning the Education Award at the HKB National Business Awards 2022.

The awards programme recognises major breakthroughs and innovative efforts from homegrown businesses in Hong Kong, and HKIS distinguished itself by ensuring students continue learning amidst social distancing requirements, campus closures, and government regulations that stemmed from the pandemic.

When Hong Kong shuttered schools to limit the spread of the pandemic in early 2020, HKIS transitioned their education delivery online overnight, with administrators and teachers monitoring students to make sure they were meeting set educational goals, regardless of level or age. By operationalising their primary divisions to deliver one set of learning outcomes for all classes in one grade, teachers were able to track students’ progress consistently, as well as parents with multiple children in different grades.

For middle school and high school, Schoology, an online learning platform, became the only learning channel but was supplemented by supporting live and recorded video calls. Despite the hurdles that the pandemic placed in front of the school and students, High School Advanced Placement exam results reflected the success HKIS enjoyed from their program, as 466 students achieved the highest scores on the highest number of exams.

Despite the demands of managing home learning with schedules, Zoom links and passwords, parent-principal information sessions, and login details for online resources, HKIS was able to communicate government instructions around health and safety to prevent the spread of the virus by creating HKIS Central. This hub provides the latest information on important matters such as government guidelines, school schedules, and a comprehensive FAQ section for effectively communicating across a community of 2800 students and over 500 employees.

HKIS shared its experiences with a webpage on their main site in order to provide best practices and suggestions to educators beginning their journey into teaching and learning online thanks to their wealth of experience from starting remote learning months ahead of schools elsewhere.

To facilitate the support and care for the well-being of their student community, HKIS  provided different resources, such as a counsellor for every grade level that held informational Zoom sessions for parents and aided students on campus with ways to manage stress and maintain perspective. Renowned educational psychologist Dr Michael Thompson was invited to speak with parents and faculty about the pressure exerted by the pandemic and how to navigate it while supporting the students.

The Facilities and Maintenance staff were able to achieve WELL Health-Safety Rated for HKIS buildings, reinforcing building and facilities maintenance programs to continue covering cleaning and sanitization, health services, air and water quality management. This recognition from the International Well Building Institute exemplifies the school’s dedication to keeping their community healthy, along with strongly encouraging their community to get vaccinated even before government mandates and guidelines for full-day class resumption were released.

The Hong Kong Business National Business Awards is presented by Hong Kong Business. To view the full list of winners, click here. If you want to join the 2023 awards programme and be acclaimed for your company's outstanding contributions in your organisation's growth, please contact Julie Anne Nuñez at [email protected].