School Life

Making a Difference - more than a tagline

‘Making a Difference’ appears as the school’s tagline – but this is far more than a tagline. We aim for our students to live this philosophy, breathe it, but most importantly, learn to act on it during their time at SIS and beyond. South Island School wants its members to take sustainable action to “Make A Difference” within its own community, the local community and chosen global communities to make an impact on the lives of others and their own.

“Making a Difference” (MaD) is more than just a tag line; it has become a powerful force for change which has been fully embraced by students, staff and parents and drives innovative and forward-looking practice. (Extract from CIS/WASC 5 year review report 2016)

What is ‘Making A Difference’?

In 2012, our newly formed ‘Making a Difference’ Student Council were tasked with defining this philosophy – and this is the vision statement they came up with, which was later ratified by the SIS school community:

Our aim is to develop an awareness and compassionate mindset in our students and school community. We aim to change ourselves, other peoples’ lives, and the environment, for the better. This begins with the school community, and widens to include the local and global community. We believe it is an important aspect of learning that should permeate all areas of the school community. It is our responsibility as members of society to raise social awareness and to demonstrate this in all aspects of our work.

How do we ‘Make a Difference’?

We promote and encourage this philosophy through the opportunities on offer within our 3 curricula – academic, pastoral and ‘Values in Action’. Specific examples of ‘Making a Difference opportunities include:

• Our annual SIS ‘Making a Difference’ Week, when timetables lessons are suspended and all students have the opportunity to make a difference to themselves, the local community, and on service trips outside Hong Kong.
• Hong Kong Award for Young people (HKAYP) at Bronze, Silver and Gold level – many of our students in Year 10 and above are very involved in this important programme which is similar to the Duke of Edinburgh programme in the UK.
• Contributing to House ‘Making a Difference’ Councils, as well as the whole school MaD Council, whose task it is to steer, promote and develop the MaD philosophy in school.
• The many and varied student-led events in school – International Evening, The Innovation Fashion show, Diwali Night, SIS TEDx, SIS Chef.
• Opportunities in the curriculum in English, InterD, Global Perspectives, Global Politics.
• CAS groups in school, working to raise awareness of causes and organisations, and working with other schools and groups to take meaningful action on issues such as the digital divide, social justice, environmental issues.
• House links with causes, NGO’s, charities and topical issues.
• Our sustained support of our charity Family Academy in Bacolod, Philippines – we have worked with ICM, a charity, over the past years to fund and support a Jumpstart kindergarten in Bacolod.   In 2017, this changed to supporting a ‘Family Academy, which provides more holistic educational and social support to the ultrapoor in Bacolod.

More about Making A Difference @ SIS can be found below.

The Learning Aims

We want students to have the opportunity to:

• Grow as compassionate and aware citizens, learning from their own MaD experience through ongoing participation and reflection
• Make connections to their local community and beyond
• Make a difference to others and themselves
• Participate in a range of creative, activity and service activities (CAS)
• Participate regularly and form long term ‘Making a Difference’ habits and attitudes
• Challenge themselves

‘SIS goes MaD’ Week Information

This week is intended to allow students to enrich their experiences and broaden their horizons and each of the activities speaks to the philosophy above.

The week is usually in mid-October before half term break (subject to final confirmation) and has different activities for different Year groups:

• Year 7: Onsite at school and Camp
• Year 8 – 10: Local or Overseas experience
• Year 11: Work Experience
• Year 12: Local or Overseas experience
• Year 13: Study Leave

Click here for our SIS Goes MaD website for more relevant information

General Guidelines

All students are expected to participate in ‘SIS goes MaD’ activities.

1. The Head of Family, Heads of House and teachers-in-charge of each activity, will approve the final group lists.  Any student who has a record of poor behaviour may be excluded from certain trips.
2. The teachers-in-charge of activities will not allow the students to engage in any activity that is not covered under the parameters of the description written on the website without consultation with the school or supporting external organisation.
3. All groups will be under the supervision and direction of at least one SIS teacher.
4. All school conduct and discipline codes will be adhered to throughout the activity. In addition, if travelling abroad we expect students to obey the laws of the host country and to be sensitive to the culture of the people. We expect all students to refrain from any involvement with alcohol or drugs.  In some countries, indulging in such activities carries very severe penalties.
5. Violations of school rules will be reported to the Head of House for follow-up. Consequences of breaking rules are similar to in-school violations of those rules.
6. The cost of medical insurance is included in the prices quoted in the information for all off-site trips.
7. For overseas activities, the cost includes airfare, accommodation, meals, airport taxes, and insurance. Costs do not include inoculation fees, physician consultation fees or visa fees. There will be no refunds for overseas trips once bookings have been made.
8. Students are to ensure that their passport has at least 6-month validity and they have valid visa/entry permit to the countries they are travelling to.
9. Although we are committed to an equal opportunity policy, some of the activities are very physically demanding which may mean that some students will need one-to-one support for them to be able to participate. Parents should be aware that this can be provided, but only at additional cost. They may also want to consult with activity leaders about the demand involved.