Renaissance College (Hong Kong)

Renaissance College
The Hang Ming Street entrance of RCHK
Location
5 Hang Ming Street
Ma On Shan
Hong Kong
Coordinates 22°25′05″N 114°13′30″E / 22.418163°N 114.224939°E / 22.418163; 114.224939
Information
Type Secondary and Primary School
Established August 2006 (2006-08)
Principal Dr. Harry Brown
Years offered Years 1 (K3) to 13
Enrollment 2000+[1]
Campus type Medium sized
Houses Tang, Song, Ming and Qing (唐、宋、明、清)
Website www.rchk.edu.hk
Logo of Renaissance College

Renaissance College (Chinese: 啓新書院, abbreviated: RCHK) is a private independent international school run by English Schools Foundation (ESF) in Hong Kong. Located in Ma On Shan, Renaissance College serves primary and secondary students. The school was founded in 2006 to replace the Phoenix International School, another school run by ESF. Since its inception, the school has offered the IB Primary Years Programme, Middle Years Programme , Diploma Programme. Renaissance College began to offer the IB Career-related Programme in 2014.[2]

As of 2017, Renaissance College enrolls around 2,100 students.[3] Under the Private Independent School Scheme, 70% of the students of Renaissance College must be Hong Kong permanent residents.[4]

History

Plans to establish Renaissance College as the first private school run by ESF began in 1999.[5] Unlike other schools operated by ESF at the time, Renaissance College would not receive recurrent government subsidy. In 2001, the Education and Manpower Bureau (EMB) granted ESF a lot of land in Ma On Shan and Discovery Bay respectively to build two primary-cum-secondary schools under the Private Independent School Scheme.[4] The land in Ma On Shan would eventually become the campus of Renaissance College.

On 26 October 2001, Canadian Overseas International College closed unexpectedly due to financial difficulties and the company that funded the school filed for bankruptcy.[6] The chancellor of Canadian Overseas International College cited the September 11 attacks as the cause of the funding company's bankruptcy.[6] As result, approximately 380 students were no longer able to attend school.[6] To resume tuition for the affected students, the EMB established Phoenix International School in 2001 as a temporary school run by ESF.

The campus in Ma On Shan cost HK$297 million to build,[5] of which HK$191.6 million was funded by the Hong Kong Government.[7] Phoenix International School merged with Renaissance College after the latter began operation. Renaissance College received its first cohort of 900 primary and secondary students in August 2006, of which 340 were transferred from Phoenix International School.[5]

The school was officially given the status of IB World School in 2007.

Technology

The College partners with Apple Inc., spending HK$60,000 to 80,000 to provide iMacs and MacBooks, and MacBook Pros, running on Mac OS X operating system.[8] Projectors and interactive whiteboards are also installed in most classrooms.

Secondary students attending RCHK are required to bring charged laptops to school every day.[8] Laptops can also be borrowed from the school ICT centre (Red Door) during the school day. There is wireless internet connection in the school, allowing students to have access to the internet within the boundaries of RCHK. The four wifi networks are RCHK Student, RCHK Staff, RCHK Guest and RCHK BYOD (Bring Your Own Device).

Since the summer of 2011, all students from Years 6 - 11 are required to purchase a Mac laptop computer for their studies. Year 4 and 5 students are loaned Mac laptops which stay in school. Years 12 and 13 students were allowed to use any laptops they have on hand. Years 1 - 4 students are provided with iPads for their studies. ICT centre provides loaned computers only for students awaiting out of stock order or extended repair time.

Primary School

The primary sector of RCHK, ages 4–11, follows the Primary Years Programme. It consists of 36 classes across Years 1 to 6. There are approximately 870 students and 40 teachers in the primary school. Teachers in the primary section are mostly international, local teachers mostly teaching Chinese. The Head of Primary is Mr Jamie Schmitz.[9] Classes run from 8:30 am to 3:00 pm, with 185 days in a school year. Lunch lasts 50 minutes (12:10 - 13:00) and recess lasts 20 minutes (9:50 - 10:10). There are 8 periods each day, each period being 40 minutes.

Classrooms for primary school students are located in the school's primary school block, with Years 1 and 2 on the 1st floor, Years 3 and 4 on the 2nd floor, and Years 5 and 6 on the 3rd floor. There is a rooftop for leisure, used during lunch, recess or the occasional PE lesson, as well as a miniature field on the 3rd floor which is mostly used by primary students. Each floor consists of a hub area for each year group which is an indoor area connecting all the classrooms of one specific year level. The hubs are equipped with desktop computers, reading materials, couches, play areas and learning materials. There are 6 classrooms in each hub.[10]

Secondary School

The secondary section of RCHK is attended by approximately 1,000 middle and high school students, ages 11 to 18. The middle school, Years 9 to 11, follows the Middle Years Programme, while high school students in Years 12 and 13 undergo the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. The secondary school runs from 8:30 am until 3:10 pm from Mondays to Thursdays, and 8:30 am until 1:00 pm on Fridays, with morning breaks from 10:40 am to 11:00 am and lunch breaks from 1:00 pm to 1:50 pm (due to teacher meetings).[11]

In 2014, RCHK was authorised to offer the International Baccalaureate Career-related Programme (IBCP), the fourth IB programme[12]. This was a milestone, as Renaissance College became only the 8th school in the World to offer all four IB programmes and the first in East Asia to offer the IBCP.

Learning at RCHK

Renaissance College is an English medium international school and an accredited member of the International Baccalaureate (IB).

RCHK is authorised to offer all four IB programmes: Primary Years Programme (PYP), Middle Years Programme (MYP), IB Diploma Programme (DP) and International Baccalaureate Career-related Programme (IBCP)

Each IB curriculum programme promotes the education of the whole person, emphasising intellectual, emotional and social growth. This holistic approach encompasses the fields of Languages, Humanities, Sciences, Mathematics, Technology, Physical and Health Education and the Visual and Performing Arts.

RCHK also offers one of the strongest Chinese language programmes in the international education system and is the only school in Hong Kong to offer the DP Theory of Knowledge (ToK) taught in both Chinese and English.

The school uniform that Years 1 - 11 wear have always been polo shirts, based on the colours of black, brown and khaki (unless an activity is issued on a specific day).

Years 12 - 13 can wear casual clothing.

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Renaissance College. "Principal's Message". Archived from the original on 4 January 2007. Retrieved 9 January 2007.
  2. ↑ Conant, Ariel (18 July 2017). "A creative solution". South China Morning Post. Hong Kong. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  3. ↑ "Annual Report". 2017. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  4. 1 2 Government subsidies to the English Schools Foundation (PDF) (Report). Hong Kong: Audit Commission. 23 October 2004. p. 2-3. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 Forestier, Katherine (2 September 2006). "Renaissance College puts fresh face on the ESF". South China Morning Post. Hong Kong. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 Wen Wei Po (29 October 2001). 加國際校停辦影響400學子 (in Chinese). Retrieved 2 March 2011.
  7. ↑ Jasper Tsang Yok-Sing, President (1 June 2011). "Official Record of Proceedings" (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Hong Kong Special Administrative Region: Legislative Council. p. 11192.
  8. 1 2 啓新書院一人一電腦 (in Chinese). Ming Pao. Retrieved 4 September 2007.
  9. ↑ "Primary Teaching Staff". Renaissance College. 6 December 2017. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  10. ↑ Chan, J. (10 September 2015). RCHK Student Interview [Personal interview]
  11. ↑ Renaissance College Hong Kong. "School Hours". Archived from the original on 16 February 2011. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
  12. ↑ www.ibo.org
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