With the aim of providing a clear and progressive pathway from preschool to primary and secondary education – and ultimately to graduation – Malvern College Hong Kong (MCHK) will become an all-through school from the 2023-24 school year. We have all the details below!
How the new all-through model will work
#1 All pupils graduating from K2 in Malvern College Pre-School (MCPS) will be guaranteed a place in Prep 1 at Malvern College Hong Kong (MCHK), subject to meeting the admissions requirements.
#2 Pupils must have attended MCPS for a minimum of two full academic years prior to entering Prep 1 at MCHK. They must also meet certain age-related learning expectations outlined in the EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) curriculum.
#3 The school wants the Malvern pathway to be the best fit; as such, preschool teachers will monitor pupils’ progress at MCPS and share information with teachers from the “big school”. Parents will be notified at the end of K1 whether their child’s development is on track; the school will work with individual families to address any issues there might be for a successful transition.
A word from the school
DR ROBIN A LISTER is the Founding Headmaster of MCHK; he highlights some advantages in the all-through model and outlines some other new developments coming up for Malvern.
What are some of the benefits of an all-through school for Malvern children and families?
It provides more cohesion between the two schools, emphasising our shared values and approach to teaching; and it provides parents (and children) a straightforward and stress free transition. It also promotes the idea of a unique Malvern identity; this identity transcends any individual school and incorporates a global vision stretching from China to Japan, Egypt, Switzerland and, of course, the UK.
Are there advantages for teachers and the schools more generally too?
The all-through philosophy is based on children following shared educational goals. For the main school, this means sharing attainment data; this in turn provides the main school with the information it needs to prepare children for a smooth transition when they do come up to the main school.
The play-based learning that preschool children are involved in provides the ideal foundation for engaging with the Primary Years Programme of the International Baccalaureate.
The all through model also gives preschool youngsters the opportunity to get to know the main school prior to them joining the school – this very significantly reduces any worries children (or their parents) might have when their children jump from a comparatively small environment to the environment of a fairly large school.
Finally, it provides invaluable opportunities for teachers from both schools not only to share information, but to get to know each other and develop further the idea of the Hong Kong Malvern family.
What else is new for Malvern for the coming school year and beyond?
- Our Sixth Form cohort will be sitting the IB Diploma in 2023 and moving on to university; currently our Lower Sixth pupils are engaged in making initial decisions as to their university choices. We look forward to some great offers from some of the top universities around the world.
- We’re also opening our Black Box theatre as a useful addition to our Drama department; this should be up and running by August 2022.
- We are also building more classrooms, a Sixth Form centre, examination hall and other offices on our sixth floor of the school. We hadn’t developed this space up to now, until we knew exactly what the school needed. The sixth floor should also be ready for August 2022.
- Finally, we’re in the process of landscaping a fairly large area of land directly in front of the school; this will be used as an additional playground for the children.
MCPS (Island West): G/F and 1/F, Viking Court, 165-166 Connaught Road West, Sai Ying Pun
MCPS (Coronation Circle): G09-12 Coronation Circle, 1 Yau Cheung Road, West Kowloon
MCHK: 3 Fo Chun Road, Pak Shek Kok, New Territories
malvernpreschool.hk | malverncollege.org.hk
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