A Visit to The Island School

Morning, 25 April

The Island School - from school website. What a view!

I visited the Island School with Mian Ng (UWE international student co-ordinator), to meet with Helen Palmer Head of the Art Department, and discuss delivery of a one day drawing and sketching course with  a group of twenty one 14-15 year old art students. The school boasts probably one of the best views in the world, located as it is between Kennedy Rd and The Peak, see the above photo from their website. Students at the school sit examinations offered by the UK Examination Boards and the International Baccalaureate Organisation, so there’s no problem with speaking English, and all the sudents I met, English, American and Chinese, spoke perfect English.

Although I’m going to be working with a group of 14/15 year olds, we visit a group of school leavers as Mian is there to deliver a presentation about the University of West of England, and the arts and media courses that some of the students might like to study in England. Mian is a passionate advocate for UWE, but it also gives me the opportunity to sell the print-making department and tell the students how they can use the in-house technical skills and processes to support their chosen fields of study. Someone asked Mian “what should we do in the holidays if we are thinking of pursuing an Arts degree?"; I said “keep a sketchbook!”

A number of them seemed very interested in UWE (particularly in fashion), so maybe they will be persuaded to enrol for an undergraduate course there… I hope so.

I agreed with the Head of Art that we would take the students out to the Hong Kong Park. As it’s such a big group I’m hoping to enlist the support of some UWE international students who have finished studying in HK and expressed an interest in helping. This will mean that I can split the group up into smaller ones of 5/5+1; that way they can receive more individual support (if they need it). I really enjoyed the visit to the school, Helen is a very friendly and enthusiastic Department Head (and so are the other members of staff I met), and I look forward to taking the students out to draw.