Frequently Asked Questions
A project of this size will impact many people in many different ways. To help everyone understand what will happen, when and how, we've created this fairly detailed list of Frequently Asked Questions.
It covers questions you might not have considered asking as well as taking care of some questions that have come up through emails or in our information meetings held at Lower Primary.
Not all answers are here - but we're working on getting that information on here as swiftly as possible. Some answers we may not have for some time, simply because we're so far away from some of the actions taking place.
This FAQ is a living document and we will update it often - we'll make a note of the changes as we move forwards so you're sure you have the most up to date information.
If you have a question that isn't covered here, please get in touch via newlowerprimary@hkis.edu.hk and we'll do what we can to answer it and add it to this page.
Click on the question to see the answer, or, scroll through the page to browse the questions and answers in full.
1 Overall, what’s the plan?
2 Why do we need to replace the Lower Primary building?
3 What are the educational benefits of a new Lower Primary?
4 Can’t we just refit Lower Primary and keep the current building?
5 The Upper Primary building is older – why not replace that?
6 How will the move to Chai Wan impact my child(ren)s’ education?
7 What physical benefits will be provided by a new building that we currently do not have?
8 Who made the final decision and how did they come to this decision?
9 Couldn’t HKIS have told me this before now?
10 Where is the funding coming from for this project?
11 Will I get a discount for my tuition fees as I intended to have my child in Repulse Bay, not Chai Wan?
12 Will this development mean an increase in tuition fees?
13 Was there any community consultation?
14 What school are we using in Chai Wan?
15 Where is the Chai Wan school?
16 What options, other than Chai Wan, were available for consideration?
17 What about the empty school in Stanley?
18 Why not expand Tai Tam?
19 How will the Middle School in Tai Tam accommodate R1 students?
20 How will I get my children to and from Chai Wan? (Updated: 8 Sept 2011)
21 Can I park at Chai Wan?
22 I have heard there will be bussing only for Chai Wan – what can you tell us?
23 What is the plan for After School Activities (ASAs)?
24 Will class sizes increase in Chai Wan?
25 Will start and end times change at Chai Wan?
26 Will Chai Wan remain an HKIS school at the end of the project?
27 What kind of building security will there be at Chai Wan?
28 How long will the work take?
29 When will work start?
30 May I visit the Chai Wan school?
31 Who is completing the work?
32 What is the timeline for the work?
33 Has the new Head of School been involved in the decision?
34 How will the Lower Primary construction affect Upper Primary students?
35 The Chai Wan campus is in a more built up area than Repulse Bay or Tai Tam – what considerations have there been for API (Air Pollution Index) levels? (Updated: 8 Sept 2011 - Air Quality Analysis information added)
36 I hear that Upper Primary is going to be redeveloped and that the students will be moved out. Is that true?
37 My child will be in R1 next year, where will he/she go?
38 Isn’t Chai Wan an inferior facility compared to Repulse Bay?
39 What will our carbon footprint be for the new Lower Primary project?
40 If we are redeveloping Lower Primary, what are the plans for the three other HKIS divisions?
41 Where can I find out more information? (Updated: October 18, 2011)
42 Can you please explain the relationship between HKIS Board of Managers and the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS)? (Updated: October 18, 2011)
43 How much money does HKIS give to the LCMS every year? (Updated: October 18, 2011)
44 Who will own the new Lower Primary school when it is completed? (Updated: October 18, 2011)
45 Is it true that HKIS is building a new church for the LCMS? (Updated: October 18, 2011)
1. Overall, what’s the plan?
HKIS needs to redevelop Lower Primary into a state-of-the-art early childhood educational facility. In order to do so, the existing building will need to be demolished and replaced. Work will not begin in Repulse Bay until after the 2011/12 academic year.To continue educating our youngest learners to our high HKIS standards, we will relocate Lower Primary for three academic years. All R1 classes will be relocated to the Middle School on the Tai Tam campus, which will be prepared accordingly. R2, Grade 1 and Grade 2 classes will relocate to an existing unused school building in Chai Wan. HKIS will refit this building to the highest quality and educational standards in order to accommodate the students, faculty and staff.The overall redevelopment project is expected to take three academic years.
2. Why do we need to replace the Lower Primary building?
The current building was conceived and built in the 1970s using now-outdated educational architectural theory. While it has a history of housing a Lower Primary school in which students and teachers have done well, there are now more areas and aspects of the facility that need to be changed to improve achievement and provide a supportive early childhool environment for early childhood learners.Outside of the educational benefits are the significant ongoing maintenance costs.
3. What are the educational benefits of a new Lower Primary?
A new Lower Primary will be purpose-designed and built with HKIS’ youngest students in mind: accessible for small legs; each classroom will have an abundance of natural light (currently 60% of Lower Primary classrooms do not have natural light); all classrooms will incorporate indoor and outdoor space, which studies show is critical for inquiry-based learning; all classrooms will have doors, which will allow for age appropriate learning activities (singing, reading, play-based) without being concerned about noise.Specials teachers (art, PE, music and Chinese language) currently share spaces as there is only one art class and one gymnasium for all Lower Primary students. Currently, your child's day is dictated by space requirements and transition times -- the time it takes to physically move children from one place to another. With a new purpose built facility, Specials teachers would have dedicated space so a schedule can be built around students’ needs, not space availability – this would provide more appropriate time for art, PE, music, and Chinese language.
4. Can’t we just refit Lower Primary and keep the current building?
Lower Primary does not have, and it cannot be modified to create, the dynamic and engaging learning environment that is needed. The main issues with the current building surround lighting and appropriate space – these cannot be addressed by aesthetic adjustments. A new building is the only option.
5. The Upper Primary building is older – why not replace that?
Upper Primary is a building that functions well as a learning environment for students in Grade 3-5. All Upper Primary classrooms have good natural light, in contrast to Lower Primary.Despite its status as the first HKIS building, the structure of the building easily allows for internal modifications. It is also one of the more efficient buildings at HKIS in terms of maintenance and upkeep.
6. How will the move to Chai Wan impact my child(ren)s’ education?
Once the re-fit is complete, the Chai Wan site will be a high standard educational facility suitable for our students. Every classroom in Chai Wan will have natural light and all rooms will have doors, allowing for age appropriate activities, such as singing, reading, play-based learning. Currently, less than 20% of rooms in Lower Primary have doors. Our students will have the same high levels of education and the full educational program as they currently enjoy. All existing educational programs will be entirely transferred to Chai Wan.
7. What physical benefits will be provided by a new building that we currently do not have?
There are many benefits to a new, purpose-built educational facility for our youngest learners. Having dedicated play areas will enable more inquiry based learning. Facilities that align with a 21st century learning environment will advance education and allow children to develop skills through exploration. An all-year round swimming pool will expand possibilities and larger, purpose built classrooms with ample natural lighting will encourage active learning. Finally, a dedicated auditorium and a full gym will allow for performances and large gatherings without impacting the PE program.
8. Who made the final decision and how did they come to this decision?
The HKIS Board of Managers made the final decision to go ahead with the redevelopment. They were steered by research and analysis, as well as detailed information and evidence collected by and from Lower Primary educators over a number of years. Supporting information was provided by administrators and the members of the Facilities and Finance Committees.
9. Couldn’t HKIS have told me this before now?
The redevelopment of Lower Primary has been the highest educational priority of the HKIS Master Facilities Plan and the process to get to this point has taken a number of years. The biggest unknown variable was identifying an appropriate site on Hong Kong Island to temporarily relocate Lower Primary during construction. The Chai Wan site was only presented to HKIS by the Hong Kong Education Bureau in late-spring 2011. HKIS issued an announcement as soon as the decision was reached and will continue to keep all members of the HKIS community informed as the process develops.
10. Where is the funding coming from for this project?
Funding will come from the HKIS Major Projects fund, which includes funds raised through past debenture sales, past capital levies and capital gifts. Funding will also come from and be supported by a significant capital fundraising campaign.
11. Will I get a discount for my tuition fees as I intended to have my child in Repulse Bay, not Chai Wan?
No. Whether Chai Wan or Repulse Bay, students will receive the same educational program and benefits expected of HKIS. In order for HKIS to continue to advance it has to make some difficult decisions. We fully appreciate and understand that the development plans will not suit all members of the HKIS community, however, in order for HKIS to prepare for the future the redevelopment must take place.We are working hard to minimize the disruption for all concerned and our highest priority will remain the education of all our students. With the plan we have described, HKIS will be able to maintain its commitment to the Student Learning Results and HKIS Mission Statement at the highest levels.
12. Will this development mean an increase in tuition fees?
Any increase in fees will not be due to the Lower Primary development. The funding for this project is not coming from tuition fees.
13. Was there any community consultation?
There was targeted community consultation. Overall, future planning for the school is in the hands of the administration team, educators and the Board of Managers. All work closely to chart the best course for the school.
14. What school are we using in Chai Wan?
The school was formerly known as the ‘TWGHs & LKWFSL Mrs. Fung Yiu Hing Memorial Primary School’. (TWGHs: Tung Wah Group of Hospitals; LKWFSL: Lung Kong World Federation School Limited)
15. Where is the Chai Wan school?
The school is based in the Yue Wan Estate near the junction of Wing Tai Road and Chai Wan Road. Here are some key distances for local links:
- 6.9 km from Tai Tam campus (15 min)
- 12.3 km from Repulse Bay campus (23 min)
- 2.0 km from Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital (5 min)
- 500 m from a fire and ambulance station (2 min. walk)
- Sui Sai Wan Stadium is 950 m (<10 min. walk)
- MTR station is 1.1 km (10 min. walk)
Click here to see the location
16. What options, other than Chai Wan, were available for consideration?
The goal was to stay as close to the existing HKIS communities as possible. Over the years, a number of other schools sites were offered to HKIS by the Hong Kong Education Bureau, including ones in the New Territories and Kowloon. Only one suitable facility was offered on Hong Kong Island: Chai Wan. HKIS chose the Chai Wan site as it has the best options for maintaining the highest standards of education, the most potential for retrofitting to HKIS’ high facility standards, and the least inconvenience for the HKIS community.
17. What about the empty school in Stanley?
The Stanley school is reserved by the Education Bureau for other educational purposes. Despite repeated requests from HKIS over the years, the Stanley site was not presented to us as an option.
18. Why not expand Tai Tam?
The current Tai Tam facilities do not need expansion. In the early stages of the project, we looked at building more classrooms at Tai Tam to hold Lower Primary students during the reconstruction in Repulse Bay, but it was decided that Chai Wan is more suitable in terms of space and educational benefits.
19. How will the Middle School in Tai Tam accommodate R1 students?
The Middle School reviewed its facilities in light of the recent additions to its campus and determined that it could make classroom and playground space available for R1. R1 students will likely have a later start to allow for the Middle and High School students to arrive first. R1 students can be driven and dropped off at the Middle School by private vehicle. We are investigating going long-day for all R1 classes.
20. How will I get my children to and from Chai Wan? Updated 8 Sept 2011
HKIS has been working with our longtime transport partner Kwoon Chung Motors Co. Ltd., and will roll out a full transportation plan by January, 2012.
21. Can I park at Chai Wan?
There is no parking directly next to the school, although there is ample paid parking nearby.
22. I have heard there will be bussing only for Chai Wan – what can you tell us?
We are working closely with our transportation partner, Kwoon Chung Motors Co. Ltd., to put together the most efficient and quickest routes possible to accommodate all of our students. We know that some children travel quite a distance to get to our school and we want to minimize time on busses.Given the location of the Chai Wan campus, and for reasons of safety, there is no access to the area for private vehicles. While this does provide a safer environment for our students, we appreciate it will also make things a challenge for parents that like to drive their children to and from school. At this time we are researching other possibilities.Note: At present, around 84% of students in Repulse Bay take the school bus. The majority of those that do not use the bus are R1 parents. These parents will have the option of driving their children to the Tai Tam campus.
23. What is the plan for After School Activities (ASAs)?
ASAs are an important element of the Lower Primary experience. We are committed to continuing with ASAs and are working to determine what form they will take. More information will follow as plans develop.
24. Will class sizes increase in Chai Wan?
Currently, class sizes are set at a maximum of 20. We are still reviewing the building configuration and are committed to not increasing to more than a maximum class size of 22, if at all.
25. Will start and end times change at Chai Wan?
In working with our transportation partner, Kwoon Chung Motors Co. Ltd., to determine the best bussing routes, we are considering slightly earlier start and end times. We expect this will have minimal impact on instructional time as the Chai Wan school is far better positioned to efficiently load and unload students from buses than the current Repulse Bay location.
26. Will Chai Wan remain an HKIS school at the end of the project?
There are currently no plans to hold onto the Chai Wan facility once it has finished temporarily housing Lower Primary students.
27. What kind of building security will there be at Chai Wan?
The same excellent, professional security team that we currently employ at the Repulse Bay campus will move over to Chai Wan. Security will continue to run 24-hours. The Chai Wan campus is easier to control access to than the current Repulse Bay campus and is, in many aspects, more secure.
28. How long will the work take?
It will take approximately six to eight months to refit Chai Wan and around three academic years to complete Lower Primary, which will be ready for the start of the 2015/16 academic year.
29. When will work start?
Work has already begun on the detailed studies and planning. The work needed to bring the Chai Wan school up to HKIS standards is expected to begin in December 2011. It is important to point out that the 2011/12 academic year is not affected by this project.
30. May I visit the Chai Wan school?
Yes. Once HKIS takes possession of the Chai Wan school and completes its retrofit, we will arrange for a number of tours to the school. It is anticipated that we will do so beginning May, 2012.
31. Who is completing the work?
We will announce our development partners in due course.
32. What is the timeline for all this work?
A more detailed timeline will be made available in due course, but the rough estimates are below:
33. Has the new Head of School been involved in the decision?
The new Head of School, Mr. Kevin Dunning, has been involved in all Board level discussions since we announced he would be joining HKIS. He took time to join Board meetings via video conference and is fully up to speed with the development plans and supporting information to reach this decision.
34. How will the Lower Primary construction affect Upper Primary students?
There will be minimal impact on Upper Primary on a day-to-day basis. However, the swimming pool used by Upper Primary is within the Lower Primary facility and this will also be rebuilt as part of the project. We expect Upper and Lower Primary to be without an on-campus swimming pool for three academic years. Upper Primary has experience in dealing with construction in its immediate vicinity. The two apartment buildings across street are new as of last year and are closer to Upper Primary than the Lower Primary. Upper Primary implemented sound abatement procedures, such as installing new windows. By managing the Lower Primary construction project ourselves, we have far greater control over the project and its impact on Upper Primary students. New window systems will be fitted to the Upper Primary building to mitigate any significant noise. As part of our aim to achieve Platinum ‘BEAM’ environmental certification, dust and sound management will be amongst of our continuing priorities throughout the demolition and construction phases. There will be transportation implications for Upper Primary due to this construction. Our current transportation plans and options (busing, private car drop-off) are being reviewed in light of the project.
35. The Chai Wan campus is in a more built up area than Repulse Bay or Tai Tam – what considerations have there been for API (Air Pollution Index) levels? Updated 8 Sept 2011
Hong Kong Government API monitoring does not take place in Repulse Bay, Tai Tam or Chai Wan so it was difficult to compare API figures in the run up to the decision being taken. The closest monitoring station to Chai Wan is the ‘Eastern’ unit, located between Tai Koo and Sai Wan Ho. It should be noted that we currently take the highest reading from anywhere on Hong Kong Island to enforce ‘indoor’ API days and we will do exactly the same in Chai Wan.
However, following clear feedback from the parent information sesions that they would like to know more, HKIS commissioned an independent team of experts to take comparative air samples from four sites around Hong Kong, including Repulse Bay and Chai Wan. You can view the results here.
36. I hear that Upper Primary is going to be redeveloped and that the students will be moved out. Is that true?
No. Similar to the work that has been completed over the past two summers (new Library, lobby areas, staircases and administrative areas), we will continue to upgrade internal Upper Primary facilities in a progressive manner. These will have minimal impact on its students as they are summer projects. Upon completion of the Lower Primary redevelopment, the Masters Facility Plan does call for expansion of the Upper Primary into the current location of the Church of All Nations, which will use the new Lower Primary auditorium for services. The current church building will be removed and additional classrooms, specials areas and an expanded cafeteria will be built. At no point will students be moved out of the school. Development will not disrupt learning as the bulk of this work will be completed over the summers.
37. My child will be in R1 next year, where will they go?
The table below will give you a clear indication as to where your child will be learning during their time at HKIS.
38. Isn’t Chai Wan an inferior facility compared to Repulse Bay?
Not at all. By the time HKIS students move into the facility it will be fitted out to meet the needs of the current educational program. The extra natural light and flexible facilities at Chai Wan will make it an excellent learning environment for students.
39. What will our carbon footprint be for the new Lower Primary project?
The recently completed Middle School annex won many industry awards for its environmentally friendly characteristics. The target for the new Lower Primary is to achieve the ‘Platinum Standard’ level of BEAM (Building Environmental Assessment Method) award – the highest independent accolade for environmentally friendly and efficient buildings.
40. If we are redeveloping Lower Primary, what are the plans for the three other HKIS divisions?
HKIS has a long-term Master Facilities Plan (MFP) and all areas of the school feature within the plan at some point, but it is important to remember that this is a 10 to 20 year plan. If we did not address the facilities needs of HKIS across that time-span, we would be negligent in our duties. All areas of HKIS will see some development at some stage, just as they have done in recent years, including every summer.
41. Where can I find out more information? (Updated: October 18, 2011)
At this stage, all news will be filtered through these web pages, regular newsletters and DragonNet. As the project develops a YouTube channel will be switched on to show you more from the inside of the project.
42. Can you please explain the relationship between HKIS Board of Managers and the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS)? (Updated: October 18, 2011)
The Board of Managers provides long-term planning and strategic direction to HKIS. Our 40-year relationship with the LCMS has been a rich partnership and one that continues to be affirmed by the Board of Managers. An overview of the relationship may be found here. The ‘Operating Agreement’ between the LCMS and HKIS has been available for all to view on HKIS’ website for some years and can be viewed here. HKIS continues to operate within the framework of the Operating Agreement.
HKIS would not exist if it were not for the assistance of the LCMS. The LCMS provided a grant of HK$1,456,875 and an interest free loan of HK$1,748,246 in 1965 to help establish the school. Dr. Mel Kieschnick, an American Lutheran educator who had been running schools in Hong Kong since 1956, was a driving force in establishing HKIS.
43. How much money does HKIS give to the LCMS every year? (Updated: October 18, 2011)
No money whatsoever goes to the LCMS from HKIS. HKIS is a not-for-profit organization that focuses its fees and fundraising on the betterment of education for all HKIS students and to recruit and retain exceptional faculty and staff.
44. Who will own the new Lower Primary school when it is completed? (Updated: October 18, 2011)
HKIS has always owned the Lower Primary School building and that will not change when we build the new school. It will still be owned and operated by HKIS. The land on which the Repulse Bay campus is built is leased to the LCMS, which was the original sponsoring body of HKIS.
45. Is it true that HKIS is building a new church for the LCMS? (Updated: October 18, 2011)
The HKIS Master Facilities Plan calls for the demolition of the existing Church of All Nations building in Repulse Bay to create more classrooms and learning opportunities for Upper Primary. HKIS will build a new assembly hall/chapel within the Lower Primary building that will be used by the school and its community partners. HKIS has a warm and longstanding relationship with Church of All Nations – one that goes back to the founding of each organization – and will continue to provide space for its worship and ministry programs.
