St. Paul's College, Hong Kong

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St. Paul's College, Hong Kong
School Badge of St. Paul's College
寅畏上主是為智之本
(The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom)
Location
69 Bonham Road,

Hong Kong
Information
Affiliation(s) Anglican
Principal Dr. John Richard Kennard
Students 1300 (Secondary) 600 (Primary)
Type DSS, Day, All-male Primary & Secondary
Grades Primary 1 - Form 7
Established 1851
Founder Revd Vincent John Stanton
Medium of Instruction English
Houses Banyan, Gingko, Oak, Pine, Rosewood, Yew
Homepage http://www.spc.edu.hk

St. Paul's College (Traditional Chinese: 聖保羅書院) is an Anglican day school for boys in Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong. Established in 1851, it is the oldest secondary school there. The college has an all-boys primary school section (Primary 1-6) and only becomes co-educational in the secondary section from Form 6 and beyond. The current location of the school is at 69 Bonham Road, Hong Kong. Its school council enjoys a special status in Hong Kong, in that it is a statutory body incorporated by a local ordinance, the St. Paul's College Council Ordinance. The aim of the school is, according to the Ordinance, to "provide education to Chinese youths in the English language upon Christian principles".

The school opened with one tutor and nine pupils. Today, the school has 1163 pupils in the secondary section and around 500 in the primary section.[1]

Contents

[edit] History

The old campus, Bishop's House, Glenealy
The old campus, Bishop's House, Glenealy

St. Paul's College receives special attention from historians as the world's first Anglo-Chinese school. Its founder, the Revd Vincent John Stanton, is also the first Colonial Chaplain of the former Colony of Hong Kong.

The Chinese characters in the school motto (寅畏上主是為智之本) are from Proverbs 9:10. They are usually translated in English as "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (KJV) ("Timor Domini Principium Sapientiae" in Latin and can be found in graduation certificates of earlier days). The fact that the motto is in Chinese is significant. While it was more the fashion at that time to use Latin for such a purpose, the far-sighted founders of the school saw St. Paul’s College as a hub to foster bilinguals and to bring together the cultures of the East and the West.

After the Japanese Occupation the school was briefly merged with St. Paul's Girl's College, and renamed St. Paul's Co-educational College. The school resumed its individual status in 1949 and went on to be known as St. Paul's College once again when its campus on Bonham Road was completed, while St. Paul's Co-educational College remained, as its name implies, co-educational.

During the 1967 riots, F. 5 pupil Tsang Tak-sing was expelled from the school and prosecuted for distributing "inflammatory" anti-colonial leaflets. Tsang was sentenced to two years in prison as a result. He later went on to become a deputy to the Chinese National People's Congress, a member of the Central Policy Unit and, on July 1st 2007,the Secretary for Home Affairs in the Hong Kong Government.

Today, St. Paul's College continues its excellent achievements both academically and in extracurricular activities. Students excel in public examinations. Students bring home trophies won in international as well as local music and sports competitions. The school's old boys contribute in the government and as well as in the academic, professional and business areas.

The year 2001 marked the 150th Anniversary of the school, and in the same year the school decided to join the Direct Subsidy Scheme, under which the school is given more freedom in the enrolment of students and the design of the curriculum.

[edit] Campus

The current campus is located at 69 Bonham Road, Hong Kong. [2]

Before World War II, St. Paul's College is located in Glenealy, Central, which is currently called the Bishop's House of Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui. The buildings of the college was damaged during the war, so St. Paul's College merged with St. Paul's Girls' College to form St. Paul's Co-educational College (SPCC).

After that, St. Paul's College dissolved from SPCC, and started to use the former HKU St. John's College site as the campus. At first, St. Paul's College used the original buildings as campus, then it started to build new buildings on the site simutaneously.

The present school buildings, consist of classrooms, a school hall, library and Primary School building (demolished) was completed in 1969. The school buildings also house a covered playground, a gymnasium, 6 laboratories, a Music room, a Multimedia Learning Centre (MMLC), 2 computer rooms, a Geography room, an art room and a chapel.

The Wong Ming Him Hall, built in 1954, is the oldest building in the campus. It is a 3-storey multi-purpose building which once used as Table-tennis room, art room and music room. The building is currently under renovation. The school also has a swimming pool next to the Wong Ming Him Hall.[3]

[edit] School Improvement Programme

In 2003, the school started the School Improvement Programme (SIP). The aim of the programme is to build a new administrative block above the swimming pool area. To make way for the new building, the school had to demolish the former Primary School Building. The administrative block or the New South Wing was officially opened in October 2006. The South Wing houses a College office, a principal's room, art rooms, music rooms and staff rooms.[4]

[edit] The Students' Association

The Executive Council is the decision making body of the Students' Association:

  1. Affiliated Clubs Committee - helps all clubs in financial need and in other matters such as club registration. There are 53 affiliated clubs under the students' association.
  2. Audit Committee - monitors the income and expenditure of the Students' Association.
  3. Chief Duty Officer - is responsible for arrangement of the SA officials' duty. There are around 30 SA officials every year who are under the administration of CDO.
  4. Programming Committee - is responsible for all the programmes held such as the Form One Day, the Class Overall Championship, etc.
  5. Public Relations Committee - is responsible for liaison with external bodies or schools.
  6. Student Publications Council - is responsible for the publication of Scope and Wayfarer.
  7. Welfare Committee - provides welfare services such as lunch-box service, sale of school sweaters, old books, stationery, etc.

The current president of the students' association is Wong Wai Sum, Vincent. [5]

[edit] College song and hymn

The old college song was titled The Old St. Paul's College, composed by John Peel. The current college song is composed in 1970s by Rev. Moses Wu, the music teacher at the time; lyric by C. F. Miles. It was mostly sung during major college events such as the Speech Day, Swimming Gala and Sports Days. The song will be played by the school orchestra in the Speech Day. The College Hymn, We Build Our School on Thee, O Lord, is also sung during important morning assemblies.

[edit] Class structure and curriculum

Currently, there are six classes for each of Forms 1 to 5, and three classes for each of Forms 6 and 7.

[edit] House System

The House System [6] was first introduced in 1975. Currently, there are six houses. Each House is led by a House Master, and a number of Assistant House Masters/Mistresses. The House Master will appoint a student to be the House Captain.

House Color
Banyan Blue
Ginkgo Green
Oak Orange
Pine Purple
Rosewood Red
Yew Yellow

[edit] List of Principals

Dr. John Kennard
Dr. John Kennard
  1. Rev. Vincent John Stanton (founder)
  2. Bishop George Smith (1849-1864)
  3. Bishop Charles Richard Alford (1867-1871)
  4. Bishop John Shaw Burdon (1874-1897)
  5. Bishop Joseph Charles Hoare (1898-1906)
  6. Bishop Gerald Heath Lander (1907-1920)
  7. Rev. Arthur Dudley Stewart (1909-1930)
  8. Col. Evan George Stewart, DSO, OBE, ED (1930-1958)
  9. Rev. Geoffrey Lowrey Speak (1959-1967)
  10. Mr. Timothy Wing-ho Ha, MBE, JP (1968-2006). Ha was the first Chinese principal of the college. He is now the Secretary for Education of the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui.
  11. Dr. John Richard Kennard (2006- ).

[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ History - St Paul's College Official Site
  2. ^ Contact Us - St Paul's College Official Site
  3. ^ History - St Paul's College Official Site
  4. ^ School Improvement Programme - St Paul's College Official Site
  5. ^ [1] - St Paul's College Students Association
  6. ^ [2] - St Paul's College House System

[edit] External links

Languages