| Diocesan Girls' School Chinese: 拔萃女書院 |
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|---|---|
| Front entrance of DGS
Daily Giving Service
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| Location | |
| 1, Jordan Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong |
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| Information | |
| Type | DSS, Grant School, primary, secondary |
| Established | 1860 |
| School district | King's Park |
| Headmistress | Mrs. Stella Lau, JP |
| Grades | P1 – F6 |
| Colour(s) | Persian blue (DGS Blue) |
| Affiliation | Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui (Anglican Episcopalian) |
| Website | dgs.edu.hk |
Diocesan Girls' School, founded in 1860, is one of the oldest Anglican girls' schools in Hong Kong. DGS is located at 1 Jordan Road in Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is administered under the Grant Code and uses English as the medium of instruction. It has always been ranked as the top secondary school in Hong Kong, with students known to be high achievers in academics, music and sports etc. DGS counts a total of 39 winners of the Hong Kong Outstanding Students Awards, ranking first among all secondary schools in Hong Kong. The school is also a member of the G20 Schools Group.
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It was originally named Diocesan Native Female Training School in 1860, when it was founded at Bonham Road and Eastern Street in Hong Kong Island. The School was set up by the wife of Bishop Smith. He was the first Bishop of Victoria sent by the Society for the Promotion of Female Education in the East, a sub-society of the London Missionary Society. At first, it admitted only girls. In 1866 it was renamed Diocesan Female School. Because of financial problems the School had to restrict its services solely to orphans and destitute Chinese girls in 1869. Later, it became the Diocesan Home and Orphanage and accepted boys as well.
The School first received government financial assistance in 1878 and was placed under the grant-in-aid scheme, officially establishing itself as a girls' school. The boys would continue their education at the newly founded Diocesan Boys' School.
In 1913, the School finally moved to its present site in Kowloon, formerly a rice paddy field. In the 1920s, the school motto, Daily Giving Service, was adopted. During the Japanese occupation in the Second World War, the school was taken over as headquarters of the Japanese gendarmerie until it was re-opened in September 1945 by Ms. Gibbins, then headmistress, who was interned at Stanley camp during the occupation. Immediately upon her release, Gibbins hurried back to reclaim the school premises despite difficulty in crossing the harbour, thus saving the building from being looted.
In the 1950s, with the closure of the adjacent town-gas depot, the School was able to expand. The old Edwardian edifice was pulled down, and three school blocks were constructed to accommodate the enlarged student body. The School embarked on a large scale school expansion project, and two extension blocks were opened respectively in 1993 and 1996. A new phase of expansion had been completed and was opened officially on 12 January 2007.
Recently, the School celebrated its 145th Anniversary, and a musical production "The DGS Girl" was staged at the Shatin Town Hall, telling the history of DGS through the life of a group of girls: Mary Jean, Annie, Catherine, Sandra, and Jaqueline.
"Daily Giving Joyful Service", the school motto for DGJS (the junior girls' division) was coined by former Headmistress Dr. Joyce Symons; it is an adaptation of "Daily Giving Service".
DGS joined the Direct Subsidy Scheme in 2006. In 2009, it was temporarily relocated to 101 Castle Peak Road, Shum Shui Po, due to redevelopment of the old campus. In September 2011, the school will return to 1 Jordan Road upon completion of the redevelopment project.
In 1976 the School handed out application forms for its Primary School together with a solicitation for a "voluntary donation of HK$1,000" towards the construction of a new Primary School building. This drew a great deal of criticism from the public and fuelled the debate about the questionable recruitment practices of elite schools.[1] Symons had responded that the solicitation had been cleared by the ICAC, and in addition that the School had sent out the solicitations "inadvertently". The School was forced to dissociate the request for donations from applications.
The controversy also contributed to demands that the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, of which Symons was the sole representative of the education sector, be made more representative of the sector.[2]
With DGS joining the Direct Subsidy Scheme in 2005, facilitating the operation of both DGS and DGJS under the through-train mode, the number of classes has expanded, requiring more classrooms, activity rooms and better facilities.
To meet this challenge, the School gears up for major redevelopment. Construction is expected to commence in 2009, and be completed in 2 years. DGS and DGJS girls will be starting their academic year in the redeveloped, aesthetically pleasing yet functional campus by September 2011, coinciding with the school's 150th anniversary celebrations.
Initially, the School negotiated with the Government for a new development on a new site, but it also prepared plans for in site redevelopment at 1 Jordan Road. Due to pressing needs and rising costs, in site redevelopment at 1 Jordan Road was planned to start in 2008.
The School has engaged an award-winning architect in school design to undertake preliminary designs. Previews of these designs, with drawings of artist impressions and a simple model, were presented to parents, alumni, and friends of the School on several occasions. A small core group of concerned alumni, including architects, formulated submissions on the project, which have been forwarded to the architects for consideration.
In 2009, the construction period began and DGS has temporarily decanted to Sham Shui Po, whereas DGJS will move to Tseung Kwan O. Both schools will move back to 1 Jordan Road when the building project is completed.
The DGS Quest: Building On Excellence fund-raising campaign was launched in 2008 for the redevelopment of the old school campus. The campaign target sum is HKD 380 million, and various campaigns, including, but notwithstanding to, raffle sales, 150th school anniversary dinner ticket sales, the DGS Quest Walkathon and Readathon.
Although the School Council has pondered long and hard over the decision to redevelop the school or not, finally deciding that student life and academic standards will be compromised in a few more years' time unless more and better quality facilities such as classrooms, rehearsal and practice areas, laboratories and a new school hall are available, many students and old girls have expressed their reluctance to demolish the entire old campus. Various groups have been formed on Facebook and other social networking websites in protest to the inconsideration of views generated from the student body. Many students see 1 Jordan Road as their second home, and have expressed many concerns towards the overall hygiene, safety and transportation issues of the temporary campus in Sham Shui Po, and feel that the old buildings are well equipped enough to accommodate all the classes held.
The School has moved back to 1 Jordan Road in 1, September 2011.
| Name | Tenure | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Susan Baxter | 1893–1899 | Miss Baxter was the first Headmistress of the school. She first arrived here as a missionary with the Female Education Society in 1860. The number of children in the Diocesan Native Female Training School was 30 in 1863. |
| 2. | Elizabeth Skipton | 1899–1921 | |
| 3. | Miss Ferguson | 1921–1925 | Miss Ferguson gave the school its motto "Daily Giving Service" |
| 4. | H.D. Sawyer | 1925–1939 | Miss Sawyer became Headmistress in 1925 on Miss Ferguson's death. The number of pupils was 222. |
| 5. | E.M. Gibbins | 1939–1946 | Miss Gibbins made the study of Chinese compulsory for all but European girls. Miss Gibbins also successfully prevented looting of the school during wartime. The war ended in 1945 and the school was re-opened on 1 October. |
| 6. | A.W. Hurrell | 1946–1953 | Though faced with such difficulties as the destruction of the school building, the absence of books and a library, Miss Hurrell was able to continue with the expansion of the existing school buildings, first with the conversion of a large dormitory from the old playshed. |
| 7. | C.J. Symons | 1953–1985 | In March 1953, Dr. Symons returned as Headmistress having served twice before as Acting Headmistress. The school then numbered 644 from Kindergarten to the Upper Six. Dr. Symons had served the school for 32 years before retiring and returning to England. |
| 8. | Elim Lau | 1985–1999 | Mrs. Elim Lau, an Old Girl of the School, took over as Headmistress from Dr. Symons in 1985. During her term as Headmistress, she oversaw the completion of the new Building Extension Phase I in 1993 and Phase II in 1996, which allowed the Junior School to expand from 12 to 18 classes with an improved teacher-pupil ratio, and further equipped the Junior School with a new library and various special rooms for effective teaching and learning. She retired in July 1999, having served the School for 14 years. |
| 9. | Stella Lau | 1999 to date | Mrs. Stella Lau is also an Old Girl of the School. She took over from Mrs. Elim Lau in September 1999. |
The five houses are named after headmistresses of the school.
| House |
|---|
| Hurrell (H) |
| Skipton (Sk) |
| Gibbins (G) |
| Sawyer (S) |
| Symons (Sy) |