King's College

School history

West Point School (1857–1879)

In 1857, West Point School was established at West Point next to the West Point Police Station. The boys' school was a free village school supported by the Government stand and one of the second batches of the earliest government schools in Hong Kong.

In 1878, Governor Hennessy advocated the enhancement of the English Language and English speaking among the natives of Hong Kong, leading to the introduction of English teaching in Saiyingpun School and English training for the Chinese teachers. The Acting Inspector of Schools stated that he felt confident that it would sooner or later be found necessary to enlarge the teaching staff in order to meet the demand for English teaching.

The first Principal in 1859 was Li King-chau, who died in 1870. Cha Lun-kok and Chu Atuk were the teachers. The latter was appointed to teach English in the school and also taught in Taipingshan Government School. Although their geography and composition results were weak compared with other schools, all other aspects were very satisfactory. The Saiyingpun Punti School ranked as good in 1877.

The number of boys was 62 in 1859, separated into four classes. Girl students were admitted since 1868 in Punti whereas 1872 in Hakka section. In Punti section, the number increased a lot from the year of 1876 to 1878. The number of students in Punti section reached 100 in the year of 1876. According to the statistics recorded in the Hong Kong Government Gazettes and Blue Books from 1857 to 1879, the total number of students in the school increased steadily to 200 students approximately in the last few years.

The hours of tuition were from 6 to 8 am, 9 am to 12 pm and 1 to 4:30 pm. Hakka section was established in 1866 while the original one renamed as Punti section, the school divided into two sections respectively since then.

The Chinese Elementary Books, their Classics, Geography and the English Language are taught by competent native teachers. Moreover, several kinds of books are required to study in the government schools are as follows. Native books including Yau Hok, Trimetrical Classic, Thousand Character Book, Four Books, Five Classics and Chinese Grammar. Foreign books for instance New Testament, Muirhead's Geography, Do. History of England, Sacred History, Trimetrical Classic as well as Ten Commandments. English books for example Serious of Lessons, Morrison's Chinese-English Grammar, Circle of Knowledge and Geography. The Punti section increased from the fifth in 1868 to the second two years after in the order of efficiency between the government schools. The Hakka section was improving during the first several years of establishment.

Saiyingpun School (1879–1926)

In 1872, the school was renamed from West Point School to Saiyingpun School. It was relocated to 35–41 Third Street in 1879. It was one of the first batches of boys' government schools that provided junior Chinese and English education in various subjects. The first Principal (formally entitled "Master"), Mr. Fung Fu, received education in the US and was deeply influenced by the development of democracy in the West. During 1905, Mr. Fung held the post of a translator at the China Daily, a newspaper founded by local intellect Chen Shao-bai, Dr. Sun Yat Sen's dearest friend in his juvenile years.

Upon establishment, Saiyingpun School provided education from the eighth grade to the fourth grade (equivalent to primary five to secondary three nowadays). The then-Inspector of Schools, Dr. Eitel, allowed parents to choose between letting their children be taught both English and Chinese or exclusively English. Among 61 students in 1879, 46 chose the latter. After a few months, with the exception of one student, all students came under an English-medium education.

According to the Government Notification in 1880, the appraisal of the Education Bureau reported that Saiyingpun School had an outstanding performance, and thus was classified as "Rank 1". In 1880, Saiyingpun School operated with 74 students; by 1891 the total number of students amounted to 146. The campus in Third Street was no longer able to accommodate the increasing number of students. The school was relocated to 119 High Street.

According to "College Years of the Father of the Republic" written by Professor Lo Heung-lam, Kong Wing-wen and Lau Sz Fuk, enrolled in the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese in 1887, the same year as Dr. Sun Yat Sen started his college life there. According to an article published in the 2002nd issue of the Christian Weekly, it stated that Kong and Lau used to be students in "Saiyingpun Fung Fu School". Lau graduated in 1895 with a degree in western medicine. The Master of Saiyingpun School between 1879 and 1903 was Mr. Fung Fu. With reference to his term of office, it is believed that the "Saiyingpun Fung Fu School" mentioned in the essay refers exactly to Saiyingpun School, that is currently King's College. If this assumption is correct, it is convinced to say that Lau Sz Fuk is among the earliest Kingsians ever to study western medicine.

In 1902, Mr. W. H. Williams took over as the Master of Saiyingpun School. In June 1905, Mr. Alfred Morris replaced Mr. W. H. Williams as the Master, the latter was transferred to Victoria British School earlier in January that year. During Master Morris' tenure, the number of students rose in 1906 to 490 and the school campus was inadequate to facilitate studies and extra-curriculum activities of the students. In the Report of the Inspector of Schools published in 1905, Saiyingpun School students were rated "excellent" in English writing. According to the 1905 Report of the Inspector of Schools, after Master Morris took office, he immediately made the school start early even during the winter time to ensure students had enough time for extra-curricular activities like visits and swimming in the afternoon.

King's College (1926–)

King's College was founded on its present site in 1926. The school premises now stands on what was once the site of a Roman Catholic church called St. Anthony's built in 1892 'ex voto'. St. Anthony's was later demolished and replaced by an eponymous church in Pokfulam Road, which still stands today. Beside St Anthony's stood the Sacred Heart Chapel (1864–1892). This was built a few years before St Anthony's was built by the architect Mr. M.A. D'Aquino, and blessed in March 1879. The land jointly occupied by the church and the chapel was named Inland Lot 755, and was the property of the Roman Catholic Church. Sometime after the construction of St Anthony's, probably because having two churches in such close proximity was seen as an inefficient use of holy land, the Sacred Heart Chapel was converted into an orphanage and school under the care of the Canossian Sisters – the Ling Yuet Sin Kindergarten of the present day. In 1920, there was a requisition order by government authorities for a portion of Inland Lot 755, the section where the Church of St Anthony stood.

In 1923, foundations were laid and construction work began. Site formation, the foundation works and construction of retaining walls were undertaken by Messrs. Foo Loong & Co. in the same year and the superstructure was erected by Messrs. Kin Lee & Co. in 1924. After three years of construction, the works were completed in 1926. The Saiyingpun School moved to the new campus in the same year and was upgraded to King's College and accepted. In September, the qualified pupils from Saiyingpun School transferred to the new college. The college was named in honour of King George V. A portrait of the king is exhibited in the college's building. The governor reported king's college as one of the chief schools.

The Hong Kong Administrative Report of 1926 described King's College as "one of the finest and most modern of school buildings with 29 classrooms, staff and common rooms, the latest sanitary arrangements, hat and cloak rooms, a museum and library, an art room, physics and chemistry laboratories, a workshop, swimming pool and dressing rooms, gymnasium, covered playground, fire fighting appliances and the usual complement of storerooms and offices".

Four months later, from February to December, the building was commandeered for use as a military camp-cum-hospital for the British Shanghai Defence Force dispatched to protect British subjects in the British Section of the Shanghai Treaty Port. In 1928, the building was returned to King's College, which was officially opened by the Governor, Cecil Clementi, on 5 March.

School campus

Built in 1926, the Bonham Road Campus is one of the oldest surviving pre-war government school buildings in Hong Kong. The red-brick school building in neo-classical style was originally built around the three sides of a square in 1926 and the whole building comprised a North Wing, a South Wing and an East Wing with a bell tower (now removed) above the colonnaded curved entrance porch at the junction of Bonham Road and Western Street. The three wings of the school building are arranged in collegiate style around a central courtyard which serves as the school playground to form a quadrangle.

Red-brick Roman arched colonnades are applied along the facade and corridor on the ground floor of the South Wing and coupled columns form loggias on the first and second floors. Roman arched colonnades are also found on the front elevations of the East and North Wings.

Clerestory windows are found on the upper part of the bricked-up arches of the North Wing. Some doorways have Roman arches or flattened arches with fanlight glazing. The red-brick wall angles are emphasised with quoins.

The most impressive part of the school building is its circular entrance porch at the junction of Bonham Road and Western Street. The porch is supported by granite coupled columns with Ionic Order capitals featuring volute brackets and Italian Renaissance style side openings. A groin vault can be seen on the top floor of the entrance block which is rarely found in other school buildings.

The building which houses the college has evolved over the years since its establishment in 1926. It was once damaged in World War II and rebuilt and refurbished after the war. Since then the orthodox structure has reserved its current façades of grey granite columns against a background of crimson bricks, arched corridors and cavernous garden, an image widely held by its students and the public as an epitome of the college.

On 2 December 2011, the school building was declared as a monument by the Antiquities and Monuments Office.

Academics

HKDSE

King's College has produced 3 perfect scorers "10As" in the history of Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE) and 3 "Top Scorers" and "Super Top Scorers" in Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE).

7 x 5** "Top Scorers" are candidates who obtained perfect scores of 5** in each of the four core subjects and three electives.

8 x 5** "Super Top Scorers" are candidates who obtained seven Level 5** in four core subjects and three electives, and an additional Level 5** in the Mathematics Extended (M1/M2) module.

Admission

List of notable alumni

King's College's alumni include the "father of OLED" Ching W. Tang; the "father of rehabilitation" in Asia Sir Harry Fang; Hong Kong senior judge and politician Simon Li; Chief Executive Leung Chun Ying; Hong Kong media mogul George Ho; the first Chinese Commissioner of the Royal Hong Kong Police, Li Kwan Ha; the last Commissioner of the Royal Hong Kong Police Hui Ki On; industrialist and politician Sir Sze-yuen Chung; and the creator of Hang Seng Index Stanley Kwan.

Alumni noted for their work in academia include "father of OLED" Ching W. Tang; the former Vice-Chancellor of the Chinese University of Hong Kong Ma Lin; and American scientist and author Deborah Chung.

Administration

School Management Committee (SMC)

The current governing body of King's College is the Hong Kong Education Bureau, which classifies it as a government school. The school's management was previously under the control of the Education Bureau. In 2004, the Hong Kong Legislative Council passed the "School-Based Management Policy," which stipulated the establishment of incorporated management committees for aided schools. Government schools also adopted the management framework of incorporated management committees, following the model of aided schools, during the 2005/06 school year. The Education Bureau's implementation of school-based management aimed to decentralize decision-making powers such as student learning and resource allocation to schools. As a result, King's College established the School Management Committee (SMC), which functions similarly to the incorporated management committees of aided schools or the sponsoring bodies of direct subsidy schools. The SMC includes teachers, alumni, and parents as members, in accordance with government regulations.

In theory, SMC members have the authority to convene SMC meetings and make decisions on various development issues of the school without following government policies. However, the position of the Chairman of the SMC at King's College is held by a senior official from the Education Bureau, and the Chairman has the power of veto in voting. Therefore, decision-making at meetings still closely follows the government's education policies.

List of Principals

As a government school, the principal of King's College is appointed by the Education Bureau and is part of the civil service system. The selection of principals is not the responsibility of the SMC. On the other hand, the school sponsoring bodies/incorporated management committees of subsidized schools have the authority to appoint a Principal Selection Committee to select the principal of their respective schools. In the past, it was customary for the education department to appoint former teachers or alumni of King's College as the principal of the school. Some examples include Fu Ka-sun, Leung Fung-ki, Kwok Sze-hei, Chu Ka-fai, and Leung Cheuk-wing. This practice was an unwritten rule.