A look at Nord Anglia’s new secondary campus in Kwun Tong

There’s been much excitement in the air over the past few weeks at Nord Anglia International School Hong Kong (NAIS). Not least because it’s the beginning of a new school year, but also because there is a whole new secondary campus to explore in Kwun Tong. Whilst one MTR stop away, the primary campus at Lam Tin has been renovated and the community recently welcomed a new principal.

Read more: NAIS Hong Kong announces its new secondary campus in Kwun Tong

New secondary campus

A few weeks ago, induction days at NAIS’s brand new secondary campus in Kwun Tong commenced. The impressive campus features specialist subject classrooms, a learning resource centre, a full-size sports hall, an indoor swimming pool and a performance auditorium. 

Principal Kenny Duncan, who joined NAIS last year, was there to greet students at the start of induction. “We have been searching for a suitable location for a secondary campus which has the right balance of accommodation, appropriate access to transport links, and with scope for potential development for a few years now. As you can imagine, securing real estate in one of the most populated and expensive cities in the world is not an easy task. Kwun Tong was by far the best location we came across. It has been a fascinating journey which is not over yet, we plan to fully complete the development of the site by the summer of 2023,” he added in the days leading up to the opening. 

When it came to staffing the new campus, NAIS prioritised secondary teachers who were passionate about their subjects and cared deeply about children and their education. “They are people who keep up to speed with the latest educational research and can demonstrate a willingness and ability to innovate with their pedagogy. We are very lucky to have a core of secondary teachers who have been with us for several years and we are delighted to be joined this year by an extremely experienced and enthusiastic group to further strengthen the team,” says Nick Rickford, Head of Secondary.

“I would say that our teachers are most excited about the range of facilities that they have to explore with the students and the added flexibility to make learning varied and engaging. There is so much scope for the specialist teachers to develop their subjects within the new space. I’m also extremely excited about the performances, large and small, that our music and drama departments are planning (government restrictions permitting) in our drama suites as well as this impressive auditorium,” he adds. 

Strength to strength

Having first opened its doors to students in August 2014, it immediately became apparent that what NAIS brought to Hong Kong’s international education sector was quite unique and very desirable to a broad spectrum of parents and children. The school has quickly grown from 500 founding students to 1,400 children aged between three and 18 years old now learning across four fabulous campuses. 

“As well as the quality of teachers, our students benefit from the many opportunities that being a part of Nord Anglia Education brings. With a network of 73 schools around the world, students have the opportunity to interact with over 67,000 fellow Nord Anglia students globally. Through our online platform Global Campus, students benefit from a huge variety of activities such as debates and competitions as well as discussing curriculum content with fellow students around the world. Developing strong international links through our diverse community deepens students’ understanding of other perspectives and cultures supporting them to make a positive, effective contribution as global citizens” says Naima Charlier, Director of Teaching and Learning. 

Students also benefit from unique collaborations with the world famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), one of the most prestigious academic institutions in the world, and Juilliard School of Performing Arts, the world’s leading conservatory for music, dance and drama. 

Four campuses

NAIS took great pride in welcoming students back to its renovated Lam Tin primary campus at the beginning of this school year. Originally designed to serve both primary and secondary aged students, as the school steadily expanded it was clear that additional new premises and accommodation would be needed. As such, the brand new Kwun Tong campus serves as a dedicated secondary school while the renovated Lam Tin campus caters to primary students and two additional campuses in Sai Kung and Tai Tam cater to preschool students. 

“Each campus has a unique feel and character but they all share the same ethos and culture developed in our founding campus at Lam Tin. At the heart of each campus are the students and each development is designed to make our learning environment more engaging, purposeful and effective,” says Charlier, who has been with the school since it opened. 

The improved Lam Tin campus offers a remodelled resource centre and library which includes tiered seating where students can work together, give presentations and enjoy listening to visiting authors, writers, poets and speakers. “Since it opened in 2014, we have renovated Lam Tin each year, adding new features such as The Maker Space, Space Lab, The Hub, a climbing wall, a fantastic 25-metre swimming pool and we’ve further developed both outdoor and indoor play spaces,” adds Charlier.

New principal 

The NAIS community also welcomed a new principal at the end of last year. Principal Kenny Duncan brings with him over eight years of experience as principal most recently at Kingsbridge College, a school ranked as outstanding in the UK and recognised as a leading hub of innovation and educational best practice. He has more than three decades of teaching experience. 

“As a secondary school specialist, I’ve worked together with school teams and communities to raise educational standards and help to provide students with a route to top universities, including Oxford and Cambridge. The reputation of the Nord Anglia Education group as one of the world’s leading education organisations really attracted me from the start. With my background in developing teaching of technology in schools, the collaboration with MIT across the group was exciting,” says Duncan.

Understandably, the past year for Duncan has been unlike any other, starting a role as principal in a virtual environment in the midst of a worldwide pandemic. He commends the NAIS Hong Kong community as one of the most welcoming he has experienced. “It was wonderful during my first few weeks on campus to finally meet the students face to face and it very quickly felt as though I was where I belonged. I have been hugely supported by the experienced leadership team and teaching staff who are one of the best I have worked with within my 30 years,” he adds. 

Looking ahead

It’s clear that over the past five years, the school’s secondary phase has gone from strength to strength, growing in both size and reputation. Nord Anglia International School is now a through-train school. This summer saw the founding students complete their IBDP studies, achieving exceptional outcomes in the process. All of this year’s graduates are now off to their first choice of university in the UK, here in Hong Kong and around the world. Equally IGCSE students consistently performed above regional and global averages.

“Securing the secondary campus feels like the next step in maturing the school,” says Duncan. “It is exciting to be taking this step along with some of the students who joined us in primary school when we opened our doors back in 2014. Over the coming months, I look forward to working with the founding cohort of Kwun Tong students to fill the new campus buildings with life and learning. This is a space for the teachers to build their specialist subject areas and for the students to take ownership of this new campus,” he adds.