Kate Cunich takes a tour of Han Academy Hong Kong to learn more about the brand new campus.
Han Academy, which is located in Wong Chuk Hang, opened its doors to primary and secondary students in August 2017. The campus is fully operational with all the necessary facilities to enrich a child’s learning experience. With three different types of curriculum, including Cambridge International, International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme and Chinese National Curriculum for Maths and Chinese, Han Academy is set apart from other international schools in Hong Kong.
With a focus on a solid Chinese foundation, the importance of maths and science as well as leadership and community service awareness, Han Academy aims to nurture young minds into contributors to society who understand the importance of community. Han Academy is aware of the pressures in Hong Kong on children to flourish academically and understands that a balance between learning and creativity is essential for a healthy education.
Curriculum
The school follows guidelines set by International Baccalaureate Organisation and Cambridge International Examinations. The school facilities include 12 classrooms, three laboratories, two art rooms, a music and dance studio, library, assembly hall and indoor playground. The campus covers 2,200 square metres and is spread across three levels. Each classroom is equipped with a touch-screen smartboard and iPads are also used for class activities including coding, programming and controlling robots.
The Campus
While the campus isn’t the largest you might find in Hong Kong, Han Academy has made great use of the space and has not compromised design in order to accommodate all of their facilities. The campus has a very new, colourful and cheerful feel to it and the students looked engaged and excited to be learning.
One of the main reasons that parents decide to send their children to Han Academy is because of the incredible teaching staff and low student to teacher ratio. The teaching staff includes graduates from top universities who have worked in prestigious schools and universities around the world. Ms XU Li, founder and school supervisor of Han Academy and one of the two earliest IB Chinese Examiners in the world, says,
“This might be the only school founded by a group of professional teachers. When teaching in other schools before, we found that a lot of improvement could be made to Hong Kong international education.”
The student to teacher ratio
The student to teacher ratio is 4:1, which is much lower than most Hong Kong schools, and proves to be beneficial to students. With class sizes of just 12 to 16 students, teachers are able to spend more time with each individual student. Parents of students at Han Academy have commented on how they find the learning environment extremely positive and nurturing while also fostering the importance of academic excellence.
Bilingual School
Han Academy is a bilingual school; Chinese is fully incorporated into the students’ day to day learning and follows the Chinese National curriculum. While most students who currently attend Han Academy are from mainland China, the school is looking to be more ethnically diverse and has high hopes that there will be more students from other countries in the coming years.
The first graduation year will be in 2020. Han Academy offers a Life Long Learning Scholarship where the school will pay university tuition for select students who are accepted into top universities. This is to ensure that every student, no matter what their financial background, gets a fair chance at receiving the best education possible.
With plans to expand to a separate campus in the next three to five years, Han Academy seems likely to continue to go from strength to strength in the coming years.
