The generosity of the Island School community means that the Spirit Fund now plays a key role in the school’s development and success. To launch the Spirit Fund 2018 we would like to say thank you to all those that supported it last year and explain the impact it has on students’ lives.

Last year the Spirit Fund helped to fund the whole school production ‘His Dark Materials’. One of the leading actors from the show, Ethan Wu (12R), tells us what the Spirit Fund was used for and the impact drama and acting has had on him.

Ethan: For me HDM was quite a big part of my life for quite a while and it gave me the opportunity to do what I really enjoy.

Because of the Spirit Fund professionals came to work with us – we had professional puppeteers come in to teach us how to use the puppets properly and how to make them. We also had a stage fight workshop with professional actors and that pretty much inspired our big bear fight. It was kind of the pinnacle of the show – it was the most enjoyable scene in the whole show – most enjoyable to act in It was also the most demanding but worth it in the end. The audience loved it!

The puppets were a joint project between several Elements projects. It involved Art, DT and Textiles and it also involved the cast and crew working together. They were especially good for collaboration and we all had a focus. The Literature & Performance group and the BTEC students also used the puppetry workshops and HDM to practice for their masks and puppets Year 13 coursework.

Creating these massive wearable puppets and the smaller handheld ones meant the show was great to watch, I think it was definitely special! The amount of time and money we invested was definitely worth it. It wasn’t just a school production, in my eyes it was more than that. I think we went beyond the idea of just a school play. If I do say so myself I think the audience genuinely enjoyed seeing something new. They genuinely enjoyed seeing that we tried something new.

Now that HDM is over there is one change in me that is really important. I feel a lot more disciplined and I also feel I have a slightly different approach to the way I study.  Now I am more open to challenges because I know that the outcome will be worth it.

Thank you to Spirit Fund supporters you made a difference to Island School students’ lives.

Last year’s Spirit Fund also helped to fund:

• guest speakers and workshops from the HK Literary Festival,
• publish students’ books,
• drama productions and workshops,
• science, filming and food technology equipment and
• trips to Maths competitions in Korea.