Secondary WWW 2020 – change of format

Dear Secondary Students & Parents, 

I am writing to give you an update on the plan for Week Without Walls 2020. We had originally planned to offer a new range of exciting activities in Hong Kong and overseas, including residential trips. 

Unfortunately, due to the COVID 19 outbreak, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the original format of WWW and run a shortened version over 2-days on the 29th & 30th October 2020. All activities will take place in Hong Kong, many of which will be based within Discovery Bay. Students will return home at the end of each day, no residential activities will take place. 

The uncertainty in terms of travel restrictions and ongoing health risk prevents us from being able to travel overseas and we also recognise that the financial implications of an overseas or residential trip may put some families under stress at this difficult time. The activities planned in the new format will involve a nominal fee. Further information will be published regarding the activity options at the beginning of the next academic year. 

The new format of WWW will include all DBIS secondary students taking part in a ‘Great Race’ activity around Discovery Bay on Thursday 29th October. Students will then make a selection from a range of activities to decide which option they would like to participate in for the second day, on Friday 30th October. Students will be divided into small groups, with Year 7, 8, 9 working together, and Year 10,11,12 and 13 grouped together. The normal school timetable will be collapsed for these two days, all DBIS secondary staff will be involved in the WWW activities and all students are expected to participate. 

Students will complete their normal timetabled lessons for the week beginning 2nd November. An added benefit of reducing the WWW experience to a 2-day format means that students will have some valuable additional time for classroom learning.  

We remain passionate about providing students with valuable outdoor experiential learning opportunities. Although this will be through a condensed format, we are confident that students will still benefit considerably from these experiences. The aim is to ensure that the activities are enjoyable, challenging and develop skills outside of the normal classroom environment. Some of the activities will also include a service element. This will link with our aim to develop more leadership and service opportunities for secondary students throughout the school year. 

I am sure that the students will be pleased to hear that we do plan to return to the normal 1-week format in 2021, with residential and overseas trips on offer. We are excited about some of the amazing activities and experiences that we have planned. I look forward to sharing more information regarding WWW 2021 with you early next year. 

If you would like to discuss any concerns regarding WWW 2020 or if you have any questions, please do contact me at [email protected]. 

Yours sincerely

 

Mr Rob White

Outdoor Experiential Learning Coordinator

Week Without Walls Coordinator

Discovery Bay International School 

DBIS Hub

DBIS Hub