Welcome to Sixth Form

Welcome back to all Year 12 and Year 13 students and parents.  

I hope that everyone has had a restful summer break and you were able to enjoy the fabulous Hong Kong weather. 

To those families who were fortunate enough to travel, welcome back, and I hope that your journey back to Hong Kong and quarantine went smoothly.

To our new students and families, welcome to the DBIS family; we are very excited to have you join us at Discovery Bay International School and to get to know you over the course of this year.  

I would like to take this opportunity to also congratulate all our Sixth Form students on their fantastic IGCSE and AS examination results – Well Done!

As Head of Year, it is my role to support, encourage and monitor our students to ensure progress is made. I expect them to maintain high standards of behaviour and enthusiasm for their learning as they move forward with new and exciting challenges. I will strive to foster a positive atmosphere within the year group where all pupils feel valued and understand our joint responsibility for developing their academic, emotional and social skills; so they can fulfil their potential and go on to be successful young adults.

As an experienced member of staff, I am aware of how difficult things can be at times. I want you to know we are here to help and ensure your child achieves and excels. 

As a parent/carer, you also play an important role in the education of your child, and your encouragement and involvement can help a child excel. Your thoughts and views on how we can all work together in a meaningful way are always welcome. 

Our tutor team this year is:

KS5-RBO	Rebecca Boddington	[email protected]
KS5-MPY	Myra Pyne	[email protected]
KS5-JWA	Jordan Warburton	[email protected]

Our new team is fantastic, and the teachers are looking forward to getting to know their groups personally, helping our Year 12 students transition into their A Level studies and supporting our Year 13s in their academic studies and their aspirations for higher education and life after DBIS. Over the next week, your child’s tutor will be in contact with you to introduce themselves.

Attendance at school is always important. At Sixth Form level, this also includes attendance to morning registration and tutor time. Tutors are responsible for writing university references and the 1:1 tutoring sessions and time spent with students in the morning is vital in this process.   Attendance to all lessons is also mandatory. If your child is to be absent from any lessons, then please ensure that you fill in the JotForm here (this can also be found under the ‘Parent Information’ section on the Hub) so that no follow-up action is taken. Students are also expected to contact each teacher for catch-up work; it is the students’ responsibility to do this for every lesson missed.

Building on from last year, students will, in the first half-term, set aspirational targets for each of their subjects after a conversation with their teachers. These targets will be reflected upon throughout the year in one-to-ones with their tutor teachers and are there to help focus and inspire our students. 

Key dates for this term:

• Friday 2nd September – Y12 Amazing Race (rescheduled from 26th August)
• Thursday 22nd September – Y10–13 Report Information Session
• Tuesday 27th September – Settling Into Year 12 Information Session 
• Thursday 29th September – Year 12 Transition Reports Published
• Wednesday 5th October – Applying to UK Universities Information Session 
• Wednesday 12th October – Making the Most of Year 13 and Planning for the Future

Lunchtime reminder

To accommodate the Education Bureau guidelines requirements on students’ eating arrangements at lunchtime, we will have to return to having two sittings, with set year groups having their lunch at certain times. 

The first sitting will be from 1.30pm to 1.50pm and will be for students in Years 7, 8 and 10.

The second sitting will be from 2pm to 2.20pm and will be for students in Years  9, 11, 12 and 13.

At the current time, Sixth Form students are required to travel to the Main campus for lunch.

Dress code reminder 

Although Year 12 and Year 13 are no longer required to wear school uniform, students are asked to dress appropriately for the academic setting, remembering they are role models to our younger students. For PE lessons, students may wear their DBIS PE shirts but may also wear any other suitable sportswear, again appropriate for the lesson.

1:1 tutoring

Students and tutor teachers will begin meeting for their 1:1 sessions from Thursday 29th August. The tutors will create and share a timetable for these sessions with the students. These sessions are incredibly important and valuable for many reasons and attendance is, of course, compulsory.

Finally, if you have any questions, your first point of contact is your child’s tutor. They may then contact me if required, and of course, you are also welcome to contact me for urgent matters. We are here to support your child in terms of their academics and wellbeing and look forward to enjoying a positive and productive year.

Louise Tyrrell

Head of Sixth Form
[email protected]