St. Paul's Co educational College

History

The college was founded in 1915 as St. Paul's Girls' College by the Anglican church. The school's motto is Faith, Hope and Love, derived from the Bible, 1 Corinthians 13.

In 1942, St. Paul's Girls' College was closed down due to Japanese occupation of Hong Kong. In 1945, the school re-opened after Japan surrendered, merging with St. Paul's College to become the first co-educational college in Hong Kong. It was officially renamed "St. Paul's Co-educational College" in 1950 when St. Paul's Boys' College moved to Bonham Road.

Since 2002, the College has been operated under the Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS). It was one of the first subsidised schools to join the scheme. In 2011, and it was authorised as an IB World School.

Campuses

Located in the Mid-levels, the campus is deprived of space. The school split into two sections after the moving of the affiliated primary school, taking up the space of the ex-Kennedy Road campus of the primary school. The original school building is called MacDonnell Road Campus (MR Campus), while the one at 26 Kennedy Road is named the Kennedy Road Campus (KR Campus).

MacDonnell Road (MR) Campus

The MR Campus consists of the main building and the Li Chong Yuet Ming Building (LCYM, or the East Wing). The main building consists of Dr. Catherine Woo Wing (also known as the red brick building), Dr. BM Kotewall Wing, the Annex building and the School Improvement Programme (SIP, or west wing) Building. It comprises currently 12 floors, including the roof structure, and two "underground" floors, which are only partially underground. Flooring system is based on the American style, similar to the Chinese style, to avoid confusion.

Dr. Catherine Woo Wing was completed in 1927 and accorded Grade 2 historic building by Antiquities Advisory Board in 2010. It is socially, historically and architecturally significant. The building is a seven-storey red brick building of a C-shaped plan. Its design expresses features of Neo-Georgian style with adaptations to local climate. A redevelopment plan is underway to upgrade existing facilities. Alteration projects commenced in 2011, which includes addition of a new library, green roof, music facilities, multipurpose rooms and staff rooms, and refurbishment of all classrooms and special rooms, Sir Robert Kotewall Hall and existing sports facilities. At present, the construction works concerning the library, green roof, Sir Robert Kotewall Hall and sports facilities are yet to be completed.

The LCYM building is a new wing which has been built at the original St. Paul's Co-educational College Primary School (MacDonnell Road) site. The building was completed in 2011 and comprises 12 floors. It includes the indoor games hall (IGH), cafeteria, lecture theatre, laboratories, and other facilities. Floors 9 to 12 houses the Chong Yau Pak Wan Residence Hall, which provides accommodation for foreign students and visitors as well as special student team training events and student preparing for final public exams.

Kennedy Road Campus

The KR Campus is the former school campus of St. Paul's Co-educational College Primary School (Kennedy Road). This temporary campus comprises 4 floors, including the roof structure. It was listed as a Grade 1 historic building by the Antiquities Advisory Board.

From 2006 to 2008, it was used as the junior primary campus when the two affiliated primary schools merged. Between 2008 and 2013, the campus housed F.1 classes. It was planned to be returned to the government in the school year 2013/2014, as the MR Campus renovation works should be completed by then. However, due to poor environmental conditions of higher levels of the MR Campus, F.6 DSE classes were relocated to the KR Campus in late September 2013. Since the 2014 cohort of F.6 students left in March 2014, the KR Campus is closed and not used for teaching purposes. It is now returned to the government.

Calder Path Annex

The Calder Path Annex is located in between the MR Campus and KR Campus. Currently, the College's swimming pool and a few classrooms are located there. The former main library (Calder Path library) was housed there from 2008 to 2012. Currently, some set-teaching lessons are conducted in the classrooms in the Calder Path Annex.

Academics

SPCC offers its introductory sequence of education for students in F.1-3, including subjects such as Chinese, English, Mathematics, Liberal Studies, Integrated Science, Chinese History, Religious Studies, Geography, History, Music and Physical Education. Design and Technology are offered to F.1 students by Prof. Ng Yiu Kuen, while Aesthetic & Creativity Education is offered to F.2 students In F.3, students study a total of 15 subjects: Chinese, Chinese Integrated skills, English, Language Arts, Mathematics, Math M3 preparation course for HKDSE modules, Liberal Studies, Economics on the second term, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, History, Geography, Music and Religious Studies. F.3 students would then decide to enroll in either the local DSE curriculum or the IBDP Program with a preparatory year in F.4. As of 2014, subject choices available to students taking the IB program include English A Literature, Chinese A Language and Literature, English B, Chinese B, Spanish ab initio, History, Chemistry, ESS, Mathematics and Music.

SPCC is known for its rigorous academics and excellent academic results. In 2014, 66% of students taking the DSE achieved level 5 or above in 5 or more of their subjects; students taking the IB achieved an average score of 40 out of 45, with 2 students achieving a full score of 45, 4 achieving 44, and 2 achieving 43. The average subject grade was 6.33 out of 7. In 2015, a total of 10 Oxbridge offers were made to students in F.6. In 2014, 8 Oxbridge offers were made, along with 30 offers from UCL and 19 from Imperial College London.

Student Activities

One of the annual highlights of student activities is the Student Activities Week in November, during which students take part in service, experience and exploration programs, sometimes travelling out of Hong Kong. A four-week program in Australia, known as Rites of Passage, is arranged for F.3 students in the summer.

Clubs, Societies, Groups and Teams

The College has its annually elected Student Union, plus a Prefect Board. Other student groups include Stage Management Team, The Scholars, St. John Ambulance, Girl Guides, and Scouts. Dance teams, sports teams and other teams are also present.

Music

SPCC has a prominent musical culture. Music teams in SPCC include two choirs (Treble Choir and Senior Mixed Voice Choir), School Orchestra, String Orchestra, Wind Band, Harmonica Orchestra, etc. The music teams have won numerous awards in the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival, with the School Orchestra and Harmonica Orchestra winning prizes every year. The Treble Choir became the Most Outstanding Choir in the year 2011-12. In the academic year 2014-15, a Treble Girls' Choir was added.

Annual Summer Music Event

As a tradition since 1967, the music department organizes a Summer Concert every year. The concerts have only been suspended four times in history (1973, 2008, 2010 and 2011). The most recent Summer Concert was held on 3–4 July 2014, and took place at the HKAPA.

In 2008 and 2010, the concert was not held as the school choirs took part in the 5th and 6th World Choir Games in Graz, Austria and Shaoxing, China respectively. In 2011, the College celebrated its 95th anniversary and the Summer Concert was replaced by performances in the celebratory summer Bazaar in early July.

In 2006, the Summer Concert was held in the form of a variety show, named The Extravaganza, to celebrate the College's 90th anniversary. It took place in the AsiaWorld-Arena, and this act set a record of being the first school holding an event that involves all students, and the first school to use the AsiaWorld-Arena. In celebration of the College's centenary, a similar event was held in 2016, named the Centenary Spectacular.

Uniform

In 1918, the College was the first school in Hong Kong to require school uniforms. In summer, boys wear white shirts with deep-blue trousers, and girls wear blue Cheongsams; in winter, boys wear white shirts and grey trousers with the red school tie, and girls wear deep-blue Cheongsams.

Primary school

The College has an affiliated primary school: St. Paul's Co-educational College Primary School, once divided into two half-day schools: St. Paul's Co-educational (Kennedy Road) Primary School and St. Paul's Co-educational (Macdonnell Road) Primary School to cope with the demand for places, they resumed full-day education in 1999. In 2006, the two schools merged again, then the Primary School moved to the new campus in Wong Chuk Hang in 2008.

While the College is an English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) school, most of the primary school curriculum is taught in Cantonese, with some lessons taught by native English teachers. From Primary 3 onward, Chinese language is taught in Putonghua progressively. In Primary 6, all subjects (excluding Chinese language) are taught in English.

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