Diocesan Girls' School

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This article is about the school in Hong Kong. For the school in New Zealand, see Diocesan School for Girls (Auckland).

Diocesan Girls' School
Chinese: 拔萃女書院
Diocesan Girls' School School Crest.jpg
Diocesan Girls' School crest
Location
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
1 Jordan Road, Kowloon

Hong Kong
Information
TypeDSS, Grant School, primary, secondary
MottoDaily Giving Service
DenominationHong Kong Sheng Kung Hui (Anglican Episcopalian)
Established1860; 161 years ago (1860)
School districtKing's Park
HeadmistressMrs. Stella Lau, SBS, JP
Grades –
GenderGirls
Campus size28,336m2
Colour(s)Persian blue
Websitedgs.edu.hk
Diocesan Girls' School
Traditional Chinese拔萃女書院
Diocesan Girls' School

Diocesan Girls' School (DGS) (Chinese: 拔萃女書院), and Diocesan Girls’ Junior school, one of the oldest girls' schools in Hong Kong and a well known secondary and primary school in Kowloon, HK, was founded in 1860 by the Anglican (Episcopalian) Church (Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui 香港聖公會) to provide an all-rounded secondary education for girls in Hong Kong.[1][2][3][4]

Didi Tang of The Times, in 2021, described Diocesan Girls' as one of the "premier schools" of the special administrative region.[5]

Structure[]

DGS is governed by the Council of the Diocesan Girls' School.[6] Having run as a grant-aided school since it was founded, the school commenced operation in the DSS mode starting with Secondary One classes in September 2005. English is the medium of instruction. The school has always been ranked as the top secondary school in Hong Kong, with students known to be high achievers in academics, music, sports and social services. DGS accounts for a total of 43 winners of the Hong Kong Outstanding Students Awards, ranking first among all the secondary schools in Hong Kong, and outnumbering the combined number of winners of the next two schools. The school is also a member of the G20 Schools group. It has a "feeder" primary school known as Diocesan Girls' Junior School ("DGJS"),[7][8] which is currently led by Mrs Annie Lee.

History[]

Pre-war[]

DGS was originally named the Diocesan Native Female Training School in 1860, when it was founded at Bonham Road and Eastern Street [9][10] in Hong Kong Island. The school set up by Lady Lydia Smith, the wife of George Smith (Bishop of Victoria) (施美夫), who was the First Bishop of Victoria sent by the Society for Promotion of Female Education in the East,[11][12][13][14] a sub-society of the London Missionary Society. At first, it admitted only girls. In 1866, it was renamed Diocesan Female School. Because of financial problems, the school had to restrict its services solely to orphans and destitute girls. In 1869, it became the Diocesan Home and Orphanage[15] and accepted boys as well.

DGS first received government financial assistance in 1878 and was placed under the grant-in-aid scheme, officially establishing itself as a girls' school[16] The boys would continue their education at the newly founded Diocesan Boys' School.[17]

In 1913, the school finally moved to its present site in 1 Jordan Road, Kowloon, formerly a rice paddy field.[18] In the 1920s, the school motto, Daily Giving Service, was adopted. During the Japanese occupation in the Second World War, the school was taken over as headquarters of the Japanese Kempeitai until it was re-opened in September 1945 by Ms. Gibbins, then headmistress, who was interned at Stanley camp during the occupation. Immediately upon her release, she hurried back to reclaim the school premises despite difficulty in crossing the harbour, thus saving the building from being looted.[19][20][21][22][23]

Post war[]

In the 1950s, with the closure of the adjacent town-gas depot, the School was able to expand. The old Edwardian edifice was pulled down, and three school blocks were constructed to accommodate the enlarged student body. The school embarked on a large scale school expansion project, and two extension blocks were opened respectively in 1993 and 1996.[24][25] The new phase of expansion had been completed and was opened officially on 12 January 2007.

In 2005, DGS joined the Direct Subsidy Scheme, so as to enhance the facilities to meet the demand of increased number of classes. In site redevelopment has been chosen against the use of a new site provided by the Education Bureau, based on costs considerations. The new school was designed by an award-winning architect, Palmer and Turner, and the preliminary designs was reviewed and polished by a group of alumni. A fund-raising campaign was launched in 2008 for the redevelopment of the old school campus, which targets on HKD 380 million.[26][27] In 2009, the classes in DGS were temporarily relocated to 101 Castle Peak Road, Sham Shui Po,[17] whereas DGJS was moved to Tseung Kwan O during the reconstruction. In September 2011, the school returned to 1 Jordan Road upon completion of the new campus.[28][29]

Headmistresses[]

Name Tenure
1. Susan Baxter[citation needed] 1893–1899[citation needed] Miss Baxter was the first headmistress of the school.[citation needed] She first arrived in Hong Kong as a missionary with the Female Education Society in 1860. The number of children in the Diocesan Native Female Training School was 30 in 1863.[citation needed]
2. Elizabeth Skipton 1899[citation needed]–1921
3. Miss Ferguson 1921–1986 Miss Ferguson gave the school its motto "Daily Giving Service"
4. H.D. Sawyer 1925–1939 Miss Sawyer became Headmistress in 1925 on Miss Ferguson's death. The number of pupils was 222.
5. E.M. Gibbins 1939–1946 Miss Gibbins made the study of Chinese compulsory for all but European girls. Miss Gibbins also successfully prevented looting of the school during wartime. The war ended in 1945 and the school was re-opened on 1 October. She temporarily acted as headmistress again during Mrs Joyce Symons' absence while she's in Australia.
6. A.W. Hurrell 1946–1953 Though faced with such difficulties as the destruction of the school building, the absence of books and a library, Miss Hurrell was able to continue with the expansion of the existing school buildings, first with the conversion of a large dormitory from the old playshed.
7. C.J. Symons 1953–1985 In March 1953, Dr. Symons returned as headmistress having served twice before as Acting Headmistress. The school then numbered 644 from Kindergarten to the Upper Six. Dr. Symons served the school for 32 years, overseeing the rebuilt of junior school, before retiring and returning to England.
8. Elim Lau 1985–1999 Mrs. Elim Lau, an alumnus of the school, took over as headmistress from Dr. Symons in 1985. During her term as headmistress, she oversaw the completion of the new Building Extension Phase I in 1993 and Phase II in 1996, which allowed the Junior School to expand from 12 to 18 classes with an improved teacher-pupil ratio, and further equipped the Junior School with a new library and various special rooms for effective teaching and learning. She retired in July 1999, having served the school for 14 years.
9. Stella Lau 1999 to date Mrs. Stella Lau is also an old girl of the school. She took over from Mrs. Elim Lau in September 1999.[30] Mrs. Stella Lau has initiated several campaigns and programmes favourable for students' personal development, including the Greater Bay Area Research Project and several Music Exchange programmes with partnering schools in Taiwan, Singapore and Mainland China.

Houses[]

The five houses are named after former headmistresses of the school.

House
Hurrell (H)
Skipton (Sk)
Gibbins (G)
Sawyer (S)
Symons (Sy)

Other related associations[]

Alumnae[]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "拔萃女书院-香港油尖旺区中学". Ruyile.com. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  2. ^ "拔萃女書院 Diocesan Girls' School 女拔萃, 女拔中學, 女拔萃書院". Shooland.hk. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  3. ^ "拔萃女書院 Diocesan Girls' School 學校大全". Bookofschool.com. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  4. ^ "拔萃女书院". 360doc.com. Retrieved 23 May 2017.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ Tang, Didi (23 February 2021). "Dropout rate at Hong Kong schools soars as families flee territory". The Times. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  6. ^ "SSP Profiles 2016/2017". Chsc.hk. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  7. ^ "ITEM FOR PUBLIC WORKS SUBCOMMITTEE OF FINANCE COMMITTEE" (PDF). Legco.gov.hk. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  8. ^ "香港拔萃小学：香港拔萃女小面試 3000童爭100學位 被指是今年最难考的小学 - 家在深圳". bbs.szhome.com. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  9. ^ "DIOCESAN GIRLS' SCHOOL". Dgs.edu.hk. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  10. ^ "The Directory & Chronicle for China, Japan, Corea, Indo-China, Straits Settlements, Malay States, Sian, Netherlands India, Borneo, the Philippines, &c: With which are Incorporated "The China Directory" and "The Hong Kong List for the Far East" ..." Hongkong daily Press office. 23 May 1877. Retrieved 23 May 2017 – via Google Books.
  11. ^ China Bound and Unbound: History in the Making - An Early Returnee's Account. Hong Kong University Press. 1 December 2009. ISBN 9789622091719. Retrieved 23 May 2017 – via Google Books.
  12. ^ "History of the Society for promoting female education in the East". archive.org. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  13. ^ "UCL Bloomsbury Project". Ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  14. ^ "The China Review, Or, Notes and Queries on the Far East". 國家圖書館出版社. 23 May 1891. Retrieved 23 May 2017 – via Google Books.
  15. ^ Fung, Yee Wang; Chan-Yeung, Mo Wah Moira (1 November 2009). To Serve and to Lead: History of the Diocesan Boys' School in Hong Kong. Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 9789622099982. Retrieved 23 May 2017 – via Google Books.
  16. ^ Wordie, Jason (23 May 2017). Streets: Exploring Kowloon. Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 9789622098138. Retrieved 23 May 2017 – via Google Books.
  17. ^ Jump up to: a b "School History". Dgs.edu.hk. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  18. ^ "DGS Diocesan Girls School - Gwulo: Old Hong Kong". gwulo.com. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  19. ^ Matthews, Clifford; Cheung, Oswald (1 October 1998). Dispersal and Renewal: Hong Kong University During the War Years. Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 9789622094727. Retrieved 23 May 2017 – via Google Books.
  20. ^ "Diocesan Girls' School". Dgs.edu.hk. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  21. ^ Rebecca Chan Chung, Deborah Chung and Cecilia Ng Wong, Piloted to Serve, 2012.
  22. ^ "Diocesan Girls School [1913- ] - Gwulo: Old Hong Kong". gwulo.com. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  23. ^ "Diocesan Girls' School - Jordan - Hong Kong". Yelp. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  24. ^ [1][dead link]
  25. ^ Angelina., Pi, Tsui-man (23 May 1996). "Redevelopment of Diocesan Girls' School". OATD: Open Access Theses and Dissertations. doi:10.5353/th_b3198302. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  26. ^ "DIOCESAN GIRLS' SCHOOL". Dgs.edu.hk. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  27. ^ Ten out of Ten - My Hong Kong. PPP Company Ltd. 23 May 2017. ISBN 9789889979584. Retrieved 23 May 2017 – via Google Books.
  28. ^ "当一所学校全部是女学霸...香港精英摇篮之拔萃女书院-搜狐". Mt.sohu.com. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  29. ^ "访问香港拔萃女书院（二）". 360doc.com. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  30. ^ "Headmistresses of DGS and DGJS". Doga.org.hk. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  31. ^ "Piloted to Serve: Memoirs of World War II Veteran Rebecca Chung - The American Legion". Legion.org. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  32. ^ http://www.cnac.org/rebeccachan_piloted_to_serve_01.pdf
  33. ^ Kong, Winnie (February 2002). "Solina H S Chau – Class of '78". Diocesan Old Girls Association. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  34. ^ Chen, Audrey (6 December 2004). "Meeting with our Secretary for the Environment, Transport & Works of the HKSAR". Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 20 July 2014.

External links[]

Coordinates: 22°18′23.40″N 114°10′22.80″E / 22.3065000°N 114.1730000°E / 22.3065000; 114.1730000

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