Monitor Games 2022

The Lower School Monitor Games 

On 8th – 9th September in Sports Hall 2, the LS monitor team organized a diverse set of exciting games for the new F3s and F4s! All the monitors, despite their fatigue, were delighted to welcome the new LS students into Concord’s wonderful community. Although some games proved to be more popular than others, the overall planning and execution of the event was a huge success, and the vast majority of students provided positive feedback post-event. Mrs Coward, the Head of Lower School, even commented that it was ‘the best year of monitor games we‘ve ever had’ in her 8 years as Head of Lower School! 

On Thursday, there were a total of 13 stations; 1-2 monitors would host a group game, and 13 groups of students took turns going from one station to another. One of the most unforgettable games was Noodles And Plates: this involved four players, each with a polyfoam noodle in one hand and a plate in the other. They were to compete against one another until three players dropped their plates, in which case the remaining player would win. It was arguably the most intense game among all others and attracted the attention of many students, despite it’s simplicity. Though some students were exhausted and uninterested in the game, they were content watching their peers playing. Nevertheless, it offered a unique twist to the other ‘more typical’ monitor games, and most students had lots of fun that evening. 

On Friday, the event began with another cycle of 10 group games followed by two big games: Dodgeball and Capture The Flag. Dodgeball was quite chaotic, with students throwing balls everywhere in the Sports Hall. Reid Cao (F5), the cameraman, complained how difficult it was to traverse the court in order to take photos from differing angles. Finally, the event ended with the clapping ceremony, which has been an annual tradition in the history of monitor games. It involved a setup that allowed each participant to high-five all other participants; the ceremony went on for about 20 minutes. Despite several students complaining about the tedious nature of the ceremony, this was a significant improvement from the torturous 40 minutes last year. 

Hanks F5.

Lake Bala – F5 Canoe Trip

F5 Canoe Trip

24th of September 2017… Form 5 students began the special journey to the canoe trip. We had to wake up early in the morning for breakfast and then set off from the school by 8am! The trip took roughly 2 hours but that wasn’t a problem because we could have a nice sleep on the coach. As the coach arrived at our destination, we woke up to see beautiful scenic nature, including the main attraction we’d been waiting for… Lake Bala! As soon as our eyes saw it, our hearts and minds went wild. It was absolutely beautiful.

We rushed down off the bus to get ourselves prepared for the activities. But firstly, the instructor had to tell us about what we should be doing and what we should not. Luckily, the main rule was just “Don’t get wet if you don’t want to”. Surprisingly, there were kayaks for ‘lone wolves’ who were willing to get wet and experience extreme fun, and many of the boys just couldn’t hold themselves back from getting one. Obviously I’m a boy but, sadly, I wasn’t one of the kayakers.

After we were taught how to paddle and instructed to be cautious, we started off lifting up the boats and getting on them in the water. At first, we weren’t so good at controlling the direction of the boat but as we learnt along the way, all of us became noticeably better and THAT made the afternoon part even more enjoyable!

At the start of the day, we sailed to different spots to practice our control. It was pretty hard and annoying when I paddled gently on the right and the canoe started going too far to the left. It would have been so much easier if Mr Tilson hadn’t been on board with us!

For lunch, we had sandwiches provided by the teachers and afterwards, we had a chance to light a small bonfire and roast our own marshmallows. After we’d finished our lunch, we began our journey back to the start destination. Unexpectedly, we had travelled for approximately 4 km on the boats and yes – it was exhausting and painful when you had to sit down for the whole day, but honestly, it was worth our time learning new skills, seeing such scenic nature and most importantly, spending time with friends.

I had to admit that at first, I didn’t want to go, but at the end of the day, I wished we could stay for a bit longer. Overall, it was a very interesting and enjoyable trip, and I hope we’ll all have another opportunity to do something like this again in the future with all of our friends.

Tee Saran – F5

 

First Impressions from New Concord Students

This is a new academic year. A new beginning. And things will change. And now we welcome the new year, full of things that have never been. This will be a challenging year but also a year full of joy and excitement, especially for new students at Concord. Here is what they had to say about their first impressions of the school and meanwhile their expectations and hopes for next year.

‘I came to visit Concord two years ago. At that time, I fell in love with the school. When I arrived, the monitors here were kind, friendly and helpful. I love the school.’ – Wendy F.3

‘Food is yummy.’ – Maggie F.3

‘When I first arrived in September, the staff were nice and helpful. Moreover, the students were kind and they were willing to help. When classes started, the teachers helped us a lot when we did not understand. There are a lot of fun activities too.’ – Josephine F.3

‘From the first day, I knew Concord was an amazing school. Although it is known for academics, Concord also has a wide range of other activities.’ – Anonymous

‘The school is very big and a little scary at first but you will get used to it. Also, I have made lots of friends since I first arrived at Concord. Most importantly, the food is very tasty. Every day, I am very looking forward to knowing what am I going to have in every meal. Overall, Concord is quite pleasant.’ – Maggie from Hong Kong F.3

‘My first impression was good. The staffs were nice – such as helping with my bags, taking me to my room, giving me an introduction to the school and the school policy. The food was good, especially the first meal, so much better than my old school. Lastly, I think the house parents and teachers were really helpful.’ – Rafael F.3

‘The first thing that struck me when I got off the arrivals bus was the incredible amount of diversity of students–although I had expected a large portion of international students, I didn’t realise that students would be coming from all around the globe, literally, including many students in my home city of Hong Kong. As I continued to walk around the campus, I was in awe at the campus’ beauty and spaciousness; the greenery, paired with both traditional and modern buildings particularly stood out to me. The students I met in the following days were also extremely friendly, especially the F5 monitors who were happy to answer questions that any of the new students had. This friendliness extended to class time, where most teachers heavily encouraged us to ask questions and were accepting of all views and opinions. I was also pleasantly surprised by the wide selection of food available in the canteen, catering to any sort of people from vegans to students with specific allergies. So far, I have made many friends through not only my classes and induction week but also through the various sports teams that I participate in–this brings me on to my last point about the how students here are able to impressively balance their social, sports, and academic life. Overall, my first 2 weeks at Concord couldn’t have gone better, and I am optimistic to see how the next 2 – potentially 4 years of my life will unfold here at Concord College.’ -Duncan Hsu F.4

‘During the first few weeks, I was unsure about how this whole ordeal would turn out, but as Steven Fischer once said: “This is just the beginning, so far so good.” As cheesy or awkward as that may sound, it actually sums this whole thing up pretty well. I’ve been enjoying it so far, but there’s been some ups and some downs with a few curves hither and thither. So, I’ve fitted in pretty well, but that may only be because I’m socially outgoing. On the first day, I was introduced to the campus for the first time, my monitor was kind enough to show me around the place and let me know where I was staying (don’t worry, I haven’t been kicked out yet!) and where the different buildings were. During my stay here, I met many different people from many different countries around the world. When the sky started to turn dark, we played this activity called the monitor games, where the monitors from form 5 would pick some random team building games to “get to know each other”. To be completely honest, the monitor games actually worked because I never imagined I would know so many people in the span of two weeks. This was pretty much the whole week, in the morning we would wake up, go to a few assemblies, introduce ourselves to a bunch of new faces, and then do some activities that made us get to know each other better. Then, on Thursday, we had our first legitimate full day of school. At first, I was confused as to where to go for some classes because the campus is pretty big and the buildings are fairly spread apart. The second week soon rolled around and we had to go to our classes every day – I was fitting in well, making it to class on time, just being punctual all the time. I thought that it was good and relaxing… boy was I wrong. Saturday tests rolled over and we had to prepare. However, after finishing the tests I felt enlightened, so it was all well and good. Overall, so far, I think that it’s been decent, to say the least, not one of the best moments of my life, but still good enough to enjoy it.’ – Felix F.4

Compiled by Sam Kwok – F5

Welcome to the Lower School Blog

Concord College Lower School was founded in 1995 and from small beginnings has grown to be an important part of the Concord community.  This blog will be written by Lower school students to give a flavour of the life they lead at Concord.  We hope you will enjoy reading it.