5-9 November 2018 - English Week Casts a Spell Over HKUGA College

What does the word fantasy mean to you? A magical world of wonder and excitement, where anything can happen? Or perhaps it's just a word to describe people with their heads in the clouds? Well, this year, it was the theme of HKUGA College's annual English Week. There were a number of exciting activities throughout the week, including a Quidditch tournament, a book fair, and an interhouse Kahoot quiz! The week gave us the chance to learn more about fairies, unicorns, and ogres, all while improving our English and coming to love English a little more.

Library Opening

Every good school needs a home for its books – the library! And this week, our school's very own library reopened after renovations. Teachers and students gathered to munch on sandwiches and chicken wings while marveling at how absolutely splendid the new library looks. The library is decorated with green and orange sofas, a fresh, modern décor, and even an armor-clad soldier made by our art teacher, Mr. James! With these renovations, the library is now an even more wonderful place to read, study, or simply relax. Now students will be able to learn in a comfortable environment while they devour one book after another. Why don't you check out the library during wellbeing time? It is a wonderful experience!

Interhouse Kahoot Quiz

English Week also included a Kahoot Quiz covering various fantasy book series. The quiz, which took place during the junior and senior assembly periods, pitted students from different houses against each other in a test of their knowledge about the Harry Potter, Percy Jackson and Lord of the Rings book series. Students had a blast as they competed to win points for their house and show who was the true master of fantasy fiction.

In the senior competition, Copland house came first, followed by Laozi, Gandhi, and Newton. In the junior competition, the winner was Laozi, with Copland taking 2nd place and Austen and Gandhi taking 3rd and 4th respectively.

Quidditch Match

Quidditch, made famous by the Harry Potter series, is a game typically played by wizards on broomsticks. In the muggle version of the game, two teams compete to score points by throwing the quaffle (a volleyball) through the opposing team's hoops while trying to dodge bludgers (dodgeballs) and catch the snitch (in this case, a player holding a tennis ball) to end the game.

There were two teams competing, Green (Slytherin) and Yellow (Hufflepuff). The Green Team was made up mostly of S1BM students, while the Yellow Team was comprised of S3 to S5 students. It was an exciting lunchtime filled with raging bludgers, speedy snitches, and lots of high-energy competition (even if our brooms couldn't fly). In the end, the Yellow Team won 170-150. Congratulations to both teams for a well-fought game!

Book Fair and Film Showing

From Wednesday to Friday, the school hosted a book fair outside the Activity Center during lunch and Wellbeing time. They ranged in price from $5 – $20, a bargain many students couldn't afford to miss out on. Many of the books were donated by students and teachers. Mr. Hindes, in particular, contributed a lot by buying many books for the fair. We're sure the books will bring many students a lot of entertainment and knowledge in the future. They say books can take you on amazing journeys, and there's no doubt many students will experience wonderful new places thanks to the books they found at the fair.

This English week also included a film showing. During lunchtime on Thursday and Friday, students were able to curl up on sofas and chairs at the library and relax while watching “Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children”. Students were also able to enjoy a snack of warm popcorn while they enjoyed the film.

As J.K. Rowling once said, “I do believe that something magical can happen when you read a good book.” Hopefully, this year's English Week will encourage more students to do just that. Magic isn't something that can only be found at Hogwarts or in Middle-earth – there’s magic to be found in the pages of a good book, too! There are plenty of good books in the library, in the hidden corners of your shelf, or even at a second-hand book fair! So go to the library, pick out a good book, and set off on a magical journey of your own!

Wong Sin Hei Hailey (S1BM) & Yeung Sum Yuet Kelly (S1DY)