Marymount Secondary School

Marymount Secondary School
Location
Happy Valley, Hong Kong
Information
School type	Aided
Motto	The Lord is my Light
Established	1927
Principal	Ms. Veronica Ma
Medium of language	English, Chinese and French
School Colour(s)	Blue and Yellow
Affiliation	Roman Catholic
Website	www.mss.edu.hk

Marymount Secondary School (Chinese: 瑪利曼中學) is a prestigious Roman Catholic girls' secondary school in Happy Valley, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. Her primary school is Marymount Primary School.

History

Marymount has been ranked amongst the top secondary schools in Hong Kong, with students known to be high achievers in academics, music and sports etc. The school is also a member of the G20 Schools Group.

The School, originally known as Holy Spirit School, was founded by the Maryknoll Sisters, an American religious order, on 10 January 1927 in Hong Kong. Back then, the school was on Robinson Road in Central Mid-levels. There were only 8 classes of students sharing four tiny classrooms. In the 1930s, the school moved to a slightly larger building in Caine Road. There were seven classrooms, but conditions were still cramped by today’s standards. By 1941, the school was offering a complete course leading to matriculation, and so was one of only a small handful of schools at that time which prepared girls for university.

Marymount School Song O Marymount, my Marymount, Thou Beacon of the truth, O glorious the vision bright, That guides the steps of youth! To Thee we pledge our loyalty, O School we love so well, We live to love and follow Thee, O Alma Mater True, We live to love and follow Thee, Our pledge we now renew. O Marymount, blest is thy pow'r, And wonderful Thine aim, High virtue, wisdom, precious flow'r, Thy seal to all proclaim, To Mary our most cherished boast, Our school sweet model fair, We pledge our word to honour Thee, O Alma Mater True, We pledge our word to honour Thee, Our hearts do thou renew.

In 1941, Japanese forces invaded and occupied Hong Kong. The school was closed until 1948. When the school reopened, Hong Kong was facing a new challenge as many thousands of immigrants were pouring across the border to escape the civil war on the mainland. Marymount rose to this challenge by offering places to as many girls as it could.

As the school continued to expand, a new building with better facilities became necessary. In October 1957, the school moved to its present location on the wooded slopes at the top of Blue Pool Road, overlooking Happy Valley. At the same time, it was renamed Maryknoll Sisters’ School. Initially, the building housed both Secondary and Primary Sections, but in 1961 the Primary School was relocated to the premises at Tai Hang Road, directly above the secondary school. During the school year 1978-79, the Maryknoll Sisters handed over the sponsorship of the school to the Columban Sisters.

In September 1983, the name of the school was changed to Marymount. Throughout its history the school campus had also been home to a convent, with the nun’s dormitories housed on the fourth floor and the site of the library originally being a chapel. It was only in 1993 that the nuns vacated their premises in order to make more room for the ever-growing student population.

In 1991, Mrs. Nancy Wong became the school’s first Chinese principal, and the first principal who was not a member of a religious order. In 1996, the Columban Sisters initiated the transfer of the sponsorship of the school to the Christian Life Community(CLC), the process of which was completed by September 1997. The CLC is an international Catholic lay community with a keen interest in education and commitment to the service of youth, and which receives spiritual guidance from the Jesuits of Wah Yan College, Hong Kong. The CLC has pledged to preserve the same school spirit, foster the traditions and continue to provide quality education at Marymount.

Mrs. Wong oversaw the school’s transition from being managed by the Columban sisters to being managed by the World Christian Life Community. The CLC is a Catholic lay community which works to support education and the needs of young people,

The Secondary School operated up to 29 classes with over 1000 students until 1998, offering arts, science and social disciplines up to Form 7. With the restructuring of the school, the total number of classes is at 26 by the 2003. The Primary School operates 24 classes and has about 900 students.

In 2003 Mrs. Wong retired after 36 years of devoted service to Marymount, and the school welcomed its current principal, Ms. Veronica Ma.

Over the years, many generations of girls have received an education at Marymount, and the Primary and Secondary School together now accommodate nearly 2000 students.

Marymount Secondary School at present

Houses

There are four houses to which students and teachers are randomly assigned.

Jupiter - Red

Mercury - Yellow

Uranus - Orange

Venus - Blue

Each house is headed by a House Captain elected by the students. Every year, students compete in inter-house events, such as the annual Sports Day and Swimming Gala. These events aim to uphold the sense of belonging of all the students of Marymount Secondary School.

Curriculum and achievements

English is the medium of instruction for all subjects except Chinese Language, Chinese Literature, Putonghua and Chinese History. In forms one and two, a modular system is adopted in the Humanities in order to facilitate project-based learning and critical thinking. In senior forms, students prepare for the HKCEE and HKALE and select subjects from option blocks. French is also offered.

MSS counts 6 winners of the Hong Kong Outstanding Students Awards,^[1] ranking 12th (tied with Diocesan Boys' School, St. Paul's Co-educational College and Shatin Government Secondary School) among all secondary schools in Hong Kong.

Student council

Marymount has an elected Student Council which promotes student welfare and acts as a channel of communication between the school and the student body as well as organising a range of activities throughout the year. Students can take part in the Student Council (colloquially known as the "SC") as elected class representatives in the role of Spokesman or Councillor, or as the Executive Board's Chairlady, Vice-Chairlady, ECA Coordinator, Service Coordinator, Sports Coordinator, Secretary, Treasurer or Public Relations Officer. The Executive Board members are nominated by students, and elected by the students. The Spokesman and the Councillor of each class are elected by its own class members.

Clubs and teams

Academic Clubs- Chinese Club, Putonghua Club, English Society, House of Debate, Mathematics Club, Science Club, History Club, French Club
Interest Clubs- Computer & Information Technology Club, Hong Kong Award for Young People (HKAYP), Japanese Culture Club, Junior Police Call (JPC), Odyssey of the Mind Club, Technology and Living Club, First Aid Club

Visual & Performing Arts Clubs- Chinese Drama Club, Choir, Dance Club, Drama Club, String Orchestra, Full Orchestra, Choir, Windband, Visual Arts Club.

Service groups

School Service Groups

-Campus TV Team

-ECA Committee

-Librarians

-MSS Messenger

-Music Committee

-Sports Committee

-Student IT Team

-Tuckshop Committee

-Yearbook Committee

Community Service Groups

-Community Youth Club (CYC)

-Girl Guides

-Interact Club

-Z Club

Pastoral Care Service Groups

-Careers Guidance and Service

-Civic Education

-Environmental Education

-Guidance School Teams

-Athletics

-Badminton

-Cross Country

-Dance

-Swimming

-Table Tennis

-Tennis

Uniform

Summer uniform

For Form 1 to 4 students, their summer school uniform is a blue or yellow A-line knee-length cotton dress. The dress, regardless of its colour, has a pocket on each side with a zipper in the front middle, white pointed collar, and short white sleeves. Students can choose which colour of uniform they wish to wear to school on their own choice. Short or knee-high plain white socks and dark brown or white shoes are mandatory.

For Forms V to VII students, their summer uniform is a white short-sleeved blouse matched with a light blue, knee-length cotton skirt. They may wear low heeled black, dark brown or white shoes.

Winter uniform

The winter uniform for Forms I to IV students is a long sleeves beige blouse or goldenrod turtle-neck sweater worn with a rust-coloured woollen jumper on top. Students wear darkbrown socks or pantyhose and dark brown shoes. The students may wear a beige scarf with 2 brown stripes on each end.

Forms V and VII students, the top is a beige blouse buttoned at the back with a dark brown coat, or a goldenrod turtle-neck sweater (same sweater as Forms I to IV students), worn with a rust-coloured woollen skirt. Students may wear low heeled black shoes and beige/dark brown pantyhose.

Cardigan

The summer cardigan is white with the school badge embroidered in blue on it. The winter cardigan is similar to the summer cardigan, but is in brown with the school badge embroidered in white on it.

Winter jacket

The winter jacket comes in camel and beige. Camel and beige looks exactly the same other than the colour.

On the exterior of the jacket, there is a collar the school badge is sewed on the left. Each side has a pocket. Four buttons are on the front. These buttons bear the school shield on them. There are also two buttons on both sides of the sleeves, and two straps to go along with them. These buttons also has the school shield on them. The cuffs are adjustable.

On the interior of the jacket, the upper lining is made of flannel and the lower half has a padded lining. There is another pocket on the inner lining of the jacket.

Notable alumnae

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

• Patricia Stewart - Artist
• Deborah Simms - Olympic Swimmer
• Carrie Yau - Hong Kong Government Permanent Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
• Beatrice Lao - poetess, author of winter stars
• Emily Lau - Hong Kong Legislative Council Member
• Anna Wu - former President of the Hong Kong Equal Opportunities Commission
• Priscilla Chan - Cantopop Singer
• Sandy Lam - Cantopop Singer
• Mandy Yeung - Designer
• Catherine Bragg - United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs
• Lorraine Moore - Artist
• Agnes Chan - Pop singer, television personality, professor
• Nancy Wong - former Principal of Marymount Secondary School
• Valerie Chow - 1991 Miss Hong Kong 1st runner up and an actoress

References

1. ^ Past Winners of the Hong Kong Outstanding Students Awards

External links

• Sponsoring Body

Coordinates: 22°15′49″N 114°11′25″E / 22.263482°N 114.190221°E / 22.263482; 114.190221