Li Po Chun United World College

Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong (Chinese: 香港李寶椿聯合世界書院), established in 1992, is an International Baccalaureate boarding school in Wu Kai Sha, Hong Kong, within walking distance of Wu Kai Sha station. It is the eighth member of the today 18 United World Colleges and is the first United World College in Asia. Others having been established in Wales, Canada, Norway, Italy, India, Singapore, Eswatini, United States, Costa Rica, the Netherlands, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Germany, Armenia, China, Thailand, Japan and Tanzania. Patrons of the college and the movement include Nelson Mandela, Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan and Charles, Prince of Wales. The first college, UWC Atlantic College, was established by the German educationalist Kurt Hahn to promote international understanding and peace. Students are selected by UWC National Committees or selection contacts in over 150 countries on merit and many receive up to full scholarships based on demonstrated need basis. UWC students are eligible to participate in the Shelby Davis Scholarship program, the largest international scholarship program for undergraduates in the world, which funds undergraduate studies for UWC students at leading US universities.

Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong
Li Po Chun UWC Logo
Location
Wu Kai Sha

Hong Kong
Information
TypeIB World School
Established12 February 1992 (1992-02-12)
Faculty28
Number of students250
AffiliationUnited World Colleges
Websitewww.lpcuwc.edu.hk

Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong is a subvented school receiving 22 per cent of its funding from the Hong Kong Government's Direct Subsidy Scheme but commands the highest school fees of all such organisations.

Admissions
Aerial view of Li Po Chun UWC Campus

Located in Hong Kong, Li Po Chun UWC states one of its goals as building understanding between students from Chinese cultural backgrounds and those from the rest of the world. Students have the opportunity to learn about Hong Kong and Chinese culture first hand.

The school admits students from over 110 countries and from many local Hong Kong schools. The student body is made up of roughly 42% local and 58% overseas students. In the year 2020-2021, students coming from all 6 inhabited continents represented 90 countries in the world.

Similar to students from overseas who are selected by the national selection committees of their home countries, local Hong Kong students are chosen by the UWC Hong Kong Committee. The Hong Kong selection process has 3 rounds.[1] The first short-listing is based on a written application composed of both short and long answer questions about the applicant's extra curricular and community service experience as well as the applicant's academic performance in the past two years, their recommendation form and their interest in UWC. At this stage, students are given the opportunity to rank their top 10 choices of college out of the 18 colleges. The shortlisted group of students is then invited to participate in the school's Challenge Day, a day camp consisting of group activities led by alumni, teachers and students, usually held in the Winter. The final stage of the process is an individual interview with the Principal and a committee composed of an experienced UWC alumni and an external, independent interviewer. Out of the 300 or so Hong Kong students that apply every year, 50 are accepted to Li Po Chun UWC, plus an extra 15 who are sent to other overseas United World Colleges that best match their preference, performance and needs.[2]

Academics

Students at the College undertake a 2-year International Baccalaureate Diploma Program. In 2020, Li Po Chun UWC's IB diploma score averages at 36 points, compared to a 31.34 average worldwide.[3] 28% of its graduates have received 40 or more IB Diploma points, compared to the world average of 12.9%.[4]

Li Po Chun UWC offers the following subjects on the IBDP level:[5]

Group 1: Studies in Language & Literature Group 2: Language Acquisition Group 3: Individuals & Societies Group 4: Sciences Group 5: Mathematics Group 6: The Arts
Chinese English Business Management Biology Analysis & Approaches Visual Arts
English French Economics Chemistry Applications & Interpretation Theatre
Spanish Mandarin Environmental Systems & Societies Environmental Systems & Societies
Self-taught Spanish History Physics
Geography
Global Politics

Education Outside the Classroom (EOTC)

Quan Cai

The CAS (Creativity, Activity, Service) program is one of the three core elements of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme.[6] It requires a set number of hours in each of the 3 areas. Li Po Chun UWC's adaptation of this system is called the "Quan Cai" program ("全才" in Chinese, meaning "development of the whole person" ). The program has 4 components, namely community service, creativity, activity, and campus service. A student is required to officially participate in at least 2 Quan Cai per year. [7]

There is a great emphasis on community service at the College. They include a variety of projects ranging from helping asylum seekers, to visiting nursing homes and aiding the elderly, helping underprivileged children with schooling and the lending of facilities to services outside of Hong Kong, such as Initiative for Peace. The school also competes in most of the sports available as Quan Cais. This includes football, basketball, athletics, volleyball and badminton. The flexibility of the Quan Cai program allows students to start new activities (called an "initiative") at any time, and if successful, the school adopts the activity, making it official. Li Po Chun UWC offers more than 70 Quan Cai activities for students to participate in every year, including Playback Theatre, Coral Monitoring, Lion Dance etc.[8]

Global Issues Forum

Within the academic timetable, which works on an 8-day cycle, the last block of day 8 is reserved for Global Issues Forum. The entire student body and members of the staff gather to listen to a presentation, given by fellow students, on a global issue, and then participates in an open discussion. Past topics include democracy and censorship, unsustainable fishing, the future of the EU, the impacts of migration and cultural immersion, sexism, the value of education etc. Not only is it a chance for community members (students and staff) to learn about events and issues worldwide from invaluable sources, but it is also a venue for the sharing of diverse political perspectives.

Cultural Evenings

Cultural evenings are annual highlights for the Li Po Chun UWC community. The aim of cultural evenings is to promote international understanding and appreciation, as well as to celebrate diversity. There are five cultural evenings each year, starting with an International Cultural Evening prepared by second years for incoming first years as part of the orientation programme.

The Chinese Cultural Evening takes place every year, while the other evenings, namely the North American Cultural Evening (NACE), Caribbean and Latin American Cultural Evening (CLACE), Middle East, South and Central Asia Cultural Evening (MESCA), Asia-Pacific Evening of Culture (APEC), African Cultural Evening (ACE) and European Cultural Evening (ECE) take place once every two years. In these student-led cultural evenings, students from the same region come together to prepare a week of pre-cultural evening events that highlights their cultural characteristics and a dinner of regional cuisines before the final performance.[9]

China Week

Unlike other United World Colleges, first year students travel to Mainland China in their first term to engage in different community services.[10] Annual China week projects include: Teaching English to children of the Yao Tribe in China, visiting an elderly home and helping mentally and physically handicapped children in Guangdong province, working with lepers in Yunnan province and working with the Amity Foundation, China, and Habitat for Humanity. A popular trip involves hiking, cycling, kayaking and rock climbing in the Yangshuo area.

Project Week

Annual project weeks last nine days in March and are for students to lead and work on projects in East, South, and Southeast Asia. Some recent projects have included: Helping rehabilitate a tsunami-struck school in Sri Lanka, performing plays for children in Bangkok, working with children at the Christina Noble Children's Foundation in Ho Chi Minh City and travelling to North Korea to learn about life and affairs in a country that much of the world knows little about, and working in several children's orphanages run by the Happy Tree Organisation in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Some students also take on other challenging projects during this time such as travelling to Vietnam overland from Hong Kong and human rights evaluations in Philippines. Some students also stay in Hong Kong, where there are opportunities to do service locally.

Café

The Café team organizes performance evenings that consist of the College community sharing dances, songs and poems with each other at the Principal's residence. It is an event that works to boost morale on campus and bring together the College for one night. The Café team also cooks a wide variety of baked goods that are sold throughout the show with the proceeds going to different charities. Café is considered one of the most popular activities on campus.

Residential

Boarding

Li Po Chun UWC is a 100% boarding school with both students and all full time teachers residing on campus. Among the two classes, a total of 256 students share 4 residential blocks with their teachers. Each room comprises of 4 students representing 4 different nationalities; 2 second year students and 2 first year students. [11]

Pastoral Care

All teachers who live on campus play the role of tutors, mentoring around 10 students each. Tutor groups meet at least once a week and is an important support network for all students. Li Po Chun UWC is supported by 2 part time school counselors, 2 school nurses, and peer supporters who are second-year students who have been trained in mental health to support their peers. [12]

Graduates

Students can choose different pathways for their after they graduate from Li Po Chun UWC. Some graduates enroll in top universities around the world, with most students earning or qualifying for significant scholarships. 46% of Li Po Chun UWC graduates go on to study in the USA, 27% in the United Kingdom, 12% in Hong Kong, 9% in Canada, 5% in Europe and 1% in Asia.[13] Others choose to pursue "3rd year options" which can range from service to traveling, most of which have some sort of cultural immersion. Others go straight into the work force or return to their home countries for a gap year.

Notable alumni

List of principals
  • David Wilkinson (1992-1994)[18]
  • Blair Forster (1994-2003)[19]
  • Stephen Codrington (2004-2011)[20]
  • Arnett Edwards (2011–present)[21]

Board of Directors[22]
  • Chairman:
  • Supervisor Convener, Staffing Sub-committee:
    • Mrs Ruth LAU
  • Convener, Finance Sub-committee:
    • Ms Pauline Po Lin LO
  • Convener, Academic Sub-committee:
    • Prof Chin Chin WAN
  • Convener, Tender Board:
    • Sister Margaret Kam Lin Annie WONG, MBE
  • Member:
    • Mr Kenneth Wei-On CHEN, SBS
    • Mr Alan CHIU
    • Mrs Francine FU
    • Mr Jacob Siu Kwong LEUNG
    • Mr Kenneth LEUNG
    • Mr Alwin Sui Chee LI
    • Mr Thomas Cheung Biu LIANG
    • Dr Ronald Yuen Cheung LU
    • Prof Joseph SUNG, SBS, JP
    • Dr Gloria TAM, JP
    • Miss Tammy WAN
    • Mr Ying-hai XIE
    • Mr Ken Kwok Mung YEUNG

See also

References
  1. "Step 4: Timeline and Selection process". www.lpcuwc.edu.hk. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  2. "Admissions FAQs". www.lpcuwc.edu.hk. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  3. "IB Diploma stats". International Baccalaureate®. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  4. "28% of LPCUWC 2020 Grads Register 40 or More IB Diploma Points". www.lpcuwc.edu.hk. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  5. "Joining Papers". www.lpcuwc.edu.hk. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  6. "Creativity, activity, service". International Baccalaureate®. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  7. "Quan Cai Activities". www.lpcuwc.edu.hk. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  8. "Quan Cai Activities". www.lpcuwc.edu.hk. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  9. "EOTC". www.lpcuwc.edu.hk. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  10. "China Week & Project Week". www.lpcuwc.edu.hk. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  11. "Residential Life". www.lpcuwc.edu.hk. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  12. "Residential Life". www.lpcuwc.edu.hk. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  13. "About LPCUWC". www.lpcuwc.edu.hk. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  14. "Asim Butt Artist Page". digitalconsciousness.com. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  15. "Senators' home cooking and a no-fuss wedding - Macleans.ca". www.macleans.ca. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  16. "TEDxLPCUWC | TED". www.ted.com. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  17. "Hitting the high notes: global success awaits Asian 'rock star' conductors". South China Morning Post. 13 January 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  18. "New head for Li Po Chun". South China Morning Post. 11 August 1994. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  19. "History of UWC-NCTL".
  20. "Stephen Codrington". Biography. Stephen Codrington - The Website. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  21. "Arnett Edwards: An Embodiment Personality of "Never Give Up"". The Knowledge Review. 22 October 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  22. "Board of Directors". www.lpcuwc.edu.hk. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
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