A New Year - and a new school in the HIK family! Over Christmas, a historic agreement in the annals of Hopeland International Kindergartens (HIK) was signed between the independently owned Chinese education provider, whose project leader and director is former Old Suttonian, Karl Yin, and Lambe Education Limited, the company set up to act in this matter on behalf of the United Westminster Schools Foundation and Sutton Valence School. HIK and Sutton Valence School will work together for the next ten years and indeed for many years beyond, in setting up a new and exceptionally high-quality preparatory school in Tianjin, the HIKSVS International School. It’s also the first overseas venture in Sutton Valence’s long history.
This is a ground-breaking and visionary project of the very first stand-alone preparatory school as a UK - Chinese collaboration in the whole of China. The agreement also involves commitment to discussion of a senior school on the SVS model to follow in Tianjin within the next two years. These are very exciting times as we step onto the international stage, with the distinctive Sutton Valence educational ethos being sought after and recognised in China as well as in the UK.
The new school building is being renovated to a high specification and we are expecting this to be finished in May 2017. Parent meetings held for current HIK Kindergarten parents, even before the official public launch, show an exceptional take-up and we are likely to start the school not only with the first two year-groups as planned, but also with a potential further year group. The pace of preparation will increase during the next eight months through to September, with all staff arriving and receiving induction for two weeks in August.
Karl Yin, HIK Director, and Bruce Grindlay, Headmaster, are the driving force behind this exciting project. Karl Yin is visionary about the new school: ‘HIK provides high-end education with exceptional standards and we are so very proud to be working in association with Sutton Valence School. I am doubly proud because it was my school too. This is a lasting partnership which promises to be mutually so beneficial’. The Headmaster also comments, ‘This is an incredible step in the history of the Sutton Valence School; we are privileged to be making history and we can look forward to exchanges, shared curriculum projects, and HIKSVS International working closely with Sutton Valence Preparatory School'.