We’re very glad to announce that Hopeland International Kindergarten (HIK) group is collaborating with Sutton Valence School (SVS), the famous English school which has more than 400 years’ history, to found a new preparatory school, HIKSVS International School, which will open in September 2017.
Following a charter granted by Queen Elizabeth I in 1576, Sutton Valence School was founded by William Lambe to provide a good education for the boys of Sutton Valence village in Kent, ‘the Garden of England’, where he was born. It remained in the original School buildings (now known as Lambe’s) until 1912 when it expanded into new buildings on a ridge overlooking the Weald of Kent.
The Sutton Valence School founder, William Lambe, was a pupil of the great English musician and composer Thomas Tallis, and is reputed to have sung at the celebrations at The Field of the Cloth of Gold for Henry VIII of England – a meeting of great pageantry and ceremony between Henry VIII and Francis I of France. William Lambe was ‘a gentleman of the Chapel Royal’ as a chorister – and music remains a rich part of our curriculum and history.
Karl Yin, the project leader of HIKSVS International School, once was a student at Sutton Valence in the Sixth Form in 2006, in Westminster. He is also the son of HIK Group’s Founder. He thoroughly enjoyed his time with SVS and understands the School and its educational philosophy.
The HIK Group currently operates three kindergartens with an associated educational farm. The Shuishang Campus, established in 2002, is a unique all-villa kindergarten located in the “Chelsea” of Tianjin. The Haiyi Campus, established in 2010, is located in Meijiang Bay, right next to the Jin River. The Meijiang Campus, opened last year, is located in the villa area, south of Meijiang and on the east side of the Weijin River, enjoying a beautiful waterscape and a tranquil environment.
The Bruno Farm is Hopeland's exclusive private farm occupying over 150 acres, divided into planting areas, a breeding area and an ‘experience’ area. It operates as a green, low-carbon farm, integrating planting and breeding with an ecological classroom, offering fruit and vegetable picking, farming experience plus organic food making. The farm is both an excellent source of home-grown organic food for the HIK campuses and an ecological experience classroom.
This project is a venture in which two foundations, two traditions, and two educational philosophies are being developed as one in a single school. The synergy and energy created by such a project make it very exciting – we have the opportunity to be an international leader in bringing these traditions together through a first-class curriculum and a set of educational principles carried through into practice.