International Women’s Day / Accreditation visit from the AEFE

Issue 21: 10/3/2023

Wednesday, 8th March, was International Women’s Day. This is a good opportunity to remind ourselves, especially as we celebrate our 60th anniversary, that in 1963, Suzanne Hiltermann founded the first non-religious French school in Hong Kong, that was to become FIS; or more recently that Sonalie Figueiras, one of our former students, became laureate of the inaugural FIS Alumni Trophy in 2023. This also allows me to acknowledge and express gratitude for the contribution of women and girls, students, faculty and staff, and parents alike, to our engaged and diverse community, every day, all year-long.

From an educational perspective, we believe at FIS in the importance of educating our students on the topic of gender equality, including through the lens of Sustainable Development Goal #5. I want to thank our professionals for the important role they play daily in modelling, and at times directly teaching, gender equality to our students.

In this area as in many, FIS can continue to improve its practices. I am especially sensitive to the question of access to mathematics, science, and technology education for girls, or to ensuring women’s full participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision making. I commit to report in the coming year on concrete actions, milestones, and achievements to celebrate our progress.

I also wanted to share that this week saw the accreditation visit of the Agency for French Teaching Abroad (AEFE). Two inspectors (one for the Primary, one for the Secondary) spent three days visiting our campuses, observing classrooms, meeting groups of stakeholders, including parents, students, faculty and staff, and leadership. Their report will help the Agency decide on the renewal of our accreditation for the coming three years. The results of this visit will only be known in the summer, and I look forward to reporting upon it as soon as we return in September. I want to thank all who participated in the visit, including our parent representatives, as well as express my gratitude to our two French stream principals, Mrs. Belhadj and Mr. Pierru, for orchestrating the visit and leading its implementation. I am extremely confident in the outcome for our school.

Dr. Emmanuel Bonin
Head of School

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