 | This article has multiple issues. Please helpimprove it or discuss these issues on thetalk page.(Learn how and when to remove these messages) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
|
| Diocesan Boys' School 拔萃男書院 | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||||||||||
| Location | |||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||
Hong Kong | |||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 22°19′24″N114°10′27″E / 22.32333°N 114.17417°E /22.32333; 114.17417 | ||||||||||||
| Information | |||||||||||||
| School type | DSS,[1]Grant School, Secondary; primary (since 2004) | ||||||||||||
| Religious affiliation(s) | Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui | ||||||||||||
| Established | 1869; 156 years ago (1869) | ||||||||||||
| President | Matthias Der | ||||||||||||
| Dean | Ng Kay Kong Cho Ka Wai Wong Yuen Ting | ||||||||||||
| Headmaster | Cheng Kay Yen Ronnie | ||||||||||||
| Faculty | 136 teachers[2] | ||||||||||||
| Grades | G7 (Form 1) – G12 (Form 6) | ||||||||||||
| Language | English | ||||||||||||
| Campus size | 50,000 m2 (540,000 sq ft) | ||||||||||||
| Houses | Arthur Piercy | ||||||||||||
| Colour(s) | Navy blue, white and red | ||||||||||||
| Newspaper | Not Rigmarole(粹聞) | ||||||||||||
| Yearbook | Steps(集思) | ||||||||||||
| Website | www | ||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 拔萃男書院 | ||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 拔萃男书院 | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
TheDiocesan Boys' School (DBS) is a day and boardingAnglican boys' school in Hong Kong, located at 131Argyle Street, Mong Kok, Kowloon. The school's mission is "to provide aliberal education based onChristian principles".[3] Having run as agrant-aided school since it was founded, the school commenced operation in theDirect Subsidy Scheme in September 2003. It usesEnglish as the medium of instruction. Its current headmaster is Mr. Ronnie Cheng Kay-Yen.[4][5]
In 1860, Mrs. Lydia Smith (wife of theBishop of Victoria) and the Society for the Promotion of Female Education in the Far East (Also known as Female Education Society, or "FES")[6] set up theDiocesan Native Female Training School, a day-school turned boarding school for native girls, affiliated with theDiocese of Victoria. As stated in its first annual report, the purpose of the school was "to introduce among a somewhat superior class of native females the blessings of Christianity and of religious training". The school sat onBonham Road, a small concrete house on apaddy field.[7] Lady Robinson (the Governor's wife) became the patron.[8]
The school had a difficult existence. TheSecond Opium War aroused strong anti-British sentiment and so it was very unpopular for Chinese girls to learn English.[9] The school was closed and then reopened under the name "Diocesan Female School", but its finances did not improve. In 1868, BishopCharles Alford took the school under his immediate superintendence.[7]
On 30 January 1869, in a bid to gain popular support, Bishop Alford issued an appeal to admit boys into the school and to turn it into an orphanage. The appeal was well received by the public. In September, the Diocesan Home and Orphanage, for boys and girls, both foreign and Chinese, was established.[10]
In July 1870, William Arthur, formerly of the Garrison School, was appointed as the headmaster and Mrs Arthur as the matron.[7]
In 1878, the school was placed in thegrant-in-aid scheme by theEducation Department.
In March 1878, Arthur resigned. Bishop Burdon proposed to stop admitting boys into the school and to bring it under the FES. In July, he withdrew his proposal following pressure from William Beswick, honorary treasurer of the DHO, although the Bishop still thought it inappropriate to have boys and girls boarding in the same school campus.[11]
On 1 November 1878, George Piercy, then master of theGovernment Central School, was appointed to be the new headmaster.[12] Piercy focused on the students' academics, and the school attained satisfactory results in theCambridge andOxford Local Examinations scholarships.[13]
On 31 May 1879, the school committee resolved to stop accepting girls as boarders.
In 1891, the school was renamed the Diocesan School and Orphanage. In 1892, the remaining girls were transferred to Fairlea Girls' School (a forerunner ofHeep Yunn School). The Diocesan School and Orphanage was transformed into a boys' school.[11]
In 1902, the school was renamed the Diocesan Boys' School and Orphanage.[14] It is unclear when the school was renamed the Diocesan Boys' School, although the name was used as early as 1918.[15]
Rev. William Featherstone, headmaster from 1918 to 1931, introduced the prefects' system, ahouse system and Speech Day. He also moved the school from Bonham Road to a hill site inMong Kok.[16] Construction was completed in 1926. In February 1927, the British military authorities took the school for use as a hospital for one year.[17]
Whenwar broke out inChina in 1937, the school showed its support towards theChinese Nationalist Party. In January 1938, ashoe-shining club was organised under the permission of Rev. Christopher Sargent to raise funds for theNationalist government. Boys went to schools around Hong Kong and polished shoes for teachers and students.[18] In 1939, there was a school strike when a student withJapanese citizenship was appointed ashead prefect.[19]
During theJapanese occupation of Hong Kong, most of the school staff, including then-headmaster Gerald Goodban, were imprisoned. The school building was transformed into amilitary hospital forsoldiers of theImperial Japanese Army.
Imperial Japan surrendered in August 1945. The school remained under the control of theKempeitai until November, when all the Japanese soldiers were captured.
On 21 March 1946, J. L. YoungSaye, a senior teacher, got the school to run again.Oswald Cheung and B. J. Monks took up the post of acting headmaster successively. Goodban returned from England on 19 November 1947. Repairs started during the Christmas holidays.
In 1949, Goodban introduced a newhouse system in which houses were named after former headmasters, along with the Piercy Challenge Shield.[20]
In early 1950s, construction plans for a gymnasium, a Carnegie Hall (the old art room beside the demolished gymnasium) and a science wing were proposed.[21]
In 1955, CanonGeorge Zimmern, also known as George She, was appointed the next headmaster, the first Hong Kong-born old boy to be given the role. As headmaster, Canon She welcomed students from poor households and affirmed theChinese language in school culture.[22] Canon She also introduced the Garden Fête in 1955.
It was decided that the primary classes should be dropped for lack of space and that a completely new primary school - Diocesan Preparatory School - would be built, although the decision was only implemented in 1969.[23]
James Lowcock became headmaster in 1961. Based on his previous experience in the school, he restructured the administration to improve efficiency and appointed more teachers to posts with designated duties.In 1983, Jacland Lai succeeded Mr. Lowcock as headmaster. A language laboratory and a demonstration room were built. The electrics and alarm installations were renovated, the school walls repainted, and the facilities were computerised throughout the school.
In 2002, Lai was succeeded by Terence Chang, an old boy and then-headmaster ofJockey Club Ti-I College.
On 4 October 2002, the school committee proposed to join theDirect Subsidy Scheme (DSS) with effect from September 2003. The application was accepted by theEducation and Manpower Bureau in March 2003.[24] The DSS was fiercely debated within the School throughout 2002. Chang was highly in favour of joining the DSS,[25] but some students and most teachers opposed the DSS because they were afraid it would shut out students from poorer families. Alumni on the whole were slightly inclined towards the DSS. The school claimed that parents were in favour, though its findings have since been criticised as biased.[26]
A primary school was built beside the secondary school campus. The project was financed by the government as part of the deal that saw the school join the DSS.[27] TheDiocesan Boys' School Primary Division (DBSPD) had its first, partial intake of students in 2004 and expanded its intake with students aged between 6 and 12 over the following years.
In April 2012, Diocesan Boys' School became the first secondary school in Hong Kong to have a school app oniOS andAndroid.
In September 2012, Chang retired and Ronnie Kay Yen Cheng – an alumnus who had been theconductor of the schoolchoirs – succeeded him as headmaster.
In May 2020, the school became the world's No.1International Baccalaureate school, with an average mark of 42.[28]
| Name | Name in Chinese | Portrait | Tenure | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Foundation (DNFTS) | ||||
| 1. | Ms. Wilson | 韋以信女士 | 1860–1862 | |
| 2. | Ms. M.A.W. Eaton | 伊頓女士 | 1862–1865 | |
| 3. | Ms. Rendle | 蘭德爾女士 | 1865–1866 | |
| 4. | Ms. M.J. Oxlad | 岳士列女士 | 1867–1868 | |
| Second Foundation | ||||
| 1. | William Monarch BurnsideArthur | 雅瑟 |  | 1870–1878 |
| 2. | George H.Piercy | 俾士 | 1878–1918 | |
| 3. | Rev. William T.Featherstone | 費瑟士東 |  | 1918–1931 |
| Henry du Toit Pyner | 派納 | 1931 –1932, acting | ||
| 4. | Rev. Christopher Birdwood RousselSargent | 舒展 | 1932–1938 | |
| 5. | Gerald ArcherGoodban | 葛賓 |  | 1938–1941 |
| Japanese occupation of Hong Kong (1941–1945) | ||||
| Oswald Victor Cheung | 張奧偉 |  | 1946, acting | |
| Benjamin John Monks | 孟克士 |  | 1946, acting | |
| 5. | Gerald ArcherGoodban | 葛賓 | | 1946–1955 |
| B. J. MONKS | 孟克士 | | 1955, acting | |
| 6. | Rev. George Samuel Zimmern (akaCanon George She)[29] | 施玉麒 |  | 1955–1961 |
| 7. | Sydney JamesLowcock | 郭慎墀 | 1961–1983 | |
| 8. | Jacland Lai Chak Lun | 黎澤倫 | 1983–2000 | |
| 9. | Terence Chang Cheuk Cheung | 張灼祥 | 2000–2012 | |
| 10. | Ronnie Cheng Kay Yen | 鄭基恩 | 2012– | |
The school is located on Kadoorie Hill inHo Man Tin,Kowloon City District.[30] The school campus houses a variety of different facilities.
Five new buildings were built between 2004 and 2012, when Terence Chang was headmaster. The buildings were designed by architect Thomas Chow (an old boy of the class of 1975), who won three awards from the Hong Kong Institute of Architects: two "Medal of the Year" awards (for his work on the Primary Division and on the Samuel Tak Lee Building respectively) and one "Merit Award – Community Building" (for his work on the Michiko Miyakawa Building and the Yunni and Maxine Pao Auditorium).
The school uses English as the main language for instruction, although certain subjects (other than Chinese itself) use Chinese as the medium of instruction. Currently, both the Primary and Secondary Division follow theHong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority's curriculum. Students start off with a common curriculum in Grades 7 to 9. After then, most students of Grade 10 or above fall into theNew Secondary System (also known as "334"), and they will take theHong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education examinations. Another batch of Grade 10 students fall into the Pre-International Baccalaureate (Pre-IB) programme if they choose. After they complete the Pre-IB programme, they will enter theInternational Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP), and will graduate if they pass the IB Finals.
In March 2009, the school received media attention when a Form 4 student complained that he had had anudefemale model as a subject in his art class, and alleged embarrassment. The visual arts teacher, employed for 27 years, told reporters that he had been invitingnude models without any complaint for nearly ten years. Then-Headmaster Terence Chang said it was a "big fuss about nothing".[31]
In December 2022, DBS said that it had already implemented national security education into its curriculum.[32] The school stated that "The objective is to deepen students' understanding of the country's development and national security, enhance their sense of national identity and nurture them as good law-abiding citizens."[32]
School teams have been crowned Overall Champions in archery, athletics (14 Grand Slams), badminton (Grand Slam in 2009/10, 2010/11 & 2023/24 in the Kowloon area), basketball (Grand Slam in 2013/14 in the Kowloon area), beach volleyball (Grand Slam in 2016/17, 2018/19 & 2022/23), cross country (Grand Slam in 2017/18, 2018/19, 2022/23 & 2023/24), fencing (Grand Slam in 2015/16, 2016/17 & 2023/24), football (Grand Slam in 2017/18, 2018/19 & 2023/24), Handball (Grand Slam in 2017/18), hockey, indoor rowing (Grand Slam in 2013/14, 2018/19, 2022/23 & 2023/24), life saving (24 Grand Slams), rugby sevens, softball, squash, swimming (11 Grand Slams), table tennis (Grand Slam in 1960/61, 2017/18 & 2021/22), tennis, tenpin bowling and volleyball (Grand Slam in 1977/78 in the Kowloon area, in 2017/18, 2018/19, 2022/23 & 2023/24).[33][34]
The Diocesan Boys' School Music Department contains sixchoirs, asymphony orchestra,string andwind orchestras, aChinese orchestra, and manychamber ensembles.[35][failed verification]
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
By 2022, DBS counts a total of 16 winners of theHong Kong Outstanding Students Awards,[43] ranking sixth among all secondary schools in Hong Kong.
DBS has 16 perfect scorers "10As" in the history ofHong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE) and 2 "Top Scorers" and "Super Top Scorers" in the history of Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE).[44][45] Prior to 1987, the upper limit for the number of subjects is nine.
7 x 5** "Top Scorers" are candidates who obtained perfect scores of 5** in each of the four core subjects and three electives.
8 x 5** "Super Top Scorers" are candidates who obtained seven Level 5** in four core subjects and three electives, and an additional Level 5** in the Mathematics Extended (M1/M2) module.[46]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
| Co-educational Schools | |
|---|---|
| Girls' Schools | |
| Boys' Schools | |
| Schools started as Grant Schools but later joined the Direct Subsidy Scheme | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
