St. Francis' Canossian College (abbr: SFCC; Chinese: 嘉諾撒聖方濟各書院; Jyutping: gaa1 nok6 saat3 sing3 fong1 zai3 gok3 syu1 jyun2; demonym: Franciscan) was founded on 7 May 1869 as the second school established by the Italian Canossian Daughters of Charity in Hong Kong. The wall painting of four Guardian Angels playing instruments is the school's mascot. St. Francis' is one of the very few aided English secondary schools that comprise an aided comprehensive feeder primary school, which is known as St. Francis' Canossian School. The primary section is located on St. Francis Street and underneath the Kennedy Road campus. Known for a long list of distinguished alumni, the school has been identified as one of the most prestigious Catholic girls' schools in Hong Kong.

School history

In 1860, a small group of Canossian Sisters left their native Italy and moved to Hong Kong for evangelism. In order to teach and care for the moral welfare of the many poor children who lived in Wan Chai, in 1869, Canossian Sisters took a house to provide proper education with an emphasis on moral growth and self-respect to the poor and needy, which was the beginning of today's St. Francis' Canossian College. The Sisters did not only start a school, they also set up a hospital and an orphanage at the same address. After visiting the school, the Governor of Hong Kong was very impressed with the school's education, so he invited the school to join the "Grant-in-aid" Scheme. Although the school became a government establishment and one of the earliest Grant Schools in Hong Kong, the administration and management still belonged to Canossian Daughters of Charity. The school closed in 1941 due to the Japanese Occupation, but the determination and passion of the Sisters did not waver. After the World War II ended in 1945, the school re-opened and was named "Sacred Heart Junior School" until 1953 when it was renamed as "St. Francis' Canossian College." As a result of increasing demand of school places, the school started an expansion project with two extensions completed in 1956 and 1958. In the meantime, the school established the first team of Red Cross Youth Unit in 1956, which became one of the most sizable uniform groups in Hong Kong. To further fulfill educational needs, the school introduced Form Six classes in 1962 and since then provided quality education from Primary One to Form Six. The hall building also opened in 1985, which consisted of a gymnasium, a library, a needlework room, a cookery room etc. Eventually, only the school campus for both secondary section and primary section remained standing on Kennedy Road while the other buildings on St. Francis Street were used as the convent for Canossian Sisters and Caritas Magdalene School. Caritas Magdalene School was redeveloped into the new campus for the primary section in 2007 and the expansion project for the primary section finished in 2010. St. Francis' redevelopment construction for secondary section has started in 2011 and finished in 2018. The total site area of primary and secondary section is around 9,517m2, which takes up the hillside from St. Francis Street to Kennedy Road.

Timeline

19th century

20th century

21st century

===List of Principals ===

School information

Principal and supervisor

School motto

Veritas in Charitate (English: Live by the Truth in Love; Chinese: "力行仁愛 實踐真理") This motto encourages all Franciscans to embrace Christian values through a life of integrity and charity, along with an emphasis upon spiritual growth, social awareness, compassion and a clear sense of justice.

Admission

Form One students mostly come from the feeder primary school. Around eighty percent of the Primary Six graduates are accepted into the secondary section. Other students are admitted through Secondary School Places Allocation (SSPA) System. The majority of admitted students belong to Band One, the top one-third of all students in Hong Kong.

Class structure

There are 24 classes in total with 4 classes at each level, from Form One to Form Six (A, B, C, D).

Curriculum

English is the medium of instruction for all subjects except for Chinese Language, Chinese History and Putonghua. Junior forms follow the territory secondary school curriculum and senior forms follow the HKDSE curriculum.

School Campus

All classrooms, special rooms and School Hall are air-conditioned and provided with Internet access. Each classroom is equipped with a TV set, a projector, a display screen and a video-cassette recorder. Special rooms include four computer rooms, Multimedia Learning Center, Independent Learning Center, Library, Laboratories, Needlework Room equipped with computer facilities.

School uniform

The school uniform of St. Francis' has the same design as the two other sister schools', SHCC and SMCC, but differentiated by colors and school badges. St. Francis' has a very strict policy on uniforms and grooming. Unannounced uniform inspection will be conducted throughout the school year.

Summer uniform

White short sleeve dress with turn-down collar and pleated bottom, blue waist belt, blue skinny tie, white short socks and black leather shoes. Navy blue or black or white cardigan or sweater of simple style is allowed when necessary. White slip is compulsory to even out the high transparency of the white uniform dress. No other garment can be used as a substitute.

Winter uniform

Navy blue jumper with pleated bottom, white long sleeve turn-down collar blouse, blue waist belt, blue skinny tie, navy blue short socks and black leather shoes. Navy blue or black cardigan or sweater of simple style is allowed when necessary.

School tie

The school tie of junior forms and senior forms are different. Form One to Form Four students wear azure plain skinny tie. Form Five to Form Six students wear cerulean school badge patterned skinny tie.

Sports uniform

Sports shirt corresponding to the color associated with the house and navy blue athletic shorts.

Hair style

Hair longer than shoulder length must be neatly tied up with dark blue or black ornaments. Masculine hairstyle and use of gel, hair spray, mousse or hair-coloring are forbidden.

Student activities

Student formation

Extracurricular activities

The school has 4 houses, 20 clubs and interest groups, which are divided into 5 categories and managed by Student Association:

Four houses

Each student or teacher is randomly assigned to a house upon joining the school. Four houses will be competing in different inter-house contests throughout the school year. The house with the highest scores will be awarded the title "House of the Year."

Publications

Feeder primary school

St. Francis' Canossian School (abbr: SFCS; Chinese: 嘉諾撒聖方濟各學校) is a whole-day girls' school offering P1 – P6 classes. The medium of instruction is Chinese that all subjects are offered in Chinese except for English Language. As the school is an aided school, it is a comprehensive school that admits Primary One students through Education Bureau's Primary One Admission System in the territory. Before the school year 2008–2009, the school offered half-day schooling that P1, P3 and P5 were a p.m. class and P2, P4 and P6 were an a.m. class. After sharing the campus with the secondary section since establishment, the school started moving to 44–46 St. Francis Street in 2008 and the construction finished in 2010. Now the school site is around 4,762m2 and located below the Kennedy Road campus. Since Canossian Daughters of Charity started managing the current school site in 1869, the site had been used for different education services, including a school for blind children in 1959 and a school for deaf-mute children in 1974. Later the site was leased to Caritas Magdalene School for mentally handicapped children in 1987 until the lease agreement with Caritas ended in 2007.

School song

List of notable alumnae in alphabetical order

Politics and business

Education

Sports

Culture and performing arts

Sister schools in Hong Kong