Discovery College () is a private independent school operated by the ESF in

Discovery Bay Discovery Bay is a picturesque residential community located on Lantau Island. The 2021 census recorded a population of 19,336 residents in DB, with 55% of them being non-Chinese. DB is home to a significant community compared of expatriates ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. It offers both primary and secondary education on one campus. The school first opened in August 2009 after replacing another ESF school, Bauhinia School, which first opened in January 2002. Discovery College has five houses, and provides education from year 1 to year 13. Discovery College was established by the

English Schools Foundation The English Schools Foundation (ESF) is an organisation that runs 22 international schools in Hong Kong. It is Hong Kong's largest English-medium organisation of international schools. It was founded in 1967 with the passage of the English ...

to serve the needs of the local and expatriate communities in Hong Kong. It is a full Years 1 to 13 school offering the

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), more commonly known as the International Baccalaureate (IB), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the I ...

(IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP) for Years 1-6, Middle Years Programme (MYP) for Years 7-11, and

Diploma Programme The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) is a two-year educational programme primarily aimed at 16-to-19-year-olds in 140 countries around the world. The programme provides an internationally accepted qualification for entry int ...

(DP) for Years 12-13. Under the Private Independent School Scheme, 70% of the students of Discovery College must be Hong Kong permanent residents.

History

Plans to set up Discovery College as one of ESF's first private schools began in 1999. As a private ESF school, Discovery College would not receive recurrent government subsidy. In 2001, the

Education and Manpower Bureau The Education Bureau (EDB) is a policy bureau responsible for formulating and implementing education policies in Hong Kong. The bureau is headed by the Secretary for Education and oversees agencies including University Grants Committee a ...

(EMB) granted ESF a lot of land in Ma On Shan and another in Discovery Bay to build two primary-cum-secondary schools under the Private Independent School Scheme. The Discovery Bay site would eventually become the permanent campus of Discovery College. Designed by Integrated Design Associates, the permanent campus was built between 2003 and 2008. The 70,000 sq ft campus cost HK$290 million, of which HK$137 million was granted by the

Hong Kong Government The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government) is the Executive (government), executive authorities of Hong Kong. It was established on 1 July 1997, following the ...

. Operated by ESF Educational Services Limited (ESL), an ESF subsidiary, Discovery College needs to repay ESF its capital costs of HK$168 million within 20 years of opening. In 2007, the primary section of Discovery College opened in a temporary site in Lai King, merging with former ESF primary school Bauhinia School. About two thirds of the school's students were transferred from Bauhinia School. The 450 students moved into the Discovery Bay campus when it began operation on 20 August 2008.

Curriculum

Discovery College adopts a range of long-standing

programmes: the Primary Years Programme (PYP), Middle Years Programme (MYP), Diploma Programme (DP), and the newly added Career-related Programme (CP), a curriculum for students aged 16-19 that is more personalized for those who are more certain of their future career paths.

Access

Access is through Siena Avenue in Discovery Bay, which can be accessed by bus.

References

English Schools Foundation schools Association of China and Mongolia International Schools International Baccalaureate schools in Hong Kong 2000s establishments in Hong Kong {{HongKong-edu-stub