JUST a year after opening its doors to primary pupils, Australia International School Hong Kong (AISHK) next week embarks on a secondary school programme.
A class of 10 pupils will become the school's first 7th-graders. The primary classes are continuing to grow rapidly.
Having started classes with just 24 reception and primary pupils aged between four and 10 last year, numbers more than trebled by the end of the 1994.
'We finished the school year with 89 students and are expecting to start this year with 140,' said Mrs Chris Neilsen, principal of the primary school.
The January to December school year system is proving particularly popular with parents from southern hemisphere countries.
'It is so different to the English Schools Foundation and other international schools. It means that school holidays here coincide with holidays in their home countries,' she said.
The system has proved popular with Hong Kong parents who have secured passports in Australia and returned to the territory, as well as with expatriates.