In 1976 a group of parents and educators rally together to gain access to education for children turning five years old from January onwards. Little did they know that their tiny school called Starters would ignite the true Kellett spirit we know and love today. If you’re from this era, you’ll remember being part of a group of 44 Reception students split across two classrooms in a secondary school in Wanchai headed up by Mrs Elliott and Mrs Steer. Two years later this grows to 122 students in a school in Taikoo Shing registered with the Hong Kong Education Department. The school promises a commitment to academic achievement, personal development, and a strong community spirit for its students, who hail from 11 different countries. 

In 1980, Kellett as we know it is born, but it isn’t plain sailing! Two months before the school is due to open the building is only one floor off the ground, so parents and staff once again step up to the mark directing construction, moving furniture, unpacking and cleaning. Fortunately, the purpose-built Pok Fu Lam campus overlooking Kellett Bay opens with 260 students of 29 nationalities and the spirit of Kellett continues. 1982 sees the inauguration of the first Primary 6 class and Principal Vivienne Steer requests a formal inspection by UK officials to gain recognition as an English International School. If this is your era, you’ll remember the 10th Anniversary playground party with commemorative T-shirts, the launch of our beloved Kellett Dragon and the inaugural Family Sports Day.  

1991 sees the growth of the school again with a new roof extension boasting a Science Room and a Music and Arts room dedicated to Janet Rutherfurd in memory of the mother of one of the first Kellett families. If this is your era, you’ll remember the fond farewell to the much-loved Principal Vivienne Steer (aka Sole) in 1996 and the beginning of Principal Ann Mc Donald OBE’s 23-year tenure. Times are uncertain, as the handover looms and expats begin to leave, but she weathers the storm bravely, manages to fix the deficit in the school’s accounts and guides the school back to full health. 

The Kellett community holds firm yet again as the Asian Financial Crisis hits, followed by SARS in 2003. Keeping up with the latest educational developments, Principal Mc Donald reforms a rigorous academic programme based on the UK National Curriculum, while maintaining Kellett’s creative and innovative spirit. If you’re from this era, you’ll remember the 25th anniversary dragons on the wall of the playground being unveiled but not unmasked! Or possibly being one of the first students to remain beyond lower Senior at Kellett as a temporary site for Senior School was found for Year 7s and 8s to move up into Year 9 in 2009. Ever on the lookout to evolve, the Kellett community continues its search for a permanent home and receives a greenfield site in Kowloon Bay for a full through-school campus.  

As plans begin for the new school, the Kellett community continue to work together. A parent involved in the UK programme “Building Schools for the Future” offers to take Ann Mc Donald on a visit to some of these cutting-edge schools and ideas begin to take shape. If this is your era, you’ll remember your first glimpse of the amazing light-filled atrium and the feeling of freedom as you roamed your new school with caring Kellett staff never too far away. The new campus boasts state-of-the-art facilities including a Theatre, Sky Pitch, and a Sixth Form so the first A-Level cohort can begin. Are you one of the first Year 13 cohort graduates who received an outstanding university offer? Or perhaps you proudly helped to set the Guinness World Record for “Largest Human Image of a Boat” in 2016 as the School celebrated its fourth decade?

Having grown to a school of 1,400 students across the two campuses, Kellett now weathers another storm alongside other schools with the explosion of the COVID-19 pandemic. If this is your era, you’ll remember the resilience of the Kellett community as you experienced full-scale remote learning followed by compulsory mask-wearing. Principal Mark Steed was followed by interim leader Diana Vernon and Kellett receives a second "Outstanding" rating from UK Department for Education in its BSO inspection. In 2024 our new principal Paul Tough arrives to lay the roadmap for the next 10 years with “Kellett Vision: 2035, Inspiring Minds, Enriching Lives,” continuing to build on our strong foundations and lead Kellett into a bright future. 

Please join us for our 50th anniversary alumni and school events throughout 2026 – watch this space!