| 1936-1941 |
During the pre-war period, the Kowloon Tong district did not have many schools. At that time, Wing Kwong College was closed, which greatly inconvenienced many. As a result, people gathered to discuss taking over the school and elected 11 people as the founding members of the school board. They were Ho Lee Shau, Shum Kwong Hon, Ng Ham Chun, Lam Ming Fan, Mok Lin, Chan Yip Chor, Wong Chak Nam, Fung Koi Yin, Tai Yan Cheong, Chan Kwan Ting and Kwan Sum Yin. Kwan Sum Yin was elected as the chairperson of the school board, and Wong Chak Nam, the headmaster, to take care of the establishment and daily matters. In the autumn of 1936, the school took No. 30 Cumberland Road as its address and since it had been set up in the district for local students to attend, it was named Kowloon Tong School. At first, the school was set up with four forms in primary and three groups for kindergarten with 84 students in total enrolled at its opening. Later, it set up a branch in Stafford Road. Mr Wong Chak Nam was the headmaster of both schools by then and Ms Yip Butt Chau, the assistant headmistress. In 1937, the school started to open classes for higher primary forms. As the growth of student numbers continued, the school moved to No. 27 Cumberland Road.
After the 7th July incident, people flooded into Hong Kong. As a result, the school building was no longer adequate, so Headmaster Wong rented our current location from the government as the school's premises. Due to a lack of funds, Headmaster Wong had to make a blueprint of the school on his own while raising funds from residents in the Kowloon Tong district. For those who donated $500, a classroom would be named after the donor. The then member of the school board, Mr Shum Kwong Hon, donated HK$2,000 in the name of his superior, Mr Tsoi Ting Kai, General of the 19th Route Army. Therefore, the hall of the kindergarten was named as Ting Kai Hall to commemorate his generosity.
Headmaster Wong strove day and night and eventually completed a school with ten classrooms, one playground and one hall in less than three months for 260 students. In 1940, the whole school moved into our current location and invited Ms Yip Butt Chau's teacher, Mr Huang Gao Nian, the founder of China Art College, to add his inscription to the two plaques of "Kowloon Tong School" and "Ting Kai Kindergarten". |
| 1941-1945 |
All schools in Hong Kong were closed during the war. At that time, Mr Lam Hoi Lan, a dedicated educationist, succeeded in persuading the Japanese authorities to permit the reopening of the school. However, the school was under close supervision by the Japanese during their occupation. Furthermore, the mission and curriculum were different and Japanese courses were introduced. Nevertheless, the school had to close eventually as parents could barely afford the school fees due to the poor economy. |
| 1945-1973 |
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War and peace returned, the board members had planned to reopen the school. Unfortunately, the school was left with broken buildings and damaged facilities by the war and funds for rebuilding were non-existant. So the school board appointed Ms Yip Butt Chau as Headmistress to raise funds on her own for a ten-year period. During her time in office, she accomplished a lot, including constructing more buildings, expanding the playground, building a 400-metre oval running track, and even a rockery that was shaped like a lion north of the playground. She also established an alumni association, created new courses (such as geography and film studies), and hosted large-scale Class Open Days. |
| 1949 |
Student numbers increased to 500 and the school also expanded its school buildings. At the time, the Chun Kong Group performed Peking opera to help the school raise money (Commenorative Journal of Chun Kong Hall Foundation). To commemorate this, a classroom was named Chun Kong Hall and other classrooms at the two sides of the playground behind the hall were named after the four seasons Chun Kong Hall (Hall of Spring River), Ha Yam Hall (Hall of Summer Shade), Chau Hing Hall (Hall of Autumn Celebration) and Tung Kai Hall (Hall of Winter Succession). |
| 1951 |
Sir Alexander Grantham, Governor of Hong Kong at the time, told the teachers and students during his visit to the school, "A good school should be defined as one that is equipped with good teachers, good students and a good campus. Kowloon Tong Primary School has encompassed the excellence of all three." |
| 1955 |
The Hong Kong Schools and Colleges Directory published by the Government gave an account of Kowloon Tong School as follows "being a private school, Kowloon Tong School is a large, well-equipped primary school...the campus has accommodated a playground, spaces for different activities and vegetable fields...in the ideal layout of a children's paradise." |
| 1962 |
Kowloon Tong School (Secondary Section) was established. |
| 1973-1988 |
Mr Lai Shing Chiu succeeded Headmistress Yip as the Headmaster. |
| 1988 |
Mr Young Cheuk Kin was appointed Supervisor of the school. During his office, he dedicated himself to leading the school development. He focused on reforming the school administration, improving the school facilities and embellishing the school campus with greenery. At the same time, Mr Young spared no effort in enhancing the professionalism of teachers; the teaching and learning efficacy towards the ultimate aim of maintaining our school as a distinctive and outstanding private primary school. |
| 1988-1996 |
Madam Wong Kit Lin succeeded Headmaster Lai as the headmistress. During her tenure, she reformed the school curriculum by adding two new subjects, science and geography, and encouraged students to participate in the Hong Kong Schools Speech Festival. |
| 1996 |
Madam Yeung Mee Kuen succeeded Headmistress Wong as the headmistress. In 1997, the school set up a computer room and started offering computer studies as a subject. At the same time, the school continued with its curriculum reform by launching moral and ethics education, increasing the number of oral English classes, and implementing the system of specialized teaching. |
| 1998 |
To accommodate the school's new developments, facilities such as the Visual Arts Room and the English Room were established. The School Council also decided to close the Kindergarten Section. |
| 2000 |
| - |
The school was voted as one of the "Top Ten Ideal Schools for Parents". |
| - |
The Kindergarten was closed after the 60th class of pupils had graduated. |
| - |
The school started offering physical education and encouraged students to participate in various inter-school sports competitions. |
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| 2000 |
Renowned novelist Mr Pai Hsien Yung, an alumnus, paid a visit to the school. Recounting the days when he was a student here, Mr Pai said, "Kowloon Tong School was very well known. Headmistress Yip Butt Chau was strict and paid close attention to our studies. The teachers were also very dedicated. I was in Primary Five then... my memories are still very vivid today." During Mr Pai's visit, he also inscribed for the school these words: "An Elite School Known For Producing Elites", which we later framed and put on display. |
| 2001 |
Lee Chun Hei was the first student of the school to win the Kowloon City District Outstanding Students Award. In 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012-2019, our students were awarded the same honour (13 years in total), making our school the most awarded school in the district. |
| 2003 |
Au Lok Yiu was the first student of the school to win Hong Kong Most Outstanding Student Athlete Award. Our student Pang Ying Kit won the same award in 2005. |
| 2004-2013 |
The school's girls' badminton team became the champion of the Kowloon North Area Inter-Primary Schools Badminton Competition and successfully defended the title over the next ten years. |
2005 |
| - |
The school was accredited as a "Hong Kong Green School" and it successfully established the Environmental Resources Centre under the sponsorship of the Bank of China (Hong Kong). |
| - |
The school was honoured with the title "Caring Campus". |
| - |
From Primary One onwards, the system of teaching the Chinese language in Putonghua was adopted, as part of the Chinese curriculum reform. |
| - |
The school joined the Education Bureau's Guangdong and Hong Kong Sister School Project for the first time and the school became a sister school to Chang Ban Primary School in Tienhe District, Guangzhou. |
| - |
The Parent Teacher Association was established on 12th March 2005. |
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| 2006 |
| - |
The campus TV broadcasting station and school orchestra were formed. |
| - |
The video "Shek Kip Mei Story - Grandma Untold Story" produced by the school TV station won the Primary Section champion title and the Theme Expression Award at the 4th All Hong Kong Inter-School Project-Based Video Competition. As a result, the school was invited by TVB for an interview. The video is now part of the collection at the Hong Kong Film Archive. |
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| 2007 |
| - |
The school's boys' badminton team became the champions of the Kowloon North Area Inter-Primary Schools Badminton Competition and successfully defended the title over the next five years. |
| - |
The short film "My Grandpa's Letters" won the champion title in the Hong Kong Primary and Secondary School Section and the Global Grand Prix at the Kid Witness News Global Contest. It also won the Global Script Award. |
| - |
Student Lau Tsun Ming was the Hong Kong champion in the Lions Clubs International 20th Peace Poster Design Competition and received Honorable Mention in the International Category. He was the Grand Prize winner of the Visa Olympics of the Imagination International Youth Art Competition, where his work was made into a banner and hung at the Beijing Olympic Stadium. |
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| 2008 |
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A Distance Learning Room was set up. |
| - |
Activities for distance learning were launched and the school partnered with the Dali Experimental School in Foshan City, China. |
| - |
Student Lau Tsun Yin was the World Champion in the International Postal Stamps Design Competition. |
| - |
The short film "Listen‧Love" won the champion title in the Hong Kong Primary and Secondary School Section at the Kid Witness News Global Contest. It also won the Global Best Communication Award and Global Web Award. |
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| 2009 |
| - |
The percussion band was formed. |
| - |
The school became a sister school to Shenzhen Nanshan District Overseas Chinese Town Primary School. |
| - |
The mobile film "Opportunity Knocks?" won the Best Campus Award in the 3rd Hong Kong Mobile Film Contest. As a result, the school was interviewed by RTHK and the film is now part of the collection at the Hong Kong Film Archive. Shortly after, the film became the first Hong Kong primary school video to be selected at Japan's TBS DigiCon6 Animation and Movie Awards (Hong Kong) and garnered the Prize-of-Effort honour. |
| - |
At the Kowloon North Area Inter-Primary Schools Athletics Meet, the school's boy's team made a historic win by earning all three champion titles for the A, B and C groups. |
|
| 2010 |
| - |
The school was elected to be "My Best Loved Green Campus" in an online poll. |
| - |
Besides music and visual arts, the school also incorporated drama, calligraphy, film, photography, and the learning of musical instruments into its curriculum to promote comprehensive aesthetic education. |
| - |
The boys' athletics team won the gold award (ranked first in more than 50 primary schools of the district) at the HK Island and Kowloon Primary School Sports Award Scheme (North Kowloon District) and received the same award in 2011. |
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| 2011 |
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The short film "The Test" won the champion title in the primary and secondary school section in the qualification round (Hong Kong) of the Kid Witness News Global Contest and was awarded the Hong Kong Best Production. It also took the top prize in the "Love Learning" short film creation tour at Hong Kong Education City and was awarded the Most Popular Short Film. |
| - |
The school also won the Excellence award at "The 18th Primary Science Project Exhibition" and received the award again in 2014. |
| - |
The Alumni Association was founded on 12th March 2011. |
| - |
The School History Room was opened and a time capsule was buried on school grounds on 7th May 2011. |
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| 2012 |
| - |
Student Tang Sin Kiu won the gold award at the Hong Kong Chinese Elite Competition. |
| - |
The Junior Choir won the champion title (Chinese and Foreign language group) at the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival and ranked first in the final competition. |
| - |
At the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival, the Senior Choir was crowned the champion in the Chinese and Foreign Language sections, the Outstanding Primary School Choir and the Barbara Fei Cup. |
| - |
The percussion band won the champion title at the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival. |
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| 2013 |
| - |
The school joined the "Healthy Campus Network Plan" organized by the Health Education and Health Promotion Centre at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and became a resource school in 2014. |
| - |
At the 50th Schools Dance Festival, our dance team won the champion title in modern dance in the primary section. |
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| 2014 |
| - |
The school established a music department to manage all music courses independently and integrated the music department with all music courses. |
| - |
The wind band won the gold award at the Hong Kong Winter Band Festival and won the award again in 2015. |
| - |
The debate team won the champion title at the 9th Inter-Primary Schools Debate Competition and collected three awards for the Overall Best Debater, Best Debater and the Best Think-tank Speech. |
| - |
The school's girls' basketball team won the champion title at the Kowloon North Area Inter-Primary Schools Basketball Competition. |
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| 2015 |
| - |
Certified by the World Health Organization, the school received a Silver award and a logo of high quality health school, with which the school was officially appraised as a "Healthy School" and our efforts towards holistic health development was recognized and praised. |
| - |
The school set up a Health Resource Room. |
| - |
A bronze statue of "Be an Autonomous KTS Student" was erected on campus. |
|
| 2016 |
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The short film "The Bigger Picture" won several awards including the Hong Kong Region: Regional Winner (Primary and Secondary School) and the Hong Kong Best Production Award in the Kid Witness News Global Contest, the Grand Prix and the Best K-Factor Award, making us the first school to win this highest honour twice in the history of the KWN Global Contest. |
| - |
At the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival, the Senior Choir won the Best Primary School Senior Choir in the Hong Kong Region and the Kowloon Region and was invited to perform at the Prize-winners' Concert. |
| - |
Our Senior Wind Orchestra won the gold award at the International Wind Band Festival in Taiwan. |
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| 2017 |
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The Innovation and Technology Study Room was set up. STEM education was launched. Our students received the Gold Award and the Best Coding Crew Award at the 2nd Creative Coder Competition (CCC). |
| - |
At the Hong Kong Primary and Secondary School Penmanship Competition (Chinese and English), our school received the Gold Award (Primary School) and the Professional Teachers' Union Plaque. |
| - |
The school's girls' badminton team won the Girls' Doubles champion title at the All Hong Kong Schools Jing Ying Badminton Tournament. |
| - |
Our Senior Wind Orchestra won the 1st runner-up prize in the Concert Band – Primary School section at the 70th Hong Kong School Music Festival. |
| - |
For the very first time, the Art Show was presented in the form of a musical, titled "KTS Dreams Big". This musical featured original script, music and lyrics. Mr Victor Tam, our Music Department Director, composed all the music for the show. Along with dancing, skipping, choral speaking and percussion performances, our choir, orchestra and leading actors all shared their talents and made the show a great success. |
| - |
Our Senior Choir won the gold award at the Singapore International Choral Festival. |
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| 2018 |
| - |
Starting with the Primary 4 students, the subjects of Information Technology and Science were combined to become Integrated Science and Information Technology to allow for enhanced cross-curricular learning. |
| - |
To assist in the development of innovation & technology at KTS, a Maker Studio was established and Wi-Fi is available across the entire school campus. |
| - |
The Music Department collaborated with the art group "Toolbox Percussion" in the Hong Kong Arts Development Council programme called Arts-in School Partnership Scheme (Pilot Stage). Through the various arts related activities, students deepened their understanding of media arts, community resources were grouped together and used, and culture was shared with the wider community. |
| - |
After the Hong Kong School Sports Federation made changes to the region of some schools, KTS was rezoned under the Kowloon West Region, and achievements include the Girl's Team receiving the Inter-Primary Schools Sports Competition – Gold Award, and Outstanding Sportsboys and Sportsgirls awards. |
| - |
At the 55th School Dance Festival, our Dance Team was the Overall Champion in Modern Dance, and also received three First prizes and a First Runner-Up prize. |
| - |
At the 6th Inter-Primary School Basic Law Debating Competition organised by the Joint Committee for the Promotion of the Basic Law of Hong Kong, our Debate Team was named the champion and four members of the team were also named Best Debaters. |
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| 2019 |
| - |
The English and Maths departments have produced their own school-based textbooks which closely match the level of our students. |
| - |
Our students participated in an environmental protection-related scientific research competition for schools that was organised by Towngas. They used old pipes to create a solar powered hydroponics system to study the relationship between nutrition and the development of plants, and they were eventually crowned the winners. |
| - |
Due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic, all schools had to suspend classes from February to June. Therefore many of the originally scheduled lessons, activities and competitions were cancelled. Teachers modified their usual teaching method to one suited for online learning by using PowerPoint slides that were narrated by them as well as the Zoom communications software to revise lessons with students. Both Oral and Putonghua classes were conducted in small groups at scheduled times using Zoom in order to strengthen the speaking skills of our students. Additionally, teachers used online games and regular quizzes and dictation tests to evaluate and reinforce students’ online learning. |
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| 2020 |
| - |
The English and Maths departments have produced their own school-based textbooks which closely match the level of our students. |
| - |
Our school has been awarded the Certificate of Commendation in the Education Bureau's Wise Net Recognition Scheme. |
| - |
Our school won the "Award For Arts Education in Schools" at the 15th Hong Kong Arts Development Awards. |
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| 2021 |
| - |
KTS developed a Chinese history and culture exhibition area to display various exhibits showing the history of China and Hong Kong, so students can learn about Chinese culture. |
| - |
The Torch Relay Ceremony was broadcast live online for the first time, allowing teachers, students and parents to witness the closing ceremony of the 85th anniversary of KT together. |
| - |
Another first for KTS was when KTS held a cultural exchange with our sister schools in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province. |
| - |
KTS won the Bronze award in the Primary School section from Hong Kong Awards for Environmental Excellence (HKAEE). |
| - |
KTS obtained a total of 169 awards, including 53 Firsts, 57 Seconds and 59 Thirds at the 73rd Hong Kong Schools Speech Festival. This was the most number of Firsts KTS has evered. |
| - |
A Student who is a Junior Ambassador of The Junior Chamber International City was chosen to be the Asia Pacific Junior Cultural Exchange Ambassador representing Hong Kong at the 34th Asia Pacific Junior Cultural Exchange. |
| - |
The fifth principal of KTS, Headmistress Yeung Mee Kuen, retired and Vice Headmistress Leung Yee Wah takes over as the sixth principal of KTS. |
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