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Fresh start: former senior staff from Canadian International School of Hong Kong bounce back with playgroup

Tin Hau campus offers first level of planned through-train education to grade 12 with lower fees

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Dave McMaster says Fairchild Junior Academy promotes play and inquiry-based learning. Photo: Sam Tsang

Two former senior staff of the Canadian International School of Hong Kong are heading a new non-profit school that offers parents significantly lower fees.

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Dave McMaster left as headmaster of Canadian International School in Aberdeen at the end of his contract in 2014, citing a “consistent pattern” of interference from the chairman of the school governors and an “increasingly hostile environment”.

Kathy Nutting, former vice-principal of the primary section, was dismissed in 2015 after speaking out against management. She later filed a complaint at the Labour Tribunal against the school’s handling of her dismissal.

A kindergarten in Sai Ying Pun is scheduled to open in the autumn pending licensing approval, followed by a primary school in two or three years, McMaster revealed, while a secondary school was also in the works.

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McMaster, the academy’s head of school, said the fee for a three-year-old was HK$70,000 for 10 months of classes. That compares to HK$94,120 per year at Canadian International School.

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