Hong Kong · History
Born with the Bay: DBIS at More Than Four Decades
Discovery Bay International School opened in January 1983, a month after the first residents arrived on Lantau. From three pupils in a residents club to a thousand students across three campuses, its history mirrors the community it was built to serve.
In the early 1980s, the Cha family, owners of Hong Kong Resorts International (HKRI), set out to build a self-contained community on Lantau Island. They understood that international families would not come without a school. So before the roads were fully paved and while the first housing blocks were still filling up, HKRI committed to creating one.
Origins
Discovery Bay International School opened in January 1983, just one month after the first residents moved into the area. Its first home was the Discovery Bay Residents Club, a temporary arrangement that suited its first enrolment: three pupils, Ann and Jean Evans and Edda Hansen, taught by Ms Anne-Marie Naughton alongside founding School Principal Mrs Wendy MacCallum. Supporting them from day one was Office Manager Ms Connie Ting, who would go on to become the school's longest-serving staff member.
That improvised start did not last long. Student numbers rose sharply through 1983, and by the start of the new academic year the school had relocated to a custom-built campus that still forms the core of its current estate.
Growth
By the mid-1990s, Discovery Bay had become a close-knit, multicultural enclave, and the school grew with it. Anne-Marie Naughton, who had taught the first three pupils and steered the school through more than two decades of expansion, retired in 2005 after 23 years of service. Her tenure established DBIS as a recognised provider of early years and primary education in Hong Kong.
The next principal, Grant Ramsay, who took over in 2006, pushed the school in a new direction. Under his leadership, two additional buildings were constructed: a Discovery Centre and a purpose-built home for a secondary school. The secondary section grew steadily, and by 2013 DBIS was accepting students from Nursery through to Year 11, a significant extension of its original all-primary remit.
Paul Tough succeeded Ramsay in 2014. His five-year tenure focused on individual learning experiences and expanded the school's post-16 offer, with A Levels and BTEC qualifications added to bring the school to full all-through status from Nursery to Year 13. Tough later moved to The British School in Tokyo and subsequently to Kellett School in Hong Kong. Marc Morris, who previously worked in Dubai and earlier in Hong Kong, became Principal in 2023 and is leading the school's current phase of development.
Curriculum and Identity
DBIS follows the English National Curriculum, adapted for its international setting. The school describes its approach as "an international curriculum with British characteristics", a phrase that reflects a deliberate choice to avoid being categorised simply as a British school. In the early years, classrooms draw on Reggio Emilia principles; the primary phase uses an inquiry-based model; secondary students work through a concept-driven Discovery Curriculum in Key Stage 3 before sitting IGCSEs in Years 10 and 11. Sixth formers study A Levels, with a BTEC pathway running in parallel from Year 10.
The school holds dual accreditation from the Council of International Schools (CIS) and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), and joined FOBISIA in 2010. It was the first school in Hong Kong to bring forest and beach schools into its early years curriculum, a programme that has since extended into primary. It was also one of the first schools outside the UK to offer the Mini and Junior Duke Awards to primary-age pupils.
Mandarin is taught throughout the school. French and Spanish are available as options in secondary, with students selecting one language as a focus from Year 9 onwards. The Hong Kong Award for Young People runs for older secondary students alongside FOBISIA Games participation, Model United Nations, and co-curricular service work.
Present Day
The school today operates across three campuses within Discovery Bay. The Early Years campus sits opposite Discovery Bay Plaza, purpose-designed for children aged three to five and home to the Forest and Beach Schools programme. The Primary and Secondary campus, the largest of the three, centres on an all-weather sports pitch and houses a 25-metre heated pool, the Globe Theatre, STEAM suites, design and technology labs, science rooms, and a library. A dedicated Sixth Form centre at Discovery Bay's North Plaza gives Years 12 and 13 their own learning base, with access to main campus facilities.
The school draws students from more than 50 nationalities and carries a current roll of around 1,000. It remains owned by the Hong Kong Resort Company, the successor entity to the HKRI developers who commissioned it more than four decades ago. It is the oldest international school on Lantau Island, and its history has never been separate from the story of the community around it.