English education progresses step by step, finding the goal and achieving success

POH 80th Anniversary Tang Ying Hei College's English education has always been the core pillar of the school's curriculum system. It is integrated into the campus cultural concept and the overall school-running framework. From teacher team building to curriculum design, from classroom teaching to extracurricular development, it embodies the spiritual value of Wang Xizhi's "Lanting Collection Preface" - "When all talents are together, be happy with what you encounter", it also guides the development direction of English education. Principal Lee WaiWe hope that in the process of learning English, every student can not only gain knowledge, but also experience the joy of growth and achieve a "quick and self-sufficient" learning state.

Construct a team of professional teachers to enrich classroom teaching experience

The core of education lies in "people". The long-term and stable high-quality teaching of English subjects is inseparable from a team of professional teachers who have been working hard for many years. Principal Lee Wai said: "Most of the English teachers have been working in the school for more than ten or even twenty years. The team is extremely stable. They have not only accumulated rich classroom teaching experience, but also continuously optimized the curriculum framework and teaching methods based on the actual needs of students, so that English teaching is always close to the students' learning rhythm." At the same time, in addition to the foreign English teachers equipped by the Education Bureau, the school has received support from the school sponsoring group and hired an additional one. This not only reduces the classroom teacher-student ratio, gives students more opportunities to practice speaking, but also becomes a promoter of English activities. They went into every corner of the campus, shot interesting English short films, and designed rich interactive sessions in the English corner to encourage students to develop their English confidence.

Implement group teaching system to achieve the goal of "top-notch and guaranteed bottom"

In order to allow each student to receive appropriate attention in their studies, the school implements a group teaching system. The English subject will be divided into five teaching groups based on students' English proficiency, allowing teachers to better pay attention to students' learning progress: for students with weak foundation, teachers can slow down the teaching pace appropriately and break down knowledge points to ensure that they can keep up with the course; for students with better foundation, additional advanced teaching materials will be provided to supplement and expand knowledge points to achieve the teaching goal of "top-notch and bottom-line". This method of teaching students in accordance with their aptitude not only takes into account the individual differences of students, but also allows each student to see his or her own progress at a suitable learning pace.

With ability improvement as the core, master various English abilities

The school always puts the improvement of students' ability as the core in curriculum design, and pays attention to the connection with the high school stage and even the needs of further education. Starting from the secondary level, the school has consciously laid the foundation for students' ability to deal with DSE in the future. For example, in Integrated Skills, teachers will gradually infiltrate this type of practice into students, so that students can gradually adapt to reading and dictation tasks during their three years of junior high school study.

In the selection of teaching materials, the school applies the principle of "interest guidance" and purchases English versions of reading materials that students are familiar with, such as the English version of the comics of "Doraemon", so that students can quickly build a sense of intimacy with English and stimulate their interest in reading. At the same time, the teaching materials will also be differentiated for students of different levels: students with high English proficiency in junior high schools will use more difficult teaching materials to speed up the accumulation of knowledge; students with lower English proficiency will use teaching materials that consolidate the basics to ensure that they can solidly master core knowledge points.

Organize overseas study tours to explore the world in English

Overseas study tours are the highlight of the school’s English development activities and an important bridge between classroom knowledge and the real world. The school's study tour groups adhere to the principles of "learning-oriented, interest-oriented, and planning linkage" and are closely integrated with students' hobbies and plans for further studies. For example, in 2024, students will be organized to go to the University of Cambridge in the UK to experience music courses and learn interactively with university professors. Because of this experience, some students have determined their goal of "getting into Cambridge"; in 2025, they will go to Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic, and arrange activities such as visits to BMW car factories and live sketches. They will have a deeper understanding of music, art, engineering, technology and other fields, and plant the seeds for career planning.

The school plans to organize students to go to Australia during the coming summer vacation, and will arrange at least one study tour to English-speaking countries every year in the future. Principal Lee Wai said: "Before each study tour, teachers will guide students to set learning goals; during the study tour, students are required to keep English diaries and complete small projects; after the study tour, a sharing session is organized for students to summarize their gains. We hope to transform English from an 'examination tool' to a 'bridge to understand the world.'"

Immersive English environment, diverse activities to absorb English

The school creates an immersive English environment for students through various forms. The English Corner will be open regularly during lunch time every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Teachers will prepare various board games. During the game playing, students need to understand English rules, use English communication strategies, and unconsciously improve their listening and speaking skills. The school hopes to help students develop the habit of regular communication in English, especially for students whose family English environment is weak, to make up for their lack of extracurricular English input.

Every year, the school also regularly carries out three themed English activities, such as booth games designed in conjunction with the Education Bureau's "Smart Quotes" project. During the process of participating in the games, students are exposed to practical English expressions and can also experience the fun of English learning. In addition, during festivals such as Halloween and Christmas, teachers will lead students to carry out themed activities: during Halloween, they will practice speaking through the "Trick or Treat" game, and at Christmas, role-playing will be used to enhance the fun of English interaction.

At the same time, the school has also established an "English Ambassador" team - members are recommended by teachers, voluntarily signed up by students, and selected through interviews. They are divided into chief and deputy chief positions, and are responsible for assisting teachers in organizing English Corner, holiday theme activities, etc. At every large-scale school event (such as open day), the English Ambassador will also be responsible for English reception, interviews and other tasks; at the English morning meeting every Thursday, the English Ambassador will also be responsible for hosting, sharing, publicity activities, etc. The school hopes to make English learning a campus trend through "students influencing students".

All-round teaching connection enables students to develop their English strengths

The transition from primary school to middle school is a critical transition period for students in their English learning. In the summer before entering middle school, the school will launch an "adaptation course". English teachers will contact students in advance to introduce the characteristics and learning methods of junior high school English courses and consolidate basic knowledge. After the start of school, students with high English proficiency will use advanced textbooks and participate in "English recitation training" led by foreign English teachers to further improve their language literacy. Students with lower English proficiency will be taught in small groups, and the teacher will flexibly adjust the teaching pace to ensure that they have a solid grasp of basic knowledge.

Entering the high school stage, in addition to continuing to deepen various top-notch guarantee measures for junior high schools inside and outside the classroom, the school also provides top-notch/reinforcement courses on Saturdays and long holidays to students in need. Students in the sixth form need to participate in intensive English training on Saturdays, covering all areas of DSE listening, speaking, reading and writing, and making special breakthroughs for exam difficulties. All these prepare students to enter universities/colleges and take TOFEL or IELTS.

Establish a perfect reward system to make students’ efforts visible

In order to encourage students to persist in learning English, the school has established a comprehensive reward system and received full financial support from the Board of Directors of Pok Oi Hospital. In terms of basic awards, the school has a "Best Improvement Award" for the three subjects of Chinese, English and Mathematics, which rewards the five students with the greatest improvement in the whole grade. For the English subject, the school has also established an additional "English Learning Process Progress Award" to specifically reward students who have significantly improved in any aspect of English, listening, speaking, reading and writing, and encourage them to pay attention to the learning process rather than just focusing on results. In addition, the school also launched the "English Reading Award Program". Students who complete a certain number of English reading materials and submit reading reports can receive rewards. These awards are not only material encouragement, but also allow students to feel that their efforts are seen and affirmed.