Professional teachers, diverse experiences, and solid English foundation for students

Toi Shan Association Primary School attaches great importance to the development of biliteracy and trilingualism, helping students master communication skills in Cantonese and Mandarin. This year, the school has further deepened English education, integrated high-quality educational resources, equipped with nine foreign teachers, created an immersive English learning environment, and responded to the language ability cultivation that parents are most concerned about. Principal Tang Minyi believes that language education should start from an early age. In the face of the ever-changing world situation, resources should be expanded in adverse circumstances to better equip students to cope with future challenges. The nine foreign teachers are not only language teachers, but also cultural disseminators and companions for students' growth. In this vibrant and warm school, students not only gain solid English skills, but also develop an open and inclusive mind and the confidence to express themselves.

The school-running organization strongly supports the establishment of a high-quality foreign teacher team

The Hong Kong Taishan Chamber of Commerce, a school-running organization, has invested NT$2.5 million this year to help the school form a team of high-quality foreign teachers to create an all-round English environment. Teacher Lin Yuxin, head of the English subject, said: "In order for the nine foreign teachers to maximize their teaching effectiveness, a clear division of labor is crucial. The school clearly demarcates the responsibilities of local teachers and foreign teachers: local teachers closely follow the curriculum requirements of the Education Bureau and focus on English grammar teaching, academic supervision, and test preparation and other related teaching to ensure that students have a solid foundation in English; while foreign teachers focus on creating immersive English usage scenarios, guiding students to learn in activities, building confidence in communicating in English, and getting rid of the fear of facing foreigners."

The above division of labor model has brought significant results. Now when you walk into Toi Shan Association Primary School, you can see foreign teachers everywhere, and the whole school is filled with a strong English atmosphere. From the moment students walk into the school, they can be greeted by foreign teachers at the main entrance and start a full-day English experience; when school is over, there are foreign teachers to lead the students after school. Foreign teachers participate in campus life throughout the day. Whether it is classroom teaching, lunch breaks, or after-school activities, you can see them interacting with students. Even neighbors often see foreign teachers communicating with students in English on the way home from school. This ubiquitous language environment makes students gradually accustomed to expressing themselves in English.

Implementing the three-class teacher system to enrich English learning experience

In terms of teaching arrangements, all classes from Primary 1 to Primary 3 implement a three-class teacher system with local teachers and foreign teachers. This year, a trial has been conducted to arrange foreign teachers to join the classes in Primary 1 English and technical subjects to help increase students' vocabulary and conversational skills. The school also carries out a variety of English activities every day. The lunchtime English cafe is one of the most popular projects among students. Different foreign teachers take turns leading students to carry out interactive games and practice English in a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere. Even if they are not foreign teachers who teach directly, students can get familiar with them through daily activities. Basically, all students in the school know all the foreign teachers, which greatly increases students’ opportunities for contact with foreign languages.

The school's large-scale activities are an important platform for foreign teachers to display their talents. During Halloween, the school held a Harry Potter themed party. Foreign teachers showed off their talents: a teacher who was good at art design was responsible for the Christmas decoration in the auditorium, creating a magical environment; a teacher who was good at singing and dancing led the students to carry out interactive games, filling the whole party with laughter. These activities not only enrich students’ campus life, but also allow students to improve their English skills in real-life scenarios.

Organize cultural exploration trips to develop cross-cultural communication skills

The nine foreign teachers come from different countries and regions. The school launches the Adventure of the Month - Cultural Discoveries activity every month, in which one foreign teacher takes turns introducing his own country. The teachers brought food, pictures and videos from their hometown, explained the local climate, customs and special activities in detail, and enthusiastically conveyed their hometown culture to the students. At the same time, students will also take the initiative to introduce Chinese traditional culture such as the twenty-four solar terms to foreign teachers to promote understanding and respect between different cultures.

Create a Reading Camp and actively participate in reading activities

In order to make English reading more attractive, the school creates a unique Reading Camp. Different from the traditional library reading model, the school sets up a warm tent, and foreign teachers and students walk into the tent together to carry out reading activities in an interactive experience. English readings become vivid in an interesting environment, like a wonderful "campfire party", allowing students to shift from passive reading to active participation. The participation of many foreign teachers also ensures that every student can receive sufficient attention and guidance and fully experience the joy of reading.

In-depth participation in interdisciplinary teaching and investment in students’ English education

The school breaks the limitation that foreign teachers are only responsible for English classes and allows them to be deeply involved in interdisciplinary teaching. For example, in the first- and second-grade science subject "Forest Course", foreign teachers will participate in various learning activities, such as making wooden cars, egg waffles, hamburgers, etc., to learn English from daily life. In various English competitions, English dramas and other projects, foreign teachers also actively participate in guidance and collaborate with local teachers.

Foreign teachers also actively participate in English subject and interdisciplinary curriculum design, proactively share teaching experiences, and collaborate to design diverse English activities, demonstrating that they work with local teachers to promote teaching innovation and professional growth. This high sense of integration makes foreign teachers not only classroom teachers, but also members of the school family. They gain a sense of accomplishment and belonging in their work, and are more willing to invest in the education of students.

Pay attention to the connection between early childhood and primary school and use English confidently

The school attaches great importance to the transition from kindergarten to primary school and has created a series of adaptive courses tailored for kindergarten students who are about to enter primary school. Starting from K2 and K3 grades, the school has successively sent out invitations to kindergarten students, inviting them to attend Cambridge English classes on Saturdays to familiarize themselves with the English teaching model at the primary school level in advance. In addition, the school also organizes parent-child adventure activities, allowing parents and children to participate in interactive projects such as maze exploration. Foreign teachers participate in the entire process and guide parents and children to communicate in English. For students who are about to enter elementary school, the school will open a transition class in August, which does not require students to write, but uses simple English instructions to help students quickly adapt to the English environment.

Language learning lies in life. Master English communication tools

In just a few months since the school started, the school has already carried out dozens of colorful English-related activities. The integration of foreign teachers has made these activities successful. The changes in the students are even more obvious to all: students who were originally timid and unwilling to speak are now able to actively communicate with foreign teachers in English; first-year students can already consciously interact in English in English classes. Principal Tang understands well that the core of language learning lies in application. Only by allowing students to dare to speak and be willing to listen can they truly master English as a communication tool.

Deepen English elements and achieve remarkable educational results

Looking forward to the future, the school plans to open international cultural classes, emphasize English teaching elements in more subjects such as mathematics and science, and further strengthen the English environment of the whole school. The school's goal is to enable students not to be afraid of English and to be able to use English confidently and fluently to communicate with others, laying a solid foundation for them to enter middle school, university and even the wider world in the future. The realization of this goal is inseparable from the strong support of the school-founding group "Hong Kong Taishan Chamber of Commerce" - it is with sufficient resource investment that the school can hire high-quality foreign teachers and carry out rich teaching activities; in addition, it is also inseparable from the trust of the principal and the joint efforts of the teaching team to continuously optimize the teaching model and harvest significant educational results.