English Empowerment Education Creates Tomorrow’s Leaders

"Tomorrow's leaders, today's leaders" is the educational philosophy that TWGHs Tsoi Wing Sing Primary School has been adhering to for many years. The school understands that language proficiency is a critical cornerstone in cultivating future leaders. Principal Liang Dunyu emphasized that English serves as an important bridge for students to connect to the world. The core goal of the school is not only to impart language knowledge, but also to establish scientific learning methods, develop good study habits, and stimulate the motivation for active learning. Through multi-dimensional support such as curriculum system, diverse activities, and e-learning, the school system cultivates students' comprehensive English abilities, helps them build self-confidence and character, expand their international horizons, and lay a solid foundation for future learning.

Integrate English into different subjects to build a solid foundation for English learning

The school has built a systematic English teaching model, using English as the medium to promote the absorption of interdisciplinary knowledge, and achieve the dual consolidation of language ability and subject foundation. In regular teaching, mathematics and science are taught in English; subjects such as visual arts, physical education, and music also incorporate rich English elements. For example, the visual arts department introduces foreign artists and their works, and the assessment papers and assessment methods for music are all in English, which not only conforms to the language attributes of the subject, but also allows students to immerse themselves in foreign culture and broaden their international horizons.

In terms of special courses, STEAM classes and travel and citizenship classes also run through the English learning concept. The former involves content related to English scientific experiments, while the latter focuses on global issues such as nuclear energy and refugees. Supporting English learning materials are provided, and students are encouraged to express their opinions in both Chinese and English after reading. They can even conduct in-depth discussions in English with foreign teachers to cultivate the ability to think from multiple perspectives. Principal Liang pointed out that solid English proficiency can build a smooth bridge to further education, allowing students to quickly adapt to the learning pace of middle school and laying a solid foundation for long-term development.

Innovative reading strategies to promote English reading culture

Reading is the core way to accumulate knowledge. The school has innovatively developed the "Multiple Reading Approach" to break the traditional linear teaching sequence of words-sentences-articles. For example, in the lower grades, the "Picture Walk" reading teaching method is used to first help students become familiar with the overall framework and core materials of the article, and establish a preliminary understanding of the article; then guide students to grasp the main idea of ​​the article; then focus on training students' ability to use context to analyze vocabulary and infer the development of the article; and finally, in-depth dismantling of sentence structure, grammatical rules and vocabulary usage, using higher-order thinking training to improve language skills.

Principal Liang said: "Students will inevitably encounter unfamiliar words in their daily lives. The ability to infer semantics by grasping the context is the key to improving reading efficiency." In classroom teaching, teachers focus on guiding students to observe grammatical rules, sentence differences and other details in paragraphs. Starting from the first grade, students continue to train students' observation and knowledge internalization abilities, and gradually master the core skills of in-depth understanding of articles and scientific elaboration of semantics. When students can use reading strategies to accurately understand articles, they can stimulate their interest in learning English.

In order to further promote the culture of English reading, in addition to the regular 423 World Reading Day activities, the school also held a school-wide reading kick-off ceremony to officially kick off the semester reading activities; and innovatively launched the "Birthday Book" program, where students can receive English books as exclusive gifts on their birthdays, allowing reading to accompany growth, effectively stimulating students' enthusiasm for reading, and continuously improving their sense of accomplishment and self-confidence in English reading.

Linkage between extracurricular and extracurricular activities to improve comprehensive English ability

As a member of the English Curriculum Development Group of the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Joint School, Principal Leung believes that English learning should not be limited to the classroom, but should extend to all scenarios in students’ lives. The school builds a diverse English activity system to allow students to improve their language application abilities in real interactions. The school regularly holds "English Fun Day", allowing students to "learn through play" and practice English in a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere; three foreign teachers also specially lead English drama activities, allowing students to strengthen their English skills through script reading.

At the same time, the school offers special courses in English football and English rugby, adopting the "expert entry" model to allow students to naturally use English in sports communication. Last year, the school organized an English hand puppet team to encourage students to write their own scripts and perform stories through hand puppets. In addition, the school actively organizes students to participate in the "Hong Kong Battle of Books", English writing competitions, etc., providing a broad platform for them to demonstrate their English proficiency, allowing them to use English effectively and build their confidence in English.

In order to further strengthen the English learning atmosphere, the school selects students with outstanding English skills and love for English to serve as English ambassadors, responsible for assisting in organizing English games. It also implements the "Reading Buddies" program, in which senior students lead junior students to study English storybooks together. These activities cultivate students' leadership and sense of responsibility, build a positive campus English learning ecosystem through peer assistance, and comprehensively improve students' language proficiency.

Keep pace with the times and make good use of technology to create an efficient English learning ecosystem

Education should be student-centered, deeply integrating technology and teaching to maximize teaching effectiveness. The school actively promotes innovative technology and English teaching, stimulates students' active learning awareness through multiple interactive forms, and enhances the learning experience.

For senior students, the school implements a "bring your own device" (BYOD) policy, allowing students to bring iPads to participate in classroom learning; the teaching team all has solid information technology application capabilities and uses electronic platforms such as Padlet, Wordwall, and Quizzes as regular teaching tools to break the limitations of classroom time and space, allowing students to carry out independent learning anytime and anywhere, and achieving a seamless connection between classroom learning and after-school development.

Looking to the future, the school plans to further deepen the integration of information technology and English teaching, focus on exploring the application of artificial intelligence, digital education and other fields, and continue to enrich teaching forms and content, so that English teaching will always keep pace with the times and continuously improve learning efficiency and effectiveness.

Overseas study tours to broaden knowledge and build bridges for international exchanges

The school actively carries out overseas English study tours to create a real English learning environment for students. For example, the Shanghai exchange group organized last year used English as the communication language throughout the entire process, allowing students to communicate in English with local students and practice their English expression skills in an all-round way. The school also led English ambassadors and environmental ambassadors to Canada to conduct study tours on environmental protection and ecological research. They went to campsites to experience tree climbing, campfire parties and other activities; they also visited salmon farms to learn about ecological conservation. After the study tour, students need to share what they saw, heard and learned in English to improve their English listening, speaking and application skills and communication confidence.

Precise support for the transition from primary school to primary school to master the English learning model

The school has launched a comprehensive transition support to primary school, and created the "Twinkle Program" for kindergarten students who are interested in enrolling. It has set up three stages of experiential courses, covering English picture book activities, English mathematics enlightenment, STEAM English experience, etc., in a relaxed and stress-free way, allowing children to experience the fun of English and have a preliminary understanding of the learning model at the primary school level.

For primary school freshmen who have entered primary school, the school provides reading pens to assist in school-based English course learning, and lowers the learning threshold through various forms such as word reading, interesting article reading, and interactive games. There is no summative assessment in the first semester of first grade, but a variety of activities to cultivate students’ interest in English and basic communication skills. The school also implements the “Reading Bag Program” to equip students with English magazines, picture books, and reading pens to encourage them to read independently.