Art inspires dreams · Programming the future Art educates self-confidence · Programming inspires creative thinking

Christian Alliance S.Y. Yeh Memorial Primary School Since its founding, the school has adhered to the clear direction of running a school with art education as its original intention, specialized education as its foundation, and innovation and technology as its driving force. It uses art to cultivate self-confidence and beauty, and programming to inspire logic and problem-solving, so that every child can find his or her own bright spots and shine on the community stage. Principal Luo Jianyang said: "Students are like blank sheets of paper. The mission of education is to color them, accumulate experiences, and discover highlights, so that every child can identify themselves, have confidence, and see the future."

1. Art education: shine on the stage and nourish growth with art

In the early days of the school's establishment, the school focused on the art year and implemented specialized education, making art not only a skill, but also a bridge that builds self-confidence, unites family and school, and connects the community.

The school regularly holds variety shows and concerts, allowing every child to shine on the stage. Earlier, the school co-organized the "27th Yuen Long Arts Festival" and collaborated with many kindergartens in the district to present "Children's Heart Moves the Earth - Adventure Music Journey in 12 Countries". The concert corresponded to 12 countries in 12 months, and the school team performed the unique styles of each region. Through the live music performance of 10 Yip Xiao ensembles, the wonderful rhythmic dance of the kindergarten, and the artistic performance of the Yip Xiao art school team, the audience was taken on a journey to 12 countries. This feat stems from the school’s deep care for the students in Tin Shui Wai. In just three months of preparation and rehearsal, as many as 400 students gathered on the same stage to perform. The scene was grand and cohesive, attracting dozens of guests from outside the school, principals of primary and secondary schools and society.
Hui Xianda devoted himself to witnessing and sharing the joy of music together. Let children gain a sense of achievement and happiness on the professional stage and demonstrate the profound strength of Ye Xiao's art education.

Cultivate soft power through art and witness personal growth through display

Principal Luo shared: "Twenty years ago, Tin Shui Wai was regarded as a remote 'isolated island'. Faced with a lack of resources and external prejudice, we firmly believe that it is particularly important to improve self-confidence. Through the development of music, sports, and arts, students can achieve significant growth through experience in a short period of time." The school firmly believes that art cultivates not only performance, but also key soft skills such as perseverance, communication, and collaboration. From carrying instruments, setting up the venue, to rehearsing repeatedly, this not only cultivated their sense of ownership and achievement, but also united the team's goals and jointly pursued excellence. In practicing over and over again, students need to work hard to achieve results. This experience of being willing to sacrifice and work together allows students to hone key soft skills such as perseverance, interpersonal communication and collaboration skills while pursuing perfect results. This moving movement not only lies in the sweetness of the music, but also witnesses the personal growth of the students. What they demonstrate is not only the performing arts, but also the values ​​and spirit behind it.

Nourish children’s growth and promote collaboration between home and school

Art education not only nourishes children, but also serves as a bridge between home and school. From the early days when the school was founded, parent participation was average. Nowadays, parents strongly support art activities. Every concert or exhibition is not only full of seats, but also parents hold up support signs, write encouragement cards to cheer for their children, serve as volunteers, and build together. Over the years, the school has actively created multiple platforms for students to broaden their knowledge, such as participating in art workshops, reporting good news at community festivals, conducting community and commercial performances, and going overseas for music and art exchanges. At the same time, the school also invites parents to witness the moments when students shine. Through outings and performances again and again, parents witness their children's growth and transformation, broadening their children's artistic horizons, thus establishing their recognition of art education and connecting them with learning.
School walks side by side.

Promote cross-cultural art exchanges and expand your knowledge of the world

The school actively promotes cross-cultural art exchanges and receives visits from international orchestras from Singapore, South Korea, Japan, etc. This year, it is even honored to welcome the famous handbell troupe of Hakuou University in Japan to the school to build a bridge of friendship through music. In addition, the regular music and visual arts courses of Ip Primary School also integrate world art, such as the music characteristics and culture of China, Japan, Africa, Europe and other places, to broaden students' international horizons. The visual arts department also connects the study of world art and culture to guide students to understand the artistic characteristics and artistic creation ideas of different places.

Macro planning course to meet the needs accurately

Since its opening, the school has implemented a "specialized education" policy, allowing teachers to plan formal courses in their professional fields. Because the team is familiar with the development of the entire vertical and horizontal axes and understands the uniqueness of children, they can accurately use different teaching methods. Teachers Liang Huimin and Wu Yuanguang, the directors of the music department, pointed out that for example, the music department in the junior primary school uses the Ofu teaching method to enrich music experience; it makes good use of picture books and rhythm to support abstract to concrete music teaching, while the upper grade students use e-learning and software programs to focus on the creation and application of music to inspire students' musical potential and creativity.

Directors of the visual arts department, Director Yap Yaxin and teacher Yu Xiaoping, mentioned that the visual arts department uses unit-based inquiry learning, allowing students to explore through data collection and skill research, and build interest through game interactions. For example, combining the theme of "Wetland Park" to guide students to think and then use skills to create, it is not only the application of knowledge, but also the integration of humanities and values. The course will also incorporate elements of artificial intelligence (AI), such as using AI to create three-dimensional teapots to teach students how to master technology.

In addition, teachers conduct class research every year to deconstruct teaching difficulties and delve into teaching methods in line with the school's direction and the needs of students to ensure that they keep pace with the times and have both depth and breadth.

Break down learning barriers and realize active learning and application

The school implements cross-arts courses to break down learning barriers so that different learning areas can complement each other and allow students to learn and apply them. For example, the sixth-grade "Music Animation Theater" combines Chinese idiom stories, uses the skills learned in the visual arts department to create stop-motion animation, and also adds exclusive music according to the characteristics of the characters. This program spans the fields of Chinese, visual arts, music and technology. It not only plants the seeds of cross-media creation for students, but also has career planning significance. Principal Luo and the junior college team pointed out that the essence of creation is to solve problems. Students can exercise their creativity and logical thinking through repeated attempts, and realize practical learning and application in their works.

In addition, the school will also arrange for senior students to serve as "art ambassadors", go to kindergartens to guide creations, and bring the results to the stage of the "Yuen Long Arts Festival". This process of giving back to the community not only applies what we have learned, but is also a kind of values ​​education, cultivating students' sense of responsibility, leadership and leadership, and sublimating art education to the practice of moral education.

Training sports professionals to enrich learning experience

The school launches the "Sports and Arts Talent Training Program" to systematically cultivate artistic seeds from general to specialized. Activity Director Zheng Yunting pointed out that in the second grade, teachers select students according to their different talents to enter each music and art school team. They continue to receive systematic and step-by-step training from junior to senior primary school, and promote students' enthusiasm through clear prospects and goals for upgrading. Taking the visual arts school team as an example, students in the junior high school "Art Kids" will be exposed to different creative art techniques. Those who perform well in class will be smoothly promoted to the upper primary school "Art Team" to serve as art ambassadors and continue to explore more different media or creative methods. High school students will serve as "art ambassadors" and enter kindergartens to pass on the joy of art, sublimating art education into the cultivation of moral character and responsibility.

Looking forward to the future, the school will continue to expand diversified art categories and add sand painting and pottery courses. In terms of music, in addition to the existing choir, percussion orchestra, handbell team, and recorder team, it also plans to integrate wind and string resources, form an orchestra, and develop Chinese drum music and Chinese orchestra, so that students can experience the profound heritage of Chinese culture while learning and participating. This year, the school invited professional art directors from Disney to provide training to students and participate in performances at Disney's 20th anniversary celebration to comprehensively enrich students' learning experience. It also cooperated with overseas institutions to provide students with the opportunity to participate in international performances and exchanges, and comprehensively improve their artistic literacy.

2. Innovation and Technology Education: Global Certification Children’s Programming Enlightens the Future

As the first school in the world to receive Matatalab Showcase School certification, Principal Luo is committed to building a step-by-step programming teaching system to cultivate students' logical thinking and problem-solving abilities. As early as four years ago, Principal Luo had contacted kindergartens in the district to organize unplugged programming courses for children. Through thematic exploration, K2 and K3 students can understand programming, allowing children to understand programming logic in games, and achieving seamless connection between kindergarten and primary school. We also co-organize different competitions, such as the International Youth Innovation and Technology Education Competition and the Matata World Greater Bay Area Unplugged Challenge, allowing them to practice what they have learned from the competitions.

At the primary school level, spiral teaching is adopted in grades one to three, which teaches programming concepts and core instructions in depth, and then systematically and gradually lays the foundation through robot operation. Teacher Wu Yongshi, who is responsible for the school's programming education, pointed out: "When students operate the Matata robot, they will fail if the sequence is wrong. They need to find the problem and then correct the error. This not only trains their thinking, logic and skills, but also cultivates their habit of 'stop, look and think', which is the cultivation of problem-solving ability."

Discover elite talents and win awards through competitions

Since primary school, the school has used grade-level competitions to identify elites, build a programming talent pool, provide expert training, and give students the opportunity to showcase their talents. Over the years, the school has won numerous awards. This year, the school led students to Hangzhou to participate in the WRC World Robot Competition, and currently ranks 12th in the country. Elite second- and third-year representatives also participated in multiple programming competitions across Hong Kong, such as the Matata Football Game, Vincibot Road Safety Programming Competition, and the Panda Bamboo Forest Robot Competition, and won multiple championships and gold medals with outstanding performance.

The school also has a "Ye Xiao Moto" team for grades four to six, focusing on VEX IQ and drone racing. Recently, students won the championship of the "Kuang Chi Cup" and the runner-up of the "Feng Ling Cup". It not only gives them room to perform, but also broadens their knowledge from the competition. They even cooperate with other schools to train communication skills and attitude towards others, so that they can show good moral character and Ye Xiao spirit even in unfavorable situations.

Cultivate problem-solving skills and contribute to society with science and technology

Principal Luo firmly believes that the core value of innovation and technology is to make good use of what has been learned to give back to society, so that technology can truly contribute to the community. Last year, students participated in the "Global STEAM Public Speaking Competition" known as the "Youth Nobel Prize" and won the championship with the "AI Auto-Injection Master". They were invited to Cambridge and Stanford University to communicate with innovation and technology elites from various countries, expand their international horizons, and train their English reporting skills.

This year, the school deepened the core value of innovation and technology and guided students to build empathy. Teacher Ng Wing-sze led the students to develop a layered fire detection system, as well as heartbeat alarms and automated external defibrillator bracelets based on the Tai Po fire incident and heart disease, which ranks first in the world's deaths. This will increase the public's awareness of fire prevention and health concerns. They will not only learn to think from the perspective of others, but also empathize with others, demonstrate their global citizen responsibilities, and cultivate their logical thinking and problem-solving abilities. At present, the works have been shortlisted for the finals and have the opportunity to show the results on the stage.

The new course "AI Tea Therapist" provides an in-depth understanding of traditional Chinese medicine

The school is launching an "AI Tea Therapist" course, which combines AI and traditional Chinese medicine diagnosis and uses AI to detect the color of the tongue, allowing students to understand the relationship between tongue color and body constitution, and inspire their interest in traditional Chinese medicine through the experience. Currently, the course is still in the pilot stage. Teacher Wu adheres to a pragmatic attitude and hopes to conduct pre-tests and then implement it steadily to ensure that students learn knowledge, skills, values, attitudes and qualities.

Message from the principal

Art gives children confidence and warmth, while innovation and technology give children logic and future. Christian Alliance S.Y. Yeh Memorial Primary School will continue to cultivate talents for the community with specialized education and artistic and creative wings, so that every child can find value, achieve self-achievement and shine in the future at Ye Xiao!