Teach students in accordance with their aptitude, promote hierarchical English teaching, and use diverse activities to enjoy learning English

G.C.C.I.T.K.D. Cheong Wong Wai Primary School has been sparing no effort in practicing high-efficiency English teaching, using the "small class teaching" model to take care of learning diversity, and also implementing a number of curriculum development plans to comprehensively improve learning and teaching effectiveness. Principal Leung Wai-kee leads the English subject team to make flexible use of different teaching strategies to create a strong English context on campus so that students can immerse themselves in it, gradually fall in love with English, and integrate it into their daily lives.

Designing school-based English courses to cater for learning needs in different layers

Each student has his own learning process, so the teaching team specially designs school-based tiered English courses according to different ability levels. Principal Liang explained: “When planning courses, the teaching team will divide the teaching materials on the same subject into three levels: ‘stars’, ‘sun’ and ‘moon’. Each level of teaching materials has different types and numbers of questions. In English classes, teachers will also carry out corresponding teaching activities for different learning groups to help students achieve learning goals step by step.” The hierarchical teaching strategy allows students with higher abilities to challenge themselves and exercise higher-order thinking; those with lower abilities can consolidate their knowledge base and promote learning motivation through successful experiences.

At the same time, the teaching team has clear teaching policies for different stages of growth, aiming to equip students with the skills they need in their growth. At the junior primary level, the curriculum focuses on stimulating students’ interest in learning English and establishing solid reading and writing skills. The classroom implements an activity-based teaching model and introduces the primary school literacy program Space Town organized by the Education Bureau. The classroom will systematically conduct guided reading and phonics exercises to improve the reading and writing abilities of junior primary students. At the same time, independent learning, reflection and evaluation are promoted, and high-efficiency learning habits are initially established.

At the upper primary stage, the teaching team aims to "comprehensively master listening, speaking, reading and writing skills while learning to learn", and implements the Keys2 program developed by the Foreign English Teachers Group of the Education Bureau at the school. Classes will use games to allow students to read articles of different genres and learn more English vocabulary and sentence patterns. This can not only increase their interest in reading, but also master different reading strategies, and improve their English reading, writing, listening and speaking skills through diversified learning experiences. At the same time, teachers have also begun to train students in note-taking skills, and have added self-evaluation elements to most of their assignments to help students improve their self-study and self-examination abilities, review their learning skills, and gradually transition to secondary school studies.

Promote interdisciplinary learning and construct high-level knowledge

The school believes that the key to making students fall in love with reading is to establish their reading motivation and interest, so as to effectively cultivate regular reading habits. In terms of promoting reading culture, the school actively promotes the "extensive reading" strategy. In addition to ordering English e-reading platforms, it also actively cooperates with different professional organizations and uses different learning areas as themes to cultivate students' high-level reading skills and expand their ideological fields. For example, this school year, the school participated in the Otis Elevator Company's "Little Engineer" program and purchased STEM-related books and augmented reality (AR) books to provide students with diversified reading resources and further enhance their interest in reading.

English is not only closely related to daily life, but also closely related to different fields of study. In view of this, the school has been promoting interdisciplinary learning, combining English with different subjects, so that students can appreciate the close connection between the study of Chinese and other subjects, thereby stimulating learning motivation. The English subject collaborates regularly with STEAM subjects to integrate English into science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics learning, such as making electronic cars, Micro:bit fruit piano, etc., which not only enriches English vocabulary, but also effectively trains students' innovative thinking and enhances their interest in innovation, technology and innovation.

In addition, the school participates in the "Financial Management School Project with Talent and Morality" organized by the Chinese University of Hong Kong and incorporates financial management teaching elements into English classes. Principal Liang pointed out, "English knowledge is important, but the school attaches more importance to cultivating students' correct values. Therefore, school-based courses related to money education are specially designed in English classes to teach how to use money correctly to buy gifts, and infiltrate values education, such as the concept of 'the heart is more important than the amount of the gift.' Senior primary school students will regularly watch themed educational videos focusing on values such as appreciation, cherishment, gratitude, perseverance, etc., and then build a positive attitude towards life through group discussions, reflection and sharing."

Make good use of e-learning and interactive learning is gradually showing results

Entering the new era of information technology, the school actively promotes electronic chemistry and teaching models to enhance learning effectiveness. Principal Liang said bluntly: "English, as the second language for most students, requires more context and time for immersion in order to master the grammar and logic of the foreign language, and to build up enough vocabulary to understand the learning content. However, traditional teaching is relatively one-way, and teachers often cannot understand each student's learning situation in real time, so we are using the characteristics of e-learning to promote interactive learning." Students use tablets to preview or answer questions in real time in class. The teaching team can grasp the learning situation through real-time data and make appropriate classroom adjustments. Moreover, the e-learning platform is more interesting than traditional preview worksheets. Students can preview different units through interactive games, platform reading, etc., which greatly enhances learning motivation and makes learning more effective.

In addition, students have the opportunity to have English classes in the English room every week, taught by local and foreign teachers, as well as classroom assistants. Classes are conducted in small groups, with peers providing healthy competition by giving each other pointers and observing each other. Teachers also use "Quizlet" teaching materials from time to time to allow each group to compete through flashcards, as well as various games and tests, and learn a large amount of vocabulary, which helps improve writing creativity and expression.

Create extracurricular English scenes and integrate English into life

Outside the classroom, diversified learning experiences can further develop students' unique potential. Therefore, the school actively encourages students to participate in different competitions to apply what they learn in daily life, and to express their learning results to the public and create successful experiences. Principal Liang said: "We lead students to participate in the short film production competition (Filmit) every year. Under the guidance of foreign English teachers, students write scripts and produce short films. They have even won the Silver Award for Best Overall Film. Moreover, students have also been invited by Radio Television Hong Kong to record English stories for the program "The Sunday Smile", and their wonderful performance has been highly praised." The English subject group also promotes "Reading" Club", foreign English teachers lead students to read different novels, including classics and new novels, using stories to arouse students' interest in reading and learn more advanced reading skills.

The school also takes advantage of different festivals and special moments to organize a variety of English learning activities. For example, during Halloween, the school held special celebrations. Students would dress up carefully and go to the auditorium to play games with foreign English teachers, learning new words related to the festival. The teachers would also distribute candies, creating a relaxed and interesting learning atmosphere. In addition, the English subject team has also cooperated with the Chinese University of Hong Kong and participated in the Quality Teaching Fund Project to integrate social-emotional learning into English courses and conduct a series of teaching activities to cultivate students' positive values, attitudes and motivations.