Diversified curriculum-oriented in-depth learning extends students’ English learning areas

Ho Ming Primary School (Sponsored by Sik Sik Yuen) Adhering to the educational philosophy of "All For Children, For All Children, For Children All", we are committed to providing students with comprehensive and up-to-date teaching courses, and through diversified and all-round learning activities, we expand students' knowledge areas and develop their personal potential. Principal Tan Fengting and the teaching team believe that in-depth learning can inspire students to construct knowledge and promote all-round development. Therefore, the curriculum is structured with the "6Cs" and focuses on cultivating students in six major areas of ability, including Creativity and imagination, Critical thinking and problem solving, Communication, Collaboration, and Character. education) and global citizenship (Citizenship), allowing students to lay a good foundation for learning and ignite their learning motivation in their six years of study.

The "Little Star" course integrates the four elements of VASK to build a solid English foundation for first-year students.

Chinese is the foundation of all learning. If your Chinese ability is not good, other learning will be hindered. Among them, English is a common international language, so the school naturally actively cultivates students' English ability and strives to help students establish a good and solid foundation in English. In this school year, the school uses four major elements: Values, Attitude, Skills and Knowledge as the core to re-plan the "Little Stars" course for first-year students, with the goal of arousing students' interest in experiential learning and learning English, and improving students' English proficiency. Principal Tan said: "The 'Little Stars' course focuses on English, supplemented by interdisciplinary learning activities based on different subject knowledge, such as pinyin games, learning simple addition and subtraction in English, etc. Through interesting and lively games, it can reduce the fear of first-year students in communicating in English and give them more opportunities to answer questions in English."

In addition, the school combines English with STEAM. Through co-curricular periods, STEAM-related extension activities are carried out based on the English unit teaching content to practice the concept of "Learning By Doing". The school also strengthens the elements of English reading through interdisciplinary theme activities and reading club activities to allow students to develop "deep learning" abilities. Principal Tan pointed out that the Primary 1 adaptation course runs from June to October, with different learning themes, so that the learning content is closely related to life, so that students understand that English is closely related to life, and enhances students' interest in learning English.

Teach high school interview skills inside and outside the course, systematically linking middle school English learning

Elementary school is an important bridge in the learning career. In addition to adapting to early childhood, schools must also provide students with high-quality connections between primary and secondary schools. In conjunction with the sixth-grade curriculum, the school will teach students different test-taking and interview skills according to the teaching themes. In addition, in addition to the curriculum, the school provides high school interview classes, taught by foreign English teachers, for English conversation training and provides a large number of practical opportunities.

Principal Tam continued: "We have school-based interview training for secondary school entrance. Teachers from our school serve as interviewers and conduct mock interview training for students outside of class time. At the same time, we will also take students to visit English-speaking secondary schools in the area to let them understand the difference between courses that use English as the main language of instruction and primary schools that use Chinese as the main language of instruction, so as to equip them with the determination to enter English-speaking secondary schools."

Actively promote interdisciplinary learning activities to develop skills needed in the 21st century

In the face of the ever-changing 21st century, in order to enable students to gain a foothold in society, schools understand that in addition to equipping students with English skills, they must also strengthen their cross-field common skills. Therefore, the school actively promotes interdisciplinary learning. For example, in the past, the "My Old Toys" interdisciplinary learning activity was held in the fourth grade to combine general knowledge, STEAM and English. The teacher will first teach students about old toys in English and use lanterns as the theme, allowing students to use STEAM knowledge and skills to make their own lanterns. Principal Tam pointed out that interdisciplinary learning activities help students understand the teaching content and connect it to daily life, thereby cultivating creative thinking and problem-solving skills that are suitable for the 21st century.

"There are constant challenges in the future, and the epidemic in recent years has been a major challenge faced by the education sector. However, with the creative thinking of teachers, we have promoted English KOL activities. Conversations and speeches are an important part of language learning. However, under the epidemic, repeated class suspension arrangements have led to a reduction in class hours, so teachers have decided to make good use of online learning platforms to make up for students' difficulties. There is not enough time in remote classes or half-day classes. Students can go home and practice English speaking by recording or recording videos and uploading them to teachers for evaluation, which frees up class time for other more meaningful teaching activities. " Principal Tan said with a smile that as the activity matures, teachers will also invite students to make short videos on different topics. It has also won awards for two consecutive years. In 2022, a student even won the "Best Director Award" in the "I am a KOL!" competition. The school also organizes different English extracurricular activities, such as English drama and English creative writing activities, to cultivate students' "deep learning" abilities.