High value-added rising school, diverse activities to unleash potential

Lee Kau Yan Memorial School Founded in 1964, the school has stood in Wong Tai Sin District for more than half a century. Based on the Christian spirit, it has been providing holistic education for students in the district to realize their potential and cultivating talents with all six educations. The newly arrived Principal Lam Siu Kuen and the teaching team proposed four key points for cultivating college students, allowing students to improve their English skills through diverse learning experiences, while establishing positive values ​​and becoming future generalists with both talent and virtue.

School training focus

Academic performance has increased significantly: a lot of resources have been invested in hiring teachers and teaching assistants to provide more comprehensive learning support.

Diverse learning experiences: Uncover students’ potential and give full play to their talents.

The school spirit is simple: building students’ values ​​of self-confidence, mutual love, and proactiveness.

Improve students' English proficiency: more than 40 English measures to enhance motivation and self-confidence in learning Chinese.

Precise teaching structure increases teacher-student interaction

The school strives to cultivate students' active learning spirit, with particular emphasis on the "student-centered" and teacher-student interactive learning and teaching model, so as to cultivate their spirit of inquiry, learn to learn and develop their unique potential. In terms of classroom design, the teaching team flexibly makes use of diversified teaching strategies, applies diversified and continuous assessment, and also incorporates information technology teaching and project learning elements according to different curriculum units, and also offers multiple enrichment courses to provide courses that best meet the needs of students.

In this school year, the school has implemented a group teaching model in Form 1 and Form 5 to cater for the diversity of learning in different levels. Principal Lam Siu Kuen said: "Secondary One students often have to adapt to secondary school life and develop more intensive English application than in primary school; Secondary Five students are about to face the major challenge of taking the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination. Therefore, we will promote "4" at the two levels first. Group teaching in Class 8 provides students with more considerate learning support and gradually extends to all levels of the school. "Some students with better grades can participate in the "Star Reaching Course", which uses a group learning model to help students who are interested in "earning stars" in the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination.

In this school year, 53 additional groups of small class teaching and 16 classes of short-term academic courses in Chinese, English and mathematics are all fully paid for by the school. Learning strategies are designed according to students' learning difficulties, supplemented by high-level training, to bring their academic standards to a higher level.

Invest abundant resources to carefully cater for students’ needs

The school has invested an additional HK$5.6 million this school year to further optimize the curriculum structure. In order to enhance the effectiveness of learning and teaching, it has hired a number of foreign English teachers and additional teaching staff for various subjects to support daily teaching and extracurricular tutoring. It has also hired professional English consultants and professional IETLS course tutors to focus on improving students' English learning effectiveness. With the help of sufficient teaching manpower, the school is able to split into multiple groups for teaching activities in each subject. Chinese and English speaking training is divided into an additional 25 groups. Secondary 1 and 5 are divided into 4 classes into 8 groups, effectively reducing the teacher-student ratio, so that each student can receive more detailed care.

Focus on English learning and establish a solid language foundation

English proficiency is an important trait for future generalists. The school has adopted more than 40 English learning measures to enhance students' motivation and self-confidence in learning the language. The three resident foreign English teachers on campus come from different countries and can create a multicultural international campus environment for students so that they can become accustomed to communicating in English. In junior high school English classes, the school will group students into small classes according to their abilities, so that teachers can better understand students' needs and provide the most appropriate help. Moreover, the English subject team will also arrange for 2 foreign English teachers and local English teachers to conduct collaborative teaching in the English conversation class according to the students' English ability to improve listening and speaking skills in a targeted manner.

At the same time, the school has specially established a cross-language development team to focus on designing cross-language learning units for each subject group to help improve language and subject knowledge. Taking the science subject as an example, the teaching team will regularly use English science videos and presentations in the classroom to teach, and also post undergraduate terminology inside and outside the laboratory to increase students' English vocabulary and coverage, and also help create a context for using English. Principal Lam Siu Kuen said: "For example, the English Week event uses the topic of 'global warming' to promote interdisciplinary learning activities. English ambassadors and teachers will read literature, news reports, editorials and other articles related to the global warming issue with students. Science classes will also provide in-depth explanations of the causes of global climate change. This allows students to master subject knowledge and related English vocabulary at the same time, and can also learn about different article genres, understand the perspectives of different stakeholders, and promote thinking from multiple perspectives."

In order to help high school students pave the way for their ideal career planning, the school encourages students in Form 5 and Form 6 to take international English certification exams other than the Hong Kong Diploma Examination, such as IELTS, and subsidizes part or even all of the fees to enhance their confidence in taking the exam and prepare for university. Principal Lam Siu Kuen pointed out: "Some universities accept IELTS scores in place of the English scores in the Hong Kong Diploma Examination. We hope that students can be "double-prepared" to move towards the goal of entering the university and subject of their choice." To this end, the school also offers after-school IELTS enrichment classes, covering listening, conversation, reading comprehension and writing. It provides a large number of past test questions to practice and enhance test-taking skills and experience.

Musical uses both hand and mouth to promote daily application of English

The school actively organizes a variety of English extension activities, hoping that students can learn English happily and fall in love with English. The on-campus Musical Club is led by foreign teachers in writing scripts with students, and is led by students in front of and behind the scenes. Not only the students who are actors in front of the stage, but the students behind the scenes also need to know how to read scripts and stage prompts, and absorb different language knowledge in the process, such as word choice, sentence making, grammar, etc., so as to improve their writing skills. In 2019, the school also held an English musical performance at the Jockey Club Auditorium of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Each student performed his or her duties, singing and dancing on the stage, shining brightly and reflecting the results of their learning.

Peer learning can help promote students' English learning, so the school organized the English Ambassador Program. The high school student union leads junior students in activities to enrich the English atmosphere of the school. English ambassadors will be on duty at the Language Resource Center, chatting with students and foreign teachers, playing table games together, and holding movie watching activities from time to time to enhance students' interest in learning English in a relaxed and daily environment.

Promote STEAM education and cultivate innovative and technological thinking

During the severe epidemic last year, we participated in more than 12 regional and international STEAM competitions. Principal Lam Siu Kuen pointed out: "STEAM is an interdisciplinary teaching method that combines the elements of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics. Different from traditional teaching, STEAM education requires students to think from multiple perspectives, be able to identify problems, and design solutions to problems." In recent years, the school has actively trained and promoted students to participate in many large-scale projects within the school and in the academic world. STEAM competitions, and experiential courses are offered at all levels, such as "2022Aerosim Hong Kong Inter-School Aviation Competition", "STEAM Experience Activities - Mechanical Quadruped Production", etc., to allow students to appreciate the fun of STEAM.

Furthermore, the school also combines STEAM education and the latest technological trends to prepare for a large-scale event - "E-Sports Day". The school invites the Hong Kong Playground Association and the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (Chai Wan) to co-organize the event. Students can experience electronic game booths and water activities, including virtual cycling, canoeing, etc. Activities can not only inspire students' interest in STEAM knowledge, but also realize that STEAM is closely related to daily life, thereby stimulating learning motivation.

Enrich extracurricular activities and explore lifelong interests

Outside of the classroom, the school pays special attention to the balanced development of students. Therefore, it offers regular extracurricular activities and school teams in many aspects to cultivate their physical and mental health. It can also develop multiple potentials, cultivate a sense of civic responsibility, and even develop lifelong interests. In order to train students to become active and confident "benefactors", the school is committed to developing a diversified learning space. Junior high school students can freely participate in 25 interesting courses according to their interests. Professional instructors teach in a continuous, diverse and interesting way. The course content is also linked to some regular topics, so as to review the past and learn new things, deepen subject knowledge, and extend to learning enlightenment.

At the same time, the school also provides 32 regular extracurricular activities and school teams for students to choose to participate. The extracurricular activity interest group invites a number of external professional organizations to the school to teach a variety of activities, including curling, Turkish lanterns, RV racing, roller skating, figure skateboarding, hand disc playing, cajon "Busking", etc., covering a wide range of fields such as sports, music, art, practical skills, etc., so that students can "learn and use it" and "learn professionally". Moreover, the school's track and field team is also the "victorious general" in the region, and has always dominated the track and field field in major competitions. Among them, the men's track and field team has achieved "two consecutive promotions", jumping from the third group (D3) of the inter-school track and field in Hong Kong and Kowloon to the first group (D1), with impressive results.

Pay attention to moral education and cultivate positive value attitudes

Positive values can inspire students to think from multiple perspectives. In the future, they can also use the knowledge they have learned to give back to all walks of life based on social needs. Therefore, the school has always focused on cultivating students' positive values ​​and is determined to strengthen their self-discipline and sense of responsibility. The teaching team actively takes professional courses outside the school to master the skills of getting along with and communicating with students, methods of dealing with student behavioral problems, etc., so that they can provide appropriate support based on students' difficulties. The school also promotes diversified mentoring programs, such as student leadership, peer mentoring programs, social groups, and "Teen" programs to create a bright future, so that students can grow up healthily in a caring campus environment.

In the external evaluation report of the Education Bureau, it was pointed out that students in the school "obey the rules and are taught, are polite to others, respect others, and are willing to serve; peers get along harmoniously and help each other; seniors have a sense of responsibility and are dedicated to their duties." It is also seen that their independent learning habits have begun to gradually establish, which is effectively reflecting the students' good character.

Academic performance is increasing in value and university admission rates are rising steadily

Thanks to the comprehensive curriculum framework and efficient learning and teaching model, the scores of students in the school have improved year by year in the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination, becoming a "positive value-added" school. In the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination in 2022, the school was rated as having the highest level 9 value-added in the core four subjects, the best five subjects, biology, economics and geography. The results far exceeded all secondary schools in Hong Kong and similar admission schools. The value-added of many subjects ranked first among secondary schools in the same district, ranking in the top 5% of Hong Kong. Nearly 100% of subjects received level 7 or above value-added. Among the 16 subjects taking exams, the rate of students obtaining grades 2 to 5** is higher than the 4-5** in Hong Kong. Among them, 12 subjects have exceeded the excellent rate of the previous HKDSE, which shows the effectiveness of continuous optimization of the curriculum.

In order to encourage students to continue to make progress on their academic journey, the school has launched more than 30 scholarship programs, totaling more than HK$300,000. Principal Lam Siu Kuen continued: "In addition to recognizing students who have achieved first-class honors in different subjects and being among the top three in the class, on-campus scholarships also establish scholarships and progress awards to enable every student to develop their strengths in their respective fields." The "Li Shouhui Education Fund" donated by alumni and school directors sponsors the "Irish Blessing Scholarship" Irish Scholarship Program, which sponsors a Form 6 graduate every year to go to Ireland to study for a university degree. In the past three years, students have won more than 320 championships, second place, third place and merit awards in academic and non-academic competitions.