Cultivating English professionals on the road to success

TWGHs S. C. Gaw Memorial CollegeAdhere to the school motto of "Diligence, Thrift, Loyalty" and strive to provide students with a comprehensive and diversified education to cultivate future talents who can develop their talents and contribute to the society. Despite the earlier impact of the epidemic, the university enrollment rate of school students has still increased steadily. Last year, nearly 40% of students entered bachelor's degree programs at local universities through the "Joint University Admissions System" (JUPAS). Principal Jack Wong advocates a student-centered teaching philosophy, focuses on creating a good English atmosphere, and emphasizes a step-by-step approach to education, so that students can learn happily, use English knowledge flexibly, lay a solid foundation for learning, and explore diverse development directions.

Pay attention to the development of biliteracy and trilingualism and launch the "Interdisciplinary Language Enhancement" project

As a middle school that focuses on cultivating students to be biliterate and trilingual and proficient in both Chinese and English, the school takes improving students' English proficiency as the core of teaching, closely seizes the opportunity of the Education Bureau's fine-tuning of language teaching, and implements the "Interdisciplinary Chinese Language Enhancement" plan at the junior high school level, integrating humanities and science subjects, etc. The main subjects will be taught in English, and interdisciplinary English extension courses will be added to increase students' opportunities to learn English, improve their English ability and confidence, and lay a solid language and knowledge foundation to better connect high school curriculum content and integrate different knowledge. Among the 20 high school compulsory and elective subjects, except for six subjects such as Chinese Language, Civics and Social Development, Chinese History, and Tourism and Hospitality, which are taught in Chinese, all other subjects use English as the medium of instruction.

The school understands that language learning is a process of gradual accumulation and precipitation. By promoting interdisciplinary collaborative teaching, it not only improves the effectiveness of learning and teaching, enabling students to master the knowledge and key points of science subjects and humanities, but also arouses their interest and enhances learning initiative. The school focuses on practical learning, leading students out of the classroom so that learning is no longer limited to the classroom. For example, we arranged to go to Disney to experience the English conversation environment; we played board games with foreign teachers during lunch break, and organized students to participate in English musicals. They applied the knowledge they learned from different learning experiences, laid a foundation in English, and cultivated their common skills such as collaboration and communication.

Diversified language environment and mastering professional subject knowledge

Primary school curricula generally use Chinese as the main teaching language. After students move from primary school to secondary school, they may not adapt to the change in English learning and need to understand grammatical rules, professional vocabulary, etc. Therefore, the school will invest time and efforts in students from the time they first enter school to accompany them to progress and grow together, provide professional and appropriate learning support, and help them improve their language skills. The school also pays attention to creating a good English learning atmosphere. English dramas or English animations will be played during lunch time on weekdays, providing a relaxed and pleasant language environment to help students accumulate English vocabulary from daily life and gradually apply English.

At the same time, the school not only uses English to teach STEM courses, but most of the reference materials are written or explained in English, so that students can gradually become accustomed to reading English materials and materials. In addition to deepening their subject knowledge, it also cultivates their independent learning habits. By reading English books and articles, students are exposed to more professional knowledge, expand their horizons, and provide new perspectives and insights, which is of great benefit to academic development. This year, the school has more than a dozen students enrolled in the bachelor's degree nursing program, which reflects that their English skills are sufficient to master and successfully connect to the university's professional courses. This shows that the school's English teaching is effective and lays a solid foundation for students' future study and career development.

Investing in English teaching resources to improve students’ learning outcomes

In order to create an international English learning environment, the school makes flexible use of resources, recruits more foreign English teachers, enriches the English teaching team, and improves the professional quality of teachers. By promoting exchanges between English subject groups, we can enrich classroom teaching content and provide diversified teaching methods to better meet students' different learning needs. In addition, as the electronic teaching model is a development trend in education, the school has received support from the school sponsoring group even before the epidemic. Each teacher in the school is equipped with an iPad, which can be used with electronic teaching tools to improve students' learning effectiveness. Therefore, the teaching team can respond flexibly whether it is electronic teaching or face-to-face classes, and can formulate the most appropriate language teaching policy.

Principal Jack Wong said: "Both comprehensive humanities and science subjects use English as the medium of instruction. The school hopes that students can be familiar with and use more English words and understand the overall context of these words. We encourage students to use different applications to learn English, understand the explanations of these English words, and then learn their pronunciation. Applications are used in word learning and Pronunciation provides good resources and functions, including vocabulary practice, reading comprehension and listening practice, which can comprehensively improve students' English abilities. "The school starts from different levels, invests in English teaching resources, and develops appropriate strategies and plans based on students' needs and actual situations to ensure the effectiveness of English teaching and students' learning outcomes.

Off-campus learning experience and rich exchange opportunities

The school aims to promote the diverse development of students and encourages them to participate in various extracurricular activities, including drama, choir, Latin dance, etc. Principal Jack Wong said: “Regardless of STEM Or sports activities, the school will arrange opportunities for students to participate in different off-campus competitions. When students go to participate in competitions overseas, they need to use English to communicate with others, so as to understand the importance of learning English. For example, in the process of dance competitions, different English vocabulary is involved, such as registration time, call time and dance movements. , students need to use English throughout the course. "Through the off-campus study experience, students gradually realize that English is an important communication skill, and its use is not limited to English classes or exams. English is a practical subject that can help students go out of Hong Kong, broaden their international horizons, and have a broader space for development.

Give back to society and inherit Donghua spirit

The school is committed to inheriting the Donghua spirit and cultivating outstanding talents who give back to the society. The teaching team and seniors will share their knowledge and experience to enable students to have a forward-looking perspective and grasp social development trends. Seniors also serve as learning role models for their classmates. When students understand that they have successfully connected to university courses through good English skills, they can inspire their classmates' enthusiasm for learning and enhance their independent learning spirit. In addition to paying attention to students' academic performance, the school also attaches great importance to the development of students' moral values ​​and teaches students to respect and love each other among their peers. Principal Jack Wong added: "Although each student has a different starting point and learning level, the school hopes that peers can learn from each other and make progress together. We uphold the educational philosophy of teaching without distinction and teaching students in accordance with their aptitude, paying attention to the learning life of all students, and leading them on the road to success in a high-quality learning atmosphere."