Focus on English application to cultivate talents that are in line with the world

Lingnan University Alumni Association (Hong Kong) Primary School is a Christian direct subsidy school that attaches great importance to the cultivation of character and ability, advocates the application of knowledge, and adopts an interactive teaching format in small classes. The school flexibly combines English learning with moral education through cross-disciplinary collaboration. In order to cultivate 21st century talents who can connect with the world, the school focuses on the diverse application of English and promotes students to use English to learn and promote Chinese culture. At the same time, the school also establishes an English context by setting up mock shops and other projects to train students' courage and listening and speaking skills. It also provides a series of admission interview support to help students plan their future step by step.

English as a learning medium: Gratitude and empathy in interdisciplinary education

English is one of the important languages, and the school hopes to use it as a medium to support students' moral, affectional, and emotional learning. Principal Wu Xiaoling said: "The school is committed to enabling students to learn and apply in an environment with high participation, high participation and high expression, through an organic combination of life and curriculum materials." To this end, the school has launched a gratitude learning activity to conduct interdisciplinary collaborative teaching with subjects such as general knowledge, Chinese, and the Bible. The teaching team concretizes abstract concepts so that students can understand gratitude in a simple and easy-to-understand way. By arranging subject courses and combining picture book readings, the concept of gratitude is infiltrated to help deepen and broaden students' learning experience. When teachers select picture books, the content will revolve around themes such as being grateful to parents and being grateful for things around them. In order to help students further express gratitude and practice positive values ​​in life, teachers will teach them related songs to make the entire learning more diversified. At the same time, the school's English Week coincides with the Western Thanksgiving Day, and the teaching team also specially chose the theme of Thanksgiving to combine English subjects and moral education.

Extend English learning and build common abilities

The school actively introduces professional support from the Education Bureau, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Education University of Hong Kong and other institutions. Among them, the Design-based learning course is launched, inviting external tutors to provide professional advice and assist the teaching team in designing diversified learning activities to train students' design thinking and help cultivate empathy. Principal Wu shared that last year’s course content was the “Mini Olympics”. The teacher invited Primary 4 students to design a series of activities for Primary 1 students. In the process, they learned to understand the needs of others and to take into account differences in abilities in addition to age differences. Students not only need to master the textbook content, but also have gratitude, empathy and develop design thinking. In the end, the "Mini Olympics" becomes an exhibition of students' learning achievements, concretely presenting the knowledge they have learned to parents and audiences.

Use English across disciplines to promote Chinese culture

The school provides ample opportunities for students to learn and apply English knowledge, emphasizing integration with the world and cultivating future talents for the 21st century. Therefore, the school's curriculum planning is not limited to textbook content. Instead, it regards English as a tool for understanding the world, encourages the teaching team to continue to deepen their expertise in art, sports, etc., and infiltrates English into different areas to broaden students' knowledge absorption. Director of the English Department, Director Tam Chi-man, pointed out: “In addition to learning the origin of Chinese characters through Chinese courses, Primary 5 students will also learn the oracle bone inscriptions as the origin of Chinese characters in English, thereby getting in touch with Chinese culture and history. At the same time, by comparing the development of other different languages in Asia, they will understand the relevant aspects. Similar and different. In addition, the school has deepened the effectiveness of the "Mini Olympics" this year and transformed it into a "Chinese Cultural Games" to reenact ancient activities such as Cuju and pot throwing. We hope to not only improve students' English skills, but also enable them to inherit and promote traditional Chinese culture."

Open English enrichment courses, comprehensive language learning experience

The school is committed to cultivating gifted students and further helping them connect with international standards. Therefore, it has specially launched enrichment courses. Among them, "Global Explorers" has a theme designed according to the content of the book, allowing students to understand the cultures of different countries from aspects such as festivals, food, inventions, etc. For example: Primary 6 students will use English to learn about the Terracotta Warriors, acupuncture, and China’s natural scenery to inspire and cultivate students’ horizons from an early age. The English subject group also flexibly applies multimedia to teaching strategies. Teachers will use powerpoints and videos to assist classes; students can use powerpoints to write English compositions and even create e-books as one of the enrichment courses.

In addition, students will also use English to learn programming courses and design learning activities and games for other students, which will help consolidate the basics of English and programming knowledge and apply what they have learned. Even for students who participate in the game, they can gain innovative ideas and subtly deepen their knowledge and concepts. At the same time, the school's enrichment courses also incorporate elements of Language Arts, organizing activities such as singing, reciting, storytelling, drama, speeches, debates, and even puppet performances to strengthen students' English communication skills. Through drama performances, students are encouraged to build their ability to think from the perspective of drama characters, understand other people's experiences and lives, and cultivate empathy.

Create diverse contexts and use English confidently

In order to create a strong English learning environment and further encourage students to actively participate in class, the school hired three foreign English teachers. Starting from the year before last, each primary 1 class has two local teachers as the main class teacher and one foreign English teacher as the deputy class teacher. Principal Wu believes: "When students are not afraid to communicate with foreigners and do not rely on the use of Chinese, their listening and speaking skills will naturally improve." In addition, the school has always adopted the Panda Shop reward program. As long as students actively raise their hands to answer questions, turn in all their homework, actively participate in extracurricular activities, etc., they will receive Panda Dollars, which can be "spent" at the Panda Shop where a foreign English teacher serves as the store manager.

Panda Shop incorporates elements of career planning, giving students the opportunity to run a simulated store and attract other students to shop by imagining different promotional techniques, including making posters, holding lucky draws, setting up gashapon machines, etc. Before purchasing goods, they will refer to the sales situation of the goods, and even go to different levels to collect opinions and interview the opinions of other students in English. Principal Wu emphasized that rather than teaching students business and marketing skills, the school hopes to use Panda Shop to build students' self-confidence and strengthen their English application abilities in different areas.

Comprehensive kindergarten to primary school transition plan to lay a solid learning foundation

The school cares about the learning needs of students at different stages, paying special attention to the transition from kindergarten to primary school to lay a solid learning foundation for students. To this end, the school holds a special summer transition adaptation week to help students adapt to the learning model of primary school as soon as possible, strengthen their sense of belonging to the school, and cultivate their interest in learning English. Director Tan said: "The school implements the teaching concept of Learning by doing so that students can use English naturally." The teaching team will use the form of "progressive assessment" to evaluate students' listening, speaking, reading and writing abilities through daily activities, project studies, etc., so that they can better understand their learning progress and effectiveness. Teachers will provide appropriate teaching guidance according to the level of students, so that they can grow and improve in English learning more comprehensively.

Promote home-school cooperation and strengthen examination preparation for high school entrance

Parents play an important role in their children's learning. The school is committed to promoting home-school cooperation and invites parent volunteers to conduct mock interviews with Primary 6 students. During this period, students can record the process so that they can review and practice more at home. The school also collaborates with Lingnan Dr. Chung Wing Kwong Memorial Secondary School to organize mock interviews every year. Many parents of primary 6 students have given feedback to Principal Wu, saying that the students have gained a lot. Under the guidance of middle school teachers and students, their self-confidence has greatly increased, helping their children to stand out in the entrance interviews of English middle schools. The school makes good use of resources and carefully pave the way for students, from moral education to high school entrance interviews, to prepare them for the world and implement the spirit of the school motto of "cultivating talents and serving the society".