Pleasant learning experience, enjoy the fun of English, and create an international context

ELCHK Hung Hom Lutheran Primary SchoolWe have always attached great importance to the balanced development of students in the six aspects of education: moral, intellectual, physical, social, aesthetic and spiritual. We are committed to providing a good learning environment, learning experience and value education for students, so that they can establish harmonious interpersonal relationships and correct values. Principal Fung Lai-yee attaches great importance to the English development of her students, and makes flexible use of resources, through context, manpower allocation, etc., to create a comprehensive and high-quality educational environment that is compatible with the school's inclusive culture. With a professional teaching team, an international English context, diversified English learning activities, and a caring and inclusive English learning environment, students can learn English happily and be inspired by their learning.

International English context to create a caring culture on campus

The school's enrollment has always been diversified. In addition to local students, it also attracts non-Chinese-speaking students from different ethnic groups. Children on campus come from all over the world, creating a unique international English context, allowing students to apply what they have learned in English in daily life. In a caring and inclusive campus cultural atmosphere, the teaching team is able to take care of the different learning needs of students, and allows non-Chinese speaking students and Chinese speaking students to get along harmoniously, help, learn from and encourage each other. Teacher Lu Junsheng, the head of the English Department, said: "The daily interactions between students are regardless of race. Both non-Chinese speaking students and Chinese speaking students use English as a common communication tool. They study, chat, and play games together, and they respect each other." In a multicultural environment, the school has created a natural English context, allowing students to get used to communicating in English in daily life, and subtly improve their English conversation skills.

At the same time, the school actively promotes a culture of caring, and the teaching strategy of the English subject group also implements this development direction and infiltrates the caring spirit into the English subject. The school invests resources in hiring teaching staff, building an experienced and well-staffed teaching team, and arranges teaching assistants to assist in the classroom, to encourage students to actively participate in the classroom, to care for their physical and mental health needs, and to provide appropriate support in learning and life. Director of the curriculum, Director Chen Yuting, said: "In order to optimize the teacher-student ratio so that teachers can take care of the needs of each student and provide them with immediate care, the school specially hired three non-Chinese speaking teachers who are good at biliteracy and trilingualism to provide different support and guidance to help the non-Chinese speaking students in the school get into the classroom as soon as possible, integrate into the school, and learn happily."

Collaborate with educational institutions to promote teacher professional development

In order to provide students with an English learning experience that keeps pace with the times, the school actively cooperates with external educational institutions to provide professional training and teaching material production guidance for the teaching team. The school cooperates with the Education University of Hong Kong and specially hires education experts Professor Lu Minling and Dr. Lao Fuyanhua as consultants to lead teachers to use "change theory" as the basis and apply the theory to the teaching level through "action research" in the classroom to improve learning and teaching effectiveness. The cooperation results of the project are remarkable and encouraging. According to the school's pre- and post-data evaluation, students' understanding of the subject has increased significantly, and they are also able to clearly distinguish easily confused knowledge concepts. In recent years, the school has participated in the Education Bureau's English subject school-based professional support program, inviting school inspectors to work with the English subject teaching team to prepare lessons and produce teaching materials. Last school year, the school optimized school-based teaching materials for primary three and primary five students in reading and writing, so that students can easily write diversified and in-depth articles.

Diverse learning experiences to strengthen English application skills

English learning is not limited to classroom teaching or completing homework. The school also takes this into consideration in the teaching and learning of English subjects, and organizes a variety of English learning activities to enhance students' motivation and confidence in learning English. Principal Feng believes: "Through the activity teaching element, students can have their own "finished products", which not only shows their own learning results, but also creates a successful experience for their classmates." A successful learning experience is very important for students, so the school has an English drama team that uses drama education to bring a different learning experience to students. Students can understand, create and discuss scripts under the guidance of foreign English teachers and English teachers, allowing students to express their creativity while also training their personal abilities in reading and writing. In addition to designing scripts, the English drama team also performs classic scripts. For example, the drama team once publicly performed the sequel to Goldilocks and the Three Bears, which was written by a foreign teacher at the school.

Mr. Brandon, a foreign English teacher, pointed out: "Drama is not only a performing art, but also an important tool to inspire people. From an educational perspective, it can also arouse students' learning motivation, inspire imagination and creativity, promote communication and understanding, and cultivate in-depth thinking." The English drama team will also hold English drama performances during the summer vacation, allowing students to practice listening and speaking skills through performances, and at the same time improve students' self-confidence in English. In addition, the school also actively encourages students to participate in various English activities, such as English recital festivals, Cambridge English classes, and English essay competitions, etc., so that students can practice the English knowledge they have learned through diversified English learning experiences and gradually strengthen their English abilities through training.

Interdisciplinary curriculum planning, organic integration of moral education

Interdisciplinary teaching can effectively connect different knowledge points and develop students' ability to comprehensively apply knowledge. In the planning of English courses and teaching topics, the school interconnects English subjects, civic education, national security education and other areas, so as to cultivate students not only to have a solid language foundation, but also to have good civic qualities and become pillars of society in the future. In terms of integrated civic education in English subjects, the teaching team uses English classes to teach students perseverance, caring, responsibility, punctuality, honesty and other principles, and to practice positive moral values ​​in daily life. Teacher Lu said: "In the English course, we will cover different teaching topics. The teacher will lead the students to read different English chapters to bring out the importance of positive moral character."

In terms of national security education, the school responds to the "multiple approaches and mutual cooperation" advocated by the Education Bureau and organically combines appropriate national security topics with English subjects to conduct interdisciplinary teaching, which can enhance students' national identity and absorb more English knowledge. In addition, the school will also use English as a medium to deepen students' understanding of Chinese culture. For example, the "English Day" uses Chinese traditional festivals as the theme, and through small handicrafts and applications, students can learn about Chinese culture from traditional Chinese festivals. At the same time, for non-Chinese speaking students, the interdisciplinary study of English and national education can allow them to have a better understanding of Chinese culture and better integrate into Hong Kong society.

Interesting learning atmosphere and immerse yourself in the English world

In terms of English teaching planning, the school advocates allowing students to devote themselves to English learning and enjoy a joyful English learning atmosphere. On the one hand, the school will organize a variety of English activities. For example, the annual "English Day" activities include: booth games, English tours, watching English drama performances, etc., allowing students to learn English in an interesting way; interdisciplinary collaborative activities are also carried out on specific days such as Christmas, religious event days, and STEM weeks. In addition, the school also cultivates "English Ambassadors" who are responsible for hosting and leading prayers in English at morning meetings every Wednesday. During the noon activity time every Friday, they go to lower grade classes with foreign English teachers to conduct English games and interact. Foreign teachers will also set up English booth games for students before class and during breaks on weekdays to encourage students to speak more English. At the same time, foreign teachers conduct "3-minute English Talk" every Wednesday morning meeting to teach students daily English.

The English room combines overseas study tours to establish an international perspective

The school focuses on cultivating students to establish a world view, helping them broaden their horizons and deepen their knowledge. The school makes flexible use of resources. On the one hand, it actively arranges overseas visits and exchange opportunities for students, and designs a "scholarship tour" study tour mechanism. The school will subsidize outstanding students to participate in "scholarship tours" that they are interested in. At the same time, for students who are keen on learning English, the school will arrange for them to follow teachers and tour guides to countries where English is the main language of communication, such as Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, to experience local customs and customs, establish an international perspective, and improve their English skills in an immersive environment.

On the other hand, the school starts from the campus environment and has a specially decorated English room, inspired by Disney's It's a Small World, to bring the characteristics of various continents in the world, such as geographical location, cultural customs, eating habits, etc., into the English room so that students can broaden their horizons. In the future, the school plans to paint a giant mural on the playground to cultivate students' understanding of harmony and care for different ethnic groups, and to enhance the structure and vision of the school.

Comprehensive bridging plan catering for learning diversity

The school advocates the teaching strategy of "top-notch, middle-class, and bottom-up". As early as June to August, the school has prepared summer classes for students, so that teachers can understand students' abilities early so that they can make adjustments in the curriculum. Stratified homework is designed according to the curriculum framework, and the content mainly includes silent reading, worksheets, etc. In addition, the school also takes into account the individual differences of students in the English reading course. The English PLP-R class will be divided into four groups: red, yellow, blue and green according to the reading ability of the students, and teachers will be arranged to take care of students with different levels. For example, for students with higher abilities, teachers will help them improve their English proficiency; for students with lower abilities, they will start with basic training such as word recognition and pinyin to lay a solid foundation for them before further teaching other content.

In addition, Principal Feng also understands that parents of non-Chinese speaking students may have language difficulties, so the school will perform translation work so that they can understand the school's curriculum adjustments and developments, and promote cooperation between home and school to jointly improve children's English proficiency. At the same time, in order to help primary one freshmen adapt to the campus environment and master English learning methods, the school attaches great importance to the transition from kindergarten to primary school. It has specially arranged that there will be no silent reading in Chinese and English in the first semester of the primary one curriculum, and the exams and assessments in the last semester will not be calculated into scores to reduce their learning pressure. Afterwards, the English subject team will evaluate the students' English ability through daily practice, assessment, or performance in games, so as to formulate the most appropriate teaching strategies.

Make good use of electronic teaching tools to cultivate independent learning ability

The school makes good use of electronic teaching tools to enhance the effectiveness of learning and teaching, and implements the "one person, one tablet" learning model. Teachers usually use a large number of electronic teaching media in the classroom, especially for game-based learning in lower grades, such as "Kahoot", "Quizlet", "Wordwall", etc. Principal Feng pointed out: "Teachers can freely use all electronic platforms in teaching. Students can use online platforms without being limited by time and space. They can continue self-study after returning home, cultivating students' independent learning abilities and positive learning attitudes."