Excellent learning environment, adapted teaching strategies, cultivating various common abilities

Po Leung Kuk C. W. Chu College is known for its simple school spirit. Through the support of the school sponsoring group, it invests heavily in equipment and teachers, and is committed to providing students with the best learning environment and teaching, so that students with different abilities can achieve success. The school carries out experiential courses, emphasizing hands-on work, encouraging students to develop problem-solving, creative and other abilities through daily observation, and establish a positive attitude in practice. The school strives to create a life-oriented English learning context and offers various tutoring classes to accompany students. From this, we can build a close relationship of mutual trust between teachers, students, home and school, and accompany students to thrive.

Support the development of diverse sports and arts and stimulate learning motivation

The school has always received strong support from the school sponsoring organization Po Leung Kuk, which has established funds related to technology development, sports and other related funds, and awarded various scholarships and bursaries to help students in need. Principal Chiu Man Ho said that his philosophy is to "give students the best resources and teachers." Therefore, in terms of sports development, the school hires coaches for the Guangdong Provincial Table Tennis Provincial Team and invites current members of the Hong Kong handball team to coach. The snooker experience class held earlier also invited Hong Kong snooker king Marco Fu to teach. It is a great honor for students to receive guidance from famous teachers. Students live up to the training provided by the school and constantly strive to make progress and build self-confidence.

The same goes for recruiting teachers. The school hired Cai Xiaofeng, a former Hong Kong representative who had just retired from the Hong Kong team and competed in the Tokyo Olympics men's road cycling race, as an assistant in the physical education department to lead the newly established cycling team. It also hired multiple literary award winners and outstanding young literary writers to teach the Chinese language department and lead literary salon activities. School teachers implement the policy of specialized education to ensure high-level teaching quality, inspire students' potential, and move towards diversified development.

High-quality learning environment to enhance happiness and moral character

The school attaches great importance to creating a high-quality learning environment, such as renovating the campus appearance, replacing all class rooms with touch-screen TVs, updating student desks and chairs, etc. The Career Planning Resource Center has invested close to one million yuan to purchase professional equipment for the campus coffee shop, allowing interested students to move towards the path of professional baristas. Principal Chiu Man Ho hopes that students can feel the school’s intentions, feel happy, and be proud of being students of the school. He said that the school is famous for its pure school spirit in Sha Tin District. Students know how to abide by strict school rules, pay attention to personal appearance and behavior inside and outside school, and maintain good behavior.

English combined with life, diverse after-school support

English proficiency is very important for students' future development. The school uses the funding from the Po Leung Kuk Fund to provide two additional teaching positions in addition to the one foreign English teacher in the school. One of the current teachers is a member of the New Zealand national rugby team and uses English for sports activities to achieve an organic combination and create a life-oriented English context. The school implements small class teaching. After being divided into classes according to grades, students are then grouped according to their performance in the English subject. Various after-school tutoring activities are also organized to cater for learning differences, including tutoring classes taught by teachers to consolidate students' foundation; making good use of government-funded district-based programs to implement top-notch courses; and providing additional support to newly arrived students to improve their English proficiency.

With funding from Po Leung Kuk, the school has strengthened the training of students' English conversation skills and cooperated with the "Upstream Award Scheme" to set up examination-taking classes at the senior high school level, where a professional team teaches examination-taking skills. In addition, the school understands that in order to attract students to use English more, it must cater to their interests and organize a variety of activities. Therefore, Liu Yingxuan, a well-known actor who grew up in a foreign country, was specially invited to the school to teach students how to be a Youtuber, introducing food, cooking, sharing reading, etc. in authentic English. Principal Chiu Man Ho pointed out that for students who are interested in joining the media and entertainment industry, they can gain exposure to media operations and understand the mental journey of professional actors, which will help students plan for multiple options.

STEAM combines experiential education with hands-on problem solving and creation

STEAM courses combine different subjects such as science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics to cultivate students' comprehensive abilities. Among them, the Department of Design and Applied Technology (DAT) is one of the school's strengths. The special room is fully equipped and provides space for students to practice. Principal Chiu Man Ho revealed that teachers worked hard behind the scenes, often leading teams to compete outside, and still staying at school to work in the evenings, fully engaged in the process. He said that rather than winning or losing, the school pays more attention to establishing connections between teachers and students, so that students can cooperate with each other and gain competition experience. "Because these are very important growth processes for students." He hopes that students can apply what they learn and hone their skills, communication skills and attitudes.

In addition to the DAT subject, the school’s visual arts subjects also performed well. Thanks to the abundant resources of Po Leung Kuk, the school was allowed to hire three visual arts teachers to carefully guide students and lay a solid foundation. He shared that both subjects encourage students to "think about how to solve life's problems and turn their ideas into physical objects." The process definitely allowed them to become focused and learn to come up with ideas. He reminded, "Creativity is not about sitting down and discussing 'what is creativity', nor is it after holding a programming competition that students will become programming experts and obtain innovative ideas. They need to observe, digest, and precipitate before they can produce something." Because of this, the school focuses on the learning process, is committed to promoting "hands-on" experiential education, and reminds students to stay positive.

Teachers will guide students to make daily observations. For example, during the epidemic prevention period, students made automatic hand sanitizer machines. Some students hoarded a large number of coins at home, so they designed a coin dividing machine to classify coins by value and calculate the total amount. Students can also make products with personal characteristics based on their interests. A student who likes hamsters once made a hamster house to help it run, and also studied how to use a turntable to generate electricity. Students will feel invested when they discuss with teachers and transform their personal observations and ideas into finished products and then take them outside the school to compete. Some students have even been recommended to go to university because of their outstanding performance in DAT subjects and visual arts subjects. They have the opportunity to exchange in foreign countries and become young artists, which proves that the school's policy effectively nurtures students to thrive. Principal Chiu Man HoAdded that it is also an important teaching mission of the school to encourage diverse outlets and allow students to pursue their dreams.

Focus on student growth, enrich training and tutoring resources, and promote home-school cooperation

The school pays attention to the growth needs of different students. For example, it tailors adapted courses for newly arrived students from the mainland and familiarizes them with the environment in Sha Tin. The school has also specially arranged a one-to-one partnership program, where local students will lead mainland freshmen to integrate into their studies. In addition, the school arranges a series of Form One orientation activities every summer, including orientation camps, to help new students adapt to middle school life. In addition to teachers attending, social workers will also come along to create growth files for students, allowing them to review their progress and self-reflection every year.

Secondary 1 class adopts a three-teacher system. There are 33 new students in a class, and they are under the care of three class teachers. The relationship between teachers and students is close, which is conducive to early understanding of students' needs. All teachers in the school are involved in training and coaching, and adopt strict but loving educational principles. In addition to the original two social workers, with the support of Po Leung Kuk, a school-based social worker and two teaching assistants are added to further assist students and parents in coping with difficulties. Principal Chiu Man Ho pointed out that the campus has a strong caring atmosphere. From what he has seen since taking office, students have a harmonious relationship and know how to respect their teachers. They always enter the classroom earlier than the teacher, listen carefully to the class, and rarely miss homework.

In addition, the school is also committed to establishing a mutually supportive relationship between home and school cooperation. Principal Chiu Man Ho said with a smile: "The vice principal in charge of tutoring is very attentive, caring about the students like a mother. He also often reminds teachers to pay more attention to students' learning and growth needs, and establish good communication habits with parents." The school is happy to organize four to five activities a year to maintain close communication and facilitate parents to report their children's needs to the school. In the future, the school will invest resources to build a tea room to promote Chinese culture. STEAM courses will also incorporate elements of Chinese culture and add themes of making Chinese clothes and tea sets. This will not only deepen students' love for Chinese culture, but also help students establish their national identity. As the library is about to be renovated, the Chinese language team has excellent literary writers joining the team. Principal Chiu Man Ho hopes to improve the reading atmosphere in the school, strengthen students' reading and creative abilities, and cultivate them to become good citizens with knowledge and vision.