English Connecting Life Expanding Language Skills

The Hong Kong Taoist Association Ching Chung Secondary School Make good use of the space and flexibility provided by the fine-tuning of the teaching language policy, and set up a school-based course "English for Life" and enrichment courses in English according to the abilities and interests of junior high school students. In a life-oriented way, we will enrich the environment for students to learn English and enhance their ability to use English as a learning medium. Principal Choi Chi Leung, Dickson and its teaching team attach great importance to students' learning effectiveness and create a good English learning atmosphere, allowing students to improve their language skills and self-confidence in a relaxed and enjoyable learning environment.

Established "Life English Course" to adapt to the global society

In order to meet the needs and interests of students and optimize the overall curriculum planning, the school adopts the "turning time into subjects" model at the junior high school level to design an "English for Life" interdisciplinary school-based curriculum for Form 1 and Form 2. The curriculum is planned by English teachers, combining subject knowledge in different fields, organized into multiple themes, and adjusted and optimized every year based on students' learning situations and educational trends.

In the past, students were exposed to specialized vocabulary in specific fields from English reading materials in different subjects, but they often failed to fully understand it. In the "English for Life" course, teachers will systematically integrate information to effectively improve students' learning effectiveness. For example, under the theme of Chinese culture, teachers will teach the terms and knowledge of Chinese musical instruments and operas in English, breaking through the traditional learning framework.

In the context of globalization, students are increasingly required to introduce the culture of their own country or region to foreign friends. Therefore, it is particularly important to master different vocabulary knowledge. Living English courses act as a catalyst, enabling students to build on their existing knowledge and expand their knowledge network and language abilities. Students not only enhance their language skills, but also improve their ability and self-confidence in cross-cultural communication, laying a solid foundation for future study and life.

Group teaching according to ability and implement teaching in accordance with aptitude

In the high school curriculum planning, in addition to group teaching according to students' abilities, the English subject teachers also personally design teaching materials to take care of the diversity of learning and achieve true teaching in accordance with aptitude. Principal Choi Chi Leung, Dickson said: "The teaching team will not rely too much on textbooks, because one set of textbooks cannot fully meet the teaching needs of all schools in Hong Kong. Therefore, our teachers will specially select topics that are closely related to daily life to teach. For example, teachers will choose appropriate teaching materials from the market and integrate daily life into teaching, which can more effectively enhance students' learning interest. In addition, after completing a topic, teachers will also ask students to write related writing to encourage them to apply the knowledge, vocabulary and grammar they have learned to actual situations."

Speeches build courage and confidence and improve English speaking skills

Language is an important communication tool that enables effective communication and cooperation across cultural boundaries and plays a key role in academic and career development. Therefore, the school places special emphasis on conversational skills. In addition to setting up Phonics classes in Form 1 and Form 2 to help students consolidate basic phonics knowledge. The school also divides students into small groups in conversation classes, adjusts the teacher-student ratio, and increases students’ opportunities to come into contact with foreign English teachers and “speak.”

Principal Choi Chi Leung, Dickson said: "The most important thing about language is the courage to speak it, so we also invite students to share in English during morning meetings to help them hone their courage." Because the school promotes students' English conversation and communication in various fields, students have achieved excellent results in the Public Speaking competition of the Hong Kong School Speech Festival for many years. For example, in "The 75th Hong Kong Schools Speech Festival", Form 2 students won the championship in English recitation; 2D student Yang Jiahao won the runner-up in English poetry solo recital, which fully demonstrated the effectiveness of learning.

Immersive English learning experience, debate competitions achieve great results

Good English skills can help broaden students' international horizons, so the school attaches great importance to students' language development. The school holds English morning meetings, English lunch activities, and provides opportunities for interaction with foreign teachers, so that students can confidently communicate in English and fully realize their potential in a globalized environment. At the same time, the school also creates a strong English learning atmosphere through different academic activities, and encourages students to participate in various types of English competitions to practice what they have learned, such as English recitation competitions, public speaking competitions, English drama competitions, joint-school oral training and English club activities, etc., providing students with an immersive language application experience.

Principal Choi Chi Leung, Dickson said: "The school actively promotes students to participate in English debate and deepens students' English expression and logical thinking skills in a real language environment. In order to improve students' English debate level, the school formulates clear development goals and strategies and provides necessary resources and support; it hires foreign teachers with rich experience and professional knowledge to provide high-quality The school provides level guidance and training; the systematic curriculum design allows all students in the school to have the opportunity to learn English with foreign teachers and practice listening and speaking skills; the school also provides diversified learning opportunities and organizes various oral and debate activities for students to learn from each other; finally, it provides a large number of practice opportunities and encourages them to apply English in competition activities to enhance their interest in language learning.”

Thanks to the school's strong support for students' English development, the English debate team has repeatedly won excellent results in territory-wide debate competitions. For example, in the "United Nations Sustainable Development Goals English Debate Competition 2023-2024", Form 1 won the runner-up, while Form 3 and Form 6 both won the championship. In addition, the team members also won the honor of Best Speaker, which fully demonstrated their debating ability and performance and was widely recognized. These achievements not only reflect the efforts of the students, but also highlight the success of the school in language education.

Secondary One Summer Adaptation Course Senior Students Drive English Learning

In order to shorten the learning adaptation period for middle school freshmen, they must master the middle school curriculum content as soon as possible. The school holds summer adaptation courses for middle school freshmen every year, which are taught by school teachers personally and invite external organizations to assist in organizing them. In recent years, the school has specially arranged for seniors from Form 5 to be responsible for one of the day's activities. They prepare various learning games according to the theme to help new students adapt to English learning in middle school.

Principal Choi Chi Leung, Dickson said: "For the Form 5 students, this is a very new learning experience. They need to transform from their original status of 'students' to the role of 'teacher'. Through designing teaching activities, they can deepen their knowledge and have a more thorough understanding of learning. At the same time, this also provides opportunities for Form 1 freshmen to learn more about the school and strengthen the connections between classmates of different grades."

At the same time, the school has always emphasized peer-driven learning. For example, the Reading Aloud activity is conducted by Form 3 students leading Form 1 students. In the preparation stage of the activity, foreign teachers will provide support to the secondary three students, including guiding English pronunciation to help them maintain accurate pronunciation and consolidate their language knowledge. In addition, the content of Reading Aloud will also focus on the examination or test scope of secondary one students to deepen their understanding of the content.