Special English courses combined with positive education to cultivate students with excellent academic performance

@TERM0@@ located in Tin Shui Wai is committed to cultivating students' English skills and actively invests resources to create an English context and provide English learning opportunities for students. The school uses IB curriculum elements and the positive psychology model "PERMA" to design a series of unique school-based courses and activities. While enhancing students' English proficiency, it also focuses on their positive education and cultivates students' good values.

Special study on the five major elements of the IB curriculum to develop "listening, speaking, reading and writing" abilities

The school has always attached great importance to students' English development. In order to cultivate their English ability, the school has quoted the five important elements of the International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum: concept, skills, knowledge, attitude and action, and integrated them into the school's English courses. The school has canceled primary one and primary two exams and replaced exam results with unit assessments and classroom performance. This gives students more time to pursue school-based English courses. There are currently three foreign English teachers in the school who are responsible for designing a series of school-based courses. The foreign teachers take turns leading students to conduct special studies and teach in English, providing and shaping the English context for them, and encouraging students to listen, read and write more.

The English subject conducts three project studies every year, with different themes based on IB elements, such as "Getting close to nature", "Career", "Toys", etc., so that students can learn social and communication, self-management, information collection and other skills. Principal Lu pointed out: “The curriculum is tailored to the students’ level and needs. Taking ‘Get Close to Nature’ as an example, lower grade students may not have the concept of ‘nature’, but through different senses, such as hearing, vision, and smell, they can summarize the elements contained in nature through personal experience and experience, and learn Students can also learn to respect and cherish nature, learn how to treat nature, and cultivate their environmental awareness. In addition, the English course will also hold some career-related activities to help students understand the characteristics of different careers and help them plan their careers.”

"PERMA" is integrated into school-based curriculum to cultivate values through positive education

In addition to English proficiency, the school also focuses on students' positive education, adopting Martin Seligman's positive psychology model "PERMA", in which the five core elements leading to happiness, namely Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationship, Meaning and Accomplishment, are the school's positive education reference indicators. The school will regularly organize different festival activities, such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, etc., in line with the principles of English subjects and positive education. Under the guidance of teachers, students explore the elements and characteristics of different festivals. While learning English, students can also cultivate their positive values.

Principal Lu added: "The school attaches great importance to the educational significance behind the activities. Thanksgiving activities can make students understand that anyone and anything can be the object of gratitude, so that they can learn to be grateful and become positive; Easter can also be a learning topic for life education. When students discuss Easter rabbits, they are taught to learn to care for small animals. Values education should not be limited to verbal education. Schools should give students opportunities to practice so that they can have a deeper understanding and appreciation."

Use English for overseas communication and enrich your language learning experience

In order to improve students' English proficiency, the school actively organizes overseas exchange groups to provide an all-English communication environment and cultivate their oral English communication and cross-cultural communication skills. The school went to Canada and Australia respectively the year before last and last year, with the theme of environmental protection, so that students can understand the local ecological environment and enhance their environmental awareness and sense of responsibility. Last year, the school also led orchestra students to Vienna to perform at the prestigious "Music House"
They will perform street performances, visit the former residences of music celebrities, attend concerts and other music-related activities, allowing students to experience local music culture and enhance their love and understanding of music. In addition, last year, the school organized a study tour to Korea. Students visited local schools to communicate with local students in English and introduce them to the characteristics of Hong Kong. These exchanges and interactions can not only improve students' language skills, but also enhance their understanding of different cultures.

This year, the school will take students on a study tour to the UK to visit local schools and local museums. They will learn about British culture and systems through field trips, train their English listening and oral communication skills, and learn about the local teaching environment and education system. Through overseas exchange groups, students can go abroad to communicate with local people in English, allowing them to use English effectively in an English-language environment. They can also visit local attractions and develop international vision and cross-language communication skills. This not only drives students to make breakthroughs in English learning, but also provides an important opportunity for personal growth.

Home-school cooperation shapes the context and integrates English learning into life

The school is committed to strengthening the relationship between parents and the school, investing resources to help them improve their English proficiency, so that parents can communicate with their children in English more confidently and integrate English learning into daily life. The school is currently cooperating with a number of organizations to offer English classes for parents for free for parents in need. Parents learn basic English skills through the course, and at the same time, they can have a deeper understanding of the content of the school's English courses and their children's learning progress, so that they can more effectively assist teachers in tutoring students in their spare time. Through cooperation between home and school, we can create a rich English communication and learning environment for students.

In order to further enhance the connection between parents and children and provide opportunities for English practice, the school organized a parent-child study tour in December, taking students and parents to Finland to explore the local natural scenery. Students and parents can learn and use English together during the trip, improve their English language skills, and enhance parent-child relationships through shared experiences, creating unforgettable memories. The school believes that parent-child activities can help students' language development, while also strengthening family cohesion and making English learning a part of family life.

Customized teaching materials help young children connect with each other, and top English students achieve great results repeatedly

The school attaches great importance to the connection between kindergarten and primary school curriculum. In order to help each primary school freshman adapt to the new environment, the teacher will customize teaching materials and provide the freshmen with self-made English-themed picture books and equipped with reading pens (Ting Pen) to encourage them to preview before class and learn independently the vocabulary related to the school-based curriculum in the picture books.

In addition, in order to help senior students enhance their self-confidence and enhance their competitiveness in the process of selecting schools for secondary school, the school also actively encourages them to participate in various off-campus public examinations, such as the Test of English Proficiency for Non-native English Speakers (TOEFL), etc., allowing students to evaluate their English proficiency through various public examinations and practice in a real test-taking environment. This year, students performed outstandingly in TOEFL and even won the "TOEFL Best of the Best Award for Juniors in Hong Kong", which fully demonstrated their efforts and talents.

The school also offers a mock interview course for high school students to train high school students in English interview skills, thereby helping them perform more confidently and well in interviews. In English classes, teachers will also help students create personal profiles so that they can fully demonstrate their strengths during interviews for high school entrance and fully prepare and equip themselves for their future learning journey.

Diverse practical experiences encourage students to “learn by doing”

The school also pays attention to students' practical experience in the learning process. Teachers believe that through practice, students can receive various theories and knowledge more efficiently, and can apply this knowledge through practical operations, thereby achieving a mastery effect. Under the guidance of foreign teachers, students will be divided into groups to play games and theme sharing in English during weekly breaks to cultivate their teamwork spirit and creative thinking. In the classroom, teachers not only instill knowledge into students unilaterally, but also guide students to explore the learning content in depth in class through diversified activities such as "role play", "Story Mountain", and "ChatterPix electronic learning recording software".

The design of classroom activities is student-centered, with students taking the leading role in learning, while teachers assist and summarize, helping students find answers in their exploration. This "Learning by Doing" teaching method not only enhances students' independent learning ability, but also promotes interaction between teachers, students and classmates. Through practice and interaction, students can grow in a diverse learning environment, expand their horizons, and improve their overall quality.