NT Heung Yee Kuk Yuen Long District Secondary School School Report (2009 / 2010) School Mission The school strives to provide students with all round educa tion to inspire them to become responsible citizens and to be enthusiastic learners, developing their potential to the fullest extent so that they may cope with the challenge of the fast-changing world. 1. Our School 1.1 Brief Historical Background The foundation-laying ceremony was held on 26th March 1966, with Hon. Aserappa JP, District Commissioner, New Territories, as our guest of honour. N.T Heung Yee Kuk made a donation of $600,000, while the remaining construction expenses were covered by the government. Upon the completion of the construction work on 13th August 1968, the first batch of students moved into the new premises on Third September. The opening ceremony was officiated by Sir David Trench, G.C.M.G., M.C., Governor of Hong Kong, on 23rd January 1969. 1.2 School Premises The school premises are divided into 4 blocks: Administration and Special Rooms Block, Classrooms Block, New Annex Block and the Hall. All blocks are ventilated with air conditioners. There are altogether 34 Classrooms, 4 Science Laboratories, 3 Computer / Multi-media / Information Technology Learning Centres, 1 Geography Room, 1 Visual Art Room, 1 Design and Technology Room, 1 Music Room, 1 Student Activity Room, 1 Library, 1 Social Worker Room. Other facilities include 2 Covered Playgrounds, 1 Basketball Court, 1 Volleyball Court, 1 School Garden, 1 Tuckshop and 1 Carpark. 1.3 School Management The School Management Committee (SMC) was set in September, 1999 to implement school based management. The SMC comprises wide representation of stake-holders, including school council members, teachers, parents, alumni and independent members who are professionals from different fields, to enhance transparency and accountability. The composition of the SMC in Recent Years Sponsoring Independent Principal Teacher Parent Alumni Body Members 1 1 2 2 1 5 07 - 08 (8.3%) (8.3%) (16.7%) (16.7%) (8.3%) (41.7%) 1 1 2 2 1 5 08 - 09 (8.3%) (8.3%) (16.7%) (16.7%) (8.3%) (41.7%) 1 1 2 2 1 5 09 - 10 (8.3%) (8.3%) (16.7%) (16.7%) (8.3%) (41.7%) 2 2. Achievements and Reflections on Major Concerns 2.1 Major Concern 1: Strengthening the effectiveness of learning and teaching to ensure successful implementation of the New Senior Secondary curriculum Task 1 Amend administrative organization to facilitate the implementation of the NSS curriculum and the related measures Achievements and Reflections: The administrative organization was restructured with reference to the key learning areas (KLA) and five areas of other learning experiences (OLE). The new organization facilitated different departments and committees to align well with the new academic structure. Nevertheless, the workload of PSHE and Cultural Subjects Coordinator can further be adjusted. In the following school year, this post should be split into PSHE Subjects Coordinator and Technology & Cultural Subjects Coordinator. Task 2 Strengthen English learning environment to boost students’ performance in NSS curriculum. Achievements and Reflections: A natural and encouraging atmosphere was developed to motivate students’ interest in learning and using English as well as polishing their language proficiency. With teachers’ effort, students conversed in English in a supportive language condition. By adopting the whole-school approach, both students and teachers were engaged in different themed English Days to get used to speaking in English for an authentic communication purpose. About 90% of students subscribed SCMP and cultivated a good reading habit. Presentations on issues of students’ interest were delivered in morning assemblies by representatives from all classes to promote sharing of ideas among themselves. School-based activities like interactive drama performances, movie watching and English Ambassador Training Activity Day were organized for students to widen their exposure to a variety of English materials and help master good language skills. Students also took part in external competitions such as Hong Kong Schools Speech Festival to immerse themselves in a more comprehensive English school life. Task 3 Conduct group teaching in S.4 LS to facilitate the issue-enquiry approach in learning and teaching of this core NSS subject. Achievements and Reflections: Group teaching is conducted in S.4 LS 5 classes are divided into 7 groups. There were 26 to 33 students in each group. Students were actively involved in the classroom activities. A variety of learning and teaching activities, such as role-play, group discussion, debates, etc. could develop in students a range of skills for life-long learning, including critical thinking skills and became an independent thinkers. Teachers acted as the learning facilitators, they were information and knowledge provider. On the other hand, teachers were the coach guides through the enquiry process, they would give advice and feedback to students and enrich the discussion and not dictate its direction. It provided an opportunity for students to learn to become self-directed learners responsible for their own learning. Students were evenly distributed in each group according to their academic result in S.3 LS examination. 3 Students could help each other and provide with suitable assistance and guidance in accordance with their abilities and learning needs. Students had good achievement in the school’s examinations. The passing rate of LS was 100%. It indicates that most students have a good understanding in the subject knowledge, basic concepts, skills in using information and apply critical thinking skills in making decisions judgments on issues and problems. In view of these, group teaching in NSS LS is a desirable arrangement to facilitate learning and teaching, and should be extended to all senior levels. Task 4 Introduce SBA requirements and incorporate SBA work into normal lessons of the relevant S4 subjects to facilitate both students and teachers to have good preparation for the actual SBA implementation in the following school years. Achievements and Reflections: The SBA guidelines and requirements of the involved NSS subjects were delivered to S.4 students. All of them could have a clear and integrated framework of SBA that they would encounter. This should facilitate them to make preparation for the SBA in S.5 and S.6. Task 5 Arrange ‘Reading Period’ for students (S1-3 in library) to ‘Read across the Curriculum’, enabling students to acquire and construct knowledge, as well as to broaden their exposure, mind and vision to diverse interests and qualities. Achievements and Reflections: School-based Reading Lessons have been implemented successfully. All junior students completely finished worksheets tailor-made by teachers, covering eight Key Learning Areas. In a survey, more than 90% of students stated that they were benefited from having Reading Lessons. More of 70% of students felt that they became more interested in reading and had acquired useful reading strategies, so they read more books and articles than before. Students in senior levels read newspapers assiduously in Reading Lessons. More than 75% of them found that they had learnt more about the layout of newspapers as well as matters regarding current affairs. In next school year, teachers of different subjects could be invited to recommend books of various genres to students and worksheets would also be simplified so as to further promote reading among students. Task 6 Reallocate the class-teacher period (monthly assembly), from the 1st period to the 8th period, to facilitate the implementation of activities for OLE. Achievements and Reflections: Talks, seminars and even musical could be conducted at the class-teacher period at which the activities could extend afterschool without disturbing the normal teaching hours. After reallocation of the class-teacher period and monthly assembly, all lessons throughout the year could be conducted as usual without being interrupted. It was certain that teaching effectiveness was enhanced. 4 2.2 Major Concern 2: Catering for the diverse Abilities and needs of students to develop their capacity and nurture their whole-person development Task 1 Organize assistance measures for the low-achievers to help them improve their learning skill and confidence Achievements and Reflections: Group teaching in core subjects was launched in junior forms to assist less-able students to keep pace with the regular curriculum. Remedial programmes were offered for S.1 to S.3 students who ranked in the bottom 20 in the internal examinations of Chinese Language and the internal examinations of English Language respectively. The academic results of these students in Sessional Examination, showed in the table below, proved that the programmes were successful. Remedial Programme for Chinese Language Students with improvement Students elevated Level in form position in Chinese out of bottom 20 in Chinese S1 8 (40%) 5 (25%) S2 16 (80%) 6 (30%) S3 16 (80%) 9 (45%) Remedial Programme for English Language Level Students with improvement Students elevated in form position in English out of bottom 20 in English S1 10 (50%) 7 (35%) S2 12 (60%) 6 (30%) S3 11 (55%) 5 (25%) In senior forms, teachers offered students tailor-made programmes according to their needs to help them in learning their subjects effectively. Supplementary lessons and personal tutorials were provided for the low-achievers to enhance their academic standard and upgrade