Characteristics of the School 》 International Exposure, Inclusivity, Exchange of Ideas
Denbigh Community Primary School, U.K.
Denbigh is an outstanding school in the U.K. which received the highest rating by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted). Denbigh’s philosophy in the upbringing of children, as demonstrated in their “Thrive” programme, is very similar to our “Invitational Positive Education”. Therefore, Denbigh’s principal Dr. Louise Guthrie, as well as Mrs. Kristy Bird and Miss Laura Storey, the practitioners of the Thrive programme, visited our school on 24 May 2019 to find out more about our ideas and practices on unleashing students’ potentials, and nurturing students’ positive mindsets and healthy emotions. We felt a strong resonance on the day of this wonderful exchange.
Our visitors first toured around our campus and were particularly interested in the butterfly garden and meteorology station in our rooftop garden. They also thought highly of the setup of our technology rooms and planned to bring these concepts back to Denbigh. After the tour, they watched some of our students perform and praised their learning outcomes, which were the fruitful result of our enrichment activities.
Concluding this visit, we discussed in-depth about each other’s programmes and exchanged our views. We were very impressed by the design of the Thrive programme, as well as their comprehensive support to children’s development. Our visitors were impressed by the comprehensiveness of our “invitational positive education” programme and appreciated that we are placing a high importance on caring for our children as well as for their families. They recognised our good work in developing children’s potentials. While the two schools are based in different geographies, we shared the same passion for accompanying our children along their healthy development path. The delightful exchange and sharing were like the spring shower that nourishes the earth.
School visit by Hong Kong-based Korean volunteers
Following the event held at our school in October 2018, a team of Hong Kong-based Korean volunteers visited our school again in November 2019.
The event was organised by the Korean Consulate General in Hong Kong and the Korean Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, in cooperation with the international non-profit housing organisation Habitat for Humanity International and its collaborator K-CSR Korean Corporate Social Responsibility. These organisations converged the power of Koreans residing in Hong Kong and carried out a cleaning event at our campus. Our school was honoured to have worked with them for the second time.
On the day of the event, Korean students and Korean employees working in Hong Kong joined hands with our teachers and students’ parents to clean our covered playground, basketball court, classrooms and all the special rooms. Although cleaning was laborious and everyone was in sweat, all the volunteers worked together tirelessly and devotedly. Family volunteers from our school cooperated with the Korean volunteers to clean our campus. Our students communicated with them using the Korean phrases they recently learned. Participants were all delighted and cherished this valuable exchange opportunity.
After the cleaning was completed, the Korean volunteer team and our parents, teachers and students enjoyed a sumptuous meal with Korean fried chicken and Hong Kong local delicacies together. They also watched the demonstration of Taekwondo and our hip-hop dancing performance. The day was full of excitement and ended in a big round of applause. Everyone hoped to work together again soon!
Wellfield Middle School, U.K.
Wellfield Middle School of the U.K. organised an exchange visit to our school on 22 November 2019. Comprising 17 P5 to P6 students from P5 to P6, the British delegation was led by their Vice Principal Lynn Stephenson and teachers Linda Bennett and Caroline Kemp. Student visitors attended lessons with our children and experienced the varied potential unlocking activities at our school.
We recruited 28 P5 to P6 students from P5 and P6 to form a hospitality team for this welcome our visitors exchange. Our ambassadors seized this valuable opportunity and studied about the British culture and lifestyle beforehand. They looked forward to communicating with British students in English, to establishing new friendships and to experiencing “British style learning” in Hong Kong.
The actual day of the visit was packed with activities. Visitors actively took part in street hip-hop dance, Chinese calligraphy, Cantonese learning, cricket, ocarina, and waffles making. We extended the love we put into the event with the community. Our hospitality ambassadors and the visiting British students shared the Chinese and British style waffles they made with residents in the neighbourhood.
In this day with unconventional lessons, local and British students expanded one another’s horizons, and at the same time, had their world views broadened and developed a stronger sense of citizenship. It was indeed a rare and valuable way to learn.
Positive Education Study Tour in Australia
In 2017, our school set up a joint school positive education study community with five other schools. Mrs. Gloria Chan Leung Suk Ching, Principal of Kau Yan School was our consultant. The community actively promoted positive education.
To further understand the philosophy of positive education, our school principal, vice-principal, a senior teacher and a teacher visited Australia in early April 2018 and attended an international conference on positive education (PESA Conference). They listened to the sharing of Dr. Martin Seligman, an American psychologist and the founder of “positive education”. Experiences and studies by various education scholars and psychologists were also shared at the conference. Participants could delve into the implementation and practice of positive education.
Our principal and teachers were honoured to visit two Australian schools: Wooranna Park Primary School and Geelong Grammar School. In-depth exchanges were made on the policies for implementing deep learning and positive education in the local environment. Our delegates could also feel the strong love of U.S. educators for their students. We believe “love” is the most important element in education. This was such a memorable study tour that would be imprinted in our minds!
Wonderful Christmas and a Gift of Love in Finland
Legend has it that someone called Santa Claus lives in Finland. He is dressed in red and rides a reindeer sleigh to bring love and hope to children. Do you want to spend Christmas with Santa Claus from Finland? Last December, Santa Claus really came from Finland and visited Ta Tung School!
Our children equipped themselves well to welcome the arrival of Santa Claus from Finland. They learned the Finnish language, as well as the history, culture and dietary habits of the country. They even made Christmas cards and creative gifts to send their best wishes and thanks to volunteers who worked with Santa Claus.
On 16 December 2019, Santa Claus finally arrived! We played games together and, sang Christmas songs in different languages. We also enjoyed magic performances! Children’s laughter was heard everywhere. In the end, Santa Claus shared the true stories of Christmas with children – to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ. He also encouraged our children with words of wisdom - everyone is unique, and by believing in ourselves, having hope, and working hard to achieve our goals, our dream would surely come true!
Invitational Education Study Tour in the U.S.
In October 2017, our vice principal joined the Invitational Education Study Tour and attended the 35th IAIE World Conference held in New Mexico in the US. The event was organised by the International Alliance for Invitational Education (Hong Kong). Our vice principal and delegates from other Hong Kong schools visited a few high-performance schools, which have implemented invitational education (IE). We have learned a lot about the implementation of invitational education at different learning stages in the U.S.
Beijing Exchange Tour
From 26-11-2019 to 29-11-2019, our school joined a 4-day-3-night Beijing exchange tour. We have visited many famous attractions, such as the Beijing National Stadium, Beijing National Aquatics Center, Qianmen Main Street, the Forbidden City, Zhoukoudian Site Museum, the Great Wall and Beijing Museum of Natural History. The trip was an eye-opener for our students!
Malaysia “Belt and Road Exchange in the Art of Harmonica Music”
Ten students from Ta Tung Sunshine Choir, our Chinese zheng ensemble and the harmonica team took part in the “Belt and Road Exchange in Art of Harmonica Music” at the invitation of Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (Cina) Bukit Tinggi of Malaysia. The exchange event for harmonica, Chinese zheng, pipa and choir coincided with the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Malaysia. The event marked the cultural and art exchange between the two countries. It also served as a promotional event for culture and art. Some 200 music lovers of different age groups spared no effort in performing in this exchange event. On top of bringing their best performance, our students also learned a lot from others’ wonderful performances. Furthermore, the exchange journey also enabled them to learn more about the culture of Malaysia. They have visited the music museum in Malaysia and other famous attractions.
Life Education Exchange Trip in Taiwan
Our school is committed to promoting Christian life education and hopes to help students establish the correct values of life. To enrich our understanding of and to facilitate better planning for our life education curriculum, our principal led a life education trip to Taiwan in December 2018, which was joined by two of our teachers.
Throughout the tour, we saw how Taiwanese schools influenced students’ lives with life education. They used plants and animals as themes and teaching materials so that students could feel the origin and process of life. This way of teaching complements their school-based curriculum to help students understand the meaning of life.
Life education is fundamental to education. We hope that by integrating Christian life education and positive education, our students can establish the right values, know how to love others and love our God, and enjoy a flourishing life.
“The Planning and Technological Development in Dongguan” Mainland China Exchange Tour
In addition to the Beijing Exchange Tour, our P6 students also joined a 2-day-1-night tour in Dongguan in June 2019.
During this exchange tour, students visited the Dongguang-Shenzhen Water Supply Project, Hong Kong funded technology companies, Songshan Lake Science and Technology Industrial Park, Dongguan Exhibition Hall and Dongguan Science & Technology Museum. They gained a deeper understanding of the relationship between Guangdong and Hong Kong.
Through this exchange tour, our students discovered the inseparable relationship between technology and modern life. Simple water supply equipment, for example, is the outcome of extensive knowledge. When students visited some Hong Kong funded technology companies, they even had the opportunity to get first-hand experience with the latest electronic gadgets!
Joint School Sunny Youth Summer Camp
In July 2019, twenty students from our school took part in the 5-day-4-night 2019 Sunny Youth Summer Camp. Our students collaborated with students from other schools and learned about the important elements of our physical and mental growth.
First, the camp trained students to “learn about mutual trust, and to demonstrate team spirit” through a blindfold game. In this activity, students had to communicate with one another to overcome the obstacles and the complete tasks. From this activity, they learned the importance of trust and teamwork.
Besides, students also learned about the 24 character strengths at the camp. As they began to understand themselves, they observed and reflected on the people and things around them. They started to realize that the differences between people are orientated from their different character strengths. Lastly, students learned about the techniques of “active construction of responses”. From this, students understood that before they make an appropriate response, they should stop and think, and consider how other parties feel at the moment. It was an invaluable lesson about interpersonal relationship.
Joint School Art Exchange Day Camp
In the summer of 2019, the junior visual art elites of our school took part in the “Joint School Art Exchange Day Camp 2019”. Our students arrived at the Tseung Kwan O Methodist Primary School that day and shared the fun of art creation with students from five other primary schools. The creative themes of the day camp were “Mandala” and “Tape Art”. Students joined creative workshops and learned about innovative ways of making artwork. They also had a great exchange with students from other schools and jointly finished a piece of fabulous artwork.
