Activities Highlights


Leading English Language and Cross-disciplinary Curriculum Innovations at School
Date :
  
16 March 2018
Time :
  
9:00 am - 12:00 pm
Place :
  
Lecture Theatre and function rooms, Kowloon Tong Education Services Centre, 19 Suffolk Road, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon
Objectives of the Sharing Session :
  
• To showcase the achievements of selected primary and secondary schools in implementing different curriculum innovations recommended in the updated curriculum reform and the English Language Education KLA Curriculum Guide
• To provide a platform for school leaders, curriculum leaders of different KLAs/disciplines and English teachers to exchange ideas on how to manage change brought about by the implementation of different curriculum innovations

9:00 am - 9:30 am
Part 1: Plenary Session
 
Our MCs - Ms Teresa Tang (Kowloon Technical School) and Mr Samuel Kam (Mu Kuang English School) kicked off the event and extended our warmest welcome to the participating school heads and teachers. They introduced the objectives of the sharing session to showcase good school-based practices of 40 curriculum leaders from 19 primary and secondary schools. Not only did teachers share their valuable experiences, but some schools also had students share their learning progress personally with the audience.
Miss Betty Leung, Chief School Development Officer of Language Learning Support Section, gave an opening speech to highlight the importance of curriculum leadership in implementing curriculum innovations and managing change. She also introduced briefly the history of Curriculum Leadership Development Programme and Learning Communities offered by the Section.
 
      
9:30 pm - 12:00 pm
Part 2: Parallel Sessions
 
Theme One: Unleashing students’ potential through promoting RaC in support of STEM education (primary & secondary)
 
Case 1: When words meet numbers: Stretching higher ability students through an English-Mathematics LaC project
Curriculum leaders of English Language and Mathematics and students from Mu Kuang English School shared a cross-curricular project which raised students' awareness of inter-KLA links. Students' analytical, higher-order thinking and elaboration skills were developed through distinguishing observations and making inferences and applying these concepts in real-life situations, which are essential for quality language production and mathematical problem-solving.
Case 2: English teachers’ role in promoting STEM education in school
The curriculum leader from Lok Sin Tong Yu Kan Hing Secondary School shared how they provided support in promoting STEM education in school by introducing the aquaponics system (a school facility) into an S2 English Language unit on ‘Going Green’. Students also shared their achievements and experiences gained in the presentation of their products. 
Case 3: Igniting a sense of wonder with the infusion of STEM elements into the English Language curriculum
Curriculum leaders from Shatin Tsung Tsin School and Buddhist Wong Cheuk Um Primary School infused STEM elements into the English Language curriculum to refine a module about famous people and inventions. Teachers shared how their students’ sense of wonder was ignited when they were asked to produce a lamp and a light-up card using a closed circuit. The lamps were showcased at the exhibition area, where students had the opportunity to introduce their products to teachers attending the event. 
Case 4: ‘Egg-citing eggs-periments’ ─ Infusing STEM elements to enrich students’ writing
Baptist (Sha Tin Wai) Lui Ming Choi Primary School designed an exciting egg drop device experiment in the units ‘Wonder of science’ and ‘The Lost World’. Curriculum leaders shared how they sparked students’ curiosity and inspired them to come up with more creative ideas for their writing. The egg drop devices were displayed at the exhibition area, where students demonstrated and explained to teachers attending the event their learning from the project. 

 
 
 Theme Two: Crossing subject boundaries – Developing students’ literacy skills and independent learning capabilities to construct knowledge (primary & secondary)
 
Case 5: Reading extensively to broaden students’ knowledge base
The curriculum leader from CCC Wanchai Church Kei To Primary School shared how they adopted various ways to encourage students to read extensively so as to broaden their knowledge base.
Case 6: Developing students’ capacity for lifelong learning
Curriculum leaders from Tai Po Methodist School and St Stephen’s Girls’ Primary School helped their students move towards independent learning by providing a favourable environment to foster self-directed learning and developing classroom practices which promote student autonomy .
Case 7: Designing learning guides to nurture students’ self-regulated learning skills
Curriculum leaders from Shun Tak Fraternal Association Seaward Woo College shared how they used learning guides to support students’ development of self-regulated learning skills. The learning guides and some student work were displayed at the exhibition area. 
Exhibition:
Curriculum leaders from TWGHs Mrs Fung Wong Fung Ting College and Shatin Tsung Tsin School displayed learning and teaching materials and videos of their cross-key stage RaC buddy reading programme, in which S2 students acted as reading tutors for P6 students.
      
 
 Theme Three: The ‘e-volving’ classroom – Developing learner independence in the digital landscape (primary & secondary)
 
Case 8: Adopting a change model to illustrate the implementation of e-learning to deepen and sustain learning in school
The curriculum leader from Baptist (Sha Tin Wai) Lui Ming Choi Primary School illustrated how the e-learning initiative was implemented progressively in the school with the use of the Kotter’s 8-Step Change Model.
Hands-on session:
Curriculum leaders of Sau Mau Ping Catholic Primary School, The Jockey Club Eduyoung College and Yu Chun Keung Memorial College No. 2 effectively utilised e-tools to motivate their own students to read, write and speak. Participants of the session were invited to experience how Plickers, Seesaw, Nearpod and Mentimeter could be used to help students develop their language skills. 
Case 9: Application of the SAMR Model - From ‘Substitution’ to ‘Redefinition’
Curriculum leaders from Baptist (Sha Tin Wai) Lui Ming Choi Primary School, Yu Chun Keung Memorial College No. 2 and Lok Sin Tong Yu Kan Hing Secondary School shared with the audience how they had successfully moved from ‘Substitution’ towards ‘Redefinition’ in SAMR model – using e-tools to refine students’ language skills, maximising interaction within and outside the classroom and publishing multimodal texts produced by students.
Exhibition:
Curriculum leaders from Buddhist Chan Wing Kan Memorial School and Buddhist Lam Bing Yim Memorial School demonstrated to participants their use of some useful e-resources to facilitate students’ reading and phonics skills development at the exhibition area.
 
 Theme Four: Preparing students for the challenges of tomorrow – Infusing life planning education into the English Language curriculum (secondary)
 
Case 10: Learning English through work-related classroom activities and life-wide learning activities
The curriculum leader from Yu Chun Keung Memorial College No. 2 shared how the English Department coherently infused careers and life planning education into different teaching units to help students understand their interests, abilities and career preferences and explore different types of jobs available in the market.
Case 11: Making use of community resources to organise career exploration activities for students
The curriculum leader from Cotton Spinners Association Secondary School shared how the school made effective use of community resources to create authentic and experiential career exploration activities for students.
Case 12: A workplace simulation project -- Linking classroom learning experience and the work world to develop students’ employability skills and personal attributes
Curriculum leaders from Yuen Long Catholic Secondary School shared a workplace simulation project which linked classroom learning experience and the work world to develop students’ employability skills and personal attributes to prepare them for vocational needs.
Case 13: Enhancing students’ career exploration through simulated job application activities
The curriculum leader from Kowloon Technical School shared the school’s experience of providing students with opportunities for career exploration through simulated job application activities.
Discussion:
After sharing, participants stayed and exchanged ideas on how to promote careers and life planning education in different school contexts.