English Activities
Canadian English Writing Competition 2023 Semi Final (Arch Cup)
Canadian English Writing Competition 2023 (Arch Cup) is a scholarly competition that includes all primary and secondary school students in Hong Kong. After three rounds of elimination, 15 of our students secured their places in the Finals. Among all finalists, 2B Chan Tsz Kiu impressed the judging panel with her essay and was named the 2nd Runner-up in the S1-S3 category. Along with the results of 2 silver awards and 12 bronze awards, our students did exceptionally well in the live writing contest.
In the Final held in May, 2B Chan Tsz Kiu was awarded the Gold Award (Top 10% of essays) and there were also 12 more bronze awards gained as well (1A Lai Hei Lam Amber, 1A Lau Mei Ling Katie, 1A Li Wan Kee Ina, 1A Wan Tsz Ching Ivana, 1B Drummond Hannah Martinez, 1B Lee Yin Man Emi, 2A Koh Wai Yan Annie, 2A Ming Chung Fei Felise, 2A Phagami Eva, 2A Zhu Tsz Kwan Alice, 2B Leung Hoi Ying Helen, & 2B Tse Wing Wun Constance). Congratulations to all the winners!
2B Chan Tsz Kiu and her teacher Ms. Kwok
S2 Shakespearean drama appreciation: 24 Feb 2023
A Drama team came to our school recently to perform Shakespeare’s world famous plays. They performed Macbeth, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet and more. During their shows, they had asked students from the crowd to volunteer and participate which was very exciting and amusing for the S2 students. They asked students to come out and read lines which encouraged them to read harder and difficult vocabulary. The play itself was very comedic and hilarious. All the students and myself laughed our heads off. Just before they performed Hamlet, the setting for it was a dark and stormy night. They needed that and separated the crowd into groups where some would make a grumbling noise and some would make a thunder noise. Everyone was up for the challenge and did a fantastic job.
My favorite play they performed was definitely the Midsummer’s Night Dream. When stories have a love square, magic and fairies involved, it always means chaos and it was exactly that! The actors and actresses were running around the stage like madmen and everyone in the audience absolutely enjoyed it. I was laughing uncontrollably, I even felt tears coming out my eyes due to laughter.
Ultimately, the show ended on a good note. I was sad to know that it was over so quickly but it was definitely an amazing experience. I hope that the performers can come back again soon to show us another splendid performance.
(2A Phagami Eva)
Students reading lines as part of the performance
Actors and actress from Faust performing “All the World’s Stage”
S2 students’ drama appreciation experience in the theatre
S4 Film appreciation: The Fabelmans
On the 24th of February, all form four students spent an inspiring Friday afternoon watching an Oscar-nominated movie, The Fabelmans, at Grand Kornhill Cinema, as part of their popular culture studies and movie review assignment set on the autobiographical movie written and directed by the most commercially successful director Steven Spielberg, exploring the growth of a filmmaker. It was both an enjoyable and rewarding learning experience for students and teachers alike.
All S4 students watching the film together in the cinema
Both students and teachers enjoyed the collective experience of film viewing at the cinema.
Out and About – S1-S3 English Project Week
English learning is not confined to classrooms. To promote inquiry-based learning and broaden their learning horizons, the English Department took our S1-S3 students out of their classrooms for some learning activities in January. This week was filled with fun and enriched students’ learning experience.
S1 Visits to Hong Kong Central Library
A library visit for each S1 English group has been arranged in September with the aim of introducing S1 students to our recently renovated library, in particular the English book collections, the special rooms and the equipment they can access. Students were in awe with the breathtaking sea view, reader-friendly furniture and the tranquil environment, and were given guidance by their English teacher to borrow their first book for Extensive Reading Scheme, stimulating their interest in patronizing the library at school.
Class 1B visiting Hong Kong Central Library with their English teachers
To further reinforce their reading habit, S1 students were taken by different classes to visit Hong Kong Central Library from the 13th to 19th of January, during which a guided library tour was arranged for them to learn about how to use various resources at the library. After their library research, students were engaged in an individual presentation project about a historical figure of their own choice based on the reading materials they gathered.
Guided tours conducted by the librarian from Hong Kong Central Library
S2 movie appreciation
Students filing into the cinema excitedly
On the 20th of January, S2 students went to MCL South Horizons Cinema to enjoy a cinematic experience together as part of their project on film studies. They watched the movie Strange World that explores big themes including families and respecting our living worlds through its spectacular visual effects and an allegory comparing environmental changes to the human immune system. The movie presented not only a thrilling and entertaining afternoon, but also a thought-provoking lesson to students.
S2 students’ movie appreciation experience in the cinema
S2 students worked on their film studies project,
presenting their ideas in multimodal texts (2A Yack Man Hei & 2A Zhu Tsz Kwan)
S3 Wetland Park Visit
Hong Kong Wetland Park highlighting flora and fauna and conservation
On the 13th of January, S3 visited the Hong Kong Wetland Park as part of the English Department’s Project Week. Students were assigned a project considering how to persuade the Civil Engineering and Development Department of the Hong Kong government not to build public housing on the Wetland Park. Although the government does not [......]
S6 Interschool Oral Practice: A valuable day to share and to learn
Interschool Oral Practice with HKUGA College and S.K.H. Lui Ming Choi Secondary School on 17th February 2023
To prepare our S6 students for their HKDSE in March, an interschool oral practice with two schools in the Southern District, HKUGA College and S.K.H. Lui Ming Choi Secondary School, was conducted at Hong Kong True Light College on 17th February 2023. Students from three schools were divided in groups and practiced. Rarely have we had such a precious chance to test our limits in a nicely simulated situation, which we found eye-opening. All of the students were dedicated and did their utmost to get the best out of the opportunity, from which we learned a great deal. Getting feedback and evaluating with both our fellow group mates and teachers from different schools, we turned our nervous, bashful smiles at the beginning into genuine laughter and determination with our skills honed.
Students from different schools participating in the group interaction
Throughout the process of multiple rounds of practice, offering professional advice and timely feedback, teachers indicated to us our strengths and identified what we have to improve on, like pronunciation. Amazed and impressed by other candidates’ performances, I experienced what the actual DSE level could be by stepping out of my comfort zone. This meaningful experience has really helped us to broaden our horizons and optimize our deep thinking. We wish all the best for all candidates and hope to strive for our best in the upcoming DSE.
6A Chan Jour Yain Anna and 6E Chiu Wing Tung, Toby
Canadian English Writing Competition 2023 Preliminary (Arch Cup)
Canadian English Writing Competition 2023 (Arch Cup) is a scholarly competition that includes all primary and secondary school students in Hong Kong. After two rounds of elimination, 16 of our students secured their places in the Semi-finals with the results of 3 gold awards, 10 silver awards, and 3 bronze awards. Congratulations to all the winners! We wish them all the best in their semi-finals in mid-February.
|
Class |
Name |
Results |
|
2A |
KOH WAI YAN ANNIE |
Gold Award |
|
2A |
MING CHUNG FEI FELISE |
Gold Award |
|
2A |
PHAGAMI EVA |
Gold Award |
|
1A |
LAI HEI LAM |
Silver Award |
|
1A |
LAU MEI LING KATIE |
Silver Award |
|
1A |
LI WAN KEE |
Silver Award |
|
1A |
WAN TSZ CHING |
Silver Award |
|
1B |
DRUMMOND HANNAH MARTINEZ |
Silver Award |
|
1B |
LEE YIN MAN EMI |
Silver Award |
|
1B |
MOHAMMAD AFRAH |
Silver Award |
|
2A |
YACK MAN HEI |
Silver Award |
|
2B |
LEUNG HOI YING |
Silver Award |
|
2B |
POON KA KAY GWYNETH |
Silver Award |
|
2A |
ZHU TSZ KWAN |
Bronze Award |
|
2B |
CHAN TSZ KIU |
Bronze Award |
|
2B |
TSE WING WUN |
Bronze Award |
Champion – Hok Yau Club English News Commentary (senior)
Every year, Hok Yau Club organises the Students’ Top Ten News Election. This year, our students joined the English news commentary competition and got impressive results.
The competition results are available at: https://top10news.org/
We would like to congratulate our student, 5C Ng Wing Ki, Yuki, who was selected as the champion in the news commentary competition in senior form on the news about Queen Elizabeth. Her commentary entitled “Britain and the world bid farewell to Queen Elizabeth as state funeral marks end of era” has won accolades from the judging panel with her depth and breadth of knowledge on the news story.
5C Ng Wing Ki, Yuki, the champion of the Hok Yau Club News Commentary Competition (senior), with the Principal and her teacher, Ms. Jackie Chan
Read her news commentary here
First win in 2022-2023 Term 1 HKSSDC
On 21st October, our senior debate team 4A Alicia Wong, 4B Chloe Mac Callum and 4B Mary Thewe Mikfung, led by their team coach Ms. Chan, won their first match of the year. It was a very close match against HKMA K S Lo College with the topic ‘This house regrets the commercialization of major holidays’.
Debaters’ sharing:
This debate was our first ever debate as seniors. This was a big moment for us to prove ourselves so needless to say we were nervous. We prepared endlessly, sacrificing our free time just to have the sweet taste of victory, and we got exactly that. To be completely honest, victory could never be certain during the competition, but as we heard the beautiful “This round goes to the negative team”, it felt like all the work we did was paid off, and that everything was worth it in the end.
4B Mary Thewe Mikfung
For our first debate competition of the year, we weren’t as confident as we expected but we got through it with a win. I felt that we made a great head start. Our first win motivated the whole team to do better, stay strong until the end and hopefully enter the grand finals.
4B Chloe Mac Callum
S1 Jurassic Garage
From October 24 to 27, excitement buzzed as exotic animals arrived at our school. The event was hosted by Jurassic Garage, Hong Kong’s first mobile zoo that offers an educational and hands-on experience for students to encounter a variety of species from all over the world. During the workshop for S.1 students, they had the opportunity to interact with exotic animals such as a tarantula, chameleon, hedgehog, chinchilla, parrot, sugar glider, tortoise, African bullfrog and different kinds of snakes. Students had a blast learning about all the extraordinary animals from a knowledgeable zoologist. Overall, it was a memorable activity for the whole school!
Jovie and the snakes
I had a wonderful experience at the Jurassic Garage activity, and my favourite animal was the snake! I have always been fond of snakes. Although some people may find them hard to look at, I find them to be very adorable.
During the activity, I was able to hold onto a corn snake which was orange. Another snake was on my neck which was quite scary. I had a python on my head too, and it was the biggest one there. It was really heavy. All the snakes there were friendly and calm.
After the activity, I learned that snakes are carnivorous, and they eat mice. In the wild, they slither up trees to find unguarded bird eggs. Also, their tongues are itchy if you touch them. Finally, snakes are really adorable animals, and I hope people will be less scared of them.
Ma Ka Wai, Jovie 1B
Hannah and the parrot
My experience at Jurassic Garage was unforgettable, and I loved all the adorable animals! I learnt a lot of things that I would have never learnt by myself, and the people were so willing to help me and my classmates learn about all of the exotic animals!
Also, I have never been so close to such cool animals in my entire life! It is not every day you get to hold a snake almost as big as you are. My favorites included the parrot, tarantula, and snakes. I loved the parrot the most because I have always loved birds! I even have two birds of my own.
Afterwards, we also had to do a presentation about our favourite animal that we saw and share information about them. In mine, I wrote about the different characteristics of a parrot like its lifespan, diet, and the do’s and don’ts with the animal.
I am glad our school gave us the opportunity to learn not in a traditional way, but learn while having fun! This will most likely be one of my most memorable experiences as an S.1 student. I appreciate the lengths our school has gone to brighten our education experience with wonderful activities like this. I hope I can have another Jurassic Garage experience in the near future!
Hannah Martinez Drummond, 1B
To Learn from Experience at CUHK: Interschool English Oral Group Discussion
On 15th October, a group of four S6 students had been invited to an English oral group discussion in the Teachers’ Festival held by the Society of Language Education from Chinese University of Hong Kong. In the session, the candidates had a mock oral discussion with students from other local schools on a topic about generating electricity by human motion. Subsequently, we had a brief talk about the skills for oral discussion and a certificate was issued to us.
To Learn from Experience: Teachers’ Festival held at Chinese University of Hong Kong
Throughout the participation, I have noticed my strengths and weaknesses, as well as the actual situation when having a group discussion. The markers from CUHK in our group have given me valuable feedback, like pointing out that our group did not show the “interaction” but tended to be more like individual presentation of ideas. Besides, I was given some encouragement such as staying composed when someone was trying to interrupt my speech.
Overall, it is definitely a precious opportunity for me to learn more about the skills and myself.
Anna Chan Jour Yain, 6A
I think the oral group practice was a great experience that allows me to see how I would perform with other strangers and to know what my English level is at compared to others. I was slightly taken aback as the question was a little bit hard as I was not very familiar with the topic, which is about generating electricity with human motion. But I have learned to stay calm, as I was not the only one who was not familiar with the topic – one candidate even misunderstood the topic! The CUHK marker then pointed out each of our problems and shared some skills on how to perform better. I also look around the CUHK campus for a bit and I love the vibe. It was such a rewarding experience!
Sally Po Tsoi Nam, 6E
(left to right) 6A Nicole Chan, 6A Anna Chan, 6E Sally Po and 6E Coco Wong joined the Teachers’ Festival at CUHK on 15th October 2022
