15 December 2022

Dear Parents and Students,

A while ago, I had the opportunity to substitute for a teacher. I have been the principal for seven years, so I seldom teach in the classroom anymore, not even mathematics. As a result, on the first day in the classroom I was a little nervous, although I assume this was the same for the students, haha! What I am grateful for is that the students had good a mathematics foundation and skill set. They had a serious attitude towards learning. I was impressed that their original mathematics teacher had really put so much effort into the students’ learning. They have established an orderly and systematic math learning style. Even though their teacher had temporarily changed, they were still able to their dedication and enthusiasm for learning.

Pooi To adheres to the teaching concept of "a thinking classroom", so that students can actively think, explore, solve problems, participate in learning activities and self-reflect in the classroom, instead of letting students just spoon feed the classroom content. I often think about if teaching in a new environment, would produce a different chemical effect? I was grateful that during the one-week of teaching, I did not see any difficulties in my teaching, and the students' dedication and attitude in class was consistent with the feelings from my teaching experience in the past. Students are willing to think and solve problems in class. I have to praise their math teacher for having established a good "thinking classroom" environment, so that the students can learn freely and know how to participate actively in class. This echos our School Mission, “With bilingual education, students learn to express themselves well, enjoy thinking and become proficient in Chinese and English.” The teacher is just a facilitator, constantly enlightening them in the form of questions to search for the answers. By adopting this dynamic teaching, the acquired knowledge will be replaced by a set of skills and attitudes, which are more demanding on students than traditional methods. These skills include:

Creativity skills: creativity, problem solving, critical thinking, exploration, analysis,  innovation
Personal Skills: self-regulation, self-reflection, perseverance, initiative, responsibility,
flexibility
Interpersonal skills: collaboration, hard work, communication, cultural differences, networking, personal qualities
Job Skills: time management, information analysis, productivity, self-learning, use of
information and technology, leadership

I hope that the skills and attitudes students gain in the thinking classroom will benefit them in the future, not just for their exams, but as preparation for their future career and life.


Best regards,
Constance Cheung
Principal



“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.”
(Philippians 4:4)