9 February 2023 Here at Pooi To we have just completed checking the first term exam papers and it seems that our students have a clear understanding of their performance. Parents should aim to also get a good understanding of their daughter's academic performance, along with their learning attitude and any difficulties in learning they might have at home. This can be shared with the class teachers on Parents’ Day, which will be held on the 25th February, so that teachers can better understand the learning situation of students at both school and at home, and give advice and plans for improvement to the students to help them strive for excellence. Parents should also encourage their daughters to reflect on themselves and their performance, check whether their learning foundation is solid, and help them to understand what their weaknesses are and how to target them for improvement. Moving on to Pooi To’s 135th anniversary in March, we are incredibly excited to share our celebration with all of our Pooi To family and extended members. At times like this we look back at our history to reflect on how far we have come, all the way back to the end of the 19th century, where women in our country had few opportunities to study, let alone a way to learn about and connect with Christ. At that time, the Southern Baptist Convention in the United States sent Missionary Emma Young to China to spread Christianity, and establish the Pooi To Academy in Guangzhou. On March 3, 1888, the school officially started teaching, although there were only five or six students at that time. It was no easy task to establish a women's school between 1888 and 1936. The Pooi To Girls studied in a simple and dirty shed in those days. They were determined and persistent to continue learning. They kept their faith in God and passed on their love to others, continuing the Pooi To way of life for more than a century. From 1937 to 1945, although the smoke was full of gunpowder, the teachers devoted themselves and led Pooi To Girls continuously from one place to another. In the days when the flames of war were raging, the teachers insisted on teaching, and jointly established "Pui Ching Pooi To Joint Middle School" with Pui Ching in Ping Shek and Guilin. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Principal Wen Yiu-bun and Ms. Lee Ching-sum came to Hong Kong to open "Pooi To Middle School (the Hong Kong Branch)", so that the spirit of "Love, Integrity, Purity and Perseverance" could be passed on from generation to generation, with Ms. Lee Ching-sum serving as the Person-in-charge of the Hong Kong branch (later being appointed as the principal). In 1946, the school was independently registered in Hong Kong, and changed its name to "Pooi To Private Girls’ Middle School". Alumnus Lee Ching-sum was the first Principal of Pooi To in Hong Kong until 1949. Thereafter, Ms Helen Huen Wai-ning, an alumnus, was appointed as the principal. In 1952, we received a grant from the government to develop our own school building on Inverness Road. For more than a century, generation after generation of Pooi To Girls in white cheongsam have started in Pooi To, set out towards their own ideals, and added color to their lives. We also kept pace with the times, moving from being a private school to receiving government funding in 1978. In 2010, we also moved from mother tongue education to bilingual teaching, with students' bilingual and trilingual abilities continuously improving. Looking back at this road of grace, God’s guidance and love never ceases, so we should be sure to adhere to the heart of Christ, uphold the educational philosophy of teaching students according to their aptitude, and zealously cultivate spiritual, moral, academic, physical, aesthetic and social development.
Best regards, |
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“You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with abundance. The pastures of the wilderness overflow. ” |