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St. Paul’s Convent School School Report 2013-2014

School Profile

School Vision

St. Paul’s Convent School aims to provide a seamless bilingual education for girls, in a happy

and motivating learning environment, so that they will learn to embrace the Paulinian heritage of

truth, beauty, goodness, nobility and honour.

Mission Statement

St. Paul’s Convent School aims to provide an all-round education based on Christian values that

enhance the quality of life of Paulinians, both materially and spiritually, so that they can

contribute positively to their home, profession and society with charity, conscience, confidence,

courage, creativity, competence and commitment.

School Motto

OMNIA OMNIBUS is the school motto and is translated as “All things to all people” in English.

It is taken from the first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians, Chapter IX: 22, where St. Paul

instructs the Christians to serve and embrace all people irrespective of class, race and religion.

It is our avowed intention that no talented student will be denied admission to SPCS for purely

financial reasons. There is a generous scholarship/fee remission scheme provided by the school.

It is expected that each year no fewer than 30 % of students will benefit from the scholarship/fee

remission scheme.

School Core Values

SPCS is a learning school in a learning world for a learning century. Our core values are integrity,

joyfulness, simplicity, hard work and excellence.

School Governance

The school is managed by the School Management Committee which is accountable to its

Sponsoring Body, the Sisters of St. Paul de Chartres, which was incorporated under ‘Soeurs de

Saint Paul de Chartres Incorporation Ordinance (Chapter 1046)’, and which in turn is

accountable to the Education Bureau. In pursuing excellence in quality education, a Quality

Enhancement Team has been established to ensure the successful implementation of school goals

and the continuous improvement in educational standards as well as sustainable school

development. Furthermore, in view of the complex nature of modern schooling, distributed

leadership is practiced through the School Leadership Team, which provides support to the

Principal on the formulation of school-based plans to facilitate the smooth day-to-day running of

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the school. An Administration Team, which meets every Monday morning, helps to ensure that

any upcoming issues are dealt with effectively and efficiently.

There is also a School Advisory Board, consisting of three elected teacher members and parent

and alumni representatives, whose main duties are to regularly review the existing channels of

communication, the role and functions of various committees as well as to set up new

committees, or dissolve irrelevant ones, in consultation with the teachers concerned. The School

Advisory Board participates in tasks or functions initiated by itself, or delegated to it by the

School Management Committee, insofar as such activities do not conflict with the best interests

of students and the provisions in the Education Ordinance applicable to SPCS.

School Goals

To provide an all-round education based on Christian values to students and to instill in

them the Paulinian spirit that embraces all that is noble, good, true and beautiful.

To give students a Christian-oriented education that emphasizes spiritual and religious

formation as well as physical, moral, intellectual, emotional, aesthetic, technological and

social development.

To foster in the school an atmosphere of mutual trust, understanding and unity that all

students and teachers can benefit from.

To enable students to develop into women of high integrity who are academically prepared

and fully equipped to take their place in society and carry out their various responsibilities

in their homes, professions and the community in which they live.

To inculcate in students the ability to appreciate the finer and nobler things in life, as well as

the sensibility to value beauty, goodness and truth.

To enable students to develop into individuals who can respond to human needs, putting

their knowledge and talents at the service of others, particularly the less privileged.

To instill in students an awareness of and pride in their national heritage and the beauty of

their own culture while being open to developing a global outlook and an appreciation of

the beauty of other cultures.

To embrace a positive attitude towards life and to encourage generosity in terms of giving

time and talent to the cause of building a better world.

To share a common vision and to work with a united purpose in personal and professional

harmony.

To provide an appropriate and happy teaching/learning environment in which students can

be guided, challenged, corrected, taught and nurtured into becoming upright characters

capable of contributing positively to the society in which they live.

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School Theme and Future Development

The school theme for the five years is "Building a Successful and Sustainable Future". By

seizing an opportune moment to launch the SPCS-based New Senior Secondary curriculum, our

school has succeeded in preserving the Paulinian tradition of self-directed and self-managed

learning and whole-person development.

Major Development Milestones and Aims:

To foster English, ICT, thinking, greening, reading, LS and e-learning across the curriculum.

To plan and work collaboratively to ensure the smooth implementation of the New Senior

Secondary curriculum and School-based Assessment requirements.

To develop student electronic learning portfolios and e-learning platforms in order to

enhance students' life-long learning skills and all-round development.

To strengthen collaboration with tertiary institutions to provide applied learning and other

diversified programmes that will enrich students' learning experience.

To offer an international curriculum and assessment methods in order to provide students

with diverse education pathways for further education.

To mobilise Paulinians to work with students from other parts of the world on global issues

so as to build a better tomorrow.

To develop teaching and learning strategies to enable non-Chinese Paulinians to learn

Chinese as a Second Language. This would help them develop a deeper appreciation of

Chinese language and culture, integrate more effectively into the local community, and

enhance their career prospects.

To develop an efficient, student-centred, subject-based e-platform, the E-Learning Multi-

subjects Online, ‘ELMO’, system. This would facilitate self-directed learning and e-portfolio

submission.

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School Management Structure

Administration Academic Pastoral Care

Public Relations

Administration

Finance

Building and

Infrastructure

School Safety

Management

Information Systems

Human Resources

Staff Development

- Induction

- Teaching Practice

Team

- Ongoing Staff

Development Team

Panel Head

- Form Coordinator

- Subject Teacher

Curriculum

- Resource

Management

- Timetabling

- Examinations

- NSS, IGCSE &

GCE/IAL

Religious/FLE/Moral

Education

Careers/Further Studies

Counselling and

Guidance

Extra-curricular

- House

- Club/Societies

Prefect Board

- Discipline Team

- Environmental Unit

- Paulinian Board

- Welfare

Fee Remission and

Scholarships

Home-school

Cooperation

Hospitality

Alumni Association

Official School

Functions

Contingency Team

International

Exchange and

Partnership

Publicity and

Recruitment

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Number of School Days The total number of school days was 189.

Lesson time for the 8 Key Learning Areas Lesson time allocated to the 8 key learning areas and LS in 2013-2014 was as follows:

KLA* English

Language

Education

Chinese

Language

Education

Mathematics

Education

PSH

Education

Science

Education

Technology

Education

Arts

Education

Physical

Education

Liberal

Studies

F1 16.1% 19.6% 14.3% 19.6% 8.9% 5.4% 8.9% 3.6% 3.6%

F2 16.1% 19.6% 14.3% 19.6% 8.9% 5.4% 8.9% 3.6% 3.6%

F3 12.5% 17.8% 12.5% 50.0% (depends on subject choice) 3.6% 3.6%

F4 12.5% 12.5% 12.5% 51.8% (depends on subject choice) 3.6% 7.1%

F5 12.5% 14.3% 14.3% 41.0% (depends on subject choice) 3.6% 14.3%

F6 12.5% 14.3% 12.5% 41.0% (depends on subject choice) 3.6% 14.3%

GCEAS 14.3% 7.1% 17.8% 57.2% (depends on subject choice) 3.6% -

GCEA2 - - 26.8% 75.0% (depends on subject choice) 3.6% -

* A total of 21 sessions of Diversified Interest Programme (DIP) were offered to Form 1 to Form

5 students on Wednesday afternoons to enrich their other learning experiences (OLE).

School-based French and Spanish courses were offered to Form 1 to Form 4 students at four

different levels (F1-F4: 4:00-6:00 pm) by the Modern Language Faculty, the University of Hong

Kong, on Mondays and Fridays. Extra lessons in French and Spanish were also arranged from 2-

15 July, 2014 during the post-examination period to reinforce their proficiency.

Class Organization and Enrolment The school reopened on 2 September, 2013, with a total number of 1209 students in thirty-six

classes. There were six classes each in Form One to Form Six. The breakdown of the enrolment

number of 1209 students was as follows:

Form One Two Three Four Five Six Total

No. of classes 6 6 6 6 6 6 36

Enrolment 225 229 231 185 179 160 1209

Students’ Attendance Students’ attendance was satisfactory, with the average rate being 97.8%.

Form One Two Three Four Five Six Overall

Attendance Rate 98.9% 98.2% 98.1% 98.1% 97.6% 95.8% 97.8%

Catholic Students The number of Catholic students was 358, making up 29.6 % of the total student population. One

student was baptized during the Easter Vigil.

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School Formal Curriculum for 2013-2014

KLA Form Subjects F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6

English Language

Education English Language

Literature in English

English as a First Language

English as a Second Language

Chinese /French

/Spanish

Language

Education

Chinese Language

Chinese Literature

Ming Yi

French

Spanish

Chinese as a Second Language

Mathematics

Education Mathematics

Further/Pure Mathematics

DSE Mathematics Module I & II

Science Education Integrated Science

Physics

Chemistry

Biology

Technology

Education Computer Literacy/ICT

Accounting/BAFS

Home Management

PSH Education Economics

Geography

History

Chinese History

Religious Studies/ Ethics

Liberal Studies

Business Studies

Learning to Learn

Health Education

Arts Education Visual Arts

Music/Creative Music

Physical

Education Physical Education

Applied Learning Film and Video Studies

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Achievements and Reflection on Major Concerns

Major Concerns:

First Priority: To sustain a diverse curriculum and offer multiple pathways to students to

prepare them for a successful future in tertiary education

Achievements:

An additional Careers Counsellor was employed for a third year to offer careers advice to

senior form students. The counsellor reviewed students’ personal statements, trained

them in interview skills and enhanced their understanding of their own potential, study

pathways and career aspirations. The feedback from students was very positive. The

counsellor had sound knowledge of the UCAS application procedure and the application

procedures of non-local tertiary institutions from all over the world.

The UK Universities Road Show, 2013, was successfully hosted on our school campus

on 27 September. Regular careers talks on admission to universities in the UK, USA,

Canada, Australia and China were conducted in parallel with admission talks on entry to

local universities, offering students an insight into the multiple pathways available to

them for further studies. The Careers Team also organized multiple career-related

activities for our students, including JUPAS, Non-JUPAS and UCAS talks, visits to

various local universities on their Information Days, comprehensive job-shadowing

programmes supported by the Alumni Association during the holidays, outreach service

programmes jointly organized by St Paul’s Hospital, and workshops on OEA which

consisted of how to organise CVs, write personal statements and enhance interview

performance. Individual and group counselling services were also offered. UCAS Talks

were conducted on 20 and 25 June, 2014 to give Form 5 students an insight into the

application procedures for UK universities for the 2015 intake. On 2 July, during the

post-examination period, the Careers Team ran a careers workshop, which included two

modules - Managing my Learning, and Personal and Career Development - for all F4

students in the school hall.

IGCSE English as a First Language (EFL) and English as a Second Language (ESL) were

both offered to our students as an alternative choice in the F3 and F4 curriculum. Many

students took both ESL and EFL examinations and achieved excellent results in the

IGCSE examination. This curriculum arrangement was a successful strategy.

Six F.5 students, together with the Careers Team members, went on a day tour to United

International College in Zhuhai, China, on 14 March, 2014. The college was founded

jointly by Beijing Normal University and Hong Kong Baptist University in 2005. The

students joined the programme to explore tertiary education opportunities outside Hong

Kong. Furthermore, 24 students joined the Video/Film Production Summer Camp,

organized by the college, that ran from 23 to 28 June, 2014.

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As in previous years, parents and students found the F2 Parents’ Day and the Form 4

Parents’ Day useful, as they were able to have a better understanding of the requirements

of various subjects and career pathways offered by different subject combinations.

GCE/IAL Business Studies and Geography were offered this year to enrich the choices in

the school’s alternative curriculum.

The F6 form teachers were updated on OEA, SBA, UCAS and JUPAS/Non-JUPAS

applications and pathways. During the academic year, staff members attended different

seminars and workshops on NSS and SBA conducted by the EDB, HKEAA or tertiary

institutions to enrich their professional understanding of the latest NSS developments in

their KLAs.

The Student Learning Profile system was implemented successfully and all Form 1 to

Form 6 students became acquainted with the features of the system. The system was

especially useful for Form 6 students, enabling them to work out their own OEA for

JUPAS/Non-JUPAS or UCAS applications.

All F4 students joined the careers workshop, organized by the Careers Team on 3 July,

during the post-examination period. The workshop included Understanding the

Opportunities of Further Studies, Preparing for the SLP, Talk on US College Admission

and Talk on Study in Australia.

The SBA was successfully completed for the Form 6 students and the mark submission

process was smooth and effective. As in previous years, a special training session was

held in January, 2014, to familiarize teachers with the Form 6 SBA mark submission

procedure. The feedback was very positive and all the SBA marks were successfully

submitted to the HKEAA.

All electives under different NSS subjects and the booklists were reviewed and finalized

in late May for the coming academic year.

The special timetable/room arrangement was able to meet the needs of the more diverse

subject combinations.

Five Form 6 students, who had enrolled for Film and Video Studies, an applied learning

programme offered by VTC, completed the course successfully. Three Form 5 students

enrolled for Film and Video Studies. Eight F4 students attended the taster programme on

applied learning this year.

A total of 196 students enrolled for the French and Spanish courses conducted by the

School of Modern Languages, HKU.

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Reflections:

The Stanford University Tour, the Summer Leadership Camp at Brescia University

College, the STEM World International Summer Camp School at Imperial College, the

Vienna Tour to Austria and the French and Spanish Tours, offered invaluable learning

opportunities to students and gave them great exposure to an international environment.

The school will continue to explore and work collaboratively with various world-class

institutions to co-organize diverse learning experiences for our students to nurture their

global outlook.

Second Priority: To promote global citizenship as a way of life, a way to embrace peace and

environmental harmony

Achievements:

The school joined the UNESCO Peace programme and successfully completed a number

of peace-related activities, including the Celebration of the United Nations International

Day of Peace (21 September, 2013) and the Peacemakers’ Celebration Day (12 April,

2014). This peace programme raised the awareness of our students regarding the

importance of peace and harmony in the world.

The school was awarded the Bronze Award of the Hong Kong Award for Environmental

Excellence (Secondary School Sector) led by the Environmental Campaign Committee

(ECC) along with the Environmental Protection Department.

A green campus was sustained with a rich array of low-carbon activities. The Green Roof

was successfully completed and run by the PTA to promote organic farming and to offer

an additional green site for promoting green living.

The renovation of special rooms (Liberal Studies Room, Mathematics Room and English

Room) with energy efficient appliances helped to save electricity, and the panoramic

design of the projection screen in the LS room now offers an excellent facility for

interactive learning and video conferencing on global projects.

It was another successful year for the Form 2 Beijing PTH Immersion programme. This

gave students a better understanding of their motherland in terms of its culture, history

and sustainable development. The tour also helped students to improve their PTH

proficiency.

A conservancy tour to Zhaoqing, arranged for all Form 1 students on 13 and 14 April,

2014, gave them a better understanding of the changes in the unique landscape of

Zhaoqing and the relationship between the natural environmental and human activity.

A group of F5 students cultivated a unicellular alga, Chlorella, and studied its

effectiveness in removing air pollutants in the school campus. The group participated in

the Young Professionals Exhibition & Competition, 2013 (Secondary School Section) at

the City University of Hong Kong with their project – “Application of photosynthetic

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Chlorella in capturing carbon, reducing pollution from chimney and biofuel synthesis”.

They won the ‘My Favorite Booth Award’.

The “Electronics Make Fun” team participated in the Hong Kong Technology &

Renewable Energy Events, 2013, held on 9 November, 2013. The team won the 1st

Runner-up prize in the Solar Cell Model Car Race and the 3rd

Runner-up prize in the

Hand Driven Generator Model Car Race.

Reflections:

The peace programme enriched students’ knowledge of the importance of peace and

harmony. It would be good to continue this programme in the next academic year to

nurture the global citizenship of Paulinians.

Putting together new ideas about the design of the Green Block was very labour intensive.

However we believe that we are now on track to offer innovative, modern and practical

rooms to facilitate teaching and learning in the near future.

The school will continue to explore new cultural/environmentally-related tours for Form

1 students and new locations/exchange programmes for various forms.

Third Priority: To empower students to develop their full potential through mobile

technology, global networking, scientific exploration and other innovative projects

Achievements:

Mobile technology

Twenty sets of iPads, and charging units, were put into each Form 1 and Form 2

classroom for the use of each F1 and 2 class. Mobile units, each with 20 iPads and

charging units, were made available to subject teachers, meaning that mobile learning can

now take place in special rooms and at any location on the school campus outside

classrooms.

All F3 and F4 students have been given iPads to facilitate the use of self-developed

eBooks and to encourage the incorporation of mobile learning into their daily learning

activities. The Librarian and the IT staff assisted in the regular updating of the Apps and

iBooks in the students’ iPads to facilitate self-directed learning. Departments received

funding to purchase Apps to promote mobile learning.

Students actively participated in the production of eBooks during the 20 DIP sessions and

the post-examination period. They produced eBooks in Business Studies, History, Liberal

Studies and Economics, using the software, iBooks Author. They enjoyed the opportunity

and helped to prepare a lot of good e-learning resources for their schoolmates. A paper

on “Developing iBooks for Better Learning” produced by students was accepted by the

Gifted Education Conference, 2013, which was held in November, 2013 by The Gifted

Education Academy. Six students were invited to present their iBook project to other

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student participants in the Gifted Conference and they found the experience to be

invaluable. Over 100 iBooks have been developed by the students in different KLAs

during the past two years, during DIP and in post-examination periods, and most of them

are excellent self-directed learning materials.

Cyber Ethics talks on such topics as the Proper use of the Internet, Social Networking on

the Internet, Game-based Learning and IT Safety were arranged during the post-

examination period and they were well received by students and staff.

The school participated in the E-Textbook Market Development Scheme (EMADS)

Partner Schools Scheme, as initiated by the EDB, to field test the interactivity and quality

of e-textbooks developed by the commercial sector in Chinese language.

Global networking:

The school hosted many international visitors throughout the year to share in the school’s

experiences in areas such as the school-based curriculum, greening and mobile learning.

Six F.5 students went to Zhuhai, China, on 14 March, 2014, on a day tour of United

International College, a college founded jointly by Beijing Normal University and Hong

Kong Baptist University in 2005. After attending a lecture on ‘Government and

International Relations’, the students had a sharing session with three undergraduates,

which proved to be a mutually eye-opening experience. A batch of 24 students joined the

Video/Film Production Summer Camp organized by the college. All in all, this one-day

tour and summer camp gave our students an insight into university life in China.

A batch of 46 Form 1 to Form 5 students from the Symphonic Orchestra and the Junior

Choir went to Austria for the Vienna Music Tour from 3 February to 10 February, 2014.

The students attended master classes in vocal training and choral singing. They also had

Austrian folk dance lessons and music appreciation lessons. They visited numerous

museums and historic sites. All in all, our students had a marvellous experience!

A video conferencing session was arranged with the Principal, the ICT co-ordinator and

the entire Digital Leaders team of Bentley Wood High School, UK, on 19 March, 2104.

During the conference, our students presented two of our science projects and two

student-made iBooks to our UK audience through Skype. In turn, the Digital Leaders

team shared with us their work on iBook development and their Concept of the “Genius

Bar”.

A total of 18 overseas tours were organized from July, 2013 to August, 2014 to enhance

the other learning experiences of our students and the total number of participants was

791. This helped broaden the international perspectives of our Paulinians.

Scientific exploration and other innovative projects:

A F6 student won the 3rd

Place Award and a Bronze Medal for her project ‘Applied

Research in Factors Affecting the Maillard Reaction’ in the 13th

Awarding Program for

Future Scientists competition organized by the Ministry of Education of the People’s

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Republic of China and the China Association for Science and Technology in December,

2013.

A Paulinian participated in the Danish National Science Fair, 2014, held in Copenhagen,

Denmark, from 24 April to 1 May, 2014. This science fair was an annual forum for high

school students in Denmark and delegations from affiliated fairs to display top projects

and independent research. Our student won the 1st Prize for her project "The Ultimate

Maillard Formula to Gastronomic Wonders" and she had the great honour of receiving a

scholarship from Prince Joachim and the Minister of Education of Denmark.

Two teams of students joined the Stem Cell and Society Booth Competition organized by

HKU Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine

Consortium. They presented their research on stem cells to the judges and the public in

Hong Kong Science Park on 26 April, 2014. Our school won the championship, the

second runner-up prize and the "The Best Booth Exhibition Award". The champion team

was granted a summer internship opportunity and a scholarship for making human brain

and heart cells in a stem cell laboratory in HKU.

Three F5 students presented their project ‘Metallic Rainbow’ at the Hong Kong Youth

Science and Technology Innovation Competition (2013-2014) in the category of Science

and Technology Invention Works - Chemistry and Material Science (Senior Secondary

Section) on 29 March, 2014. They attained the 1st Place Award and the “Most

Outstanding Exhibit Award in Materials Science”. They were also the 1st Runner-up of

the Hong Kong Chemistry Olympiad for Secondary Schools (2013-14) organized by the

Hong Kong Association for Science and Mathematics Education, Hong Kong Chemical

Society, Royal Society of Chemistry and the Education Bureau. The team also won the

Championship and the “Water Science Award” for their project named “Metallic

Rainbow” in the Hong Kong Student Project Competition, 2014, organized by the Hong

Kong Federation of Youth Groups on 31 May, 2014.

A group of F4 students took part in the Young Scientists project led by Dr. Cheung

during the post-examination period.

Reflections:

Many scientific exploratory experiences were offered to students this year, all of which

were supported by staff with strong academic backgrounds.

The iBook development programme during DIP sessions and the post-examination period

enriched students’ other learning experiences especially in the area of aesthetic

development and ICT development. More sessions need to be arranged in order to

produce higher quality iBooks.

The E-Textbook Market Development Scheme (EMADS) - Partner Schools Scheme was

a great experience for our staff and students alike, and enabled them to learn about the

very latest developments in e-learning in the textbook market.

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Through global networking our students’ global experiences were enhanced, and this has

helped to prepare them for global citizenship.

Fourth Priority: To continuously improve the infrastructure of the school campus so that it

will support 21st Century teaching and learning methods.

Achievements:

Upgraded infrastructure to offer more stable wi-fi support throughout the campus.

The existing e-learning platforms in various subjects are in the process of being

converted into an integrated knowledge management platform, that can be logged into

using an iPad, to further promote the use of mobile technology. The conversion is

progressing well.

Successful completion of the renovation of G6 into a multi-purpose video-conferencing

room and renovation of the special rooms for core subjects, including English,

Mathematics, Liberal Studies and Humanities. The renovation of the science laboratories

and the building of the Green Block are progressing well.

Other Achievements:

The Joy in Taking Flight Project: The school set up the Aerospace Society to work on this

project in 2009. Since then, every Wednesday afternoon, during the Diversified Interest

Programme (DIP) session, members of the Aerospace Society have worked on building the first

experimental two-seater aircraft (model RV-8) in Hong Kong with the help of a Cathay Pacific

pilot. In the designated aeroplane building room, many parts of the plane, including the wings,

stabilizer and fuselage took shape, moving the project towards its ultimate goal. In June, 2103,

the plane was transferred to Chek Lap Kok Airport for final assembly, which may take another

year. In 2015, the RV-8 plane is scheduled to take flight in Hong Kong.

Teaching and Learning

Staff The total number of staff was 97 including the Principal, the Teacher Librarian and the NET

teacher. Support staff included 3 laboratory technicians, 4 teaching assistants, 12 administrative

support staff and 17 cleaning staff. The turnover rate, as in recent years, was low. SPCS has a

stable and experienced team of professional teachers.

Professional Development of Staff We had another fruitful year of professional staff development. The average CPD hours were

92.9 hours per staff member per annum. CPD included rich professional learning experiences

such as seminars and workshops on preparation for the NSS and many other school-based staff

development activities.

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On 16 and 19 - 22 August, 2013, our new teachers attended a series of new teacher induction

programmes in the Media Laboratory. The programmes introduced to them the school culture,

school administration, how to prepare a good lesson, IT and IWB training. It helped to

familiarize them with their working environment. They all joined the induction and the feedback

was very positive.

On 26 August, 2013, we had a staff development programme in Room G7. The programme

focused on the better understanding of school administrative procedures. Teachers were invited

to share their experiences of running different school functions and programmes.

From 20-22 September, 2013, we were very privileged to render our support to the community

by hosting the John Main Seminar. All our Catholic teachers joined the seminar. The participants

were most appreciative of the Rev. Joseph Wong, OSB, Cam. for leading them in the exploration

of “inner silence” in the desert tradition and oriental spirituality. The John Main Seminar has

been an annual event organized by the World Community for Christian Meditation since 1984,

and has been held in various cities around the world in honor of John Main. It brings together

meditators from all around the world and those who seek to discover more about the practice of

Christian meditation. All Catholic teachers had a great time learning more about meditation.

On 18 October, 2013, two Mathematics teachers attended a workshop conducted by the Edexcel

Training Team in the newly renovated multi-purpose Conference Room at our school. The aim

of this workshop was to bring into focus issues such as the planning of the new IAL Mathematics

course and the preparation of students for examinations. The workshop was conducted by Mr Joe

Petran, an experienced GCSE and GCE Mathematics examiner and trainer. All participating

teachers found this training workshop very informative and useful.

From 21 to 24 October, 2013, our Principal and 6 teachers participated in the 6

th Beijing

International Forum on Education for Sustainable Development in Beijing. The theme of the

Forum was “Education for Sustainable Development-Education for Tomorrow”. Our Principal

was invited to be one of the guest speakers and presented her views on “International Quality

Education”. Our teachers also shared their views on “DESD in Hong Kong: Review and Way

Forward.”

On 23 October, 2013, and 31 October, 2013, Mr R Li, Mr SW Law and the teachers involved in

iBook development, attended Apple training sessions on the use of the iPad and iBook Author,

and the application of iTunesU in classroom teaching and learning.

On 13 and 20 November, 2013, the British Council carried out two hands-on workshops to

introduce some of the basic functions of iPads and how they can be used in a pedagogically

sound way in the classroom. The emphasis was on giving teachers practical ideas on how they

could integrate iPads into their teaching. The workshops also introduced some very useful apps

to develop learners’ creativity, critical thinking as well as collaboration and communication

skills. Teachers gained valuable exposure to a wide range of apps that can be used in many

different ways to help develop learners’ digital literacy as well as in supporting traditional

literacy skills.

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On 9 December, 2013, 10 teachers attended a full-day training course in CPR and the operation

of the Automated External Defibrillator (AED), organised by the Hong Kong College of

Cardiology through the Jockey Club’s ‘Heart-safe School’ project. The project, which aims to

develop schools into heart-safe premises, is supported by the Education Bureau and the

Department of Health. Through this training course, teachers’ awareness of how the defibrillator

can be used to re-establish an effective rhythm in the heart in case of a sudden cardiac arrest was

raised. It was a valuable experience for teachers.

On 11 December, 2013, stakeholders from our school attended a GCEAL and IAL seminar

organized by Pearson Edexcel. It proved to be very successful, with detailed information being

provided on the changes in the GCE A Level qualification and the new International Advanced

Level (IAL) qualification being introduced. Parents raised many relevant questions after the

extremely informative presentation by Dr David Davies. Stakeholders were pleased to learn that

the IAL is widely recognized by universities all over the world.

On 12 to 14 December, 2013, 38 of our teachers joined the Learning and Teaching Expo, 2013

and the 6th

Annual Conference of the 21st Century Learning International, both held at the Hong

Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The objective of the Expo was to provide an

opportunity for teachers and school leaders to explore educational trends and discover the latest

learning and teaching resources and technology. The Expo was jointly organised by Hong Kong

Education City and the Education Bureau. The main theme of the 21CLHK was “The Digital

Learning Imperative” and it ran alongside the Expo. Our teachers found the keynotes, seminars,

workshops and the exhibition booths at both conferences informative, inspiring and motivating.

On 8 January, 2014, four teachers visited Hong Kong Baptist University on its Secondary School

Principals’ Day, 2014. The theme was “Life Brilliant Quote: Inspiring First-Year University

Experience”. The programme started with a sharing session by Dr Mosses Cheng, Chairman of

the Education Commission, and the Director of Student Affairs. Student representatives also

shared their experiences of their personal growth and inspiration to achieve their life goals in

their first year. Then, our teachers joined various parallel sessions which included: Science in

Entertainment; First-hand Experience in Chinese Medicine Knowledge and Education; and

Journalism Education: Change and Moving Forward, to better understand some study

programmes and the admission criteria of the university. Our teachers found the Principals’ Day

very informative.

On 18 March, 2014, and 2 May, 2014, respectively, seminars were held to brief HKDSE

invigilators and IGCSE centre supervisors/invigilators on their duties.

On 21 May, 2014, teachers from the English, Chinese and Mathematics departments attended a

workshop on student assessment conducted by the HKEAA. The workshop aimed at introducing

teachers to the "Student Assessment" system. This SA system is an online assessment tool that

allows teachers to conduct assessment according to their students’ needs and learning progress so

as to enhance the effectiveness of student learning.

On 9 June, 2014, the Staff Development Team co-organized a staff development programme

with St Paul’s Secondary School on Legal Issues in School in our primary school hall.

16

Professional Development School Scheme The First PDS seminar titled ‘Conceptualization: An Effective Pedagogical Tool in Practice’ was

held on 28 August, 2013. A total of 18 people from our school and three partner schools attended

the seminar. Teachers from all schools shared some questions from their past Liberal Studies

exam papers and explained the rationale behind the design of the questions. Highlighting the use

of question words, they discussed the performance of their students and the difficulties they

faced in tackling the questions. The LS Panel Head of SPCS presented a historical review of LS

in curriculum development and its role in education reform in Hong Kong. Teachers found the

seminar very helpful, especially as they were able to get samples of exam questions and explore

ways to solve problems in setting questions for exams.

The Second PDS Seminar entitled ‘Consolidation of Integrative Skills by Conceptualization’ was

held on 6 November, 2013. Teacher representatives from the partner school shared their

experiences of helping students in mixed-ability classes and presented an insightful analysis of

question types and teaching pedagogies in relation to the curriculum. Finally, the formation of

working groups among teachers to facilitate a professional dialogue regarding the effective

conceptualization of enquiry topics and innovative learning-teaching pedagogies was discussed.

It was inspiring to see how students with different academic abilities were motivated by

innovative teaching pedagogies to take ownership of their learning and work in collaboration

with their teachers.

The Third PDS seminar entitled 'Analysis of Mock Papers Design' was held on 26 February,

2014. A total of 14 teachers from our school and three partner schools attended the seminar.

Representatives from each school shared their experience of designing mock exam papers to

prepare students for the public exam. It was found that students from these schools faced more or

less similar problems, such as not having the right skills to answer questions that demanded the

application of higher level concepts. This was especially true in areas of politics and governance.

It was suggested that teachers give extra help to students in advanced answering skills and also

give them more practice in tackling topics relating to China particularly.

The Fourth PDS Liberal Studies seminar entitled 'Approaches and Pedagogy in Understanding

Major Concepts in the Liberal Studies Curriculum ' was held on 26 March, 2014. A total of 12

teachers from our school and two partner schools attended the seminar. Pedagogies and

approaches to understanding concepts in four major areas, namely, rule of law, governance,

globalization and sustainability, were presented. All the presentations clearly demonstrated the

professional expertise of teachers. The seminar focused on the planning and designing of the

curriculum flow and provided an insight into more effective ways of delivering lessons to meet

students' needs. The discussions among teachers revealed their interest in exploring ways to help

students master the more difficult concepts through current news and daily life applications.

Departments met regularly to share and discuss learning and teaching issues and strategies,

revise homework policies, moderate examination and SBA marks, check the quality of

examination papers and assignments, prepare and analyze the NSS, GCE/IAL and IGCSE

curriculum and introduce OLE into their curriculum. Many departments succeeded in infusing

English, Information/Mobile Technology, thinking and greening into their curriculum.

17

In addition, teachers were encouraged to enroll as HKDSE markers/examiners so that they could

share the latest trends in assessment with their peers.

The School Offers a Broad and Balanced Curriculum/Alternative Curriculum

to Meet the Individual Needs of Every Paulinian. In accordance with the NSS curriculum, our school offered the alternative GCE/IAL curriculum

to our students. Staff development programmes were arranged by each department during some

of the DIP sessions to allow panel heads and their members to have a good understanding of the

IGSCE/GCE/IAL and the local DSE curriculums, to cross match the IGCSE curriculum with the

local DSE curriculum, to collect teaching resources for the curriculum and to plan the schemes of

work for the new curriculum.

Furthermore, the focus was on assessment for learning through project work and hence learning

attitudes and skills were given a more prominent place through oral presentations in class.

Students were also requested to conduct peer and self-assessment and give suggestions for

improvement. The guiding principle was to satisfy, as far as possible, the diverse needs and

interests of the students and provide them with a broad and balanced curriculum that would

enhance their whole person development.

We collaborated with the School of Modern Languages and Cultures, Faculty of Arts, of the

University of Hong Kong for the fifth year to offer modern languages to our students. This year,

a total of 87 and 109 students enrolled on the French and Spanish courses respectively.

Language/Level Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Total

French 32 28 19 8 87

Spanish 46 30 22 11 109

The school is planning to offer the BTEC Awards in Home Cooking Skills, Art & Design and

Performing Arts in the coming years.

Catering for Diversity The school data management team has continued to provide an updated data analysis of students’

performance in ATT, TSA, IGCSE, GCE/IAL, HKDSE and mid-term/final examinations to

subject departments to enable them to trace and identify students’ diverse needs. This helps the

school and individual departments to formulate additional programmes that are appropriate and

timely, help less able students where necessary and offer enrichment challenges to stretch gifted

students. Timely feedback from tests and assignments was given to students by subject teachers

to enable them to scale new heights and to improve their learning outcomes. As a Direct Subsidy

School, the funding and flexible curriculum allowed the school to offer different school curricula

to meet the particular needs of individual students.

Additional lessons in Mathematics were arranged, starting in the first term, to cater for diversity

among the Form 1-3 students. The selection of students for small class additional lessons was

based on F1 Pre-ATT results and F2 and F3 final examination results. The same practice was

applied to additional Chinese Language lessons in F1 and F2. Special arrangements were made

18

for F3 Chinese - students who could opt for additional Chinese lessons, GCEAL lessons or PTH

lessons. An experienced teacher was employed to offer additional Chinese language lessons to

F5 and F6 students during DIP sessions and on Saturday mornings. Feedback from the teacher-

in-charge was positive and the extra lessons, which concentrated on consolidating students’

foundation in the core subject, ensured a smoother transition from primary to secondary school.

The UK Learning to Learn programme was successfully implemented in the Form 1 and Form 2

curriculum to help students improve their generic skills so that they could learn in a more

focused way and in greater depth. The students enjoyed the programme and found mind mapping

and various graphic organizers useful.

Catering for Students with Special Educational Needs A senior teacher was designated to take care of any student with special educational needs. Every

year, we have a few students with SEN including hearing impairments and hyperactivity. The

designated teacher referred the students to the appropriate organizations for the appropriate tests

and special arrangements were made to meet their needs in their day-to-day school life and in

public examinations. Form teachers were informed and reminded to treat SEN students as regular

students.

Reading to Learn and Learning to Read The Reading Culture Team organized various annual activities to promote a reading culture in

our school, which included creating an ideal reading environment in the school garden, the Cyber

Café, the school library, the lobby, the area outside the chapel, the English Room, and the

Chinese Culture Room. In addition, the team tried to inculcate a good reading habit during

Family Life Education lessons, form periods and free periods. Activities such as poster design

competitions, monthly book exhibitions and story-telling sessions assisted in broadening

students’ minds and perspectives. Students were also assigned to read eBooks in different KLAs,

and especially commendable articles/poems in Chinese, to help them to extend their horizons.

The school subscribed to different e-learning platforms for the students, including English

Builder, Twigs World and iLearner. The school also developed school-based e-learning

platforms which included English-4-Us, Mathematics, Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Economics

and Principles of Accounts, so that students could learn at their own pace, and as and when they

had time. In addition, the Pre-Form 1 students were asked to read at least two Chinese books and

two English books during the summer vacation and to submit their book reports to their new

language teachers in September. This helped to foster a good reading habit among all Paulinians.

Interactive IT in Learning and Teaching The whole campus was covered by wireless Internet access so that all SPCS students could be

technologically ready for global linkage and communication, both of which foster world peace

and an understanding of international affairs.

Information Technology was successfully incorporated as a useful interactive tool for teaching

and learning in SPCS. Technology was used extensively across the curriculum, both in academic

and cultural subjects, so that it served well as a tutor, tutee and tool in the curriculum. All project

work submitted to staff was in electronic form. The school-based Creative Media curriculum

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helped to empower students with the multi-media skills they needed to make presentations.

Many students received prizes for their entries in short film competitions. Lessons in Digital

Music and data logging systems in scientific investigations were incorporated in the regular

curriculum to meet the challenges of the new technological world. In order to promote student

interest in robotics and electronics, the school arranged “Electronics for Fun” classes during

Wednesday afternoon DIP sessions.

The school created the post of an IT Research and Development Coordinator to explore and

develop e-learning platforms for our students. The e-learning platforms “English Builder”,

“iLearner” (for Chinese) and “Twig World” (for Geography, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry,

Biology and Science) were subscribed to in order to enhance students’ learning.

Much effort was made to ensure that students became prudent, skillful and ethical users of

technology through school-based curriculum and seminars. The school also tried to ensure that

technology helped to support the school mission, helped to enhance the quality of teaching and

learning, and helped to reduce the workload of teachers in the long run.

To align with the fourth strategy of IT in Education, the school successfully operated various e-

learning platforms to extend learning beyond the classroom. Self-funded e-learning platforms in

subjects including Mathematics, English4us, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Accounting and

Economics were developed. The total number of items developed on various e-learning

platforms was as follows:

The school will continue to explore the use of mobile technology (the iPad) in the coming years.

To be better prepared to use the iPad in teaching and learning, students and teachers joined

workshops on how to produce eBooks using iBooks Author during DIP sessions. Furthermore,

our English teachers joined the workshops conducted by the British Council on 13 and 20

November, 2013, to learn how to help develop learners’ digital literacy through the use of

different Apps which included brainstorming and organizing apps, digital storytelling, the

creation of screen-casts and apps that allow assessment for feedback.

Wi-Fi coverage was upgraded in every classroom to support quick access to mobile learning. To

enhance the use of mobile technology in teaching and learning, all Form 1 and Form 2

classrooms were equipped with 20 iPads and all Form 3 and 4 students were provided with an

Subjects

No. of questions

English 9485

Physics 2354

Chemistry 4068

Biology 3130

Mathematics 8982

Principles of Accounts 1056

Economics 720

Total 29795

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iPad each for mobile learning. The school also participated in the E-Textbook Market

Development Scheme (EMADS) - Partner Schools Scheme initiated by the EDB to field test the

interactivity and quality of the Chinese language e-textbooks developed by the commercial

sector. All Form 2 students are equipped with an iPad after their completion of the ICDL

(International Computer Driving Licence).

Project Learning Throughout the year, students were assigned various subject-based projects to nurture their

generic and IT skills and as part of continuous assessment in various subjects. Projects in Liberal

Studies, Geography, English, Chinese, Chinese History, Integrated Science, Biology, Chemistry,

and Religious Studies in junior forms were presented by students and assessed as part of their

continuous assessment.

Civic and Moral Education Religious Studies is part of the core school curriculum for Form 1 to Form 4 students and Ethics

is one of the core subjects for Form 5 and Form 6 students. This helps nurture Christian values in

students. This academic year, the Ethics curriculum design was aligned with the school theme of

“The joy in Scaling New Heights” and the three major concerns of a value-based curriculum,

global citizenship and being a media literate person. Celebrities, as role models of society, were

invited to share their life experiences and wisdom with our Paulinians, who actively participated

in all these enjoyable civic programmes. The success of school-based moral and civic education

was reflected in the APASO II survey, which showed that our students were more caring (3.25 vs

3.03) and respectful of others (3.07 vs 3.03), had higher interpersonal competence (2.99 vs 2.82)

had higher social concerns (3.17 vs 2.96) and social power (2.48 vs 2.21).

Support for Students

Scholarship/Fee Remission Scheme We believe that no talented student should be denied admission to SPCS for financial reasons.

There is a generous scholarship/fee remission scheme provided by the school. It is expected that

no fewer than 30 % of students will benefit from the scholarship/fee remission scheme. This

academic year, there were a total of 738 beneficiaries and the scholarship/fee remission

amounted to HK$ 9.5 million.

For details, please refer to the school website http://www.spcs.edu.hk/feeremission.htm

Pastoral Care

Personal, Social and Health Education

As in previous years, the school collaborated with the Health Department to offer a

comprehensive health programme to all junior secondary students. The school will continue to

collaborate with the Health Department in the coming years.

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Healthy Paulinians

Paulinians are healthy in terms of social, physical and mental health. The APASO II study

showed that Paulinians had an insignificant degree of greater anxiety, which was mainly related

to examinations, when compared with the Hong Kong norm for females.

Only 2.3% of our students (29) were classified as overweight (BMI 23-29) or obese (BMI over

30) so obesity was not a health issue in our school. However, there was a growing concern about

the increasing number of students being underweight. In terms of physical health, our girls

performed better in their cardiovascular endurance tests (9-minute jogging) and flexibility tests

(sit and reach) as compared with the Hong Kong norm for females. The reason for this is that our

school offers a positive environment, which promotes healthy living and a happy life. Most of

our students enjoy regular physical activity and understand the health benefits of a suitable

amount of physical activity. Furthermore, the school offers a wide range of sports-related

opportunities to all students and has incorporated a comprehensive junior secondary health

promotion programme, conducted by the Health Department, in the normal timetable.

Form No. of Overweight and Obese Students Percentage

1 2 0.16%

2 3 0.25%

3 6 0.50%

4 7 0.58%

5 1 0.08%

6 6 0.50%

Total 25 2.07%

Form One Bridging Programme

From 7 July-25 July, 2014, the new Form one students (2014-15) attended a 3-week Bridging

Course at SPCS, co-organized by our school and Wofoo Social Enterprises, and supported by the

HKSAR Education Bureau, British Council and Hong Kong Baptist University. In the first two

weeks, the programme was run by our school and focused on Mathematics, ICT and

Chinese/French. The English Immersion Camp, which aimed to provide students with a fun

learning experience and emphasized spoken English through an interactive and fun-packed

activity-based curriculum, was conducted by Wofoo in the last week. The camp comprised five

full days, from Monday to Friday, from 9:00 am to 3:50 pm on the first 4 days and from 2pm to

8pm on the final day. Morning classes were taught through fun-filled materials based on

different themes while afternoon activities and events included arts and crafts, dancing, singing,

a treasure hunt, a fashion show, a quiz/game show and a mini-Olympics. The lessons were

conducted by a teaching team comprising 14 teachers from overseas, undergraduate students and

14 teaching assistants from local universities. Over the weeks, our new Paulinians made friends

with each other and became familiar with the school environment and life at SPCS.

Careers Team

Throughout the academic year, the Careers Team organized many programmes to help our

students with their curriculum choices and career plans. Careers talks for senior students were

also arranged regularly and included JUPAS and non-JUPAS talks, Degree programme

admission talks, visits to university Information Days for Form 5 and 6 students as well as talks

on overseas studies in countries such as Australia, UK, Canada, USA, and Beijing.

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Visits to local industries and Education Expos of various countries were organized to help

students better understand different study paths and the nature of various careers. Summer camps

and work attachment schemes were arranged to allow students to explore possible future careers.

Following the success of last year's UK Roadshow, representatives from 34 UK universities,

along with the British Council, came to our school to hold the UK Roadshow for Form 4-6

students, on 27 September. The Roadshow commenced with a 30-minute presentation by two

university representatives on UK education and the university admissions system. Our students

obtained valuable advice on choosing the right university course and UK universities admission

information. After the talk, students and their parents were able to have face-to-face

consultations with representatives from the different universities, at their respective booths, in

the covered playground. The UK Roadshow ended on a high note, with Paulinians gaining a

better understanding of UK universities.

Careers week was successfully held from 28 Oct to 2 Nov, 2013. Highlights of the week

included “Further Studies in Australia”, “Scaling New Heights with Outstanding Paulinians” and

the “Student Voice on Study Skills”.

A talk on "Further Studies in Australia" was held on 28 October, 2013, after school, in the

Classroom of the Future. We were greatly honoured to have Ms Glen McIntyre, Senior Regional

program manager for the University of Melbourne, talk to us about university admissions in

Australia, as well as what it is like to study at the renowned University of Melbourne. Paulinians

gained an insight into its campus life, as well as the internationally- recognized programs it

offers to undergraduates. The talk generated positive responses from our students and was

extremely useful for those Paulinians who wanted to apply to Australian universities.

On 29 October, 2013, Ms. Jolie Chow, a current Associate at a top US investment bank and

former Head Prefect of our school, who was also the winner of the prestigious SCMP Student of

the Year prize in 2002, was invited to talk to our students in the Classroom of the Future. Ms.

Chow, who graduated from Yale University and Harvard Business School, shared her experience

of becoming an investment banker and her life at Morgan Stanley, where she had the chance to

meet brilliant people from very different backgrounds. When asked about time and stress

management, she offered personal tips on prioritizing and categorizing tasks that needed to be

completed. She also encouraged Paulinians to always maintain a positive attitude and look on the

bright side of things. ‘Find what you like and go for it with passion,’ she said. ‘Be brave, take the

initiative, and try something new every day’. Her words were truly inspirational, encouraging,

and broadened the horizons of all Paulinians.

On 31 October, 2013, the final day of Careers Week, the Careers and Further Studies Team

organized an informal sharing session during lunchtime at the Student’s Voice forum. Seven

Form 5 students, who had attained brilliant IGCSE results in the previous academic year, shared

with us their successful study methods and gave practical advice to junior form students on

subject and GCE/DSE stream selection. They also emphasized the importance of proper stress

management, following one’s timetable and choosing subjects that one was interested in.

Through their interesting and informative sharing, Paulinians learnt how to achieve study-life

balance and personalize their learning methods to maximize their effectiveness.

23

On 27 January, 2014, fifteen Form Five science students were invited to visit the Joides

Resolution Scientific Drillship organised by HKUST. Students were given a 40-minute guided

tour of the ship. Various facilities and scientific technology, ranging from mass spectrometry to

chromatography, used for analyzing sediment and rock samples, were explained. Special

technology, such as the dynamic positioning system for stabilizing the vessel while drilling the

sea bed, was also introduced to our students.

Form 2 and Form 4 Parents' Days were organized on 8 March, 2014, and 1 March, 2014,

respectively, to help parents and students better understand different subject combinations, the

requirements of different subjects and potential career pathways. Senior form students were

invited to share their experiences of choosing different subjects with their schoolmates. It was

found that peer counselling was sometimes more effective than counselling by careers

counsellors. Students and parents welcomed and enjoyed the sharing sessions very much.

The team also co-organized job-shadowing programmes in various industries for our students

with the help of the SPCS Alumni Association. Careers sharing sessions conducted by SPCS

alumni helped enrich the career-related experiences of students.

Throughout the year, various workshops were organized to teach students to write good personal

statements for their UCAS applications, help them to apply to local and overseas educational

institutions and enhance their interview skills. Several UCAS talks were conducted on 20 and 25

June, 2014, to give Form 5 students an insight into application procedures for UK universities for

the 2015 intake.

A series of Interview Skills workshops were arranged for F6 STPAUL and F5 ST, at different

times during the academic year (F6 ST- July, 2013, F6 PAUL- October/November, 2013, and

F5ST- 2-8 July 2014). The workshops were conducted by the professional career consultants of

ARCH, with the aim of helping students apply for league universities abroad.

A careers workshop was conducted on 2 July, 2014, during the post-examination period, to help

all Form 4 students learn more about their career options. The workshop covered the 2 modules,

Managing My Learning (I) and Personal and Careers Development (II). The workshops were

very useful in helping students plan their future career/study pathways.

Counselling services were provided to HKDSE students on 14 July, 2014, to help them have a

better understanding of the procedures and strategies involved in the re-prioritization of JUPAS

choices. To help students to appeal to the HKEAA regarding their results and to inform them of

re-prioritization strategies, individual counselling sessions were conducted from 14 July to 18

July, 2014.

Discipline and Counselling Team

The data collected from APASO 2013 showed that the self, self-others, self-school, self-society

and self-future of our Paulinians were better than the Hong Kong norm for females in both junior

and senior forms. They had better social skills and interpersonal competence. More importantly,

they had a better attitude to school as they had higher general satisfaction, better teacher-student

24

relationships, more opportunities, more adventure and, overall, achieved more. The survey also

showed that our students had better parent-child relationships and stress management skills. This

data might explain why we have only a few disciplinary and counselling cases every year.

Scale Name Junior(F1 to F3) mean Senior (F4 to F6) mean Whole school mean

SPCS HK SPCS HK SPCS HK

Self 2.93 2.70 2.94 2.69 2.94 2.70

Self-others 3.14 2.99 3.15 2.99 3.14 2.99

Self-school 2.89 2.68 2.85 2.66 2.87 2.67

Self-society 3.00 2.86 2.96 2.82 2.98 2.84

Self-future 3.12 2.91 3.11 2.89 3.12 2.90

To protect our students from cyber traps/shortfalls, a series of seminars and workshops entitled

the Proper use of the Internet, Social Networking on the Internet, Game-based Learning and IT

Safety were organised by Mr. R Li for Form 1 to Form 3 students. The APASO also showed that

our students had better ethical conduct as compared with the Hong Kong norm for females.

A designated social worker (0.2) from Caritas continued to help the school to organize F2 sex

education lessons and a number of sessions on careers education for junior forms. All received

positive feedback from students.

Prefects’ Board

The Prefects' Board is a student organization with elected representatives that assists the School

Authority with the smooth running of school. Its objectives are to build a sense of unity,

belonging and cooperation among Paulinians, to facilitate communication between Paulinians,

the staff and the school authority, to maintain discipline within the school, to provide general

welfare to Paulinians and to coordinate Paulinians in keeping SPCS a quality environment.

The Prefects' Board assisted in the smooth running of numerous events in the year 2013-2014.

For example, on 10 September, 2013, students celebrated Teachers' Day and the Prefects’ Board

was instrumental in making the whole programme run smoothly. The annual dress casual day, as

organized by the community chest, was held on 28 September, and the prefects assisted in

making sure that all the Paulinians had a good time whilst also helping those in need.

On 25 September, 2013, the Prefects’ Board members made election speeches in front of the

whole school in order to get voted in as either Head Prefect or Vice-Head Prefect for the coming

year. After the excitement of the democratic process the Installation Ceremony was held on 9

October, 2013. The badges for the new Head Prefect and Vice Head Prefects were pinned on by

the Principal herself while the Prefects’ Board members, school prefects, class prefects, class

monitresses, I.T. prefects and environmental prefects of each class had their badges pinned on

their ties by class teachers. This marked the official beginning of the responsibilities of the newly

inaugurated student leaders.

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The new prefects then helped with the organization of several other major events. St Paul’s Day

on 30 June, 2014, was a Mass followed by a programme of events. The second-hand book sale

ran from 10-11 July, 2014, and the leadership training camp of 2014-2015 took place on the 23-

24 August, 2014, in the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups Sai Kung Outdoor Training

Camp. Through all these activities, the prefects’ confidence and determination to serve the

school were enhanced.

All Round Development Through Active Participation in OLE

More than 50 clubs and societies offered a huge diversity of extra-curricular activities throughout

the year and added a wide dimension to the Other Learning Experiences of our students. The

school has six houses, which offer vertical support to students’ growth and help to develop their

house spirit. The experience gained is invaluable for students’ personal growth.

House Enterprise and Service

Houses are used as the basis of the pastoral care system to help our students grow emotionally,

intellectually, morally, physically, socially and spiritually. As in previous years, all six houses

took turns to run the ‘tuck shop’, selling snacks, stationery or souvenirs to students. The house

which made the highest profit and had the best business plan was awarded the Enterprise Award.

Sale of snacks/souvenirs/stationery took place during recess and at lunch time on the playground.

The annual Sports Day Final was cancelled due to unstable weather but the Cheering Team

Competition was held in the school hall on 3 April, 2014. All F.1 students performed with great

enthusiasm and energy during the competition, filling the school hall with unreserved applause.

Kenny House won the Best Cheering Team Award.

The annual Swimming Gala took place on 8 May, 2014. Mason House was the Overall

Champion of the Swimming Gala. All Form One students took part in the cheering team

competition and it was sheer enjoyment to watch their performance. The Best Cheering Team

award was won by Curie House. The Swimming Gala was another opportunity for our students

to learn sportsmanship.

Enhancing Other Learning Experiences through Cultural Exchanges

To promote a global outlook and global citizenship, the school organized many cultural

exchange activities for students. A total of 18 tours were organized to enhance the Other

Learning Experiences of our students from July, 2013, to August, 2014.

Activity Date Location Participants 1 Summer Leadership Camp 2013 at Brescia

University

30 June to 14

July, 2013

Canada 36 F3 students

2 STEM World International Summer Camp

School, 2013 at Imperial College

8-20 July, 2013

UK

23 F4 students

3 University of Arts London- International

Summer School, 2013

8-26 July, 2013 UK 4 F4 students

4 The Stanford International Youth Camp,

2013

8-18 August,

2013

USA 30 F3 students

26

5 Tsinghua University Putonghua Immersion

Programme

15-24

September, 10-

19 &20-29

October, 2013

Beijing 220 F2 Students

6 Forum between Huiyang People’s Hospital

and Medical Missions for Children on cleft

lip and palate

27 October,

2013

Huiyang 6 F4-F6 students

7 The 13th Awarding Program for Future

Scientists, 2013

10- 17

December,

2013

Beijing 1 F6 students

8 Vienna Music Tour 3-10 February,

2014

Austria 46 F1-F5 students

9 International United College, Zhuhai, China 14 March, 2014 Zhuhai 6 F5 students

10 Visit to Zhaoqing 13-14 April,

2014

Zhaoqing 218 F1 Students

11 Danish National Science Fair, 2014 24 April to 1

May, 2014

Copenhagen,

Denmark

1 F6 student

12 The 14th Macau Open and Age Group

Synchronized Swimming Championship,

2014

23-25May,

2014

Macau 1 F3 students

13 Zhuhai Film and Video Show by IUC 23-28 June,

2014

Zhuhai 25 F1-F5 students

14 Summer Leadership Camp, 2014 in Brescia

University

30 June to 15

July, 2014

Canada 30 F3 students

15 STEM World International Summer Camp

School,2014 in Imperial College

7-19 July, 2014

UK

24 F4 students

16 Spanish Immersion Programme, 2014 in

La Universidad se Salamanca

1-13 July, 2014 Spain 50 F1 to F5

students

17 French Immersion Programme, 2014 in

Elit- St. Denis International School

1-13 July, 2014 France 41 F1 to F5

students

18 The Stanford International Youth Camp,

2014

5-19 August,

2014

USA 30 F3 students

Total 791 students

Home-School Co-operation

Form One Orientation Day This was held on 24 August, 2013, and all staff, Form 1 parents and students attended. The

programme began with an introduction by the Principal of the sponsoring body, the Sisters of St.

Paul de Chartres and the history of the school, its vision, mission and the school curriculum. This

was followed by a brief description of the work of the Discipline and Counselling committees.

Then, there was a talk by the school social worker on the services she provided, followed by an

open forum.

Form One Catholic Parents’ Day This was held on 22 September, 2013, and most of the Catholic parents and students attended.

The programme began with a prayer and an opening speech by the Principal. This was followed

27

by a brief introduction of the various religious activities in the school, organized by the Catholic

Movement Committee. Then, there was a sharing session by the Catholic students.

Big Sister Scheme This year, the Big Sister Scheme recruited 81 Form 3, 4 and 5 students to provide academic

support to 94 Form 1 Little Sisters. At the beginning of the academic year, the Committee

organized a 'Learning with Fun' activity to help the Little Sisters better understand their school.

The Train-the-Trainers workshop focused on the skills the Big Sisters needed to teach their Little

Sisters effectively while the Little Sisters Briefing Session aimed to remind the Little Sisters

about their obligations. Through regular tutorial sessions, both Big Sisters and Little Sisters

developed a closer bond and lived up to the Paulinian spirit. The scheme was well received by

parents and students.

Parent-Teacher Association

The Annual General Meeting of the PTA was held on 5 October, 2013, by the PTA Committee

to elect the Executive Committee. The EC hosted three seminars this year, the first one being

held immediately after the AGM. It was conducted by Ms Shirley Loo on “Instill positive value

in teens”. The committee also recruited 56 parent volunteers to accompany students to more

than 30 65th

HK Schools Speech Festival competitions.

On 25 and 26 January, 2014, the PTA organized a recycling activity to help the needy. The

programme was well received. A total of 108 parents of students in different forms assisted in

the collection of a total of 148 packs of recycled items including clothes, electrical appliances,

storybooks, toys, bags and watches, which were all in good condition. There was a significant

increase in the total number of items collected as compared with previous years.

On 22 February, 2014, over 100 parents and students gathered in room G7 to attend a seminar

presented by Mr. Charles Yu on “Enhancing EQ & AQ – A Key to Happiness for You and Your

Girls”. Mr Yu is an expert in Applied Psychology, Emotional Intelligence (EQ), Adversity

Intelligence (AQ) and Multi Intelligence (MQ). He gave the audience many important tips on

how to help students enhance both EQ and AQ in this competitive world. He highlighted the

significance of mental health and how to live a balanced life. The seminar was well received by

parents.

The ‘Love by Think, Cook, Save@SPCS’ programme was held on 22 March, 2014, on the

school campus and it received very good comments from the participating parents and students.

Thirty parents and their children enrolled for the programme and spent the whole afternoon with

the guest instructors Miss Alvina Chan and Miss Beatrice Chan, who discussed the importance

of healthy eating and the skills of healthy cooking.

On 26 April, 2014, the PTA and International Social Service (ISS) co-organized the “Healthy

Eating Fun Day” at the ISS Community Centre in Sham Shui Po. A total of 107

parents/students/teachers volunteered for this one-day program, which aimed to serve the

underprivileged children in that area. All PTA members donated generously to support this

successful event. With the donations, each needy family received a gift pack of mushrooms,

sesame and food coupons. http://www.spcspta.org/

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Alumni Association

The SPCS Alumni Association helped through career sharing, job shadowing and a summer

internship to prepare students for their future careers. In collaboration with the Alumni

Association, the Careers Team ran a few comprehensive job shadowing programmes in different

areas such as administration, public service and medical service. Furthermore, the Alumni

Association actively participated in the St Paul’s Hospital Outreach Programme and offered our

students a medical theory tutorial and hands-on training. They also organised sharing sessions on

the nature of a medical career. In addition, the Alumni Association organized an annual dinner, a

network drinks gathering, an Oxbridge Summer Exchange Tour and a visit to the Convent to

promote bonding among the alumni. http://www.aaspcs.com/

Visitors List Date Person/Organization/country No. of

participants

13 September, 2013 Visit by Principal of Brescia University College,

Canada

3

27 October, 2013 United International College 2

28 October, 2013 Cardiff Sixth Form College 1

29 October, 2013 President of Regis College 1

31 October, 2013 高建峰, 中北大学 1

1 November, 2013 Visitors From Foshan (Principal and Teachers from

Foshan Huaying School)

10

10 January, 2014 All-China Women's Federation 39

28 January, 2014 VTC: The ApL curriculum in-charge (Interior design

& Western cuisine)

2

4 February, 2014 University of Toronto: Mary Waye, Ph.D. 6

11 February, 2014 Sichuan Deyang No. 5 Middle School Students &

Teachers

16

17 February, 2014 UK Delegates: Principals led by Ken Welsh 30

24 February, 2014 Sister Cecilia Wong 1

10 May, 2014 上海市民辦世界外國語中學和世界外國語小學 8

5 June, 2014 United International College 2

24 June, 2014 Harvard Club of Hong Kong & Harvard Business

School Class, 2008

5

Capacity Enhancement Grant 2013-2014 In order to provide Paulinians with the opportunity to develop their personal interests and learn from their own experiences, our school has designed the ‘Diversified Interest Programme’ for all Form 1 to Form 5 students. This means that teachers are provided with the necessary time and space every Wednesday afternoon for sharing, learning and continuous professional development, especially to prepare for the NSS, IGSCE and GCE/IAL curriculums, while students follow the DIP that develops their multiple intelligences. Tutors are employed to take care of the DIP sessions using the Capacity Enhancement Grant.

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There were, altogether, 21 DIP sessions on Wednesday afternoons from 16

October, 2013, to 14

May, 2014. Thirty-five diversified interest groups enabled students to develop their interests and talents in various languages and performing arts. They also facilitated making contributions to the community and development of inter-personal skills through community service. Students who shared the same interest had a chance to make new friends during these lessons and to develop their full potential under the guidance of their expert tutors.

Capacity Enhancement Grant Report for 2013-14

Income HK$ Expenditure HK$

Brought Forward from Last Year 8,192.00 Expenditure Grant Total: 678,297.00

Current Year Grant 646,092.00

Adjustment -12,576.00

Balance (Deficit) 36,589.00

641,708.00 641,708.00

Evaluation: The attendance rate of the different activity groups was very high. All DIP courses were appreciated and well-received by teachers and students. Students enjoyed the courses because they could take a break from their studies and learn new things, read, do social service or practice for competitions and performances under the guidance of different tutors. Some of the DIP courses (dance, sports and music) helped to link students’ learning to other extra-curricular activities like inter-school competitions or performances. Furthermore, a total of 24 students received social service awards (1 Gold Award, 7 Silver Awards and 16 Bronze Awards). They gave up hours of their time to serve the community and enrich their learning experiences outside the school. Feedback from teachers was also positive as the DIP sessions on Wednesday afternoons freed them from their teaching duties and provided them with time and space to support school-based and department-based professional INSET.

Student Performance Academic Achievement HKAT In general, the HKAT results of our students in the three core subjects were better than the HK average. HKAT Subject

English Chinese Mathematics Average-Hong Kong (2013-2014) - - - Average-SPCS 84.0 70.1 79.1

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TSA The percentage of our students achieving basic competence in the three core subjects was better than the territory wide percentage. Chinese Language English Language Mathematics Students of local schools 77% 69% 80% Paulinians (2013) 95% 100% 99%

Public Examinations HKDSE Below are our students’ HKDSE results as compared with the data from all Day School Candidates. 100% of the students continued their tertiary education in local or overseas universities/tertiary institutions.

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University Entry Profile

In line with previous years, 100% of our students continued their studies in tertiary institutions

both locally and overseas. 57.3% of them entered the top 3 local universities and 21.4% of our

girls went to study abroad.

No. of students admitted to Universities in 2013-2014

HKDSE GCE/IAL Total Percentage

Overseas 7 27 34 21.4%

HKU 36 11 47 29.6%

CUHK 22 13 35 22%

HKUST 9 0 9 5.7%

CityU 5 0 5 3.1%

PolyU 2 3 5 3.1%

Other local universities 11 6 17 10.7%

AD / HD 7 0 7 4.4%

Total 99 60 159 100%

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IGCSE

This year was another year of excellence for our IGCSE results, with 127 students obtaining

4A*s or above and being rewarded with scholarships.

IGCSE Grades

國際普通中學

文慿級別

No. of students

學生人數

Scholarship

12A* 3 Full Scholarship for 2 years

11A* 5 Full Scholarship for 2 years

10A* 8 Full Scholarship for 2 years

9A* 17 Full Scholarship for 2 years

8A* 18 Full Scholarship for 2 years

7A* 17 Half Scholarship for 2 years

6A* 37 Half Scholarship for 2 years

5A* 4 10% Scholarship for 2 years

4A* 18 10% Scholarship for 2 years

Total 4A* or above 127

本年平均每人摘 A*數目 Average no. of

A* per student (2014) 5.5

學生總人數 Total no. of students: 183

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Below are the grade distributions of the IGCSE 2014 results.

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GCE/IAL

Form 5 and Form 6 students took the GCE/IAL AS and AL examinations and obtained excellent

results with many distinctions and credits.

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Non-Academic Achievements

The overall achievements of the students in all other aspects were outstanding. The full list of

prizes and awards received by our students each year can be found in the school magazine (The

Paulinian) and the Speech Day booklet.

There are altogether 188 students receiving non-academic scholarships, 42 for Dance, 9 for

Music, 9 for Science, 82 for Speech, 39 for Sport and 8 for other categories such as Visual Arts,

Mathematics, Leadership, Writing, Debate and Cookery.

The Paulinian Awards are for overall all-round achievement. Seven students received the

Diamond Award, 8 the Platinum, 36 the Gold, 53 the Silver and 111 the Bronze Paulinian Award.

All these are testimonies to the diverse and all-round development of our Paulinians.

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