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Story Pilots’ First School Visit

3/21/2019

A big group picture of the 2 schools

Our Story Pilots had their first school visit yesterday (20 Mar)! 25 P.4 Story Pilots went to Christian Remembrance of Grace Primary School and shared their stories with 120 P.1 students.

Our pilots were all very excited and welcomed their little listeners with great passion and smiles. The sharing experience was definitely an extraordinary one for them as throughout the whole process, our pilots faced a lot of challenges. They observed the responses from their little listeners and quickly made adjustments to their plan. They used a lot of body language to help the little ones understand the story and some of them even rephrased the little kids’ ideas and taught them how to express them in English. In the end, all the kids enjoyed listening to the stories and they all gave a big round of applause to our pilots.

This was definitely a rewarding experience for the pilots and we are all looking forward to the next visit to another school!

Ms Jenny Ho

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When Fairy Tales Collide...

2/27/2019

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What will happen if fairy tales collide? Well, extraordinary things will definitely happen! And it did!

This morning, our senior English Drama team performed in the School Hall for The Hong Kong School Drama Festival 2018/19. They performed a comedy "When Fairy Tales Collide" written by Charles Alverson. The play did live up to the title! The story put together Gretel, Hansel, Queen, Witch, Wolf, Little Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks and two princes and form a fun-filled story on an unexpected party at the Witch's house!

The more fun thing was, half of these characters were female and thus our professional actors needed to do cross-gender acting! And, perhaps not surprisingly, everyone's acting was marvelous! And of course, thanks to the spot-on costumes and sound effects and set decoration that helped to bring the story alive.

My salute to our boys and "girls" and our talented teaching team, particularly Mrs Paul, Ms Yau and Ms Cheng for the training and design of the entire play. Thanks to all those who helped during the process and thanks must also be given to the actors' parents for their selfless support.

Last but not least, thanks to Mrs Lam for supporting us during the competition. We were all glad that she said the drama "almost blew her away!"

The adjudicators seemed to be as impressed as was the audience. Let's keep our fingers crossed for the good news from the competition organisation in April.

Dr H C Lee

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P.5-6 Singapore Study Tour 2019 - Day 5 (Closure)

2/17/2019

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Astonishing view from SkyPark

[17 Feb 2019] Feels like a dream these five days and four nights...I may not be the only one feeling like the student participants of this tour. But, anyway, it is time to say goodbye to Singapore.

The cancellation of a museum visit was not what we desired but we needed to respond to some unforeseeable situation. However, the surplus of time in the morning meant we could explore more at the Marina Bay Sands Observation Deck - SkyPark. And that was quite a good wrap up of the country's green and modern cityscape. The SkyPark was built at 200 metres high and shaped like the front of a large ship. We could see all the famous landmarks of Singapore from there. Our boys were all busy finding the best spots for photos or selfies or trying their last effort to spend the remaining money on drinks, ice-cream and sourvenirs up there.

Before the airport, we had a brunch at Lau Pa Sat, which was a perfect place for local food. The children were getting nosier and nosier towards the end of this journey, but who could blame them? They are children, they are boys, the trip was stimulating, and after all, they were noisy in English only.

The five-day-four-night exploration in Singapore has brought us serious learning from local schools, friendship with Singaporeans, knowledge of the history and success of Singapore, an experience of their national spirit, and importantly, a chance for our boys to be fully emerged into an English-speaking environment (I suspect that many of them also communicated in English in their hotel rooms!).

We are thankful for the great weather, the healthiness of all of us, the smoothness of traffic, the professionalism of our tour guide, the hospitality of Anglo-Chinese School (Junior) and Fairfield Methodist Primary School, the amazing talent of Ms Mary Ann Tear's drama team, our boys' high involvement in all of the activities, our leading teachers' great care and helpfulness, our school's support and last but not least, the trust from the parents.

Headmistress Mrs Lam gave a perfect end to this journey by showing up at the Hong Kong Airport when we walked out to the Arrival Hall. Surely, Ying Wa Primary School creates endless unforgettable memories in our children's hearts, but this trip for our senior boys should deserve a very special place in their childhood which should be remembered and looped for many many years. At least, it is the case for me.

Dr H C Lee

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P.5-6 Singapore Study Tour 2019 - Day 4

2/16/2019

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Presenting a souvenir to Ms Mary Ann Tear

At Gardens by the Bay

[16 Feb 2019] When we thought that the two-day learning at a local Singaporean school would be memorable enough for our student participants, they were given a stunning and daring drama workshop today by British Speech and Drama expert Mary Ann Tear and her invited guest teacher Charlotte (Salad d Clown), who was known for her clowning work.

Our boys learnt some exciting skills to improve their confidence and proficiency in acting on stage. Besides, students were instructed to put on makeup for clowning. A lot of our boys were reluctant at first, but once they started to do it, they're all engaged in it! Our boys might still be far away from being professional actors given such a brief learning time, but their getting out of their comfort zone touched us all. While they have learnt to be bold on stage with their character, they also learnt to respect the profession of acting.

Also, another highly anticipated location Gardens by the Bay did not fail to impress us all, as expected. The scale of such enchanting gardens and the messages they want to send out were memorable. We may not be plant lovers, but it was difficult not to be attracted by the carefully designed gardens and the endless views of beautiful foliage.

The Marina Bay Sands Observation Deck got swapped with tomorrow's Chinatown. So, we had a convenient arrangement of visiting the Chinatown after dinner. The ending was...children returning to the coach with filled bags.

The children have done their luggage packing, but no one seems to be excited about returning to Hong Kong tomorrow - is the success of this tour a good or bad news in this regard?

Dr H C Lee

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P.5-6 Singapore Study Tour - Day 3

2/15/2019

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At Anglo-Chinese School (Junior)

At Fairfield Methodist Primary School

[15 Feb 2019] Our School Headmistress Mrs Lam extended her warm surprise as she visited Anglo-Chinese School (Junior) on the third day of our tour for the P.5 participants.

Today is a very special day - 15 February is the Singapore's Total Defence Day. It is a day to remind the people of Singapore of their fall to the Japanese during WWII and that the country needs a united spirit and stronger protection against different challenges.

Both Anglo-Chinese School (Junior) and Fairfield Methodist Primary School had special assemblies for the event and they demonstrated perfectly to our boys what citizenship, national identity and the love to one's country are all about. This added so much value to their trip on top of what they have learnt from the different lessons offered by the two esteemed schools these two days.

In the afternoon we went to the Science Centre, which was again a very highly rated spot among our boys. Who wouldn't love science when it's learnt in such a fun and interactive way?

It is said that "Learning is at its best when it is deadly serious and very playful at the same time". I think we have been doing just that these couple of days in Singapore.

Let's look forward to tomorrow's drama workshop and the very highly anticipated Gardens by the Bay!

To be continued...

Dr H C Lee

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P.5-6 Singapore Study Tour - Day 2

2/14/2019

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At Fairfield Methodist Primary School

Sultan Mosque - Arab Street

[14 Feb 2019] Although "Happy Valentine's Day" might not be relevant to our boys yet, "HAPPY" can definitely sum up this second day of our Singapore Study Tour. See below!

H - Hospitality. The two schools we started our school experience with (Anglo-Chinese School Junior and Fairfield Methodist Primary School) exercised a very high level of hospitality to host us. Our boys enjoyed the opportunity mingling with the Singaporean children and learned from a different curriculum in a friendly way. Besides, our meals were offered by the two brilliant schools freely. No wonder all of our boys had very positive feedback today on their school experiences.

A - Ambassador Programmes. Both schools have adopted Student Ambassador Programmes similar to what we do. Today Anglo-Chinese School offered a 2-ambassador-to-1-visitor scheme to maximize interactions while Fairfield's ambassadors were well equipped with scripts, mics and uniforms, and importantly, they had girls to train up our boys' social manners!

P - Principal's Surprise. Our School Headmistress Mrs Lam gave our P.6 boys a warm surprise as she appeared during our school experience in Fairfield Methodist. She even gave a speech on friendship and love to the Singaporean students at the morning assembly with her signature "magic trick" in the end.

P - Perfect Weather. Should we feel bad that the weather forecast was not accurate? As can be seen from our photos, the sun was smiling all the way today to enhance our outdoor experience. Our sweat of happiness has made the experience even more memorable!

Y - "Yes!" This is the voice in unison when the tour guide offered a shopping opportunity to us in the end of the day. After a packed learning programme and a visit to the interesting Little India and Arab Street areas, we were brought to a nearby supermarket to let some of our boys' cash contribute to the Singapore economy! Guess what the children bought?

More fun should happen tomorrow for sure. Hope you've all had a Happy Valentines Day as we do!

Dr H C Lee

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P.5-6 Singapore Study Tour 2019 - Day 1

2/13/2019

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[13 Feb 2019] Day 1 of the P.5-6 Singapore Study Tour was more exciting than expected, mostly because the weather was absolutely against the prediction of a stormy day - the sun was scorching today when we visited the Merlion Park.

The selected participants of the tour really lived up to our school's expectation today as they immersed into the English speaking environment well and they stayed very positive about the long day despite that they had to arrive at the airport at 6:35 am, endure the very hot and humid weather in Singapore, digest an overwhelmingly lot of information from our professional tour guide, and experienced meals from a different culture.

The children reflected on their first day well during their night discussion time with their group teachers and they completed their written feedback before bedtime. I personally look forward to reading their work in depth and seeing how they interact with the Singapore students tomorrow. It should again be an exciting adventure.

Stay tuned!

Dr H C Lee

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Tea Gathering at the Government House

2/10/2019

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Official group picture taken at the Government House (from the CE’s Facebook page)

[2 Feb 2019] On the Lunar Calendar this was the 28th of December, the traditional day for “cleaning your house”, but a group of Ying Wa Boys were invited to the Government House, not for cleaning, but for a tea party!

8 members of the winning Thematic Group Speaking Team plus 1 Maths awardee had the fortune to take part in the gathering initiated by our Chief Executive Mrs Carrie Lam. Over a hundred participants (students, parents, teachers, School Heads etc) enjoyed their happy time at the beautiful ballroom of the Government House, taking pictures with some major government officials (including Mrs Carrie Lam herself), listening to the CE's speech, and enjoying the delicious refreshments.

This was a unique and honourable occasion for all those who took part in it. It is also quite thoughtful of the CE to acknowledge young award winners in different areas who will certainly be the future of Hong Kong.

She first held the party in July last year and this was her second event. We do look forward to the next one. Perhaps, more Ying Wa Boys will get the opportunity!

Dr H C Lee

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The 9th Speech Gala - Words from Adjudicator

1/26/2019

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Mr Simon Tham giving feedback

Adjudicator Mr Simon Tham gave these words after the Grand Finals of Speech Gala 2019 held yesterday (25 Jan):

I was very happy to be invited for the third time to adjudicate the Ying Wa Primary School boys' Speech Gala.

It was also a memorable occasion as this will be the last Speech Gala Mrs Maria Lam will participate as Headmistress prior to her retirement in August 2019. Mrs Lam has given her full support throughout, without which the Speech Gala would not have gone through nine years of continued success.

As a co-founder of the Speech Gala with Dr Peter Lee, l have seen great and better changes in the number of entries, categories and quality of the students’ work.

They have shown very active involvement and many have truly mastered the skills of elocution and public speaking. So much so, that l had to award a double first (never done before) to the P.6 Solo Verse Speaking. The two boys, Andy and Hanson, were absolutely brilliant and as they spoke, l was completely immersed in their passion and intensity. I have not heard such a beautiful, passionate and emotional rendition of “A Stingray is Dying at Waratah Bay” before. Both were different, but both brought special meaning to this very topical and humane poem. Both definitely deserved a First Prize!

I wish the Speech Gala continued success and hope this wonderful culture of speech, drama and public speaking will continue for a very long time.

Stay tuned for more snapshots of the event!

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5 Wins in a Row - Thematic Group Speaking Team Crowned Champion!

12/8/2018

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Our winners with the Adjudicator Mr Barry Prince.

[8 Dec 2018] Our Thematic Group Speaking Team achieved the impossible by winning the title in this category for 5 times in as many years and receiving an incredible 91 marks (Honours) this time from the adjudicator Mr Barry Prince who wrote in his comments:

An excellent and very clear opening to the performance. The choral speaking was excellent, well synchronized and expressive. The boy spoke expressively and engagingly. Your voice was clear and rhythmic. A unifying force throughout. The movement from piece to the next was flawless. The staging was excellent. Each individual performance was very well understood and showed the sense of each character's importance to the piece overall. The whole group were totally engaged throughout the performance. The Shakespeare was very well performed and understood. Some superb ideas used to create a well linked & clearly Thematic programme. Very well done. Excellent conclusion to the performance.

We simply could not ask for a better result or comment from the judge especially that, just 2 days prior to this competition, we had to swap roles and recruit an entirely new member into the group as the lead actor had to leave for another contest that clashed with this one. The group underwent an intensive training the day before for this miracle to happen.

My deepest salute to the two actors, Sirius Kwan and Jonathan Ford for accepting the challenge of respectively role-changing and learning the act 48 hours prior to the competition, and also to the entire Thematic Group Speaking Team for their tremendous effort all these months to perform and appreciate the arts of English literature.

Thanks must also go to the boys' parents for their support, to the PTA for helping with the initial team member recruitment and prop hunting, to Mr Mickey Kong and Mr Kelvin Fan for assisting the team during the contest, and to all my English teaching teammates' support and inspiration.

Dr H C Lee

P.S. Thematic Group Speaking is a 15-min act of a combination of text types (poetry, drama, prose etc) performed under an originally designed theme. YWPS has been joining this category since 2014.