United Today, We Can Conquer Yesterday
SJACS has entered her 63rd Anniversary this current academic year. Unfortunately, it has been another challenging year in the Hong Kong education sector and so at SJACS. During this pandemic, the normal running of the school has been affected in different ways. Fortunately though, with the support from all key stakeholders, we have overcome all challenges – big or small. We have now officially entered a period of ‘new normal’, yet we are hoping for the best in the resumption of ‘normal‘ in the near future.
Hygiene measures, inadequate time for face-to-face lessons especially for the sixth formers, suspension of school promotion activities in primary schools, parents’ expectations, reduced interaction between teachers and students, students’ misbehavior at home, just to name a few, were all unexpected problems that the school had to face. Luckily, we have a strong working community so the aforementioned problems were successfully conquered.
We have always maintained the highest hygiene standard in order to be able to accommodate the return of Josephians – we were more than ready when one-third, two-thirds and finally the whole school were allowed to conduct half-day face-to-face lessons. We even posted the ‘Leave-Home-Safe’ QR code and requested visitors to leave records upon entering the school campus.
Parents, one of the key stakeholders, had high expectations of the school to provide an ideal and commendable environment for their children to study in. To ensure this, our teachers furnished students with a variety of learning materials and revision notes to help students be adequately prepared for the term examinations.
Regarding public examinations, with the joint effort of teachers and students, 2020 was a remarkable year since Josephians achieved outstandingly in the HKDSE. To facilitate this, some teachers even conducted online lessons in the evening in response to students’ requests. It was under these conditions that the F.6 Josephians were geared up for the public exams. This, undoubtedly, has again shown how we overcame challenges together.
Competition among schools in the Kwun Tong district has been keen since the turn of the century. We have continued to promote SJACS to the primary schools in the district by showcasing our recent developments and the outstanding achievement in the public examinations. We have adopted new methods of promotion, such as visiting targeted schools and inviting the old boys of those schools to share their experience at SJACS with their alma mater.
While we could only arrange for students to attend half-day school, all ECA periods were suspended. In order not to disappoint the musicians of the SJACS Wind Band, we arranged an online training programme for them. They could not only continue to have their regular training lessons, but also rehearse in the online ensemble. This demonstrated how the school was still able to maintain a certain level of activities despite the social distancing measures.
During the pandemic, teacher-student interaction was unfortunately much reduced. To maintain close ties with students, form teachers and subject teachers organised online chat groups which allowed frequent exchanging of ideas. Moreover, real-time morning assemblies were live-streamed. Students could be blessed by God through the prayer session and enjoy book sharing by teachers and schoolmates. The bond between stakeholders was strengthened through the continued issuing of school notices, which provided school updates to parents and students at home.
The most challenging problem was the growing habit of students playing online games around-the-clock. Some parents complained that their sons did not pay much attention during online lessons. Some even had lessons and played online games simultaneously. In response to this issue, all students were requested to show their real-time attendance with their faces on camera so that teachers were able to interact with them at any moment. Guidance Team teachers and social workers responded by spotting and guiding the students who might have played online games excessively.
No matter how challenging these problems we faced throughout the academic year were, we always had hoped for the best but took every measure possible to prepare for the worst. One day as we look back together, these challenges will already be behind us! As the Bible says, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10)
Dear Josephians, I have been listening recently to ‘Try Everything’ which is the theme song from the movie ‘Zootopia’ as it is filled with so much positive energy. It best describes how we can stay positive during challenging times.
I keep falling down.
I keep on hitting the ground.
But I always get up now to see what’s next.
It is hoped that such positive energy will help us conquer challenges and setbacks, and lead us to a more fruitful academic year ahead.
Mr. Poon Wing Keung
Principal
My heart, where the campus lives
2019-2020 has been an absolutely challenging and unforgettable school year. Earlier in the year we experienced the social unrest followed by a worldwide epidemic. One common impact of both was an unprecedented and involuntary school closure. On the surface it seemed that all teaching and learning activities had to be ceased. However, with the joint effort of the teaching and non-teaching staff, Josephians were still able to ‘attend’ school like never before – in a new distancing norm.
Even though teachers and students were not allowed to go to school as usual during the school suspension period in order to minimize cross infection, we could still connect with each other in different ways – parents’ notices, online assignment and lesson arrangement, sunshine phone calls, Zoom form teacher periods, and real time lessons are to name but a few.
To fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and to allow a campus suitable for providing special care to the students who came back to school for specific reasons – for example when parents were unable to tend to their children, or when students found it difficult to complete their assignments without teachers’ guidance – a lot of measures were carried out to ensure that the school campus was ready for them when necessary. Body temperature checking, sanitized carpets, hand sanitizers and infra-red temperature checking devices were a prerequisite for students and visitors every day at the entrance of the school upon arrival. The public areas inside the campus and all the classrooms were sanitized on a regular basis. Drinking fountains were closed to minimize inter-personal contact. We would rather have tried everything to carry out these safety measures as we believed that safeguarding the well-being of our students, teachers and visitors was our top priority during this critical time.
More importantly, teaching and non-teaching staff were arranged to take duty shifts at school in order to allow our students to seek support whenever they needed to come back. It was also arranged that janitors would help clean the school campus to maintain utmost hygiene.
As always, we provided a religious setting for our students. Apart from the daily prayer, the Religious and Moral Education Team arranged online formation materials for students. Parents, teachers and students were invited to view the videos at home so as to maintain their religious rituals. To celebrate the 62nd anniversary of the school, we also produced a video in March during the school suspension, encouraging Josephians to share the happy moments.
Academically, the school continued to nurture our boys through effective online measures. Teachers stayed connected with the students through daily ‘Online Homework and Lesson Arrangement’. Students completed their assignments and attended specified lessons on schedule every week. Those who failed to submit the assignments on time were recorded and parents were notified of their sons’ performance on a weekly basis. In order to help the students who had problems with the assignments, real time online lessons in core subjects were arranged from Wednesday to Friday every week. Students got support from the subject teachers concerned.
Regarding the non-core subjects, teachers prepared online videos so that students could continue learning the relevant topics in respective disciplines during their long stay at home. We also offered online Zoom lessons for interest groups, such as the School Wind Band and the School Basketball Team. By doing so, students could still maintain their training sessions throughout the school suspension period.
To cater for the needs of the Form 6 students who were preparing for the HKDSE 2020, online mock examinations were conducted in February 2020 so that students had a ‘rehearsal’ before their public examinations. A majority of the elective subject teachers arranged real time online lessons for the students as a final revision prior to the real challenge ahead. It was arranged for those who wanted to come back to school to prepare for the HKDSE 2020 to have self-study in the school hall with the assistance of teachers or teaching assistants. We made sure that the students concerned had their requests attended to and all were well-equipped for the public examinations.
Apart from the aforementioned, all stakeholders were well informed of the latest updates from the school regarding special school policies during this critical time. School managers were notified of the latest arrangements regarding online teaching and learning matters. Parents received more than sixteen notices about the online assignments and lessons schedule in order to ensure their sons would be able to complete their assignments on time. Teachers also attended the Zoom meetings (five for the Administrative Committee and three for all the teaching and non-teaching Staff). Last but not least, to cater for the needs of our students, form teachers, Counselling and Guidance Team members, social workers and I myself made phone calls directly to the students in different forms to maintain close emotional ties amidst the restrictions on physical distance. Once again, we were hoping that students would be able to emotionally connect with the campus they might have been missing every day.
We stayed in touch with the PTA and Josephian Association during this suspension period too. Old boys of 1986 donated a considerable sum of face masks to the school in February, which signified their love and care. Additionally, we received an appreciation letter from the Chairperson of the PTA in May which wholeheartedly recognized the effort of all the staff at SJACS.
Dear Josephians, at times we have felt isolated or even had a sense of loneliness when we were on lockdown at home. I am sure we will see each other again in normal circumstances soon with laughter echoing around the school. Despite social distancing, the power in our hearts means we are now closer than ever.
“How good, how delightful it is to live as brothers all together!” (Psalms 133:1)
Mr. Poon Wing Keung
Principal
A moment to reflect – My first five milestone years at SJACS
This is my 5th year working as Principal of St. Joseph’s Anglo-Chinese School and it is time to sit back and reflect what we have accomplished so far.
Academically, we strove for the enhancement of the overall performance of all Josephians both internally in the school and externally in public examinations. Apart from the Elite Students Scheme and the Performance Enhancement Scheme conducted by subject teachers, we also received tremendous support from our old boys. Furthermore, we introduced the After-school Enhancement Course and the Athletes Academic Performance Improvement Classes. All these were done not only to focus on the elites who had already achieved commendable results, but also to assist the less academically competent students and athletes who contributed their time representing the school in inter-school competitions. We helped improve their performances in uniform tests and even in term examinations. It was under such conditions that more students could eventually benefit from the academic policy.
The introduction of the TOEFL course, the TOEFL Junior course and the GCSE Chinese Language course helped equip Josephians with the admission requirement to local universities. Exposure to different languages like Japanese, German, Spanish, French and Russian was also another policy that helped us push the boundary in preparing Josephians for further studies or career development in the respective countries in the near future. Interest groups like the German Language and Culture Club and the Italian Culture Club enabled them to enrich their knowledge specifically in those regions.
Regarding the infrastructure of the school, we have not only successfully repainted the whole school before the coming of the Diamond Jubilee last year, we have also completed a sizeable amount of enhancement projects that helped build an ideal study environment in the school. These include the renovation of the School History Museum and the climbing wall, the resurfacing project for the basketball courts, the installation of an LED monitor outside the School History Museum, LED walls in the school hall and elevator decals featuring the school motto and nurturing theme, the replacement work of the hall floor, and the setting up of Campus TV. All these improvements not only further facilitated the running of school activities, but also contributed to the future development of the school.
To further enrich the religious atmosphere around the school campus, we have completed the mosaics which depict the Annunciation, the Three Kings, and the birth of our Lord. Besides, the installation of the Catholic education core values-themed staircase decals, the setting of the outdoor grotto for The Mother of God statue and the renovation of the interior setting of the mini-chapel were all done in recent years. All these provided more opportunities for Josephians to be exposed to the good vibes of God within the campus.
To facilitate STREAM Education, we created the Bio-Eco Corner which has not only become the meeting place for the students while having science lessons, but also one of the iconic landmarks of the school that has attracted many visitors and alumni. This undoubtedly aligns with the saying ‘good tools are half the job’!
In order to make our students become an integral part of society, we strategically established a Six-year Josephians Nurturing Scheme in which students may partake in a series of activities, including voluntary service, cross-boundary or overseas cultural and study tours, leadership training, service lessons, Spiritual Education, Career and Life Planning Programme and STREAM Education. With all these arrangements, every single Josephian will have the chance to experience different opportunities in learning and development. More importantly, the all-round opportunity also enriches their experiences and broadens their scope in writing the Students Learning Profile (SLP) in senior forms.
Externally, to promote the recent school development, we organized open days not only for our feeder school, SJACPS, but also for the primary schools from which the majority of our F.1 students came. We have connected with more primary schools within and beyond the district where we are located and thus we have had more chances to introduce our school to the parents from different districts. To access more social resources for Josephians, I have involved myself in different social organizations and committees. Josephians therefore are able to participate in some regional activities which in turn further broaden their horizons.
It is never easy as we try to nurture an ideal learning and teaching environment for all Josephians; all along we have encountered tremendous obstacles and challenges – Rome was never built in a day! So my students, whenever you face any difficulties in the future, keep your head up! Don’t feel bad when you seek help from your parents, teachers and those you trust. I hope that with the efforts of all stakeholders at SJACS, we can turn a new page for the school together.
Last but not least, we strive to help students attain their goals and we encourage students to develop their potential to the fullest – making their dreams come true in the future.
Dear Josephians, join me in trying our best and one day we will for sure beat the rest!
Benedict Poon
Principal
A milestone year for the Josephians: Celebrating 60 years of education excellence and beyond
St. Joseph’s Anglo-Chinese School has a long history in education and this year we celebrated our Diamond Jubilee in March, 2018. Different celebratory activities, like the Diamond Jubilee Walkathon, ball games, BBQ, the Gala Dinner, the Open Day Opening Ceremony, the Time Capsule Laying Rites, the Thanksgiving Mass, carnival and the Consecration Rites, just to name a few, were organized with many of our retired or former members of staff, alumni, parents and current students sharing the joyful and unforgettable moments together. Our deepest gratitude should be extended to our founder, Brother Paul Sun, who came from afar in the Mainland, following God’s will to serve the people who were in need of financial support.
We strive to uphold the school mission set by our Brother Paul Sun in offering education to all who aspire to learn, including many who otherwise would have been deprived of the opportunity to develop their potential. We also strive for excellence in quality of education for students by maintaining a good balance of ethical, intellectual, physical, social skills, and aesthetic and spiritual development based on the Catholic education’s core values with a view to realizing our school motto, ‘Ad Astra’ and ‘Benevolence’.
Undoubtedly, the celebration of the 60th Anniversary also provided an opportunity for different stakeholders to look back and appreciate the school’s achievements throughout these 60 golden years. With the support of all school managers, parents, alumni, principals, teachers and members of staff, it was witnessed that the school had undergone eras of great achievement.
Academically, special policies have been implemented to enhance the performance of elite students in the public examination. Under such schemes, the total number of students admitted to local universities has been increasing year by year since 2015. About 80% of JUPAS offers were for university degree programmes in 2017. With encouraging and commendable results, teachers’ and students’ efforts were proven to be effective and successful. Josephians also actively participated in different kinds of inter-school activities and competitions to show their talents and potential beyond the textbook.
In sports, our school basketball team, badminton team and athletics team were competing in Division One in Hong Kong inter-school competitions. Our swimming team was promoted and will compete in Division II in the coming academic year again after 12 years of continuous effort. More importantly, our students were also able to attain excellent results in the Hong Kong Schools Music and Speech Festivals. Countless awards were also won in English Drama Festival, Inter-School Mathematical Olympiad, Science Olympiad, and many community service events. The number of students receiving scholarships has been increasing in recent years. My sincere gratitude should be extended to the collaborative effort of all staff and parents in supporting students by extending their potential to the highest and appreciation should also be given to students who have made tremendous effort in activities of all kinds. A round of applause for their hard work!
In regards to the newly-built facilities, there have been more than 20 additions and refurbishments in the past four years which signify the recent and updated development of SJACS. Both learning and teaching opportunities were benefited by these improvements that further demonstrated the transition of our school from just a new campus of buildings and facilities to a living home filled with laughter, love and hope. On the completion of all these works, we gathered and celebrated the Diamond Jubilee Anniversary.
Moving ahead, it’s time for us to plan for the future and beyond in many aspects. But one thing never changes – our school will continue to strive to provide education of the highest quality for Josephians.
On the academic side, we will focus more on e-Learning and e-Teaching. With the improvement and introduction of the updated teaching methodologies, the effectiveness of teaching and learning will be enhanced. STREAM Education will be another focus of school development. Students will be given opportunities to participate in newly designed science, computer and robotics activities. Religious and Arts Education will be equipped with advanced technology so that Josephians will have more exposure to the fields of AR and VR. Certainly, more resources will be devoted to the development of the Elite Students Scheme and the Performance Enhancement Scheme. It is under these circumstances that hopefully Josephians will perform outstandingly and commendably in HKDSE and more importantly, their overall personal growth.
Simultaneously, we also strive for the balanced development of students’ lives throughout the campus. In sports, we will support athletes in different streams, such as providing the Academic Enhancement Scheme for the majority of school team members and the Financial Support Scheme for those who are in need of assistance. Regarding Arts Education, we will encourage our students to develop their potential to the fullest and provide more performing opportunities for them to show their talents. To cater for this, activities in ECA periods will be run on a student-centered basis, allowing the school to accommodate the needs and the interests of the students.
Regarding whole-person development, every Josephian will have the chance to experience a Six-Year Nurturing Scheme which signifies the provision of all-round encounters. Upon completion, all graduates will have undergone a process of personal growth in different fields. Our aim is to show how the school not only pays attention to academic performance, but also values a balanced and healthy school life.
Last but not least, extra credit should be given to all colleagues for their enthusiasm and contribution in guiding students’ development. Sincere thanks should also be given to school managers, parents and alumni who have continuously been supporting us. My heartfelt gratitude must be extended to our distinguished colleagues and retired principals, Mr. Chan Kong Chiu and Mr. Yeung Siu Hung, for their devotion and long service to SJACS. Their passion and enthusiasm in education indeed serve as an inspiration to many of us.
Fellow Josephians, let’s gear up to be the best we can for the coming challenges whilst enjoying together, as always, the outstanding achievements of SJACS.
Principal Poon
Aim high, Fly high
Time flies. Our school is going to celebrate its Diamond Jubilee in 2018 and we have already celebrated the Commencement Ceremony a year in advance. The theme for the anniversary celebration is HOMECOMING. On the surface, we are simply inviting all alumni, retired teachers and other relevant parties who have a close relationship with SJACS to come back to the campus for the biggest celebration ever. We are hoping that the reunion will be a fruitful and successful one, such that the entire St. Joseph’s family will be able to bond even closer. To get deeper into the core essence of HOMECOMING, we need to review what we have achieved in recent academic years, and thus springboard to another milestone of the school’s development. To achieve this, Goal Setting is the key prerequisite to success – it defines the aim of the school to further uplift its reputation, not only within our locality, but also to create a bigger impact that goes beyond the district boundaries.
If you ask the best hunter in the world to take aim, the hunter would ask “at what”?
Only by setting a clear goal can we succeed.
Short Term Goals
Re-establish the Reading Culture in School: Create a school environment in which our students are encouraged to read on electronic devices. The more you read, the more inspiration you will get from the materials. Reading is the gateway for our students to be exposed to the limitless possibilities of the world, but also they can enrich their overall speaking, writing and communication skills in their daily life.
Promote Self-directed Learning: Another key component is the establishment of the Learning Community in SJACS – students are expected to do preparation work at home prior to coming to class so that they can maximize the class time in discussions with their teachers and other students on any questions. Teachers can also have sufficient time to share more in-depth knowledge about the subjects in addition to the planned teaching schedule. Students’ learning outcomes will be enhanced from this interaction in teaching and learning during their daily lessons.
Implement Project Learning Program: The program aims to help the junior form students in building a foundation for the School-based Assessment Projects (in Chinese Language, English Language, Visual Arts, ICT, Physics, Chemistry, Biology or the IES) as they are promoted to senior forms. It is known to educators that the likelihood to excel in studies of well-prepared students would be significantly higher than those who come unprepared.
Support All-round Development of our Students: SJACS is well-known in the district of Kwun Tong for being strong in the sports arena and the uniform groups. Apart from the current commendable achievements, striving for a balanced campus life is exuberantly welcomed. Students are encouraged to spend time on activities of a different nature in order to nurture their all-round development in both academic and extra-curricular pursuits.
Long Term Goals
Continuous improvement in Josephians’ Academic Performance: It is not only our short term goal, but also the main focus of the school in the long run. In order to help enhance the standard of our students’ performance, more measures such as the Whole School Reading Programme, foreign language classes, study groups, and mentor scheme will be promoted in the junior forms – aiming at raising their overall academic performance and this would then lead to a stronger foundation for their senior form studies. More importantly, Josephians will be required to put more effort in developing their language skills not only for the preparation of the HKDSE, but also for the long-term benefits to future career progression.
Character Education: As quoted in the famous idiom, “Rome wasn’t built in a day” – I am so proud to see the graduates of SJACS possessing the characteristics of being passionate, kind-hearted, cultivated, understanding and well-mannered. Also, they will be able to contribute to society through the nurturing of the school with the five Catholic Core Values – Justice, Truth, Love, Life and Family.
The Development of Arts Education: The school is aiming to shape Josephians in an all-round approach. More activities and training on Arts education would be introduced to those who have interest in these areas, and their talents could then be further developed during their school life.
As we step closer to the goals I have set forth above, I am hoping that SJACS will be one of the outstanding schools whose good reputation goes beyond the district of Kwun Tong, but more importantly, I hope SJACS will be able to win the hearts of many of our Josephians and their parents by being the pride of their life.
The goals listed above are important in the future development of the school in the coming years – we will not, however, move towards those goals without the support from our parents, teachers, staff, students and alumni.
Fellow Josephians, let’s walk and work together towards our goals.
“You haven’t failed until you quit trying.” — Anonymous
Lastly, I would like to express my grateful appreciation to Mr. Koo, our supervisor, for his guidance and support over the years. Also, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome our new supervisor, Mr. Chu Fu Yau, and we are looking forward to great success under his guidance in the years ahead!
Benedict Poon
Principal
The Era of CHANGE
SJACS has entered its 58th Anniversary in 2016. Being the Principal of the school for the 2nd year, I intended to lead the school moving forward by introducing a series of new policies that thoroughly complied with the main theme of the Year — CHANGE.
I have undergone a year of adaptive transition since I took up my new role in the school last year. With all the support from teachers, students, parents and the alumni, a series of CHANGE have been made primarily in the school policies, which include the New Time Table, New arrangement for the Morning Assembly, the introduction of ECA periods, the After-schoolSelf-study Room Arrangement, the introduction of New School Jacket as well as some administrative procedures for various stakeholdersetc. All these new policies undoubtedly have imposed certain degree of positive impact to both Teachers and Students at SJACS.
This year, the word “CHANGE” has been adopted as the main theme of the year. We have truly faced many “CHANGEs” throughout the academic year. At the beginning of this year, I introduced the concept of “CHANGE” to all Josephians with its contributing components in the word itself – with the building up of students’ Confidence, Humbleness, Assertiveness, Nice Character, Gratefulness and Energy, St. Jo’s Boys may hopefully have a clearer goal in which it may help them accomplish a strong sense of willingness and up-going attitude to pursue their dreams. Eventually, all Josephians are expected to possess the characteristics of constant changing and pushing themselves to excellence in the near future.
Regarding one of the CHANGEs — the New Time Table (10 periods a day), that aimed to provide more meeting time between Teachers and Students, enabled the nurturing of a closer relationship between these two parties. Also, since students were required to spend more time in the school, this arrangement has given extra working time for those parents who struggle for living. More importantly, students could stay longer in the school and this enabled them to make use of the school premises effectively.
The new arrangement of the Morning Assembly, undoubtedly provided more opportunities for the F.6 Students to speak in front of their schoolmates, encouraging more sharing with others on personal opinions on one hand, and it also helped enhance the reading habit among the Josephians.
It is hoped that the introduction of ECA Periods may ensure a higher participation of Students in certain Clubs, Interest Groups, Uniform Groups, School Teams as well as some newly introduced Societies. Every Josephian may have the opportunity to join at least two different ECA programmes on the last two lessons on alternate Fridays. Additionally this is also a good approach to help Teachers-in-Charge to organize activities on a regular basis during ECA periods rather than spending extra time after school accordingly.
The After-School Self-Study Room Arrangement provides the venue for those Josephians in need of more self-study areas facilitating group discussions. This will also enhance the sense of belonging tremendously.
The Introduction of New School Jacket not only helped keep students warm in winter time but also it was believed that instead of wearing non-uniform jackets, a sense of unity may finally be established.
On the other side of the coin, it is known to us that any CHANGE in an organization may also bring certain level of uncertainty and anxiety to stakeholders in early stage; while continuously there were rooms for improvement or fine-tuning of the newly-carried out policies along the process. In order to minimize the level of negative perception of those CHANGEs, the school had informed all stakeholders of the new policies prior to implementation in the last academic year. With that soft landing strategy, different stakeholders may have more buffer to understand all the CHANGEs and hopefully accept them in a more positive and supportive manner. The good news is after we implemented the CHANGEs to all Josephians at the beginning of the current school year, we begin to see the acceptance of the CHANGE by the stakeholders gradually.
It is obvious that we all have to undergo a period of transition before all the new policies were internalized. We should also admit the fact that the school would receive different opinions, whether positive or negative, from different stakeholders about the CHANGE. We all should remain open-minded before the CHANGE becomes mature. I have the strong belief that Rome was not built in a few days and hope that the success of the policies will be witnessed in the long run.
No matter how many policies have been introduced, the ultimate goal is to build up a better SJACS with a positive progress of the school in the near future. I expressed my visions in the morning assembly a few months ago, about how we could aim at moving towards a well-established SJACS in both academic and non-academic perspectives – I told our students to start by the improvement of their personal conduct first, followed by the emphasis on the CHANGE of their learning attitude. It was only under the combination of both attributes that our school, SJACS would enter a new phase of development in future.
Dear parents, fellow teachers and Josephians, I would like to take this opportunity to invite all of you to strive for the best of SJACS, and without your passion and support, nothing would be accomplished. You are all crucial to the success of SJACS. Hang in there, Josephians, let’s hold our hands and walk the talk together!
a year of ‘Maximization’
St. Joseph’s Anglo-Chinese School (hereafter ‘SJACS’) is the first institution where I serve as a school principal. During the past few months, I have encountered many changes that have enabled me to start a new living and working habit. Namely I learned how to drive last year, then with the blessing from God I finally got a driving license which I should have received 20 years ago! In order to further shorten the commuting time from home to work, I moved to the city area away from my old house in the New Territories that I had lived in since I was a kid. Having lived in the city for several months, I have begun to get used to the hustle and bustle lifestyle. Hence, I have MAXIMIZED my adaptability to a new working location owing to the changes brought by my new position.
It’s really my great pleasure to be the 5th Principal of SJACS and one of the members of our St. Joseph’s family. The modern, green and well-equipped school campus is the best ice-breaking talking point whenever I need to introduce myself to others about my new position. The harmonious, devoted and cooperative working environment with my colleagues comes second. This has undoubtedly provided me with happy and grateful working relationships in the school. Certainly, all you Josephians are another key component contributing to the development of SJACS in the future. Without the support from our Supervisor, Mr. Koo Yee Yin, Irving, our school managers, the PTA and Josephians Association, the picture of our family would not be as bright as it is now. I believe that with the input from stakeholders, our family will leap a step forward towards a brilliant future – therefore MAXIMIZING the hardware and software of the school to the fullest.
Despite all the ideals of our school, through my observation in the past few months, I think we still haven’t MAXIMIZED all our capacities – yet. For instance, the well-equipped study environment and other hardware belong to all Josephians, and thus we should try to MAXIMIZE the usage of those. Whenever you think there is the need to use the premises – ASK FOR IT! You should try to express your thoughts to your class teachers, or representatives of the Student Association and even your Principal – me! I treasure every moment with all Josephians so I try to MAXIMIZEevery opportunity in interacting with you at the school entrance every morning. I make use of the limited occasions talking to you in order to better familiarize myself with all Josephians. Through every interaction, though limited in nature, and probably by now I still can’t remember all your names, I can at least recognize all your faces in my mind.
In terms of the personal growth of Josephians, it is known to many that being smart, thoughtful, outreaching and independent are all the characteristics of Josephians. However, being the Principal, I still think you all can MAXIMIZE even more by recognizing and pushing your limits day by day. I believe in the saying, ‘the more effort you invest today, the higher the chance for a better harvest in the future’. Josephians, please start MAXIMIZING your abilities no matter how big the challenges are in front of you so that you all can live up to the school motto, ‘Ad Astra’, to excel.
Being part of the St. Joseph’s family, parents and alumni are two important and inseparable components contributing to and supporting the development of SJACS. This year, I have tried to MAXIMIZE the opportunities by participating in the programmes and activities held by the PTA and Josephians Association. In return, their support to the school is tremendous.
2014-2015 undoubtedly marks a challenging and fruitful year to me. I strongly believe that if every one of you can work together as a big team, the family of St. Joseph will have a better future.
Dear Josephians, it’s time to MAXIMIZE!