Thanks to
Partners |
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Another 17 notebooks
donated by Intel for LEAD 2006
A big thank you to Intel for donating another
17 notebook computers as part of the Intel Involved
Program.
Together with the 20 notebooks that Intel gave us last
December, they will support the 2005/06 LEAD ( Learning
through Engineering,
Art and Design) Project
and be used during LEAD workshops. Youth attending the
workshops will use technology developed by MIT Media
Laboratory to build motorized robots, produce animations and
compose music.
Contact the LEAD Secretariat, tel 3579 4560, for
further information or visit the LEAD website http://www.lead.org.hk/ |
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Seminar on tertiary education and
workshop on interviews for university admission
The Federation's Jockey Club Hung Hom
Youth S.P.O.T. and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University are
organizing this seminar/workshop jointly on Saturday 17 June
for students who are facing pressure and problems relating to
university admission. In the morning, there will be a seminar
on tertiary education for about 300 students who have
completed Form 6 and Form 7. In the afternoon, there will be a
campus tour and workshops on university admission interviews.
Professional counsellors will be invited to share their views
and offer advice on interview technique. Call the Jockey Club
Hung Hom Youth S.P.O.T. tel 2774 5300, for more information or
click here . |
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Project for young night
drifters in Tseung Kwan O
Sponsored by the Sai Kung
District Council, the Federation is organizing the fifth "Night Market" project for
young night drifters in Tseung Kwan O from May this year to
January next year. Every Friday, outreach social workers
recruit young night drifters under 24 to join in various
leisure and cultural activities such as basketball, badminton,
squash, volleyball and hip-hop dancing. The project aims to
provide alternatives for these young people, get them off the
streets and away from harmful influences. They will be offered
counselling and guidance to help them build up a positive
attitude to life and information on community involvement and
work / study opportunities will also be given.
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Quality Education
Fund Project
The Federation's WISER Net
Educational Project for Problematic Internet Users has
been accepted for government funding by the Quality
Education Fund Steering Committee. It will be
launched in September this year and will run till August 2008.
Internet addiction has a destructive impact on students' lives
so the project promotes healthy use of the net, encouraging
students to use it more wisely or ‘play wiser' . The
project will support Primary 5 to Form 3 students in 1,200
schools, providing training and seminars for teachers, parents
and students, developing local assessment tools and designing
educational packages. Students identified as problematic
internet users will be offered counselling and treatment
groups by social workers and clinical psychologists. Contact
the Youth Counselling Services Unit or the School Social Work
Unit, tel 2395 0161, for more information. |
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The Federation's new
secondary school |
Education has been one of the Federation’s key
services for many years and we have gathered considerable
experience running a primary school and two day nurseries.
This year’s new departure will be the opening of the HKFYG Lee
Shau Kee College |
in the same Tin Shui Wai neighbourhood as its sister
primary school. We are delighted that government has given us
permission to go ahead with this new English medium Direct
Subsidy Scheme Secondary School and the first classes will begin this
September.
We have already approached tertiary institutions and are
looking forward to collaborative work which will allow us to
go ahead confidently with the curriculum developments we think
are needed. We also hope to find partners in the business
sector to allow us to endow the school with top quality
facilities, a well-equipped library being a priority. We can
expand extra-curricular activities with corporate sponsorship
and appeal to all interested bodies to contact us to discuss
projects which will bring out the best in our students in and
out of the classroom.
Applications for places in Secondary
One are currently being processed. For application forms,
guidelines and more information call
2564 1277, email .education@hkfyg.org.hk, visit www.u21.org.hk/main/lee_shau_kee
Read an
interview with the school's founding principal, Mr Henry Poon
below .
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Feature Story
The HKFYG Lee Shau Kee College
Passion for learning, knowledge and the
broadening of horizons will be the hall marks of education …
this will encourage students towards greater inquisitiveness
and curiosity, not just for their studies but also towards
life and the world around them. |
Taken from the mission statement of the Federation's new
DSS school, this captures in a nutshell the ethos behind the
education that will be offered by the HKFYG Lee Shau Kee
College (HLC) in Tin Shui Wai. The Federation has a
long-standing commitment to this area, with a youth centre and
a primary school near the HLC campus. We talked to the
founding principal, Mr Henry Poon Chun-kau about his vision
for the new school and his reasons for taking on the
challenge:
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"In my vision, our pupils
will develop holistically. Those at our school will have
the
gift of learning in a character-building context. We will
equip them with a tool-box of information, guidelines for
using that information well and a clear code of conduct for
their lives both in and out of school. With this foundation,
we think they will grow up into confident young adults who
understand themselves and the world around them." |
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Tin Shui Wai suffers from negative media
attention and the lack of certain social facilities. There is
only one public library to serve a population that was
projected to reach 300,000 this year. Does Mr Poon think that
the school can do anything to alleviate this kind of
problem?
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"The library on the 7/F is a special feature
of the school. It is the heart of what we call the Learning
Zone,
with its own quiet reading and independent study areas. It
is the floor above the Digital Learning Zone and of course
both
floors will be equipped with excellent IT facilities. These
zones are user-friendly. They are highly motivating for
self-directed learning and we are extremely fortunate to
have
Barrie Ho, the well-known interior designer, working on this
project with us to maximise their attractiveness and
effectiveness."
A dedicated, dynamic teaching team is a central
element in Mr Poon's vision:
"Our teachers are facilitators. They provide
learning materials and make the process of absorbing
information efficient and enjoyable. I have always believed
that behavioural problems in schools originate in learning
problems. We intend to nip those problems in the bud by
providing a context in which teachers cover the key academic
subjects and then augment them with integrated humanities
leading naturally to liberal studies. Creative content
will
come from the visual arts and music, balanced by a strong
emphasis on fitness and health."
Parental influence is crucial in any child's
education and in Tin Shui Wai where there is a high incidence
of single parents and fathers who work long hours and see
little of their families, its effects should never be
underestimated. How are prospective parents responding to the
announcement of the new school?
"We have had very positive response. Nearly
300 parents - mostly mothers - have come to my presentations.
There is a tendency to choose government secondary schools
because they are cheaper, but HLC is singular because it
is
English medium (EMI). There is an overall shortage of DSS
places in the area and HLC has the advantage of being able
to provide an English speaking environment as well. If
English
can become habitual, our students will have an enormous
advantage."
Mr Poon intends to provide a forward-looking
school which nevertheless emphasises traditional values. He
concluded:
"The main reason why I took this job is that
I want to establish HLC as an excellent EMI DSS school
for Tin
Shui Wai. I believe strongly in the future of Hong Kong and
I want to contribute to that future by providing the young
people of that area with a good education. This is going
to be
a tough challenge. My goal is to ensure that HLC achieves it.”
The new school is at Area 104 Tin Shui Wai.
Secondary One classes start in September.
Enquiries about admission and general information: telephone: 2564 1277
e-mail : education@hkfyg.org.hk |
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Global
Citizenship Programme 2006 Commissioning Ceremony
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Date: Wednesday 7 June 2006
Time:
4:00pm-5:00pm
Venue: Lecture Theatre,
Hong Kong Central Library Visit http://www.dragonfoundation.net/charitysale/
for more information
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7th Joint Graduation
Ceremony for Ching Lok Day Nurseries &
Kindergartens |
Date: 22 June
2006 Venue: City Hall
Theatre
Guest of
Honour: Mr Chan Hung To, Senior
Executive Officer, Education & Manpower Bureau
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Facts &
Figures |
How young
people feel about their community |
516 young people aged 15 to 34 were interviewed
by the Federation in May on how they felt about their
community*. On average they gave their community 7 points, on a
scale where 10 meant positive feeling for and 0 meant wholly
negative feelings. Nearly 85% had no plans to move away from
their community although 60% said their respective district
council had made little impact on them. They gave just over 3
points on average for their familiarity with district
councillors, on a scale where 0 indicated very unfamiliar and
10 meant very familiar.
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When faced with community-related problems, 27%
would seek help from their respective district council office
and 18% would turn to their management office. 21% were very
concerned about hygiene in their community, 20% were concerned
about public order or security and 17% about transport. Even
though the survey showed that during the last 12 months most
young people felt good about their community, nearly 87%
voiced no opinion on community issues and 75% said they had no
position in any community organization. More than 70% said
they hadn’t used any community facility or service during the
year in question and nearly 39% were not actively involved in
any community activity.
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Mothers and
teenagers |
38% of all Hong Kong mothers in a group of 500
recently interviewed in a research project* commissioned
by
RTHK said they spent less than 5 hours with their children
each day. Mothers play a very important role in the family
and
a New Century Forum survey found that 50%** of all Hong Kong
youngsters aged 11-16 have behavioural problems and these
are
largely attributed to lack of parental attention. It examined
only the role of mothers. Fathers did not feature despite
their importantance. |
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Working mothers are more likely
than housewives to have teens with such problems, which include
a tendency to petty crime such as cheating on public transport
fares (31%) damaging school property (28%) and carrying a
weapon (7%). The second survey, of over 900 youth, also
reported a 3% increase in student drug abuse in the last 12
months among this group. Of those who admitted misbehaving,
over 34% came from families with a monthly income of over
$20,000. Over 64% in this group had working mothers and over
52% of the mothers had reached only primary level
education.
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Core Service Highlight |
The Federation's day nurseries,
kindergartens and primary school have been operating
successfully for some years, extending the experience we have
in youth work into the educational sector. Secondary school
education has now been added to our array of education
services and the new HKFYG Lee Shau Kee College will encourage
its older pupils to excel in both academic and
extra-curricular activities, reaching their full potential
with confidence and values of moral and civic conduct that
will help them become responsible young adults. See above for
an interview with the principal and visit www http://www.u21.org.hk/main/lee_shau_kee/, http://www.lskps.edu.hk/ and www.hkfyg.org.hk/ncl for more
information. |
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