Message from the Principal - ELCHK Lutheran Academy
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2020-2021
JANUARY & FEBRUARY
Message from the Principal
ISSUE FIVE
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove
from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
discussed by the management and announced. We understand
Ezekiel 36:26 that the arrangements might not be able to fully fulfil everyone’s
expectation in the LA family. We, however, have tried to optimise the
Welcome Year of the Ox. May God be with you all throughout the days opportunities of student interactions through different ways, such
ahead and fill your life with comfort, peace and love. The new year as arranging various optional afternoon programmes for Year 7 and
2021 and Year of the Ox may bring hope for us in our Lord’s blessing. 8 students and specific support programmes in the afternoon for
It is our pleasure to see one-third of the smiling faces taking turns other year levels. We are continuously monitoring and reviewing the
onto our campus while others in the virtual learning environment progress and will adjust promptly in accordance with the latest trend
continuously with additional support right after Chinese New Year of pandemic and government guidelines for the best benefits of all
holiday. Due to the unstable trend of the pandemic and the nature school members.
of LA as a through-train school with a mixture of students from 6
to 18 years old, multiple factors and a wide range of options have The Chinese History and Cultural Day, on the theme “So far yet so
been taken into consideration for the balance of safety and health close” (身遠心不遠)” was successfully held on 8 Feb. On that day, a
of all school members, as well as the values of face-to-face lessons. special and joyful online assembly helped us reflect the real meaning
As a result, face-to-face class resumption arrangements in the of Chinese New Year and the gratitude for our bonding in God’s love
first few weeks after the Chinese New Year have been thoroughly in spite of the challenges and difficulties that we have been facing.
Besides, special thanks are given to our students and parents (LAPT)
who organised interesting House activities and the noodle-making
class respectively in echo with this traditional festival.
After the festive assembly on 8 Feb, all teachers, in the spirit of a
professional learning community, were engaged in a series of
workshops. All teachers acquired the principles and skills of the
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) that aims to cater for learner
diversity by customising, optimising and personalising our students’
learning experiences. Afterwards, all colleagues actively participated
in the group discussion of our school’s situational (SWOT) analysis
and suggested the relevant developmental priorities for exploring
the forthcoming three years’ development plan of our School.
Senior Leadership Committee's Chinese New Year greetings
The first great news of Year of the Ox came from the Yuen Long
District Primary Student Paragon Election 2020-2021. Alvina
Kwok (6RP) was granted the Student Paragon Award in the
vigorous selection and keen competition on the motto “both
talent and virtue” (才德兼備) with other nominees of many
primary schools in the district. Congratulations!
A huge thank you to Dr. Andy FUNG Wa-chau, our Consultant
who has provided valuable advice to LA in past six months
after his principalship. At the retirement of his service in the
end of February 2021, he is very generous to donate an amount
of HK$10,178 of the sales of his book 《踏進國際教育的10堂 My family at the HK100 finish line with a surprise Oxfam Trailwalker 100km
課》to our parents that encapsulates the reflections of the banner by my former parents and colleagues on 31/1 One Go on 27-28/2
establishment and development of our School. The amount of
donation will be spent on supporting the LEGO ® Wall in our
currently renovated Library. We sincerely farewell Dr. FUNG Parents are our close collaborator in nurturing the next generation.
and thank for his tremendous contribution to our School for his A series of monthly parent workshop was kicked off on 5 Feb on the
principalship and consultancy. May his days in the future be topic “Nurturing child with the right character: GRIT” (培育才德兼備的
showered with God’s blessings, health and love. 孩子:恆毅力). The participating parents are appreciated for the active
engagement and the fruitful exchange. It is particularly important
It is the critical season for the Year 12 students who are preparing to develop GRIT in this turbulent times. That would be the reason
diligently for the public examination. May God bless them with why the rover in the NASA’s Mars Exploration Program is named as
extra wisdom for cognitive advancement, time management, “Perseverance” and it has recently captured the valuable images of the
physical health and emotional stability. Some of our students land surface of the Mars to search for signs of life, geology and other
have been delighted to receive conditional offers released mysteries of the planet. I have also learnt a great lesson of GRIT in the
recently and some more are expected in coming weeks. Your HK100 and Oxfam Trailwalker In One Go (two 100 km trail runs) within
continuous prayer is very much appreciated. 30 days last month. In particular, I twisted my ankle badly but needed
to finish the last 30km across a few rough hills in the HK100 race with
tears. A few weeks later, I participated in the Oxfam Trailwalker in
One Go on 27 Feb in heavy rain and wind chill on slippery trail. I have
experienced and reflected that crossing hurdles in life of uncertainties
and difficulties, similar to the current challenges of pandemic, is very
important. I sincerely hope that the LA Trailwalker Team(s), consisted
of teachers, students and parents, would be formed in the future so as
to actualise the growth mindset in the collaborative efforts.
Let’s join our hands to embrace the challenges ahead with our faith in
Him!
Dr. Patrick Lam, Acting Principal
Parent workshop about GRIT on 5/2
School News
Yuen Long District
Primary Student Paragon Election 2020/21
The Yuen Long District Primary Student Paragon Election was held
on 16 Jan by ELCHK Yuen Long Lutheran Secondary School. The
Election aimed to elect primary students who have both talent and
virtue (才德兼備) in the Yuen Long district as the judges all reckon
that are the two most important qualities of a model student.
Out of the 47 students who participated in the Election, the
judges elected 22 paragons. We are glad to announce that 6RP Message from 6RP Alvina KWOK
Alvina KWOK was one of them. During the award presentation
ceremony, Alvina presented her acceptance speech on her vision It is my honour to receive the Student Paragon Award. I feel grateful
for the future. If you would like to watch her speech, please visit: for all the support and encouragement from my teachers, family
https://www.facebook.com/officialELCHKLutheranAcademy/ and schoolmates. This Award is an affirmation of my efforts in
videos/337257537621768 studies, extra-curricular activities and community services.
This Election was a good chance for me to think about how to
become a talented leader with good virtues, which, in my opinion,
are confidence, honesty, kindness and proactiveness. I learned that
we should not just care about excellence, but excellence with love.
I will continue to enhance myself in terms of knowledge, morality
and skills, and contribute to the community with my talents and
integrity.
Alvina’s parents attended the ceremony to share the Video
honour and happiness
News Article
Dr. LAM attended the award presentation ceremony to show
his support
8
FEBRUARY
School-wide Activities
Chinese History and Culture Day
The Chinese History and Cultural Day was held via Zoom on 8 Feb with the theme of
“So Far Yet So Close”, aiming to connect everyone in our Lutheran Academy Family and
savour the beaming vibes of the Chinese New Year together.
Our Chinese teachers held a “Guess Who I am” game for both primary and secondary
students. Expatriate teachers were invited to say new year greetings in Cantonese or
Mandarin for students to guess who they were via Kahoot!. Mr. Neil JOHNSTONE, Ms. Jody
TAM and Ms. Julia ENG also performed some New Year songs to the students. Everyone
took pleasure in the activities a lot.
Later, primary students learned more about the culture and history of the Qing dynasty
through enjoying the “Popularisation of Science in the Forbidden City” story theatre.
Meanwhile, secondary homeroom teachers/group advisors played a video to let students
know more about the traditional customs and origins of Chinese New Year and take a
quiz on the video via Google form.
Besides the above activities, students also shared photos of how they celebrated the
Year of Ox on Padlet. While the theme for primary school is “The Year of the Ox in LA” (新
春送暖在牛年), secondary students and their family members participated in the Happy
New Year of the Ox Selfie Challenge (「 喜牛牛」自拍大挑戰). If you would like to enjoy
the photos and soak up in the festive atmosphere, please visit:
Primary: https://luac.padlet.org/tcychun1/d3kzv2c427287yws
(Password: CNY2021)
Primary
Secondary: https://luac.padlet.org/ckmfung/9pfck3s5iu5okomc
(Password: OXOX)
Secondary
1-5
FEBRUARY
Riesling House Activity Week
恭喜發財!
⾝體健康！
Between 1 Feb and 5 Feb, Riesling hosted a House
Activity Week with the theme of Chinese New Year
for teachers and students to learn more about the
festival while having fun.
Throughout the Week, Riesling arranged an activity
each day, such as “Let’s Cook a New Year Food!”,
“Let’s take a photo!” and etc. Students and teachers
submitted New Year posters that they designed
and photos of homemade traditional CNY food
and themselves dressed in the traditional Chinese
10S2 10C2
clothing online. They also filmed themselves saying
Janice YU Cassandra LAU
Chinese greetings or myths about the festival. All
the participants were very enthusiastic and creative.
Thank you to everyone who took part in the activities!
6RP 6AN
Ms. Tracy LIU Alvina KWOK Salena YIP 8DS 10M1
Hailey CHENG Emily LEE
8
FEBRUARY
Professional Development Day
As LA always aims at providing our students with quality and up-to-
date education, we offer various training for our teaching staff every
year. This year, we organized three in-house workshops for teachers
on the Professional Development Day on 8 Feb.
Through attending a series of workshops and discussion, teachers
exchanged ideas and gained better insights into advancing their
teaching skills for learner diversity and facilitating a more rewarding
learning experience for students.
25-26
FEBRUARY
Interim Report Parents Week
The Interim Report & Parents’ Week was successfully held between 25 Feb and 5
Mar. Parents were invited to attend a Zoom meeting with their child’s homeroom
teachers/ group advisors and subject teachers respectively to discuss the learning
progress as well as social and emotional development of their child in the first
semester.
As home-school co-operation is important for students to develop and excel
further in the future, we believe that after understanding the strengths and areas of
improvement of students in the meeting, teachers and parents would work jointly
to facilitate students’ learning and foster their whole-person development more
effectively.
5
FEBRUARY
LAPT – Online Parent Workshops
by Dr. Patrick LAM:
Nurturing child with the right character: GRIT
As it is important for us to communicate and exchange with
parents in different means, Dr. Partick LAM will be hosting a
series of monthly online workshops from February to May 2021
on various themes, ranging from nurturing children of different
talents to cyber world addiction.
On 5 Feb, an online workshop “Nurturing child with the right
character: GRIT” was held. With his previous experience working as
the Associate Director of Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education
(established by the LegCo in 2008) for six years and principal of
other schools, Dr. LAM shared his distinctive educational insights
and practices with our parents in the workshop so that the School
and parents could join hands to nurture our children and raise the
future leaders.
Thank you to the LAPT parent members who attended the
workshop. There will be three more workshops coming up, LAPT
parent members can register for the workshops online by the
respective deadlines.LAPT - 18
FEBRUARY
Online Noodle Making Activity
To celebrate the year of Ox, LAPT hosted an Online Noodle
Making Activity via Zoom for LAPT parent members. As Chinese
people usually have noodles on their birthdays for its symbolism
of “longevity”, the activity was held on 18 Feb, the 7th day of the
Chinese New Year, Renri (人日), which is traditionally the birthday
of mankind.
During the activity, some LAPT executive members taught
the participants how to make homemade noodles, including
kneading, rolling, and cutting them. Some students also joined us
with their parents. We hope everyone enjoyed making noodles.Meet Our Team
Own Their Learning Beyond the Walls of
the Classrooms
Editor: Mr. Kelvin YAU
Middle school years mark a significant phase for students as they are developing
their emotional, social and metacognitive skills. At the same time, middle
school students are also developing their learning habits and exploring their
own learning styles which will shape what kind of learners they will become
in the long run. Because of this, developing the right set of skills and learning
attitude is critical to Middle Year Programme (MYP) students. Led by a team of
experienced teachers from very different backgrounds, LUAC’s Middle School
Team has endeavoured to promote student ownership of learning in hopes of
nurturing good learners.
Left: Mr.Keith HENDERSON - MYP Coordinator
Middle: Ms. Queenie CHEUNG - Head of Middle School
Right: Ms. Clarice CHEUNG - Assistant Head of Middle School
Ms. Queenie CHEUNG
“A good learner is always a learner with a growth mindset who practises Approaches to Learning (ATL) at different stages of
his or her learning,” notes Miss Queenie Cheung, Head of Middle School. To foster good learners who own their learning, the
Academy’s Middle School Team emphaises building students’ sense of belongings, encouraging students to set their own
goals and organising school-based programmes from Year 7 through Year 9.
MYP students start their school year by decorating their own homerooms with their class-based essential agreement, class
signage at the door. “This is one means of developing students' sense of belongings in their homerooms,” says Miss Queenie.Ms. Clarice CHEUNG
According to Miss Clarice Cheung, Assistant Head of Middle School,
Mr. Keith HENDERSON
further to the semester, students set their own goals in areas such
as academics, social life, family relationship and physical health. She
highlights that “clear goal-setting is particularly important to MYP
students to develop their self-management skills.”
According to Mr Keith Henderson, MYP Coordinator,
The Middle School Team has also organised an array of programmes the Community Project (CP) in Year 9 is the highlight
such as the Buddy Programme in Year 7, Student Exchange in Year 8, of the MYP programme. “For the CP, each Year 9
and the Festival of Accomplishment in Year 9. “These school-based student selects a topic to make a positive impact
programmes can scaffold students to own their learning beyond the on his/her community, sets the work schedule, and
walls of their classrooms,” Miss Clarice notes. after research and/or action, showcases his/her
findings in the Community Project Exhibition.”
Unforgettable Memories
Ms. Clarice CHEUNG
Being a Year 9 homeroom teacher back in 2012-13 has given Miss Clarice some sweet memories. She recalls that
finding a way to glue her homeroom students together was a hefty challenge: “These homeroom students were a
mixture of energetic, quiet, soft-spoken, loud, grumpy, sweet, hot-tempered students--you name it. Each of them
held his/her own temperament. Similar to a lot of young adults though, they would gossip in cliques, dance in
clusters, sing in groups, dash to the basketball court in a 15-minute recess. What can possibly glue these teenagers
who, in each of them, had their own temperaments, talents and skills?”
She continues, “Thanks to Let Me Shine, a small-scale 9CT class-based programme in which each student was given
an opportunity to showcase his/her own talent/skill during the morning devotion session on a weekly basis.”
Miss Clarice can still remember how a boy could skip rope non-stop for three minutes, a girl playing the violin in the
music room and some boys singing songs. However, she is always impressed with a girl group who danced amazinglyMr. Keith HENDERSON On the other hand, a Global Classroom trip to New Zealand has brought Mr Henderson some fond memories. “About four years ago, I went on a Global Classroom trip to New Zealand with a real mix of students from a range of year groups. We all met at Hong Kong International airport late at night for our flight to Auckland. The flight was long and cramped and after twelve hours we arrived in Auckland, tired and feeling the aches. After immigration we boarded the coach and headed towards Auckland city center. Because we were early, there were a few hours before we could check in to the hotel. So we decided to go to a park in the city first,” he recalls. Mr Henderson continues, “Once they arrived the students suddenly woke up and got excited, even with the exhaustion of the flight. They all rushed off the bus, excited at the grass in the park. Being from Hong Kong a lot of the students were not used to having so much grass to play on. With wide eyes they tentatively asked if they could run and play on the grass. Once they knew this was fine they all ran off to run around, play frisbee and just enjoy the space.” Ms. Queenie CHEUNG As one of LUAC’s founding staff, Miss Queenie sees Middle School as her own “baby” as she and her team have worked very hard to create it. Back in LUAC’s very first year since its establishment, Miss Queenie was also an Integrated Humanities (IH) teacher who single-handedly created the curriculum for the subject for all MYP classes. Looking back, that year is very special to her as it has brought Miss Queenie some bittersweet memories. She particularly recalls a Year 9 transfer student who was brilliant in visual arts but had difficulty getting along with his peers: “In order to let his classmates learn to accept this very unique classmate, his homeroom teachers and I did a lot of work to make the classmates understand in advance the uniqueness of this transfer student and the skills to get along better with him. In the beginning, misunderstandings did happen from time to time. But after a few mediations, students seemed to gain a better understanding of each other. At the end of the semester, I was so moved to see them support and help each other.” Miss Queenie adds, “From this experience, I have learnt to “turn differences into opportunities” in teaching and learning which has become my cornerstone to lead the Middle School. It is our team’s goal to enable every student to show their uniqueness, to achieve their goals and to be recognised.”
MYP Team’s Personal Mottos
“Your strengths lie in your
miserable past.”
Ms. Queenie CHEUNG
“God measures every single
obstacle that he has prepared
for a better me. He would not
permit any obstacles that I
cannot handle.”
Ms. Clarice CHEUNG
“Knowledge and skills are
important to learning, but so
are experiences which are
priceless.”
Mr. Keith HENDERSON29
JANUARY
Year 6 - Model United Nations
As part of our UOI unit on governing bodies and our
language unit on persuasive language, we decided
to host the Model United Nations. Each student was
given a country which they had to inquire into as
much as possible in order to gain knowledge and
stay true to the real position of that country. On 29
Jan, the students debated certain points, ideas or
topics regarding nuclear weapons, the response to
Covid-19 and even the Global Goals as the "leader"
of their country.
The students had a great time dressing up and getting
in character and they all did their countries proud.Year 5 - Guest Speaker Sharing Activity: 24
FEBRUARY
Tips to be Successful Entrepreneurs!
from HAVAN CLOTHING Ltd.
As Year 5 students are inquiring into "Business
are created for a variety of purposes and require a
range of entrepreneurial skills and opportunities
in order to be successful", we are very fortunate to
have two entrepreneurs, Hany and Ivan, from Havan
Clothing Ltd. to be our guest speakers and share their
experience in running a business on 24 Feb via Zoom.
Students were really enthusiastic and raised many
questions and interacted actively throughout the
activity. Thank Hany and Ivan for their inspiring
presentation.26-28
FEBRUARY Secondary Activities
24 Hour Race to Stop Human Trafficking
A team of 8 students from Year 11, Kalani KO, Jojo TANG,
Rice CHAN, Cat SHUM, Kelsey CHENG, Nellie GAIGER,
Joseph CHEUNG and Scott TEN took part in the 24 Hour
Race which is a movement that fights against human
trafficking and brings change to hundreds of people
around the world while platforming the upcoming
generation to become change-makers.
The team aimed to fundraise a goal of HK$12,000 and
ran for 24 hours between 26 and 28 Feb. The fundraiser
ended up exceeding the goal and raised over HK$13,200!
Thank you to students, parents and teachers that showed
support to this fundraising. Donations will help rebuild
a child advocacy centre in Pattaya, Thailand, which will
further help RunninStopTheTraffik (RTSTT) continue its
wide range of youth empowerment efforts.Spiritual Growth Corner The blessing of the Lord brings wealth, without painful toil for it. (Proverbs 10:22, NIV) In the beginning of the year, people greet each other with blessings and good wishes. Wishing each other good fortune and lots of money are particularly popular among Chinese. This year, due to the pandemic, we also wish for good health and peace. But have you thought about “what is real blessing”? In the book of Luke, Jesus teaches us to “Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.” (Luke 12:33) Real treasure is something that you can “bring” together with you to eternity, i.e. your characters; and the best and greatest blessing anyone can have is having God and keeping connected with Him throughout his/her life! LA pledges to cultivate students’ ethics and morality to act with integrity and honesty through Christian education. With full support from the Lutheran Vineyard Church together with all of our professional and devoted teachers, we humbly come to our Lord and praise His name, for He has been blessing and guiding our paths, leading more and more students to know and trust Him. Dear Lord, we’re thankful and grateful for all You’ve done for us, please bless the works of our hands and make all members of LA pleasing in Your eyes, as well as a blessing to the community, Amen.
STEM Corner
Build the Blocky Workshop
The Build the Blocky workshop allowed Year 7
and 8 students to return to campus and enjoy
hands-on experience in making their own
design ideas with design teachers. It aimed at
strengthening students’ ability to integrate
their knowledge and skills in STEM.
During the workshop, students experienced
making a laser cutting block. They applied
AutoCAD drawing skills to the blocks and
learned the circuits on lighting, sensor, and
audio system. The workshop nurtured students’
creativity, problem-solving and communication
skills, and sparked their interest in creating
solutions as well as enhancing their learning
experience.Library Corner
Once upon a dream...
Our library is really starting its new journey! From
taking down everything to rebuilding, it takes a lot
of efforts and time behind the scenes to refine every
detail in the design so that we can make sure the
whole design and build can fit into our purposes -
To provide a safe, positive and engaging learning
environment for the LA community.
Where we are at
We have completed the whole taking down process and
now we are installing electricity and air conditioners.
We have also finalized the design and the furniture will
be custom made in the next stage.
During the renovation, our library has temporarily
moved to Hall B and we are serving our users through
online enquiries and online resources.Let’s build it together! In the meantime, we are processing our physical collection for our new library, including class reading sets and professional development materials. Thanks to our team efforts. Teachers from different subjects or departments all contributed in suggesting booklists for our students with reference to our school curriculum and departmental goals. We all take ownership in building our new library together!
Chill Corner
Forward Planner
Amongst all the new classrooms and special rooms of the New
Wing of our campus, the Design & Technology Room serves
as the basecamp of nurturing students’ creativity. This special
premises is arranged into flexible working stations with free
access to a wide spectrum of the latest tools, ranging from 17-19/3: IBDP VA Exhibition
woodwork, 3D model making, CAME-Laser cutting station, 3D
24-26/3: Gospel Week &
and graphic printing devices to digital stations. Our students
have been engaged in robotic activities, Campus TV and Easter Celebration
stimulating curriculum in the Middle School. They have just 29/3: Professional Development Day
designed the model city for urban development with computer
for Teachers
software and micro:bit, and prototyped molecules with 3D
rendering and 3D printing. Universities are also involved in 30/3-11/4: Easter Holidays
the collaboration. It is our honour to receive a sum of over 1
million from QEF for the CAME Lab, an educational programme
initiated by Tsinghua University. It is embedded in our D & T
curriculum in the Middle School in which a transdisciplinary
approach is adopted while our students can convert their
creative ideas into tangible products and develop the essential
skills of creativity, collaboration and mega-cognition.
Dr. PYou can also read
