SURPRISE GAIN FROM PRACTICING ENVIRONMENTAL … · 2019-02-26 · teachers and students sharing the...
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TEACHERS AND STUDENTS SHARING THE LOSS AND JOY OVER THE SCHOOL FARMLAND When the whole school and even parents have the sense in practicing green living, plantation in school could mean a lot of fun. When a few “Eco-Reps” were asked to share some of their unforgettable moments, they all shouted, “ There was a huge caterpillar in the field!” According to their measurement, it was almost one foot long and two inches wide! They might have exagger- ated, but one can imagine it was larger than a normal caterpillar. Ms. Wong continued even the teacher on duty ran in our classroom and asked for help “Oh, it’s horrible! It’s full of spots on its body! ” Despite greens, they have also tried growing tomatoes. Ngan Hong Kiu, a Primary five student recalled “ At first, there was very little harvest. We were disappointed. But the next harvest was really good. We gave some tomatoes to teachers too.” Hong Kiu was glad that a small kid like him could also give teachers presents. On the other hand, Ms. Wong saw how students were into planting and so she brought over peanuts and encouraged students to grow them. Although both teacher and students saw it as an experiment, it turned out to be a success and Hong Kiu could bring some peanuts home to share with his family. As the teacher-in-charge, no wonder Ms. Wong was so pleased and wanted to share every bit of detail of the green culture of their school with the journalist. It is evident that the effort the whole school has put in has formed a cooperative and harmonious relationship between school and parents. FEATURE STORY: SHUN TAK FRATERNAL ASSOCIATION HO YAT TUNG PRIMARY SCHOOL Protecting the environment is generally considered beneficial to our envi- ronment, our life and our future. Little do personnel in Shun Tak Fraternal Association Ho Yat Tung Primary School know that it is also constructive to maintaining relationships between students, parents, teachers and schoolmates. Ever since the school has started promoting environmental education, they have noticed some positive changes. For example, students have enlisted their parents’ help for a self-directed short film competition; some teachers have been washing colleagues’ food containers for recycling purpose everyday and have impressed others to order less take away and washed their own containers; teachers and students have been working together to carry out experiments. They would share the loss and joy over harvest of tomatoes and the pest situations of their farmland. All these changes were not intended at the first place but it happened naturally when all stakeholders including parents were involved in a single event. Over the years of promoting environmental protection, Shun Tak Fraternal Association Ho Yat Tung Primary School has a well-developed system of waste and resource management. They would turn off all the lights in staff room after 6pm. Since the school has joined the WWF’s three-year school partnership programme of sustainable lifestyle, “Our students are familiar with the topic as they have been learning about environmental protection systematically since Primary one.” Senior teacher, Ms. Wong Yin Yi, said with a smile. Indeed, when you look at the list of learning activities scheduled by school, there are countless outdoor opportunities such as visits to EcoPark in Tuen Mun, EcoPark WEEE Recycling Centre, Smart Power Centre. There are also field studies like Tolo Eco-tour Exploration, exploring Sharp Island Geo Trail, and Nam Sang Wai etc. The school also has a team of “Eco-Reps” students who are responsible to take care of the farmland in school everyday. A SERIOUS DAD TURNED INTO A COMEDIAN When Ms. Wong was asked about the most pop- ular activity between students, she immediately thought of the self-directed short film competi- tion. “ We’d like to encourage parents participa- tion, and so the film was made during their spare time. I remember there was a dad who is a mem- ber of the parents and teachers association. He is a serious person but in the film, he acted as a buffoon who drank bottled water and dined with plastic utensils hilariously with exaggerated facial expression. Everyone enjoyed that film!” Hence, in the film, the student taught her dad proper knowledge of environmental protection such as using less bottled water and recycling plastics in their housing estate. Ms. Wong believed that, through this kind of fam- ily activities, students could realise acknowledge- ment of the skills they have learnt from families, thus, making practicing environmental measures easier with their participation. Ms. Wong regard- ed family support as crucial as it helps internalise students’ knowledge and turn knowledge into ha- bitual behaviour. It is also essential to let children know that their parents are with them regardless of their own self-image. TEACHERS RECYCLING PLASTICS FROM TRASH BIN On one hand, parents are mostly motivated by children to practice green measures. Teachers’ personal behaviour outside classrooms, however, are not easily shown to students and hence, they are not monitored. Leftover, take away boxes are common in staff room. Subsequently, one of the teach- ers recently has started promoting environmental measures in the staff room. Not only she minimised her use of plastics, she also helped colleagues to clean their take away boxes for recycling purpose. There was a colleague throwing away some plastic utensils unintentionally. She took them back from the bin and cleaned them for recycling. Her action has motivated other teachers to order less take away and to clean their own lunch boxes for recy- cling. It has now developed a sense of self-consciousness among teachers. OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE IN ASPECTS OF WHOLE SCHOOL APPROACH Reporter / Photographer: Kelly Liu Translator: Sophia Cheng Some photos are provided by the interviewees SURPRISE GAIN FROM PRACTICING ENVIRONMENTAL MEASURES 05 SCHOOL CULTURE AND ETHOS SCHOOL PREMISES AND RESOURCES MANAGEMENT INTERACTION WITH COMMUNITY
Transcript of SURPRISE GAIN FROM PRACTICING ENVIRONMENTAL … · 2019-02-26 · teachers and students sharing the...
T E A C H E R S A N D S T U D E N T S S H A R I N G T H E L O S S A N D J O Y O V E R T H E S C H O O L FA R M L A N D
When the whole school and even parents have the sense in practicing green living, plantation in school could mean a lot of fun. When a few “Eco-Reps” were asked to share some of their unforgettable moments, they all shouted, “ There was a huge caterpillar in the field!” According to their measurement, it was almost one foot long and two inches wide! They might have exagger-ated, but one can imagine it was larger than a normal caterpillar.
Ms. Wong continued even the teacher on duty ran in our classroom and asked for help “Oh, it’s horrible! It’s full of spots on its body! ”
Despite greens, they have also tried growing tomatoes. Ngan Hong Kiu, a Primary five student recalled “ At first, there was very little harvest. We were disappointed. But the next harvest was really good. We gave some tomatoes to teachers too.” Hong Kiu was glad that a small kid like him could also give teachers presents. On the other hand, Ms. Wong saw how students were into planting and so she brought over peanuts and encouraged students to grow them. Although both teacher and students saw it as an experiment, it turned out to be a success and Hong Kiu could bring some peanuts home to share with his family. As the teacher-in-charge, no wonder Ms. Wong was so pleased and wanted to share every bit of detail of the green culture of their school with the journalist. It is evident that the effort the whole school has put in has formed a cooperative and harmonious relationship between school and parents.
F E AT U R E S T O R Y: S H U N TA K F R AT E R N A L A S S O C I AT I O N H O YAT T U N G P R I M A R Y S C H O O L
Protecting the environment is generally considered beneficial to our envi-ronment, our life and our future. Little do personnel in Shun Tak Fraternal Association Ho Yat Tung Primary School know that it is also constructive to maintaining relationships between students, parents, teachers and schoolmates. Ever since the school has started promoting environmental education, they have noticed some positive changes. For example, students have enlisted their parents’ help for a self-directed short film competition; some teachers have been washing colleagues’ food containers for recycling purpose everyday and have impressed others to order less take away and washed their own containers; teachers and students have been working together to carry out experiments. They would share the loss and joy over harvest of tomatoes and the pest situations of their farmland. All these changes were not intended at the first place but it happened naturally when all stakeholders including parents were involved in a single event.
Over the years of promoting environmental protection, Shun Tak Fraternal Association Ho Yat Tung Primary School has a well-developed system of waste and resource management. They would turn off all the lights in staff room after 6pm. Since the school has joined the WWF’s three-year school partnership programme of sustainable lifestyle, “Our students are familiar with the topic as they have been learning about environmental protection systematically since Primary one.” Senior teacher, Ms. Wong Yin Yi, said with a smile.
Indeed, when you look at the list of learning activities scheduled by school, there are countless outdoor opportunities such as visits to EcoPark in Tuen Mun, EcoPark WEEE Recycling Centre, Smart Power Centre. There are also field studies like Tolo Eco-tour Exploration, exploring Sharp Island Geo Trail, and Nam Sang Wai etc. The school also has a team of “Eco-Reps” students who are responsible to take care of the farmland in school everyday.
A S E R I O U S D A D T U R N E D I N T O A C O M E D I A N When Ms. Wong was asked about the most pop-ular activity between students, she immediately thought of the self-directed short film competi-tion. “ We’d like to encourage parents participa-tion, and so the film was made during their spare time. I remember there was a dad who is a mem-ber of the parents and teachers association. He is a serious person but in the film, he acted as a buffoon who drank bottled water and dined with plastic utensils hilariously with exaggerated facial expression. Everyone enjoyed that film!” Hence, in the film, the student taught her dad proper knowledge of environmental protection such as using less bottled water and recycling plastics in their housing estate.
Ms. Wong believed that, through this kind of fam-ily activities, students could realise acknowledge-ment of the skills they have learnt from families, thus, making practicing environmental measures easier with their participation. Ms. Wong regard-ed family support as crucial as it helps internalise students’ knowledge and turn knowledge into ha-bitual behaviour. It is also essential to let children know that their parents are with them regardless of their own self-image.
T E A C H E R S R E C Y C L I N G P L A S T I C S F R O M T R A S H B I N On one hand, parents are mostly motivated by children to practice green measures. Teachers’ personal behaviour outside classrooms, however, are not easily shown to students and hence, they are not monitored. Leftover, take away boxes are common in staff room. Subsequently, one of the teach-ers recently has started promoting environmental measures in the staff room. Not only she minimised her use of plastics, she also helped colleagues to clean their take away boxes for recycling purpose. There was a colleague throwing away some plastic utensils unintentionally. She took them back from the bin and cleaned them for recycling. Her action has motivated other teachers to order less take away and to clean their own lunch boxes for recy-cling. It has now developed a sense of self-consciousness among teachers.
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