Two primary schools in Hong Kong named champions of the British Council’s first ‘English Master Junior 2018’
Building students’ confidence using English and developing life skills
Two primary schools in Hong Kong, True Light Middle School of Hong Kong (Primary Section) and French International School, are champions of the first British Council’s ‘English Master Junior 2018’, a creative writing, poetry-reading and storytelling competition that makes learning English fun, held at MegaBox, Kowloon Bay, today (Sunday April 22).
Organised by the British Council, in partnership with the Posties section of The South China Morning Post, the ‘English Master Junior 2018’ competition is the first of its kind in Hong Kong, through which students build confidence and greater enthusiasm for English learning. They also develop essential life skills such as collaboration, communication, creativity and critical thinking, which are crucial for long-term learning and personal development.
The Grand Final of the competition saw five teams from Lower Primary and five teams from Upper Primary performing a piece involving storytelling, drama or singing, using English. True Light Middle School of Hong Kong (Primary Section) and French International School are the overall winners in the categories of Lower Primary (P1 – P3) and Upper Primary (P4 – P6) respectively. The runners-up in Lower Primary section are: Diocesan Girls' Junior School (1st runner-up); T.K.D.S. Fong Shu Chuen School (2nd runner-up); and in Upper Primary section are: Diocesan Boys' School Primary Division (1st runner-up); Po Leung Kuk Camões Tan Siu Lin Primary School (2nd runner-up).
More than 900 students from 78 primary schools in Hong Kong took part in the ‘English Master Junior 2018’ competition, comprising three rounds, with the first round having taken place in November 2017. Students were evaluated not only on their English skills, but also on their ability for critical thinking, creativity and teamwork.
Mhairi-Anne Gonzalez, Director of English Language Services, British Council, Hong Kong, said:
‘During the past six months of the “English Master Junior” competition, students have shown their confidence using the English language and have demonstrated superb creativity, critical thinking and teamwork in developing their performances. As the world’s expert in English language teaching, the British Council is proud to launch the first ‘English Master Junior’ competition to make learning English fun, inspiring and engaging for young learners in Hong Kong. We want to support students not only to improve their language capability, but also develop life skills essential for personal growth and development. These skills are crucial towards building successful futures for the students and a more sustainable society. We are grateful to the primary schools, teachers and students for their enthusiastic support for the competition.’
Lai Wai Yee, P2 – P3 English teacher in Ying Wa Primary School said:
‘The “English Master Junior 2018” has been a high standard competition in which students rose to the challenge of performing on stage. They were enthusiastic about creating their own stories with their teammates and they found props and costumes to make their performances more appealing. As a result of performing their stories in public, the students have become more confident. They have also found learning English fun and have made significant progress in the classroom.’
The ‘English Master Junior 2018’ competition was open to all primary schools in Hong Kong. Each school could send teams comprising four students to compete in either the Lower Primary (P1 – P3) or the Upper Primary (P4 – P6) sections. In the first round of the competition, Lower Primary teams wrote their unique Christmastime stories based on the pictures provided, while Upper Primary teams used their imagination to create their own endings to the stories they wrote. From each group, 20 teams were selected to enter the second round of the competition. In the second round, each team recited an assigned poem and performed their own dramatic interpretation of the poem to accompany their reading. Students could make use of costumes and props to enrich their performances. At the final stage of the competition, each team performed a prepared piece involving storytelling, drama or singing.
Photo link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/1vl4hjoz1d5za1s/British_Council_English_Master...
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For more information, contact Daphne Ho (Assistant Manager, Communications) on +852 9647 5110/ 2913 5266 or daphne.ho@britishcouncil.org.hk