Daughters of Mary Help of Christians Siu Ming Catholic Secondary School

**Daughter of Mary Help of Christians Siu Ming Catholic Secondary**
School Emblem
Motto	Purity and Charity ( Integrity and Honesty; Love and Concern ) 純潔仁愛 ( 純樸廉潔律己、仁厚關愛待人 )
Founded	1973
School Type	Public
Location	Kwai Chung Kwai Chung Kwai Chung is a town in the New Territories of Hong Kong. Together with Tsing Yi Island, it is part of the Kwai Tsing District of Hong Kong. Kwai Chung is the site of the container port. It is also part of Tsuen Wan New Town. In 2000, it had a population of 287,000... , Hong Kong Hong Kong Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
Medium of Instruction	English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

Daughters of Mary Help of Christians Siu Ming Catholic Secondary School (天主教母佑會蕭明中學), founded in 1973, is a girls' secondary school

Secondary school

Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...

in Kwai Chung

Kwai Chung

Kwai Chung is a town in the New Territories of Hong Kong. Together with Tsing Yi Island, it is part of the Kwai Tsing District of Hong Kong. Kwai Chung is the site of the container port. It is also part of Tsuen Wan New Town. In 2000, it had a population of 287,000...

, Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

. It is administered under the Grant Code and using English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI).

Brief history

Daughters of Mary Help of Christians Siu Ming Catholic Secondary School is a subsidized girls' grammar school

Grammar school

A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...

run by the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. Founded in 1973, the school has incorporated the educational philosophy of St. Mary Mazzarello

Mary Mazzarello

Saint Maria Domenica Mazzarello was the Italian founder of the Salesian Sisters.-Life:She was born in Mornese, in what is now the province of Alessandria, northern Italy, to a poor family who worked as day laborers....

and St. John Bosco

John Bosco

John Bosco , was an Italian Catholic priest, educator and writer of the 19th century, who put into practice the convictions of his religion, dedicating his life to the betterment and education of street children, juvenile delinquents, and other disadvantaged youth and employing teaching methods...

, that is educating young people with love and putting equal stress on the importance of virtue, wisdom, physique, sociability, aesthetic appreciation and spirituality in providing quality education to the community.

Medium of Instruction

English is adopted as the medium of instruction.

Chinese Language

Chinese language

The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...

, Chinese History, Putonghua, Chinese Literature

Chinese literature

Chinese literature extends thousands of years, from the earliest recorded dynastic court archives to the mature fictional novels that arose during the Ming Dynasty to entertain the masses of literate Chinese...

, Ethics

Ethics

Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...

/ Religious Education

Religious Education

Religious Education is the term given to education concerned with religion. It may refer to education provided by a church or religious organization, for instruction in doctrine and faith, or for education in various aspects of religion, but without explicitly religious or moral aims, e.g. in a...

, Visual Arts

Visual arts

The visual arts are art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, and often modern visual arts and architecture...

and Physical Education

Physical education

Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....

are conducted in Chinese

Chinese language

Class Organization

There are 29 classes:

5 classes each from S.1 to S.5
2 classes each in S.6 and S.7.

For S.4 and S.5, classes are divided into the Arts, Commercial and Science streams; for S.6 and S.7, classes are divided into two streams: Arts/Commercial and Science.

School Organization and Management

The School Management Committee, headed by the School Supervisor and consisting of 7 members in all, is responsible for the School's financial management
Managerial finance
Managerial finance is the branch of finance that concerns itself with the managerial significance of finance techniques. It is focused on assessment rather than technique....

, personnel management and the delivery of education to students.
The School Administration Committee, headed by the School Principal and including Vice-Principal, 3 appointed and 2 elected teacher representatives, leads and directs the School in all important school affairs.
The functional teacher groups are categorized into 5 sections, namely Student Training, Student Activities, Academic Development, General Management/Support Services and IT Assisted Education. Groups in the same section are coordinated by the Vice-Principal and senior teachers.
The teaching staff consists of 60 members, including the Principal, Vice-Principal, senior teachers, teachers and a native-speaking English teacher.

Extra-curricular Activities

Club Activities and Extracurricular Classes : The School has more than 40 clubs and types of extracurricular activities.
They are divided into 6 categories, namely Academic Learning, Physique, Skills, Art, Services and Religious Belief.
The activities include Science Club, Home Economics

Home Economics

Home economics is the profession and field of study that deals with the economics and management of the home and community...

Club, Visual Arts

Visual arts

Club, Drama

Drama

Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...

Group, Long Distance Running Group, Junior Red Cross, Student Social Service Group, School Choir

Choir

A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...

, Chinese Orchestra

Chinese orchestra

The term Chinese Orchestra can refer to either:* The ancient Chinese Orchestra, or* The modern Chinese Orchestra-The ancient Chinese Orchestra:...

, String Orchestra, Melodica

Melodica

The melodica, also known as the "blow-organ" or "key-flute", is a free-reed instrument similar to the melodeon and harmonica. It has a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. Pressing a key opens a hole,...

Band and more than 10 musical instrumental classes.
To promote knowledge and appreciation of performing arts among students, the School also participates in the School Arts Animateur Scheme organized by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.

Special Training : Lively and challenging training camps such as the Orientation Wild Training Camp, the Guangzhou

Guangzhou

Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...

Huangpu

Huangpu can refer to several places in China:* Huangpu District, Shanghai , district of Shanghai municipality** Huangpu River, a river in China, that flows through Shanghai...

Military School Training Camp and the Adventure-based Guidance Training Camp are available to students for the purpose of enhancing their self-esteem and promoting cooperation among them.

Self-governed Groups : The presence of the Student Association, the Disciplinary Prefect Association and the Four Houses helps strengthen the communication between the School and students and enhance students' skills in leadership and organization. Students may form cabinets and stand for election, thereby enriching their experience in democracy

Democracy

Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...

and accountability.

Exchange and Services : Students have the opportunities to visit the Mainland for cultural exchange and providing various services for poor children.

School Awards and Scholarships :

Outstanding Performance in Subject Awards

Improvement Awards

Conduct Awards

Service Awards

Leadership Awards

St. Mary Mazzarello's Award ( The Most Outstanding Student of the Year )
1. - Retired Principal's Scholarship

Siu Wai Hing Fund
1. - Siu Wai Hing Scholarships
  - Siu Wai Hing Grants
  - Siu Wai Hing Activity Sponsorship Scheme
  - Siu Wai Hing Supplementary Grant

Personal Development Award Scheme

Parent-Teacher Association Scholarship

Extensive Reading Program

Past Pupils' Association - Laura Vicuna Scholarship
Outstanding Student Award
Service for Learning Award Scheme

Moral and Academic Development

School Assemblies and Form Assemblies are conducted each week. S.1 students have additional short assemblies. This is the time when teachers or guest speakers share with students their reflection on the wisdom of life, either in person or through broadcast.
There are Ethics/Religious Education lessons at all levels that focus on the search for true values through daily life experience.
A series of training like leadership training camps, military training camps and wild camps post challenges to both mind and body of students.

The "Service Learning Scheme" aims to encourage students to take part in in-school or community service

Community service

Community service is donated service or activity that is performed by someone or a group of people for the benefit of the public or its institutions....

projects. It helps to build up among students a strong will and a spirit to serve others.

The "Self-Actualization Scheme" encourages S.1 students to make continual self-assessment

Self-assessment

In social psychology, self-assessment is the process of looking at oneself in order to assess aspects that are important to one's identity. It is one of the motives that drive self-evaluation, along with self-verification and self-enhancement...

and to set targets and goals for their studies as well as other areas.
In S.1, Social Studies lessons are conducted in all classes to help students grasp knowledge while the use of Putonghua as the medium of instruction in the Chinese lessons is piloted in one of the classes.

S.2 students also have Civic Education lessons that help to enhance their civic awareness. The drama component has been integrated into the English Language Curriculum with the aim of enhancing students' competence in expressing themselves in English.
S.3-S.7 students have several sessions on Careers Education which aim at providing direction for early pursuit of both career and life orientation.

For the purpose of upgrading language skills, there is daily reading time in class. Students are offered additional courses of English Pronunciation

Pronunciation

Pronunciation refers to the way a word or a language is spoken, or the manner in which someone utters a word. If one is said to have "correct pronunciation", then it refers to both within a particular dialect....

during non-school hours. They also have the opportunities for public speaking in and outside classrooms.
The Cross-curricular Project-Based Learning Scheme in junior levels has been implemented since 1998. It aims to develop students' abilities on self-learning and inter-personal communication. It also trains students' data collection skills and analytical minds.

Computer Literacy lessons in junior levels focus on the application of common computer software
Computer software
Computer software, or just software, is a collection of computer programs and related data that provide the instructions for telling a computer what to do and how to do it....

and the training in logical thinking. All students can have access to the Computer Room during their free time in school. This facilitates their early and quick mastery of information technology
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...

.