2009 is the year the new academic structure is launched. I am sure all Hong Kong schools have devoted much effort to prepare for the massive change in our education system since a few years ago. We are no exception. Thanks to our Lord’s grace and provision, we could overcome the difficulties one by one as we steer our way ahead; and with the concerted effort and commitment of our teaching staff, we are ready to set off for the New Senior Secondary Curriculum.

        In the last academic year, our teachers worked hard to finalise the preparation for the new curriculum of their respective subjects. Meanwhile, our curriculum leaders competed with time to handle other issues related to the new academic structure as long as our understanding on the requirements of the new policies was confirmed. To name but a few, our work includes finalizing the NSS subject combinations and the new school timetable to fit the demands brought by the curriculum changes. Of course, I must not miss our effort in the development of Liberal Studies. Under the leadership of the LS department head, we completed the school-based curriculum of the junior forms and continued with our work on the senior curriculum.

        In addition to the tasks on curriculum development, we adhered much emphasis to implementing programs for f ostering positive values, develop ing multiple-intelligence, raising social awareness and world vision . Through collaborative efforts, we managed to provide a wide variety of activities to actualize all those concerns. We also used different platforms to nurture the target skills and values. Service education was one of the areas we put resources in to provide students with the training and the experience. The strengths we built through the initiatives in community services and moral and civic education pave way for our development of the OLE programs for the NSS students.

        Our teachers are also conscientious in keeping the competitive edge of students of the old curriculum. Together with our students’ perseverance, excellent performance was obtained in the academic aspect as well as the extra-curricular activities. In the 2009 A-level examination, the best performed student was Lam Tuen Yung of 7B who attained 3 distinctions and 2 credits. In the HKCEE, the best result was attained by Theodosia Woo from 5C who gained 7 distinctions and 1 credit. The overall performance of our F.5 students was also encouraging . For example, we had a record high in t he percentages of students passing in 5 subjects and students scoring more than 14 points in the best 6 subjects . T he overall credit percentage was also the high est of the last ten years. Our debating teams won championships and prizes in several well-acclaimed inter-school debate competitions. In the HK Schools Speech Festival, we got the pleasing results of winning 37 prizes in the English events and 21 prizes in the Chinese events. For the interschool sports competitions, Wa Ying was ranked the 8 th out of the 197 co-educational schools in HK and Kowloon regions. Our boys volleyball team, girls badminton team, boys and girls table-tennis teams were contented with the other schools at Division 1. Over and above, the championship in the Youth First Aid Competitions, the title of Outstanding Scout Troop, the outstanding performance in the Inter-school English Drama Competitions , one student b e ing selected as the master of ceremony in the HKSAR astronauts welcoming meeting and so on, all denote that our students have a wide range of talents.

        It is a well known fact that Hong Kong teachers are fac ing challenges and tensions from all around, such as plunging moral standar d and high egocentricity of students, serious marketization and competition among schools , diverse expectations of stakeholders and so on. Though some of these adversities may not exist in Wa Ying, I am fully aware that our teachers also face unprecedented pressure and heavy workload. I therefore would like to take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt appreciation to my teaching staff for their commitment to uphold the spirit of the school motto, “we care, we serve we work together”, and give their all to nourish and educate our students. M y profound appreciation would also go to the curriculum leaders , especially the Vice Principals and the Liberal Studies head, who have paid great efforts to plan and prepare for the new curriculum proactively ; and the supporting staff who have always been helpful and efficient.