Today, we are here to celebrate our 40th anniversary with a thankful heart. We thank our heavenly Father for all the blessings and guidance in the past 40 years. We gratefully remember the invaluable contribution of our visionary founders in rebuilding the school in Hong Kong. On this day, I would like to especially recall the dedication and commitment of our founder Principal and teachers who have established the positive school culture, splendid school ethos and effective management system. The school motto introduced by our first Principal, Mr. Fong Wing Cheong, “We work together, we care, we serve”, has been deep rooted in the heart of every school member and alumnus. Upholding the excellent tradition, we will strive to make the school a glory of our Lord and create enlightened citizens for the nation.

         To align with the education reform and to equip our students for the new century, the school has responded proactively. The focus of work in teaching and learning includes ongoing review and refinement of our curriculum development, pedagogical approaches and professional development. In the area of student support, we adopt a whole-school approach in nurturing positive attitude and values and providing support for whole-person development through life education, thematic programs and life-wide learning activities.

         Considerable success has been observed through these endeavors. Figures in various surveys reflected that students’ self-esteem as well as their core attitudes and values have been raised. In addition to their good manners and discipline, our students are acclaimed for their academic and non-academic achievements. This may account for why more and more top primary students in the vicinity put Wa Ying on the top priority of their secondary school choices. Students’ performance in public examinations has also maintained a pleasing standard. In the 2011 A-level examination, our best-performed student is Chan Hay Man of 7B who attained 4 distinctions, and two 7M students, Hui Kin Long and Chan Yi Lerg, got 3 distinctions. Moreover, five of our F.6 students, who got flying colours in the last HKCE Examination, have been admitted by the top local universities through the Early Admission Scheme.

         The outstanding performance of our students in inter-school activities and competition also deserve commendation. Traditionally, our students attained numerous achievements in various inter-school sports competitions, Music Festival, Speech Festival, to name but a few. In recent years, our debating team has become a rising star in the inter-school Chinese Debate arena. In addition, we got pleasing results in a wide range of competitions like Chinese essay writing, Mathematics Olympiad, Physics Olympiad, drama, Outstanding Students Awards, etc. The long list of winners and awardees recorded in the Anniversary Service brochure denotes that our students possess a wide range of talents.

         Last year was an especially hectic year for our teachers. While dealing with the A-level syllabus, teachers devoted much energy in carrying out the new initiatives relating to the NSS curriculum such as IES, SBA, OLE, SLP and so on. We also had to prepare for the External School Review (ESR). Despite the immense workload, our teachers insisted on providing opportunities for students to stretch their potential in various aspects and coaching students in many inter-school competitions. No wonder the ESR report noted that our teachers are hard working, responsible, dedicated and supportive.

         I would like to again extend my heartfelt thanks to our past and current school managers, teachers, supporting staff, parents, alumni and friends, who have rendered tremendous support to us. We are much obliged to the Methodist Church Hong Kong for their unconditional support and spiritual guidance. Special thank must be given to one of our founder staff, Mr. Tsang Chun Choy, who has just retired, for his loyalty and dedication to Wa Ying in the past forty years.

         As affirmed by the encouraging ESR report issued in June, the school has steered towards a right direction of development and reform in recent years. Looking forward, we shall continue to build on our strengths. May God keep on guiding us to achieve higher goals and grant us a dream campus for further development! We shall continue to live out our mission: to develop whole-person education based on Christian principles, to guide students to lead an abundant life in Christ as well as to cultivate students’ capacity for life-long and life-wide learning to face the challenges of the new century.