Message from the Principal - October 2020

Dear parents and children of APSW:

     May the grace and peace of the Lord Jesus be with you always!

     Thank God for His protection and guidance, students of Primary 1, 5 and 6 have been able to return to campus for face-to-face classes, while students of other grades will be returning back to school next Tuesday (29/9).
Since the beginning of this year, a bi-monthly newsletter have been issued to parents, in order to strengthen our connection and communication with them. We will make use of the newsletter to update parents on our school's latest information, learning activities, upcoming events and students' achievements. We hope that parents are able to familarise themselves and develop a closer bond with our school.

     The first Parents' Weekend of the year was held last Saturday. I would like to thank all parents for taking the time out to attend the event. Unfortunartely, due to the social distancing regulations, not all parents were able to attend the parents' talk in the hall, however they were able to participate via online live streaming instead. I would like to apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused. The PowerPoint presentation slides of the talk are now available for browsing on the school Intranet - please feel free to read them to revisit the content of the talk.

     In light of the pandemic, in order to create a safe learning environment for students, we have installed transparent dividers between desks as a safety precautionary measure. Students can take off their masks and have snacks in a safe environment during recess. This will also facilitate lunch arrangements when full-day classes are resumed. Before purchasing the dividers, we have taken into consideration the factors of pandemic prevention, students' safety and classroom needs. The materials of the dividers are transparent so children can see through them. We do understand that parents might be concerned about the visibility of the blackboard after the installation of dividers. The following measures will be taken to minimise the impact of the dividers. Firstly, teachers are asked to write on the top of the blackboard. Students are also allowed to stand up if they fail to see the blackboard or projection screens clearly. Moreover, we understand that students need to copy the homework checklists from the board every day, which might be difficult when dividers are present. Therefore, we will provide online homework checklists that can be accessed through the eClass Parent App for all parents, minimising any possible disruption to students' learning.

     In early September, children had experienced two weeks of "online classes", and they were required to submit their homework through online platforms. All parents, children, and teachers had to adapt to this new mode of learning, which was definitely a challenge for all of us. Yet with great effort and determination, we overcame these difficulties together. Nevertheless, there could still be room for improvement; we will be reviewing the online learning arrangements to make preparations for the possible fourth wave of COVID-19 outbreak.

     Parents might also be concerned about the syllabus in regards to the first term assessment, which will be held in November. According to the results from last year's parents' survey, it was generally agreed that a small portion of learning materials covered in the second semester of the previous school year should be included in the first term assessment (except for Primary 1 assessment). Details of such arrangement have been explained in the Parents' Weekend last Saturday. We understand that parents might still have concerns, therefore we have liaised with textbook publishers of Chinese, English and Mathematics subjects to allow online access, to not just the e-book content of this year, but of last year as well. Moreover, previous year materials will cover not more than 10% of the overall assessment syllabus. Teachers will also be reminding students in advance that previous materials will be tested too. Furthermore, the syllabus will be listed on notices to be distributed one month before the assessment. If needed, teachers will prepare revision materials for students to study as well. In addition, testing of challenging content from last year only applies to the subjects of Chinese, English and Mathematics. Please refer to future notices for more details. 

     During the summer holiday, various environment enhancement projects have been carried out on the campus: re-flooring of the auditorium, installation of sound insulation panels, and improvement of the underground playground drainage system. Last year, washrooms of G/F and 1/F have been refurbished; washrooms of 2/F will also be renovated this year during the Christmas break in December. We will continue to liaise with the Education Bureau to refurbish the remaining washroom facilities in the near future for an optimal learning environment for our children. 

     There's always a great deal of news within the APSW family that I would love to continue to share with you. I hope to keep connecting with you through various means in the future. May I wish everyone good health, joy and happiness! I sincerely hope that our children will gain more success and have a pleasant learning experience in this unusual school year!

Mr. Lee Tak Hang,
School principal