P rimary Curriculum

Primary Curriculum

2019 was another amazing year during which the Primary Division continued to build on our strong foundation of teaching and learning, which is highly respected throughout Hong Kong. Several new initiatives were implemented which aligned directly with our school’s strategic plan.

The Parent Workshops were extremely popular amongst our community this year, which included two sessions focussed on Mathematics, followed by sessions covering Reading in Early Childhood and Reading in Years 3-6. Writing Workshops were postponed to 2020 and the new year will also see the introduction of workshops related to Chinese and Information Technology studies.

Continuing the theme of parent involvement within Primary learning, we offered a wide range of opportunities, some of which included the daily interactions in Reading Club, classroom support in Early Childhood, assistance with excursions and the Year 6 Beijing camp, Chinese and Book Week celebrations, sporting carnivals, Maths Problem Solving Day, reading of Chinese stories in the library at lunch times as well as the large range of Parent Association events. The partnership between school and home is vital in supporting student growth and at AISHK we are fortunate to have parents working collaboratively with teachers.

There were many academic highlights in 2019. Our NAPLAN results in Years 3 and 5 were once again outstanding when compared with Australian national averages. These results are further detail in this publication. Each year, a number of AISHK students participate in International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS). This year, within the Primary Division, we achieved 23 first place medals which is an outstanding result.

Our Book Week celebrations entered a new stage with our Secondary students also participating in the book

Mr Cameron Reed Dean of Studies, Primary

character parade. Our Chinese Week celebrations allowed us to highlight many of the cultural components of Chinese tradition and language. The tweaking of Images of Greatness toward an Australian Stories focus enabled greater alignment with the ACARA curriculum and highlighted a great variety of Australians.

From a pedagogical perspective, we disaggregated History, Geography and Science, allowing for a greater focus on teaching subject specific skills and knowledge. The inclusion of co-teaching for Digital Technology and Library since 2017 has enabled us to have purpose-built learning experiences in these areas. Co-teaching also expanded into the area of Health, as home room teachers work with our PE department teachers, with focus on healthy living and healthy choices.

There were numerous other highlights throughout 2019, however, it would be remiss of me not to mention our amazing Early Childhood Musical, Stella the Starfish. Every student in Early Childhood sang and danced whilst telling the story of Stella. A huge thank you to the Early Childhood staff, Visual and Performing Arts Department as well as our parent community for supporting this event.

Planning for 2020 is well underway and the calendar is already quickly filling. I look forward to seeing you all in the new year.

In signing off, I would like to wish each of you a restful break with plenty of opportunity for family time or to read a good book.