Sing Yin Secondary School
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Sing Yin Secondary School (聖言中學, literally Divine Word Secondary School) is a boys' school located in Lam Tin, Hong Kong. It was established in 1970. It has 5 classes in Form 1 - 5 and 3 classes from form 6 - 7. The principal is Kwok But.
Sing Yin Secondary School was established in 1970 by the Divine Word Missionaries. It is a subsidized school for boys. Our mission is to empower students to live a full life as understood in the light of John 10:10 - “I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full.” Three years ago, we also affirmed our vision - we aim to provide one of the best educations in the world with a global perspective for boys in the local community.
At the beginning, our students were mostly Band 3 and Band 2 students. Through the efforts of the former Principals, Father H.P. Canavan and Ms. Wong Wai Yein and our teachers, we have been providing optimal care for our students and our educational outcome has been improving steadily. We have good results in public examinations. We have excellent value added performance. Our achievement in extracurricular activities is outstanding. Above all, our students share our values and behave well. As a result, all the students allocated to Sing Yin have been all Band 1 students since the early 1980s.
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[edit] Mission and vision
"I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full." John 10:10
Sing Ying Secondary School, which has its origin in the mission of the Roman Catholic
Church, has as its fundamental goal the complete and integral human development
of each student: mind and spirit, body and emotion
(as understood in the light of John 10:10).
Sing Yin is committed to helping students to live a "full life" by: promoting the spiritual and moral, intellectual and emotional, cultural, social and physical development of the students;
Preparing our students for the challenges and responsibilities of adult life;
Guiding our students, in the spirit of our school motto"克明峻德", to discover Christian values and beliefs, and the meaning of life.
Guided by the mission and goals, it is hoped that through the direction of the School Management Committee, the effort of the teachers and other staff members, the support of the parents, alumni and the community, Sing Yin will be able to provide one of the best educations in the world with a global perspective for boys in the local community.
[edit] Famous alumni
- Tsui Lok Man (徐樂文), won several physics awards. Gold medal in the International Physics Olympiad 2005
- Tang Siu Ban (鄧紹斌)
[edit] Campus culture
Like most other schools in Hong Kong, Sing Yin believes in the whole person development of our students. We do not just focus on academic teaching and learning.
The most important aspect of our education is the moral and spiritual development of our students. Thus we spend about one and a half hour every cycle to teach Moral and Civic Education (M. Ed.). In these lessons, students learn many topics like knowing oneself, sex education, family education, national education, etc. All teachings are firmly based on catholic values and good traditional Chinese values. We also adopt an authoritative (NOT authoritarian) approach to guide our students. We have a clear set of school rules for students to follow. We have four student prefect teams with almost 150 members to help students behave themselves, and to develop the responsibility and leadership of the prefects. At the same time, we have a team of students called Sing Yin Pioneers to take care of the daily needs of junior students. Of course, we also have school social workers, guidance teachers and careers guidance teachers to help students. We also give many prizes to recognize students' achievements in and out of school. Each year, close to 400 (about one third of the student population) students obtain prizes presented by outside organizations. If internal prizes are included, close to one half of students get prizes. All these measures pay off. Our attendance and punctuality rate are above 99%. According to a survey designed by the Government, our students cherished the values that we teach. The neighbourhood finds our students very well behaved. On average, our students perform 20 hours of social service each year.
On the academic side, the curriculum we offer from Secondary 1 to Secondary 3 is quite uniform. All students have to study English, Chinese, Mathematics, Economics and Public Affairs, History, Geography, Chinese History, Integrated Science, Art, Physical Educaiton, Moral and Civic Education, Putonghua and Music. In secondary 4 to secondary 5, students can choose to study in either the Arts or the Science stream. Besides some core subjects like English, Chinese and Mathematics, they can choose from a wide variety of subjects. Arts students may study some arts, humanities or business subjects. Science students study Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Additional Maths and one more elective. Altogether they have to study 8 academic subjects besides Physical Education and M. Ed. lessons. At the end of their secondary 5 years, students have to take part in a public examination called the HK Certificate of Education Examination which is quite competitive. If they get a good result, students can continue to study in secondary six and seven. In these two years, students study two core subjects - English and Chinese. Besides, they will study 3 electives from the Arts group or the Science group. Physical Education and M. Ed. remain as compulsory subjects. On completion of secondary seven, students have to sit for another public examination called the HK Advanced Level Examination which selects students for university education.
Lessons are usually held from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m, with two recesses and a lunch time. In summer months, school runs from 8:10 a.m. to 1:40 p.m. with three breaks. There are 8 lessons a day. Most subjects use English as the medium of instruction. Only about one quarter of the secondary schools are allowed to do so by the Government, other schools have to use mostly Cantonese. There are two formal tests and two examinations each year. Besides, almost all subjects set informal tests at the end of one or two topics.
Clearly, the expectation on academic performance is very high and the academic program is rigorous. Consequently the result is most satisfactory. The results in the two public examinations often rank among the top 30 schools. Over 95% of secondary 7 students are admitted into universities. Students also perform splendidly in academic competitions. From 2004 to 2007, our students represented Hong Kong to compete in physics competitions. In the International Physics Olympiad, our students won one gold and two bronze medals. In the Pearl River Delta Physics Olympiad, our students won one first class and one second class awards. Our Astronomy Teams and Quiz Teams consistently win champions in Hong Kong contests. The Maths, Chemistry and Computer Teams are often finalists in contests.