Daughters of Mary Help of Christians Siu Ming Catholic Secondary School


Daughters of Mary Help of Christians Siu Ming Catholic Secondary School, founded in 1973, is a girls' secondary school in Kwai Chung, Hong Kong. It is administered under the Grant Code and using English as a medium of instruction, or being an "EMI school".

Religion

Catholicism

Brief history

Daughters of Mary Help of Christians Siu Ming Catholic Secondary School is a subsidized girls' grammar school run by the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. Founded in 1973, the school has incorporated the educational philosophy of St. Mary Mazzarello and St. John Bosco, that is educating young people with love and putting equal stress on the importance of virtue, wisdom, physique, sociability, aesthetic appreciation and spirituality in providing quality education to the community.

School Motto

Purity and Charity

Mission statement

To foster clear goal-setting, life-long learning and community participation in a caring, Christian educational environment.

School Target

1. To enhance learning and teaching effectiveness through reading across the curriculum and strengthening learning strategies.
2. To strengthen students’ leadership and self-confidence.

Teachers

The total number of teaching staff members is 61 with 66% of them holding Master's degrees as their highest education level, 33% holding Bachelor's degrees as their highest education level and 100% holding professional qualifications.

Medium of Instruction

English is adopted as the medium of instruction.
Chinese Language, Chinese History, Putonghua, Chinese Literature, Liberal Studies, Ethics & Religious Education, Civic Education, Life & Society, Visual Arts are conducted in Chinese.

Class Organization

There are 24 classes:
There are 16 elective modules of 13 different subjects offered to the 4 classes in each level of S.4 to S.6.

School Organization and Management

;Club Activities and Extracurricular Classes : Students are divided into 4 houses, Green House, Blue House, Yellow House and Red House. : The School has more than 40 clubs and types of extracurricular activities.
They are divided into 6 categories, namely Academic Learning, Physique, Skills, Art, Services and Religious Belief.
The activities include Science Club, Home Economics Club, Visual Arts Club, Drama Group, Long Distance Running Group, Junior Red Cross, Student Social Service Group, School Choir, Chinese Orchestra, String Orchestra, Melodica Band and more than 10 musical instrumental classes.
To promote knowledge and appreciation of performing arts among students, the School also participates in the School Arts Animateur Scheme organized by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.
;Special Training : Lively and challenging training camps such as the Orientation Wild Training Camp, the Guangzhou Huangpu Military School Training Camp and the Adventure-based Guidance Training Camp are available to students for the purpose of enhancing their self-esteem and promoting cooperation among them.
;Self-governed Groups : The presence of the Student Association, the Disciplinary Prefect Association and the Four Houses helps strengthen the communication between the School and students and enhance students' skills in leadership and organization. Students may form cabinets and stand for election, thereby enriching their experience in democracy and accountability.
;Exchange and Services : Students have the opportunities to visit the Mainland for cultural exchange and providing various services for poor children.
;School Awards and Scholarships
The "Service Learning Scheme" aims to encourage students to take part in in-school or community service projects. It helps to build up among students a strong will and a spirit to serve others.
The "Self-Actualization Scheme" encourages S.1 students to make continual self-assessment and to set targets and goals for their studies as well as other areas.
In S.1, Social Studies lessons are conducted in all classes to help students grasp knowledge while the use of Putonghua as the medium of instruction in the Chinese lessons is piloted in one of the classes.
For the purpose of upgrading language skills, there is daily reading time in class. Students are offered additional courses of English Pronunciation during non-school hours. They also have the opportunities for public speaking in and outside classrooms.
The Cross-curricular Project-Based Learning Scheme in junior levels has been implemented since 1998. It aims to develop students' abilities on self-learning and inter-personal communication. It also trains students' data collection skills and analytical minds.