San Wui Commercial Society YMCA of Hong Kong Christian School


San Wui Commercial Society YMCA of Hong Kong Christian School, abbreviated as SWYHKCS, is an English co-educational private primary school located in Sham Shui Po, Kowloon, Hong Kong co-organised by the San Wui Commercial Society of Hong Kong and YMCA of Hong Kong since 2013.
The school provides local curriculum for Chinese language and Mathematics education, and international curriculum for English language and other subjects, as well as STEM subjects. Recently, the school practices Learn by doing corresponding to the education in the United Kingdom.
The school is known for its gifted education, as well as the students’ outstanding performance in the fields of mathematics and computer programming. The teaching policy is recognized by the parents whose children are transferred to the school to join the class.

History

, originally as the Young Men's Christian Association, was founded by Sir George Williams at London, England on 6 June 1844. It is the oldest and largest youth charity in the world, and aims to support young people in the communities.
YMCA of Hong Kong was established in 1901 as a charitable organization in Hong Kong, headquartered in Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon. It is dedicated to the furtherance of justice, peace, hope and truth in the Hong Kong and international community. It serves the community with cares for the people in needs and provides sponsorship for the events in Hong Kong.
San Wui Commercial Society of Hong Kong, originated from Xinhui District, Jiangmen, Guangdong, and founded in 1909 in Hong Kong, has been serving local people in the city. It aimed at uniting the community and offering affordable education to children since 1920, and gained a strong reputation in operating schools in Hong Kong and abroad.
In the 1950s, San Wui Commercial Society Kowloon School was founded by San Wui Commercial Society of Hong Kong on the campus built in Sham Shui Po, Kowloon. It later became an aided school in Hong Kong. The school was permanently closed in 2008 due to the lack of new born kids in the city in the 2000s.
San Wui Commercial Society of Hong Kong works with YMCA of Hong Kong in establishing a new Christian school by providing the campus. Making use of the idle campus in Sham Shui Po, San Wui Commercial Society YMCA of Hong Kong Christian School was established in 2013. At the beginning of the establishment of the school, a mixed curriculum was implemented in the school. Chinese and mathematics subjects were taught in local curriculum, while the rest of the subjects were implemented in the British primary curriculum.
From 2016, the levels of difficulty of certain subjects were adjusted.
The principal Mr. Thomas Moore arrived in the school in 2018 and led the teaching team with the vice-principal Ms. Tammy Tse.
At the 2019–2020 school year, it was the first time the Year 6 students of the school being enrolled as Form 1 students in YMCA of Hong Kong Christian College, a secondary school located at Tung Chung, Lantau Island operated under the Direct Subsidy Scheme of the Education Bureau also sponsored by YMCA of Hong Kong as a school network, where the graduating students have already received sufficient education of local curriculum and international curriculum.
In 2020, with the COVID-19 outbreak, classes are suspended and students are confined to learning from home. Online learning was performed throughout the school period for all subjects.

Campus

Located in a quiet corner of the residential area of Sham Shui Po, Kowloon, Hong Kong, the school is adjacent to Lei Cheng Uk Estate, Lei Cheng Uk Han Tomb Museum, Lei Cheng Uk Swimming Pool and Cheung Sha Wan Jockey Club General Out-patient Clinic. It is also close to So Uk Estate, Un Chau Estate, Tonkin Street and Cheung Sha Wan station.
Established in 2013, the school was renovated on a campus built in 1950s, and evolved into an international learning environment. Its campus has one teaching building. In additional to the regular classrooms located from 2/F to 4/F, the teaching building also include a school hall, a dance room and a chapel on G/F, a medical room, a STRIVE room, an art room, a music room, a playground and a mini hall on 1/F, a library on 2/F, a multi-purpose room on 3/F, an MMLC on 4/F, a science laboratory, a CARES room and another playground on 5/F.
The murals on campus were created by students, which enhanced the students' sense of belonging. The illustrations under the CCTV lens indicated that the lens was not monitoring, but recording the student's smiling face and friendly attitude.

Academics

Mixed curriculum

A mixed school system was implemented in the school. Chinese language and Mathematics subjects were taught in local curriculum, while the rest of the subjects were implemented in the British primary curriculum.
Through the mixed education system, students can lay a solid foundation for further study through local curriculum, and practice the "Learn by doing" teaching model through the British curriculum, allowing students to participate more in the classroom, thereby increasing the sense of involvement and interest in learning, replacing traditional schools. After class practice and heavy homework, students make learning more relaxed and enjoyable.
For future education, students can choose an international school or a local secondary school when they graduate for further studies. In the future, they have sufficient Chinese and Mathematics skills, and competitiveness.

Language learning

In a private elementary school in Hong Kong with English as the medium of instruction, students are proficient in biliteracy and trilingualism, i.e. the application of English, Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese.
The school also provides Spanish language courses. The school cultivated students' interest and confidence in learning Spanish in a short period of time. Through the sharing of foreign language teachers, students understand the culture of different countries, broaden their horizons, establish a correct worldview from an early age, and learn to respect different local cultures.
In addition to speaking ability, the school also attaches importance to students' writing ability. From Year 1, students need to write diaries.

In the classroom

An open and relaxed classroom atmosphere makes students dare to express their opinions and make them more engaged in learning.The mode of class is different from the traditional one. The teachers do not set the standard answers for the students to follow. The students can freely publish their answers without fear of mistakes. The friendly attitude of the teachers not only establishes good relationships, keeps the order in the classroom, but also allows students to be brave in expressing themselves and not afraid of making mistakes, because the teaching team believes that they must experience mistakes during the growth process, and the campus is to make students feel comfortable making mistakes.
Teachers in the school do not amplify the students’ weaknesses, but start with the strengths of students, so that the students can improve themselves in a positive way.
The school helped the transferred students adapt to the school environment as soon as possible. The teachers arrange a student of the same level to accompany a new student to learn.

School characteristics

Activities

Other than science, robotics, and computer programming classes, the school also has sports teams, musical instrument training classes, campus TV stations, campus weekly magazines and other activities. Among the TV station, students can master the skills of filming and making TV programs at a young age. Students have the ability to edit and design weekly magazines. The school also provides activity options which are being supported by the Education Bureau.
Every year the school provide students with a range of learning camps, so that students can master the survival skills through the wildlife experience, but also understand teamwork, get along with each other, and cooperate with each other. In games and activities, students learn to deal with personal emotions, try to contact new things, and discover different possibilities.
Students and teachers performed painstaking design and modeling in "Mad Science Day". Through visual arts creation, students have a basic understanding of history of China. With regard to different topics, teachers will lead students into the community and learn from practical experience.
Students participated in robot design competitions on behalf of the school. They had the opportunity to communicate with students from the Philippines, Thailand and other places.

Gifted education

There are many gifted students in different fields in the school. The students have their strengths, but they also face confusion or challenges in terms of emotions and social aspects. On-site psychologists help to deal with this problem, and will also provide training for the teaching team so that each teacher can master basic skills and develop personal files for each student for targeted processing.
The students of the school have outstanding potential in mathematics and robotics, and have participated in different activities on behalf of the school and achieved excellent results.
A student who was particularly interested and talented in programming had no interest in classroom learning because he had mastered the content of the regular curriculum. He was arranged to leave the classroom and asked to design a web page for the school. This made his talents appear in front of others, and let him learn how to show his talents correctly. This arrangement not only brought a sense of success to the gifted student, but also prompted him to have a young age.

Teaching team

The principal Mr. Thomas Moore has led a Special Educational Needs department at his previous serving school. Based on the profession of the teachers, the teaching team understands the psychology of students and can make targeted arrangements for different students, whether gifted students or special learning.

Public events

The school join the International Fun Fair is held by the students and teachers at YMCA of Hong Kong Christian College in every December as one of the musical performing teams. Visitors can enjoy ethnic food, a bazaar, games, bouncy castles and an art exhibition at the school. Visitors can also catch talent shows by the students, featuring the songs and dances of different countries worldwide. More than 4,000 people went to the IFF in every year.

International connections

The school connects to the YMCA centres from all cities in the world. Many schools or organisations sponsored by different YMCA centres in the world come to visit Hong Kong with the accompaniment of the school. Also, the school also make use of the YMCA facilities of other cities during its overseas events.

Transportation

The school can be reached by public by foot walking from Cheung Sha Wan station. Bus routes operated around the school include Kowloon Motor Bus routes 2 from Star Ferry Pier, Tsim Sha Tsui, 2A from Lok Wah Estate, 202 from Mong Kok, New World First Bus routes 702S from Cheung Sha Wan, 796C from Clear Water Bay Peninsula, harbour-crossing bus routes 112 from North Point, 970 from Cyberport and 970X from Aberdeen.

Bus route list


;Kowloon and New Territories bus routes
  • 2
  • 2A
  • 202
  • 702S
  • 796C
;Harbour-crossing bus routes
  • 112
  • 970
  • 970X
;Adjacent facilities
  • Lei Cheng Uk Estate
  • So Uk Estate
  • Cheung Sha Wan station