Celebrating the past with gratitude, embracing the future with hope, sharing our life in love
Sr Veronica, our School Principal, marked the opening of the Graduation Ceremony with a clear note to a strong values education, following the footsteps of our Foundress, St Magdalene of Canossa. Under the baton of a value-driven plan, 2018-2019 witnessed a range of initiatives: staff development sessions on promoting positive education and positive education in S1 classes, use of social media for parent education, service learning through S4 service day, SHCC Zonta Z Club service project, Heartslink community service and Heartslift music educational project with the primary school children and the elderly in the Southern District. S3 SHE project cultivating social enterprise and entrepreneurial spirit. This year also saw innovations in fostering higher order thinking skills, writer skills workshops, greater collaboration with local and national universities in Chinese Language, Integrated Science education and gifted education. In sports education, our school won the Most Progressive School Award, in STEM, we won the MTR STEM Challenge, in dance, our school team was invited by the Education Bureau to present Hong Kong to participate in the Sixth National Arts Showcase in Suzhou, to name but a few.
It was our pleasure to have The Honourable Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma to address the graduates this year. In his address, the Chief Justice took us back to our city’s history of early education run by missionaries and churches for the less fortunate and the foreigners who spoke no Chinese. He commended missionaries’ passion to look after the less fortunate, run afternoon and evening classes, and focus on nurturing their graduates to become anthropologists. Despite disparity in backgrounds, religions, resources at hand, children and the young in our community used to receive education under the same roof. The Chief Justice Ma hails such as a sense of community that reveals mutual respect for the rights of others and truly makes Hong Kong our own.
On behalf of S6 graduates, Sonia Chow, our Head Girl, made a speech in response to The Chief Justice’s edification. She expressed that education in this school no different from an orienteering race where students navigate under the teachers’ guidance to explore new thresholds, try things out and develop their talents.
On this special occasion, our graduates and major scholarship awardees received their certificates from The Honourable Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma , Honourable Madam Justice Maria Yuen, our school alumna, Mr Yan Ming Leong, the Senior School Development Officer of the Education Bureau, Mrs Winnie Wong, Chairman of Z and Golden Z Clubs Committee, District 17, Zonta International, Miss Irene Sin, the Pasch-Coordinator of Goethe-Institute Hong Kong, Ms Lusan Hung, the Chairlady of our Alumnae Association, Mr. Stephen Lee, the Chairman of our Parent-Teacher Association and Sr Agnes Law, our School Supervisor.
To mark the closure of the ceremony, The SHCC Orchestra, recipient of Hong Kong Schools Music Festival many distinguished prizes, dedicated 迎春歌and I will sing you the stars on this auspicious occasion to the graduates and the guests. The songs embodied deep messages for the graduates that they would never be alone but what they have learnt from the School will continue to serve as North Star that guides them as they embark on their journey ahead.
