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The HHCKLA Buddhist Po Kwong School is located in Fanling, New Territories, Hong Kong. We have 330 students and our lessons are taught in Cantonese. We are a government-funded school for children with moderate and mild intellectual disabilities from 6 years old.
Overall impact
This programme has enhanced our school’s development, our teachers and therapists have been motivated by the importance of essential skills in the future, especially with AI’s introduction. We have found that our curriculum, before partnering with Skills Builder, focused on knowledge teaching. Now essential skills provide skill based teaching for our students alongside our curriculum. We have modified the curriculum of Personal Growth in our school to align with essential skills steps. Now our students benefit from personal learning experiences before graduation, which includes cooking, art development, exploration of community and working experience alongside developing their essential skills. Our teachers continue to observe impressive progress along the Universal Framework for our students, especially in Speaking and Problem-Solving skills.
Keep it simple
To continue to promote and reinforce essential skills and create a common language of essential skills in our school, we include essential skills on visual boards throughout our school. We have also initiated a school-wide promotion, inviting students to design essential skills posters and banners that have been displayed around the school. To promote a shared culture, we created eight large flags representing each essential skill, displayed throughout the school. This visual presence helped unify teachers, students, and families under a common language of skill development.
As a specialist school, we have ensured that all the teachers and professionals at the school, e.g., speech therapists, have undergone continued training in Skills Builder to further develop their teaching practice. This helps to promote a consistent language and approach to essential skills. To enhance students' fundamental skills, we have implemented the "Skills Builder Badge Reward Program." Students record their participation and progress in various skills through their student portfolios. When students reach Step 3 or higher in a particular skill, they will receive a corresponding badge as a reward, which is presented during the morning assembly. This not only boosts students' confidence but also motivates them to further develop these skills.
This year, we also introduced a Parent Workshop: Inviting Parents to attend and explain the concept of "Skills Education" and the Skills Builder Framework, which ensures that our students can continue to build their essential skills outside of the classroom.
Start early, keep going
We have a broad range of ages in our school. In the first year of the program, we focused on our High School students aged 16 to 18, but this year we have been able to extend the programme to our senior students from S1-S3. Younger students also practiced basic skills through classroom routines and simple group work. Older students applied skills in real-world contexts, such as internships, café work, and outdoor learning.
Measure it
To ensure that students’ skills are being developed at the correct skill step, we split them into 4 groups based on needs and then completed a group-level assessment for each of these groups using the HUB. The results of this assessment were then used to inform teaching and planning, including deciding a step-level target for each group. This ensures that teachers are targeting their teaching and planning at the correct level for a diverse group of learners. To ensure effective implementation, teachers will closely observe students' performance and track their learning progress using the Universal Framework. This approach will provide valuable insights into each student's development and help tailor instruction accordingly. We have also introduced an additional system for tracking Skill Learning Progress. We ask our students to complete the "Learning Activity Record Book". Our assessment of essential skills now ensures both students and teachers will gain a deeper understanding of the detailed aspects of Skills Builder and consider how to effectively improve students' abilities.
Focus tightly
We dedicate 2 double lessons every Thursday to the teaching of our focus essential skills. Our school organizes 7 times of life-wide activities for each subject every year. With promoting experiential learning, we encourage students to record their learning experience in the student portfolios, which helps observe the students' skill-learning progress.We introduced the 8 essential skills using clear icons and keywords across the school. Students used the same language in their “Learning Reflection Booklet” after each activity. Our teachers start with an all-around learning activity day and spend at least 15 minutes of explicit teaching time in each lesson using selected resources from the HUB that fall within the step range for that class. For the first year of our programme, we focused on speaking and problem-solving skills, and in our second year, we have added Listening skills.
Keep practising
All our students take part in personal growth lessons, including Work Experience
Art and Cooking. As all of our teachers understand the importance of essential skills and have been trained, they can encourage students to practise and build skills in these growth lessons. This gives our students many opportunities to practise their skills in a range of settings and activities.
We also use student portfolios to track progress; any member of staff can use skill stamps to record when a student or group of students applies a skill. This practice will enable students to review their progress, identify areas for improvement, and chart their path for future learning endeavours.
Bring it to life
As part of our Natural Environment and Society subjects, our students undertake activities outside of the school environment. These outdoor activities allow them to experience the culture and traditions of our region. During these activities, we ask questions, discuss, and record student reflections via photographs and videos. These experiences allow our students to make connections between the essential skills they are learning in the classroom and the real world. This helps them to build strong 21st-century skills that they can use in their lives. Students brought skills to life by participating in real-world events such as community job fairs, exhibitions, and a “One-Day Store Manager” programme. During our end-of-year showcase, they prepared refreshments, presented learning experiences, and led games for school guests. Teachers evaluated their performance using the Skills Builder Framework, and successful students were awarded Pins. We introduced the scheme to parents and highlighted skill development in school events. We also promoted the Skills Builder concept in the broader community and began integrating it with Buddhist values, emphasising compassion, effort, and perseverance as part of skill growth. These connections helped deepen meaning and build cultural relevance for our learners.
What's next
The traditional schools in Hong Kong focus on equipping students with the knowledge and technical skills for their future careers. Our school principal and teachers recognised that essential skills are important to a student’s overall growth and development, especially for students with special needs. Therefore, this year we established a three-year plan for essential skills that we will continue with next year. Under the "Skills Education" program, we will emphasise promoting essential skills to junior high school students. We believe cultivating these skills will better prepare students for their future personal and professional lives. Our ultimate goal is to extend the benefits of "Skills Education" to teachers, parents, students, and other specialist schools. By providing professional development opportunities and resources, we aim to equip educators with the necessary knowledge and teaching strategies to effectively integrate essential skills into their instruction. We also recognise the importance of involving parents in this journey, as their support and understanding are crucial for the successful development of their children's skills. We hope we can create a comprehensive and inclusive educational environment that fosters the growth of essential skills among students. By equipping them with these skills, we believe we can better prepare our students for a successful and fulfilling future.
