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MIDDLE SCHOOL PROGRAM
“ Hello…I am 11 years old. I really don’t have much of a past. In fact, I represent the future.
You need to understand what I am learning to believe, how I think about my future, what my world view is. You and I both want me to be a success in the world which I will enter as an adult, and which I will be responsible for. In future days I will admire you for being able to look forward with me and help me define what I need to learn.
My world is already very different from the one you have grown up in. On present life expectancy figures…I will be alive and well in the 2070’s, and my children will live to see the twenty-second century. Can you even imagine what the world will be like for them?”
From “Creating the Future School” (2001)
Hedley Beare, Professor Emeritus of Education
University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Hong Kong Academy has a vision for education, for developing students to their full potential, and for creating a future. Our middle school students continue this vision as students grow from young children in our primary school into young adults. We aim to provide them with a safe, secure environment that encourages risk taking; supports and fosters learning at all levels and, within a realm of “endless” possibilities, builds independent, self-assured students; develops the ability to inquire and to think critically; provides opportunities for all students to develop their particular strengths and to produce articulate young adults, sensitive to all aspects of living in an international and constantly changing community.
Welcome to the Hong Kong Academy Middle School!
As students and parents you have joined an energetic and professional team. The Middle School currently includes Years 6 and 7 and Year 8 (years 7, 8, and 9 in the UK system) catering to 11-14 year olds. We look forward to working with you and your students as the Middle School develops and know that we can all expect a productive and memorable school year.
Development
The Hong Kong Academy Middle School operates as a relatively autonomous school division. The program reflects the most current thinking and best practice in the field and has been carefully structured to meet the needs of its adolescent community.
The combination of these three year levels enables the school to address directly the special period of early adolescent development. This, along with a curriculum that encourages student participation and inquiry-based learning methods, results in a balanced and complete educational experience for our students, which will continue to grow along with our student body.
Middle School Teachers
Middle school teachers aim to be far more than subject specialists. In dealing with early adolescents, the Year 6-8 teachers provide a caring environment in which students gradually develop self-reliance, become organized and responsible citizens, and become confident and articulate communicators. Attempts are made to listen to and respond to every student’s needs and to support them during the ‘growing up’ process. This interaction takes place both in and out of the classroom. Middle school teachers are trained to work with early adolescent children and to understand their unique characteristics.
Planning and Organization
Wherever possible the Middle School maintains programs and approaches used in the primary school in an effort to ensure consistency, and an easy transition for students (and parents). The change from primary school to middle school is mostly evident in the additional responsibility and organization expected of students, and in the gradual separation of specific subjects. In an effort to support the more specialized subject content and curriculum that students encounter as they move towards high school, two “home room” teachers will be responsible for delivering the core subjects at both year levels. Rather than having one teacher most of the time (as in primary school), Middle School students study Language Arts and Social Studies with one specialist teacher and Mathematics and Science with a second teacher. These two teachers at each grade level operate as a “team”, planning and working together. This allows students to get to know two teachers well, and also encourages the ongoing integration between subjects.
Of course, there are also a range of other subjects offered, taught by specialists within these fields. These subjects are offered as electives. Students are able to choose, along with their parent’s support and approval, up to 6 electives during the course of a year. To ensure balance in our curriculum, at least one elective in Art, Music and Information Technology must be completed during the course of the year. The aim is to encourage students to experience as many options as they are able-to give them a sense of areas they may wish to specialize in as they move on to high school.
Current choices are shown below (all are one term courses unless otherwise indicated):
| Music | Art | Technology | World Languages | Other |
| Band (studied all year) | 3D Art | Microsoft Office | French 1 | Drama |
| Guitar 1 | Painting & Drawing | Web Design | French 2 | Junior Journalism |
| Guitar 2 | Textile Art | Multimedia | Spanish 1 | Public Speaking |
| General Music | Digital Art | Spanish 2 |
PE and health are also an integral part of our program, and Mandarin is studied throughout the school.
A very important feature of our Middle School program is our F2 laptop program. All students are issued with a laptop that is for their sole use throughout the school year. We believe that this has a direct and positive impact on student interest and learning. Students (and parents) are able to keep track of all assignments, maintain a great deal of their print material and resources in the one place, are able to access work from anywhere, and are continually honing their technology skills while still covering their material in the classroom. Assignments, discussion forums, research, response journals, as well as design pieces, and multimedia task are just some of the range of ways in which they are used in the classroom, and we are discovering more all of the time. While we certainly don’t dispense with print materials, we are approaching the education of our students from “today’s” viewpoint–we live in a world of technology, and our students have grown up with it–so why not tap into what they know and are enthusiastic about!
Advisory Program
This is an affective program component, scheduled into the regular school week, that enables teachers and students to work at developing long term relationships. It is designed to meet the developmental needs of young adolescents and to foster their self-awareness, self-respect, self-discipline, moral development, interpersonal competence, and ability to communicate with adults.
Advisory is a non-academic time that is used in a variety of ways. Activities may include such things as activity days, career exploration, conflict resolution, study skills, goal setting, leadership skills, reading, and community projects (from working with primary school buddies–to volunteering to help out with local projects). Where appropriate, guest speakers will also be invited in to speak to groups of students.