Out and About – Visit to Our Sister School

Jerry Tse

On a sunny Tuesday morning, we, 5M students, began our journey to our sister school, the Shenzhen Nanshan Foreign Language School. We were the pioneers, the first group of students to have exchange activities with our sister school, an honour indeed.

We were met at the border by a smiling enthusiastic staff member who accompanied us to the coach which was ready and waiting to take us to the sister school, a short bus ride away. Upon our arrival, we were received at the gate of the school with a very warm welcome. After putting our things down in a huge conference room set aside for us, we had a school tour which was mind boggling. It was the first time for most of us to actually visit a school on the Mainland and we were absolutely amazed and fascinated by the size of the campus and the facilities they provided. They even had a footbridge across a major road to the next side where we discovered more sporting facilities. The teachers who accompanied us were very friendly and so warm as they introduced the campus. We returned to the Conference Room where the teacher-in-charge and the Vice-Principal shared the history of the school, and the rundown of the day to us.

The tour was followed by English, Music and STEM lessons with the students from the International Class.

The English lesson was a really good starter and icebreaker. During the lesson, we learnt some recipes and practised our English-speaking skills following the syllabus for IELTS. The topic was ‘Becoming a Chef’, and we heard presentations from both 5M and the International class students, including me. I never expected that my name will be called by the teacher to give an impromptu presentation to the whole class. Thank God it went well and it was smooth so I didn’t embarrass myself or my school. Moreover, as the class required us to work in groups, we had the chance get familiar with each other and make new friends!

The English class was followed by the music class which was a trek down to the basement level of their school. As I entered the room, I was amazed —- the teacher was dressed in the costume of one of the ethnic minority tribes welcoming us, with Chinese folk songs playing.  How fascinating and interesting that was! We also got the chance to try dancing to different folk songs of different tribes. A truly interactive style of teaching. We had a great time learning about ethnic minorities’ cultures.

After the lunch break, we began our last lesson with the international class, our buddies for the day. We had the STEM &3D design lesson taught by the class teacher of the International class. During the lesson, we learnt to use a tool we’ve never seen or heard of before, SolidWorks, to make multiple 3D models. With the teacher’s explanation and the classmates’ help, all of us were able to create the 3D models required. We certainly had fun trying different functions of the software.

I guess for me as a student, what was the most unforgettable was playing multiple matches of basketball with the classmates from the international class. We had a quick lunch, went to their dormitory, grabbed a basketball, and ran to the court. We were competing, sweating, chatting just like old friends or schoolmates, I genuinely wish it could last longer. But just imagine students from two different schools who had just met for the first time, can they already be like old friends? How crazy was that? But that’s what being a child, a teen should be, shouldn’t it?

When you are having a good time, time really always flies. It ended too fast with the group photo taking session near the front gate of the campus. We exchanged contacts and souvenirs, promised each other that we would come back in the future. And very soon, it would be our turn to host, and we shall be seeing them again!

‘One, two, three, smile!’ The sound of the camera marked and kept the friendship and good memories of the day. Although it was time to say goodbye, it was not really goodbye at all, because we all knew that we would meet very soon in the near future.

5M  王丹宜 陶樂然

「讀萬卷書不如行萬里路。」12月5日，我們有幸參觀姊妹學校南山外國語學校高級中學進行學習交流，這實在是不可多得的珍貴機會，使同學們都翹首以盼，對當天的到來充滿了期待和好奇。

一見面，我們就感受到了姊妹學校的熱情和重視。到達校園後，我們便明白南外高中「深圳十大最美中學」的榮譽實至名歸。目光所及之處皆是旖旎美景，樓頂的露天運動場既能俯視學校操場，也可以將周邊商業街景色盡收眼底，同學們更能在此眺望遠處的香港，這是我們兩所學校之間獨一無二的連接。校園內種滿了綠植，綠樹成蔭，樹影斑駁。遊覽校園期間，同學們雖然駐足目視，但他們炙熱的目光讓我們感受到了無盡的熱情，可謂無聲勝有聲。其後，雙方老師在會議室會面進行了友好交流，王副校親切地為我們介紹了學校的特色和課程內容，我們也對姊妹學校瞭解得更加透徹。

和國際班同學一起上的第一節課是英文課。課程主題’ Becoming a chef ‘選取了生活化的題材，以小組方式和國際班同學在和諧輕鬆的氛圍下一起討論，不僅鍛煉了英語會話能力，也借此機會讓彼此熟絡。

英文課後的音樂課亦給同學們帶來了新的驚喜。課堂剛開始，身穿蒙古族傳統服飾的音樂老師跳了一段蒙古族的傳統舞蹈，吸引了所有同學的注意。老師把樂理知識通過互動式教學，讓同學更生動形象地用身體感受音樂的節奏，並通過觀看影片瞭解到中國少數民族傳統文化，體驗舞蹈和聆聽音樂感受中華文化的魅力，意識到中華文化傳承的重要性。

在學校飯堂與南外的同學一起享用美味佳餚後，我們便在操場集合為接下來的智能3D建模課做準備。我們和國際班同學合力拼裝智能車的過程不僅僅讓我們懂得團體合作，更重要的是培養了分析理解和動手能力。之後，我們便學習用三維軟體建模，類比智慧車長方體拼裝。這次的嘗試讓我們對三維軟件有了初步的認識，也瞭解到南外高中課程的多元化與趣味。

此次的深港教育學習之旅實在讓我們獲益良多。正如南外的辦學理念：「像樹一樣成長」。教育的過程就如同園丁栽培花木，而在兩校共同悉心的照料下，一棵棵小幼苗將會長成碩大的樹木，為國家的建設注入新活力。