校長的話

60+ — School for the Future

何玉芬博士

我在愛民邨長大，是愛民邨第一代居民。升讀中學的時候，家人為我選擇了附近的迦密中學。作為一個來自基層家庭的孩子，當時的我對未來並沒有太多想法。但在迦密中學，我遇到了優秀的老師。他們無論在學術、待人處事、價值觀方面，也讓我看到教育如何能夠造就年輕人。他們以身教言教，活出基督教教育的理念：明道律己 忠主善群。而最重要的，是我在這裡認識上帝。信仰改變了我，讓我對人生和未來的想法從此不再一樣。回望自己的成長路、在不同教育崗位的經歷和學習，我只能說：全是恩典。

這個學年開始，我再次回到這個地方服侍，我看到老師對學生的愛和對教育的投入和熱誠，從來也沒有改變。在學術上，師生全力以赴，努力取得亮麗的成績。傳統的大型學校隊伍，包括男排、女排、童軍、英文辯論隊、英語話劇、資優教育、STEAM等，除了在學界比賽中成績斐然，學生的品德和態度也在當中得到建立。各人努力付出 ，認真做好自己的身分角色，同時亦明白「過程」與「結果」同樣重要。這就是迦密精神的關鍵元素之一。

學校即將慶祝六十周年校慶，我們期待與師生、校友、社區友好一起回顧「迦密故事」，見證上帝的恩典。同時也希望藉這個特別的日子，我們能一起思考、探索未來三年、五年、十年，迦密中學將如何繼續傳承和創新。因此，我們將六十周年主題設定為：「60+ — School for the Future」。除分階段進行校園環境營造，優化、創造學習空間，開拓更多學習的可能性，促進學與教，我們也注重建構正向文化。此外，我們亦將推動創新的情景式學習理念，不同學科、組別以「School for the Future」為主題，在相應的年級和單元中設計學習任務和探究項目。學生可以有更多自發學習和探究的機會，在真實場景應用所學，尋找需解決的問題、了解群體的需要，跨越單一學科知識領域，進而提出可行方案，也盡可能將之實踐。期待在明年校慶，師生能將學習成果與大家分享。

六十周年校慶的主題經文是提摩太後書 1:6 （RCUV）：「為這緣故，我提醒你要把上帝藉著我按手所給你的恩賜再如火挑旺起來。」請為我們禱告，盼望上帝的手繼續恩待迦密中學，讓師生持續進步，使這群體成為這城市的祝福。

I was the first generation of residence of Oi Man Estate. My family chose the nearby Carmel Secondary School for me. As a child from a grassroots family, I did not have much expectation about the future. Yet studying at Carmel Secondary School has changed my life. I met excellent teachers who showed me how education can shape young people in academics, interpersonal relationships, and values. They lived out, through their words and deeds, the Christian education philosophy as stated in our school motto, “Self-discipline through the understanding of the Word; Service to Mankind through faithfulness to the Lord”.  Most importantly, I met God here. Christian faith has become the anchor of my life goals and values. With His grace, I learn and grow throughout the life journey and my career in education.

Starting from this academic year, I serve as the Principal of Carmel Secondary School. Faces have changed, yet the overarching core values persist — the love of teachers for students, their dedication and enthusiasm for education have never changed over the years. Regarding academics, teachers and students work together to achieve excellence, and the results are impressive. School teams with standing history continue to flourish, for instance, Volleyball Teams, Scouts, English Debating Team, English Drama Team, gifted education, STEAM, etc. Not only do they achieve remarkable results in various competitions, but they are also consistently committed to building students’ character and nurturing their attitude. The “Carmel Spirit” is about hard work, conscience, and valuing both the process and the results.

The school is about to celebrate its 60th anniversary. It is time to witness God’s grace through the “Carmel Story” with teachers, students, alumni, and our friends in the community. It is also an opportunity for us to rethink and explore how Carmel Secondary School will continue to inherit and innovate in the next three, five, and ten years. Therefore, we have set the 60th anniversary theme as “60+ – School for the Future.” There would be placemaking initiatives at various spots in the campus to optimize and create learning spaces which allow new possibilities for learning and teaching, and to further foster a culture of positivity. Another focus is to promote innovative context-based learning. Different subjects and teams will design learning tasks or investigations which align with the theme of “School for the Future”. Students learn through a process of design-thinking. They will apply what they have learned in authentic situations, identify problems that need to be solved, understand the needs of the group, propose feasible solutions with cross-disciplinary knowledge, and implement them as far as possible. We look forward to sharing the learning outcomes of our teachers and students at the celebrations of our 60th anniversary next year.

The Bible verse for the 60th anniversary of the school is from 2 Timothy 1:6 (NIV): “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.” Please pray for us, hoping that God’s hand will continue to bless Carmel Secondary School, so that teachers and students can continue to grow in His guidance and become a blessing to this city.