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.

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A Word from the Principal

Dear Parents

It is often said that one begins to understand his parents more when he himself becomes a parent.  I must say the switch in my role to that of school principal has enabled me to identify much more with this than before.

Scarcely did school start when I found myself feeling as if I were the parent of over 800 youngsters, being concerned about their growing pains, achievements and disappointments.  The more I got into touch with my students, the stronger I felt that we are family.

Traces of memories of my own childhood also flashed across my mind, and one particular episode tugged at my heartstrings.

It was a summer afternoon and my mom took me and my four brothers out to Central.  I forget why we went there.  What I remember was that it was full of towering buildings and upmarket department stores selling extortionately expensive products.  We were hot and thirsty and needed a rest.  Then mom saw the sign of a café named ‘Hong Lok Yuen’, which was on one of the upper floors of a tall building, and decided to take us there.

In the eyes of a child born to a humble family, in which money was always tight, this café was a palace, and yes, its food cost an arm and a leg.  We wanted ice-cream and kept pestering mom for it.  Mom pored over the menu for a long time before ordering ice-cream for us.  She did not order any for herself.

Mom was, and still is, thrifty with money.  She must have had fierce inner struggles over whether to spend her hard-earned money on luxuries such as ice-cream, and yet out of love, she willingly and silently yielded to our requests, treating us but not herself to ice-cream.

I think a lot of you are like my mom, giving the best to your child at your own expense.  Your child knows.  And for all you have done, you deserve a salute!

Yours truly

Ng Miu-yee Maria

Principal

龔錦添校長 (2009-2015)

迦密同學過去一年在很多校外比賽項目獲得很好的成績，例如童軍、機械人、田徑、排球、籃球、羽毛球、乒乓球、欖球，管絃樂、戲劇、辯論、JA營商計劃等等，不能盡錄。香港學生以中學文憑試考生資格申請入讀英國牛津大學的很多，據牛津大學公報，只取錄七人，五位獲有條件取錄，迦密佔其一，兩位獲無條件取錄，迦密學生也佔其一。

迦密同學獲得好成績，我們固然十分高興，不過我相信家長和老師最關心的，不是獎項，而是同學是否能發揮潛能，享受努力的過程，並且明白天外有天，以後更能突破自己的限制，爭取更大的成就；而那些雖未獲獎但已盡力的同學，老師和家長也欣賞他們的努力，希望他們勇於接受失敗，也敢於爭取成功，繼續「主動、勇敢、自信」地挑戰局限，在原有的基礎上追求進步。

不論勝負，迦密同學都可以為曾經一同努力奮鬥而自豪。

過去六年分別以「主動、勇敢、自信」和「尋找生命路向、建立學習社群」為主題的各項活動，完滿結束，並獲得一定成效；自本學年開始，迦密人站在一個穩固的基礎上，繼續追求卓越。我們以“Carmelians as Reflective Learners， Carmelians as Leaders” 為未來三年的目標，期望師生一起攜手，建立自己，祝福別人。

(8-2012)

政務司長唐英年先生最近訓勉年輕人不要埋怨生活艱難，要反省自己為什麼做不到第二個李嘉誠。李嘉誠先生富可敵國，唐司長假設年輕人都想仿效李先生，是很容易理解的。我就這議題在上學年最後一個週會上問同學，如果現年八十一歲的李嘉誠先生出價六百億元，交換六十年時間，有沒有同學願意接受？

迦密學生不是愚蠢的人，同學的回應在我的意料之中。

年輕人努力工作六十年，恐怕也賺不到六百億元，以六百億元的高價交換六十年，同學為何拒絕？可見同學都明白，生命的目的不是賺最多的錢，從生命中得到的很多事物，比錢更寶貴。

但同學和家長有沒有認真地思考，這比六百億元更有價值的，到底是什麼？

很多家長訓勉子女：「勤力讀書喇，唔通第日想做乞兒！」。其實，人一生花十多年寶貴的時間在學校「讀書」，讀書是否理應比賺錢有更高的價值？

最近我在一所中學看到一個介紹生涯規劃的壁報，做壁報的同學將人生階段排列成棋盤，用九個棋格展示，依次為幼稚園、小學、中學、大學、研究院，接著是買車、買樓、生子，然後到達終點–退休。我不禁納悶，生涯規劃強調的不應只是目標、終點，讀中學不只是為了上大學，大學畢業後也不一定要買車買樓。身體成長、智慧啟蒙、心靈潔淨、關係建立、尊親愛友、認識自我、確立信念、追尋夢想……，太多有價值的事情值得付出時間，中學怎能簡化為大學的預備階段，大學又豈僅是為了獲得富裕的物質生活。生命是成長的過程，其中的酸甜苦辣，寒熱溫冷、點點滴滴都值得細嘗，都比六百億元具更高的層次。

在迦密讀書不單為爭取優良的學業成績，同學是一同成長的夥伴，不是競逐成績的對手，老師是輔導同學成長的導師，不是向教育消費者出賣知識的售貨員，在迦密讀書不是為了避免淪為乞丐。中學生活，多姿多彩，再愚拙的人，也不肯用以交換金錢。

新學年開始，同學應計劃一下這學年應怎樣渡過，家長也可以與子女討論對他們的期望，趁子女年幼，還在自己身邊的日子，每天與他們同行，鼓勵他們珍惜生命，敝開心扉，張開眼睛，使心身靈都越來越健壯。

寶貴的年日一去不回頭，請珍惜子女在迦密、在你身邊的日子。

(8-2011)

迦密的排球場緊貼著山崖，向崖的一邊圍了鐵絲網，網外只有幾呎平地，懸崖直垂二百呎，東鐵線的列車和公主道的汽車就在崖下整天川流不息。在鐵線網外淺窄的泥地上，長了幾株樹，最邊緣的是一株大葉合歡樹，我還記得它幼小時的身影，十數年間樹枝粗壯，長得比旁邊的學校禮堂還要高，侍立在球場底線的角落外，像一個忠心的僕人撐一傘子濃蔭，為打球的小主人遮陽擋雨。冬天陽光和暖，雨也不多，合歡樹就抖落所有樹葉，等待春天的來臨。

今年春天，其他合歡樹都轉綠了，這棵在球場角落的仍未長一片樹葉；學年快要完結，同學們忙於準備年終考試，球場上少了打球的同學，一樹彎彎曲曲的乾枯枝條更顯得沒有生機。這株樹大概已枯萎了，實在可惜。老師聯絡有關的政府部門，很快便有人來查看，但也不曉得他們除察看外做了些什麼。十數天後的一個下午，我走到樹下，也不知道是否眼花，一根枯黃的小枝條上彷彿長了幾小片綠葉；想不到在接著的一星期裡，像變戲法似的，所有樹枝忽然間都長滿翠綠的樹葉，枯樹似的合歡樹又再生氣盎然，接著還怒放繁花，垂滿了長長的荳莢。

看著這棵彷彿再生的樹，我不得不驚嘆生命的奇妙，只要給予適當的環境和照顧，生命會展現難以想象的奇跡。

迦密中學是一個很奇妙的地方，放眼望去，盡是煥發的生命、再生的奇跡：只顧自己的學會關心別人、退縮的敢於進取、害怕失敗的勇於嘗試、沒主見的堅守原則、不喜歡學習的嘗到學習的樂趣、貪心的明白知足的道理、說謊的領會誠實的重要、迷失的找到前進的方向……。

我相信家長跟我們一樣，不單希望同學有優良的學業成績，更關注同學生命的成長。希望家長每年四次接到子女的學業成績表時，會跟子女檢討學業的進度，也有機會與子女一同仔細檢視生命成長的進度：生命是否有什麼改變？是否比以前更主動、勇敢、自信、向學、擇善、感恩？是否更清楚自己生命的意義和方向？是否比以前更確定自己的理想？更能回應內心的呼喚，更勇於編織夢想？

看到學生生命成長，我和全校的教職員都滿心喜悅，但願能與家長一同努力鬆土、施肥、澆水、除蟲、給予生命適當的環境和照顧，讓生命展現更大的奇跡。

 (8-2010)

       教養孩童，從來不是容易的事。