Historical Footprint

Growth Path of Lok Yan

Caritas Hong Kong pays special concerns to the needs of the Last, the Least and the Lost within the community.
 
From the late 1970s to the early 1980s, a group of teachers with faith and enthusiasm for teaching learned that a group of children with severe intellectual disabilities who had been living in Caritas Medical Centre for a long time failed to enjoy right to education. Therefore, they actively planned and prepared the school.

In May 1982, under the leadership of Mr. Poon Hung Wai, founding Principal of Caritas Jockey Club Lok Yan School, sixteen children with severe intellectual disabilities finally took their first class.

Without inauguration ceremony of the new school, or opening ceremony, Caritas Jockey Club Lok Yan School borrowed a ward in Wai Yan Block of Caritas Medical Centre as the temporary school building, and officially undertake the mission of providing special education for students with severe intellectual disabilities who have long-term hospitalization.

Time flies, yet the School's desire to walk with parents has remained unchanged.  The School hopes to walk shoulder to shoulder with parents to open up the hidden potential of students with severe intellectual disabilities and show their potential, so that students can live with dignity and quality. In addition, the School actively participates in the promotion and creation of special education knowledge, and strives to become a knowledge-based excellent school.

1982-1994 Create prospects fearlessly

 

In May 1982, Principal Poon Hung Wai led four teachers and an attendant to transform the borrowed ward into a classroom, vowing to create prospects for students even with only a small environment.

In order to enrich the life experience of students, the School began to register students to participate in the annual Special Olympic Games in Hong Kong from 1983. In the first participation, 20 participating students won more than 30 medals, and the School was extremely excited. The students' efforts have also been recognized and affirmed. It became a sister school with the Cheung Sha Wan Catholic Secondary School in 1984, holding a number of activities each year, such as Christmas parties, outings, etc., to bring the spirit of integrating the disabled and the healthy as one family, so that the society can better understand our students.

Different students have different learning needs. Therefore, the School set up Conductive Education classes, which mainly taught students with weaker muscle function but better intelligence. In addition, teachers set up computer classes based on students' abilities and interests. Through educational games, students' awareness and interest in learning have been enhanced.

In 1985, “Parents Association” was established to display the spirit of home-school cooperation. In 1991, it was renamed as “Parent-Teacher Association”.

Since parents often encounter taxi refusal for picking up and dropping off students, the School set up two school buses in 1987 and 1990 respectively to serve students living in different areas of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and New Territories. In addition, with school bus service, students can explore the community outside hospitals and classrooms through outdoor learning activities to broaden students' horizons and enrich their life experience.

As the number of students slowly increased, in 1990, the School applied for more rooms from the hospital and added different functional rooms, such as physical therapy rooms, occupational therapy rooms, workshops, etc., to provide more comprehensive treatment and learning space for students.

In February 1995, Principal Poon Hung Wai retired, and Ms. Amy Tso took over as Principal.

 

1995-2007 Break boundaries and create a precedent

 

With the donation from the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charity Trust and the former Education Bureau, the independent school campus were completed in 1995, and the School officially moved in in December. Inauguration ceremony cum open day was held the following year, and the School was renamed as Caritas Jockey Club Lok Yan School.

The School has an independent campus to expand the learning space and life experience for students more comprehensively. The School has received donations from different institutions successively to set up the first multi-sensory room, Yan Yan Supermarket, rooftop playground, flower garden, spa pool, etc.

Because of students' health status, they are not suitable for travelling on a long journey, and some students are not suitable to participate in any outdoor activities. In order to allow students to enjoy more different activities, to make impossible become possible, the School not only invited Mr. Sea Lion and Russian Pony from the ocean park to visit the School, but also invited Doctor Dog and Doctor Cat to visit students for many times. These activities add colors to students' lives.

The School is committed to developing different teaching knowledge, strategies, and skills. It has arranged different overseas study groups to UK, Shanghai, Taiwan to  school-based Intensive Interaction, interactive play learning skills programs etc.

From 1998 to 2004, the School has successfully applied for a number of quality education funds, including for “Multi-sensory Room”, setting up and implementing “Simulated Environment Teaching Room”, “Life Skills Training Program”, “Rainbow Drawing Program”, “Love Yield Program”, “Nurture Talent Program”, “Close Encounter Through Communication Program” and “Interactive Learning Program “etc , to share knowledge with other special schools.

After three years, the school expansion project was completed in 2006. Special rooms such as physical therapy room and occupational therapy room can have more space for suitable equipments to promote students' ohysical development.

In 2007, the School held Jubilee Memorial Open Day to share students' learning results with guests and parents.

2008 to… Inherit the careers of predecessors, open the way for the future and continue sustainable development

Principal Amy Tso was gloriously retired in 2008, and Ms. Chung Shuk Han took over as Principal.

The School continued to devote themselves to the development of “Learning and Teaching”, and continued to arrange for different teachers to participate in different seed projects, networks school programs and curriculum secondment programs of Education Bureau to bring new information on educational development back to schools forto sharinge and makinge school-based development.

On August 1, 2013, School formally established the IMC.

The School continued to introduce support and collaboration from different universities to improve school administration and teaching. In 2013-14, the School participated in “Quality School Improvement Project” co-organized by the Education Bureau and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. In addition, in order to meet the learning needs of students, image concept systems, multi-sensory learning strategies, etc. were introduced. Starting from 2015, the School tried to explore and apply eye trackers to promote students' learning. It also continued to communicate with the Chinese University of Hong Kong Biomedical Engineering Center to discuss the application of brain wave test, so as to understand students’ response to stimuli and attention from a scientific perspective. Thus, more supplementary reference materials for teaching can be provided.

Due to the increasing number of students who are unable to participate in outdoor activities because of health problems, apart from hosting school year-end festivals to invite different volunteer groups to visit and perform, the School also constructed school-based Victoria Harbour Lighting (2015), Nordic Town (2016), etc. in Lok Yan Auditorium, to allow students to enjoy gorgeous Christmas lights and festivals even they could only stay at school.

In September 2017, Ms. Chung Shuk Han was transferred out to act as Principal of Caritas Lok Chin School, and Ms. Chrysan Mok Oi Ling took over as Principal of the School.

From April to June 2018, the School held a series of 35th anniversary celebrations, including the opening ceremony, open day, carnival, knowledge management and difference teaching management sharing meeting, etc., to share the results of special education with the industry.

Principal Mok developed the School in the spirit of Caritas “Love in the Service of Hope”, leading school staff to develop a Ten-year Strategic Development Plan, setting two long-term development goals: becoming a think tank for special education research, and building support for “Complex Medical Case Caregiver” Community Resource Center.

In recent years, the School has continued to participate actively in different professional knowledge communities, implement the “The Care For The Carer Program”, set up a “Complex Medical Case Food Lab”, develop student special education courses and career planning, and organize sailing activities that allow students to ride the waves and sail across the sea, etc.

Lok Yan's footsteps for students with special education needs will never stop ......