C.C.C. Heep Woh Primary School

24/04/2020

Teachers & parents are children’s strongest supporters

Holistic education is the goal of C.C.C. Heep Woh Primary School. In addition to academic studies, the school also inspires students’ potential through various extracurricular activities, including football, which is one of the school’s key sports programmes. Lee Sum-ming Samuel, a senior teacher and coach, and Lau Tsz-ying Yoyo, a sportswoman who attended the HKJC Junior Sports Reporters Programme, decided to make a breakthrough in this school year by participating in the JC School Football Development Scheme. They planned to equip themselves and hoped to learn how to increase parents’ participation so that they could work together to create a better future for the students.

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  The teachers and parents from CCC Heep Woh Primary School make a breakthrough by equipping themselves through the HKJC School Football Development Scheme.

 “From my experience, parental support can’t be ignored!”

Samuel is a football lover who has been helping the school team develop for 15 years. He leads the school team; while Yoyo, who joined the school in 2017, is responsible for the junior and preparatory teams. The two coaches expressed their desire to focus not on the results, but on the journey so that every student could have a breakthrough.

At the last inter-school competition, they found parental support to be very important. Yoyo said: “It was a semifinal of the tournament and the opponent had parents and relatives there cheering the team on around the whole pitch. We had only less than 20 supporters and players. Without the support of their family members, some players feel psychological pressure and that can make them cry whilst playing the game. Finally, we lost.”

Yoyo was a rugby player in university. Once while playing in a tournament, she invited her mother to watch her semifinal game. “I wanted my mother to witness first-hand my effort and hard work. I felt that was a kind of motivation.”

Yoyo believes that every parent has a special role to play in motivating their students. She believes that parents may now be interested in watching their kids play football to see first-hand how they are getting a different experience. This has all happened after the school joined the JC School Football Development Scheme, and this involvement by parents can help the continuous development of the young football lovers.

Happy atmosphere attracts kids’ and parents’ involvement

“Whoever wants to achieve the best must first sharpen their tools”. Yoyo and Samuel have explored different ways of coaching in the theory and training classes of the Scheme. They both admire what Christopher O’Brien, Manchester United Soccer Schools Hong Kong Head Coach, does. For example, he does not hesitate to encourage the young players and reward them with little stickers and beverages. They all could feel the happy atmosphere. Yoyo said that this is a very effective way to motivate the players, especially the junior and preparatory teams. Students now look forward to training after class and they also try harder.

Samuel feels that participating in person has made him more interested in football. He believes that this method of training could attract students to join in the training sessions and even encourage the parents to come and cheer them on. Therefore, he has used all means of communication to invite the parents to join the training so as to enhance the interaction with the parents.

Actively inviting produces initial results

The efforts of the two teachers were rewarded when the parents came to the pitch to watch their children train during the school visit day, and over 90% of the parents accepted the invitation to watch their children play on the inter-school friendly match day. A Primary 3 student, Amewotho Yi Lam Emmanuel, joined the event with his parents. He expressed that his father, Dodo, was his first football teacher, and that of course he hoped that he would give his support and encouragement.

Dodo, a native of the African country of Togo, has been in Hong Kong for ten years. He thinks that football is an international language, while also being a very good parent-child activity. He not only bought his son football equipment, but also has always supported his training and matches in person. Dodo said: “Actually I support Chelsea FC and Yi-Lam supports Liverpool FC, and it is good to see the Jockey Club work with Manchester United to bring everyone together here. The kids can learn about team spirit and perseverance on and off the pitch, while the parents support from the sideline. Our encouragement and support are also important to their development.”

Teachers & parents each do their part

At the century-old Heep Woh Primary School, the main objective over the past three years has been to “inspire students’ potential and cultivate students to become self-motivated learners”. Yoyo and Samuel have appreciated the support and encouragement from the school, and have loved to see the change in the parents. They will continue to do their part to be good teachers and will work together with parents to be the students’ strongest supporters.

As an experienced teacher, Samuel admits that the relationship between teachers and parents is a delicate balancing act, and he will always face some challenges, “I try my best to be a link between students and parents, and to let parents realise that football will have a positive impact on the students.” Yoyo, who participated in the Club’s Junior Sports Reporters Programme, makes use of her communication skills to show her support of the students and their parents. “Our roles are important,” she said. “We, as teachers, put the first stroke on students to cultivate their interests, whilst parents add more colour to their lives and look for various possibilities to help them develop.”

The two teachers and coaches also hope that through the scheme they will attract more girls to participate in football. Samuel expressed that he will make use of what he has learnt from the scheme, including concepts such as happy football and physical training, to build up the girls’ football school team. And this is another breakthrough.