SKH Kei Fook Primary School

SKH Kei Fook Primary School

Dr. Jon Kabat Zinn once said, “You cannot stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” In the 21^st century, stress is coming to us like waves, physically and mentally overwhelming students, causing some to make less suitable choices. To relax their high-strung minds, students may learn how to transform stress into motivation, live in the present, and be grateful for all the people and things around them. Learning “mindfulness” is indeed a survival skill, just like surfing.

The Jockey Club “Peace and Awareness” Mindfulness Culture in School Initiative from the University of Hong Kong has launched various mindfulness programmes since 2019. To establish a mindfulness culture in our school, we began by inviting teacher and students to practise daily breathing exercises to settle down and anchor themselves using guided mindfulness practice soundtracks. Activities such as mindful eating practice prompts students to enjoy, cherish, and be grateful for their food with their heart and senses.

Inspired by a pre-school mindfulness curriculum developed by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, we have designed and implemented an “inter-disciplinary mindfulness curriculum” which integrates mindfulness into different subjects, such as Chinese, English, Liberal Studies, Religion, Music, Sports, Moral Education, and Visual Arts for Primary One students. Mindfulness elements are intertwined with materials from each subject to facilitate a comprehensive promotion of our school mindfulness culture. Besides, trained teachers start teaching the “Paws b” curriculum to Primary Four students.

Unfortunately, due to the coronavirus pandemic, our school was unable to organise the “Mindfulness Workshop for Parents” and “Mindfulness Day” in the 2019-20 academic year. However, previous mindfulness courses, breathing exercises, and activities were highly popular among our students.

(The above information is provided by the school.)