Message from the Principal
Covid-19 was an unknown virus when it first started in 2019, and now very much part of our daily life. We are taking RAT’s every morning as a routine and we need a vaccine pass to go almost everywhere.
Over the last three years, learning and teaching has been taking place in different modes, giving rise to terms like “blended mode”, “hybrid mode”, “mixed mode” etc. My favourite line with my colleagues is “Let’s plan ahead, but do manage everyone’s expectations that we need to change our plans at the last minute”. Plans ahead Version 5.0 rolled out during our special vacation in March/April, yet they kept being modified when situations and government guidelines evolved.
The Serenity Prayer is a familiar prayer which I brought up time and again in the past months. I was hoping the staff and students of MCS can really embrace the virtues and see the immense wisdom behind the few lines.
God, grant me the Serenity to accept things I cannot change. The courage to change things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
When things are really beyond our control, we learn to stay calm and serene.
When things are uncertain - where uncertainty is the only certainty - we do not just “lie flat” and wait for things to happen.
We learn to seize the moment, and be courageous to go ahead with our plans. Yet, when to act, when to stop, how to go about it, who to involve… all these require wisdom.
In the past months, having to face positive Covid cases among family members and friends, we learnt to stay calm and be on the alert. We stayed united and remained supportive to one another - sharing home remedies, medicines and supplies, covering the duties of teammates. Knowing that opportunities will come and go,
we seized every one of them and organised activities, both in and outside school, for our girls. For example, we organized two OLE (Other Learning Experience) days, in November and January respectively. On the first one, instead of having a picnic day at the beach or a country park, senior-form girls went to Disneyland and junior-form girls went to Ocean Park. Our girls were able to have an enjoyable and educational experience on that day. On the second OLE day, instead of having an Athletics Meet at Wanchai Sports Ground, students stayed in school and took part in different sports-related programmes and activities,
while staying vigilant about observing all the social distancing and safety guidelines.
Going ahead with our plans seemed like an appropriate decision in retrospect, even though we had to watch out for the rising number of cases at that juncture.
The occasion turned out to be a most enjoyable and rewarding day for all.
Outside school, our students continued to actively participate in different activities, competitions and community services – be it face-to-face, online,
or hybrid modes, thanks to the concerted efforts of our teachers and students.
On the achievements’ side, I would like to highlight a couple of heartwarming cases. Before Christmas last year, we joined hands with a religious
organization and invited students to write to the inmates of prisons in Hong Kong sending Christmas messages to them.
The beautifully designed cards and written messages were well received by the inmates and their family members.
A month later, I got a personal letter of gratitude from a family member who thanked our students for the kind gesture which brought light to her loved one
who had been struggling to get back on the right track in life. On the competitions side, I learnt from my colleagues that in a bridge-building competition,
which was cancelled due to the special vacation and all, some of our students decided to devote their time and effort to producing the actual product,
not for the award, but for finding out whether their design worked.
I am happy to say that we seemed to have taught our students right. It makes teachers proud to witness that they have their head and heart in the right place,
reminding themselves our school motto, “Virtue Alone Ennobles”.
I hope our students will cherish all the things they have learnt. A-S-K is a term we often use: to ‘ask’ the right questions and remain thirsty for the answers
and reflect upon them is important; but A-S-K, also stands for Attitudes, Skills and Knowledge. I hope our students will remain humble, stay open and be
ready to keep honing their skills and broadening their knowledge.
The Lord is Our Shepherd and May the Good Shepherd continue to protect and guide us all.
Melaine Lee
July 2022