Summer Internship at St Paul’s Primary Catholic School

Tse Sin Kei Kelly, Year 3 Student from Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Language Studies and Bachelor of Education (Honours) (English Language) in 2022/23

In summer 2022, I was fortunate to be an intern at St Paul’s Primary Catholic School under the Summer Internship Scheme organised by the BEd(EL) and BA(Lang Studies) & BEd(EL) programmes. This wonderful one-month journey has allowed me to grow and learn to become a professional teacher.

Upon arrival, I was seated adjacent to the staff members in the school office. Thanks to this arrangement, I was able to observe their daily routines. I was soon assigned tasks such as conversion of literature from paperback to e-books and assisting in post-examination activities. Teachers were also occupied with administrative work alongside their everyday teaching. Besides planning their lessons and writing proposals for the coming school year, they had to submit their individual report of advanced studies and a log book, which indicate their teaching progress and areas for improvement.

I was also given many opportunities to try out hands-on teaching activities. I, together with another intern, was asked to design lesson plans for two classes from scratch with reference to a Longman Express teacher’s book. It was an insightful learning opportunity since it was the first time I had ever taught a class by myself in a face-to-face setting. I was able to practise the skills and knowledge I learned from my programme of study, reflect on areas of improvement and refine my own version of pedagogy. I was also inspired by an amazing teacher, Ms Hon, who accompanied my learning journey. She gave us practical guidance and feedback whenever we stumbled across difficulties in our teaching.

Upon reflecting on the experience, I have realised the importance of collaboration and communication among different parties of an institution. Appropriately allocating of duties and resources leads to an effective teaching and learning environment. I witnessed how staff were united and cooperated as a team with the understanding that everybody plays a significant role. Even the most inconspicuous member makes a difference on the success of the school.

The internship had been a wonderful learning experience. It blessed me with irreplaceable memories and abundant knowledge which are valuable to my future personal and career development.

Assisting in post-examination Mathematics activity

A word wall made for students’ consolidation of their word bank

Book stock-taking in English Wonderland