My Dream Festival

by 1C Kwan Wing Chee

My dream festival is a Free Travelling Festival, because I love travelling abroad very much, but I don't have enough time or money to travel around the world at the moment.

 

The Free Travelling Festival is a student exchange scheme for Hong Kong citizens who are under 18.  Eligible applicants can apply to go to the country of their choice, such as England, Japan, the USA or France - you name it!   Students would start their journey in March every year.  It would be a good chance for young people to explore other cities, as this fantastic plan is sponsored by the government.  All the expenses of successful applicants would be covered by the government.  This festival provides chances for us to learn more about the cultures of the other countries.  Students could see new things and learn new languages like Japanese - or even French.  I can imagine that those applicants lucky enough to go on such a trip would be very happy to see the clear skies, green fields, blue oceans and the fresh air in other countries.  What a fantastic trip!

I hope that this imaginary festival will become a reality someday; then I could learn things outside the classroom - for example in a botanical garden.  I really hope this could happen, and have even decided to write a letter to persuade our government to run this scheme for us!

My School Picnic - a diary

                                                                                                                  by 1B Pang Hoi Yee

13th November Wednesday

Today was my school picnic day. Last night I was so excited that I didn't sleep well.

The weather was bad this morning. It was rainy. Although it was not raining too hard, it made me feel sad. We travelled by coach to Wu Kwai Sha Youth Village. On the coach many students talked about what they would do when they arrived there. Some students listened to music and read books. They all wanted to arrive there quickly!

Wu Kwai Sha Youth Village

When we arrived at Wu Kwai Sha Youth Village, we all went to the Activity Room to listen to the rules. Then we went out to enjoy our picnic. First we played 'Running Man' in the football court. We kept running all the time and enjoyed this game very much. It gave us a good time! However, it rained for a long time too. Soon we went to the canteen for lunch. After lunch, the weather was fine. We were happy and played another game together.

The happy time was over soon. We had to go back home. We took photos together. It was the first time we had a picnic in our secondary school and it was a success. I hope next year I will have a picnic like this again!

My Life at Secondary School

by 1B So Sin Ki

My name is Melody So. I'm twelve years old and L live in Sheung Shui with my family. I have a younger sister . She is studying at Tai Po Market Public School. My mum is a teacher and my father is a driver. I have a lot of hobbies such as high jump, badminton and Chinese painting. I do them every week.

I started secondary school this year. My new school is called Valtorta College. But I think it is small. There are five blocks of buildings. They are classrooms, special rooms and the hall. My favoruite subjects are P.E. and science. I think they are interesting. I want to learn more about science and P.E. We usually do P.E. in the playground. Sometimes the boys would use the playground for P.E. so we would use the hall. I don't think my school has a good canteen. The canteen is small and hot. The food is not good. My classmates always say the best food at the canteen is cup noodles! There are lots of clubs to join at my school but I just joined the Badminton Club, Red Cross and the Library Club.

One of my friends is Kathy Yip. She is twelve. Her mum is a housewife. She's sporty. She loves swimming. She likes drawing too. She can draw beautiful pictures. She swims every day so she doesn't any more time to join school clubs. I want her to join Red Cross with me. But she says she needs to go swimming every day so she doesn't have time to join it.

Cheering team of Blue House

So far, I think secondary school is fun. I hope I can get good marks at tests. I want to have good results and have fun at the Sports Day too.

A Journal on Swimming Galas

by 2D Chung Chit Tik

I went to a swimming gala organized by the Tai Po & North District Secondary Schools Area Committee at the 7thand 9th October. These days were important days for the participants of this competition.  Everyone wants to get a medal, or a better time.

I participated in the 100m breaststroke, 200m breaststroke and 4x50m medley relay.

On the first day, I got the eighth runner-up for 100m breaststroke and I also got the eighth runner-up in 200m breaststroke.

My team of 4x50m medley relay came last in that race.  I felt very disappointed about not having any prizes.

Also, I went to another swimming gala organized by YMCA. It was on the first October.  I called some of my friends to the swimming gala and I took part in the 50m breaststroke, 50m butterfly, 100m individual mix, 4x50medley relay and 4x50 freestyle relay. However, when I finished swimming breaststroke and butterfly, I was really tired and did not join the individual mix, and there was another reason: I had to finish two relays afterwards!

After a fierce battle, I won two silver medals with my team. I was very happy, and overjoyed, after I got the medals. I have participated in this swimming gala for four years and this was my first time to get the relay medals!

Top Three Most Important Words in the English Language

by 4C Wong Lai Kwan

One of the most important words in the English Language is mother. This word is important because all mothers in the world love their children and take good care of them. The love from a mother is warm and is everything in the world. My mother gave birth to me and looked after me but she left my father and I many years ago. She is going to marry another man now. I felt happy for her because she has found the man she loves so much but I also feel sad. I don't know why. I just feel sad and want to cry. Anyway, I love my mother and she loves me too. My mother is important to me.

Another most important word in the English Language is holiday. This word is important because holiday is the only day the I can relax and go out with my friends. In the summer holidays this year, I went to Cheung Chau with my friends but not my parents. The trip was fun and happy. We played together and knew each other more. We cooked together, went to the beach and slept together. We also bathed together! That was embarrassing! Our relationship is closer after this trip. If we didn't have a holiday, friends wouldn't have this kind of chance to get closer. 

 The last most important word in the English language is art. I like art and I'm studying art now. This word is important because art is the most beautiful thing in the world. It is colourful and beautiful. Everything can be art: pictures, photos, words, buildings and music. I have liked drawing anime since I was ten years old and that was because my friends love drawing and I started to love to use lines and dots to tell people my feelings.

That's all of the reasons why I think mother, holiday and art are the three most important words in the English language. 

Lunchtime at Valtorta

by 2D Jason Chow Chun Lai
                                                                 

home-made lunch is healthier

When lunchtime comes in VC, most people quickly grab their wallets, phones and rush out to restaurants with friends.  After they have left, a minority of students, including me, stay in school for lunch.  Not many people know what it is like to spend the lunchtime here in VC and I’m going to tell you about it.
 
When the bell rings, I go to the school gates and take my home-cooked lunch from my maid.  Then, I have lunch beside the covered playground with some friends.  They’re not my best friends but our friendship has grown by having lunch together every weekday.  We chat about everything while we eat, which, unlike people who go out for lunch, we don’t have our smartphones keeping us from chatting.  Although the food is less tasty than restaurant food, it is healthier.
 
After having lunch, I walk back to my classroom.  There are usually one or two diligent students reading books whenever I come back.  I write down the homework on the blackboard, as it is my duty to do so.  Then I walk around the school.
 
The corridors at this time are always so quiet and peaceful with only occasional shouts coming from the basketball court.  There is usually no chance throughout the day to look around the school so now it is a great time; it lets me know more about the school campus and makes me feel closer to the school too.

 I peer down the corridor and I see students coming back from lunch.  My classmates also come back one by one and I go back to my classroom to frolic with them.  We usually play Chinese chess or go behind the computer chair to watch what the user of the computer is doing at that moment.  More and more classmates come back gradually and the bell rings not long after that.
 
Although my lunchtime experience may sound boring, it is actually more unusual than the typical restaurant lunch experience.  Moreover, it helps to develop friendship as people who go out for lunch usually play with their smartphones and don’t talk much.  Also, the peacefulness of the school allows me to think more clearly.  So this is my lunchtime in Valtorta !

A mobile phone story

BY 3E Lau Cheuk Yin Alex

Every day, humans bring us to school and office. They always use us to chat with their friends, use Facebook and also play games. I am a mobile phone. I think you may have one too. You may be using your phone for games too. But I am an old model mobile phone, I am Nokia 3310.

In the past, I was a famous mobile phone. I had a high selling price. Only some rich people could buy me. After they bought me, they didn’t use me much because the fee of chatting was extremely expensive. It cost one dollar per minute.

Although I represented rich men in the past, now I was thrown into a dirty, dark drawer. Nowadays, there are a lot of different mobile phones which have a lot of functions. Their master can use them to play games and send messages. Although I also have games, messages in my system, I am too old-fashioned. Last year, I met a new mobile phone which was the most famous model in the world---iphone. He told me why no teens use me. It is because I can’t take photos; the monitor isn’t big enough and the most important thing is I am not a smart phone.

Five years ago, my master wanted to recycle me, so she took me out and put me in her pocket. When she was driving to the recycle store, there was a car behind her and hit her car and pushed it into a speeding train. She was dragged along for above half a mile.

 

She was terrified but she managed to make a call with her mobile phone. However, she forgot to bring her mobile phone ( the new one ). After 30 seconds, she realize she had brought me to recycle, so she took me out immediately and used me to dial 911. This was the first time she had used me in 10 years! I felt extremely happy that time. I still feel happy now because I have saved her life.

Finally, my master found out that the basic use of a mobile phone wasn’t playing games or using Facebook. So she sold her new phone and used me in the following years, until she died……

Pressure of Teenagers

by 5E Kitty Yue Li Yee

Do you have pressure? If yes, where does your pressure come from? Do you know the definition of pressure? If no, let me tell you now. 

Pressure is a kind of psychological problem. If you get pressure, you may feel sad, depressed or even get clinical depression. Is there any pressure around teenagers? From my point of view, there is. But where does the pressure com from? I am going to present this to all of you.

First, I would like to talk about a news article which I have read recently. There are five cases of teenage suicide within two months, which I think is a serious problem. After reading this article, I deemed that the main reason why teenagers attempted suicide, is their poor relationship with parents. All of the teenagers who committed suicide were born to a broken family. It means that family is very important to teenagers. Some of the teenagers may think that they don’t need to rely on their parents any more because no matter what they say, their parents cannot help them. Therefore, pressure builds up gradually and they think they don’t have any way to release it. Finally, they believe suicide is the only solution.

Secondly, the education system in Hong Kong is also the one of the reasons why teenagers get pressure. It is because the academic result affects the future of a student a lot. If they don’t work hard now, they need to work much harder when they join the work force. For instance, nowadays, the most important examination in Hong Kong is the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE). The report card of this examination will affect your future. So everybody works very hard to attain a better result. The pressure therefore builds up. I have experienced an academic pressure too. Experiencing the academic pressure made me feel anxious. I always thought that no matter how hard-working I was, I would still not get a good result. I had lost courage before and wanted to give up. But finally I thought that if I really worked hard, I would be able to attain a good result too. Although there is a harsh education system, we can still handle it if we work hard enough.

Last but not least, I think that everyone has pressure. Therefore, the most important way to handle our pressure is to relax. We can do more exercise and listen to some music to release our pressure.