Academic Affairs

A Creative Campus

Hougang Elementary School is located in the Cigu District of Tainan City, in the southern coastal area of Taiwan. Most of the residents are engaged in aquaculture and farming. The children of Hougang are friendly and cheerful. Also, they are full of positivity, curiosity, and fearlessness.

At Hougang Elementary, we actively look for artistic resources, and invite artists to provide art and literature courses. This engages students' interest and encourages art appreciation by using thematic teaching material.

We also incorporate local materials like oyster shells, salt, driftwood, and other marine resources into our teaching. We integrate the imagery of the local fauna such as the black-faced spoonbill birds and the milkfish. For first and second grades, there is a project lesson called "Gift from the Sea". Students make small books, coastal art decorations, and treasure maps to realize and appreciate the beauty of and the threats to the ocean. For third and fourth grades, the project lesson is called "Coastal Treasure Hunt ”. Through on-the-spot exploration, students get to know the coastal animals and plants up close and in person. Students use seashells, clams, oyster shells, coastal plant leaves, and seeds to make puppets and multi-dimensional art to create exciting representations of Hougang.

For fifth and sixth grades, we put emphasis on the concept of a "campus art gallery" by creating installation art. In so doing, we hope to create a campus full of vitality, beauty, and fun.

 Digital Learning

Science, technology, and English are basic abilities for students, now and in the future. In order to reach our goals, we provide computational thinking and programming courses from grade 4 to grade 6.

In grade 4, students use mBot, a teaching aid centered around a robot car with multiple sensors. Students create an obstacle course and then program the car to find its way through.

In grade 5, students use Spike, part of the LEGO Educational series. Students learn about designing, model building, motors, and gears to complete their own unique projects.

In grade 6, we use LEGO EV3. Students learn how to write programs to solve problems. Every year, LEGO puts out a unique real-world challenge for students to meet and conquer. 

We aim to solve scientific issues and tasks connected to real life through cooperative tasks so that students can learn the importance of teamwork and develop independent thinking through problem solving.

 Bilingual Education

The improvement of English proficiency for every student is our goal. In order to provide an all-English learning experience, we have recruited native English speaking foreign teachers for our school who co-teach with the local Hougang teachers. Classrooms are decorated with English language posters and English language books can be found throughout the campus. Teachers and students learn English through immersive  learning. More than 70% of Hougang teachers are certified in English Classroom language.

 Reading Education

Reading is the foundation of lifelong learning. Reading can help students acquire knowledge and skills, develop thinking skills, cultivate emotional literacy, enhance creativity, and establish values. The school proactively organizes diversified reading activities to raise students' interest in reading. For example, promoting MSSR, online shared reading, birthday books, teacher reading workshop, Book Planet, reading certification, good book recommendations, reading competitions, reading rankings, inviting writers to the school, and taking children to bookstores and libraries to expose them to a variety of books. The school proactively creates a bookish campus so students can read anytime and anywhere on campus. Each classroom has a cozy reading corner, allowing children to enjoy reading in a comfortable environment and develop good reading habits from an early age.

Outdoor Education

Hougang Elementary School’s outdoor education promotes physical and mental development through personal experience of the natural environment. This allows students to observe and explore the outdoors first-hand, thereby enhancing their understanding and care for nature.

Outdoor education activities often require teamwork to complete. While participating in these activities, students learn how to work with others, divide work, communicate, and resolve conflicts.

Additionally, outdoor education activities often involve various challenges, such as weather changes, rugged terrain, and other expected events. When facing these challenges, students learn how to solve problems, respond to emergencies, and improve their adaptability and self confidence.

Our outdoor activities include ecological observation, environmental education, mountaineering, cycling, food and agriculture education, and many more. In addition, golf and  running activities are also actively promoted to exercise students' physical fitness, and promote healthy physical and mental development.