Curriculum Planning and Effective Use of Resources
2. Time Resources
Suggested Time Allocation, Calendar Planning and Timetabling
Appropriate allocation of school time - School-based curriculum is defined as the learning experiences students engage in at school. These experiences can take place during or outside lesson time including regular lesson, lunch, recess or even after school time.
Schools should devise a comprehensive plan for the allocation of school time to enrich students’ learning experiences. For example, formal lesson time provides students with comprehensive learning experiences in different KLAs; lunch and after-school hours provide opportunities for students to develop their interpersonal skills through interacting with peers and teachers as well as to develop their cultural interests and leadership qualities through activities.
Diagram 2.2 Components of Learning Time
The learning time of students includes:
Lesson time (time when there is close contact with teachers, normally in the classroom, but not necessarily so);
School time other than lesson time (such as recess, lunch, after-school time, open days, examination days); and
Holidays.
Primary schools should ensure that all students have the following number of school days (excluding school holidays and teacher development days) or the amount of lesson time (in terms of days and hours) per year as shown in Table 1.1.
Table 1.1 School days and lesson time for primary schools in Hong Kong
P1-P3 (KS1) P4-P6 (KS2)
Length of a school year for primary schools
190 days or 887* hours (whole-day) 776* hours (bi-sessional) Lesson time per school year for primary schools
(school days or lesson hours per year) @
172 days or 792 hours
* Based on averages over years
@ Examination time not included
Suggested Time Allocation
Schools should allocate the lesson time as shown in Table 1.2 (% of total lesson time/number of hours of lesson time over 3 years) for each KLA/subject, and make use of flexible time according to the needs of their students and the school context.
Table 1.2 Time Allocation for Each KLA/Subject in Primary Schools
KLA/Subject Lesson Time (over 3 years)
P1-P3 (KS1) P4-P6 (KS2) Chinese Language Education 594-713 hours (25-30%)
English Language Education 404-499 hours (17-21%)
Mathematics Education 285-356 hours (12-15%)
Science Education
General Studies for Primary Schools
285-356 hours (12-15%) Personal, Social and
Humanities Education Technology Education
Arts Education 238-356 hours (10-15%)
Physical Education 119-190 hours (5-8%)
Sub-total for the lower range of lesson
hours over 3 years 1925 hours (81%)
Flexibility A flexibility of 19% (about 451 hours over 3 years)
Provided for:
Moral and Civic Education/ Guidance to complement values education across KLAs
Additional common reading time
School Assembly/Class teacher period to complement values education across KLAs
Remedial or enhancement studies in KLAs or across KLAs
Broadening other learning experiences such as community service, co-curricular activities and aesthetic and physical activities to complement life-wide learning
The deployment of flexible time may vary from term to term (e.g. life skills education in the 1st term of the school year, remedial programme of Chinese Language in the 2nd term of the school year, enhancement programme of English Language throughout the school year)
Total lesson time over 3 years 2376 hours
(792 hours x 3) (100%)
With reference to the recommended time allocation for each KLA, schools could consider counting the lesson time over the three years of a Key Stage (KS) [KS1 (P1-3) and KS2 (P4-6)]. In other words, there is flexibility for schools to vary the percentage of time allocated to individual KLAs in different years, especially for Chinese and English languages in early primary school years, as long as students are provided with the total lesson time recommended. Examination days, however, should not be counted as lesson time.
Moral and Civic Education is one of the Four Key Tasks. In order to provide students with comprehensive learning experiences through which they develop positive values and attitudes, schools should adopt life events of different aspects as learning scenarios. Examples include events related to the individual, family, community, the nation and the world. Discussions and sharing with students can be held. Diversified learning modes such as classroom learning (e.g. General Studies) and real-life experiences (e.g. visits, community services) can be employed to create a favourable school climate.
Schools should allocate reading time to promote the “Reading to Learn” culture through adopting some of the following practices:
Incorporating reading into language lessons;
• Providing Library lessons;
• Implementing reading as a regular whole-school activity during school days, e.g.
morning reading, lunch-time reading.
Chapter 3, Section 3.4 and Chapter 4, Section 4.4
Chapter 3, Section 3.4 and Chapter 4, Section 4.2.1
Lesson time should be allocated for the study of Chinese history and culture, which contributes positively to the development of national identity among students. This may be reflected in:
• KLA lesson time, specifically through General Studies for Primary Schools and Chinese Language Education;
• Special lesson time arranged for cross-KLA projects, e.g. studying the development of Chinese architecture through collaboration between the General Studies and Chinese Language Panels;
• School assembly time or class teacher periods for Moral and Civic Education learning activities, e.g. organising talks or presentations on important events in Chinese history and/or on national heroes/heroines.
With the introduction of the “Chinese Language Curriculum Second Language Learning Framework” in June 2014, schools can refer to the respective website (http://www.edb.gov.hk/tc/curriculum-development/kla/chi-edu/second-lang.html) (Chinese version only) for the related guidelines and suggestions to make appropriate arrangements such as flexible grouping and time allocation for the teaching of Chinese Language to non-Chinese speaking students.
For Reflection and Action
How can schools ensure that students have sufficient learning time during the school days? How can you make the best use of school days so that students can get the learning opportunities they deserve?
What do you think about “filling up all students’ time with learning”? How can we ensure that students have sufficient rest and leisure time?
Some School Heads suggest that stakeholders should work together and create room for students to develop independent learning skills. What can schools do to address this issue?
School Calendar Planning and Timetabling - The educational aims should be followed when planning the school calendar and timetable and students' developmental needs in personal growth and learning should always be given the top priority. Schools have to make arrangement for the learning, teaching and assessment of the curriculum of each
KLA, project learning, co-curricular activities, life-wide learning opportunities, interface programmes at the beginning or end of term (e.g. induction programmes for teachers and students) and staff development days. For details, please refer to the Education Bureau Circular No. 7/2005, the “School Holiday List and Student Learning Time” and the
“Guidelines on Drawing up the School Calendar”.
For Reflection and Action In relation to the school mission:
How can the school mission, learning goals, future direction and targets in curriculum development be reflected in the planning of school calendar and timetabling?
In relation to students and teachers
How can we cater for students’ diversified needs, e.g. development of social skills, leisure and rest, development of learning abilities, and make arrangements for the transition across Key Stages?
Under what circumstances can the lesson or learning time be extended?
How can we create room for teachers’ professional development?
In relation to resources:
How can the school environment and facilities be fully utilised to make better timetabling arrangements?
How can the teaching staff be better deployed in devising an effective timetable?
What contributions can teacher-librarians make?
The “Education Bureau Circular No, 7/2005” can be downloaded from the EDB website at:
http://www.edb.gov.hk/tc/curriculum-development/resource-support/guidelines-sch-c alendar/index.html
How can we make good use of parent support in conducting school activities?
How can we explore opportunities for cooperation with different organisations?
How can the community resources be utilised to facilitate student learning?
In relation to curriculum planning:
How can we develop a broad and balanced curriculum to cater for the diverse needs of students?
How many periods should be allocated per day/week/cycle?
How can the lesson time allocated meet the needs of different KLAs?
How can cross-KLA collaboration be promoted?
How can the school-basedcurriculum, school calendar and timetable be arranged to support the organisation of co-curricular activities or life-wide learning activities?
Is the number of Physical Education lessons and time for exercise sufficient?
More Effective Use of Learning Time
Creating space for students – Schools should consider the following factors to facilitate more effective use of learning time:
Adapting the curriculum by making reference to the KLA/Subject Curriculum Guides, Supplementary Guide to the Chinese Language Curriculum for NCS Students, Chinese Language Curriculum Second Language Learning Framework, assessment tools and related materials.
Adopting the recommendations in the KLA Curriculum Guides to reduce overlapping content to create space for life-wide learning, project learning, library lessons, morning reading, etc.
Connecting knowledge, skills, values and attitudes through the KLA curriculum frameworks
Adopting different modes of curriculum planning
Taking Four Key Tasks as entry points for cross-curricular learning activities
Reducing the time spent by students on pre-test and pre-examination assessments and post-test and post-examination correction of answer scripts
Encouraging active learning by students, reducing direct instruction and increasing classroom interactions
Organising cultural and aesthetic activities in lunch time and before or after school for whole-person development
Exercising flexibility in timetabling arrangements to extend and enrich students' learning experiences - Priorities need to be set based on the benefits to students and in consideration of the following methods:
Arranging more double periods, longer periods of 45-55 minutes or a combination of long and short periods throughout the year or in different terms to enable teachers to provide a wide range of learning experiences to meet different learning needs and objectives
Making flexible use of lesson time to facilitate arrangements for grouping students of the same year level, reading and collaborative learning, thematic study and project
learning
Arranging block time for large group teaching, whole-school activities or life-wide learning
Apart from regular lessons, part of the lessons can be set for individual enquiry, small-group learning, facilitated learning (in small groups), etc. to meet students’
diversified learning needs and develop student’s different abilities, such as independent learning skills, through different learning modes and activities
Allotting longer or more class teacher periods to provide Moral and Civic Education and to help students consolidate learning
Readjusting the timetable in each term to cater for a fair weighting of subjects as well as the learning needs of students
Using Saturdays flexibly for conducting co-curricular activities to broaden students' learning experiences
For Reflection and Action
How can learning and teaching effectiveness be enhanced through strategic arrangements of single periods, double periods or long/short periods in the timetable?
How can teachers develop students’ generic skills in the teaching of curriculum content?