EDUCATION BUREAU
CIRCULAR MEMORANDUM No. 14/2021
From: Secretary for Education To : Heads of all Government and Aided Primary Schools
Ref: EDB(GD)/20/10/15/O 21/22
c.c.: Heads of Direct Subsidy Scheme Primary Schools, Private Primary Schools and Heads of Sections – for information
Date: 15 March 2021
Understanding Adolescent Project (Primary) 2021/22 Summary
The purpose of this circular memorandum is to invite government and aided primary schools to join the Understanding Adolescent Project (Primary) of the 2021/22 school year (hereinafter referred to as ‘UAP’) implemented by the Education Bureau (EDB). Schools intending to join the UAP should apply for the UAP Grant online through the UAP Portal.
Background
2. EDB has launched the UAP since the 2004/05 school year. The UAP is a comprehensive support programme for personal growth. It aims at enhancing primary students’ resilience in coping with the challenges they have to face as they grow up.
Findings from students’ evaluation questionnaires indicated that students who have participated in the UAP generally made progress in anger management, conflict resolution, goal setting and interpersonal relationship. Both parents and teachers considered that the project would enhance students’ optimism, sense of belonging towards their families and schools, communication skills and co-operation with others.
Implementation Details
Content of the UAP
3. The UAP includes Universal Programme (UP) and Intensive Programme (IP), aiming at helping students acquire the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes when facing adversities.
The UP is a guidance curriculum on resilience, targeting at all Primary 4 to 6 students. The IP is a series of small group, adventure-based parent-child activities, targeting at Primary 4 students identified to have greater need for guidance.
UP
4. All primary schools are encouraged to implement the UP to build a resilience culture in their schools. An outline of the UP is attached at Annex 1. A resource package on the UAP, which includes the implementation strategies, teaching plans and teaching demonstrations of the UP as well as the rationales of resilience and a series of school activities on resilience culture, has been uploaded onto the EDB homepage (http://www.edb.gov.hk)【Teachers Related > Student Guidance and Discipline Services > Projects and Services >
Understanding Adolescent Project (Primary)】. Schools are encouraged to integrate the UP into Personal Growth Education of the Comprehensive Student Guidance Service. All schools may refer to the materials to design appropriate school-based curriculum to enhance students’ resilience. Please refer to the 2012 revised version of Personal Growth Education and Resources of Personal Growth Education from EDB homepage (http://www.edb.gov.hk)
【Teachers Related＞Student Guidance and Discipline Services＞Projects & Services＞
Student Guidance Services ＞ Comprehensive Student Guidance Service 】 for further information.
IP and UAP Grant
5. Besides implementing the UP, schools are encouraged to provide a 3-year IP for students with greater needs for guidance starting from Primary 4 level. Under normal circumstances, schools should arrange all those students who are screened positive by the HKSIF to join the IP. Upon completion of the IP in Primary 4, these students should further be arranged to join the Booster Programmes in their Primary 5 and Primary 6 levels so as to consolidate their resilience. To enhance the efficacy of the Booster Programmes to students and their parents, the Primary 5 and Primary 6 Booster Programmes of the approved Primary 4 IP group should be enhanced starting from the 2019/20 school year through adding three group sessions for students and one group session for parents for each level. Schools are also encouraged to promote the benefits of the project among the parents and invite them to actively participate in the IP parent training and parent-child activities at different levels. Continuous training for teachers should also be provided with UAP resources to enhance students’ resilience in joint efforts with parents. Details of the IP are in Annex 2. Schools are required to make use of the web-based Hong Kong Student Information Form (HKSIF) on the UAP PortalNote (https://uap.edb.gov.hk) to identify target students for IP. The HKSIF is a set of validated tool containing questionnaires to be completed separately by students and teachers and processed by a computer aided analysis system.
Note The HKSIF CD-ROM (2006) is no longer applicable.
6. Government and aided primary schools approved to operate two or more Primary 4 classes in the 2021/22 school year are eligible to apply for a UAP Grant to run the IP for Primary 4 students with greater needs for guidance. To ensure the effectiveness of the IP groups, the optimal group size is 12 to 23 students. Government and aided primary schools wishing to apply for the UAP Grant are required to submit application online through the UAP Portal from 13 April 2021 to 31 May 2021. Late submissions will not be entertained.
EDB will notify the schools concerned of the application results through the UAP Portal by 7 June 2021. For Direct Subsidy Scheme primary schools, the UAP Grant has been subsumed under the unit subsidy and they do not need to apply separately.
7. EDB has enhanced the arrangement of IP starting from the 2019/20 school year.
Government and aided primary schools which have been approved of the UAP Grant and wishing to cater for more students-in-need may apply for the additional grant to conduct one or two more IP groups. With parental consent, schools are required to conduct the screening for the 2021/22 Primary 4 students-to-be / Primary 4 students with the web-based HKSIF on the UAP Portal during the period of 1 June 2021 to 30 November 2021. If 24 or above (HKSIF) positive students are identified and the schools are committed to conducting 2 IP groups, or if 36 or above (HKSIF) positive students are identified and schools are committed to conducting 3 IP groups, they are required to apply for the additional grant online by 7 December 2021. Late submissions will not be entertained.
EDB will notify the schools concerned of the selection results through the UAP Portal by 14 December 2021. Details of the application procedures, grant rates, and disbursement of the UAP Grant are in Annex 3. To address the needs of individual schools, schools may flexibly deploy and combine the related guidance grants. For instance, schools may consider procuring IP together with the Comprehensive Student Guidance Service through the same quotation for synergizing effect.
“UAP Guides” Award Scheme
8. EDB has newly launched the “UAP Guides” Award Scheme, aiming at encouraging and honoring the Primary 5 and 6 IP students’ active participation in the school / community services to extend their experiential learning on personal growth while acknowledging their continuous improvements. Schools are encouraged to establish a school-based “UAP Guides Service Team” where members can wear “UAP Guides” badges provided by EDB when participating in regular school-based activities and services or those under the Comprehensive Student Guidance Service, which would further promote the resilience culture within the school. By the end of the school year, individual members with excellent performance would be recommended openly and awarded the “UAP Guides Certificate of Merit” issued by EDB on celebration of success ceremony or speech day. The scheme would help consolidate students’ positive and optimistic attitude as well as further develop their sense of competence
and belonging to their school, families and the community. Details of the programme have been uploaded onto the EDB homepage (http://www.edb.gov.hk)【Teachers Related > Student Guidance and Discipline Services > Projects and Services > Understanding Adolescent Project (Primary)】.
Evaluation
9. Schools receiving the UAP Grant are required to incorporate their review of the effectiveness of the IP and the use of the Grant into the Evaluation Report on Comprehensive Student Guidance Service. Schools can use the Students’ Questionnaire in Annex 4 to collect students’ views on the IP. Details of the holistic assessment of the IP are stated on P. 29 and Annex 10 to 12 of the Users’ Manual III of the Resource Package on the UAP on the EDB homepage (http://www.edb.gov.hk)【Teachers Related > Student Guidance and Discipline Services > Projects and Services > Understanding Adolescent Project (Primary)】.
Briefing cum Sharing Session
10. A briefing cum sharing session will be held on 13 April 2021 by EDB to disseminate effective strategies for implementation of UAP as well as points to note for the application procedures for the UAP Grant. For details of the briefing cum sharing session, please refer to Course Number SA0020210018 of the EDB Training Calendar.
Enquiries
11. Enquires should be directed to the Guidance and Discipline Section at 2863 4782.
M K CHENG
for Secretary for Education
EDB Homepage – Understanding Adolescent Project (Primary)
Annex 1
Outline of the Universal Programme (UP)*
Module Key Content Primary 4 Primary 5 Primary 6
Total No.
of Sessions
Competence
Emotion manage- ment
Adequately express and handle one’s
emotion
1. Source of emotion 2. Emotion which
generates energy 3. Emotion which
consumes energy
1. The importance of giving vent to one’s emotion
2. Methods of giving vent to one’s emotion
1. Understanding the source of stress 2. Methods of
handling stress
7
Social skills
Communication skills
1. Communication pattern and obstacles 2. Verbal and
non-verbal communication
1. Developing inter-personal skills (active listening) 2. Co-operation skills 3. Inter-personal skills
~ empathy (elementary)
1. Skills of self-expression and accepting others 2. Types of
friends
7
Problem solving
1. Seek help 1. Steps of problem solving
2. Methods of problem solving
1. Use of resources 2. Choosing suitable
method of problem solving
1. Skills of seeking help
5
2. Resistance to Temptation (enriched topic)
1. Critical thinking and decision-making for the right choices
2. Applying problem-solving skills to resist temptations
4
Goal setting
Goal setting skills
1. The importance of goals 2. Criteria of goals
1. Realizing the goals
--- 3
Optimism
Optimism Positive thinking on casual attribution
---
1. Optimistic thinking pattern
1. Internal thinking vs.
external thinking 2. Global
thinking vs.
specific thinking 3. Permanent
thinking vs.
temporary thinking
4
Conclusion 1
No. of sessions 9
9 9
31 4 (enriched curriculum)
* For details, please see the Users’ Manual of the Resource Package on the Understanding Adolescent Project (Primary) on EDB homepage.
(http://www.edb.gov.hk/en/teacher/student-guidance-discipline-services/projects-services/understanding-adolescent-proje ct-primary/index.html )
Annex 2 Activities of the Intensive Programme (IP)*
Levels Name of activities No. of sessions
and hours Objectives
Targets Co-ordinator Conductor
Students Teachers Parents
Student Guidance
Officers/
Teacher Co-ordinators
/ Personnel
Other workers (process support)
Primary 4
Teacher workshop (2 sessions) Total 7 hrs
To enhance teachers’ skills in handling students’ problems and their communication skills with students
Parent workshop (4 sessions) Total 8 hrs
To assist parents in enhancing their parenting skills and communication skills with their children
Orientation session (1 session) 1hr Introduction of the activities
Launching ceremony (1 session) 1hr To conduct a launching ceremony and to lay down rules with students for the groups
Small group session (6 sessions) Total 9 hrs
To increase students’ resilience through group experience
Day camp (2 sessions)
Total 7 hrs
To enable students to have a basic understanding (knowledge and skills) of “resilience” through challenging activities appealing to the participating students
Overnight camp 2 days 1 night Total about 16
hrs
To enable students to have an in-depth understanding (knowledge and skills) of “resilience” through challenging activities appealing to the participating students
Volunteer services (2 sessions) Total 4 hrs
To arrange students to carry out community services/voluntary work and make contributions to the groups in need of help in the community or help community building, in order to foster their sense of belonging towards the community
Parent-child evening camp (2 sessions) Total 7 hrs
To foster the mutual support between parents and children and to increase their communication
Parent-teacher sharing session
(2 sessions) Total 2 hrs
To enhance the mutual support and communication between parents and teachers so as to create a “resilience culture” to help the growth of students
Closing ceremony (1 session) 1 hr
To conclude the Intensive Programme throughout the year and to encourage students by awarding them the certificates of merit
Primary 5 Booster programme
Small group session 9 sessions of students groups and 1 session of parent workshop including an
individual session total 32 hrs
To further enhance the participating students and their parents’
understanding of and exposure to
“resilience”:
*To enhance students’ sense of belonging towards their schools as well as their attitude towards temptations for daily application
*To assist parents in further enhancing their parenting and communication skills for positive parent-child relationship
Outing
Individual session
Parent workshop
Primary 6 Booster programme
Small group session 9 sessions of student groups and 1 session of parent workshop including an
individual session total 32 hrs
To further enhance the participating students and their parents’
understanding of and exposure to
“resilience”:
*To enhance students’ sense of belonging towards their schools and/or the community as well as their sense of optimism for daily application
*To assist parents in further enhancing their parenting and communication skills for positive parent-child relationship
Outing
Individual session
Parent workshop
*For details, please see the Users’ Manual of the Resource Package on the Understanding Adolescents Project(Primary) on EDB homepage.
(http://www.edb.gov.hk/en/teacher/student-guidance-discipline-services/projects-services/understanding-adolescent-project-p rimary/index.html )
Annex 3 Understanding Adolescent Project (Primary) Grant 2021/22
Application Procedures, Disbursement of the Grant and Accounting Arrangements
Application Procedures
1. The application procedures are summarized below:
Government and Aided Primary Schools applying for the UAP Grant to conduct IP
13 April 2021 UAP Briefing cum Sharing Session
13 April 2021 to 31 May 2021
Submit application of the Basic Grant online through the UAP Portal
On or before
7 June 2021 EDB notifies schools of the results of application through the UAP Portal
On or before 30 November 2021
All UAP schools have to screen the 2021/22 Primary 4 students-to-be / Primary 4 students with the web-based HKSIF through the UAP portal at an appropriate time, before the summer vacation / after the commencement of the new school year. (The screening results will be sent to EDB
automatically.)
Schools which need to apply for additional grant to conduct TWO or THREE IPs
On or before 7 December 2021
Apply for the additional grant online through the UAP Portal
(Note: The number of positive students identified by HKSIF must be at least 24 for TWO IPs and at least 36 for THREE IPs respectively.)
On or before
14 December 2021 EDB notifies schools of the results of application through the UAP Portal
On or before 21 December 2021
Schools must confirm the acceptance of the additional grant through the UAP Portal
Enhanced Rates and Disbursement of UAP Grant
2. The enhanced UAP Grant
*
will be released in three years as follows:Year Programme/Target students
Annual rate for each school operating
ONE IP
(in HK dollars)
Annual rate of the additional grant for
each school operating one more
IPs (in HK dollars)
Total annual rate for each school operating TWO
IPs (in HK dollars)
Total annual rate for each school operating THREE
IPs (in HK dollars)
(a) (b) (c) = (a)+(b) (d) = (b)+(c)
First Year (2021/22 School
Year)
IP/ Primary 4 students (identified in the 2021/22 school year)
109,245 96,004 205,249 301,253
Second Year (2022/23
School Year)
Booster Programme of the IP/Primary 5
students (identified in the 2021/22 school year)
16,557 16,557 33,114 49,671
Third Year (2023/24
School Year)
Booster Programme of the IP/Primary 6
students (identified in the 2021/22 school year)
16,557 16,557 33,114 49,671
Total amount of the UAP Grant for a
period of three years 142,359 129,118 271,477 400,595
* The rates of the UAP Grant are subject to adjustment in accordance with the annual movement of the Composite Consumer Price Index.
Adjustment of the UAP Grant
3. UAP Grant has been one of the constituent items in the Special Domain of Operating Expenses Block Grant (OEBG)/ the School Specific Grant of Expanded OEBG or Expanded Subject and Curriculum Block Grant (ESCBG). The rates of the Grant are subject to adjustment in accordance with the annual movement of the Composite Consumer Price Index. Schools should refer to the relevant circular issued by EDB in August each year relating to the revised rates for the 2021/22 school year.
Use of the UAP Grant
4. In the annual plan and evaluation report on Comprehensive Student Guidance Service, schools should state the use of the UAP Grant with a clear breakdown of all expenses in the implementation of the IP. Here are some approved expenses for reference:
(a) Organizing IP-related activities (the activities must be carried out in Hong Kong)
Hiring external service providers to implement the IP
Subsidizing students, parents and teachers to join IP-related training camps or group activities (exclusive of expenses on meals)
Organizing staff training activities to facilitate the implementation of the UAP (Primary) (exclusive of expenses on meals)
(b) Purchasing reference materials on student guidance or materials in support of the IP （not exceeding 5% of the rate for the first year）
Purchasing prizes or gifts for IP-related training camps or group activities
(c) Others（not exceeding 5% of the rate for the first year）
Launching promotional activities of the UAP (Primary), e.g. pamphlets, newsletters or exhibition boards.
5. Schools are advised to hire service provider with experience in youth services and/or the following professionals to implement the IPs:
(a) Registered social workers with practical experience;
(b) Educational psychologists (with recognized professional qualifications);
(c) Clinical psychologists (with recognized professional qualifications); or (d) Professionals with equivalent qualifications and experience.
Sexual Conviction Record Check Scheme
6. To further safeguard the well-being of students so as to protect students against sexual abuse, schools are advised to take great importance to the professional conduct of the staff providing services for children. Schools are strongly advised to adopt ‘Sexual Conviction Record Check Scheme’
operated by the Police in their appointment procedures as soon as practicable in their appointment procedures. Schools can refer to the website of SCRCS ( http://www.police.gov.hk/scrc ) and EDBCM No.179/2011 for details.
Financial and Accounting Arrangements
7. When purchasing goods and services, government schools should observe the Stores and Procurement Regulations, Financial and Accounting Regulations, Standing Accounting Instructions and other related rules and regulations. IMC/Non-IMC aided schools should observe the relevant financial regulations set out in the updated circular memorandum on OEBG and Expanded OEBG each year.
When hiring external services for the provision of the IP under the UAP (Primary), aided schools should observe EDBC No. 4/2013 on “Procurement Procedures in Aided Schools”.
Annex 4
Understanding Adolescent Project (Primary) Post-Activity Assessment (For Primary 4, 5 and 6)
Intensive Programme (Primary in the / school year) Students’ Questionnaire
On the whole, do you think the Understanding Adolescent Project (UAP) is useful? Please put a against the most appropriate answer.
Useless
□
Useful□
Very useful□
Do you think the UAP is useful to you in the following aspects (Item 1–26)? Please circle the answer you consider to be the most appropriate.
Useless Useful Very
useful Useless Useful Very
useful 1. Positive attitude towards
life
1 2 3 14. Being willing to improve your own weaknesses
1 2 3
2. Communication with teachers
1 2 3 15. Ability of self-reflection 1 2 3
3. Communication with classmates
1 2 3 16. Helping others 1 2 3
4. Respect towards others 1 2 3 17. Accepting others 1 2 3
5. Co-operation with classmates
1 2 3 18. Accepting yourself 1 2 3
6. Being willing to accept others’ advice
1 2 3 19. Willing to face and
overcome difficulties
1 2 3
7. Control of your own emotion
1 2 3 20. Appropriate expectation for yourself
1 2 3
8. Actively express your own emotion, ideas and opinions
1 2 3 21. Being sure of your own
value
1 2 3
9. Being positive in handling things
1 2 3 22. Behaviour in class 1 2 3
10. Allocation of time 1 2 3 23. Ability of solving problems
1 2 3
11. Work according to the established goals
1 2 3 24. Seeking help from
teachers or social workers when encountering difficulties
1 2 3
12. Sense of responsibility in work
1 2 3 25. Choosing friends 1 2 3
13. Patience in work 1 2 3 26. Sense of belonging for the school
1 2 3
