President's Awards

The team from ECE, with the support of grants of HK$34.4 million and HK$7.1 million from The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust (HKJC), has been conducting the “EdUHK Jockey Club School Transition and Readiness (STAR) Project” and the “EdUHK Jockey Club School Transition and Readiness Extended Support (STAR-ES) Project”, respectively, to provide a timely response to the needs of young children and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout the different stages of the pandemic, the project team conducted evidence-based research and supported young children in their transition from kindergarten to primary school. The team also provided online, synchronous, small-group child workshops to support children’s learning skills, executive functioning, and socio-emotional well-being during the fifth resurgence of the pandemic. Teacher training, parent education and interactive resource kits developed under the projects were presented to schools and government units, and to various other organisations locally, regionally and internationally.

Under the leadership of Dr LAU, the team successfully promoted school transition for young children and their parents, shaped educational and parenting practices, and raised awareness through major project activities, community engagement and the media. Some 345,000 well-designed EdUHK Jockey Club STARt-up Resource Kits developed by the STAR project team were distributed to 145,000 Primary 1 and 2 students and their families in Hong Kong in the 2021/22 and 2022/23 school years, supplemented with School-based Support Services at 30 Hong Kong primary schools, with teacher training workshops, on-site consultations, school transition funds, peer support, and online and face-to-face public seminars for the community.

The STAR and STAR-ES Projects produced diverse output in knowledge transfer, which reached a vast number of community stakeholders. Requests for the Resource Kits for utilisation in teaching and services have been overwhelming, involving 656 kindergartens, 138 educational psychologists and many from the community. Online and media presence has also been strong, with 27 educational videos attracting more than 570,000 views on online public platforms.