To instill a spirit of giving and to inspire students to give back to the communities they live in, Wycombe Abbey School Hong Kong (WASHK) recently took part in a charity event organized by HSBC to build a limited-edition HSBC LEGO building composed of 2,400 pieces.


The charity event titled: “HSBC Building BIG Challenge – Belief, Inclusion & Generosity” aims to promote the concept of ‘giving back’ amongst young children while at the same time helping to raise awareness about mental wellbeing and childcare in the city.


Aside from the fact that WASHK and HSBC are well known brands in Hong Kong and in Britain, both organisations also share similar values. For this reason, the partnership only made sense.

Both organisations are world leaders in their field, both strive for excellence.

Both organisations value academic ability, a high level of technical competence and value people who demonstrate creativity, social intelligence and a vibrant can-on attitude, that is why we partnered on this charity event.


As part of the event’s mission to raise awareness about Autism amongst children, for every completed building, HK$500 was donated to the Autism Partnership Foundation (APF).




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Autism Partnership Foundation

Established in 2007, APF supports the development of local children with autism by carrying out special school services to meet the learning needs of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). In September, the charity established a new AP school to provide tailored teaching to help develop the social skills of those children with ASD. The hope is that this would give them the confidence and ability that would enable them to go back out into mainstream society. The event is significant as it helps to raise funds for these causes.




The lives of countless children diagnosed with ASD (autism spectrum disorder) can be changed forever with quality behavioural intervention, but that intervention is out of reach for too many children and their families, according to the Foundation. For this reason, events like this can help to raise the profile for the foundation, while also helping people to understand what Autism is all about and how they can help.   
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For the 40 students who represented WASHK to attend the event, it was also significant in that it taught these students that no matter the size of their contributions, they can also make a positive impact on society. 


HSBC Main Building in Real Life




WASHK Student Artworks



 
At this event, our students learnt that even with their little hands, they can make a big impact on the community! 

Indeed, WASHK puts great emphasis in providing students with a holistic education that addresses all areas and stages of their development beyond their academics.

 

The school offers a curriculum of 14 primary subjects and more than 50 Extra Curricular Activity (ECA) choices for students with the goal to develop them as a whole child, while preparing them for their future as global citizens.





We will not only teach them knowledge, but also the soft skills that students need for their future.

We are not able to teach them the knowledge they will need in the future as the technology they will have at their disposal then has not been invented yet. Instead, we teach them the attitude, mindset and other soft skills such as confidence, problem solving, communication, teamwork, and wellbeing that they will need in their future.

As part of that commitment, careful attention and planning goes into any extra-curricular extension experiences such as this charity event. The idea is that it would complement the students to learn more about their community and to get involved in improving their surroundings and helping those people in need.


“For WASHK, we do not ‘teach’ wellbeing in isolation, it is embedded in everything that we do,” Tuckett added.



The school is well known for walking the talk. Aside from this event, WASHK has also been active in other charitable programmes such as the “Box of Hope” campaign, which helps underprivileged children in Hong Kong through educational gift giving during the holiday seasons. 



 “Box of Hope” Campaign

The school is also well known for its Eco Warrior ECA club which was formed by students to promote sustainability, recycling and green living in the school community.


Eco Warrior ECA Club


The sum of these experiences go a long way to educate students about giving back while also piquing their curiosity and interests as global citizens, the school added.

For these reasons, WASHK is excited to carry on this collaboration with APF and HSBC. Tuckett said that this would really allow the school to prepare young people of Hong Kong to be ready to become business and professional leaders of the future.



“Enriching our core curriculum with collaborations such as these feeds into the breadth and wealth of our holistic curriculum and ultimately benefits our students in their development,” he said.