The School Partnership and Field Experience Office (SPFEO) provides a wide range of high-quality school partnership services, mentoring services and field experience services to equip our students to face future challenges while contributing to the community.

The demanding work of the SPFEO is carried out by a dedicated team who not only need to cope with the immense pressure of securing school placements for the Institute’s students, particularly those in the double cohorts, but also devise various new initiatives to provide crucial support for the development of student teachers. For example, the Tai Po After School Learning Support Scheme allows BEd students to acquire hands-on experience in a school and come to grips with the learning needs of its students, whilst the school benefits from having additional staff to look after students with special educational needs after school hours. On the other hand, the After School Support Programme renders extra help to needy primary-school students by enlisting the Institute’s students to serve as tutors. Both schemes have been well received by stakeholders in the Tai Po community, primary- and secondary-school students across Hong Kong and the Institute’s own students. 

SPFEO team members demonstrate exceptional creativity and initiative. They are always willing to accept new challenges, and work hard to add value to SPFEO’s activities. In addition to the many other projects in which they are involved, SPFEO staff have taken on the important task of revising the Field Experience (FE) framework, with more than 50 workshops and briefings organised for Institute staff and students. The team has also expanded the Mentorship Scheme, recruiting 59 experienced professional educators to serve as mentors providing professional guidance to 87 undergraduate students. On another front, eight major School Sponsoring Bodies have been invited to join hands with the SPFEO to work on various projects and events, as well as an entrance scholarship for their graduates to study for BEd at the Institute. In addition, an FE Supporting Group, which runs every Saturday during the FE period, has been introduced to offer timely support and diagnostic counselling to help students to get through their FE period. A new mode of FE called the “FE Semester” has also been piloted. Its aim is to enrich students’ placement experience.

Finally, the SPFEO team has enhanced the overall image of the Institute by networking efficiently with schools and supporting new initiatives. For example, the SPFEO provides coordination and secretarial support to the newly established Presidential Advisory Group and Focus Group on FE, which provides strategic advice on the Institute’s development. A number of external shareholders, including school principals and deputy principals, have expressed their appreciation for the work done by the SPFEO and admiration for our students who outperform their counterparts.