Shui Hau School (1954-1989)

Founded in the early 1950s with the approval of the Director of Education, Shui Hau School provided education for children in Shui Hau Village. The land for the school was donated by members of the Chan clan of the village. It had originally been the site of the clan’s ancestral hall, which had fallen into disrepair. ¹ Villagers raised $500 to convert it into a school, while the Education Department contributed the remaining cost of $7,800 needed for construction.^2,3 Completed in 1953 and opened the following year, the school building was a standalone structure with a pitched roof, measuring 25 feet in length and 20 feet in width. ⁴ In later years, teachers, students and villagers developed recreational facilities on the adjacent open space, including a basketball court and a sandpit. ⁵

In the early days of the school, each class year had about 10 students, with a total of 30 to 40 students across the whole school. One of the alumni is village resident Chan Chau-wing, now known as Boss Wing. ⁶ The school later expanded to include Primary Five and Primary Six. ⁷ By 1967, the total number of students had exceeded 50. When the building was renovated in 1974, school supervisor Fung Yau-shing inscribed the school name. In 1989, however, the school was forced to close due to declining enrollment.⁸ In 2000, the Chan clan rebuilt their ancestral hall on the school site. According to villager Mink Chan Fung-ming, ⁹ the two granite benches beside the ancestral hall, as well as the “Chan Ancestral Hall” plaque mounted above the entrance, were unearthed from underground when the school was demolished.

According to former principal Sung Chu-king¹⁰ and alumna Mink Chan, Shui Hau School only had one classroom. In addition to basic facilities, there was a blackboard showing which teacher was on duty and the daily student attendance. Later, part of the space in the school administrative office was partitioned off to create a break area for teachers. Storage cabinets were also added to store textbooks, exercise books and sports equipment. Outside the classroom, there was a sink and two buckets filled with fire-extinguishing sand.

Mink recalled that the school adopted a morning-and-afternoon cohort model. All six classes of students shared a classroom. The morning cohort attended school from 8am to noon; the afternoon cohort from 1pm to 5pm. Each cohort had three sessions per day. There were three teachers at the school — the principal, the head teacher and a part-time teacher, who was also known as “0.5 teacher” because their workload and income were about half those of the full-time teacher. The trio took turns teaching the three morning sessions, followed by the afternoon ones. Lessons were conducted in Cantonese. The school uniform consisted of a white shirt and blue cotton trousers, with the school badge sewn onto the shirt. The blue school jacket was made by the classic Da Di brand. One unique aspect of village schooling was that the academic calendar followed the farming schedule. During harvest periods — typically from late June to early July, and again from late October to the end of November — students were given time off to help their families with farm work.

Apart from Chinese, English and maths, the teachers also taught handicrafts, art and music. All three classes of students took physical education together, usually playing football or badminton in the open yard. During breaks, they would hop and skip along the edges of the drainage ditches or play hopscotch. After class, teachers and students sometimes headed to Shui Hau Wan to catch crabs or hiked up into the hills to pick fruits.

Like schools in the city, Shui Hau School also organised a school picnic annually. Over the years, these outings had taken students to various locations across Hong Kong, including Lung Tsai Ng Yuen on Lantau Island, the Silver Mine Cave in Mui Wo, Tung Chung Fort, the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens, the Tiger Balm Garden, Ching Chung Koon in Tuen Mun, Sha Tin and Sai Kung. Old photos show that students of Shui Hau School also took part in an inter-school sports day on Lantau. The event was held at the sports ground of Bui O Public School. In addition to Shui Hau School and Bui O Public School, other participating schools included Cheung Sha School, Tai O Public School and Tai O Fishermen’s Children’s School.

During the school graduation ceremony, students received their graduation certificates and took photos with their teachers. In the evening, a gathering was held and students’ parents joined after work. According to Chan Chau-wing, villagers, teachers and students prepared food using a big wok. Noodles, sandwiches, coffee and milk tea were served. Later, the gathering was moved to the daytime to make it more convenient for teachers living in the city.