The Jockey Club ‘CoolPlay’ Project – a three-year initiative funded by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust and co-organised by the Yew Chung College of Early Childhood Education (YCCECE) and the Vocational Training Council (VTC) Phase 1 was successfully completed. Given the success of Phase 1, there comes Phase 2 co-organised by YCCECE and Hong Kong Christian Service in the coming four years. This four-year extension was announced at the 3rd 'CoolPlay' International Conference and Project Summary event on 10 September 2023.

 
In Phase 2, the Project will extend “Exploratory Learning” from individual schools to entire districts, targeting the grass-roots communities in seven districts. It will continue to provide enriched learning resources for children’s exploration and foster proactive exploration in daily life to inspire their interest in exploration through play, eventually paving a solid foundation for lifelong learning.

 
Since its inception in 2020, Jockey Club ‘CoolPlay’ Project has garnered positive feedback from schools and parents. The three-year project has benefited 20 schools, 132 practising teachers, 509 student teachers, and more than 2,300 children and families. Three notable achievements have been attained, namely, developing Hong Kong’s first three-in-one exploration kit JumpStarter (bilingual story books, a teachers’ guide, and a parents’ guide), training the first batch of Exploratory Learning seed teachers, nurturing parents with exploration mindset through the popular Discovery Space visits, and establishing Hong Kong’s first Home-School-Community network setting the benchmark for Exploratory Learning.

 
Thanks to the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust’s support to the betterment of society, the upcoming Phase 2 project will benefit beyond seed schools to a wider community covering seven districts with highest concentration of grassroot families, namely Kwun Tong, Kwai Ching, Wong Tai Sin, Northern District, Sam Shui Po, Tuen Mun and Yuen Long. It would offer underprivileged children valuable learning opportunities while equipping teachers and parents with the necessary resources and training.

 
Dr Brad Chan Yu Wing commented: “The team is thrilled about Phase 2 of Jockey Club ‘CoolPlay’ Project. With increased resources, we will extend the reach of Exploratory Learning initiated in Phase 1. We aim to engage children through diverse and interactive activities, fostering problem-solving and innovative thinking. We will also offer enhanced support to local early childhood teachers and parents, including an online version of JumpStarter developed in Phase 1, delivering personalised exploratory resources to help guide children step by step to integrate ‘Exploratory Learning’ into their daily life. The expanded project will benefit 240 principals, 1,400 teachers, 440 student teachers, and more than 14,000 children and their families.”

More about CoolPlay Project: https://jccoolplay.hk/en/