Building an Inclusive Future: A Recap of Our Panel Discussion with Save the Children Hong Kong! 🤝

On August 15th, we were honoured to join a vital panel discussion organised by Save the Children Hong Kong (SCHK). The session, "Safeguarding Children from Ethnic Minority Communities," brought together key community partners to explore how we can collectively create a more inclusive and supportive environment for all children.

Our Approach: A Culturally Responsive Foundation

Our Programme Manager, Kimberly, shared CantoGather's core belief: a truly supportive environment begins with culturally responsive teaching and a culturally sensitive team. This means our lesson content, materials, and staff must reflect and celebrate the diverse identities of our students. We foster a space where children can explore their own cultural backgrounds while building strong relationships with tutors and peers.

We achieve this through intercultural exchange activities, multicultural content, and diverse visual representation in our materials. To ensure our team is equally responsive, we provide comprehensive training like our "Get Real in Meals" workshop, which deepens tutors' self-awareness and understanding of our diverse social context.

A Community Effort: Insights from Our Fellow Panellists

The discussion was enriched by the invaluable experience of our fellow panellists, who are doing incredible work in the community. Ms. Carmen Ma, Vice Principal of Li Sing Tai Hang School, shared her school's success in supporting non-Chinese students through a specialised Chinese curriculum and operational manuals that empower teachers. Following this, Sandy from The Zubin Foundation shone a light on the critical issue of mental health, emphasising the need for professionals from within the community to serve as bridges and provide direct services to create a truly safe space for everyone.

The Way Forward is Together

It was a privilege to participate in such a meaningful dialogue. The key takeaway was clear: creating an embracing community for people from all linguistic and cultural backgrounds requires a collective effort. We extend a huge thank you to SCHK for leading this important conversation and look forward to many more exchanges like this in the future.