School brings friends from around globe
February 27, 2010, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
LINDA from Singapore, Nicolas from France and Wen from South Korea are all now classmates at Shanghai Singapore International School.
It was established in September 1996, with two campuses in Minhang and Xuhui, respectively. A bilingual school accepting students from kindergarten to high school, the facility mainly covers the advanced education program of Singapore, and mixes various cultures from East to West.
Most teachers are Singaporeans, with some from Western countries to teach English language courses and some from China to teach Chinese language courses. Now, the school has students from over 30 countries and regions.
There are more than 25 international schools in Shanghai, but this is the only one to have been opened by Singaporeans. With all the teaching materials from Singapore, the school is the best representative of exporting the Singaporean education concept.
But you'd never guess that this is a Singaporean school from a look at the students on the Minhang campus.
Step inside, and it's just like a small United Nations, with students with different skin colors gathering together, talking in various combinations of languages.
It's very common that an international school should enroll foreign students, but in this Singapore international school, only 20 percent of the entire student body are from Singapore. Eighty percent are from other countries and regions, like Wen from South Korea and Nicolas from France.
Students from Taiwan form the majority, with numbers already surpassing the Singaporean pupils. The second major group is Korean, with more than 100 students. Others are also from various continents and countries, such as India, Australia, Britain, Italy, Brazil and Zimbabwe.
"It's a great challenge to make our courses fit to students from different backgrounds." said Zhang Longjin, president of the school.
For example, it's a challenge to design a complete series of bilingual courses so that students from Europe, America and Africa can learn Chinese while Taiwanese and Korean students can learn English during their life in China.
To solve the problem, the school set up two kinds of special intensive language training courses besides the formal ones -- the English course is for Asian students, making them able to follow the pace with teaching materials mainly in English. Students from other countries and regions follow the Chinese course, learning Chinese in an active way.
Peter Jackson is an eight-year-old boy from the United States, who is one of the students attending the special Chinese language course. They learn pinyin and simple character strokes, which Jackson seems to have learned very well.
"I like pigs most! There's a real pig in the cage outside. It's fed by the other class. I like it," Jackson shouts in very standard Chinese, and that's why so many American parents decide to send their children here.
Besides the languages, the school also stresses its education in mathematics and science courses. In primary school, students will generally attend all the basic courses of different fields; while in middle and high school, the students will be divided into three streams -- arts, science and engineering. Therefore, every student in the school can study the courses that suit him or her the most.
Art Program
Students are able to learn one or two kinds of art skills in each study phase. Those skills include children's art, collage, paper-cutting, line-depicting painting, wax painting, water colors, clay sculpture, Chinese ink and wash, stippling, sketching, paper printing, weaving, cartoons, line drawing, bas-relief, charcoal drawing, seal cutting, leather silhouettes, and costume design.
The course fully integrates Asian and European educational methodologies and aims to enhance students' comprehensive knowledge of the arts. Students are expected to master various modeling language and performance methods through their studies.
Drama Program
The drama program is designed especially to cater for each year.
Year One
Using a series of drama games, the school engages the students' innate sense of play, and work to begin harnessing their imaginations positively and productively.
Year Two
Through improvisation and drama games, the school utilizes the students' awareness of their environment to create scenes and further equip them with the skills to channel their creativity.
Years Three and Four
The children are constantly creating short pieces of theater based on the values imbued by pupil welfare. They will discuss, appreciate, rehearse, develop scenes and perform them for their class and schoolmates.
Year Five
In their penultimate year, the students work on devised and scripted pieces specially crafted for the various festivals that the entire school celebrates such as Christmas, Easter and Chinese New Year. At the end of the year there will be numerous platforms for the students to showcase the skills they have acquired in their drama lessons.
Year Six
It is an important year in any student's development, and so the focus here is on performance, confidence and creativity.
Music Program
Students who are in the school's ongoing musical assessment will be trained in one Chinese orchestra instrument taught by professional trainers from local musical colleges. This will be a high-standard performance group.
It was established in September 1996, with two campuses in Minhang and Xuhui, respectively. A bilingual school accepting students from kindergarten to high school, the facility mainly covers the advanced education program of Singapore, and mixes various cultures from East to West.
Most teachers are Singaporeans, with some from Western countries to teach English language courses and some from China to teach Chinese language courses. Now, the school has students from over 30 countries and regions.
There are more than 25 international schools in Shanghai, but this is the only one to have been opened by Singaporeans. With all the teaching materials from Singapore, the school is the best representative of exporting the Singaporean education concept.
But you'd never guess that this is a Singaporean school from a look at the students on the Minhang campus.
Step inside, and it's just like a small United Nations, with students with different skin colors gathering together, talking in various combinations of languages.
It's very common that an international school should enroll foreign students, but in this Singapore international school, only 20 percent of the entire student body are from Singapore. Eighty percent are from other countries and regions, like Wen from South Korea and Nicolas from France.
Students from Taiwan form the majority, with numbers already surpassing the Singaporean pupils. The second major group is Korean, with more than 100 students. Others are also from various continents and countries, such as India, Australia, Britain, Italy, Brazil and Zimbabwe.
"It's a great challenge to make our courses fit to students from different backgrounds." said Zhang Longjin, president of the school.
For example, it's a challenge to design a complete series of bilingual courses so that students from Europe, America and Africa can learn Chinese while Taiwanese and Korean students can learn English during their life in China.
To solve the problem, the school set up two kinds of special intensive language training courses besides the formal ones -- the English course is for Asian students, making them able to follow the pace with teaching materials mainly in English. Students from other countries and regions follow the Chinese course, learning Chinese in an active way.
Peter Jackson is an eight-year-old boy from the United States, who is one of the students attending the special Chinese language course. They learn pinyin and simple character strokes, which Jackson seems to have learned very well.
"I like pigs most! There's a real pig in the cage outside. It's fed by the other class. I like it," Jackson shouts in very standard Chinese, and that's why so many American parents decide to send their children here.
Besides the languages, the school also stresses its education in mathematics and science courses. In primary school, students will generally attend all the basic courses of different fields; while in middle and high school, the students will be divided into three streams -- arts, science and engineering. Therefore, every student in the school can study the courses that suit him or her the most.
Art Program
Students are able to learn one or two kinds of art skills in each study phase. Those skills include children's art, collage, paper-cutting, line-depicting painting, wax painting, water colors, clay sculpture, Chinese ink and wash, stippling, sketching, paper printing, weaving, cartoons, line drawing, bas-relief, charcoal drawing, seal cutting, leather silhouettes, and costume design.
The course fully integrates Asian and European educational methodologies and aims to enhance students' comprehensive knowledge of the arts. Students are expected to master various modeling language and performance methods through their studies.
Drama Program
The drama program is designed especially to cater for each year.
Year One
Using a series of drama games, the school engages the students' innate sense of play, and work to begin harnessing their imaginations positively and productively.
Year Two
Through improvisation and drama games, the school utilizes the students' awareness of their environment to create scenes and further equip them with the skills to channel their creativity.
Years Three and Four
The children are constantly creating short pieces of theater based on the values imbued by pupil welfare. They will discuss, appreciate, rehearse, develop scenes and perform them for their class and schoolmates.
Year Five
In their penultimate year, the students work on devised and scripted pieces specially crafted for the various festivals that the entire school celebrates such as Christmas, Easter and Chinese New Year. At the end of the year there will be numerous platforms for the students to showcase the skills they have acquired in their drama lessons.
Year Six
It is an important year in any student's development, and so the focus here is on performance, confidence and creativity.
Music Program
Students who are in the school's ongoing musical assessment will be trained in one Chinese orchestra instrument taught by professional trainers from local musical colleges. This will be a high-standard performance group.
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