Madam Tsang Chor-hang founded the first Yew Chung School in Hong Kong in 1932, inspired by her vision of a revitalized China. Her aim was to help students develop “good character and sound knowledge”. Eighty-five years later, Madam Tsang Chor-hang’s legacy lives on through the Yew Chung Education Foundation (YCEF), which has grown into a global network of schools and colleges. With the recognition that their founder’s ideals are more relevant than ever, YCEF remains committed to educating ‘the whole person’ and cultivating a new generation that will have a transformative impact on the world.   

YCIS celebrates the founding of the Yew Chung Foundation

On the occasion of the 85^th Founder’s Day celebration at YCIS Beijing, Vice Principal/Head of Secondary school Mr. Don Collins spoke passionately about the school’s commitment to preparing students for real-world challenges. “We can teach the students to write essays but it is also about getting them to articulate their understanding of any subject in a way that they enjoy,” Mr. Collins said. Mr. Collins also emphasized how creative self-expression is welcomed and how the school brings industry experts into the classroom and shares knowledge through video calling technologies.

A clear example of the incredible power of technology was seen at the Founder’s Day celebration, which is held every year across all schools and colleges in the YCEF network to honor Madam Tsang Chor-hang and to reflect on the years of success. At this year’s Founder’s Day celebration, 10,000 students and staff from six campuses connected virtually through video conferencing software.

What is the secret of YCIS’s success over the last 85 years? Perhaps it is staying true to their founder’s vision while adapting with the times. The motto may have changed from “Diligence, Thrift, Modesty, and Honesty” to “ Align with Science and Technology, Culture and Art, Love and Charity”, but the vision is the same.

All six Yew Chung International Schools (YCIS) offer an academic curriculum that focuses on preparing students for the IGCSE and IB Diploma programmes. The curriculum ensures a smooth transition through the different Key Stage Levels (Early Childhood Education, Primary Education, and Secondary Education).

The curriculum at YCIS emphasizes all-round development

Equal emphasis is placed on arts, music, and sports. The commitment to educating the ‘whole person’ also includes YCIS’s Character Education Programme, which aims to provide students with a values-based moral education. Drawing from a variety of cultures, the idea of this is to use everyday examples to help nurture the values of compassion and commitment to serve family, community, and society. In line with this concept, the Seeds of Hope project was introduced in 2008. By partnering with different stakeholders, YCIS hopes to establish ‘Seeds of Hope’ schools for underprivileged children in rural China.

By ensuring the intellectual, physical, and emotional growth of each student, education at YCIS prepares them for achievements in a wide variety of arenas. With the help of guidance councilors, alumni, and industry experts, students are able to choose their career paths and secure places in top universities around the world.

While the term ‘international’ is often confused with ‘westernization’ in China, at YCIS it signifies a balanced blend of east and west. In addition to Chinese Studies and language classes, the east meets west philosophy is primarily exercised through a unique co-teaching model. Each classroom is served by two teachers — one Chinese and one Western — who collaborate to provide a bilingual learning experience. “It is a rock-solid commitment to the notion of language development and cultural understanding”, said Mr. Collins.

Staff, parents, and students celebrate during this year’s Founder’s Day event

Asked what else sets YCIS apart from other international schools in the region, Ms. Christine Xu, Chinese Co-Principal, pointed to the foundation’s history and rich experience, which has helped strengthen areas such as curriculum design and management. She also touched on the dedication and commitment of the teachers: “I strongly believe that experience generates creativity… sometimes innovation comes from what you already know.”

Ms. Xu went on to talk about the Parents Organization (P.O.), which is actively involved in various school activities and community initiatives. YCIS believes that parents grow and learn along with their children. “Just this week we started our Active Parenting Program led by our counselor”, she added. These programmes ultimately focus on working with the teachers to raise happier, healthier children. “Parents are our co-pilots!” Ms. Xu emphasized.

Speaking of parental influence, as part of the celebrations, Dr. Betty Chan Po-king, daughter of Madam Tsang Chor-hang and Director of YCIS schools, addressed the students, staff, alumni, and parents who joined the event and announced the introduction of a four-year degree program in Early Childhood Education starting in 2018 at Yew Chung Community College (YCCC). “The 85^th anniversary serves as a reminder to be thankful and count our blessings as we embark upon the next chapter.”

This post is sponsored by YCIS Beijing. 

Photos: Uni You, YCIS Beijing

“Are you ready?” Alana Martin-Haggarty, Middle School Learning Community Leader at Yew Chung International School of Beijing (YCIS Beijing), asks to a roomful of excited 10 to 13-year-olds.

“No!” the students inevitably chorus, but they are joking. The enthusiasm and energy are evident, eager to see the launch of an innovative new program: Genius 100.

Middle school students get ready to take part in a Genius 100 class

“G100 challenges students to work through a process of continual research, building, and reflection to try to solve a problem or answer a question,” Martin-Haggarty told us the day before. “It follows the idea of brainstorming what you’re passionate about. It can be linked to the curriculum, but at other times it’s purely a passion project.”

But the students need to demonstrate more than just their own interest in the subject.

“Once they have an idea they want to follow,” she continued, “they have to pitch their projects. They have to explain what their product will be, what they’re trying to achieve. Is it to help others, teach others or inform them about some problem or issue? Instead of ‘I’m going to research dolphins because I like dolphins’, we discuss how we can deepen the projects, link them to the real world.”

It’s this process of brainstorming and pitching that has brought the whole Middle School together. The students are presented with some very confident and funny pitches which Year 11 (Grade 10) students developed for the Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) element of the International Baccalaureate. Then, after a discussion about the art of pitching, they split into smaller groups to prepare their ideas. We talk to them and discover some students have already smartly worked out how to combine the curriculum with their own enthusiasms.

Students work on G100 projects in small groups

“We’re going to build a medieval town in Minecraft,” Thomas (Year 8) tells me. “It will help our fellow students understand the architecture,” adds his friend Rayyan.

Others have grand ambitions. “I’m going to write my own book,” says Annie in Year 7. We ask what outcome she is hoping for. “I want to see if people like it,” she answers. “It could be a major career!”

The students record their ideas in G100 project journals, which help them to focus on the essential points they will need to convey in their pitches. “The resources come from an online course run by education guru AJ Giuliani that all the teachers involved have completed,” Martin-Haggarty told us “G100 is a big trend in a lot of education systems. However, most run it as an after-school activity. We’ve allocated 100 minutes of their weekly scheduled classroom time: two consecutive 50-minute blocks for years 6, 7, and 8 all at the same time. It takes courage to change around the timetable as it’s a big breach of tradition! So it’s something YCIS can be proud of.”

The classes also teach valuable pitching and presentation skills

Back in the classroom, the students are practicing their pitches to their peers. Nathanael and Vincent from Year 7 want to develop a mobile, environmentally-friendly water filter. The pitch, inevitably for 11-year-old boys, includes comedy vomiting. “We need a good hook,” as Vincent put it, “with both humor and a bit of seriousness.”

In Year 8, Aoife and Gaia are proposing to teach each other their first languages, an excellent example of the peer-to-peer learning Martin-Haggarty hoped would result from the program. “For me,” she said, “it’s about having the students directly involved in building their curriculum, engaging them to develop their learning. It would be wonderful if they start to think about how they can benefit others, connect with each other, learn from each other.”

The G100 classes are also designed to encourage peer-to-peer learning

She sees G100 as fitting in well with YCIS’s wider vision. “It focuses on our new learning community philosophies, where we give the students depth and breadth to their learning. By allowing them to do personal passion projects, we can help them delve deeper into their understanding of the curriculum. It reflects where we’re heading with secondary [high school]learning communities.”

Watching the students pitch their ideas confidently and begin to learn the skills of project management, it’s easy to see how G100 is equipping them to be the innovators and entrepreneurs who will take on the challenges of the 21^st century.

This post is sponsored by YCIS Beijing. 

Photos: Uni You

As Joni Mitchell said, “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone,” and perhaps we can’t really appreciate what Beijing means to us until we’re leaving. To get some insight, we talked to Cecilia Cao, a Year 13 student at the Yew Chung International School of Beijing (YCIS Beijing). Cao is leaving this summer to study Art at Rhode Island School of Design, and we asked her what her first memories were of coming to Beijing when she was ten years old.

“To be honest,” she said, “I was actually feeling really melancholy. I was reluctant to come here with all the smog. I’d left all my friends in Vancouver, where it’s really sunny. I was crying very often. I missed my friends back home, and we had a house there which was furnished so nicely… here we had a rented apartment, with gaudy furniture. My earliest memory of Beijing is utmost dread.”

Cao’s IB exhibition

Fortunately, this didn’t last.

“I naturally got accustomed to it,” Cao said, “and came to appreciate the culture. When I first came back I identified as a Canadian citizen. But as I rediscovered my heritage I came to think of myself as Chinese. Now I like it a lot more than Canada. There’s a lot more people here! And it’s good for me to take inspiration artistically, how the country has changed in the last 50 years.”

We asked Cao what she loved most about Beijing.

“I do love 798 Art District,” she told us. “I held a photo shoot there with my friends. It has a lot of history and industrial heritage, but also wonderful art. China’s artists are just as talented and diverse as artists in the west but we don’t hear a lot about them. It’s a wonderful place to explore art.”

Cao’s captivating art on display

Cao aims to be a comic book artist and named as a favorite Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi’s celebrated memoir of growing up in Iran. Where in the city influenced her own art, we wondered?

“The biggest influence, of course, is 798 because I appreciate its industrial, grungy style. But I’m also a huge fan of the Forbidden City. It appeases my love of history; in China’s history it’s gone through so much, been partially destroyed, then reconstructed, now there’s clothes, artwork, all the prestigious history of China…”

Cao has just finished her IB Art exhibition, and we asked her to tell us more about her work.

An attendee at the exhibition admires Cao’s work

“For the last two years, I’ve been developing my theme, of gender expectations and roles, both ancient and contemporary. Men’s clothes reflect their roles in various settings, political, familial, and social. Then there’s the inner world of women, which is often smothered, disregarded. So in the exhibition, on the front, you see boards with pieces of clothing associated with masculinity. Then you have to walk round to see a smaller board with pieces associated with femininity.”

“It’s interesting to reflect on how dynamics are changing, or not changing, in Chinese culture. Last year five feminists were detained, for ‘creating trouble’. But all they were doing was handing out flyers on trains to prevent sexual harassment on public transport.”

Her sculpture work shows her versatility

We asked her what she’s going to miss about Beijing.

“I’m honestly going to miss my friends. Once you stay in a place you become accustomed to it, Beijing is home, my family is here. There’s a sense of potential wherever you go.”

What about the food, we asked?

“I wasn’t born in Beijing,” she said, “so I won’t miss Beijing cuisine. I find the desserts here really gross. I was born in Sichuan, so I love hotpot and barbecues. I will miss roast duck though.”

Attendees took the time to appreciate Cao’s work during the exhibition

And what, we wondered, will she miss least?

“The pollution,” she said immediately. “But really I’m just very eager to start university, connecting with new people, meeting new friends, discovering a new culture. I’ve visited Rhode Island and the professors were so genuine, so wonderful, I can’t wait.”

Finally, we asked how she would describe Beijing to her new friends, in one sentence.

“The first thing I would say is making sure you have money,” she said. “It’s such a consumer culture here, and the rents are so high… but ‘changing’ is the one word I would use. Beijing is so many things.”

This post is paid for by YCIS Beijing 

Photos: YCIS Beijing 

Music teachers have long argued for the wider educational benefits of learning a musical instrument. Now a major study conducted by a US university has found serious evidence to back them up.

The five-year study, begun in 2012 by the Brain and Creativity Institute at the University of Southern California (USC), working with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, studied three groups of children from underprivileged LA schools. One group received music tuition, another had soccer coaching, and the third got no extra support. The results, published in the journal Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, show that the music students had more developed auditory systems than the control groups. The same neural pathways are associated with speech and language development and learning to read.

The findings are particularly significant because a recent meta-analysis cast doubt on previous research, suggesting that their methodology was flawed. However, the USC study appears rigorous enough to confirm the earlier findings.

One local educator who has never doubted the value of learning an instrument is Anne Dwyer (pictured above), Primary Music Teacher at Yew Chung International School of Beijing (YCIS Beijing). I met with Dwyer to talk to her about YCIS Beijing’s music program, and what her students gain from it.

“The YCIS violin program operates from Years 1 to 3 [K2 to Grade 2],” she told me. “All students attend violin lessons twice a week. The classroom program occurs alongside it, and I work with the strings teachers to ensure that we’re adopting a common approach.”

The choice of the violin is not arbitrary, Dwyer said.

“One of the reasons I’m a real fan is that it develops a sense of pitch which you just can’t develop in the same way learning on a keyboard. Learning a string instrument is a good foundation for studying any future instrument.”

And the fact that the program runs for three years is also important.

“It’s about working as an ensemble, playing together as a group. Through repetition, the students develop skills and move beyond the awkwardness that’s associated with the early stages of playing an instrument. A three-year program allows for that to occur.”

Dwyer sees the benefits of studying music carrying across into other subjects.

“Students learn to look for patterns. Through contrast and repetition, they start to see structure in a different way. It’s not uncommon for people who are good at math to be good at music too; both are about structure, organization, patterns.”

The classroom program is carefully planned to complement the rest of the curriculum, Dwyer told me.

“What I’m doing is picking up on the topics they’re covering with their homeroom teachers, and teaching core music skills which relate to them. For example, Year 3 have been learning about speed and force, so we’ve been looking at dynamics, tempo, and attack. During Africa Literacy Week, they were allowed to choose any instrument and create a backing track to Hakuna Matata. And Year 1 are writing rap songs about the animals they’ve been studying!”

But the most valuable learning goes deeper, she said.

“What I focus on in the classroom program is trying to develop core skills in playing, listening and appreciating music. It’s about creativity; the violin program is about discipline. Those are the two things essential for success in life. Learning an instrument isn’t something you can do in three weeks. It’s really important that students understand that mastery takes time, but you can have fun on the way, and if you persist, you can do really good things.”

This post is sponsored by YCIS Beijing. 

Photos courtesy of YCIS Beijing & Uni You

Budding actors and young theater lovers from Beijing and beyond will come together to create and perform new dramas next weekend, at the Middle School ISTA Festival.

ISTA is the International Schools Theater Association, a not-for-profit organization promoting drama in international schools, and the event, to be hosted by Yew Chung International School of Beijing (YCIS Beijing), will be attended by students from the International School of Ho Chi Minh City and King George V School, Hong Kong. For Head of Performing Arts Dan Pearton, hosting the event is the latest stage of an ongoing process of raising the profile of theater studies at YCIS Beijing. He sees broader academic benefits from involvement in drama.

“It’s a great way of showing kids that teamwork doesn’t just happen in sporting activities, it can happen in the arts too,” he told us. “They learn about creating as a group, thinking critically about theme, drawing on their own knowledge and on material from teachers and professionals. And if they go on to study IB [International Baccalaureate] Theatre, then it has direct academic application.”

One of the IB Theatre students at YCIS Beijing is 17-year-old Nina Fitzpatrick, who told me about her experience of attending ISTA.

“I first went in 2016,” she said. “It was kind of scary at first. There was a really tall girl, like six feet tall, so I was really intimidated every time I had to work with her! But we were given a task where we had to talk about things we liked, and that helped us get to know each other.

Head of Performing Arts Dan Pearton

“This year it was easier. It’s definitely increased my confidence.”

She told us how her ideas had formed the core of her group’s performance. Each group was given a poem to work with, and hers was Pavel Friedmann’s “The Butterfly”. She described how they integrated techniques from different traditions which they had learned during the Festival’s masterclasses: Chinese stick fighting, Japanese drama and English mumming. They also chose blue lighting and a Jewish folk song for the music, creating a complete theatrical experience.

I asked her what advice she had for the middle school students attending the Festival at YCIS.

“Don’t be afraid of talking to people,” she answered. “It may seem scary at first but it makes the whole experience so much better. I don’t think I retained as much knowledge as I could have from my first year. This year I had a lot more fun, and it’s also given me more to think about. It especially helps in IB Theatre, I can incorporate all these things into my devised piece or director’s notebook.”

The inspiration for the middle school festival comes from YCIS Beijing’s immediate neighborhood, Pearton told me.

“The theme is Community,” he said. “Last year the markets by the school were closed down. They used to be a real hub, and I was thinking about what it means for the community. The area is so different to five years ago, it’s really gentrifying.

“That got me thinking about what China used to be like, even ten or twenty years ago. I talked to the Chinese staff at the school about their experiences growing up. They said that everybody used to know each other. Now it’s very different.”

Participating students will go to Chaoyang Park on their first day, to learn Chinese games. They’ll practise taiji with a master, and learn the art of the diabolo and the jianzi (the shuttlecock-like “hackeysack” which you have to keep in the air with your feet.) They’ll think about parks being a place of community, and explore what community means to them, especially given the impact of technology on their lives.

“Then on Friday,” Pearton told me, “we’ll have a group of local artists, including a Jingju performer, Master Shieh who will teach them kung fu, and a Beijing drum teacher. On the last day, they’ll work with artists to create drama, devising a piece with lots of ensemble work.

“The biggest thing is that drama has got a real buzz at the moment. Four years ago there wasn’t really a drama program at the school. Having kids experience this, they can bring back the skills, and that leads to other experiences.”

Following a recent triumphant performance of Legally Blonde: The Musical, drama is really on the up at YCIS Beijing.

This post is sponsored by YCIS Beijing. 

Photos by YCIS Beijing

The new Learning Community at Yew Chung International School of Beijing (YCIS Beijing) has been designed by specialists in educational architecture to maximize the opportunities for student-centered learning. But beyond all the big words, what’s it actually like for the kids who study there? I ventured down to YCIS Beijing to find out.

The lesson begins traditionally enough, as the whole year gathers in front of a big screen.

“Tomorrow,” the teacher says, “we’re going on a…”
“FIELD TRIP!” the students chorus.

The teachers explain, in English and Chinese, how they’re going to use the trampolines to carry out science experiments. Today, they’ll be making predictions about the outcomes: for example, what body shape do I need to make to bounce the highest?

It’s when they’ve been given their task that things get interesting, as teachers and students disperse to different areas of the Learning Community. To find out what’s going on, I talk to a small group: Emma, Gerome, Joseph, Milki, Olivia, Shaun, and Sheridan.

Some of my interviewees show off the comfy Lounge

“Last year you were in a classroom,” I say, “this year you’re in a Learning Community. What’s the difference?”
“It’s a bigger space,” Olivia says, and Emma adds: “Some walls you can write on.”
“We get together a lot more,” Joseph says. “We all work together and help each other, we communicate, and get to know students in other classes.”
For Gerome, this has been a good thing socially as well as educationally.
“When I was new here last year,” he tells me, “I only got to know my classmates. Now I know a lot more people.”
“So it’s definitely different,” I say. “Is it better or worse?”
“BETTER!” comes the unanimous (and enthusiastic) shout.

“It’s more organized here,” Gerome says. “In Year 2 we’d put our books in places we can’t even remember!”
“It’s a lot quieter,” Joseph says, “because it’s a bigger space,” and Milki agrees:
“Last year we had to shut the door, and even then you could still hear the noise.”
“You can concentrate,” Joseph continues, “it’s a better place for studying hard.”

I ask the kids to tell me about some of the different spaces in the Learning Community.
“The Amphitheater is the common place where we all meet up and talk about what we’re going to do,” they tell me, although “amphitheater” is a hard word to pronounce properly, and they have a giggle about their efforts, before using its Chinese name:  杏坛 (Xìng Tán). It’s named, I learn, after the place under an apricot tree where Confucius used to teach his pupils. But there are many other areas in the Learning Community.
“The Maker’s Space is where you create things.” Sheridan tells me.
“Also you can lie with your book on the floor and concentrate,” Shaun adds.

“The Lounges are filled with cushions.”
Joseph: “The Lounge is a good place for working because it’s comfy. If you have worries, you can go there to forget them. I like going there to be quiet.”
For a group of seven- and eight-year-olds, they’re impressively thoughtful about the learning process, and how they use the space. They show me round, proudly pointing out all the books and places to read.
Meanwhile the rest of Year 3 are working in pairs or groups. I find two boys who are deep in discussion about their predictions, and ask them if they like collaborating.
“Yes,” one says, “we made a lot of effort right now.”
The teacher is impressed with their work too.
“I really love the answer you gave for number 5,” she says. “You used your knowledge – ‘mass’ is a proper scientific word.”
She takes them over to another group, who are making less rapid progress.
“You’ll be the guides,” she says. “Listen to their conversation and help them.”

Similar conversations are happening across the Learning Community, and I realize that the children were right about the acoustics of the space: despite all the different voices, the atmosphere is quiet and studious.

At the end of the lesson the year group gather again in the Xìng Tán, to review their work and plan the experiments which will test them. I leave, concluding that one experiment has certainly been a triumph: YCIS Beijing’s bold move in reshaping the space in which students learn.

If you would like to attend YCIS Beijing’s Open Day on the Learning Community on March 2, please register at Yoopay or RSVP through info@bj.ycef.com.

This post is sponsored by YCIS Beijing. 

Photos: Uni You

Education has come a long way since the heydays of “chalk and talk”, when a teacher stood in front of rows of desks lecturing a room full of bored children. The concept of student-centered learning recognizes that we all learn at different paces and in different ways, and shifts the focus from the expert educator to the skilled learner.

As the 21st century takes shape this approach has become even more important. In the workplaces of the future, machines and computers will carry out all the mundane tasks, and the critical skills for career success will be creativity, collaboration, research, and self-reliance.

Now, Yew Chung International School of Beijing has taken the next step into that future and begun the process of doing away with traditional classrooms altogether. Early Childhood Education (ECE) (preschool) and Year 3 (grade 2) are already spending most of their day in a Learning Community, with Years 4 and 5 set to join them next year, as the next stage of the school’s ongoing evolution.

But what is a Learning Community?
In its broadest sense, it can mean any group of people coming together to learn. But YCIS Beijing’s Learning Community is also a space, designed to support student centered, collaborative teaching and learning.

“When you have classes of many students, every student is engaged in their own activities; students all learn in different ways,” says architect James Seaman of Fielding Nair International (FNI), who designed the Learning Community for YCIS Beijing. “It’s very important to provide a space that allows for those different activities to take place simultaneously. This kind of learning requires the ability for students to flow out into different areas; maybe one student is in a classroom, one is with a teacher, other students break out into a common area to work in groups with their peers or individually; what’s important is they’re in charge of how they learn best and the learning community allows them to find the appropriate space to do that.”

FNI are educational specialists, who have worked with prestigious schools across the globe, and Seaman is clear about the need for a new approach to meet the challenges our children will face in their careers.

“If you take a look at a traditional model,” he says, “it’s really just a carbon copy of the same kinds of spaces over and over: the same size of space lined along a corridor. With that kind of structure, you don’t really have a lot of variety; learners don’t have the opportunity to really engage in a lot of activities.

“With 21st century learning, different modes of learning are available: you have collaboration, traditional direct instruction, project-based learning, and a whole lot of different activities that can take place. The biggest difference with the overall space is you have a variety of spaces: small rooms, medium rooms, big rooms, open spaces, and lots of flexibility and ease of movement for teachers and students between them.”

Seaman sees this variety of spaces as key to the collaborative aspects of the learning community.

“It allows students to collaborate in open spaces; you can also have small group rooms to have students come together and have acoustical privacy (and no distractions). It also allows for informal collaboration. For instance, in a common area, a student may be working on an individual project when another student walks by who may be interested in what they’re working on and makes connections from what they themselves are doing to what their peer is doing, which then allows them to start to work together. Student work is visible to all, which allows students to learn from their peers and collaborate with one another.”

The design also promotes creativity.

“Students require large spaces to work on projects, to do and build things, and to work with their hands,” Seaman says. “In the learning community, we’ve created a maker space that allows these things to happen. The flooring is hard surface flooring and there’s a sink that allows for those wet, messy projects that students love to create. The setting is also important: the space lets in a lot of natural light, which helps to inspire the students to be more creative.”

And it’s not just the students who make up the Learning Community.

“One major change we see is how teachers work with each other. In the traditional setting, teachers are isolated from their peers; they may interact with a teacher lounge, but most of the time they’re teaching in their individual classrooms. The culture now really changes in that they’re willing collaborators. The students pick up on this collaboration, allowing them to emulate how their teachers behave.”

Workplaces are already changing in response to the demands of a new century, with open offices, hot desking and breakout rooms increasingly the norm. Now schools are beginning to think differently about how they use space too.

If you would like to attend YCIS Beijing’s Open Day on the Learning Community on March 2, please register at Yoopay or RSVP through info@bj.ycef.com.

This post is sponsored by YCIS Beijing. 

Photos and Video: Courtesy of YCIS Beijing

I always told myself I’d never be one of those parents who uses their kids to interpret for them. Now, after 15 months in Beijing, I’m one of those parents who uses their kids to interpret for them.
Noah (10) and Joseph (7) attend Yew Chung International School (YCIS) of Beijing, and their Chinese proficiency has accelerated so fast that it’s left their mother and I choking on their dust. One reason for this, I’m convinced, is YCIS Beijing’s co-teaching model, in which classes are taught simultaneously in both English and Chinese. They’re learning the language not only formally in lessons, but also from hearing it spoken all day long. As a result it comes naturally to them, and they’re able to understand and respond easily in real life situations.
To put this to the test, I took them down to the market to buy some vegetables.
“Get some potatoes,” I tell the boys, “and I’ll make chips.” (That’s French fries to you non-Brits.)
Their enthusiasm for the task immediately increases.
“土豆 多少钱?” (tǔdòu duōshao qián) they ask – how much are potatoes?
“土豆三 块一 斤,” (tǔdòu sān kuài yī jīn) the stallholder answers – potatoes are RMB 3 for half a kilogram.
(The jīn is a traditional Chinese weight, sometimes in English called a “catty”, which is where we get the word “[tea]caddy” from. It’s been metrically rounded to 500 grams, or 600 grams in Taiwan, and remains the usual measure for food in both markets and supermarkets.)
The boys pick out some spuds and hand them over to be weighed.

“If we were in the south of China I’d have asked for 马铃薯 (mǎlíngshǔ),” Noah tells me. “土豆 there means peanuts.”
We buy lettuce (生菜, shēng cài) and tomatoes (西红柿, xī hóng shì). “That means ‘western red persimmon’,” Noah says, and I am amazed. When I was his age I didn’t even know what a persimmon was.

“二十四块”(èrshísì kuài) is the final bill. I hand the money to Joseph, who counts out RMB 24.

“你的中文说得很好,” (nǐde zhōngwén shuōde hĕn hǎo), the stallholder says to the boys, and even I understand that, because I’ve heard it said to them so often: “You speak Chinese very well.”
Joseph says “谢谢.”
Then she turns to the man who has been watching the 老外 children shopping.
“这些男孩真的漂亮,” (zhèxiē nánhái zhēnde piàoliang), she says.
“What does that mean?” I ask Noah, and he blushes.
“She said these boys are really handsome.”
Of course. They take after their father. Ahem.
But it’s YCIS Beijing we have to thank for their 中文说得很好.

This post is sponsored by YCIS Beijing

Photos: Uni

Beijing’s newcomers might be surprised to find international tuition fees equivalent to that of college tuition and lament the large portion education takes up of their overall budget. Over the last few years, schools have begun offering discounts and scholarships to either attract the finest of students in Beijing’s competitive school market or to act on their values.
The good news is that Beijing’s international school facilities and class offerings place them with the best internationally, but you know what they say: quality has a price. While no parent wants to choose their child’s education based on cost, the reality is that every family has to consider what they can afford. However, there is hope. Many international schools offer merit scholarships to both new and existing students, helping you save money.

Beijing City International School (BCIS)
Secondary students (age 14 and above) currently enrolled at the school, new students, as well as students of international families intending to relocate to Beijing are eligible for their annual merit and academic scholarships.
The merit scholarship is awarded based on sports, mathematics, science and technology, as well as the arts. Students must submit a portfolio showcasing their merits, an application essay, two letters commending their character, as well as previous academic records. Merit Scholarships, once awarded, renew each year until the student graduates.
The academic scholarship is awarded for academic achievements, proven with exemplary English, Math, and Chinese exam results. Students are to turn in a personal statement, two character references, and previous school records. Student recipients of the Academic Scholarship are subject for review for their academics, behavior, and community involvement each year.
Age range: 2-18
Grades offered: Toddler-Grade 12
School type: IB World School
Admits: Chinese and Foreign Passport Holders
admissions@bcis.cn

Yew Chung International School of Beijing (YCIS Beijing)
YCIS’ Overall Achievement Scholarship can cover all of a student’s tuition fees up to four years. Students must demonstrate both excellence in academics and a commitment to learning. Well-rounded students should have contributed via charity and service to their community, acting on YCIS values.  Scholarship recipients are subject to annual review.
The Subject Specific Scholarship awards a 50 percent tuition discount, for the next school year, to passionate students of language and literature, music and performing arts, or sports. Applicants should show proficiency and zeal in their specific subject. For example, students (Year 7 and above) who have passed the Grade 4 at the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music can apply for YCIS Beijing’s Music Scholarship.
Age range: 2-18
Grades offered: Kindergarten 2 to Year 13
School type: International K-12 school
Admits: Foreign Passport Holders Only
enquiry@bj.ycef.com

Beijing World Youth Academy (BWYA)
Existing students are awarded scholarships in the form of tuition fee reductions at the end of each school year. Students are evaluated based on their academic distinction, development in their chosen subjects, and dedication to the community.
Age range: 5-18;
Grades offered: Kindergarten -12
School type: Independent international school
Admits: Chinese and Foreign Passport Holders
admissions@ibwya.net

The British School of Beijing, Shunyi
Students at British School of Beijing, Shunyi can pay their tuition three times out of the year, but receive a 3 percent discount if paid in full at the beginning of the year. Families are also eligible sibling discounts, 5 percent for the third child and 10 percent for the fourth child. An academic scholarship policy is in place; further details are available from the school.
Age range: 1-18
Grades offered: Pre-Nursery to Year 13
School type: International school
Admits: Foreign Passport Holders Only
admissions@britishschool.org.cn

Canadian International School of Beijing (CISB)
Existing students can be nominated for a Merit Scholarship (sixth grade and up) or apply for an Academic Scholarship (high school only). The former is judged by a committee, which bases their decision on the student’s behavior, contributions, academics, as well as skills and talents. The Merit Scholarship is awarded to students with positive attitudes and exemplary work ethic. The latter is based on academics and social contributions to both the school and global community. The Academic Scholarship is a tuition discount between 20 and 25 percent, depending on the candidate’s test scores.
Age range: 18 months-18 years
Grades offered: Nursery to Grade 12
School type: International day school
Admits: Foreign Passport Holders Only
admissions@cis-beijing.com

Keystone Academy Beijing
Keystone Academy welcomes the best of candidates from all over the world, offering merit scholarships to offset tuition costs. All of their merit-based scholarship awards are RMB 25,000, but can be increased with need-based awards to cover the entire tuition.
A merit-based program, Founders’ Scholarship, rewards applicants who excel academically, demonstrate good character, and show promise in contributing to the Academy’s learning community.
The Junzi scholarship rewards students who resemble the original Confucian idea of a scholarly gentleman, or junzi, such as knowledge, compassion, discipline, and virtue. The committee chooses recipients who have both demonstrated leadership skills in their previous school environments and excelled in academics. The Junzi scholarship is only available to students applying for the International Baccalaureate Diploma program in grades 10 and 11, with a total amount from RMB 90,000 to RMB 180,000 and is valid for the entire diploma program as long as the recipient maintains their academic performance as a positive member of the school community.
Age range: 5-19
Grades offered: Foundation Year up to Grade 11 in 2016
School type: Local day and boarding School with an international curriculum
Admits: Chinese and Foreign Passport Holders
admission@keystoneacademy.com

House of Knowledge (HoK)
The school offers scholarships, discounts, and payment plans. Tuition payments can be paid in two installments, every six months. Their discounts are numerous, and we calculated that excluding possible embassy, corporate, and sibling discounts, parents can already reduce tuition by 28 percent.
In addition, HoK also offers the SME Scholarship for entrepreneurs and families working in smaller businesses. The scholarship is in the form of discounted tuition, up to sixty percent, and is available for children between the ages of 5 and 8.
Age range: 18 months -11 years
Grades offered: Pre-K – Elementary
School type: International School and Kindergarten
Admits: Chinese and Foreign Passport Holders
admissions@hokschools.com

Harrow International School Beijing (Harrow Beijing)
Harrow Beijing offers the International Leaders’ Scholarship for the best international students (foreign nationals only), which reduces tuition by 60 percent. Students must be age 5 and above, where lower school students are assessed with age-appropriate testing. Upper school applicants are assessed in five areas: English proficiency, modern foreign languages, sports, music and creative arts, community contribution, and leadership ability. The financial means of the family are taken into consideration on a case by case basis in the awarding of the scholarship.
Age range: 2-18 years old
Grades offered: Pre-Nursery to Sixth Form
School type: International school
Admits: Qualified Chinese and Foreign Passport Holders
admissions@harrowbeijing.cn

Western Academy of Beijing (WAB)
They accept financial aid applications from all WAB families, new and old.   The school processes applications one at a time, determining grants (if the grant can be full, half, or capped percentage) based on each individual case, and works flexibly with all families receiving support.
In addition, WAB students participate in the US National Merit Scholarship (NMSC) selection process, with the possibility of gaining USD 2,000-2,500 scholarship to be applied to tuition and other study expenses. US National Merit Scholarship is for students applying for universities in the US.
Age range: 3-18
Grades offered: Early Years to Grade 12
School type: Non-profit, independent international school
Admits: Foreign Passport Holders Only

Other Schools
Quite a few Beijing international schools have need based scholarships and discounts that are awarded on a case by case basis. Ganeinu International School and MAC, for example, reviews need-based scholarships depending on space and individual circumstances.  The French embassy has scholarship opportunities for citizens that, once received, can be applied to the International French School of Beijing (LFIP). Daystar Academy has offered scholarships in the past based on both need and fit, but at the time of publishing their policies were under review.
To find out if your desired school can work with your family’s financial situation, visit the school of your choice, or contact admissions, and ask about the possibilities for a scholarship, discount, or payment plan.
Finally, if the international schools of your choice cost more than your wallet can handle, also consider Chinese schools with international departments. Such schools come with similar programs, such as the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP), but a much smaller price tag.
Check the 2016 School Choice Guide available on our website under the schools tab or in our official wechat account under bjk best.

This article originally appeared on pages 27-29 of the September 2016 Issue of beijingkids magazine. Click here for your free online copy. To find out how you can obtain a hard copy, contact distribution@truerun.com.

PHOTO: COURTESY OF YCIS