上海协和尚音国际学校开设加拿大BC课程部 - 2014年05月05日

OUR program will be small, safe, secure and challenging," said Richard Eaton, principal of Shanghai United International School's new Shang Yin Canadian BC Primary campus. Earlier this month, Eaton and his colleagues met with prospective parents, introducing them to their new Grade 6 curriculum, which will be authorized by the Canadian Province of British Columbia (BC). 

Since 2010, Shanghai United International School has operated a BC offshore secondary school on Wanyuan Road in Minhang District. Its current project involves transforming Eaton's school, also in Minhang, into the first BC offshore primary program in China that will admit Chinese mainland learners. Part of this process involves expanding the school to offer Grade 6.

Grade 6 in many Shanghai international schools is the first year of middle school. For the Grade 6 learner this can mean being the youngest child in the school.

"Grade 6 students at Shang Yin will be the oldest students in the school," said Eaton. "This will enable us to extend and challenge them through leadership projects and service work in and outside of our school community." 

Christopher Purnell, Shang Yin's newly appointed Grade 6 teacher added: "We will offer a unique bilingual experience, featuring both an Eastern and Western homeroom teacher, together teaching the bulk of the Grade 6 courses." 

According to Eaton, this will ease communication with parents, as in many international middle schools Grade 6 is delivered by a team of specialists and the homeroom teacher usually does not speak Chinese. 

"Having two teachers leading the majority of the program will also allow us to facilitate a highly differentiated curriculum that will target the needs of every learner, helping us reach the highest standards possible, especially when it comes to language instruction," Eaton said.

Curriculum integration

The program will be guided - as will all of Shang Yin's programs from August - by the PLOs (Prescribed Learning Outcomes) of the British Columbia Ministry of Education. The Grade 6 PLO document is an 87-page volume that highlights what must be taught and learned in a BC school in Canada or offshore. This includes Language Arts (English and Chinese), Dance, Music, Visual Arts, Health and Career Education, Math (which will be taught bilingually), Physical Education, Science, and Social Studies. Many students who attend Shang Yin will also be able to learn a third language - currently Japanese or French.

"What will make our Grade 6 truly unique will be the high level of curriculum integration," added Rhys O'Loughlin, one of the architects of the new program, and the school's Western Curriculum coordinator. As he explained to parents, some middle schools compartmentalize learning too early, separating it into what appear to be neat, tidy, academic disciplines.

"But in the real world learning and innovating requires us to use and apply knowledge and concepts from different academic areas to solve problems and achieve excellence," said O'Loughlin.

This is what students at Shang Yin will be asked to do in Purnell's class.

Eaton explained that this integrated approach will be reflected at the end of each term when children present their bi-annual inquiry projects. These require learners to use skills and knowledge from a variety of areas to answer a question or solve a real-world problem. Projects are shared with parents in a student-led conference at the end of each term, where the child will articulate their learning gains, challenges and future goals. "We will put the Grade 6 learner at the center of the learning process," Eaton said. 

"Students will be integrating IT into all aspects of their learning in Grade 6, while taking charge of things like our school garden, running our Student Council and facilitating school events," explained Purnell. 

In addition to this, they will be expected to fulfill the BC government's requirement for daily physical activity, even when a PE lesson isn't scheduled. 

Both Purnell and O'Loughlin love music, and that's one of the reasons that they have chosen to work at Shang Yin, a school where music and arts transcend the curriculum. "Music isn't just something we learn and perform, it's also a tool for interacting with and extending learning," said O'Loughlin. 

So, if it's a small, intimate Grade 6 experience you're seeking for your child, where students are taught by a progressive, cutting-edge Canadian Curriculum right here in Shanghai, Shang Yin Canadian BC Primary campus may be the choice for you.