Good morning, my dear students and teachers!
The gym is full of students and staff today. It looks like we’ll have to work out the queues for next year’s flag-raising ceremony.
Last Monday, our primary and secondary school started and the little babies from nursery school daycare class spent their three trial days there very happily. Today, all of us begin our new journey of the 2018-2019 School Year, so it’s a very meaningful date.
Welcome all of you back and let us also warmly welcome new staff members and students to join our big family!
一、Sense of Belonging
On this special occasion, I’d like to share three key words with everyone.
Dear students, WUIS includes kindergarten, parimary school and secondary school, and you will not only meet students from the same class or grade as you, but also students who are much smaller or older than you, so your behavior represents your image on one hand, and on the other hand, it affects other people.
WUIS is a school with the fusion culture of East and West. I’d like to share some of my ideas about “fusion” with you: 1. People from different countries and districts could feel proud and confident of the culture they grow in; 2. Each teacher and student can respect others’ culture and values and make everyone at our school feel a true sense of belonging; 3. All teachers and students can build a unique and inclusive WUIS culture together which will be experienced by any potential visitors.
As an old Chinese saying goes, Mount Tai accepts all the small stones so it becomes this magnificent; rivers and seas do not reject any small stream which consummates their own depth in return. Let uswork together to build an open and kind culture at WUIS and help every student and teacher find their own sense of belonging here.
二、Responsibilities
The world can be very large and it can also be very small. If you measure it with your feet, it may take years; if you measure it with airplanes or high-speed trains, the distance between people can be shortened right away; if you measure it with words and images, the world will be presented in front of you immediately.
We may hear about or see various conflicts every day, such as the Sino-US trade war; high temperature of the North Pole; environmental degradation of oceans; etc. We may not be part of these things, but what we can do is keep ourselves updated; try to find out the rea-sons underneath; think about our responsibilities at the moment; discuss the future change; think about how to deal with conflicts and how to be an individual with better sense of morality and responsibility by reflecting on our own lives. It is impossible for us to turn the tables of the trade war, but we could avoid conflicts in our own lives and solve problems in a wiser and more peaceful way; We can not turn down the temperature of the North Pole, but we could adjust the temperature in our own rooms; we do not need to dive into the bottom of oceans to help marine organism, but we could reduce using of plastic bags. Bearing responsibilities does not mean that we have to be on site of the focal incidents, more importantly, we should be willing to think deeply about the relationships between us and those incidents and take some feasible and effective actions right away.
Other than what I’ve mentioned above, teachers do the teaching job well is another way of bearing responsibility; students work hard is also considered as taking responsibility, just as the saying goes, diligence is the path to the mountain of knowledge and hard-working is the boat to the endless sea of learning.
三、Vision and Hope
Hope is like a beam of light from afar, guiding our directions and endowing us with the power we need to move forward. Our beautiful visions for the new semester include a wide range of things, from the over all goals of school development to teachers’ teaching plans and students’ expectations of their own growth.
All my dear teachers, I hope you could remain true to your original aspirations and be faithful to your inner hearts. Always remember that expertise and virtue are two key qualities of being a good teacher. Let us all keep exploring on the road of education and teaching with the spirit of diligence and perseverance!
All my dear students, I hope you could keep challenging yourselves, cherish your time, and learn how to live and be a qualified citizen. All the 12th grade graduates, please value your last year, live and learn well to make your stay at our school happy and productive. Remember, it is never too late to pursue your dreams!
Finally, let us all enthusiastically applaud and welcome the upcoming2018-2019 school year!
Angel Lin
B.A degree from East China University of Science and Technology, Outstanding Graduate in Shanghai; Postgraduate in Education from Hong Kong University, MBA, Outstanding Graduate of HKU; Postgraduate in Education from Sunderland University.
Angel joined Xiehe Education Group in 2008, worked in SUIS (Hongqiao Campus and Wanyuan Campus).In 2013 she started to prepare and set up Wuxi Campus, and now she is Co-principal of Wuxi United International School. She is one of the first school founders out of Shanghai Xiehe Schools. She is one of the Pioneer Program initiators and designers, and an actively promoter of the implementation of P4C (Philosophy for Children) curriculum.
