BACK TO SCHOOL

On 31 August, Middle School welcomed students back for the new academic year. Parents and students stepped into two different classrooms that day: one to learn initiative, the other to learn how to truly see a child.

Lesson One, for Students: Don’t Wait for the Script — Write Your Own Lines

It began with Woody’s confusion in Toy Story 5 — “Am I not useful anymore?” From there, the First Lesson unfolded across four questions: the anxiety of being replaced, NPC or protagonist, what makes one “irreplaceable”, and three choices for the new term.

One line from the teacher cut to the heart:

AI can answer, but it never asks on its own; it can generate, but it never takes responsibility on its own. What separates an NPC from a protagonist is not ability — it is initiative.

Three choices followed —

Don’t wait for the script — write your own lines: do one thing no one asked, but that you truly want to do;

Don’t fear being ordinary — fear giving up initiative: ask a question, raise your hand, help a classmate once;

Don’t compare functions — compare warmth: a little more kindness, one more ‘thank you’, a little more patience.

The lesson closed with a review of the Student Behaviour Policy. Left on the board was this line: your irreplaceability is not somewhere in the future — it lives in every choice you make today.

Lesson Two, for Parents: A Conversation About “Seeing”

Principal Meng first welcomed all parents on behalf of the school and thanked them for their trust and support. He briefly reviewed the school’s achievements over the past year, introduced the key priorities for the new term, and expressed his hope that home and school would stay in close communication and work hand in hand, accompanying the children through a steady and fulfilling two years of middle school.

Two Grade 8 groups presented their Chinese project-based learning: Tea Ritual Studies: The Charm of Huishan and Two Journeys to Huishan: Su Shi’s Open-Hearted Wisdom. The students presented their research themselves — and spoke candidly about the disagreements and persistence behind it.

Vice Principal Zhang Xinyuan then laid out the path ahead for the students: 167 university offers for the Class of 2026, an average of five per student, with 85% from institutions ranked among the world’s top 50; curriculum structure and differentiated instruction; key IGCSE selection milestones; adolescent development and the growing number of countries legislating social media restrictions for minors. Teachers from the English, Science, Mathematics and International Humanities departments took the stage in turn to outline subject expectations and exchange ideas on how families can support learning at home.

In the parent forum, two parents sat down to talk around the theme ‘Seeing Children, Helping Them Become Their Best Selves’, sharing the moments when they had felt anxious, hesitated — and finally chose to trust their child. There were no standard answers, yet every parent in the room saw something of themselves.

Growth is a process of noticing, choosing, trying, and becoming a better self. May our children be the protagonists of their own stories; may home and school move forward as one.