TES Annual Report

Chinese Language and Culture In the Primary campus, the Chinese department has maintained a curricular emphasis on developing students' Chinese reading comprehension and written expression through the utilisation of authentic source materials and strategically designed questioning techniques. This approach aims to cultivate higher-order thinking abilities and refine students' skills in articulate communication and presentation. A notable departmental initiative, the "Master Chef" project, was inspired by the children's book "How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World" In this cross cultural literary journey, students followed the protagonist's global travels to gather ingredients for an apple pie recipe. The department leveraged this narrative context to deliver instruction on the principles of "sustainable food" - food systems that promote environmental stewardship, economic viability, and social responsibility throughout the production lifecycle. Cross-curricular coordination with the Library faculty facilitated an author visit and workshop to further enrich this learning experience for students. The Chinese Enrichment Programme (CEP) continues to provide an innovative dual-language instructional model for delivering the National Curriculum. CEP students undergo an enriched Chinese language curriculum integrated with explicit development of logical reasoning, mathematical linguistic skills, and parallel English language reinforcement to cultivate advanced bilingual proficiency. Already embedded in Years 1-4, the programme moves up into Year 5 this academic year. In the secondary campus this year, the department's focus was on providing various authentic learning experiences both inside and outside the classroom to enrich language and cultural learning and their application in real life situations. New teaching and learning approaches were initiated and successfully implemented throughout the year. "Teachers' Trees" were created to commemorate Confucius' birthday, while Year 8 students produced documentaries recording their interviews with TES support staff from IT, Maintenance, Student Services, and CA teams, to acknowledge their contributions to the school. Year 9 students applied their cultural knowledge about the origins of Chinese dumplings to design bespoke dumpling recipes that leave the least carbon footprint. High school students utilised their linguistic skills and knowledge of sustainability in designing eco-friendly houses and cities. Additionally, IB Chinese B students interviewed their science teachers in Chinese to broaden their perspectives on sustainability. TES was awarded Best Organisation for the fourth consecutive year at the Chinese Language Festival, and all ESC Chinese teachers received Excellent Teacher Awards once again. TES students showcased remarkable talent in Chinese, with 175 students excelling among 3,000 participants from 150 schools across 21 countries. We secured 69 Champions, 63 First Runners-up, 49 Second Runners-up, and 19 Merit Awards across various categories.

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