TES Annual Report

The International Award It was a busy 2023-24 school year for students involved in the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award programme at TES, with over 30 participants in years H1 to H4 taking part. Our students showed strong commitment towards completing the requirements for their Bronze and Silver awards, and we were able to award certificates to three Bronze and eight Silver Students over the course of the year. The Award programme is tough but it is about individual challenges, not about reaching specific standards set by someone else. Young people design their own award activities, set their own goals, and record their own progress. The only person they compete against is themselves, by challenging their own beliefs about what they can achieve. Many of the activities that students chose as part of their character strength development are offered as part of our CCA program at TES, including all kinds of sports, music, art, dance, and service clubs such as PEAK, Interstellar Yearbook, The Red Cross and Amnesty International. Undoubtedly, the most memorable part of the process is the Adventurous Journey component, where participants plan and undertake an outdoor expedition with their friends and peers, after suitable preparation and training. In Term 1, 13 students in H3 started training for their Silver Award expeditions. The highlight for the teams was the qualifying expedition to Fulong in December, during which they tackled some difficult, off-the-beaten-track trails under driving rain and in muddy conditions! Also, a determined group of 15 H1 students began their Bronze Award in January and finished their outdoor journeys by May, following routes along the Old Jinbaoli Trail, through Erziping Recreation Area and up over Mt. Cising in Yangmingshan National Park. Debate and Competitions TES students have regularly participated in debate competitions and Model United Nations conferences throughout the year. It was pleasing to see our students going beyond participating in the events to organising them for TES students and other schools. Other CCAs There are so many CCAs taking place every day- at lunchtimes, after school, on weekends - that there is rarely a quiet place on campus. Whether it be students conducting interviews for PEAK magazine or INTERSTELLAR Yearbook, or events by the Pride Alliance, the Sustainability team, or House Captains, there will be engagement in some form as our students continue their Unique Journeys. Field Trips and Residential Trips This year, Unique Journeys included actual journeys as COVID restrictions and travel concerns were finally gone, and as such, in addition to one-day field trips, residential trips were back in full. There were over 30 residential trips, both in Taiwan and overseas. Some of the notable on-island ones were the Camp Taiwan residentials for various age levels across all sections; the return of the week-long Year 6 and CM2 Graduation trips to the south of the island; and secondary and high school trips (mentioned in previous sections of this report), to Xiaoliuqiu, plus the Atayal Tribe visit in Yilan. Overseas trips were for international competitions via the FOBISIA network, sport competitions, music events, STEAM, and also cultural exchanges - in the French Section to San Francisco and in the German Section a Student Council trip to Singapore. The experiences and enjoyment the students get from these trips goes way beyond what they learn for the purposes of classes. The memories last long into the future and all the sections value these highly. We thank all the teaching staff that organise and supervise these trips and make them possible. In March our students were very successful in both the Geography and Science Competitions, with our students playing a role in the organisation of this event. The same success was also seen in the History Bee and Bowl Competition.

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