TES Annual Report

COMMUNITY AND ENGAGEMENT

The past year has seen a continuation of the community’s re-engagement with the School post-Covid. The campuses have become more central to the life of not only the students and staff, but also the par ents and outside community. This year the traditional Autumn Festival celebrations were replaced by the ‘Night at the Amusement Park’ event, held in October (postponed from June 2023 due to inclement weather), which turned into a very memorable night for all 4,000 community members that were in attendance. The event (set up orig inally as part of the 30th Anniversary celebrations) was extremely well attended, and the Shilin Children’s Amusement Park was a very well received location for the event, giving the students a safe, enclosed location to roam around and both enjoy the amusement rides and the space to play. The parents were able to socialise and enjoy the food, the rides and the musical entertainment from the primary and sec ondary students. The students, as always, were amazing in their efforts and quality of performances. The fireworks display was a symbolic way to end the 30th anniversary celebrations and was greatly enjoyed by those at the amusement park. The Christmas Bazaar was also a great success with a larger attendance this year, which was made pos sible without the need for Covid-necessitated pre-ordered tickets, and hence we enjoyed the return of friends of the TES community and also the local community joining the event. The entertainment pro gramme, with so many students from all sections and both campuses taking part, both in music and dance, is always one of the highlights. Student and parent work to offer games, food, Christmas wreaths and much more, are also central to the success of the event. The final major community event of the year was the Parent’s Gala organised by the Parent Support Council (PSC). The event held at the W Hotel on April 27th saw 300+ parents, teachers, and friends of the TES community join together for the ‘The Roaring ‘20s’ themed event. The parents of the PSC put in a huge effort to hold this social event for the entire TES community and there was amazing engagement as a community. There were many regular annual events which the students, staff, and parents enjoyed throughout the year both inside and outside school, such as the Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony at the Regent Hotel, the ECCT Christmas Luncheon, the European Christmas Market, the German Christmas Market, the ETTO European Festival, the TES Flea market, and the TES Europe Day celebration, to name a few of the larger events. At Section Co-Curricular Activity (CCA) level, there are many more activities and events that are engaged in which connect the community to the students, whether they be in sport, music, eco groups, charity work, CAS service projects, and much more. For example, in February, TES students and staff attended two community events: Eleven ESC musicians performed at Shin Kong Memorial Hospital as part of a school-wide community initiative; also, five stu dents attended a coffee morning at The Community Center to usher in the Year of the Dragon. The stu dents shared Chinese cultural traditions for Lunar New Year celebrations with the attendees. We would also like to thank all the efforts made by our parent community, represented by their section parent associations and also coming together in the Parent Support Council. This combination of par ents and the school working together enhances the TES experience for everyone!

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