1. 28 ShanghaiTalk February07
EDUCATION
T
hough only halfway through its
first full year, Shanghai’s newest
international school has already
got a bad case of the What’s-Nexts.
Expansion, it seems, is the good word.
By September 2007, the Western
International School of Shanghai
will be pitting itself against other top
international schools in the city as it
expands its scope to offer nursery
school through Grade 8 education.
The following year, it will again grow,
this time covering up to Grade 13.
What sets WISS apart from all the rest?
“WISS is the only school in
Shanghai that is planning to offer
the International Baccalaureate (IB)
program throughout all grade levels.
We have an international inquiry-
based curriculum, underpinned by
the IB Primary Years Program, Middle
Years Program and Diploma Program,”
explains Meryl Siggs, Primary Principal
of WISS. “Some schools in Shanghai
offer one of the IB programs but WISS
will offer the IB from Nursery through to
Grade 13.” Siggs hails from Australia,
where she helped lead a prominent
Gold Coast school, Trinity Lutheran
College, and its 1500 pupils through IB
authorisation.
An IB foundation is not the only way
in which WISS hopes to “cater to the
needs of the global community”. Two
certified teachers – one native English
speaker and one Chinese – are
present in every classroom to ensure
students have adequate exposure to
local language and culture. This format
ensures that students are immersed in
both English and Mandarin, critical to
WISS’ aim of seeing off fully bilingual
F
or the average young person of
Chinese heritage, Chinese New Year
really boils down to two things—
convincing as many people as possible
that they are familial relations of yours
to squeeze red packets out of them, and
consuming obscene quantities of food and
drink with cousins you didn't know you
had.
I'm not going to comment on how to
extort cash from your kin, but I do have
something to say about Chinese New Year
supping. Do you realize that almost every
animal in the Chinese zodiac will probably
be eaten during Spring Festival? A
Cantonese saying goes, "if it can fly, swim,
or move along the land, it can be eaten."
Chomp your way through the zodiac this
Spring Festival in astrological order:
Rat: Ever stumbled out of a club into
the cold night to be seduced by the scent
of sizzling meat? There is a high chance
those delicious, ridiculously cheap kebabs
are skewered rat meat.
Ox: A member of the holy trinity of
Chinese staple meats. The remaining two
make later appearances in the zodiac.
Tiger: One of only two animals in
the cycle that are unobtainable for
consumption, as the Siberian tiger is a
grade 1 endangered species in China. RMB
900 used to buy you "tiger meat" at a now
defunct restaurant in a Northern Chinese
city, albeit the steaks were actually dog
meat laced with tiger
urine.
Rabbit: This
stringy, fable-favored
critter appears in
hearty stews.
Dragon: Mythic
animal, too bad. Maybe dragon-eye fruit
for dessert?
Snake: You see them coiled in their
cages, and then they're served coiled
on a platter, fried. Snake soup is also a
perennial favorite.
Horse: Or rather, the donkey, is a
Northern staple. The marbled meat
appears as paper-thin cold cuts, and is
also made into pâté.
Sheep: Hot pot is the indisputable king
of wintertime meals, and mutton is the
indispensable hot pot meat.
Monkey: Another Chinese belief is that
eating an animal's organ, or any foodstuff
that resembles a bodily organ, will benefit
that same organ that you possess. Bi-
lobed walnuts thus enrich your brain and
make you smarter. A more direct route to
reaching that same end is eating monkey
brains, which actually does happen in the
Southern provinces and not just in Indiana
Jones films. Chances are you'll go into
cardiac arrest before your IQ improves as
monkey brains contain obscene amounts
of cholesterol.
Chicken: Holy trinity member, perennial
source of problems for the WHO and
striker of fear in the hearts of men,
women, and children worldwide.
Dog: Westerners perpetually ask, "don't
they eat dogs in China?" and then look
appalled when they hear the answer is
"yes." Partake and be forever damned.
Pig: The final and ultimate member of
the holy trinity of Chinese meats. What
better way to herald in the Year of the Pig
than by eating its kind in multitudes of
Chinese dishes?
YOUTHTALK
Michelle Miao
graduates. Students are immersed in
multiple level classes of daily Chinese
and can be exposed to more Chinese
through other subject areas including
art, physical education and music.
In addition to promoting this Sino-
foreign cultural exchange, WISS also
tries to instil a sense of community
spirit in its students. “WISS is
forging community relationships and
supporting the inquiry approach
through field trips,” says Siggs.
Recent outings have included the
local firehouse, retirement home
and children’s home. On these trips,
students are encouraged to explore,
question, and learn through practical
experience. During hairy crab season,
for example, they went to the markets
to buy crabs, then brought the
crustaceans to the classroom to study
before hauling them off to the kitchen
to clean, cook and eat.
Class sizes are small: capacity
is 18 students per class (16 for
Nursery). WISS recruits faculty
internationally, and the team is led
by School Director Dr Alfonso Orsini.
An accomplished educator, Orsino’s
CV highlights include earning his
doctorate at Columbia University’s
Teachers College in New York,
serving as Principal and International
Baccalaureate diploma coordinator at
Newark Academy in Livingston, New
Jersey, and as headmaster at Leysin
American School in Switzerland.
Located 20 minutes from the
Hongqiao/Gubei area, the school
employs a functional design that
purports to cater to children’s
emotional well-being and physical
needs. The first phase of construction,
for the kindergarten and early primary
school years, has been completed.
Phase two is slated to start after
Chinese New Year, and end by the
start of the 2007-08 school year. In
addition to 34 new classrooms, multi-
purpose rooms, 2D and 3D art rooms,
music rooms, a dance studio, black
box and a regular theatres, a boarding
house and a science building
– complete with rooftop greenhouse –
are but a few of the amenities to come.
Plush country club masquerading as
an educational institution? Perhaps.
Upon completion, the school will
consist of 16 acres of landscaped
grounds featuring waterways and
grassy slopes. It will accommodate
900 students from primary through
high school, hardly a large number
when considering the scale of the
WISS project. The relatively small
intake volume, however, is intentional.
“We will never be a very large
international school,” insists Dr. Orsini.
“It is our aim to limit the number of
students so that we can maintain a
close knit and personal community
of four smaller schools located on
the one campus providing quality
education"
As with any international school,
the price tag can prove substantial.
Annual tuition starts at US$5,800
for half-days at Nursery and goes
up to US$20,000 for full attendance
in grades 7 and 8. The rates are
roughly on par or lower than the British
International School and the Shanghai
American School, two established
institutions which will undoubtedly be
watching this newcomer with interest.
Western International School of
Shanghai. 555 Lian Min Lu, Xujing Town,
Qingpu District. Tel: 6976 6388. Email:
admission@wiss.cn. Web: www.wiss.cn
Nothing Old School About It Marissa Moore