Principal’s Weekly Message 2020-7-31

Friday July 31st, 2020

Dear parents,

Hope this letter find you and your children well!

In this week’s parent letter, we would like to first share with you the positive changes in the leadership team of the school. In the August, we will welcome the arrival of the new secondary principal Lillian Zhao! Lillian Zhao graduated from School of Foreign Languages and Literature, Beijing Normal University, majoring in English. In the first ten years of her work experience, she once worked as secondary English teacher, head teacher of experimental classes and the head of lesson preparation group at The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China. Because her diligence in education studies and teaching work, she was promoted to work at Haidian District Teacher Training School in Beijing, where she was engaged in English teaching studies, research on the design of high school and university entrance exams as well as teacher training work. She has worked in the teacher training school for 11 years, including three years as the director of the international curriculum center, when she coordinated the teaching and research work of Chinese teaching in various disciplines of different high school international school divisions in Haidian District. During her service at Haidian District Teacher Training School, Principal Zhao participated and led numerous national level English teaching and research programs and won the National English Teacher Gardener Award. She was named the leader in English discipline in Beijing and was selected as a member of the cultivation project for Beijing primary and secondary famous teachers, and English expert database of Beijing university entrance examination.

Joining CKWA, principal Lillian Zhao will bring more positive development for the secondary school, especially in the academic improvement, the implementation of school-based international curriculum and the effective teaching strategies of bilingual teaching.

To support the cross-culture management of the secondary school and the holistic and balanced education, to consolidate the secondary school international curriculum and international exam and assessment, we are delighted to announce that Mr. James Craig, will shoulder the role of the international head of the secondary school and under the leadership of principal Lillian Zhao.

Here, we would like to sincerely appreciate the work of principal Fuli Wang. Many thanks for her contribution and leadership to CKWA in the past two years. We fully understand that she could

not continue to perform the role of head of secondary anymore due to the epidemic situation and the needs of the family. Best wishes to Principal Fuli and her family!

Another important communication of this week’s letter is to invite all students and families to participate in the test work of the TEAMS, an online learning tool! Since the beginning of 202021 academic year, TEAMS will become the learning progress management platform for CKWA teachers to do academic communication with students. It will include all learning materials, curriculum info, teaching ppt, class assessment, after-class assignment, and will be used for project teamwork among students, and online teaching and learning, etc. TEAMs are not only suitable for routine school day, but also for online learning. It is a publicly recognized and adopted student learning management platform among the international schools. Please pay attention to the communication letter on Teams Test and Guidance on Teams Test issued this week.

In the second semester of the last academic year, during the epidemics, as an important project that the school aims to develop in its facilities, we reclaimed the CKWA Green Garden. The Green Garden covers 12 mu of land and was planted with a variety of vegetables and fruits. It will become a piece of experimental land for student to have hands-on experience, to get close to the nature, touch the soil and enjoy organic food. Because of epidemics, students didn’t get to build the Green Garden in person this year, but our Garden still boasts an excellent harvest for the first time. We have reaped cucumbers, tomatoes, pakchoi, okra and green beans, etc. We have also planted some sunflowers to add more beautiful colors to the Garden. These sweets fruits and vegetables are waiting for the return of our students and will also add a highlight to our cafeteria. And our science teachers cannot wait to bring our students to the Green Garden to do science studies!

This week, we have received the name list for the second batch of international teachers who have been approved to return to Beijing. From the confirmation of the name list to the completion of the process, from the visa application of their country, to the confirmation of the air ticket, from nucleic acid test to returning to Beijing, our overseas teachers have been actively cooperating with every step along the process.

We still remember the unforgettable moment when all Kaiwen families and students participate in the online flag-raising ceremony during the epidemics! As a representation of CKWA’s philosophy of building a school deeply rooted in China, we are also actively planning the patriotism education, and the establishment of the young pioneers and the Communist Youth League. We will share with you about relevant news at the beginning of the new school year.

Maria Montessori, the great child educator from Italy, had many excellent descriptions about natural education in her book The Discovery of Child. She believes in letting children get close to the nature, instead of asking children to stop causing trouble. Yes, during the vacation, it is inevitable that children cause all kinds of trouble for parents. When we try hard to avert these troubles, we may as well give children some freedom to get close to the nature and allow children to learn and grow by trial and error!

Christine Xu
Executive Principal, CKWA

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