In December, SUIS Qingpu Primary School students had a wonderful time of listening and discussion with the Head of our Primary School division, Helen Liu, in the Guoxiang Ancient Scholar’s House.
G1 and G2
The first group of small guests for this tea party gathering, our first graders, entered the Ancient House with curiosity and excitement as they started their first special date in their primary school life.
In just three months of primary school, they have experienced the beauty of the school and have established friendships with their classmates. We believe they will work together better and better over the months to come.
The student representatives from Grade 2 were selected by their classmates with the theme of “encouraging and discovering beauty.” These little delegates received praise and trust from their classmates, and they walked into the Scholar’s House with a sense of pride and responsibility. Mrs. Liu asked, “What do you expect of yourself?”. This question inspired the children to be warm, sincere and reflective in expressing themselves.
The Grade 2 students spoke freely, of their care for friendships, care for their teachers and of their enthusiasm for learning – they are like a seed that sprouts and grows slowly. It was clear from this gathering that school is a place which both provides them with the beginnings of growth and stimulates their learning and creative inspiration.
G3
The third grade student representatives directly expressed their feelings regarding their participation in the tea party: ”Happiness, excitement and a sense of honour.”
G4 and G5
Student representatives from Grades 4 and 5 were selected by teachers of various disciplines and according to the students’ class comments and homework performance. They put forward a lot of their own views and many meaningful questions.
Helen Liu recorded the children’s suggestions and discussed with them measures that could help to improve things. For example, it was suggested that the school recruit library volunteers from senior students to help library teachers organize books together. This suggestion immediately received a warm response from the tea party students who expressed their willingness to help the school make the library cleaner. In the tea gathering’s atmosphere of freely sharing ideas and thoughts, the students’ spirit of ‘ownership’ was further developed and the distance between the school management and the students further narrowed.
Mrs. Liu also put forward two expectations for all student representatives based on her own experience. One was “self-confidence and self-discipline”, and the other was, “Pursue tangible progress with our dreams.” Within the Qingpu Campus, the purpose of every teacher-student activity is to listen and express, to ignite and inspire, to trust and encourage.