Middle School is an important stage in the 16-year continuous education system of SUIS Qingpu, bridging the past and the future. By establishing a three-tiered curriculum composed of the “national curriculum, an integrated Chinese and Western curriculum, and an English-based international curriculum,” the Middle School adheres to holistic education and returns to the essence of education, comprehensively developing students’ core literacy, and leading them to develop in multiple dimensions.
In the sixth and seventh grades, the middle school has specially provided children with a diverse and rich range of selectable courses to help them grow in a personalized way. In Grade Eight, students choose their pathway of further education based on their developmental needs, strengths, and interests. After graduating from Middle School, all students will have a solid academic foundation in all core subject areas and develop critical thinking abilities, which allows our students to seamlessly continue their academic studies in our high school as well as meet the learning requirements of our national high schools.
During the implementation of the three-tiered curriculum, the middle school provides three major areas of personalized development: “core academic courses, quality growth courses, and professional exploration courses.” Together, this helps integrate the learner training goals of SUIS Qingpu and serves to promote the all-around and individualized growth of each student. Among them, the core academic courses aim to consolidate the basic knowledge of core subjects and prepare our students for the selection of multiple pathways for further education. The quality growth curriculum includes a series of moral education courses, outdoor education courses, museum courses, and social and emotional courses (community service courses). It nourishes the soul with universal love, builds multiple values, and enriches personal aesthetic tastes. Professional exploration courses, including CCA elective courses, school team courses, clubs, and career planning courses, help students discover their interests, clarify their strengths, and identify their personal development directions in a variety of exciting experiences.
The middle school classroom environment follows a teaching design that prioritizes experience and understanding, encouraging students to maintain their curiosity and perception, to actively identify problems, and to explore the logic and essence behind them. Problem-based and project-based interdisciplinary learning engages students in projects that require discovery and collaboration, emphasizing the diversity of knowledge itself and the interdisciplinary connections between subjects, placing knowledge in dynamic and applied domains. In this process, our students’ learning is driven by authenticity and relevance, fully mobilizing their personal experiences, exercising their insight, developing their reading and writing skills and meaningful expression abilities, and enabling them to master scientific thinking and research methods. The education outside classroom activities of each grade turns the world into a classroom, helping students perceive the ever-changing external world, expand their practical abilities, focus on the internalization and improvement of students’ comprehensive qualities and sense of social responsibility, and lets learning occur naturally and freely in real life settings outside the campus. We look forward to every student adapting to the future with the attitude of a global citizen.