June 12th, 2010 played host to the third annual WISS sports carnival. Students, parents and teachers alike spent the morning participating in a variety of games and activities such as ping pong ball relays, “egg and spoon” and “sponge” relays and other such games.

The afternoon saw the entire school gather on the field for the running of the WISS “Big Race”.  Starting with the nursery students and extending in distance with each older grade, students participated in a long distance race.  As the course varied with each year level spectators cheered on as the runners sped around different areas of the school grounds.  Students ran with gusto and the participation and enthusiasm was second to none.   

The emphasis of the day was on fun and participation and going by the smiles on the faces and the cheers from the crowed it is certain the goals of the day were achieved with all having a very enjoyable time and no doubt looking forward already to next year’s carnival.

May 31 2010, Shanghai Daily, by Nancy Zhang

INSPIRED by Bob Geldof’s Live Aid concert, a grade-5 class at Western International School of Shanghai (WISS) has found their own way to support charity with music.

Keeping it small and close to the heart, the students have composed one song called “Make a Dream Come True” to help the cousin of two of the students in the class. Thanks to kind local sponsors, the song has been made into CDs and proceeds from sales will help purchase a wheelchair for two-year-old Chloe O’Neill who has spinal muscular atrophy.

The CD sale next Monday kicks off a week of fund-raising at WISS to raise awareness and money to treat spinal muscular atrophy, a degenerative condition that shrinks and weakens the muscles.

The CD costs 40 yuan (US$5.86).

The week’s activities include a crazy hair day, cookie sales and drama performances.

Organizers hope to raise at least 90,000 yuan for a wheelchair for Chloe.

Anne Drouet is the music teacher who started the project during one music lesson with students aged around 10 years old. Studying Live Aid as an example of music as an agent of change, the students were asked to come up with charity songs of their own. Each of the 17 students was asked to come up with an idea. Twins Sarah and Daniel Herten from Australia immediately thought of their cousin Chloe back home who suffers from spinal muscular atrophy.

“We watched a video of Chloe in the class for inspiration for the song,” says Drouet. “It was very sad when we saw her trying to roll over, especially for me as I’m a mother. But she’s strong. As well as her tears, we see her laughing and smiling.”

Every student came up with one word to describe how they felt and in the end the class chose “hope” as the word that best described the essence of their song for Chloe, “Make a Dream Come True.”

“The title is my favorite part,” says Daniel Herten, Chloe’s cousin. “Whoever listens will understand and try to help.”

The twins see her twice a year when they return to Australia. “We try to spend as much time with her as we can and do fun things together,” says Sarah Herten.

The CD is a community effort as local expat Michael Luevano sponsored the professional recording and CD production, and Drouet’s husband designed the CD cover.

Only 300 CDs have been made but more can be produced to meet demand.

School librarian Fiona Collins helped Drouet organize the weeklong activities, including sales of merchandise donated by a spinal muscular atrophy charity. Proceeds from merchandise sales go to the charity, while all other donations go to Chloe.

The fund-raising drive ends on June 15, when the total collected will beannounced in a live Skype call with Chloe’s family in Australia.

“I’ve been overwhelmed with the generosity of everyone involved. One kid in the school gave me a bag of coins because it was the entire contents of his piggy bank,” says Drouet. “Another boy knocked on doors in his compound to collect money for us.”

WISS is an International Baccalaureate school in Qingpu District.

To support the cause, contact Anne Drouet (adrouet@wiss.cn) or Fiona Collins (fcollins@wiss.cn) or phone 6976-6388.

In aligning with Performing Arts and Music the Western International School of Shanghai (WISS) is preparing a new Music and Drama programme in its Secondary School for the 2010/2011 academic year. Students in Grade 6 and Grade 7 will study one semester of Visual Arts and one semester of Music and Drama (MaD), thus giving them a cross section of all the major arts WISS intends to stimulate within the school community. As it develops, the Drama option will be extended right up to Diploma Theatre in Grade 11 and Grade 12. WISS is capitalizing on its new Science, Technology and Arts building to nurture its students’ love for the arts.

The Visual Arts Program involves students in exploring creative self-expression, media techniques and skills, and risk-taking as they engage in the process of creating art such as painting on canvas, sculpture, printmaking, collage, ceramics, tile mosaic, paper mache and drawing.  “Students explore visual problems which are the foundation of our strong visual inquiry process,” explained Art Department Head Jaia Tucker. “This provides students with a framework to learn through experience while allowing for the opportunity of unique self expression.”  The Performing Arts is strongly emphasized at WISS. In addition to the launch of the instrumental programme, the WISS Music Performance Group has commenced – an all singing, all playing and dancing group. There will be solo and choir singing and instrumental playing, all rolled into one show later in the year to celebrate music-making at WISS.  

In April, WISS students from Grade 3 to Grade 10 joined a choir and performed at the Shanghai Formula 1 Grand Prix and Secondary and Primary students impressed visitors to the Shanghai Eco Design Fair with their creations using unusual materials.

April 21 2010, Shanghai Daily, by Claudine Harris 

WESTERN International School of Shanghai (WISS) demonstrated its commitment to sustainable practice and education by setting up stands at last weekend’s Eco Design Fair.

The school exhibited children’s work, some of which was interactive and included games and quizzes about social responsibility, sustainability and good ecological practice.

The stands also provided information on green initiatives that the school has been working on over the past few years.

Eco Design Fair is a grassroots organization of like-minded people in the eco-conscious community, foreigners and Chinese.

“They come together to promote, educate and inspire each other with new ideas and initiatives that are actionable for a greener environment,” says Trine Targett, a parent at the school, who is also co-director of the Eco Design Fair.

“WISS is committed to sustainable practices and education within the school and their participation with the Eco Design Fair is a reflection of that.”

Parents are pleased that their children are learning about such important issues and the school’s “Sharing the Planet” program has been widely praised.

The program teaches about the issues affecting the safety of the planet and what can be done on a personal and professional way to help.

“At the end of their schooling at WISS, children will be able to identify with the benefits of building a more sustainable world,” says school Director Todd Flanagan.

“I firmly believe the key to change is education. If we can get our next generations up to speed with the issues, and educate them about how they can make a difference, we stand a chance of realizing the change we are seeking. This is why WISS is involved with projects such as the Eco Design Fair,” Flanagan says.

WISS’ other initiatives include student-run recycling projects, sustainable organic gardens and a greenhouse built in a prominent spot on the roof of the school.

These measures are simple, effective ways for the school to be proactive as well as show students and the surrounding community that it cares about helping save the planet.

Although China was slow to take on environmental issues, Trine and her husband Matthew, remain optimistic about the future. He is head of the innovation team responsible for greener technologies at Bayer Technology Services Asia.

“Ordinary people are becoming environmentally aware and exploring ways of making an impact, both personally and as well professionally, as seen with the success of the Eco Design Fair,” Trine Targett comments.

“On a larger scale,” Matthew adds, “China’s rapid progress is now opening up possibilities for creating new?eco-innovations. We hope China will surprise, and possibly lead the world with innovative integrated solutions such as new zero-water, zero-energy, zero-emissions innovations.”

The Targetts encourage people to educate themselves at the ongoing array of green events and talks by organizations such as Green Ideas/Green Action (GIGA), which are available across Shanghai.

Shanghai Daily, April 17 2010

Grade 5 and grade 8 representatives from the school, along with school Director and You Dao board member Todd Flanagan, WISS teacher John Cucinello and Mr Lee, at the invitation of Jay Lee from the Xujing Government Publicity Department, travelled to the local kindergarten to deliver the toys. The representatives from the international school carried the toys to a designated room and before long, dozens of children were into the many boxes with total delight on their faces. Adults who took the opportunity to speak on behalf of the respective schools had little chance of quieting the children while votes of thanks were offered and received, but nobody cared. The sounds of happy children is somewhat distracting in the nicest possible way and it was a pleasant experience to stand back and observe children from different cultures and socio economic backgrounds playing together as one, irrespective of the divide. 

A tour of the kindergarten followed before the international children boarded the bus for the return back to school. On the way back, one grade 5 remarked, “I missed school,” before he was gently reminded by his teacher, “this is school,” a testimony to the school’s strong focus on community outreach.

During the fun-packed week, WISS students enjoyed purchasing books on Monday and Tuesday at the Book Fair. On Wednesday Chinese author Ms Qianni Xie was extremely well received, and Margaret Read MacDonald, an American storyteller, folklorist, author and children’s librarian, had a blast with all our students from Nursery to G10 on Thursday.

Many thanks to all who contributed to making this a Book Week to remember. Special thanks to Fiona Collins and Cici Zhuang, our librarians, for organising Book Week and for making it such a success.

Recently the Western International School of Shanghai (WISS) had a Diploma Programme (DP) Pre-Authorization visit from Nigel Forbes-Harper, IB Regional Head of School Services, Asia Pacific. During his visit, Mr Forbes-Harper assessed the facilitie, met with staff and students, and  discussed with the management team. He strongly affirmed the programme being offered at WISS and is confident the school will continue to develop and retain its position as a leading IB school in China. He noted in his Pre-Authorization Report that WISS “is committed to developing in students the qualities, attitudes and characteristics described in the IB learner profile. There was strong evidence of this throughout the school, which is already involved in implementing PYP and MYP. “Mr Forbes-Harper was particularly impressed by librarian Fiona Collins’s plans to involve G8 Math students in designing the new glass-walled, open-planned Library facility using google sketch-up.

WISS will receive a final Authorization visit from the IB in the coming March and is ready to welcome its first DP cohort of students in September, 2010. Tom Kline, Secondary School Principal, believes that the DP preparations are well underway with the appointment of a new DP Coordinator, additional recruitment, additional training of staff, and the brand new facilities. “The students who move through WISS will have the holistic, communicative and culturally aware perspective needed to be truly global citizens. This is the great advantage of having a school committed to providing all three IB programmes and our DP will be one of the best options for G11 and G12 students in Shanghai.” Mr Kline noted.

The Tiger is the third sign in the Chinese Zodiac cycle, and it is a sign of bravery. Like the lion in Western culture, the Tiger is the proverbial King of the Jungle, admired for its vivid stripes that symbolize the balanced forces of ‘yin’ and ‘yang’. 

In honor of the tiger that has become the WISS emblem, the children captured the spirit of this brave and colorful creature in their performances. The audience was amazed by a string of programs featuring Chinese culture and traditions such as the Fan Dance, “The True Man” Dance (associated with Water Margin, one of the four classics in the history of Chinese literature) as well as a fashion show of Chinese costumes. The addition of the professional Lion Dance and the Face Changer also added to the excitement of the Chinese New Year Show. 

Congratulations and thank you to all for their inspirational work!