28 ShanghaiTalk February07

EDUCATION

Though 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 For 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