On October 28, the Shenzhen International Foundation College (SIFC) held its first Open Day of the semester. We received nearly 100 families. If there were any words which could describe the feeling of the families, they must be delighted and moved. These feelings stem from the trust of the parents in SIFC!

 

 

Many of these families have been paying attention to the SIFC for years. We know that many of them have been looking forward to our new campus as eagerly as we have.

 

■■■ You may already know a lot about the SIFC, such as:

 

SIFC has been around for more than a decade

SIFC has a loving principal who has dedicated to education for years

SIFC was the first American school in Shenzhen

SIFC first proposed that "the most suitable university is the best university".

SIFC has a unique small class system in Shenzhen and even national wide (ratio of students and teachers is about 1:5)

The A Cappella Orchestra from SIFC has won an international prize

SIFC was authorized by the American College Board to become a member of the AP international school!

……

 

 

■■■ What you may not know, though, is how much SIFC has been up to recently:

 

SIFC moved into the new beautiful campus in Xili University Town, Nanshan District!

SIFC's IPC primary division has been set up and is becoming very popular!

 

■■■ But it is still not too late to get to know us now!

Because the enrollment for transfer students in Spring 2019 has just started in full swing!

 

OPEN DAY  2018/10/28

 

 

 

Speeches & Sharings

 

01

Principal: Prof. Fu Tengxiao

 

■ Principal Fu shared several educational ideas of SIFC.

 

Without love, there is no education

 

Love is the foundation of education. Without love, there is no education. Although many of us know the sentence, we also need to understand what“love”is. True love of teachers is built on respect for students. Teachers should respect and believe in students, respect their needs and respect their personality. A teacher, who works on "preaching, teaching, and resolving doubts", not only must have a certain level of knowledge, ability to teach, but more importantly, must has love. Being a teacher is a responsibility. The love can be shown everywhere. Thus teachers are essential to set good examples for students.

 

Life is a fertile field, what you plant, then what you gain. For the growth of children, the teachers' love is like sunshine, or rain drops, moisturizing the children's heart. So it is for parents. They should give full love and respect for their child's personality development.

 

 

Without interest, there is no learning

 

We often say that it is difficult to succeed without love. There is a big contradiction in our education. Students are always forced to learn without interest. However, with the increase of age, students gradually take the lead in learning. For those who have interest in learning, gaining knowledge is pleasure and success. They enjoy the challenge and happiness both. Teachers should cultivate students' interest, have spare time for students to think about problems, let students learn his/her favorite courses, and carry out extracurricular activities, so students can really feel the fun and importance of learning, and they can develop their individuality.

 

 

Teaching can be found in details

 

We know that the details determine success or failure. As students are at young age, teachers should care for the students just as they care for the seedlings. The childs emotions are rich, delicate, and very fragile, which means that teachers' words and deeds affect them greatly. For instance, the teacher's praise will encourage the students during lifetime. On the contrary, students may also remember the scolding from teachers for a lifetime. Any inadvertent words and deeds may affect the child's emotions and feelings. Negative energy will affect a lifetime of children.

Therefore, meticulous love is needed in teaching.

 

 

Students learn in activities

 

The growth of students is not based on the teachers and parents, but on the students' own activities. They learn knowledge by actively participating the activities. Students are the core of self-learning, and students should experience activities themselves. By doing the activity, students can grow up to be an independent, self-reliant and confident person.

 

Our school has created a variety of activities for students. In this process, students build the relationship with others and society, and their mentality is strengthened. Their sense of responsibility, communication skills and cooperation spirit can be cultivated as well.

 

 

Improve children's learning ability, the essence of education is "awakening"

 

Students cannot learn anything when they are doing it passively. In fact, every child has great potential. The process of education is not only to liberate the child from the outside, but also to awaken the child's inner energy and their true selves, bring them wisdom, help them reach their potential, and encourage their creativity.

 

We want our children to grow healthily in their best years of youth. If we can't get into the deepest part of the child's mind to understand the magic of their life, we can't understand the true meaning of education, and of course we can never find the power of education.

 

Education is like a soul that awakens another soul. It is a heart that bumps another heart. It is the power of one life that ignites another.

 

Many of our students are like "sleeping lions", and our mission is to "awaken" them.

 

 

2

Supervisory Principal：Mr. Peter Rizzardini

 

■ He shared the mission and vision of SIFC.

 

To be a leading international school, inspiring the minds of tomorrows/future generation of leaders to shape a modern China and the world beyond. 

 

 

We aim to build international bridges that connect our students to the world and develop academic excellence, strong values and the global perspective that will provide them with a strong foundation for their future success. 

 

 

Students at SIFC will have:

a strong sense of identity

intercultural awareness

attuned to the needs of others and committed to making the world a better place.

 

Our students gain a profound knowledge of, and respect for, their own culture, but also develop the ambition and drive to become global bilingual citizens.

 

 

3

Head of High School：Dr. Mark Jacobsen

 

■ He introduced our SLT team and the curriculum in High School.

 

Liberal Arts – We attempt to impart general knowledge and develop intellectual capacities.  This is in contrast to a professional, vocational, or technical curriculum.

 

In other words, SIFC requires students to study our core curriculum (Language Arts, Science, Social Studies & Math) as well as study Chinese Literature, Computers, Performing & Visual Arts.  In addition we value extra-curricular activities and school events.

 

MIT proudly advertises that, “100% of MIT undergraduate study the humanities, arts, and social sciences.”

 

Stanford University advertises their curriculum to be, “Rich learning experiences that provide a broad liberal arts foundation and deep subject-area expertise”

 

Yale University website says, “All undergraduates attend Yale College, an intimate learning environment offering instruction in the liberal arts and sciences.

 

 

Rigorous (difficult) Flexible (individualized) College preparatory.

Content Knowledge: 11 AP Courses including Core and Elective subjects.

Functional Skills: Identifying vocabulary in context; Writing a topic sentence.

Critical Thinking: Recognizing patterns; Cause and effect relationships.

 

 

4

Head of Middle School ：Ms. Tracy Huang

 

■ She briefly introduced the curriclum  and the activities in Middle School.

 

The Middle School programme at SIFC has been designed as a balanced and stimulating curriculum that provides academic challenge and develops the life skills of students. The courses include English; Chinese (+ Chinese Culture)；Mathematics: Pre-Algebra, Algebr, Geometry；Sciences: Earth and Space Science, Life Science,Physical Science;Social Sciences: World  Geography,World History;I.C.T. ;  Art ；Music；P.E.

 

 

The outdoor activities in Middle School are usually divided into Chinese cultural activities (Xi'an, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Chengdu, etc.) and overseas cultural activities (Sri Lanka volunteer activities).

 

 

5

Director of Counseling/Assistant Principal ：Ms. Faye Yu

 

■ She introduced the college counselling program.

 

There is a counselling center in our school. We have equipped students from Grade 6 to Grade 12 with full-time academic counselors. In addition, we are equipped with professional counselors to provide students with a comprehensive range of university applications and professional information.

Academic counseling includes: guiding students with course selection, tracking students' learning, feedback on students' school performance to parents, psychological counseling, etc.

 

 

Counselors on college admission:

Grade 9: Guidance on extracurricular activity

Grade 10: Career planning, extracurricular activities guidance

Grade 11: Thesis writing guide, university application planning

Grade 12: Guidance on university application and visa application

 

 

Our college counselling program offers a variety of opportunities for you and your children to learn about the college admission process and tackle each step along the way to successful acceptance: 

 

Weekly college counseling classes 
Individual appointments 

Parents workshop
College Visits to SIFC

 

 

 

6

Western Counselor：Mr. Andrey Dubinsky

 

■ He shared things about university application.

 

What are Holistic Admissions?

 

• At selective colleges, admission is based on more than grades and test scores

• Colleges want to admit interesting students who will contribute to the campus community in meaningful ways.

• Colleges want students who are passionate about specific areas, not just kind of good at everything.

 

 

University application starts in G-9

 

• Grade 9 – Exploration. Emphasis on Reading, Trying Activities

•  Grade 10 – Become more involved in activities. Start Identifying Interests

• Grade 11 – Become a leader. Participate in Summer Program. Research majors and universities

• Summer of Grade 11 – Decide on a school list

 

 

The road to college is difficult and demanding

• Students will need to be ambitious, curious, humble, and courageous to get into their dream schools

• We walk with them and support them every step of the way

 

 

7

Alumni: Angela Gao

 

Angela has been admitted to the University of Southern California this year. She shared her youthful memories of SIFC, including her learning experience and how the school influenced her.

I want to share the following points: 

 

Firstly, small class teaching: At that time, there were 10-15 students in my class. We could sit around the teacher, and the teacher can also observe all the students. 

 

Secondly, the way of teaching and classroom atmosphere: heuristic learning, Our teachers stimulate students' interest in exploring for knowledge. The classroom is always lively with group activities, debates, speeches going on. All these activities help me think critically. 

 

Thirdly, extracurricular activities: the club activities after 4:30 pm allows me to discover my interests and improve the hands-on and practical ability; 

 

Fourthly, educational philosophy: I learned what I want, what I like, what I am good at, and lay a good foundation and direction for future development.

 

At SIFC, teachers and students get along very well, and they are also friends. The teachers shared with us everything they loved, taught us subject knowledge, gave us feedback patiently, and acknowledged they work we have done and praise us when we made progress. The experience in SIFC is a solid foundation which allows me to transfer smoothly in American high school.

 

Then I want to say to you guys, work hard, play hard. Put 100% efforts in studying, relax when you get your school work done. Find a balance between working and relaxing, find your own world.

 

 

8

Admission Supervisor：Ms. Grace Zhong

 

She introduced some admission information of SIFC.

2019 Spring Entry

Entry Time：

Nov. 2018 join in the first term of 2018-2019 ØFeb. 2019 join in the second term of 2018-2019

Target：year 4.5 - year 18

 

2019 Autumn Entry

Entry Time：Sept. 2018 Entrance

Target：year 4.5 - year 18

 

 

Admission to SIFC

Determined by many factors:

 

ØSAT10 Report ØStudent Oral Test ØA good learning attitude ØProper and well behavior ØA desire and a commitment to study in SIFC

 

 

Primary School IPC Introduction & Experience

 

 

The IPC Primary School of SIFC is on an “Earth Tour. A series of IPC International Primary School Curriculum experiencing activities have been launched! The students and parents who participated in the experience are very delighted and excited.

 

In Art, we learned how to use a variety of materials and process-es to create our own Silhouettes of Famous Landmarks. Which landmark did you choose?

 

 

In Science, we learned about Forces and Air Pressure as we design an experiment around our own, handcraft balloon rock-ets. How far did your Rocket fly?

 

 In Technology, we learned how to plan and create our own flags which represent our-selves. What did you include?

 

 

In Geography, we learned how to read a map as we use Atlas’ to help us recreate an accurate map of the Earth. How many differ-ent Continents and Countries could you be able to find and name?

 

Campus Tour

 

 

■ This is the end of our speeches, the course introduction session is over. Let's have a tour in the campus together!

 

■ After the campus tour, parents had lunch in the school cafeteria and learned about its food.

 

■■■ Talking with the principal, course introduction, experience sharing, campus visit, and enrollment consultation, what a fruitful half day in SIFC! Once again, we feel thankful for the parents who have come to and supported SIFC! In the future, we need more support from you! Let us take the journey together!

 

■■■ Information about the first admission test for spring 2019 will be sent soon, so stay tuned!