Taipei European School

Taipei European School

Taipei European School (zh-tpw|t=台北歐洲學校|s=台北歐洲学校|p=Táiběi Ouzhou Xuéxiào|w=T'ai-pei Ou-Zhou Hsüeh-shiao; abbreviation TES) is a non-profit foundation founded in Taipei,
Taiwan. It educates students from 3 to 18 years old and uses largely UK-based curriculum such as the IGCSE. Currently there are two campuses: the Primary (in WenLin) and Secondary (in Yangmingshan) Originally established in 1990, TES has grown from 60 students to more than 1 000 as of the year 2007. Taipei European School comprises 4 sections: Taipei British School, Ecole Francaise de Taipei, Deutsche Schule Taipei and Taipei European HighSchool. It is registered as a non-profit Foundation under the Bureau of Education in the TaipeiCity Government ^{[http://taipeieuropeanschool.com/organisation.php]} .TES abides by the Foreign School Law in the ROC, thus it only accepts students holdingnon-ROC passports. TES graduates continue their education in a wide range of countries, including UK, USA, Germany, Japan, HongKong, New Zealand and South Africa.

History

The Taipei British School, Ecole Francaise de Taipei and Deutsche Schule Taipei were first established in 1990 in response to expatriate families in Taiwan who needed education for their children under European systems. The school had little more than 60 students in its first year. Then it was realized that the British, French and German section should merge together so facilities and resources could be shared. Thus a combined European School was created in 1992. Since then the Taipei European School has grown significantly and currently it has 1 056 students. It still consists of the British, French and German School, with the addition of the High School Section in 2002.

Campus

The Taipei European School has two campuses, one for Primary and the other for Secondary school.The Swire Primary Campus is located on Wenlin Road. It was recently opened in August 2007 after 3 years of planning and constructions. It consists of an Infant Wing; a Junior Wing; and a CentralResource Area (CRA) ^{[http://taipeieuropeanschool.com/campus_currentcampuses.php]} .

The Swire Secondary Campus contains Phase I and Phase II, in between which students move aboutaccording to their classes' locations. Phase I was completed in 1998, and Phase II in 2002. Both these buildings are 4-floor high. The Phase I building contains different Departments and specialists rooms. This includes:

* A music suite
* A children's library
* 2 Computer labs
* 2 Science labs
* A Fine Art and 3D Art room
* Drama and performance area
* A mini-football pitch
* An outdoor basketball court
* A canteen
* Atriums with steps, suited for performances ^{[http://taipeieuropeanschool.com/campus_currentcampuses.php]} . The Phase II building contains:
* Physics and Chemistry labs
* 2 Libraries - one for fiction and one for non-fiction
* 2 canteens, one in the first building and one in the second building
* 4 Computer labs
* 2 Art rooms, equipped with a kiln
* An indoor gymnasium
* A sport field with artificial astro-turf - recently renovated
* 2 outdoor basketball courts, one behind the Gym, and one in the sports field.
* And also an Atrium, bigger than that of Phase I's A characteristic of TES classrooms is that most of them are equipped with interactive whiteboards.The Smart board allows teachers to write on electronic whiteboards which can transfer and receive information from the computer. The Teachers and students are able to appreciate the efficiency with which they are able to communicate information, and enhances the education by allowing students to visualise and better understand concepts.

Student body

Currently Taipei European School has 1056 students in total, with British section students as the majority. The Taipei European School follows the Foreign Schools Law implemented by the Republic of China. This means that TES can only accept those holding non-ROC passports, creating the great diversity of the student population. Pupils originate largely from Europe and North America, with British, French, German, American and Canadian as the dominating nationalities from the areas. Another great portion of the student body are children of expatriates from Latin America, Africa, and economic capitals of Asia such as Singapore, Japan, and Korea.

Nursery and Infant School

This is a section for students aged between 3~7, and is located in the WenLin Campus. It currently enrolls approximately 240 students and contains a British, French and German section. ^{[http://www.taipeieuropeanschool.com/tbs/info_infants.php]} A typical nursery school day starts at 7:55am and ends at 12:30 pm. There are 8 lessons in a day, each of them being 35 minutes long. In total nursery students have 1h 35min break (including lunch) per day. The Headteacher of the Nursery school and the infant school is Mrs Ruth Martin

Junior School

The Junior School comprises students aged between 8~13, and it is located in the WenLin Campus. It is similar to the Nursery and Infant School except that students finish at 3:00. The Headteacher of the Junior School is currently Ms Adele Corry

Key Stage Three Section

The KS3 section in TES is located in the YangMingShan campus. It consists of students between 11~14 years old, and they follow the UK National curriculum ^{[http://www.taipeieuropeanschool.com/tbs/info_key_stage_three.php]} . In this program a typical student take mathematics, science, English, 2 foreign language (usually French and Chinese), physical education, geography, ICT, history, drama, art and music. It can be seen that KS3 students take a wide variety of subjects; this is beneficial for those who wish to continue their education at TES in high school because it allows their choices in IGCSE remain open. A typical KS3 day starts at 7:50am with 10 minutes of registration and meeting with form tutors. School finishes at 3:00pm, and students are encouraged to participate in extra curricular activities both during and after school. Examples include TES Secondary Choir, sports teams, drama plays and Environmental club.

The head of Key Stage Three section is Mr. Roger Schultz.The assistant head of the Secondary School is Mr. Jeff Evans

Taipei European High School

The Taipei European High School is for students from H1~H4 (equivalent to grades 9~12 in the American system). It offers the IGCSE program for the H1~H2s. In this course students take the mandatory courses (English, science and mathematics) and have the freedom to choose between the other subjects (such as the Arts, geography, business and PE)They are expected to complete a number of courseworks over the 2 years for most of their subjects,which would be graded by Cambridge or Edexcel depending on the course. It is also located in the Yangmingshan campus.

The IGCSE is an internationally-accepted qualification which allows students to continue their education at IB if they have met the grade requirements. It is the international equivalent of the GCSE examinations taken in Britain. The IB Diploma Programme is offered to most students in TES after the completion of IGCSE. In IB students choose from 6 subject groups: Language A1, second language, individuals and societies,experimental sciences, mathematics and art and electives. ^{[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IB_Diploma_Programme#Subject_areas]} .The IB programme also requires students to take the Theory of Knowledge (TOK) course, complete an extended essay on a topic of their own choice, and complete 150 hours of Creativity, Action, Service, in order to incorporate balance with the demanding academic portion of the programme.Without the completion of these requirements a student cannot obtain the IB Diploma. For those who do not meet the requirements for IB, a TES student can also take the TES diploma that is offered. Clearly it would limit the choices for applying to universities, but the Diploma still has a rigorous standard which the students need to meet ^{[http://www.taipeieuropeanschool.com/tbs/doc/High%20School%20Overviews/TES_High_School_Information.pdf]} . The Head of the High School section is also Mr Roger Schultz. The IGCSE coordinator is Ms Sarah Pearson The IB Diploma coordinator is Mr Stewart Redden

Sports

Sport is regarded highly in Taipei European School, and nearly 70% of the students in each year group participate in at least one sports team every year. TES offers the KS3 teams the opportunity to compete in U13 and U15 FOBISSEA, an overseas interscholastic sporting tournament held every year which holds opportunity for the pupils to compete against others of their own age from British international schools across Asia.

TES offers sports such as Soccer, Basketball, Softball, Volleyball, Athletics (track and field) and Swimming. . TES also hosted the U15 FOBISSEA teams in May 2008.

In the High School Section, the sportspeople take part in 3 main activities: Soccer, Basketball, and Volleyball. These teams compete in numerous tournaments hosted at the Morrison Academy, with the Soccer programme extending to an overseas tournament for women and men U18 in Phuket, Thailand against numerous international schools. Extracurricular activities such as Swimming,Fitness, Table tennis and Badminton clubs are also offered for those interested.

Within the school, the students are involved in the House Cup, in which they are split into four separate Houses: Bora, Sirocco, Mistral, and Marin (named after different Asian/European winds). Every semester the Houses compete against one another in various sports and competitions for House points, and the House with the most points receive the House Cup at the end of the year. These events are often of great entertainment to the pupils; many spectate the games to support their own houses.

Extra Curricular Activities (ECAs)

- Taipei European School offers a wide range of ECAs for all students. High School students are particularly encouraged to participate in as many different kinds of ECAs as possible, as this is beneficial for their own experiences. In addition ECAs are mandatory for the IB students, and thus the school offers a diverse range of activities suited to their needs. The ECAs that TES offer include, but not limited to: *Culinary Club *Fitness Club *Swimming Club *Ensemble *Jazz Band *Secondary School Choir *High School Choir *TES Select Choir *Chess Club *Environmental Action (Gardening) Club *Journalism Club *Chinese Literature Club *Brazilian Jiu Jitsu *Model United Nations *International Awards *Robotics Club *Chinese Literature *Peer Mentoring *Debating Club *Sudoku Club *Web Design *And various sports teams

See also

* Taipei American School
* National Experimental High School
* Dominican International School
* Morrison Academy
* Kaohsiung American School
* American School in Taichung

References

1. [http://www.taipeieuropeanschool.com Taipei European School official website] 2.International General Certificate of Secondary Education

External links

* [http://www.taipeieuropeanschool.com Taipei European School official website]
* [http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8F%B0%E5%8C%97%E6%AD%90%E6%B4%B2%E5%AD%B8%E6%A0%A1 台北歐洲學校]