The scorching hot summer has faded, and in its place the gentle breeze has brought the bright blue skies of autumn.
Once again, the new harvest is upon us and the golden paddy fields which pave the roads on both sides of the Malvern College Chengdu campus, bring good luck wishes to our students and serve as a symbol to remind them that ‘as long as you work hard this year, you will have a fruitful year”
September 1st marked the start of our new academic year, the first day of school and, just as the saying goes, “well begun is half done”. So, it was wonderful to follow in our new student’s footsteps, and to see that they were indeed well prepared for this bright new beginning.
It was a privilege to watch them take their first steps into school, full of youthful energy and vigour, greeting their teachers with a smile and chatting excitedly.
They took a group photograph beside the sign which read…. “Welcome back to school, here we grow together and support each individual”.
At MCC we believe firmly that everyone is unique and if they believe in their own potential, they have the power to create their own ‘impossible” .
Against a backdrop of bird song and the fragrant smell of the autumn flowers, students entered the elegant domed building of the MCC library. Here they completed the registration process, filling out lots of admission documentation, applying for e-cards and taking ID photos. an important first step in becoming independent young people.
Once finished, they headed to the boarding houses to drop their luggage and to begin decorating their new ‘homes’, a place that, in the coming school year will be their safe, cosy nest and a warm and loving space.
They then made their way to the dining hall where they tasted a delicious variety of Western and Chinese food.
After lunch teachers and students walked to the school theatre together for the ‘Freshmen Meeting’. The school management and subject teachers gave detailed presentations on their overall plans for the coming school year and aimed to address both parents and pupils’ questions about the new school year in the hope that everyone would have a clear understanding of the curriculum plans for how they will affect them.
Dr. Jill Cowie, Head of School at Malvern College Chengdu, explained: “Our goal is to make Malvern College Chengdu the best school in Southwest China and to become the first choice for parents. To achieve this goal, we promise to support all our students to enhance their academic standards to an “excellent’ standard, to instil high standards of conduct and to encourage a spirit of respect for all. We will deliver a holistic education through an improved curriculum. We recognise that each student is unique and full of talent. Our job is to identify these talents and to help them explore their full potential. I promise that every decision we make will be centred on the needs of our students.”
In addition to her passionate speech, Dr Cowie, also introduced the core academic team and explained the secondary school’s development plan in detail.
Meanwhile, in the primary section’s new academic year ceremony, Sunny Shang, Head of Primary explained, “Our holistic education aims to nurture our children and to develop their moral, intellectual, physical and aesthetic education. Our students will be encouraged to demonstrate curiosity, motivation, and passion in their studies and to develop good learning habits which will allow them to learn independently, At the same time, the Malvern Qualities such as risk-taking, resilience, humility and kindness will help to shape their individual characters, while our teachers will focus on supporting every pupil in maximising their full potential and encouraging them to have happy, healthily experiences in their primary studies”
One of our fifth-grade students, was full of enthusiasm as they explained “I am very happy to be back in our beloved big family. All the teachers at Malvern are very loving and caring, and we are all keen to welcome new friends who are joining us this year”
A ninth-grade pupil freshman pupil noted “I am very excited to meet other freshmen. The strong leadership of the Malvern teaching team was really clear to see and after listening to various teachers introduce their subjects, I felt very good!”
One secondary school parent commenting:
“The Malvern teaching team is amazing! I can clearly see the hard work and dedication they have put into the academic development of the school and I strongly believe that the academics in this coming year will make a huge leap forward.
In the path of growing up, no one can promise that it will be without challenges. Therefore, our students must have the courage to face difficulties and setbacks with a positive mental attitude. We firmly believe that under our 11 Malvern qualities, students will eventually become independent, open-minded, upright, humble, self-aware, collaborative, kind, not afraid of risk-taking, resistant, curious, and ambitious.
