Every year we have the distinct privilege of compiling a School Choice Guide (SCG) for our readers. This special issue of our magazine is not only a comprehensive look at the state of international education in Beijing, it also acts as a compendium to our annual Jing International School Expo (JISE), so that parents and students are equipped to make the most out of their visits with principals and staff at the event, and ultimately find the best school for their family.
Due to COVID-19, we were unfortunately forced to delay JISE, however, our 2020-2021 School Choice Guide is available and jam-packed with information! Now is the perfect time to familiarize yourself with everything from the various curricula followed at different institutions, to which schools offer scholarships and how your kid could land one.
For now, you can check out our article about school size below, and decide with your kids if school size matters.
Few parents would disagree that class size is an important issue when it comes to choosing a school. A huge body of evidence supports the idea that children learn better in smaller groups. While critics point out that reducing class size is not a panacea, since it relies on having an increased pool of trained, skilled teachers, most international schools in Beijing have teaching groups smaller than the global average of 24.1 students.
However, in recent years attention has turned to a different issue: the size of schools themselves. Data that showed smaller schools among the best performing led billionaire Bill Gates to spend a great deal of money pushing for the break up of bigger institutions. However the assumption was based on a misunderstanding of statistics: smaller samples have more variation, so smaller schools were also among the worst-performing!
Since then the debate has raged across the educational sector. Studies supporting the idea have been challenged for not taking into account other factors, while proponents of small schools claim they are better for students’ social development. There is even disagreement as to what should be considered a “small school”, some insisting it means fewer than 500 students, others counting anything up to 900 as small. And while a school with over 1,000 students might seem big, that’s tiny compared to many Chinese high schools, with rolls in five figures, or the world’s largest school in Lucknow, India, which has a staggering 50,000 students.
To explore the pros and cons of school size, we talked to leaders from two of Beijing’s fastest-growing institutions. Samantha Corset is the Executive Assistant to the head of school and Director of Campus Coordination at Beijing International Bilingual Academy (BIBA).
“BIBA was founded in 2006,” she told us, “and through 13 years of dedicated and hard work by all staff, the school has transformed itself from a small school with four teachers and 44 students in the first year, to now a school including an Early Childhood Center (ECC), an Elementary School (ES) and a Middle/High School (MS/HS) with about 1,660 students and 330 members of staff. The school’s mission is, through a blending of Eastern and Western philosophies, to inspire students to be rigorous, balanced and independent life-long learners; to develop compassion and positive relationships; to respect and appreciate the world in which they live; to understand their role and responsibility in a global community.”
Beijing Xin Fuxue School is, as its name suggests, one of the newest high schools in the city’s educational scene. But, as co-principal Gary Dimitratos told us, its roots go back a long way.
“Shuntian Fuxue was founded in 1985 by Mr. Lu, as an education center for mathematics. He is a well-known math teacher in Beijing, who’s coached a lot of students who have gone on to study abroad at Princeton and Harvard. From that, Cynthia [Xing, the school’s Executive Principal] worked with him to develop an elementary and middle school. I met them during a summer and had a fruitful conversation about educational philosophies, based on an intimate class setting and hands-on education. After that, I came to this school as the founding foreign principal.
“We started enrolling in May 2017, and our doors opened in August 2017 with 45 students and worked it up to 450. It’s a K12 school [kindergarten to grade 12], with a mix of international and local students from all over northern China. We have no classroom larger than 15-18 students, once they get beyond that we split them into two.”
The bigger school has slightly larger classes, around 20 to 22 students, though this is still well below average. But Corset emphasized the support provided by BIBA’s homeroom system.
“In Middle and High School we have an international teacher as homeroom teacher for two classes, and we may have a Chinese teacher per class. In Elementary we have one international homeroom teacher per class, and we might have Chinese teacher support. Also in Middle and High School, we have an advisory program, where students meet in an advisory group. As we’re a positive education school, they’re practicing mindfulness every day.
“The house program runs parallel to the homeroom system,” she continued. “We use it to support our vision and mission, what we call the 4 R’s: Rigor, Respect, Responsibility, and Relationships. During house program time we focus on developing social skills.”
Beijing Xin Fuxue School has similar arrangements for pastoral care, Dimitratos told us.
“We have an international teacher and a Chinese teacher for each homeroom. And we have a house system, so they can compete with each other. We’ve just had a soccer tournament, we have academic and physical competitions and house assemblies. There are six houses, each a different color, and another thing we’ve done is to allow them to pick an animal, to create a poster, their own logo, and banner.”
Larger campuses with more facilities is one area where bigger schools can claim an advantage. Corset proudly told us about what BIBA has to offer:
“An indoor gymnasium with three indoor basketball courts and various sports facilities catering for both Early Childhood students through to grade 12 students, arts and technology centers, and a STEAM room, as well as separate school buildings for Early Childhood, Lower Elementary, and Upper Elementary School.”
Dimitratos though, argues that smaller schools don’t need to mean students are missing out.
“It’s a small school, but a big location. We have modern classrooms, a bubble gym with an air-purifying machine, a basketball court and badminton court. We have a soccer pitch, an outdoor basketball court and running track, and a sun room. When we need something they will build it: we built an auditorium this year that can seat 400 plus people.”
He sees the school’s size as part of its appeal.
“We’re offering parents an education for their children in a small, intimate classroom setting. I’ve been a principal for seven years, and I like the family feel, the atmosphere. I can go round and get to know all the children, help them get the confidence to be successful learners. I’m not stuck in the office doing paperwork or in meetings all day. This school has been a real big boost for me. I’ve been able to do a lot of guest speaking, as an advocate for bilingual education and my educational philosophy. I can see the kids in the morning before school, have personal relationships with the teachers and the families as well as the students. I know everyone on a first-name basis, and when a school goes over 400 students that can be difficult. The family feel is something parents and students have commented on.”
At BIBA, communication is key to ensuring that being a big school doesn’t mean losing cohesion.
“We have three divisions, Early Years, Elementary, and Middle/High, and three principals,” Corset said. “It tends to get very busy! So one of the things that we focus on is communication. We use email for formal communication, WeChat is only for outward communication, for example, a notice about a dental check. Our aim is for parents to discuss on email about their personal situation rather than in a public forum. We have a social media policy to protect children.
“We also have regular meetings. The principals meet weekly, the heads of department meet regularly, and we have a whole staff meeting once a month. And every teacher meets to discuss their professional development. Last year Geelong Grammar School in Australia came out and did a training for the whole school in Positive Education. We celebrate things together too! We have an annual staff party, and ice cream parties after school for the whole staff.”
Involving parents is also vital to creating a sense of community, Corset said.
“We have an active Parent Teacher Association (PTA) with 300 core members, who are very involved in school life. They work together as a parent community. That’s one of the things that’s quite special about the school. We believe in lifelong learning, not just for students but also for parents. We have classes and activities run by and for parents on campus.
“Any school has a community which can be divided,” Corset continued. “Something we work hard on is to identify our differences but also recognize similarities so that we’re not defined by our differences. What’s really wonderful is that we have a large staff of over 370, and we have an array of activities that are staff-led after school, open to all staff, whether Chinese or international. We work really hard to be inclusive.”
We asked her what she sees as the key benefit of being a big school.
“Generally a bigger school will have been developed over a period of time. That sort of history creates a space for schools to be confident in their unique features. We’re in our thirteenth year, and having that time, you know where your strengths are. For BIBA it’s our merging or blending of Western and Eastern culture. Our role is to love and grow the students.”
As a new school, Beijing Xin Fuxue is growing and developing the structures to underpin its community.
“We organized a PTA this year. They help put on events, like the winter show, spring concert, and parent-teacher meetings, to review our mission statement and school learning objectives. Parents can also come to school to view open classes and give feedback on how the teaching is going. We’ve also done a community shoe box appeal for migrant children, and went out and delivered them as a school. We have a family day every year, families come and the students put on performances, not just for parents, but for the community. They put on an art show, performances, food, and games.”
We wondered whether Xin Fuxue might continue growing so that it becomes no longer a “small school.”
“I don’t know about the future plans of the organization, whether we will expand into other campuses, but to be honest I’m still advocating for a small school setting. The school is only two years old, and it’s grown quickly. We’re always looking for ways to take parent and student feedback and incorporate that. For me, as a principal, I’m working with the people around me to offer the best education, to get everything in place in terms of assessment and student achievement. It’s a forward-thinking school, and as a foreigner, I’m proud to work here. The last two years have been refreshing.”
Photos: courtesy of Beijing International Bilingual Academy (BIBA) and Beijing Xin Fuxue School
This article appeared in the beijingkids 2020 School Choice Guide
