On November 10th our primary students had an exciting time, as they participated in the Mother Tongue assembly of the first semester.
Our Chinese- and Spanish-speaking students from Y1 – Y6 enjoyed activities and games, in their respective languages. Collaborating with peers across the year levels, our younger and older students had great fun and spent an afternoon engaged in using their native languages.
Our Chinese-speaking students were grouped according to their houses: Warriors, Tigers, Pandas and Dragons. Each group engaged in different activities in our Chinese classrooms and the music room of our primary section. The activities included “creative Chinese characters collage”, “Chinese literature”, “Chinese culture exploration” and “Chinese chess”. Each group was led by one of our primary Chinese teachers, Ms. Michelle Liang, Ms. Margie Wu, Ms. Jane Wen, Ms. Angel Liu and Ms. Holly Huang. Three Y9 students from secondary school supported the activities as part of their Service as Action curriculum. The appreciation and celebration of the home culture of our students is what makes UISG a special place.
Our Spanish-speaking students engaged in an afternoon of scientific investigation, as Mr. Gary Wells led his group through two science experiments. He was supported by two secondary students as part of their Service as Action curriculum. The children used Spanish to name materials and tools needed for the experiments and shared their thoughts and ideas about the expected outcomes of the experiments. The students were amazed by how the experiments worked and chatted excitedly about their predicted results. Engaging in subject matters in their native language, students transferred concepts and knowledge that they acquired in English-speaking classrooms and enriched their understanding.
My special thanks go out to secondary students who volunteered to support activities on that afternoon. You all did a fantastic job and really showed what amazing members of our school community you are.
By Lars Jirmann
Head of Languages
