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the bigger contexts. Overall, it was a day of celebration and reflection, as we looked at global perspectives and inter-nationalism, as well as recog-nising the importance of being in Taiwan and all that this amazing country has to offer.
We are united by our Values here at TES, with all sections recognising the importance of Respect, Responsibility, Crea-tivity, Perseverance and Partici-pation. Values Day was once again a huge success in 2015 and the articles written by the Press Team really showcase all that was achieved on the day. We hope you enjoy reading our Values Day Newsletter!
The event was also featured on the local news and can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXUG71FW06M
Our Secondary School Values are always alive in the class-rooms and corridors at TES. Teachers and students refer-ence them constantly and they are a huge part of our school life. Each year we dedicate a day to really celebrate our Values across all sections here at the Secondary Campus. The normal timetable is suspended and the Pastoral Team design activities around one of our Values, with 'Responsibility' being the choice for 2015.
This Value ‘Responsibility’ has plenty of different facets worth exploring. As a European school in Taiwan, for example, it is our responsibility to get to know the host country and its culture. For this purpose, we invited students of the Atayal Tribal School from Nanhu Mountain to our campus as a special highlight of the day. The
visiting students not only opened the day with a tradi-tional song and dance, but also offered activities for our stu-dents to participate in. Self-responsibility was also one of our discussion topics. In order to examine this aspect, we offered the High School stu-dents an introduction to Tai Chi and stress management. However, taking responsibility does not stop with our imme-diate environment. Global issues also require our respon-sibility. That is why we decided to incorporate various activi-ties concerning the refugee crisis in Europe. This was the main focus of the day for our H1 students. Within a game scenario, students took on roles of different groups in-volved (refugees, smugglers, NGOs, media, and politicians) and developed an awareness of
Welcome to our Special Edition Newsletter
Values Day 2015
“Sometimes we don’t notice that even the smallest
of things could be a very important
responsibility we take for
ourselves”
TES Student
Inside this issue:
Dr Weston Interview
2
Aboriginal Elder Speaks
3
Aboriginal Experience
4
Dance & Discourse
5
SC President Speeches
7
Interview with the Atayal
8
Mindful Wall 6
James Woodall, British Section Assistant Head & Daniel Engler, German Section Deputy Head
Dr Weston is the CEO of Tai-pei European School, a vision-ary with an eye on the future. He is a man with high regard for his peers and an under-standing of diversity, making sure that everyone is accepted. He realises the challenges of a multicultural society and the associations of a foreign school in the host country.
I first met him when he gave an inspirational speech while I was still at the primary campus, but here I was now sitting in front of him interviewing him, listen-ing to his dedicated words. His words were extremely mean-ingful.
When asked what the high-lights of the day were, he re-sponded that the dance in the gym was his most exciting and amusing experience. The differ-ence in the way the tribal peo-ple dance really inspired him to think about the diversity that we see in Taiwan.
This is what he aspires to teach children across the school, “to value the cultural differences between two distant societies.” This is what makes Values Day so significant and imperative to our school. He passionately conveyed that, as we are an international school, this gives us a rare opportunity to appre-ciate the distinctive de-mographics present in our school, as compared to a tradi-
tional, local school. This, he believes, is our greatest strength.
He told me that he himself learned a few things about the tribes located across Taiwan. He was not aware of the long standing history of the Tai-wanese people and was aston-ished by the fact their ances-try could be traced back to the Austronesian people. He felt that he never knew this piece of history and now looks forward to further strengthen his knowledge in the area.
He encourages others to fol-low in his footsteps in under-standing the complexity of Taiwanese history and to ap-preciate it. This, he says, is our responsibility; to be aware of our fellow people and who they are.
He intends to extend this cultural exchange beyond Taiwan and, instead of “in a Taiwanese context,” hopes to change it to a “Southeast Asian context” to get students to embrace other local cultures and realise where they fit.
When questioned about how he would include all de-mographics of a society in-creasing in size, he replied calmly. He gave various exam-ples of multiple student ex-changes and the need to keep the networks and grid of cul-
tural exchanges alive through the same routes we are taking now.
He was keen to stress the fact that the education system in Taiwan should not be viewed as being different to our school, rather it should be a part of it, as we provide edu-cation to those who can't be supported by local schools due to various barriers in language and customs. We need the education system in Taiwan as much as it needs us; we shouldn't be viewed as a separate entity solely reliant on ourselves. To strengthen these bonds we need to main-tain a powerful relationship with these schooling systems.
He believes that Values Day was a great day and, instead of dedicating the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, we went beyond that, from a formal ceremony to a whole day dedicated to the responsi-bility of understanding diversi-ty. As Clare Boothe Luce, U.S. Politician, Playwright and Jour-nalist, said “Take your hats off to the past, but take your coats off to the future.” Yes, we shall acknowledge our past and take time to remember, nev-ertheless we need to work hard to prepare for the future and take the opportunity to change.
Interview with Dr Weston
Page 2 Values Day 2015
Shubh Lashkery, Year 8
Page 3
Aboriginal Elder Interview
Chelsea Kuys, Amber Herwegh Vonk and Noa Shmueli, Year 8
The Atayal Aboriginal leader, Wiland Yumin, opened the school’s values day with a tradi-tional Atayal song. After watch-ing our students participate in the Aboriginal activities, he commented: “Your school is very good: it has different types of learning and it is very diverse.”
In a face-to-face interview with him, we found out that, not only do we appreciate values at TES, but so do the indigenous tribes, who emphasise values in their day to day lives. Wilang Yumin, the Aboriginal elder, explained to us the values in their society, which are mainly: independence, teamwork (working together in learning and life) and carrying on tradi-tions (the ways of the Atayal
tribe).
The elder gave us an example of their sense of responsibility. “A local plant is used to make our traditional headwear that lasts for decades. The hat I’m wearing has been passed down to me and is 50 years old. We use the re-sources around us wisely and take advantage of our surroundings. Although we do use the local resources, we are responsible for not over-using or destroying what we do not require and own.” The Atayal feel that it is their re-sponsibility to conserve their environment and resources available to them.
The gap between our two cul-tures could be seen when we needed two translations before
we were able to communicate – a translator from the Atayal indigenous language into Man-darin and then another to translate from Mandarin to English.
The presence of the Atayal tribe was essential to our Val-ues Day because it introduced us to a side of responsibility that we might not have consid-ered: our responsibility for the well-being of our planet.
The aboriginal leader summed it up well: “The exchange be-tween our two cultures is wonder-ful because it gives our tribe the chance to share our culture and also for TES students to learn about diversity and traditions they were never exposed to before.”
Page 4 Values Day 2015
Aboriginal Experience Tina Chang, Year 9, Photos by Tzy Chen
November 11th was Taipei European School’s annual Val-ues Day, in which we celebrate the five school values: partici-pation, respect, perseverance, creativity and responsibility. This year Values Day happened to fall on the same day as Re-membrance Day.
Each year, we focus on one of our five values and this year it was ‘Responsibility’. We took part in many activi-ties related to responsibil-ity, but the highlight of this year's Values Day was meeting the indigenous tribe that came to our school.
The Atayal Tribal School visited Taipei European School to introduce us to their culture. This included dancing, mural painting, and lots more. Aboriginal dancing was held in the gym, while the mural painting was created on the third floor near the art department.
Tribal Dance After several interviews with the aboriginal students them-selves, as well as the instruc-tors, we discovered that the purpose of the dance was to welcome guests and that it was a sign of respect towards them. Of course, as our danc-ers grew tired, they sat down in a circle and started bonding
with the Atayal Tribal School, creating friendships. Many top-ics were discussed and laughed over, such as the time they went to bed, what they had for each meal, sports and common interests.
The aboriginal students first demonstrated the dance, fol-lowed by our own students being split into two groups and
having a go at the routine themselves. After around twenty minutes of practicing and rehearsing, the whole group finally came together to perform. With aboriginal tribal music and the supporting cheers of the audience, our students completed the rou-tine nearly perfectly, with a few laughs and giggles.
Mural Art Although the mural art wasn’t part of Values Day’s activities, a few tribe members, along with the tribal elder, Wilang Yumin, taught our students how to draw the basic patterns
for a mural. As you can see, it is composed mainly of simple lines and shapes. The painting, as a whole, is a representative of inheritance, friendship, bonding and sharing. The red lines symbolise the blood in the veins, while the blue and green symbolises rivers, streams, lakes, and the land. Lastly, the ridged black outlines
are symbolic of the mountains that surround the aboriginal homes.
After interviewing Ms Hsu, one of the Chinese teachers at TES, we learned that many stu-dents and teachers think that, quoting Ms Hsu, “Today was a very im-portant day for our stu-dents to learn about a
whole different side of Taiwanese culture.” Also, the dancing was “creative, inspiring, and a chance for us to make new friends,” according to several Year 9 students.
We learned that we do live and breathe our school values every day, especially responsi-bility. The students from the Atayal Tribe School taught us many things about their cul-ture, as surely as we shared ours to them. It is vital that we are open to learning about other cultures and beliefs, not just our own.
Atayal tribe school students Dance demonstration by Atayal Tribal School
Atayal mural tribal painting
Page 5
Titouan Catrice (FS H3) and Aaron Mopps (GS Y7)
Aboriginal Dance & Discourse
Über den ganzen Tag fand - immer für eine Gruppe - in der Sporthalle eine Tanz der Attraktion statt. Daran nahmen zwei Schulen teil: Die Atayal Tribe School und die Taipei European School (TES). Die Atayal Tribe School demonstrierte der TES den Tanz und sie machten ihn nach. Sogar die Lehrer machten mit! Mann sah, dass viele Spaß dabei hatten.
Es gab zwei Gründe diesen Tanz aufzuführen: Zum einen Teil war es eine Geste des Dankes an die TES, da sie der Atayal Tribe School geholfen hatten, die wegen des Soudelor Taifunes enstandenen Schäden zu beseitigen. Dies war schon Grund genug, ihre Kultur bekannt zu machen. Doch
zweitens war es einfach ein freundliches Angebot. Der Tanz fand bei traditioneller Musik statt, die die Atayal Tribe School mit traditionellen Instrumenten aus Holz spielten.
Verschiedene Studenten aus den drei verschiedenen Sektionen und sogar aus beiden Schulen haben uns verschiedene Meinungen und Ansichten mitgeteilt. Eine englische Studentin hat uns gesagt, dass die Studenten der Taipei European School zurückhaltender sind als andere Studenten. Danach hat uns eine Studentin aus der deutschen Sektion berichtet, dass sie die Atayal Tribe School Students am Anfang sehr komisch fand,
da sie so entgegenkommend und freundlich sind. Nach ein paar Minuten normalisierte sich aber alles, da man sich daran gewöhnt hatte. Danach wurde eine Studentin der Atayal Tribe School interviewt. Sie konnte aber nur Chinesisch und deswegen kam eine Übersetzerin. Sie übersetzte, dass Taipei European School Studenten mehr schüchterner sind als Atayal Tribe School Studenten. Atayal Tribe School Schülerernen lernen in der Natur. Doch TES-Studenten lernen in einem Klassenraum. Es ist eine gute Idee um diese beiden unterschiedlichen Schulen miteinander enger bekannt zu machen.
Hier sieht man eine Atayal Tribe School Studentin und einen Lehrer, der mit einer TES studentin redet. Neben denen sieht man den CEO der Atayal Tribe School, der mit einem TES Schüler redet.
Hier sieht man die Atayal Tribe School den TES Studenten
aufmerksam zuhören.
Page 6 Values Day 2015
The Mindful Wall
Taipei European School’s annu-al event, Values Day, occurred this year on the 11th of Novem-ber.
What is Values Day? Values Day is a day where we cele-brate our school’s five values and this year we focused on our value of ‘Responsibility’. We achieved this by participat-ing in several, different activi-ties, including the Mindful Wall.
The Mindful Wall was an activi-ty in which we were taught how to take responsibility for ourselves and how to set real-istic goals that we hoped to achieve. Along with several other students from across all sections and year groups, we took part in a session revolving around a Mindful Wall, in the hopes of being able to learn how we could achieve our goals.
We started the session by dis-cussing and sharing different responsibilities we have to take
as students every day. The students’ answers varied, from responses as simple as ensuring that they finished their break-fast daily, to keeping their bod-ies healthy and fit. This was refreshing news to us; as some-times we don’t notice that even the smallest of things could be a very important responsibility we take for ourselves. We then went on to think of three achievements we were proud of. This seemed to be a more difficult activity for students to finish, as we never seem to be aware of the many different things we achieve daily. Simply being honest with ourselves and other people is an achieve-ment that we should all be proud of. Lastly, students were asked to write down the goals they wished to achieve on a piece of paper, which was then pinned onto the Mindful Wall.
By the end of the day, the wall was filled with a large variety of different coloured paper with
everyone’s goals written on them. Many of the goals re-volved around school work; one anonymous response even said that they wished to “earn other people’s acceptance and approval through good attitude and behaviour”. However, several other goals were more personal, including “being more confident” and “overcoming my stage fright.” Several students agreed that the activity helped them to set clear goals for their future. Kevin Chen, a student from 9.3 even said that “it was a unique and meaningful experi-ence that helped us to reflect upon our goals and achieve-ments.” This proved that the Mindful Wall had helped to inspire students to achieve their goals and will hopefully continue to for the remainder of the year.
Natalie Tioh and Jonathan Chang , Year 9
Page 7
Student Council President Speeches
Chelsea Kuys, Amber Herwegh Vonk and Noa Shmueli, Year 8
We all had a moment of déjà vu as the Student Council Pres-ident candidates stepped, one by one, up to the podium and delivered their heart-warming speeches in front of the Key Stage 3 students. As all stu-dents would agree, there was an element of tension in the air as the candidates left the atri-um space in turn.
All the students were almost too familiar with the slogans: “To eternity and beyond...”, “Vision, passion, determination” and of course the line “Your water bottle is half empty, why don’t you fill it?”
We spoke to a few KS3 stu-dents after the speeches. “The speeches were very deep and seemed like they genuinely cared about our happiness,” said two Year 8 students. “The speeches were a bit long, but it seemed that the candidates’ motives were actually based around us, the students,” explained another group of Year 9s. The candi-dates also seemed passionate about their goals for TES. “I believe that I am the right presi-dent because I am open-minded and there is no end to my goals,” said Mini, one of the candi-dates. “I want to make students’ lives in TES more memorable and
less problematic,” said Berkay Onaz, another candidate.
There was a rush of excitement at lunch time as the students raced into the Maths rooms to cast their ballot, anxious for their voice to be heard. The campaigns were all so success-ful that it was nearly impossible to predict the results before the announcements were made.
And how is this related to our Values Day? Well, you are re-sponsible for valuing your vote and letting your voice be heard!
A few weeks ago, we had the honour of interviewing the Aboriginal tribe people who came to Taipei European School to participate in Values Day. From these interviews, we can hopefully further under-stand their views on this special day and their school’s curricu-lum. I spoke to a student, a teacher, and the Principal of the Atayal school and they were all happy to share their opinions.
When asked about why she was here for Values Day, the student answered that she was interested in learning about different cultures and seeing what it’s like in such a different school. The Principal, however, provided a more detailed ex-planation of how this special day came to be. TES used to send students to the Philippines to help them rebuild and re-cover after disasters like ty-phoons, but this year the CEO of our school wondered: “Instead of going all the way to the Philippines, why not look to Taiwan itself instead?” After some discussion, our teachers visited the Atayal school in September to ask if our schools could come together to share a day with each other, to inter-act, and see if it works out. Therefore it was decided that the Atayal students and teach-ers would visit TES on Values
Day and share their culture with all of us: their dances, instruments, and art. “It might even be possible that next year, students from TES can come over to our school to experience our ways of life!” the Atayal Principal said. “We really hope this can happen one day."
An Atayal performer shared with me the things they had taught our students. According to him, the activities were di-vided into three types: dance, music, and art. For dancing, they taught students the tradi-tional Atayal dances. Each of the dances is separated into two parts: the boys’ and the girls’. The boys' sections are fiercer, while the girls' are gen-tler in a way that represents the different roles for boys and girls in traditional Atayal tribes. They also introduced us to the wooden xylophone as seen in the opening ceremony, which is made of the Chinese parasol tree (the Wutong tree). As for art, they invited an artist from their tribe to participate. His name in Chinese means ‘deer’! He collaborated with the art teachers at TES to teach the students. They would be paint-ing on the ‘Mindful Wall’, with the students offering their ideas and suggestions so they could share their cultures. “I think these activities really combine responsibility and our inheritance
from our ancestors,” the Atayal performer added. “And it’s great that we can share it with you!”
We also asked them their opin-ions on the day and the whole event itself. The student had a constant smile on her face as she told us about how she felt. “I’m very happy and awed be-cause I haven’t seen this place before and it makes me happy to able to meet so many new people and exchange our cultures. It’s great to share our customs with the students at TES. I hope we get another chance like this in the future.” Her favourite part was being able to dance with the students from TES, which made her feel like everyone was en-joying it all the same despite differences in where they came from. The Principal happily shared his views as well. Since arriving, he had been able to see a lot of different European cultures, which was a very unique experience for him. He hoped his students could also take this chance to experience and appreciate new cultures. “It’s great to see how students from all these different cultures can come together into one big community,” said the principal. He also noted that it was very interesting how our school brought in pictures of wars and other events in history during our assembly. He felt that this way of discussing things with
Page 8 Values Day 2015
Interviews with the Atayal Abby Shen
Page 9
students was a very good ap-proach. “It helps them under-stand more about history and in my opinion that is essential for students to know,” he told us. “The international and historical aspect made it very memorable for me.” When asked about his favourite part, however, the Atayal performer shook his head: “No, I don’t have a favour-ite part -- I like every part of it. I feel privileged to be sharing our culture with the students of TES.”
It was very interesting to learn about the Atayal school from the Principal himself. He gave us a special insight into what they learn about compared to what we experience at school. Their students only go to the
Atayal tribal school during sum-mer breaks or winter breaks and on weekends and learn about the Atayal culture. Apart from the dances, instruments and art that the TES students experienced, they also learn about their traditions, ceremo-nies, rules, tribe symbols, and traditional skills. For example, the students made the head-band and the basket that was presented during the opening ceremony and they learn about how the basket was once used like a backpack by the tribes-men to carry heavy things. They also learn about the tradi-tional ceremonies the Atayal tribes used to hold during har-
vest and how they used to listen for the lucky bird’s call to help them decide whether or not their hunting will be boun-tiful. Their teaching system is very different to ours; they focus much more on practical activities rather than education in theory. Rather than sitting in classrooms, the Atayal students learn on the mountain, in the woods and near the rivers and streams. In general, it is a very different system from what we are used to at TES; no doubt it would be an exciting experi-ence for us to see what it feels like to have such a unique cur-riculum!
Interviews with the Atayal
31 JianYe Road, ShiLin District,
Taipei 11193 Phone: 555-555-5555
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SWIRE EUROPEAN SECONDARY CAMPUS
Our school has attracted regional and worldwide attention with its unique model for integrating German, British, French, and High
School sections in terms of their curricula, administration, finance, buildings and facilities.
The Taipei British School (TBS), Ecole Francaise de Taipei (EFT); and Deutsche Schule Taipei (DST) began around 1990 in response to the needs of expatriate families with young children, living in Taipei. The schools soon realised that there was much to be gained by joining forces to establish a combined European campus. This would allow the schools to share some facilities and resources yet teach their
own respective national curricula.
Editor Helen Gamble
Photography India Lilienthal, Students & Staff
