“The greatest power of words is the choice we have, to let harmful words control us, or to embrace meaningful, virtuous words that make us better people and build a better world.”
Middle School
Vision of Early Adolescence
We see early adolescence—also known as junior youth—as representing a special period of life with unique needs and vast potential.
At the transition between childhood and youth (11-15), they encounter a range of changes within themselves and form a sense of their identity and their relationship with society which shapes the rest of their lives.
The approach taken to education during this stage of development is therefore of critical importance.
Middle School Programme
Our middle school is focused on empowering junior youth to take charge of their own intellectual and moral growth and to contribute to the progress of society.
We aim to assist students to deepen their understanding across a range of disciplines of knowledge and help them strengthen their emerging powers. During middle school, students gain an appreciation of the interrelationship between their own growth and the development of the world around them, and identify opportunities to apply what they are learning to the needs of their communities.
Important elements of the middle school programme include rigorous academic content that prepares students for the Cambridge IGCSE and International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme. At the same time, the middle school draws on special texts that assist students to place what they are learning in a broader context. These texts help students
- develop their ability to express ideas with clarity and eloquence,
- recognize the role of knowledge—both scientific and spiritual—in contributing to individual and collective progress,
- analyze the forces that are operating in society and make good choices, and
- become active promoters of the well being of society.
The team of teachers and administrators serving in the middle school participate in systematic training to enhance their efforts to release the potential of this special age group. The school also collaborates closely with parents to create an environment in which middle school students can flourish.
English
The English program is organised into three interrelated areas that enrich students’ skills, knowledge, understanding and application of the English language.
Students learn to listen to, read, comprehend, view, speak, write, create and reflect on increasing complex and sophisticated spoken, written and multimodal texts across a growing range of texts with accuracy, fluency and purpose and become confident and creative thinkers.
They develop the capacity to retrieve information, interpret, make and support inferences, evaluate, inquire, and use language features, forms, conventions, and text structures in imaginative, informative and persuasive texts.
Mathematics
In the Maths learning area students build capacity for increasingly sophisticated abilities, applying logical thinking, analyzing, proving, verifying, inferring, justifying and evaluating.
The program focuses on robust knowledge of adaptable and transferable mathematical concepts, the development of proficiency of understanding, fluency, problem solving and reasoning.
Students develop the ability to make choices, interpret, formulate and investigate problem situation and apply their transferrable skills.
Science
The Science learning area is a body of knowledge composed of the three interrelated areas of Physics, Biology, and Chemistry.
The program aims to foster in students interest in all the three disciplines of Science and curiosity to explore the world around them.
Students gain skills, knowledge and understanding based on theories, observations, explanations, and experiments by engaging in scientific inquiry activities. These involve posing questions, planning, conducting experiments, critiquing, investigating, analyzing and interpreting evidence and communicating findings.
Social Studies
Students study, distinct geographical features, and significant historical events in ancient societies, investigate their influence socially, culturally, economically and politically both in the past and the present.
The focus is acquiring the skills, knowledge and understanding of terms and concepts; historical questions and research; analysis and critical use of sources; perspectives and interpretations; explanation and communication with an emphasis on the development of informed and defensible responses to inquiry questions.
Chinese
All students study Mandarin Chinese as a second language, which is split into two streams.
The higher stream is suited for native-level instruction, the other stream supports the learning of non-native Chinese speakers.
Camps
Camps have come to play a key role in the Middle School calendar.
Held for several days outside of Macau, during camp students can engage with each other and teachers in a relaxed setting close to nature and outside of their normal routine.
Camps have proven to be quite impactful and an ideal forum to develop supportive relationships and reflect on inspiring ideas for personal growth and service to others.