From November 16th to 17th, the CJK Cluster Meeting of Round Square held successfully in the high school (Songjiang) campus of YK Pao School. Over 40 experts and representatives from more than 20 international schools and institutions from Beijing, Shanghai, Ningbo, Shenzhen, Qingdao, Anhui, Guiyang, Hong Kong, Inchon, Tokyo and etc. gathered here for the workshop.
Executive Headmaster of Pao School delivered a keynote speech on CJK education landscape
Delegates talked with the Chairman of Round Square
| Round Square | |
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Round Square Round Square was founded in 1966. Today, there are 193 schools being a member of the organization and nearly half of them are in the US, including the prestigious Hotchkiss School in the US, the Schule Schloss Salem in Germany (known as the most elite school in the Europe), the Herlufsholm Skole in Danmark (which was founded in 1565), the Collège Alpin Beau Soleil in Switerland (which is one of the oldest private school in the country). Round Square promotes the education approach that extends beyond academic excellence, and beyond the classroom, to include personal development and social responsibility. Achieved by providing an array of different experiences, students of Round Square schools are encouraged to challenge themselves, to try new things, and to consider their place in society – both locally and globally. The concept of Round Square was conceived in 1966 based on the educational ideology of Kurt Khan, who believed in “learning through experience, real-world learning, and periods of reflection”. |
IDEALS: |  |
Round Square schools share a commitment to character education and experiential learning built around six themes, i.e. International Understanding, Consultation Process, Environmental Stewardship, Adventure, Leadership and Service (IDEALS). Through its educational approach, Round Square wants the students to understand that whatever field of work or career they enter into, with a spirit of the Round Square IDEALS they can – and should – make a positive difference in the world.
In China, there are less than 10 schools joined the organization. Pao School became part of the Round Square organization in 2016. Pao students were involved in this project from the very beginning. With teachers' guidance, our high school students prepared application materials and received the review panel from Round Square, demonstrating the leadership skills that Pao School seeks to cultivate.
The two-day event offered insightful keynote speeches and panel discussions. Guest speakers from the Round Square and the host school addressed the CJK education landscape and the key challenges and opportunities in character education. Delegates from the participating schools also shared their good practice examples of IDEALS.
Throughout the years, the Round Square membership has offered Pao students with abundant global leadership activities, enabling the students to go on trips to different countries and mingle with high school or college students from around the world to think and act as a responsible person in a project team. During the projects, students made new friends and sharpened their international perspectives. Moreover, they improved their understanding of the learned knowledge and managed to apply it to solve real world problems. This no doubts has extended their learning journey.
In 2017, Asa Kucinkas from Pao School travelled to Vietnam and worked with a newly built international project team to construct two water dams in Na Mon. The new dams will store water in the dry season and drain water during monsoon season, helping to improve the local farming infrastructure.
October this year, the YK Pao Girls and Year 5 Boys Football teams of primary school travelled to Korea to take part in an International Football tournament held in Songdo, South Korea, organized by Round Square. At the tournament the Boys won their first 5 games, reaching the semi-finals on the Sunday where they narrowly lost out to the eventual winners after a very tense game. The Girls threw everything into their games, showing excellent resilience and teamwork and came away with two outstanding draws after the first day. In their final game on the Sunday the scores were level at the final whistle taking the game to penalties where they narrowly lost out after a nail biting finale! The trip was a great success and all children had an unforgettable experience.
Pao Primary School students depart for Round Square Korea Project
In 2018, the Round Square awarded Pao School with its King Constantine Medal. YK Pao School is exploring more exchange opportunities with Round Square member schools.
Pao School takes “developing the whole person, passing on traditions of Chinese culture, and fostering an international perspective” as its mission. Joining such an organization facilitates Pao School to offer more and quality international exchange opportunities. The School hopes to better realize its vision that is to build a world-class school for tomorrow’s China, educating global citizens and future leaders on a foundation of strong values and academic excellence through exploring more international memberships.
