Celebrating the unsung heroes of Pao School

The roles of the logistics services team at Pao School are all-encompassing, stretching from the school bus to meals, cleaning and security. While these jobs are not noticed by many, the General Service team, ayis and shifus work hard everyday to ensure the operation of the school.

Lanco Ke, Operation Director of Hongqiao Campus, said that Pao School hopes to help all of these workers feel a sense of community on campus, even though many of them work for 3rd party companies. General Service Department has worked diligently to help these workers understand Pao School and its distinct culture and community. According to Lanco, Pao School believes when the workers consider themselves part of the school, they will understand its expectations better to deliver higher quality service.

The school bus service is especially important for Pao School. Pao School strictly adheres to regulations set out by the Shanghai School Bus Safety Regulations. As such, the school must pick up students according to pre-appointed stops and follow strict routes. The drivers are also carefully vetted and closely monitored to ensure regulation compliance and bus safety.

Hu Dingming drives school bus No. 6 at Hongqiao Campus. His most important task every day is to ensure that students are safe as they travel to and from school. Each day, he starts driving at 5:40am and arrives at school at 7:50am. In addition to six bus drivers, the Hongqiao school bus team also has six school bus monitors, who are affectionately referred to as "school bus mom.” The bus ayis play a very important role. They act as safety monitors on each bus, keep required records and at the same time make sure that the buses are always disinfected.

When students arrive at school, the very first thing they see is cleaning ayi hard at work. And then, as students leave, these ayi are still working tirelessly. Cleaning and disinfection is cumbersome but of great importance – especially during the pandemic. The cleaning staff are front-line employees carrying out crucial work to ensure the campus is hygienic and to maintain epidemic prevention standards. They bear a heavy burden in this extraordinary time.

At the Wuding Campus, Ge Ming is responsible for cleaning the school grounds. His favorite place is the playground where he can experience the joyful atmosphere, with happy kids playing and participating in activities. He feels delighted when he sees the children smiling, and remarks that they always show respect to the cleaning team.

Two ayis on Songjiang Campus, Yang Yiping and Zhang Zhiping, oversee cleaning inspection across various areas on the campus. For instance, they check to see if there is garbage outside the teaching building, whether each floor and corridor is free of obstruction, whether the water dispenser is disinfected or whether it can be used normally. Yang Ayi oversees the daily cleaning of the dormitory and cooperates with the other cleaning ayis when they need to carry out certain urgent tasks.

The cleaning ayis always take a meticulous approach to their work, and make sure to use different coloured cloths to distinguish different work needs and areas. Though the job is hard, Zhang Ayi smiles when talking about her five years of experience at Pao School. The teachers and students are very polite to the ayis, she says, adding that the beautiful campus feels like home to her.  

Safety is the top priority of school operations. The three campuses of Pao School are equipped with 24-hour security personnel and monitoring equipment to protect the campus. Security guards are a core part of ensuring campus safety, a fulfil a number of roles. This includes overseeing the school bus pick-up and drop-off process, verifying the identity of all personnel and vehicles entering the school, and conducting regular campus patrols to eliminate potential safety hazards. 

Jessie Zhao, Operation Director of Songjiang Campus, said that as the boarding school operates for 24 hours a day, the Pao School’s security guards must also be on duty 24/7. Therefore, the security guards are given regular assessments and training, she adds.

Hao Liang, a security guard at Wuding Campus, says that Pao School has an inclusive culture. "In our work at Pao School, what we can see most clearly is the enthusiasm of the teachers and students. The atmosphere on campus is very friendly.”

The food and beverage team has many important tasks. Not only must they cater to the tastes of people from different countries, but they must also work meticulously to ensure the food is healthy and prepared to high hygiene standard.

Yao Haihong is the on site manager of the catering company stationed at the Hongqiao Campus. She has more than 20 years of experience in the catering industry, of which 13 years have been in international schools. At the Hongqiao Campus, Yao Haihong manages a team of 18 employees, including chefs, kitchen helpers and other service staff. Her daily job is to maintain operation of the canteen, including food safety and hygiene. She also sets up work rotation and staff training, alongside various coordination for the canteen, such as the number of meals to be prepared.

When it comes to the students’ tastes in food, she is an expert: “On the whole, I feel that Year 8 students particularly like Western food; Year 6 students prefers Chinese food and Year 7 students prefer noodle dishes.”

Jimmy Gao’s main jobs include creating the food menu, managing kitchen staff, training kitchen staff in operation practices and cooking meals. Chef Gao has more than 20 years of work experience and has served as head chef in many five-star hotels at home and abroad. Since a young age, he has enjoyed both Chinese and Western dishes, but likes to combine different culinary traditions to make the food more appealing. Before each meal, he first tastes the food himself and only serves it to the teachers and students when he thinks it tastes right.

In addition, each campus has a group of handymen who are affectionately called “jacks of all trades.” Whenever something breaks down or help is needed, they are there to assist.

Lin Yuquan from the Facility Management Department of Songjiang Campus is primarily responsible for the maintenance of campus facilities and equipment. His daily routine is to follow work orders he is sent by the school for needed repairs. Each time he receives a work order, he quickly goes to the location and fixes whatever is broken. He really enjoys working at Pao School, sayings that he is always happy to go to work and has great teammates.

Hu Rongzhen from the General Service Department of Wuding Campus is mainly responsible for general jobs around the school, such as the arrangements for co-curricular activities, setting up rooms for meetings, tidying up after meetings, and organizing disinfection and cleaning. Hu Rongzhen has been with Pao School for more than 10 years and is very familiar with the requirements for various activities. During his long tenure at Pao School, he has witnessed the development of Pao School from around 100 on one campus to over 1,800 students and staff on three campuses today. He is very happy to work at Pao School, where he has both many old colleagues and the chance to meet new friends.

"Pao School is like one big family. We constantly communicate with each other and make decisions together. 

When we are done, the school is always a little better than it was before. 

This is the reason why I have stayed at Pao School for more than ten years - I love Pao School ."