The founders of Pao School established the Pao School Scholarship Programme a decade ago with an eye on ensuring the long-term development of the school. The founders initially took the lead with donations to the programme, and since then, an increasing number of donors have made generous gifts to the Pao School Foundation to support the programme. The scholarship programme aims to cultivate a culturally diverse and talented student body, recognise outstanding students, and promote the school’s diversified development. Since the programme’s establishment, more than 600 students have been awarded scholarships and, currently, more than 30 outstanding students benefit from the scholarship programme. The scholarship programme for High School students is open to all students, with the school evaluating scholarship recipients based on their overall performance. The awards are divided into academic scholarships for academic excellence and international scholarships to facilitate multiculturalism. As representatives of the school's values, scholarship recipients are talented and ambitious individuals with excellent character and a wide range of personal interests. Starting from 2022-2023 School year, Pao School will expand the academic scholarship to include those with special talents in specialty areas such as music, sports and STEM.
Always persist, be courageous
"Pao School gave me the courage to try. I think that trying means gaining experience, not avoiding failure. How we achieve good results is just as important as the results themselves.”
——Sophie, Year 9
Year 9 Sophie won Pao School's academic scholarship last year, which was also the first year scholarships were awarded to students at the Hongqiao campus. Of her experience at Pao School, Sophie feels that she has become more confident and more adventurous since transferring to the school in Year 6.
When Sophie first joined the school, she had no interest in athletics, but quickly began to nurture a love for playing basketball. She still remembers the first time she played the sport on her first day at the school during her lunch break. At that time, the students were playing a variety of sports in small groups on the playground. As she didn’t know much about soccer or volleyball, Sophie quietly dribbled a ball by herself on the side of the playground. Unexpectedly, several boys came over and asked Sophie if she wanted to join them in a basketball game. Sophie readily agreed to their kind invitation. Now, basketball has become an important part of her life, and so Sophie is very grateful to the students who offered to teach her how to play the sport. They were patient when she made mistakes, played defence carefully, and still made sure to pass the ball to her so she could participate fully in the game.
After entering high school, She has since joined the high school’s varsity basketball school team and often watches the sport in her spare time to learn how to better play the game. She recently taught herself various basketball shots. “Usually if you are willing to try, you can learn something valuable,” Sophie says. “Thanks to Pao School, I have had the courage to try many new things and broaden my horizons. This summer, I even tried bungee jumping. What a great feeling!”
Sophie has taken other leaps over the past few years, one of which was the first time she spoke at a school assembly. Though she had prepared for her speech, she was still nervous when it came time to go onstage and stuttered during the speech. Nevertheless, her teachers and classmates still gave her warm applause. At various times during her time with the school, the continuous encouragement of teachers has boosted her confidence a great deal.
In addition to sports, Sophie also enjoys acting, having participated in three dramas performed on the Hongqiao campus. She played the role of Telemachus in the play "Odyssey" in January 2021 and the role of Smee in “Peter and the Starcatcher” in 2022. In addition, she also participated in "Matilda" in June 2021.
Sophie says that performing in plays has increased her confidence. By acting in different roles, she can experience the lives of different people, and her personality has become more complete in the process of understanding and playing the different roles. In the process of figuring out a role, she often thinks of the play as a mirror, and absorbs the character's strengths to make up for her own shortcomings.
Sophie notes that drama class at Pao School gives students ample space to develop their acting skills. Teachers allow students to freely interpret the script of a play while also providing support for students as needed. In the play “Matilda,” there was a scene in which the protagonist in the play threw Sophie’s character out of a room. This scene was challenging to enact due to the limitations of the stage. However, Sophie and her fellow actors came up with a novel solution after discussing the situation with drama teacher Ms. Madison: They created a cardboard figure that could be thrown offstage as it represented what they wanted to convey well. In the end, the final performances were received with enthusiastic applause from the audience.
In Sophie’s opinion, drama class is not only especially interesting due to the feeling of performing, but also the work that goes into putting on the show, such as the preparation of props, stage lighting and special effects. Sophie especially enjoys the process of making props with paper and recycled materials with her classmates.
In addition, Sophie notes that the learning atmosphere - which she describes as “exploratory” – is a great aspect of Pao School and that the teachers are very tolerant. Of the teachers, she says, “You can think of them as your friends and have total trust in them.” To that end, when Sophie was struggling academically in Year 7, her mathematics teacher Sylvia Cheng provided her with encouragement, reminding her of the importance of the learning process and advising her not to lose heart just because of a few setbacks.
" Pao School encourages students to shine. Sophie is not only a good student academically but also is involved in many co-curriculars, like sports and art. As a maths teacher, what I admire most about her is her perseverance in her math studies. She can bounce back from setbacks and, in the end, reaches her academic goals."
——Sylvia Cheng,
Middle School Maths Teacher
Biology is one of Sophie's favourite classes. In particular, she is interested in neuroscience and hopes to pursue work in that field in the future. Originally, Sophie’s interest in neuroscience began after her science teacher Ms. Weng brought up the topic of neurons in a co-curricular activity. In tandem, coincidentally, her English teacher introduced Sophie’s class to the movie "Doctor Strange", which made her even more curious about neurons. In order to learn more, Sophie approached Ms. Weng, who encouraged her to do some research and gave her some ideas about where she should begin the work.
In Sophie’s view, Pao School's science classes are eclectic and interesting. For example, to familiarise students with the concept of E. coli bacteria, Ms. Weng organised an activity for the students to perform a popular science play – combining biology and drama. This clever interdisciplinary activity helped students to have a firmer and more intuitive understanding of the subject matter.
After joining the High School, though academic subjects are more challenging, Sophie’s social life blossomed as she developed a wider circle of friends with diverse interests. In addition, alongside various classmates, Sophie established her own CCA focused on neuroscience – right now, they are currently researching why dopamine makes people feel happy. Through heading her own activity, Sophie has also developed her leadership abilities and organisational skills.
Joyful atmosphere, fulfilling life
“The classmates I have met at Pao School over the years have an open mind, and everyone is willing to share what they are good at, whether academically or in other areas. This creates a fantastic atmosphere on campus and is what I think makes Pao School most distinct.”
——Daniel, Year 11
Year 11 Daniel is a high school academic scholarship recipient. Daniel feels that the school has a unique atmosphere, characterised in particular by Pao School’s blend of academics, sports and active social engagement. Together, these aspects of the school make Daniel’s life at Pao School “fulfilling and happy.”
Before attending Pao School, Daniel attended several other schools. He wasn’t successful on his first attempt to apply to Pao School but decided to persist as he was attracted to the atmosphere. In particular, he wanted to be able to fully explore his interests and enjoyed the fact that the academic atmosphere is nurturing rather than competitive.
Daniel says that during his time at Pao School, he has been especially fortunate to have had good teachers and friends. Teachers not only lecture carefully and patiently but also design various interesting activities to spark students’ enthusiasm. For example, teacher Sophia Lu, who used to teach IGCSE Economics, allows students to exchange coupons for soft drinks when they perform well on an exam. Although the reward is modest, it is still a big hit with students.
Over the past 3 years, Scholar Seminars have been held at the High School, giving students the chance to delve into a breadth of topics they would not normally learn about in the classroom. Daniel has attended a number of Scholar Seminars and says that he finds them very useful in helping him learn about new topics. These seminars take place every few weeks, with teachers or external guests speaking for around an hour on a topic that they are knowledgeable and passionate about. The sessions are extremely popular, with an average of around 30 attendees for each seminar – showing the passion of Pao School students for learning. Last year, the seminars covered a number of fascinating topics, including whether or not octopuses are aliens, the science of sci-fi, Star Wars and the “New Hollywood” cinema of the 1970s and delved into the wonderful world of typography. One of the most memorable sessions Daniel attended, he says, was led by external expert Mr. Rex Huang, who works at Nike as Senior Finance Director. The seminar gave Daniel the chance to learn more about branding and a career in finance.
At the same time, the cordial social and learning atmosphere is particularly prominent in boarding life. Daniel feels that boarding life allows everyone to have the same schedule and provides a healthy regularity to life at the school. Further, students look out for each in the dorms, for example, thanks to one the encouragement of one of his fellow dorm residents, Daniel has learned to become more disciplined. He also notes that when students in boarding life have academic challenges, they can easily ask their classmates for advice, which is more efficient than contacting each other online at home. As a result of the good boarding life environment, Daniel has quickly adapted to the study and life at Pao School. In contrast to previous transfers, where he fell into a slump with his studies, he is flourishing – which makes his parents very happy.
Alongside academic life, Daniel enjoys different aspects of Pao School, especially having time to play sports and develop his personal interests. One of the reasons he chose Pao School is the availability of comprehensive sports facilities on the Songjiang campus. After coming to Pao School, Daniel began playing Ultimate frisbee and is now a member of the school’s Ultimate team – through which he has represented Pao School in various competitions.
Daniel says that the Ultimate team is like a big family, with a warm atmosphere whether they are practising or playing in a competition. During a match, the players not on the field will always cheer their teammates on. "This team spirit of working hard for the same goal is also a way for me to grow,” Daniel says.
What has impressed Daniel most at Pao School is how students spontaneously form study groups ahead of end-of-semester exams. In fact, this has become a Pao School tradition. As part of this, the students who excel at specific subjects create study guides they share with their fellow group members and students quiz each other to check each other’s mastery of the subject matter. For an extrovert like Daniel, this process feels very natural and brings joy to his learning process.
The environment at the high school lets us meet different types of people while finding friends with similar interests. The students at Pao School are excellent in different ways, and we all learn from each other’s strengths and weaknesses. I really enjoy helping my classmates in math and economics, two of my strong areas, and therefore took the initiative to organise a math study group. However, my language and chemistry skills are relatively weak, but I can get help from my classmates when needed.
—— Daniel, Year 11
