Every year, in order to express gratitude to teachers for their hard work, the Pao School Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) organises a special feast called the Hundred Family Banquet. Despite limitations this year, due to strict requirements about entry onto campus which necessitated adjustments to the event, the PTA’s enthusiasm to prepare a wonderful meal for teachers remained. The kindness of the PTA touched the whole of the school community, with President Xu Yongchu stating, "Traditions such as the Hundred Family Banquet are particularly important in the face of situations such as the pandemic. The hard work of the PTA and their gratitude for teachers has allowed the entire school community to experience Chinese culture and reflects how the school embraces the virtue of respect for teachers.”
Primary School students recorded some kind words for their teachers on Teacher’s Day:
Thank you teachers! My teachers are all very responsible, some are kind, some are strict, and some are very funny! Happy Teacher’s Day!
——Y4E Lucas
The Hundred Family Banquet is not only a Pao School tradition and a way for parents to express their gratitude, but also a representation of the cooperation between parents and the school. On the Primary School’s opening day, in 2007, Professor Anna Sohmen Pao urged the first cohort of 100 parents to organise with one another and actively learn what it is to be a parent. It was these words that inspired the creation of the Primary School PTA. In an extension of this hope, Professor Anna Sohmen Pao envisioned that parents could become strong supporters of the growth of their children and advocates for the school.
At the 2015 Primary School Hundred Family Banquet, parent representatives presented flowers to Professor Anna Sohmen Pao and Executive Deputy Chairman Philip Sohmen to show their gratitude.
Over the past two years, states President Xu, educational policies have evolved in areas such as standardisation, diversification, and improvements to teaching quality. Therefore, as a bridge of cooperation and communication between parents and the school, the PTA supports this mission by promoting the school’s relationship with parents. This relationship is a key means of support for students’ growth and for the school to reach its goals.
The Hundred Family Banquet first took place in 2018, the school’s second year. According to former PTA Chairman Julia Liu, valuing teachers and education is part of Chinese cultural tradition. As such, students and parents express their gratitude through events like Teacher’s Day. These values are also prized by the Founders, with Executive Deputy Chairman Philip Sohmen expressing his hope that parents would care for the growth of the school’s teachers. Therefore, in 2008 the PTA first created the Hundred Family Banquet to express this deep respect and appreciation.
Once the idea was put forward, it was met with enthusiastic support. Parents of various nationalities whipped up some of their signature dishes, carefully arranging an elaborate feast that drew upon both Chinese and Western culinary traditions. At lunchtime, the teachers then feasted on home-cooked dishes from around the world and enjoyed taking a moment to celebrate. This type of potluck event at Pao School came to be known affectionately as the Hundred Family Banquet and is similar to traditional folk activities that originated in the Northern Song Dynasty in China.
First Hundred Families Banquet in 2008
Since then, the Hundred Family Banquet has become a Pao School tradition and gained its own identity through the active participation of Pao School parents. As the school has grown, the banquet has followed – with the event now taking place on each campus. For example, Songjiang Campus welcomes the Hundred Family Banquet every year on Confucius’ birthday. The date was chosen due to Confucius’ reputation as the greatest teacher in Chinese culture, alongside the school’s dedication to promoting traditional Chinese culture. In order to immerse students into a culturally rich environment, both parents and the school hope to integrate traditional Chinese culture into all aspects of school life. In addition, WeeStudios specially designed the logo of the Hundred Family Banquet.
In 2019, Pao School took sole possession of the Hongqiao campus. In the spacious and bright new cafeteria, the Hongqiao campus PTA organised its first Hundred Family Banquet. As the event took place in the autumn, the event was themed around the season – with beautiful decorations including golden branches and red leaves. In addition, the red tones represented good fortune in traditional Chinese culture.
These days, the Hundred Family Banquet is known as an unmissable event. The PTA of each campus plans carefully for the Hundred Family Banquet each year, to ensure labour is clearly divided and that every detail is arranged in a thoughtful manner. For example, parents carefully count the number of teachers to ensure the correct amount of food is prepared to limit waste.
Since 2011, I’ve taken part in the Hundred Family Banquet 12 times, from which I’ve gone from being a participant to an organiser. In my eyes, the Hundred Family Banquet is a display of the school’s values of compassion, integrity, and balance. At the same time, as organisers, the PTA works hard every year to plan the banquet. We do this in the hope of not only expressing respect and gratitude to the teachers, but also to surprise and delight everyone. In addition, for the PTA, the more parents that participate, the more we can get acquainted with one another – like one big family.
——David Wang,
Year 12 Parent, High School PTA Chairman
Executive Headmaster Mark Bishop also expressed his appreciation for the event, saying, “In my 5 years at Pao School, I cannot remember a time when all teachers were so positive about any other event. The time, care, thought, creativity, and generosity of our parent community is quite simply astounding. The quality and variety of the food and drinks is exceptional whilst the warmth and appreciation of the many parents is such a delight. No teacher could have left the dinner without a sense that Pao School has an incredible team of highly supportive and appreciative parents. I am so very grateful to the PTA and every single parent.”
