Year 5 Graduation Ceremony
The Year 5 Graduation Ceremony was held at the Wuding Campus on June 20. Primary School Principal and Head of Wuding Campus Ms. Rosalie Pietsch opened with a speech reflecting on the growth students had achieved through what the school calls 'inquiry units.' This include such educational modules as 'Growing Up,' 'The Great, The Bold and The Brave,' 'What a Wonderful World' 'Going Global,' and 'Fascinating Forces.' "Your light is strongest when it helps others to shine,” she said to encourage the new graduates. “The greatest impact you will have rests upon more than what you can achieve for yourselves. It also depends upon how you bring others with you."
Graduation videos were played for each class. Teachers and parents watched together, as the children transformed from shy and innocent first-graders into confident young individuals with minds of their own. Student representatives Raymond Cao, Julius Xiao, Audrey Huang, Bella Xu, and George Qiang shared reflections from their respective classes. They spoke with one voice about how quickly five years had passed, and expressed their gratitude to teachers and classmates alike. They recalled the bonds formed during trips to Moganshan and Happy Valley, the logical thinking cultivated in math classes, and the hands-on discoveries made through inquiry-based learning. These five years had brought much knowledge acquisition, and still more importantly, maturity.
Graduation poem and music performance created by all Year 5 graduates
Under the guidance of young artist and Pao School alumna Vicky Liu, the Year 5 graduates had created a metal-wire art installation. Through workshops on shaping techniques, tool usage, and material selection, they had explored the expressive potential of metal-wire art. Each student had then created an individual piece inspired by their personal hopes, dreams, and future aspirations, incorporating the colours of their respective Houses. These 130 individual works were assembled by artist Jing Yu (also a Year 5 parent) into a commemorative installation presented to the school. This constitutes a lasting testament to the creativity, individual expression, and shared growth of the Year 5 Class of 2026.
Artwork created by Year 5 students
Year 8 Promotion Ceremony
On June 25, the Hongqiao Campus hosted its Year 8 Promotion Ceremony. This event opened to the energetic beats of the Zhoushan percussion piece 'Drumming the Future,' setting an enthusiastic tone for a ceremony based upon the theme 'Ignite Your Spark.'
Middle School Principal and Head of Hongqiao Campus, Ms. Ada Wang, recounted students’ shining moments on the sports field, on stage, and in international competitions. She stressed that “light is never found only in moments of glory; it is also found in ordinary days.” She encouraged students to maintain their determination so that “the light that comes from within you — from your heart, from who you are — grows bit by bit. It is an upward-looking mindset: the courage not to give in and the wisdom and willingness to reflect, change, and break through your own limits. This kind of light has no audience and no applause; often, you may not even notice it. But it is precisely this light that truly belongs to you — no one can take it away. It can accompany you for a lifetime. And it is those moments when no one applauds that truly define who you are.”
Student representative Nini Lei spoke of her journey from craving the spotlight to realising, through her work in the student council, that true light lies in "seeing one another and responding to one another." She quoted the ancient phrase "a solitary light shining upon itself" to encourage her peers to remain true to themselves even when no one is watching. Bella Fang and Iris Li used the metaphor of a 'blank page' to express their experiences of moving from timidity to courageous challenge, and of learning to grow through failure, while realising that chasing the light exceeds the pursuit of distant dreams, to encompass the discovery of the light right beside them.
Teacher representative Mr. Philibert Vandersleyen spoke on the theme 'You Either Win or You Learn.' He told students that failure is not the opposite of success, but part of the journey toward it. “Failure teaches us reflection, humility, adjustment, and resilience," he said. "You'll miss 100 percent of the shots you don't take. Be brave enough to raise your hand when you're unsure, to try when you feel shy, to attempt the problem you might get wrong. Mistakes made with integrity are investments in your future."
During the ceremony, a video was screened. Entitled 'Ignite Your Spark,' it had been created by a student production team to capture three years of middle school life. Another student-produced piece, called ‘14-Year-Old Coming-of-Age Celebration,' enabled students to meet their childhood selves across time. The result was a heartwarming testament to their growth at fourteen. The entire audience joined in with the student-composed song 'A Ray of Light,' which added an especially heartfelt note to the ceremony.
Year 9 graduation ceremony
On June 23, Year 9 students, teachers, and parents had gathered at the Songjiang Campus to celebrate the successful completion of middle school. This ceremony opened with an energising dragon dance performance.
Mr. James Lyng, High School Principal and Head of Songjiang Campus, reflected in his speech on the students' journey from Year 6 to Year 9. He noted that Year 9 is often an underestimated yet crucial year, when students adapted to a new environment, experienced boarding life, balanced an integrated Chinese and international curriculum, and became the heart of campus life through drama, music, sports, and charitable activities. He praised the resilience and determination shown by students to step outside their comfort zones during Zhi Xing Week, expressing confidence that this year's experiences would serve as a solid foundation for future success.
Student representative Tutu Xie described her passage from being afraid of volleyball to gaining confidence on the court. "Potential only matters when it's paired with another word: Courage," she said. "All my best memories and accomplishments started with the word 'Yes.'" Student representative River Li looked back on the growth they had experienced over the year, thanking their teachers for their patience and guidance. She observed that beyond academic pressures, the insights gained from late-night conversations with roommates and the casual words of teachers were irreplaceable elements of growth. "You are so much more than your academics," she said. "You are the people you meet, the words you choose, and the memories you keep."
Chamber music performance of "La La Land," piano solo "Jasmine Flower"
