About the Host School
The school was established in 1964 and has approximately 2,500 students on role from 12 to 19 years of age. The ethos of the school is to develop excellent high school graduates with outstanding foreign language skills, solid academic knowledge and creative ability. It is also among the 13 foreign language schools, approved by the National Ministry of Education, with the right to send 20% of their high school graduates to College exempt from the national college entrance examinations.
HFLS is a key school in the province and English language learning is strongly emphasised. The school has carried out an 'all-English', small class teaching model for a number of years with great success. Every year, the school holds speaking contests which have been hugely successful and students have reached the highest standards for national middle schools focused on foreign language education. HFLS has frequent communications with international education partners and has received about 50 delegations from many countries and regions. These activities have not only improved cultural and educational communication, but also broadened the vision for both teachers and students.
The school campus is very modern and feels very much like a university campus. It boasts an ultra modern library, a sports stadium, several well equipped lecture rooms and board rooms. The campus canteen is modern and caters for different needs – there is a large canteen for everyday use and a canteen for more refined food prepared with a more personal touch. Private dining rooms can also be booked – where the food served is superb. Classrooms are bigger in size than the average school and equipped with a computer and projector, as well as the usual white board and notice boards. Internet connection is available in each classroom.
Modern, well-equipped student boarding facilities are also on campus. There is also staff accommodation and a guest house to cater for short stays. The school gardens and grounds are beautiful and create a park-like atmosphere.
The school is currently under direct control of the Zhejiang Provincial Government. It is, however, in the process of being transferred to the Hangzhou City Education Authorities and this process is planned over a three year timeframe. Once the transfer of students has been completed, the facilities will be taken over by one of the local universities. The CAL centre, however, will remain on the present campus.
The A Level Centre
The centre was established in September 2008 and has 280 students on role. We have 14 foreign teachers and 8 Chinese teachers.
Our students are hardworking, intelligent, polite and well disciplined. They are goal orientated and set high standards for themselves. They read way beyond the syllabus parameters, and classroom discussions are very active and lively. Our results at AS level last year were superb.
The centre is fully equipped with science laboratories, art rooms, music rooms, lecture theatres, IT rooms, language laboratories and a host of classrooms. Teachers' offices are spacious and provide work stations for between one to eight teachers in the same office.
In terms of extra-curricular activities, we run clubs for chess, the stock market, French and German, music and astronomy. These clubs are all well supported by students.
Every lesson is a highlight - teaching students like ours has the benefit of providing the opportunity to become the best in your subject. The result of this is extremely high levels of job satisfaction. Students are eager to learn and gather knowledge beyond that required by the syllabus, that teachers need to be extremely well prepared and well read in their subjects. Preparation and subject knowledge needs to include subject matter at least two levels beyond the class being taught if the teacher wants to be confident and secure in their teaching.
Lifestyle
In terms of accommodation, teachers can choose to either live on campus in the school's guest house or rent a flat in town. If teachers live in the guest house, then only one room will be available - thus the teacher will have no cooking facilities, but will take meals in the on-campus canteen. Most teachers at the Centre tend to live off campus. There are several areas where flats can be found, but the most convenient is definitely the western part of the city. It's the closest area to school where there are good restaurants, shops, supermarkets and entertainment within walking distance. A 1 to 2 bedroom flat can be found here and the accommodation allowance will cover it. There are other areas where larger flats can be found at a cheaper rate, but these are either further away from school or if closer to school, there are few restaurants, shops and other entertainment facilities in the area.
As we are a small group of foreigners working here, we're a close knit team. Apart from professional support, we also get together on a regular basis for dinner, a drink at the bar, visits to interesting places and a range of other different activities. The centre admin staff also arrange outings on a regular basis – these are very good and we have a Chinese tour guide for free! In general, teachers at the HFLS CAL centre work extremely hard but have an enjoyable lifestyle.
Hangzhou is often referred to as 'the most beautiful city in China' with its stunning West Lake and surrounding countryside. West Lake is one of the most famous tourist attractions, but there are also many others: Lingyin Temple, Solitary Island, Six Harmonies Pagoda, Mausoleum of General Yue Fie and Songcheng Theme Park. Hangzhou is also very close to Suzhou, Shanghai and a vast number of other cities with as many attractions. These are all conveniently linked by rail, road and air.
Further information can be found about Hangzhou at:
http://www.echinacities.com/cityguide/hangzhou
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/hangzhou.htm
http://www.hangzhou.gov.cn/main/zpd/English/
http://www.dragonair.com/da/en_INTL/helpingyoutravel/destinationdetails?cityCode=HGH
http://www.webtourist.net/china/hangzhou/tourist-information.phtml
http://www.biztradeshows.com/china/hangzhou/hangzhou.html
Living in Hangzhou as a Family
Hangzhou has often been referred to as heaven on earth and for those who list cleanliness high on their list of priorities, this city is divine.
If you are looking for a city that has abundant English-speaking services for families, then Hangzhou is certainly the place to be. Within a ten-minute radius also provides a clean hospital run by westerners, but staffed by Chinese without the long queues of the other local hospitals and health centres. The local health centre provides twice-weekly inoculation sessions at reasonable prices too. Children receive special consideration in China and your baby will surely bask in the attention!
Hangzhou's restaurants also apply an excellent price-quality ratio, referring not only to the food and service, but also the human element. We particularly enjoy some of the smaller establishments as these tend to favour building relationships with the management.
We satisfy most of our wants and needs in our local district. An online retailer of baby products has also turned out to be ultra-reliable – our orders are delivered the very next day.
Student Case Study
When did you start at the A Level Centre and how would you describe your experience there?
I started at the A Level Centre in September 2008. Entering the CAL Centre is really an amazing experience. I think myself, as well as most of my classmates, start to realize the importance of learning. Many of our teachers are humorous and are able to illustrate the most abstract knowledge in vivid words and stories. We also have plenty of opportunities to ‘show off’, through school activities such as English festival and physics projects. Overall, I think I have become a more well- rounded student through my own efforts and also with the help of the teachers.
What have been the benefits to you personally in studying A levels?
I have learnt the essential ways of study. Here, the teachers focus more on our attitude towards learning, such as the way of note taking and revising on a regular basis. In the Chinese system, I considered getting high grades as the purpose of study and managed to achieve this by doing numerous papers and cramming before a test. Now, however, I start to understand that learning is an accumulation of knowledge. Furthermore, since I am relatively better at English than Math, studying here gives me more confidence.
What have been the challenges in studying A levels?
Speaking in English all the time, even when facing some ‘Chinese faces’, has proved to be challenging at first as most of us are used to speaking in Chinese. However, teachers here constantly encourage us to talk in English as a way to improve our language ability, and now, I really benefit from this ‘rule’ and I see the progress in both my daily and academic English.
What grades did you obtain or predicted to obtain?
I obtained 4A*s and an A in IGCSE and I am predicted to obtain straight A*s in my AS year.
What are your plans for University?
I aim to enter one of the top 30 universities in US or top 10 universities in UK. This means a lot of hard work has to be done. First, of course, I'll focus on my study. I have to continue to work hard, so as to perform well in the A Level exams next year and also score highly in the SAT. In addition, I will continue my volunteer activities (I am a volunteer teacher in rural areas) and I also take part in other school activities. Moreover, I have already started selecting suitable universities by means of attending college fairs, listening to college lectures and so on.
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