British School of Beijing

The British School of Beijing
Address
No. 5 Xiliujie, Sanlitun Road[Sanlitun], No. 9 An Hua Street[Shunyi] Beijing, China
Information
School type	International School
Established	10 September 2004 (2004-21-10)
Founder	Nord Anglia Education
Status	Sanlitun Opened October 2003, Shunyi Opened 2005
Principal	David Laird [Sanlitun], Andy Puttock[Shunyi]
Age	18m to 18yrs
Pupils	Maximum Capacity 400[Sanlitun], 1500[Shunyi]
Website	britishschool.org.cn

The British School of Beijing, Shunyi (simplified Chinese: 北京英国学校顺义校区; traditional Chinese: 北京英國學校順義校區; pinyin: Běijīng Yīngguó Xuéxiào Shùnyì Xiàoqū) is an international school in Shunyi District, Beijing, China. Nord Anglia Education operates this school, situated in the residential area of Shunyi and taking pupils from 18 months through to 18 years of age (Pre-Nursery students through to Sixth form college),^[1] along with its sister school, The British School of Beijing, Sanlitun (simplified Chinese: 北京英国学校三里屯校区; traditional Chinese: 北京英國學校三里屯校區; pinyin: Běijīng Yīngguó Xuéxiào Sānlǐtún Xiàoqū), based in the central Embassy district of Sanlitun and caters for students from the age of 2 to 11 years old.^[2]

As of 2012 the British School of Beijing, then a single school composed of two campuses, was the second largest international school in Beijing.^[3] The following year it was divided into two separate schools.

In 2011 Mike Embley, the BSB headmaster, stated that the unified BSB was the centre of the expatriate community in Beijing, and the school had families with members employed by multinational corporations and embassies.^[4] Embley stated in 2013 that BSB was, along with the International School of Beijing (ISB) and Western Academy of Beijing (WAB), one of the top three English-language international schools in Beijing, all having long waiting lists.^[3] Citing Embley's definition of two lower tiers of Beijing Anglophone international schools which have vacant student spaces, Tristan Bunnell, the author of The Changing Landscape of International Schooling: Implications for Theory and Practice, stated that this was an instance of the idea of "'superior' and 'inferior' schools" shared by teachers and parents.^[5]

The school includes a section for German students.^[6]

History

The school was founded in 2003.^[7] It was originally intended to open in September 2004, but it opened on 29 March 2004 as prospective families were already in Beijing.^[8]

Originally both Nord Anglia campuses in Beijing, Shunyi and Sanlitun, were operated as a single school, The British School of Beijing (北京英国国际学校). In 2013 they were administratively made into separate institutions.^[7]

Curriculum

The school offers an enhanced British National Curriculum National Curriculum. The curriculum is taught by UK qualified teachers and supported by teaching assistants.^[9] The school prepares students for the IGCSE, and IB Diploma.^[10]

Students in the primary levels study Mandarin Chinese and may choose to take a second foreign language. Secondary students must study Mandarin and another foreign language.^[4]

Operations

Jonathan Stefonek of the China Daily stated that "The British School operates more formally than the larger international schools in Shunyi".^[3] Warwick Mansell of The Telegraph wrote that the school "presents itself as stressing old-fashioned courtesy and not tolerating poor behaviour."^[4] The school rejects prospective students who had been expelled from other schools.^[4]

BSB, as of 2013, sends teachers to rural China to help area Chinese students, and teachers from rural China go to BSB to get assistance. The Chinese central government had selected BSB for this role.^[3]

Student body

As of 2011 the whole BSB school had 1,150 students from 50 countries. Many of the parents work for embassies and/or multinational corporations. The British made up the largest group of students at BSB, about 25% of the total. The Mainland European nationalities together totaled 30%, and the third-largest grouping originated from North America.^[4]

In 2014 BSB Shunyi had 1,022 students.^[11]

Location

The British School of Beijing has two campuses. The Sanlitun campus comprises two buildings in downtown Beijing in the Embassy district. One building caters for Pre-Nursery and Nursery students (age 2 – 4), the other is from Reception to Year 6 (age 5 – 11).^[2] The other larger campus is situated in the rural area of Shunyi, approximately 45 minutes out of central Beijing.^[1] This campus caters for students from Pre-Nursery to Sixth Form College (18 months – 18 years).

Facilities

Both Nord Anglia schools host a wide range of facilities including a library, a gymnasium, a football pitch, tennis and basketball courts, and indoor sports dome. There is a theatre in each school,^[12] and a 230-seat amphitheatre in the Shunyi school.^[4] The Shunyi school also hosts tennis courts, an indoor swimming pool,^[4] fitness suite, dance studio, dedicated music rooms plus numerous private practice rooms, computer music suites, a recording studio, ICT suites, a Lego robotics lab, science laboratories and art studios.^[13] The Sanlitun school uses an Astroturf play area, and it has a football (soccer) pitch on the roof.^[4]

Mansell wrote that the Sanlitun campus "is said by the school to have a “cosy” family feel".^[4]

As of 2014 one of the BSB schools has an inflatable dome for athletics events in order to shield students from Beijing pollution.^[14]

School governance

The schools are part of the Nord Anglia Education group, a British organisation founded in 1972 specialising in education.^[15] Nord Anglia Education provides schools inspection services to the British Government and works with governments around the world to improve educational standards.^[16]

Athletics

The British School of Beijing competes against other top international schools from across Asia and is involved in a variety of leagues including; ACAMIS (Association of Chinese & Mongolian International Schools), ISAC (International School's Athletic Conference Beijing/Tianjin), JISAC (Junior International Schools Athletic Conference)and FOBISSEA (Foundation of British International Schools in South East Asia). The British School of Beijing has hosted the Primary FOBISSEA Games in 2011 and 2012, the FOBISSEA Music Festival in 2012 and the FOBISSEA Primary Performing Arts Carnival in 2013.^[17]

Professional affiliations

• FOBISSEA (Foundation of British International Schools in South East Asia)

• JISAC (Junior International Schools Athletic Conference)

• ISAC (Beijing and Tianjin International Schools Athletic Conference)

• ACAMIS (Association of China and Mongolia International Schools)

• ABRSM (Associated Board of Royal Schools of Music) test centre.

• BSB is registered at the and Curriculum Authority in the UK and is fully licensed by the Chinese Ministry of Education.

• BSB is an Executive member of COBIS (Council of British International Schools).

• BSB is part of the Nord Anglia Education schools groups and is inspected by Nord Anglia's team of UK government trained OFSTED inspectors (Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills).

• BSB is inspected by the ISI (Independent Schools Inspectorate).

References

Further reading

• "What is life like at the British School in Beijing?" BBC News School Report. 26 March 2014.

External links

• British School of Beijing

British international schools in the People's Republic of China Mainland China British School of Beijing, Sanlitun British School of Beijing, Shunyi The British School of Guangzhou British School of Nanjing Nord Anglia International School Shanghai Pudong The British International School Shanghai, Puxi Campus Dulwich College Beijing Dulwich College Shanghai Dulwich College Suzhou Dulwich International High School Suzhou Dulwich International High School Zhuhai Harrow International School Beijing Malvern College Chengdu Malvern College Qingdao Wellington College International Shanghai Wellington College International Tianjin International School of Beijing Special administrative regions Harrow International School Hong Kong Kellett School Malvern College Hong Kong South Island School Defunct Beijing Rego British School Shanghai Rego International School Tianjin Rego International School Oxford International College Shanghai For schools in the Republic of China on Taiwan see the list of international schools in Taiwan.