Haileybury International School

Haileybury International School front gate

Haileybury International School (known internally as HIST) is a full-time boarding school and is registered by the Tianjin Department of Education.^[1]

With strong financial support from BCL, Haileybury also shares teaching and academic resources with Haileybury College in Australia. Haileybury International School has a solid foundation for providing first-class international education.

The school has a primary school, middle school, a Gaokao department and an International Senior School.^[2]

Haileybury has an international vision, seeking to bring together the best of the Chinese and western educational philosophies. It takes full advantage of a hundred years of experience in Australian education and the advantages of traditional Chinese education, while emphasizing innovative thinking and flexibility. A high-quality and diversified curriculum, small classes, an English learning environment, personalized training and care programs will develop students’ ability to use the English language and understand the western culture. It will also support the development of their ability to direct their own learning, communicate effectively, work in a team and take leadership at all levels. Haileybury focuses on cultivating a competitive ability to work in the international environment in order to become to become a citizen of the world.^[3][4]

Students entering Australian universities are normally not required to take the IELTS or TOEFL exam if they pass VCE English.^[5] Students who wish to enter universities in America, Britain and Canada are assisted to sit for the relevant examinations, including SAT, IELTS and TOEFL.^[6]

The school also runs AP and SAT courses taught by exceptional teachers from Australia.^[7][8]

Location

Haileybury International School is situated half-way between Beijing and Tianjin, just one kilometre from the Gaocun exit of Jingjintang Expressway. The area was once home to villages such as Taitou until it was razed and relocated for development by Beijing Capital Land (BCL). Many of the surrounding buildings are either under construction or uninhabited.

Taitou village was rebuilt as a uniform arrangement of twenty buildings averaging around 10 storeys each just 1200 metres south of the school. Almost all of the school's expatriate staff live in these Taitou buildings (called Taitou Xinyuan) and commute to the school daily.

The villages surrounding the school are primarily engaged with agriculture. Famous local produce includes small melons, radishes, parsley, spinach, strawberries corn and wheat. The school provides staff with plant-based gifts from these surrounding farms on special occasions with the aim of supporting the local economy.

Campus environment

Public and semi-public spaces of different sizes are scattered around the school campus in what the school describes as a "relaxed and comfortable environment".^[9]

The campus covers an area of about 5 hectares with a total of 10 buildings and a total construction area of more than 40,000 square meters. At the centre of the school is a doorway and two towers that resembles the front door of Eton College. The three-wing main teaching building has 48 classrooms equipped with overhead projectors and WiFi. There are nine purpose-built laboratories for chemistry, physics and biology. The school also has lockable music performance and personal practice rooms, two dance rooms, a lockable drama studio and an art studio complete with sinks.

The school has two libraries designed in a laid-back, Australian style with sofas and private rooms. The school has a world-class sports venue with indoor and outdoor basketball courts, a 25-metre swimming pool, a gym, a weightlifting room, a 270-metre outdoor athletics oval, football fields and two tennis courts. A playground is located outside the Primary School building.

The Grand School Auditorium is a major venue for theatrical performances, music performances as well as school assemblies. The theatre has a large digital projector which is used on movie nights.

The school has four dormitories (two for boys and two for girls). Each room has three beds and its own bathroom. Students are encouraged to keep their own rooms clean and tidy by being able to win golden stars to stick on their dormitory doors.

The school has two canteens called Canteen 1 and Canteen 2, which both serve award-winning food. Notable dishes include sweet and sour tofu and soy walnut chicken. Western food is served each Wednesday lunchtime in what is known internally as "Western Wednesday".

Fees and scholarships

Tuition fees are around 195,000 Chinese yuan per year for students in International Senior School, making it the most expensive private school in the area. Students pay additional fees for boarding, food, uniform, books and other minor expenses. With the average annual income of residents of Wuqing District being only 20,000 Chinese yuan per year, the school's tuition fees are around ten times the local average salary.^[10]

To help local students access elite private education, scholarships of around 50% are available to who residents of Wuqing District who enrol in HIST's Middle School. They are enrolled in a special "Wuqing Class", which matriculated in September 2018.

Teachers

There are approximately 85 teachers at the school including 30 full-time expatriate teachers, 55 full-time bilingual teachers of Chinese nationality, 14 of whom hold degrees from universities outside of China. Thirty-six teachers master's and doctoral degrees, accounting for 42% of all teaching staff employed. The student-to-teacher ratio is usually around 8:1.^[11]

References