9 Key Words to Better Understand OVIS
This is the 6th article of OVIS
Since the enrolment window for OVIS's Primary and Secondary classes opened this year, an increasing number of parents have been making appointments to visit the school. Parents are eager to choose a more suitable school and education for their children that better meets their expectations.
"What kind of school is OVIS?"
"What kind of students is OVIS cultivating?"
"Is my child suitable for your school?"
...
Everyone is curious and full of questions about OVIS, as well as being filled with imagination and expectations.
We have selected 9 key words about OVIS, and behind each word or sentence is a story unfolding on this campus...
01
O·V·I·S
The abbreviation for Optics Valley International School is OVIS, which embodies the values of this school.
Ownership
We never say "that's not my job/responsibility" at OVIS.
At OVIS, leadership is synonymous with ownership. OVIS students have a strong sense of purpose and self-drive, actively driving progress, exploring learning and are always at the forefront of problem-solving.
OVIS students are not accustomed to being rigid executors of orders. Typically, they are problem posers, problem solvers and team builders.
Venture
We believe that nothing is impossible.
As the newest generation in the world, OVIS students are unwilling to accept the notion of impossibility and will not accept defeat that will allow life to pass them by.
The cliffs are unscalable but the climbers will reach the top; the fragrance is unappreciated but the winter plum blossoms alone. The young should bring forth a bright moon to illuminate the snow in their hearts.
OVIS students have a glimmer in their eyes and fire in their hearts. They dare to believe that they can succeed.
Integrity
We choose the right path instead of the easy one.
We persevere in doing the right thing, even though this path is full of hardships. Integrity is the foundation of OVIS; honesty, respect, and support for others are the key features of this core value. Integrity is op
Rather than becoming a perfect person, we hope that students become people with integrity.
enness and peace of mind for oneself and others.
Service
Lighting a candle to illuminate others will not bring darkness to oneself.
The spirit of service stems from a belief in making this world a better place together. As members of the community, we hope to contribute to it through our own efforts. We aspire to be a torch, not only lighting up ourselves but also illuminating others.
02
Optics Valley
The birth and development of OVIS is closely related to Optics Valley, and it is the newest high-quality international school in the area.
OVIS is a strategic project of the Wuhan East Lake High-tech Zone Administration Committee intended to create a favourable talent environment and serve to facilitate the upgrading of industries in Optics Valley.
In recent years, Optics Valley has accelerated the pace of building a "World Optics Valley". As of last year, there were 361 foreign-related enterprises in Optics Valley, with about 40,000 temporary and 3,000 permanent foreign personnel, most of whom are experts, scholars and executives working in the enterprises of the East Lake High-tech Zone. They have a high demand for quality education resources.
Against this backdrop, OVIS was born. The school provides a consistent 15-year education programme from Kindergarten to Secondary School, serving foreign children from both inside and outside the province, as well as high-quality talents introduced by high-tech enterprises in the East Lake High-tech Zone.
03
80%
OVIS provides a pure English environment, with over 80% of teachers being international teachers.
English is the working language and permeates every corner of the campus. Stories, guidance signs, poetry, conversations, emails and ubiquitous character elements are all in English.
International teachers accompany students in learning and play around the clock, consciously requiring children to speak complete sentences, stimulating them to think before they speak and cultivating their language agility and logic.
The process of learning and communication between students and international teachers is also a process of cultivating their expressive and communicative abilities. When they are immersed in an all-English environment every day, they quickly develop a sense of the language and acquire English thinking faster.
04
Small-class teaching
We implement small-class teaching, with no more than 20 students in each class, to provide personalized attention to each student's learning and life.
Here, every student is the protagonist of the class.
05
The one and only
In our eyes, each student is unique.
The world is beautiful because of its diversity, and students are wonderful because of their richness. Cultivating the diversity of children and encouraging them to pursue diverse values in life is an important educational goal of OVIS.
We hope to cultivate independent creators who make choices based on their inner passions, regardless of the industry they will pursue in the future, rather than following the crowd.
Everyone has different talents and potentials, and the charm of education lies in allowing these buds to bloom into different coloured blossoms.
06
Consistent curriculum
As a K12 school, OVIS has designed distinctive courses from Kindergarten to high school.
Mr Iain Stevens, the school principal, stated that the school will provide a pure English-speaking environment, introduce international mainstream curriculum systems. It will synchronize with the global education evaluation system's assessment mode, allowing all students to quickly integrate and seamlessly connect with other countries overseas in the future.
Specifically, during the Kindergarten stage, we use the Montessori education system; during the Primary School stage, we follow the Mathematics and English syllabus of the British National Curriculum and use the International Primary Curriculum (IPC) teaching system; during the Lower Secondary school stage, we adopt the Cambridge Curriculum; during the Upper Secondary stage, we mainly use the IGCSE and A-Level curricula, while also providing the option of the IB curriculum.
Kindergarten
Montessori
For the Kindergarten stage, we have chosen the Montessori education system. This system is child-centred and respects the natural growth process of children, creating a learning environment that revolves around children, fully tapping into their potential in order to facilitate comprehensive development.
We prioritise inquiry-based and self-directed learning, with support from qualified and experienced educators who work in partnership with parents to provide educational development for each child.
Primary School
IPC
For the Primary School stage, we follow the Mathematics and English syllabus of the British National Curriculum and use the International Primary Curriculum (IPC).
The IPC is a Primary School curriculum designed for children aged 5-11 that utilizes creative teaching methods, thematic units, and integrates academic education, personal development, and international learning. Currently, it has been adopted by over 1,800 schools in more than 90 countries.
There has been a subtle shift in emphasis on reading, from focusing on "learning to read" to "learning through reading" at this stage.
The IPC aims to promote children's love for learning. At this stage, their developmental characteristics are becoming more independent and children are becoming better at thinking. Children also have many opportunities for social and emotional development and there is a strong emphasis on collaboration and cooperation.
Secondary School
Cambridge Lower Curriculum
The Secondary School curriculum of OVIS is based on the Cambridge Secondary curriculum, making full use of the school's facilities, equipment, and professional teachers to solidify the foundation for students to complete more challenging high school courses. The Cambridge Lower Curriculum focuses on the following qualities in students: confidence, responsibility, reflection, innovation, and active participation.
OVIS offers basic courses such as English language studies, English literature, Chinese, Mathematics, Combined Science, Geography, History, Physics, and Chemistry. OVIS provides high-quality holistic education for children, including arts, sports, community service, extracurricular activities, etc.
Students at the Secondary School stage are constantly laying a solid foundation to ensure success in the IGCSE stage. Students receive education in an environment that highly advocates adventure, independence, critical thinking, and teamwork. It is this series of key attributes, as well as our core values and learning habits, that lay a good foundation for our students' learning in Secondary School and beyond at OVIS.
High School(Y9-Y10)
IGCSE
At OVIS, the essence of high school education is to strike a balance between providing breadth of curriculum and student choice. We believe in encouraging everyone to pursue their passions, as this love for a subject promotes success.
In Year 9-10, we use the Cambridge International IGCSE curriculum, which is one of the most widely taken curriculum systems for 14-16-year-olds worldwide.
OVIS offers a diverse range of IGCSE subjects, allowing students to choose courses based on their interests, find their passions and strengths, and cultivate and express their creativity.
07
Project-based Learning
Project-based learning is a student-centred, real-world education approach that can inspire students to learn actively. In the process of learning and exploration, students can connect what they learn with daily life and social reality, think and solve problems in authentic contexts, and gain new understanding and knowledge.
In the information age, knowledge is no longer a scarce resource. Students have more channels to access information beyond the classroom, but they need teachers more than ever. Teachers need to help them learn how to think, how to research and how to apply knowledge.
We hope that students graduating from OVIS will not only have good academic results but also possess innovative thinking, curiosity and analytical ability. And that explains why project-based learning forms a crucial part of daily teaching at OVIS.
08
Dip-in Reading
One of the most striking features of the campus is the library. Original international books and picture books are everywhere on the shelves, such as the original books from DK Publishing, which are best known to Chinese parents. Ms Lin, who is in charge of the purchasing, said that the school has spent hundreds of thousands of yuan on the purchase of books alone. In the future, the school will continue to replenish the library's stock and purchase equipment to set up an “e-reading corner" to meet the students' reading needs to the greatest extent possible.
Behind the "low-profile but luxurious" library construction is a reflection of the educational philosophy of OVIS.
OVIS wishes to cultivate general talents who are skilled at interdisciplinary collaboration, critical thinking and creative solution-seeking, thus equipping students with English language learning skills and interdisciplinary literacy to achieve self-development.
Inquiry-based learning, critical thinking and creative problem solving are the focus of teaching and learning at OVIS.
We therefore note that OVIS strongly encourages students to read widely. In addition to after-school reading, there is a special 'Library' programme. This is all designed to allow students to fully absorb knowledge outside of the classroom, planting seeds of interest and questions in their heads so that what they learn in the classroom is not the sole authority.
What they learn in the classroom can be confirmed in reading; what they read outside the classroom may conflict with the classroom, so should they go to the teacher for a solution, or do they want to read more to find out the answers? In this process, Critical Thinking is generated.
09
E=mc&
OVIS believes in the creativity of our students. We believe that quality education allows students to stretch their creativity to infinity and emerge with the power to change the world.
These terms, some of which are coined and some of which are deepened and elaborated by OVIS, will change, develop and extend as the school grows ......
We expect our students to be creative constructors so the school itself should embrace innovation, change and future. We continue to innovate teaching methods, improve management pattern and enhance the quality of education, and are committed to providing our students with the first-class international education.
As a result, our students graduate with the unique qualities, integrity and academic excellence to shine at any university, in any city or industry in the world and bring a positive impact to the world.
