TES 30th Anniversary and Europe Day Event Taipei European School Celebrates 30 Years!

Taipei European School (TES) celebrated its 30th anniversary this year!

The Taipei European School (TES) unites British, French and German Sections at its two campuses in Tianmu and YangmingShan. The Sections joined together in 1992, and this academic year the school celebrates its 30th anniversary as a leading international school in Taiwan and the region.

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Mighty oaks grow from little acorns” - the Taipei European School, a unique school, which is the only one of its kind in the world, formally celebrated its 30th Anniversary on the occasion of Europe Day, the 9th of May, 2023.

From humble beginnings in 1992, when three separate schools, the French School, the German School and the British School came together under one European campus roof. The school now has nearly 1,800 students, with graduate classes of 80+ students moving to prestigious universities around the world every year.

The passage of 30 years has certainly seen Taipei European School grow during a period of great change in the world in which our faculty and students operate, whether it be pedagogically, technologically, or sociologically, to name but a few.

The school has been able to adapt, grow and flourish over the course of time with the great dedication of the hundreds of teachers, staff, and the many thousands of families that have joined the school over the years. The school’s motto is ‘ Learn and Flourish ’; students learn in a multicultural, multilingual and holistic educational environment and flourish within the highly supportive environment in which physical, mental, social and emotional wellbeing are given high priority. These students flourish academically, but even more importantly, beyond the classroom, in whichever path they wish to follow.

Academic excellence is obviously a core goal of any educational institution, but the Taipei European School looks to help students to grow in many other ways as well. The TES Community Values of: Respect; Responsibility; Creativity; Participation; and Perseverance, are part of the “DNA” of the school and are lived and breathed in the daily lives of the students and school community. We build these values in tandem with important skills and attributes that our graduates develop and then take forward beyond their school life. Upon graduating our students will demonstrate leadership, independence, global citizenship, critical thinking skills, communication skills and show empathy, whilst being lifelong learners, so that they can thrive in the ever-changing world.

As the ‘ European School ’ in Taipei, we created ‘One School' from three to focus on developing European culture and values to help achieve our shared vision and mission. Consequently, ‘Europe Day’, the 9th of May, is one of the most important events of the year for the school. This is the day we celebrate with Representatives from the European Trade Offices and European Chambers of Commerce in Taipei, as well as other organisations in the community, which help and support the school and our students. As an international school, this event enables students to stay in touch with the school’s European heritage. This year we combined the school’s traditional ‘ Europe Day ’ celebration with our official ‘ 30th Anniversary celebrations’ and brought the students from both the primary and secondary campuses together to perform. With the combined orchestras and choirs of the younger and older students, the presentation was very impressive, culminating in the finale “ Ode to Joy”, sung in the four different languages of the school, namely: English, French, German, and Chinese.

Whilst the Europe Day event represents the official ‘30th Anniversary Event’, the school has been celebrating throughout the academic year 20222023. The theme for this year is one of the central mission ideals ‘ Doing well by doing good’! The students and community have raised money for local and international charities and the good feeling of being able to support these groups provides much motivation for doing more of the same in the future.

Whilst celebrating a strong 30 year history, the school is of course futurefocused and there are significant developments to come in the physical structures of the school to support teaching and learning. As well as new buildings and renovations, Taipei European School strives to be a leading educational institution in terms of curricula development and modern pedagogy. The school aims to recruit the best teachers and staff possible, and maintains an exciting and highly relevant programme of continuing professional development and staff training.

If the past is an indication of the future, we can be sure of one important fact: our graduates going forward into the world will be a credit to themselves, the school and the wider community.

When I arrived at the Museum of World Religions, I did not expect to end my day roaring out loud, thrusting my fists forward in a rare moment of community connection, but that is exactly what happened, and it felt liberating.

The event was Bridging Ancient Wisdom and the Modern World, organised by the Museum of World Religions and the Red Room, to celebrate International Women’s Day with the #EmbraceEquity. In reality it was more than a celebration, inspiring, educational, thought provoking and rooted in the history of Taiwan’s indigenous females.

Expecting to see mostly women in the room, I was emboldened to see men. One of the speakers Elisa Chiu couldn’t have voiced it better when she said “ we need more allies, it’s a movement ”. The men I met from the USA, Mexico and Taiwan all expressed that they were keen to support. JJ. Chen, photographer said, “ one common thread was, regardless of their