Director of Curriculum and Instruction

Overview 

Fettes College is one of the UK’s foremost independent co-educational day and boarding schools. Situated in Edinburgh, Scotland’s gracious and vibrant capital city, rich in history, learning and culture, the College has enjoyed a reputation as a centre of educational excellence for one hundred and fifty years. 

Fettes College Guangzhou (FCG) is the first overseas campus of Fettes College. The new school will be very closely linked to Fettes College and will share its ethos and vision: to provide the highest quality of holistic, broad based education that will stretch and challenge its pupils and equip them with the qualifications, skills and personal qualities that will allow them to flourish and succeed in their lives beyond school.

FCG is being designed and built as a joint venture and with a shared vision between Fettes College and Bright Scholar, the largest operator of K-12 schools in China. Bright Scholar, a listed company on the New York Stock Exchange, is fast acquiring international recognition together with an enviable reputation as a provider of high quality education. Bright Scholar is enabling Fettes College to bring to mainland China its special and highly sought after brand of traditional British boarding education, which will be blended with the strength of Chinese scholastics and informed by modern, innovative approaches to teaching and learning.

FCG is located on a spacious and superbly equipped campus in Zengcheng, bordered by forest and hills and yet within an hour’s drive of the centre of Guangzhou, and of Baiyun International Airport. The campus has been created with imaginative flair by international architects Broadway Malyan. Their modern interpretation of the strengths, features and characteristics of the Edinburgh campus will allow the delivery of all the distinctive qualities of an authentic Fettes education in Guangdong.

Our Heritage

Fettes College is named for Sir William Fettes, twice Lord Provost of Edinburgh and among the most highly respected citizens of his generation. Having lost his only son and heir in 1815, he decided to devote his wealth to ‘the maintenance, education and outfit of young people’. Sir William’s passionate concern for the care, welfare and education of young people has been at the heart of the ethos of the College throughout its history and remains our guiding principle today, and for the future.

The size of the original bequest enabled the internationally renowned architect David Bryce to produce a magnificent design for Fettes College, and he created what experts agree is undeniably one of Scotland’s greatest buildings.

Fettes College first opened in 1870 educating just fifty-three boys. Under the formidable first Headmaster, Dr Potts, the School quickly gained a reputation for academic and sporting excellence that has grown richer over time. While the original foundation was for boys only, the School became co-educational in 1983 and is now home to over seven hundred and fifty boys and girls.

Over the course of the past century and a half, a remarkable number of graduates from the College (Old Fettesians) have drawn on the breadth and depth of the education they received to achieve success and distinction in a wide variety of careers nationally and internationally: in politics, law, commerce, industry, the arts and in the service of their country.

Ethos 

The ethos and guiding principles of Fettes College Guangzhou will mirror those of its Scottish parent. Fettes College Edinburgh takes great pride in being a community that believes in mutual support and co-operation and in creating a happy, purposeful environment that encourages boys and girls to flourish and develop fully the skills and interests that they possess. 

At Fettes College Guangzhou we will strive to replicate this ethos by nurturing the individual while fostering a happy well-ordered and caring community with strong family values at its core. To this end, we will do our utmost to ensure our students:

· Receive the highest possible quality of education within a boarding environment.

· Feel safe, valued, have a sense of personal worth, are thoughtful and considerate of the needs of others, possessing a willingness to take on responsibility.

· Develop their self-confidence, integrity, emotional resilience, loyalty, good manners and humour, leadership skills and team-work.

· Value a sense of community and service, and develop a clear sense of right and wrong, equipping them for life beyond Fettes.

· Are provided with equal opportunities regardless of gender, sexuality, ethnic origin or religion.

· Are encouraged to stretch and challenge themselves in everything they undertake.

Our mission at FCG will be to develop broadly educated, confident and thoughtful individuals who are prepared for life beyond school and all the opportunities and challenges it will bring.

Academic Overview

At the heart of the world-class holistic education enjoyed by students at Fettes College lies a close focus on discovery, learning and academic development. Every individual is encouraged to stretch and challenge themselves intellectually and to develop the self-motivation to be the best that they can be. This outcome is achieved through a combination of inspirational teaching from the highly committed staff, a strong work ethic among the students, and a shared ambition to succeed. Consequently, the examination results that Fettes boys and girls achieve and their success rate in gaining places at leading universities and colleges, in the UK and internationally, are outstanding.

This focus on achieving the highest standards of teaching and learning will be an essential guiding principle at Fettes College Guangzhou.

At FCG we are passionate about instilling and inspiring a love of learning in our students. Examination success at the end of a student’s journey through the School is built on the development of an intrinsic curiosity and a desire to discover and explore, thereby acquiring knowledge and understanding through a broad range of experiences.

The curriculum offered at FCG will be bilingual and will draw on the strengths and rigour of both Chinese and British pedagogy. It will deliver all the requirements of the Chinese National Curriculum blended with the inquiry-based approach to learning of the International Baccalaureate (IB) and delivered in a manner that emphasises the essential values of an authentic Fettes education. Being bilingual at all levels, the School will promote an immersive English learning environment that will encourage students to make us of both English and Chinese at every stage of their learning experience.

In the Kindergarten the focus will be on providing a joyful and holistic education that will foster the development of happy, confident and resilient children. The learning and teaching will embrace Chinese culture and guidance on Early Years education, while following the principles of the British Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum with enrichment from the IB.

This will prepare the students for the Primary and Middle Schools, where they will follow a curriculum that, during the compulsory education years (Grades 1 to 9), blends the mandatory Chinese National Curriculum (CNC) with the breadth and inquiry-based learning principles of the IB.  The unique programme of study will allow FCG students to excel in their CNC studies whilst simultaneously experiencing the breadth and holistic nature of an authentic Fettes education.

Students in the Senior School will have the choice between continuing with the IB and graduating with the IB Diploma, or of switching to a programme based on IGCSE and A-level courses, enriched through the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) and core elements of the IB.

Combining the strengths of Western and Eastern educational practices in this way, FCG will offer to Chinese and international families a unique, world-class bilingual education that will allow its students access to global opportunities in their lives beyond school.