Grade 6 Graduation Classes of 2023

As we reach the end of the year, the Grade 6 students have taken their final Chinese and English exams. They did take a little time to make some memories by taking class photos they will keep to look at over the years. With around 340 Grade 6 students, it was a little difficult to set up the whole class photo, but we managed. Here you can see all the classes from A to J with their Western and Chinese teachers and Teaching Assistants. We wish all our graduates great success in the future as the move onto the next stage of their education.

Grade 6 Graduation  June 27th, 2023

The final event for Clifford 2022-2023 Graduating class was the Graduation Ceremony. Students, Administrators, teachers and parents were there to see the 324 students receive graduation certificates in a ceremony that included speeches, performances and presentations. 

Teachers also received flowers from the students in appreciation for their hard work. 

Each student was presented their graduation certificate by a member of the Elementary Administration. It was a moment for teachers, parents and the students themselves to show pride in their achievements. 

We wish all graduating students success as they continue their education journey in Secondary School and beyond!

Children’s Day in the English classrooms (June 1^st, 2023)

Lucky students, who had English classes in the afternoon of Children’s Day, June 1^st, were treated to a lot of fun. There were a wide variety of different fun activities in the classrooms. Students took part in dancing, exercises, singing, arts, crafts, drawings, painting and lots and lots of different games – some skill and some luck!

It was great to see the students so happy on this special day for them! 

G3, 4 and 5 Grade Level Assessments

On the 15^h, 17^th, and 18^th of May, Grades Three, Four and Five student took an English assessment to help us determine the students’ English language skills. This assessment is called the Grade Level Assessment (GLA).

This assessment is used in helping us determine the appropriate English class placement for the 2023-2024 school year. 

Over three days students undertook a variety of skills assessments in Oral Speaking and Listening, Reading Fluency (oral), Reading Comprehension, Writing and Listening Comprehension.

We also ask teachers to complete various surveys about each student’s classroom learning to help us decide on the best leveled class for everyone.

It’s a big process to assess over 1000 students over three days, so thanks goes to all our administrators and teachers for the hard work. But most of all thanks to the students who all did their best, and I am sure they are relieved it’s over…… until next May!

Open House: April, 2023

This year was the first year since Covid-19 that we were fully open to hold Open House for the whole Elementary School.

All 2,000 students and an estimated 3,000+ parents were at the school to watch English and Chinese demonstration lessons as well as take part in some other activities around the school.

This year Clifford’s Open House program was to give parents a glimpse into their child’s classroom life.

Here is a brief summary of the English classes at each Grade level.

G1

Parents were treated to the students practicing their Speaking skills in phonics and speaking lessons. Dialogues and conversations about Senses featured in six of the classrooms, and the other four were working on phonics, word families and Sight words.

G2

The focuses for the Grade Two classes were Grammar and Phonics. Students took part in fun activities to test their knowledge and understanding of various grammar concepts as well as phonics they have been learning this year.

G3

The Grade Three classes were about some Grammar topics. Grammar concepts covered were Prepositions and Parts of Speech. Every student in two of the Grade three classes gave their parents a surprise by presenting a short talk about their parents.

LELS

The students in these classes presented material about Vocabulary and Grammar using fun games and interactive activities. Learning English can be fun as well!

G4

Most of the Grade Four classes were focused on Speaking, Grammar, and Story Making. Students were encouraged to show their skills by creating their own language to demonstrate their understanding and use of the various language challenges presented to them. Two Grade Four classes discussed Life Cycles, which is part of their “Let Life Be More Green” Science theme.

G5

All the Grade Five classes have varied classes – Writing, Reading, Grammar, Vocabulary and Science were all covered over the ten lessons. For writing the students used their skills and imagination to write a story. In Reading the students learned to identify the Five Story Elements. In Grammar they covered different kinds of Prepositions, and how to use them correctly. For Science the students learnt about “Light” one of the Grade Five Science topics.

G6

The Grade Six classes included lessons on Grammar (conditional sentences), Word Study (Revision and use of Root Words), Speaking (Creating a good Speech) and Science Presentations (Healthy Bodies and Minds). Students in Grade Six were able to demonstrate their knowledge through various activities and games.

UELS

The two classes were very different. One was focusing on learning and using phonics to help read and write and the other was learning about and using good Interview techniques.

Thank you to all the teachers and the parents who came to our Elementary Open House event!

March Into Reading, 2023

March into Reading is the Elementary Bilingual Reading month.

During this month the staff, students and parents are involved in many reading activities to encourage a love for reading. We have Reading minute targets and rewards, Guest Reading, Peer Reading, DEAR Reading, Book Character Day, Reward day and a Class reading party as well as many other literature based activities in classrooms.

Another very successful Literacy Month!

Reward Day

Congratulations Clifford Elementary Bilingual School.  This year we had another very big Reading Month! The total minutes the students’ read during Literacy Month is 1,458,263.

We also had a total of 2,311 Guest Readers come to our classes to read – this year it was all students, teachers and staff, so that’s a great number!! Well done everyone!

The final total was announced during the Book Character Dress Up day! Students and teachers dressed up as a favorite book character and, due to weather, we had the announcement in the classrooms and a dress up parade around each building.

In keeping with years past, we have reached all our goals. This year our goal was again 1 million, 200 thousand minutes, even though we shortened the number of days. We still managed to break that goal very easily!

For achieving this goal, the students celebrated by having a classroom literacy party, a buffet lunch, no homework for a weekend and time for an outdoor literacy activity.

Classrooms also receive extra books for their classroom reading libraries as rewards for the number of minutes the students read. For each 1,500 minutes they receive one extra book. Classes also receive one extra book for each four guest readers they have during the month. Most classes earned around 50 extra books

March is always a fun time at Clifford School and this March was no different. Students participated in reading activities such as Peer Reading - with a student from a different grade and DEAR reading, which we had twice a week for silent reading time. Each class had a number of guest readers that came to our classes to read. We had other students, parents and many members of both the Chinese and Western staff come to read to our classes. 

We also had a fantastic Book Fair, where we sold over 120,000RMB worth of English books. That means we will be able to choose over 12,000RMB worth of books for the library and classrooms.

Congratulations Clifford School!  Fantastic Reading!  Keep it up all year round!

Guest Readers

As part of Elementary Bilingual’s March into Reading, we had parents, students and teachers reading to classes all through the month.

Parents were also able to come in and read again this year, and I’m pleased to say there were parents coming in to each grade. It’s always great to see parents reading and being good role models to our students.

Students were able to sign up to read in up to four other classes. Most students in G4, 5 and 6 signed up for all four reading sessions, reading in all grades from G1 to G6. Many students in Lower Elementary also signed up to read, some even to higher grades. 

Many Western and Chinese staff also read to classes, including the School Principal and Administration staff.

We had a total of 2, 311 Guest Readers over the three weeks!

What a great way to grow interest in reading books for fun, as well as practicing oral reading skills. The students have had a great time listening to so many stories!

We look forward to next year, when hopefully many more parents will also be able to come and read to the classes too.

 Peer Reading

During “March into Reading” the students have a time every week where they can read together with a student from a different grade level.

Lower Elementary students are paired with a student from Upper Elementary. Each week they read together in the library for 40 minutes.

Sometimes the younger students read, and the older students help them, at other times the older students read and the younger students enjoy the story.

This is a very positive reading experience for all, and sometimes the students even meet each other at other times to talk.

Students really love their March into Reading Peer Reading time.

Drop Everything and Read (DEAR)

For 20 minutes every Tuesday and Thursday in March all of the English classes and English teachers will “Drop Everything And Read” – which means all other activities will stop during the English class and everyone will “read”!

Students enjoy this quiet time just reading to themselves. It’s a time to relax and become part of the book they are reading. These days, our students rarely have a time at school to just to sit and enjoy reading. We hope this time encourages student to try and find time every day to read a little just for their enjoyment.

Another Book Fair Success in 2023

Our “Oink ‘n’ Oink” Elementary Bilingual Book Fair was a great success yet again. Because there were so many fantastic books, we managed to sell 123,000rmb of books.

The school earned over 12,300RMB worth of free books. We will use our free books for classroom and library books supporting our English, Science and Social Studies curriculum.

We were very pleased with the students who did a great job choosing their own books, sometimes with help from TAs, teachers and Oink ‘n’ Oink staff. This was made easier due to the variety of suitable books that were available for every age level.

Thank you to all the students, parents and friends for supporting the March into Reading Book Fair. See you next year!

Craig Smith (Author/Songwriter) Visit - May 19, 2016

On Thursday, Craig Smith, a children’s author and songwriter from New Zealand, came to visit Clifford Elementary Bilingual's Grade 2 and 3 students. Around 600 students went to the auditorium for the performance. Craig sang many of his famous books for us. He sang “Wonky Donkey”, “My Daddy Ate an Apple”, “Willie Bee the Bumble Bee” and others. The two favorites among the students were “Wonkey Donkey” and “My Daddy Ate an Apple”. Craig is famous for his funny stories, puppets and songs, as well as making funny noises, like his “drip, drip, drip” sound. The students sang, danced and had a terrific time. We hope many other famous overseas authors and songwriters can visit us in the future!