Fettes College Guangzhou raises the bar for boarding education in China

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Designed as a K-12 boarding and day school, Fettes College Guangzhou opens this month, as the first international college distinctly modelled after the world-renowned Edinburgh (UK) based school, Fettes College.

With its lush grounds and grandiose buildings commonly cited as the inspiration for Hogwarts castle in the Harry Potter series, its founding institution has a long list of prominent leaders among its alumni, including former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.  Fettes College is one of the most renowned and top schools in Scotland and in the UK.
 
The School takes its name from 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.

Over the course of the past century and a half, a remarkable number of graduates from the school 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.

To bring their vision into a reality, Fettes College will be partnering with Bright Scholar Education, China’s largest K-12 school operator. Bright Scholar is fast acquiring international recognition together with an enviable reputation as a provider of high quality education. The partnership Bright Scholar will enable Fettes College to introduce 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.

The ethos and guiding principles of Fettes College Guangzhou will be founded on nurturing the individual while fostering a happy well-ordered and caring community with strong family values at its core. Their mission looks to develop broadly educated, confident and thoughtful individuals who are prepared for life beyond school and all the opportunities and challenges it will bring.

The stunningly well-equipped FCG campus will set a new standard for schools in China and beyond. An expansive 33-acre bespoke campus 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. Designed by international architects Broadway Malayan, it has been specifically designed to deliver a unique approach to learning. Their world-class facilities for tuition, sports, music, drama as well as home-from-home boarding houses and an abundance of green space for reflection and creativity will provide an ideal environment for children flourish.

At the heart of the world-class holistic education enjoyed through a Fettes education, 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. 

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.