For this Chinese parent, the successful Northbridge approach to learning is what he's looking for in an international school

请阅读下面中文采访原文。

Please introduce your family

I have two daughters. One is in Grade 1 and the other one is in EL4 (Early Learning 4). This is my daughters’ first year at Northbridge.

Why did you choose Northbridge?

The reason why I chose Northbridge is that, first and foremost, we think this campus is clean, which is what my wife values most; second, the school has IB accreditation, I pay more attention to this.

Third, we like the school environment and teachers very much. The campus is big and children can play freely.

What are the benefits of our IB program?

I think the IB program is very important because it is an international course. I used to live in the United States, so I think internationalization is very important. 

Nowadays, many countries need frequent communications, and it is inevitable for children to be international and open-minded. The IB program helps them better cope with changing society.

How have your daughters changed since they started at Northbridge?

I appreciate the resources that schools provide to my children. Because my two daughters rarely spoke English in the United States before, they spoke Mandarin at home.

Now both children can speak and read English.

For the first two weeks, they were shy. But now they are happy to go to school and they meet many friends.

They enjoy the school life here, and the school gives us a lot of support.

My eldest daughter was not good at English when she first came to school. Extra classes were offered to help her keep up with her daily routine courses.

My younger daughter is shy and her teachers encourage her all the time. Teachers often communicate with us about how we can work together to encourage her both at school and at home.

Now she has become more outgoing, and she is happy and willing to communicate with friends and teachers.

What school activities have you enjoyed?

I like the school activities such as International Day and Picnic Day. We all signed up. 

The children are very happy that their parents can participate in the activities together.

Children enjoy going to school more. There are lots of activities here, and parents have fun together.

In addition, on the International Day, I was surprised to find that there were children from other countries in the school.

What’s most important for you at school?

My children's happiness is the most important thing to me. Recently, the children were happy to share their experience of participating in a step-up class, preparing them for the next grade in August.

The children have changed a lot since they came to Northbridge. During Covid, they were at home for three years and it was difficult for them to communicate with others. They used to depend on us for everything.

Now they have become independent, open-minded and good at communication, especially in English.

We are happy that at Northbridge our children can develop their own way and do what they want without our help.

We think the environment here is very good, and the school is good for the children, so the children will continue to study here. 

Both my wife and I like Northbridge very much.

How does the school help international students feel part of the community?

I like the way the school helps international students adapt to school life. Students from many different countries are very cheerful at school, they respect, and get on well with each other.

The school staff are friendly and make friends with the children. I think this is important because we are equal, and we can't exclude others

Northbridge is a good choice for parents, and an international school. My children have been very happy since they came to Northbridge.

Therefore, I sincerely recommend Northbridge as the first choice for parents.

请介绍您的家庭

我有两个女儿，一个是读一年级，一个是读EL(Early Year) 4。我女儿们都是第一年在北桥读书。

为什么您会给孩子选择北桥？

我选择北桥原因是，第一最重要的是我们觉得这边比较干净，这是我老婆最看重的；第二，学校有IB 认证（IB accreditation） ，对我来说，我也比较重视这个。 第三，这边学校环境和老师，我们很喜欢。 这里环境大，小孩子可以自由活动。环境方面， 我的孩子们小，他们在这里可以自由活动，大的校园环境让她们更有动力去做她们想要做的事情。

我们的IB课程有什么优势？

第一，它是国际认可的，对我来说，我以前在美国生活，所以我觉得这个是很重要。我们现在的社会

就是要跟很多国家进行交流，是要走向国际的，所以这个一定对孩子有好处。

自从您的女儿们开始在北桥就读以来，她们发生了哪些变化？

她们的变化很大，因为我的两个女儿以前在美国的时候，她们不怎么讲英文，我们在家里都是讲国语的。我们来北桥一年了，现在他们两个都会讲英文，一开始的时候，第一第二个礼拜他们当然很害羞很害怕，但是现在，他们都很开心，每天都很开心地来学校，又有很多朋友。学校提供很多帮助，像我的大女儿，刚来的时候她的英文不是很好，然后学校有帮她加课，老师帮她学多一点英文，就让她跟得上了。

又好像我的小女儿，她比较害羞，然后老师一直鼓励她，一直跟我们家长讨论合作，两三次一直鼓励她，老师建议我们在家里怎么跟她沟通，然后她现在就好很多，开心多了，也愿意去跟朋友讲话，跟老师讲话。

您喜欢哪些学校活动？

我觉得学校很多活动，就像上次有一个国际日活动，然后也有一个野餐日，我们都有参加。小孩子也很开心有父母跟他们参加。她们一直想来学校，因为又可以活动，又可以读书，又有父母一起陪伴。像国际日那天，我很惊讶这里有很多不同国家的小孩子。

学校对您来说什么最重要？

对我来说，小孩子开心最重要，就这几天, 她回家跟我说，她很开心要升班了。自从她来到北桥，我觉得她有很多变化，因为我的孩子都是属于“新冠一代”，我们以前两三年都一直在家。现在，她经常跟人家用英语沟通。变得善于交际，思维开阔，不像以前一直什么东西都要找父母。现在她们很独立，自己可以出去做自己要做的事情。我们很高兴在北桥，我们的孩子可以发展自己的方式，在没有我们帮助的情况下做他们想做的事。此外，我们觉得这里的环境很好，学校对孩子们也很好，所以孩子们就会继续在这里学习。我和我的妻子都非常喜欢北桥。

学校如何帮助学生感受到自己是这国际社区的一部分？

学校对国际学生融合的方式，我觉得是很好的。我看见很多不同国家的学生来到这里，他们都没有害羞，没有什么排斥对方，他们都很好的，可以沟通，可以做朋友。所以我觉得这个对孩子来说，是一个很重要的，我们不要排斥别人，我们大家都是一样的。对家长来说，我觉得北桥是一个很好的选择，因为北桥像我说一样，他是国际级的。此外，对我来说小孩子开心很重要，她开心她就能读书，我孩子过来读书后，一直很开心，她每次都说，我要去读书，所以我建议家长也可以来北桥。