TES celebrates 30th anniversary

30th Anniversary Guests Group photo

“Mighty oaks grow from little acorns” - the Taipei European School (TES), a unique school which is the only one of its kind worldwide, formally celebrated its 30th anniversary on the occasion of Europe Day, 9 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 across the world every year.

The passage of 30 years has certainly seen TES grow during a period of great change in the world in which its faculty and students operate, whether it be pedagogically, technologically, socially to name but a few.
 

TES CEO John Nixon giving welcome remarks at the anniversary celebration

The school has been able to adapt, grow and flourish over the course of time and with the great dedication of the hundreds of teachers, staff, and many thousands of families that have joined the school over the years. In keeping with the school’s motto ‘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. Students can flourish academically but also beyond the classroom, in whichever domain they choose.

Academic excellence is obviously a core goal of any educational institution, but TES looks to help students to grow in many other ways too. 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. The school builds these values in tandem with important skills and attributes that its graduates develop and then take forward beyond their school life. Upon graduating, TES students demonstrate leadership, independence, global citizenship, critical thinking skills, communication skills and show empathy, whilst being lifelong learners so they can thrive in the ever-changing world.
 

30th Anniversary secondary orchestra performance

As the ‘European School’ in Taipei, TES focuses on developing European culture and values to achieve a shared vision and mission. Consequently ‘Europe Day’, 9 May, is one of the most important events of the year for the school. This is the day the school celebrates 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 its students. As an international school, this event enables students to stay in touch with the school’s European heritage. This year, the school’s traditional ‘Europe Day’ celebration was combined with the 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.