Students back for the new semester
Students return to school on Monday holding national flags to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
About 1.4 million students began the new semester on a rainy Monday with their first lessons varying from sharing travel experiences and security education to drama performances and housework.
The 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China was a theme for many schools.
At the Chuncheng campus of the Minhang Experimental Primary School, each student entered with a national flag to celebrate the anniversary on Monday morning. Many of them made their own flags.
At a gathering ceremony and the first lesson, students shared their travel experiences during the break.
He Xuefeng, general principal of the school, said students had been encouraged to take part in social activities and travel during the vacation. During this year’s vacation, they were asked to take a national flag with them when traveling and to learn about the history and culture of the country and the city.
Zhang Silang, a fifth-grader, said he visited an exhibition on the development of Shanghai since it was liberated 70 years ago, and said he was impressed by the list of those who had made great contributions to the city and the country.
“The heroes, including soldiers and scientists, have made great contributions to the country in various areas, and they inspired me to study hard and make my contribution in the future,” he said.
The ceremony ended with students and teachers waving the national flags and singing “My Country and I.”
At the Chuncheng Campus of Minhang Experimental Primanry School, each student entered holding a national flag on Monday morning.
Students and teachers at the Chuncheng campus of the Minhang Experimental Primary School wave national flags as they sing “My Country and I.”
For first-graders, there was a special ceremony mark the start of their primary school studies. They watched videos to learn about the school’s history, badge and mascots. Their teachers introduced themselves, while the students bowed to them as a traditional ritual in becoming students.
“We need some rituals to enhance students’ awareness to start studying and pay respect to teachers,” said He. “There are also other rituals throughout the five-year study in our school, such as one to express their gratitude to teachers upon graduation.”
He Xuefeng, general principal of Minhang Experimental Primary School, helps a first-grader with his school badge on Monday.
At Luwan Middle School, a wall was erected at the gate for students to write down their wishes for the country.
A drama called “The Backbone of the Great Country” was staged by students to tell stories of famous Chinese heroes, including Dong Cunrui, a Communist soldier who died in the liberation war, Kong Fansen, a Communist official who died when aiding the development of Tibet, nuclear physicist Yu Min who was known as “father of hydrogen bomb” in China, and Ye Cong, chief diver of China’s deep-sea submersible Jiaolong.
Zhang Fangfang, a teacher at the school, said the drama was created and performed by the students to show their respect to those with a selfless devotion to the establishment and development of the country.
A drama “The Backbone of the Great Country” was staged by students at Luwan Middle School.
At Wuning Road Primary School, students tried their hand at housework, such as washing clothes, making wonton, tidying up and even braiding hair, as schools are now promoting labor as an essential part of education for students' all-round development.
Sun Naxin, principal of the school, said it prepared 14 kinds of housework skills they believed students of their ages should master and all its over 1,200 students had taken part.
She said the students were told to learn at least one skill at home during the summer vacation and the activity was to check how well they had done their “homework” and inspire them to learn more in the future.
About 3,500 traffic police officers and their assistants showed up in the areas where students of over 400 elementary and middle schools and kindergarten children began their new semester on Monday, police said.
This week, police will continue their campaign to ensure safety on school buses by setting up road blocks in key streets before and after school as they looked out for problems such as students not wearing seat belts or overcrowded buses.
A teacher at Wuning Road Primary School teaches students how to braid hair on Monday.
Students at Wuning Road Primary School show off their skills in tidying their rooms on Monday.
Ni Jiahui, a traffic police officer in Yangpu District, shows children how his radio works during a class on road safety at Yangpu Elementary School.
