SCIE students performed the traditional British pantomime, Puss in Boots, in January. The play, written by Ben Crocker, former Artistic Director of the Northcott Theatre in Exeter, was a delightful experience for the large audience. The cast of 25, which included students from across the school, brought joy and laughter to the audience, which included […]
Puss in Boots – oh yes, it is! Read More »
During the recently concluded Humanities & Social Sciences Week, a series of exciting activities were organized for students, including the Humanities Fete Games, Debate Competition, and Sociology & Psychology Escape Room, allowing them to immerse themselves in the charm of humanities and social sciences. In addition, we invited two special guest speakers to engage with
SCIE Students’ Insights into Education and the Future Workplace Read More »
Sixteen of our incredible students recently returned from an adventurous journey like no other, having successfully completed their Duke of Edinburgh International Award expeditions. Two Silver groups and one Gold group spent a week in Thailand, kayaking an impressive 65km over five days. Paddling through open waters to remote islands, exploring stunning mangrove forests, and
A Memorable Adventure: SCIE Students Conquer Thailand’s Waters! Read More »
Editor’s Note: Jack Deng is a graduate of SCIE’s Class of 2019. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Communication from The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2023 and completed his master’s degree in Journalism at The University of Hong Kong in 2024. He is currently working at Ogilvy in Hong Kong. In
From SCIE to Victoria Harbour: My Journalist’s Journey of Growth Read More »
Recently, the results of various international mathematics competitions have been announced, and SCIE students have achieved outstanding results in three prestigious competitions: the British Mathematical Olympiad BMO Round 1, the American Mathematics Competition AMC 10/12, and the Senior Mathematical Challenge of the UKMT. Once again, they have demonstrated exceptional mathematical proficiency and strong international competitiveness.
SCIE Students Shine in International Mathematics Competitions Read More »
Gansu, a land often regarded by many as desolate, stirs a profound resonance deep within the soul the moment you set foot upon its boundless expanse and tranquil vastness. The once-bustling traffic of ancient times has long faded into the dust of history, leaving behind a flourishing cultural heritage that has nurtured this land for
A Journey Through Gansu’s History and Nature Read More »
Introduction: What is the world like for the visually impaired individuals? I’m sure many people can’t answer this question, and not being able to understand means that there is a gap between them and the blind individuals. Ken Chen from SCIE A1 have spent half a year understanding and contact with the blind community, and he will
Breaking Barrier: Fostering Connection for the Visually Impaired Read More »
Chemistry Curiosity Club (CCC) is a chemistry club that has been established at SCIE for seven years. It attracts a group of individuals who are passionate about chemistry and enjoy discussing chemical knowledge. As “scientific research experts” who are extremely enthusiastic about practicals, the three presidents of CCC immediately began planning practical activities as soon as
Chemistry Wonderland- Mirror, Mirror, Who is the Most Beautiful? Read More »
On January 30, 2025, Cambridge University began releasing its admission results. As of now, 33 students from the SCIE Class of 2025 have received conditional offers from Cambridge. Together with the 8 students who had previously received conditional offers from Oxford, SCIE proudly celebrates a total of 41 Oxbridge offers for 2025. This year’s SCIE students
33 Cambridge Conditional Offers | SCIE Leads the Nation in Cambridge Admissions Read More »
With the end of the final exams for 2024, SCIE seamlessly transitioned into Christmas holiday mode. Despite the holiday being just 16 days long, several small yet impactful changes were made to the campus. Unlike the summer holidays, the shorter Christmas break does not allow for large-scale projects. However, thanks to favorable weather conditions with
A Short Holiday with Small Changes Read More »
My essay is on the recent development of China’s mental health care system and how it can help address this question. Though, I actually parried the question raised by the prompt, and I did not in the end emphasise too much that more care should be devoted to the socially vulnerable. Rather, I intended to underscore the complexity and ambiguity in any employment of these two notions — “socially vulnerable” and “responsibility” — in the concrete working of society. Through my study I discovered that the train of legislative efforts made in the 1980s to 2000s to legally recognise, to enhance public knowledge of, and to erect new asylums for, “the mentally ill,” in fact coincided spatiotemporally with government efforts in putting new agendas of foreign policies and city development to work. Thus, the recent development of China’s mental health care, from scratch to full maturity, is not solely the consequence of “humanitarian effort,” but also of some other ulterior motives. In my conclusion, I hinted that any answer to this question would entail empirical investigation into the concrete working of social institutions, and depending on the nature of this “socially vulnerable” group, claims of “responsibility” may be leveraged as veils for other purposes.
Before starting my research I did not by then have a well-formed hypothesis, but I did have Michel Foucault’s intriguing study on madness in mind. Due to the rather peculiar nature of the object of my study, I was not able to apply the sociological theories (Marxism, Functionalism, e.g.) I learnt in class to my own research. I must thank my sociology teacher for his encouragement and provision of many textbook resources and classical studies done in the field of mental health care. In addition to that, he prepared a statement of the school for my application to conduct short interviews at a local mental health hospital — this application, however, though quite expectedly, sank into oblivion — without his help this project would be very difficult.
I made a documentary “The Definition” about the situation of elderly in Shenzhen to enter this competition. As I have some previous knowledge in filmmaking, learning from TBU studio, I though it would be meaningful if I combined my filmmaking skills with sociology knowledge. In the meanwhile, after learning the very first chapter of sociology, The Family, I found out that the situation of elderly in the UK is different from that of elderly in Shenzhen. For instance, elderly have the responsibility taking care of their grandchildren and dance in the park for entertainment is distinctive in China. Therefore, I decided to make a documentary to record the interesting culture.
I learnt a lot during the preparation for the competition. I learned a lot about how to carry out an individual primary research when I was filming “The Definition”, which helps a lot in my current sociology study. Also, I understood sociology theories better. For instance, postmodernism used to be only a vague theoretical perspective for me, yet it amazed me knowing that elderly people participate actively in public activities can be considered as view of postmodernism.
Most importantly, I realized filmmaking can make some impacts on people, portraying problems of society. Experience of BSA opened my eyes and led me rethink about my future major in college. I want use my skills and knowledge to help more people, so I will probably try a major with humanity and filmmaking combined instead of pursuing the dream of being an artist alone.
Learning sociology gives me a new perspective in seeing how the world works, and it also lets me care more about the vulnerability in the society. Thank you to my sociology teacher, Richard Driscoll, who gave me lots of inspiration such as filming the dancing in the park, which is interesting to British people, and recommenced lots of sociological books about the elderly.
By listening to his advice, “The Definition” eventually divides into two parts: one is about the elderly in nursing home and the other is about people dancing in the park. Also, there is many interviews in the documentary to give a more well-rounded perspective.
I would like to thank my Math teacher Michael Jin and my friend Franchaska, who helped me with the voice over. Also, thanks to my family members, especially my dear grandmother, who gave me lots of insights related to the issue of elderly.
I made this documentary just before the deadline, thus it’s not so perfect. I’ll probably elaborate some shots and reedit it in the future.
If you are interested, you can click the link below and watch it.
Teng Xun Video：https://v.qq.com/x/page/u0862usad2v.html
Bilibili：https://www.bilibili.com/video/av38188271?from=search&seid=10452775157822232568
