Primary School Choir

(simplified Chinese: 广东实验中学; traditional Chinese: 廣東實驗中學; pinyin: Guăngdōng shíyàn Zhōngxué; Jyutping: Gwong2dung1 Sat9jim6 Zung1hok9) is a selective Public High School in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China. It is one of the six best high schools in the city, one of the two key high schools directly administered by the Department of Education of Guangdong Province (along with the Affiliated High School of South China Normal University). The school has a tremendously high reputation in Southern China for its consistently outstanding academic performance.

The school is commonly known as SS, an abbreviation of Sheng Shi or Sang Sat, (simplified Chinese: 省实; traditional Chinese: 省實; pinyin: shěngshí; Jyutping: saang2sat9) by parents and students in Guangzhou. It means 'Provincial Experimental (school)', which abbreviates Guangdong Experimental High School.

If unspecified, Guangdong Experimental High School usually refers to the senior high campus at Fangcun.

History[edit]

The history of the school has always been a controversial topic as it has involved many schools in the city after a series of mergers, splits and renames. Strictly speaking, the current SS established in 1960, however, the earliest origin of the school can be tracked back to 'Guǎngdōng Gézhì Xuétáng'(Chinese: 广东格致学堂) in 1888. Due to many reforms took place while the school developed, there were different stories regarding this topic. Some also argued that the establishing date of SS should be in 1924. It was backed up by the story that the school selected the year as to commemorate Sun Yat-sen.

In 1888, Dr. Andrew Patton Happer established the Christian College in Shaji, Guangzhou, also known as '广东格致学堂' in Chinese. It was then reformed into National Higher Normal College, also known as '两广优级师范学堂' in Chinese, in 1910 to train teachers within Guangdong and Guangxi Province.

In 1924, the college merged into National Kwangtung University, who later became the Sun Yat-sen University in 1926, as its affiliated high school and primary school.

• the Affiliated School of Sun Yat-Sen University
• the Affiliated High School of Lingnan University
• the Affiliated High School of South China Associated University
• the Affiliated High School of Guangdong College of Arts & Science.

In 2008, The current senior management team of the school decided to use 1888 as the official establishing date of the school and celebrated the school's 120th anniversary. This flawed decision, however, has now been widely accepted by the public.

Present day[edit]

The school now has four campuses. The main campus, senior high campus, locates at Kengkou, Liwan District, Guangzhou. It is also known as the 'New Campus' or 'Fangcun Campus' by students as it was constructed in 2004 and the location was in the previous Fangcun District, which was withdrawn and merged to Liwan District in 2005.

The old campus, also known as 'Zhongsi Campus', has then become the junior high campus, since three upper year groups moved to the new campus. It is located at No.4 Zhongshan Rd in Yuexiu District, Guangzhou. 'Zhongsi Campus' had been the only campus before the school expanded at the beginning of the 21st Century, It contains all the history and precious memory of SS, and has recorded the step by step development of the school since 1960.

Other campuses are as follows;

• Shunde Campus was established in 2008 in Shunde, Foshan.

Strictly speaking, these three campuses are not quite parts of the school. Although they are administered under the same senior management team and have strong links with SS's main campus, but are highly independent and completely privately funded. They are more commonly known as the affiliated Schools of SS, and are also generally excluded by the students and parents in regard to school's performance.

Admissions[edit]

Similar to most of the other high schools who have experienced an expansion in the 21st century. The school now has the capability to offer additional places to students who missed the set requirements. However, a relatively lower score is still required and an additional tuition fee will be charged as well.

The school also encourages students who have extraordinary talents beside academics, primarily in sports and performing arts, to apply. A different application process is offered, where good academic results are much less desirable. This policy has attracted many exceptional athletes, singers and dancers, and it has been proven to be a successful measure in boosting the school's competitiveness outside academic areas.

Campus[edit]

Senior high campus is a boarding campus accommodates some 3000 students. The first group of students moved in from the old campus in 2004, when the construction was completed. (Although there were still minor ongoing constructions taking place at the time and some facilities were yet to be installed.) Later in 2005, the whole senior high department, including the senior management team, had moved over to the new campus. Student number rose rapidly as the expansion was introduced in 2004. The new campus allows the school to have the capability of offering more than 1000 places each year to new junior graduates. All the facilities were put in use around that time in 2005.

The campus simply consists of academics area, dormitory area, sports area and restaurant. As enter from the front gate, academic buildings can be found on the right hand side, sports area on the front, and on the left hand side, dorms and restaurant. In academics area, three year groups are taught in three separate buildings with 20 classrooms in each. There is a massive laboratory building behind the three main teaching buildings equipped with brilliant facilities for Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Technology experiments. Library, private study rooms, computer rooms and a large lecture room are located in the centre building of the area, with a small outdoor stage at the back of it. The administration building, which has meeting rooms for conferences and offices to the heads, sits in the front between the two teaching ones. All buildings in the academic area are internally connected, and the architecture is very modern.

Two dorms separated by gender can be easily spotted on the left of the front gate. Each of them has 6 floors with about 35 rooms on each to accommodate some 95% of the student body. Rooms are shared between six, all en suite and air conditioner-ed. Lockers and cupboards are provided as well. There is also a staff dorm next to the student ones.