About ICS
The International Chinese School is a pioneering co-educational Christian school that welcomes students of all cultures. We value an international education that equips our students with the skills and the desire to become future leaders with servant hearts.
At our school we are committed to develop multilingual skills that are essential in preparing our students for the increasingly connected global economy. We offer a dual language program that incorporates elements of the Two Way Immersion Model to engage our students in learning Mandarin as an additional language.
Our objects are for our students to demonstrate high levels of academic achievement in both English and Mandarin and to develop cross cultural competence in a supportive learning community.
Vision
The International Chinese School’s vision is to serve Christ by nurturing and equipping students to become leading global citizens.
Mission
The International Chinese School provides a holistic approach to nurture every aspect of a child’s growth and development upon Christian principles in a culturally diverse context.
OUR MOTTO
耶稣是我亮光
CORE VALUES
ICS aims to promote Chinese language and cultures in the Australian community. We value:
CHRISTIAN FAITH
We believe in the biblical truth that if we “train a child in the way he should go, when he is old he will not turn from it” (Proverbs 22:6). Our aim is to provide opportunities for our students to connect with the Christian faith.
SOUND CHARACTER
We encourage our students and staff to have consistency between words and deeds so that our values of integrity, respect and responsibility flow into our actions in the way we treat others.
CULTURAL DIVERSITY
We strive to create a loving and caring community where students from different cultural backgrounds can work together and learn from one another.
PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE
We equip our students to pursue academic excellence in order to reach their full learning potential.
SERVICE TO OTHERS
We aim to develop compassionate young leaders with a heart for serving others both in the school and in the local community.
Our History
A New School. A Rich History.
The International Chinese School building has a rich history that stretches all the way back to the early 1900s. When scouting for locations, twenty sites were inspected before the land at the corner of Fullers Road and View Street was selected to be the home of the new St Pauls Anglican Church Chatswood.
The first building known as the timber Parish Hall was erected in 1906 and so it is hard to believe that the International Chinese school, pre-renovation, is in fact older than the beautiful sandstone main church. The hall was originally used for Sunday School and it was built in two months and cost 450 pounds.
Below is an account written with the help of historian Mrs Lesley Hicks, of how the timber hall was used and later transformed…
The Timber Hall Transformed — a History.
The school building is actually well over a hundred years old — it was originally built in 1906, a few years after St Paul’s Church of England Chatswood was founded in 1901. The timber hall was then erected mainly to accommodate the rapidly growing Sunday School. It was built in two months and cost 450 pounds.
Over the years thousands of children of all ages attended Sunday school in the hall. Many other groups and activities used the hall regularly. A club for boys, the CEBS — Church of England Boys Society, a bit like Boy Scouts — was founded in 1930 and continued for about 60 years till the 90s. Girls’ Christian groups used the hall too — first the Girls’ Friendly Society from 20s till the 60s, and in the 70s the Girls Brigade. A Brownie pack, the junior Girl Guides, hired the hall after school once a week and for about 18 years in the 50s and 60s it was hired as a child-minding centre, a help to working mothers.
In the years till the current church building was built in 1955, all sorts of activities for church members and the Chatswood community took place in the timber hall such as Sunday school, table tennis, basketball and various youth activities. An after-school club called Paul’s Club ran for 20 years from 1975 till 1995, using both the new and the old halls for games, crafts and teaching. After 2000, when the timber hall was almost 100 years old, it was used again for community ESL groups and The International Nepal Fellowship mission (INF) rented side rooms for their office.
Then in 2014 came the biggest change of all. Architects had decided that the old hall, constructed of good sound cedar timber, was well worth re-using. Plans were made and the builders got to work. New foundations, strengthened walls and French doors were used to rebuild the timber hall for a new purpose; transforming it into a high functioning and attractive school for a new generation of children. After 106 years, this well-used, shabby old hall continues to serve the local community by inspiring and engaging young minds as the new International Chinese School.
Development Statement
ICS has a development consent to operate a K–2 school on the St Paul's site for a period of 3 years, from 2015 to 2017.
This consent also specifies the total student population during that period from 25 students in 2015, 35 in 2016 and 49 in 2017.
ICS hopes to construct a K–6 Primary School in the Chatswood precinct at the conclusion of the current consent, ready for 2018.
Planning is in the early stages, and a number of different options are being considered.
Our Campus
The International Chinese School is located in Chatswood CBD with only 9 minutes walk to Chatswood Station, Chatswood Bus Terminal and Westfield Shopping Centre. The school has its own car park so that parents can drop off and pick up their children with ease.
Jobs at ICS
K-6 Mandarin Teacher (P/T)
St Paul's Church Chatswood
The vision of International Chinese School originated from St Paul’s Anglican Church Chatswood.
We are an Anglican school with 5 core values:
- Christian Faith
- Sound Character
- Cultural Diversity
- Pursuit of Excellence
- Service to Others
St Paul’s Anglican Chatswood has three services every sunday, two in English (9:30am and 5pm) and one in bilingual Mandarin and Cantonese (11:15am).
For more information, please visit www.stpauls.org.au