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6 children and 2 teachers from College Road Primary and Stuart Road Primary schools visited Nanhu International Experimental Primary School in March 2012 as part of a social enterprise project they have been involved in with their partner school. They have produced calendars illustrating celebrations and festivals in both cities and are now working together on a cookery book including recipes from the UK and China.
During their visit they took part in classes in the Chinese school including a pottery lesson where they made teapots. They also had a tour of the city and are thought to be the first primary aged children to visit China from south-west England.
A party of 26 Chinese teachers and 16 Chinese children and their head teachers from sister city Jiaxing, near Shanghai, visited Plymouth to improve their knowledge of the English language and culture
The visit was part of ongoing work to develop relationships between Plymouth and Jiaxing, which aims to not only broaden the horizons of local children in the city but forge strong economic links to benefit the local economy.
The Chinese teachers had English lessons at Marjons during the day and also spent two whole days visiting schools that have links with Jiaxing to see how children are educated in Plymouth. They were received by the Lord Mayor at Elliott Terrace and had tours of the Hoe, Barbican and Dartmoor to take in Plymouth’s unique heritage and sights.
The children visited their partner schools in the city - Drake Primary, Old Priory Junior School and Elburton Primary. They also received English lessons during the day and enjoyed cultural activities in the evenings and at the weekend. They took part in a team building exercise at Marjon on the climbing wall to help build relationships between the visiting schools and also had an opportunity to visit the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress where they put on a small concert using traditional Chinese instruments. A tour of the National Marine Aquarium, Princetown and Burrator was also given as well as an opportunity to take part in ten pin bowling.
10 students from Drake Primary and Elburton Primary took part in an immersion course in the CHinese language and culture during the first week of the summer holiday. This was run by the British Council and funded by HSBC. The children enjoyed the experience and produced a play of their parents/carers at the end of the week illustrating all they had learnt during the week.
Artwork from pupils at nine Plymouth schools is currently hanging in an exhibition at the City Museum and art Gallery. The exhibition shows off work completed as part of a Connecting Classrooms project to bring togethr schools from Plymouth and Jiaxing in China. Pupils were tasked with creating banners that illustrated their local community to help those children they met understand what it's like to live in Plymouth. Xiao Bai Li, a Chinese artist based in the City, worked with the schools to produce the artwork.
The ongoing project to develop relations with Jiaxing in China is the result of a successful funding grant application to the British Council made by Plymouth City Council's Services for Children and Young People. The aim of the work is to encourage schools to get to know their localcommunities and share that information with their partner schools in China to develop ongoing relationships that create different ways to learn for all involved. Councillor Vivien Pengelly, Leader of the Council, said; 'One of our main aims in the city is to raise the aspirations of young people. To do this we need to show them what a big wide world it is out there and give them the appetite to explore it. International development projects like this one are crucial in showing young people what opportunities there are in life beyond the city boundaries. If we give them a taste of different cultures and a hunger to discover new experiences, then the sky'd the limit!
Eight of the schools involved in the project produced banners depicting their local communities including scenes from Plymstock, St Budeaux and Southway. Plymouth High School for Girls worked on audio visual performances and a recycling project to help Jiaxing to understand their way of life. This project was discussed during a visit by representatives of the schools when they visited Jiaxing in October 2010. Phase two of the project will take place this term when children from the schools will work with their local communities on projects such as planting communal gardens. The schools incolved in the project include Beechwood Primary School, Brook Green Centre for Learning, Drake Primary School, Goosewell Primary School, Riverside Community Primary School, Salisbury Road Primary School, Victoria Road Primary School, High View School and Plymouth High School for Girls.
Extra special congratulations go to Goosewell Primary School whose banner has been selected for inclusion in the national exhibition at the British Council offices in London. Further congratulations also go to Riverside and Drake Primary Schools who were awarded funding to support their Community Action Plans.
Four Chinese students and two teachers from China have brought the arts and traditions of their culture to Plymouth. It is believed to be the first time primary aged students from the country have visited schools in the city.They came from the nan Hu International Primary School, Jiaxing, and were welcomed by their partner schools in Plymouth - College Road Primary School and Stuart Road Primary School.
The Asian pupils stayed for a whole week and toured around, spending time with other centres too. They taught their English counterparts Manderin, paper cutting, brush techniques and how to plug seeds. Jim Wallace, headteacher at College Road Primary said: 'We had a brilliant time showing them around. They spent tea time with different English families, they played bowling for the first time and they went for a meal out to a Chinese restaurantas they were intrigued. 'It was a sort of cultural shock for them as Nan Hu Primary School has 1,500 students. 'Besides, pupils there stay over in their schools for the week. They sleep in the centes from monday to Friday'. Among other projects that the three primary schools have produced jointly is an exhibition of 100 painting produced by both Engliah and Chinese children. The pieces of original art are for sale, via sealed bid auction at the Central Library where they are on view until April 23. The calandars are also on sale at £7.50 from the two city primary schools. Mr Wallace explained 'The paintings are so genuine and of great quality. Whoever buys the calendar will have the chance to learn about English and Chinese celebrations while acquiring paintings made by our students.
College Road, Stuart Road and Nan Hu International have been working together since 2009. Madison Wood, aged 11, and one of the artists from College Road Primary represented in the calendar said: 'I really enjoyed meeting our friends from China and the calendar and exhibition are great.' Mr Wallace saidL 'All the money we raise will be put into next year's projects: a visit to China and another calendar for 2013.'
Meanwhile, Mitch Frame, headteacher at Stuart Road Primary School added: 'It was a fantastic week and we look forward to sending children and staff to China next year.'
China's links with Plymouth were further strengthened when a groups of Key personnel from the city of Jiaxing visited council members and business leaders in September 2011. Plymouth's Lord Mayor, Cllr Peter Brookshaw, hosted a reception for them and other city leaders. They signed an agreement which will result in Plymouth and Jiaxing becoming sister Cities. Visits by key personnel from the Jiaxing Science Park and Jiaxing University also took place in August and September. For more information about Plymouth links with China, please click here
During the October half term representatives from nine Plymouth schools visited their partner schools in Jiaxing in order to discuss future collaboration and prepare Action Plans. They also visit the Shanghai Expo as part of the Connecting Classrooms programme and are now involved in joint projects on People and the Community with their partner schools.
A group of Headteachers and the Deputy Director of the Jiaxing Education Bureau came to Plymouth in March as part of a Connecting Classrooms reciprocal visit. 9 Headteachers having previously visited Jiaxing in May 2009. They met with their partner schools to produce Action Plans for working collaboratively on projects and activities over the next two years. They also saw other schools in the Plymouth area including the Wood View Campus and particularly enjoyed a production of Aladdin at Lipson CC and a visit to the Eden Project.
Silk Road is the Real Ideas Organisation’s Chinese language and culture programme. It has been developed, in partnership with Plymouth City Council, through their work with schools in the UK and in China.
Silk Road offers a cross curricular approach which encourages learning and understanding by focusing on Chinese history, culture and language as a curriculum theme, whether it’s working with children on maths and science skills to design the Chinese calendar or developing global citizenship and ICT skills to learn Mandarin, communicate with young Chinese people and find out more about their culture.
For more information about employing a Silk Road package in your school, please click here
This was a four week theatre exchange project, which brought together twelve theatre and music students aged 16 + from schools in Jiaxing in China, with twelve counterparts from schools in Plymouth. The project set out to create an Anglo-Chinese company of young performers who would rehearse a high level theatre production, perform it in China, and return to Plymouth to do likewise. For further information on the theatre project, please click here
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