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VISIT TO JIAXING, CHINA
Following success with the LA's application for funding to the British Council and HSBC 6 schools new to the link with Jiaxing will be visiting their partner schools during the Autumn half term. The schools involved are - St. Boniface's Catholic College, Elburton Primary Academy, Yealmpstone Farm Primary, Prince Rock Primary, Mount Wise Primary and Plaistow Hill Infants School. They will be signing Memorandums of Agreement during their visits to give a structure to the partnerships and will observe and take part in lessons. There will also be an opportunity to visit local areas of interest and discover more about the Chinese language and culture.
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IMMERSION COURSES IN MANDARIN
Plymouth LA was again in securing funding from the HSBC for KS2 pupils to take part in a Chinese Immersion course held by the British Council in August 2012. 10 children from Year 5 at Elburton and Mayflower Primary schools were involved in the course which was held at Frensham Hall in Farnham, Surrey. The children spent the mornings learning Mandarin and the afternoons on cultural activities including Puppet making, Chinese calligraphy, Tai Chi, Lion dance, Shaolin boxing, mask making etc. On the final day they put on a performance illustrating all they had experienced for their parents and guests. Funding is now available to teach the Chinese language and culture across their schools.
13 pupils from DHS Girls are also involved in the SSAT secondary Chinese Immersion course in China in October.
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COMENIUS REGIO PARTNERSHIPS
The Comenius Regio projects with Brest in France and Galicia in Spain continue to develop. The Brest project involves the Councils, 8 Schools and the Twinning Associations in both Cities. The theme of the project is 'Citizenship and Entrepreneurial Education' and it is hoped it will raise the aspirations of the children involved. The EU funding includes opportunities for mobilities (visits) and a group from Brest visited Plymouth in October with a return visit taking place in January. It is proving to be an excellent project with great enthusiasm on both sides.
The project with Galicia involves 4 schools, Universities in both Cities and the Councils. The theme is 'Towards the development of deeper learning and transferable lifelong skills through the use of European Key Competencies'.
A new application has now been approved for a project with Biella, Italy 'Building Communities Together' involving the Whitleigh Partnership c/o the Woodview Learning Community and a visit is due to take place very soon.
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LINKS WITH SCHOOLS IN NEPAL
The link with the Kaski region of Nepal is now firmly established following reciprocal visits by LA and school representatives from Plymouth and Nepal. This was funded by the Department for International Development (DfID) through the Global School Partnerships programme. 11 schools now have links with schools in Nepal and are working together on a range of projects with an underlying theme of Diversity and Sustainable Development.
When the Nepalese delegation came to Plymouth in February 2012 they visited all 11 schools involved in the link. This had a very positive effect on the staff and children and encouraged them to apply for reciprocal visit funding in order to exchange visits with staff from their partner schools. Two teachers from Hyde Park Junior were the first to go and had an amazing and informative time in Nepal over the Easter break. 5 teachers then visited Plymouth in June. Further visits will take place soon and schools that have not had the chance to visit are currently applying for funding.
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CHINESE SUMMER CAMPS AND EXCHANGES
The Chinese summer camps held during July 2011 to improve the teachers' and students' English were a great success and took place again in 2012. 48 students and 4 staff from Jiaxing Experimental Primary and Jiaxing No. 1 Middle School Experimental sub-branch visited Plymouth for 2 weeks and participated in a course supported by Mayflower College and the City Council. They also visited their partner schools to observe lessons and learn more about the English Education system and stayed with children from those schools over a weekend. The course is intended to improve the students' knowledge of the English language, culture and history. To this end they took part in cultural activities during their stay as well as meeting with the Lord Mayor, visiting London, Oxford, Windsor,The Hoe, Barbican, Dartmoor, Mount Edgcumbe and Life Centre.
The Plymouth schools who hosted the students were: Goosewell Primary, Oakwood Primary, Hyde Park Junior, Devonport High School for Girls and Hele's. We hope this enhanced their partnerships and that students from Plymouth will be able to take part in similar courses in Jiaxing.
Exchanges continue to take place and 6 pupils from Stuart Road Primary and College Road primary schools have already visited their partner school - Nanhu International Experimental Primary School and participated in lessons and activities at the school during their stay. Their joint project on producing a calendar celebrating the festivals in each country was very successful and they are now involved in producing a recipe book with recipes from both countries. Students from DHS Boys have hosted students from Xiuzhou Modern Experimental School and will be visiting them in Jiaxing in October.