Confucius Classroom update

Harrogate Grammar School became a Confucius Classroom in 2015. From cultural events to in-class teaching, we are excited to work closely with the school on a diverse range of learning and experiential opportunities.

Following the recent Chinese New Year celebrations at the school, Faculty Leader for Modern Foreign Languages Adrian Stipetic reflects on the successes of the past year:

Chinese at Harrogate Grammar continues to grow and thrive. We have a new teacher in Richard Barnard and he has made an excellent start to hopefully a long and successful career here.

2017 was the first year that we have entered students for “real” Mandarin Chinese examinations with 13 of our students passing the YCT Level 1 exam in June and six passing the YCT Level 2 exam. In January 2018, seven of our students took HSK Level 1 and 2 exams and all passed.

There are now seven different classes here and most groups have two lessons per week. Until now, most classes have been made up of students who study Chinese as an extra option, on top of their other subjects, meaning that their lessons are during lunchtimes and after school. This shows the real dedication and enthusiasm of the students to learn. Next academic year will be our first year of having Chinese on the curriculum, with a class studying in lesson-time in pursuit of achieving a GCSE.

Further to the classroom-based progress, our Chinese-themed cultural events have also grown in size and quality.  Our recent Chinese New Year celebration attracted nearly 200 students and guests, with an outstanding evening of music, performances, games and food. In addition, 300 students take part in our now annual full Chinese-themed day for Year 7 students in July, which is always incredibly fun for all. In October, we look forward to up to 20 of our students taking part in an exchange programme to China and spending ten days there.

Overall, we’re delighted with the progress and profile of Chinese here, we’re extremely grateful to the Business Confucius Institute for their ongoing support and we look forward to the future projects and challenges!

Read more about the Chinese New Year event on the Harrogate Grammar School website.