China
This year, we were fortunate to receive a visit from teachers and students from Hangzhou Wensan Education Group in China! It was arranged by Mr Caldwell who even taught our children some key words / phrases in Mandarin in preparation for our visitors from Hangzhou.
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A special assembly welcomed them and both schools presented and performed in this!
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For the visit, the students from Hangzhou were buddied up with our children and experienced lessons, lunchtimes and even afterschool clubs! In addition, collaborative activities were done in pairs such as Manchester / Hangzhou collages and also a Manchester / Hangzhou quiz where each child's knowledge of their city was very much needed! Together, we also planted some trees to mark the momentous occasion.
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Both parties got so much out of the visit including a taste of each other's language, culture and curriculum. It was great to celebrate similarities and differences.
We received the following letter from the school on their return:
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Dear Mr Caldwell
Hope this email finds you well.
We are pleased to inform you that our teachers and students returned to China safely on 6th October, according to China time. After a day of rest, everyone has resumed their daily school activities. We would like to extend our deepest gratitude to you and the team at Ladybarn Primary School for providing us with such a valuable opportunity for educational exchange.
The children reflected on their experiences during the flight home, and they were filled with joy and new insights. They made friends with their peers in the UK, learned about the British education system, and experienced the warm hospitality of the British people. This exchange has deepened their understanding of British culture and strengthened the bond between the youth of our two nations. They have gained so much, and we are truly grateful for your warm reception and open-hearted sharing.
We would also like to take this opportunity to extend a warm invitation for you to visit China again. We would be delighted to welcome you back to see the changes in our country and to visit Wensan Education Group in Hangzhou.
Enclosed are some wonderful memories captured during our visit to Ladybarn Primary School. If possible, we would love for these photos to be shared with the students who were paired with ours, as they serve as beautiful reminders of the meaningful connections formed during the exchange.
We look forward to hearing from you and greatly appreciate all the support you have provided. Once again, thank you for your generosity and partnership.
We wanted to extend our heartfelt best wishes to you and your team for tremendous success in running the school curriculum.
Best regards.
We are very proud of this partnership and the exemplary behaviour and kindness that our children displayed during the visit.
A school link was set up between a class in Hong Kong and 6 classes across our trust! The school is called Discovery Bay International School (DBIS). http://www.dbis.edu.hk/ http://www.dbis.edu.hk/media -
Year 4, at both Ladybarn and Green End, were studying China as their topic so welcomed the link with the school in Hong Kong.
Year 2 at Green End joined the link as they had the topic 'Wish you Were Here,' studying continents.
Children from Ladybarn and Green End asked the children from Hong Kong questions about their school and life there through a padlet - check out this fantastic work!
http://padlet.com/l_taylor3/Ladybarn
We also sent the children in Hong Kong examples of our work on the topic of China / Asia including: Chinese Writing, Chinese art work and a PowerPoint done by a very enthusiastic Year 2 child at home! (Click to view!)
Thank you to all teachers and children involved in the link. The padlet was a great way to learn all about children in Hong Kong. The children in Hong Kong were able to practise their literacy skills by answering these questions and in fact completed this project during a holiday period for homework! Extra thanks for this!