Stark contrasts

Bathgate Academy Head teacher, Joe Boyd, visited link school Weifang Guangwen Middle School last October.  

The two headteachers signed a formal agreement to learn from one another and colleagues from Weifang are coming to visit Bathgate later this month. 
 
"I don't know what they'll think of us," he explains, "but we've found the partnership is setting up stark contrasts - and the our kids don't like everything they hear."

"Change or you'll get left behind"

Boyd spent several days visiting the partner school and it's feeder primaries.

"I was struck by the appetite for learning," he says, "and when I told our kids how sixty pupils there would work in the school library, unsupervised and totally focussed, our kids were a bit annoyed.

"They asked me, 'Are you saying we can't do that?' and I had to say, 'Well yes, I am'.  I told them, 'You'll have to change, or you'll get left behind'."

Weifang is the world centre for kite flying and two kite makers are visiting the school from Wiefang later this month to prepare for a special Scottish Kite festival.

In some respects the two schools are dealing with similar issues such as exercise and healthy eating.  Boyd takes inspiration from the hundreds of bikes Guangwen pupils ride to schools, as well as the whole school exercise routines.

Bathgate have introduced Mandarin into the curriculum and appointed their first Mandarin teacher to the staff this term.  The overall aim, however, is to promote a much wider understanding of China and Chinese culture and to go well beyond learning the language.  

Boyd views the partnership as an opportunity to prepare the pupils for the world stage.

But it's more than that. It's also providing opportunities for reflection.

"The place is booming," Boyd explains, "but I went away thinking that while they wanted our material lifestyle, we want their more spiritual values. I was struck by the involvement of the parents in the school. I call it 'spiritual' - perhaps it's community. I was struck by that."

How did they do that?

The partnership between the Bathgate Academy and Weifang Guangwen Middle School was facilitated by the British Council and funded by the Scottish Government.
 
Bathgate Academy is preparing to become a Confucius Classroom hub working with 'Learning Teaching Scotland  and with funding from Hanban.
 
Join World Class China to find out how you can twin your school, and download our China Schools packs in English and Mandarin.

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