Partner schools gear up for the Olympics

A project linking schools in the UK to schools in China and Hong Kong is due to culminate with a visit to the Olympic Games in Beijing for 130 students and teachers.

The project 'Towards the Olympics' which has already been going for 18 months, links 25 schools in the UK with 25 in Beijing and five in Hong Kong. All the schools involved have been a hive of activity, working together to build an online community based upon the Olympic ideals. 

Associate director and coordinator Ken Walsh who launched the project, chose the Olympics as the ideal topic to share with partner schools and work in online projects.

Online magazine

"One of most interesting outcomes of the project," says Ken," has been an online student magazine which is being produced by a 15 year old student called Matthew in one of the Hong Kong schools."

The magazine features videos and interviews on sports and culture, both in English and Chinese. Matthew has already produced two issues with the help of his fellow students and the third issue will coincide with the games in the summer.

Ken added, "Each of the 55 schools involved are creating their own websites where they communicate with their partners and share thoughts about the Olympics."

High Fliers

Another of the project's joint activities has included a kite design competition.

"The Chinese have a long tradition of kite flying," says Ken,"and the object is to get all the partner schools to design a traditional Chinese kite on the Olympic theme."

The winning designs will be flown in Beijing and Hong Kong in August.

Beijing visit

This summer will be the second time the students have met their partners face to face.

Last August 130 students from seven UK colleges visited the Beijing Normal University for a summer festival of global friendship with a cultural exchange of food, sports, languages, music and dance.

The visit ended with a special two day festival which had all been planned by the students themselves including the opening and closing ceremonies.

"The link has been a huge eye opener for our students," says Ken. "One of the fascinating things they have learnt is the huge motivation of the Chinese students in achieving academic results - this is not to say that the UK students are not motivated, but the difference is there."

Most of the Chinese students could speak English so the students were able to communiate with each other and make new friendships.

"The Chinese were also very  impressed by the creative group work of the UK pupils which rubbed off on them".

Watch this space for more twinning news from China in the summer.

How did they do that ?

This project is organised by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust  (SSAT) of which Ken Walsh is the Associate Director as well as the co-ordinator of the 'Towards the Olympics' project.  

The 25 schools in China were nominated to take part in the project by UNESCO in Beijing. The Hong Kong schools are from the English Schools Foundation and from the state system in Hong Kong and these joined the project through Ken's personal contacts in Hong Kong and through Uniservity (the supplier of the Learning Platform).

The project has received a grant from the DCSF International Programmes Unit to fund their visit to Beijing this summer.

Toshiba UK sponsored the study tour for UK schools to visit China to meet with their partner schools in 2007.
In China the project was given sponsorship towards last year's Summer Festival by the Li Ning Company, a large retailer of sportswear in China owned by Li Ning, a famous Olympic Gold Medal gymnast.

The student's work is on a secure website www.uniservity.com/towardstheolympics.
 
If you would like to twin your school with one in China, World Class will put you in touch with organisations which facilitate school twinning.

Find out more and join World Class China in our Find A Twin section - put China in the box when you join.

Read about China Now, the biggest festival of Chinese culture ever to take place in the UK.