Six teachers from Saint Paul’s Catholic High School in Wythenshawe recently enjoyed the amazing experience of visiting a secondary school in China. The visit by the teachers was part of the school’s focus on developing international relationships and widening the cultural experiences of its pupils.

 

Saint Paul’s has developed a partnership with the Beijing Huimin School which will benefit both schools through the sharing of expertise and practice, as well as providing opportunities for students and teachers to experience vastly different cultures.

 

The teachers had the opportunity to visit Beijing to experience the wonderful architecture, both old and new, and see some amazing places of historical and cultural interest including the Forbidden City and Great Wall of China, with the intention of gathering research for a whole school China project for Year 7 starting in September.

 

“We spent the majority of our time in Beijing Huimin Middle school, observing and delivering  lessons whilst experiencing Chinese culture with new eyes,” explained Ms Rebecca Coyle, Second in Visual and Performing Arts at Saint Paul’s. “The staff and pupils were very welcoming and intrigued by our presence. Pupils were confident in questioning, I found teaching and researching in Beijing invaluable, a pleasure and an honour.”

 

Ms Coyle added: “I would love to visit again to further aid the growth of school partnerships and curriculum development.”

 

“We observed several lessons and also gave some lessons focusing on our school and the Manchester area,” explained Mr Peter Ramsay, Assistant Headteacher and Head of Engineering at Saint Paul’s. “The pupils in our classes were really keen to learn and behaved impeccably.”

 

Mr Ramsay added “We also focused on supporting the staff with their English lessons, the Chinese pupils had an excellent standard of English, We spent some time helping to plan future classes with the English Faculty.  The Chinese teachers are very keen to learn new approaches and teaching styles, and they take any advice and new ideas enthusiastically.”

 

“This is another excellent opportunity to continue to develop and strengthen our links with China,” said Saint Paul’s Head Teacher, Mr Wiktor Daron. “Working with the Beijing Huimin School will allow us to enrich our curriculum and support language awareness and learning; and to provide professional development opportunities for staff. We have already had several delegations of Chinese teachers visit us and I have followed this up with two visits to China.”