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November 2008
So far we have exchanged e mails, more photos and some more maths resources with our partner school in Beijing. The week after our visit they had their annual sports day and the pictures they sent show some of the events (like group skipping) that we had seen them practising during lunch breaks when we visited the school. The photos also showed the school entering the stadium -marching behind a flag - very much like the grand entrance at the start of the Olympics!
Peta, Malcolm, Marie and Aytac have been visiting assemblies, showing pictures of our visit and talking to classes about our experiences.
We have photocopied all the students' letters we brought home and these are being displayed along the English department corridor and our teachers are going to arrange for year 7 students to write back and hopefully start a pen pal scheme.
We are planning our first video conference link next week. This will be between staff so that we can check everything works OK and then we plan our first link with students on 20th November.
We are also framing some of the pictures from Beijing to be hung around the school reminding visitors of our partnership.
Finally, we brought home a new game 'Tick' which is very popular in Beijing and we are introducing the Tick game to our football enthusiasts. The Tick looks like a rather large shuttlecock. The game is played by trying to keep the tick in the air by hitting it with the side of your foot - a definite way of improving football skills and great for children to play in a small playground.
January 2009
Following on from our last update, we have continued to correspond with our partner school in a variety of ways to help maintain the goodwill and positive links we established during our week in Beijing.
We have put up a display of examples of Chinese students' work in our reception area, photographed the display and sent these photos back to our partner school in Beijing. We also sent them copies of press cuttings and our termly newsletter which included a two page article on our trip to School 125. We have also held two more video conferences (with year 8 and year 10 students) and kept in touch via e mail. Beijing students are now writing up and videoing descriptions of their New Year festivities and will be sending these to us when they start their new term in March.
A group of sixth form history students are visiting Beijing at half term and we hope to arrange for them to make presentations to staff and students on their return.
Last week we completed our first China Week celebration at Wanstead High. An assembly was held for each year group to introduce the week and help students identify their year sign. Every department included a focus on China in at least one lesson that week; these included tangrams and Chinese number puzzles in maths, writing pen pal letters in English, beginner sessions in Mandarin, a Chinese themed party and 'Who wants to be a Millionaire?' quiz in learning and language support. The PE department organised table tennis sessions every lunchtime and Chinese food was included in our lunch menu.
Posters were displayed all round the school with clues to help students complete our Chinese New Year quiz and there were a range of extra activities every lunch break including Chinese films, calligraphy, making new year cards and lucky red envelopes, and culminating with a serious (and heated) debate about political and economic issues in modern China. China tea and fortune cookies were served in the staff room each break and at the end of the week all staff were invited for a Chinese meal at a local restaurant.
The highlight of the week was a fantastic Lion Dance performance and workshop which was enjoyed by all students in year 7 and 8. Apart from the wonderful costumes and entertainment of the dance, it was a real eye opener to learn about the technical skills and physical strength needed by the dancers.
We will be sending pictures of our China Week activities to our Beijing partner school and look forward to hearing from them in return.
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