SCHOOL NEWS: Students to be given the chance to learn Mandarin

PRESTON School in Yeovil has signed a partnership agreement with a school in China and it might not be long before students are getting to grips with Mandarin.

Whereas their contemporaries in China might already be learning English, the idea of offering Mandarin lessons to Preston youngsters is an exciting prospect for those with a liking for different languages.

The school in Monks Dale last week welcomed Liu Hanguang, the deputy headmistress of the No 10 Middle School Yueyang, for a successful two-day visit.

It culminated in Ms Hanguang and Preston principal, Tony Bloxham, signing a partnership plan for 2014-15.

Mr Bloxham told the Yeovil Press: “This is a historic occasion and I’m sure this is the start of what will be a very successful partnership between the two schools.”

The partnership will see the Preston and No 10 schools share language learning and teaching and help students understand cultural differences.

PHOTO - TOP: Preston School principal Tony Bloxham with Liu Hanguang, the deputy headmistress of the No 10 Middle School Yueyang.

Preston’s Year 9 learning manager, Andrew Sweet, said: “This is the first of many exchange visits we hope will bring our two schools closer together.”

Mr Sweet said it was a very exciting project with the ultimate aim being for Preston students to go out to China and for Preston to welcome students from No 10.

In the meantime it is expected that classrooms will be able to communicate via social networking Skype – despite there being nearly 5,000 miles between Preston and No 10.

Mr Sweet has indicated that students could soon be learning Mandarin as part of Preston’s enrichment programme.

Although No 10 and Preston have now entered an official partnership – the two communities are very different.

The city of Yueyang covers an area of 14,896km and has a population of 912,993; Yeovil has a population of just 40,000.

A number of schools in the Yeovil and Somerset area have formed partnerships with schools in Yueyang.

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