Agenda item

A Governor questioned whether or not the School might consider teaching Mandarin as part of the curriculum given its increasing importance and relevance. He recognised that, at present, this was available to pupils as a voluntary, after school activity.

The Headmaster reported that this issue had arisen at a recent Trinity Group Headteachers meeting where only 3 of the 22 Schools represented had said they were currently teaching Mandarin at present. He stated that the general feeling was that it was a very difficult language for pupils to absorb later on in the School life and that, ideally, this should be introduced at Prep School level. He also stated that the examinations very much tended to favour native speakers.

A Governor commented that teacher exchanges would also work well alongside this. A second Governor commented that HSBC had previously provided Schools with teaching assistants from China.

The Board asked that the Headmaster look into the possibility of introducing Mandarin as part of the curriculum and report back to Governors on this matter at a future meeting.