Chinese Exchange Students at Woodcroft

The News, Portsmouth

Woodcroft Primary School in Lovedean, welcomed students from China for the week.

Transcript

00:00 Hi, I'm Barry Fanning, Headteacher at Woodcroft Primary School.

00:02 So tell me how this opportunity came about.

00:05 It was actually through a cluster meeting of headteachers.

00:08 Our local secondary school, Horned Inn Technology College, had visited China last year

00:14 and the opportunity then to have exchange children come and visit us developed from there.

00:20 And it's all been quite quick actually,

00:22 so I think it was only just before Christmas that we started talking about it

00:27 and we had an opportunity as a primary school to host primary age children.

00:32 So that's what we did.

00:32 And tell me how the week's gone and what the reaction's been like.

00:36 It's been brilliant.

00:37 I think our children have made real connections with our visitors.

00:42 I think the big thing for me is the fact that they've understood what children from a different

00:50 culture go through on a daily basis, but not just the differences but the similarities.

00:56 It's actually been brilliant to see how similar the children are in their likes and dislikes

01:01 and that's been fantastic.

01:04 The children from China have been so respectful.

01:09 They've just been a delight, absolute delight to have.

01:11 Brilliant.

01:12 And what have the children been doing over the past week?

01:17 They've been doing a shared project,

01:19 mainly working with our Year 6 children, our oldest children,

01:21 and they've been doing a shared project based on a book,

01:24 one half of the book, it's called The Mirror, one half of the book is in Chinese,

01:27 one half of the book is in English,

01:29 and it looks at their different life through their week.

01:32 So what their housing's like, what school's like, what their interests are,

01:36 and then they've shared those.

01:38 And that's been the main project that they've worked on throughout the school week.

01:42 So moving forward, is there a chance for Woodcroft pupils to head to China?

01:48 I think it's going to be challenging because of the age of the pupils.

01:51 I know that that is something our secondary schools are looking into.

01:54 It would be lovely to be able to go and take the children over to China to visit,

02:00 but I think because of the age, that is going to be a challenge for us.

02:04 I've actually got an opportunity to go to an education conference in China in March,

02:08 and I'm looking forward to visiting Nanjing

02:10 and visiting Phoenix Garden City Primary School when I'm over there.

02:14 So tell me how your week has been here at Woodcroft Primary School?

02:19 [Speaking Mandarin]

02:21 So we feel all so good so far.

02:34 So we can feel the school's careful arrangement about this trip,

02:40 and also we feel the school's friendly and the students friendly as well.

02:44 [Speaking Mandarin]

02:46 [Speaking Mandarin]

02:48 So we're walking into the class with the students,

02:56 and we can feel the education structure, how the British school is running,

03:02 and I can feel the brilliant structures.

03:07 [Speaking Mandarin]

03:14 And also we give two special Chinese-style class,

03:17 like seminars to the British student, the paper cutting, and also how to make a lantern.

03:24 [Speaking Mandarin]

03:26 And also we walk into the host family, the local host family,

03:34 and also feel the friendly of them, and we also made a good relationship with the host family.

03:42 [Speaking Mandarin]

03:44 It's really a beautiful and memorable experience for us.

03:49 [Speaking Mandarin]

03:51 We also welcome our local friends to China, to Nanjing for a friendly visiting in the future.

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