Happy Chinese New Year!   

新(xīn)年(nián)快(kuài)乐(lè)!

At Mandarin Class this term, Year 7s  have been learning about family, friends, and animals. Year 8s have been learning all about countries and describing holidays. This led us nicely onto the topic of Chinese New Year which was celebrated on the 10^th February over the course of 15 days. We welcome the year of the Dragon (龙🐉）this year in 2024.

Both students from Henry Beaufort and Westgate School were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to make ‘baobuns’ 包🥚and ‘dumplings’饺子🥟. Mrs Golding from Rome, the Technology Department, and Mrs Pan kindly offered their expertise in making these delicious foods in under an hour. It felt like ready-steady-cook!

The results were amazing and students had fun learning Mandarin in terms of preparing food, which forms a huge part of the culture.

 Mrs Pan        Mrs Hallett        Mrs Golding

Since September, a group of 28 Year 8 students have been taking part in the Brilliant Club Scholars programme. This programme gives students the opportunity to explore higher education and build key skills to succeed in the next stages of their education.  

The students took part in seven university-style tutorials that were delivered by PhD tutor. One group focused on ‘What is War’ and the other group looked at a biology theme and their course was called the ‘Stem Detectives’.  

At the end of the tutorials, students had to submit a 1,500 – 2,000 world essays demonstrating the subject knowledge, written communication and critical thinking skills they have developed throughout the programme. The essays produced were exceptional. Once submitted, the students received a mark 1^st, 2:1, 2:2 or a 3^rd class honours and had a sit-down feedback session with the PhD tutor.  

On Wednesday 28^th March, the students then attended their Graduation Event to celebrate their achievements at Bath University. It was a great day. Students get to experience lecture theatres, listen to students about what life is like as a University student and what they could study. We then had a tour of the impressive Bath University campus and the day finished with the graduation-style certificate awarding.  

This day hopefully builds their understanding of higher education, to help them make informed choices for the future and decide whether the university route is the right one for them (although a little way off yet!)? 

These students were amazing throughout and were a credit to the school.

 Well done to all the students involved!