UK, School visits to China, SSAT/Hanban Summer Camps 2011

A total of 402 students and teachers from 30 schools in England departed London and Manchester for their 13-day educational trip to China on 13 and 14 July. Arriving in Beijing, students and teachers were given a brief introduction to the city of Beijing before getting some welcome rest at Xiyuan Hotel in Beijing. The first few days of the trip included visits to famous sights such as the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Beijing hutong and Beijing Zoo.

After visiting Beijing, students were divided up into four groups and travelled to their host schools in Changzhou, Chongqing, Shanghai and Xi'an for 10 days of language study and cultural lessons. Some of the highlights included spending a day with their Chinese host families, visiting the world-famous Shanghai Expo and Terracotta Army, experiencing Chinese-style shopping and bartering, and making new friends, both Chinese and English.

 

Programme for 2011:   At time or writing, the SSAT are still awaiting confirmation from DfE funding for the UK element of the visit (organising the flights, coordination of study programmes with Hanban and host schools, teachers’ briefings and conducting risk assessments etc).   This means that at this stage final cost for each participant has not been agreed. 

The Summer Camps in 2011 will take place between 12/13/14th July – 26/27/28th July. Students and teachers will depart and return to England from London airports.

 

During the two week visit, participants will spend approximately 3 days visiting places of historical and cultural interest in Beijing. They will then spend the majority of their time in host institutions in one of four or five provinces which are yet to be decided.

 

During their time in the provinces, participants will take part in:

·         at least 20 hours of Chinese learning.

·         traditional Chinese cultural activities

·         visits to local historical and cultural places of interest

·         activities with local Chinese students

·         where possible and with the agreement of participating schools, home visits/home stays will be organised with host provinces   

 

Schools will be allocated to provinces on the basis of their Chinese language ability. Beginners, intermediate and advanced learners will be grouped together so that the SSAT, Hanban and host provinces will be able to ensure that the language lessons are pitched at the correct level. The host provinces will be announced between March and April.

Schools are asked to select their students’ level by indicating beginner, intermediate or advanced on the application form. The definitions below are based on two lessons per week.

Beginner: students who have learned Chinese for up to six months 

Intermediate: students who have learned Chinese for more than six months but less than two years

Advanced: students who have learned Chinese for more than 2 years

 

Eligibility: Students from all secondary and special schools and sixth-form colleges in England are eligible to apply. School based participants must be from years 8-12 (ie going into Year 13 in September) at the time of the trip.

The SSAT summer camps visit is open to schools which currently teach Chinese on or off the curriculum but also schools looking to introduce it. Priority will be given to schools in this situation which can demonstrate how participation will positively impact on their school's engagement with Chinese teaching and teaching about China across other areas of the curriculum.

 

Who do I contact? Naomi Li, Projects Officer at SSAT Chinese Networks chinesenetworks [at] ssatrust [dot] org [dot] uk