Ni Hao Bushey!

One of the exciting developments in the curriculum this year is the introduction of Mandarin Chinese. Most students in Year 7 are now studying Chinese, as well as a more ‘traditional’ Modern Foreign Language of French and Spanish. A significant reason that The Bushey Academy has such a positive reputation and so many recent awards is due to the vibrant approach to Teaching and Learning. This also involves making sure we provide the most appropriate subjects to our students, and look innovatively at our curriculum offering. When we were in the process of finalising our curriculum plans and securing a teacher to teach Chinese, David Cameron returned from a visit to China declaring: “By the time the children born today leave school, China is set to be the world's largest economy. So it's time to look beyond the traditional focus on French and German and get many more children learning Mandarin. As Mandela once said: 'If you talk to a man in a language he understands that goes to his head, if you talk to him in his own language that goes to his heart.'” Currently Mandarin is seen by some as the preserve of the independent sector. However I firmly believe that opportunity should be available for all, and interest in the language is growing and growing.

I am delighted that we managed to secure the services of Ms Schito to join our Languages team to teach Mandarin. Ms Schito graduated from London’s prestigious School of Oriental and African Studies with a First Class degree in Chinese and Linguistics and an MA in Sinology. She also spent time in Beijing honing her language skills. We drew on the expertise of the Confucius Institute in setting up the department, with additional support from one of my Vice Principals, Mr. Woolf, who spent 5 years in China from 2007 and was Head of Senior School at Dulwich College Beijing before his appointment here in 2012. Ms Schito commented on her early lessons: “During the first week it was unexpectedly common for me to be greeted with a chorus of ‘konnichiwa’ by many of my Year 7s, which shows for the ability of Japan in marketing their language! Now the Japanese for ‘good day’ has swiftly been replaced by a confident ‘Ni hao Laoshi!’ (‘Hello miss!’) whenever I take the register, which makes me very proud. During the first three weeks of school, the students have already demonstrated a great interest in the Chinese culture and a deep involvement in writing the characters. The beauty of the Chinese language rarely fails to fascinate!” As well as Year 7 students, we are also offering Mandarin to our More Able students in Year 9 as an enrichment activity. We look forward to their GCSE results in 2017!

Preparations this week have focused on our Open Evening, which last year attracted over 1,000 visitors to the school. We have 240 places in Year 7, and last year over 600 applicants. Our waiting list is likely to be even longer this year given that our examination results rose even higher, and more and more families are identifying us as the school of choice in Bushey and beyond. I look forward to sharing some photos of this year’s open evening next week.