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Mandarin

We are an 11-18 genuinely comprehensive school with 1237 on roll. We gained Specialist Languages College status in September 2001 when we started teaching Mandarin, initially through taster classes taken by a Chinese teacher on a British Council one year placement. This followed participation in the first Mandarin Immersion Course in Beijing that summer and our own partnership with a school in Lincoln's twin city of Tangshan.

Progress has been steady rather than spectacular. A Chinese national living in Lincoln provides curriculum stability and so we now have small GCSE 'ab initio' groups established in both years 10 and 11. Some AS teaching is anticipated in 2004-2005. Moreover, the Tangshan link is now enabling us to bring some of their teachers here on half-year placements to support Mandarin teaching and work in other areas such as DT and Art. From early March we expect to have Year 6 Mandarin lessons in at least one of our 'family of schools'. Additionally, following successful visits in 2002 and 2003 we will be hosting a third group of about 30 gymnasts, musicians and other performers from No.8 Middle School in April, while Lincoln children will be making a fifth visit to China in the summer of 2004, again including a visit to Tangshan. Previous visits have emphasised language, arts and mathematics. British Council support, the city twinning activity and the school partnership are the three pillars on which these exciting developments to which we are heavily committed are built.

Chris Williams