School report | 16 March 2017

CHINESE SCHOOL IS A FIRST IN EUROPE

 
Europe’s first bilingual English-Chinese school is due to open in London this September. Professor Hugo de Burgh, a leading authority on China, will be the chairman of Kensington Wade School and has been instrumental in its founding.

He says the benefits for pupils will be numerous. Yes, it’s likely that China is the future for international business. But he also believes that learning the Chinese language is of huge benefit to children — both for the general benefits of being bilingual, but also because learning a logographic language — as well as an alphabetic one — expands their mental horizons. Finally, de Burgh believes that British education has plenty to learn from the Chinese system.

The private prep school’s home will be a brand-new state-of-the-art building on Kensington High Street with a rooftop playground. Everyone is very proud of its 685 square-metre sports hall. In September pupils will be accepted into Nursery, Reception and Year 1 classes. Joanna Wallace, formerly head of Putney High Junior School, will be the headteacher.

BIG CUT IN FUNDING FOR STATE EDUCATION

 
Spending per pupil in state schools is to be cut for the first time since the 1990s, says the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

By 2019–20 a new funding formula will have reduced the amount by 6.5 per cent, with major consequences throughout the education system, whose funding has been protected for the past 20 years.

The Department for Education asserts, however, that ‘school funding is now at its highest level on record’.

DRIVING A COMPUTER WON’T WIN YOU POINTS

 
The European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) has become a controversial topic, with claims that schools have been using the qualification (which involves learning IT skills, not how to drive motor vehicles) to ‘game’ the exam league tables.