Lincoln Christ’s Hospital School and Hebei Tangshan, Beijing

Lincoln Christ’s Hospital School, Lincoln is a secondary school (11-18) with 1250 pupils. The school is located in the north of Lincoln. Its roots start with the first school in the city founded in 1090. The present site has been in use since 1906 with the comprehensive school established here in 1974. It remains a genuinely comprehensive school. 80% of the students come from the urban/suburban communities of north Lincoln where socio-economic conditions range from marked affluence to serious urban deprivation. Abbey Ward is ranked amongst the worst 10% in England for child poverty as instanced by the Governments Index of Multiple Deprivation 2000. Some students are at high risk of exclusion. An increasing proportion of students, now 23%, travel in on free transport from the flourishing rural villages to the west of the city. Nearly 15% of our children have Free School Meals and more than 300 are on the Special Needs Register.

The ethnic mix is dominantly white European (c99%) with small numbers from the Middle East and South-East/East Asia. An interesting development in the last year has been significant economic migration from the new EU member countries - we now have 19 Polish children in the school, the first having joined in October 2004

In addition to having permanent and temporary staff from increasingly wide international origins currently China, France, Germany, Poland, Russia, Spain and the USA - the school has been heavily involved in international cooperation activities since 1989. Currently we have active partnerships with schools in Belgium, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands, and Spain. New partnerships are being developed with Poland (Sosnowiec), Romania (Bucharest), Russia (Volgograd) and Sri Lanka (Denipitya)

The school achieved Language College Status in September 2001

Details of the partner school

Hebei Tangshan Foreign Language School is in Tangshan, Hebei Province - 180kms from Beijing. It is a secondary (Junior and Secondary grades) school with 3500 pupils (12-18).

Hebei Tangshan Foreign Language School (originally named Tang Shan Number 8 Middle School) has 50 years of history. It covers an area of 9 hectares, located close to the centre of the city, and is about 5 minutes drove to the railway station and the bus station. It is one of the key Middle schools of Hebei Province with a staff of 320 and 68 teaching classes. The school has recently moved into new state-of-the-art buildings on a new campus. It is a Languages School where English, Russian and Japanese are studied.

Its high teaching standards and resources make it a desirable school for students, parents and teachers alike. It uses the most modern techniques and equipment available including V.C.D. players, computer rooms and language learning labs. The teaching style focuses on spoken as well as written language. Communication is the school’s top priority and the employment of foreign expert teachers ensures it meets this aim.

Currently the school’s only active international partnership is with Lincoln Christ’s Hospital School. This illustrates the importance of English to the Headmaster and the community.

When did the partnership start?  How was the partner school located?

Our partnership originated through a well-established twinning arrangement between the cities of Lincoln and Tangshan. In 1997 a high-level city delegation from Tangshan visited Lincoln. As part of their programme, they asked to visit to visit a school. We were chosen because of our interest in the international dimension. During the very successful visit we asked whether it would be possible for us to have a partner school in Tangshan. A few weeks later the connection was made by the Foreign Affairs Office of the Tangshan Government. The project developed slowly to start with, but accelerated in 2001 when Lincoln Christ’s Hospital School decided to apply for Language College Status and introduce teaching of Mandarin Chinese. This coincided with the start of the British Council’s Mandarin Immersion Course. The first face-to-face meeting was in Tangshan in August 2001.

Case Study of a particular activity or all joint activities to date

1997: Visit to Lincoln and to Lincoln Christ’s Hospital School by President of Tangshan Region

1999: Cooperation on World Poetry Day

August 2001:    Following Mandarin Immersion Course, the first visit to Tangshan by an LCHS group of 24 pupils and three staff including Senior Deputy Chris Williams

February 2002: First Tangshan school group visits LCHS - 26 gymnasts and four staff including the headmaster Wang Deyuan

April 2002: LCHS group visits Tangshan on BC sponsored Joint Curriculum Project on Maths including the headmaster David Cox.

August 2002: Second visit to Tangshan by an LCHS group following Mandarin Immersion Course

October 2002: First Tangshan teacher of English starts five month placement at LCHS - Lui Min

November 2002: LCHS group visits Tangshan on BC sponsored Special Interest Project - Art

March 2003: Second Tangshan group visits Lincoln - 24 mathematicians with staff including principle Zhao Yuhe. (The rest of 2003 was quiet for the partnership because of the SARS outbreak)

March 2004: Second Tangshang teacher of English starts five month placement - Tang Xihong

April 2004: Third Tangshan group visits Lincoln - 23 musicians and dancers with staff including the new head teacher Wang Riuxin  

April 2004: Sam Williams, LCHS alumnus, starts four month placement teaching English in Tangshan

August 2004: Third visit to Tangshan by an LCHS group following Mandarin Immersion Course

September 2004: Third Tangshan teacher of English starts five month placement - Wang Suju

February 2005: Fourth Tangshan teacher of English starts five month placement - Wang Jinfang

April 2005: Fourth Tangshan group to visit Lincoln - 20 Science and Maths specialist with staff including Deputy Principal Song Zhihua

July-August 2005: Four LCHS teachers spend three weeks in Tangshan leading classes at the first English Summer School funded by the two schools

July 2005: Fourth visit to Tangshan by an LCHS group before Mandarin Immersion Course

October 2005: LCHS group visits Tangshan on BC sponsored Joint Curriculum Project on earthquakes. New letter of intent signed.

October 2005: Two LCHS Science teachers visit Tangshan on professional development (TIPD) work

March 2006: Lui Min and Chris Williams attend BC School Partnerships Conference in Richmond

Proposed Future Activities

At the time of writing (March 2006), the following proposals have been agreed in the letter of intent signed in Tangshan on 2nd November 2005. It is expected that most, if not all, will have taken place by the end of 2006.

• Exchange of more electronic versions of Science resources, worksheets, practical guidelines etc. in English
• Consideration with  others (such as the British Council) how we might host Tangshan science teachers on professional development work
• Make further representations on behalf of Chinese Y12 students who would like to study at the Year 12/13 of British state schools as fee-payers
• May 2006: fifth Tangshan group to visit Lincoln - members of earthquake team and gymnasts
• 17th July 2006: the start of proposed inaugural two week English summer school at the Riseholme campus of the University of Lincoln with 40+ participants from Tangshan and Shiyan School, Beijing
• July - August 2006: four LCHS teachers to spend three weeks in Tangshan leading classes at the second English summer school funded by the two schools.
• September 2006: a fifth Tangshan teacher is expected at LCHS (to 20th December 2006)
• October 2006: More Science and Maths teachers to visit Tangshan through a Teachers International Professional Development application
• 1st February 2007: A sixth Tangshan teacher is expected at LCHS (to 20th July 2007)

Other information:

What has worked well in the partnership:.

• Excellent organisation supported by regular discussions to write agreed plans for the next stages of the partnership
• Communications between the coordinators of both schools for 5 years already

Difficulties:

• Visa application process for the Tangshan group visiting Lincoln can be very complicated and time consuming. This has been worrying because there is no 100% guarantee that the application will be successful. Great care, meticulous attention and considerable patience have been required to ensure success.

What were the most important learning experiences for the pupils in your school and in the partner school? Were these the same for both schools?

• There are obvious cultural differences, but most pupils from both schools have learned how to cooperate and make each other welcome in their communities

How did you evaluate the activity?

• The most important evaluation tool is the formal meeting of the head of the host school and the leader of the visiting group during which there is a discussion about the programme, part, present and future.
• In addition the positive reactions of both parents and children in both communities is a very good evaluation tool
• From discussions with colleagues, parents and pupils we intend to develop a ‘hints for hosts’ sheet so that families in both countries can learn from the experiences of previous participants welcoming pupils into their homes e.g. expectations, food, gifts, general communications etc.
• In the future we might develop some simple questionnaires for pupils involved in a visit.

Was staff and/or pupil mobility part of your activity? How was this funded?

Yes, both

• Tangshan - mostly funded by parents, with some support from the school
• Lincoln - support from British Council for some activities, but also funding from parents and Language College resources

What were the concrete outcomes of your joint activity?

• ‘Products’ - the context of the letters of intent i.e. the whole programme
• ‘Products’ - extensive positive publicity in Tangshan and Lincoln media
• ‘Competences and skills’ - cooperation, learning to work with others
• ‘Competence and skills’ - greater confidence in learning both languages through better knowledge and understanding of the two cultures. In the case of LCHS, non-native speakers of Chinese are now studying Mandarin at AS Level

What were the professional development benefits for head/teachers/other staff?

• Opportunities for senior leaders to exchange ideas and experiences, issues and responses, which are often remarkably similar
• Great benefit for Chinese teachers through being able to travel abroad and use English language in an English-speaking country
• Revitalisation of some British teachers through observing another educational system
• Acquiring classroom resources