Students head to Shanghai

Over forty students from The Birkenhead Park School have headed to China as part of the schools partnership with a high achieving school in Taicang.

The School signed the partnership with Taicang Experimental Middle School last year to forge both cultural and educational links for students in both schools.  Taicang is near the Chinese City of Shanghai, and is twinned with Wirral. Students will spend time in both cities, sightseeing and mixing with Chinese students.

The first of two trips is underway with a return visit of the Taicang students in November and a second reciprocal visit to Taicang in the spring.

The partnership came about after recognizing that we had much we could learn from each other. Whilst schools in the Shanghai region achieve the world’s highest outcomes in Mathematics, there has been recognition that the British education system is at the forefront in developing problem solving skills and independent learning.

Headteacher Helen Johnson commented; “We understood the specific need in Birkenhead to forge links with Taicang. The first phase of the Wirral Waters development is a planned International Trade Centre, and next door to that there are plans for a massive automotive supply park, which Wirral Council predict will bring in hundreds of jobs from places like China.

“Our students will have increased opportunities to be involved in global enterprise, and secondly, companies that come to the area will bring their families, who in turn will appreciate our endeavours to create a knowledgeable and culturally diverse community around the school.”

The performance of high achieving schools here in Wirral is used as a benchmark for many international visitors, and The Birkenhead Park School has received visits from schools in Denmark, Germany and China in recent years, with visiting Headteachers keen to learn how our School achieves its success.

Mrs Johnson added “We have a very different education system here in the UK, but we have created the environment for both of our schools to learn from each other. High-performing schools are fundamental to the economic growth of an area and greater opportunities for its workers of the future.”

We have introduced cultural activities in school, from using martial arts to help increase fitness, to introducing lessons in Mandarin, to help integrate globalisation across the curriculum and for all age groups.

China Trip