Last Friday, Year 7 students on the Mandarin Excellence Programme (MEP) were invited to a Mandarin Enrichment Day at Leeds University, along with students from four other schools in the North of England who are also involved in this programme. Over 100 students took part in this day which included workshops on reading, translating and song-writing. In addition, there was a singing competition at the end! Mrs Kang, Mandarin teacher, and Miss Roe, Head of MFL were very proud of the students throughout the day. Their excellent knowledge and understanding of Chinese culture and traditions linked to Chinese New Year enabled them to excel in the translation workshop in particular.

Under the guidance of a professional musician the students wrote a song in Mandarin and performed it in front of all the students there. To round off an excellent day our students were awarded a prize for their performance in the singing competition! Joshua Hubert (pictured) said: “My day at Leeds University was very informative and educational. Overall, the experience was a great way to boost my confidence in speaking Chinese to unfamiliar faces. I learned so much from the enrichment day and I got to talk to students from other schools about their time in Mandarin so far. Me and my classmates really enjoyed the day, especially the singing competition.”

Well done to all our Mandarin students!