Over the last two weeks, each of our four Mandarin classes at Key Stage 3 has been involved in an intensive day of learning in preparation for their end of year Mandarin tests later this term. As participants of the Mandarin Excellence Programme (MEP), they will take the same tests as all other students on the programme in other schools all over the country.

The students’ concentration was very impressive for the three hours of study. For class 8a/Ma1, the day fell on student Jack McCreadie’s birthday, so, for the first time, students in this class got to sing Happy Birthday in Mandarin. Joseph Warrington, Vice President of this class, said of the day: “The Intensive Learning day was very helpful for the Hurdle tests as we were able to practise our writing and speaking which are key in the Hurdle Test.”

The day involved lots of different activities in Mandarin. In order to help the students to get through these tough 3 hours of learning, we provided some traditional Chinese snacks, including China’s national favourite candy, the ‘big white rabbit’. Some students said they would never have imagined there could be so many delicious Chinese snacks!

Zach Braddock, President of 8a/Ma1 said: ‘I enjoyed the Mandarin Intensive day because it gave me an insight into the content of the writing part of the Hurdle Test. I think it has really benefited our class because now we all know what to expect when the test comes around in June.’

Eleanor Davies of Class 8b/Ma 1 said: ‘I find the Mandarin intensive days very helpful. By having three hours together, it helps to get the characters and Pinyin (speech) into your brain. I feel we should do more of them, as they definitely increase our Mandarin knowledge.’

For the Year 7 class, it was their first experience of a Mandarin Intensive Day. Daniel Brown and Benjamin Thomas said this: ‘May 5th was our first Mandarin Intensive day. It was a fascinating, fun and exciting day. We really enjoyed it because it was motivating and it prepared us for the end-of-year MEP Hurdle Tests in June. We practised the writing part of the Hurdle Test and also listed as many verbs, adjectives, nouns and measure words in Mandarin as we could. Overall, it was a great experience that really helped our entire class with Mandarin.’

Well done to all the students on their excellent study skills and impressive levels of concentration, and we wish them all the best in their Hurdle Tests.