Head teachers bring a bit of China to Chaddesden and Allestree after fact-finder trip

Head teachers from two Derby schools have made changes to their schools following a visit to Derby’s twin city of Hefei in China. Through the Global Schools Alliance, Emma Wilkinson, of Portway Junior School in Allestree and Paul Appleton, Cherry Tree Hill Primary School in Chaddesden, both travelled to Hefei last month.

It followed a visit from dozens of primary pupils from Hefei to both Derby schools, which are part of Odyssey Collaborative Trust, earlier in the year. The two heads spent time visiting several schools in Hefei, experiencing different ways of teaching and learning.

For Paul, one of takeaways from the trip was how the schools in China celebrate success. He sad: "Every school we visited had an entire museum of its own, marking its own history and celebrating its successes. These were vast rooms full of documents, memorabilia and trophies, which charted the schools’ developments and achievements through the years.

“Everyone knew so much about their own school’s story and it just really showed a sense of pride and that’s something I was keen to bring back to Cherry Tree Hill – a way of sharing our pride in our school and celebrating our successes."

Within a couple of weeks of returning, Paul has already found a way to bring a bit of that back from China to Chaddesden. He said: "We don’t have the space to dedicate our hall to becoming a museum. But I went out and bought some glass cabinets and pictures frames and have used these to house and display some of our school’s trophies, certificates, photographs and more in our reception area and I’m looking at more ways to help us share the pride we have in our school."

Across the city, Emma is planning on introducing some ways of helping staff and students to slow down following her visit. She said: "What I really noticed was that pupils were encouraged to slow down and do things very precisely over there. They would do things over and over until they were happy."

The school has already introduced an afternoon break to help children reset and focus for later classes, but now Emma is looking for other ways to bring more mindful practices into learning. She said: “I think our school days are quite fast-paced and there is a lot of rushing around so I’m keen to find ways we can encourage staff to slow the pace down a little and help children to take their time with tasks.”

Both Paul and Emma are hoping to be able to take children on a trip to Hefei in a few years to experience the education system for themselves.

Paul said: “I think our children would be blown away by the scale of everything out there. The schools are huge. All the buildings seem massive and are on a sort of campus. To put it in context, we looked at one huge skyscraper and asked what building that was, and we were told that was just the administration building. It really was another world.”

Both teachers noticed the very different way of educating children in Hefei, with classes being taught by a teacher standing at the front of a large class of more than 50 children, sometimes with a microphone, giving information.

School days are also longer, with very structured, dedicated after-school sessions on music, crafts or even drone clubs. But to compensate for the long day and levels of concentration, staff and pupils have a two-hour lunch break and are encouraged to nap.

Emma said: “It was an amazing experience and so interesting to meet the staff and children and find out more about their culture and education. I’m so pleased we got the chance to experience this.”

Paul is also keen for more people to take an interest in Derby’s twin city in China. He said: “What was so lovely is that in the centre of Hefei there is a huge, beautiful garden all about Derby. It has plaques, sculptures and information all about our city – our major employers like Rolls-Royce, our university and the council, and dates commemorating delegations who have visited. I’d really like to see Derby recognise our twin city of Hefei in some way.”

Ian Dewes, chief executive of Odyssey Collaborative Trust, said: “Our partnership with the Global School Alliance has already brought so many benefits to both our children and colleagues.

“Three of our schools, including Springfield Primary School in Spondon, have hosted visitors from Hefei, and it was amazing to see the friendships formed between our pupils and the children from China. They learned so much about each other and each other’s daily lives.

"The fantastic visit Emma and Paul have just returned from has further deepened our connections with schools in Hefei. We are forming brilliant partnerships, helping us to share information so children from both sides of the world can get real experiences and a true understanding of a different culture."