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Reigate Grammar School has announced a major international venture with the opening of five schools in China.

The schools, the first of which is scheduled to open in Nanjing in 2020, are part of a partnership between Reigate Grammar School (RGS) and Kaiyuan Education Fund (KEF), which is backed by the China Development Bank. The second school is due to open in Shanghai in 2023.

RGS Head Shaun Fenton signed a memorandum of understanding with the KEF in Shanghai at the China UK Business Forum alongside International Development Secretary Liam Fox.

The new Chinese schools will be co-educational all-through (kindergarten to sixth form) boarding schools for local Chinese children.

Shaun said that he is keen for the Chinese schools to adopt RGS’s breadth of education which values character development and personal qualities in addition to academic success. He added that the schools in China would bring huge benefit to RGS pupils in Britain. 

Part of the income generated by the schools in China will be used to fund RGS bursaries for disadvantaged students. The school is committed to an ambitious drive for social mobility via its Changing Lives campaign.

Read more: https://ie-today.co.uk/Article/reigate-grammar-to-launch-five-schools-in-china

Addressing the language deficit – Brexit or no Brexit

Brexit or no Brexit, modern foreign languages remain an important part of a pupil’s education if they are to compete in a multi-lingual world. David Walker-Smith is a linguist and head of curriculum at Farlington School, an independent, 3-18 girls’ day and boarding school in Horsham, West Sussex. Here he discusses the ongoing challenges of teaching languages and shares Farlington’s winning formula

The day after the referendum result language teachers across the country found themselves having to rebuff the idea from some students that this meant there was no longer any need for them to come to language lessons! The students were, of course, wrong and the recently published British Council’s Languages for the Future study usefully identifies that Spanish, French and German remain among the top five languages which the UK will need following our exit from the European Union.

We need schools, parents, language organisations and government to work together to address the current language deficit and ensure that our young people are equipped for the international world which – Brexit or no Brexit – they will soon be entering.

Read more: http://independentleader.co.uk/2385-2/