Jo Bao, Mandarin teacher at Dartford Grammar School in Kent

As the Mandarin Excellence Programme enters its second year, TES caught up with two  teachers who have been delivering the programme in a feature article that has been published online.

In the interview,  Samantha Deabreau from Christopher Whitehead Language College in Worcester, and Jo Bao, who teaches at Dartford Grammar School in Kent talk about how they have found being part of the programme.

Christopher Whitehead Language College joined the programme in September 2017, and have found that the four hours of focused Mandarin learning each week have helped students retain vocabulary, grammatical structures and be successful in their language learning.

Dartford Grammar School have been on the programme since 2016, with Year 8 students heading off to spend two weeks studying Mandarin in Shanghai this summer as part of the programme.

To read the whole article visit the TES website. 

The Mandarin Excellence Programme is a Department for Education funded programme which is being delivered by the UCL Institute of Education in partnership with the British Council. State schools in England can apply to join the programme from September 2018 with funding available to support successful delivery. Find out more here.