Confucius Classroom Hub Application Document
Part A School Information
1.1 Local Authority
The Moray Council
1.2 School Name
Elgin Academy
1.3 Contact Details
1.3.1 Address
Morriston Road, Elgin, Moray IV30 4ND
1.3.2 Website
www.elginacademy.co.
uk
1.3.3 Email
[email protected]
1.3.4 Telephone
01343 543485
1.3.5 Fax
01343 540893
1.4.1 Title
Mr
1.4.4 Telephone
01343 543485
1.5.1 Title
xx
1.5.4 Position
1.4 Head teacher
1.5 Staff member
with overall
responsibility
for Confucius
Classroom Hub
1.6 School roll
1.4.2
Family Name
1.5.2
Family Name
Barnett
1.4.5 Email
1.4.3
David
Given Name
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
1.5.3
Given Name
Depute Head Teacher
1.5.5
Subject taught
n/a
1.5.6 Telephone
Xxxxxxxx xxxxxxx
1.5.7 Email
1.6.1
Secondary roll
964
1.6.2
Primary cluster
xxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
1236
1.7 Please give a brief introduction to your school and its associated primaries:
Elgin Academy serves the northern part of Elgin, along with five associated primary schools: Bishopmill, East End, Seafield,
St Sylvester’s and West End. We also receive a number of pupils from across the Moray area through placing requests. Elgin
Academy moved into its new school building in April 2012. It was built for a school capacity of 1050 pupils, with teaching
and learning facilities for all subjects currently taught in the curriculum and with flexible provision to allow for different
forms of teaching and future development of the curriculum. The assembly hall is adjacent to the dining area which
becomes a large flexible social space for school or community use. A well-equipped pupil support department is provided,
and a multi-disciplinary area is located close to the main entrance, as is a dedicated community space. Indoor sports
facilities include a large Games hall, gymnasium, dance studio and fitness room, while outdoor facilities include a full size
floodlight 2G synthetic pitch, 2 grass pitches and a 6 lane grass running track. In the heart of the school is a secluded and
protected terraced inner courtyard. The shared vision for the school talks of the importance of global citizenship: “With
learners, staff, parents and the wider community enjoying very positive, respectful relationships and working together, we
provide a curriculum which will give our learners the knowledge, skills and digital ability to be healthy, global citizens and
succeed in a modern world.” This is encapsulated in the phrase – “Leading learning for all our futures.” We very much see
the development of Chinese language and culture as a key part of that vision for the future.
Although this has not featured to the same extent with our ASG primaries, we have ever–deepening curricular links with
them. The transition, both in a pastoral sense and a curricular sense, is seen as a key strength of the ASG. However, we also
see the development of Elgin Academy as a hub school as being very much about serving the needs of a range of schools
across Moray. In a very practical sense, Elgin sits in the centre of Moray geographically, and is the major transport hub for
the area.
Part B Establishment of Confucius Classroom Hub
2.1 Please state the intended programme for teaching Chinese language and culture (e.g. school history, whether you
already teach Chinese language and culture within the curriculum, other languages offered in your curriculum, local
population, the demand for Chinese etc):
The current Head Teacher at Elgin Academy, David Barnett, has been in post for almost three years. Prior to that, he was
Head Teacher at Buckie High School. During his time there, he took part in two Head Teacher visits to China, organised by
LTS and Hanban. The first of these was in March 2010, and the second in April 2011. Following these visits, he represented
Moray on the North-East Confucius Classroom Hub Steering Group. At Buckie, education with regard to Chinese language
and culture became a part of the school’s Global Citizenship programme. The same has happened at Elgin Academy. For
two years now, the school’s Strategic Improvement Plan has featured the development of Chinese language and culture.
This is the relevant part of this year’s S.I.P.:
Improvement Priority
Outcomes
Implementation Strategy
Measuring Success
9.1 Further development of the
teaching of Chinese language
and culture.
Students
are
given
an
increased awareness of how
they relate to other cultures.
New S1 elective in Chinese
culture and language delivered
to S1 pupils. Best use of time
from Tianjin teacher.
China
highlighted as part of IDL
initiatives. Establish a link with
Chinese
school.
Start
to
investigate/plan
China
trip.
Global Citizenship SIG. (KS)
Learning visits / audit / focus
groups
Modern Languages is an area of strength in Elgin Academy, with a highly-rated Principal Teacher in post. Despite the
removal of the compulsory aspect of taking a Modern Language post-S3, numbers have been very positive in comparison to
many other schools. Currently, the school offers courses in French, German and Spanish. We are keen to build Mandarin
into this offer; the lack of guarantee of having a Mandarin teacher is what has held us back until now. We see the prospect
of the school becoming a hub as a very exciting one, allowing to better plan for having Mandarin as part of the curriculum,
with students potentially being able to choose it as an option. Schools from across the authority would be able to access
this. We would also see the opportunity for visiting Chinese teachers to continue to work with a range of schools in the
authority, using Elgin Academy as a base.
This session we introduced a Chinese language and culture elective in S1, to which the Chinese volunteer teacher has been
able to make a significant contribution. In addition, In S2, there has been a major interdisciplinary learning project entitled
“Connections”, focusing on Chinese language and culture. Across every subject in their S2 curriculum, students learned
about different aspects of China, culminating in a special challenge day, where each class competed to put together the
best presentation on the hat they had learned. This really put China at the centre of our curriculum, and it is this type of
work which can only be helped by having Elgin Academy designated as a hub school for Moray.
The school is playing a part in SCEN, particularly in the north-east, and is involved in the planning and delivery of the SCEN
conference in Aberdeen in June 2014.
There are a range of businesses in the Moray area which have a global reach, and the establishment of a hub school
situated in Moray, as opposed 70 miles away in Aberdeen, could, we feel, have a positive effect on encouraging these
companies to work with us in encouraging the learning of Chinese language.
2.2 Please give details of premises and facilities you will use for Chinese language teaching and activities. (e.g. classroom
size, IT equipment etc):
Elgin Academy is a new building, having opened in April 2012. It is a modern, spacious building which is flexible in its use. It
is extremely well-equipped in terms of ICT, with a number of computer suites, a Smartboard in every teaching area, and wifi available throughout the school. A number of different teaching spaces could be designated as a Confucius Classroom
Hub; specifically, there is a room in the Modern Languages Department which could be made available for this use.
2.3 Please give details of any other schools in your authority (primary and secondary) that may wish to support the
learning and teaching of Chinese language and culture:
Forres Academy
Buckie High School
Applegrove Primary School
Eastend Primary School
Keith Primary School
St. Thomas Primary School
Craigellachie Primary School
Aberlour Primary School and Nursery
Knockando Primary School
Milne’s Primary School
2.4 Please detail your intended management structure for the Hub:
On a day-to-day operational basis, responsibility for the Hub would lie with xxxxxxxxxxxx, Depute Head Teacher.
The strategic work of the Hub would be overseen by a Moray Confucius Strategy Group, which would consist of:
Mr Laurence Findlay, Head of Schools and Curriculum Development
xxxxxxxxxxx, 1+2 Development Officer
Mr David Barnett, Head Teacher, Elgin Academy
xxxxxxxxxxxx, Depute Head Teacher, Elgin Academy
xxxxxxxxxxxx, Depute Head Teacher, Keith Grammar School
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Teacher of English, Buckie High School
A slightly smaller group already exists, and has been able to direct the use of resources, and of the time available from this
year’s volunteer teacher from China.
2.5 Please give details of any work you are currently doing in your authority to support the learning and teaching of Chinese
language and culture:
Our 1+2 Development officer and Chinese volunteer have collaborated effectively to ensure the development and
progression of the learning and teaching of Chinese in Moray. Our volunteer is working across the sectors 3-18 with staff
and pupils.
They have:







Introduced effective learning experiences which enable children to explore their natural curiosity about sounds via
stories, songs and dance to the Nursery
Piloted the P1 framework for 1+2 in Early years
Promoted an intercultural understanding through play, music, dance, food and Chinese festivals, often via Chinese
media
Piloted planned interdisciplinary approaches to language learning which have included aspects of communication and
citizenship; these have proved to be very successful
Ensured that real listening and talking in Chinese is taking place in our schools as our children are becoming more
confident in their language learning with more refined literacy skills
Involved the Chinese volunteer in the delivery of skills for Life and Work modules being delivered in Secondary schools
Forged new links with local Business which have an interest in support the learning of Chinese language in Moray
Schools.
Taught Modern Languages staff in Moray Chinese.
This has all culminated in the children’s clear and obvious enjoyment whilst simultaneously increasing confidence in
language learning. The teaching and learning of Chinese is proving to be motivating, fun and indeed challenging for pupils
from 3-18. The link with a native speaker is bringing the work to life while concurrently supporting the teachers. This is
clearly manifested in the increased self confidence in our schools staff and also pupils. Quite naturally leading to a real
commitment to Chinese language learning from 3-18.
2.6 Please outline ways in which you would plan to develop the Confucius Classroom Hub within your authority:
As a Hub, our strategy would be to continue to :

Continue to support our teachers to deliver excellence in Chinese learning in our schools.

Continue to promote the benefits of learning about Chinese language and culture to all stakeholders.

Further develop our collaborations with Business partners.

Further develop L3 (Interdisciplinary approaches) to ensure that children become more confident and successful
language learners.

Promote an increased awareness of global citizenship and, as a Hub, we would have the opportunity to enjoy a
partnership link with another school in China, enabling our pupils to appreciate global connections and
interdependence, as well as respecting the similarities and differences that we enjoy.

Continue to support our teachers in their learning of Chinese via our Confucius volunteer/teacher, as well as
continued participation in Immersion courses in China.

Further develop the teaching and Learning of Chinese in Secondary schools to ensure real progression and, in the
future, accreditation at SQA level.
2.7 Please outline any other information which you feel is relevant:
Please return this application along with a covering letter from the Director of Education to [email protected]
by 30th April 2014.
Confucius Institute for Scotland’s Schools (CISS)
苏格兰中小学孔子学院
www.strath.ac.uk/ciss
Lord Hope Building
Room LH232, Level 2
141
St
John
University
Glasgow G4 0LT
James
Anderson
of
Road
Campus
Strathclyde