Earlier in the academic year nineteen students in Years Eleven to Fourteen embarked on a first for GGS when they, along with Dr Vasey and Dr Rolleston, participated in the School’s inaugural trip to China in conjunction with the highly successful Confucius Classroom Hub programme with which it has been involved since 2013.

The trip, which lasted for two weeks and saw pupils depart from Belfast on the morning of Friday 23rd October, saw the GGS contingent spend their first five days at Hubei Normal University where pupils were required to attend three Mandarin lessons per day before sitting an HSK Level One test at the duration of their time. In addition, further activities with which the pupils were involved included attending an opening ceremony, a garden exposition, chinese cooking, calligraphy and paper writing, as well as shopping!

Following the conclusion of the group’s time at Hubei University they then travelled by train Yichang, where they visited ‘Three Gorges Dam’ as well as a local museum on Friday 30th, before participating in a Yanghtzee river cruise, visits to Tiananmen Square, the village of Hutong, The Olympic ‘Bird’s Nest’ Stadium, a pearl market and, most impressively, ‘The Great Wall of China’ over the following five days.

The trip came about as part of Grosvenor’s status as a Confucius Classroom Hub School, which was secured in October 2013, following which all of its Year Eight pupils have been receiving one period of Mandarin per week, delivered by a Mandarin teacher employed through funding provided as a result of the initiative.

For all nineteen pupils involved in the trip it proved an outstanding chance to broaden their horizons, develop their Mandarin and expand their cultural knowledge during a fortnight which provided a series of enjoyable, worthwhile and educational opportunities – the School now looks forward to developing its status as a Confucius Classroom Hub and, hopefully, in the near future more pupils will have the opportunity to avail of the same opportunity as this year’s travelling contingent.

We look forward to following the School’s participation within the ‘Confucius’ initiative over the remainder of the year.