Grey Coat 4 Chinese visit (continued)


to carry out science experiments for themselves - before university) and


relentless photo taking (by them, not us). This visit felt different, though. Following their tour, their realisation was palpable that school ethos and environment feed directly into Grey Coat’s success and the two, in terms of creating an outstanding school, become inseparable from results.


When the time came to say goodbye there were tears and comments such as, ‘You treat your


Left to right:Tian Guoying, Head Teacher from Beijing Medical University Elementary School, Wenxia Wang, Mandarin teacher at Grey Coat, and Zhao Diantao, Director of The Primary and High School Education Research Centre of Haidian District, Beijng


students like people, not numbers’. As clichéd as this might sound, it was a genuine tribute to the care all our staff take of our students. They commented on how teachers in our school smile, even when they are teaching, and they ALL want a copy of Mr. Ward’s A-MAZ- ING assembly.


I said at the beginning of this article that the day was an “eye opener” for all concerned. I should clarify that comment. I meant that it was a source of immense pride to see through someone else’s eyes the true appreciation and understanding of the amount of work required and the huge number of components and elements, from both staff and students, that go into making The Grey Coat Hospital an outstanding school.


It would be wonderful to think that in some way we may affect educational practice in China through what we demonstrated to our visitors. That might be a rather lofty ambition, but thanks to everyone who took part and worked to


make the day such a success, Mrs Wang and I are hopeful that this will at the very least be the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship with the schools who visited us. Claudine Astles


Issue 25: November 2012


Left to right: Chen Shulan, Dou Guimei, Wenxia Wang, Yin Weihong, and Yang Man


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