High Fives for the Fifth SCEN Summit
What a magnificent celebration of SCEN's 10th Anniversary! The Fifth SCEN China Youth Summit at the wonderful Edinburgh International Conference Centre on 2 December attracted 555 Delegates. 37 schools were represented from 9 local authorities, SCIS, the Edinburgh Chinese Community School, and 10 schools from Hong Kong.
Donald MacDonald, Head Teacher of James Gillespie's High School in Edinburgh, writes:
The venue was superb as was the hospitality. The varied programme was highly stimulating and managed to capture so much of what is happening across our growing number of schools and communities. Feedback from pupils was very positive and has, I have no doubt, whetted their appetites for continued learning on China related matters.
It was lovely to see our guests from Hong Kong mingle so easily and effortlessly with their Scottish hosts. This augurs well for the future.
Donald is absolutely right! The mix of Delegates and their friendship modelled what we are all trying to achieve in connecting China and Scotland. This happened at all levels, as we had 9 Universities and a College represented, 3 Confucius Institutes, 7 Confucius Classroom Hubs, and a marvellous number of Hanban teachers.
I have been receiving the kindest of comments all through the weekend, but really the gratitude is mine: huge thanks to our fascinating and lively performers, who gave us so much; to our excellent supporters at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre, to the great team from the Confucius Institute for Scotland at the University of Edinburgh, to all our Delegates, particularly those who travelled so far, and to our generous donors, including the Scottish Government.
Now I shall leave you in peace, as the season demands all your attention. Beware though: I shall be back in touch early in January, with a list of SCEN events for 2017! SCEN's wide range of partnerships in Scotland, and with HKSEC and HKSSIP, will definitely keep growing.
Happy Christmas and warmest wishes to you all,
