For over two years now the global Covid Pandemic has been impacting on all our lives. Teachers and young people have been particularly affected and have had to adapt to new ways of learning and interacting with friends, classmates, and colleagues. Sadly, at the time of writing the rates of covid are again on the increase, though symptoms, aided by mass vaccination, are not usually as severe as in the early stages.

The war in the Ukraine, with terrible mounting casualties, is affecting all of us in different ways. We are all part of the growing humanitarian disaster and economic and social consequences of such terrible and unprecedented events.

Most schools are returning to face-to-face teaching, but the day-to-day challenges are real, in part because of the absences of significant numbers of pupils, students, and teaching staff.

Young people and their teachers deserve our admiration and respect during this difficult time, not least the learners and teachers of Mandarin who face particular challenges through this period in our history.

Most SCEN activity and meetings continue to be conducted online. However, in this update we report a very successful SCEN Youth event in an Edinburgh school, with further plans for events in another school. Also, in November, we very much hope to hold a Youth event which will involve a number of schools coming together for the first time in four years.

YOUTH EVENT IN BOROUGHMUIR HIGH SCHOOL

On 15 March SCEN hosted a Youth event in Boroughmuir High School, Edinburgh. The audience consisted of students from Boroughmuir, James Gillespie’s High School as well as teachers, representatives from the Chinese Consulate, Education Scotland, the Confucius Institute for Scotland’s Schools (CISS), City of Edinburgh Council, and SCEN Trustees. Supported by students Saskia Aldrich and Brodie Leven, head teacher David Dempster welcomed us to the school. Mr Ma Qiang, Consul General for the People’s Republic of China spoke in praise of the work of young people in learning Mandarin.

Thereafter introductions and presentations were very much in the hands of young people in the school.

S2 pupils Perla Brooke, Matild Ah-hot, Jimmy Henderson, and Cameron Littlejohn spoke of their journey in Mandarin.

Former Boroughmuir students Jemima Harrison and Jef Remijsen, spoke of their time in the school and of their success at SQA qualification.

Student both from Boroughmuir and James Gillespie’s High School recited some Chinese poetry and Noah Morrison and Lyra Barbour, supported on the piano by Elisa Jourden sang the 茉莉花 - molihua (jasmine flower) song.

CISS Alumni and former student Ana Scougall spoke of her own experience in Scotland of learning Chinese and what it had contributed to her life since leaving school. Also, from CISS, General Manager Wendy Green spoke of Support for Mandarin Learners that can be provided by CISS.

Students Oscar McNicol and Carlie Swann told the audience why they had decided to learn Mandarin. Boroughmuir and James Gillespie’s students Louise McLeod and Felix Mackay spoke in conclusion of the event.

For more images from this event, see our gallery.

YOUTH EVENTS – LOOKING AHEAD

A similar event is now planned for Kinross High School in the summer.

In the autumn (probably November), it is planned to have a Youth Event involving a variety of schools, showcasing progress in Mandarin Learning. It is planned that this be organised in conjunction with a voice speaking competition…

Watch this space…

SCEN AMBASSADORS

SCEN Ambassador certificates (at Tiger and Dragon level) were handed out during the course of the Boroughmuir event.

SCEN Chair Simon Macaulay announced an adjustment to the SCEN Ambassador levels, aimed at clarifying arrangements.

From now on these will be as follows: -

PANDA Award – primary pupils and S1/2 students – i.e. students starting to learn Chinese and about China

TIGER Award – S3/4 students studying towards certification

DRAGON Award – students linking with CISS Alumni and China Futures (university students) and/ or associated with a SCEN event, possibly organised at school level.

For further information contact Rosemary and Colin Mitchell at youthvoice@scen.info

THE FUTURE OF MANDARIN LEARNING AND TEACHING: BEYOND THE PANDEMIC

The Report and Recommendations which emerged from the SCEN hosted conference in November 2021 were widely circulated and well received. They were also discussed (online) at the SCEN Advisory Council on 4 February. All information is available on the SCEN website.

The next stage is to raise the points made with senior representatives of Scottish Government and key players in language teaching decision making in Scotland.

SCEN CHINESE TEACHING CLUB

The CTC met (online) on 18 February. It was well attended with participating teachers from across Scotland. There was much discussion about relevant curricular materials, the SQA exam diet for 2022, and also the experiences of teachers of Mandarin during the continuing pandemic. The next meeting is scheduled for Friday 20 May at 3:30pm. Please contact Megan Hammell at admin@scen.info for any further information.

NEW SCEN TRUSTEE

We are pleased to welcome Alan Huang, University of Strathclyde, as a new Trustee of SCEN. Alan has been a member of SCEN Advisory Council for several years. He has taught in an Edinburgh school and currently leads the Post Graduate Diploma in Education course in Strathclyde, as well as a number of international activities at the university. At later meetings, we are likely to expand the number of Trustees to reflect, in particular, the involvement of schools in SCEN activity.

SCEN WEBSITE

We are still looking to populate our new website with fresh content. So any relevant articles, photographs, ideas, or anything to do with promoting Chinese learning and teaching across Scotland are very welcome. For any suggestions, please contact Megan Hammell at admin@scen.info.