As Europe?s first English-Chinese Prep School opens its doors, Jo Wallace, Headteacher at Kensington Wade, explains why learning in two languages is better than one
Imagine the following scenario: you are a parent who is considering sending your child to Kensington Wade ? Europe?s first dual language English-Chinese Prep School. Will this environment be confusing to your child" How will you know they will hit the right levels of attainment" Will other subjects be dropped to learn Chinese" And how will you support your child if you don?t speak the language"
These are reasonable questions that I face each day from prospective parents. But do they have anything to be worried about" The answer is categorically ?no?. Receiving a dual-language immersion education is the opposite ? it?s a massive advantage, and
on many levels.
An equal split of each
Let?s be clear what dual language immersion education actually means. It is not a vast number of extra foreign language lessons. Our current Early Years timetable is exactly the same as a similar class in any other Prep School, the difference being that for half of each day, the teaching is in Chinese.
So, is Kensington Wade purely for mother-tongue Chinese speakers" Not at all ? these children are in fact the minority, and over half of our first cohort spoke no Chinese at all when they first started.
Above, both the English and Chinese classrooms are practically identical
Set out as identically as pos...