A primary school has officially launched the study of Mandarin and Chinese cultural studies with a day of Asian activities and events.
Highgate Primary School, in Storey Road, Highgate, brought in the subjects in September in the hope that some of its pupils will go on to be fluent in Mandarin one day.
Representatives from the Confucius Institute for Traditional Chinese Medicine visited the school last week to celebrate the teaching of the official language of the People’s Republic of China at the school.
Dancers in traditional dress and tai chi masters performed for the children aged between four and 11, with pupils also offered the chance to try their hand at martial arts.
Pupils were also treated to a banquet of Chinese food.
Headteacher William Dean introduced the subjects because of “the increasing importance of Mandarin in the world in which we live”.
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