Kensington Wade, the first dual language English Chinese prep school in the UK is set to open in London 2017.
The school will be the first of its kind and has been founded by Adrian Richardson, founder and principal of the Cothill Trust, together with Professor Hugo de Burgh, an expert on China and cultural relations between China and the UK.
The desire to open a school of this kind has been founded on the belief that future generations will benefit greatly from learning Chinese at an early age and therefore be able to operate in a world in which Chinese will continue to have a strong influence on business, politics and international affairs. Kensington Wade will open its doors in September 2017 to give a head start to youngsters.
Hugo de Burgh said, “Learning Chinese opened another world to me, enriching my life and giving me opportunities I would never otherwise have had. Now I want the next generation to have the same, only earlier. I am delighted to be opening the first immersion dual language English Chinese school in Western Europe and to be able to offer children the opportunity to be educated in two wonderful cultures and education systems. We will instil in our pupils a thirst for enterprise, initiative and creativity balanced with academic excellence, social skills and high cultural empathy”.
Kensington Wade will offer an immersive bilingual education from ages 3 to 13 with a curriculum informed by the successes of both English and Chinese educational cultures. Pupils will be qualified for either the leading British independent schools or the Chinese school system. The school will not only offer dual language education, but also immerse the children in Chinese culture; for example martial arts as part of the sports programme, calligraphy as part of the arts programme and ‘maths mastery’ in the academic mix.
Adrian Richardson said, “In my nearly fifty years of launching and running pre-prep and prep schools, I have been fortunate to see how education has changed and adapted to be as effective as possible including the bilingual Sauveterre, which was the first attempt by an English preparatory school to learn a foreign language by immersion. Albeit for one term only. Learning from the Chinese educational system is just a part of this and the benefits of a bilingual education are invaluable”.
Laura Marani has been appointed has the school’s first headmistress, ex-head at Pembridge Hall School for Girls and founding principal of the bilingual La Scuola Italiana a Londra in Holland Park.
The school will be based in a brand new, state of the art building on Kensington High Street with a 685sq m. sports hall, unusual for such a central London location and a roof top terrace garden for the playground. Registration for the school is open now and please contact www.kensingtonwade.com for more information.
My grand daughter is l7 and wants to do Mandarin at “A” level – do you know of any tutors who could help – she lives in Chelsea. Her school doesnt do “A” level
Ann Heywood
I am Chinese and have mastered English here. If you are interested in studying Mandarin, I could help in many ways..