WELCOME TO YUN SHEN WHO HAS NOW BEEN APPOINTED AS THE NEW ADMINISTRATIVE AND COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER AT SCEN

RESEARCH PROJECT ON THE TEACHING OF MANDARIN IN SCHOOLS ACROSS SCOTLAND

SCEN is involved in a major research project on the learning and teaching of Mandarin across schools in Scotland. The project is led by Professor Antonella Sorace of Bilingualism Matters and is supported, in addition to SCEN, by the Confucius Institute for Scotland’s Schools (CISS). Three students with PhD qualifications – Zhang Hao, Yajun Liu and Maggie Mroczkowski have been visiting schools, talking to students and teachers and have been analysing data from these meetings and contacts. Schools involved in the project are both primary and secondary - Confucius hub schools, other local authority schools and independent schools – with good geographical spread. It is hoped that initial findings will be ready in November.

ERIC LIDDELL 100

SCEN is supporting the planning for the Eric Liddell 100 celebrations, focusing on 2024, led by the Eric Liddell Community in Edinburgh and the Chief Executive John Macmillan (an Advisory Council member of SCEN). We will support a series of events – leading up to the Paris Olympic Games in 2024 (100th anniversary of Eric Liddell’s gold medal winning performance) – including educational materials aimed at school students about the inspirational life and legacy of Eric Liddell. 

SCEN TRUSTEES AND FUTURE PLANNING

SCEN Trustees met on 21 September and are scheduled to meet again on 23 November. With a new Admin and Comms officer in post it is intended to schedule a number of events throughout the current session

·      National Youth Event – focusing on using Mandarin language in schools

·      SCEN Chinese Teaching Club. We will be seeking to identify dates soon (hopefully initially in December) for teachers of Mandarin to meet on line and share practice

·      School based event – following successful events in Grove Academy, Boroughmuir High, Kinross High and Grantown Grammar (all with input from neighbouring schools). We hope to work with a school in the west of Scotland. Please let us know if you are interested in working with us to organise such an event in your school.

·      SCEN Advisory Council. We shall shortly be sending out a Doodle Poll to members of the SCEN Advisory Council to identify new dates for meetings, following postponement of a scheduled date for this month.

·      SCEN Lecture. We aim to organise a SCEN lecture in the course of the year – a chance to hear from an interesting speaker with knowledge about China – and links with Scotland and Scottish education. It will also be a social occasion – a chance for the SCEN community to meet face to face and share common interests.

Best wishes to you all,
Simon Macaulay
Chair
SCEN