about us 关于我们
established in 2016
work to make a place beautiful or beautiful place to work
The Swire Chinese Language Centre was established in 2016 with the generous support of the Swire Chinese Language Foundation.
The Centre is a collaborative venture between three schools in the South of Edinburgh - George Watson’s College, James Gillespie’s High School and Boroughmuir High School.
Our centre is committed to meeting the Swire Chinese Language Foundation’s expectations of excellence and accessibility and our aims continue to be:
to increase access to high-quality opportunities for pupils of all backgrounds to study Mandarin Chinese, with opportunities for progression and certification at every level; and
to provide a range of enrichment activities which raise the profile of Chinese language and culture and encourage positive interactions between pupils of different schools.
We are committed to being part of the educational landscape in Edinburgh, engaging with more partners and, crucially, benefiting ever more children and young people.
The Swire Chinese Language Centre Edinburgh is part of the Swire Language Foundation.
Overview
We are here to
increase access to high quality opportunities for pupils of all backgrounds to study Mandarin Chinese, with opportunities for progression and certification at every level.
provide a range of enrichment activities which raise the profile of Chinese language and culture and encourage positive interactions between pupils of different schools and countries.
We give pupils the opportunity to study Mandarin Chinese, either as a core part of their curriculum or through an enrichment opportunity, and the option to take the language at a higher level.
The focus is on embedding Mandarin Chinese, with progression pathways, alongside other languages on offer at the schools we work with.
This year, 2400 pupils from 22 partnership schools across Edinburgh and East Lothian have regular, timetabled Chinese language learning lessons through our team.
Provision is currently free for schools to access. The plan is that over time the model will move to become sustainable and independent of external funding.
our partner schools
We are committed to being part of the educational landscape in Edinburgh, we are especially pleased to have formed a close partnership with the following schools in the City of Edinburgh and East Lothian Council.
our model
founding schools
associate high schools
associate primary schools
Bruntsfield, Buckstone, South Morningside, Jame Gillespie’s Primary, Preston Street
The ‘Centre’ is a virtual one, with teaching usually taking place in students’ home schools.
The teaching team is employed by George Watson’s College, our teachers are funded by Swire Chinese Language Foundation to teach peripatetically across other schools.
A Head of Centre is in place (also a Principal teacher of Chinese) to lead teaching and learning and a part-time Co-ordinator works across the partnership to support development of the Centre.
An Advisory Board is in place to take strategic decisions. Board members are the headteachers of the three partner schools and two independent members.
An Operational Group exists to review, reflect on and plan provision and enrichment activities in line with the Centre's vision, mission and objectives. The group comprises of the Heads of the three core schools, representatives (usually the Head) of partner schools (i.e. schools in receipt of Swire-funded provision through SCLCE), the Head of SCLCE and SCLCE Coordinator.
Provision is currently free for schools to access. Over time the model will become sustainable through either schools paying to access or directly employing teachers (individual schools or clusters of schools).
The intention is to provide high-quality teaching and learning of the Chinese language and culture, with clear progression routes from primary to secondary education including access to qualifications at National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher.