Confucius Classroom

On Wednesday 7th June, Oldmachar Academy held a ceremony at the Jesmond Centre to officially launch the Aberdeen City Council Confucius Classroom.

The launch ceremony included performances from pupils at Danestone Primary, Glashieburn Primary and Oldmachar Academy and we welcomed guests from Strathclyde University, Aberdeen University, Aberdeen City Council and the Parent Council.

Music was provided by former Oldmachar pupil pipe major Craig Moir and Danestone pupil Kirsten Black on her drum, as well as the Oldmachar senior music class with a beautiful rendition of the classic Scottish song “Caledonia”. This was followed by a unique take on the Titanic theme “My Heart Will Go On” which was performed on traditional Chinese musical instruments by visiting teachers from Aberdeen University Confucius Institute. Pupils from Glashieburn Primary and Danestone Primary entertained us by singing Chinese nursery rhymes and performing Highland Dancing. Megan and Aieshya from S6 made us laugh with their Chinese comedy performance. The S3 and S6 pupils from Oldmachar performed a short drama based on the traditional Chinese tale of the Butterfly Lovers and a group of S6 pupils who will go on an expedition to China this summer told us about their plans. Finally, Mrs Mohamed was presented with a plaque from Fan Lin (deputy director of the Confucius Institute for Scotland’s Schools) to represent that Oldmachar Academy is now the host of Aberdeen City Council Confucius Classroom.

The Confucius Classroom hub will support pupils learning Mandarin to boost their language skills, in line with Scotland’s 1+2 languages policy, which aims to allow every child the opportunity to learn two languages in addition to their mother tongue by 2020. Confucius Classrooms are hubs based in schools and serving the local community. The hub concept promotes joint planning of cultural activities, sharing ideas and resources to stimulate the learning and teaching of Chinese language and culture. Every S1 and S2 pupil at Oldmachar Academy has the chance to learn Mandarin and French every week. The Confucius Classroom will also serve as a city campus hub giving pupils from across the city the chance to learn Mandarin.

Miss Martin