And whilst there’d clearly been some great learning happening over the weeks off-site, there are some areas of school life that are harder to replicate online -practical work, collaborative projects and animated discussion being examples. With this in mind, students came to school on 11th April for a new experience – Saturday School. This, however, wasn’t a typical school day, not least as students returned home at 11:40 am. With two extended sessions either side of a short break, students were able to spend the morning engaging in areas of learning that focused on practical, hands-on learning – from an Art Workshop with Mr Lungley to observing the behavior of cells with Mr Bhaloo in Biology, this was a chance to use the tools and access the materials that most of our students would not have had access to at home.
Even those taking less practical subjects, got the chance to carry out investigations in groups arguing about whether the results told them that ‘chocolate improves memory’ (with a chance to test the theory on themselves!). In future sessions, students will learn to improve coding skills, develop their musicianship within a band and even debate some of the big questions like “will robots replace teachers?”. So, whilst going to school might not have been every student’s idea of a great Saturday morning, at The British School of Nanjing, we’re working hard not only to educate minds, but to change them too!