PERFORMANCE: "SPOTLIGHT ON CHINA"

As part of Leeds City Council’s “Spotlight on China” festival, some 15 dancers, acrobats, illusionists and musicians visited Prince Henry’s in September 2004 to give a one-hour performance to all Year 8 students. This was part of a special assembly to mark the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival which students had started to learn about during their Mandarin Chinese “taster course”.

The session was introduced by students Tessa Baston and Ian Robson, who gave a context to the performance. Both Tessa and Ian attend the after-school Chinese class, and took part in the KS4 Chinese Exchange KS4 Chinese Exchange in October 2004.

A visiting Chinese Media delegation of 14 people also attended the performance, and were greeted in unison in Mandarin Chinese by the 220-strong audience.

The visiting performers all came from Hangzhou, China. Prince Henry’s has a well established partnership with Hangzhou’s Xuejun High School, and in April 2005 hosted a visit by the Mayor of Hangzhou Mayor of Hangzhou, and his civic delegation.

The performance coincided with the school’s Ofsted Inspection, and Inspectors were so impressed that it featured as an “example of outstanding practice” in their report: