Confucius Classroom pupil only Welsh finalist in UK-wide competition

On 1 June, five pupils from Confucius Classroom Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni entered the prestigious 2022 Chinese Bridge Competition for UK schools.

Isabel Stubbs took part in the ‘Beginner Plus’ category, making it all the way through to the final eight. This made Cwm Rhymni the only school in Wales to enter the finals of the competition.

Isabel’s Mandarin teacher Wei Tang said: “From her first Chinese class, Isabel showed her love and fascination for Chinese language and culture. She actively answers questions in class and is always searching for knowledge related to Chinese culture”.

“Isabel's parents are both EFL [English as a Foreign Language] teachers, which has made her admire and aspire to teaching since she was a child. When asked which country she would like to teach English in, Isabel confidently told us [Wei and assistant tutor Liheng Jiang] that China was her favourite. She thinks that learning a language is ‘learning a culture’, and she hopes that Chinese people can learn about British culture by studying English and love Britain as much as she does China.”

Supported by Cardiff CI’s tutors and volunteers, four year nine students also participated in the group category of the competition. One of 63 schools that took part in the competition this year, they were also the first students from Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni to ever participate in Chinese Bridge.

Chinese Bridge is a competition organised by the Centre for Language Education & Cooperation (CLEC) UK, and supported by the British Council.

Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni is a secondary school based in Caerphilly and Blackwood, and has been a  Confucius Classroom since 2015.