February 2022 saw the launch of an exciting new partnership between SUIS Qingpu and Pate’s Grammar School in the UK.
Pate’s Grammar School is a UK secondary school with academy status, catering to students aged 11 to 18. The school was founded in 1574 and became a co-educational school in 1986, when Pate’s Grammar School for Girls merged with Cheltenham Grammar School. Located in Gloucestershire, England, Pate’s is a selective co-educational grammar school that cherishes and treasures its rich tradition. The school is known both regionally and nationally for being forward-thinking and leading the way with educational developments.
Pate’s has been awarded the ‘State Secondary School of the Year’ twice by The Sunday Times in their Good Schools Guide (2012 and 2020). It is a great honour for any school to receive this most prestigious of awards – but to receive it twice was unprecedented. This award is given to one individual UK school which has delivered outstanding exam results, and, importantly, shown an exceptional wealth and breadth of educational opportunities. In 2013, Pate’s was given an Outsanding judgement by Ofsted, the main governmental inspecting agency for educational institutions in the UK. Year after year, many Pate’s graduates have been accepted to top UK universities, including Oxbridge!
Teachers from both schools work together via a Microsoft Teams platform that has been built solely for the purpose of our collaboration, share best practice, and exchange teaching and learning resources. Our collaboration bridges the subject areas of biology, chemistry, English, economics, mathematics, physics and several other subjects. Professional development sessions are planned throughout the academic year, where SUIS Qingpu teachers are given opportunities to gain ideas, acquire new teaching strategies, and obtain further resources.
Students at SUIS Qingpu also benefit from our collaboration. The sixth form team at Pate’s provides guidance for our Career and University Guidance counsellors and meet with our Grade 11 students individually and in groups to support them with their university selection process, admissions preparations and university interviews. At Pate’s, students in their Mandarin Excellence Programme also benefit from meeting with their peers at SUIS Qingpu.
