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The respective presidents of Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊÖÐÌØÍø and Peking University (PKU), Professor Michael Arthur and Professor Lin Jianhua, cut the ribbon in a ceremony at the fully refurbished centre in Woburn Square.

The Institute is a bilateral collaboration, between Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊÖÐÌØÍø, Peking University (PKU) and Peking University High School. It aims to train enough teachers of Mandarin Chinese to give every secondary school in England the opportunity to teach Chinese.

There are currently more than 9,000 students studying Chinese on curriculum in 45 IOE Confucius Classrooms, with Chinese GCSE entries having grown by 70% since 2008. It is hoped that the work of the IOE Confucius Institute will continue this trajectory in years to come. The new teacher training facility will increase the number of Chinese teachers trained significantly, providing schools with a reliable supply of teachers with the most effective language teaching skills.

Katharine Carruthers, IOE Confucius Institute Director explains: "The IOE Confucius Institute building sits at the heart of our strategy to achieve our goal to develop a solid infrastructure for teaching Chinese, and will play a key role in enabling the training of teachers to deliver the effective teaching and learning of Chinese language in schools in England."

The interior design also celebrates cross-cultural encounters: promoting Chinese culture, with the colour and material palette being inspired by traditional Chinese paintings and furniture, in combination with a number of British furnishings that showcase the quality and continuity of British craftsmanship.

The Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊÖÐÌØÍø IOE Confucius Institute, which opened in 2007, is one example of the many bilateral collaborations between PKU and Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊÖÐÌØÍø, across a wide range of disciplines from medical sciences and city planning to language education and archaeology.

Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊÖÐÌØÍø President & Provost, Professor Michael Arthur said: "I'm delighted to welcome President Lin to Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊÖÐÌØÍø once again; this time to the wonderful new facility at the IOE Confucius Institute. The new building will play a key role in enabling the teaching and learning of Mandarin in England and have huge long-term benefits for children and young people as well as for the development of bilateral relationships between the UK and China."

PKU President, Professor Lin Jianhua said: "It's an honour to be invited to open the Model Confucius Institute at Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊÖÐÌØÍø. We're very happy to be working with Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊÖÐÌØÍø to promote Chinese culture and language in the UK, as part of our deep strategic partnership"

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Image:

• Image features pupils from Finham Park School, Chinese Embassy Minister Zhu Qin, Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊÖÐÌØÍø President & Provost Michael Arthur, Peking University President Lin Jianhua and Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊÖÐÌØÍø Vice-Provost International Dame Nicola Brewer (Credit Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊÖÐÌØÍø IOE Confucius Institute/Phil Meech)

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