On March 28th, the Lord Mayor of Coventry Mr Keiran Mulhall met with the Head of Languages, Mrs Kate Howarth, and the two Hanban teachers, Miss Xiaojie Du, Miss Yang Liu from the Finham Park Confucius classroom in the Mayor’s parlour.

Mrs Howarth explained the development of Confucius classroom at Finham Park School to the lord Mayor . Finham Park School is the first Confucius classroom in the West Midlands. It is popular among students and the public in Coventry though it has only been running for two years.

Mr. Mulhall informed us that in fact Coventry and Jinan in Shandong province were established as sister cities in 1997, and that representatives from Coventry have been to Jinan many times for the Economic trade and Teaching research. Mr. Mulhall showed us lots of souvenirs from Jinan and other twin cities.

Mr. Mulhall said that the establishment of Confucius classroom not only gives the students a good opportunity to learn Mandarin and gain a feel for the Chinese culture, but also lays a good foundation for their future. Mr. Mulhall expressed his gratitude to China for its support in establishing the Confucius classroom, especially through the SSAT project in which 46 Hanban teachers were sent to secondary schools in Britain to develop Mandarin teaching in England. China provided start-up funding and Chinese language teaching materials and equipment, all of which are very important for promoting Mandarin teaching. Mr. Mulhall also asked us about our lives in England and what we have learned here. He was very proud to tell us that the 2012 Olympic Games football match will be held in Coventry.

Finally Mr. Mulhall gave everyone a nice present, and arranged us a tour of the Council House to help us learn more about Coventry.