Castle Hill headteacher Gill Robinson returns from fact-finding trip to China

Nov 16 2009 Huddersfield Daily Examiner

A HUDDERSFIELD headteacher aims to set up a school twinning project with China.

Gill Robinson, headteacher at Castle Hill School in Newsome, was part of a 28-strong party from Britain looking at special education overseas.

She says this first visit organised with China’s University of Wuhan last month would lead to exchange visits between staff from Castle Hill and schools in China.

She said: “China is a such a fascinating place and we were extremely well received into the schools and at the university.

“They were all fascinated by what we had to offer.

“Broadly speaking, the Chinese system now is similar to that in Britain during the 1970s, but they are keen to develop and were receptive to many of our ideas. We have so much to offer and we hope we can work together to achieve this aim.

“We visited schools with excellent reputations for deaf, blind and autistic children, but the Chinese are now keen to extend the provision for children with severe and profound learning difficulties and this is what we can assist with.

“I feel privileged that we have so much to offer the schools in China and hope this is just the start of us helping them and working together.”

Earlier this year the Newsome school for children and young people with severe and profound learning difficulties was awarded specialist status for communication and interaction.

The visit was organised by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust and funded through specialist status money.

Castle Hill will receive £60,000 a year for this year and the next two years to fund training and development of staff and resources for Castle Hill and its partner schools.

The money will also help the school to forge links with other organisations.