No. 37 Middle School in Chongqing, China, will be our first international partner, as part of our emphasis on global citizenship. It’s the first of a number of schools in the developing world with which we will be developing direct contact and friendship.

The school is in the Dadukou district of Chongqing City. This district is heavily industrialised and serves one of the poorer districts of the city, although it is currently experiencing massive regeneration.

No. 37 Middle School is a “key school”, which means it has a great degree of autonomy and is allowed to develop specialist teachers. Its particular specialisms are in teaching and learning, spiritual development, student action research, civilisation and culture, and sport.

Under the direction of its Head, Mr Li Yaoting, it is one of the most forward thinking schools in Chongqing.

The school has 5,000 students, many of whom board at school, along with most of the over 300 teachers. Boarding accommodation is provided for both staff and students and many retired teachers still live in the schools accommodation.

The average number of students in each class is 50.

The school has an illustrious history dating back 50 years. It was founded in 1955 under the direction of Deng Ken, Deng Xiaoping’s younger brother, who was at the time the head of the Bureau of Education. It was given the task to create innovative education programmes, develop teaching practice and create a more student-centred education.

This has given the school a regional and national reputation. Many of the teachers from the school go out and provide development training for colleagues in other schools.