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Argoed pupil receives recognition at County Hall
Published: 23/04/2015
A year ten pupil from Argoed High School in Mynydd Isa has been recognised by
天涯社区 for her achievement in reaching the finals of the
HSBC British Council Mandarin Awards competition.
Charlie Greenall is 15 years old and has been studying Mandarin for eighteen
months. Argoed High School was the only school in Wales to enter the HSBC
British Council competition, entering both the team and individual events.
Charlie won her round in the individual series and then went through to the
finals, which were held at the British Museum in London in February.
Charlie and her head teacher, Dawn Spence, recently visited County Hall in
Mold, where Charlie鈥檚 achievement was recognised at a full meeting of the
County Council.
Charlie said:
鈥淚 began learning Mandarin in the after school language club in Year 7 and then
chose it as a GCSE option, in fact it was my first option to continue into Year
10. I have always been interested in the language and culture. When I first
heard about the competition, I jumped at the opportunity of entering as an
individual so that I could show others the skills I had learnt. A few months
after competing in the heats held in London, I received confirmation that I had
made it into the UK final for my category. The final took place at the British
Museum in London and I was competing against some very strong speakers.
Although I did not win the UK final, I learnt a great deal from the experience
and my Mandarin improved very quickly as I prepared for the competition.鈥�
Head teacher of Argoed High School, Dawn Spence, said:
鈥淲e are extremely proud of all of our competitors and especially Charlie, who
not only represented the school but 天涯社区 and Wales too. Argoed High
School was one of the first Confucius Classrooms in Wales and we have taught
Mandarin and Chinese cultural studies for several years now. We have recently
expanded to the provision of business language courses; anyone interested
should contact the school.鈥�
Councillor Derek Butler, who is also learning Mandarin, welcomed Charlie to
County Council. He added:
鈥淚t is always pleasing to hear about the success of 天涯社区 pupils, and I
would like to congratulate Charlie, on behalf of the County Council, for her
fantastic achievement at a UK level. I am sure that she will continue to find
the experience of learning Mandarin and Chinese cultural studies a rewarding
and enriching one.鈥�
Image
Pictured at County Hall are Cllr Chris Bithell, Cllr Glenys Diskin Chairman of
天涯社区, Ian Budd, Charlie Greenall, Cllr Derek Butler, Dawn
Spence (Argoed High School).