A NEWPORT school has earned special status for teaching Mandarin through an initiative which aims to promote Chinese language and culture.

Millbrook Primary School, Bettws, was awarded official Confucius Classroom status by the Hanban and Confucius Institute last year for its role in teaching Mandarin to learners.

Parents, teachers and Welsh government representatives gathered to visit the launch of the classroom, in a assembly recognising achievement and cultural unity through song, dance and poetry.

The assembly included traditional Chinese dance and costumes, a poetry performance in Mandarin, Chinese and Welsh and a tour of the new classroom.

Lindsey Watkins, head teacher at the school, opened the assembly with a speech and presented Youth Chinese Test certificates to current and former pupils.

She said: “We teach language via a 'triple literacy approach' and what that means is that we don’t teach Mandarin in isolation but alongside Welsh and English.

“No matter what your age is it’s not easy to learn a language and these youngsters are learning a language with four different tones where each tone has a different meaning.

“It’s an incredibly complicated and a big challenge but our children embrace it and love it.”

Since the scheme started in 2013, 16 pupils have achieved level one Youth Chinese Test tests run by Hanban, a public institution affiliated with the Chinese Ministry of Education.

As part of the Confucius scheme, teacher Karen Greenaway “immersed herself” in Mandarin in a two-week trip to China and has brought her knowledge back to the pupils at Millbrook Primary.

She said: “If you have the courage to introduce that extra ingredient into learning that maybe wasn’t structured in before children will grab it with both hands.

“One thing I did discover through this three-year journey is that I have love of languages and the way I learn is by comparing them. I think that has helped me with the triple literacy approach."

She added: “Even after three years of Mandarin I still have a long way to go but it is true what they say — once you learn one language, it’s very easy to pick up another.”

Ellie-Jay Peart,10, performed in the assembly and wants to visit China in the future to “see the sights and taste the food.”

Eleven-year-old Luiza Malureanu loves learning about Chinese legend while Jason Brewer,11, is fascinated by the Chinese calendar “which is based on the moon.”

The Confucius Institute is a non-profit public educational organisation affiliated with the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China.

Its aim is to promote Chinese language and culture, support local Chinese teaching internationally and facilitate cultural exchange.

Rachel Williams, of the Cardiff Confucius Institute, added: “Millbrook Primary is now one of 13 Confucius classrooms in Wales but only the second primary school which is an achievement in itself.

“It’s been a real privilege to be involved all the way through and a lot of this is down to Karen’s passion and language learning herself. She is a great role model for the children.”