NEW JOINT VENTURE FOR BROMSGROVE SCHOOL
14 Oct 2016
A new international school, Bromsgrove School Mission Hills has been launched in Shenzhen, China. As a ‘not-for-profit’ international school, with a Board of six Governors, half from Bromsgrove and half from Mission Hills Group, the arrangement is entirely cost-neutral for Bromsgrove, with all expenses and other necessary resources accounted for in the agreement between the two schools.
The Founder of Mission Hills Group, Dr David Chu, was a fervent supporter of education and made numerous donations to overseas, Chinese and Hong Kong schools. After his death, the ‘Dr David Chu Memorial Foundation’ was set up by Dr Chu’s children to carry on his philanthropic legacy. Under the same spirit and values, his children have ventured into the establishment of education institutions.
The creation of Mission Hills International School has been spearheaded by Dr Catherine Chu, who is Executive Director of Mission Hills Group and Mission Hills Education. She approached leading overseas schools to learn from the best of western pedagogy and curriculum and to explore possible collaborations to enrich the School’s holistic integration of Western and Chinese pedagogy and curriculum.
Peter Clague, Headmaster of Bromsgrove said “Beyond the immediate benefits of a world-class education for the children of Shenzhen, there are many other invaluable opportunities to be gained from this partnership. We envisage exchanges between pupils and teachers in both schools. Shared elements of our curriculum will allow learners to move between China and the UK. The potential benefits for language learning and cultural co-operation are especially exciting.”
“The School aims to educate local and international children living in Shenzhen and will follow a bilingual programme. Our shared mission is to provide a rigorous, bilingual education which promotes a truly global perspective to its pupils, underpinned by the IB philosophy and Bromsgrove’s traditional standards and values. Mission Hills’ Pre-school is already operational and the aim is to expand so that the School educates around 1600 students between the ages of 3 and 18”.
Dr Catherine Chu’s husband Mr Charles Tsai and his brother Alex were amongst the first few overseas students to attend Bromsgrove in the 1990’s. Both were boarders in Wendron-Gordon House and attained extremely good academic results in their time, with Charles going on to a place at Pembroke College, University of Cambridge.
“Not only does Bromsgrove School, with its years of history and top academic and sporting ranking, represent the best of British educational excellence, it also aspires to develop a transformational partnership”, said Dr Chu.
“Our shared aim is for Bromsgrove School Mission Hills to become a beacon of educational excellence where the best of the East is combined with the best of the West”.