Beijing Sandwich

Teachers from a school in Kent have recently travelled halfway around the world to visit their partner school.

Andrew Brown and Linda Daniel from Sandwich Technology College made the 10,000 mile round trip from Sandwich to Beijing in October to visit Tsinghau High School in China.

Tsinghau High School is the former school of Chinese diver Hi Ze who won two gold medals during the 2010 season in the 3 metre springboard, and is one of the athletes featured in the BBC's World Olympic Dreams.

Andrew Brown said: “Our partnership is still in the early stages so this was a chance to continue our global conversation and help our new relationships to blossom.

The students in China were shown a DVD of the hopes and goals of the Sandwich Technology College students back in the UK.

“The idea is for young people to connect all over the world and discuss dreams and aspirations with the Olympic Games as a common medium,” explains Andrew.

During the trip the pair visited the Bird’s Nest (China’s National Stadium) and the Beijing National Aquatics Centre where so many swimmers achieved their medals in the 2008 Olympic games.

But the teachers didn’t just see the sights, they saw first hand how schools in China operate differently to those in the UK.

“We were amazed to see that in a Chinese student's break time ALL the school have to perform an exercise routine as instructed by one member of staff.”

It is hoped there will be more exchanges between the schools in the future. The schools are linked through the Olympic Dreams Network which is a joint BBC and British Council project.