Bilingual Education at Huili School Nantong

Studies in bilingualism suggest that “ A bilingual experience improves  the brain’s so-called executive function ” - a command system that  directs the attention processes that we use for planning, solving problems and performing various other mentally demanding tasks” (Bhattacharjee,2018). Likewise, Gigi Luk, an associate professor at  Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, argues  that "bilingualism is an experience that shapes our brain for a  lifetime”  (Kamenetz,2016). We agree that the benefits of bilingualism are numerous and substantial, which is why the team at Wellington College China have worked so hard over the past few years at developing  what  we consider to be the world’s best bilingual curriculum. 

English has been widely adopted as a common language between speakers whose native languages are different. And Chinese is the world’s most widely used language with over 1.5 billion speakers so the importance of being bilingual in these two languages cannot be overestimated. Children who become fully functionally bilingual often receive input in both languages from an early age. These children can show a distinctive brain organisation  for languages compared to children who acquire a second language later in  life. Early acquisition of a second language helps with learning to read, and it  has been found that Primary School-aged children who have acquired two  languages have a reading performance comparable to their monolingual counterparts. Furthermore, these children’s abilities in both languages keep growing because both typically remain important in their daily lives. 

Wellington College China is committed to being the best bilingual education provider in the world and developing a bilingual education model suitable for Chinese children. At  Huili  School  Nantong, we aim to motivate  our pupils to learn and communicate in Chinese and English with equal fluency.  Furthermore, we expect our pupils to understand both cultures.      

Ms Yu Suisui, Principal at Wellington College China, Huili Institute of Learning, on bilingual education at Huili School Nantong:  

At Huili School Nantong,learning both languages is equally important. The importance of a mother tongue to a child cannot be  overstated. It is this  sense of identity gained from using their mother tongue that enables children to be socially successful and confident. Pupils then build upon this  confidence for their second-language learning. Huili’s enhanced Chinese  curriculum is structured to ensure that children complete the national  syllabus while expanding the depth and breadth of their reading and  writing skills.   

Huili’s English curriculum considers the age of the children and uses appropriate teaching methods, such as 'talk for writing', to help them develop their English  listening, speaking, reading and writing skills  holistically as they build a solid foundation for their future studies.  

Effective bilingual education should focus not only on Chinese and  English, but also on curriculum and teaching models in other subjects.   At Huili, we promote the model of co-planning and co-teaching. Our distinctive Theme subject is a good example of this. One Chinese and  one international teacher  work closely in preparing and delivering  lessons. The two teachers select topics of interest to the children and  integrate the learning objectives into  the  comprehensive learning topics Through pupil-centred, group-based  learning  activities,  children will not only develop their language skills in a balanced way, but also  have a solid foundation of knowledge in subjects like history,  geography and science. They gradually explore their own learning  interests, discover their own strengths and grow into independent,  life-  long learners with the ability to think independently.    

One of the main challenges for teachers in bilingualism is enabling  pupils to achieve their respective teaching objectives in the same  amount of time.  Teachers at Huili explore the Content and Language  Integrated Learning (CLIL) model, which enhances pupils' language  acquisition while teaching the subject content. CLIL lessons  integrate content, communication, culture and cognition. Well-planned CLIL lessons motivate learners with  authentic opportunities to use their  second language. Moreover, because the lesson content is age  appropriate, pupils find it much easier to  absorb and use.  

Founding office opening 

We are thrilled to announce the opening of the Huili School Nantong Founding Office. An event will be held on Saturday, 25 September.  At this event, you will have the opportunity to meet some of the leadership teams of Wellington College China and Huili School Nantong and learn more about the bilingual model of education.  

Please scan the QR code below to reserve a spot to  join us. We will be in touch shortly. Or call us to get more information at 0513- 8919  0666  or  177 1485 5368.   

For more information, please long-press the QR  code.   

Contact Us

Contacts：Sammi Gu

Hotline：[phone]

Telephone：[phone]

Email：[e-mail]

Website：nantong.huilieducation.cn

Founding Office Address:

China-Austria Eco-Park, Su-Xi-Tong Science and Technology Industrial Park, Nantong

School Address:
66 Haide Road, Su-Xi-Tong Science and Technology Industrial Park, Nantong, Jiangsu

To view our School Website