CHINESE students found out how different life in a British school is compared to their own when they visited Backwell School.

A total of 46 pupils and six teachers from Jianlan School, in Hanghzou, spent two days at the Station Road site, in what organisers said was ‘the most successful’ of four visits by them.

During a welcome meeting, where the visitors were paired with their Backwell School partners, headteacher Julian Baldwin was presented with a hand-painted poem on a silk banner to display in the school.

The Chinese children attended lessons with their partners, experiencing a cooking lesson where they learnt how to make scones, and watched the school’s sports day. Community arts manager Kathy Patterson said: “This was a very different experience for the Chinese students whose timetable only includes a small amount of PE, art and music in addition to the core subjects.

“And their school day starts at 7am and finishes at 5pm with only 30 minutes for their lunch break, so they found the timetable here to be very different.

“Our thanks go to the students and their families who welcomed the visitors into their homes and gave them a real glimpse of family life in this country.”