CHINESE culture and language were celebrated at one of the country's first schools to teach Mandarin as a compulsory foreign language.
Eltham College Junior School, Mottingham Lane, Eltham, made Mandarin Chinese compulsory for children in Year 3 and Year 4 last September.
The boys, aged seven and eight, showed off their newly acquired language skills as part of the school's China Now! Day last Thursday.
This saw pupils singing Mandarin songs and a display of traditional Chinese arts, including lion dancing, calligraphy and kung fu by a Shaolin monk.
Headteacher Paul Henderson said: "The next generation will need to have the confidence to communicate with the world's most populous nation.
"Bright boys aged seven or eight are not frightened by the differences of the Mandarin language, and their minds relish the intellectual challenges it poses."
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