From March 3 to 4, Ms. Maxine Lu, General Principal of Xiehe Education, led a team to the UK to visit Pate’s Grammar School as the global pandemic-phase neared its end. It was the first official visit from Xiehe Education representatives to Pate’s Grammar School since forging a partnership back in 2021, writing a new chapter of cooperation.
Pate’s Grammar School is a top-rated school with a history of over 400 years in the UK. The Sunday Times has named Pate’s “State Secondary School of the Year” and has placed Pate’s as the highest coeducational state school in its league tables for “Best UK Secondary Schools” many times over.
In 2021, Xiehe Education and Pate’s Grammar School started their official partnership. SUIS Qingpu and WUIS (Wuxi United International School) have taken the lead in initiating all-round cooperation with Pate’s.
About Pate’s Grammar School
Pate’s Grammar School is a top-rated coeducational state school in Cheltenham, UK. It selects excellent candidates across the country and provides top-quality education for students aged 11-18.
Founder Richard Pate
Pate’s Grammar School was founded in 1574 by Richard Pate, who worked for King Henry VIII, King Edward VI, and Queen Elizabeth I. As a benefactor of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, Mr. Pate endowed the college with his property “for the perpetual maintenance and foundation of a free Grammar School at Cheltenham…” For centuries thereafter, Pate’s Grammar School has been generously sponsored and supported by the University of Oxford.
Pate’s Grammar School
牛津大学基督圣体学院专项基金
Special fund at Corpus Christi College, Oxford
On Mr. Pate’s tombstone is inscribed, “Patebit tum quod latuit”, meaning, “What is hidden will be revealed.” This is also the motto of Pate’s Grammar School.
Mr. Pate’s tombstone
Grounded in Mr. Pate’s spirit of pursuing truth, Pate’s Grammar School always focuses on maintaining its academic traditions and rigorous scholarship. Over 90% of its students stand out on GCSE and A Level exams, ranking top in science, history, English, and other subjects in the UK many times over.
Logo of Pate’s Grammar School
All students at Pate’s Grammar School go on to top universities in the UK, and nearly 40 are admitted annually to the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge, making it the largest talent pool in the UK for Oxbridge.
The Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) rates Pate’s Grammar School as a grade 1 “outstanding” school in its inspections, giving it top scores in all areas: Achievement of Pupils, Curriculum Design, Quality of Teaching, Leadership and Management, Overall Effectiveness, and Behavior and Attitude. Ofsted rated Pate’s as a top-level British school in its recent inspection report.
Pate’s Grammar School
The Sunday Times, a newspaper that publishes the most trusted university rankings in the UK, has named Pate’s the “State Secondary School of the Year”, and has placed Pate’s as the highest coeducational state school in its league tables for “Best UK Secondary Schools” many times over. Pate’s is the only school in the UK to be awarded the honour of “State Secondary School of the Year” twice, in 2012 and 2019.
“State Secondary School of the Year” of The Sunday Times in 2019
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Xiehe-Pate’s: Forging Cooperation
Based on the core values of “Developing in Harmony, where East Meets West,” Xiehe Education, since its founding, has been dedicated to pooling the cultural strengths and premium educational resources of the East and West, to cultivate students with global perspectives rooted in Chinese culture, and to build the best platforms for students to learn and grow. In the meantime, Pate’s Grammar School’s outstanding academic achievements, history, culture, advanced education and management philosophy will help Xiehe further enrich its resources and improve its educational quality as it rises to the next level.
With these goals in mind, Xiehe Education and Pate’s Grammar School began an official partnership in 2021. SUIS Qingpu and WUIS have taken the lead in initiating all-round cooperation with Pate’s.
Since the formation of this partnership, the pandemic had prevented the two parties from paying each other official visits. Yet, via online communication, we engaged in in-depth exchanges, discussions, and cooperation on a range of topics, including curriculum resources, quality inspections and evaluation, university guidance, teacher training, and student exchanges.
SUIS Qingpu and Pate’s have formed eleven work groups responsible for specific fields and subjects that meet regularly online. Students have also made online pen pals with their counterparts at Pate’s. They exchange letters now and then and learn from each other’s cultural backgrounds and languages.
The work groups offer one-on-one instruction for students at SUIS Qingpu who apply for the University of Oxford or the University of Cambridge, helping them gain entrance to their dream universities. Finally, the collaboration yielded fruit, as one of SUIS Qingpu’s first generation graduates received an offer from the University of Cambridge!
针对申请牛剑学生的“一对一”指导
“One-on-one” instruction for Oxford and Cambridge applicants
Through comprehensive, in-depth collaboration with Pate’s, WUIS has been able to pool more resources, and broaden more students’ horizons; impressively, a student at WUIS even received the first offer from the University of Oxford in the region. WUIS will continue to provide students with opportunities to enroll at top universities in the UK.
At the end of 2022, David Edwards, Vice-Principal at WUIS, took the opportunity to return home and pay an unofficial visit to Pate’s Grammar School. He toured the campus, had face-to-face conversations with the directors and students, and deepened mutual understanding and cooperation.
Embarking on a New Chapter
At the beginning of 2023, national borders reopened, and Ms. Maxine Lu, General Principal of Xiehe Education, paid an official visit to Pate’s. It was the first official visit from Xiehe Education representatives to Pate’s Grammar School since forging a partnership back in 2021, writing a new chapter of cooperation.
Ms. Maxine Lu and her team toured Pate’s, accompanied by the school’s directors and student representatives, and enjoyed friendly exchanges with teachers and students.
The team also attended lessons, observing how teachers at Pate’s provide instruction for different subjects at multiple grade levels. They spoke highly of the rich resources and excellent academic standards at Pate’s.
Ms. Maxine Lu and her team then engaged in in-depth talks with the directors at Pate’s. Both parties exchanged thoughts on their previous cooperation and the future of education, and formulated strategies and plans for future cooperation.
The team also had a luncheon with Russel Ellicott, Headmaster of Pate’s Grammar School. Again, both parties spoke highly of the progress since their previous cooperation, and both parties shared a hope for deeper collaboration. Mr. Ellicott looked forward to paying a return visit to the Xiehe Education Center, SUIS Qingpu and WUIS in the near future.
“Xiehe-Pate’s”
Led by Ms. Maxine Lu, General Principal of Xiehe Education, the recent official visit to Pate’s Grammar School marked the beginning of a new chapter of cooperation between the two parties, as the global pandemic neared its end and national borders reopened. Transitioning from a purely online mode to a mixture of online and offline cooperation, and from exploration to maturity, the collaboration between the two sides is moving into the next stage of mutual (‘win-win’) benefits, with more comprehensive and in-depth cooperation set to occur.
In this new chapter of “Xiehe-Pate’s” cooperation, Xiehe Education will continue to provide students with the best education platforms for their well-rounded development by pooling excellent educational resources from the East and the West. In doing so, we enable our students to gain a broader vision and embrace more opportunities for better development.