THE work going on in classrooms at a York secondary school has been shown to visiting dignitaries from China.

Staff and pupils from Archbishop Holgate’s CE School on Hull Road have hosted a visit from China’s Nanjing Education Bureau to share experiences and help develop the best approaches to education in the two countries.

The visit, which took place on behalf of Pathfinder Multi Academy Trust and Pathfinder Teaching School Alliance, included a tour of the school and a presentation about the education system in York.

Jake Capper, head of Pathfinder teaching school, said: “It has been a pleasure to host colleagues from Nanjing and show them around Archbishop Holgate’s CE School.

"We have had an excellent dialogue and are keen to host teachers from Nanjing in the future to provide them with real experiences of York schools.”

As well as looking at the way pupils are taught in the UK, the Chinese delegates were interested to find out about the training and professional development available to teachers.

Representatives from Pathfinder, City of York Council and the Chinese Education Bureau signed an agreement to develop links to share and learn from each other’s educational experiences.

Maxine Squire, assistant director of education and skills at City of York Council, said: “We were delighted to welcome these visitors to York and to have the opportunity to develop a partnership to share the best educational practice from York and Nanjing.

"We are looking forward to learning from each other for the benefit of our young people.”

Cllr Stuart Rawlings, executive member for education, children and young people at City of York Council, said: “This visit and signing is the latest step in strengthening co-operation between York and Nanjing and follows the Sister Cities Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Lord Mayor last year.”

Archbishop Holgate’s CE School is part of Pathfinder Multi Academy Trust, a partnership of church and community schools.

The delegation spent also spent time visiting Yorkshire Museum and the city's Art Gallery.

They also had a tour at Bootham School.