Global Engagement

Abbotsford Primary School prides itself on delivering a world-class bilingual program that is globally informed and locally rooted. In order to stay globally informed, we strive to build and maintain global connections for all stakeholders of our school community. Each year, our school calendar is filled with opportunities for purposeful and professionally-oriented global engagement activities:

Student-to-Student Exchanges

Our formal student-to-student exchange program offers students from Years 3 to 6 an opportunity to foster a sense of curiosity for the Chinese-speaking world and build friendships across borders. Each year level involves a target group of student exchange audience from the Sinosphere they will engage with either as a class or individuals. Students learn to approach intercultural encounters with a sense of appreciation and objectivity, rather than judgement. They experience and practise the Intercultural Cycle of "interact," "notice," "compare," and "reflect," to spark their curiosity and desire to understand their buddies abroad. 

2022 Projects:

• Year 1/2 - Intercultural exchange with Firefly Ria Utama School, Rawang, Selangor State, Malaysia（萤火虫学习中心）
• Year 3 - Intercultural exchange with Heping Elementary School, Yunlin County, Taiwan（雲林縣元長鄉和平國民小學）
• Year 4 - Intecultural exchange with Xinhai Elementary School, Taipei City, Taiwan（臺北市文山區辛亥國民小學）
• Year 5/6 - Language exchange with Tungshing Elementary School, Taichung City, Taiwan（臺中市東勢區東新國民小學）
• Year 5/6 - Language exchange with Ming Jheng Elementary School, Taichung City, Taiwan（臺中市東勢區明正國民小學）

2023 Projects:

• Year 1/2 - Intercultural exchange with Firefly Ria Utama School, Rawang, Selangor State, Malaysia（萤火虫学习中心）
• Year 3/4 - Intercultural exchange with Heping Elementary School, Yunlin County, Taiwan（雲林縣元長鄉和平國民小學）
• Year 5/6 - Intecultural exchange with Xinhai Elementary School, Taipei City, Taiwan（臺北市文山區辛亥國民小學）

Teacher-to-Teacher Professional Development

The staff at Abbotsford Primary School have the unique challenge of having to develop and deliver a world-class bilingual program without having readily available resources or like-minded industry colleagues who they can rely on. Global engagement for teachers thus focus on shared professional development and networking opportunities with other Chinese/English bilingual schools, both in Australia and Chinese-speaking regions. 

2022 Projects:

• Shared professional development on bilingual education with Plympton International College, South Australia, Australia
• Shared professional development on CLIL with Singnan Elementary School, Yunlin County, Taiwan（雲林縣口湖鄉興南國小）
• Special presentation on teaching mathematics in Chinese by Mawson Primary School, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
• Special class observation visit for CLIL by Newmark Primary School, Victoria, Australia

2023 Projects:

• Teacher Shadowing Exchange with Plympton International College, South Australia, Australia
• Participated in the Bilingual Schools Network Workshop, hosted by Richmond West PS.  

Leadership-to-Leadership Project Undertakings

Leading a bilingual school requires much courage and a different mindset to mainstream schools. This is particularly the case in English-speaking countries, where the international lingua franca is also the society's dominant language. The leaders at Abbotsford Primary School engage with bilingual school networks, consult internationally renowned academics and co-invest in projects that are beneficial for tackling the most challenging aspects of innovating within bilingual classrooms.

2022 Projects:

• Establishment of Intensive Chinese Network website:
  • Showcasing Chinese/English bilingual education and CLIL programs around the country
  • Collating resources for those interested in Chinese/English bilingual education
  • Developing an induction program of essential readings for new Chinese English bilingual teachers
• Co-hosting the inaugural Intensive Chinese Network Conference 2022 with Richmond West Primary School and Richmond High School, Victoria, Australia

School-to-School Interactions

Abbotsford Primary School has an established sister school relationship with Huaibei Capital Experimental Elementary School（淮北市首府实验小学）in Anhui Province, China. Through this relationship, the two schools engage in official visits, study tours, host family programs and semi-regular sharing of school-based cultural events for each other's broader school community. 

Abbotsford Primary School welcomed 6 university professors from National Kaohsiung Normal University in Taiwan who were on a tour in Australia to study about Chinese/English bilingual education.