St Bees School is looking forward to welcoming students back for an action-packed spring term.

Headteacher Roger Sinnett says 2020 will be a year of “expansion, determination and passion”.

He said: “As our numbers increase, so does our momentum. Our students are not just excelling at St Bees, but they are thriving.”

Mr Sinnett has announced that he is currently developing a “revolutionary” educational framework to assess character development more rigorously.

In conjunction with East China Normal University, St Bees, with Mr Sinnett at the helm, is proud to announce a partnership that will enable practices into character development, to be systematically and scientifically studied.

This will mean the programme the school has in place is more than just a ‘we make them confident’ scheme. It will be a tried and tested way of ensuring every child reaches their potential.

The school also has an exciting array of events planned over the spring term.

On Friday, January 24, the school’s Chinese New Year celebrations will get under way.

There will be Chinese cookery demonstrations, printing and calligraphy workshops, indoor fireworks and more.

Later in the term, there will be a Science Fair and many many other exciting events.

It’s a year of celebration in St Bees with the Priory marking its 900th anniversary. To celebrate,the school is encouraging all young people to chance to enter a short story in its 900 Words competition, or 500 Words for younger children. The top prize will be a £50 Amazon voucher. Stories can be about anything at all - youngsters are encouraged to let their imaginations run wild.

Years 7 to 9 are asked to write 900 words and Years 5 to 6 should write 500 words. The deadline is March 27 and entries should be emailed to story@stbeesschool.co.uk.

Before Christmas, the school held a Question & Answer event, which the community were invited to attend to quiz senior members of staff on the school’s progress and plans for the future.

Those who attended heard about the two offspring schools which have recently opened in China – a primary school in Shijiazhuang in the Hebei Province and a high school in Dongguan in the Guangdong Province. Both schools have taken the iconic St Bees name.

By opening the new schools in China, St Bees and its Hong Kong-based managers the Full Circle Education Group want to give St Bees and Chinese-based students the option to exchange schools for parts of their education.

The schools’ opening events were attended by more than 1,000 parents and guests.

Mr Sinnett said: “St Bees UK will be the mothership of an exciting, pioneering venture that’s unparalleled by other institutes.

“The school is leading the way in merging the best elements of Western education with the foremost elements of an Eastern education. The results are simply phenomenal, and merely a year after reopening, students at St Bees are already performing over two years ahead of their peers.

“As we build up our student numbers following our reopening, parents want reassurance that we have the resources in place to deliver our vision. These two openings confirm that we do.

“With capacities of 1,600 and 500, they are an integral part of the St Bees network and take us on our next step in the further development of the Cumbrian campus, St Bees UK.

“These Chinese schools cannot exist without us, enabling us to demonstrate our long-term commitment to UK-based students and parents.

“Current parents at the school say that it has already made a difference to their child’s education,” he added.