SCHOOLS Minister Nick Gibb has launched an attack on the head of Bohunt School after the recent BBC2 documentary Are British Children Tough Enough? Chinese School was shown on TV.

Bohunt head Neil Strowger criticised traditional Chinese “chalk and talk’ methods – calling them “incredibly boring”, despite proving to be more successful.

The three-part series was filmed at the Liphook secondary school, setting the British educaiton system against the Chinese - with final exams providing the evidence which works best.

Mr Strowger called the series “unmissable”.

After four weeks of 50 students attending Chinese taught lessons in a mixed ability class, the Oriental teaching methods came out on top.

Mr Gibb wants to re-introduce more traditional learning to schools and said that he found the comments “worrying”, accusing Mr Strowger of ignoring evidence.

But Mr Strowger told The Herald: “Taking part in the documentary was about looking beyond Bohunt School to see what we can learn from others to improve the education we provide.

“We already undertake science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) work with major companies and have been doing research in the Netherlands, USA and Sweden - and Chinese School formed part of this approach.

“From the experience, we have identified a number of interesting findings which we are already exploring to see if they can further improve our provision.”

Mr Stowger explained the school recognises the limitations of the research, with Chinese school students and the mixed ability year group being very different cohorts and making true comparison difficult.

“We have learnt a lot from the process”, he said.

“For us, this programme has never been about ‘beating’ the Chinese style of teaching. To adopt such a binary position would be of limited value.

“The results, along with conversations we’ve had with Chinese teachers and students have identified a number of interesting findings which we are already exploring. We noticed A* or A grade students in biology progressed particularly quickly with the Chinese approach.

“We are looking at how this rapid acquisition of facts and figures can be replicated across the board to benefit students of all abilities.”

Mr Strowger pointed out the lecture-style of teaching did not engage all students, which has further emphasised the importance of practical activities to stimulate learning. He added it made it clear to students that “learning” can take many different forms and that elements of the Chinese style can form part of a broad and balanced programme of teaching.

Given the widespread interest in the programme, Mr Strowger wanted to explain why the school made the decision to take part in the BBC2 documentary – and why the behaviour of some students may have come as a surprise to viewers.

“Bohunt has been so successful over the past few years because we have always looked at new and exciting ways of developing the education we provide”, he said. “This is exactly why we decided to be involved in this programme – we saw it as an innovative way of assessing our own methods and seeing if we can learn anything from the Chinese approach to education.

“We also strive to offer students exciting opportunities which will provide them with experiences they will remember beyond their time at Bohunt. The many expeditions they can take part in and the popular Duke of Edinburgh programme are great examples of this.

“The BBC documentary series did, of course, come with challenges, but challenging our students – rather than simply spoon-feeding them – is part of what makes the school such a success.

“Moreover, the school has one of the most well established Mandarin programmes in the UK and excellent links to schools and organisations in China, which most recently saw 20 Bohunt students visit the country as part of an exchange programme. Participating in the documentary was part of this long-term interest which has helped to develop our offering for Bohunt students.

“Anyone involved with Bohunt knows our students are bright, engaged and hardworking.

“I am extremely proud of them and their achievements which have seen the school rated ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted and rank in the top ten in the country by its GCSE results.”

The 12 hour days and Chinese-style teaching suited some students and did not work for others, with some showing their frustration, he stressed.

That reaction should be placed in context, he claimed, since the episodes were edited so that a narrative formed across the series. As the series progressed, students grow in character and showed determination to succeed.

Mr Strowger concluded: “All those involved took so much from the experience, as did the teachers from China and just as our students have learnt an enormous amount from the series, so have we - as teachers, as a school and as an academy trust.”

Chinese students generally are three years ahead in their standard of education.

The series was filmed at Bohunt in the spring and featured 50 students from year nine, aged 13-14, experiencing harsh Chinese teaching methods at first hand in a large class.

The rest of the year group remained with their usual curriculum taught by Bohunt teachers.