Zippy heads to Shanghai

Following its success in Hong Kong, Zippy's Friends is to be launched in Mainland China later this year.

The first classes will be in Shanghai, under an agreement between Partnership for Children, the Hong Kong Institute of Education, the Institute of Early Childhood Education at the East China Normal University, and The Hongkong Bank Foundation.

As in Hong Kong, Zippy's Friends will be run in kindergartens, and it is expected that 12,300 children will be enrolled in the first three years. At least 250 teachers will be trained to teach the programme and will then be able to run classes for years to come.

In Hong Kong, Zippy's Friends has expanded very quickly. From 287 children in the first year, the enrolment has shot up to 5,378 in the second. But the Institute of Education, which manages the programme, recognises that Mainland China will present a slightly different challenge.

It notes: 'In recent years, China has implemented a one-child policy, and parents are inevitably very concerned about their children's growth and development. However, Chinese parents and teachers traditionally focus on children's academic progress, and neglect the importance of their social and emotional development. In fact, these different aspects of development are inextricably linked, and there is now a broad range of evidence to show that children who can manage their emotions and cope with difficulties are more likely to do well academically.'

Launching Zippy's Friends in Shanghai would not have been possible without funding from The Hongkong Bank Foundation , which is also supporting the programme in Hong Kong. The Foundation is part of HSBC, which also supports Amigos do Zippy in Brazil, and funds the development of this website through the HSBC Education Trust.

Zippy's Friends, which helps six and seven year olds to develop coping skills, is already running in primary schools and kindergartens in ten countries, and in the past couple of months the number of children enrolled this year has passed 25,000. The launch in Shanghai means that numbers will continue to climb through 2006. There are also plans to launch the programme in Ireland, and discussions are continuing with potential partner agencies in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal and the United States.

In addition, Partnership for Children will give presentations at three major conferences this year, as part of its drive to make Zippy's Friends available to even more young children and their teachers.

The first presentation was in London last month, to a Head Teachers' conference organised by HSBC Education Trust. That led to enquiries from as far afield as Mexico. Next comes the first National Primary Conference in March, organised by the UK's Specialist Schools and Academies Trust. Then in October the fourth World Conference on Promotion of Mental Health will take place in Oslo.

In addition to making Zippy's Friends available to more mainstream schools, work is starting on adapting the programme for children with special educational needs. A small-scale pilot project with Sunfield, a school for children with autistic spectrum disorders in the UK, began last month.

Other initiatives for 2006 will include a first national workshop for teachers of Zippy's Friends in the UK, and the development of new resources for teachers and parents. This website will be redesigned and expanded, to provide more information and resources.