Perm Gymnasium № 2 and Dartford Grammar School signed an agreement.

Perm Gymnasium № 2 and Dartford Grammar School (Great Britain) have signed a partnership agreement. According to Lyudmila Sukhanova, Headteacher of Gymnasium № 2, these schools will cooperate in studying the following languages: Chinese, Japanese, Russian and English.

The schools are planning to participate in teachers/students exchange programmes as well as carry out joint activities and events. In December 2014 the Dartford Grammar School Choir will take part in the Eurasia Voices Festival via the Internet while teachers from Perm Gymnasium will visit Dartford in January 2015 to exchange teaching experience and practices with their colleagues from Dartford Grammar School.

The collaboration between the two schools started in 2013 when Katharine Carruthers, Director of the IOE Confucius Institute for Schools (London), visited Perm. She recommended that both schools should exchange official letters, and at the beginning of 2014 Dartford Grammar School participated in the My Horizons Computer Technology International Competition which was organized in Perm. After that, the parties conducted reciprocal visits and decided to sign a long-term cooperation agreement.

Dartford Grammar School is one of the few British schools where both Chinese and Japanese languages are part of school's curriculum and which provides its students with the opportunity to take international exams in Chinese and Japanese. Perm Gymnasium № 2 is considered to be a promising partner for Dartford Grammar School as it is the only school in Russia where students can study Chinese and Japanese and take international exams in these languages.

Dartford Grammar School is located 20 kilometres from London and was founded in 1576. The current number of students on roll is 1,200. The school has the Language College Status and is one of the few British schools where Confucius Classroom operates.