Pupils from Harris Primary Academy Shortlands, Beckenham, and Beckenham Green secured top awards at the Primary Chinese Bridge National Competition.
The competition, which is mostly entered by private schools, saw more than 600 pupils from nearly 100 schools perform a short drama in Chinese and answer questions from a judging panel.
The schools have close ties with the Swire Chinese Language Centre, which funds the teaching of Chinese in British state-funded schools.
The schools’ language skills have improved hugely since the funding, making them eligible to enter the Primary Chinese Bridge National Competition.
Harris Primary Academy Shortlands won first prize in the Key Stage 2 National Final Group Category.
Beckenham Green earned the Most Creative Award in Key Stage 1, while Beckenham was awarded the same for Key Stage 2.
Cara Bleiman, primary Mandarin project consultant at the Harris Federation, said: “We are thrilled with our success at the Chinese Bridge Mandarin Competition.
“As one of the few state-funded schools offering Mandarin, it is an incredible achievement for us to have walked away with three prizes.”
At the end of September, these academies attended a special awards ceremony at the Royal National Hotel in Bloomsbury, London.
In March 2026, a group of 16 pupils from the successful Harris Primary Academy Shortlands and Harris Primary Academy Beckenham are set to travel to China, visiting Shanghai and Nanjing to spend time with partner primary schools.
Ms Bleiman described this as a “fantastic opportunity” for the children to put their Mandarin skills to the test.
The recent victories are not isolated achievements.
The Harris Primary Mandarin Team has also accumulated several accolades over the past few years, including the Stephen Spender Outstanding Teacher Prize, the UCL Institute of Education Confucius Institute for Schools Excellence Award, and the Outstanding Test Centre of the Year award in both 2023 and 2024.
Ms Bleiman added: “Our successes would not have been possible without the generous support of the Swire Chinese Language Centre which has given us the means to deliver Chinese learning in a meaningful way.
“Chinese is now an embedded part of our primary curriculum and will open doors for our pupils throughout their secondary education and into the world of work.
“We are very fortunate to be able to give them this opportunity and we look forward exploring further ways of using the teaching of Chinese to enhance the learning experiences of our pupils.”
