With a handful of fabulous open days under their belt, and prestigious bases in two countries, one school is looking forward to welcoming their lovely bunch of new pupils and staff for the upcoming academic year.

St Bees School is set to welcome a growing group in their 2020 intake, with 53 youngsters and six new teachers walking through the doors in September – an impressive increase of 300% from last year's 15.

The school will become a second home to students travelling from as far afield as Romania, Germany, Kazakhstan Turkey and China, all of whom will live on campus.

All boarding students will be able to explore the Cumbrian countryside on weekends with the help of school staff, while engaging in their learning surrounded by the beautiful backdrop of St Bees.

And with their main campus based in the seaside village, a further two are set to open in China, with their Shijiazhuang hub all ready to officially open next month, with 25 pupils and 24 teachers prepping themselves for the year to come.

And head of admissions, Ceara Hayden, is excited to welcome such an international intake into the school family.

“Cumbria is such a welcoming, family-orientated county and we cannot wait to offer this truly cultural exchange here on the West Coast,” she said.

“If the pandemic has taught us anything so far, it is that we can learn a lot from other countries.

“And we can start right here in the classroom.”

The school's most recent open day, held in China, saw children dancing, horse riding, practicing yoga and more, entertaining and educating potential pupils aged from five-13 years old.

The session aimed to introduce international students to a British style of teaching, as well as assessing their level of English – and, of course, offering the children some fantastic new experiences.

"I was so proud of the students and how the staff really took on board our 'Fusion Curriculum', which means the best from the West, together with the best from the East," St Bees' UK representative in China, Tom Bailey, said.

"We sincerely hope that once circumstances permit, we will have the opportunity to bring our staff and students to Cumbria and very much hope the same will happen from St Bees Cumbria, to visit us here in China."

To ensure everyone at all campuses are protected from coronavirus, the Senior Leadership Team has been busy implementing new procedures, including adding handwashing to timetables, keeping each class in one classroom to aid social distancing measures, having isolation protocols in place if needed and more.

For more information, including the school's Covid-19 handbook – which outlines what staff are doing to combat the virus and protect pupils – visit the St Bees School website.