PUPILS as young as seven are learning the official language of China in Bolton — and a top school in the borough has become one of the first in the region to be hailed for its teaching of Mandarin.

Bolton School Junior Boys has been awarded Confucius Classroom status and celebrated with a spectacular Lion Dance by the Jin Long Academy.

About 200 boys in years three to six were joined by special guest Wang Ying — Educational Consul of the Consulate General of The People’s Republic of China in Manchester for the ceremony.

The Mayor of Bolton Carole Swarbrick as well as representatives from the University of Manchester’s Confucius Institute were also present.

Bolton School is one of very few primary schools in the North to be given Confucius Classroom status.

Boys start learning about the Chinese language and culture from year three.

The Confucius status means the school will become a teaching hub for the community, allowing teachers to share resources and build a community around Chinese learning in the region.

Philip Britton, headmaster of Bolton School Boys’ Division said: “Modern foreign languages are very strong in our senior school, including thriving Russian and German departments that buck the national trends.

"We knew that boys would do those very well later on in school so we felt able to be more adventurous with our junior school curriculum.

"Looking around the world the influence of China will be huge in the working lifetime of this generation of pupils and the links between China and the North West are already evident and strengthening so introducing Mandarin was a clear forward looking choice."

Youngsters have so far enjoyed their Chinese lessons and last Christmas added an extra verse in Mandarin to their singing of Silent Night, to accompany those they already knew in English, German and French.

Mr Ying told the gathering that he was delighted to be invited to Bolton School and offered everyone his warmest congratulations on the achievement of Confucius Classroom status.

There are currently 100 Confucius Classrooms in the UK and 26 institutes.

Head of the Junior Boys’ School, Sue Faulkner, told how the school had decided three years ago to practise what it preaches by trying something new and introducing Mandarin into the curriculum.

With one billion people speaking the language worldwide and China set to become the world’s largest economy she said students are being prepared for the future.

She also praised teacher Colin Hough, who has himself learnt the language in order to teach the boys alongside representatives from the Confucius Institute.

This week on a visit to China, Chancellor George Osborne said teaching Mandarin in English schools would get a £10 million boost, and 5,000 more pupils will learn it by 2020.

The cash will be used to recruit and train teachers to teach the language to GCSE level.

Mr Osborne said Mandarin could soon be "more relevant" than traditional options like French or German.