By 
The UK’s first bilingual Mandarin-English nursery, Hatching Dragons, was founded to bridge early education with global awareness. Its establishment was inspired by the founder’s personal experiences, both as a new parent and an educational consultant in China. Facing the typical concerns about childcare quality and scope, he aimed to offer more than traditional UK nursery options by incorporating Mandarin language skills and a curriculum fostering multiculturalism.
Research showed significant cognitive benefits in bilingual early education, with studies linking it to enhanced memory, analytical reasoning, and academic performance. While similar programs were popular globally, the UK lacked a Mandarin immersion option. The need for a bilingual nursery that would foster fluency before primary school, particularly with Mandarin now in the National Curriculum, led to Hatching Dragons’ first location opening in 2015 in the Barbican, followed by others in Twickenham and Westminster.
The nursery’s success suggests a shared belief among parents in the value of bilingualism and intercultural education. The goal is for bilingualism to become standard, with monolingualism being the exception.
