In repsonse to the recent post "Chris Livaccari on Overcoming Misconceptions about China"...

The little that schoolchildren know about China is usually what they learn from school and family (and advertising, TV, commercial stuff etc). Lots of primary school activities relating to China at school are projects about dragons, lanterns and lots of red, so no wonder this is their response.

It's important to have knowledgeable people in schools who can go further than this - for example, Nicky Harman's pioneering Monkey translation sessions in UK classrooms.

In the UK, the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT) has a "Chinese Networks" which has the tag line "Supporting Schoools Teaching Chinese and About China":
https://www.ssatrust.org.uk/teachingandlearning/networks/chinese/Pages/home.aspx

It also organises an annual conference for teaching Chinese, usually in June. If you're interested, take a look at
https://www.ssatrust.org.uk/teachingandlearning/networks/chinese/events/Pages/Chineseconference2012.aspx

The key person behind this is Katharine Carruthers 杜可歆, Operational Director, China, and SSAT (The Schools Network) Confucius Institute Director
https://www.ssatrust.org.uk/teachingandlearning/networks/chinese/about/Pages/SSATCITeam.aspx