The UK National Literacy Trust published a report which indicates that pupils who had received an author visit that academic year were twice as likely to read above the expected level for their age, more likely to enjoy reading and writing, and more likely to be highly confident in their reading and writing. The power of an in-person author visit cannot be overstated for its potential impact on children’s imagination, creativity and enhanced wellbeing. At Wellington College Hangzhou we fundamentally understand that excellence in reading and writing is core to our academic curriculum goals; additionally, the ability to cultivate imagination and ignite interest must be nurtured and the foundations for this are embedded in our holistic education ethos.
“A campus of books where East meets West.” On his visit to Wellington College Hangzhou, Mr Shen Shixi, a member of the Children’s Literature Committee of the China Writers Association, who is best known for his animal stories, praised the school with these complimentary words.
Hound, wolf, fox, elephant, goat, serpent, gazelle, boar, camel, deer, gibbon, leopard, swan, lion… These are some of the animals that Mr Shen Shixi, King of Animal Stories, wrote about. Through fascinating and thought-provoking stories that reflect the human world through the world of animals, he expresses his concern about the weakness of humanity and the complexity of our life. His legendary animal heroes and engaging stories with ups and downs won him the prestigious National Outstanding Children’s Literature Award and the Chen Bochui Children’s Literature Award, making him one of China’s best-selling authors of children’s literature. Not long ago, Mr Shen came to Wellington College Hangzhou on our invitation to interact with our pupils. Read on to join a journey of reading animal stories with us.
Bronwen Duffield
Head Librarian
When choosing authors to visit our school, we want to inspire a new generation of readers and provide exciting opportunities for pupils to meet their favourite authors. For this reason, inviting Mr Shen was an easy choice. His engaging persona and immensely popular works of animal fiction ensured that pupils were excited and engaged throughout. Although Mr Shen’s presentation was delivered in Chinese, we introduced the use of AI-generated captions to achieve real-time translation in English so that all pupils, no matter what their native language is, were fully involved.
Following his speech, a panel of four pupil interviewers joined him on stage, which was set up to simulate a relaxed lounge setting and asked him questions about his creative writing on behalf of the many pupils watching in the audience. The event culminated in a furore of excitement as pupils queued up eagerly for this unique opportunity to get their copy of his new book, The Song of the Dolphin, signed in person by the famous children's author.
Visiting authors, artists and speakers can make an inspirational difference to pupils of all ages. We are excited to be planning a range of visitors next year for our pupils to enjoy. Bringing international guests into school was difficult over the past few years, so we used video conferencing. With borders now open, we look forward to hosting a wider range of events and speakers to provide our pupils with unparalleled opportunities.
We are look forward to inviting more guests to Wellington College Hangzhou to inspire our pupils.
Click the pictures below to find out more about author visits.
