The Week Ahead

Sunday 11 October marked World Mental Health Day, an important World Health Organisation event intended to raise awareness around mental health issues and mobilise efforts in support of mental health and well-being. Online teacher forums were abuzz with creative and exciting ideas for tending to oneself and supporting others.

The mental health of our pupils at Wellington College International Hangzhou is given a high priority in our work. As a whole school we are committed to supporting each individual pupil to both maintain their own mental health  and develop skills to overcome life’s difficulties. We have a high quality and quite unique wellbeing curriculum, designed around leading research into cognitive science and positive psychology, delivered by tutors during timetabled weekly sessions. 

A special assembly was held on Monday in which pupils were challenged to think about their feelings and emotions, and they began to learn how to confront the negative sides of life and revel in the joy and happiness that positive life experiences can bring.  

Fundamentally we know that life in our hyperconnected world is more stressful than ever, but we are confident that our commitment to the development of the whole child will ultimately lead to excellent academic outcomes being secured by our happy, mentally healthy, resilient and 21st Century ready children.   

Some of the signs of the wellbeing curriculum can be seen in our happy classrooms. Pupils are given opportunities to be kind, optimistic, to be challenged enough to experience the flow state that comes when they are out of their comfort zone and being stretched, but also to experience success and focus upon the what went well, rather than being defeated by the even better if.

Stewart Brown

Head of Senior School

The importance of effective study skills

Study skills include a range of learning methods that improve pupils' ability to study, retain and recall information. It is well worth developing study skills so that revision time is effective and that time is not wasted. There is no 'one size fits all' approach as all learners are individuals. Here are some ideas for pupils to try:

Whichever method pupils employ to consolidate their learning, they must also relax, unwind and sleep. Studying without taking rest breaks will not be effective. I encourage you to discuss different study skills with your child and encourage them to build upon their study skills as these will be useful for well into their university years.

Hatty Leung

Head of Sixth Form

Why relationships in the classroom are key to 
unlocking the potential for every child

It is the combination of psychological safety, an openness to making mistakes and a shared commitment to success which lead to a classroom where everyone thrives.  Combined, these behaviours create belonging and increase trust amongst pupils and their teachers.

At Wellington College International Hangzhou, we demonstrate warmth and empathy, use praise for effort over success, and show respect to each other. We also allow our pupils attempt to build collective solutions to solve problems and appreciate that success can be powerful as a shared process. We model and guide pupils to experience when it is appropriate to attempt to work alone and when and how to seek support. 

The ability to establish and maintain healthy relationships with diverse individuals and groups is continually recognised as one of the most important skills our children should learn to be successful in the world of tomorrow. The ability to communicate clearly, listen well, cooperate with others, resist inappropriate social pressure, negotiate conflict constructively and seek and offer help when needed are all social and emotional learning skills that we purposefully expose and teach in the classroom.

WCIH teachers lead with soul. Like artists, they capture the small incidental moments which often pass unnoticed and build stories around these. The way pupils are welcomed into school, the TChat home to celebrate a learning milestone, the acknowledgement of a child’s resilience when attempting to learn a new concept. WCIH pupils mirror these behaviours in the classroom and beyond. I am proud of the Wellingtonians we are developing in the Primary school, the individual journey they are all on and the progress they have already made building relationships.

Matthew Coleman

Head of Primary School

This week our rugby players competed in the U12 and U14 rugby against Hangzhou International School, defeating them 9-5. We are proud of the pupils taking the opportunity to represent the school with a fine performance of skill and sportsmanship.

Senior school pupils are currently preparing themselves for sports day with this week’s focus on field events. Our athletes recognise the importance of practicing the correct technique, to not only produce excellent results, but also create life-long ‘muscle memory’ for future performances.  Wellington athletes will have the opportunity to represent Wellington in track and field events later in the year. Our sports day practice lessons are a prime opportunity for our athletes to learn and practice techniques vital for achieving personal bests. 

In PE lessons the primary classes also practiced sports day events. These events include not only athletics of running, but also many of the fundamental movement skills (fms) needed to play competitive sports. These fms include the broad jump, throwing for distance, throwing for accuracy and novelty relays such as the three-legged race and sack race.  The children enjoy challenging themselves, and each other, at developing the fms, all the time having fun too.

Timothy Schulze

Head of PE