The Week Ahead

Community and Pupil Leadership

In addition to excellent examination grades and prestigious university destinations, an international education aids our pupils in developing a global vision and a multicultural mindset. The eighteen different nationalities represented in our Senior school ensure that pupils mix with children of different cultures, life experiences and outlooks from their own, which drives the growth of inclusive and worldly-wise characters and personalities. Wellington College International Hangzhou pupils have developed a keen sense of community and a solid connection to philanthropy and charity. Recently our community rallied together to support The Rotary Club of Hangzhou with their clothing drive. Thanks to our pupils, many more boxes of donated clothes will be distributed to those in need in Hangzhou.

Also, on pupil leadership, this week, we have enjoyed short presentations from those looking to join our student leadership team in the highly coveted Head Pupil and Deputy Head Pupil roles. The voting is almost complete, and the panel interviews have been conducted. I expect to be able to announce the names of the successful students in assembly soon. Although speaking in public in front of a whole school assembly is a daunting task, I applaud the courage and determination of every pupil who participated and spoke so well.  

Halloween memories

Being a school with an international outlook provides many tangible experiences that our whole community can enjoy. Last week, the Halloween party was an extravaganza of spooky fun and an excellent showcase for how our Atrium can be adapted and used in different ways. The live-action immersive Shakespeare plays that our Drama team plans for later in the year in the same space will be spectacular. This week we also celebrated Diwali; pupils enjoyed delicious Indian foods for lunch and learned about the festival in class. Our plans for Christmas and Chinese New Year shows and celebrations are well underway and promise to be fantastic.

Stewart Brown
Head of Senior School

To help our pupils better understand what life is really like at university, the British Council has organised a series of webinars run by university lecturers. Next week Marcus Warren from the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences, University of Derby, will be hosting a webinar titled 'The Pandemic Accelerator: do we need to travel to work?'. For years society has accepted commuting as a way of life. However, Marcus will question if this is now an outdated way of thinking. He will share his ideas on whether accepting that we must have a physically different place of work is necessary or whether we can deal with problems such as property prices and traffic congestion with a simple solution. 

It is a wonderful opportunity for our pupils to engage with a university academic and collaborate with peers worldwide to discuss such a current and pertinent issue. These events aim to give students access to different subject areas in UK universities to make a more informed decision when they apply for higher education.

The session will be held online at 7.00pm on Wednesday 10 November. Please scan the QR code to register.

Hatty Leung

Head of Sixth Form

 

This week saw another fun-filled week of fixtures. On Monday, the U14 girls' football team faced a solid Hangzhou International School team and unfortunately lost 3-1. Although this was the case, it is clear that our team are becoming more robust and are looking forward to the next game. We also saw our first volleyball fixture (U14 boys) against Hangzhou International School hosted at Wellington College Hangzhou (WCH). The game ended in a draw, with both sides learning new skills.  

On Wednesday, the U14 boys' football team faced Basis School Hangzhou, winning 2-1. Our U14 boys' basketball team were also successful in beating Basis School Hangzhou 57-34.   

Thursday saw our U12 boys' football team travel to Kings College Hangzhou. It was a challenging game. However, the WCH team were triumphant Winners (2-1). 

This weekend will see our school competing in the international schools cross country event. A more detailed report will follow in next weeks' week ahead'.

Nathan Witter

Director of Sport

 

The boys' volleyball team competed against Hangzhou International School in their first competition. It was impressive to see them demonstrating many of the skills from the school activities programme, allowing them to win one of two games played. Both games were close, and the boys showed a fighting spirit while demonstrating sportsmanship and a passion for the game. 

The Artistic swimming team competed at school last weekend, gaining second place. With a beautiful display of well-practised, synchronized moves, the team gracefully impressed the judges. 

Wellington continues to develop a well-rounded and increasingly diverse range of sports to cater to a wide range of interests. It is impressive to see the outstanding results we have achieved and what the future holds for us.

Timothy Schulze

Head of PE

The recently elected house captains helped collect and sort clothes donated by parents and staff to help keep many families warm over the upcoming winter. The clothes were donated to the Rotary club as part of their initiative across Hangzhou. The pupils demonstrated the Wellington values of responsibility and kindness by coming into school early to receive the clothes and supporting people in our community. The house captains are becoming an integral part of the school, and we look forward to seeing what projects they have for the near future.

David Clough
Science Teacher

Thank you to all the parents who came and joined our Halloween celebrations last Friday. Pupils, parents, and staff were fully engaged in the activities and enjoyed a fun-filled community event.