The Week Ahead
Senior School Matters
Excellence in Teaching and Learning
Your children may well report that their usual lessons have contained extra teachers over this week and next. As part of our commitment to excellence in teaching and learning at Wellington College International Hangzhou, we have embarked upon our second round of quality assurance in the classroom. Simply put, another teacher will observe learning and teaching to provide constructive and developmental feedback. We know that our teachers are excellent and that high quality teaching and learning is the norm at our school. However, this does not mean that we are ever satisfied. In modelling a passion for lifelong learning to our pupils, we as teachers always strive to improve, better ourselves, and enhance our teaching of our pupils' benefit.
This week, I have enjoyed learning about short serves in badminton, conjugation of French verbs, English monologues, supply and demand curves in Economics, neutralization reactions in Chemistry, all topped off by rapping in Chinese. It has been a glorious week for me, and I won't lie, the time away from my desk and my Inbox – engaging with learning and our learners – has been glorious. Throughout every single one of my observations so far, I have been consistently impressed at how polite our pupils are, how engaged they are in their learning and how focused they are upon success. Behaviour has been exemplary, and the positive, good-humoured relationships between teachers and pupils have been a pleasure to observe and be around. With such strong teaching and excellent learning at the heart of our school life, it is no surprise that our reputation as the international school of first choice in Hangzhou continues to grow.
Stewart Brown
Head of Senior School
Sixth Form Matters
Wellington College Hangzhou’s first-ever university fair
I am delighted to announce that we will be holding Wellington College Hangzhou’s first-ever university fair on Thursday, 13 January 2022. It will be a fantastic opportunity for pupils and parents to speak to university representatives first hand about higher education, choosing courses, unique facilities and much more.
What is a university fair?
A university fair is an event where pupils and parents can meet university representatives from all over the world in one place. It is your chance to ask specific questions to understand life at university. For example, you can ask about the campus, admissions process and careers guidance.
What are the aims of a university fair?
From a pupil and parent perspective, the aim of the fair is to gain greater insight into each university by seeking answers that are not easily found on the internet. For example, online, we can find out that King’s College London has a QS ranking of 35, a student population of more than 26000 where 8000 of these are international. More than 480 degree programmes are on offer, and the acceptance rate is approximately 13%. However, by talking to a representative, you will be able to gain a better idea of:
- What the accommodation will be like
- How far the living area is from the lecture halls
- Whether there are other Chinese students and if there is a Chinese society to help feel more at home
- What the food at the university is like
- The number of students to expect in a lecture
- The number of lectures and tutorials per week
From the representative’s perspective, they aim to find the best students for their university by highlighting all the best features of their campuses. Everyone must make an excellent first impression.
So how do we make the most of this opportunity?
Research – talk to your child about their interests and possible subjects to study. No decisions need to be made immediately. However, it will undoubtedly help your conversations with the university representatives if you know which course your child is interested in.
Have an idea about which countries or cities or universities that your child likes.
Prepare a list of questions. If the university you are interested in is not in attendance, you can still talk to other representatives to learn more about their universities and their respective countries’ application systems. It is well worth noting that the more you prepare, the more you will benefit from this experience.
Event details
1:15pm - 3:15pm
Thursday 13 January 2022
Hiba Academy Hangzhou gymnasium
Open to all Year 9 - 10 pupils and their parents
(subject to visitor regulations at the time of the event)
Hatty Leung
Head of Sixth Form
Primary School Matters
Connect with the curriculum
How might we connect today's core curriculum with the real world? It is an important question that, as educators, we are constantly reviewing, planning and evolving. For children to be able to apply their knowledge and build skills, we know from research that our capacity to learn and remember is increased if we connect learning to a social experience.
All of us are the product of learning co-constructed over time as a social experience, honed and crafted through deliberate or accidental practice, fueled by multiple opportunities to make errors. So think about your best and most recent learning experiences; the chances are that they are inherently social exchanges.
Year 4 pupils making chocolate
As part of a unit of work, Year 4 recently invited a UK TV Chef and business entrepreneur to work alongside them in an online workshop. In an environment centralised around a passionate role model, this type of immersion and learning motivated both the pupils and the staff tremendously.
Together they made mistakes, worked as teams, asked open questions, laughed, and in the end, created their chocolate art. In that hour, children also learned about where cocoa comes from, how it can be manipulated into different tastes, shapes and forms, and how it can be marketed.
Matthew Coleman
Head of Primary School
Sport Matters
Pupils completed their fitness test by testing their muscular endurance, speed and flexibility. They set goals for increasing these components of fitness. The objective of this unit is to give pupils an understanding of the importance of each element for sports and everyday life. These benefits include:
Timothy Schulze
Head of PE
Last Saturday, the Wellington College International Hangzhou Choir performed at the Naked Stables Hotel Tree Lighting Ceremony in Moganshan. It is our second time attending this fabulous venue and bringing joy through the singing of our outstanding and committed choir. Many thanks to the children and parents who took the children to Moganshan and supported the children's performance. Furthermore, to Mr Perkinton for his outstanding conducting skills and commitment to our choir and accompanying staff for their support.
Our Winter events are just around the corner. We will record the performances and share the videos with our families.
Winter Concert
Year 4 - Year 10
1:30pm - 2:30pm
Wednesday 22 December
Carol Concert
Year 1 - Year 3
8:30am - 9:30am
Thursday 23 December
Alejandro Montoya
Director of Performing Arts
Dukebox Matters
Please click here to tune into our Dukebox radio throughout the week to enjoy various shows, including “Marty James breakfast show”, “The big yellow bus show”, “Motown/Rock shows” among others.
Do not worry if you missed any of the live shows, as you can access them on our exclusive "Listen again" service here.
Please click here to have a look at some of the wonderful content available in our podcast section.
Here are the most recent podcasts created by our pupils and staff:
Martin Bailey
Dukebox Presenter
Upcoming Events
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