Journey of summer brilliance from Royal Berkshire to Hangzhou
In the recent summer holiday of 2023, we arranged a Wellington College summer camp for our pupils from the Hangzhou campus. Pupils embarked on a journey to Wellington College UK and experienced the authentic British style of boarding, learning and living whilst also having the opportunity to strengthen their connection to the Wellington Global Family.
Simultaneously, we launched our inaugural summer camp at Wellington College Hangzhou. Throughout the summer camp, the children enhanced their artistic skills, physical health and way of thinking, further developing into independent thinkers and active team players ready to lend a helping hand.
What are thehighlights of this spectacular summer? Read on to first find out more about their remarkable journey to the UK.
Stepping onto thegrounds of Wellington College, “a school with mind, heart, and a constant fizz”as described by The Good Schools Guide, one sees a school set in a sprawling 400acres of beautiful parkland and home to a blend of the breathtaking originalarchitecture and contemporary state-of-the-art facilities to provide thequality education that allows well-rounded development of future leaders.
This summer, across the globe in Berkshire, England, pupils were immersed in a perfect blend of tradition and modernity, history and future. What a wonderful opportunity for them to experience authentic Britain in person!
David Wilson, International Academic Director at Wellington College and course director of Wellington College International Summer School, has worked at the College for nearly 20 years.
“We've got some fantastic facilities here, but it's also about the students meeting each other, making new friendships and getting a better understanding of the different cultures.”
He goes on to enthusiastically describe a typical day.
“During the programme, for most mornings, the students have lessons in different subjects by Wellington College teachers. They range from philosophy to biology, to maths, to economics. Besides, we have a full range of programmes in the evening as well from frisbee and cricket, and we also have three full day excursions to Oxford, London and Bath.”
The main focus of the Wellington College Summer Camp is to allow pupils to savour the authentic British educational experience in all aspects under the guidance of strong Wellington teachers in an English native language environment.
Swipe to see the summer camp schedule
(Click to enlarge the picture)
Tim Head, English teacher at the Wellington College for 35 years.
“In our English classes for the summer camp, we've been looking at Shakespeare's play, A Midsummer Night's Dream. I wanted them to understand that Shakespeare is a really fun playwright, that it can be fun to read and perform Shakespeare. He is not just somebody that you have to write exam answers on. I've been really impressed with the international pupils’ bravery and their desire to learn and to really participate in all of the lessons. They've been amazingly charming and well behaved and enthusiastic. It’s been an absolute delight to teach them.”
Juliette Noske, Course Director, Global Social Leaders (GSL) Foundation Programme
“Quite often we're out there learning about other things and subjects, but it's so powerful to learn about ourselves. What are our likes? What are our dislikes? How do we learn? Why do we do the things we do? So the coaches are inviting the young people to go on that journey of self-inquiry, so that they can begin to understand who they are, and also look at what their strengths are. Quite often, we are very good at looking at how bad we are or what we've done wrong. But actually, it's also very powerful and much needed to look at our strengths and what we're good at so that we can build upon those, so that we can continue to develop those.”
The summer camp presents a wonderful opportunity for one to thrive. Here, they not only absorbed knowledge and skills and improved their English, but also made friends from around the world, communicated more articulately with enhanced logic. Through the trip, they were able to see a broader world and diversified cultures. It certainly was a trip for all-round growth.
Dino
The knowledge we learn is not knowledge directly from the textbook; it is a kind of experience that is memorable. This knowledge is deep, and we can understand better afterreflection.
On the other side of the world, Wellington College Hangzhou Summer Camp drew to a successful conclusion. It provided an opportunity for the participants to enjoy the holiday while awakening their potential with our world-class education provision in an intellectual, inclusive and international environment.
During their art lessons, pupils produced aesthetically appealing drawings of famous buildings and fairy tale fantasy stories using gradient backgrounds and techniques. They also painted various objects and scenery found around the world on glass and mirrors. After creating numerous observational drawings, they combined them in the group work phase of their project to create a large-scale canvas.
Finally, they presented their artworks and the inspiration behind them to family and friends with great enthusiasm.
What are the proper stances and grips in golf? What are the basic movements of archery practice? What physical defence techniques are applicable in the face of danger? What are the escape techniques in jiu-jitsu? What are the fundamentals of learning to swim? Pupils at the Global Sports Camps found the answers to these questions and learned many practical and exciting skills over the summer.
How many individuals discover their passion for science through conducting engaging experiments? Despite appearing as minor experiments, they contain a vast amount of scientific knowledge. During our summer camp, children utilised paper rocket experiments to comprehend the principles behind rocket motion. Under the guidance of their teacher, they launched the rockets, recorded and analysed data, and examined variables in the experiment. They also acknowledged the importance of air resistance and constructed suitable parachutes for their water rockets.
Our geography lessons at summer camp are comprehensive. Pupils learned physical geography through the study of various landforms, human geography through settlement types and cultural geography through languages and traditions. They also explored different rich types of climates and weather patterns as well as abundant natural resources. Additionally, they engaged in discussions about existing environmental problems and the practical application of geography in daily life. They then demonstrated what they learned in a final project.
We hope through the captivatingWellington summer camps both in England and China, our pupils can experiencethe well-rounded education of Wellington and demonstrate our values of kindness, responsibility, respect, courage and integrity.
Next summer, Wellington College Summer Camp will continue to amaze pupils with a long-awaited journey to the magic world; and Wellington College Hangzhou will also hold our featured summer camp that enables our pupils to enjoy a happy summer in our unique immersive bilingual environment. Don't forget to join us when the day comes!
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