Meet the Chinese Department

As the end of the 2017-2018 academic year draws near, it's clear to see how the Chinese department has continued to go from strength to strength, welcoming new staff members, expanding its contribution to the CCA programme and enjoying highly impressive academic results across the board. During the preparations for CNY 2018, we introduced the Chinese department’s senior coordinators, now read on to get to know the rest of the team. Xiaoli Zhao Chinese teacher, years 4-12 After working for the British International School, Shanghai for 13 years and getting my PGCEi certificate from the Nottingham University, I came to join Wellington in 2016. I find the staff, pupils and parents are all lovely to be around. Our pupils are so eager to learn, and they progress so quickly because they really like to engage with their subjects. I also love working with my fellow staff; they’re always invariably friendly and give me lots of support. In my own time I love to travel, mostly in China but elsewhere too. Since our international pupils are from so many different countries, I am interested to know more about their home towns. For my next adventure I want to go to the Czech Republic as my friend has worked there and told me that it’s a really nice place to visit. I’m also into traditional Chinese dance, which I enjoy in my spare time and teach here at Wellington as a CCA.   Alex Han Chinese teacher, years 1-3 and year 6 I graduated from Eastern China Normal University with educational masters degree and then went to teach at St Patrick’s Catholic School in Taupo, New Zealand. Being there was an excellent experience that really broadened my mind and helped me to understand more about how education works in different parts of the world. After my time in NZ I came to Wellington in August 2017. I had always dreamed about being a teacher, even when I was very little, because I always felt that my own teachers knew everything that there is to know. Of course, since becoming a teacher myself, I now understand that everyone always has more to learn! I feel very lucky to work at Wellington because I think that this school gives me the chance to do more than just teach. There are always opportunities available; to run CCAs, prepare for fun and challenging school events and get involved in new things that interest you. For example, I run the ice-skating CCA, which is great fun. I honestly had no idea how to skate before I joined in the organisation of the CCA with Miss Luangwilai! As well as ice-skating, I enjoy reading, watching movies and theatre stage productions. I also have a new cat, Mei-Mei.   Juliet Zhu Chinese teacher, Pre-Prep – Year 2 I’ve been in education for 25 years, 14 of them in international schools. In all my educational career, the most exciting thing was my experience in the Vientiane international school in Laos. It was a completely different experience and I was able to create a whole new Chinese education system from scratch. Whether I’m teaching or supervising, I get a great deal of enjoyment out of seeing children progress in their education.  It’s such a great opportunity to be at Wellington, my colleagues are just so helpful and supportive; it’s a joy to work with them every day. Outside of school, I like to travel and I’m a big coffee drinker. I love gathering my friends and enjoying a good latte and a chat together. Travelling across Asia, Laos in particular, has been great fun but now I’m planning to explore more of Europe. I’ve been to Holland and Sweden recently, because my son is studying international business there. Sweden is very beautiful and so different from China. I also spend a lot of my time supporting the swim team, which I greatly enjoy as it’s a lot of fun to be involved with a totally different part of school.   Nina Ni Chinese teacher, Pre-Nursery to year 2 I’m one of Wellington’s original teachers from its founding year of 2014 and before that I was working in Dulwich Shanghai for five years. My major is in law and management, but after getting married and enjoying a career in the law, I wanted to make a significant professional change, so I decided to give teaching a try. Fortunately, I loved it almost immediately, and now my job is also a big part of my personal interests. For example, I’m currently spending a lot of time researching Chinese picture books because I’m really interested in their impact on the education of young children. I also run the table tennis CCA here at Wellington. It’s an important part of Chinese culture (everybody loves ping-pong!) and it is also great fun.   Amanda Yang Chinese teacher, years 5-9 I graduated from Shanghai Normal University with a BA in elementary education and I used to be at YCIS before coming to Wellington. I think I got my desire to be a teacher from my mother, who worked in a kindergarten and during the summer I used to be around her classes a lot when I was young, to the point where I would often pretend that I was a teacher too! I even drew on the walls like they were blackboards. I also love working with kids, so teaching was a natural fit. Even though I’ve only been here at Wellington for a short time, I already feel so welcome. Everyone: pupils, staff and parents, all of the people at Wellington have gone out of their way to make me feel part of the family straight away. In my own time, I’m a great fan of cooking and baking. I love getting lots of friends around to share a big, special meal together. I also try to travel to get inspiration for new recipes; I was in the Philippines recently and it was just gorgeous!   John Han Chinese teacher, years 6-9 Before coming to Wellington, I majored in linguistics and then studied language teaching and pedagogy. I also spent two years at the University of Oregon, USA. I’ve worked in a number of different local and international schools too, so it’s fair to say that teaching has been my life-long career so far, and I hope it stays that way! I love teaching at Wellington because it has a great atmosphere and it’s a genuinely forward-thinking and openminded place to be. I feel that this is very important because I’m interested in helping children get ready for the future and find their place, so thinking ahead matters a great deal. When I’m not at school, I like to explore new places. That became a lot easier recently when I earned my driver’s license. I prefer to find quieter, less crowded places too, so having the ability to drive is a big help in that regard. Hopefully, one day I’ll head back to the USA and drive across the country, stopping off at lots of interesting places along the way.   Delia Xu Chinese teacher, years 1-4 After getting my bachelor and master’s degree from the Shanghai International Studies University, I headed over to Madrid, Spain, for one year’s teaching experience there. I was there to teach Chinese, but I also learned a lot of Spanish, which was really useful and great fun too. Both of my parents were teachers and I was very much inspired by their example. This is what encouraged me to become a teacher and so far, it’s been an amazing experience. I really enjoy working with kids and I love seeing them progress and acquire new knowledge. At home, I often play the violin, which I’ve been learning since I was six. I often go abroad and travel whenever I can. Last year I went to Finland to see the Northern Lights, and I was lucky enough to catch sight of them. I even got to take a sleight ride pulled by huskies! I love to experience new places and I find that my linguistic abilities help me explore them much more easily. I can speak Chinese, English, Spanish, Japanese and Korean, which means that there are a lot of places I can visit and make myself understood!   Sue Wang Chinese teacher, years 5-13 I grew up in Chongqing after majoring in Chinese language and literature from Beijing Normal University, I started my career in teaching which has lasted 14 years so far and has led me to working here at Wellington. It’s a great pleasure to be here: the pupils are so capable and hardworking, but they also really care about each other, it’s just something you can sense whenever you see them interact with each other. Fortunately, I also feel that same level of care and support from my colleagues, who are all brilliant and great fun to work with. Outside of school, I love to travel to different places to experience different cultures with my husband and my 5-year-old son, and I always take a good book with me! I went to Australia recently; Melbourne is so relaxed and artistic, as are the people there! I’m planning on going to Canada during this upcoming summer holiday, I’ll be travelling all over the country as it’s such a big place with so much to explore.   Carry Wang Chinese teacher, years 1-5 I taught in local primary schools for six years than went to another Shanghai international school for 11 years before coming here to Wellington. Very quickly after arriving here, I felt that this is my dream job. Our leaders, Helena and Dolly, inspire, encourage and support us in every possible way. It’s the same for the whole Chinese team and the pupils are all lovely. So, needless to say, I’m very happy to be here! Originally, I wanted to get into teaching because I felt that it was important to help children learn and prepare for the rest of their lives. I’ve always loved watching them develop and progress throughout each school year as they become more capable and confident. Also, they’re always so much fun to be around, it makes me feel young! As for my personal interests, I’m a big fan of fiction, mostly science fiction, detective novels and crime thrillers. For this reason, I’ve always been very interested in psychology: one of my recent favourite TV shows is Lie to Me, which is all about a group of psychologists who study physical reactions and facial expressions to find out when people are lying so they can solve crimes.