In case you missed it: February 2024
Ringing in the Year of the Dragon
Wellingtonians College-wide rang in the Year of the Dragon in style. Pupils and teachers got into the spirit, dressing in festive red, in traditional Chinese dress or as their Chinese Zodiac animals. We also enjoyed a full day of enriching Chinese cultural activities at our annual Temple Fair. Pupils saw lion dances, shadow puppet plays, drum recitals and Sichuan opera face-change performances. They also enjoyed sweet treats, like traditional Chinese edible sugar art and experienced a variety of Chinese handicrafts, like paper cutting. Activities like these are central to our Chinese language and culture programme, as they help to reinforce learning, but, more importantly, they are just loads of fun! Wishing you all a happy, healthy and prosperous Year of the Dragon!
Kenya Trip
78 Wellingtonians spent their Chinese New Year holiday exploring Kenya. This was the first such excursion our pupils have gone on since before pandemic restrictions, and it was a tremendous success. Our pupils had the opportunity to experience Kenya’s natural beauty, stargazing under clear night skies with no light pollution. On safari, they learned about Kenya’s efforts at restoring its wildlife populations. They even had a close encounter with some rhinos and witnessed a showdown between a lion and a hyena. The trip also presented several opportunities to interface and build cultural bridges with the people of Kenya as they learned about the traditions of the Maasai and visited an orphanage. Our pupils even had the privilege of visiting Kenya’s parliament building and meeting the country’s Minister of Tourism and Wildlife. Our very own Head of Senior School, Dr Debieux, had the honour of presenting two gifts to the minister, and, adding to the excitement, the entire event ended up on Kenya’s national news that evening!
Master’s Talk
Mr Fulton held a very informative Master’s Talk with parents and other members of the community. We deeply value keeping an open line of communication with our parents, so this was an opportunity for Mr Fulton to share some of the latest Wellington news, celebrate our recent successes, share the College’s future plans and answer parents’ questions. Needless to say, Mr Fulton covered quite a bit of ground in this session, whether it was outstanding exam scores, amazing uni offers, recent pupil excursions or our general strategic vision. Thanks to all who attended. We hope you found the talk to be helpful and informative!
House E-Sports Week
This month, we introduced yet another way for our pupils to bring pride, glory and, of course, bragging rights to their houses with our inaugural E-Sports Week. Pupils from Lower Prep to Senior School went head to head in classic video games like Mario Kart and Smash Brothers at lunchtime. Alongside this, our resident robotics and computing experts organised a knockout Robot Wars competition using state-of-the-art robots they built themselves!
Duke of Edinburgh Hainan Trip
Our Duke of Edinburgh pupils went on a trip to Hainan for a nine-day, 280-kilometre bicycle and camping trek through the island province. Along the way, they learned how sea salt is harvested and about the delicate ecology of mangrove forests. They also had the opportunity to participate in some colourful traditional festivals. It was a great way for our pupils to stretch themselves and build confidence while learning about environmental stewardship and local traditions.
Shanghai Cup Chinese Debating Competition
Our Chinese debate team joined forces with our sister school, Huili, to compete against 14 other schools from all over China in this year’s Shanghai Cup. After four days of hard work, our debaters placed third with two pupils even earning the title of ‘Best Debater’. Well done!
The ISCMS Music Festival
17 of our most advanced musicians went to Beijing to join pupils from 13 other top international schools from around East Asia for the ISCMS Music Festival. As well as a mass orchestra and choir, there was also a big band. The ensembles were conducted by professionals brought in from around the world. The challenging repertoire they performed included Beethoven's ‘Mass in C’, Bernstein's ‘Candide Overture’ and Charles Mingus' ‘Moaning’. The spotlight also shone brightly on Wellington as our own Melody was chosen as the Concert Master and Lucy was chosen to sing the Stevie Wonder classic 'I Just Called To Say I Love You' with the big band!
Annual Review
This month, we once again welcomed our colleagues from Wellington College International for our annual review. These are important events because they provide independent confirmation that our leadership teams’ school self-evaluation and improvement planning is accurate. They help us to build and maintain strong standards and to ensure quality development planning that meets the needs of our school community. In the coming months, we cannot wait to show other colleagues within the global Wellington Family all the exciting things we are doing here at Wellington Shanghai.
IB/IGCSE Options Evening
Senior School pupils and parents joined us for our IB/IGCSE Options Evening. This annual event is an opportunity for pupils and parents to get all the information they need before deciding on their areas of focus in Senior School. More than just an information session, this was a very interactive activity in which participants got to see where the learning happens and talk with pupils who are currently taking or have completed their IGCSE and IB courses. Invariably, their insights are invaluable, as they provide the most honest account of what incoming pupils can expect from the IGCSE and IB programmes.
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