In case you missed it: March 2024

At the beginning of the month, Wellington welcomed over 250 delegates from 11 Shanghai schools for the second annual Wellington Model United Nations Conference. This year’s theme was ‘Turning Back the Doomsday Clock', highlighting that it is never too late for current and future world leaders to work together to prevent a range of potential catastrophes affecting humankind. Aspiring diplomats negotiated resolutions upon topics including: the current situation in Gaza; the use of AI in military operations; reducing global dependency on fossil fuels and methods to prevent a future pandemic. It was, indeed, a tremendous success with lots of knowledge gained, ideas shared and friendships made. For our pupils, taking part in MUN is a wonderful way to become globally aware and empowered to act upon issues that affect us all.

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Mathematics Week happened this month, and this year we explored the endless intersections between mathematics and art. All week long, pupils took part in a host of challenging and thought-provoking activities. They explored pi, developed estimation skills and learned about a host of practical maths applications. Younger pupils explored links between art and math through shapes, numbers, radial symmetry and constructing cities with arrays. They visited visited our school library to hear stories rich in math concepts. They also had the opportunity to share their imaginative sides with a dress-up day. Meanwhile, our older pupils enjoyed experimental probability tasks like Buffon's needle experiment and using clinometers to calculate heights. And, of course, we all enjoyed a slice of pie together on 14 March, Pi Day.

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Our pupils in year 3 put their superpowers to the test with our second annual Superhero Sports Day. Children suited up in capes and showed that they were faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive and able leap tall buildings in a single bound. The day was full of action-packed feats of strength, speed and endurance with events like Captain America ultimate frisbee, The Flash lightning sprint, The Mighty Thor hammer throw and Human Torch hurdles. It was a super fun way for our pupils to learn the value of teamwork, sportsmanship and friendly competition.

Our Senior School pupils started to the first steps on their post-Wellington careers at our annual University and Careers Fair. This year, our sister school Hiba graciously hosted, and, thankfully, the event was once again fully in person — rather than online.

Pupils in years 10 through 12 got direct access to admissions officers from over 130 universities in the UK, US, Canada, Australia, China and more. They had the opportunity to learn more about what higher education opportunities are available to them as well as what they can do to become more competitive applicants. This fair is the key event in our university guidance programme and an important annual milestone on our Higher Education Pathway, which provides our Senior School pupils with a structured programme of university and career education, advice and guidance tailored to the needs of their age group.

Our Senior School pupils brought Broadway classic musical Pippin! to life with a captivating performance in the Wellington College Theatre. With pupils from years 8 though 13 taking part, this was our largest production to date. The cast and crew's dedication shone through, as they transported audiences to the Holy Roman Empire to tell the story of a young prince’s journey of self-discovery. And what a spectacular finale!

Our youngest learners in the Early Years Centre held a charity art exhibition to mark the conclusion of their ‘Houses Around the World’ learning project. Pupils took the initiative to promote the event with posters and set prices (with handwritten price tags) for their unique works of art.  This was an opportunity for the children to showcase their project-based learning and discuss their artwork with their families.  The event also included a charity auction of prints of a large collaborative art piece, allowing four lucky parents to take home a piece of their child's creativity. Our pupils raised more than 11,000 RMB for Home Sweet Home, a charity that serves homeless and disabled people. So, our pupils also got to connect their learning to real-world impact and put the Wellington values of kindness and responsibility by helping those in need in the community.

Our year 13 visual artists kicked off ‘Synergy’, their 2024 art exhibit at the Re:Charge Gallery in Taikoo Li.  This event was the culmination of our IB pupils’ two-year visual arts programme and an opportunity to showcase their works in a real gallery setting. In addition to a range of incredible 2D, 3D, digital/lens-based pieces and installations, guests were treated to captivating dance, music and drama performances. If you missed opening night, you still have the chance to see our pupils’ amazing works of art on display. The exhibit lasts from 29 March to 12 April. It is not to be missed!

March also marked the first time we held specialist instrumental music competitions. In our Golden Piano, Golden String and Golden Breath competitions, pupils in junior and senior categories showcased their musical talents before panels of highly pedigreed judges, like Spanish cello soloist Sergi Boadella, Russian piano virtuoso Alexandr Okun and Junnan Sun, principal clarinettist of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. After tough deliberations, the panels selected the top three prize-winners across the junior and senior categories. These inaugural instrumental contests celebrated musical excellence at Wellington while providing an invaluable opportunity for our pupils to perform before internationally acclaimed adjudicators. It is the beginning of a wonderful tradition at Wellington.

Our year 3 pupils took parents and peers on a musical journey as well with The Song of Six Birds. The delightful story followed a boy and girl journeying around the world to find rhythms and songs to fill their instruments. It was a chance for teachers and pupils to come together on stage to celebrate international music and the universal power of harmony and rhythm.  

Our College-wide Choirs, Big Bands and Orchestras went ‘Around the World in 80 Minutes’ for this year’s Lent Concert. Pupils showcased their vocal and instrumental talent as they took the audience on a musical world tour. There were stops in Malaysia, Wales, Brazil, Australia, Serbia, Spain, Armenia, Korea and more. For a finale, all performers took to the stage with a rendition of the 1980s mega hit ‘We are the World’. It was a chance for our performers and audience members alike to learn about different cultures through music, one of the many ways we cultivate global citizens at Wellington.

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Wellington hosted an intensive AI workshop in collaboration with Inspirit AI. Led by PhD alumni from schools like MIT, Stanford and Princeton, the aim was to build skills for developing AI projects and exploring careers in the field. For two weeks, pupils in years 7 through 12 covered machine learning fundamentals and deep learning algorithms with a focus on bias in natural language processing. They explored model architectures and custom built chatbots using APIs. The capstone project applied AI to areas like healthcare, transportation and disaster relief. Along the way, our pupils honed their collaboration, problem-solving and critical thinking — all of which will make them in-demand assets in a very rapidly growing industry.

Former Wellington teacher James Beadle joined us for an informative parents session that covered the Cambridge Assessment. This was a chance for our parents to gain insight into established assessment research on topics such as spacing, the forgetting curve, interleaving and the relationship between test anxiety and high-stakes assessment. Parents also left with some practical takeaways on how to support their children’s learning beyond the classroom and other effective strategies to equip them for their learning journey.

Four year 12 pupils (Alex, Yuchi, Justin and Jason) participated in this year’s Diamond Challenge. This is an international competition organised  by the University of Delaware in which students learn about entrepreneurship while putting their ideas into action. Our representatives created ‘Allerdetect' and designed ‘Peanutscan’, a machine that detects peanuts in food for people with allergies. After winning the Nanjing semi-finals, they advanced to the global finals, which will see them competing against 32 other teams in April. We wish them luck!