Meet our Executive Head of Early Years

Our Early Years Centre is where our youngest Wellingtonians begin their lifelong learning journey, and, as Executive Head of Early Years, I cannot wait to help our pupils take their first steps this September. 

I know the value and benefit of hard work, focus and dedication. It led me to become the first pupil from my secondary school to attend the University of Oxford for my undergraduate degree. After graduation, my path did not immediately take me to teaching young children. I actually started my career teaching adults in the corporate sector. My job was to train school faculty on how to use literacy-focused educational software. I truly enjoyed my work, but when I became a mother, I realised that my true calling was teaching children.

I took the decision to return to school myself, gaining my PGCE (QTS) in Early Years education from Oxford Brookes University. This was not the dramatic career change it might appear. Over the years, I have come to realise that teaching adults is not so different from teaching young children. Facing a new challenge brings out anxiety in all of us, regardless of our age. An important aspect of Early Years education is supporting our pupils to build their own resilience so they can approach new challenges with confidence.

My teaching in the UK included taking a school on the journey to outstanding, so I feel I now have the experience to understand what that looks like in practise and how to ensure that it is sustainable in our school. In my four years in China, I have served as Head of Early Years in top-tier bilingual and international schools, like Harrow Beijing and Hiba Academy Shanghai. At both schools, we saw significant improvements in academic outcomes as well as culture and community. 

Academic outcomes are, of course, important, but they are built on the foundation of a school’s culture and community. Central to this is a strong partnership with our parents. It requires school leaders, teachers and parents working together to achieve what I like to call ‘sustainable excellence’. This is my key focus for the Early Years Centre this academic year, and it entails a holistic approach to leadership outlined in four parts:

Everything we do at the Early Years Centre is informed by a single proposition: Every child is unique and every child matters. Our academic team is comprised of dedicated and passionate educators who support every child to thrive and to love to learn. By focusing on skills rather than knowledge, our pupils develop a better understanding of themselves and their interests so they can become contented lifelong learners.

I want our parents to be fully involved in our community. To facilitate this, it is important to foster regular, positive collaboration. This means maintaining open channels of communication, our team being active listeners and doing all that we can to ensure that our parents have a clear sense of our school’s vision.

We want our staff to know that they have our full support. This means creating a culture of encouragement and open communication in which our vision and expectations are clear.  We are lucky to attract the best educators in China, and we want them to thrive and grow alongside our pupils.

Our Wellington Values are at the heart of everything we do in the Early Years Centre. Our ‘Values in Action’ programme is a way to inspire pupils, parents and teachers to be constantly mindful of how Respect, Responsibility, Courage, Integrity and, most importantly, Kindness can inform their daily actions.

So how will we measure success in the Early Years Centre? Academic outcomes are the obvious starting point. Our pedagogical approach supports every child to make progress and reach their potential.  We measure progress and attainment throughout the academic year, ensuring that our pupils are fully prepared when the time comes to transition to year 1 on our main campus. But academic outcomes are only one aspect of how we measure success. I believe it is imperative to value the following:

Children with high levels of wellbeing and involvement are happy, engaged and ready to learn. These pupils develop positive behaviours for learning that support them to be curious, inspired and enthusiastic learners.

Parents, too, should be engaged, happy and positive. Our regular parent surveys, parent representatives meetings and Friends of Wellington meetings will maintain an open line of communication with parents while building stronger relationships within our school community. We are a team!

We have an excellent reputation at Wellington. We, therefore, strive to attract and retain the most experienced, talented and inspired educators. As our Executive Head of Early Years, it is my duty to ensure our educators meet their potential and grow personally and professionally within our organisation.

Outstanding schools do not just happen. They are the result of concerted effort, and all of us — pupils, parents and teachers — have an important role to play. I am truly thrilled to be embarking on this journey with you and your children, and I cannot wait to meet you all when the academic year begins in September and to welcome you to the Wellington family.