Dear parents

I hope that you all had a restful national holiday with your families. It has been good to see your children back in school this week, refreshed and excited about their learning. It bodes very well for the next few weeks as we head towards the Christmas break in December. 

There is much to get through before that holiday, though. Next week, for example, we are hosting a visit from our colleagues in Wellington's Institute of Learning (IOL). The IOL is a part of our Central Office and is focused on supporting the group's schools in all matters academic. The visit next week is a monitoring exercise concentrating on confirming the quality of teaching across the school. We provide data each term to our governors on the quality of teaching, and this biannual visit is designed to triangulate the judgements made by our school heads, the Annual Review team who came in March and the specialists from the IOL. This exercise provides further safeguards in quality assurance for our community. External moderation of the school's judgement is central to establishing a culture of tireless school improvement because it focuses on fundamental factors such as teaching and learning, the curriculum, school leadership and the achievements and progress of our pupils.

The following week (25th-29th October), we will take our first step towards reaccreditation by the Council of International Schools (CIS). Long-standing parents will remember that CIS first accredited us in December 2016 through a process renowned for its rigour and engagement with all stakeholders in the Wellington community. The Preliminary Evaluation Visit (PEV) will help us focus on some critical areas of school development, primarily drawn from our existing development plans but with the added input of independent CIS evaluators. In turn, this will trigger the Self Study period, an intense 18-month long analysis of our strengths and areas for improvement, which precedes the final accreditation visit in early 2023.

CIS, the Wellington group Annual Review and the regular IOL visits are all part of the overall determination of the school to provide the best all-around education we can to our pupils and families. So much in the world of British and international education is unfamiliar to our community that any external health checks such as these can provide parents, pupils, staff and governors alike with an accurate and up-to-date assessment of the school you have chosen for your children. As parents, you too have a pivotal role to play in this, of course. The insights you provide through the survey data are invaluable. We use the results of the major Annual Review survey to drive improvement. Further anecdotal evidence, relayed through parent evenings, Meet the Master sessions and everyday home-school communications, all help to give us a rounded impression of the school's qualities and areas for further development. You can be assured that feedback from parents informs a very substantial part of our planning and improvement.

As we enter this long stretch of term before the winter break, please be aware of how important your voice as a parent is to our school. I would urge you to be proactive in communicating with the team here. It is by voicing your concerns and raising questions that the home-school partnership is strengthened further.

Best wishes

Julian Jeffrey
EXECUTIVE MASTER

Since our return to school following the National holiday, it has been wonderful to see the children quickly get back into our school routines and expectations.

Routines for children are so important. When they know what is expected of their behaviour and participation, they feel confident to take part in all the learning experiences. They understand the boundaries, what is allowed and what isn't. They know why they cannot do some things because it has been explained to them. When the routine is understood, they feel secure in their learning environment and willing to take some risks and try something new or something challenging.

We ask a lot of our children every day. They engage with the adults and each other to ask and answer questions, work in collaboration, learn a new language in an immersive bilingual setting, and learn new concepts, knowledge, and skills. However, I wonder how many parents have asked the children at the end of the day, "What did you do today"? I also wonder how many of you got the response, "Nothing" or "I just played".

When a child plays, they are operating at their highest level of learning. They are using prior concepts, knowledge, skills and language to extend their thinking. The adults' skill in the Nest is to be 'playful' alongside the children and ask questions that challenge a child's thinking and extend their learning further. We ask questions; we change the learning opportunities; we adapt resources; we talk; we sing; we use English and Mandarin side by side all day, every day. We work with small groups, large groups, pairs and individuals to tailor the learning to meet the needs of all the children. This is what your child will experience every day.

So remember, the next time you ask what they have done during the day, and they tell you they played, they have been incredibly busy learning and engaged for long periods. Give them some time, and then ask just one question. Maybe ask, "What was the best part of your day?"

Duke of Wellington Room (MB109)
1400hrs-1500hrs, Thursday
21st October

This week's Meet the Master slot is open to parents of pupils in the Nest and Junior School. If you would like to attend, please confirm via e-mail with Ms Emma Shi by Wednesday, 20th October. This session will include a short tour of the new outdoor learning areas of the Nest and an explanation of the key goals of this part of the curriculum.

(emma.shi@wellingtoncollege.cn)

Digital Citizenship
18th-2nd October

Next week sees a point of focus on digital citizenship. I have written a number of articles recently that have brought aspects of parent responsibility around things virtual to the fore. The fact that we are now in an era where so much is possible online and that such influences have only accelerated due to the pandemic makes the need for careful guidance around balanced, informed and considerate citizenship online ever more pressing. Next week, we will explore with pupils in assemblies, registrations and tutorials what digital citizenship is and how we can transfer our offline values into the online world. The Junior School will also be exploring ways to keep themselves safe while navigating the internet. Pupils will be learning skills to protect their privacy and ways to ensure that they are leaving a minimal digital footprint. It is not always as simple as it seems, and being objective about our online behaviour and applying a values mindset to it can significantly enhance pupil safety and wellbeing. Later in the year, in the Lent Term, we will dig deeper into a range of digital citizenship topics and revisit those "e-values" that are the foundation of responsible citizenship online.