Dear parents

Even a cursory glance at this week's edition of the Week Ahead will show you how busy your children will be over the last couple of weeks of this long term. I always feel that some of the annual highlights for our community come at this stage of the Michaelmas term. Christmas shows from the Nest, Junior School, culminating in the final show of the term in our full-school concert on 16th December, remind us of the power of performance and working together as parts of a child's learning. Few things are as powerful for a young person as overcoming nerves and triumphing in a performance in front of parents and peers. Pupils remain focused on their academic work, too, of course. The university application season, particularly for those with Oxbridge ambitions, is reaching its peak; there are full mock examinations for years 11-13 fast-approaching in January; and, as Mr Markovic and Mrs Xu point out in their sections (below), pupils across the school continue to be stretched and challenged in their schooling.

Parents, too, have a significant role to play over the next few weeks. We have a parent briefing from Mr Ogando on Wednesday for all those of you who would like to know more about IGCSE examinations. These exams are taken at 16 years of age and, as university admissions' directors will tell you, are often the decisive factor in determining a successful application to an elite university. Success at this level is, statistically, a more reliable guide to an applicant's final university degree grade than either A Level or IBDP results, so their importance should not be underestimated. Parents are advised to log in to the online presentation to find out more about these examinations. We are delighted to offer a Winter Book Fair next week once again too. This is an excellent chance for families to stock up on reading material for the coming year. The school is placing a strong emphasis on poetry next year – writing it, reading it and performing it. This Fair gives pupils and parents a chance to discover new writing and classics, and it is simple to combine a visit to the Book Fair with time at our annual Christmas Bazaar. For details, please see the sections below.

Finally, parents will have the chance to give substantial feedback on all aspects of the school's performance in the next few weeks. The first is through our Annual Review survey, data from which goes to inform the quality assurance report we get from our independent assessors each March. This survey will be familiar to long-term parents. It is available in three languages (English, Chinese and Korean) and will open on Tuesday 7th December and remain accessible until the end of term (Friday 17th December). In January, we have a separate survey conducted on our behalf as part of the CIS re-accreditation cycle. This survey is used to help the school to draft the self-study report and provides invaluable comparative data to a similar survey done last in 2016, during our original accreditation period. In this way, we can begin to measure some of the progress made by the school in the intervening years. Whilst it may seem inconvenient for members of the community – pupils, staff and parents – to have to complete two large-scale surveys in quick succession, please be assured that they both provide essential data to help drive our common goal: improving the school and its education for your children. As a result, I am grateful in advance for your engagement with these surveys.

A 16-week term is a long stretch in any school. The sustained intensity of the school, the sheer busyness of its community means that there may be a temptation for a more relaxed approach to the end of term. As you can see from the information above, we are committed to keeping your children learning and making progress until the last possible date.

Best wishes

Julian Jeffrey
EXECUTIVE MASTER

Usually, I write about what will happen next week. Today I would like to write about the incredible Nest Winter Wonderland Show.

Every time our young children use the stage in the theatre, they amaze me. The courage they all display to get up and sing and dance, play instruments and remember stage instructions, all under the bright stage lights with the eyes of every adult watching their every move cannot be underestimated. Some of our youngest children are only just three years old and our eldest children are six years old. Believe me, it is a big stage to fill, and every time our Nest children do the most wonderful things to entertain us. It warms my heart to see them shine on stage like the stars they all are.

Of course, to entertain you all with such a wonderful show takes a lot of effort and teamwork. Ms Sun delivers all the specialist music provision to the Nest classes, she designs the teaching and learning programme across the year for us all, and part of this programme are the Christmas songs. It takes time for them to be taught, and not content with the children just singing, they are often then given instruments to play too! To get so much joy out of such young children through music is an incredible skill. For her hard work and dedication, we thank her! She has support from the year group staff who keep singing the songs in the classrooms and stage-manage the children to be in the correct place on stage, concentrating on their musical director. For all the teamwork and effort, I thank them all.

However, it is the children who capture our hearts. At times someone may face the wrong way, or may not do all the actions, they may not sing all the words, they may just stand and wave at their special adults in the audience, and that is what makes these events so special. Young children will always ‘dance to their own tune’, they have amazed me by getting up on stage, and made me smile. I hope they have made you smile too.

We are all so proud of their achievements during the Michaelmas term, and the Winter Wonderland Nest Show is the highlight of the term.

Thank you for all your support with costumes. We really do appreciate all your help to make these events so special.

Winter Book Fair
Black Box Foyer
9th and 10th December

It’s the time of the year! The Winter Book Fair will be hosted at Black Box foyer on the 9th and 10th December. All the pupils, their parents and staff are welcome to this event. Let’s stock for the holiday!

Junior School Winter Show
Theatre
1300hrs, Friday
10th December

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas! Junior School children are so excited to perform for you our Winter Show entitled 'The Magic of Song… Walt's World'. We can't wait to entertain you with our magical musical on Friday 10th December at 13:30hrs in the Seldon Theatre. Classes have been working very hard to learn the lines from their favourite Disney musicals, and songs like 'In the Jungle, the Mighty Jungle' and 'A Whole New World' have been heard ringing down the corridors. I'm sure you will be entertained by the acting, the excellent singing and dancing and the colourful costumes. We are looking forward to seeing you all there!

Choir performance: Riverside 66 Mall, Tianjin
1600hrs, Saturday
11th December

The Junior Choir and Wellatonics will light up the Christmas tree at the Riverside 66 Shopping Centre at 1600hrs on Saturday 11th December. This is also the first time the Junior Choir has been invited to perform at Christmas events outside the school. Please come and get into the festive mood with their beautiful singing. Please contact Ms Stella Sun if you would like more information.

stella.sun@wellingtoncollege.cn

Each week we will have workshops and lectures on various and colourful topics held by our school parents and friends. This is to enhance our bonds as a Wellington Community, and we would love to welcome all of you to join us!