The Week Ahead 15 February 2019

Dear parents A warm welcome back for this second stage of the Lent term. I hope you all managed a happy and restful holiday, and that the new year has dawned full of promise for each of you and your families. As I wrote to you before the break, the school is already geared up to the challenges of the next few weeks: exam classes will be working flat out to meet their ambitious targets; our Annual Review process is in the last week of term; and our fabulous musical, West Side Story, promises to be yet another triumph for our performing arts. You will hear a great deal more about these, and other highlights, in upcoming editions of the Week Ahead. I wanted this week to draw your attention to a growing concern for parents and educators across the world: the issue of keeping our children safe from online abuse. We have developed a comprehensive e-safety policy and supporting documents here at school, and our own version of the internet firewall is a robust defence against most of the common forms of online threats. Having said that, our children are not just vulnerable to external threats online; they can be subjected to unpleasant behaviour and cyber-bullying by their peers. Whilst such incidents are mercifully rare in our school, misconduct of this nature is best dealt with through a carefully structured programme of information and education. Parents are central to supporting the school’s drive on increasing the safety of our pupils online, and Mr Markovic, our Director of Educational Technology, has drafted his key advice for parents who may be confused about how best to support their child. He writes: “Next week, Wellington College International Tianjin will organise activities to mark Safer Internet Week, our very own extension of Safer Internet Day observed worldwide, with this year’s global theme: ‘Together for a better Internet’. Everyone has their part to play in making the Internet a better place, including you!  Have a look at the tips below with some suggestions on how to get you started. Our Internet, our choice, so… 1. Choose to have a conversation Talk regularly with your child about how they use technology, and find out what their digital life is like, including what their favourite sites and services are and also how being online makes them feel. Listening to your child will give you the best possible idea of how you can support them. 2. Choose to take a balanced approach As parents it’s natural to feel worried about the risks posed by your child being online, but for young people the online world is exciting and fun, as it brings so many opportunities for them. Remember that your child will use technology and the Internet differently given that they are growing up in a world immersed in all things digital. Try to look at both the positive and negative aspects of being online and empower your child with safe choices they can make instead of overwhelming them with restrictions.   3. Choose to make use of the tools available to you  There are lots of tools to help you manage the devices used by your family. For example, knowing how to activate and use parental controls can help protect your child from seeing inappropriate content online.  4. Choose to get help and support  It can sometimes feel like young people are the experts in all things digital but remember – you are the life experts. You are always there to help your child, and you can take steps to support your child online by using features such as privacy settings on social media and understanding how to make a report on a range of apps, games and services. 5. Choose to be current and topical  This Safer Internet Week focuses on the very relevant topic of consent in the digital world. Use this as an opportunity to support your child with how they tackle digital consent within relationships and friendships as well as how online services use the data we provide.” Pupils will be provided with a range of learning resources and information across the week, helping to give them the tools to remain safe online. For parents who wish to know more, further details and advice can be obtained directly from Mr Markovic (gregor.markovic@wellingtoncollege.cn) and Mr Ratcliffe, our online safety coordinator (matthew.ratcliffe@wellingtoncollege.cn). Best wishes   Julian Jeffrey MASTER   Welcome back to all our Nest families and we hope the Chinese New Year holiday was time well spent making lovely memories with family and friends. Our short week was made extra special with the magical presence of snow! Teachers and children alike enjoyed playing outdoors making snow balls and singing, ‘do you want to build a snowman’ -with gusto. Next week we have another exciting parent briefing as we will be joined by our Master, Mr Julian Jeffrey and Deputy Head, Dr. Yang Yang, to discuss the importance of instilling important fundamental values at a young age and in turn will help them lead not just a successful but also a meaningful life. This will be on Wednesday, 20th February 10.00 – 11.00 in the Nest Library. We hope to see you then! Next week promises to be another great time of learning. Please remember that Nest families are welcome to borrow books during our Lending Library every Wednesday from 3.00 – 4.00 pm. We have added another selection of over 90 delightful books for our children to enjoy. Eaglets News Welcome back to our Eaglets class and we are very happy to see them. This week’s highlight was our trip to Tianjin Polar World. Children have learnt about polar bears and other animals through the book, ‘Polar bear, polar bear, what do you hear’ by Eric Carle and we were delighted to see them in real life. Thank you to all our parents who joined us for this trip. Next week we will begin our new topic about our body parts through the book, ‘From head to toe’ by Eric Carle. The children will also be busy preparing for our first assembly on Friday, 22nd February at 8.40 and parents are invited to this event. Nursery News Welcome back to school, hope you all have had a wonderful Chinese New Year holiday with your families. Happy New Year and warmest wishes for the 2019! It was lovely to see the children well rested and ready for the new term at Wellington Nursery. In the Next few weeks we will be looking at the topic of Transportation. We will begin the unit by discussing the different ways we travel by land, air and sea. The children will share their experiences of different modes of transport and learn about the new ones. This will tie with our story of friendship about ‘Henry the Helicopter’ that will help to encourage our children to remember how to be good friends. We will be graphing and sorting different vehicles and their features. Lots of art and crafts as well as singing will be involved in our activities. Reception News Welcome back after what we hope was an enjoyable and restive Chinese New Year Holiday. There is still plenty to do this second half of the Lent term, so let’s get going. Just a 2-day week this week, then a full one from Monday. This week we will start our new topic of ‘Spring/Plants/Growing’, where we will be exploring the world of Spring and what normally happens during this time of year, including learning about plants, and how they grow. We will be using ‘Jasper’s Beanstalk’ by Nick Butterworth as our focus story. We’ll also be looking at Measures in Maths. Y1 News Happy Chinese New Year to you all, we hope you all had a lovely holiday. This week has been very short, but it has been wonderful being back together and hearing all the children’s news about their holiday. In Literacy, we wrote up, holiday recount and in Numeracy we did a quick review session on what was covered before the break and in IPC we finished writing up our procedures for our toys. Next week we will be back to normal, so please have a restful weekend, as next week is sure to be just as busy and exciting as always! NEST PARENT BRIEFING FUNDAMENTAL BRITISH AND CHINESE VALUES Nest Library 1000hrs - 1100hrs, Wednesday 20th February For this month's parent briefing, we will be joined by our Master, Julian Jeffrey and Deputy Head, Dr. Yang Yang, to discuss the importance of instilling important fundamental values at a young age and in turn, will help our children to lead not just a successful but also a meaningful one. We hope to see you then! UPCOMING EVENTS Monday 18 February 2019 All Day Staying safe online: safer internet week (to 22nd) (GM) 8:30AM - 9:30AM FOW EAL (Beginners) (PF) (MB 235) 8:45AM - 10:00AM FOW: Yoga (ES) (Black Box) 3:05PM - 3:45PM Senior School Assembly (JMS) (Theatre) Tuesday 19 February 2019 8:45AM - 10:00AM FOW Pilates (ES) (Black Box) 10:15AM - 11:15AM FOW Mandarin Class (ES) (MB 125) Wednesday 20 February 2019 8:45AM - 10:00AM FOW Yoga (ES) (Black Box) 10:00AM - 11:00AM Nest Parents' Briefing: Fundamental British and Chinese values (DZ) (The Nest) 2:00PM - 4:30PM ISCOT Heads Meeting (TIS) (ES) 3:05PM - 3:45PM Junior School Assembly: 3EP Yangtze (RA) (Theatre) Thursday 21 February 2019 8:30AM - 9:30AM IT Committee (GM) (Duke of York's room) 9:00AM - 10:30AM FOW: Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) (ES) (WCA Room) 9:00AM - 12:00PM FOW Reading Group (ES) (MB 125) 11:00AM - 3:15PM ISCOT Mathematics competition (EIW) (Main Building) 1:00PM - 2:00PM Health & Safety Committee meeting (VW) (Duke of York's room) 2:00PM - 3:15PM Meet the Master: Year 7-11 parents (ES) (Duke of York's room) Friday 22 February 2019 8:30AM - 9:00AM Nest Assembly: Eaglets (DZ) (Theatre) 8:30AM - 9:30AM FOW EAL (Advanced) (PF) (MB 231) 8:30AM - 11:00AM FOW Art Class (KM) (MB 125) 8:45AM - 10:00AM FOW Pilates (ES) (Black Box) 9:30AM - 11:30AM Nest Open Morning (PR) (The Nest) 4:00PM onwards Charity sleepover (to 23rd) (LC) (Black Box) 4:00PM - 5:00PM Junior School WCL Badminton (JM) (Sports' Hall) Saturday 23 February 2019 9:00AM - 3:45PM Examination retakes (to 24th) (DP) (Black Box) 9:30AM - 11:30AM A Level Induction Year Open Morning (PR) (Main Building)