The Week Ahead 26 June 2020

  Dear parents This final Week Ahead of the school year marks the celebrations of the achievements of our pupils over the year. We have House champions in the Junior and Senior Schools to announce – well done to all of them for a great year of effort and House spirit – as well some lovely news from the English department’s work over the past week or so. I hope you enjoy their success with them all. I wish all our families from across the Tianjin community a very happy, safe holiday. Best wishes Julian Jeffrey

FROM THE SECOND MASTER

Junior School final celebration and assembly of the year

An end of year celebration is an annual Wellington tradition. Normally it is hosted in the Seldon theatre with special guests, professional media experts, flowers and all the trimmings of a high-profile event. This year, it was hosted in the foyer area of the school but there was an even more exciting atmosphere than usual, which had been built up through the class photos on Monday, as well as the celebrations of the Wellesley winning the house point competition.

Parents eagerly dialled in through our e-platform in the same manner as they had been doing since February, in anticipation of the final live session of the year.  They, along with the children and our team of educators, have worked incredibly hard for this very moment. Our blended online offering had meant that our children had not only made expected progress over the academic year but had enjoyed much of the experience and learnt many new skills. Many of them have made accelerated progress as a result of the personalized learning experience through the guided support of our academic team. They have become more independent as learners and as individuals.

Mr Jeffrey was on hand to award the certificates, and congratulate all of our award winners which included awards around the various academic subjects; sport, music, e-learning, the Wellington Values and the Wellington Identities were all presented to pupils who shone with pride. Additionally, there were Wellingtonian Trust Awards for many of our key stage 2 pupils, recognising their development around responsibility and independence. We hope all our pupils enjoy a fantastic summer holiday, and that they work through the summer activities that have been set by their teachers and look forward to seeing them all in the new academic year.

FROM THE HOUSE CHAMPIONS

Junior School: Wellesley House

Pupils from the Wellesley were the proud winners of the annual House Point competition this year. Wellesley housemistresses Mrs Prendi and Ms Tessa joined Mr Ali to celebrate with the delighted Junior Wellesletonians at an end of year pizza party. Congratulations to everyone involved!

FROM MS CHAPMAN, ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

Shakespeare puppet theatre: year 7

This half-term, year 7 mainstream and ELA pupils joined together to re-create scenes from Shakespeare through puppet theatre shows. The pupils read and watched a variety of Shakespearean plays before selecting a scene from one play to base their own performance on. For this unit of work, the teams had to write a script in modern English, choose a new setting for their scene, create the stage and even design modernised puppet characters!All pupils performed to the rest of the year group and the English/ELA teachers on Monday afternoon. The performances were very entertaining, some highlights including a Korean-speaking Romeo, a cookie-obsessed Banquo and a very confused pig acting the part of Bottom from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Overall, the pupils were able to develop their skills at speaking and performing English, some even revealing hidden talents for acting!Well done to all year 7 pupils for taking part and we hope that this project has ignited your passion for Shakespeare!

Fable stories: year 8

On Thursday 18th and Friday 19th June, year 8 pupils spent their English lessons in the Nest reading their own fable stories to reception and year one pupils. Over this half-term in English, year 8 pupils have been studying a variety of fable texts, such as ‘The Hare and the Tortoise’ and learning their key features. The end product of the unit of work was to plan and write their own fable book, including front cover page and images. Throughout this process year 8 pupils learnt the importance of adapting their writing to suit the needs for a particular purpose and audience.

We are pleased to announce that Ms Jola will be displaying an impressive selection of the year 8 story books in the library for pupils and visitors to read and enjoy. Thank you to all of the Nest leaders and teachers for allowing us to spend time with you and share our work. We look forward to visiting again soon!