Dear parents

In an age when the majority – the vast majority – of children have access to the internet, how much do parents and teachers really know about what they do online? How can we be sure that their messaging is confined to jokes, questions about homework and sharing funny TikTok videos? How harmless is an online presence these days? Are our children leading happy, fulfilling and positive lives online?

As a school, we have seen an increase in the number of cases involving peer-to-peer bullying of pupils, name-calling, and the sharing of inappropriate images on various social media platforms. Children write things online about other people that they would never say in person, so idle gossip often escalates into bitter unkindness and rancour. Given how easy it is to create groups online, it is hardly surprising that one common feature of cyberbullying is that the victim experiences extreme isolation as the group's pack mentality begins to form. What may start as little more than thoughtless 'humour', in other words, can soon grow to become a genuinely nasty echo chamber of abuse and insult.

When we have confronted some of the perpetrators of such behaviour online, a common thread emerges of a group of young people who felt secure enough online to behave in ways they would simply not countenance in person. The apparent freedom to say whatever you like, unchecked by societal expectations of adult oversight, gives members of online communities a sense of security which, in practice, is rarely as strong as they believe. Employers now routinely check for an applicant's online history, and it only takes a misstep in terms of password access or public posting for that history to be exposed. As even the American State Department has discovered recently, there is no absolute security and confidentiality online if someone is determined to breach your security.

We dealt with some young people last week who had become embroiled in an online chat platform that offered teenagers apparently secure places to interact. It soon became apparent that our pupils had no idea of the real identities of the online friends they had made, beyond how they presented themselves in the chat space. Simply because 'Laura', aged 11, claims to be from Chicago and wants to chat with children of her own age across the world, does not mean that this person is who she says she is. There are very real dangers lurking in the virtual world.

As we are in the midst of anti-bullying awareness week, part of the work done in school is to educate our pupils about the dangers of having an online presence. Password protection is just one step, but more fundamentally, it is designed to address the excesses of language and behaviour online which can come back to haunt the user. An unkindness of any sort is unacceptable in our community. As so often, the answer lies in improved education for young people rather than in punishments imposed after the offence has been committed. The first step for all of us concerned about the unseen lives our children may be leading online is to talk to them; to show them how to protect themselves and how to avoid being drawn into the online abuse of others.

The school has a robust cyberbullying and e-safety policy, as well as an e-safety coordinator on the staff. If you are concerned about your child's online activity and would like further advice or guidance, please do not hesitate to contact us. You can get support from 

Ms Angel Li, our e-safety coordinator

 (angel.li@wellingtoncollege.cn)

 or Mr Toby Roundell, the Designated Safeguarding Lead 

(toby.roundell@wellingtoncollege.cn).

Safer Internet Week is coming up after the Spring Festival break. Mr Markovic will be offering parent briefings to help educate our wider community on the threats of an unchecked online presence.

Best wishes

Julian Jeffrey
MASTER

It is the end of our third week of this term and the children are very busy indeed. The preparations for Chinese New Year can be seen in every classroom and in the theatre for rehearsals for the show. We will record the show for our families to watch, as Covid restrictions have increased and once again, we cannot have families on the campus.

What has inspired me to write this week is my reflection on independence. So many of the children from pre-nursery to year one demonstrates daily the independence they are developing. The staff team have an expectation that all the children, regardless of their age, can do many things for themselves. They are supported every day to develop these skills, putting on their own coats, having a go at zips and gloves, writing their names, using maths skills, more complex writing tasks; the list is endless. What I see every day, is our children rising to the challenge to try to do new things by themselves.

Being able to make independent decisions, to be independent in your self-care, and to be able to play and learn with developing independence is crucial to all our children. We allow children to try things for themselves and to learn from any mistakes they make. We want our children to be creative and critical thinkers who are not afraid to 'have a go' and to try to do things themselves.

All of our children are capable of being independent. Whether this means doing things in school, carrying their bags in the morning or showing someone in their family a new skill they have learned to do by themselves. Independence is something we should all celebrate!

Three cheers for independent children!

Nest Parent Evenings

Online

1700hrs, Tuesday and Thursday

26th and 28th January

The focus for the parent - teacher meetings will be to look at the progress your child has made during the Michaelmas term. During this meeting your child's recent report will be discussed so please ensure you have accessed the report prior to the meeting. Due to the Covid restrictions, all meetings will take place using Teams. If you have any problems accessing Teams please let us know and we can sort out any issues.

This week's Meet the Master and Bursar slot is online and is open to parents of pupils in all year groups. If you would like to attend, please confirm via email with Ms Emma Shi by Wednesday 27th January.

(emma.shi@wellingtoncollege.cn)

We will have the Chinese Culture Week from 1st-5th February this year, celebrating the upcoming Chinese New Year. Unfortunately, there will be no Spring Festival Temple Fair this year. Still, we will offer pupils various events and activities, give them as many chances as possible to enjoy the festival atmosphere, taste traditional culture, and have fun. The videos of the week will be shared with you online as well. For details, please see the posters below.