Welcome back
Happy New Year - 2019 is here and I am excited about all that is planned of this year. As I write this week’s Week Ahead, I am in the airport on my way to Wellington College Tianjin for an Early Years Network meeting. We are in the process of reviewing the academic framework so that it reflects the precise learning journey we would wish for a Hiba early years pupil. The collaborative process affords the heads of early years to openly discuss, challenge and be challenged on theory and practice, so that we can have solid conviction in our aspirations as we strive to be the very best that we can be. Sharing thoughts and ideas whilst drawing on collective breadth and depth of knowledge and experience supports a forward-thinking professional learning community, which ultimately benefits the youngest learners within each early years’ setting.
The leadership team have started to plan for next academic year and will work collaboratively with the teaching teams to consider the curriculum, intended learning opportunities, resources, training, learning spaces for each stage of the Hiba early years education. This links in to the academic development plan for the forthcoming academic year where big-picture thinking is documented for presentation and approval by the Executive Master and CEO of Wellington College China. In February, all early years heads will come together to present data: pupil progress, attendance and teaching performance data will be discussed and scrutinised to ensure that there is rigour and validity to the judgements made. This forms a fundamental part of governance and ensures the highest quality in practice. To support and validate why we do what we do, the Annual Review (Wellington College UK) team will be visiting once again in March and the nursery self-evaluation document is currently being drafted, using the above documents as key supporting information. All these processes offer opportunity for reflection, celebration of successes and planning for improvement and change, where necessary. They challenge the leaders, the teaching and non-academic teams to continually evolve. The world changes constantly and we must do the same, whilst staying true to our vision: to be a leading and inspirational early years’ education provider. We advocate that each pupil strives to be the very best version of themselves, and we must do the same with conviction and vigour.
What’s on this term?
Goodness me, there is so much happening this term, it is hard to keep up with it all! Alongside the amazing themes that the children will explore, and the fabulous books to be discovered and relished through StoryTalk, the pupils will also have a number of events and special days throughout the spring term. It is most important that parents and families check emails regularly, as specific details will be sent to the Hiba Nursery community via this means of communication. Making sure that all pupils have the chance to take part is a joint responsibility and we will ensure that we send comprehensive information in plenty of time for the necessary preparations to be made. What we ask of families is that they take time to check communication – we don’t want anyone to miss out on the fun.
A head’s up on what coming up!
Chinese New Year performance – as we celebrate the coming of the year of the pig, families will delight in a spectacular performance. The pupils have been working hard, under the gentle direction of Miss Peihua and Miss Sarah and will show off their talents later this month.
100 Days of Friendship – what does friendship really mean? How do we treat our friends? What experiences have we shared together thus far? This event marks 100 days since the start of the academic year, and celebrates the new friendships made within the nursery.
World Book Day – what’s your favourite book and why? Who is your favourite literary character and why? World Book Day provides an opportunity for exploration of stories: the characters, events, messages, meanings, settings, sequence of events, and visual representations. The best bit? We all get to dress up as our favourite character - as you know, we need little excuse to dress up! Try to make your child’s costume at home, rather than buy – you’ll have a whole heap of fun doing so and find that it is a great time to bond.
International Day of Happiness – what is happy? What does it look and feel like? What causes it? how do we pass it on to others? We will explore this question and consider the impact that happiness has on the world, and how we can contribute to making Hiba a happy nursery. If you would like to get happy this month, check out Action for Happiness:
http://www.actionforhappiness.org/ and follow their calendar!
Funky Fridays – the funky fun will continue this term with two more dress up Fridays, which will be decided by the teaching teams. These events are great at promoting a sense of wellbeing amongst the pupils and staff and make for a happy and fun day for all. Watch out and get ready to be funky once again!
Parent meetings – these meetings will offer an opportunity for parents to meet teachers to discuss pupil progress and areas for celebration and support. As there is no formal end of term report in the spring term, these sessions provide important information on each pupil. Please make every effort to attend them and ensure that you are on time – we appreciate your support in making sure these events are successful for all.
Parent information sessions – marketing will continue to offer a variety of parent information sessions which should appeal to a wide community audience. Friends of Hiba will also continue to host information sharing events as they bring the Hiba Nursery community together, launch their charity drive and prepare for the summer carnival. As all parents are automatically members of FoH, do come along and offer your support – this is for every member of our nursery community to enjoy.
EY4 – transition visits to Hiba school
The EY4 pupils spent a morning in Hiba school this week, in preparation for the transition in the summer. The morning was fun-packed, and the pupils had the opportunity to attend PE, music and art classes whilst spending some 1:1 time with the teaching team. The pupils had a mid-morning snack in the classroom and explored the outdoor play area too – they rose to the occasion and were very mature and grown up! The teachers and teaching assistants accompanied the pupils and the experience was a very positive one.
Important message form Ben Blackwood, Bursar (Finance, HR & IT)
We have been advised of reports of widespread email hacking leading to attempted fraud. Fraudsters have been targeting parents of children attending fee -paying schools in a fraud campaign, attempting to divert incoming school fees. Our School has excellent anti-virus software, but we are never complacent. We would ask that you are extra vigilant when being asked to send payments to a new or different bank account than those normally used by the School. The details of the school bank account for the payment of the termly fees are given on the fees invoice. If in any doubt, please contact the school using the contact details on the school website.
