The Week Ahead 20180525

The Week Ahead..............this week, it’s all about happiness!   A picture of perspective: It is said that a pessimist sees the glass as half empty, whereas an optimist sees the glass as half full. Sometimes in life I feel that simply having a glass is something to be grateful for and if it not as full as you would wish, then take charge and do the necessary. The contents of the glass will differ from person to person, however the contents should result in feelings of satisfaction and happiness.  

What's your definition of happiness? Sonja Lyubomirsky, positive psychology researcher describes happiness as “the experience of joy, contentment, or positive well-being, combined with a sense that one’s life is good, meaningful, and worthwhile.” https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/happiness/definition Research in the field of positive psychology and happiness often define a happy person as someone who experiences frequent positive emotions, such as joy, interest, and pride, and infrequent (though not absent) negative emotions, such as sadness, anxiety and anger. Happiness has also been said to relate to life satisfaction, appreciation of life, moments of pleasure, but overall it has to do with the positive experience of emotions. The key to these definitions is that positive emotions do not indicate the absence of negative emotions. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-addiction-connection/201506/whats-your-definition-happiness?page=0 A ‘happy person’ experiences the spectrum of emotions just like anybody else, but the frequency by which they experience the negative ones may differ. It could be that ‘happy people’ don't experience as much negative emotion because they process it differently or they may find meaning in a way others have not. In fact, using the phrase ‘happy person’ is probably incorrect because it assumes that they are naturally happy or that positive things happen to them more often. Nobody is immune to life's stresses, but the question is whether you see those stresses as moments of opposition or moments of opportunity. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-addiction-connection/201506/whats-your-definition-happiness?page=0   Sir Anthony Seldon, 13^th Master of Wellington College, UK held many great achievements including the famous introduction of wellbeing to the College. A great advocate of mindfulness, Sir Anthony is co-founder of Action for Happiness, a ‘movement of people committed to building a happier and more caring society, who want to see a fundamentally different way of life - where people care less about what they can get just for themselves and more about the happiness of others’. http://www.actionforhappiness.org/why-happiness It is reported that, although our genes and upbringing influence about 50% of the variation in our personal happiness, our circumstances (like income and environment) affect only about 10%. As much as 40% is accounted for by our daily activities and the conscious choices we make. Therefore, actions really can make a difference. The research shows that we need a change of priorities, both at the societal level and as individuals. Happiness and fulfilment come less from material wealth and more from relationships; less from focussing on ourselves and more from helping others; less from external factors outside our control and more from the way in which we choose to react to what happens to us.  

This is good news for those of us who work in education, and especially in early years, as we can strive to instil the keys to happiness and wellbeing from the earliest age. Today, I was fortunate to tour the setting with Helen Kavanagh (CEO, Wellington College China) and Gerard MacMahon (Executive Master, Wellington College Shanghai). We visited all classrooms and learning spaces and saw the children in their natural habitats, undertaking their usual activities. What was clear and shone through every corner of the setting was the children’s happiness; their engagement in meaningful activities, the fulfilment from purposeful learning and exploration, the pride from achievement of challenges and personal goals, and the experience of positive relationships from those around them. There was a distinct sense of belonging, a sense of confidence from the children in their interactions and conversations which served as evidence that what we do works. I truly believe that Wellington College Bilingual Shanghai offers the very best for young learners. As Wellingtonians, our pupils become active learners, explorers and problem solvers. They develop the skills to communicate in English and Chinese. They celebrate diversity and promote equality amongst themselves. They are strong, physically developed and challenged. They create wonderful individual and group works of art. They are superheroes, researchers, pirates, doctors, explorers, scientists, princesses, and thinkers. They build ships, dinosaur museums, paint family portraits and create art instillations. Their achievements are celebrated, their failures acknowledged and their courage to try again supported. They are free to be whatever and whomever they wish in a safe, friendly and stimulating environment. They are the Wellington Identity: Individual, Intellectual, Independent, Inclusive and Inspired.

   

  Classroom News for week beginning Monday 28^th May 2018  EY1 – Erica Ni writes about the theme The Very Busy Bee Next week, EY1 children will learn some rhymes about numbers such as One Finger One Finger Turn Turn Turn and Five Butterflies. In small world play area, children can use different tools to find bug toys in the mud. To provide richer experience of mark making for EY1 children, teachers will prepare spray bottles, rocks, slides, cars and other fun stuff for children to play with. Children can paint on the rocks, or to slide down a car with paint to make marks. Children can also choose to dye the rice with different colours they like. We are reading: 《忙碌的蜜蜂》 《下雨天去郊游》 The Very Busy Bee We are singing: 《美丽的蝴蝶》、《数字歌》、《粉刷匠》、《手指变变变》 Ants go marching, Five butterflies, One finger one finger turn turn turn. Special dates: June 1^st: Family Picnic   EY2 – Vivian He writes about the theme Rainbow fish This week, we will continue reading the Rainbow Fish and we will begin learning key descriptive words from the story. Children will have the opportunity to decorate a sea animal mask based on their own preferences. We will also continue to enhance our learning areas with sea animals and objects to develop children’s understanding of the story.  We will use adjectives to describe sea animals. We are reading: Rainbow Fish That’s not my hat 帝企鹅的一家 竖琴海豹母子 We are singing: Grand old Duke of York Row Row Row your boat 鲨鱼一家 五条鲨鱼 Special note: For show and tell, children could bring toys or books that are related to the ocean theme.   EY3 – Nicole writes about the theme Adventures under the Sea “Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature -- the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.” ― Rachel Carson, Silent Spring This week we will talk to the children about shark and beluga and search the information to answer the question they want to know. We will ask for their suggestions of things to how to protect them. We want to develop the children’s searching skills and try to solve the question independently. The regular activities that the children will be involved with this week will be their music lessons, gym and library sessions (Please remember to send library books back into the setting every week) We are reading: 《蓝鲸》 Blue whale We are singing: 《海底三角形世界》 Special date: Summer Carnival on 26^th May (Saturday) Special note:

• Children arriving at the setting before 8:30am should go directly to the EY4 outside play area and leave their belongings in one of the cubbies outside of the canteen. On days where the air quality is RED, children can to directly to their classrooms.
• Please remind your children to bring their reading book every English day and their Pink Communication folder should be brought into class each day and placed into the designated basket.

  EY4 – Emily Gu writes about the theme Imagine That EY4 children have really enjoyed the daily story and it will be continued for the next few weeks. During the group reading time, the children are encouraged to understand more written phrases and consider the features of the stories. Children will also be encouraged to develop a pleasure in reading, motivation to read and have a deeper understanding of the story. Children will be encouraged to link what they hear to their own experiences and will give their own explanations of why they like the story. Children are welcome to bring their favourite stories to the setting to share and recommend to the class.We are reading: 《咕噜牛系列》 《苏斯博士系列》 Gruffalo The Three Little Pigs The True Story of the Three Little Pigs We are singing: 《拍拍操》   Music and Movement – PeiHua and Sarah write about life in the music space EY 1 – This week we’ll review our favourite songs and activities from the garden. Did you know bees talk to one another through dance? The bees are flying back to visit us in the classroom this week and we’ll sing, dance and play with them again.  The song and finger play Here is the Beehive, 蜜蜂飞行 in Chinese, and the classical work The Flight of the Bumble-bee will keep us buzzing all class. We’ll also review our favourite songs about our families as we prepare for our end of year celebration in June. EY 2 – “It’s mine but you can have some!” It’s time to dive deep into the ocean to visit the Rainbow Fish and play passing game with The Sharing Song to practice sharing with one another. We’ll also go fishing with scarves and our imagination to music and sing 小鱼游游游. On the way back from the seaside we’ll stop in at the farm and visit our animal friends again.  Our preparations for the end of year performance is well underway and we will continue to work on these as well. EY 3 – There are so many fish in the sea! This week we’ll continue catching them with the popular song 捕鱼歌. We’ll also play the A Sailor Went to Sea game again to see what we can see in the sea.  Work on our class performances for the end of year celebration will continue. EY 4 – Chick-a-dee-dee-dee! Little forest birds may be small but they have strong voices, just like our children. We’ll continue learning 布谷鸟 and create chorus of bird songs with our voices. A new top-secret Chinese song will also be introduced this week as we work on our end of year performance. We look forward to sharing it with you in June! We are reading: EY 1 – Here is the Beehive rhyme EY 3 – Baby Beluga EY 4 – Have You Seen Birds? by Joanne Oppenheim We are singing: EY 1 -蜜蜂飞行, Here is the Beehive EY 2 -小鱼游游游, The Sharing Song EY 3 -捕鱼歌, A Sailor Went to Sea EY 4 – 众人划桨开大船(三), The More We Sing Together, Bird Chorus, 布谷鸟 Special note: Should you have any questions please e-mail peihua.wang@wellingtoncollege.cn or sarah.peel@wellingtoncollege.cn for more details.