The Week Ahead 20180420

The Week Ahead.......this week we met, and we networked! This week has been a whirlwind of activity in the bilingual setting. EY1 parents visited the classrooms for stay and play sessions, EY4 parents attended information sessions on transition in to the school whilst EY1 and EY2 parents joined sessions on building resilience in children.

   

The EY1 parents had a wonderful afternoon watching their children doing what they do – no frills or performance, just the usual stuff. The weather was glorious, and learning flowed across the indoor and outdoor spaces. Parents engaged with their child during activities and had opportunity to stand back and observe their child as a learner and generally how life at bilingual works. Events such as these support an understanding of our mission, providing evidence that the mission is not merely a collection of words, nor a marketing tool; it is the fundamental ethos of what we believe.

  

I have written about resilience recently, as a characteristic actively promoted in the pupils during their time here at bilingual. However, building resilience is not something that happens between the hours of 08:00 – 16:00, Monday – Friday. Supporting a child’s growth to enable them to thrive in the modern world requires a collaborative approach and here, we rely our partnership with parents. To get the collaborative ball rolling, all parent groups have been invited to workshops with the teachers to consider ways of supporting this crucial attribute. I trust that parents found these sessions useful and see value in setting their Wellingtonian on the right path.   The senior leadership team met with parents on Thursday at our termly coffee morning. We discussed services, facilities, the new nursery, the new school, day trips and of all things, phonics! I relish opportunities to meet with parents, as it helps me appreciate what parents hold as most important to them (which may be completely different to me, as a parent). It helps me understand the context in which I operate as a leader, how we are seen and operate as a setting and as a wider team and reaffirms what parents’ wishes and desires are for their children here at Wellington. Ultimately, it supports my understanding of what we, as an entity and a collective, truly are. For any leader, this is significant. You can’t lead what you don’t understand.   The project team for the new build met on Thursday to outline the timeline of the move. The move is now akin to a Hollywood blockbuster here at bilingual – it is going to be epic! In my working life (which is longer than I care to admit), this must be my second most exciting career event; second only to creating what we already have and building a team around me who are simply joyous to work with and alongside. Whilst exciting, it is also rather daunting a task. I’ve moved to a new house / different country a few times. Moving bilingual, however, is a considerably larger project. The main event will take place the week after the children leave us for the summer and I’ll keep the Wellington community updated as and when things happen. It is more than a little exciting…….   The teaching team joined their colleagues from the other Wellington College China early years settings on Saturday for a day packed full of professional development opportunities and practice-based discussions. Last year, Ahmed Hussain, Director of Schools brought the group early years leadership teams together to form the Early Years Network. The remit of the network is to consider practice, governance and consistency in the way that we assess, record and report pupil progress to both parents and to the Board of Governors. For the senior leadership team (myself here at Bilingual Shanghai, Emma Button from International Shanghai, Dionne Zantua from Bilingual Tianjin and Jacqueline Speer from Hangzhou Bilingual) this provides a wonderful opportunity to reflect upon who we are, as Wellington College China schools. The parents here at bilingual have received an update on termly reporting – do check your emails.

   

The teaching team here at bilingual joined Yuki and I to reflect upon the year thus far through a series of breakfast meetings. Here, the teachers are encouraged to answer three questions collectively:

• What works?
• What doesn’t work?
• What can the teachers in year group below (or parents for EY1) do to support the transition in to your year group?

Simple, open questions, but extremely effective in reviewing practice in the context of who we are and what we do. The review cycle at Wellington College is continuous and is driven by the teaching teams under the guidance and with the support of the leadership team. In terms of teamwork, we don’t do top down, we do bottom up: the pupils inform the teachers, who inform the curriculum leadership team, who inform the senior leadership team, who inform the Academic Subcommittee and ultimately the Board of Governors.

    

  Wellington College Bilingual Shanghai Summer Carnival Following the success of last year’s Summer Carnival, we are delighted to invite all Wellington College Bilingual Shanghai early years centre’s families and friends to our second Summer Carnival on Saturday 26th May. The Summer Carnival is an annual celebration bringing families and friends together for a day that promises to be full of fun for all the family. The Carnival will be jam-packed with lively entertainment and refreshments suitable for the whole family; including traditional and international games and sporting activities, arts and crafts for young and old, live music/dance performances, pony rides, bouncy castles and so much more. With a full programme of entertainment and a variety of food and refreshments, there will be something for everyone to enjoy. Get into the Carnival spirit with our Summer Carnival 2017 video!

  

Saturday 26 May, 2018

10:00am-3:00pm

Wellington College Bilingual Shanghai

 

Tickets:

Package 1: 160RMB/family (2 adults + 1 child)

Package 2: 240RMB/family (2 adults + 2 children)

  Scan or hold the QR code for tickets.   Classroom News for week beginning Monday 23^th April 2018  EY1 – Erica Ni writes about the theme The Very Hungry Caterpillar We will introduce Earth Day to children next week. We will show some pictures of buildings in Shanghai such as Oriental Pearl Tower, and children will try to make buildings with recycled boxes. Children will also be introduced to compare the weight of objects in math activity. We are also going to reinforce children’s numeral awareness through a variety of activities. Children will have opportunity to show friends their work and introduce them to others. In art and mark making area, children will make their own paint brushes and create their own artworks. In small world area, children are going to play with sand, food toy, caterpillar toy and leaves to represent what they have been learning from book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. We are reading: 《很饿的毛毛虫》 《星期妈妈和她的孩子们》 The Very Hungry Caterpillar We are singing: 《春天在哪里》 《找朋友》 《手指谣》 Hello,Hello,How are you   EY2 – Vivian He writes about the theme A Squash and a Squeeze This week, we will follow up on our theme story, “A Squash and a Squeeze” by reading the “Three Little Pigs.” We will talk about the characters in this story as well as the kinds of houses that the three little pigs built to protect themselves from the big bad wolf. The children in EY2 will have the opportunity to retell the story and some classes will use different resources to design different houses. Also we will continue learning about the life cycle of different animals. We are reading: The Three Little Pigs A Squash and a Squeeze 小蝌蚪找妈妈 三只小猪 We are singing: 5 Green Speckled Frogs One finger, one finger There were 10 in the bed 九只青蛙 八条蜘蛛腿 手指歌 Special dates: 23 April is Green Day ( No uniform day, please have your child wear something green) Opening week   EY3 – Nicole writes about the theme Adventures under the Sea “Clean, tasty, real foods do not come processed in boxes or bags; they come from the earth, the sea, the field, or the farm.” ---Suzanne Somers   This week we will start to read the story “Rainbow Fish” by Marcus Pfister,in which a beautiful fish learns the values to kindness and friendship. In class we will be following the same theme and talking about friendship and how to deal with our emotions when things don’t go our way in the friendship, answering questions like “What could I do?”, “How would that make my friend feel?”. Later in the week the children will discover more fascinating creatures under the sea, learning and practicing the different ways in which they move. The regular activities that the children will be involved with next 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: Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister   EY4 – Emily Gu writes about the theme Imagine That Children will be introduced to the story ‘Not a stick’, they will anticipate what the stick will be used for before reveling the next image. Children will using creative materials of their choice to create their own‘not a stick’pictures or props. Children will be encouraged to explain what they have made and why they chose to make it. And explain what they could do with the props they have made. Children will also act out a story with their body language according to the narrations. We are reading: Not A Box 不是箱子 Not a stick 不是棍子 温妮女巫系列 We are singing: 多变的毛线 毛毛虫变变变 Phonics songs A note from EY4 team: Normal temperature water will be provided to children as the weather is getting warm.   Music and Movement – PeiHua and Sarah write about life in the music space EY 1 – “He was a beautiful butterfly!” may be the last line of The Hungry Caterpillar but it is just the beginning of our music class this week.  We will again creep, crawl, wiggle and fly to the music as we discover the musical adventures of caterpillars, butterflies, and bumblebees in the garden. EY 2 – This week we’re driving down to Grandpa’s farm in an exciting movement and listening activity featuring many of our favourite farm animals.  The traditional English nursery songs Baa Baa Black Sheep and Mary Had a Little Lamb will also be a highlight this week.  The children loved the song 母鸡孵蛋 and our folk music play along, and these will continue. EY 3 – We’re having a whale of a time under the sea! This week we will continue learning Baby Beluga, dance high and low with musical whales, and even help five sharks make some new friends.  The ever popular song Baby Shark will also be a highlight of the week as we learn about these large but mostly harmless predators.  We will also review 螃蟹儿歌 and play along with some beach tunes. EY 4 – Pack your bags! The Wellington Animal Rescue Crew is headed to Africa this week to save a baby elephant who has lost his way. We’ll review the bilingual song If I Were A Tree /  如果我是棵树, explore African rhythms and instruments, sing Walking in the Jungle as we search for the missing elephant, and learn the new Chinese song动物Hakuna Matata. We are reading: EY 3 – Baby Beluga EY 4 – Walking in the Jungle We are singing: EY 1 -美丽的蝴蝶Hello Mr. Sun, Oh the Pretty Butterflies EY 2 -老母鸡, 母鸡孵蛋, Old MacDonald Had a Farm, 10 Fluffy Chicks EY 3 -五只鲨鱼找朋友, 螃蟹儿歌, Baby Shark, Baby Beluga EY 4 – 大象Hakuna Matata, Elephants Have Wrinkles, If I Were A Tree/如果我是棵树, Walking in the Jungle Special notes: Spring is here and we are expanding the Music Kitchen. Pots, pans, spoons, plastic bottles, biscuit tins, chopsticks, ladles, cups… We would love to have those odd pieces from the back of your cupboard for our children to make joyful noises with!  Please drop your items in the Music Kitchen box in Reception. Should you have any questions please e-mail peihua.wang@wellingtoncollege.cn or sarah.peel@wellingtoncollege.cn for more details.