There has been much media coverage recently of the maltreatment of children attending kindergartens in Shanghai and Beijing. This has sparked some questions from parents here at Wellington College Bilingual Shanghai over our use (or not, as the case is) of CCTV in the setting. The settings in the media all had CCTV, as this is how the members of staff were caught yet it didn’t stop the maltreatment occurring. CCTV does not prevent abuse, it is a tool to record and provide evidence where required. For me as an educator and a mum, the bigger, more critical issue is why the kindergartens employed people who could treat children badly and why it was left to parents to raise this issue? Why were measures not taken to prevent this from happening and why did they not monitor the behaviour and performance of the staff?
The stance of an early years’ setting on child protection and safeguarding must be explicit from the very first moment a potential member of staff has contact with the setting. The language used on the website, within the job advert, the job description, the interview process is crucial to developing a broad first impression and highlighting the setting’s commitment to protecting young children. The thoroughness of a reference check and police
check provides evidence of previous working history, professional performance and fitness for practice with young children. Following a successful appointment, a comprehensive induction programme and probationary period is undertaken to ensure that the staff member performs in line with the vision of the setting. Should they demonstrate behaviour which doesn’t align with the expectations of the setting, probation is unsuccessful and the term of employment ceases. Should they be successful in passing probation, then performance review starts, setting targets for professional excellence and supported by continual observations and monitoring of practice by team members and leaders.
That is how it should be. That, for me as an educator and a mum is best practice. I am in a fortunate position to be able to work within a setting where these governance procedures are in place, are upheld and most importantly are valued as being the right thing to do. I believe that our parents chose Wellington College because they believe in our practice, they believe in what we do. The very first statements made on our website are: “
It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to Wellington College Bilingual Shanghai. Choosing Early Years’ education for your child requires trust in the setting, faith in the shared vision of those involved and belief in the ability of the staff to deliver the highest quality of care and learning opportunities to your child.”
The very definition of trust (Oxford English Dictionary) is ‘firm belief in the reliability, truth, or ability of someone or something’. Trust requires no CCTV, trust is the acceptance of the truth of a statement without evidence or investigation.
A recent article published in Harvard Graduate School of Education (
https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/uk/17/11/how-pick-preschool) identified ‘hallmarks of success’ to consider when picking a preschool:
- Adults are talking to children in nurturing and encouraging ways
- When children are behaving inappropriately, teachers are focused on helping them, rather than punishing them
- The classroom is fun and joyful
- Children are active
- Staff are supported — and seem happy
Once an educational setting has been chosen for a child, it is important to maintain the trusting relationship by demonstrating opportunities for parents to be in the setting, have open communication with the teams, have access to parent representatives, have access to leaders in the setting (without them hiding away) and be asked for their opinion through surveys, meeting opportunities with teachers, other parents and leaders. Trust requires no CCTV. You either do trust something to be what it says it is, or you don’t. CCTV isn’t required to make that decision. We have heads and hearts to do that for us.
Classroom News for week beginning Monday 4th December 2017
EY1 – Erica Ni writes about the theme From Head to Toe
EY1 children will listen to some stories we read in the past few weeks and be encouraged to repeat some words and phrases from familiar stories. We are also going to explore how things work this week. For example, children will be provided various size boxes and try to figure out how to open and shut them. We are also going to support children to understand simple concepts such as on and off, big and little through activities like playing with electric toys and comparing the size of the boxes. Pegs, clothes and number cards will be used in home corner and logic area in order to promote children’s fine motor skill and mathematics. We will also walk around setting and look at different colours of pollution cards and talk about what those colours mean to our outdoor play.
We are reading:
From Head to Toe, The Birthday Box、《从头动到脚》、《我不怕》
We are singing:
《粉刷匠》、《一同去郊游》、《数鸭子》、《春雨沙沙》、How’s the weather, One finger one finger, Snow flake, Rain rain go away.
Special date: 8
th December Sparkle and Shine Day
A note from the EY1 team:
We would like to request parents that no external food is brought on to site at pick-up time. Thanks for your support.
EY2 – Vivian He writes about the theme Joseph Had A Little Overcoat
This week, we will talk about different aspects of the Winter such as the weather as well as activities that we engage in when the weather gets colder. We will also talk about what animals do as well in the winter. For example, some animals hibernate. We have prepared some activities using materials to decorate the mittens for ourselves. And also we will talk about kindness during Red Day in order to help children to understand why we need to be kind to each other at the setting and how to be kind to others outside of the setting.
We are reading:
雪人、下雪天、冬天到了，雪花飘了、一个冬夜、坏脾气的格拉夫、Joseph Had a Little Overcoat, Bear stays up for Christmas, Winter Snowflakes
We are singing:
Old MacDonald had a farm, Snowflake, How’s the weather? Note: We will also listen to songs such as “It’s snowing”, 王老先生有块地、小雪花、叮叮当
Special date: 8
th December Red day (wearing red and pink on that day)
EY3 – Charlotte writes about the theme All About Me
“The capacity to learn is a gift; the ability to learn is a skill; the willingness to learn is a choice.” Brian Herbert
This week we will continue to learn about our community. The children will look at shopping malls and discuss what are in it. They will role play the story “Panda’s shopping mall”. The children will learn to go shopping by role play. The children will also look at shoes about types, sizes, materials and they will do sorting games and make their own shoes to practise what they have learned. The children will also have a chance to look at Asian food. We will talk about Japanese food especially the types of Sushi and make their own sushi with space clay.
We will play at being fashion designers next week when the children will have the opportunity to design their own outfit. The children will also start to look at the different traditions for celebrating Christmas around the world.
We are reading:
《拉便便，真舒服》
We are singing:
《快乐的一天开始了》
A note from the EY3 team:
We will start to use pink zipper folder instead of yellow Wellington Weekly book. Please bring it to classroom every day. If there is information to relay to you regarding your child, this will now be communicated via email.
EY4 – Emily Gu writes about the theme Me and My World
Christmas is coming! Children has started to make some decoration for Christmas. Christmas is a traditional Western festival, we will talk about the culture difference between western and eastern and how it is celebrated around the world. We will make a class mailbox for children to write a letter to Santa, telling Santa how good they are.
We are reading:
《大卫，圣诞节到啦》、《小熊布迪和圣诞愿望》、It’s Christmas David, Snowman at Christmas
We are singing:
《小雪花》、Christmas Carols
Special date:
December 8, 2017 - Sparkle and Shine Day
Music and Movement – PeiHua and Sarah write about life in the music space
EY1 – The end of your child’s first term with us is just around the corner. We’ll be reviewing songs for our end of term activity with families, as well as dancing our way through
From Head to Toe by Eric Carle, one of the children’s favourite books. We’ll also do a listening activity with animal sounds and match them with the creatures. Festive music celebrating the upcoming holiday season will also be a highlight this week.
EY2 – December is a month full of celebrations with family and friends for people around the world. We’ll continue working with the children to sing, play, and move to festive music. Our exploration of Klezmer music, inspired by the book
Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Tabak, will continue with an instrument play along to a lively Hanukkah song. We’ll also continue reviewing songs for our end of term assembly with families and look forward to sharing them with you soon!
EY3 – The holiday season has begun and families around the world are preparing for a season of celebrations. Santa’s visit to Wellington is just around the corner, and the children are getting very excited. We’ll continue working with the children to sing, play, and move to festive music including
圣诞HoHo, a new Christmas themed movement activity, as well as steady beat activities set to festive music. We’ll also review the rhythm activity for eye health as we watch for Santa’s arrival! Review of the children’s favourite songs in preparation for our end of term assembly with families will also continue. We look forward to sharing them with you soon!
EY4 – Who’s got a beard that’s long and white? Must be Santa! The children are learning this classic Christmas song as we prepare for Santa’s visit to Wellington later in the month. We will also sing 礼貌歌（一）a bilingual Christmas song and
圣诞HoHo, a Christmas themed movement activity this week. Our end of term assembly with families is just around the corner, and we look forward to sharing the children’s learning with you soon!
We are reading:
EY 1 –
From Head to Toe, by Eric Carle
EY 2 –
Joseph Had a Little Overcoat, by Simms Tabak
We are singing:
EY1 –铃儿响叮当 / Jingle Bells, Ring Those Bells / 圣诞铃声
EY2 –铃儿响叮当 / Jingle Bells, I’m a Jolly Snowman, We Wish You a Merry Christmas
EY3 –铃儿响叮当 / Jingle Bells, We Wish You a Merry Christmas
EY4 – Hello to All the Children of the World, 铃儿响叮当 / Jingle Bells, 礼貌歌（一）We Wish You a Merry Christmas
Special dates:
Save the date! All year levels will have an End of Term Assembly in December.
EY1 Wednesday, December 13
th at 10:00 am
EY2 Thursday, December 14
th at 10:00 am
EY3 Wednesday, December 13
th at 2:00 pm
EY4 Thursday, December 14
th at 2:00 pm.
Please watch for an invitation in your child’s bag this week.
A note from the Music team:
Are you a musician, dancer, or creative performer? WCCBS needs you! Our children are an enthusiastic and appreciative audience, and we would love to share your talents with them as we learn about music. Grandparents, family friends, and community members are welcome too! If you have a talent you would like to share, please e-mail
peihua.wang@wellingtoncollege.cn or
sarah.peel@wellingtoncollege.cn to discuss how we may be able to include you in our upcoming activities.
