The Master’s Visit and so much more!
This week has been one of amazing collaboration and celebration. On Sunday we were delighted to welcome Sue Carpenter, Principal of Dubai British Foundation to Wellington College Bilingual Shanghai. Sue is an early years’ practitioner with a wealth of experience in leadership, education, language acquisition and curriculum development. Currently Sue’s setting in Dubai presents learning opportunities to pupils through a curriculum with a particular emphasis on music and singing. One of the key messages from Sue related to recent research findings from Edinburgh University identifying singing as the key to more successful learning of a foreign language. It certainly provides food for thought when we design the curriculum.
To maximise collaboration, all three Wellington China early years’ teams attended (Tianjin International, Shanghai International and Shanghai Bilingual) presenting a multitude of opportunities for professional learning; brainstorming, sharing, reflecting, planning and open dialogue on language acquisition in the early years.
We were grateful to Sue for hosting a session with the Wellington Bilingual parents, providing a forum for discussion around the early years of a child’s life and the challenges that they may bring. From this session, we were able to identify that our parents hold a desire for more opportunities for discussion and we are going to be hosting fortnightly coffee mornings where we will discuss a host of topics covering parenting, education, development, language, Wellington College initiatives and life!
On Monday we were proud to receive Julian Thomas, Master of Wellington College who visited the setting to meet with our founding parents, have a tour of the learning spaces and plant a gingko tree in the reception garden. The partnership between the UK and China is key to our success; and working in collaboration with seasoned professionals and educational thinkers and visionaries serves to strengthen the bond between East and West. Julian recently launched his vision for Wellington College and introduced the Wellington Identity, which resonates with everyone at the bilingual setting. Who wouldn’t wish for their child to be individual, intellectual, inclusive, independent and inspired? As a team of educators, we certainly wish this for every pupil at the bilingual setting and we rise to the challenge of making it happen, embracing the journey to be taken by each individual and unique Wellingtonian.
Upcoming dates for our Wellington pupils and families:
Tuesday 26th April: Peter Mallinson, Chair of the Board of Governors (Wellington College) will be
unveiling a plaque in the snug area of the library to commemorate his visit to Shanghai. Peter, an old Wellingtonian
(OW) would be delighted to meet our founding Wellington parents and will be available before pick up from 15:45. I
hope to see many of you to help mark this wonderful occasion.
Thursday 28th April: Pyjama Day at Wellington College Bilingual Shanghai. The children are invited to
come in to the setting in their favourite pyjamas – more information to follow in the Wellington Weekly next week.
We’re over at the Time Out Shanghai Family DIY Day on Saturday 23rd April from 11:00 – 18:00 if you
would like to come on over and join in the fun. We will be holding sessions on the story of Brown Bear, where children
will be invited to come and listen to the story, sing songs, get creative and arty and help to put on a puppet show.
Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see? I see lots of family fun ahead of me!
Enjoy your weekend,
Vanessa Szucs-Hussain
