The Week Ahead 20180323

This week, we welcomed some important visitors…….. What a busy month March has been; it is the month that I fear pushes the team to work longer hours, preparing for all events in the calendar. Life in early years rarely stands still, however when you throw parent meetings, planning meetings, budget setting exercises, resource planning meetings, pupil progress reporting, training sessions and bringing ideas to life in to the mix, it becomes almost akin to having a race with the bullet train to Beijing! March is the time when the team start to reconsider the outdoor spaces and the resources that can be placed outdoors without perishing from the effects of the Shanghai winter. The results are, as always, astonishing and as ever, I am humbled and proud to be working with a team whose dedication is apparent in every corner of the setting. The three garden spaces and two terraces now have even greater purpose and function which the children are already enjoying during the day. It does, however, take time to support the children to understand how to use everything appropriately and to ensure that they know where everything belongs. To this end, we ask that the outdoor spaces are not used after pick-up time until after the Qing Ming break. By that time, the children will be able to show you how it works and where it goes too!

   

Our annual review took place on Thursday. We welcomed the review team who visited the setting to consider the experience here at bilingual and review our vision, mission and ethos alongside standards in curriculum, teaching, learning and assessment; leadership and management; collaboration and academic achievement of the pupils. The review team also consider how we behave and operate as an employer and carefully consider staff development and support. The review team undertook observations, learning walks and met with parents from each year group and a representative group of the team. I would like to extend my gratitude to those parents who met with the reviewers, it is very much appreciated. All observations will feed in to a report which serves to highlight good practice and offer recommendations for improvement where required. The reviewers are seasoned educators and the review process and subsequent feedback offers an opportunity for growth and development throughout the setting, contributing to our evolution and continual quest for sustained excellence. This exercise also provides a chance to feed back to Wellington College in the UK that their esteemed reputation is in safe hands. I’ll be delighted to share the outcomes in the very near future – watch this space ?

   

The termly parent talk with the leadership team took place on Tuesday. Yuki and I provided an update on events at the setting before taking the parents on a tour of the outdoor learning spaces, so that we could show them the latest developments. Admittedly, it wasn’t the best day to be outdoors; however, the parents rose to the challenge, got involved (and a little rained on in the process) and had a good explore. We also visited the sensory room to see Oscar’s sensory project in operation. Oscar is one of our interns who has spent the last six months working on developing the sensory space to enhance the learning experience for the children. We encourage our interns to make their mark on the setting alongside supporting language acquisition of the children and this was a project that Oscar threw himself in to with the enthusiasm that you would expect of a Wellingtonian. Working in collaboration with Lorna, our designer extraordinaire, the space has been transformed to meet the needs of the children and promote learning through sensory experiences. The session ended with parents invited to ask questions, make comments and offer feedback on their child’s experience here at bilingual. It is important to us to have this direct link with the parent body and I’d like to extend our thanks to the parents for taking the time and effort during their day to stay and talk with us. Yuki and I look forward to seeing you again at the next session.

   

A little more on building resilience It is acknowledged that the single most common factor for children who develop resilience is at least one stable and committed relationship with a supportive parent, caregiver, or other adult. “These relationships provide the personalized responsiveness, scaffolding, and protection that buffer children from developmental disruption. They also build key capacities—such as the ability to plan, monitor, and regulate behavior—that enable children to respond adaptively to adversity and thrive. This combination of supportive relationships, adaptive skill-building, and positive experiences is the foundation of resilience”. https://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/resilience/ Parents are the first educators in a child’s life and we appreciate the importance of parental understanding in how best to support the growth and development of every child. It is equally important that extended family members and carers also understand what a child can do at every stage of their development. If we are to truly grow Wellingtonians that are resilient, we acknowledge that we cannot do this alone. What happens at the setting needs to be mirrored in the home. To support our Wellington College Bilingual Shanghai parents and families in helping their children to build resilience, we will be offering workshops to each year group. The sessions will be led by the class teachers and will take place on the following dates and times:

• EY4 Tuesday 10^th April 08:30 – 09:30
• EY3 Thursday 12^th April 08:30 – 09:30
• EY2 Wednesday 18^th April 08:30 – 09:30
• EY1 Thursday 19^th April 08:30 – 09:30

The sessions will start at 08:30 prompt and all interested family members are asked to register interest with Susan, as spaces are limited.

     

  Blossom and Bloom ‘The spring came suddenly bursting upon the world as a child bursts into a room, with a laugh and a shout and hands full of flowers’. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 

I love spring; it breathes life in to the world around us, igniting fireworks in the gentle colours of the first blossoms, buds and blooms. I have a magnolia tree in my garden, and watching it gently awaken and come to life mirrors the renewed energy and vigour of my soul and spirit. There’s no better place to spend a languid half hour drinking coffee on a Sunday morning. Life is better in the spring, I feel. Or at least, it seems better because the world is more colourful, it is prettier and it looks happier. Where was I? Oh yes, spring sprung in to life today with Blossom and Bloom day. Creative expression abound, the children and staff showed their floral and flowery side representing the season of new hopes, new beginnings and inevitable change.  

The uniform police are coming! From next week, a member of the leadership team will be checking the children’s uniform at drop off time. We have sent several reminders to families asking for their co-operation in ensuring that the children come to the setting appropriately attired in the Wellington uniform. We hope to support families in reiterating uniform requirements, so that in return they support our identity.