Dear parents

Mastery is hard to achieve. Genuinely profound excellence in sport, music or skill is rare, yet we all aspire to it. Anyone can dream of an Olympic gold medal or performing as a piano virtuoso, but few of us will ever realise that ambition. If mastery, the preserve of the elite, is, therefore, unattainable to the overwhelming majority of the population, why are we so obsessed with it?

Nike, the sports' clothing retailer, is well known for its hyperbolic messages on its clothing, presumably with the view that such statements will inspire the wearer to ever-greater sporting triumphs. One such shirt boasted that "You can practice, practice, practice…you will never beat me". Even without the Americanism of the spelling, the message is surely a discouraging one for an opponent. That implication is that however much training – or 'practice' – an athlete undertakes, they will still be unable to defeat an opponent who has achieved mastery…or, more likely, one who has been able to afford that t-shirt. It is a dispiriting message. We may aspire to mastery, but the hard truth is that it may never be enough, however much there is 'practice, practice, practice'.

There has, not surprisingly, been a great deal of research on the subject. In his book Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell caused controversy by claiming that an individual could attain expertise with 10,000 hours of practice. In his book, Gladwell argues that elite musicians, such as concert violinists or members of The Beatles, all benefitted from more than 10,000 hours of practice whilst still young. Bill Gates, it was claimed, made Microsoft great because he had spent 10,000 hours coding in his youth. Gladwell's approach struck a chord with many people, perhaps because he identified such a memorable number. His argument seemed to give weight to the view that people could achieve mastery given sufficient hard work and training. Although Gladwell's approach was not as simplistic as I have outlined (he recognised a range of other external factors in this process), what stood out was this bold claim about the importance of long hours of practice.

At this point, Gladwell's work, and that of others researching the acquisition of elite skills, becomes interesting for schools. Few children can commit 10,000 hours to a single thing in their education, although many spend vast amounts of time improving their academic understanding, musical skill, or athletic prowess. Children can and should understand that hard work helps them to make progress. We use Effort Grades to help encourage them to monitor this part of their learning, and it is no surprise to see that those who score highest on the effort front are (almost universally) the ones who achieve the best grades or progress in music, sport and other skills. Effort is a good yardstick for pupils as it can be assessed without reference to inherent ability: anyone can try hard irrespective of specific aptitude.

It may be tempting to see this as an affirmation of Gladwell's claim. It is not. Gladwell's 10,000 hours was a deliberately provocative claim designed to promote debate and sell books. One key lies in the nature of the practice needed to achieve mastery. Mastery lies not in endless, aimless effort expended in the hope of becoming an expert. The research shows that it is the quality of the practice that matters, not its sheer quantity. Expecting a child to become brilliant at maths by simply making them do endless questions is not the way to helping them achieve their goal. Deliberate, focused practice, with the guidance of an expert coach or teacher, is a far more productive use of time than aimless repetition. Seeking out teachers' advice, developing a coherent and long-term programme and then building in reviews of specific skills are all part of a route to mastery. The flipped classroom, the way in which pupils do much of the preparatory work for a lesson in advance and then use the time with their teachers to explore ideas and higher-order thinking tasks, can be an invaluable way of fostering more deliberate practice. 

In itself, even this structured approach to the 'practice' espoused by Gladwell will not guarantee mastery in 10,000 hours, though. Many elite performers reach mastery in a far shorter time; others take much longer than 10,000 hours. There is no set period, nor is there any guarantee that we can all attain this level. "The view that essentially anyone can do essentially anything is not scientifically defensible", argues Professor David Lubinski of Vanderbilt University. The roles played by genetics, innate ability, starting age (the younger, the better, you may not be surprised to discover), environment and, crucially, levels of intrinsic motivation are all central to achieving mastery.

If this seems a depressing point to end on, perhaps this is the point to take away from the all-too-frequent pursuit of a lost cause in mastery. Proficiency, a level of competence and skill that ensures we can lead rich, full lives, is far easier to attain and does not involve the same level of intensely focused hours of practice. It might, in other words, actually be time to embrace the concept of being a jack of all trades and settle for being a master of none.

Best wishes

Julian Jeffrey
Executive Master

Due to the recent COVID outbreak in China, according to the government policy which we published at the beginning of the school year, we would like to remind all parents for the consistent school entrance policy especially the first entrance after term break as below. Many thanks for your cooperation in reading the information carefully so that we can all make sure of the safety of the campus.

• Both Green Health Code and Travel Code will be checked at the gate on the first day of school and every Monday. If a pupil's travel code indicates that he/she has travelled to a city with a medium to high-risk area, please provide, on entry to the school, a negative nucleic acid report valid within 48 hours of the start of the school year.

• Daily temperature reporting - morning and noon for non-boarders and additional evening check for boarders

• All people entering and exiting the campus need to wear a mask. All bus pupils and staff need to wear a mask on the bus.

Lunchtime Concert
Black Box
1325hrs – 1355hrs, Friday
12th November

Following the success of the lunchtime concert in September, the second lunchtime concert of the lunchtime concert series will be held at 1325hrs on Friday 12th November in the Black Box.

This year the Music Department aims to scout for more young talents in the Junior School and encourage them to participate in whole school music events. Therefore, the concert will open with a performance from a Junior School musician from the preliminary round of the Junior School Recital Competition.

Apart from featuring young talent in the Junior School, established student musicians in the Senior School will also participate in a diverse programme. Stephan will perform Gefrorne Tränen from Winterreise by Schubert. Kelly and Amy (year 11) will play Mazas Violin Duet No. 1, Op. 38. Jia Jia (year 7), who joined the school this year, will play Nos. 1-7 from Papillons, Op.2 by Schumann. Nicole (year 13) will sing Make You Feel My Love, written by Bob Dylan. This song has since been covered by numerous performers and has proved to be a commercial success for singers such as Billy Joel, Kelly Clarkson and Adele.

Parents who would like to come in for this concert, please contact Ms Stella Sun at stella.sun@wellingtoncollege.cn.

Maths Competitions

Two Mathematics competitions are happening this week; the first is the UK Mathematics Trust Senior Challenge. This will take place on 10th November and is open to any students in year 11 or above. The school covers entries, and there are limited spaces still available. If your child wishes to take part, please sign up with Mr Williams.

The second competition is the American Mathematics Competition in association with ASDAN. This will take place on both 11th November and 17th November, and sign up is on the ASDAN site; closing time for this is 3rd November. This competition is split into two levels, AMC 10 for year 11 and below and AMC 12 for year 13 and younger. Register at AMC 10: www.seedasdan.org/amc10    AMC 12: www.seedasdan.org/amc12  

Any further questions, please contact Mr Williams.

Each week we will have workshops and lectures on various and colourful topics held by our school parents and friends. This is to enhance our bonds as a Wellington Community, and we would love to welcome all of you to join us!

*NEW FOW COURSE*
FROM MRS Zhou – FOW Japanese
FOW Room
0935hrs – 1035hrs 
Every Tuesday of Week B

Hi, I am very happy to organise the FOW Japanese course for wellington community. In additional to being the parent of a year 10 pupil here, I've been engaged in the trade with Japan for 25 years and I majored in Japanese language. Our FOW Japanese course is aiming to start at the beginner level. Come and join in me please. I am looking forward to explore the Japanese culture together with you!

If you need any further information, please contact Mrs Zhou via wechat account 18622230282