The Week Ahead 16 March 2017

Dear Parents,

I was delighted to congratulate the School on Monday on the very positive feedback we received from the Wellington College Annual Review Team, who are external inspectors selected and commissioned each year by Wellington College to provide a detailed update on the performance of their Tianjin sister school. The Team members particularly asked me to pass on to our community their great appreciation of the welcome they received, and the friendly engagement they experienced, across all levels of the College. They also confirmed their initial impressions, reported to you last week, of the very positive atmosphere of our School, and the quality and warmth of our teacher-pupil relationships.

The Team examined the academic, pastoral and extra-curricular progress of the College in the following key ways:  analysis of data and documentation, lesson observations, and meetings with pupils, staff and parents.  The Team then reported to us in detail, with a focus on outcomes for pupils, in the following nine Areas of Review of the College’s performance:

1. Vision, mission and ethos
2. Academic and other achievements
3. Personal development, well-being and safety
4. Collaboration and integration (Wellington community)
5. Teaching and learning
6. Curriculum and assessment
7. Boarding Provision
8. Staff development and support
9. Leadership and management

The overall concluding findings of the Review Team indicate much encouraging progress since last year.  In summary, the Team described the College as a good school with a number of excellent features, and with no significant concerns.  This verdict echoes last term’s similar evaluation by the Council of International Schools (CIS).

The Team’s findings are a credit to our school community. At the same time, there are always ways in which we can and should improve in our provision for pupils, parents and staff. The Review recommendations include, for example, the ways in which we support pupil transitions as they progress through different year groups and phases of the College.  This is similar to a CIS finding, and is also identified in our School Development Plan, and thus becomes a focus for our work going forward.

I will share with you further the details of the Review Team’s findings and recommendations when we receive their full written Report in a few weeks’ time.  In the meantime, I pass on the Review Team’s congratulations, once again, to all pupils, staff and our wider Wellington community.  

With best wishes to all our Wellington families.

Michael Higgins,
Master