The Week Ahead 12 October 2018

Dear Parents It is coming up to the time in the year when the appraisal of our teaching staff is completed. The process of providing feedback and assessment for our staff at Wellington is a year-long one. Individuals complete their target-setting each November, and then a series of regular review meetings are built into our calendar over the next 10 months to ensure that colleagues have the chance to develop their professional practice and hone their skills. The final stage of the appraisal process, a 1-1 meeting with me or one of my senior team, gives time for all colleagues to reflect on their work and identify areas for development across the coming year. Appraisal is an important way we at Wellington seek to foster the very best performance from our teachers, but it is far from the only way. The more eagle-eyed among you may have noticed that each week the Term Diary announces a CPD session on Wednesday afternoons. These are regular sessions for staff training – CPD stands for Continuing Professional Development – during which, time is given to teachers to work on shared goals for the school’s development of teaching and learning. At present, for example, we have research groups working on strengthening the differentiation we offer at all levels of the school; other teachers are contributing to an enhanced English language provision for pupils new to the school and for those in key year groups. Independence in learning, an important initiative shared with our sister school in the UK, is another area of focus, with teachers working hard to develop resources and teaching methodologies to best support our pupils as they grow more self-reliant in their learning over time. These internal research topics have proved to be some of the most powerful and effective ways to develop our staff, however experienced they may be, but of course our membership of the Wellington group of schools allows us enviable access to external provision of training as well. This term alone, teachers in Tianjin will have had the chance to work on assessment and moderation practices with the Early Years’ network across China, peer-to-peer coaching courses led by senior teachers from Wellington College in the UK and collaborated on a research methods’ programme delivered by Wellington’s own Institute of Learning, based in Shanghai. We are also offering four colleagues the chance to train as teachers through qualifications offered by the University of Durham.  The results of these long-term projects in pedagogy will filter down to all age groups and help to benefit generations of current and future Wellingtonians. I have spoken often of my restless pursuit of excellence for the school, both inside and outside the classroom, and the commitment to recruiting and training the best international teachers remains a central part of the school’s pursuit of that goal. In this way, our appraisal process and the weekly CPD sessions each help to develop an internal culture intolerant of stagnation or complacency, working tirelessly to provide the best educational experience for your children. Best wishes Julian Jeffrey MASTER MEET THE MASTER  Duke of York Room 1400hrs-1515hrs Thursday 18th October This week, the Meet the Master slot is aimed at parents of pupils in Years 2 to 6. If you would like to meet with Mr Ali, Mrs Popovic and Mr Lewis, please confirm via email with Ms. Emma Shi (emma.shi@wellingtoncollege.cn)  by Wednesday 17th October. FROM THE DEPUTY HEAD Chinese Debating Competition Saturday 20th October The annual Chinese Debating Competition for International schools will be held on 20th October in Beijing. Pupils from Year 11 Induction year will represent our school in this grand competition. Students will be practising debating techniques during ASA time, led by Ms Melody Yuan, who is a professional debate trainer. Last year we recieved a prize for Excellent teamwork. We hope our pupils will be back with more great results this time! PARENTS’ BRIEFING: ASSESSMENT AND REPORTING AT WELLINGTON  Common Room/Theatre/N106 0900hrs-1015hrs Wednesday 17th October Every Wednesday morning from 0900-1030hrs, parents will have the chance to engage with the school in sessions that cover all aspects of your child’s education, from the Early Years to A Levels and university admissions. The venue will vary according to the anticipated audience, and for next week’s meeting, parents will have an important briefing on Assessment and Reporting from Mrs Dragana Popovic, the Head of Senior School and Mr Raja Ali, the Head of Junior School, and Mrs Dionne Zantua, the Head of Early Years. Please notice that the Senior School Briefing is in the Common Room, the Junior School Briefing is in the Theatre and parents from Eaglets to Year 1 will have the briefing in N106 (playroom). FROM THE UNIVERSITY GUIDANCE OFFICE UNIVERSITY VISIT   University of Rochester (USA) Theatre 1500hrs-1600hrs Tuesday 16th October On Tuesday16th October we are happy to welcome back Mr Isthier Chaudury from the university of Rochester in the USA. He will be presenting in the Theatre at 1500hrs and parents are very welcome to attend what promises to be an insightful and engaging talk. The university of Rochester is ranked 51st (THE) overall in the US and in 2017 was ranked 18th (QS) worldwide for performing arts. US News and World Report 2019 ranked the university as 44th in U.S. business schools and Shanghai Rankings placed them in the 51-75st range in the world for medicine.   City University of Hong Kong Theatre 1600hrs-1700hrs Tuesday 16th October Immediately after the Rochester visit, there will be a visit from City University of Hong Kong at 1600hrs in the Theatre. All pupils in Years 10-13 will be attending and parents of pupils in all year groups are, of course, most welcome. CityU is now 55th among universities worldwide in the QS rankings. The university offers over 50 undergraduate degree programmes through its constituent colleges and schools. It also offers dual degree programmes with world-renowned universities such as Columbia University. FROM THE HEAD OF SIXTH FORM WellingTEN Theatre 1505hrs-1545hrs Monday 15th October On Monday 15th October at 1505hrs in the Theatre, we will have 3 ten-minute talks by some of our very talented pupils in the Senior School. These talks are like TED talks and are aimed at preparing our pupils in the art of public speaking. This is a great opportunity for our pupils to showcase their talents and get them ready for university life and beyond. The theme is ‘beauty’ and they will all be talking about something related to this topic. Parents are very welcome to come along and support. FROM MS PAINE KEY STAGE THREE COORDINATOR Year 7: Take Your Father to School Day Friday 19th October The Senior School is delighted to once again invite the fathers of our Year 7 pupils to join us for the day on Friday 19th October. Please remember to check your timetables the night before, dads! Pack your calculator, art supplies and your PE kits (if necessary) as we expect all fathers to join in the lessons as well as prep time. After the success of last year’s event, fathers will be invited to join me, the KS3 Coordinator, in the Common Room during Period 5 for coffee and a chance to ask any questions they may have about our curriculum. I sincerely hope to see as many of our Year 7 fathers as possible; please ensure you have returned your reply slip to Ms Emma Paine by Monday 15th October.