The Week Ahead 20th November 2020

Dear parents

It is a sobering reminder of the power of the coronavirus pandemic that our head nurse, Ms Candy Chang, has been required to issue a reminder of the key steps to staying safe during this special period. The school is committed to keeping safe our community of pupils, staff and families and thus, in line with best practice recommendations from the local health authorities, we continue to operate the school within the most stringent care. If you have any concerns or questions about the school’s health and safety procedures, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Pupils are busy learning and rehearsing the words, music and movements of their forthcoming Christmas shows. Despite the restrictions in place, our programme of events marking the forthcoming Christmas season remains on schedule, and with our history of enviable quality productions in the past, these too will be memorable occasions. I am sure parents and grandparents will enjoy the varied repertoire on offer this year amongst the Nest show, the Winter Show in the Junior School and the Christmas Concert.

The learning that occurs in the preparation and production of such pupil performances is often as profound as any in the classroom. As Mrs Meyers makes clear in her piece on Drama Week (below), children work collaboratively in rehearsals, learning from one another and understanding more about how the language of the body complements the spoken and written word. Music and drama also help young people to challenge themselves by overcoming nerves to perform in front of an audience. In this way, they learn more about themselves than any number of ‘conventional’ lessons.

I have written many times about the power and importance of the role played by the performing arts; they remain one of the central tenets of a Wellington education as we seek to fulfil our vision of creating graduates ready to face the ever-changing globe of the 21st Century. The world they will emerge into needs resilient, self-assured and competent communicators, fluent in all forms of communication, both verbal and non-verbal. Events such as Drama Week, and the Christmas shows which follow it, help pupils to learn more about themselves and the way they interact with others. I am sure that, when you as parents see the performances over the next few weeks, you will swell with pride at the sight of your child performing on stage. But at the same time, take a moment to reflect on how this experience will help them later in life: your child is not just there to entertain you, but to help you see how much they have developed a range of core life skills during the course of the rehearsals and performance.

Best wishes

Julian Jeffrey
MASTER

According to the updated requirement from the government, we will temporarily stop the salad bar service from next Monday 23rd November. We will keep you posted once we can resume the usage of the salad bar. Many thanks for your understanding.

In School Meeting
1400hrs-1500hrs, Thursday
26th November

This week’s Meet the Master and Bursar slot is open to parents of pupils in all year groups. If you would like to attend, please confirm via email with Ms Emma Shi (emma.shi@wellingtoncollege.cn) by Wednesday 25th November.

Senior school parent briefing: university applications for parents in years 7 to 9
Online Meeting
1730hrs, Thursday
26th November

There will be a parent briefing on university applications aimed at parents of pupils in years 7-9 on Thursday 26th November at 1730hrs. Please join us on Microsoft Teams using your son/daughter’s account. The briefing will be delivered in English and Chinese and if you have any questions that you would like to send in advance of the meeting (in either English or Chinese), please send them to luyi.feng@wellingtoncollege.cn. We would love to see as many of you as possible there.

Online University Fair

Due to travel restrictions this year, our University Fair will take on a different format. We are pleased to be offering a series of online presentations (three per week) from universities from all over the world. Over 200 universities from all over the world will be in attendance so this is a fantastic opportunity for our pupils to gain information first-hand.

Next week we will have three universities from the UK – Queen Mary University of London, SOAS University of London and UWE Bristol (University of the West of England). The presentations will take place in the Sixth Form Seminar room and pupils from years 10-13 are all welcome to attend. They will all start at 1320hrs, and early lunch is available. Pupils will need to contact a member of the university team if they wish to attend.

• Tuesday 24th November 1320hrs – Queen Mary University of London

• Wednesday 25th November 1320hrs – SOAS University of London

• Thursday 26th November 1320hrs – UWE Bristol (University of the West of England)

Junior School open morning

Online
0830hrs-1200hrs, Thursday
26th November

This open morning will take you on a virtual tour of the classrooms and cover a range of subjects for every year group. You will be able to see our teachers in action and our pupils engaged in a variety of activities. In this way, parents can gain a very personal insight into what happens every day in our Junior School classrooms. The links to the videos will be shared in the morning.

Junior School drama week
23rd-27th November

Drama is a valuable pedagogy for learning language as it combines the four key skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Junior School pupils will have opportunities to learn through drama during our Drama Week from the 23rd - 27th November. They will grow in confidence as they have the chance to read aloud and practise being actors, understanding and engaging with the written word. They will learn how to convey character and construct a performance, working together to make collective decisions and learn from the work of others.

We have a team of teachers from across the school who will lead drama sessions with our pupils during three prep-periods. Teachers will also use drama as the medium for learning in some of the Literacy and IPC lessons throughout the week.

On Friday afternoon, the Junior School will have a rehearsal of the Christmas Show to help them prepare and work towards a deadline for learning their lines, songs, dances, actions, poems and sketches. This will help pupils to develop characterization, polish their performance pieces and practise performing before an audience. The drama team will be looking for individuals to act as MCs to link the performance pieces together and to share the story of our Winter Show.

Readers of the week

The English department is delighted to announce that this week's reader of the week is:

Eric in year 7, who was nominated by Ms Shen for reading the novel ‘Vampire Killer’ and recording the reading with his mother.
Nakisha in year 8, who was nominated by Ms Xu as she is currently busy reading and writing book reviews for ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone’ and ‘Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief’.
Lucia and Monica in year 7 are nominated by Mr Furse for reading ‘Spy School’ over the break.

A huge congratulations to them - what an impressive achievement!

Christmas is just around the corner and it will soon be time to celebrate at our annual Charity Christmas Bazaar which will be held on Wednesday, 16th December 2020. If any parents would like to support by organising a stall or offering any other support for the event, please contact Ms Nina Lee at nina.lee@wellingtoncollege.cn.

Reminder: how to shop safely in the wet market during the pandemic

In the midst of the pandemic, please be reminded to do the following things to ensure your safety when shopping in a wet market.

1. Temperature checking. Take your temperature at the entrance to the market; only those with normal body temperature will be allowed to enter.

2. Personal protection. In low-risk areas, you should carry a mask with you and wear it when shopping in crowded stalls, especially where it is difficult to maintain a distance of at least one metre. Customers in medium and high-risk areas should wear masks at all times in the market. Gloves are recommended when selecting products. Payment by scanning a QR code is preferred.

3. Enhance personal hygiene. Avoid touching your mouth, eyes or nose with your hands, and cover your mouth and nose with tissues or elbow when sneezing or coughing. Minimize touching door handles, shelves, stalls and other public surfaces. Hand cleaning should be done promptly after leaving the market. If possible, carry a quick-drying hand sanitizer with you.

Advice is based on the Notice on the Issuance of the Technical Guidelines on the Prevention and Control of the COVID-19 in Agricultural Trade (Bazaar) Markets, No. 223 (2020) of the Integrated Prevention and Control Mechanism.

PARENT FIRST AID COURSE
Heartsaver ® First Aid CPR AED course

Wellington’s Academy Programme is offering an American Heart Association (AHA) Heartsaver® First Aid CPR AED course for parents and students. During a one-day training, the participants will learn more about the usage of CPR and AED to adults and children/infants. The training will also include basic first aid, how to act when one is choking and to deal with any opioid-associated life-threatening emergencies.

The training will be given by Wellington College Tianjin’s Head Nurse Candy Chang, who is a certified AHA instructor. As the student-teacher ratio will not exceed 1:6, all participants will fully benefit from the course. Soft drinks, lunch and fruit will be provided during the training. After the successful conclusion of the training, the participant will receive a Heartsaver® First Aid CPR AED course certificate, which is valid for two years.

Language: Chinese or English
Course time: 2020-11-28   / 2020-12-05
Incl.: Course material, an Official AHA course certificate, drinks/fruit and lunch
Costs and Sign Up: Please contact Eelco van Kuilenburg 186-2291-2362 or scan the QR code below