The Week Ahead 18 June 2021

Dear parents

As we move into the last full week of the academic year, creativity dominates the calendar. With its online drama workshops from the Globe Theatre in London and thrilling production of Twelfth Night, Shakespeare Week is already a familiar feature in the school calendar. Our musicians take centre stage on Friday with the last major performance of the year in our much-loved Summer Concert. Be prepared for some quite extraordinary solo and ensemble pieces. There is also our Summer Exhibition, an initiative from the art department that features pupils' work from across the Senior School. Year 7 work thus shares an exhibition space with art from years 12 and 13, gaining greater recognition for the imaginative and skilled work going on in every year group.

Our Shakespeare week follows hard on the heels of a marvellous Chinese drama ASA's adaptation of Cao Yu's modern masterpiece, Thunderstorm. The storyline mirrors many of the great Shakespearean tragedies and those timeless classics from ancient Greek literature. Even for a non-Chinese speaker, the gripping plot and the growing sense of doom surrounding the Zhou family are apparent. For those of you who were lucky enough to see the show, I am sure the quality of the performances will live long in the memory. Twelfth Night, by contrast, is a Shakespearean comedy, but it also allows our pupils a chance to explore their creative energies. Freed from the conventions of the classroom, the theatre becomes a space for young people to explore their ideas, to reflect on their ways of expressing themselves and – literally – place themselves in the minds of others. Productions such as these, as well as earlier shows like Grease and Under the Roofs of Shanghai, provide an outlet for a child's creativity. The extrovert and the introvert, the academic high-achiever, and the all-rounder all perform as equals, each one capable of drawing on their instinct and imagination to craft moving, inspirational performances. 

I have written many times before about the joy of being on stage. Teamwork, self-discipline, resilience, and time management are just some of the benefits of performing, whether in drama shows or concerts. Perhaps creativity is an often-overlooked part of this learning process. Still, as our pupils are exposed to more and more ways of thinking creatively, it helps push them into new ways of seeing themselves, improves their communication skills and challenges them to move beyond their comfort zones and into new territory for personal development.           

Best wishes

Julian Jeffrey
MASTER

Duke of Wellington Room (MB109)
1400hrs-1500hrs, Thursday
24th June

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 e-mail with Ms Emma Shi (emma.shi@wellingtoncollege.cn) by Wednesday, 23rd June.

Arrangements for the final week (28th-30th June)

The ASA programme for this academic year will finish on 25th June, which means that no ASAs will be organized in the final week of this term. The school days on Monday 28th June and Tuesday 29th June will finish at 1600hrs, and the buses will leave campus at 1605hrs.

On the final day of the academic year, 30th June, the school day finishes at 1130hrs. Buses will leave at that time too. No lunch will be provided on the day.

During the final day of the year, pupils will have a chance to clear their lockers and collect all of their belongings.

Parent Event: Successful Parenting as a Father
Old Common Room (MB214)
1500hrs-1700hrs, Tuesday
22nd June

For a child, a father can be a caring friend, or a mentor with experience in life. To celebrate Fathers’ Day, we have planned a fathers-themed salon this month as we have received very positive feedback from the Mothers’ sharing session last month. We have invited two fathers, one is the father of our year 13 graduate Leo who just received an offer from Cambridge and is about to embrace a new chapter of life abroad; the other father is our Second Master Mr. Raja Ali, a father of three children. His eldest son graduated from Wellington last year and the younger ones are currently in year 12 and year 6.

All fathers are warmly welcome to attend this meaningful event. Please come and share your thoughts, confusions, experiences and explorations as a parent and as a father. Mothers are also welcome. Please contact: victoria.han@wellingtoncollege.cn for registration. Please include your child's name, year group and the questions you would like to raise in your registration email.

Shakespeare Week
21st-25th June

This year, Shakespeare Week is even bigger and better than ever before. We will be streaming live from the Globe Theatre, London - a first for Wellington and China. Pupils will receive a grand tour of the theatre itself, and they will be able to imagine for themselves what it was like to be on the stage or in the audience.

Actors from the company will then deliver storytelling sessions to our younger pupils in years 3-5, and the older pupils will participate in workshops. Pupils will also engage with texts studied at IGCSE and A Level and, for those who do not study English Literature, the week represents a great way to practise their oracy skills.

Shakespeare production – 'Twelfth Night'
Theatre
1800hrs-1930hrs, Tuesday
22nd June

Please come and watch our talented pupils perform the famous Shakespearean comedy Twelfth Night as part of Shakespeare Week. There is a total of 54 pupils from years 7 to 13 in the cast and production team!

The performance will begin at 1800hrs and will be finished by 1930hrs. The show is free to watch, and parents can enter the school with their parent ID card and green code. Names of external visitors should have already been passed onto Ms Chapman at louise.chapman@wellingtoncollege.cn. Thank you for your support with our production!

Art Summer Exhibition
22nd-28th June

Due to the Science Fair taking place in the Black Box foyer on Friday 18th June, the summer exhibition opening has been postponed to Tuesday 22nd June. Apologies for any inconvenience caused, and the Art department look forward to welcoming you next week.

Summer Concert
Theatre
1800hrs, Friday
25th June

The pupils across different Key Stages will reunite under the stars on our campus for our first summer concert in over two years. This concert is a necessary and much-anticipated event to round off the school year for our pupils, and I am sure the audience will enjoy it just as much. Parents who would like to come to the concert will need to bring the school parent ID card and show the health code at the school gate.

Readers of the week

The English and ELA department is delighted to announce that this week's Readers of the Week are:

Quinee and Sarah in year 7, nominated by Ms Shen for reading 'Go Home' and 'At the Park' from the Rocky and Daisy Collection, along with making a colourful poster for summary (Quinee) and reading 'Mermaid Princess' as well as making a lovely poster (Sarah).

Huge congratulations to Quinee and Sarah– what impressive achievements!