The Week Ahead 22 November 2019

From the Master
来自校长
마스터

Dear parents

I met with a parent recently who, after almost four years in Tianjin, is relocating to her home country as a result of her husband’s recent promotion. I am always keen to hear from parents about their experiences of Wellington – what they have liked, what they feel we could do better and what memories their child will take away from their time with us. “Mr Jeffrey,” she said, “when we arrived in Tianjin, we chose Wellington because we wanted the rigour of a British-style education. We felt our son would really benefit from the focus on English language and the high expectations of his teachers.” Obviously, I was pleased to hear such positive reasons for choosing the school, but what she said next really thrilled me. “But now we are leaving,” she said, “perhaps the thing I notice most is how he has changed as a creative individual.”

Developing creativity is perhaps not the first thing that parents think of when choosing a school for their child. Most rightly value the quality of education on offer; the results in public examinations; university destinations; and a school’s ability to keep their child safe and settled. However, her comments struck a chord with me because I have increasingly come to see the development of creativity, and creative thinking, as a crucial part of the education any good school should offer.

Norman Lebrecht is a leading contemporary writer on classical music in Britain, and I was inspired to look further into the subject of creativity after I heard his lecture at the Wellington College Shanghai Festival of Education in 2017. Lebrecht’s main focus was an impassioned plea for the protection of music education in schools, but it was his conviction that music education bred creativity and that creativity in turn fostered wider benefits for learners, which has remained with me over time.

Of course, Wellington is a champion for creativity, from art and design courses, to music, dance and drama. Pupils have recently enjoyed a week of drama in the Junior School, and children from across the school will soon be participating in a huge range of musical events in the lead up to Christmas. The new art galleries and design corridor in the main school building offer a glimpse of the exceptional work produced by those departments. The annual school musical and the seasonal concerts, not to mention projects such as the recent Carmina Burana and last summer’s Macbeth, all highlight the strong emphasis on creativity across the school.

Parents will be familiar with all of these and more in our school, but one area in which I find some parents still need convincing is in the wider benefits of creativity in learning. It is not simply a case of producing artistic or musical graduates, although that is a formidable strength in our community. A creative mind is far more adaptable, more reflective and better able to cope with complex problem-solving than a mind conditioned to respond in uniform, predictable ways. An IBM survey of global CEOs in 2010 found that, “successfully navigating an increasing complex world will require creativity…CEOs are confronted with massive shifts – new government regulations, changes in global economic power centres, accelerated industry transformation, growing volumes of data, rapidly evolving customer preferences – that, according to the study, can be overcome by instilling “creativity” throughout an organization.”[1]

In this way, it is clear that an emphasis on fostering a creative mind is entirely consistent with our broader goal of making pupils ready for life beyond Wellington. Creative thinkers have been shown to have greater levels of intrinsic motivation - a joy in learning not tied to results – and to be ‘infectious’ creatives, by encouraging a similar mindset in others. So if you are one of those parents who chose the school for our British values and academic ambitions, you will be delighted to learn that, not only will your child thrive in the classroom, but our determination to instil creativity will also make them more employable, more engaged with their education and better able to think independently.

Best wishes

Julian Jeffrey

MASTER

[1] https://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/31670.wss

MEET THE MASTER

Duke of York’s Room

1400hrs-1500hrs, Thursday

28th November

This week’s Meet the Master slot is open to parents of pupils in Years 7 to 11. If you would like to attend, please confirm via email with Ms Emma Shi

(emma.shi@wellingtoncollege.cn) by Wednesday 27th November.

FROM THE FINANCE DEPARTMENT

Tuition E-invoice

The tuition billing for the Lent term 2020 was sent out over the last weekend (16th/17th November). The deadline for payment is 18th December 2019; please kindly check your email inbox accordingly. If there are any problems with receiving the emails, please contact the Finance office by calling 022-8758 7199 (ext. 8002).

Starting from the Lent term, parents can request electronic invoices on their own. When the payment is confirmed by the Finance Department, parents will receive a QR code email from school to issue the E-invoices. The QR code email is normally sent one week after tuition fee has arrived in school accounts. By selecting the payment transactions and invoice receipt email address, the electronic invoices will be sent automatically. The user guideline will be sent to parents through iSAMS.

FROM THE UNIVERSITY GUIDANCE TEAM

Year 11 and Year 12 Parents’ Evening: Higher Education choices in the UK and Uni-Frog

Common Room

November 28th, Thursday

1730hrs – 1830hrs

We will be hosting a parents’ evening for our UK applicants. Pupils and parents from Years 11 (both streams) and 12 are all welcomed. We will talk about the UK universities’ application process, university choices and the popular subject areas. There will be a Q&A session after the meeting, so please bring any questions if you have.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Monday 25 November 2019

All Day

Week 14 (B)

8:45AM - 10:00AM

FOW: French class (LL) (MB 125)

11:00AM - 12:00PM

Senior School assembly (JMS) (Theatre)

4:00PM

ISCOT League HS Boys and Girls Basketball vs IST (a) (RG)

Tuesday 26 November 2019

8:45AM - 10:00AM

FOW: Pilates (LL) (Black Box)

10:15AM - 11:15AM

FOW: Mandarin class (LL) (MB 113)

1:00PM - 2:00PM

FOW: How to use Chinese daily life apps (LL) (MB 113)

4:00PM

ISCOT League MS Boys and Girls Volleyball vs IST (a)

Wednesday 27 November 2019

8:45AM - 10:00AM

FOW: Yoga class (LL) (Black Box)

2:00PM

ISCOT Tournament HS Basketball; Boys @ IST, Girls @ TIS (RG)

3:05PM - 3:45PM

Junior School assembly: Class 5B (RA) (Theatre)

Thursday 28 November 2019

8:30AM - 9:30AM

FOW: English class (advanced level) (LL) (MB 234)

9:00AM - 10:30AM

FOW: TCM class (LL)

9:30AM - 10:30AM

Nest Christmas Show (dress rehearsal) (DZ) (Theatre)

10:45AM - 12:00PM

FOW: Yoga class (LL) (Black Box)

2:00PM - 3:00PM

Meet the Master: Years 7-11 (ES) (Main Building)

5:30PM – 6:30PM

Parents’ Evening (Y11&12): Higher Education choices in the UK

Friday 29 November 2019

8:30AM - 11:00AM

FOW: Art class (LL)

8:45AM - 10:00AM

FOW: Pilates (LL) (Black Box)

10:30AM - 11:30AM

Nest Christmas Show (DZ) (Theatre)

1:10PM - 2:00PM

Master's Society (ES) (Duke of York)

3:45PM - 4:45PM

H&S Committee meeting (VW) (FOW room)

Saturday 30 November 2019

All Day

University of California: applications close (JMS)

9:00AM

Saturday Activity Programme (SAP) (EvK)