Dear parents

You may recall this famous remark from a few years ago: "…as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we now know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we do not know we don't know." This was, of course, Donald Rumsfeld's answer to a question about the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq in 2002. Rumsfeld's response was widely derided at the time but, whilst he may have been trying to be evasive in a press conference, the comment is not as nonsensical as it may seem. It raises the issue of ignorance – the state of not knowing something – and how far people who are ignorant of something can be aware of how little they know. It is, in effect, a study in 'meta-ignorance'.

I have enjoyed reading some of the research done into the field of human ignorance or incompetence, largely because, like everyone, there are limitless topics of which I am wholly ignorant and many, many things in which I am serially incompetent. Perhaps the most famous recent study of human ignorance and its impact on behaviour identified what is known as the Dunning-Kruger Effect (1999). This study argues that people regularly overestimate their intelligence and ability in a given field: in one experiment, for example, Dunning and Kruger asked their 65 participants to rate how funny different jokes were. Some of the participants were exceptionally poor at determining what other people would find funny - yet these same subjects described themselves as excellent judges of humour. Furthermore, the more ignorant or incompetent people are, the more evident the Dunning-Kruger effect seems. This has a twofold impact. Not only are such people more likely to make mistakes, but their very ignorance also prevents them from knowing when they are making these mistakes and recognise when others are making better decisions.

Reading about psychological studies such as that done by Dunning and Kruger may be entertaining, but how does it impact your child at school? The importance lies in the fact that the implications of ignorance – Rumsfeld's "unknowns unknowns" - are far more profound than just laughing when a friend asserts silly or nonsensical things as truth. It would not be so amusing to conduct science experiments, for example, in an environment in which children did not feel the need to listen to instructions from their teacher. In the wider world, engineers and architects need to be sure that an unforeseen issue (an 'unknown', in other words) will not cause a disastrous accident. In ordinary circumstances, a COVID-19 vaccine programme would not have been rushed into effect across the world, with medical trials often lasting years before becoming available to the public, precisely to ascertain the likelihood of unexpected side effects – the unknowns of any drug trial.

The consequences of mistakes caused by ignorance or overconfidence in one's ability are thus potentially disastrous, so it is for such reasons that we try hard to foster critical thinking and independence in our pupils. It is not something that will ever cure our young people of ignorance; after all, even experts make mistakes based upon ignorance and false assumptions. The Kruger-Dunning Effect highlights the impossibility of assessing our own level of ignorance – put simply, we do not have the cognitive ability to measure what we do not know. In such a context, activities like group work and peer review tasks are vital. It may not be possible to identify your own limitations, but it is not hard to spot them in others. In this way, by working collaboratively, reflecting on their work, and challenging assumptions in critical but positive ways helps to embed wider understanding and deeper learning. For reasons such as this, Wellington encourages its pupils to be proactive and engaged in their learning. Thinking critically and independently can foster a level of metacognition that recognises the extent and the limits of a child's understanding. Thus, whilst never achieving the impossible and eradicating ignorance and incompetence, having the ability to be aware of one's limitations may become one of the great life skills of every Wellingtonian. In this way, the real impact of studies such as that of Dunning and Kruger is not to highlight the foolishness of others but to raise awareness of our capacity to think.

Best wishes

Julian Jeffrey
MASTER

Nest Easter Egg Hunt
Friday, 26th March

We will wrap up the term with our much-awaited Easter in the Nest on Friday, 26th March, and the highlights will be the egg hunt and a visit from the Easter Bunny. There are also many exciting activities for the children to engage in, including making Easter crafts – paper bunnies and chicks, Easter eggs decoration, making Easter cookies. Children can come in their favourite spring dress to celebrate. In addition, the Nest Assembly scheduled for next Friday is postponed to 16th April as the theatre stage is unavailable at present.

Story telling Week
Years 4 to 8
22nd-26th March

As part of our Year of the Spoken Word, during the week 22nd to 26th March, the English department will be hosting a storytelling week in the library. Clive Pig, a very well-known British author and storyteller, will be leading sessions with all pupils from years 4 to 8. Clive will be live on screen from England. The pupils will gain confidence in using their voice and physical gestures to engage with an audience effectively. They will also practise how to create a great story. The schedule is published in the diary section below.

Book Fair
Wellington Arch (outside of the Uniform Shop and V&A)
0830hrs-1630hrs, Thursday and Friday
25th and 26th March

I am delighted to announce that we will host the annual Book Fair on 25th and 26th March. We have invited two foreign language bookstores from Beijing, and they will offer a wide range of books for children and adults in both English and Chinese and other languages.

Although electronic resources are more convenient and accessible today, they do not allow us to touch the actual books. I believe that nothing is more exciting than when pupils feel the cover, read the first few pages (or pictures maybe), and flick through it to decide whether they would like to read the rest of the book. The Book Fair is not just about selling books; this regular event is also a critical part of our library programme to encourage pupils to fall in love with reading. More importantly, having a Book Fair provides all the guests with the opportunities to talk to the booksellers, different teachers, parents, and pupils about other authors and genres that we may never have explored before.

We encourage parents to attend the Book Fair along with their children, so they can browse, choose and read the books together as a family.

University Application Sessions

The university guidance team will be running three university application sessions during lunchtimes next week. The purpose of these sessions is to give our pupils a flavour of studying abroad and preparing for the future. Former Wellingtonians will deliver the sessions. All year 9 pupils and above are welcome to join. Year 12 pupils are highly recommended to join these sessions!

Please find the following schedule for the university application sessions:

The sessions will start at 1325hrs in the Sixth Form Seminar Room.

World Water Day
22nd March

To raise awareness of the shortage of water on earth, the Science department has organised various activities across the school, including projects in the Junior School, and competitions and challenges in the Senior School. Also, it will be 'wearing blue' day on Monday; each pupil is encouraged to wear a piece of blue and donate 10RMB for the charity.

MP2 Exit Point

Next week, MP2 will celebrate the end of our They Made a Difference IPC module with Exit Points in each class. We would like to invite parents to join us at the following times:

Y4 Golden Tickets – 0830hrs on Thursday
Y4 Giants – 0930hrs on Thursday
Y3 Lions – 1400hrs on Thursday
Y3 Unicorns – 1100hrs on Friday

Each Exit Point will last no longer than one hour. Please notify your child's teacher by Teams or TChat if you would like to come. You will be collected from the security entrance at the appropriate time.

Readers of the week

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

Masa in year 9, who Ms Chapman nominated for demonstrating her continued commitment to reading by writing a book review of the novel 'Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane'

Chloe in year 7, was nominated by Ms Chapman for reading 'Matilda' and writing a book review.

Ms Xu nominated Adam, Xina and Richard in year 10 for their continuous effort in their independent reading journey.

Congratulations to Masa, Chloe, Adam, Xina and Richard – what impressive achievements!