As our academic year draws to an end, we have much to celebrate and many happy memories. My first year at Wellington College International Hangzhou has certainly been one to remember. Every year in a school is eventful, but this year has been particularly full of surprises for everyone.

The Wellington pupils have yet again enjoyed another fabulous year. They have excelled in so many areas that it is impossible to list them all. I have attended many events and listened in awe to the teachers describing the pupil’s talents on a daily basis. These achievements have been in academic studies, sports, music and the arts just to name a few. Last week, parents received their yearbooks, throughout which are find pages full of reminders of the amazing learning that happens here on a daily basis.

It has also been so heart-warming to see just what an important part the Wellington Values play in the day-to-day education of the pupils. I adore the daily visits I have from pupils telling me about the house points they have won; they are always so proud of themselves and so they should be. I am so honoured to be the Principal at Wellington College International Hangzhou: the pupils keep me laughing and I am grateful for the joy, astute insights and amazing talents that each and every pupil has.

Our pupils have had an amazing educational experience this year at Wellington due to the constant hard work, skills and dedication of our teaching staff. I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to them, and a huge well done to an incredible group of professionals.

Finally, I would like to thank our parents, Friends of Wellington, and community members for their continued support throughout the whole year. We are very lucky to have such a caring, kind and thoughtful parent community at Wellington College International Hangzhou.

Of course, community is so important in the success of a school, as parent, teachers, staff and pupils work in partnership to provide a vibrant, fulfilling experience for the children in our care. In that theme, let us look back on some of the amazing community events that occurred throughout this academic year.

Welcome Back BBQ

It was a beautiful, sunny day to hold a fantastic Welcome Back BBQ at Wellington College International Hangzhou on Saturday 24 August, 2019. The Wellington community gathered together to catch up with old friends and make new ones while enjoying delicious snacks, drinks, and cooling off from the heat in the water slides. Supported by the Friends of Wellington, our event fostered the continued growth of a close-knit, joyful community spirit as our parents, teachers, staff, and children laughed over their stories of the summer. What a great way to start a new school year!

Wellington Mixer

The inaugural Wellington Mixer held on November 1st, 2019 provided a fantastic occasion for all members of the extended Wellington community to come together in a social environment. Attendees included staff and parents from Wellington, as well members of the Hangzhou community with ties to Wellington. Held at the Grand Hyatt hotel on Westlake, the evening was a resounding success, with attendees calling for more Wellington Mixer events in the future.

Sports Day

On Monday November 4th, we held our annual Sports Day. We were lucky with the weather, with the sun shining all afternoon. The event started with the opening ceremony for all five houses. With eager anticipation of an exciting competition, the budding athletes paraded around the pitch as their parents cheered them on.

Throughout the afternoon the pupils in Years 1-8 participated in a variety of individual athletic events such as sprinting, distance throws and jumping. They finished by competing with their houses in team sports. The younger pupils showed an amazing performance in the sack and 3-legged races while the older pupils competed in the 4 x 100 relay and tug of war.

Teams were awarded points for the various events. Athletes earned points for their teams by finishing first, second or third in the events. Combermere were the victors with the highest total house performance points. Athletes were also awarded points for displaying Wellington’s Valiant Values. Wellesley proved to be the most valiant on the day!

Halloween Celebration

The corridors were decorated, the pumpkins were out, and the teachers were unrecognizable! The children had an amazing afternoon with lots of fun and many memories made. None of this could have been possible without the support of our FoW. Building a true learning community for everyone is something we truly believe in and have been successful in building here at Wellington College International Hangzhou.

Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremonies

Following the tradition started in 2018, in our second academic year Wellington pupils once again ventured across the city to perform a range of Christmas carols and festive songs, helping to ring in the festival season for 2019. The first stop was the Kerry Centre Hangzhou, where Wellington pupils took to the stage to spread Christmas cheer. Following their performance, the pupils distributed Wellington bears as Christmas gifts to members of the audience. The following day, pupils took their festive spirit to the Grand Hyatt, wowing the audience with their talent.

Christmas Play: Five Gold Rings

Rounding out 2019 in perfect fashion, on Thursday 12th December, Wellington pupils presented “5 Gold Rings,” their fabulous Christmas musical to their parents in the Grand Theatre. This fantastic production was made possible by three months of practices and rehearsals led by Mr. Perkinton. The atmosphere was electric, and the entire audience was captivated by the wonderful performance from the children. While most pupils were on stage, a select group of pupils opted to work from the theatre technician’s booth to run the lighting and sound. This was a great example of providing an education that caters for the needs of all pupils.

Chinese New Year

At Wellington College International Hangzhou, we don’t just celebrate having multicultural classrooms, but we also promote interculturalism. Interculturalism is so important to Wellington as it isn’t just about pupils learning alongside one another, but it is about ensuring pupils have a deep understanding and respect for all cultures. Being that we are all living, working and studying in China, it is hugely important that we place special importance on the celebration of Chinese culture, and no better time to do that than at Chinese New Year. This year we once again pulled together as a community to make our Chinese New Year celebrations a very special occasion for our pupils, as we welcomed in the Year of the Rat.

Our Incredible eLearning Journey

The first part of 2020 will be marked in the history books as the year a coronavirus named COVID-19 came to prominence. A virus that initially impacted China and our home city of Hangzhou, but also went on to cause issues on a global scale. The uniqueness of the situation caused immense pressures on countries, economies, and social interaction and because of this we have been reflecting over the past few weeks and how we, as a school, successfully faced and overcame the challenges.

eLearning became the new ‘norm’ for everyone: parents, pupils and teachers and we were so impressed with how the whole community embraced this change. It taught pupils how to work independently and to problem-solve effectively. Teachers had to find creative ways to model learning, manage the ‘learning environment’ and differentiate whilst teaching remotely. We were thrilled with how the whole school community embraced the online teaching and supported each other. We even hosted the first ‘digital’ Parent Teacher Conference allowing the pupils and parents to fully engage with their progress during eLearning.

Social interaction during this time was limited, particularly those in some form of quarantine. However, the resilience, humour and good grace shown throughout by our staff, parents and pupils was a testament to the strong core values and identities we stand for here at Wellington College International Hangzhou. And, whilst academic progress is a core aim for us, allowing the pupils to socially interact digitally via Teams was a delight to witness.

Finally, with great adversity comes an opportunity to reflect on what matters most and for us at Wellington College International Hangzhou. We want happy, safe and thriving pupils who look towards challenges with solutions rather than highlighting the problems. Throughout the time of COVID-19, we are proud of the work the pupils were able to achieve and as a community. We can see a closer bonds between everyone. Whilst eLearning was certainly a challenge, it was one we faced head on and led the world in delivering.

Children's Day

In the blink of an eye, another year has come and gone. Unlike last year, we were unable to hold our annual Summer Carnival due to COVID-19 and restrictions on large gatherings. Nevertheless, we still took advantage of the opportunity to share in the joy that comes as being a member of our caring and close-knit community while adhering to health and safety guidelines. On Monday 1st June, Wellington College International Hangzhou held a small-scale, yet fun and meaningful event to celebrate Children’s Day.

Year 6 Graduation

For the first time at Wellington College International Hangzhou, the Year 6 class celebrated their transition from primary to secondary school with a graduation ceremony. This was a delightful event where the pupils took part in writing letters of reflection regarding their time in primary school while also thinking about their ambitions and goals for their time in secondary school and beyond. Each pupil was then presented a graduation certificate in a special assembly with Years 4 and 5 to mark the end of their primary journey. The assembly then ended with the pupils taking part in singing ‘The best day of my life’ by American Authors, a song that deeply reflected how they were feeling about the transition period which was carefully prepared and practised with the help of Mr. Perkinton. To finish off the day, Year 6 celebrated with a class party to provide them a lasting memory of their time at Wellington College International Hangzhou. Overall, the event was fantastic, with the pupils performing brilliantly. They displayed determination, perseverance and a tremendous amount of effort.

If you would like to join the Wellington community, no matter whether you are planning on moving to Hangzhou or you are already living here, you can arrange an individual on-site visit by scanning the QR code below. Our Admissions team are on stand-by to host you for a personalised campus tour to help you discover what makes Wellington special.