Wellington College in England was founded by Queen Victoria in 1859 as a national monument to one of Britain’s most renowned military figures, the Duke of Wellington, Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, a statesman and soldier who also served the country with distinction twice as Prime Minister. In 2009 Wellington College made the decision to participate in running schools overseas, spreading its century-old educational philosophy and spirit overseas. Today, the Wellington College Family has 10 schools in England, Thailand, and China.
As the Wellington family continues to grow, Wellington College in England is putting even more effort into ensuring that the quality of teaching and learning in each school in each country is maintained to the same high standards.Each year, Wellington UK arranges for a suitable team to visit each school to conduct a teaching and learning audit.
Last week we had Julia Sutcliffe from Wellington College in England join us to do the school’s Annual Review. She is the Head of Middle School there. The aim of the Annual Review is to confirm that our own leadership team’s observations are accurate. This will then help us form the next stage of the school’s development plan and continue the improvements that we have seen recently.
By completing these reviews annually, it maintains the strong relationship between Nantong and the UK school. After looking around our school, Julia Sutcliffe remarked that the Wellington vision and ethos were clear here in Nantong, which shows just how far we have come in such a short time. She also congratulated our school on celebrating its 100th teaching day. She hoped that everyone who joined the Hiba community would reap the benefits of their happiness and achievements here.
In addition to the annual review, on 14th March, the school’s governors also had a “Taster Day” and Board meeting on site. As an important advisory, guiding and deliberative part for the school, the governing body provides guidance in all areas of school development. The annual taster day allows them to experience the school rather than just reading about it.
Joy Qiao, the Founder and Chairman of Wellington College China, Julian Jeffrey, the Chief Executive Master, plus our three external governors joined us for an in-depth tour of the campus and inspection of all the facilities. They went into the classrooms and observed lessons from Nursery to Grade 7, and also had lunch with pupils from the Student Council to listen to their feedback and opinions.
In addition to pupils and teachers, parents are also important members of the Hiba community, and governors have had in-depth conversations with the FoH members and class representatives.
The governors’ Taster Day allowed the members to gain as much insight as possible into the actual running of the school, laying a firm foundation for future decisions. Governors gathered feedback and suggestions from pupils, teachers, parents and relevant staff to ensure that the school's decisions and actions are closely linked to its values and in line with its vision, while maintaining the high academic standards and rigour that have always characterised Wellington College China.
With the care and support from Wellington UK and our own governors in China, we are confident that we will be able to provide a quality bilingual education for our pupils and also give them the soft-skills needed to uphold the values of traditions befitting a Wellington College China education.
