Wellington Today Wellington Today 2018 en | Page 39

MESSAGE FROM
JULIAN JEFFREY
THE MASTER OF
WELINGTON COLLEGE
INTERNATIONAL TIANJIN
It is sometimes difficult to do justice to the full scale of the
developments in a busy year in a school such as ours; there is just
too much going on to fit into a short introduction to Wellington
College International here in Tianjin. I think back to the 30
concerts, productions and performances; 90 sports’ fixtures
with other schools and 34 school trips our pupils have enjoyed
this year. These are opportunities to grow and learn, helping to
shape our pupils into a shared vision of a Wellington identity –
independent, confident young minds, keen to engage with others
around them and striving to be the best they can be. Pupils
have been challenged to develop skills in public speaking and to
raise their awareness of the world around them. We now have
regular WellingTENs on the calendar, MUN and World Scholar’s
Cup trips across the world, service learning exercises through
the Duke of Edinburgh International Award scheme, leadership
opportunities with the Global Social Leaders’ events both here
in Tianjin and in Wellington College. Junior School children have
found new ways to be independent, confident learners through
their IPC projects and some memorable Assembly performances.
Our new Head of College, Celia, and her team of prefects have
been hard at work, listening to pupils across the school and
developing programmes for greater pupil engagement with the
development of the whole school.
In terms of the physical nature of the school, it too has
undergone very significant improvements over the past
year. We continue to prioritise the safety and wellbeing of
community, and the development of our safeguarding policies
and procedures, allied to the enhanced security checks, mean
that our pupils have never been safer in school. The sports
facilities, already upgraded this year in the Sports Centre and
swimming pool with new air and water filtration installations,
boast a new artificial turf pitch laid over the summer, as well
as redevelopment of the conditioning gym and the floor of
the Sports Centre. The interior of the main school buildings
has had extensive redecoration work, designed to make the
school more colourful and attractive, and in the classrooms,
major investment in IT provision will see new laptops, iPads and
interactive screens introduced.
It is perhaps unfair to focus too much on specific events from
the past year, but I cannot help but draw particular attention to
the successes of the Music and Drama departments this year.
The quality of music and performing arts at Wellington College
International Tianjin has been a consistent strength of the school,
and our productions of The Caucasian Chalk Circle, in the
Michaelmas Term, and Calamity Jane in March, were wonderful
examples of pupil-staff collaborations. Allied to the seasonal
concerts in Autumn and Spring, as well as the celebrations of
Christmas across the school, these represent another highly
successful year for the school.