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Wellington College International shares the purpose of Wellington College, UK, to pioneer in education to serve and help shape a better world. WCI is committed to building a network of schools where each additional school increases the possibilities and potential for all our partners, staff, parents, and students.
The Wellington College Education family now educates globally over 7,800 students across eight premium quality co-educational campuses. In the summer of 2023, we saw the resumption of the Wellington College Family Summer School with 176 Year 8 students from across our family of schools visiting the College for two weeks and enjoying an action-packed daily schedule that blended academic learning with teambuilding activities and cultural exploration.
WCI has continued in the last 12 months to facilitate collaboration through student and teacher exchange programmes, teacher secondments, joint projects and competitions, and knowledge and expertise sharing opportunities across the group’s network. In July 2024, we will hold our inaugural Wellington College Education conference with all Partners and Masters attending from around the globe as we move to be truly ‘network positive’.
In September 2023, we were proud to open, with our regional partners, the first Wellington College International school in India on a beautiful riverside campus designed to educate 800 students in Pune, Maharashtra. This year, we also announced the addition, in September 2024, of Wellington College International Jakarta to the group, which will initially serve 400 Reception to Year 4 students in a prestigious new development in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Internationally, all our schools continue to work with their local communities and join regional education networks to support teaching quality, alongside education debate and advancement across their regions, while simultaneously building greater cultural dialogue, respect, and understanding within all our schools.
I hope you enjoy, as I have done, reading here how Wellingtonians across our schools have contributed to the Wellington purpose to serve and help shape a better world. They are supported and educated to do so by an outstanding international cohort of Wellington academic and support staff, of whom we are very proud.
Scott Bryan, WCI Managing Director
Summer School
In July, Wellington College UK welcomed nearly two hundred Year 8 students and staff from our International schools for two weeks of fun-packed activities and excursions. Based in the Talbot, Beresford, Anglesey, and Apsley, the Wellington Family Summer School incorporates lessons taught by TWC staff and gives our International students a feel of what it is like to be based in the UK and board at Wellington College. As well as visiting Oxford, London, and Bath, the students had the chance to experience the low ropes course, indoor climbing wall, a rafting challenge at nearby Horseshoe Lake, and the unique sport of ‘Real tennis’.
David Wilson, International Academic Director, said, “It was great to see so many young people from Wellington Colleges around the world get to meet each other, share experiences, and make new friends.” Students traveled from Shanghai, Tianjin, Nantong, Hangzhou, and Bangkok to be here. It is hoped that next year we will also have representatives from Pune in India.
International Exchanges
In October, Year 10 students Rupert (Pn) and Izzy (C) flew to Bangkok to be hosted by Thai families and be immersed in Wellington College International Bangkok for two weeks. The planning started in Year 9 when they put themselves forward for a student exchange and were paired with exchange students from Wellington Bangkok. Rupert and Izzy had begun getting to know Chevan and Gaemyui firstly by email and then by online Teams calls for a few months. Their parents were also connected and were invited to some of the online calls, but October was the first time they had met in person. The return visit was held in May, and the UK families were keen to give them a warm welcome. UK students shared their experiences of the exchange on DukeBox radio on Jetstream episode #10.
Internships in Pune
Jess Stephen (OW) and Harman Sangha (OW) decided that after finishing their exams, they were set on taking a gap year. Having applied for an internship at Wellington Pune in September, they jetted off to India to be the first OWs to visit the newly opened school. Wellington College International Pune had opened in August 2023 with a small number of students and teachers from all over the world. In the six months they were there, Jess and Harman were able to have a huge impact helping both in the Junior School and on the sports field, providing a tangible link back to Wellington College in the UK.
Anouschka Hartley (OW) and Finn Walder (OW) traveled to Pune in the second half of the year to replace them. Anouschka had been working temporarily to raise some money for traveling in her gap year, and Finn had already been traveling in Australia. Both also had the opportunity to visit Wellington Jakarta as ambassadors for the College at the launch ceremony. Wellington College International Jakarta is due to open in September 2024, and we hope it will provide the opportunity for more OWs to be part of the Internship programme. Jess and Harman shared their experiences of ‘OW Interns in Pune’ on DukeBox radio on Jetstream episode #6.
David Wilson, Academic Director, International Partnership Programmes
Pune
Wellington College International Pune (WCI Pune) opened in September 2023 and has enjoyed an outstanding foundational year. Our exceptional facilities for teaching and learning have been enhanced throughout the year with the introduction of new amenities, such as our world-class FINA-approved indoor swimming pool and an outstanding all-weather football field. The founding pupils, from Pre-Nursery to Year 9 in the opening year, have blossomed under the tutelage of remarkable practitioners, and it has been wonderful to behold the academic progression in 2023-2024. This is perhaps best exemplified by the willingness of our staff to host academic events such as the Literary Festival in April 2024 and the Science Week in May, both of which were resounding successes enjoyed by pupils and parents alike.
As WCI Pune introduces its first Year 10 IGCSE cohort in August 2024, followed by the IB Diploma Programme the following year, there are clearly very exciting academic times ahead. We hope to achieve COBIS accreditation early in our second operational year too.
Establishing and embedding cultural values in any new school is so important, especially one with such a rich Wellington heritage and global partnership. WCI Pune has focused intently on this throughout the opening year. All members of the community have embraced this facet of school life, typified in aspects such as the evolving spirit and involvement of our Friends of Wellington parental organization and the bustling atmosphere of our very own V & A Café.
A core component of a holistic Wellington education involves the CCA and sporting programme, and it has been a most successful year in this regard in Pune. A vibrant co-curricular schedule has been established across the year groups, tailored for the 40-degree temperature in the summer term! Competitive sporting fixtures have been created with fellow international schools in Pune in sports such as tennis, football, and swimming. Similarly, the performing arts have featured strongly in school life, with dance, drama, and music all having real opportunities to shine, not least in our Music/Arts & Dance Festival (MAD) in Term 2. The outstanding school auditorium, inaugurated in Term 3, will prove to be a splendid stage for outstanding individual and school performances in 2024-2025.
The 2023-2024 academic year has shown real promise and potential in Pune.
"Establishing and embedding the cultural values in any new school is so important, especially one with such a rich Wellington heritage and global partnership, and WCI Pune has focused intently on this throughout the opening year."
China
It was an exceptional year group-wide for Wellington College China. Graduates from our Tianjin and Shanghai schools received offers from prestigious universities such as Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial College London, University College London, University of Toronto, and New York University. These offers are a resounding testament to the power of holistic education, the hard work of our pupils, and the dedication of our higher education teams.
Four Wellington Shanghai pupils placed third in the global finals of this year’s Diamond Business Challenge. Organized by the University of Delaware, the competition sees budding entrepreneurs developing and pitching a business idea for funding or further support of their higher education aspirations. This was the first year that a team from China placed in the top three.
Just in time for its fifth anniversary, Wellington Hangzhou celebrated its first cohort of graduating pupils. The school’s future graduates also made a tremendous showing, earning A* and A grades on their IGCSEs. One pupil even achieved the highest IGCSE science score in China.
Huili Shanghai pupils achieved remarkable IGCSE results this year too, with 75% of the school’s first grade 10 cohort earning A/A* grades. Pupils also received high honors for their ongoing charity initiatives like the Loutang project and the Huili Education Farm.
At Huili Nantong, the newest addition to the Wellington College China family, pupils shone brightly at this year’s National Economic Challenge, the Australian Mathematics Competition, and the national-level Super Dancer competition. One pupil even represented Huili in the US and won two national robotics awards.
Bangkok
It has been another exciting year at Wellington Bangkok, with a multitude of activities and developments across all areas of the school, catering to students of all ages and stages. In our beautiful new state-of-the-art Skylight building, the Senior School has continued to thrive. We have opened the final floors, which include a suite of new science labs, five art and design rooms, numerous new classrooms, libraries, Harkness rooms, and relaxation areas. This building is the envy of all and will soon be joined by the new Crowthorne Building, which is scheduled for a grand opening in August 2025.
Our Year 11 students are the first cohort to take their IGCSEs at Wellington, making them pioneers in many ways. We know they will make us very proud. In August, these students and new starters will form the very first Sixth Form at Wellington Bangkok, supported by a fantastic and inspiring teaching team to become Wellington Bangkok’s first graduates.
In sports, our teams across football, basketball, swimming, and golf have had huge successes, challenging strong school teams across Bangkok and Asia. Our teams will move forward with confidence to achieve even greater successes next year.
The summer term saw the production of “Dragon Days” in Junior School and “Little Shop of Horrors” in Senior School, involving talented student actors, singers, musicians, and technicians from across the school. We also hosted Scholars Musical Recitals, showcasing passionate performers in all disciplines.
It has been a fantastic year.
