Wellington College is a world-class aristocratic school that has opened an international school in Shanghai, but only for foreign students. As the first member of the Wellington College Group to accept Chinese students, Wellington College Shanghai Bilingual Nursery has attracted the attention of parents since its opening in 2016. When it comes to Wellington College Kindergarten, it is inseparable from the title of "the most expensive kindergarten in Shanghai". In addition to its strong background and high tuition fees, the pure British education, luxurious and innovative environmental facilities, and top-notch teachers have all made this school famous.
In terms of outdoor environment, Wellington uses less artificial materials in order to be closer to nature. There are 5 areas in the outdoor venue, namely the gardening area, the story corner, the music and sound experience area, the imagination and exploration area, and the physical development area. Wellington believes that telling a story outdoors can combine the natural environment with the story and enhance the sense of authenticity. The Imagination and Exploration Zone uses a wooden structure that serves as an extension of the indoor teaching and learning activities. The larger physical development area is equipped with climbing equipment, tricycles and traffic simulators. In addition, the outdoor kitchen, music plaza, sand play and water play areas are set up to allow children to play in a spacious environment.
To ensure that children have enough outdoor activities, all of Wellington's first-floor classrooms are connected to the outdoor green space, allowing children to move freely between indoors and outdoors. In addition, when the air pollution index is high, Wellington will move the toddlers who are outdoors to play in the open area on the second floor. Walls between many classrooms can also be opened to allow the two classrooms to communicate and facilitate student transitions. The indoor area is divided into a reading area, a role-playing area, a music and sound experience area, a sensory exploration area, a physical development area, an exploration area, an electronic interaction area, a dining area, etc. Most of the roof logs, interior stairs and teaching aids are imported from Europe, and the interior design and construction team is the original team of Wellington College International Shanghai.
In terms of language teaching, Wellington College teaches both English and Chinese, with native English teachers rotating between two classes and leading English time according to the curriculum. Wellington College uses the EYFS (Early Years Elementary Education Curriculum) as the syllabus, which includes seven learning areas: physical development, personal emotional development, communication and language reading, mathematics, understanding of the world and artistic creativity. Based on this syllabus and students' interests, Chinese and foreign churches design each student's learning plan for each academic year, with themes and learning difficulties, emphasizing individualized teaching.
Compared with Chinese education, British early education focuses more on respecting children, cultivating independence and emphasizing individuality. Improving self-care and independence is consistent with early childhood education in China. Chinese education is more collectivist, requiring children to follow the rules and meet standards. Wellington teachers guide children to think logically and respect their unique ideas and ideas by asking them what they think.
In addition to teaching, air pollution, diet, etc. are also key points of concern for parents. All classrooms are equipped with a central air filtration system, and outdoor activities are prohibited when air monitoring data is exceeded. With 20 years of experience in food service, Aden is the provider of meals at Wellington, with meals prepared on site in the kitchen next door to the child care centre cafeteria. In addition, menus, kitchen schedules, and parent suggestions will be announced on the official website.
Some parents advocate British education, while others worry that British education is not conducive to their children's adaptation to the Chinese environment and learning Chinese culture. There is no absolute good or bad in education, and it is very important for parents to recognize the concept of kindergarten education, one is to allow children to grow up in a consistent educational environment, and the other is to cooperate with teachers. Therefore, kindergartens such as Wellington and Montessori will interview parents to consider whether the educational views of both parties are similar, and whether parents can accept, understand and cooperate with the kindergarten's education, and then decide whether the child will be enrolled.
Wellington offers four classes, with 16 students per class, including 1 teacher, 3 teaching assistants and 1 childcare worker. The small class size is 18 students, with 1 teacher, 1 teaching assistant and 2 childcare workers; There are 20 students in the kindergarten class and 24 students in the kindergarten class, and each class has a teacher, a teaching assistant, and a childcare worker. The tuition fee for a year in Wellington is 198,000 yuan, plus 3,000 yuan for the application fee, 5,310 yuan and meals and 2,200 yuan for clothing, for a total fee of about 200,000 yuan a year. With such high fees, Wellington College has always been firmly in the position of the most expensive kindergarten in Shanghai, which has discouraged many families, but still has a high demand for places.
