ACA DE M IC
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fter a difficult end to the academic year 2019/20 with a pivot to online learning from late March until the end of the Summer Term, the hope was that this academic year would provide greater normality and a return to normal external public examinations. This proved not to be the case, and it has certainly been a year like no other! In September, the College began the academic year with a special shape of the week in place that included staggered lessons and timetabled sport in order to best enable social distancing. Unfortunately, we also had to remove all Harkness tables and return to a more traditional seating style in all classrooms in order to minimise potential infections. Seating plans had to be put in place and logged whilst hybrid teaching commenced with some students unable to return or intermittently required to self-isolate. One-way systems were all in place and at the end of each lesson, a process of sanitisation had to take place before the next class entered. It felt like a world away from our usual style of teaching but students and staff alike approached it with great vigour and enthusiasm just happy to be back in the classroom after the period of online learning the previous term. It became the new normal very quickly and academic life continued with students showing great determination to continue their progress and ensure that the year was a success. In amongst all of this, new initiatives to further extend and stretch the students 12
were deployed with societies and clubs meeting both online and in the real world to ensure that no time was lost and a greater emphasis on the positive impact of responsive teaching resonated in the classroom. Reading clubs in houses began to proliferate thanks to the excellent work of the Library and numerous successes in external Essay Competitions and Olympiads came through on a regular basis. At a time when gaining entry to Oxford and Cambridge has become increasingly difficult, we were thrilled to find out in January that 17 students had received offers. In addition and as the Lent Term progressed, this was further enhanced by a number of Ivy League successes coupled with offers at other prestigious US and Canadian Universities. Unfortunately, the Lent Term brought another period of lockdown and eight weeks of remote learning. The College utilised all of the learning experiences from the previous summer in order to try and give the students the best possible provision, Microsoft Teams now enabled more functions for break-out rooms and greater numbers visible on the screen all of which was beneficial but in no way a replacement for the real experience of being inside a classroom. It was a tough time for all and it was with great joy that we were able to welcome students back for the last two weeks of term to ensure that their learning was in a strong place before the Easter break. The Summer Term is normally dominated by public examinations and better weather; neither of these held true
this year. With all exams cancelled, the College had to operate as an exam board with the setting of mini-assessments, the creation of marking schemes, the marking of all papers, a process of internal moderation of all scripts and the final submission of grades. It was indeed a challenge for all students and staff but everyone rose to the occasion and the students were simply magnificent in their determination to approach these miniassessments as an opportunity to further improve their grades. As I write this today, the IB results have already come in and the students performed with great credit to average an incredible 41.1 points. 13 students scored the maximum 45 points and 73% of students scored 40 points or more. A Level and GCSE results both come out in the week commencing Monday 9th August and I am sure that even more academic success will be celebrated at this point. Whilst it has been the most challenging year since I have been in this post, it has also been the most rewarding. To see the students approach their studies with such vigour and resilience in the midst of so many difficulties and uncertainties has marked them out as true Wellingtonians where all six of the College values has come to the fore. Well done to them and thanks to all the teaching and non-teaching staff who have made this year such a success. Matt Oakman Deputy Head (Academic) July 2021
