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Leaving Shanghai for the Lunar New Year, my family spent our holiday in Hong Kong. However, as a result of COVID-19, our short break with one suitcase turned into more than six weeks away from home!
Uncertain about our return to mainland China, we looked for the most suitable transitional solution. I was reminded of the 1978 American series Battlestar Galactica, a science fiction story set in space, where a ‘rag-tag fugitive fleet’ took to the stars to search for a new home. My family may not have been searching the galaxy, but we were looking for a temporary base. We made our way to Thailand where the Master of Wellington College International Bangkok, Chris Nicholls, offered up his school to my daughter. In return, I volunteered to assist other families who had been displaced. Rather than a rag-tag fleet, we immediately found ourselves to be part of the Wellington community. Wellington College Bangkok is a purposebuilt, state-of-the-art, outstanding school, with all the facilities children need to reach their maximum potential. Best of all, it felt like home.
Here was a school that had reached out to help us at a time when we were faced with great uncertainty, not knowing what we should do next. Chris showed kindness and empathy to our situation. He and his staff responded to our needs, fully embodying one of Wellington’s principle values: kindness. After just one day working at the school, I felt calmer and less stressed about the uncertainty my family was facing.
In addition to welcoming us to the school, Wellington College Bangkok received several other Shanghai families. Welcomed with open arms, the children were able to access some of the curriculum offered by Bangkok; switching between morning PE lessons with the Bangkok pupils, to afternoon e-learning with their Shanghai classmates. As well as picking up new e-skills and learning about a different culture, the children also made new friends.
It has been a journey, both mentally and physically, but the support and familiar face of a sister school has reduced our uncertainty. Of course, everyone has experienced this unexpected and often challenging time differently. For me and my family, we packed for a short holiday and found ourselves moving country and travelling between hotels and apartments more than five times, looking for better space that met our needs, whether that was for accessible public transport or faster internet connection! One thing we did find was friendship and a place to call home.
During uncertain times, it’s always comforting to have friends. That’s exactly what we found at Wellington College Bangkok, reminding us that we are part of a big Wellington family.
“The circumstance was very different, but nine years ago after the earthquake and nuclear disaster in Japan, I was offered space at Tanglin Trust School in Singapore to host around fifteen of our families who had left Tokyo for safety. We were able to run a great little satellite school for three weeks while things sorted themselves out in Japan. They say, ‘pay it forward’ and that’s what we’ve managed to do. I’m delighted that Wellington College Bangkok has been able to support our China families in this way. And it’s been an excellent benefit for us, too, as the students and parents we have been working with are really outstanding ambassadors for their school!” Christopher Nicholls, Master of Wellington College International Bangkok
THE AUTHORS
Adam Branton is a Year 4 teacher at Wellington College Shanghai and Chris Nicholls is Master of Wellington College International Bangkok.
