Hiba Academy Nantong Celebrates its Grand Opening

During the opening celebration, Simon Kenworthy, Master of Hiba Academy Nantong, thanked all of the people who made it possible to open this amazing school, including Founder and Chairman Joy Qiao, our sister schools around China, our construction company, our parents, our children and founding staff. He expressed how much he was looking forward to the exciting future in store for Hiba Academy Nantong and helped Joy Qiao to unveil the plaque, commemorating the opening of the school.

Suisui Yu, the Principal of Hiba Academy Nantong, says: "Although the new school has been open for just one month, the progress our pupils have already made has delighted parents, teachers and other community members. We sincerely welcome more interested parents to join the 'Friends of Hiba' team to work with us in building a supportive educational community."

At Hiba Schools, we are our people. As such, our school can only be as great as its teachers. Mr Kenworthy and Ms Yu both have extensive experience in assembling teams of talented and dedicated educators. This is the third school where Mr Kenworthy has been a founding leader. He has extensive experience developing new teams and putting processes and procedures into place. Likewise, for four years, Ms Yu has played a key role in the Wellington College China The Bridge | China, where she drove curriculum development across all Hiba schools.  

The school’s founding team of teachers arrived several weeks ahead of the opening for extensive training in all aspects of Hiba’s teaching philosophy and methods as well as its unique pastoral care and wellbeing programmes.

The teaching staff comprise a near 1:1 ratio of Chinese to international teachers. 71% of the school's Chinese teaching staff have extensive experience teaching or studying overseas. The staff have an average of 9.5 years of teaching experience; many of them have taught at other Wellington College China schools for several years as well. Hiba Academy Nantong receives strong support from its sister schools and The Bridge | China to ensure its syllabus and curriculum design are consistent and effective. 

Hiba Academy Nantong is committed to providing an excellent holistic bilingual education. To this end, Hiba Academy Nantong strives to offer the best facilities to meet the needs of its pupils and help with their holistic development.

From the classroom to the football pitch, all Hiba Academy Nantong facilities are purpose-built to educate the whole child. Learning environments are equipped with the latest educational technology, from tablets and digital whiteboards to the latest robotics and STEAM development tools. The Hiba Theatre has a stage of over 200 square metres, a professional-grade sound and lighting system, an orchestra pit and it can accommodate an audience of 550. There is a Black Box Theatre for smaller performances as well as a professional recording studio, where pupils can develop their music or sound engineering talents. The school features two pools: one for new swimmers and an eight-lane, 25-metre pool for competitions that is complete with starting platforms and an electronic scoring system. Moreover, pupils can also relish in the spirit of teamwork and friendly competition on the football and rugby pitches.   

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As Wellington College China’s flagship boarding school, Hiba Academy Nantong inherits 160 years of tradition from Wellington College in England. The school’s two connected seven-floor boarding houses can accommodate nearly 700 boarders. Here, pupils will find a welcoming and comfortable home away from home, where the children can fully engage in Hiba life and benefit from our unique pastoral offering while further developing their dual language skills. They will develop leadership, resilience and innovation skills through a variety of social activities as they cultivate lifelong friendships with their fellow boarders. They will also have ample opportunities to discover new interests and cultivate new talents through activities like swimming, basketball, creative writing, arts and crafts, photography, leadership development and much more. 

The opening of Hiba Academy Nantong marks a significant milestone in the development of Wellington College China. It is further realising Wellington College China’s vision of providing an excellent holistic education. Moving forward, Wellington College China will take its bilingual education model overseas, nurture more outstanding bilingual and bicultural pupils, promote strong ties between China and the West and contribute to a global community that thrives together.