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导语

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校长介绍

Kelly M Wailes

哈罗海口校长

Kelly M Wailes女士深耕教育领域逾20年，拥有领导力与管理学硕士学位，曾于英、美、中等多国任教及执掌教育管理工作。作为早期教育和小学教育专家，Wailes女士专攻幼儿教育的研究和实践，在校园与教学管理上亦建树颇丰。得益于过去十余年间在欧美及亚洲各国的教育经历，她熟知中西方各地的文化教育模式，对儿童早教的研究尤为深入，并在培养两位女儿的过程中，总结出丰富的教育实践经验。

Mrs. Kelly M Wailes has beenin education for more than 20 yearsacross the USA, the UK and China. Most of her career has been focused on educating younger children, and Mrs. Wailes' leadership experience has been built upon her work as an Early Years and Primary specialist. Mrs. Wailes believes that having been a teacher for over 10 years across various countries and continents has given her an insight into other cultures and how young children learn and develop, and this has been further developed and enriched by having her own two daughters.

学校介绍

英国哈罗公学，被誉为世界上最负盛名的私立学府之一。1572年，哈罗公学在伊丽莎白一世女王的特许下成立于英国伦敦，在此后四个多世纪的悠久时光中，魅力不减，以其卓著品德、严谨治学而享誉全球。

先后于中国北京、香港、上海创校，现在这所世界顶尖私立公学又走进了海口，将哈罗精神在新的城市继续传承下去。哈罗海口将英国哈罗公学悠久历史传统与现代社会中充满活力的全球教育环境相融合，集合了英国和中国的教育理念和课程，提供高质量的教育，同时将下一代培养为“创造更美好世界的领导者”。

图源：哈罗海口

哈罗海口选址于江东片区，校区占地面积约145亩，涵盖幼儿园至高中的全日制及寄宿制学校，学位数目最多可达1,800名，其中包括210个寄宿学位。在全人教育理念的支持下，哈罗海口设有独特的院舍制、丰富的领导力课程、个性化关怀辅导机制和定制化的升学辅导机制，关顾每一位学生从学习到生活的方方面面，并为学生提供强有力的学术支持。

采访全文

一

创校校长谈学校发展

不忘初心，满怀热情，赋能团队

京领：此次被评为领军校长，请问您有什么样的感受能与我们分享？

哈罗海口校长Kelly Wailes:能获得这个奖项是我的荣幸。有幸做自己喜欢的、激情所在的事情的同时，还能得到认可，这是一种非常棒的感觉。

京领：在您看来，一个优秀的校长必须具备的三点素质是什么？

哈罗海口校长Kelly Wailes:我非常喜欢这个问题。我想到的三点是正直、远见和以孩子为中心。作为一名领军校长，首先必须正直，这样人们才会信任你，和你一起走下去。其次，领军校长需要有远见，需要知道自己要去哪里，以及将如何到达那里，并能够向社区和利益相关者阐明这一愿景。从我的角度来看，我认为校长还需要以孩子为中心，因为你所做的一切都是为了孩子，为了帮助他们成长并获得成功。

图源：哈罗海口

京领：在哈罗海口您首次担任了创校校长。回顾这段经历，您认为您的故事中最有价值的部分是什么？

哈罗海口校长Kelly Wailes:这个问题很有意思，因为这不仅是我第一次担任创校校长，也是我第一次担任负责人。我担任管理层已经有一段时间了，但我从来没有作为一把手领导过学校。

所以对我而言，在这段旅程中常常需要思考的是如何更好运用管理技能为团队赋能。最近，集团针对校长层开展了一个专项提升的领导力培训，我被邀请发表一个演讲，讲着讲着我回忆起在创校的最初阶段，大概一年半前，那是我第一次深刻地意识到担任一名总校长，管理一所学校是一件非常具有挑战性的事情。在那段艰难时刻，是哈罗价值观当中的两个词在激励着我——“谦和”：接受自己并不完美，并非全知全能；“勇气”：继续尝试，继续往前，并在需要时寻求支持。当回忆那段经历时，我的眼睛都有些湿润了，但在场的听众很欣赏这种坦率与诚实，给了我回应与鼓励。

所以回到您最初的问题，担任校长以来我学到的最有价值的一课就是如何直面挑战，如何在压力中继续提升自我并驱动团队发展，最终带领大家为孩子们建立一所更加完善的学校。

图源：哈罗海口

京领：经过前两年的建校，学校是否将在第三年进入新的阶段？学校有什么新的计划？在这个阶段，您认为学校的发展重点是什么？

哈罗海口校长Kelly Wailes:事实上，学校管理层和集团一直在详细讨论这个问题。我们上周四刚刚召开了董事会议，会上回顾了我们的战略计划，以及过去两年的发展历程，最后一起深度探讨了我们在下一阶段，也就是第三年需要重点关注哪些领域与工作。

实现发展的重点永远是驱动团队、发展教学和赋能学习。我们的核心关注和工作重点是帮助孩子们在学业、社会及情感发展方面取得成功。随着哈罗海口进入第三个年头，我们也将把这些核心作为基础夯实，以为我们之后的长远发展做铺垫。在夯实基础的同时，我们还需要确保每个人都了解这些系统和流程，以及如何持续使用它们。此外，我们想开始关注社区范围外的领域，不仅在海口和海南，而且在中国更深入的地方。此外，我们想让家长真正开始参与家校共育的旅程，无数研究表明，如果家校共同参与教育孩子的教育旅程，从长远来看，孩子会更成功。因此，我们接下来的发展重点就是赋能教学、夯实基础、深入更广阔的社区，以及深层激活家校共育。

图源：哈罗海口

京领：您打算如何实现这个目标？您的下一步计划是什么？

哈罗海口校长Kelly Wailes:下一步是检查和复盘我们所有的战略计划和发展计划，以确保顺利进入第三年。我们会通过我们的 "RAG系统"（红黄绿系统）非常仔细地跟踪这些计划。如果某件事情延期或遇到困难，它就是红色；如果它正常开展，就变成黄色；如果我们已经完成了，就是绿色。这个系统可以定期向小组和团队报告。

我们也有一些与这些目标相关的指标，以便衡量某特定目标是否成功。例如，如果要实施某项新的政策或项目，我们会先发出一个调查，如果有80%以上的人能够理解政策和程序并持续使用它们，那么这个任务就有很大几率成功。

因此，我认为我们下一步的关键词是结果导向的问责机制。这可能是我们明年的一件大事，虽然我们现在是一个初创的学校，但要在第三年到第五年左右开始着眼于成为一个更成熟的学校。这与问责机制有很大关系，高级领导需要更清楚他们自身的角色和责任，也需要了解他们团队的中层领导需要担当怎样的角色及负有的责任，以及这如何影响教学、学习以及孩子们的学业。

京领：作为学校的核心，您如何践行校长领导力？如何充分激发教师和不同部门的效能？

哈罗海口校长Kelly Wailes:我想，还是那句话，当你使用结果导向时，问责制度真的很重要。我告诉我的团队成员，我们在学校所做的一切，从大门的安保人员，到食堂的厨师，到清洁工，以及确保建筑物安全的操作，都会影响到教学和学习。因此，无论我们的角色和责任是什么，无论我们可能在哪个部门，我们都有责任确保每个人都对孩子的成功有积极影响。

我认为这真的很重要，因为当你开始意识到学校和主要“产品”是成功的孩子时，每个人都会开始以稍微不同的方式看待自己的角色与职责。举个例子，假设你正在设计一个人力资源功能，如果你能让这个系统对教师来说更简化，更友好，教师就能在这个过程中节省时间，多出来的时间和精力就能让他们更好地计划、准备和发展他们的课程和课堂教学实践。

作为校长，我需要让团队中的每个人理清职能与责任，帮助他们理解每个微小的举动都是为了促进孩子们的成功，然后确保我们能够跟踪每一项进展。你的工作会对学生产生什么影响？每个部门是如何工作的？每个项目是如何运作的？还有什么可以提高的地方？我认为我角色中一个非常重要的部分就是成为制定愿景的战略人物，确定整个团队需要完成的工作，确定我们需要共同到达的目的地，以及我们将如何到达那里，然后与各个团队合作，确保他们能以有效的方式来实现这些。

图源：哈罗海口

京领：您如何激励教学团队，如何确保学校的每个人都与您对学校的目标相一致？

哈罗海口校长Kelly Wailes:这是个好问题。我认为这要从招聘开始。在面试的时候要定下愿景和基调，让教职员工了解他们要来的是什么类型的学校，学校要实现的是什么。一旦人们加入进来，就意味着我们要在这个旅程当中保持同步。因此，我们要定期更新战略计划，跟踪我们的发展计划。通过调查定期了解动向，从教师、学生和家长那里获得反馈，这样我们就可以不断地检查我们是否成功、是否需要加强什么。

对我来说，要推动一个愿景，自己必须要相信它，必须对其满怀热情，必须牢记初心，时刻提醒每个人：为什么我们要做这些事，为什么我们在这里，为什么我们要努力推动这些结果。这些可以通过强化正面行为和强化关键语句来实现。

例如，在召开学生集会或举行员工会议时，我常常以工作和生活中发生的事情为例，具象化哈罗的四大核心价值观，并且带领大家不断重复着四个关键词：勇气、荣誉、谦和、互助，日积月累，价值观就成为了整个社区的普遍思维方式。

图源：哈罗海口

当我与学生们交谈时，我谈到了互助，如果出现了问题，我们将如何合作，我们将如何拥有这种互助。这嵌入了价值观，也嵌入了愿景的核心方面，所以人们理解它。我们经常对其作出阐释，它也在日常生活中被描绘出来。

京领：那么，是否有什么特别的制度来奖励优秀的教师和员工？

哈罗海口校长Kelly Wailes:是的，一个非常好的例子是，我们每个月会给员工和社区成员颁发“坚守使命”奖，这个奖项完全由同事互相提名。只要你注意到了身边的某位同事或团队超越了自我，展示出了有助于孩子们取得成功的哈罗价值观，就可以向我直接提名。

人们会以各种理由提交提名，然后我们与整个员工社区一起分享这份肯定与鼓励。我们宣读提名，然后他们收到一份证书和一个小纪念品，如陶瓷杯，保温杯或类似的哈罗纪念品。我认为这个奖的核心是，它提醒着我们所有人，你的努力工作与付出是会被身边的人认可的。。这对学校和学生产生了良好的影响，它也定期强化了我们的共同的愿景和哈罗核心价值观，这真的是一件很有意义的事情。

我相信，大家并不会为了获得提名而去刻意的做正确的事。你做那件事情，只是因为你认为它对学生和社区会产生积极的影响，只是因为你对它抱有极大的热情和期待。这些事对你来说或许只是日常工作，但你身边的同事从中看到了闪光点和正面力量，并通过奖项提名让更多人了解到你的付出。我想，这对团队共同价值观的形成有着非常重要的意义，我想这也是大家都很珍视这个奖项的原因。

图源：哈罗海口

京领：在您担任校长期间，学校取得了哪些令人瞩目的成就？

哈罗海口校长Kelly Wailes:第一个成就，我们是在整个世界非常困难的时候开始办学的，最突出的挑战是如何把员工从全球各地汇集到一起等问题，能让大家来齐很不容易。但我们仍在9月如期成功开学了，至今回忆起来，我仍认为这是一个非常了不起的成就。对我来说，第二个成就是学校的成长与发展。我们在第二年有超过530名学生，这个数量和规模绝对是非同凡响的。

在过去的两年里，我对孩子们的学习进步感到非常自豪，特别是在他们的语言发展方面。当我刚来的时候，很多孩子对英语表达或跟我打招呼都感到很拘谨。而现在，当我走在校园里，他们会走过来向我问早上好；他们会给我讲故事，或分享他们刚刚在课堂上学到的趣事。

语言能力的发展与学习行为的发展也联系得非常紧密。对我们的一些学生来说，哈罗是一所与他们之前就读的学校截然不同的学校，适应一所不同类型的学校是非常具有挑战性的，他们必须熟练地使用两种语言，必须遵循不同的规则和不同的学术发展途径。两年间，我可以说，这些孩子们已经取得了飞跃性的进步。现在，你在校园里走走就能发现，孩子们彼此之间非常有礼貌，他们为对方开门，互相打招呼，向老师问好，他们彼此之间合作得非常好。因此，学生的语言发展和学习行为也是我想分享的又一个成就。

图源：哈罗海口

如果还能再说一个成就，我还想再说说我们美丽的校园。当你在不同的建筑物里走动时，就会感到这是真的是个令人惊奇的空间！我们已经努力了两年，并仍将继续为我们的学生提供更好、更完善的学习空间，我们想让他们知道这是属于每位哈罗学生的校园，周围的一切都为他们而存在。因此，我们始终从学生的需求出发，从教学的关切点出发，通过各种各样的这些改进措施，努力确保我们始终以为孩子为中心维护校园设施、提升校园建设。

图源：哈罗海口

二

未来与愿景

坚持初衷不断进步，贯彻全人教育理念

京领：哈罗海口的未来有什么计划和前景？你将如何带领团队实现目标？

哈罗海口校长Kelly Wailes:我认为这又回到了我前面的一些回答。我们正在考虑从一个处于起步阶段的初创学校变成一个更加成熟的学校。因此，我们重新梳理并向全员同步了学校的发展规划、战略计划及行动要求，以确保大家在共同愿景下齐心协力迈进下一个征程。我与每个管理层成员讨论他们的阶段性进展，并反思这一进展如何促进整体战略计划的发展，我与低年级和高年级校长深度讨论他们的工作重点和优先事项，并明确这些将如何帮助我们在明年获得下个阶段的成功，特别是如何实现一致的、良好的教学实践。因此，我们还需要为教师提供持续的专业发展培训，使他们作为一个实践者磨练自己的手艺，不断提升教学技能最终回馈给孩子，帮助孩子们取得成功。

图源：哈罗海口

以上说的所有内容，都需要我带领团队找到他们的前行方向，并帮助他们理清思路，确认下一步的行动计划。当他们回来做阶段性汇报的时候，我们会共同分析有哪些地方做的不错，有哪些地方仍要继续努力，通过这样的方式确保我们始终在既定的航道上航行，并不断取得进步与发展。

京领：为了更好地面对未来的发展机遇和挑战，您认为学生要成为创新型人才应该具备哪些素质？

哈罗海口校长Kelly Wailes:我认为对于未来的学生来说，当他们长大成人，进入大学，进入工作岗位时，第一个重要的技能是理解何为“谦和”，并拥有同理心。我在去年的TEDx演讲中谈到了这个特别的话题。拥有这两种美德是非常重要的，因为它使你意识到自己并非全知全能，你必须与他人合作，成为一个团队，或互相支持。拥有同理心也意味着你能从别人的角度理解事情。如果你没有这个能力，你在任何工作环境中都会很艰难。

我认为，对于以后的孩子们来说，未来是未知的。我们知道现在是什么样子，但我们不知道10年或15年后是什么样子。因此，我们的孩子必须有“四个C”，这意味着他们必须有创造力（creativity），他们需要成为批判性思维者（critical thinking），他们需要理解合作的重要性（collaboration），也需要理解沟通的重要性（communication）。这四个C以及谦和与同理心适用于他们选择进入的任何领域。这些普遍适用的技能不仅仅是他们在学校学到的技能，这些是在工作环境中与团队合作时使用的技能，也许有时甚至在与家人合作时也能使用。

图源：哈罗海口

从我的角度来看，这是我一直为孩子们的未来关注的事情。我们不知道未来会是什么样子，但我相信，如果他们有这些美德或技能，他们将能够面对未来的任何挑战。

京领：我们已经处于新冠疫情的常态化阶段。您是否注意到中国家长对学校的新的期望或新的要求？您对此有什么看法，打算如何应对？

哈罗海口校长Kelly Wailes:从我的角度来看，经历了疫情之后，也许家长们现在更多考虑的是健康和安全，健康和安全的重要性可能是现在的首要任务之一。

我还意识到一件事，家长们仍对孩子寄予厚望，期待他们的孩子能够获得成功。我们需要帮助家长了解我们如何开展符合哈罗品的质教学、怎样帮助孩子获得各方面的成长。我们还要减轻家长在这一特殊时代的焦虑。家长们普遍希望自己的孩子能够成功，能够进入最好的大学，能有一流的工作。在实现这一切以前，我认为我们更需要帮助家长了解孩子在获得他们所期望的成功之前，需要经历什么，以及我们会如何帮助孩子健康、安全的走过这段旅程。

家长的高期望和焦虑心，在我工作过的每所学校中都很常见，但我认为在中国学校中，家长们尤其关心的就是学校是怎么做的？为什么要这样做？家长应该如何支持？因此，就如前面提到的，深度激活家校共育也将是我们下一阶段的重点工作。

图源：哈罗海口

京领：对于提高学生的学习质量，您有什么建议？

哈罗海口校长Kelly Wailes:我认为你可以从两个方面来看待这个问题。

首先，我们要从学生出发，年龄越大的孩子越需要对学习质量负责。如果从这个方面来看，学习态度或学习行为就非常重要。一句老话是 “你可以把马带到水槽边，但你无法逼马喝水”。因此，我们必须帮助孩子们建立积极的学习态度。即使在事情充满挑战，学习上遇到困难的时候，他们也需要保持积极的心态，继续尝试、寻求支持，这些将有助于他们获得成功。

其次，提高学生的学习质量也是老师的工作重点。他们必须了解课程，他们必须了解班上的每个孩子，知道他们擅长什么、他们需要什么支持。教师需要知道如何计划和准备，并针对不同孩子的技能组合进行区分。他们还需要确保自己不断精进。

我们如何在双语环境中教育孩子？这对我们的教师来说是培养才能和实践的很好的起点。如果他们不了解这一点，就很难在孩子们没有完全理解的情况下向他们提供课程内容。那么，一个双语学习者需要什么才能成功？他们需要两种语言来理解词汇和内容。他们需要视觉效果，以便他们能够直观地了解词汇或内容。他们还需要用中文和英文来回强化。因此，我们在教室里进行联合教学，由两位老师以不同方式授课。

因此，从孩子的角度来看，学习质量的关键在于学习的行为和学习的态度。即使事情具有挑战性也总是去尝试。而从教师的角度来看，要提高学生的学习质量，需要不断加强实践，了解教学环境，了解班上的每个孩子。

总而言之，要将全人教育的理念贯彻到所有的教学实践中。孩子的学术发展与情感发展是一个整体，学术是教育的一个重要部分，但教养也是。在教养之下，有领导力发展、性格发展、德育发展；还需要有课外活动，从而让孩子的天赋和技能得到发展，他们可以在自己擅长的领域大放异彩。

图源：哈罗海口

English Version

KingLead: Awarded as leading principal, any feelings would you like to share with us?

Kelly Wailes, Head Mistress of AISL Harrow Haikou:It is my honor to have this award. When you're lucky enough to do something that you love and very passionate about and then be recognized for that, I think that's a really lovely feeling. Everything that I love doing, people are noticing.

KingLead: If you could only name 3 points, in your opinion, what are the qualities that an outstanding principal must have?

Kelly Wailes, Head Mistress of AISL Harrow Haikou:I really like this question.I think the three things that come to my mind are integrity, vision, and child-centered.I think as a leading principal, you need to have integrity so that people trust you on that journey with you. I think you need to have the vision. You need to know where you're trying to get to and how you're going to get there and be able to articulate that vision to the community and the stakeholders. And I think from my perspective, as a principal, you need to be child-centered, because it is all about the children and their development and their success.

KingLead: This is your first time as founding head of Harrow Haikou. Looking back on this experience, what do you think is the most valuable part of your stories?

Kelly Wailes, Head Mistress of AISL Harrow Haikou:It's interesting that you asked this question because it's not only my first founding head, but it's my first headship. I've been in leadership for quite a while now, but I've never been a leader of my own school.

So for me, I think the thing that I've reflected on is my journey as a leader and the things that I am developing in my own skill-set throughout that journey.And I was just asked by my group who does coaching and mentoring to do a presentation for the aspiring heads training.So I set about 2 weeks ago, the presentation that I took two particular aspiring heads through.

There was one point in there that was really quite emotional. It was a point about a year and a half ago when I realized how challenging this job can be. The two words that I used to mark Harrow values when I kind of came to that realization were humility, knowing that you don't know everything, and courage, to keep trying and ask for support when needed. And I kind of weld up a little bit in my eyes but they really appreciated that honesty.

And I think to answer that question, the most valuable part that I have learned about being a founding head is the challenges, about the journey that you go on to develop yourself, to develop your team, and to develop the school for the children.

KingLead: After the first 2 years of the school's establishment, will the school enter its new stage in the third year? What's the plan? What are your priorities or mention at this stage?

Kelly Wailes, Head Mistress of AISL Harrow Haikou:In fact, the team and the group have been discussing this at length. We just had our board of governors meeting last Thursday. We were looking back at our strategic plans, the developments that we've already come through in the last 2 years, and then we were trying to refocus on what we need to do going into the next phase, which is our third year.

The main thing will always be driving, teaching, and learning.Because that's our business, That's what we do. We help children to be successful in their academics and their social and emotional development. But we're also then as we're going into our third year, we'll be embedding those foundations. We've built along a really strong foundation going forward, but we now need to make sure they're embedded and that everybody understands the systems and the processes and how they're used consistently. And then we really want to start looking at more community outreach, not only within Haikou and Hainan, but further filed in China. And then we want to start really engaging our parents on this journey because the research just says that if the parents are on the journey with you for the child, the child is more successful in the long run.So driving results in teaching and learning, embedding our foundations, community outreach, and parental engagement.

KingLead: Then how do you plan to achieve this? What's your next move?

Kelly Wailes, Head Mistress of AISL Harrow Haikou:So the next thing is of course reviewing all of our strategic plans and our development plans and then revising them going into the third year.And then what we do is we track those very carefully through what we call "RAG System", Red, Amber and Green. If something is still not in the works, it's red, but if it's starting to develop, it's amber, if we've completed it, it's green. And this can be reported to the group and the teams on a regular basis.

We also have metrics that are attached to some of these objectives so that you could measure if that particular objective is been successful. For example, if it's embedding policies and procedures, you might send out a survey. And if you get more than 80% of the people understanding the policies and procedures and using them consistently, then you could say that you can measure that, and then that would be a success.

So I think the main word here that to drive results is accountability.And that could be a big thing for us next year as we go from a start-up school, but starting to look at being a more mature school in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th year. And that comes with accountability, for the senior leaders, and their roles and responsibilities, and then how they need their teams for the middle leaders and their roles and responsibility and how that then has an impact on teaching and learning and outcomes for the children's academic success.

KingLead: As the core of the school, how do you practice principal leadership? How to fully stimulate the effectiveness of teachers and different departments?

Kelly Wailes, Head Mistress of AISL Harrow Haikou:I think, again, that the word accountability is really important when you're driving results.One thing that I tell my team members is that everything that we do here at school, from the security guards of the gate, to the cleaners in the canteen, and the cooks, to operations ensuring that the buildings are safe, everything that we do affects the teaching and learning. And so we're all accountable for making sure that whatever our role and responsibility are, whatever department we might be in, everybody has an effect on the children's success.

And I think that is really important, because when you start to realize that your school and the main product is a successful child, then everyone starts to see it slightly differently. So if you're doing an HR function, if you make that system more streamlined for the teachers, whatever they might be doing, their visa process, if it's simple, teacher friendly process, time is saved during that process, which means our teachers are planning and preparing and developing their lessons and their practice for the children in the classroom.

And so really, it's holding people to account, helping them to understand that everyone is there for the children to be successful, and then making sure that we monitor that. What's the impact? How are the departments working? How are they functioning? Is there anything we can enhance? And I see that's really a very big part of my role is to be that strategic person who sets the vision, sets what we need to get done and where we need to get to and how we're gonna get there, and then working with the various teams to ensure that they deliver on these with successful outcomes and measures.

KingLead: How do you inspire all your teaching team, and how do you make sure that everyone in the school is in line with your goals for the school?

Kelly Wailes, Head Mistress of AISL Harrow Haikou:Yeah, that's a good question. I think that starts with recruitment. You set that vision, that tone when you're interviewing people so that they understand what type of school they're coming to and what the schools trying to achieve. Once people are on board, then it's about taking them on that journey. So regular updates on strategic plans, on tracking of our development plans, regular updates through surveys, getting feedback from the teachers, getting feedback from the students, getting feedback from the parents, so that we can continually review the success or the lack thereof if we need to enhance something.

So I think for me, in order to drive a vision, you want have to believe in it yourself.It has to be something you're very passionate about. And you have to constantly come back to it and remind everybody why we're doing things, why we're here, why we're trying to do these activities, why we're trying to drive these results that come through modeling behaviors, using key phrases.

For example, we have our Harrow values. I try to use those values, those words in examples, and I repeat those words with the children, and with the staff so that it becomes a normal way of thinking. When I talk to the children, I talk about fellowship, if there's an issue on the playground, how we're gonna collaborate, how we're going to have that fellowship. And so it's embedding those values and embedding those core aspects of your vision, right, so that people understand it. It's regularly articulated, and it's enacted out in everyday life.

KingLead: So is there any a particular system to award the teachers or everyone who is doing well?

Kelly Wailes, Head Mistress of AISL Harrow Haikou:Yes, a really good example is that we have something called“Living the Mission”, it's a policy and procedure, that colleague notices another colleague going above and beyond, demonstrating the values of the leadership attributes that have an impact on the children in their success in the classroom.

And so every month I host a Living the Mission Award where people send through nominations for various reasons. And then we acknowledge that with the whole staff community where someone has noticed someone else being successful and having an impact on the children. And we read out the nomination and then they receive a certificate and a small token like a Harrow mug, or thermos or something like that, just something small. But I think the core of what it is, it's one reminding us all that people are working really hard, and then other people are noticing that. And that's having an impact on the school and the students. And I think also it highlights the values again on a regular basis right. And it's really nice.

You did it just because you would normally do it, or because you were passionate about it, or because you wanted to do it for the children. But someone else has seen that and acknowledged that. I think that's a really important kind of their collegiate way of doing things. And I think the people enjoy it.

KingLead: What impressive achievements have the school achieved during your tenure as principal?

Kelly Wailes, Head Mistress of AISL Harrow Haikou:I think the first thing has been that we successfully opened during a very difficult time around the entire world,with issues like staff mobilization and just getting everyone here. But we open successfully, and I think that was the biggest accomplishment to be able to do that.I think the second accomplishment for me is the growth of the school.We have 531 students in our second year, that is absolutely amazing. So I think the fact that we've grown so big in such a short time is a really good achievement also.

I've been hugely proud of our children's learning over the last2 years, particularly in their language development. When I first derived a lot of the children were very reserved to speak English or to say hello to me. And now I walk around and they'll come up and they'll say good morning Mrs. Wailes, how are you today? They'll tell me stories or something they have just done in the classroom. So I think their language development has been a success.

That's linked also very close to their behavior for learning. Coming into a different type of school was very challenging for some of our students and having to simply work in both languages and having to follow different rules and different academic kinds of the pathway. So they have come on leaps and bounds. And now, again, you walk around the campus and the children are very polite to each other. They hold doors open for each other. They say hello to each other. They say hello to the teachers. They work really well with each other. So their language development and their behavior for learning as a success.

I think also, another success is our beautiful campus.It's just an amazing space and the way that it feels when you're walking around the different buildings. And so the enhancements that we have been working on a year to continue to drive learning spaces for our students out for provision for our students so that they know that this is their campus, everything that's around them is for them. And so those enhancements have been working towards to ensure that we continue to drive the campus for the children.

KingLead: What are the plans and prospects up for the future of Harrow Haikou? How will you lead the team to achieve the goals?

Kelly Wailes, Head Mistress of AISL Harrow Haikou:I think it kind of goes back to some of the other things that comments I made already. We're now looking at going from a startup school in its infancy to becoming a more established mature school. And so all of the plans, strategic plans, and actions that come out of that kind of vision are being formulated so that we can get to that next level. Just talking to each individual team member about the development of their phase or their department against our strategic plans, talking to each of the school leaders in lower school and upper school with their focus and priorities will be going into next year to get us to that next level, particularly in the areas of consistent, good practice in teaching and learning in the classrooms. So continual professional development for our teachers so that they hone in on their craft and their practices as a practitioner so that they continue to develop so that that goes back to the children and their success.

And through that, it's me leading those teams and helping them to prioritize. And then when they report back to me, I can work through with them any issues arising, successes that they've already seen, priorities as they shift, and we continuein refine those plans so that we are making that progress into the next phase.

KingLead: In order to better face future development opportunities and challenges, what qualities do you think students should possess to develop into innovative talents?

Kelly Wailes, Head Mistress of AISL Harrow Haikou:I think for the future of students as they grow up and they go to university and they go into the workforce,the first important skill is the skill of understanding humility and having empathy.And I've spoken about this particular topic in my TEDx talk last year, because it is so important to have those two virtues, because it opens your eyes to know that you don't know everything, and that you have to work with others and as a team or get support. But having empathy also means you can understand things from other people's perspectives. If you don't have that, you are going to struggle in any work environment.

I think for the kids going forward, the future is unknown.We know what it looks like now, but we don't what it looks like in 10 or 15 years. So our children have to have four Cs which means they have to be creative, they need to be critical thinkers, they need to understand the importance of collaboration, and they need to understand the importance of communication. Those four Cs along with humility and empathy can be then used in any field that they choose to go into. And their transferable skills are not just skills that you learn in school, these are skills you use when you're working with your teams in the work environment, maybe even when you're working with your family at times.

So I think from my point of view, that's the thing that I always focus on for our children for their future. We don't know what it's gonna look like, but I do believe if they have these virtues or skills, they'll be able to face whatever challenges come their way in the future.

KingLead: We know that we've been in a normalized stage of the pandemic. So have you noticed that Chinese parents have some new expectations or new demands for the schools? What do you think about this and what do you plan to respond to this?

Kelly Wailes, Head Mistress of AISL Harrow Haikou:From my perspective, I haven't noticed a huge difference in the demands from the parents because of Covid-19 or anything like that. I think maybe parents think more about health and safety now, because of what we've all been through. The importance of being healthy and staying safe is probably one of the top priorities now.

A thing I've also realized is that parents want their children to be successful, it's helping them to understand how we teach children, how we educate children, and so that they have an understanding. So we take away the anxieties because they want their child to be successful, they want them to go into the best universities, and they want them to have top jobs. And so we have to help the parents understand the journey that the children go on and how we do that. And I think that's been pretty much in every school I've ever worked in. But I think in the Chinese schools that I've worked in that seems to be a really important aspect for parents is how do you do it? Why do you do it that way? And how can I support? Because they do get anxious, they have those anxieties that their child may not be as successful as they'd hope. So it's taking them on that journey.

KingLead: What are your suggestions for improving the learning quality of students?

Kelly Wailes, Head Mistress of AISL Harrow Haikou:I think you can look at it in two ways.

First, you can look at it as the child's responsibility, depending on their age.And if you look at it from the child's responsibility, it is about there, the attitude to learning, or their behavior learning. An old saying is “you can take a horse to a trough, but you can't force the horse to drink”. So we have to help the children to understand the importance of their attitude toward their learning. And they have a positive mindset, even when things are challenging and things are hard with their learning. A positive mindset, continuing to try, asking for support, and having that positive attitude will help them to be successful.

Then, if you look at it from the teacher's point of view, it's the teacher's practice.They have to understand the curriculum, they have to have knowledge of each one of the children in their class, what they're good at, what they need support in, and they need to know how to plan and prepare, and differentiate for those different children's skill sets. They also need to make sure that they're upskilling themselves. How do we teach children in a bilingual setting? It's a good starting point for our teachers to develop their talent and their practice. Because if they don't understand that, it can be very difficult to deliver the lessons in content to the children where the children don't fully understand. So looking at what is a bilingual learner need to be successful? They need both languages for the understanding of the vocabulary and the content. They need visuals, so that they can visualize what the vocabulary or the content is. And they need reinforcement, back and forth in Chinese and in English. So we were working on co-teaching right in the classrooms right now where lessons are delivered by two teachers in different ways.

So from the child's point of view, behavior for learning and attitude towards learning, always trying even things are challenging. And from a teacher's point of view, continually enhancing practice, understanding of your context, and understanding of each child in your class.

The whole child approach in a holistic way. Academics is one important part of it, but so is the pastoral.So that underneath the pastoral, you would have leadership development, character development, more morality and things like that. And then you would also have extracurricular activities, so their talents and skills can be developed and they can shine on that.

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