Simon is from the United Kingdom and has a background in mathematics and sport, gaining a BSc from Birmingham University and a PGCE from Durham University. After qualifying as a teacher, Simon initially taught at two top independent schools in the UK before moving abroad to become Head of Maths and Sport at The Banda School in Kenya. From there, his journey took him to the UAE where he was involved with the start-up of Brighton College Abu Dhabi as Deputy Head, and then Cranleigh Abu Dhabi, where he was Headmaster of the Prep School. His experience in leading teams through the early stages of school development will prove hugely advantageous as Huili School Nantong begins to take root.  His interests include all sports, but particularly rugby and cricket, and whilst in Abu Dhabi, he competed in several triathlons. His other main interest is travel: having visited 101 countries, Simon enjoys being out of his comfort zone, exploring new cultures and meeting new people, and plans to do more of the same in east Asia once the boarder situation is more relaxed.

Simon will be joined in China by his wife Phoebe, who is an English and History teacher, and their baby daughter, Sophie.

Suisui Yu is a passionate educator with 20 years of teaching and leadership experience. Before joining Wellington College China, she served at different bilingual and public schools, gaining a wealth of experience in the Chinese National Curriculum, bilingual curriculum，IGCSE ，A-level and IB curriculum etc. Suisui was the founding member of two well-known bilingual schools, serving as Founding Secondary School Principal, Head of Year Groups and Head of Mathematics. Prior to that, she was an inspector at Shanghai Jing’an Education College responsible for Primary mathematics teaching quality and teacher training within the district. 

Suisui participated in and won a number of district and municipal mathematics teaching competitions in the public education sector. She was deeply involved in the Second Phase of Shanghai Curriculum Reform Programme and was responsible for facilitating curriculum reform across the municipality. Suisui holds a bachelor’s degree in Applied Mathematics and a master’s degree in International Higher Education. Her current role is to develop and assure the quality of Chinese components of the curriculum for Wellington College China’s bilingual schools. She also plays a central role in establishing effective working relationships with the local education system.  

Suisui is married with two children. she enjoys reading, baking, travelling and crocheting.

Mrs Liya Liao is of Singaporean / Chinese decent and graduated with an MBA degree from James Cook University in Australia. She also holds a qualification for secondary school teaching. She taught in secondary schools for nearly five years before joining the non-academic team and has worked in several international schools in Singapore.

Mrs Liao has extensive experience in different educational management positions including finance, human resources and facility maintenance. She is also responsible for the daily operation of the school, especially liaison between the parents, school staff and management.

In her spare time, Ms. Liao likes to travel and experience new cultures and customs. She also likes sports, with running, swimming, badminton being amongst her favourites.

Penny Mulholland holds a B.Ed (Hons) degree, having graduated from Westminster College in Oxford in 1987. She began her teaching career in the north of England, teaching in a variety of school settings in both urban and rural areas. It was whilst working as a primary teacher that her interest in children’s wellbeing and additional needs began. Her international teaching career started in Qatar. She was part of a successful pastoral team and was responsible for the creation and implementation of the school’s Safeguarding Policy. Later Ms. Mulholland was Head of Learning Support and Safeguarding Officer at an international school in Shanghai. In 2018, she joined Huili School Shanghai as the Head of Pastoral Care since its founding and has extensive management experience in pastoral care which is vital for a boarding setting.

What’s more, she will bring her extensive pastoral management experience to Huili School Nantong and work with us to build a warm and caring environment where the children will feel safe, valued and be able to flourish.

Sheilla started her teaching career in Hong Kong ten years ago. She has rich experience in both bilingual and international school curricula. She also holds various workshops among international schools. Before joining Huili School, she served at the English Schools Foundation, the largest English-medium international school organization in Hong Kong. Her educational credentials include a master’s degree in teaching Chinese as a foreign language (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University), bachelor’s degree in Chinese Language and Literature (Qingdao University), teaching certificates in both People's Republic of China and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, as well as School Leadership Certificate from Harvard University.

Sheilla loves engaging pupils, staff and parents to build strong school communities. As a ‘sportaholic’, she loves volleyball, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and running. She is enthusiastic to be one of the founding members in Huili School Nantong.

Ms May Xue received her bachelor’s and a master’s degree in Child Development Psychology from Zhejiang Normal University. She joined the Huili community in 2016 and has served in Huili Nursery Shanghai and Huili Nursery Hangzhou. She has always tried to apply pedagogical and psychological theories to her teaching. This experience has helped form her educational concept and philosophy. Together with the leadership of Huili School Nantong, she looks forward to turning our Nursery into a place that children enjoy coming to learn.

Ms Xue is an outdoor sports enthusiast with hiking and skiing being her favorite. She believes that exercise not only keeps us healthy, but also brings us closer to nature.

Lucy is delighted to be joining the founding team at Huili School Nantong as Western Co-Head of Early Years. She has a BSc in Geography from Queen's University Belfast, a Business Diploma from Arcadia University, Pennsylvania and a PGCE from The University of Buckingham. As a child she lived and studied at several international schools in Asia, including Beijing, before returning to the UK for her senior education.

Before joining Huili Nantong she has taught across Early Years in several schools in Asia, most recently as Head of Nursery at Wellington College Bangkok. She is looking forward to blending Wellington College and Huili Nursery values in an exciting bilingual setting which will provide excellent starts for the youngest members of our school community. In her free time, she loves to bake tasty treats, swim and read a good book with a cup of Yorkshire tea!

Michelle was born in Nantong, She has been working at Wellington College International Shanghai for almost 5 years. During the time, she has expanded her teaching ability in English and looks forward to bringing an excellent bilingual learning environment to Huili Nantong.

She loves to spend her time walking along the riverbank with her family and dog. She has always used her spare time to do interesting activities and travel around the world. She was a volunteer for the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games, which was an amazing experience for her to meet so many young talented athletes and it helped her appreciate everyone’s challenging work. Being a teacher enriches her life: she learns from pupils as much as she teaches them, and it makes her happy to communicate with pupils who have so many wonderful ideas.

Shane comes from the Republic of Ireland, a small country of about five million people on the western edge of Europe. He grew up in the countryside, on a dairy and beef farm, in a large family of nine people. He holds a B.A. degree in English and Media Studies, two M.A degrees (in Philosophy & Literature and in Educational Leadership) and his teaching Higher Diploma is from Trinity College, Dublin (one of the oldest universities in the western world, founded in 1592). He began teaching in 2004 and has taught English language and literature in Ireland, the United Arab Emirates and in China with Huili School Shanghai since 2019. He has also taught French, philosophy and well-being. In addition, he has worked with various universities as a research assistant and Media tutor.

He loves to read, watch movies and exercise but his passion is the sport of rugby. He played for a short time and became an age-group coach with his son’s club, Abu Dhabi Harlequins. He has also brought tag rugby to Huili School Shanghai which has proved extremely popular. He looks forward to introducing this sport to Huili School Nantong in the coming year.

His role in the school will be as an English teacher and he is also acting as one of the Teacher Ambassadors for the school, to assist new teachers in coming to understand the Huili ethos and vision. He is passionate about pastoral care also and he hopes, in time, to foster the amazing Huili values in our Nantong pupils, to develop young men and women who become ‘Inspired, Intellectual, Independent, Individual and Inclusive’.

Having grown up in a small village on the outskirts of York, Sally moved to Manchester to pursue a career in teaching. She gained her PGCE in Design and Technology and followed on with an MA in Teaching Studies. Fourteen years later, she has had the privilege of working in outstanding schools in London, Leeds and also China, where she taught Art and Design and was a Housemistress. She will join Huili School Nantong as our Art and DT Teacher.

Outside of teaching, she enjoys going to the gym and playing netball. She plays the piano and loves reading, she makes sure she takes her kindle wherever she goes! She is looking forward to returning to China this summer as she enjoys working in the international community and is looking forward to exploring the country further and exploring new opportunities.

Having grown up in a small seaside town in the East of England, Martin has been very fortunate to live and teach around the UK. He has previously taught in great cities such as London and Leeds. He is excited to be part of the Huili School Nantong as Primary English Teacher.

Over the past 7 years, his teaching career has consisted of a mix of alternative provisions, outstanding inner-city schools and a very enjoyable role previously in China. He is very excited about returning to China, experiencing the culture within Nantong and exploring the wider country. His personal interests revolve around being an active person through sports such as rugby and taking on new challenges.

Jane comes from China. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English Education from Xuzhou Normal University. After graduating, she worked as an English teacher in Suzhou Vocational Health College for two years. Meanwhile, she was appointed to be a homeroom teacher of a nursery class, but quickly had the urge to teach abroad.

Eventually, she obtained her Master of Arts (in Interpreting and Translation) from the University of Western Sydney in 2007, which polished her English skills on all aspects: listening, speaking, reading and writing. At that stage she decided to try her hand at something else and pursued a career in sales and customer service. For her, it was not only a challenge but also an opportunity. Thirteen years in sales and customer service gave her a wealth of experience, enabling her to communicate with others from different backgrounds effectively, gain rapport and put her feet into other people’s shoes. Additionally, it provided an opportunity to get to know the western culture and customs.

2019 was a turning point in her life. She came back to China and started working at an international school in Wuxi but, instead of academic teaching, as Head of Boarding, she was accountable for the leadership and management of human and physical resources, pastoral care of both students and staff and a high level of duty of care within the boarding house. She encouraged, developed and maintained a family like environment within the boarding house for three years before joining Huili School Nantong.

She is a person who embraces new challenges: she likes running, skiing, yoga, basketball travelling and cooking. She has a daughter who is 9 years old and who will study at Huili School Nantong in September.

Helen Nugent is from the Wirral, England. She has been teaching in primary education for eight years and graduated with a Bachelor of Education degree and a master's degree in Creative Education from the University of Chester.

Having been a teacher for eight years, she believes a holistic education is vital for a child to succeed academically, socially and emotionally. During her Batchelor of Education degree at the University of Chester the educational practices she experienced, opened her eyes to the impact culture can have on a child’s education and the importance of a child’s voice within the classroom.

She has a special love for music and plays flute, piccolo and recorder. She is a keen gardener, avid reader and enjoys doing a range of crafts and always willing to try something new, which is why she is really excited about coming to China and exploring its rich culture and history.

Tom Li is born and bred in China but graduated from the National University of Singapore, with a bachelor’s degree in Physics and Mathematics. He began his teaching career in Singapore, taught students across different grades and curricula, including IBDP, A-level and iGCSE. To strengthen his subject knowledge and teaching skills, he pursued a higher degree at the National Institute of Education, NTU, Singapore, and graduated with master’s degree in Mathematics Education.

After living overseas for 13 years, he came back to China in 2018. Since then, he has been more exposed to Chinese teaching and learning in an internationalized setting. It gives him the opportunity to look at it from both sides in depth. All these experiences give him great joy and a sense of responsibility being part of this everchanging and rewarding profession, with vast potential to benefit the future.

Besides curriculum teaching and learning, he has also been actively participating in maths Olympiad coaching since the beginning of his teaching career. He used to run related CCA programs in Singapore local schools and his previous schools in China, with good results in international maths competitions such as SASMO and AMC.

Marta Perez was born and raised in sunny Barcelona, Spain. She graduated from the University of Barcelona with a bachelor’s degree in Library and Information Science. Soon afterwards, she pursued her Masters in Library Science with a Digital Information and Communication endorsement from the Pompeu Fabra University, in Spain. After being a research analyst in a consultant company for four years, she moved abroad where she found her dream job: school librarianship. She then received her Postgraduate Certificate in Education from Nottingham University, in the UK.

She has taught internationally for eight years in schools in Costa Rica, Dubai (UAE), and China, as a teacher-librarian. She believes that the library is the learning hub within the school where all the pupils and teachers stay abreast of the constantly changing information world. She is passionate about encouraging the use of new technologies in the classroom while fostering a culture of reading, literacy, and research.

In her free time, she can be found enjoying a book, singing in a choir, colouring mandalas, and learning a new language (currently attempting to improve her Mandarin skills!).

Wendy Li holds a master’s degree in Education from Framingham State University. She has more than 17 years of experience working as a Chinese teacher. Prior to Huili School Nantong, Wendy worked in international schools in Thailand, Bahrain, and Vietnam, developing and implementing their Primary, Middle, and High School Chinese programs.

Wendy is an experienced IB Chinese specialist. In addition to teaching, she also serves as an IBDP Chinese Examiner. She has taught Mandarin to both Chinese and foreign pupils for all three IB programs.

Wendy is also familiar with the IGCSE Chinese courses, as well as the ACTFL language standards. With more than ten years of experience in pupil pastoral care, Wendy has a deep understanding of pupil growth at different stages.

Wendy is joining the Huili community with her 7-year-old son. She looks forward to working and growing with every Huili member, in order to cultivate Huili pupils into international talents with both Chinese cultural heritage and global visions.

Nade Li is from Hangzhou, China. She moved to New York City to begin her career as a high school teacher. She holds a master’s degree in TESOL and Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language from New York University. During her ten years of experience at the New York City Department of Education, she explored teaching across subject areas, including participation in U.S. government and economics, Chinese and environmental science. The multicultural teaching and learning experience allowed her to swiftly adapt to the changing situations and deliver differentiated instructions to pupils with various backgrounds and educational needs.

She is beyond excited to teach Chinese Social Studies through a well-rounded lens at Huili School Nantong. She aims to guide the pupils in exploring the marvellous Chinese history and geography and facilitate them to tell the stories of China confidently to the world.

She and her husband, Li Shi, who is also joining Huili School Nantong as the IT Teacher, are big fans of traveling. Their favourite destinations so far are the National Parks in Utah, as well as the historical medinas and the Sahara Desert in Morocco. They look forward to planning more domestic trips with their 3-year-old son once back in China.

Born and raised in China, Mr Shi began his career with New York City Department of Education ten years ago, where he worked as the Computer Science (CS) teacher and Technology Coordinator. As the founder of the school CS program, he created an inclusive and engaging learning environment for all pupils to explore the CS fundamentals, block-based and text-based programming, robotics, game-design, and physical computing.

Prior to that, Mr Shi attended New York University and received his master’s degree. He is now pursuing his second master’s in educational leadership.

Together with his wife and son, Mr. Shi is excited to join Huili and the Wellington family. They are full of energy and enthusiasm for traveling all over the world.

Adam Lee comes from Plymouth in the UK. He has spent 14 years teaching overseas in Turkey, Kazakhstan and Vietnam. He is looking forward to working in China and discovering as much of this amazing country as possible.

As a PE teacher he loves sports. In his free time, he swims, plays tennis and football. He has longed for this magical land of China and wanted to experience and learn various traditional Chinese sports while enjoying the local customs and culture.

Kristen Xing received a PGCE from Durham University UK, Master’s of Accounting and Finance in Latrobe University Australia and a Bachelor of Arts from Tianjin Foreign Studies University. Kristen also holds an international certificate for teaching Mandarin to foreigners, a Secondary Teacher’ Qualifications and a Homeroom teacher’s certificate.

Kristen worked in Wellington College International Tianjin for almost 10 years as a bilingual class teacher and year group lead. And had rich experience as a homeroom teacher as well as a bilingual teacher, especially good at teaching Math, IPC and ELA.

Kristen strongly encourages pupils to actively engage in independent thinking. She hopes that every pupil is special and that they will have a positive and sunny personality, the ability to think independently, and the courage to inquire.

Catherine Ding graduated from Shanghai International Studies University with a master's degree in Chinese International Education and holds the title of primary and secondary school teacher. Catherine is also a member of the Communist Party of China. She was a volunteer Chinese language teacher and sent by the Confucius Institute Headquarters to teach at an international school in Madrid, Spain.

Catherine went on to teach at different international schools and bilingual schools in China where she was the IBPYP coordinator. She is familiar with both domestic and international curricula and has been teaching for many years. Catherine hopes pupils will leave their Huili bilingual education, not in a bubble of elitism, privilege, and exclusivity, but with the moral values and social conscience to serve others and do good in life. This inclusivity includes a strong pride in coeducation, and a commitment to understanding and appreciating our place as global citizens.

Catherine likes to travel. During her working period in Europe, she used her holidays to travel around European countries and experience the local customs of each country, and when she returned to China, she also used her holidays to bring her children to enjoy the beautiful scenery of China.

Avery Liu has been teaching Chinese abroad for seven years in Indonesia and Thailand. She has five years’ experience as a PYP homeroom teacher in an International School.

Avery is open-minded to understand, respect and accept different learning styles and cultures. Reading is one of her ways to keep calm and relax. Traveling is another way to have her eyes opened to the world. Words cannot express how excited she is to join Huili School Nantong, as a professional and well-equipped school. She is looking forward to starting her upcoming journey in her own country.

Wendy Yang comes from Nantong. She graduated from Yangzhou University with a major in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (TCFL). Then she taught Chinese in the USA for two years.

After that, she worked at a famous International School in Shanghai for five years. She enjoys traveling and reading and believes that Huili School Nantong can be a great community that is full of harmony and vitality.

Vincent graduated with a Master’s in Genetics from China Agricultural University and obtained the PGCE from University of Warwick in the UK. 

Prior to Huili School Nantong, Vincent was a chemistry and biology teacher at RDFZ King’s College School and the chemistry teacher of Zhenhai High School and Nanjing Foreign Language School.  

Vincent is excited about the opportunity to participate the international education in Nantong, a city with an excellent reputation for first-class teaching. 

Vincent believes that all children are unique and have something special that they can bring to the classroom. It is his goal to create a stimulating learning environment where each child feels valued and can grow physically, intellectually, emotionally, and socially. 

Sara Shi graduated from Sofia University in the USA with a master's degree in Psychology. And she had been working in Beijing for 18 years, with more than 10 years in counseling. Sara will join in Huili School Nantong as our counsellor. 

Sara has a special love for reading, writing, and traveling. She hopes to travel around China to explore its rich culture and history. Her motto: Be a guide in every student's life and send them light.

Ciki was born in Nantong but she has been working in Learning Support in Nanjing for seven years. She is excited to be back in her hometown. She loves cooking. She enjoys cooking for her family and friends. 

She expects that Huili School Nantong will be a school where pupils can be better versions of themselves. That is also one of the reasons why a Learning Support teacher exists. Ciki looks forward to the new journey with Huili School Nantong. 

Tingting Ge holds a master’s degree from Shanghai JiaoTong University in Teaching Chinese to Foreigners as a Second Language. After graduating from university, she began her teaching journey as a primary teacher in New Zealand. Then she started to work in IB school since 2013. Before joining WCC, she was a secondary Chinese teacher teaching language acquisition, language and literature at international schools in Shanghai and Bangkok. During the past ten years, Tingting has been teaching children of all ages from Year 0 to Year 12.

Tingting Ge was certified by Lynn Erickson and Lois Lanning as an Independent Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction trainer in 2022. She co-authored ‘The Inquiry Strategies in Teaching Languages (Use IB MYP Chinese Language Acquisition & Language and Literature as an Example). She is currently writing a Concept-Based textbook for IBDP Chinese B students. Writing can be struggling sometimes but it also keeps her thinking all the time. Tingting is enthusiastic about Concept-Based pedagogy and would like to develop and implement a Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction in language classrooms.

During her spare time, Tingting loves experimenting and trying out new things. She likes playing golf, squash, travelling, painting, camping, and hiking. She enjoys all kinds of outdoor activities. It is overly exciting for her to move to a new place. She is looking forward to living and exploring in Nantong City.

Irene holds a bachelor’s degree in preschool education. When she was in college, she went to Denmark for exchange study for about one year. And she received a diploma from VIA College in Denmark. In Denmark, Irene studied and practiced in a local nursery for a period of time, which was a very unforgettable time for her. There, she played with local children and learned lots of foreign early childhood education concepts and methods. When she came back to China, she worked as a nursery teacher in a nursery in Nantong for 3years. During this period, she gained rich work experience and mastered the skills of communicating with children and parents.

During her spare time, Irene likes painting, handcraft, photography and watching movies. She thinks these are effective ways to relax.

Mary graduated with her bachelor’s degree from Nantong University in preschool education. She has been dedicated to bilingual nursery for the past four years. Before joining Huili, Mary was the head teacher in a bilingual nursery which was located in Xuhui, Shanghai. She was very happy to help Israeli kids in toddlers quit pacifiers and Taiwanese girls in K1 quit diapers. She was delighted to do something good to help children grow up. She established a good relationship with children’s parents in  Huili Nursery Nantong.

During her spare time, Mary enjoys travelling and reading. Travelling thousands of miles and reading thousands of books are both important for her.

Selina Hao comes from Inner Mongolia. She graduated from Dalian Nationalities University where she majored in Chinese language and literature.

Since graduating, Selina has worked as a Chinese language teacher and as a librarian’s assistant at the Dalian American International School. Those three years working experience enriched her knowledge of how to operate a library. Selina is fond of reading and cooking.

She thinks the most important things in life are enriching life experiences and finding a form of personal peace.

Joy Qiao

Founder and Chairman

Joy Qiao is the Founder and Chairman of Wellington College China. She founded the group in 2009 and, under her leadership, Wellington China has become one of the most reputable international education groups in China and globally. Joy grew up in Shanghai and earned her BA in Computer Science at the University of Oxford. Prior to her devotion to education, she had extensive experience working in the IT industry in the United Kingdom, Germany and China.

Joy is married to a British husband and they have two teenage sons. Influenced by this, Joy's vision is to create the world's leading English-Chinese bilingual schools, which combine the very best attributes of both British and Chinese education. She views such blended education as being a key contributor towards deepening understanding and appreciation between China and the rest of the world. Bilingualism, cross-cultural awareness and global citizenship will all be highly valued skills in this century when East is meeting West.

Julian Jeffrey

Chief Executive Master

Julian is the Executive Master of Wellington College in Tianjin. In August 2022, he moves to Shanghai as Chief Executive Master of the Wellington College China group.

Julian has been involved in school leadership for over 20 years, the last eight of which have been based in Tianjin. Before moving to China in 2014, he began his career in education as a teacher of history in a prestigious independent girls’ school in north London, followed by almost 18 years at our sister school in England, Wellington College. He is a graduate of Durham and Exeter universities.

Lydia Cheung

Governor

Huili School Hangzhou/ Huili Nursery Hangzhou

Ms Lydia Cheung has served as the Non-Executive Director of Wellington College International China Management Ltd since 2016.

Lydia graduated at Queen Mary College (University of London) with a BSc (Hon) Statistics and also holds an MBA degree from Oklahoma City University in the United States. She practiced as an auditor in London after graduation.

Primarily based in Hong Kong, Lydia has more than 20 years of financial management experience in the United Kingdom and Greater China. Her expertise includes anticipating strategic investment, optimising capital structure, budget control, implementing financial recommendations to achieve business objectives and enhancing sustainable long-term shareholder value and profitability.

Lydia is the Financial Controller of Italian luxury fashion brand INNIU. She is a visionary finance professional with extensive technical knowledge in the international luxury fashion industry, having previously worked for Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana and Balenciaga.

She is married with one daughter who is a graduate of the Wellington Academy in England and is currently studying her postgraduate degree in Luxury Brand Management.

Shuanglin Chen

Governor

Huili School Nantong/Huili Nursery Nantong

Ms Shuanglin Chen is a senior architect who specialises in the design and development of mixed-use projects in urban centres. She joined Lujiazui Group in 2013 and has played a key role in major projects, including the New Bund Centre office tower, the Qiantan Shangri-La Hotel, the Qiantan Taikooli shopping village, the Zhangjiang Science Gate office tower, the Zhangjiang Hilton Hotel and more. She has also participated in the development of Huili Shanghai South Building.

Ms Chen has bachelor’s degree in architecture from Tianjin University, and master’s degree in architecture from National University of Singapore.

She is married and has two sons and is passionate about education.