Stella Zhou

Master of Hiba Shanghai

Stella Zhou graduated from East China Normal University with a bachelor’s degree in Chinese language and literature and a master’s degree in education. Since then, she has gained nearly 20 years’ experience of teaching and management in international and bilingual schools.

As the founding principal of Hiba Academy Shanghai, Stella, together with other Chinese and international educators and experts, designed the school’s bilingual curriculum and recruited a team of dedicated teachers. She has led this team tirelessly to develop the best possible bilingual curriculum for Chinese pupils.  

Stella is a passionate educator who fully believes in the Hiba philosophy of holistic education. She hopes to bring all her experience to Hiba and is keen to make it a world-class bilingual school.

Stella understands the importance of implementing a flexible education that focuses on pupils' long-term benefits without losing sight of more immediate concerns. This means empowering our pupils to live a meaningful life while taking the initiative to represent China on the world stage. 

Lydia Lim

Bursar

Before joining us, Lydia Lim spent four years in the same capacity in Beijing City International School, which accommodates both foreign and Chinese pupils. Lydia also has extensive experience in the accounting industry, where she was attached to several international firms, including Arthur Andersen and KPMG. During this time, she led various financial projects in real estate, resorts and service related industries, assurance and advisory business for multi-national organisations and public listed companies.

Lydia is a chartered accountant, a fellow member of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA), an experienced member of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants and the Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants. She also completed an MBA from Oxford Brookes University.

Simon Massey

Head of Primary

Mr Simon Massey graduated from the University of Birmingham in the UK with a bachelor degree in law before moving intoeducation and obtaining his teaching certificate (P.G.C.E.) from the University of Cumbria. He has been working inprimary education for over 20 years, with experience teaching all grades in Primary School and taking on a number ofleadership roles in schools in the Middle East and China. 

In his roles as headteacher and principal, Mr Massey has coached and supported teachers in developing curriculum inPrimary schools and promotes adopting a variety of teaching strategies to support learning. He believes that every childis capable of making progress and it is a matter of finding the right approach for each student. 

“Teaching is not just a job – it’s a vocation and the core foundation is the strong relationships we build with thechildren in the school and their parents. It is vital that all teachers share a desire to get to know the children intheir class. If children feel valued, they will thrive.”  

Laura Ge

Head of Secondary

Laura Ge has joined Wellington College China since 2017. As one of the founding heads, she has contributed to the rapid growth of Hiba Academy Shanghai.

Laura graduated from Dalian University of Foreign Languages, majoring in English Language and Literature. Early in her teaching career, she taught at Shandong University, which is one of the top universities in China. She was elected as the ‘Young Backbone Teacher' for her creative problem solving and tireless work ethic. Laura has been devoted to international education for over 15 years. Before joining Wellington College China, she has worked as a leader at both international and bilingual schools in Shanghai.

Laura has a daughter who is enjoying her learning journey at Hiba Nursery. Outside of work, Laura has a wide range of interests, including travelling, reading and cooking.

Lana Kulas

Second Master

Lana Kulas is originally from Bosnia and Herzegovina and grew up in the UK. After graduating from university with a BA in English Language and Literature, Lana trained to become a teacher and started her career in London. Having set up a successful Sixth Form in an outstanding start-up Academy in Southwest London, Lana moved to Qatar in the Middle East, where she worked in three schools, including as the founding Head of Secondary at an all-through IB World School in Doha. She moved to China in September 2020 to take up the post of founding Head of High School at Hiba Academy Shanghai.  

During her time in education, Lana has completed a Master’s in education leadership and management and recently achieved the NPQH. She is passionate about IB programmes and the IB’s approach to education. She has held several roles within different programmes, including that of Programme Leader for the IBDP. She also values the benefits of service learning and has established service trips to her hometown in Bosnia, where students work with children with additional needs and at a children’s home.  

In her spare time, Lana enjoys travel and sport and is also a trustee of Our Kids Foundation, a charity that works with children and organisations helping young people with additional needs in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Kelin Chu

Deputy Head and CPC Secretary

Mr. Chu graduated from the University of Greenwich with an undergraduate degree in Business Administration. He then attended a Master programme in Administration at Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.

Mr. Chu has been working at Hiba School since 2016. He has been involved in the preparation and creation of the school since its inception. As deputy head and CPC secretary of Hiba School, Mr. Chu has helped the school to receive many honours in the Pudong education area.

In his opinion, teaching should not be limited to the transfer of knowledge, but more importantly to foster students with the skills to learn knowledge and the habit of lifelong learning, which is the goal of holistic education.

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.  

Jacky Ni Rui Ming

Member

Jacky Ni is the Headmaster of Shanghai Pudong High School, with over 20 years of school leadership experience across six schools. He graduated from Shanghai Normal University and began his teaching career at Shanghai Jianping High School and progress his career there.  In July 1996, Jacky took up his first headship position. He studied part-time at East China Normal University and the National Training Centre for Secondary School Principals by Ministry of Education. In order to extend his professional learning beyond the education sector, Jacky also studied EMBA courses at Fudan University, the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) and Freeman Business School, Tulane University. In 2004, he took part in a Leadership program sponsored by the British Council and Shanghai Education Commission and in 2006 led Hualin Middle School successfully through an inspection by 2 HMIs.

Between 2006 and 2007, Jack completed a Leadership and Self Inspection programme at the Institute of Education, London University and he also attained a Master’s Degree in Education from Towson University, USA. Jacky has undertaken more than ten research projects at national, municipal and district levels for which he has been awarded two National First Prizes and numerous other prizes. Throughout his career, Jacky’s leadership has been recognised with a wide range of honours, including the award of Excellent Teacher and Excellent Master by Shanghai Education Commission. He has also been bestowed the ‘Prominent Master Development Project’ in Shanghai and requested to deliver Advanced Master Workshop Training for High Schools nationwide organised by the Ministry of Education. Furthermore, Jacky has been invited to deliver lectures by The British Council and a wide range of universities. Jacky is motivated by finding ways to effectively integrate western and eastern education, to link the traditional and current educational approaches and is fully committed to continuous school improvement. Born in Shanghai, Jacky is married and has one child. He enjoys travelling.

Echo Jin

Member

Echo Jin is the Chief Financial Officer of Greater China Region at Microsoft. As a member of the Greater China leadership team, Echo assists Microsoft's CEO in driving the company’s long-term planning and strategic development in the region, and empower Microsoft’s customers to maximize business value more rapidly and efficiently. Before joining Microsoft, Echo was President of HPE China, overseeing the overall management and providing management support for HPE's joint ventures in China.
 

Echo has held numerous financial positions in many global enterprises. With her rich experience in financial and business management, she provides strategic guidance through market data analysis and business insights, helping enterprises to maximize their benefits in major transactions.
 

Echo holds a bachelor’s degree in international economic law from China University of Political Science and Law, and an MBA from the University of Maryland.

Justin Koh 

Member

Mr Koh works as Senior Vice President of AlixPartners, a global consulting firm. His focus is in the consumer, retailand private equity space, where he leads engagements in market entry strategy, retail operations andcommercial/operational due diligences. He has over 12 years of consulting experience mainly in China and Southeast Asia.

Previously he was part of L.E.K. Consulting and the lead for its Global Education Practice in China. He worked onprojects that supported strategy and investment decisions for clients across all sub-sectors of education globally, witha particular focus in China and Southeast Asia.

Justin graduated from Singapore Management University with an honours degree in Finance. He is a Singaporean nationaland has resided with his family in Shanghai since 2011.

Christopher Woolf

Member

Christopher Woolf is the newly appointed WCI International Director. He has spent more than 20 years working in a range of UK and international schools. Chris joins us from Pinner High School in Harrow where he is the founding headteacher. Opened in 2016, the school was rated 'Outstanding' by students, parents and colleagues in 2017 and judged 'Outstanding' in all categories by Ofsted in 2019. Pinner High has been the most oversubscribed schools in Harrow for the last three years.

Chris’ international experience includes five years at Dulwich College Beijing, initially as head of English, then deputy head, and then head of senior school. The school was named 'British International School of the Year' in the Independent School Awards whilst he was head of Senior School.

He trained as an English and drama teacher at Homerton College, University of Cambridge, after graduating from the University of St. Andrews with an MA (Hons.) in English literature and language. He was awarded a scholarship to the University of California, Davis, where he twice featured on the Dean's Honour List.

Chris was awarded the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) in 2012 and is now a course tutor on the UCL/IoE NPQH course for aspiring headteachers. He is a governor of a Harrow Primary School and a member of the Department for Education Star Chamber Scrutiny Board.

Helen Zhang

Member

Helen is a qualified Chinese CPA and started her career as an auditor with PwC Shanghai. Her six years of audit experience provided her with sound accounting, tax and auditing technical knowledge and practical skills and extensive experience in internal controls under the US Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Helen subsequently joined Johnson Controls in Shanghai where she took on diverse roles with enhanced business and management responsibilities including the Regional Lead Auditor of Asia Pacific, the Finance Controller of Power Solution Asia Headquarter and the Controller of Supply Chain Management. Helen got her Bachelor’s degree from Fudan University with the major in International Finance.  She loves traditional Chinese culture including Chinese characters (Han Zi) and Book of Songs (Shi Jing). She also enjoys travelling, reading, cooking and baking.  Helen is married and has two children.