As part of our professional development program, monthly staff meetings are arranged and run in Wuxi. Teachers get together to discuss professional issues such as lesson plans, classroom observations, open days and other work related matters.

At the staff meeting held at Wangzhuang Primary School on March 31, 2016, the following items were discussed with nine JESIE teachers: testimonials, classroom observations, digital marketing operations and JESIE English Festival.

On behalf of JESIE, the guest visitor, Val, expressed his sincere gratitude for everyone's testimonials which are in the process of being posted on our website.

After that, teachers discussed their classroom observations which we see as a form of professional development that improves teaching practices and student performance. Each teacher's in-class performance was discussed and analyzed by their fellow teachers.

We are continuously trying to increase our social media presence with quality content. Teachers were requested to submit one article about their daily lives and one short video clip or a photo slideshow that will illustrate what it is like to live and work in China which is still a large terra incognita to the most foreigners living abroad. It is always better to see once than to hear 100 times.

Our department, in coordination with Wuxi New District Education Bureau, is planning to arrange a series of events united under one name - JESIE English Festival. At the end of April, we will have a Spelling Bee Competition which will involve six primary schools in Wuxi. In May we will have a Mastermind Quiz for middle schools, and in November we are going to have our biggest event ever - the JESIE Talent Show, which will involve students from all the schools currently involved in our program. The festival arrangements were discussed and explained in detail.

The staff meeting lasted nearly 2 hours and was relaxing yet informative and productive.