The Week Ahead

Saturday 14th January until Sunday 22nd January

A belated Happy New Year to all the Wellington Community. It has not been an easy start to the term with the inclement weather but as you see below it has provided a spectacular setting for some alternative activities.

The Master's Voice

I cannot remember ever having such a snowy start to the New Year.  I hope all parents have not been too badly affected - I know some of you have been.  Everyone has returned to school in very chipper mood and we have got off to a crisp purposeful start.   I am delaying my beginning of term letter until Monday because there are details of various staff appointments that I would like to tell you about.  Can I draw one particular item to your attention - award winning writer and historian, Antony Beevor, speaking at school on Thursday 21st January at 8pm?  Do come and do bring friends.  This week we have already had Peter Hitchens of the Mail and Ed Faulks QC (OW), brother of Sebastian speaking, and on sizzling - if controversial - form.  I look forward to seeing you all soon.

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General Events

Provocative and passionate - those who attended Peter Hitchens' talk on Thursday 15th January were left with no doubts as to his views on the current political parties. Not one to sit on the fence, his views were forthright and fresh if not totally politically correct. Hopefully a taste of challenging and fascinating things to come with this term's various lectures. We look forward to seeing many of you at them.

Sunday 17th January sees our first Full School Service of the Word and we welcome Mrs Fay Cox who is Operations Director of Wind, Sand and Stars. Parents of boys in the Talbot are warmly welcomed.

There are two musical events in the week both on Monday 18th January.  At 6:15 pm there is an Informal concert in the Concert Room and at 8:00 pm there is the first rehearsal for the Wellington Chorus in the Old Gym.

The Art Scholars Exhibition opens on Tuesday 19th January at 5:30 pm in the V & A - a different date to that in the Calendar. Parents are warmly invited to come and see the variety and quality of the material the pupils produce.

For the second Master's Lecture of the Lent Term on Thursday 21st January, 7:30 pm for 8:00 pm in the Theatre we are honoured to welcome Antony Beevor, historian and author of many books.  His latest "D-Day: The Battle for Normandy" will be the subject of his talk.  Antony  Beevor was educated at Winchester and Sandhurst, where he studied under John Keegan. A regular officer with the 11th Hussars, he left  the Army to write. He has published four novels, and eight books of non-fiction. His D-Day book was published in June 2009 and has been a No. 1 best seller in five countries.  His books have so far sold over four million copies and he is currently working on a general history of the Second World War, which is due to be published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in 2012. If you would like to attend the above lecture please let Tarla Woolhouse know on Tarla Woolhouse.  Please note that we do not issue tickets or able to reserve seats, the theatre doors will be open from 7:30 pm onwards and a pay bar will be available. We have ordered  a selection of Antony Beevor's books for purchase with the publisher's discount.  If you would like to reserve a copy please email Tarla Woolhouse. Books available will be:  D - Day (hardback) at £17.50;  Stalingrad (pb) & Berlin: The Downfall 1945 (pb) both at £7.00 each.  Please note sales will be cash only.

We  have the London Mozart Players coming to Wellington on Friday 22nd January to workshop with the orchestra. The rehearsal in Old Gym is open to the public from 5:45 pm until 6:30 pm - no tickets are required.

The evening of Saturday 23rd January is closed for the Fourth Form as they have a Dinner Dance that night.

Sunday 24th January sees a Full School Eucharist at which the preacher is Cllr. Bob Wade, Mayor of Bracknell Forest. Parents of pupils in the Beresford are warmly invited to attend.

The History department has run some very successful trips to the Battlefields of the First World War in the past few years and are taking a party of boys and girls in the Third Form to visit some of these dramatic and poignant sites at the very end of this term. There are only two places left - if you are interested in your son or daughter taking one of those then more information can be found here.

Congratulations to the students who have obtained offers at either Oxford or Cambridge this round: Alexandra Brown (Ap), Audrey Davies (Ap), James Fotherby (A), Joshua Han (M), Jack Harris (OW Bn), Harry Lee (M), Daniel Mackinnon (L), Mathilde Speiss (OW O) and James White (T). It was a very competitive year with a significant increase in applications for both universities from all over the world. Preparation for the L6th continues and there is hope that this will be a very successful cohort. Please contact James Thomas  with any questions.

Sport

The weather has meant there is a much reduced sporting programme on Saturday 16th January with only the basketball tournament in the Newsome Hall and some netball fixtures (only 1st VII, U16A and U14A) at Sevenoaks

If the weather permits, Tuesday 19th January sees our squash teams travel to Cranleigh and the polo teams take on Cheltenham.

Thursday 21st January sees the rackets players going to Marlborough, our cross-country team and our fencing team go to Winchester, our shooting team taking on Westminster, our basketball teams welcome Marlborough and the badminton team welcome Eton.

On Saturday 23rd January, the block hockey fixture is with Eton, the block netball fixture is with Lord Wandsworth (as well as two matches with Cranleigh) and the football teams take on Tonbridge. On a busy day, the basketball teams compete with Pangbourne, the cross-country team are in the Berkshire School Championships and the badminton players travel to Harrow.

Details of the matches can be found on the intranet.

Further Ahead

On the Weekend Leave starting on Friday 29th January, we are aware that for some parents it might be easier for their son or daughter to travel by public transport to avoid Friday traffic and it is of course also a more environmentally friendly option. We will therefore be offering a minibus service to Wokingham station. From there, pupils can get trains to Reading (which is a major hub for the rest of the country and also has a regular Rail air bus link to Heathrow) which run about every 15 minutes or to London Waterloo. The most obvious train times for us to focus on will be those leaving Wokingham between 5:15 and 5:45 p.m.. There is also the Crowthorne train service to Wokingham (taking just 5 minutes) which runs at 16:43 and 17:38 which some pupils could use. From Crowthorne it is also possible to go to Guildford / Gatwick airport and beyond. Those pupils wishing to take advantage of a minibus trip need to inform their HMs by the evening of Tuesday 26th January at the latest, indicating what time train they would hope to catch from Wokingham and their destination. We can then work out the logistics.

Musical events coming up a are as follows:
Monday 25th January 6:15 pm: Informal concert: MYP 3rd form music students (Old Gym)
Tuesday 26th January 11:00 am: Violin masterclass with Remus Azoitei (Lewis Room)
For further information about the Music Department or music events, please contact Katrina Butt - the Music Administrator -  via phone (01344 444201) or email.

The Fifth Form Parents' Conference will be held on Friday 29th January in the Newsome Sports Hall.  The event coincides with Weekend Leave. This is a chance for you to talk to those who teach your sons or daughters for their GCSE subjects, to get an update on their progress. It is also an opportunity, of course, to continue discussion about their IB/A level choices.  The timings are as follows: 4.30 - 5.15pm Parents' Interviews; 5.15 - 5.30pm Address from the Master and Head of Year; 5.30 - 7.00pm Parents' Interviews. In the days leading up to the Conference, pupils will organise a series of appointment times with their teachers to last no more than 4 minutes.  Tea and coffee will be served for the duration and I look forward to catching up with many of you there. For catering purposes please reply via email to Mrs Sally Yarnton, Senior Academic Administrator, by Friday 22nd January.

A small number of LVIth parents were unable to make the November conference, and opted instead to meet teachers at this one. The Head of LVIth, Murray Fowler, would like to ask all those LVIth parents who intend to do this to contact him so that he can ensure that the relevant teachers are present.

The House Singing Competition on Saturday 6th February ( a closed Saturday for the whole school) has a limited number of tickets available to parents. Applications for those tickets should be made through the Music Department.

WCA is now taking bookings for the Wine Tasting and Diamonds evening on Sunday 7th February in the Monro Pavilion. Please note the correct date!  A chance to reacquaint yourself with some old favourites while discovering new ones under the expert guidance of Laithwaite's wine team - stock your cellar or just enjoy an evening of good wine tasting.  Limited entry, £20 per head.  Please book through  Denise Cook .

The History Boys production dates have changed since the Calendar went to press last term.  The new dates of Wednesday 24th, Thursday 25th and Friday 26th February, as published in this term's Arts Diary, are the correct ones.  Our apologies for any confusion.

There are just two places left on the Marrakech trip with Dr Seldon, which takes place from March 4th to 7th.  See itinerary at http://www.wellingtoncollege.org.uk/page.aspx?id=9158  To sign up, please contact Denise Cook .

The Choral Society and Choral Concert will be on Sunday 21st March. Parents and friends are warmly invited to join the 'Wellington Chorus' to sing Karl Jenkins' Requiem. Copies of music are provided, and there are no auditions! Rehearsals begin on 18th January from 8:00 pm until 10:00 pm. Please contact the Music Department  if you would like to be involved.

A ten-day cultural, political and geographical tour of India is taking place over Michaelmas half term from Sunday 17th October until Wednesday 27th October for which all current 3rd and 4th form pupils are able to take part in if they so wish. The trip will include some of India's historical monuments, as well as its extraordinary physical environments, such as the desert and Himalayas. The aim of the trip is not only to provide the pupils with a unique experience of a fascinating country but also to inspire them to develop a sense of untamed inquisitiveness about the world in which we live. If you are interested, please contact Katy Granville-Chapman.

Letters Home

To try to cut down on the amount of paper we send out and to try and not bombard parents with large numbers of posting, e-mails and information generally, we try to use the Week Ahead to include letters we would normally send out - either electronically or by post. If there are parents who would still rather receive everything on paper, please e-mail the College Secretary. We still anticipate sending out paper copies of reports, bills and the Master's letters. To open some of these letters you will need to log on to the intranet as the page they are saved on is only viewable to those in the Wellington community. Do contact me if you need the password.. All letters home of this sort are stored here. If for any reason you want to see a back copy of the Week Ahead they are all available on the internet here.

Contact us

This newsletter and past editions are on the Wellington College website as is a version of the school calendar with details of all activities going on at Wellington for the rest of this term.
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