The Week Ahead
Saturday 8th May until Sunday 16th May
The Master's Voice
Alcohol. At the end of this week I gave a very strong message in assembly to all pupils about alcohol. I spoke about how alcohol was a drug, which damaged their judgement and their decision-making, including how much alcohol they could safely drink. I spoke about the risks and dangers that they put themselves in, and others in, when they have been drinking, especially when they were in a car, and in public places. I reminded them that they risked not only their own health and even lives, but also their reputations, as well as that of the school, if they drank unwisely. As I wrote to you at the beginning of term, alcohol is now considered a far more potent threat to the young than drugs (serious though drugs are). I would appreciate it very much if you could yourselves underline these messages. The aim is not to be killjoys, but merely to help educate and to make our young people fully aware of the dangers and risks. I know that I can count upon your support in this.
General Events
Saturday 8th May
The WCA Book Club meets for its inaugural session on Tuesday 11th May at 7:30pm in the Auchinleck Room. We will be discussing Stieg Larsson’s dark and compelling thriller, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, in an informal armchair session. Next half term’s title will be decided at the first session, where drinks will be served. Do join us. Any questions, please email Denise Cook.
On Wednesday 12th May at 7:30pm in the Theatre, there is a LAMDA Showcase Evening for 5th and VIth Form students. This is a chance for parents of all senior LAMDA students to enjoy an evening of drama and public speaking.
The first Master's Lecture of the term is entitled "Russia" and is delivered by Sir Roderic Lyne, British Ambassador to the Russia Federation between 2000 and 2004 on Thursday 13th May at 8:00pm in the Driver Lecture Room. Sir Roderic Lyne is Deputy Chairman of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, a Governor of the Ditchley Foundation, a member of the Board of Governors of Kingston University and a non-executive director of Petropavlovsk. He is currently a member of the Chilcot inquiry into circumstances leading up to the war in Iraq in 2003 and its aftermath, having been appointed to the Privy Council in 2009. If you would like to attend please email Tarla Woolhouse on tw@wellingtoncollege.org.uk. A copy of Sir Roderic’s book “Engaging with Russia” is available in the College Library.
We welcome you to join us for the annual Montgomery Competition, at 7:45 pm in the Chapel on Friday 14th May, then moving across to the old Gym. Finalists Gudjon Bodvarsson, Emma Buckley, Alex Goodwin, Leesu Kim, Jonny Leon, Ji Hyun Park, Lucinda Patrick-Patel and Trishan Vaikunthanathan compete for Wellington College’s most prestigious music prize – please come along and share the tension at this highlight of the Wellington musical year..
Sunday 16th May sees an Evensong service that is led by the students. Parents of the pupils in the Lynedoch are warmly invited to attend.
We are now taking bookings for the WCA trip to Rome over a long weekend of September 30th to October 3rd. Click here for itinerary. The trip will only run if there is sufficient early take up so please email Denise Cook or Mark Boobbyer by Friday May14th to express your interest.
The Summer edition of the WCA List is out now. Click on this link to browse this term’s exciting programme of events.
This is the last week to be collecting school vouchers from Tesco and Sainsbury’s, for shopping and petrol. Please don’t say no to vouchers – they are going to a very good cause. We will be using them to purchase equipment to be shipped out to the Marol Academy in South Sudan. Get your family involved and please make this last week count. Hand them on to the Wellesley to make this excellent use of them.
The Wellington College Parent Portal is up and running and all current parents should now have accounts. This means that parents can log on to our website from anywhere in the world and view their child’s reports, internal and external exam timetables, results and other relevant information. Besides being more convenient for parents it will, in the long term, allow us to cut down on the amount of printing we do - all part of our sustainability drive. Follow the instructions you have received and you should have access straight away. There is some information about the Portal here.
Sport.
Saturday 8th May is a busy sporting day with cricket fixtures against Radley, girls' tennis against St Mary's Ascot, (and Pangbourne in a tournament) and the boys' tennis competing in the Independent Schools' League.
On Sunday 9th May we are holding the Sports Day, some details of which can be found above.
Tuesday 11th May sees the girls' senior tennis teams take on Sevenoaks, the sailing club travel to Burghfield Sailing Club to compete with Bradfield and the polo teams play Cheltenham Ladies College and Rugby.
On Thursday 13th May, the cricket 2nd XI play the Stragglers of Asia whilst other teams play Bradfield. Also on this Thursday, the golf team take on Radley and the swimming team compete with Eton
Saturday 15th May sees a block cricket fixture against Cranleigh, the boy athletes compete against Eton , the girl athletes against Epsom and the tennis teams compete with Bradfield.
The polo teams are competing in a tournament over the weekend and the girls' cricket team are in the Epsom Festival on Sunday 16th May.
Further Ahead
The second Master's Lecture of the term is on Wednesday 19th May at 8:00pm in the Driver Lecture Room and Lieutenant-General Jonathon Riley CB DSO PhD MA is talking on "Napoleon as a General".
Do you want to know more about how parents can further their own well-being as well as that of their children? On Thursday 20th May, WCA is hosting a lecture by Yasmine Diba on “Emotional Intelligence” at 8:00pm in the Driver Lecture Rooms. Owing to the level of demand we have increased the number of places available, so if you would like to come and haven’t yet been in touch, please let us know.
Third Form Grandparents Day is on Sunday 23rd May. We are fully aware of the role grandparents play in the life of our students and the importance of the extended family and would like to take this opportunity to invite grandparents of our Third Formers to visit Wellington College, have a tour and see some of what their grandchildren do here. The event is now fully booked.
The Eagle House Children’s Literature Festival runs from Monday 14th June to Friday 18th June. Throughout the week we will be joined by some of the top children’s authors including: Jamila Gavin, Anne Fine, Marcus Sedgwick, Tim Bowler and Brian Patten. One author of special interest for older students is Mark Billingham, author of the DC Thorne novels, writer of the Triskellion series for younger readers and a renowned stand-up comic. All authors will be giving talks and presentations and parents, children, teachers are all encouraged to join us for the events throughout the week. We will have our own Waterstones store on site, a café run by Capers of Crowthorne and all events will take place in our festival marquee. The link to the Festival page on our website is: www.eaglehouseschool.com/childrens-literature-festival.htm
Wellington College proudly presents Billy Elliot The Musical! An invigorating, exciting and uplifting show, Billy Elliot will be performed throughout Arts Fest, with our opening night on the Monday 28th June running until Thursday 1st July in the Theatre. Tickets are on sale now, but hurry as we have already begun to sell out! To order tickets contact reception at boxoffice@wellingtoncollege.org.uk
On Tuesday 29th June, as part of the Wellington Arts Festival, the leading fashion designer Amanda Wakeley will be interviewed by the FT’s Mrs Moneypenny about the business of fashion, her life and what inspires her designs. As part of the evening, Amanda is looking for at least two mother/daughter combinations (or even teacher/pupil) to model some of her current clothes and show how they work across the generations. Her clothes include day and evening wear and go up to size 16, so you don’t need to be catwalk standard sizes to volunteer! Fittings would be during half term at the Amanda Wakeley flagship store in Chelsea. Amanda Wakeley launched her signature label in 1990 and over the last two decades has developed an international reputation for designing stylish, supremely luxurious, womenswear and accessories. This year Amanda was awarded an OBE for her services to the fashion industry. She is the winner of several awards including three British Fashion Awards for Glamour and is Founder and co-Chair of Fashion Targets Breast Cancer, a charity through which she has helped raise over £10m for Breast Cancer research. Please email Bridget Bowen at Amanda Wakeley if you would like to volunteer to model as part of this event.
A diary date for all Upper VI pupils and parents is the Leavers’ Service, Graduation Ceremony and Ball on Friday 2nd July. This event runs from 1:30 pm onwards with two graduation ceremonies and breaks for tea, followed by a champagne reception in houses and dinner and ball in the marquee. For those parents who will only be able to attend the Graduation Ceremony in Chapel (i.e. between3:00pm to 6:15pm), the occasion will be free of charge, and there is no need to apply for tickets. For those pupils and parents attending the whole event, the charge will be £80 per person for the dinner and ball to include half a bottle of wine per person. Please note, leavers will only be able to apply for dinner and ball tickets if their parents are attending or with a nominated guardian from the pupil’s house. Details and booking forms should be with you but a copy of some information can be found here. If you have any queries please contact Tarla Woolhouse, Event Organiser on 01344 444085.
With some 70 speakers addressing a wide range of educational topics including higher education, school choice, globally connected classrooms, neuroscience and the post-16 educational landscape, The Sunday Times Festival of Education is becoming an extraordinary event that should not be missed! We are delighted to announce that philosopher A C Grayling will be speaking on a new style of university, Tim di Scipio, founder of ePals, will be discussing learning in a new social era and Baron Richard Layard will be addressing ‘The Importance of Happiness’. Tickets (priced at £27.50) are now on sale via the festival website: www.festivalofeducation.org.uk .
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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