General Events

First of all may we wish everyone a slightly belated Happy New Year and we welcome back your sons and daughters to a short but very busy term.

Parents of pupils in the Third Form are reminded that it is a closed Saturday on Saturday 12th January for that year as they have a dinner on the Saturday evening.

On Sunday 13th January, there is a full school Eucharist at 8:00 p.m. at which the Master is preaching. Parents of the Blucher are cordially invited.

You are cordially invited this term to join the Wellington Chorus, a choral society that rehearses every Monday evening, with pupils, staff and Crowthorne Choral Society.  The first rehearsal is on Monday 14th January at 8:00 p.m. in the Old Gym and we will be performing Mozart's Requiem, Haydn's Insanae et vanae curae and Laudate Dominum by Mozart.  The concert is at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday 16th March with a rehearsal in the afternoon. The orchestra is the Chameleon Arts Orchestra and you will also get the opportunity to hear one of our fine violinists, Claire Sledd (C), perform the Sibelius violin concerto.
Please contact the music school if you are interested.

On Wednesday 16th Janaury in Driver Lecture Room at 7:45 p.m. there is a Round Square Committee meeting. Any interested parents are welcome and please contact Graham Nurser for details.

The success of the 'Skills of Well-being and Happiness' course for our students introduced in 2006 attracted considerable interest. With this in mind, we are  hosting a conference on Happiness and Well-being on Thursday 17th January aimed at Senior figures in Industry, Finance and the Corporate Sector at large.  The main speaker is Tal Ben Shahar from Harvard University (click here for a recent article about him) as well as many of the leading thinkers and practitioners on the subject. If either yourself or a representative from your company is able to attend, they can apply on line or by downloading the attached document. We would like to offer parents a 50% discount - £125 per head.  (£175 for two and £225 for three).If you would like to attend please register your interest by emailing Tarla Woolhouse and an application form can be found here.

Friday 18th January sees the start of the Wellington International Chess Tournament for which several Grandmasters and International Masters are entered. The tournament lasts until Sunday 20th January. If any parent would like to come to watch please contact John Rawlinson.

To all fathers who have an interest in Rugby, you might be keen to come to the Dinner on Saturday 19th January in aid of the Wellington College Rugby tour to South Africa. The guest speakers are Sean Fitzpatrick & Martin Bayfield. The evening will start at 7:00 p.m. and tickets are priced at £50. There will be auctions and raffles in aid of the tour. If you would like to come then please e-mail Gary MacManus .

Parents might be interested to know that Jonathan Smith's, new play, The Tennis Court, is being broadcast on Radio 4 at 2: 30 p.m. on Saturday 19th January. Jonathan isd a regluar visitor to Wellington as one of our writers in residence.

Saturday 19th January is a closed Saturday for the Fourth Form as they are going to a West End production.

On Sunday 20th January, there is a full school Service of the Word at which the preacher is the Chaplain. Parents of the Combermere are cordially invited.

Increasingly we are putting inofmration fo rparents on the school intranet set. In particular the handbook for pupils with information for both pupils and parents is now electronic and can be found under the section of the intranet called info@community. Some parents have had problems logging on to the intranet. You do need to click on the log -in link at the top right of the page. The general parents' username is COLLEGE\victoria (if you are offered three boxes COLLEGE is the domain and victoria is the username). The general parents' password is the name of the O.W. on the plaque by the Round Square noticeboard at Queen's Court and must be entered in capitals. Hopefully your son or daughter can supply that information. If not, then ask me! There is information on the intranet to help you and this can be found at http://intranet.wellingtoncollege.org.uk/login_help.htm

A reminder from the Director of Music that if you have received your bills for instrumental lessons, please could you pay these immediately.

Sport

Saturday 12th January sees the first fixtures of the season with the hockey teams playing Marlborough, the netball teams playing Lord Wandsworth and the football teams laying Brighton College. In addition the cross country team compete in the Knole Run at Sevenoaks, there is an inter-school basketball competition and the badminton team travel to the Oratory.

Sunday 13th January sees the start of the English Hockey Association competitions with the U16 competiton beginning.

On Tuesday 15th January, the rackets team travel to Winchester, whilst the basketball team are at home to the same school. The squash team take on St. Edward's.

Thursday 17th January sees the fencing team take to the piste against Winchester and the yearlings squash team compete with Eagle House.

The second big day of block fixtures on Saturday 19th January sees the netball teams playing Sevenoaks, the hockey teams taking on Charterhouse and the football teams playing the Oratory. On the same day, there is the Berkshire schools Cross Country competition, the shooting team compete with Epsom, the basketball team travel to Bradfield and the badminton team play Eton at Welington.

Sunday 20th January rounds off a busy sporting start with the U18 English Hockey Association competition starting.

Further Ahead

Please note that unfortunately  the talk on Wednesday 23rd January  by Helena Kennedy QC has been cancelled.

On Wednesday 30th January in Great School, 7:30 for 8:00 p.m. , we welocme Sir Donald Sinden. A jovial, sometimes bombastic leading man, noted for his rich, plummy voice, he has been on stage since 1941 with Stratford and Bristol Old Vic season and made his film debut in 1948.  Some of his credits include The Cruel Sea, Doctor in the House, An Alligator Name Daisy and many more.  His latest television appearance is in Judge John Deed.

The Hollywood Ball on Saturday 9th February  is "a must not miss event" or you will be very sorry! Letters have gone out to all the parents and the tickets are selling fast. However a few are still available so act NOW and send in your completed form with your full payment. Although it seems a long way ahead, we need to get on with finalising details.  If you have lost the letter, an application form can be found here and full details can be found on the website.  Alternatively contact Reena Price , Ludford House, Canon Hill Drive, Bray, Berks SL6 2EU.  Tel: 01628 622355   Fax: 01628 632948. Mobile: 07778 205 112.

On Monday 25th February  in Great School, 7:30 for 8:00 p.m., we welcome Johnson Beharry, VC of the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment Johnson Beharry is a British soldier who, on 18th March 2005, was awarded the highest military decoration for valour in the British and Commonwealth armed forces, for twice saving members of his unit from ambuses on 1st May and 11th June 2004 at Al-Amarah, Iraq.  He sustained serious head injuries in the  latter engagement.   His book, Barefoot Soldier, is in the School library.

The school musical Les Miserables school edition is on the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th March at 7:30 p.m. in the Theatre.  Tickets for this performance cost £2.50 for students and £5.00 for adults and can be purchased in person at the Theatre office between 8: 00a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Monday to Friday. Tickets for adults and those outside Wellington can be reserved by an email to jwb@wellingtoncollege.org.uk and then paid for by cheque. Please note that tickets must be paid for before the date of the performance.

Nick Diver would like to remind parents that places for the Third Form trip to the First World War Battlefields from 20th to 22nd March 2008 are going very quickly and are nearly over-subscribed.  Anybody who would like their son or daughter to go on the trip, or who would simply like more information, should email him as soon as possible.

There will be a Roman Catholic Confirmation in Crowthorne on Friday 6th June 2008  and classes will start in March. If you wish your child to be confirmed please e mail Dr Boscher. 

The Geography Department is running its 15th annual LVIth Field Trip to Serre Chevalier in the French Alps in the summer, from the 29th June to the 4th July. Please could parents of LVIth Geographers send back the relevant forms to Murray Fowler as soon as possible.