The Week Ahead
Saturday 2nd February until Sunday 10th February
General Events
Drugs: parents may be interested to know of the Master's joint letter in The Times on Monday 28th January to continue the campaign against cannabis. A link to the letter can be found here. Whilst on this theme, the Master will be talking very firmly to the pupils about drink as well as about drugs in assembly on Monday. Binge drinking, drink driving and alcohol poisoning are all on the rise among the young.
As mentioned in the last Week Ahead, at the end of last week we had Professor Richard Jolly from the London Business School in to talk about managing change and to perform a change audit. After meeting several pupils, he was very impressed with their maturity, their confidence and their pride in Wellington. He considered them to be one of Wellington's greatest assets. Also, interestingly, he said many he encountered at the London Business School in their thirties and forties suffer from not knowing who they are, why they are in the jobs they are, and what they should be doing in life. He applauded Wellington's teaching of well-being which put self-knowledge and the acquisition of personal responsibility at the helm.
There is a problem on the road outside the main West Gate entrance of Wellington that is causing some delays for parents. to help alleviate this, we will be opening the gates at the other end of the Kilometre - the Mordaunt Gate - at additional times to those which it is normally open at. These will be between 7:45 and 8:30 a.m. and between 2:00 and 5:00 p.m. on Saturday 2nd February and between 6:00 and 8:00 p.m. on Sunday 3rd February.
On Sunday 3rd February some of our music scholars will be performing in the Recital Room at South Hill Park at 3 p.m. - there will be solo items from Claire Sledd (violin), Sabina Virtosu (violin), Steph Tress (cello), Nick Jupp (piano), Katie Jillings (violin), Richard Bignall (voice) and also the Mozart Clarinet Quintet with Emma Parkhouse (clarinet), Claire, Sabina, Katie and Dongsu Kim (cello). Information about South Hill Park can be found on their website or by phoning the Box office on 01344 484123.
Later on Sunday 3rd February, at 8:00 p.m. there is a full school Eucharist at which the preacher is Denise Cook from the Common Room. Parents of the Hardinge are cordially invited.
On Thursday 7th February, we play host to Year 5 pupils from Bishopsgate, Eagle House, Edgeborough, St Pirans and Yateley Manor on a Round Square Awareness Day. Wellington pupils will lead a variety of fun activities around College based on the six pillars of Round square: Internationalism, Democracy, Environment, Adventure, Leadership and Service. This should prove a stimulating introduction to the organisation and the important part that it plays in the life of Wellington College.
Julien Petit, renowned French saxophonist, will be conducting a master class with saxophone pupils on Friday 8th February from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. At 8:00 p.m. the Trio Klezele (saxophone, accordion and double bass) will be performing Klezmer music in the Concert Room. Admission is free. Klezmer is the traditional, instrumental celebratory music of Eastern European Jews.This is a unique opportunity to hear Klezmer music and highly recommended.
The Hollywood Ball on Saturday 9th February is "a must not miss event" or you will be very sorry! A few tickets are still available so act NOW and send in your completed form with your full payment. 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 Sunday 10th February, at 8:00 p.m. there is a full school Service of the Word at which the preacher is Mark Boobbyer from the Common Room. Parents of the Anglesey are cordially invited.
Also at 8:00 p.m the Benson are holding a Cultural Event to which the Benson families have already been invited. Anyone else is welcome to attned but is asked to contact Iain Henderson in advance.
All parents should have received a questionnaire with the Master's Beginning of Term letter. This questionnaire is part of the School Inspection process. The more the inspector gets, the more helpful it is so if you haven't already done so could you fill it in and send it back to Roger Auger ( clearly marked School Questionnaire). Many thanks to the many parents who have already returned them. A copy can be found on the intranet if you have lost your original. The closing date has in theory now passed but any received by the Exeat will still be passed on.
Increasingly we are putting information for parents 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
To end on a lighter note, the Master received a number of amusing parental emails following his passing on of Tal Ben Shahar's advice about dates. One wag (a Hopetoun parent no less) wrote that he had been using the two dates system with his wife well bofre it was advocated by the Harvard professor - he goes out on Tuesday and his wife goes out on Thursday! The Master took the advice himself on Thursday with a visit to a concert in London with Joanna - apparently their first trip out to London since he joined - but thinks that finding two dates a week will put him under considerable pressure!
Sport
Saturday 2nd February sees the netball and basketball teams taking on Pangbourne, the hockey teams playing Eton, the cross country team running in the Wellington Relays and the badminton team travelling to Harrow.
On Sunday 3rd February, the polo A team play Cheltenham College at 2:30pm at the Longdole Polo Club.
Tuesday 5th February sees the Junior Colts hockey team calendared match with Kingston Grammar School has moved to March 11th but the rackets team are still welcoming Haileybury and the shooting team are taking on Tonbridge. It is also the date of the Daily Mail Under 15 Rugby Quarter Final which is at Wellington on Bigside 1 at 2:30 p.m.
Thursday 6th February is a busy sporting afternoon with the U14 netball teams playing Heathfiled St. Mary's, the football and shooting teams competing with Harrow, lacrosse and rackets matches with Charterhouse, basketball versus Bradfield, a triangular squash tournament with Radley and Marlborough, golf against Radley and Bradfield, fencing against Marlborough and the polo team taking on Eton.
On Saturday 9th February the hockey teams play Tonbridge, the netball teams play Cranleigh and the football teams play Christ's Hospital. The shooting team also take on R.G.S. Guildford and the basketball teams travel to Haileybury.
All results can be found on the internet: Hockey; Netball; Football.
The Director of Sport would like to reiterate that pupils having a ticket for the Six Nations is not a reason for missing Saturday matches and indeed that the only valid reason to miss a match is for an important family committeement. In this instance three week's notice should be given. It is unfair on other pupils in the team if the teams are constantly in a state of flux.
Further Ahead
On Friday 15th February Hilary Davan Wetton, conductor of Wellington College Sinfonia, invites you to a Classical Concert at 8:00 pm. In the Old Gym. The Sinfonia will be playing Haydn's Symphony No.88 and Mozart's Violin Concerto in A major K.219, featuring Sabina Virtosu as violin soloist. It would be lovely to see a warm and appreciative audience on this occasion - the pupils are putting in a lot of extra rehearsal time to ensure that they give an exciting performance. No tickets required.
On Monday 25th February in Great School, 7:30 for 8:00 p.m., we welcome parents to hear 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 ambushes 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.
On Monday 3rd March at 7:30 p. m.for 8:00 p.m. in the Driver Leacture Room there is a chance for parents to hear a lecture from Moazzam Begg. The title is hopefully self-explanatory - "Enemy Combatant: My Imprisonment at Guantánamo, Bagram, and Kandahar. The searing story of one man's years inside the notorious American prison - and his Kafkaesque struggle to clear his name."
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 at 8:00 p.m. and classes will start in March. If you wish your child to be confirmed please e mail Dr Boscher. Bishop Crispian, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Portsmouth has agreed to celebrate Confirmation here at Wellington.
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.
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.
If you do not wish to receive further copies of this weekly newsletter, please accept our apologies for sending it to you unsolicited and press here to unsubscribe. If you want it sent to another e-mail address or you know someone wants a copy of it but is not receiving it at present then please click here. If you have any comments about the newsletter please click here.