29 Feb - 9 Mar
The Week Ahead
Friday 29th February until Sunday 9th March
General Events
A thank you from the Master for all the appreciative emails about the half term letter and his address to pupils. His thought for the weekend comes from Professor Martin Seligman of Pennsylvania University who quotes research that shows the ratio of positive to critical comments in dynamic and successful organisations as 2.8:1. In a successful marriage or partnership, however, it is 6:1. He is still trying to work that out!
Thank you to the Fifth Form parents for attending the new style Parents' Conference on Saturday before half term. Please remember that the deadline for IB and A Level subject choices is this Friday 29th February. We hope that the new conference format (which was suggested by the Parents' Forum) was helpful. We will certainly change the buzzer for future events, but would welcome suggestions for further improvements via the Parents' Forum.
Saturday 1st March sees a Lower Sixth Dinner and there will be no Saturday night leave out for the Lower Sixth that evening.
On Sunday 2nd March, at 8:00 p.m. there is a full school Service of the Word at which the preacher is Mark Sayer from the Common Room. Parents of the Apsley are cordially invited.
On Monday 3rd March at 7:30 p.m.for 8:00 p.m. in the Driver Lecture Room there is a chance for parents and pupils 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.
This term's meeting of the Parent's Forum is on Wednesday 5th March and any questions should be sent to your year group representative by Monday 25th February. Contact details for the forum can be found here. This is an intranet page (and is part of the handbook) and you will need to log on to the intranet to see it. Details are below as to how to do this.
Also on Wednesday March 5th is the Round Square Committee Meeting in the Driver Rooms at 7:45 p.m. Parents are, as ever, most welcome.
Thursday 6th March provides an exciting opportunity for our pupils to hear some current politicians talk. Keith Vaz MP is at the Lodge speaking to pupils on "Is Britain still a one nation country?" between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. and Edward Garnier MP is coming in to give a talk to Politics students between 6.00 and 7.00 pm on the same evening.
All 3rd form parents should have received a copy of the Joining the Middle School booklet detailing the procedures for GCSE choices. The deadline for pupils to tell their tutors of their choices is Friday 14th March. The Third Form Parents Conference is on Friday 7th March and is starting at 3:30 p.m. We look forward to seeing you in the Chapel then. Whilst on the subject of the Third Form, please do continue to send in the replies expressing interest in the summer trip to Brittany.
Friday 7th March also sees the start of the Weekend Leave. This experiment of a Weekend Leave going from Friday afternoon through to Sunday night (not Monday whatever your son or daughter might say!) arises from parental suggestions. We hope it works well.
On Sunday March 9th in the Sports Hall from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. there is the GAP Fair. We encourage LVIth and UVIth Form pupils to come along with parents as they return from the weekend leave. Also siblings and friends from outside Wellington are most welcome. For details of exhibitors please click here.
Also on that Sunday evening there is the Orange House Entertainment Event in the Old Gym at 7:00 p.m. to raise funds for the Nabukenya Primary school in Uganda. The Orange parents have all been invited but any other interested parents are welcome to attend.
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
Sport
Saturday 1st March sees our U18 Rugby 1st XV in the Daily Mail Under 18 Cup quarter-final versus RGS Newcastle. Kick off is at 1:30pm on Bigside 1 and all support is welcome. Also on that day the football sides are playing St. John's Leatherhead, the netball teams are in a tournament at Bradfield or playing Downe House, the lacrosse team are also playing Downe House, the basketball team take on Eton and the badminton team play Abingdon - a busy day with a lot of house sport too!
The Girls' polo team is competing in National Girls Arena Polo Tournament at Longdole Polo Club on Sunday 2nd March.
On Tuesday 4th March our cross country runners are entered in the Ardingly Relays, the Junior Colts hockey teams play Portsmouth, the rackets team travel to Cheltenham, the golf team are at Bedford an din a claendar addition the lacrosse team welcome Bradfield.
On Wednesday 5th March, the Surrey 7s is at Richmond RFC and on the same day the Junior Colts 1 are playing Bishops of Hereford, Bluecoat at Newbury RFC at 7.30 p.m. in their final warm up game before their Daily Mail semi final against Oundle at 11 a.m. on Saturday March 15th.
Thursday 6th March sees a hockey block fixture with Canford whilst the golf team play Charterhouse, the basketball and squash teams challenge Harrow, the fencing team take on Eton and the lacrosse team travel to Charterhouse.
Saturday 8th March sees Wellington cross country entered in the Ranelagh Trophy.
Three novice teams are competing in the National Novice Arena Polo Tournament at Longdole Polo Club on Sunday 9th March.
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 commitment. In this instance three weeks' 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 Wednesday 12th March Tom Lowe will present an Organ Recital at 8:00 p.m. in College chapel. He will be playing music by Buxtehude, Bach and Mendelssohn, Franck, Langlais and Sark. Tom has won an organ scholarship to Brasenose College, Oxford for September 08 so his recital will be well worth hearing.
Tickets are now available for the "Jazz" concert on Friday 14th March in the Old Gym at 8:00 p.m. - an annual event to raise money for the Crowthorne Community Minibus. Performers will include the College Concert Band , the Clarinet Choir, Saxophone Quintet, all conducted by Jeff Oakes and the Wellington Big Band and small jazz ensembles directed by Ben Greenslade-Stanton, our current musician-in-residence. There will also be some solo items. It promises to a most entertaining line-up - tickets cost £7.50 and are available from the Music School and from Reception (cheques payable to Wellington College) - all proceeds go to the Crowthorne Community Minibus fund. There will be a licensed bar.
Please also get your tickets for the Choral Concert on Sunday 16th March in the Sports Hall (7.30 p.m. start). Wellington College Chorus (including pupils, staff and parents) will join with Crowthorne Choral Society to sing the Mozart Requiem and the programme also includes Claire Sledd, a VIth form music scholar, playing the Sibelius Violin Concerto in D minor with the Chameleon Arts Orchestra, conducted by Simon Williamson. Claire has won a place to study violin next year at the Royal Academy in London. Tickets for this concert are £10 (£2 for students) - available from Reception and Music School.
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.
Parents of pupils in the Lower Sixth should note that the Parents' Conference on Thursday 24th April will begin at 5:30 p.m. This will follow the new, more compact format adopted for these events, beginning with a central meeting in the Chapel at 5:30 p.m., followed by appointments with teachers, all of whom will be based in either the Old Gym or the Maths classrooms in Wellesley Quad. Please direct any queries to the Head of the LVIth, Mr M G Fowler
Places on the Master's trenches trip from the 9th to the 11th May are in keen demand again, and interested parents should contact Tarla Woolhouse at once. This trip is especially recommended for those who have always thought of going to the trenches at some point, or those who love the poetry, but have never got around to going. Knowing other parents is inessential: meeting new parents and making friends is one of the highlights of these trips.
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.