The week ahead
Sunday 3rd December until Sunday 10th December
General Events
On Sunday 3rd December at 3:00 p.m. at South Hill Park there is an event entitled "Wellington Music Scholars in Candlelight Recital" Tickets can be obtained by phoning 01344 484123.
Also Sunday 3rd December sees the Advent Procession with carols in the Chapel at 7:30 p.m.. The third and fourth form are expected to attend this and we welcome all parents to the service.
On Tuesday 5th December Vicky Redwood (OW) will be addressing the Economics and Business Societies on the topic 'An overview of the UK economy and the housing market.' This is particularly aimed at the Lower VIth Economics students who now have a term's study under the belt and also 5th formers considering Economics for A-Levels are encouraged to attend to get a taster. Vicky works for Capital Economics in London, a leading Economics research agency. If any parent is interested in attending to get a better idea of what the subject involves, please contact Bart Wielanga.
This year the Drama Department and the AS Theatre Studies students will be celebrating Christmas early with our performance of the Pantomime Cinderella. The production features our very talented A-Level students, with some surprise gust appearances by members of staff. We will be running for three performances only, a schools matinee on Wednesday 6th December at 1pm, which has only a few tickets remaining. There will also be two evening performances on Thursday 7th December and Friday 8th December, both starting at 7:45 p.m.. Tickets are free of charge, and can be obtained by emailing our Theatre Technician Rob White. Please state the names of each individual requiring a ticket and which performance you want tickets for. It promises to be a really fun show, so do bring the whole family along.
On Thursday 7th December there is a WCA event with the Rt. Hon. Lord Baker of Dorking C.H. who will be giving a presentation on the life of George IV in caricature entitled "George IV: Cad or Catalyst?" The talk will take place in Great School from 8:00 p.m. and there will be a bar available before the talk from 7:30 p.m. onwards. After the talk there will be a collection for the Cartoon Museum . Kenneth Baker was a Conservative Member of Parliament from 1968 to 1997. He was the first Minister for Information Technology, responsible for introducing computers into schools, the privatisation of British Telecom and Cable & Wireless, and the establishment of the cable industry. His Cabinet posts included Environment Secretary, Education Secretary, and Home Secretary. He left the Government after the 1992 election, and in the same year he was awarded the Companion of Honour. He became a member of the House of Lords in 1997. If you would like to attend please let Tarla Woolhouse know by e-mail.
On Friday 8th December at 7:30p.m. in the Concert Room there is our first A Level recital for this academic year, featuring two of Wellington's most talented musicians - Amy Tress (Orange) playing the violin and William Wei (Stanley) playing the piano. They are both in the middle of their auditions at various major music colleges and they will be at their very best. Please come and support them as it proves to be an outstanding event. For more details please call our music school administrator, Rosalind Dunmore on 01344 444201or email her.
Please be aware that internal exams in the 3rd and 4th forms start very soon. The 4th Form exams start on Friday 8th December and the 3rd Form exams start on Monday 11th December. Both sets of exams finish at lunchtime on Thursday 14th December. Exam reports will be sent to parents after the end of term. 5th Form mock exams begin as soon as pupils return from the Christmas and New Year break and public AS & A2 modules for the LVI & UVI year groups start on Wednesday January 10th and continue until Thursday 1st February. All pupils have been given revision planners and a schedule of the public exams will be sent to all relevant parents by the Head of Sixth Form, Mr Mike Fielder.
On Saturday 9th December there will be no leave out for the Fifth form boys who have not met all coursework deadlines. A list will be compiled by Tuesday and boys inofrmed giving them one last chance to complete the work. Separate arrangements will be made for day boys. Please contact the Head of Year, Mrs Cressida Henderson, for more details.
On Sunday 10th December there is the Community Carol Service for which tickets have been allocated.
During the first few weeks of this term, the Chapel Choir directed by Simon Williamson worked very hard to produce a CD of Christmas Carols which was recorded in Chapel (with Oliver King, College Organist).
The CD has arrived and now is the time to order your copy (or copies) in good time for Christmas. It contains a fantastic selection of carols, old and new, traditional and modern, with some organ solos and some soloists from the choir. We think the CD will make an ideal Christmas present for family and friends, for OWs, and simply for inspiration in the car or at home whilst carrying out all your Christmas preparations in the coming weeks. The cost is £10 (with a reduction for choir members). Please send orders enclosing a cheque (payable to Wellington College) to: College Reception, Wellington College, Crowthorne, Berks RG45 7PU. Alternatively cash or Credit card payments can be made in person in Reception. The CD can also be purchased using a credit card from the following link: http://www.chameleon-arts.co.uk/acatalog/Christmas_Offer.html or through the Online Shop option on www.chameleon-arts.co.uk
The Orange are selling hand made Christmas cards in aid of their charity - Nabukenya Primary school, Mityana - Uganda. They will be on sale in the Orange in Mrs Raabe-Marjot's office at "visiting times" - break, lunch, p.m. and between 9:00 and 10:00 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Please consider supporting this worthy charity by buying a card or two.
Sport
Tuesday 5th December sees our squash team take on Marlborough and on Thursday 7th December, the Rugby Colts, Junior Colts and Yearlings 1st XVs take on Sedbergh.
Saturday 9th December sees our rugby teams taking on Tonbridge in a total of 21 matches and there is also a girls' hockey fixture against Hurstpierpoint that is not in the calendar. The 1st and 2nd XI are at home starting at 2:00 p.m and the U15A team play at 3:00 p.m. The U14A & B teams play at Hurstpierpoint.The Master would like to thank parents for supporting their children on the touchline this term by inviting them to Lodge for drinks - mulled wine and mince pies - at 1:30 p.m. On Thursday 7th December parents with sons in the teams playing Sedbergh are invited and on Saturday 9th December parents with sons in the colts rugby teams are invited. Unfortunately the majority of the yearlings boys and the senior girls have no more home fixtures this term but something will be arranged for next term. We do hope that you will able to come to one of these events.
This link will take you to the Wellington intranet where details of rugby sports' fixtures (team lists, pitch details, etc) can be found. For girls' hockey click here. To keep overall track on how the teams are doing click here for rugby and here for girls' hockey.
Further Ahead
On Monday 11 December there will be a Christmas Jazz concert at 6:15 p.m. in Old Hall when the Wellington Jazz Orchestra and jazz ensembles will play under the direction of Michael L. Roberts, the new Head of Jazz Studies at Wellington College.
Thursday 14th December sees the College Carol Service which marks the end of the term. As ever, unfortunately, there is no space at all in the Chapel for parents but this year, if any parent would like, there will be mulled wine and mince pies in Great School while the service is on. This will run from 6:00 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. and will hopefully provide an enjoyable and sociable occasion for all parents. To help us get an idea of numbers, please reply here with the number of people who anticipate coming in the subject line of the e-mail.
The next term's school calendar should be going out with the end of term material. However if you need to look up dates, they are all on the website if you follow the calendar link from the front page.
There is an apartment for rent in Val D'Isere. Dates available throughout the Easter holiday 2007. All proceeds from this go towards sending the Wellington College Ski teams to competitions. The apartment sleeps 4 people and is centrally located in Val D'Isere. The cost is £350 per week. Please contact Mr John Gale on if you are interested or require more information.
Further ahead on a weekend late next term, Saturday 17th March, we plan to take all the Fifth Form to the Theatre in London. We did this with the Fourth Form this term and the event worked well. Therefore we would ask that you do not arrange anything for your sons and daughters in the Fifth Form for that Saturday night. The cost of the evening will be of the order of £40. If there are any problems with this trip on either issue, please contact John Arton-Powell as soon as possible as we need to get on and book tickets.