The Week Ahead
Sunday 16th September until Sunday 23rd September
General Events
Those with a Wellington connection will enjoy the coverage in the press today as the papers analyse the league table results.In the Financial Times, Wellington is "the fastest riser amongst the big schools" whilst in the Daily Telegraph, Wellington is described as "one of the biggest climbers in this year's table."
Parents should all have received a copy of the Master's Beginning of Term letter - if it has not arrived shortly, do please contact the Master's P.A. for a copy.
Please can all parents be reminded of the fact that if their son or daughter needs to miss a match on a Saturday, three week's notice must be given. Permission will only be granted for a significant family event and not to go to watch a sporting fixture of any nature.
On Sunday 16th September there is a Full School Service of the Word to which parents of the Hopetoun are warmly invited. The preacher is the Chaplain.
The first informal concert given by pupils is on Monday 17th September at 6:15 p.m. in the Concert Room. Pupils performing are Akash Jain (M), Ed Coombe (Pn), Joanna Dempster (C), Yimin Xu (T), George Wilson (M), Stephanie Tress (O). The saxophone quartet consisting of Keshan Vaikunthanathan (Hl), Luisa Rubio (C), Ollie Ralph (Bd) and Illias Thoms (T) will start the programme playing Subway. We will be pleased to see as many parents as possible at these informal concerts on Monday evenings but please note that programmes often change on the day.
On Wednesday 19th September , Adam Rattray, formerly of the Fabergé dealers Wartski, is talking to the Wellington College Association on the Life and work of Carl Fabergé court goldsmith to the last Tsar of Russia and maker of the Imperial Easter Eggs.
Over the weekend of 22nd and 23rd of September, the third form in the Hill, Murray, Picton, Stanley, Combermere, White Cairn and Wellesley go away together on an activities weekend. This provides a chance for pupils to work together at a series of fun tasks and challenges in the Hampshire countryside. The pupils camp in house groups and are assessed on their team performance in each task. There is a trophy awarded to the winning house. The challenges vary but do include the risk of pupils getting wet so the kit list, already provided via HMs, includes a complete change of dry clothes. The pupils will leave after dinner on Saturday and return in time for dinner on Sunday. Further details will be available via HMs nearer the time. The weekend is organised by Mike Fielder.
On Sunday 23rd September there is a Full School Eucharist to which parents of the Lynedoch are warmly invited. The preacher is the Reverend Father James Power, Chaplain of Harrow School.
A date for the diaries of new parents is Sunday 23rd September with the Wellington College Association Drinks and Canapés Party for New Parents from 8:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. This is a great opportunity for the Wellington College Association to welcome new parents to Wellington, and for new parents to meet and get to know the W.C.A. Committee members and Common Room staff over an informal drink in one of Wellington's most historic rooms - Great School. To assist us with numbers please email Tarla Woolhouse .
In trying to improve communication between home and school, you can now access the school intranet from outside school. Its address is https://intranet.wellingtoncollege.org.uk/. Note the S in https ! This is a SECURE website, because you may be logging on or filling in forms. To begin with, you will only see 'public' pages. You should see a LOGIN link near the top of the screen. By clicking it, the computer will check who you are and will try to give you access to more pages - ones which are password protected. Because you are at home, the computer cannot check who you are, therefore it will ask you for your details. Staff and pupils at Wellington should use their own college username and password. We have supplied a username and password for parents. The username is Victoria and the password is the name of the person on the plaque outside the RITS. You have to type this name in CAPITALS. Your son or daughter will be able to find out this name if they don't know but if we gave it out in this newsletter, then it would not be secure! When you click on the login button, you will be challenged for a username and password. If you see two boxes, please type COLLEGE and a back slash prior to your user name. If you see three boxes, please type COLLEGE into the third (Domain) box instead. This information will go on the intranet as a reminder, on this page. One of the pages just put up that you will need to log on to is a page of letters home. It now includes the end of term material. There is also a draft version of the school calendar available here.
Sport
The girls hockey season starts on Saturday 15th September with a block fixture against Pangbourne and the rugby teams take on Dulwich and Shiplake on the same day. To finish a busy week, the badminton team play the Oratory.
Tuesday 18th September sees our U15 hockey teams in action against St. Mary's Ascot, as well as the squash teams playing Harrow and the Inter-school's Clay Pigeon Shooting Competition at Bisley against Harrow, Millfield and Marlborough (Details available from Carole Blunden-Lee)
3PM [ contact CJB-L for further details]
In an addition to the calendar on Wednesday 19th September at 4:30 p.m. on Derby 5 the U15 rugby team start their campaign in the national Daily Mail competition with a game against Charters School.
On Thursday 20th September, our rackets team take on Charterhouse, one of our squash teams play Shiplake, our golf team travels to Tonbridge and the fencing team compete at Eton
Saturday 22nd September is a busy sporting day, with the rugby teams taking on St. Paul's and Shiplake whilst, in an addition to the calendar, the hockey 1st and 2nd XIs play the Perse.
All of our Rugby and Girls' hockey results will be on the schools sport website again this year.
Further Ahead
Following the success of last year , a second Inspired Art Exhibition, with the support of the National Autistic Society, will be held on the weekend of 29th and 30th September at Wellington College, Crowthorne. The exhibition opens from 10am - 5pm. On Sunday 30th at midday, talented local guitarist, Jim Kelleher, will be performing and the Mayor of Bracknell Forest , Cllr Gill Birch, will be in attendance to lend her support to the artists and the National Autistic Society, the UK's leading charity for people with autism and their families. Artists Fiona Channon and Alan Brain will have paintings worth £450 each up for raffle, and all proceeds will go to the N.A.S. Admission to the exhibition is free and all works are for sale. To see samples of some of the paintings on display, go to www.inspiredart.info and www.alanbrain.com.
On Sunday 30th September the Master will be leading a London walk. It will start at Waterloo, use the Thames Path and end at Paddington. The Master will be referring regularly to Peter Ackroyd's excellent new book 'Sacred River' and the historical associations of the places we visit. It provides a great opportunity to meet some other parents at the same time as seeing some little known corners of London. If you are interested in more details please contact Roger Auger, the Senior Master.
On Monday 8th October we are holding a Conference on "Multiple Intelligences: What is Education For?" The keynote speaker is Howard Gardner from Harvard University. A detailed programme is available on the website. You may reserve a place by emailing Tarla Woolhouse . Parents are invited to attend for a discounted rate of £60.00. Any parent interested in attending can either download an application form or apply online. Do please inform your friends and colleagues about this conference.
On Thursday 18th October Wellington is hosting the 'Angels Choir' a children's choir from West Africa to perform in the Old Gym alongside pupils from the three Wellington choirs. This will be the highlight of their tour and money has been raised in order to bring them here by parents of children at Wellington. Please do join us for our Gala Evening which will be a fabulous event with a two course dinner, wonderful music and a unique moment in Wellington's history. All monies raised go towards the children's school and community in West Africa. Ticket price is £25 per head and anyone interested should contact Clare Walters on 07831 093 499 or Sara Blosse on 07778 399 929. Of course donations are also readily and gratefully received!
Looking further ahead from Friday 23rd to Sunday 25th November, Ian Botes, a Wellington parent and member of the W.C.A. committee, is leading, with the Master, a pre-Christmas trip to Vienna for 30-40 parents, staff and friends of Wellington College. If you are interested please contact Tarla Woolhouse (+44 (0)1344 444085) or Ian Botes for further details. The cost for the inclusive break is £475 per person with a single supplement of £65. The programme is outlined on the college website. To book contact Kevin Collins or Suzanne Wade at Weekend a la Carte (01722 744695) The deadline is the 30th September.
Towards the end of term we have two closed weekends for a year group when we are running two trips aimed at our boarders to the West End to see a "big" show. The dates are Saturday 1st December for the Fifth Form and Saturday 8th December for the Third Form. The pupils have certainly enjoyed these trips in the past and are being asked now if they wish to go as we need to book tickets as soon as possible. The cost will be in the region of £50 per head. If for any reason you do not wish your son or daughter to go on one of these trips, please e-mail John Arton-Powell.
