The Week Ahead
Saturday 29th November until Sunday 7th December
Wellington was lucky enough to welcome Sir John Major, ex-Prime Minister, to the College on November 24th. He addressed the whole school along with many staff and parents in the Sports Hall. His concern in his talk was to bring together the most pressing issues that he sees facing Britain and the world over the next 25 years. He wanted all of the pupils to realise that they have a unique opportunity to make the world a better place. Themes were wide-ranging from environmental issues, scientific advances past and present, the global community to fighting poverty. It was a very personal message he was giving from his position as a former Prime Minister to some of the most promising young people in the country. He really believes that they can play a key role in building a better future than he and his fellow leaders of the world managed at the end of the 20th century. The questions that followed from the floor were wide ranging and Sir John's responses gave an insight into life at the top of the global political stage. Important world figures can seem remote and one-dimensional in the papers and on television but the personal anecdotes about them that Sir John delivered brought them very much to life. An event that pupils will remember for many years to come.
For some of the Common Room it was a nerve-racking weekend - the Dining Hall saw Wellington's version of Strictly Come Dancing on Saturday night. After many hours of instruction and practice, several members of the Common Room took to the dance floor in an event to raise money for the lcoal charity DEBRA. The competitive nature of many colleagues shone very strongly through and the training had not been easy - broken ribs in one case when a partner was dropped - but all present were amazed at the dexterity and energy shown by all the competitors. In a closely fought contest, the Lunnons were the eventual winners - congratulations to them. The BBC were there so all may still have their chance to see for themselves!
The Master's Voice - Bigside Pavilion
Can you help? I have a Governors' meeting on Saturday 6th December at which the Governors will decide whether we can afford the Sports Pavilion on Bigside for this year. We are so close but still are £300,000 short. If any parent thinks that they can help, do please let me know. There will be three separate boards for different categories of donors in the Pavilion, one for those donating over £5,000, one for those donating over £25,000 and one for those donating over £100,000. Although it creates more difficulty for the school, the donations can be spread over 5 years. £5,000 would be only £16 a week over 5 years with gift aid. More details can be found on the school website - do please look.
I apologise for asking. It is, I fear, the lot of the modern Headmaster to be a fund-raiser. If I were the Headmaster of an American independent school it would take 30% of my time and not the 3% I give it - some comfort there.
General Events
An important plea from the Second Master and the Head of the Upper Sixth about weekend parties -"The Master has written repeatedly about his concerns regarding excessive alcohol use at weekends when pupils are away from College on leave out. In recent days some parents have expressed their own concerns to me about the scale of drinking at some parties. We are facing a very busy last few weeks of term for the Upper Vith as they prepare for January modules. There are now only two teaching weeks left before the January modules. It is essential for their work and their health that they return from leave outs refreshed and ready for the week's work. Could we therefore repeat the plea that alcohol consumption at parties be controlled on a sensible basis so that the boys and girls can have fun without being able to over-indulge? It also goes without saying that the combination of youngsters, cars and alcohol is a lethal one."
The first three years in the school have internal exams this week so it is, by Wellington standards, a quiet week. If you want to see which exams your son or daughter is doing and when, the timetable is on the intranet.
Sunday 30th November sees our Advent Procession Service at 8:00 p.m. in the Chapel. This is a service to which we "invite" the Third, Fourth and Fifth Forms as well as any of their parents who might like to come. We hope that many of you will take up the option.
The next meeting of the new business networking group The Business Forum will be on Thursday 4 December at 7:15 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. in the Wellesley Dining Room. The theme for the December event will be "Is Education providing the skills that businesses need?" and the talk will be given by Chris Dodson, MD of engineering company Torftech and Chairman of the Berkshire Branch of the Institute of Directors. Chris will talk about his own experiences and those of the wider business community in finding the right skills. Can education do more to provide the skills that businesses really need? Chris will then lead a discussion based around this theme calling on attendees to put forward their own views or experiences. The Business Forum combines a relaxed informal gathering for business networking with a forum for discussing key business topics. It meets once a month on the first Thursday of each month at 7.15am, finishing by 9.15am. Each meeting will give attendees a chance to network, introduce themselves and participate in the forum. The cost is £18 and includes a full English breakfast. For more information and a booking form please go to the web site on www.thebusinessforum.biz or contact Sue Heddon on sue@heddoncommunications.co.uk or 07774 267280.
Wednesday 3rd December and Thursday 4th December sees our end of year pantomine - Aladdin. Tickets are sold out I'm told so if you haven't got a ticket, I fear you won't get one!
Angels are performing two fantastic concerts at Wellington this December; our Special Community concert is on Saturday 6th December in the Sports Club (tickets £7 and concessions £5 tel: 0780 1022 763) and our magnificent Gala Evening where the Angels will perform with Wellington students is on Wednesday 10th December (tickets £40 each to include a 2 course dinner tel: Wellington Reception on 01344 444000). The Angels this year are from Tiger Kloof School which has long been associated with Wellington so there is much excitement that they are able to visit us for a change! For any other information regarding Angels please ring Clare Walters on 07831 093 499; any sponsorships would be particlulary welcome.
The Wellington College Community Christmas Carol Service will be held at Wellington College Chapel on Sunday 7th December at 8:00 p.m. where staff, Old Wellingtonians, parents and friends of Wellington College are invited. Please let Reception know if you and members of your family and friends would like to attend. The College will host a mulled wine and mince pie reception in the Dining Hall immediately after the service, to which all members of the congregation are invited. To assist us with numbers please let Reception know by phone 01344 444000 or email by Tuesday 2nd December latest
The Wellington Players are recruiting NEW MEMBERS! We meet on Wednesday evenings 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and would love more parents to get involved. Whether you've dabbled in acting before or are a complete novice then come along for guaranteed fun! Email Amelia Morse for more information.
New format reports for the Third, Fourth and Fifth Forms will be arriving home in the next week. We hope parents were pleased with the new simplified effort grades and the new working grades included last time as well as the new A4 format. Full reports for the Lower School this time include class positions in most subjects as well as overview comments from Tutors, HMs, the Master and the pupils themselves. Comments will be more concise than in the past to assist parents and pupils in identifying the important messages. More detailed information on changes to reports was included in the letter sent to all parents with the last interims. Full reports for the Lower and Upper Sixth Forms will follow later in the term, as both year groups have recently had Parents' Conferences.
All parents should have received an e-mail from me giving you a password to open a file of contact details for pupils in your son's or daughter's year group. The page with these files on is here and is in the section of the intranet entitled info@community then current parents. There seem to have been two problems related to this. The first is that older versions of Adobe - the programme that opens pdf files - had bugs in them, particularly version 6.0 my more technical experts inform me. There is now a link on the contact details page enabling you to upload the latest version of Adobe. the second problem to catch more out was the fact that the page is in part of the password protected part of the site. This means to open the page at all you need the username and generic password. The username is COLLEGE\victoria N.B. the back slash - if you are offered three boxes COLLEGE is the domain and victoria is the username. A third possibility, if both of these fail to work, is to use victoria@wellington.net.uk in the domain/username box. 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. I sent it to you recently too but if you haven't got it, 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
Congratulations to Sam Edgerley who recently got a call from the England manager saying he was in the U18 six nations squad this year. He will be following in the footsteps of the Evans brothers, Max and Thom, both of whom got onto the pitch for the full Scotland side last week against Canada.
On Saturday 29th November the main block fixture for both hockey and rugby is against Cranleigh. In addition some rugby teams play Lord Wandsworth, the shooting team take on the OWs and the badminton team compete with Bradfield.
Tuesday 2nd December sees our rackets players taking on Winchester and on Thursday 4th December there are rugby fixtures with Sedburgh, squash fixtures with Marlborough and the fencing team travel to RGS High Wycombe. In an addition to the calendar, on Thursday 4th December there are now hockey fixtures for the 1st XI and 2nd XI against Canford at home with a 3:45 p.m. start and a lacrosse match at Bradfield.On Saturday 6th December there are two two big block fixtures with the hockey teams taking on Epsom and the rugby teamsTonbridge.
Rugby and Hockey fixtures and results can be found on the Wellington College Intranet and the rugby results are on the internet as are those of hockey.
Further Ahead
Ben Greenslade-Stanton will direct the Wellington Jazz Orchestra on Tuesday 9th December at 6.15 p.m. in the Old Gym - everybody welcome for this early evening session of hot jazz. Gina Kuschke, Isabelle Wilkinson and Dougie Chung will be singing with WJO.
The Junior Carol Service for pupils in the 3rd, 4th and 5th Forms and their parents will start at 3:00 p.m. on Friday 12th December. The Senior Carol Service for pupils in the LVIth and UVIth and their parents will start at 5:00 p.m. on the same day. There were 220 spaces available for parents at the Junior Service but these have now all be allocated and 310 spaces at the Senior Service of which there are still some available. These Senior places can be reserved on a first come first served basis by emailing Tarla Woolhouse When requesting tickets please specify your son's or daughter's name(s) and house and which service you wish to attend. I am sorry but nobody will be allowed to attend both services if they have children in both sections of the school. Successful applicants will receive an email confirming their status and tickets for the event will be given to your sons or daughters via their HM after Wednesday 3rd December. If you do not receive a reply from Tarla within two days, then you will not be on the list of successful applicants. If you are unsuccessful do please consider attending the Community Carol Service on Sunday 7th December at 8:00 p.m. as there are always spaces available at that occasion. If you wish to do so, please see the details above. For those who never raise their eyes in Chapel the image to the right is part of the roof of the apse!
On Sunday 14th December two of our music scholars will be playing in the Recital Room at South Hill Park. The concert will start at 3:00 p.m. and will feature Trishan Vaikunthanathan (clarinet) and Anton Crayton ('cello) accompanied by Jane Beament. Their programme consists of Debussy's Premiere Rhapsodie for Clarinet and Piano, Beethoven's Trio for Clarinet, Cello and Piano Op11, and Brahms Sonata in Eb No 2 Op 120 for Clarinet and Piano and we hope many local parents will support Trishan and Anton in what we think is their first solo venture before a paying public audience. Although young, both Trishan and Anton are superb musicians, and you won;t regret an hour spent in their company. Tickets can be obtained from South Hill Park Box Office Telephone: 01344 484123, or on the door.
Parents of 3rd Form pupils should please be aware that on Saturday 7th February we are planning to take all the 3rd form to the theatre in London. This is a closed weekend for all of the 3rd form. The trip will cost between £40 - £50. Your son or daughter will be making their choice of show at the beginning of next term. If your son or daughter is not able to attend this event, please let us know by Tuesday 6th January.
Many thanks to all of you for your interest in the Eve of Waterloo Ball next term. We have had an unbelievable response and it is truly magnificent to have our parents enter so enthusiastically into the spirit of the school. The bookings have been stretched to maximum. We are now full and regret that we cannot accept more enquiries. We do so hate to turn anyone away, please do try again early when another ball is on the cards.
Letters Home
To try and cut down on the amount of paper we send out and to try and not bombard parents with large numbers of posting, e-mails and information generally, we plan to use this section of the Week Ahead to include letters we would normally send out - either electronically or by post. If there are parents who would still rather receive everything on paper, please e-mail the College Secretary. We still anticipate sending out paper copies of reports, bills and the Master's letters. To open some of these letters you will need to log on to the intranet as the page they are saved on is only viewable to those in the Wellington community. Do contact me if you need the password - details are further up in this Week Ahead. All letters home of this sort are stored here . If for any reason you want to see a back copy of the Week Ahead they are all available on the internet.
The Master wrote to all parents by e-mail just after the Exeat. You can find a copy here.
Although not a letter home the Wellingtonian gets produced regularly. The latest copy can be found here.