The Week Ahead
Saturday 26th April until Sunday 4th May
General Events
The Master has consistently argued over the years that the independent sector needs to take the initiative and to do more to bridge the huge gap between independent and state schools in this country (the so called 'educational apartheid'), and has argued that the best way for schools to do this is by forming their own academy, as Wellington has decided to do. Parents will be interested to read this letter in The Times which he initiated with a colleague, which is co-signed by the heads of another eight senior schools, including Tonbridge, Harrow and Marlborough. All of them are now starting academies, and all of them are employing the same arguments as he has been. Those independent schools that start academies will also be a lot more secure from the Charity Commission by doing so. He would encourage all parents to read this letter, which sets out the rationale behind public schools starting academies.
Sunday 27th April sees a full school Service of the Word at 8:00 p.m. at which the preacher is the Chaplain. Hill parents are cordially invited.
On Monday 28th April, we welcome two teams of inspectors. One from the ISI are inspecting all aspects of our life whilst the OFSTED team are focussing on boarding. We look forward to their feedback and you will all get to hear their views in due course.
There is an additional Master's Lecture on Monday 28th April. This is in the calendar, but did not make it into the publicity material about this term's other lectures. It is entitled "Return to Everest", and the speaker will be George Band, who was the youngest member of the late Sir Edmund Hillary's successful expedition to Everest in 1953 . The lecture covers the first ascent itself in 1953, and how in the intervening years it has affected the lives of the climbers and the Sherpas in their homeland of Sola Khumbu in East Nepal. Mr Band will also talk about a return visit to the Everest area by six of the original team in the 40th Anniversary year, as well as the work of the Himalayan Trust (of which he is president) founded by Hillary to provide schools, health centres and so on in the area. The talk is in Great School at 8:00 p.m., with a cash bar available from 7.30 p.m. On this occasion, please contact Murray Fowler, not Tarla Woolhouse, if you would like come.
Wednesday 30th April in Great School at 7:30 p.m. for 8:00pm will witness a talk from Nikolai Tolstoy (OW) on the Tolstoy family. Nikolai Tolstoy (OW) will be returning to his alma mater to speak to parents and pupils. He has published books on the post war handover of the Cossacks and the history of his family.
Dr Martin Luther King was assassinated 40 years ago. Ray Smith, Head of Percussion Studies at Wellington College, has written a musical to commemorate the life and work of Dr King which will be premiered in the Theatre on Tuesday 29th, Wednesday 30th April and Thursday 1st May at 7:30 p.m. in the Theatre.The pupils are very excited about the production both dramatically and musically and have learnt a lot about an important period of history in the preparations for it. The Music School is very proud to be associated with Ray Smith's achievement and encourage you all to come to the show - it promises to be an hour of intense emotion. The production has the full backing of the Martin Luther King Foundation in Atlanta. Tickets are free and can be reserved by emailing jwb@wellingtoncollege.org.uk and then collected from the Box Office.
Friday 2nd May sees the Montgomery Recital Competition - the most fiercely contested musical event of the year takes place in the Old Gym at 8:00 p.m. This year's finalists are: Claire Sledd (violin); Sabina Virtosu (violin), Katie Jillings (violin), Steph Tress ('cello), James Bourne (voice) , Richard Bignall (voice) and Trishan Vaikunthanathan (clarinet). The adjudicator with the unenviable task of choosing a winner is the eminent conductor, Paul Daniel.
This event is highly recommended - it displays the very highest standard of Wellington's musicians.
The weekend starting Saturday 3rd May is a Weekend Leave. We hope that you manage a restful Bank Holiday and look forward to welcoming your sons and daughters back at 9:15 p.m. on Monday 5th May. We are reviewing term dates and more particularly the Weekend Leaves. The experiment of running a Weekend Leave from Friday evening to Sunday night last term met with more approval than disapproval and so we are contemplating introducing more of them. We would welcome any more feedback - it is probably best to e-mail Roger Auger. You will see from the new Calendar the provisional term dates for the Michaelmas Term 2009. We should warn you that there is already a change to the dates for the Exeat in that term: provisionally, the Exeat will be from Saturday 17th October 2009 to Sunday 1st November 2009 (when boarders should return) and not as advertised in the calendar.
You should all have received a letter about Speech day - a copy of which can be found here. There has been a little confusion over tickets and I will take this opportunity to explain. Before Speech Day, every pupil will be issued with a ticket for themselves and two for their parents. In the case of siblings it will just be two for the parents in total. If you want more tickets then we will try and help by using returned tickets. There is a form to fill in and return with the letter if you want more tickets. If you don't want to use either one or both of the two parental tickets, then please contact Tarla Woolhouse as soon as possible to say you don't and those tickets are the ones we will be able to pass on to the parents who want more than two. I hope this clarifies the situation.
All concessions are now in place for those in the top three years groups taking public examination this summer for extra time of up to 25% as well as laptop word processing concessions. Pupils have been given advice by Head of Educational Support and subject teachers about how to use the time to best effect. Any enquiries regarding future assessments that are likely to be required should be addressed to Carole Blunden-Lee , our Head of Education Support . She arranges in College Assessment by a Chartered Educational Psychologist in June and November .
The Charity Shop is an important part of the College, raising a significant amount of money for Chairty. It relies on parental volunteers to run it. We would really appreciate more help with it. If you think you might be able to offer some assistance, please read this letter which gives you more details.
As a follow-up to the information sent to you at the end of the Lent term about arrangements post-GCSE, could we please ask that you return the slip indicating what your son or daughter will be doing after exams are over? The replies should go to the Academic Secretary Mrs Sally Yarnton. Once we have a better idea of numbers, Mrs Henderson (Head of Middle School) will be sending out details of the programme for them. A copy of the letter sent out is here.
Please could we have all returns in for the Third Form French Trip? This trip is in the last week of term from Sunday 22nd June to Thursday 26th June. If you have any questions do please email Sam Gutteridge.
From time to time we receive requests for UVIth Formers, who have passed their driving test, to have permission to drive cars to Wellington. We have a very strict line on this; our policy is that permission will only be granted if parents can show that it is a necessity for their child to have a car here. We cannot give permission on the basis of mere convenience. We would also take into account the behaviour and performance of the pupil concerned. We take this strict line because we wish to keep our campus and pupils safe. In the past years 6th Formers have been involved in some nasty car accidents; two years ago in the holidays a group of senior pupils were lucky to escape from a car with only minor injuries. If you wish your son or daughter to be able to drive a car at Wellington you should write to the Second Master, Robin Dyer, making clear why you think it is a necessity for this permission to be given. He will consult with the relevant Housemaster or Housemistress before a decision is taken. Under no circumstances must pupils drive to Wellington, keep cars here or in Crowthorne, without written permission from the Second Master.
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
We are in the process of switching databases and for next term we will be using the new database to produce our mailing list. If you stop receiving the Week Ahead next term then please do contactme and I'll will try to sort it out. Apologies if this does happen - the whole process is quite a complex one!
You should have got a copy of the term's calendar in the post during the holidays. If not the current information on dates this term can be found here.
Sport
Sunday 27th April sees the shooting team in action against both Greshams and London University in the morning and the Purples in the afternoon whilst the golf team are in the ISGA National finals at Wokefield Park.
Thursday 1st May sees our tennis teams take on Marlborough, the swimming teams competing with Bradfield, the sailing team try their luck against Winchester and the polo team play Eton.
On Saturday 3rd May, the block fixtures in cricket and swimming are against Eton and the shooting team competes in the LMRA meeting. Unfortunately the athletics match calendared against St. Edwards is cancelled.
Cricket results are on the internet, all other results can be found on the internet.
Further Ahead
Tuesday 6th May sees our first Fashion Show for a while. This should be a fun event and is in aid of the Breast Cancer Campaign. Ticket prices are £7.50 for students, staff and anyone under the age of 12 and £15 for parents and over 12s outside of the school. Arrive at 7.30 p.m. for an 8:00 p.m. start in the Old Gym. There will be refreshments included in the ticket price before the show, as well as donation buckets going round as we are trying to raise as much money as possible.
Wednesday 7th May sees another talk from an OW Max Lovell-Hoare in Great School at 7:30 p.m. for 8:00 p.m. The talk is about travelling 15,000 miles overland travel from Darjeeling to London (15,000 miles by taxi and Tuk Tuk!) through 15 different countries (including the gruelling heights of the Himalayas, wilds of Central Asian and Iran. The presentation will showcase the rich cultural heritages, varying religious traditions and fascinating social practices lived each day by people along the route.
The Friday after on Friday 9th May there is the Orchestral Concerto concert, a chance to hear the Wellington College Orchestra conducted by Hilary Davan Wetton. Concerto soloists include Katie Jillings (viola)(Bruch Romanze); Dongsu Kim (Grieg Piano concerto); Tom Lowe (Handel's Organ concerto No.7 I D minor) The concert starts at 8:00 p.m. Old Gym.
From Friday 9th to Sunday 11th May there is the WCA Parents Trenches Trip to First World War sites. Dennis Silk, former warden of Radley and President of the MCC, will be accompanying the tour, and will be talking in particular about the literary aspects of the First World War. Dennis was an old friend of Seigfried Sassoon, and knows much about the poetry and prose of the war, and where it was written. Also accompanying him will by Gerry Long, Adjutant - Wellington College, who has done much research in OW soldiering in the first world war -and will be pointing out various battlefield cemeteries and memorials where old Wellingtonians fought. If you are interested in joining this trip, please contact Tarla Woolhouse .
On Monday 12th May, there is a meeting of the Parents' Forum. Details of contacts for that can be found here. This is a chance for any parent to raise any issues with the Master and the management team of the school.
On Friday 23rd May - the Eve of Speech Day - from 7:30pm - 1:00am is one of the social events of the year not to be missed - the WCA Summer Ball. Following the tremendous success of previous years' Summer Balls, the WCA is once again organising a Summer Ball This is a superb evening, an event not to be missed before Speech Day, for parents, friends and OWs to enjoy excellent food and wine, first class musical entertainment, guest speaker, a busy bar and vibrant DJ music until a late hour. Individual tickets cost £98.00. Tables of 10 or 12. Parents are invited to put a table together, if you are not able to get a table together, do not be put off. We can assure you of a warm welcome and a great night. Booking form and further details from: Reena Price, Tel: 01628 622355 Mobile: 07778 205 112 Email: reena_price@hotmail.com or Tarla Woolhouse at the College, Tel: 01344 444085 or tw@wellingtoncollege.org.uk
There is a proposed Art trip to Paris and Giverny from Friday 12th September to Sunday 14th September for parents. This is a fantastic chance to sample the cultural delights of Paris and Monet's stunning gardens in Giverny. It is envisaged that the price for the trip will be around £350 and include flights, 3* accommodation, breakfast and evening meals and the 24 hour services of a tour director. For more information contact Mr Laurence Hedges Director of Art