Saturday 16th May until Saturday 23rd May
Sometimes with so much going on at Wellington, events can pass by almost unnoticed by the majority of the community - important as they fare to the individuals. The LAMDA parents' evening was one such event and thanks to Mr Davidson for providing the images here to show what many of us missed.
On the same night as the LAMDA there was the Montgomery Recital Competition - always one of the real highlights of the musical year. Click here for a short extract of the winning performance from Anton Crayton on the cello.
The Master's Voice
I am dictating this from the parents' trip to the battlefields of France and Belgium and my theme this week is about the opportunities that parents and pupils have at Wellington to deepen their understanding of the world. Schools are far more than places where people pass exams: they are living places where every member of our community has opportunities to deepen their understanding and appreciation of art, history, science, philosophy, political economy, and the physical world. Speakers this term include Adam Boulton of Sky TV, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, whose new work was 'Book of the Week', James Le Fanu - Britain's leading critic of Richard Dawkins, James O'Shaughnessy, the head of the Conservative Research Department who will become head of policy, The Spectator's celebrated Martin vander Weyer, and many others. On Speech Day, our guest of honour is HRH The Duke of Kent, grandson of George V, and great grandson of Edward VII, who presided over Speech Day exactly 100 years before. There is an image below of his visit. Wellington is there for everyone to enjoy.
General Events
On Sunday 17th May there is a full school Service of the Word at which the preacher is the Reverend Lisa Cornwell, vicar of Crowthorne. Parents of the Blucher are warmly invited.
An array of artwork in every conceivable media will be on view for the annual Art School exhibition including painting, printmaking, sculpture, textiles, installation, film and video. Work from various year groups will be on display at the following venues in Wellington College: Art School, Photographic Darkroom, Great School, Chapel Crypt, Driver Lecture and Committee Rooms. This promises to be a highlight of the Arts calendar this year, with some truly breathtaking work on display. All are warmly invited to the exhibition preview on Friday 22nd June at 6:00 pm where refreshments will be served.
The members of the Wellington College Common Room who are cycling across France this June are partaking in a 24hour Cycle Ride fundraiser starting at 3:00 pm on the Eve of Speech Day and ending at 3:00 pm on Speech Day.on Turf. The cycle ride is the 3rd leg of the Wellington Multithon, which in all aims to help raise £150,000 for Hope and Homes. Do please take the opportunity to support this cause.
The Eve of Speech Day Jazz concert is in Combermere Quad at 7:30 pm on Friday 22nd May. This annual event to begin the Speech Day weekend celebrations will feature the Wellington Jazz Orchestra and the Concert Band. Delicious fish and chips will be on sale and there will be a licensed bar. All proceeds go to charity.
All are welcome to a garden party in the Lodge Garden (8.30 pm until-10.30pm) following the jazz on Eve of Speech Day on Friday 22nd May. There will be a charge of £5 per person to cover costs but the event is free to WCA badge holders.
Speech Day is on Saturday 23rd May. From 9:25 am until 10:45 am, there are Speeches and Prize Giving for 3rd, 4th and 5th form students and parents. Each student (including prize winners) will be issued three tickets (one for the student and two for parents). These will be distributed via Houses on Friday 15th May. Please ensure you collect them from your son/daughter. Should you be planning NOT to attend we would appreciate it if you could return the surplus tickets as soon as possible to Tarla Wolhouse.. Surplus tickets will be offered to parents on a first come, first served basis. Successful applications will be notified by email by Tuesday 19th May. (Please note that grandparents and other family members are welcome to attend the rest of the day's events). Then between11:10 am and 12:15am there are Speeches and Prize Giving for 6th form students and parents. Each pupil (including prize winners) will be issued three tickets (one for the student and two for parents) These will be distributed via Houses on Friday 15th May. Please ensure you collect them from your son/daughter. If you have already requested extra tickets these will be included in the envelope.
On Speech Day the V & A will be open between 9:00 am and 1;00 pm serving beverages and breakfast pastries.
A copy of the full programme for Speech Day can be found here.
The Exeat starts after the Master's Callover on Speech Day and we hope that your sons and daughters (and indeed hopefully you) will have a good break - notwithstanding the academic demands of those with external exams. We look forward to welcoming the pupils back by 9:15 pm on Sunday 31st May.
The Master has made repeated statements about sensible use of social time on the weekends particularly advising careful use of alcohol at parties. This issue is perhaps even more crucial as we move into the 18th birthday party season clashing with the exam period. Clearly we want the students enjoying themselves at social occasions but it is essential that they return to school after the weekend refreshed and ready for the pressures of revision and exams. This point is even more compelling with the recent tragedy involving school students in Oxford when it seems that the combination of alcohol, parties and cars ended up in tragedy. The Second master wishes to reiterate the college policy that permission to drive cars to and from Wellington will only be given when there is evidence of necessity - convenience he is afraid will not be a sufficient reason.
The Director of Studies has asked to include details on study leave and will be writing to parents shortly. During study leave pupils are encouraged to remain in College where they can take best advantage of facilities, revision sessions and access to teachers (who will be available to students by appointment and often in normal lesson times throughout study leave). Boarding and day pupils who wish to study at home or away from College must have the permission of their HMs.
Parents are most welcome to have a school lunch in the Main College Dining Room on Saturdays. Lunches will be available to parents between 12: 30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. and the cost is £2.50 per head (cash please) for a two-course lunch. Even if you will not be staying for a match do come along, make yourself known to the Duty Catering Manager who will guide you through the system. It is not the formal occasion that it used to be!
A plea from the Librarian - could pupils bring back any library books which they have left at home.They will be asked to return books before study leave starts.
The Wellington Players are desperately seeking a parent to take the male lead role in their up and coming production of 'The Woman Who Cooked Her Husband'. Rehearsing this fast paced dark comedy is proving to be great fun and it is an opportunity for those who have no acting experience to have a go! We rehearse on Wednesdays or Thursdays in the evening but we are flexible on timings and days. Please help! The show must go on! Contact Amelia Morse for further details.
Parents may not be aware that the College Shop ( Grubbies) received a makeover during the Easter Holidays. It is now run by the College, with the assistance of Lester Bowden Ltd and is much brighter and more welcoming. The opening hours have been standardised to 9:00 am and 5:45 pm, Monday to Friday inclusive and between11.00 am and 5:00 pm on Saturdays. The range of sportswear and sports equipment has been increased and will continue to be extended. We intend that the College Shop should become the local Sports Shop for the local as well as for the Wellington community. The College Shop continues to offer tuck, drinks, toiletries, stationery and uniform for both Wellington College and Eagle House School. If there are items that you consider we should be offering, do speak to either Sue Roy ( Manager) or Gill Sherwood ( Assistant Manager) who will be delighted to welcome you.
The stated method for paying the termly school fee is by one instalment on or by the first day of each term. Mindful of the difficulty that this may present I should remind of the following points. If you do anticipate any difficulties with cash flow for paying the school fees, please to be sure to contact me as early in the term as possible; payment by monthly instalments may well be the straightforward solution. We are looking to introduce the facility to pay fees by Direct Debit for the next academic year, either termly or spreading the year's fees by monthly instalments. Further details of this will be distributed later this term. The scheme whereby childcare vouchers can be set against the cost of boarding fees is now operating For further information, please contact our Fees Supervisor, Mrs Sally Clark, Accounts Coordinator, on 01344 444026 or email sjc@wellingtoncollege.org.uk. Please note that this is applicable only to pupils up to and including the summer term in which they celebrate his or her 15th birthday. The College does offer a Fees in Advance Scheme whereby the forward payment of a lump sum towards school fees can attract a discount. Any further details are available from Paul Thompson, College Accountant.
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.
Sport
Saturday 16th May sees the main cricket fixture with Cranleigh, the girls athletes competing with St. Mary's Ascot, (Under 15 only on Rockies with a 2:00 pm start) the girls tennis playing Sevenoaks and the boys tennis taking on Radley, Harrow and Marlborough.
On Sunday 17th May the show jumping team are entered in the Royal Windsor Horse Show in front of the Queen.
Tuesday 19th May sees the golf team taking on Charterhouse and Thursday 21st May sees the tennis team in action against Tonbridge, the swimmers travel to Epsom, the golf team to Marlborough and the sailors to Frensham Pond.
Details of all fixtures and results can be found on the Wellington College Intranet.
Further Ahead
On Wednesday 27th May Angels welcome you to a special master class with celebrity chef, Paul Rankin commencing at 10.30am in the V@A with champagne lunch followed by a pamper afternoon from 2-9pm in the Driver Rooms. Further details can be found here. or contact Gail Wood to book either event at E: gail@angelschoir.org T: 0780 1022 763
All tables for the Grand Finale Ball in November have now been provisionally booked; bookings can be confirmed by sending a deposit of £500 per table by the end of May (the balance of £450 is payable in September). One cheque for the entire amount would be preferable to several; please make cheques payable to 'Wellington College Association' and send them to Denise Cook at Wellington. A limited number of tickets are also being made available to individuals and couples who would like to be placed on a mixed table. These can be booked by emailing Denise Cook in the first instance and will be confirmed on payment of £95 per person.
The next meeting of the business networking group The Business Forum will be on Thursday 4th June at 7:15 am in the Wellesley Dining Room. The theme for the June event will be "How positive psychology will make your business better" and the talk will be given by Dr Anthony Seldon. Businesses are still fundamentally shaped by 20th century thinking. Positive psychology, which emanated from the East Coast of America ten years ago, is the thinking of the future. Come along and hear how this can benefit your business. Dr Seldon will lead a discussion on this theme and invite attendees to put forward their own views and 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. The cost is £18 and includes a full English breakfast. For more information and a booking form please go to the website on www.thebusinessforum.biz or contact Sue Heddon on sue@heddoncommunications.co.uk or 07774 267280.
On Friday 5th June there is an Australian Cellar door Wine tasting between 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm in the V&A and on Sunday 7th June there is a 4th form parents' supper night from 7:30 pm to 9.30 pm in the V&A. Tickets for both these events are £10 payment can be made on the door but as places are limited please book by contacting Denise Cook .
The Eagle House Association invites you to a Black Tie Summer Ball at Wentworth Club on Saturday June 6th between 7:30 pm and 1:00 am. The event includes a live and Silent auction, casino and dancing. Tickets are priced at £75.00 per person (includes half bottle of wine, water and complimentary champagne and canapés on arrival) Booking forms are available from the Eagle House school office and further information can be obtained from Tracey Brown,
"With its romantic gardens, follies and lakes, the small Elizabethan manor house at Garsington is the most idyllic setting for opera you will ever experience" Wall Street Journal. WCA are pleased to offer Wellington parents a rare opportunity to secure tickets to Garsington Opera's 20th anniversary festival in June and July before they go on sale to the public. The programme features Martinů's Mirandolina, a delightful comic opera based on the eighteenth-century farce by Goldoni, La locandiera (The innkeeper). Tickets are on sale on a 'first come first served' basis from 14th April. To book your tickets or find out more information e mail tickets09@garsingtonopera.org or telephone 01865 361636 (from 14th April), mentioning WCA. www.garsingtonopera.org/mirandolina
The Careers Group at the University of London are running a course for parents of future HE applicants called "Choosing a University Course During a Recession: A Guide for Parents" on Thursday 11th June between 8:30 and 11:30am and Friday 12th June between 10:00am and 1:00 pm at their headquarters in London. (The Careers Group, University of London, Stewart House, 32 Russell Square, London WC1B 5DN.) The cost is £70. This is a quote about the course: "Big Choices, Challenging Times: Graduate labour market information to support your child's future choice of Higher Education. An insight into the current and changing graduate labour market by careers professionals working within The Careers Group, University of London." Parents who are interested can find more information and details of how to book at this link. The Careers Group also organises the London Taster Course programme, which is designed for L6th pupils. Our L6th pupils were emailed information about these last term. There are some courses still available. See this link if interested.
On Saturday 13th June WCA is running a trip to see As You Like It by The Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford on Avon. The cost (£75pp) includes return minibus, dinner and theatre tickets. Please contact Denise Cook for details.
Incidentally, for the Lower Sixth pupils last week's college walk will be very good preparation for the rather longer Ridgeway Overnight Challenge that they will all be doing in the second half of the Summer Term. Last year's inaugural event went very well, but one of the consistent bits of feedback was that there had been little chance to do any kind of training. Here's the chance! Many also felt we had missed a trick in not using it to raise some money for charity, and we have a natural focus for that this year in Hope and Homes. More details of the Ridgeway Overnight Challenge will come from the Head of L6th, Murray Fowler, in due course.
In order to help our current Lower Sixth students choose their Universities and courses, Matt Oakman has organised to host a Universities Fair evening on Friday 19th June as advertised in the summer term calendar. An email has been sent to all these parents formally inviting them to this event in the hope that it will help them, together with their sons and daughters, to begin the process of selecting the institutions that they want to attend after leaving Wellington. It will provide at 6:00 pm all the information on the UCAS application procedure, with a panel session where pressing questions can be put to the Directors of Admissions at some leading Universities (including a representative of the American Universities) and at 7:00 pm an opportunity to visit the University stands afterwards. All of the leading Universities will be represented by either a member of their admissions department or an Old Wellingtonian who is currently studying at that institution. The Lower Sixth will have started the UCAS process during that week and it will be of particular relevance to them at this time. Finally at 8:30 pm there is a buffet supper for all in Dining Hall.
On Saturday 20th June parents are warmly invited to attend IB pupils performing their Group 4 project presentations.
The group 4 project is a collaborative activity where students from different group 4 subjects work together on a scientific or technological topic, allowing for concepts and perceptions from across the disciplines to be shared. The group 4 project allows students to appreciate the environmental, social and ethical implications of science and technology. It may also allow them to understand the limitations of scientific study. The emphasis is on interdisciplinary cooperation and the processes involved in scientific investigation. Displays will on show to parents and pupils will be presenting their work from 9.30am onwards. Further details can be obtained from the Director of Science,
The Wellington College ArtsFest 2009 is on from Sunday 21st June to Thursday 25th June. Once again we have a glittering array of exhibitions, performances and speakers, including the London Mozart Players on the Sunday evening, Wellington's first opera, Purcell's Dido and Aeneas (Monday and Tuesday evening), actor Matthew Macfadyen (Spooks, Pride and Prejudice, Frost/Nixon), the Wellington College Fashion Show (Wednesday), featuring pupils' work from the year, and actress Greta Scacchi (White Mischief, Brideshead Revisited, Defence of the Realm - Wednesday). All this and more!! Details and ticket information will soon be on its way.
Another part of our fund raising for Hope and Homes is a Charity Cycle Ride from Calais to Cannes via Waterloo and following the Napoleon route.This is scheduled for the first fortnight of the summer holidays. Effectively the route skirts the eastern edge of France via Lille and then Dijon before cutting to Grenoble and finally Cannes. If anyone has accommodation - whether a field to camp in or a house to stay in - on this route and would be prepared for the cycle team to stay there for one night, please contact David Walker.
Is your son or daughter in a band, or have aspirations in the music business? Then the following courses, being held at Wellington in the second half of July, may be of interest. "Rock School" is run by Mike Hurst, producer of countless hit singles and platinum albums, credited with 'discovering' Cat Stevens and Marc Bolan of T-Rex. Mike has been to Wellington several times in recent years to give a hugely informative and very accomplished performance talk on the History of Popular Music, to great acclaim. A copy of the booking form is here. For further information, visit http://rockmasters.co.uk/
This year's Wellington College Leadership Course running from Tuesday 28th July to Thursday 30th July will be a stimulating balance of practical activities, theory and discussion. Over the week, students will experience the challenges and rewards of leading a team and gain an understanding of leadership across a broad range of contexts. Participants will produce a personal leadership development plan, tailored to their strengths, weaker areas and leadership style. This course will be ideal for students aged 15-18 years, who are keen to develop their leadership potential. It will provide an excellent opportunity for development of leadership attributes and build confidence in a structured, encouraging and enjoyable environment. Last year's students on the course said: "The course is one of the best experiences I've ever had...there are so many things that I can take from this course into later life"; "The facts I will take away from this course are GOLD!"; "I learnt more than I thought I could".For more information, please contact Gareth Pearson or Katy Granville-Chapman . Alternatively, please visit: www.wellingtoncollege.org.uk/leadership.
From the Archive
I couldn't let Speech Day pass without some images from the day in the past.
To the left are images of the King's visit to the Speech Day of 1909 and to the right are two poignant pictures, particularly in retrospect. The first is taken on Speech Day in 1939 with the then Master, Robert Longden, on the right and the Master's Lodge behind. The second image to the right at the bottom is again South Front on Speech Day and this time in 1940. Four months later a line of bombs fell along South Front destroying the Master's Lodge and killing Robert Longden.