The Week Ahead
2-10 May 2009
There is a stunning new display of artwfork form the current Lower Sixth in the V&A. If you are in College do please make the effort to see what the talented pupils can and have achieved.
The Master's Voice - Drink and drugs
Parents will know the very strong line I take on drugs (no second chance) and on excessive drinking. Recent tragic events have underlined why I do this. This week, a girl who attended my last school died in Brighton after taking a drug, and recently there has been a tragic car accident involving teenagers and drunk driving. The message is clear. Drugs in any form are never to be taken or experimented with ever, and our young should never drive themselves, or get into a car, with anyone who has had even one drink. What then of taking pupils who have been expelled from other schools? Is it not hypocritical if I do so as I do very occasionally? I don't believe so and for two reasons. First, we are a Christian school, and forgiveness lies at our heart. If I am convinced there is a child who is not a user of drugs, but who simply got it wrong on one occasion, I may offer that child a second chance. Second, if I never offer heads of comparable schools this avenue here, then our pupils who err will never get a second chance in any of their schools. Let me finish on a brighter note. A new member of staff wrote to me yesterday to say "I am struck by how very supportive our parents are here at Wellington. I sent out an email to parents about a trip and have already received several warm and appreciative responses. My email didn't require a reply, so it was very nice of them to get back to me regardless." I echo what my colleague says.
General Events
The weekend starting on Saturday 2nd May is a weekend leave and my apologies that the calendar is not clear. We look forward to welcoming back your sons and daughters by 9:15 pm on Monday 4th May.
The next meeting of the business networking group The Business Forum will be on Thursday 7th May at 7:15 am in the Wellesley Dining Room. The theme for the May event will be "Do you speak Google?" and the talk will be given by Catherine Jenkins, Director of MAXX Design Limited. 97% of people look for business suppliers on line and 87% of them search via Google. In addition, 73% of marketers found that, hit wise, optimising their website for the search engines has been the most effective tool to grow their business enquiries in the last 12 months. Are you exploiting this opportunity? What can you do to maximise the potential for new business through your website? A swift guided tour through the maze of on line promotion and what you need to consider so that your website generates more enquiries and ultimately more business. Catherine 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. 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.
The Girls Hockey tour to South Africa this August are having a fund raising Pamper evening in the V&A on Thursday 7th May from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm. It is going to be a real girlie night a Beauty Seminar. We have speakers from Dermalogica and Skin Cueticals coming with ten fully trained make-up artists who often work on big photo-shoots in London. There will be lots of product sales, for example Jessica Nails Hair products etc but the theme is less is more, to help the girls to understand better, as well as Day from Night wear. Tickets are now on sale at reception - the cost is £10 for adults and £5 for students. Mums and friends are very welcome. If you do have any questions contact Rebecca Ross. My fault entirely that this did not appear last week.
Who would be in Ben Parry's shoes on Friday 8th May? Ben Parry, the director of the Junior Royal Academy of Music, will be adjudicating the Montgomery Recital Competition in the Old Gym. He will have to select a winner from this year's finalists: Steph Tress (cello), Richard Bignall (voice), Trishan Vaikunthanathan (clarinet), Jonny Leon (violin), Nick Jupp (piano), Ji Park (violin) and Anton Crayton (cello). The evening will begin at 7.30 pm. All the finalists are practising hard and the evening promises, as always, to highlight the very best of Wellington's music.
Do join us before the Montgomery Recital, from 6.30 pm, on the Balcony of the Old Gym for refreshment and a display/sale of soft furnishings embroidered by rural women in Bangladesh. Following an EU grant, Sophie Pattinson has continued to take designs to Bangladesh where she has established embroidery workshops in several rural villages. From silk pillows to bedcovers, the quality of the work is exquisite. www.sophiepattinson.com
The night of Saturday 9th May is a closed one for all the Third Form and Third Form Grandparents' Day is on Sunday 10th May. Thank you for the many responses received so far. Grandparents, or indeed godparents, aunts and uncles, of Third Form pupils are very welcome to join us on this day for Chapel, an arts performance, lunch and tours. If they would like to come please email Mrs Sally Yarnton, Senior Academic Administrator by Monday 4th May with details of name of son/daughter, name of relative and any special requirements.
As part of The College's 150th celebrations you will know we are trying to raise £150,000 for Hope and Homes - a charity that helps children whose lives have been ruined by war. The next component of this will be an Auction of Promises. This summer, inspired by an idea from the pupils, a group of pupils and staff are swimming the Channel in aid of Hope and Homes for Children. To help raise money for such a worthy charity, Eunice Gillan and Kitty Jack are organising the Wellington College 150th Anniversary Auction of Promises on Sunday 10th May at 7:30 p.m. in the Old Hall. Your help would be greatly appreciated by all! If you have a promise or an item that could be auctioned that evening please contact Eunice Gillan or Kitty Jack. Many thanks for your help in advance! Tickets are now available for this event and can be purchased at a cost of £20. This includes a buffet meal and wine before the Auction commences. Places are limited so please hurry! Please download the reply slip from here and return it to Eunice Gillan together with cash or cheque payment.
The list of promises for auction is really impressive - personal favourites of mine include: a day's fly fishing with 4 rods, transport to and from College, champagne breakfast, BBQ lunch and instruction/coaching; four tickets for an Arsenal game; four nights accommodation for up to 7 people in a Normandy gite; four nights' food & accommodation as private guests of the Governor of the Cayman Islands, British West Indies. (flights not included); a tour for six people of the Queen's Gallery in the company of the Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures; a private tour of Nick Mason's (Pink Floyd drummer) sport's car collection followed by pub lunch. To get more information and to place bids in advance of the event please click here.
On the evening of Sunday 10th May there is a full school chapel Service of the Word at 8:00 pm and the preacher is Martin Rogers of the Science and Religion in Schools Project. Parents of pupils in the Apsley are warmly invited.
Swine flu is clearly a concern and we are regularly checking the latest Governement advice. The Medical Centre have put together a letter of a list of symptoms for this virus and advice if you do have any concerns. It can be found here.
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. 5th Form will have study leave as indicated in the College Calendar after lessons on Monday 11th May, after which there will be a post-GCSE programme of activities for those who choose to remain in College until the end of term. AS Level pupils will have study leave from the date indicated in the College Calendar (which is after lessons on Saturday 16th May) and will return for a post-AS programme of activities in the final weeks of term. A2 Level pupils will have study leave from the start of Exeat. 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.
There has been some uncertainy expressed by parents as to which computers can be networked up to the school system. Full details can be found on the intranet. In essence this says that any PC running any version of Windows, Apple Macs running either OSX or Windows, Linux based computers or any device with a WiFi connection can be connected to the College network. We are still finalising plans for next year's Third Form so do pelase hang fire there!
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.
Some parents will recall the College's involvement, along with 50 other schools, in the Office of Fair Trading's investigations into the exchange of fee information, contrary to the Competition Act 1998. As part of the agreed settlement of the case the schools undertook to contribute £3m ( collectively) in five annual instalments to an educational charitable trust designed to help benefit former pupils, particularly those who attended the schools during the relevant period. The beneficiaries of the Trust are any pupil or former pupil who attended a contributing school on or after 15 September 2001, is 18 years old but not yet 30 and first attended their school more than 6 years ago. The Trust makes awards for general bursaries to both undergraduates and postgraduates ( to cover fees and maintenance costs), project awards for a wide range of purposes such as languages lessons in preparation for a year of study at an overseas university or in support of a medical elective. For 2009/10 the Trust will also offer two postgraduate research scholarships of £15k per annum for 3 years. Further information and details of how to make an application are found on the Trust's website:
You may be interested to know that the College is currently recruiting an International Business Director. Details of the position and method of application can be found on the College's website. If you know of anyone who may be interested in this do bring it to their attention. The closing date for applications is Monday 11th May.
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. For the next academic year we intend to introduce a scheme for paying fees by monthly instalments; further details will be made available after half term. Any other details are available from Paul Thompson, College Accountant.
On Saturdays in the V & A the counter is open for coffee, tea, milkshakes and goodies between 9:00am and 12:00 noon. Between 12:00 noon and 10:00pm the catering department will provide flasks of coffee and tea in the V & A for people to assist themselves. If you have any queries concerning these arrangements do either e-mail the Bursar ( 01344 444020) or the Catering Manager, Phillip Stockwell.
On Saturdays from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm by appointment there is the opportunity for consultations with the Educational Support Department regarding your child's specific educational needs. Please email Carole Blunden-Lee to make an appointment .
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 2nd May sees a block cricket fixture with Harrow and the polo team are entered in the Queen's Royal Hussars Cup at Tidworth.
The polo A team will be playing against Radley on Sunday 3rd May at Kirtlington Park Polo Club with a 2:30 pm start.
Tuesday 5th May sees our girls' cricket XI in action against Pangbourne whilst the junior golfers and the clay pigeon shooting team take on Marlborough.
The polo B and C teams will be playing against Harrow on Thursday 7th May at West Wycombe Polo Club with a 3:00 pm start whilst the golf team are playing Radley at the Berkshire and the sailing team are competing with Tonbridge at Bough Beech Reservoir on the same day.
Saturday 9th May sees a block fixture in cricket against Cheltenham and girls' tennis against Pangbourne and St. Mary's Ascot. The boys' athletics team take part in the Lord Burghley meeting at Thames Valley Athletic Club whilst the girls compete in the Marlborough 7 Schools meeting. To end a busy day the swimmers take on Eton and the shooting team compete with the CURA and the HAC.
On Sunday 10th May, the golf team take on the Berkshire Golf Club, the polo team entered in a three way tournament with Marlborough and Millfield and the shooting team compete with the Berkshire Astor.
Details of all fixtures and results can be found on the Wellington College Intranet.
Further Ahead
On Monday 11th May there is a Master's Lecture from Yasmin Alibhai-Brown at 7:30 pm for 8:00 pm in Great School. She came to this country in 1972 from Uganda. She completed her M.Phil. in literature at Oxford in 1975. She is a journalist who has written for The Guardian, Observer, The New York Times, Time Magazine, Newsweek, The Mail and other newspapers and is now a regular columnist on The Independent and London's Evening Standard. She is also a radio and television broadcaster and author of several books. Her book, 'No Place Like Home', well received by critics, was an autobiographical account of a twice removed immigrant. Yasmin Alibhai-Brown can be depended on to be disloyal to blind interest groups and patriotism. Don't expect her to deliver any given line- she is a feminist who furiously criticises some forms of feminism, an anti-racist who will always expose black and Asian hypocrisies and oppression, a Muslim calling for reformation, a British citizen who battles for real equality for immigrants and their children.She writes what she believes as honestly as possible. Her writings always mix the intensely personal with the political. She changes her mind. Her views are unpredictable except on a few issues where she has remained steadfast - immigration most of all. Today the centre left and right have gathered forces to poison the waters even more for asylum seekers and migrants. For the descendents of immigrants, the battle for rights has taken on a new, bloody urgency. If you would like to attend this lecture please email Tarla Woolhouse .
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.
"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.
There is a change to this term's published list of events for the WCA: The trip to see the RSC's 'As You Like It' at Stratford on Saturday 13th June is now being run as a day trip, not a weekend. This will include minibus transport to Stratford on Saturday afternoon, a light supper before the theatre and then return to Wellington that evening. Cost £60 per head for tickets and transport.
Later in the term, on 20th June, Wellington will be holding its annual Summer Proms concert. There will be a while series of things to see and do culminating in music from the band of one of the Guards regiments and - as usual - a spectacular fireworks show at the end.
Tickets will be available soon and at that point the link mentioned on the posters (left) will become live. At the moment we're still finalising a few 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.
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.
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 .
WCA is pleased to announce that bookings are now being taken for the Grand Finale Ball on Friday November 27th. This is the culmination of a year of celebration of our 150th anniversary celebrations and demand for tickets is likely to be very high. The ball will be on the theme of 'Shaken and Stirred', and the programme will involve James Bond style cocktails and a casino, as well as dinner, dancing and other entertainments. Proceeds of any profits will be donated to Wellington's 150th Charity Hope & Homes for children. Tickets are £95 per person, to include cocktails, dinner and entertainment. Initial reservations should be made by email to , stating your name and child's House; bookings will become firm on receipt of a deposit per table of £500 (the balance is payable in September). Pre-booked tables will be held pending receipt of deposits until Speech Day. Individuals or couples who would like to join a table please contact your house rep in the first instance. If you're not sure who that is, please contact Denise Cook .
Archives and Sustainability
The images below are of Farm Field during the war when the pupils got involved in the Dig For Victory campaign and Farm Field was dug up and turned into a large vegetable plot which the pupils tended. Nearly 70 years on, the idea has to some extent been resurrected and the images further down the page show part of our drive to increase the awareness of our pupils of sustainability as we have set up a series of allotments for vegetable growing that are managed by some of the adults in the community but we hope with input from the pupils.
Hopefully by getting the pupils involved they can appreciate first of all the process by which sone of their food arrives on their plate,secondly how those vegetables can be grown as part of a sustainable life style and thirdly enjoy eating some of the produce. It is a small scale project but one we hope will grow - if you'll forgive the pun! Rather than digging to save the country, perhaps the pupils can think of it as digging to save the planet. If any parent wants to get involved please contact Derek Grainge.
As part of this project, there will be a table of produce by the Porter's lodge on the evening when there is evensong and anyone who wishes to purchase something off the table is asked to make a contribution to the Hope and Homes charity for the items. Last week's offerings were rhubarb and strawberry plants!
If any of you have spare produce that you would be willing to donate please add it to the table when you return your son or daughter to College on the Sunday.