The past six days has had a genuine ‘family feel’ about it as the Wellington Community, in all its various guises, has come back together for the first full Summer Term in three years. Murray Lindo’s ‘Call My Bluff’ wine tasting event on Friday night for Third Form parents was as raucous as it was fun, and it has been equally joyful to see House communities – parents, staff and pupils – coming back together for a variety of entertainment events and socials over the past few days. Sunday also saw the first ‘Grandparents Day’ in three years as many of our Third Form pupils hosted their forebears for a concert, lunch, tours and Chapel. It was Wellington and Wellingtonians at their very best.
As I wandered around the tennis courts and cricket pitches on Saturday afternoon, accompanied in part by my own parents, one theme recurred from all my conversations: how wonderful it is that our gates are now fully open for mothers and fathers, not to mention grandparents and even great aunts, to come and share in the collective joys of the Wellington experience. The various communities – House, Year Group, College – which make up the Wellington family are finally able to operate in a way we have not been able to enjoy fully in almost three years.
The greatest expression of the Wellington Family is, of course, Speech Day, an occasion on which the entire College community comes together to celebrate the individual and collective achievements of our pupils, and I do hope that you will all be able to join us on Saturday 28 May to experience the razzamatazz of the Big Top, the full gamut of entertainment on offer, and to mark together the contributions of our departing Upper Sixth who have led the school so brilliantly over the past three terms. Details about Speech Day were sent to parents in an email on Monday 28 March so do check your inbox or junk mail if you have not yet booked tickets.
Our Chaplain, Father Adrian, reminded the Third Form in their ‘Grandparents Day’ chapel service on Sunday that one of the hallmarks of family life is unconditional love and support for one another, particularly when times are challenging. As our Fifth and Upper Sixth Forms stand on the verge of their public examinations – our IB students have their first papers on Thursday this week – we therefore offer them, too, unconditional support over the coming weeks and months. And, with Speech Day less than five weeks away, I hope that the prospect of this institutional family event will get them and their own individual families through the challenges which lie head.
View a few more highlights from Grandparents Day HERE.