From the Heads

In our last full week of term, a buzz of excitement is spreading across this school as we prepare for our Christmas festivities. We are very much looking forward to the Early Years Nativity, Christmas Carol Service for Years 1 to 3 and the children’s Christmas Fair later this week. Christmas is such a special time to be at school, sharing the magic and joy within the community. We hope you can join us at the coffee morning on the 7th December for a mince pie or two.
We wanted to update you on some staffing changes for the forthcoming term. We are sadly saying goodbye to a few members of staff, and we want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of them for their contribution to our school community.
We say goodbye to Miss Smith in the nursery. Miss Smith has been instrumental in creating the successful and thriving nursery we have in place today. Miss Smith is taking a break from education, and we wish her the best for her new adventure. We are delighted to announce that Miss Megan Stankiste will be joining the team in January. Miss Stankiste has been working with us since the start of term so there will be a seamless transition.
Miss Kingsland in Year 1 will be leaving at the end of this term. She leaves to pursue her consultancy work in education. Miss Kingsland is a dedicated and talented teacher, and everyone will miss her vibrancy and rapport with the children. We wish her all the best for her future plans. We will share our plans for Year 1 with those families in due course.
Mrs McDermott, part time English specialist, will leave to join another independent school in the New Year. Mrs McDermott is a professional and passionate member of staff who has helped to drive literacy outcomes across the school. We wish her well for her new role. Mr Bithel-Vaughan will take on the teaching of her English lessons. He is an experienced English specialist and has prepared countless children for their examinations.
Mr Barnes, our Head of Music and class teacher for Years 6, 7 and 8, is giving up class teaching to pursue business interests outside of education. We are delighted that Mr Barnes will remain as a peripatetic teacher, providing 1:1 lessons in drums and DJ as he currently does. Our very own Mr Redwood will take on the class teaching of the senior years from Mr Barnes.
Mrs Williams, Head of Maths, is going on maternity leave at Christmas and we wish her the very best for the birth of her baby. We look forward to meeting the new arrival very soon. Mr Bithel-Vaughan will take over the teaching of Mrs William’s classes whilst she is away. He has extensive experience of teaching in Y7 and 8 maths to Common Entrance and Scholarship levels as well as GCSE preparation.
Finally, Sister Ruth leaves us after 4 years of fantastic care as our School Nurse. She moves down the road to St Lawrence College, where she will work with pupils in both the Junior and Senior School, and we thank her for her many contributions.
We wish everyone a very happy and peaceful Christmas. Thank you all for your ongoing support as our school continues to grow and evolve. We look forward to welcoming our boarders back on the evening of Monday 9th January and all other children on Tuesday 10th January.

Mr Gavin Franklin and Mrs Jo Parpworth

JDRM Gavin Portraits-2

School Last Week

Wild Club

The members of the Wild Club were very busy last week. Following the inspiring visit from Mr Mitchell (Wildlife Conservation in Thanet) the week before, they spent last week’s session decorating cupcakes with S. O. S. (Save Our Swifts) to sell for tuck on Friday.
Thanks to some very generous donations (many thanks!) they managed to raise over £250! This means that Wild Club can purchase a set of swift boxes to put onto the science block wall (south facing is best for swifts) before spring arrives and, with any additional money, we will purchase some bat boxes and other types of bird boxes for the school grounds.

School This Week

School Council Representatives

Following a school vote, we are delighted to announce our new School Council Representatives:
Year 8: Mirabel Poulson and Max Miller
Year 7: Felix Butterfill and Melody Flowers
Year 6: Ralph Wainman and Raksiga Rajakumar
Year 5: Brooke Webb and Laurie Symington-Mills
Year 4: Sam Reading and Izzy James
These children will represent the ‘student voice’ at WHD, campaigning for whole school improvement. They attend their first meeting today with Mr Spencer and Mrs Murray. We look forward to hearing about what they have planned.

Litter Angels’ poster competition

At the start of term all students in year five entered the annual ‘Litter Angels’ poster competition. As part of a campaign to raise awareness of the harm litter causes to our streets, wildlife and coastal ecosystems.
Last week a letter arrived from the House of Commons to inform us that Clara Montgomery’s entry had been selected as our school winner and will now be entered into a second competition to pick an overall winner from amongst all the participating schools in Thanet! In the new year MP’s Craig Mackinlay and Sir Roger Gale will host a special event where Clara will receive her school winners prize and an announcement will be made to reveal the overall winner for 2022/23. The winning design will be made into a large poster which will be displayed around Thanet.

Hindleap Assembly

On Tuesday morning, the children that attended the year 6 residential trip to Hindleap Warren activity centre will be doing an assembly on their experience and what Hindleap is all about. Parents of children in year 6 who are in the assembly are welcome to come along for an 8.30am start in the hall.

Pre-Prep Values Awards

Reception  Margot Watson for always showing the school values.  Tilda Hempstead for improving her reading and writing.

Year 1 (CK)  Ezra Jeffery for his hard work and progress in writing and his amazing finger spaces!

Year 1 (BK)  Mia Low who continues to work really hard in her reading, phonics and maths. She is respectful to everyone she sees. Mia is a kind and polite young lady who always comes to school with a smile.  Coco Smith who is an extremely helpful member of the class who gives other children lots of encouragement and wants to achieve her best.

Year 2  Jamie Bird for his focus and determination during his exams this week. Ruben Evans for showing resilience and perseverance in his exams after having been off school ill. 

Year 3 Hugo Pettit for kindness. Hugo has been such a kind and thoughtful member of the class whose behaviour has improved over the past few weeks. He is especially helpful in the dining hall, collecting crockery and cutlery after our meals.  Isabella Perks for resilience.  Bella is striving to improve presentation skills and listens carefully to advice.

Values Awards

Year 4 for her positive outlook and facing any challenge with a smile, Aisha Adeyemi.

Year 5 – for Atas Puronas for embodying the WHD values. For Felix Agnew for showing determination and resilience during assessment week. 

Year 6 – for Raksiga Rajakumar – for being a great girl and for representing our form so well at both the Harvest Festival and Remembrance services.

Year 7 – for Wilbur Henry for his excellent attitude to learning and his determination to enjoy all that WHD has to offer inside and out of the classroom.

Year 8 – for Grace Flowers for her mature approach to exams, by working hard in revision and balancing her time effectively. Her workrate in sport is fantastic and she does it all with an easy smile.

PFA Social Christmas Wreath Event – Thursday 8th December

The PFA are looking forward to holding their Christmas Wreath Evening this Thursday 8th December. The evening will be a chance to get creative amongst friends in the festive setting of the Old Hall at 6.30pm.

Christmas Jumper Day – Friday 9th December

Dig out your finest festive jumpers for our Save the Children Christmas Jumper Day on Friday.  Children are allowed to wear their home clothes to school on this day with a festive jumper or top.  A £2 donation will be added to your school money account.

Children’s Christmas Fair

We are very excited to be holding our Children’s Christmas Fair on Friday 9th December. Classes will be running their stalls for each other to play. To help with the smooth running of the event each child will be given 25 tokens to the value of 20 pence. Please do let the school office know if you do not wish to be charged £5 on school money for this event. If for any reason your child is absent on the day you will not be charged.

PSHE and RSE Policy

For further information and guidance on the PSHE and RSE policy please click here.

Team of the Week

Each week, a group of pupils is invited to meet with Mr and Mrs Franklin in the library at break time to enjoy some squash and snacks prepared by the catering team. This week, for the determination, positivity and enthusiasm, well done to the U11 football team for their performance v Dover College and also, for their courage, teamwork and skill against a very strong JKS, the U13 rugby team.  Congratulations to all involved.

Future Events

PFA Coffee Morning

We warmly welcome you to our PFA coffee morning at 8.45am on Wednesday 7th December in the dining hall.  This will be a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the important work the PFA does and how to get involved.  Please come along and join us for refreshments, pastries, mince pies and a chance to catch up with one another.

Tombola items

Tombola items needed for Children’s Christmas Fair – any donations for this will be gratefully received throughout November. They can be left with the school office/given to form teachers. Items in the past have included toys, craft activities, games, books, stationery, soft toys, chocolate and sweets or anything that you can think of that the children might like to win! 

Christmas Feast and Party (Year 4 to 8) – Tuesday 13th December

On Tuesday 13th December pupils in Year 4 to 8 will enjoy a formal Christmas Feast in the dining hall at 5.15pm followed by some games and Christmas music in the Old Hall.  Pupils in Years 4, 5 and 6 should be collected from the Cold Corridor at 6.30pm and day pupils in Years 7 and 8 should please be collected at 7pm from the Cold Corridor.  Please note, there will be no after school bus run home on Tuesday evening.

Pupils in Years 4 to 8 should come to school in Best uniform on Tuesday.

So that we have a clear understanding of numbers for catering and supervision reasons, please can parents of all day children for Years 4 – 8, complete this form – thank you.

Carol Service – Wednesday 14th December

On Wednesday 14th December, we look forward to seeing parents here in Chapel for the Carol Service, which starts at 11.30 am.  The service of 9 lessons and carols will be followed by optional coffee and mince pies in the Dining Room.  So that the necessary catering arrangements can be made, please complete this short google form.  Thank you.

On Wednesday 14th December, pupils in Years 4 to 8 should come to school in Best uniform. 

End of Term – Wednesday 14th December

On the last day of term, all pupils should please be collected at 12.30pm.  Those in Years 4 to 8 will be free to leave with parents following the service of 9 lessons and carols.  Children in Pre-prep should be collected from their usual pick-up point at 12.30pm.

School Calendar

Please click here and scroll through for the most up to date calendar of events for the term.

Menus

This week the kitchen will be serving menu week 1

MenuWeek 1Week 2Week 3

Matches This Week

2.15pm start unless otherwise stated

Tuesday, 6th December

Squash v King’s Canterbury: 1st V (a) 2:45pm

Wednesday, 7th December

Hockey v St Edmund’s: U13 A Girls (a) 2pm

Hockey v St Edmund’s: U13 B Girls (a 2pm

Football v St Edmund’s: U11 A Boys (h) 2pm

Football v St Edmund’s: U11 B Boys (h) 2pm

Football v St Edmund’s: U11 C Boys (h) 2pm

Hockey v Northbourne Park: U11 A Girls (h)

Hockey v Northbourne Park: U11 B Girls (h)

Rugby v SLC: U13 A Boys (h)

Saturday, 10th December

Hockey v Dover College: U13 A Girls (h) 1:30pm

Rugby v Ashford: U13 A Boys (a) 2pm

Please always refer to the website calendar as it is the most up-to-date place to check for fixture changes and locations.

If your child has been selected for a fixture, we will communicate with you prior to the fixture with information regarding the recommended pick up time from Wellesley HD.

 

Matches Last Week

Fixture

Result

Football v Dover College: U11 A Boys

Won 3-0

Hockey v St Edmund’s: U13 A Girls 

Postponed 07/12/22

Hockey v St Edmund’s: U13 B Girls 

Postponed 07/12/22

Rugby v Junior King’s: U13 A Boys 

Drew 4-4

Hockey v St Lawrence: U9 A Girls

Lost 3-0

Hockey v St Lawrence: U9 B Girls

Won 4-1

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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