From the Headmaster’s Study
Saturday’s celebrations of the 50 year anniversary of the amalgamation of Wellesley Haddon Dene and St Peter’s Court (a boys’ prep school in Broadstairs) provided our community with the opportunity to reflect on our past and our heritage. We were delighted to welcome old boys of St Peter’s Court, Old Welleslians, Governors, former Governors, Friends of Wellesley, past parents and current parents and it was hugely beneficial for us (and our pupils) to learn more about the history and story of Wellesley Haddon Dene and St Peter’s Court. We were blessed with the attendance of the Dean of Canterbury, the Very Reverend Dr Robert Willis DL, who spoke with such inspiration, warmth and intelligence – basing his sermon around our motto A Scalis Patulis Ad Astra (loosely translated as Broadstairs to the Stars) as a means of understanding that the pupils’ time at our school is just one part of their journey through life. It was a memorable service for all who were lucky enough to be there.
Please do click here to see some photos from the amalgamation for your interest, as well as further information on our school’s past. Thank you to all who were able to support the event. It was a wonderful focal point to take us into the half term holidays – and I hope that when Wednesday comes, your children enjoy a well-earned rest and some quality time at home.
Gavin Franklin
Dates for the diary
Parents Chess Match
The annual Parents v Pupils chess match will take place this year on Saturday 2nd November at 4.00 pm in the Library. It precedes the bonfire and fireworks in the evening so it makes the entire day an enjoyable occasion for all. If any parents would like to take part in the chess match or would like further details, please contact Mr Kearns, e-mail spk@wellesleyhouse.net week.
Christmas Fair
The Friends of Wellesley would like you to Save The Date for the Wellesley Haddon Dene Christmas Fair.
This will take place on Saturday 23rd November in the Old Hall, between 11.00 am and 2.30pm. Christmas Shopping, games, mince pies, music and more!
More information about the stalls that will be joining us at the Christmas Fair will be included in the Weekly after half term.
St Edmund’s Canterbury – Year 9 Information Evening
On Wednesday 30th October, St Edmund’s School is hosting a Year 9 entry Information Evening from 6.30pm – 8pm. The event is open to families with children in Years 7 and 8 as they consider which school to attend after leaving prep school. The evening will comprise a presentation about Senior School life, followed by the opportunity to discuss academic and pastoral matters with staff. Booking is essential, via www.stedmunds.org.uk
Code Kids
Code Kids, the UK’s leading STEAM Tech Camp, is running a Kids coding camp at The Kings School, Canterbury this half term for 7-11yr olds. Please see the attached flyer for more information and note that there is a 10% discount for Wellesley Haddon Dene pupils.
Half Term Camps
Following the success of our Easter Cricket Coaching Workshops and Half Term Activity Camps, we are delighted to be running further camps during the October half term:
Netball Coaching – Tuesday 22nd October – click here for booking form
School Last Week
Cross Country
On Thursday 13th October, Wellesley Haddon Dene pupils accompanied by Mrs Franklin, Mr Waldie and Mr Martin travelled to The Schools at Somerhill IAPS cross country championships near Tonbridge. Hosted on the school’s vast park land pitches, it is an undulating course with a particularly challenging uphill section towards the end.
The U11s ran 2200m and the U13s ran 2800m. Our U11 team this year consisted of a number of pupils from Block 4 who would be running against pupils a year older than them. There were over 140 pupils in each race from all over the region. Special mentions must go to Harry Heming who came 15th in the boys’ U13; Amelia Lawton who came 31st in the girls’ U13; William Franklin and Alexander Long who came 37th and 49th respectively in the boys’ U11.
Well done to all runners:
U13 boys: Harry Heming, William Norton, Abraham Olson, George Long, Reuben Okotie
U13 girls: Amelia Lawton
U11 boys: Archie Brown, Alexander Long, William Franklin, Reuben Carss, Thomas Spanton, Heath Voisey-Stovell
U11 girls: Teegan Pretzlik
Poetry Competition
As part of our celebrations for National Poetry Day last week Mrs Sabin-Dawson invited all of the pupils in the school to write a poem based on the theme of ‘Truth’. The poems were all completed in the pupil’s own time and there were some fabulous entries, which made the judging very difficult. The winners both received a poetry book. From pre-prep the winner was Elijah Olson and for the main school it was Lilia Hunter.
Year 3 Trip to Canterbury Cathedral
On Monday, JH enjoyed a super trip to Canterbury Cathedral. The children began with an informative guided tour around the cathedral, which included learning some fascinating facts and exploring the cathedral as a place of worship. After lunch, the children took part in many activities. Everyone wrote with a quill, made their own pilgrimage badge and decorated a stained glass window. There were also options to be a stone mason, build a mini version of the cathedral or build arches, do more stain glass decorating and to use a pulley system to lift stone models. The children had many curious questions, learnt lots and had much fun along the way! Thank you to Mrs Franklin for accompanying us.
Thanet Science and Engineering Challenge
Last Wednesday we went to St Lawrence College to take part in the Thanet Schools Annual Science and Engineering Challenge. 42 schools took part in the challenge and each team consisted of four Year 5 pupils. We took part in a range of activities including building a spaghetti tower, creating a catalase enzyme machine with potatoes and a rocket competition in which we came second. There was a general knowledge quiz on Biology, Physics and Chemistry to test our understanding of science and we came first out of all the 42 schools. The day finished with a magic show and the presentation of certificates. We were delighted to win 3rd place in the overall competition. We each won a goodie bag and a £10 book voucher and a £50 cheque for the Science department to spend on resources.
Report by Raf Cable, Anaia Beckett, Sylvia Olson and Max Miller (Block 4).
Sunday Outing
The outing for boarders on Sunday was to go paintballing at Quex Park. Twenty pupils went and despite the rain showers had an incredible time. The younger pupils had a lovely afternoon shopping at Westwood Cross for crafting supplies and a spot of cake and hot chocolate before returning to school to do some arts and crafts and watch a movie.
School This Week
Team of the Week
The ‘Team of the Week’ this week are the Block 4 Scientists who represented Wellesley at last week’s Thanet Science and Engineering Challenge day. Overall the team came 3rd which was a tremendous performance all round.
They will be rewarded with cookies and squash in the Headmaster’s drawing room on Tuesday.
Mark Reading
The second marks of term have been given and the standings are as follows:
- 1st – Saxons
- 2nd – Danes
- 3rd – Romans
- 4th – Vikings
Special mention goes to the following pupils who have achieved the highest set of marks for their year:
Melody Flowers, Grace Flowers, Margot Grand, Jaime Gazulla, Javier Hurtado, Rohan Dhesi and Joe Dawson.
The most improved pupils in each year group were Luna Sarafoglou, Reuben Carss, Amelia Rowe, Javier Hurtado and Joe Dawson, while the highest scoring tutor group was Form 4.
Remembrance Crosses
To commemorate the centenary of the First World War last year the children were invited to take home a small wooden cross on which they could record the names of any of their family members who had lost their lives during the Wars. We would like to offer you all the choice to do this again. The wooden crosses can be collected from outside the school office at half-term on Wednesday. We invite you to lay your cross next to our school’s memorial in the Old Hall at our Remembrance Day Service on or before Saturday 9th November at 12.20pm.
Change to the Calendar – Wellesley Music Evening
Please note the change of date for the Wellesley Music Evening, this has been moved from Thursday 31st October and will now be held on Tuesday 29th October. Further details will follow nearer the time.
Parent/Teacher meeting for Pre-Prep
We are looking forward to welcoming parents to the Pre-Prep parent teacher meetings on Tuesday 15th October from 4pm in the Old Hall. As well as meeting form teachers, this will also be an opportunity to meet specialist teachers between 4 and 5pm.
Half-term
Half-term begins at 1.30 pm this Wednesday 16th October. Boarders will return at 8.00 pm on Sunday 27th October and day pupils on Monday 28th October. We wish you all a relaxing half-term.
Menu
This week the kitchen will be serving Menu 1.
Matches Last Week
| Wednesday 9th October | |
| Ashford School Soccer Tournament: U11 | Semi-final Plate |
| Hockey v Dover College: U11 | Won 2-1 |
| Thursday 10th October | |
| Soccer v Ashford U9 | Quarter-final Plate |
Matches This Week
Please always refer to the website calendar as it is the most up-to-date place to check for fixture changes and locations.
AFTER HALF-TERM
Monday 28th October
U13 Hockey A and B v Sir Roger Manwood’s (h) 2:30 pm
Wednesday 30th October
U11 Hockey v St Edmunds (h)
Hockey v Duke of York: U13 A & B (a)
Soccer v Kent College: Colts A, B, C (a)