Wellesley Weekly 21st June 2021

announcements

Update on school fixtures and spectators

With the government’s announcement to progress to stage 3 of the roadmap, we are delighted to be able to allow spectators for our fixtures at Wellesley. We still need to be cautious, however, and remind parents not to come into the main school building. Toilets will be available in the sports hall. I’m sorry that we won’t be offering sharing platters for match teas at this stage but will have a self-service tea and coffee station under the gazebo outside of the dining hall. In order for us to ascertain numbers of spectators, we will be asking you to complete a google form stating your intention to attend the fixture. Spectators at away fixtures are determined by the host school – all schools are operating to their own risk assessment. If away schools are accepting Wellesley spectators, you will have the option to complete your information on our google form – if you don’t have the option, it is because that school is not accepting spectators at this time. Thank you.

Friends of Wellesley

The Friends of Wellesley have set a new date for their Summer Party. Invitations will go out this week for the revised date of Saturday 18th September. They do hope you will be able to join them.

Signing Out

Please could we remind parents of boarders taking their children out on Wednesdays or Saturdays after matches, that the children must sign out and then back in again on their return. The children have been reminded about this and it is incredibly important that we know if boarding pupils are leaving the school site. If parents could check with their children that they’ve done this before heading out to the beach then this would be really helpful. Thank you for your assistance with this.

COVID-19

We thought that it would be valuable to share with parents our COVID-19 flow charts, which map out the necessary course of action, dependent on the situation for pupils and staff who are displaying COVID-19 symptoms in school.
Staff
Positive cases – children
Positive cases – boarders
Symptoms of COVID – children

School Last Week

Townsend-Warner History prize

After our superb showing in round 1 of this prestigious national competition, our two pupils – Archie Butterfill (Block 1) and Georgie Carter (Block 3) – were invited to sit paper 2 (the essay based question). We are delighted to announce that with both scores put together, Archie came 9th and Georgie 40th out of more than 1000 prep-school applicants from all over the country. Mr Kearns cannot remember a stronger showing from Wellesley Haddon Dene pupils. Archie and Georgie will be rewarded with a Send Up to the Headmaster this week. Well done to both of them.

Leavers’ Programme

Following the completion of their exams Block 1 took part in a fun filled camping week at Nethergong. For the most part they enjoyed beautiful weather and one fantastic thunderstorm whilst under canvas! Outings included trips to Thorpe Park, Go Ape, Escape Rooms and Bewl Water. Huge thanks to Mr Longdon, Mr Waldie and Miss Wallace for organising the trip. Staff and children all had a wonderful time.

Pre-Prep

Classes were extremely industrious this week planning and making Father’s Day cards, we hope all Dad’s were suitably looked after on Sunday. The U9’s enjoyed hosting both Spring Grove and St Lawrence this week and fabulous teamwork was in evidence when batting and in the field. We welcomed some of our new Welleslians for taster sessions and it was super to see the welcome they received from children already here. We are all really looking forward to the Junior House sports morning this Friday.

Team of the Week

Congratulations to the U9 cricketers for their continued enthusiasm towards cricket, as well as some excellent results. They will enjoy cake and squash on the front lawn with the Headmaster during a break time this week.

Athletics at Tonbridge

On Tuesday, a team of Block 3 pupils headed to the annual Tonbridge athletics competition. Our boys and girls had the opportunity to participate in a range of events such as hurdles, shot, javelin, long jump, 100m relay, sprint and middle distance track running. In the face of stiff competition, our team performed admirably and thoroughly enjoyed their day out. Well done to them all.

Kent Prep School Golf Championship

On Thursday afternoon, 4 of our golfers participated in this long standing competition, this time taking place at the picturesque parkland / heathland course at Canterbury Golf Club. Amongst all of the competitors, our one Block 2, two Block 3 and one Block 4 golfers were the youngest in the event. Playing in foursomes (i.e. with a partner taking alternate shots) is one of the most challenging formats in golf – it requires patience, skill and excellent decision making. Our two pairs represented Wellesley with great pride and skill. Pair 1 scored 25 points in their 9 holes, coming 3rd in the overall competition and Pair 2 – as the youngest pair there – played some very encouraging golf. All of those golfers (plus hopefully some more from our ever-increasing golf club!) will look forward to heading back there next year. Well done to them all, and our thanks go to The King’s School Canterbury (senior school) for their superb hospitality and running of the event.

School This Week

Block 1 Leavers Programme

The Block 1 pupils begin their three week programme of activities and outings this week. We kick off with the Dragon’s Apprentice; a business skills and team building exercise that sees the pupils designing their own businesses and pitching them to a panel of “Dragon” experts.
Other activities in the Leavers’ Programme include trampoline dodgeball tournaments, tobogganing, a BSL (sign language) workshop, bubble football/zorbing and lots more.

Block 4 Team Building

On Thursday, Block 4 will be heading off on their team building day. They are being hosted by Mr and Mrs Southorn and they have a fun day of activities planned.

Block 2 Camping

On Monday and Tuesday, Block 2 will be going camping. Many of the children missed their camp at the end of their time in Block 3 due to the first Lockdown. Hopefully, this will make up for it! The children will be camping overnight at Mr and Mrs Hulme’s farm in Canterbury.

Junior House Sports Morning

We’re really looking forward to welcoming families to our Junior House sports morning from 10am this Friday. Please make sure you have completed the Google form sent to all families so we can confirm how many people are attending. There will be coffee and croissants on arrival at the swimming pool terrace for all spectators.

Team of the Week

Congratulations to the U9 cricketers for their continued enthusiasm towards cricket, as well as some excellent results. They will enjoy cake and squash on the front lawn with the Headmaster during a break time this week.

Codekids

Please see the click here for more information on the workshops Codekids is running during the Summer holidays.

Learning Support

We have a couple of spaces available if your child would like some additional English tuition with Mrs Smith. These are usually 1/2 hour 1:1 sessions and are billed accordingly. These sessions complement class teaching and can often give your child a little boost.
Please get in touch with Ms Moosuddee if this is something you feel would be beneficial for your child.

Atom Nucleus

Atom Nucleus provides unlimited access to personalised learning at home from Years 3-8, combining high-quality teacher-written content with an adaptive algorithm tailored to your child. Click here to see how it works. Parents will gain access to:
Course areas across English, Maths, Verbal Reasoning, Non-Verbal Reasoning (and soon Science).
Unlimited mock tests that closely mirror key senior school entry assessments.
Granular performance insight on strengths and areas to work on.
Live and on-demand video tutorials for supplementary support.
We have a discount code which will give you 20% off your first month if you would like to try it out: WwcsvSyg (This code is valid until 31st July 2021.)
If you would like any further information on this please email Mrs Sabin-Dawson (ksd@wellesleyhouse.net).

OW News

Two OWs will be completing the Three Peak’s Challenge in aid of the Kent based charity Holding on Letting Go. If you would like to find out more about their challenge and make a donation, please click here.

Gap students

Please do get in touch with the school office if you know of any enthusiastic 18 year olds that may be interested in working at Wellesley Haddon Dene during the Michaelmas term. We are able to offer accommodation and meals if needed.

Menu

This week the kitchen will be serving Menu 3.

Senior School News

For boys seeking entry to Tonbridge School in 2024 an ’in person’ Open Morning is being held on Saturday 26th June. For further information please contact  admissions@tonbridge-school.org 

Wellington College very much hopes to be able to welcome visitors soon, however, in the interim please view their Virtual Visitors Day via this link.

King’s Rochester is inviting families to pre-book for their Open Morning on Saturday 26th June.  Please contact admissions@kings-rochester.co.uk for further information. 

Sevenoaks School will be hosting an Open Morning on Saturday 26th June, please click here to contact their admissions team for further information.

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