From the Headmaster’s Study
At Assembly this morning, I was absolutely delighted to reflect on a range of areas in which our pupils have been excelling in the past couple of weeks – from reading, to industry, to music, to general knowledge, to national history competitions, to scholarship success, to sport and to art. Much is detailed below.
Also, our 1st XI cricketers returned safely from their 9 day tour of South Africa over half term after an incredibly successful and memorable experience. Of course, the cricketing results and performances were important and we were delighted with those, however, this was not the sole aim of the trip. The boys benefited significantly and learned hugely from the number of cultural aspects that a tour of South Africa provides and without exception, they were outstanding ambassadors for our school, and flew the Wellesley flag with great pride.
Gavin Franklin
Upcoming Events
World Book Day
On Thursday 5th March we will be celebrating the 23rd World Book Day. This is a celebration of authors, illustrators, books and (most importantly) a celebration of reading.The main aim of World Book Day is to encourage children to explore the pleasures of books and reading, something which we value highly at Wellesley Haddon Dene.
As part of our celebrations we would like to encourage pupils to attend school dressed as their favourite book character. They will also be asked to share some of the story that their character is in and tell their peers and teachers why they like this particular book/ character. There will be some fun book related activities during the afternoon and every child will be given a special book token.
Pre-Prep World Book Day
Thank you to all families who have already sent back pictures of children reading in unusual places, the display is going to look great! Next Thursday we have asked children to come to school as a character from a Julia Donaldson book and to bring any book to school that they would be prepared to swap with another child. We are also looking forward to visiting Ramsgate library next Tuesday morning, finding out about a local library and collecting our library cards.
NEXT STEPS: THE BOARDING OPTION
A chance to discover how modern independent schools
prepare young people to be the next business leaders
Saturday 21 March, 10.30am
Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York’s HQ,
King’s Rd, Chelsea, London SW3 4RY
Info and booking: www.benenden.school/next
Easter cricket course
After the huge success of last year’s course, we are delighted to announce the dates for our Easter Cricket course – Monday 20th April and Tuesday 21st April 2020. This follows the news that Wellesley has been recognised by the internationally renowned magazine, “The Cricketer”, as one of the top 50 cricket playing prep schools in the UK. The full article can be downloaded here. The course is for boys and girls of all levels, aged between 6 and 13, and will be led by Wellesley’s team of qualified and experienced coaches. Please click here for full details on the course. The booking form can be found by clicking here.
The Friends of Wellesley Quiz
The Friends of Wellesley Quiz will be held on Friday 20th March at 7pm. Once again Jean Latteur and his team will host the evening, accompanied by delicious curry and fizz. Team tables can be organised for between 10-12 guests. Tickets are £20 per head. Please contact Belinda Wakeling, belindawakeling@hotmail.com, with your team name, details and money if you would like to take part.
School Last Week
Music Concert
The first informal music concert for this term took place in the Music School on the Thursday before half-term. A large audience was treated to a wide range of excellent performances including piano, viola and DJing mix.
Netball Tournament
The Wellesley Under 13 Netball tournament took place on the Wednesday before half-term, with eleven schools and a total of twelve teams taking part. Our team performed admirably, achieving 4th position in their group and going on to beat Sir Roger Manwoods for 7th overall position. Well done to the whole squad, and thank you also to Mrs Williams, Mrs. Gold, Miss Wallace and Mr Hallam for their organisation, and to all the staff who contributed in any way to the success of the tournament.
School This Week
Scholarship Success
We are delighted to announce further Scholarship awards. Congratulations to the following pupils who have been awarded scholarships:
Tom Leonard – drama scholarship to Harrow
Harry Heming – sports scholarship to both Eastbourne and Bedes
Cameron McKenzie – academic scholarship to St Edmund’s, Canterbury
Oscar Vaughan – drama scholarship to St Edmund’s, Canterbury
Mark Reading
The second marks of term have been given and the standings are as follows:
1st | Saxons |
2nd | Vikings |
3rd | Danes |
4th | Romans |
Special mention goes to the following pupils who have achieved the highest set of marks for their year:
Melody Flowers, Felix Butterfill, Freddie Southorn, Grace Flowers, Margot Grand, Archie Butterfill and Freddy Miles. Well done.
The most improved pupils in each year group were Kaspar Lear, Henry Obee, Margot Grand, Archie Butterfill, Amelia Lawton, while the highest scoring tutor group was Form 4. Well done.
Reading raffle and rewards
Three children from the Middle School were awarded with reading certificates in assembly this morning. Well done to Luna Sarafoglou, Sylvia Olson and Lilia Hunter for having accumulated the most raffle tickets for reading in their forms in the first half of the term. Further raffle tickets were drawn out of a hat for each of the three forms and those pupils were rewarded for their reading so far this term with a delicious slice of homemade cake at morning break.
Townsend-Warner Paper 2
Out of 1,032 entries, only 250 get selected to progress through to Paper 2. Well done to Barnaby Carter, Archie Butterfill and Henry Barker! They will sit Paper 2 today.
General Knowledge Match Rochester
On Tuesday a team of four U13 pupils will head to King’s,Rochester for a first round match in the National Schools Challenge General Knowledge competition. It is a knock-out competition. Our second team beat Chatham and Clarendon earlier in the term and we await their next opponents.
Coffee Morning
Do please join Mrs Franklin for her Coffee Morning in the Headmaster’s house (opposite the school office) after drop off this Friday 28th February. All are welcome and we look forward to seeing everyone who can make it.
Chapel
Our next weekend chapel service is this coming Saturday, at 12.20 p.m., and we very much look forward to listening to Mr David Hopkins, who is Head of Prep School liaison at the King’s School, Canterbury. Parents and families are warmly invited to attend. Soup and sandwiches will be served after the service, so do please contact the office if you are planning to join us, so that we can make the necessary catering arrangements.
Study Skills Sessions – Block 4
Block 4s will be having an introduction talk about Study Skills from Ms Moosuddee. They will be talking about ways to prepare their minds and bodies for exams and looking at how to revise efficiently.
Six of the Best
Congratulations to Margot Grand for her Pop Art inspired mixed media drawing, which now hangs proudly in the Headmaster’s study. Well done, Margot.
Team of the Week
Congratulations to the 3 senior school pupils who performed so admirably in the first round of the national Townsend-Warner competition – Archie Butterfill, Barnaby Carter and Henry Barker. Also, congratulations to the 3 middle school pupils who were recognised with “reading awards” in Headmaster’s Assembly for their reading efforts so far this term. These 6 pupils will each be rewarded with cookies and squash in the Headmaster’s drawing room during a morning break.
Thanet Music and Drama Festival
Several groups of children will be performing in the Thanet Music and Drama Festival later this week, between Thursday and Sunday. Good luck to all who are taking part.
Junior House Poetry Recitations
The Junior House Poetry Recitations will take place on Thursday 27th February. Mr Bithel-Vaughan has kindly agreed to adjudicate. This is an in house event but the winners will be invited to perform at the Junior House Concert at 4.45pm on Friday 13th March. The children from Reception to JL have been busy learning their poems – good luck to all!
Stay and Play
Parents and children from 0 – 4 years are invited to join Mrs Brown and Mrs Reed in Junior House from 2pm – 3.30pm on Friday 28th February. Please let the office know if you are coming.
Sunday Outing
The outing for boarders this Sunday will be Ten Pin Bowling at Bugsy’s in Margate.
Exams
Block 1 children are revising hard for their final set of examinations next week before Scholarships in late April and early May, and Common Entrance in early June. There will be a parent/teacher meeting for Block 1 parents on Saturday March 14th.
Everest in the Alps Ski Touring Challenge
Described as the toughest four days on skis, current Wellesley parents, Colin and Camilla Norton will be joining illustrious team members who have completed this monumental ascent and face the height of Everest for the ultimate winter endurance challenge. Fighting their way up 2200m vertical per day for four consecutive days they will be driven onward by the desire to raise funds for the Silas Pullen Fund and the Everest Centre, both of which work to raise awareness, fund and carry out research to find cures for brain tumours. Please click here for further information.
Photo galleries
Parents are reminded that the most recent published photos of school life can be accessed under the ‘News & Events’ tab, or by clicking here.
Menu
This week the kitchen will be serving Menu 1.
Matches Last Week
Tuesday 11th February |
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Squash v King’s: 1st V (a) | Won 3 – 2 |
Wednesday 12th February |
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Tag Rugby v Spring Grove: U9/8 (a) | Drew 10-10 |
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.
Wednesday 26th February |
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Netball v JKS: U13A (h) |
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Netball v Dover College: U11 (h) |
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Rugby v Dover College: U13 (a) | |
Rugby v Dover College: U11 (h) |
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Rugby v Dover College: U10 (h) |
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Rugby Tag Festival: U9/U8 (h) |
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Thursday 27th February |
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Rugby: Sutton Valence 7’s Tournament: U10 (a) | (Note: 11.15 am start) |
Saturday 29th February |
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Netball v Duke of York: U13A (a) | 2pm start |
Rugby v Northbourne: U11 (a) |
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Rugby v Northbourne: U13 (h) |
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