From the Headmaster’s Study

On Friday of this week, you will receive an email from the Office with details of our full Independent Schools’ Inspection (ISI) report that took place just before half term. We are obliged to share this report with all current parents and to post it on our website. Please do take time to read and reflect on the comments that the ISI team have made about Wellesley Haddon Dene.

Claire and I look forward to seeing many of you on Saturday for Speech and Sports Day and we really hope that we can all enjoy a celebration of all things Wellesley Haddon Dene.

 

Gavin Franklin

 

JDRM Gavin Portraits-2

Notices

Speech Day and Sports Weekend

We are looking forward to seeing you all on Saturday. Day children should arrive at the normal time (8.20 a.m.) wearing their best uniform. The day bus will run as usual. Could we please remind friends and parents not to park on the school drive for Speech Day: parking is available at the rear of the school. Parents should arrive from 11.00 a.m. for Prize Giving which starts promptly at 11.30 a.m. in the Sports Hall. Following this, children will be free to picnic with their parents on the school field before the athletics finals which take place from 1.45 p.m. to 5.00 p.m.

Please ensure your child has white sport socks for this event. All children will spend Saturday night with their families, or friends, before returning on Sunday afternoon by 5.15 p.m. (for boarders to change), or by 5.45 p.m. (for day children) in time for Chapel at 6.00 p.m. (unless required earlier for matches taking place during the day). There will be afternoon tea from 4.00 p.m. to which you are all invited if you prefer to return earlier.

Please can anyone who has not already done so return their forms to the school office to indicate how many people will be attending the various events on both days. The Headmaster’s guest speaker on Saturday will be Old Welleslian and Olympic Medallist Georgina Harland, and at Sunday’s Evensong, the final chapel service at Wellesley for the leavers, we will be joined by The Reverend Tim Novis, Senior Chaplain of Marlborough College.

School Last Week

Chapel

We held our fourth Saturday chapel service of the term at the weekend, and we thank The Reverend Jan Durrans, from St. Peter’s Church, for addressing the school. She spoke about the impact of words on others, and, with the help of several members of the school, used the letters of THINK to encourage us to question whether what we say is True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary and Kind.

Junior House French Soirée

What a marvellous evening this was. The children thoroughly enjoyed singing songs including ‘Sur le pont d’Avignon’ and ‘Au clair de la lune’, and the parents’ and grandparents’ French was tested by ‘Joyeux anniversaire’ and ‘Tête, épaules, genoux, pieds’. An especially big thank you to the Catering Team for all their work: among the fare provided were French bread, cheese and paté, accompanied by Gallic wines.

Junior House Sports Morning

The annual Junior House Sports Morning took place on Friday, during which all the children took part in the long jump, high jump, a 75 metre sprint, a 2 minute run and ball throwing. Teegan Pretzlik took the honours as best performing girl, while William Franklin won the overall prize, just holding off Heath Voisey-Stovell and Rio Goddard. Freddie Southorn was the winner in JH.

IAPS 6s Cricket

Well done to the Colts A team who took part in the IAPS 6s competition at Ashford Prep School on Monday. They won all their group matches and just came up short in the semi-final against Hazelwood School.

Golf

The golfers who competed in the Kent Prep Schools Golf Championship at Hythe Golf Club on Tuesday had a good day, with the pairs of William Norton and Jonjo Wylie, and that of James Felton and Jansci Motsi, finishing in equal 2nd place. Also taking part were Ines Vaes Somolinos and Ella Yu.

Athletics

Well done to the athletes who travelled to Tonbridge School on Tuesday to take part in the Prep Schools Tonbridge Trophy, and especially to Toni Alaka, who won both the 200 metres and the 800 metres. The team came a most creditable 4th out of the 16 teams taking part.

Year 5 Leadership Course

A small group accompanied Mrs Franklin and Mrs Brown to Wellington College on Tuesday for a team-building and leadership course, and had a very enjoyable if challenging day.

Maths Competition

On Thursday four Block 3 and four Block 4 pupils accompanied Mrs Williams to Christchurch Junior School in Ramsgate. They formed a girls team and a boys team. The competition consisted of six different problem solving and team building activities. The girls team performed well to finish in 8th position out of 14 teams, while the boys came in a very successful 2nd place. The pupils who took part were Margot Grand, Lilia Hunter, Paloma Llari de Sangenis, Amy Zhang, Henry Barker, Reuben Okotie, Alex Long and Stas Shatokhin.

Leavers’ Activity Programme

The programme of activities for the leavers is now in full swing. On Monday they had an energetic day, with Bubble Football in the morning and Archery Tag in the afternoon. On Tuesday morning they enjoyed Djembe Drumming, while the afternoon was given over to a Falconry Experience. Wednesday included a ‘Mad Science Morning’ with Miss Wallace and Mr Waldie, while on Thursday they had a party hosted by the Stowells, who we thank most sincerely, and on Friday morning they had a trip to Revolution Skatepark and Climbing Centre. Also taking place throughout the week were rehearsals with Mr Bithel-Vaughan and Mr Franklin which culminated in ‘An Evening of Shakespeare’ on Friday. We were entertained most enjoyably in the Orchard gardens with six performances which included a vocal group and scenes from Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Shooting

The annual 1st VIII v Parents shooting match took place on Sunday.  The 1st VIII came out victorious in the overall competition by 713 – 666.  The family competition was won narrowly by the Oscar Vaughan team, just ahead of Gigi Dunbar Johnson and Poppy Falcon.  Highest individual scorers were Gigi with 94, followed by Oscar and William Norton on 93. In the Shell Fun Speed Game, two rounds were won by Pablo Guzman and Mme Laurans, with one each won by the Norton family and the Falcon family.  Thank you to Mr Latteur for organising a most enjoyable event.

Sunday Outing

The outing for the boarders this Sunday was to Howletts Wildlife Park.  Thank you to Mr Hallam and Mrs Hatt, who organised the trip.

School This Week

Mark Reading

The second marks of term have been given and the standings are as follows:

1st Vikings

2nd Danes

3rd Saxons

4th Romans

Special mention goes to the following pupils who have achieved the highest set of marks for their year: Felix Butterfill, William Franklin, Heath Voisey-Stovell, Margot Grand, Paloma Llari de Sangenis, Jonjo Wylie and Catherine Ye.

The most improved pupils in each year group were Elijah Olson, Stanley Shoring, Teegan Pretzlik, Matthew McBride, Sancho Miras, Steven Shi and Barnaby Gibson, while the highest scoring tutor group was JS.

Cricket Colours

Fine performances during the term were recognised in Tuesday’s assembly with the awarding of Cricket Colours to Gigi Dunbar Johnson, Harry Heming, Kaspar Irving and Daniel Stowell.

Athletics Colours

Athletics Colours were awarded in Tuesday’s assembly to William Norton and Amelia Norton, for their achievements in qualifying for the National Prep Schools Athletics Finals next week, in the long jump and discus respectively.

Shooting Colours

Also awarded in Tuesday’s assembly were Shooting Colours to Barnaby Gibson and Pablo Guzman.

Well done to all those who have earned their colours in these sports.

Music on Monday (Tuesday)

This week’s musical performance came from Barnaby Carter, who played drums to Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.  Well done, Barnaby.

Team of the Week

This week’s ‘Team of the Week’ are the Colts A cricketers who performed so well in the IAPS 6s competition at Ashford.  They will be rewarded with cookies and squash in the Headmaster’s drawing room during a morning break.

Junior Choir

The Junior Choir combined with St Mildred’s Primary School for a choral workshop on Monday afternoon, finishing with a short recital.  Thank you to Mrs Spencer for organising this event.

Leavers’ Activity Programme

Mrs Spencer’s programme of activities for the leavers continued on Monday with an outing to SOAR Trampoline Park in Gillingham in the morning and then a trip to the Palace Cinema in Broadstairs in the afternoon for a private showing of ‘The Kid Who Would Be King.  On Wednesday they have a walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs and on Thursday morning they will be accompanying Mr Longdon and his helpers for a ‘Beach Fun Morning’. This will be followed on Thursday afternoon with ‘The Gaming Vault’.

Tennis

Good luck to the girls’ U13 tennis team, who have qualified for the Under 13 Girls Kent Regional Finals.  The team of Ella Yu, Mia Otley, Ines Vaes Somolinos, April Ma and Gigi Dunbar Johnson will be competing against several other teams on Tuesday.

Set Shout

Rehearsals take place on Tuesday morning in preparation for the ‘Set Shout’, which follows in the afternoon.  The winning set will be heard singing their song at the summer concert.

Block 3 Camping

All the Block 3 children depart on Wednesday morning for the annual camping trip and we particularly thank Mr and Mrs Long who are hosting the campers.  The group are away until Friday, accompanied by Mr Kearns, Miss Wallace and Mme Laurans, and the weather forecast looks very promising!

Pre-Prep Stay and Play Sessions

The final stay and play session of the term takes place this Friday 28th June.  The session is open to all and primarily aimed at children aged 0-4.  Mrs Brown will again be hosting the events upstairs in the Junior House and parents will remain with their children.  All enquiries/bookings should be addressed to admissions@wellesleyhouse.net.

Cricket Quadrangular

The 1st XI conclude their season on Monday with a very early start for the annual Quadrangular tournament, which takes place this year at Ludgrove School.  The other schools that take part are Cheam and Elstree, and the first match is scheduled to begin at 10.30 a.m.

Menu

This week the kitchen will be serving Menu 3.

Matches Last Week

Monday 17th June

Cricket v St Lawrence: U13 Girls A – lost

Cricket v St Lawrence: U13 Girls B – lost

Cricket – I.A.P.S. 6s: Colts A – semi-Finalists

Tennis v Kent College: U13 Boys

Wednesday 19th June

Rounders – I.A.P.S. 6s: U11 Girls – cancelled

Cricket v JKS: 1st XI – cancelled

Cricket v JKS: 2nd XI – won by 40 runs

Cricket v JKS: 3rd XI – cancelled

Cricket v JKS: Colts A – cancelled

Cricket v JKS: Colts B – won by 6 runs

Saturday 22nd June

Cricket v Eastern Vikings: 1st XI – won by 9 wickets

Cricket v Eastern Vikings: Colts A – lost by 98 runs

Live Cricket Scores

We are now using a live scoring system for some of our cricket matches. You can follow the action ball by ball by downloading the “Play-Cricket Live” app. Please use the links or scan the QR code. Once you have installed the app, search for “Wellesley Haddon Dene”, and any upcoming matches that are being live scored will appear.

 

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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 June

Cricket v Chatham & Clarendon GS: 1st XI (h)

Cricket v Dover College: U9 A & B (h)

Thursday 27th June

Cricket v Spring Grove: U9 A & B (h)

Friday 28th June

Cricket v Sunningdale: 1st XI (a) (Note: 11.00 a.m. start)

Saturday 29th June

Athletics Finals

Sunday 30th June

Cricket v Fathers: 1st XI (h) (Note: 11.00 a.m. start)

Monday 1st July

Cricket Quadrangular at Ludgrove: 1st X1 (a) (Note: 10.30 a.m. start)

Wednesday 3rd July

Swimming Sports (Note: 10.00 a.m. start)

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