From the Headmaster’s Study

The challenge for any school is to balance support and monitoring with encouraging independence in the pupils. We were quite rightly very proud of some of the comments from our ISI report that highlighted our particular strength in this area. A recent supporting example of this is our recently published student-led newsletter, entitled The Wellesley Voice. The editorial team is made up of 8 individuals (5 boys and 3 girls) with representatives from every year group from JL (Year 4) up to and including Block 1 (Year 8). The pupils have worked collaboratively, under the leadership of the editor, Barnaby Carter from Block 1, to decide upon the content, format and style. They meet each week (under the gentle supervision of Mrs McDermott from the English department) to discuss topics, columns for inclusion, photographs and to assign and agree specific roles and responsibilities amongst the team. Hard copies have been printed and circulated to all pupils and an electronic copy is available here. Discussions are already in place about extending this idea to recorded podcasts, again led by the pupils. Watch this space. The editorial team hope that you enjoy the read and you may be relieved to hear that in this newspaper, there is not one mention of Brexit! 

Gavin Franklin

 

JDRM Gavin Portraits-2

Dates for the diary

‘The Next Step’ – Block 4 Parents

There will be a meeting on Friday 15th November for Block 4 parents to hear about the application process to senior schools. Parents in other year groups who may have missed previous talks should also attend. The talk takes place at 12 noon in the library. Please contact the office to confirm your attendance.

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 11.00am and 2.30pm.
In addition to children’s stalls and the expertly run cafe with cake raffle and tombola, we are excited to announce we will be hosting 20 stalls this year which will amongst others include:
Kit – a local lifestyle store in Broadstairs
Sarah Featherstone – limited edition botanical prints, vintage interior items and seasonal bulbs
Paperie Flamingo – a fantastic selection of greeting cards, giftwrap, notecards, Christmas cards, advent calendars and stationery
Finial Flax – bone china candles, pots and linen tea towels
Sarah de Rougemont – handcrafted silver jewellery made with semi-precious stones
Each week we will mention our different stall holders to build your excitement for what will be the best possible Christmas Shopping experience in Kent and beyond! Start saving now!

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 

School Last Week

Harvest Festival 

School council members from Block 4 accompanied Mrs Franklin and Mr Spencer to the Thanet FoodLink in Margate on the Tuesday morning before half-term to pass on all the produce kindly donated for our Harvest Festival service. The pupils were able to meet volunteers who give their time to help others and had a chance to see how the food bank operates. They even got to sort some of the parcels that they had delivered.

Block 1 Trip to Paris

13 pupils from Block 1 accompanied Mr Hallam, Mme Laurans and Mr Latteur to Paris just prior to the start of half-term. The timetable was packed with visits, including Montmartre, l’Arc de Triomphe, the Cathedral of Notre Dame and the Louvre, as well as excursions out of Paris to the Palace of Versailles and to Disneyland, Paris. Language lessons were included and there were plenty of opportunities for the children to use their language skills in real-life situations. Thank you to the staff for organising such a successful and enjoyable trip.

School This Week

Team of the Week

The ‘Team of the Week’ this week are the editorial team of the Wellesley Voice – our student-led newsletter – for their thoroughly interesting and enjoyable edition that was printed before half term.
They will be rewarded with cookies and squash in the Headmaster’s drawing room during Friday’s morning break.

Six of the Best

Six of the Best for this term is a collaborative drawing by Alexander Long and William Franklin. They have literally spent hours working quietly together in Art Club to produce an abstract pattern drawing based on an idea by the artist Paul Klee. He described any drawing as ‘taking a line for a walk’ and many students have explored this idea so far this term.

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

Fireworks Party 

We are looking forward to a large gathering for this year’s event on Saturday and are keeping fingers well and truly crossed that the rain (and wind) stays away!
Parking is on the 1st XI football pitch. There will be mulled wine in the swimming pool courtyard from 6.00 p.m. prior to the fireworks at 6.45 p.m. The fire will be lit afterwards. Please be aware of the safety rope which spectators must not cross and, also for safety reasons, we ask that parents do not bring sparklers for their children.
We are always very grateful to those of you who donate towards the cost of the fireworks. If you would like to do this, please contact the bursar directly and thank you very much in advance for your support.

Wellesley Music Evening

We are looking forward to our first Music Evening on Tuesday at 6.30pm in The Old Hall. We have a varied selection of performers including pieces on piano, drums, DJ, brass, recorder and guitar. Parents and friends are welcome. 

Sunday Outings

The outings for children on Sunday will be either to the cinema or ten-pin bowling.

Menu

This week the kitchen will be serving Menu 1.

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.

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)

 

On Social Media