From the Headmaster’s Study
This week marks the beginning of public examinations for some of our Block 1 pupils, with academic and art scholarship assessments being sat for Sevenoaks School. Of course, the main examination week for our Year 8 pupils comes immediately after half term with Common Entrance, and we wish all of our Year 8 pupils the best for these latter stages of study at Wellesley Haddon Dene. In addition to the academic rigour, you will notice that our pupils are busy over the coming weeks with a range of sporting fixtures (in cricket, tennis and golf), various educational trips and visits and other exciting activities taking place at Wellesley. On Thursday of this week, we especially look forward to welcoming children’s author, Mrs Rebecca Smith who will be talking to our pupils about SuperDaisy – an inspirational and uplifting story about resilience and coping with and overcoming challenge – a powerful message for us all.
Gavin Franklin
Northforeland Junior Golf Academy
Aside from our current and historical links with the world renowned Royal St George’s Golf Club, Wellesley are extremely fortunate to have a blossoming relationship with a superb nearby course – Northforeland Golf Club. As such, we are delighted to provide details of their Junior Golfing academy which may be of interest to some of our younger families.
SATURDAY 11TH JUNE – FAMILY & FRIENDS BARN DANCE
Tickets are available to buy from the school office on Wednesday mornings at 8.15am from a member of the committee or by emailing FRIENDSOFWELLESLEY@GMAIL.COM
Adult tickets are £25 Children’s tickets are £5.
Family and Friends are all very welcome.
School Last Week
Cricket
Follow our cricket scores online
This season (IT-permitting!), we will be live scoring 1st XI and Colts A (and selected other) cricket matches using the ECBs ‘Play Cricket’ scoring software. If you would like to follow the action you can do so by downloading the play cricket live app – instructions and links below.
Play Cricket Live app:
iPhone: https://appsto.re/gb/XR3Dlb.i
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.playcricket.live&hl=en_GB
Once you’ve downloaded the app click the button in the top left corner and search for Wellesley Haddon Dene. On the Wellesley Haddon Dene page, click the stars next to all of the teams listed. Finally click the home button in the bottom left corner and the available matches will appear.
Pre Prep
It was another busy week in the Pre-prep. We have begun to make plans for our Platinum Jubilee party and the children have shown great enthusiasm for learning and singing the national anthem! Term is in full swing and every break time there have been Pre-prep children on the tennis courts, in the cricket nets, on the crash mats and on the outdoor stage; all making the most of our fantastic resources. One of the greatest pleasures for the teachers in the Pre-prep is seeing children from Year 3 to Lower Nursery playing together as one large, happy family. Teamwork, kindness and enjoyment on full display!
School This Week
Royal St George’s Invitation
Yet again, we are privileged to be able to host the Wellesley Haddon Dene Invitational at Royal St George’s Golf Club. This world-famous links course in Sandwich hosted the Open Championship last summer and looks forward to welcoming 6 Welleslians from Block 1, 2 and 3 and their playing partners (made up of fathers or appropriate substitute). The golfers and guests will enjoy the full RSG experience, which includes a 3 course lunch followed by golf. Whilst it is a competition, the aim, of course, is to have fun and enjoy the magical experience of playing and visiting Royal St George’s.
Visit from Rebecca Smith, published author of “Super Daisy”
We are really looking forward to welcoming visiting children’s author, Rebecca Smith, who is coming to talk with our pupils on Thursday morning about her new book, “Super Daisy” , an empowering and upbeat story about a young girl that tackles some challenging themes. As an aside, Rebecca’s husband, Ed (ex-Tonbridge and Cambridge) played cricket for England. A couple of seasons ago, he played cricket at Wellesley Haddon Dene. We look forward to welcoming Rebecca.
Headphones/Earphones
Over the course of this academic year, all pupils in blocks 3 and 4 have been given a free set of earphones for them to use with our computers and chromebooks. We no longer have class sets of headphones as cleaning between users is rather problematic. We would like this to become a regular part of each child’s pencil case. Unfortunately, we cannot replace any lost or broken sets that we have already supplied and would encourage parents to provide a cheap, yet robust set to bring into school. We do not want to see expensive headphones and cannot be held responsible for the safekeeping of such items. Something small and named to be kept in their pencil case would be perfect.
Matches This Week
Wednesday, 4th May
Cricket v Northbourne: Colts A (a)
Cricket v Dulwich Cranbrook: U13 A Girls (h) 2pm
Cricket v Northbourne: U11 A Girls (h)
Cricket v Harvey Grammar (Thomas Cup): 1st XI (a) – 3:45pm
Saturday, 7th May
Cricket v Ashford: Colts A Summers Cup (h) -1pm
Cricket v Eastern Vikings: 1st XI (h) – 2pm
Cricket v Northbourne: U11 A Girls (a)
Cricket v Northbourne: U13 A Girls (a)
Cricket v Northbourne: U13 B Girls (a)
Please always refer to the website calendar as it is the most up-to-date place to check for fixture changes and locations.
If your child has been selected for a fixture, we will email you each Tuesday morning with information regarding the recommended pick up time from Wellesley.
Matches Last Week
| Fixture | Result |
Cricket v SLC: 1st XI | Wellesley Haddon Dene 170/1 SLC 90 all out Wellesley won by 80 runs |
Cricket v SLC: 2nd XI | Lost by 5 wickets |
Cricket v SLC: U13 Girls | Won by 39 runs |
Cricket v St Faiths: U11 A | Won by 33 runs |
Cricket v St Faiths: U11 B | Won by 25 runs |