From the Headmaster’s Study
It has been wonderful to host parents on site over the past couple of weeks for a number of Covid-19 safe community events. The soiree in the delightful environs of the Orchard gardens was nothing short of magical and brilliantly supported by parents (and grandparents and siblings) of Block 4 and JL pupils – all of whom were in great voice, accompanied by the masterful Monsieur Latteur on the guitar.
Speech Day on Saturday on our beautiful playing fields was also a great success. The weather was with us – although not without giving us a Saturday morning scare – and I am delighted that we all held our nerve and cracked on with the event. The pupil performances – poems, piano, fanfare, drums and vocal groups – were nothing short of superb and all seemed to enjoy the atmosphere. It was such a pleasure to welcome back some of last year’s leavers and their families. Thank you to all who were able to support; we were naturally very disappointed not to be able to welcome some of our international families, but everyone was very much in our thoughts. The pupils conducted themselves superbly in the athletics finals, with some extremely impressive individual performances and everyone, quite simply, getting stuck in. My thanks go to all of the staff – teaching and non-teaching – who worked so hard to make it all happen.
I look forward to seeing many parents at pick up on Thursday before our pupils and teachers head off for a much deserved summer break.
Gavin Franklin
announcements
Friends of Wellesley
The Friends of Wellesley have set a new date for their Summer Party. Invitations have been sent out again for the revised date of Saturday 18th September. Please RSVP by Friday 9th July if you are able to attend the new date with your menu choices and any wine you might like for your table. Payment can be made to The Friends of Wellesley bank account, details of which can be found on the invitation. Tables of 8 can be organised and a message can be left on paperless post with this information. Thank you.
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
Athletics finals
On the afternoon of Speech Day, we hosted our set athletics competition. Aside from set relays (for both 100m and 300m), an open 800m and an open 300m, all pupils from JL upwards followed a carousel of track and field events. It was a hugely inclusive sporting event and aside from seriously impressive individual performances, all pupils should be commended for their effort, conduct and sportsmanship throughout. Well done to Rufus Hulme, Tilly Spanton and Greta Grand (JL), Kaspar Lear and Freddie Loudon and Harriet Brooks (Block 4), William Franklin and Teegan Pretzlik (Block 3), Stanislav Shatokhin and Gracie Lawton (Block 2) and Reuben Okotie and Mercedes Rubio Pro (Block 1) for being the highest point scorers in the overall year group competitions.
The Set results were as follows:
1st: | Vikings | 1142 points |
2nd: | Saxons | 1108 points |
3rd: | Romans | 1048 points |
4th: | Danes | 608 points |
Pupils and parents Festival of Cricket
We are delighted to provide match reports and a photo gallery from each of the five fixtures that took place a couple of weekends ago. Please click here and enjoy!
The Wellesley Voice
If you want to know who Mr Longdon’s favourite football player is, find out which flower you are most like, or learn about Wellesley’s famous cricketers, look no further than the Summer Term Wellesley Voice. Our team of reporters have been working tirelessly throughout the term to put together the latest edition. Final edits pending, we’ll get the press running before everyone leaves on Thursday. We have some excellent new reporters this term working alongside some of our longstanding members. Well done to them all. We hope the children enjoy their copies, and if there are any budding reporters out there, feel free to join us by signing up to the activity next term.
Dragons’ Apprentice
On Tuesday, the Block 1 pupils presented their final group projects for Dragons’ Apprentice (a mix between Dragons’ Den and the Apprentice). There were four teams and they had been preparing for the whole term as part of their PSHE lessons and the Leavers’ Programme. They learnt about target audiences, expenses and profit, choice of names and logos, persuasive speech and marketing. They came up with fantastic ideas and their projects were thorough. The three members of our jury, Kate Moore, Anthony Shoring and Christian Miles, were impressed by their presentations. In the end, our Spaniard group won with their wonderful idea of a butter stick called “Mante Butter”. Well done to them!
School Photograph
Parents were emailed details of how to order a copy of the school photographs last week. You can still order your copies by visiting www.schoolphotographs.co.uk and entering the appropriate codes from below:
Middle School: Photo ID: T9ISSTM0, Photo Key: SWFCRLDJ
Senior School: Photo ID: D0GEK3UT, Photo Key: RKFQYEXL
JL and Block 4 French Soiree
Last Thursday, JL and Block 4 had their French soirée. It was a lovely evening of French singing, French food, and Belgian jokes. Mr. Latteur wonderfully led the children with his guitar, supported by Mme Laurans. The children sang beautifully and we are very proud of them! Due to Covid restrictions, the event was in the Orchard garden which gave a very nice summery atmosphere. We all enjoyed the delicious food prepared by the catering team. Everyone was cheerful and we cannot wait for next year’s soirée!
School This Week
Swimming Sports
The annual Swimming Sports will take place on Wednesday morning. The early start will allow the winners of the Set Competition for the whole year to celebrate with a barbecue at lunchtime. When not themselves swimming, competitors will be supporting (noisily) from the poolside.
Block 3 Camping
Block 3 children are heading out on their camping trip on Monday morning and returning on Tuesday. We are staying with Mr and Mrs Spanton at their farm in Minster. We hope to have a great time!
Set Winners BBQ
After the conclusion of the swimming sports, and once Mr Spencer has had time to do all the Maths, the winning set will enjoy a Wellesley BBQ banquet on the terrace on Wednesday for lunch!
History Newsletter
Please click here to read Wellesley’s History Newsletter. Packed with interesting facts, articles written by pupils, a review of the Townsend Warner History prize etc, do please take a moment to have a look.
Team of the Week
A slight change to the usual recipients as this week’s Team of the Week is our amazing Maintenance and Grounds team. From fixing broken taps, driving the school bus to tending the beautiful lawns, to preparing the finest cricket wickets in East Kent, the team work tirelessly in keeping Wellesley ship shape. The team will join Mr and Mrs Franklin for coffee and cake on the front lawn during Wednesday’s morning break.
Leavers’ Dinner
We look forward to celebrating with our leavers on Wednesday evening. The evening will begin with drinks and games (organised by Mr Hallam) on the front lawn at 6pm, before staff and leavers tuck into a delicious BBQ on the swimming pool terrace and some final games. We will, of course, be thinking of those Wellesley leavers who cannot be with us for this final celebration.
Final Assembly
We look forward to hosting our final assembly of term in safe bubbles in the Old Hall, which will include the usual end of term awards. Also, we will have the opportunity to review the year from a sporting and creative arts perspective, enjoying video round ups of our superb pupil contributions. Finally, we will recognise the impact and legacy of our leavers and we will send them off with a prayer and three cheers!
Term ends
This term draws to a close on Thursday. Pre-prep children can be collected at 1pm from Junior House and children in Years 4 to 8 can be collected at 12.30pm from their usual bubble collection points. Luggage for boarding pupils will be available to collect at the rear of the school by the red covered way.
A Summer Reading Challenge
The Summer Reading Challenge, presented by The Reading Agency and funded by Arts Council England, encourages children aged 4 to 11 to set themselves a reading challenge to help prevent the summer reading ‘dip’. Each year the Summer Reading Challenge has a new theme. For 2021, The Reading Agency is partnering with WWF for Wild World Heroes, a nature-themed Challenge that will inspire children to engage with environmental issues. Find out more about Wild World Heroes here.
Through reading books, collecting rewards and learning all about our planet, Challenge participants will help the Heroes make Wilderville a greener place to live. With exclusive incentives to collect and plenty of brilliant books to enjoy, the Challenge is the perfect summer activity to build young readers’ skills and confidence during the long break from school. The Challenge is available in libraries across the UK this summer. Children can also take part online through the official digital Challenge platform wildworldheroes.org.uk.
We would like to encourage our pupils to participate in this over the summer. There are lots of book recommendations on the Reading Challenge website or you can try the Waterstones recommended reading site for additional ideas.
Codekids
Please see the click here for more information on the workshops Codekids is running during the Summer holidays.
Wellbeing
Some parents have asked me about how they can continue with Wellbeing activities over the long Summer break, so here are a few ideas I have put together that you may wish to try.
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).
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 2.
Senior School News
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.
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.
Please complete the google form here if you will be attending any home fixtures.
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 Dulwich (10-a-side) 1st XI | 3rd Place |
Cricket v Sunningdale: 1st XI | Lost by 75 runs |
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