From the Headmaster’s Study

The Chinese New Year Assembly on Tuesday – delivered exclusively by Block 2 pupils – provided our school with such a valuable cultural experience. The interactive, engaging and informative performance (not to mention delivered with typical Wellesley humour) highlighted the diversity that exists within our Wellesley community and provided an excellent education into the understanding of different cultures. Inclusivity (whether within a year group or between year groups) is an area of real importance (and great strength) at Wellesley and we were delighted to see some of our international and Kent-based pupils up on stage. The pre-prep pupils were especially impressive in their responses to questions at the end of the assembly (perhaps helped by the fact that there were prizes for correct answers to questions!)
I am away from Wellesley for the start of this week at an annual Heads’ conference, this year taking place in Cheltenham. Dominic will be in charge in my absence and can be contacted in the usual way via Geraldine should that be necessary. In the meantime, I congratulate everyone for their efforts in this first half of the Lent term and wish all Welleslians (and you) a healthy and happy half term when it arrives.

Gavin Franklin

JDRM Gavin Portraits-2

School Last Week

Litter Angels

On Friday Ralph Wainman and Mr Parfitt were invited to an awards ceremony in Broadstairs for the Thanet wide ‘Litter Angels’ poster design competition. MPs Sir Roger Gale and Craig Mackinlay were both impressed with Ralph’s entry, he was a runner up in the overall event and thoroughly delighted with his prize. We look forward to taking part in the event again next year.

 

History

Block 4 have been studying the Saxons and spent a lesson assembling wattle fences. Whilst the Saxons would not have used bamboo, the ground-staff had plenty of it available and so waste not want not!

 

Squash

Our 1st V enjoyed their first fixture of the season – away at King’s Canterbury and the senior boys put together this brief written report of their experience.

 

Townsend-Warner update

The Townsend-Warner History Prize is one of the oldest institutions in the world. This year marks it’s 137th year and its main purpose has always been to promote a love of history. 1,104 children took part in the competition with only the top 250 qualifying for Paper 2. We are delighted to announce that Georgie Carter made it through for Wellesley this time around. He placed 33rd out of the 1,104. A superb achievement! Unfortunately, the others who took part did not qualify but their effort and contribution is greatly appreciated. Thank you to Georgie, Hector, Mirabel and Max for taking the time to enter. Good luck to Georgie who will be taking Paper 2 on Monday 21st February.

 

SATIPS general knowledge paper

A select group of Welleslians from our middle and senior school took part in the nation-wide SATIPS general knowledge paper last week. The pupils sat the hour long (demanding!) paper in the library on Thursday afternoon and we have sent the papers off to the organisers to be independently marked. We look forward to receiving the results and we congratulate Hector Hulme, Margot Grand, Raf Cable, Grace Flowers, Georgie Carter, Tate Sheppard, Freya Ralph, Freddie Southorn, Ralph Wainman and Septimus Oduwole for taking part.

 

Pre Prep

News from Pre Prep

It was great to welcome six families to our Friday afternoon Stay and Play session. The children enjoyed painting activities, parents valued speaking to our fabulous Early Years team and the Wellesley catering produced a super selection of healthy snacks for our visitors.
It is always a highlight to see the latest posts on the Nursery children’s online learning journals, our youngest children have such a busy and stimulating week. If you are not able to access your child’s account please let us know and we will resend the link.
It is also wonderful to see so many of our Pre-prep children taking up the opportunity to learn an instrument. We have violinists, pianists, guitarists and drummers. If you would like your child to start lessons please contact Joss Barnes jhb@wellesleyhouse.net
On Tuesday the Pre-prep will be marking Internet Safety day with a range of age appropriate activities and information covered in classes.
With half term fast approaching, we would like to thank all our families for their continued support and wish you a happy half term break!

Menus

We now include all 3 menus for you to see in the table below.  This week the kitchen will be serving menu week 2.

Pre-prep menu

Menu 1

Menu 2

Menu 3

School This Week

Team of the Week

This week’s team of the week is the Nursery children who have worked so hard with their teachers this half of term. They have embraced their fantastically varied timetable and given their best in all of their activities. Mr and Mrs Franklin look forward to seeing you this week. Well done.

Music

We look forward to our first Informal Concert of the term during Tuesday break time. We also have our first School Orchestra practice on Tuesday morning.

Kent Teacher of the Year Awards 2022

Nominations are now open for the Kent Teacher of the Year award.  Anyone can nominate and it’s not just teachers who are recognised – these awards celebrate every role in schools from school secretaries to caretakers, heads and volunteers.  To cast your vote, please click here.

Parking at Fixtures

May we kindly ask parents not to park on the lawn at the front of the school? The driveway should please remain clear for access purposes. If required, additional parking is available at the rear of the school, through the barrier. Thank you.

Half-Term

As detailed in the calendar, on Friday we break for the half term holiday. Children in Pre-prep can be collected at 1pm and pupils in Years 4-8 can be collected at 1.30pm, from the usual pick-up points.
On Sunday 20th February, boarders should please arrive between 5.30pm and 7pm. A hot supper will be served at 6.15pm. Weekly boarders (without luggage) may return to school at 8.10am on Monday 21st February.

Parent/Teacher Meetings

Our final remote parent/teacher meeting prior to half term:

JL – Thursday 10th February (6-7.30pm)

The google meets will be hosted via your child’s Wellesley Haddon Dene email account and if you have any questions, please contact Mrs Baird via hmsecretary@wellesleyhouse.net.

Please note that the Block 1 remote meetings (Saturday 12th March, 9-11am) will take place after the mock exams (28th Feb – 3rd March).

Senior School News

 On Saturday 26th February, Eastbourne College will be hosting a whole school Open Event.  For further information and to book a place, please click here.

 

Throughout January and February, Lancing College will be hosting small group visits for those looking for Year 9 entry from 2022 onwards.  If you would like further details on the programme, please click here.

Menu

We now include all 3 menus for you to see in the table below.  This week the kitchen will be serving menu week 2.

Prep menu

Menu 1

Menu 2

Menu 3

Matches This Week

Wednesday 9th February

Wellesley Netball Tournament: U13 (h) 1:30

Hockey v St Edmund’s: U13A&B (a)

Netball v Dover College: U10/U9 (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

FixtureResult

Squash v King’s, Canterbury: 1st V

Won 4-1

Rugby v Dover College: U9/U8

Won 10-2

Rugby v King’s Rochester: U13 (h)

Won 5-4

Rugby Milner Cup: U11 (a)

Lost 2-3 JKS A

Lost 0-3 Kings Rochester

Won 3-0 JKS B

Lost 0-2 New Beacon

Drew 0-0 vs Ashford Prep

Lost 2-4 vs Dulwich Prep

Netball v Dover College: U13 (a)

Won 34-5

Netball v Northbourne: U11 (a)

Lost 6-5

Rugby v Northbourne: U13 (h)

Lost 3-1

Rugby v Northbourne: U11 (a)

Won 6-2

 

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