From the Headmaster’s Study

Our thoughts this week turn to the old boys of Wellesley Haddon Dene and St Peter’s Court, who gave their lives fighting to provide a safer future for us all. Whilst we will not be able to congregate together as a community (with parents) in Chapel and the Old Hall for our traditional Remembrance Service, we will be holding two separate services this week so that we can remember and pay our respects to those who died in the wars. The first service will be some Remembrance readings (some war poetry and an extract of prose from the Wellesley Haddon Dene Yearbook of 1916) taken by candlelight in the Ridgeway Chapel on Tuesday during prep. The second gathering will be on Armistice Day and we will congregate as pupils and staff (socially distanced) around the squareabout outside the music school just before 1100. The names of some Old Wellesians will be read out, as will an extract from Laurence Binyon’s For the Fallen before the Last Post is played and we take two minutes silence together. All readings at the services will be delivered by pupils. The pupils and staff will also have the opportunity to acknowledge the people whose names live with us on all 3 of our war memorials – in the Sale Library, the Old Hall and in the Ridgeway Chapel. 

Gavin Franklin

 

JDRM Gavin Portraits-2

Future events

Poppy Appeal

Sadly we are unable to sell poppies at school for this year’s Remembrance Day. Please find a link to The Royal British Legion website where a donation can be made to the Poppy Appeal and a remembrance poppy poster can be downloaded and printed for your window.

Remembrance Crosses

Last year we marked Remembrance Day by asking the children to find out about any of their relatives who had died during the wars. These names were then written on crosses and displayed at our service. This year, due to Covid, we cannot send the crosses home but we have them in school. If you would like to please let your child/children know the names of any relatives and perhaps dates they died and then the children will be able to create their crosses in school. Thank you, Mr Kearns.ank you, Mr Kearns

Best Uniform – Wednesday 11th November

Please may all pupils in JL and above wear their Best uniform to school on Wednesday morning for the Remembrance gathering on Armistice Day.

Swimming lessons 

We are running a course of 4 swimming lessons during the Friday afternoon activity slot for the remainder of term. If you have a child in JL, Block 3 or Block 4 and would like to sign up please let Mr Kearns know spk@wellesleyhouse.net
One of our qualified swimming instructors, Jasmin, will be running the course. The cost will be £25 for 4 sessions.

‘The Next Step’ – Block 4 Parents
There will be a remote Zoom meeting on Friday 20th 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 may also attend. The remote session starts at 11am. Please confirm your attendance with Mrs Baird (hmsecretary@wellesleyhouse.net) by Wednesday 18th November. Thank you.

ISEB Common Pre-Test
We wish a number of our Block 3 (and some Block 2) pupils well as they sit the ISEB Common Pre-Test this week. This is a series of electronic multiple choice assessments that forms part of the application and selection process for certain Senior Schools. Good luck to all of those taking part.

School Last week

News from the Pre-Prep

 

The Pre-prep children thoroughly enjoyed the bonfire and hot dogs last Thursday. All classes had a final Beach School session before lockdown and will spend the next four weeks completing activities in our outdoor learning area behind Junior House. The Nursery children have been learning about nocturnal animals, whilst Form JR have produced some very detailed observational paintings of owls. JH have engaged enthusiastically with their Well-being sessions with Ms Moosuddee (see below). All the children have enjoyed getting to know our new Gap student Miss Norton who has been a brilliant addition to the team!

Block 4 Roman Day

This term’s Roman day was a great success. All the children in Year 5 came in wearing some fantastic costumes. Their spirits were high and they all loved their Roman themed day. They had lessons which included learning about the Roman army, building aquaducts and designing mosaics. Lunch was a feast of Roman dishes including, chicken in honey, cabbage with leek and cheese, rosemary roasted potatoes and a fruit cake, brie and honey pudding. A terrific day and it was wonderful to see such enthusiasm for history!

Bonfire Night

We enjoyed a slightly lower key Bonfire Night than usual this year in perfect weather conditions. The bonfire went up in fine style – thank you to our maintenance team for building it – and was topped by an impressive looking Guy that JH enjoyed creating with Mr Parfitt. We then enjoyed delicious hot dogs, doughnuts and hot chocolate – thank you to Mr Curtis and his team. We were very sorry not to be able to invite parents on site for our usual event, but hopefully things will return to normal for next year.

JH Wellbeing and Mindfulness

JH have been enjoying their Wellbeing and Mindfulness sessions with Ms Moosuddee. They have been listening to a range of engaging stories which have sparked discussion about how we can share similarities with others and yet also celebrate our differences too. They also discussed how we all have our own strengths or ‘superpowers’ as they like to call them! Well done JH for being so positive and confident in sharing your thoughts and ideas with each other.

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
Symptoms of COVID – children

Shrewsbury School Virtual Cross Country Championships

Prior to half term, we were delighted to be able to take part in the Shrewsbury School Virtual Cross Country Championship. In total, over 1,000 pupils took part in the virtual run, demonstrating a real passion for the sport. Please click here to view the short video compilation and results presentation. We are delighted that Wellesley Haddon Dene is placed in the results as William Franklin came 3rd overall in the U11 entries. Well done, William.

School This Week

Monday Music

Taking a very well known excerpt from Beethoven and mashing up for a modern day twist, a very exciting Monday Music…
 

OW News

As mentioned previously, we were delighted to welcome OW Emily Norton back to Wellesley last week. Emily will be with us as a Gap student for the remainder of the Michaelmas term, before heading off for the ski season in France and then commencing her History of Art degree at Bristol in 2021. Emily has made a superb start and we will be making the most of her artistic flair in designing and producing some new displays both in school and online.
We were very proud to hear that OW, Isabella Cable was a finalist in the Canterbury Festival’s Young Musicians’ Bursary Competition. Whilst at Wellesley, Isabella was awarded a Music Scholarship to The King’s School, Canterbury and her musical talents have continued to go from strength to strength. The Bursary Competition has grown in popularity every year since its inception in 2011 and each year showcases the outstanding talent of Kent’s young musicians. Please click here to read more …

Senior School News

On Saturday 21st November, Tonbridge School will be hosting a virtual Open Day. For further information and to book your place please click here.

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

Benenden is hosting a series of online Prospective Parent Open Mornings, please click here for dates and further information.

Eton College has introduced a 45-minute webcast that they hope will serve as some form of a virtual visit; it includes an interview with the Head Master, a tour of the school given by a Y9 boy, an explanation of our admissions process for parents, and a broader video about the school. These are broadcast at specific times via Zoom, and interested parties are asked to email admissions@etoncollege.org.uk in order to book into a webcast. Their prospectus has now been significantly condensed into what they hope is a rather more user-friendly document (and certainly more geared towards Y5 boys and their parents). Do let us know if you would like hard copies of the new version, which is also viewable at www.etoncollege.com/admissions/entry-to-eton .

Wellbeing

If you would like more information about wellbeing and support systems, in addition to speaking with key personnel at school, you can access professional support and guidance through the following document.

Menu

This week the kitchen will be serving Menu 2

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.

No fixtures

On Social Media