OWA

RUGBY CENTENARY DINNER On Saturday 21st September, Wellington School celebrated 100 Years of Rugby being played at the School with a Charity Dinner for nearly 350 people. The day started with a large crowd watching the 1st XV win convincingly on a sunny afternoon on School Field before heading down to the PRSC to start the party. The Sports Hall has been transformed into a fantastic venue for the occasion and importantly, with a very long bar. With greetings from both the Headmaster and our Captain of Rugby, Rhys Parks the evening was passed over to the excellent Chris Bentley, a former Exeter Chiefs player, as Master of Ceremonies. He, along with Sean Holley who is a broadcaster and former coach of the Ospreys told us some wonderful stories about their involvement in the game as well as a few jokes that were close to the bone. The star of the show was our guest speaker, Jason Leonard, England’s most capped players and a British and Irish Lions legend. His easy and engaging manner had the crowd captivated as we listened to stories of the 1997 Lions tour and England’s 2003 World Cup victory.

The evening was full of food and drink with an outstanding four course meal, in the theme of the Six Nations, and a bar that never ran dry. Thanks to some extremely kind donations we were also able to hold a charity auctions raising nearly £10,000 for our charities; Children’s Hospice South West, Living with Aphasia and Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance and the Friends of Wellington School.

The evening was a fantastic opportunity for those involved with the School Community, both past and present, to celebrate everything that is good about

both the School and the game of rugby. It was a fantastic to see old friends reunited and new ones made.

The evening would not have been possible without the generous support of so many and we thank each and every one of them. Special thanks must go to the event sponsor Arbuthnot Latham who donated so generously. The final thank you goes to all those who attended, many of whom travelled 100s of miles. It was a truly memorable night and one that we hope to repeat in the future.

OW WEEKEND Many OW events have been curtailed this year but November saw a very successful OW weekend. The annual Reunion Weekend took a slightly different structure to normal this year. We started with the AGM and buffet breakfast on Saturday morning.

At noon the Chapel was full as we held a Memorial Service for Pat Pearce a long-standing member of teaching staff. The Service was celebration of Pat’s time at the School and colleagues and former pupils shared their memories of Pat. Charlie Pemberton (Fox’s ’16) sang a beautiful rendition of Cantique by Nadia Boulanger and the Chapel Choir sang the Irish Blessing by Bob Chilcott, one of Pat’s favourite pieces. Following the Service there were refreshments kindly provided by the OWA and the School.

In the afternoon OWs watched as the 1st XV played a fantastic match against Queen’s College whilst others took tours of the School. We all then met up at a local pub in Wellington where the OWA had placed a tab behind the bar for an informal meet up of OWs from all eras.

On Remembrance Sunday we held a Chapel Service in the morning. The Service was led by the stunning Chapel Choir and the Last Post was played at 11am followed by 2 minutes silence. A number of OWs then joined the School and Wellington Town in the Annual Remembrance Parade through the town to the Memorial statue in the Park.

OW KEY WORKERS This year we have decided to include a section on OWs who were and still are involved on the front line during the ongoing pandemic. Obviously there are many more but these are the ones we heard about and included on the OW section of the school Facebook page. Our thanks go out to them for the invaluable contributions they have made.

Abigail Plumley (Gillard’s ‘04) qualified as a nurse 6 years ago and is now training in occupational health. “We are involved in looking at the well-being of front line staff and supporting them at this really challenging time. For me the biggest challenge I see, aside from the virus, is the psychological impact it is having on staff’s wellbeing.”

Catherine Gardiner (Prices ‘08) attended both the Junior and Senior School. She is currently working on the front line as a cardiology nurse in the Cath labs in Sydney Australia. Thank you to her sister Jessica (Prices ‘07) for sending us her picture.

David Ockelford, (Darks ‘74) is currently working as a community mental health nurse (CPN) in East Cornwall.

Matthew Eastwood (Richards ‘08) is a biomedical scientist in the microbiology department in Musgrove, identifying bacterial and viral infections including tests for Covid-19.

Alex Eastwood (Richards ‘13) Matthew’s brother, is a critical nurse in Musgrove and is caring for patients with Covid-19.

Ed Harvey (Hardwick ‘79) is volunteering for Midlands Partnership, NHS Foundation Trust. He’s been delivering prescriptions using his motorcycle. He has also taken to taken to uploading a daily Vlog, aimed at helping those dealing with mental health issues.

Ian MacLeod (Oak ‘79) is another vital keyworker. Having left the RAF as a Flight Lieutenant in the 90s, he joined the prison service and is now the Suicide Prevention Coordinator at Strangeways (HMP Manchester)

Jade Gardner (Fox’s ‘16) qualified as a nurse in January and is now working at Musgrove as a nurse on the front line.

Kate Warren (Gillard’s ‘94) is a consultant urologist in Southmead Hospital, Bristol. She is not on the “front line” yet but training to manage medical patients for when that is needed. “Patients are still being diagnosed with bladder, prostate and kidney cancer and we are still trying operate as much as we can safely. The unsung heroes of the NHS are the people working in the hospital as porters, cleaners, catering and administration staff, who all are ensuring that the hospital services run as smoothly as possible.’ Kirk Shepherd (Oak ‘02) is not a medic, but as a key worker is keeping some rather essential facilities going. He is a chemical engineer for the waste water treatment industry, supporting water companies across the Southwest and Wales.

Lizzie Hester (Gillard’s ‘11) is working in the A and E department at the Royal Bolton Hospital as a junior doctor. Lizzie attended both the Junior School and Senior School and graduated from Manchester University in 2017. Lizzie Page (Gillard’s ‘09) has been working as a Junior Doctor on the ICU at one of London’s busiest hospitals (Northwick Park) since the start of the outbreak.

Nikki Durnell née Brinson (Fox’s 01, on the right of the photo) is a paramedic in Taunton.

Olivia Crossing (Beech ‘13) is a junior sister on a surgical ward at Musgrove Hospital. She was nominated by her sister Phoebe.

Pete Aird (Richards ‘85) is currently working as a GP in Bridgwater. In his words: “You can say what you like about our PPE, but there’s no doubting how cool it makes us look! Unfortunately it was only after I’d seen a patient in our isolation room whilst looking like this that the nurse I was working with suggested I might like to look in the mirror!”

Rachel Tebbs, née Jeffreys (Beech ‘04), is now an intensive care sister at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth. “The team around me are incredible, and I am full of pride to work with such a team at such a challenging time.”

Lloyd Rickard (Richards ‘07) and Faith Rickard (Fox’s ‘13, Head Girl) are both working in the NHS on the frontline. Lloyd is a captain in the army working as a doctor and Faith has just had to cut short her University degree in Birmingham to join the frontline as an F1 doctor.

Dr Ryan Wood (Willows ‘99) is an orthopaedic surgeon at Ipswich Hospital. “Doing as much as I can with a skill set that doesn’t fully suit this crisis.”

Sally McLaren née Ash (Fox’s 01) is a parent at the School and she sent this lovely message:’I would like to say thank you to the school for keeping our children safe whilst my husband Hamish and I work as GPs at the current time, including video consultations and phone calls from home, trying to keep us and the patients safe’

Lizzie Carpenter née Seamark (Gillards ‘09) is working as a senior midwife at Kingston Hospital, London. Her younger sister, Flora Seamark, (Gillards ‘14) is a nurse in ITU at Southmead Hospital, Bristol.

Music Sam Merry (Hardwick ’18, far left) and Freddie Renyard (Oak ’18, second from right) are making music in Bristol.

Athletic Achievement Jack Turner, (Richards ‘18) continues to inspire Wellington athletes, winning the Southern States Intercollegiate indoor athletics heptathlon event. Jack, on the right, is studying at the University of Texas on a sports scholarship.

BAFTA Success Congratulations to David Bishop (Lights ‘99) who has won a BAFTA for his work as Lighting Designer on Strictly Come Dancing. An amazing achievement! Strictly also won the BAFTA for “Best Entertainment Programme”. It’s good to know he cut his teeth on many school productions during his time at Wellington

Lower School Chapel Many OWs came back to school to attend a Lower School Chapel in January, led by David Joseph (DOJ). The old catch phrases (GAS etc) came thick and fast and we thank David for coming back.

Happy Returns OWs are very generous with their time and many come back to the school to talk to pupils about their work and to share their expertise. Amy Tisshaw, Tanya Cook, Lissie Fuller and Ashley Boddey are mentioned in other sections of the magazine and we thank them for taking the time to come back to the school.

Sad Farewells We are sad to report the deaths of former members of staff Malcom Mynett, Head of Physics and Pat Pearce, Housemaster of Talbot, Head of Lower School and sports coach. Also Professor Michael Furmston who served on the Governing Body and Sue Watts who was Chair of Governors from 2002 until 2008.