Senior School
Newsletter LENT 2022
Gala Dinner Training begins The first training session to take on the roles of Chefs for the Year 12 Gala dinner took place this week. The enjoyment from the students was clear to see and the smells coming from the kitchen were amazing as were the results. I look forward to seeing what is on the menu next week and am happy to help sample for quality control purposes! The planning for the event begins next week as another group of Year 12 students start to formulate and organise the event. Sarah Baxby Head of Sixth Form
Business News Our class’s task was to set up a new themed restaurant. We worked in small groups and designed the theme our restaurants would have as well as their names and logos. The themes varied from fine dining to Mexican street food to a ‘Meat you there’ steak restaurant. Additionally, we needed to pick a target audience, considering their age, gender, income level, lifestyle and location and had a budget of £4000 to choose four promotional methods to help promote our businesses. During the task, we learnt how important budgeting is and what would be the best approach to advertise our business. This activity was very enjoyable as we were given an opportunity to be creative whilst thinking about the business aspects. (Aanya 12NE) Recently in Business we have been studying the marketing mix and we did a taste test to compare Tesco’s own brand and Cadbury’s Dairy Milk chocolate. We used the marketing mix to compare the two products and how they are/should be marketed effectively. (Sophee 12WE and Charley 12MA)
Netball News
Congratulations to Frankie M (13NE) who has been named 1st VII Netball captain for the 2022 season.
History News As part of their Topic on World War One, Year 9 were asked to design an original propaganda poster for homework. The brief was that it could be from the point of view of any country and be aimed at any group in society; but that a 'political message designed to persuade' was at its core. We did not have a single poor one; the conceptual creativity, ingenuity and artwork produced was superb; we had ones in Latin; Italian; Russian, German; ones aimed at young men or women and those designed to exert peer pressure and guilt. It was an agonising job to decide the winner from each class and deciding the overall winner led to some robust conversations in the Department, with, naturally, each member of staff championing their own class. Jane Selby Head of History
Physics News The Physics department celebrated some excellent results from our Year 13s in the British Physics Olympiad, with every participant receiving at least a Bronze level certificate in this prestigious competition. Congratulations to James 13PL for achieving a Silver award. Year 12 are now preparing for the Senior Physics Challenge which will take place in March, and the Online challenge with takes place this week. The Physics department also hosted its first Pizza and Physics lecture night, attended by our Year 12 and 13 Physicists. The lecture “Structures in the Universe” was delivered by an Oxford Astro Professor, Professor Katherine Blundell OBE, and was part of a lecture series called “Cosmic Revolutions” streamed live from the Museum of London. Thank you to Mr Eggleston for organising. Rebecca Hill Head of Science
Design and Technology
We have been busy in the DT Department, at the end of last term the Year 7 pupils managed to create an Eco house on a CAD package called 2D Design and the Year 8s produced cloth bags using different textile techniques, puzzle cubes and clocks. This term we have been working hard on felt monsters, structures, Art Deco clocks, mechanical toys, and a Design Museum teamwork project.
Life Skills in Year 12
A variety of important topics have already been covered in our Life skills lessons. Towards the start of the school year, we produced and finalised our individual CV’s which will be an important tool to draw on when applying for opportunities. This accompanied with competency based interview practice has been very beneficial in preparing us to provide rapid examples to tricky questions. We do so many things at school it is sometimes hard to put the examples into words when we are put on the spot and asked direct questions around certain areas, such as demonstrating leadership or resilience. Recently we have been learning about racism and xenophobia. I feel it is important to educate younger people on these crucial subjects as most do not understand how frequently these incidents occur. Most recently we have debated current affairs and how the changing economy will affect our generation. Mrs Scott explained interest rates, mortgages, salaries, debits/credits, along with the fast changing inflation rate and the impact of this. Reflecting on the 2008 financial crisis was also enlightening. Our lessons are filled with fun and enjoyment with an icebreaker taking place at the start of every lesson. This involves fun games such as passing a balloon behind your back to your teammates, heads down/thumbs up and wink murder. There was even one lesson where we were separated into teams and challenged to make the tallest possible giraffe adhering to specific rules. The game required high levels of teamwork and creativity to get the tallest giraffe. These icebreakers are a great way to start and relax the students to learn for the rest of the lesson. Along with this it is giving us ideas of how we may motivate and work in teams in the future! Vignesh 12CR
Netball News What a beautiful afternoon for fixtures we had. Our U14B and U15B/C Netball teams had a lot of fun and never gave up! Thank you to Pitsford School for a wonderful afternoon.
Creative Thinking Creative thinking and problem solving from Year 8’s Ed, seen here proposing a rainwater harvesting project to our groundstaff, Estates Bursar and Bursar.
Art Department What better way to start the week than enjoying the work of our students in the Art department.
Our first Careers Lunch took place on Friday 28 January. We welcomed Mr Iwan Ellis all the way from Cardiff University to speak about 'Applying to Medicine and Dentistry'. Students had signed up ahead of time and helped themselves to sandwiches, fruit and cake in the Marketing Suite which lent a business-like backdrop to our Careers Lunch. Mr Ellis started by showing our potential Medics and Dentist a film where Cardiff University School of Medicine students talked about the most rewarding areas of their training, it also showcased the facilities available at Cardiff University School of Medicine and key skills that Medics and Dentists in training would need. Mr Ellis talked us through the structure of training at Cardiff University, then we looked at different frameworks of training at all universities – Traditional, Problem Based, Case Based Learning and Integrated, we also heard about 'Intercalation' whereby certain courses include an extra year of study where students can specialise or study abroad. Mr Ellis identified how important Work Experience is for prospective Medics and Dentists and mentioned that in these times where face to face work experience is hard to secure, students can be thinking of upskilling using virtual work experience. We moved on to talk about MMI (Multiple Mini Interviews) and Mr Ellis gave the students some ideas of what admissions officers and interviewers would be looking for and how to stand out; highlighting transferrable skills, presenting yourself well and showing empathy were cited as being extremely important, the following example was given; if the actor playing the patient is crying and there is a box of tissues available, offer them a tissue and ask how they are. We addressed calendar dates by when students will need to apply for Medicine and Dentistry via UCAS, good steps to take such as visiting for Open Days to get a feel for each institution, signing up for notifications from the Universities and Medical schools that the students are most interested in and joining University buddy forums where students can ask questions of current Medical and Dentistry students. Mr Ellis then opened the floor for students to ask questions about the application process. The talk was informative and timely, and the students have been given the presentation and resources to refer back to as they progress through their application process. Alex Arber Head of careers
Senior School DT The pupils have been busy in the DT Department working on a diverse range of projects, at the end of last term the Year 7 pupils used a 3D CAD package to design Eco-Houses and completed a bridge structures project. The Year 8’s produced cloth bags using different textile techniques and the groups in the workshop made clocks. Additionally this term we have been working hard on felt monsters, mechanical toys, and a Design Museum teamwork project. The Year 10s have finished their lamp project and are busy making picture frames, mixing traditional woodworking skills with modern prototyping techniques. The Year 11s are working on their final projects for their GCSEs, which range from designing products to help support people with neurodiversity, to products that promote the leisure industry. It's a busy time for our pupils who have to demonstrate their design skills and make working prototypes to test and prove their developed solutions. A Level work this year is very impressive, although the pupils had less time in the workshop during last year than previous year groups, in true Wellingborough style they have risen to the challenge, working on a range of prototypes to meet the demands of their clients, ranging from desks optimised for the home worker to water filtration equipment for disaster relief situations.
Bread Week
Bread week! The penultimate cooking week for the Gala dinner would have made Paul Hollywood proud.
Cricket News
Congratulations to our U15 girls indoor cricketers who won their county qualifier this evening. Winning totals of 96 and 119 enough to get them over the line in the 8 over format. We look forward to the county finals next week.
https://issuu.com/wellingboroughschool/docs/all_pages_without_cutlines?fr=sMzgzMzM1NjQ3MTI
Our 2020 - 2021 Wellingburian is out now.
UKMT Maths Challenge It has been a very busy term for maths challenges. The UKMT maths challenge has been running for 25 years and to celebrate they held an online challenge for the best and brightest in Years 7 and 8. We had excellent results, but the top five performers in the school were: Dexter 7PL (88%), Thomas 7PL (84%), Cameron 8GA (80%), James 8PL (80%)and Oscar 8CR (76%) (pictured below) Well done to all who took part but big congratulations to these boys. Pupils from Years 9 – 11 also took part in the intermediate maths challenge at the beginning of February. We have not yet had the results for this challenge but are very pleased with the 48 pupils who took part and are hoping for similarly impressive performance from them. Pupils in Year 7 and Year 8 will get the chance to compete again in the Junior Maths Challenge in April as well as selected teams taking part in the Open Mathematics Enrichment Conference being held on 15th March. This event has been rescheduled from earlier in the year and is now being held online.
Netball News Busy day for all of our senior Netballers today in this beautiful weather! We were able to take away some cracking results, particularly our 1st VII team for 2/2 convincing wins against Kings Ely and Wisbech. Our U14A’s also held their nerve to take a thrilling 1-goal 30-29 win!
What a fantastic evening. The food was amazing, the service attentive and the musicians set the ambience!
On the Chef's side I found it enjoyable to work in a pressured professional environment alongside a group of people who have made a career in this industry. It was a great feeling to see your product enjoyed by others, and it gave me and the rest of the chef team a real sense of pride alongside lifetime skills and memories. Callum Y12
Both my husband and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The food was excellent and the service and attention to detail was second to none and an awful lot better than some professional events we have attended in the past. You should be very proud of all the students and what they achieved as it really was a very memorable evening. Parent email One of many lovely reviews from the evening
What a wonderful evening, the dining hall looked amazing, with the tables set and decorated elegantly, with the fairy lights in bottles created a welcoming ambience. The students were focussed and eager to get the evening underway, the chef team had their Wellingborough School aprons on, whilst the front of House Team wore traditional white shirts and back bottoms. The pianists helped create a relaxing atmosphere through well-chosen and executed pieces of music. The night itself held a buzz, parents enjoyed socialising and getting to know newer parents to the School. The appetisers alone were delicate, tasty and filling, even before we sat down to enjoy a mouth-watering three course meal. Whilst the night was in full swing the students were busy preparing the next dishes, ensuring drinks were replenished and selling raffle tickets to raise money for the School Cancer charity (£640 was raised on the evening). The event was a triumph which couldn’t have been achieved without all the past weeks of preparation and training and on the day itself the students had been at School all day in lessons and from 3pm they were busy preparing the hall, food and finalising the last details for the event. I would like to thank all the students for their hard work, Chartwells for helping to guide and train the students and the parents and staff who attended on the evening. I eagerly look forward to next year’s Gala Dinner, but wonder how they will be able to trump this one! Sarah Baxby Head of Sixth Form
Rugby Update
The School season may be over but that hasn't stopped our Year 13 stars of Harvey (Platt's), Will (Garne's) and Toby (Garne's) from pushing their achievements even further. Last weekend they represented the Midlands at an England training camp, as pictured here. Maybe Eddie Jones should be taking a look!
Forensics Club Forensics Club have started to investigate the suspicious death of Norman Nobody. Their investigation will include fingerprint analysis, hair sample analysis, blood-splatter analysis, chromatography, handwriting analysis and footprint analysis. We hope they’ve gathered enough evidence to find out what happened to Norman. Three suspects have already been brought in for questioning. Rebecca Hill Head of Science
Football Update
1st, 2nd & 3rd XI in action this afternoon. Best performance of the season for the 1st XI!
Rugby Update
A great win for the U16 VII in the first game of the day against the hosts at QE Barnet! With a final score of 29-7.
Drama Rehearsals are in full swing for the swashbuckling performance of Treasure Island. During Open Morning we were able to make great progress and now the students are really developing their Marauding Pirate skills! We are all praying for a sunny evening for the performance this summer, as we hope to be out on the Headmaster's Lawn. The audience will be able to bring picnics and make a lovely evening of it.
Equestrian Team Equestrian Team qualifies for Royal Windsor Horse Show 2022 At their first outing in two years, 4 riders from the Wellingborough Equestrian Team will be competing in The Royal Windsor Horse Show in May 2022. The event was due to take place on Monday with 5 teams but, owing to extreme weather, was rescheduled for Thursday. This meant we shrunk from 5 teams in three events to 1 team in 1 event. But the team members did not let this get to them. Instead the team rallied, and all achieved clear rounds at 90/95 and came in as the fastest overall time to qualify for this prestigious event in Windsor and Hickstead. Georgie H (12Ma) and Ollie H (12Ga), kicked off the event with Georgie riding clear with Frisk and Ollie safely clear with James. Lucy P (9Ma) was next, riding Charlie clear in her first event for the school which gave Jemima C (9WY) the chance to speed around the course on Bramble and take a full 5 seconds off the overall score. As the team has not ridden together before this win was a fantastic achievement. Ella B (10Ma) also competed individually with her young 5-year-old Brian who behaved impeccably and also came clear in the event. This fabulous start for the school shows great promise with this talent in the show jumping team. We also look forward to supporting Izzy W (11Ma) in her BE Pony Trials with the aim for the Pony Championship at Belsay in May and we also look forward to supporting Jemima C who has qualified for the British Show jumping National Pony Finals in April.
Spring Concert
Tuesday saw the exceptional Spring Concert, within which many Senior School students performed, either individually or collectively. A huge thanks must go to Mr Runnells and his team for putting it all together, but it is also worth highlighting the Year 13s who performed for us for what might be the very last time. Emily-May, Maria, Zsofia, Tanaka, Ria and Fiona have given so much to the School in this regard (and many others), and they deserve a special mention.
Biology Update Another busy term for Year 13, with mock exams and the completion of their practical assessments. They have checked for signs of diabetes in Tom, Dick and Harry’s urine samples, designed mazes for maggots and most impressively genetically engineered bacteria to glow under UV light. CSI Wellingborough will be in town next week for a final murder investigation. Year 9 have been exploring the nervous system, a fun practical to test the senses was particularly popular – with Starburst flavours under investigation and mirror drawing causing much confusion. Year 12 have been preparing for the STEM Fair and I know the results have been much enjoyed – the Biology elements including a heart dissection and a fascinating array of animals.
Culture Week Last week Wellingborough School had it's very first culture week. Culture week is a week where we celebrate Wellingborough's diverse cultures and help educate students about different cultures. The culture week was made possible by the students in the Inclusivity Club. During the week we had different activities to help promote different cultures. We had a quiz for all students to test their knowledge on different cultures. Throughout the week we served South Asian food in the dining hall, which everybody enjoyed. And finally on the last day we had stalls with different activities, which ran over both lunches so that everybody could be involved. Our most popular stall was the food stall, which had food from all over the globe, and was made possible by parents who brought in food from their own country. We also had a stall teaching people how to tie a sari and a stall with henna. These were also very popular and lots of fun. The other stalls had a carrom board, music, and a stall with diverse authors. The week was a huge success, and we hope to do it again. Blessing (12G)
For more information, please do not hesitate to contact our dedicated Admissions Team on 01933 222427 or admissions@wellingboroughschool.org. Further details, and the dates for key admissions events and deadlines, can be found on our website at https://www.wellingboroughschool.org/ Wellingborough School