Senior Newsletter Michaelmas 2022

The boys of Garne’s have had a busy start to the new academic year Our Year 9’s are settling in well to their shared room with Year 12, and my new prefect team have been busy getting to know each pupil in the House

We thank Owain and the prefects for organising and leading this year ’ s charity football competition, and congratulations must go to Team Robson / Hadi for their overall victory last Wednesday evening A special mention also to Ben S for winning the coveted Golden Boot with a grand total of 5 goals

Our Book of Condolence

Thank you to Year 12 students, Bethany and Helena, for helping to organise our Book of Condolence following the death of Her Majesty the Queen The Book, which was available in reception, remained open for the School community to pay their respects

This term, the Key Stage 3 Drama Club are working on a very different kind of School Production: Wellingburian Gothic - a podcast anthology of chilling audio plays for the festive season, in the spirit of telling ghost stories at Christmas

Our fantastic cast of students in Years 7, 8, and 9 will be showcasing their voice acting talents, as well as their ability to create atmosphere with ‘foley’ sound effects Each episode will feature original theme music composed by Year 13 student Tommy, Cripps’ and artwork produced by Key Stage 3 Art students

Wellingburian Gothic consists of six spooky episodes, listen now via the link above The Drama Department hope that you will make yourselves comfortable, listen in and won’t be too afraid

Behind the scenes - the recording of some of the Wellingburian Gothic episodes!

A S P I R E T R I P - L O N D O N

Twenty members of the Aspire group went on a trip to London We started in the British Library Treasures room, seeing Shakespeare’s First Quarto and original drawings by Da Vinci We then moved across the road to the Welcome Collection and discovered more about the history of Medicine After negotiating The Tube without losing anyone on the way we walked through Hyde Park and down to the Museum area in Kensington

Science Museum

After having lunch in Hyde Park, we re-joined the group outside the Albert Memorial It was heart-warming to see the floral tribute for the queen as we walked through the park Following a short 5-minute walk, we arrived at the Science Museum Our first stop was Floor 2: The Clockmakers Museum, where we saw row upon row of clock faces big, small, old, and even older The level of detail was fascinating as well as the brief descriptions of each set Unfortunately, Floor 1 was closed for maintenance, so we missed out on the medicine exhibit which would’ve been a highlight With not a moment to spare, we took a quick trip around the Energy Hall which was full of different methods (both old and new) of making energy Finally, we looked at the Exploring Space exhibition which hosted impressive full-sized models of various space parts (Emma Y12)

The Natural History Museum

The Natural History Museum was one of the final museums we visited It was a beautiful building filled with a huge variety of exciting and fascinating exhibits that range from crystals and stones to huge dinosaurs and ancient fossils It had exhibits that were linked to History, Geography as well as medicine and animal studies As you walked in the door the entire building was set as though you were in space with a giant sculpture that you went through as you went up the escalator The entire museum is full of interactive displays, and some have some amazing videos and experiences to be a part of as you walk round One of my favourite exhibits was the well-known Dippy the dinosaur (Helena Y12)

The V&A

Chock full of all sorts of objects the V&A is immense Pupils looked at fashion through the ages, beautiful jewellery, sculptures and statues, everything housed in a museum worthy building

Regents Park Theatre

After a short walk-through Regent’s Park, we arrived at the open-air theatre to see a modern reimagining of the Greek tragedy, Antigone The theatre itself was stunning as it was lit up with fairy lights and was much larger than any of us were expecting! We took our seats and wrapped up warm as the play began The stage was cleverly arranged with bright pink blocks, spelling out “Antigone”, which broke apart as the drama ensued The script was easy to follow and incorporated modern allusions into the original monologues Music and dynamic movement helped to move the story along whilst creating tension and highlighted the dystopian tone Inua Ellams, the playwright, brought up the issue of religion vs morals, and which was more important, whilst also incorporating relevant issues such as racism in schools and gender equality This made us question what we believed in and stirred up some interesting discussions on the journey home! In addition, the show focuses on its accessibility, one of the main characters was played by a deaf actor which was interesting to see how all interactions with him were through sign language Overall, Antigone showed how some ancient texts are still current and their stories can be applied to modern day issues

(Flo 12WY)

B B C R I C K S H A W C H A L L E N G E

Many of you will have visited the Children in Need website and will know the incredible battle that Tabitha won just before she joined us in Year 12, and it is her drive and spirit that led to her being selected as today’s Rickshaw rider with Matt Baker The BBC turned up early, and I can’t thank Mr Spiby and our Admissions Team enough for the work they did in advance to get things sorted Meeting some of Tabitha’s family that I’ve not seen before just emphasised what an incredible journey she has had, and her time at Wellingborough has only been possible because of the skill and support of so many fantastic people

The whole school turned out to see Matt Baker, Pudsey and the entourage, and I’m sure that the BBC could not have hoped for a better send off for the last full day of the Rickshaw Challenge The students were fantastic, cheering Tabitha off and hopefully giving her that last bit of oomph to cycle the 36 miles to Silverstone today It felt so, so special, with what must have been a thousand people lining the route

For those parents who would like to support Tabitha's fundraising efforts as part of the Rickshaw Challenge, donations can be made to her Just Giving page at the link below

At 2 30am on a Sunday morning, the Year 13 Physicists and Computer Scientists convened ready for a long journey to Geneva, Switzerland Our first day was spent exploring the city, including a boat trip, which was educational and completely Physics-related, of course During this time, one member of the group spotted a total of 47 cranes (a fact he was, and still is, incredibly proud of)

Day 2 was the big day, our visit to the large hadron collider At CERN, we were shown where the world wide web was created, along with the Antimatter Factory (yes, it’s actually called that) and the CERN museum After grabbing some dinner, we sat down to a heated game of cards and a shocking table football performance from the inferior Physics class (again, very educational)

On our third and final day in Switzerland, we continued to explore a different area of the city After attempting to visit the Palace of Nations, we visited the Red Cross Museum and Broken Chair Monument before heading to the botanical gardens This brought James an interesting new experience with what he calls “chamobean” tea, which “tastes like a zoo smells ”

Before returning to the airport for our flight home, we made our way to St Pierre’s Cathedral at the top of the hill, where you can climb the spire and find the most amazing views across the city After the group split in half, spending the remaining time either bowling or playing giant chess in the park, we returned home for a couple of hours sleep before coming back to school bright and early

Annabelle 13WY

The new Sixth Form centre has been a great space for myself and the students in both my year and the one above to use The space looks and feels like a university environment where we have been able to work during our study periods and free time I have personally enjoyed being able to use the kitchen where I have been able to make many hot drinks! I’ve made use of the classrooms where I have worked with others on reading ahead on my subject topics and discussed the topics and views on what we had covered already It’s a been good to be given the independence to study in a working environment rather than a silent space Having both year groups mixing and interacting has been a real benefit Noah 12PL

Y E A R 9 F I R S T W O R L D W A R

B A T T L E F I E L D T R I P

It was lovely to be able to offer this 'milestone' trip to the whole of Year 9 again Whilst the 4am start wasn't a first (and thank you to parents for doing the school run at that hour), watching a 67-seat coach being negotiated into the channel tunnel was certainly a first

Below are some reflections from pupils, who were beautifully interested, reflective and considered at all the places we visited We were complimented at many sites about the behaviour of our pupils and credit to them as some were a little under the weather The Menin Gate ceremony in Ypres, in which Hugo, Lottie, Emelia and Bethany represented the School by laying a wreath was a standout spine tingling moment Oscar laying a wreath and Alfie, William, Usman, Cadham and AJ reading aloud the names of the Wellingburians lost at the Somme, followed by a minute's silence was poignant and I'm proud that again, we did remember them

Jane Selby, Head of History

Day 1

We went to Hill 62 preserved trenches It was astonishing to see these trenches and how they were built and how the zigzag nature was confusing but built because it absorbed the impact of shells and stopped bullets travelling the length of a trench if the enemy got in We then went to Hooge cemetery and had the gravestones explained Then to Flanders Field Museum and some of the facts were heart breaking In the evening we had a singsong of songs like 'Goodbyeee' and 'I don't want to be a soldier' At the time it was meant to cheer the soldiers up

Biagio 9GA

Day 2

This started with Lochnagar Crater on the Somme It was created by a huge mine blowing up the German trenches from underneath them on 1 July 1916 At the time it was the loudest man-made sound ever heard Then we went to Thiepval Memorial to the missing of the Somme and read out the name of the lost Wellingburians In the evening at the Menin Gate ceremony, it showed the dedication and respect Ypres has shown as the ceremony has happened every day of the year since the 1920s and only stopped during World War Two

Lucy 9WY

On the final day we went to Langemark cemetery, which was for German soldiers The Belgium Government did not want to give land to bury their enemy, so mass graves were dug One of these had 22,000 soldiers in it It was dark and cold and solemn In conclusion, the Battlefields trip was a very good and tiring trip because of all the learning, shopping and eating we did

We were delighted to welcome the return of the Macmillan Breakfast that raised £493 78 for our nominated House Charity Nevill House are hugely grateful to all of those who support this fundraising event and donated so generously The Year 12 and 13 girls were superbly efficient in their service and always accompanied it with a smile and good humour

Katy 9MA

Our thanks to Kirstie and her team for producing a superb spread of sandwiches and cakes and also for their support with the Macmillan Breakfast Morning

The U14 Netball team enjoyed a keenly fought tournament gaining 2nd place to secure their progression to the Regional Finals in 2023

L O N D O N A R T T R I P

We started by getting the train from Wellingborough to St Pancras, London and then got the tube to the Affordable Art Fair in Battersea Park The Art Fair was huge, there was a large variety of art forms and techniques that we could observe and take inspiration from with over 1000 original pieces We spent 2 hours exploring the Affordable Art Fair, walking down each aisle and took hundreds of photos Then we embarked on journey across the Thames We saw Big Ben, the London Eye, the Houses of Parliament and all the wonderful architecture of the bridges and the elaborate houses and buildings along the riverside

Our boat trip landed us at the Tate Modern Walking around the museum there were many interpretative art works, there were sculptures- some wire, some made out of blinds, some out of furniture, some wood There were videos which explored meanings in different topics like the effect of the movies, the war and ants There were abstract, surreal, detailed photographs and paintings In the Museum we went to the Yayoi Kusama exhibition, which was mesmerising; the lights were reflecting everywhere, the walls were mirrored and the floor was all water The colours were fading into each other in a cycle captivating your eyes from all over the room Kusama created a beautiful display of visual relaxation After that we had a lovely dinner at Pizza Express and got the train home

Holly 12MA

This year we have welcomed a new geography teacher into the department Miss Smith is teaching Years 7-12 this year and is enjoying getting to know the pupils and the school

The Year 13s have had a busy start to the year with a fieldtrip to the north Norfolk coast this week

We did a couple of nice coastal walks where we saw sand dunes, salt marshes, cliffs and various coastal management techniques We were very fortunate with the weather as well!

C A R E E R S I N B R O A D C A S T I N G

C A R E E R S L U N C H

We were delighted to be given the opportunity to have a talk by Tom Percival, a Radio Northampton journalist on ‘Careers in Broadcasting’ We turned up and were thrilled by the array of sandwiches the canteen staff had made for us as well as meeting Tom who was very welcoming He shared with us a voice recording of his interview with Tabitha for the Rickshaw Challenge which allowed us to grasp the type of work he does He then spoke to us about what his career entails and the best ways to get into the industry It was a very informative talk which opened our minds into the career path Thank you to Mrs Arber for organising and Tom Percival for spending the time with us

Anya 13NE

B

It was a real privilege for the school to host two Barbarians training sessions ahead of their fixture against Northampton Saints

The Barbarian FC was founded in 1890 and is truly a touring team They have no home ground and no clubhouse The club aim to encapsulate the great things about rugby, namely FLAIR, COURAGE, SPIRIT & PASSION

A R B A R I A N S R U G B Y

C O O K O F F

Students took part in a ‘Cook Off ‘event arranged by the Catering team Healthy eating was promoted, and culinary skills gained whilst also uncovering some hidden talents

C A R E E R S C O N V E N T I O N 2 0 2 2

Wellingborough School's Careers Convention took place this year on 1st December 2022 It is a chance for students and parents to explore different career paths and to talk to a variety of businesses and universities This year we had a wide range of participants ranging from Volkswagen to The Royal and Derngate; even with a visit from local businesses such as BBC Radio Northampton Personally, I am specifically interested in veterinary, however the great thing about the Careers Convention is you meet people even if they are not directly in your field of interest For example, I had a very inspiring discussion with an ambassador from Dr Martens (the shoe company) where he talked about how important individuality is and how expressing yourself is vital in any industry

Unfortunately, owing to the pandemic, this is the first Careers Convention to take place in three years and the first one I’ve had the pleasure of attending The Headmaster said that ”he was excited to be catching up on missed time so quickly and that he felt like the atmosphere was buzzing” and having spoken to some of the students and parents attending I would say that they would agree The variety of companies and universities present made it a warm and inviting event where students could get to know more about the different career paths At Wellingborough, events like this (especially after covid) are vital to bring the school together to celebrate the opportunities that the school provides and to look towards the future Lastly, I just want to say a big thank you to Mrs Arber, Mrs Baxby, Mrs Brailsford, the catering team and any other staff involved in organising such an amazing evening

Helena 12NE Architecture