BAROMETER THE
WETHERBY SENIOR SCHOOL WEEKLY MARCH 25th 2019 | WEEK 11
FIELD DAY!
FROM THE HEADMASTER Dear Parents, I was interested to read in the TES this week a piece in support of unexamined subjects in the school curriculum but giving the time for children to broaden their horizons by learning without the need for a final assessment and also the importance of the opportunities to learn about themselves and face challenges outside the classroom. As you know we have had philosophy as a subject for all boys from Year 7 that is not formally assessed and is included because of the value it adds to the boys’ education – thinking and engaging with challenging problems for the confusion, the open ended problem solving and the reward of understanding, hopefully, the new concept. For the boys to have time in the week to think unemcumbered of concerns about a final mark is a fantastic opportunity and one of the things I enjoy most about this school. But as I cycled home after Thursday night’s performance of ‘Alvin in Wonderland’ I also reflected on the other things that I enjoy about this school and that is the ‘firsts’ that we are still experiencing and the boys who are increasingly
confident in taking on responsibility. This week has provided several examples of how the boys, and the community, are growing and maturing. ‘Alvin’, a play in seven scenes by seven Tribs, written by Miss Twomey, but directed, rehearsed and acted by the boys was a fantastic evening with 70 boys on stage over the course of the evening. House Drama festivals have the potential to be patchy affairs but the consistent quality on offer, the imagination of the boys and the clever staging made for a wonderfully entertaining evening. Fleet took home the crown but for the two youngest Tribs to take home second and third was a great achievement. Another first for the School this week, lead by some of the Year 11, is a trainer day in aid of the charity Young Minds. This is a cause that the boys feel very strongly about and I am pleased that they have taken the initiative to raise money for this worthwhile charity that supports young people. Edward in Year 8 has also shown leadership again this term by selling daffodils for Marie Curie Cancer care; I am sure he will match the success he has had in the past selling poppies. Finally, another first for the School is out first Silver
Duke of Edinburgh expedition which I hope will soon be followed by our first boys achieving the Gold Award next year. The lessons learnt from this wonderful award and the challenges faced by the boys both on the expedition but on the other aspects of the award are considerable and there is no doubt that the boys learn a lot about themselves, teamwork and leadership. Of course, these are excellent opportunities for the boys to learn but they still have the caring and supportive teachers of Wetherby Senior School behind them to support, advise and encourage. To list all the staff involved in the Trib Drama, the trainer day and the Duke of Edinburgh expeditions this weekend would be too long a list to include here. I am very grateful to all of them for finding the time to provide these opportunities in the middle of writing reports, prepping the Year 11 for GCSE exams and delivering the high quality lessons for which they are known. Have a good weekend.
WEEK A MONDAY
WEEKLY DIARY 01.04.19
NO AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES PROGRAMME THIS WEEK Talk for Sixth Form boys - Careers, Wendy Walton - Francis Holland Regents Park 15:00
TUESDAY
02.04.19 Brass Bash, Hannah House Hall, 18:30-19:30 InterTrib Cross Country Years 9 & 10 14:30
WEDNESDAY
03.04.19
Spring Concert, Hannah House Hall, 18:30-19:30 InterTrib Cross Country Years 7, 8, 11 & 12 14:30 InterTrib Football Years 11 & 12 14:30
THURSDAY
04.04.19
NO TIMETABLED PREP SESSIONS
FRIDAY
05.04.19
SATURDAY
06.04.19
SUNDAY
07.04.19
NO GAMES FOR YEARS 7,8 &12 - FULL SCHOOL UNIFORM NO FRIDAY CLUBS A Level Geography Fieldwork, Somerset (returns 8th April) HM Whole School Assembly at Hinde Street Methodist Church 12:15-13:00 TERM ENDS 13:00
WETHERBY SENIOR SCHOOL WATER BOTTLE Help reduce our school’s plastic consumption by using this personalised Active Bottle, emblazoned with the Wetherby Senior School logo and your own name. Made from highly durable materials, your Active Bottle is easy to open and close, won’t leak and will keep your drinks hot or cold throughout the school day. Active Bottle supports our planet by donating 10% of all their proceeds to aClean Ocean and what’s more, all remaining profits from selling the bottle will go straight to support your school’s PTA and their selective charities. Can’t get better! You can order online at: https://activebottle.co.uk/ collections/wetherby
On Friday 26th April, there will be a staff vs parents football match. If you are interested in taking part, please contact Mr Serkan Bektas who will be organising the team of parents.
Music events next week: Brass Bash Tuesday 18:3019:30 Spring Concert Wednesday 18:30-19:30
IMPORTANT NOTICES
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
Main: Spaghetti and Meatballs
Main: Steak and Mushroom Pie
Main: Chicken curry
Meat Free: Tortellini fromaggio with tomatoes, mushroom and spinach
Meat Free: Leek and Gruyere tart
Meat Free: Lentil Dhal
To Go With: Mashed swede, steamed florettes, parsley potatoes
To Go With: Chana masala, fennel seed rice, Kachumba salad, mini naan bread, rhaita yoghurt
To Go With: Tomato, red onion and boconcini salad, peas and beans, herbed diced potatoes
Dessert: Chocolate Brownie
Dessert: Orange Tart
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
Main: Beef Stroganoff
Main: Beef or chicken burgers
Meat Free: Vegetarian pizzas
Meat Free: Falafel and spinach veggie burgers
To Go With: Pilau rice, French beans, Provencale tomatoes, garlic and parsley pasta Dessert: Orange jelly bowls
To Go With: Chips, oven roasted Mediterranean vegetables, calabrese with garlic and chili
Dessert: Chilled Spanish style rice pudding
EVERY DAY
Homemade Bread Freshly made yogurt pots Fresh Fruit
Dessert: Baked jam roll and custard sauce
MENU
YEAR 7 FIELD DAY: THE LION KING Miss Twomey writes‌ As part of Field Day, the Year 7s were very lucky to take part in a Musical Theatre workshop. It took place at Pineapple Dance Studies (an iconic place for all Performing Arts fans) and the boys had the opportunity to be directed in learning the songs, arrangements and harmonies for The Lion King musical. The teachers on the trip found the musical theatre coach very inspiring and were astounded by the beautiful voices of the Year 7 boys! What a fun workshop! Mr Chidell writes‌ Year 7 boys were transported from an overcast London to the majestic Serengeti on Wednesday, when the whole year group, accompanied by five members of staff, headed to the Lyceum theatre to watch the Lion King. The performance was impressively staged and brought the story to life with some fantastic visuals, including a herd of stampeding wildebeest and a climactic final showdown between the evil usurper, Scar, and the rightful king, Simba. The boys loved the show, especially after having spent the morning learning and performing some of the musical highlights, including such classics as The Circle of Life and Hakuna Matata.
YEAR 8 GEOGRAPHY FIELD WORK Last Wednesday, Year 8 travelled to Stratford to investigate how successful the regeneration of the area has been. They completed questionnaires and surveys to consider how different areas within Stratford have been impacted differently since the Olympic Games in 2012. After a long day walking around the Olympic Park (13km!) we got to enjoy the Arcellor Orbit Slide. Lots of boys faced their fears in going down the world’s longest and fastest tunnel slide!
YEAR 9 VISIT THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM & KEW Mr Meyer writes… On Wednesday, the Year 9 boys visited the Natural History Museum and the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew for their joint Art and Biology Field Day. In the morning, we went to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition at the Natural History Museum, where the boys got the chance to see some breath-taking examples of the world’s best wildlife photography, including this year’s grand title winner, featuring a pair of Quinling golden snub-nosed monkeys,
resting in the canopy of the Quinling Mountains in China. The exhibition runs until 30th June and I would highly recommend a visit! After a little inspiration, we visited Kew in order to give the boys a chance to take their own photographs of animals and plants, within arguably one of the most beautiful botanic gardens in the country. The boys spent several hours taking photographs in the gardens and glass houses, some of them also conquered their fear of heights by walking the treetop walkway!
After a really enjoyable day, the boys will now submit their best wildlife photographs to Mr Meyer, in order to enter our own annual Wildlife Photography Competition, which is held in memory of a former pupil, Marcos Burnett. All of the photographs will be displayed in an exhibition in the Saatchi Gallery on Monday 10th June from 4-6pm, which all parents are invited to attend. We will then use the photographs to put together a calendar, which will be available to purchase in order to raise money for our chosen school charities.
YEAR 10 COMMUNITY SERVICE Miss Nash writes... Half of the Year 10 Community Service boys visited North Paddington Food Bank as part of Field Day. First of all, the boys delivered the donations kindly brought in by members of the School community, which were gratefully received by the food bank. The boys then listened into a briefing given to the adult volunteers about how to interact with service users. The frequent refrain of “be a friendly face” reminded us that for many, using the food bank might be an intimidating or embarrassing experience and seeing welcoming smiles might help to alleviate some of these feelings. One of the workers at the food
bank, Bashir, spoke to the boys about its history and also explained the reasons behind why people find themselves having to use the food bank. I think that some of the boys were surprised to hear that some people who are forced to access the food bank are actually in employment. Bashir explained that this was due to the combination of low wages and rising living costs. After this, the boys got to work on a task which had been set by the manager of the food bank. They had to research how other food banks use social media and come up with ideas of how they could try and enhance their social media presence. I was really impressed with the creative ideas the boys came
up with! Special mention must go to Lorenzo C. and Alex Z. for their superb contributions during this task. Finally, the boys helped to pack away the food bank so that the community centre in which it is housed was cleared and ready to host a women’s group later that afternoon. I was really pleased with the attitude and behaviour of the boys on this trip; they were unfailingly polite to all workers at the food bank they came across. I hope that this visit gave the boys a deeper insight into the work that food banks do and has maybe inspired them to think about how they could volunteer at such places as this when they are older.
YEAR 10 COMMUNITY SERVICE Miss Woods writes… I took a group of the Year 10 Community Service boys to BeeUrban, an environmental enterprise in Kennington, South London. Some of the boys had been during the last Field Day and were excited to come back, for others it was their first time visiting. However, bees were but one part of the many things the boys got to see during the day. The boys were engrossed in hands-on work that contributed to the local environment, such as building and painting sparrow nesting boxes, building beeswax frames and using compost to help grow plants. I was really impressed by the hard work of the boys, and they themselves enjoyed the opportunity to use their ‘green thumb’. Overall, it was an excellent day, with a real ‘hive’ of activity!
YEAR 10 DUKE OF EDINBURGH Mr Dawson writes... For the Year 10 Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Field Day the boys headed out to beautiful Chiltern Hills for some navigation, first aid and stove training. Boys worked in their expedition groups alongside an instructor to practise skills such as bearings, orientating the map and confirming their location against features easily recognisable on the ground. It was a really productive day and great to get that experience just before the boys Practice Expedition this weekend.
YEAR 12 UNIVERSITY VISITS Mrs Deedat writes... On Field Day the Lower Sixth went on a series of independently organised visits to a range of universities, including Imperial College London, King’s Collage London, LSE, Reading and Cambridge.
The boys who went to Imperial College had the opportunity to visit the aerospace department. Some other boys had a useful tour of King's College, London and a talk from student ambassadors. One boy visited the University of Reading and met a lecturer from the Real Estate Department. Two
boys toured the University of Cambridge and one boy went to the London School of Economics and even signed up to the library there! This was a useful day and provided much food for thought for our university applicants.
SPORTS NEWS
Football 1st XI WSS vs City of London School for Boys U18C 3-1 U18B WSS vs City of London School for Boys U18D 1-2 U16A WSS vs City of London School for Boys U17B 3-1
WETHERBY SENIOR SCHOOL SPRING CONCERT Wednesday 3rd April 2019 6:30pm-7:30pm
http://www.wetherbysenior.co.uk