The Barometer Week 1 Spring

BAROMETER THE

WETHERBY SENIOR SCHOOL WEEKLY JANUARY 8th 2018 | WEEK 1

A Christmas Round-Up

HEADMASTER’S NEWSLETTER NEXT WEEK’S DIARY IMPORTANT NOTICES

FROM THE HEADMASTER

Dear Parents, This week’s Barometer largely showcases the performing arts that took place at the end of last term. A fantastic concert showed the ever growing number of boys involved in making music and the range of music being produced, from solo performances to ensemble pieces, along with the two Year 7 brass groups.

It was a great fun evening and one which I am sure will continue to grow as the Music department develops.

There were also two dramatic productions, the Christmas Cabaret which saw large numbers of boys involved, many taking their first steps onto the stage in a variety of sketches that challenged the boys acting abilities and sets the stage for this term’s Senior Production, a play written by Miss Twomey with a title to be revealed. The Staff Pantomime gave the boys a chance to see the staff performing at the end of term and it was a great send off.

The final assembly before the pantomime was an opportunity to celebrate

what had been a very successful term with boys given awards for their effort, their achievement and their contribution to the School community. Large numbers of boys were also recognised for the number of Gold Notes they had amassed over the course of a term. The academic side of school life now looms large for the Year 11 in particular, as they are coming to the end of their first week of mock examinations.

These are an important ‘dry run’ for the boys with the real GCSEs only twelve school weeks away.

I have been pleased to see the boys approaching them so seriously and, when the results are published, they will have a clear idea of whether they are on course to meet their aspirations and, if they are not, the staff will be able to give guidance on the areas they need to work on before the summer. Feedback will be given at the upcoming Parents’ Evening which will help them not only to focus their efforts but should also guide their A Level options.

Academic challenges are only one of the challenges

the boys face as they grow up: the peer pressure to use illegal drugs and alcohol; learning how to form positive, respectful relationships with both boys and girls and how to move past traditional models of masculinity that, as recent revelations have shown, can be damaging to individuals and communities. Next week speakers from Great Men (ww.greatmen.org) will be coming to talk to boys in Year 9 and there is also a presentation for parents in the evening. Similarly, later in the term, speakers from the McLellan Practice are speaking to both boys, and in the evening, parents on the risks of drugs and alcohol. I do not need to explain how important an understanding of these challenges faced by our young men around these issues will be, as we work together to support them and I encourage you to attend.

Happy New Year. I wish you a happy and successful 2018.

WEEKLY DIARY MONDAY

15.01.18

ACTIVITIES START Year 11 mock exams (until Friday 19th January - Hannah House) ‘Great Men’ PSHE Seminars for Year 9 14:15-17:20 ‘Great Men’ presentation for parents 18:30 - 20:00 Games Years 7 & 10

TUESDAY

16.01.18 Games Year 8 & 9

WEDNESDAY

17.01.18

Games Years 7 & 10

THURSDAY

18.01.18

FRIDAY

19.01.18

SATURDAY

20.11.17

SUNDAY

21.11.17

Games Year 8 & 9

HM Assembly at Hinde Street Methodist Church

15:00-15:30

IMPORTANT NOTICES

KS4 English Support Club starts on Wednesday 17th January at 07:55. Next week we will be revising Q2 and descriptive writing. All other sessions this half-term will focus on Macbeth. Please be punctual! All those who have been requested to attend must, but anybody is free to come if you would like some extra help!

English SPAG Club will run at 1:40 in Room 3 with Miss Kirk. I look forward to seeing regular attendees there, in addition to anybody else who would like to attend for some extra help with their writing.

DATE FOR ALL YEAR 11 PARENTS’ DIARIES Tuesday 30th January 2018, 18:30 Year 11 parents and boys’ talk: UK university admissions.

Dr Will McMorran from Queen Mary, University of London and Wetherby Senior parent.

MENU

MONDAY

TUESDAY

Soup: Courgette Soup

Soup: Tomato

Main: Prawn and Vegetable Curry

Main: Spaghetti Bolognese

Meat Free: Macaroni and cheese

Meat Free: Tomato and Basil Pasta Bake

To Go With: Herbed Potato Wedges Steamed Rice Raita Naan Bread Sautéed Spinach Dessert: Vanilla Sponge Cake

Soup: Roasted Pepper And Tomato

WEDNESDAY Soup: Chicken Noodle Main: Fish Fingers Meat Free: Rocket Pesto Pasta with Sundried Tomatoes

To Go With: Aubergine Parmesan Garlic Bread Baby Carrots

To Go With: Sweet Potato Wedges Steamed Garden Peas Traditional Mushy Peas Tartare Sauce

Dessert: Jelly Pots

THURSDAY

Main: Baked Chicken breast and Vegetables

To Go With: Egg fried rice Balsamic Roasted Vine Tomatoes Grilled Yellow Courgette Baby Spinach

Meat Free: Vegetable stir fry with noodles

Dessert: Chocolate brownie

Soup: Mushroom and Tarragon Main: Meat Feast Pitta Bread Pizza Meat Free: Roasted Vegetable and Feta Pitta Bread Pizza

Freshly Made Bread To Go With: Oven Roasted Chips Mixed Garden Vegetables Green Salad Dessert: Chocolate Mousse

Homemade Salads Vegetable Crudités With Hummus Sandwich & Wrap Selection Meat & Cheese Platters Fresh Fruit Yogurt Pots

EVERY DAY

FRIDAY

Dessert: Winter Berry Eton Mess

CHRISTMAS CABARET

Mr Warner writes...

Scanning the programme, any member of the audience could be forgiven, as they sat listening to Mr McFaul’s festive rhythms before the start, for thinking that Miss Twomey was reaching for Wagnerian inspiration in the scope of what she was attempting.

With a cast exceeding 60 boys, this promised to be an epic performance.

Act 1 THE BIG PICTURE: You always know it is going to be an interesting evening when the first act shows up dressed as a set of crayons. What followed was a fantastic display of comic acting at its most wacky.

The cast managed to bring a fantastic, energetic sense of fun to the scene as the anxiously speculated about just which colour the dastardly toddler, Debbie, would grab before smearing their waxen, coloured guts over her page. If the audience were nervous at first, this set us all at ease: the night was going to be funny and hands came together in rapture for Danny, Robert, Beau, Max, Seb and Matteus.

AUDITION: We’ve all been in that room – languid interviewer wielding a venomous clipboard whilst affecting boredom facing you across a desk. This scene saw the two unfortunate actors (Sam and Gabriel) putting their all into impressing the director and we warmed to their hopeless efforts, only to be delighted by the final punchline

that Gabriel was in fact Sam’s uncle who had been roped in to make his nephew look good!

THE SILENT ONES: If the first two acts hadn’t prepared the audience for an evening of comedy from outside of the box, then this one certainly pressed down on the Pythonesque accelerator. K (William) has set up a club for silent consonants and is determined that this should be at the exclusive end of Pall Mall establishments. What followed was a thoroughly entertaining series of arguments as successive consonants B (Josh) ‘you doubt me!’, W (Federico), C (Sherif) and L (Aiden) knocked on the door and argued that they too could be silent. Poor K was distraught that his elite aspirations were being successively diluted. By the final toast to ‘the silent consonants of the English language’ the audience was chuckling away and happy to be there.

CONTROLLING INTEREST: Imagine if all 8 year old boys wore business suits and discussed serious issues such as the regular running of playground swings in boardroom jargon – now you are on the level of this ensemble. Jack (Adam) was the CEO of the eight year old boys and is trying to sell a new idea to his team (Jose, Sam and Lorenzo) that, in order to be taken seriously, it is time they thought about the ‘ppppposibility of liking girls…’ This is met with mixed reactions from the team.

Enter Ashley (Nico) and

‘the accomplished’ Bethany (Atticus). Both sides had their characters honed to a wicked comic edge: the boys were nervy, playful and clearly out of their depth, whilst the girls lived up to their ‘taller, smarter, more accomplished’ tag line. Nico deployed clicks with brutal effectiveness to deliver his points and set out the girls’ demands thus: they will be friends with the boys in exchange for nothing less than their ‘complete, undivided attention until the end of time…. Oh and stop doing stupid stuff.’

SURPRISE: Have you ever wondered what it would be like to date a psychic? Happily we in the audience had Anthony and Max acting out exactly this experience. Max played Peter, the dry psychic, Anthony was Whitney, the frustrated girlfriend. Whitney is trying to dump Peter, but he can’t let her finish a sentence as he knows everything she will say, and she becomes more and more frustrated, all the while they are being waited on by the lovely Esther who helpfully serves up ‘one I’m being dumped special’ but surprised us all when she proposed to the dumped Peter at the end! I was confused, but also laughing…

THE SPOT: This was a Year 7 performance and it transported the audience into a classic American election campaign HQ where Roger (Oscar) was trying to find a woman who would strike a chord with the public. Deploying a fantastic accent, Oscar, assisted by Chumley (Tom) is examining

Betsy (Ramzi) who is a young mum: trustworthy, honourable and not at all what he wants.

Happily Nelson (James) was crunching the data and comes up with Gloria (Max) who better embodies the Americans Roger is hoping to capture.

I can’t have been the only audience member preparing to duck as the boys whipped up an impromptu Starbucks on stage, but there was no spillage on this night.

CHOCOLATE: The final act of this half saw a lovely old lady (Luca) being interrogated by a detective (Max) investigating the disappearance of her husband. Butter wouldn’t have melted in Luca’s mouth as she demurely purred that yes, 47 sacks was a lot of cement, but Max seemed happy with the explanation. Suddenly Max spots a stain – what is that on the carpet, blood? Luca explains it is fancy chocolate and prepares to biff Max with a hefty picture frame, for fear of being uncovered, but no, Max straightens up: not dark chocolate, but Nestle! Luca gives in, yes, he ate a common Kit Kat. The horror. A super ending to the first half.

Act 2 CHEQUE PLEASE: In this brave new world of internet dating the whole process must be rather like a merrygo-round cum circus arena in which dates follow on like a bizarre human menagerie.

Well, you would be forgiven for thinking this on having seen this sketch. We see every worst date you can imagine: boors, football addicts tied to

the radio, needy, too organised, dressed in sack cloth, practising dating for a film role, geriatric, too phobic, a mime…. By the end the audience was beginning to feel somewhat sorry for Guy and Girl who seemed so lost in this cacophony of dating awfulness.

Happily, having waded through the characters, excellently played by Luca, Pietro, Faris, Hasan Karim, Rocco, Lorenzo, Danny, Akshay and Edward, both Guy (Charlie) and Girl (Jacques) find each other. What a relief!

BACKWARDS ARREST: Here was a scene both written and acted out by the Year 11s and they did a superb job. Set in court, Nelson was a frustrated judge, Bennet a sly lawyer, Oli a firm policeman and Pip the accused, meanwhile Sean was a somewhat confused lover in search of his would be affianced. The boys had a great on stage rapport and even managed to get in some audience participation with charming echoes of One Man Two Guvnors, as they sought out reliable witnesses; a great effort.

TIES THAT BIND: Mime can be a brutal art form that leaves its practitioners helpless as the ability to speak is taken from them, but not so this pair. The ringmaster (Adam) entered with convincing bombast and introduced the escape artist (Raphael) who was doomed to mime escaping from his own life. What followed was an electrifying performance as Raphael delivered a ‘mimeologue’ of his life, as set

out by Adam, hilarious and impressive.

MISS YOU: This sketch brought a change of pace to proceedings with something a little more serious. A husband (Harry) and wife (Harrison) are having a chat on the phone, Harry was the earnest partner, Harrison, emulating fab Almodovarian feminine apathy for tedious men, was wonderfully bored by her partner’s wittering. Soon we know why: no sooner is Harry gone, then she is on the phone to Man B (Tobias) and her whole demeanour is transformed. To the audience’s delight, Harrison’s enthusiam is clearly wasted on Tobi who is more interested in his games console than her advances.

Adding further comedy, we then learn that not only is Tobi also pursuing another women (Harry) who was cutting in his disdain for Tobias’s advances, but Harrison’s husband is returning sooner than expected! The piece required perfect timing as the farce grew in intensity. The slick interplay of the telephone dialogue was impressive.

THE TARANTINO VARIATION: Three gun toting suits entered (Alex, Monty and Evangelos) and soon these wannabe Reservoir Dogs were having a full blown argument in which all three are pointing guns in a circle of menace. The tension poured off the stage and had the audience gripped.

As their philosophy teacher, I was delighted to see these boys had been grappling with such a knotty problem as how

to reason their way out of this gun slinging tangle. Suddenly, Alex flings caution to the wind and turns his gun on himself, the shouting intensifies and no one can see how it can end well. But wait…. ‘Burger King or McDonalds?’ Naturally any WSS fight can be broken up with a promise of a patty in a bun.

The cabaret was rounded off with an absurdist two-hander that presented Tobi A seeking professional help from his psychiatrist, played a flawlessly deadpan Jock S - the perfect foil to Tobi’s comic tour-de-force.

The plot of this surreal sketch

loses something on paper but suffice to say Tobi worked through his issues with the purchase of a new pair of shoes.

The whole evening was rounded in the masterly comparing of Sacha who kept things moving and brought a classy gloss to proceedings with his witty repartee and turn of phrase. This was a triumph of participation and effort – the boys, Miss Twomey and her team: Miss Webb, Miss Kirk, Mr Chidell, Mrs Atkinson, Mr McFaul were all thunderously applauded for the amazing production. Brilliant.

Play/Cast The Tarantino Variation Evangelos Megaritis Alex Gabran Monty Cortazzi

Role Mr Mauve Mr Fuschia Mr Puce

Ties that Bind Ahmed Alsibai Raphael Marinof

Marco Kripinsky

Your Mother’s Butt Tobi Adesanoye Jock Saeger

Client Psychologist

Surprise Max Kohler Anthony Abrahams

Peter Whitney

Audition Sam Trimboli Gabriel Tournant

Actor 1 Actor 2

The Big Picture Danny Barta Robert Bektas Beau Beale Max Pozzi Seb Lind Matteus Stevens

Copper Peach Lemon Yellow Burnt Sienna Olive Green Sky Blue

Cheque Please Charlie Rowson Jacques O’Connor Luca Bensuade Pietro Antonaci Faris Badwari Hasan Habib Karim Kymisis Rocco Cairaschi Lorenzo Roselli Danny Silver Akshay Bhandari Tommaso Savelli Edward Hoare

Guy Girl Louis Melanie Ken Mary Mark Pearl Tod Old Lady (Sophie) and Manny Brandon Linda Mimi (a miming role)

CABARET CAST LIST Play/Cast A Backward Arrest Nelson Tobin Pip Evans Sean Masri Bennett Dye Oli Lind Evening MC Sacha Ross

Role The Judge The Convicted ‘Man in Wrong Room’ and Witness Prosecution Lawyer Defence Lawyer

The Silent Ones Josh Ruimy Federico Berlucci Sherif Kotb Aiden Urquhart William Piccione Neiss

B W C L K

Chocolate Max Hashem Luca Grinceri

Mrs Colby Detective

Miss You Harrison Phillips Harrison Gillingwater Harry Holberton Tobias Teichman

Woman Woman 2 Man Man 2

Controlling Interest Nico Sharma Atticus Cobb Lorenzo Scopece Sam McMorran Jose Manzaneres Adam Ahmed-Mekky

Ashley Jack David Brad Steven Bethany

The Spot Isaac Evans James Upton Ramzi Kallini Thomas Staff Oscar Tracey Max Katernich

Wagner Nelson Betsy Chumley Roger Gloria

A MESSAGE FROM WEST LONDON MISSION

Here at WLM Seymour Place, a homeless day centre in Marylebone, we have been delighted to receive not one, but two, deliveries of donations from Wetherby students! This support will ensure that we can continue to help alleviate the suffering of rough sleepers. We offer hot food and clean clothing to anyone who comes through our doors, and life changing advice.

This year we have moved 249 people off the streets and into accommodation, and our services were used by 1,517 people in total! These services are complimented by an art group, music workshops, football sessions, English language classes and a running group to help people to reintegrate in to society, and to transform their lives. As one of our service users said, “The kindness of this place, and the people, is healing�.

Thank you Wetherby School for you immensely impressive donations, you have made Christmas merrier for many!

Before Christmas, many of the boys brought in shoeboxes filled with useful gifts for people affected by homelessness and poverty. The Community Service boys

delivered these to West London Mission, a local charity which aims to support and empower people in need. They sent us this message over Christmas thanking everyone involved for their help:

If you wish to support us further, please donate to our work online at https:// www.justgiving.com/ campaigns/charity/wlm/ christmasappeal2017 and click on DONATE.

CHRISTMAS CONCERT

STAFF PANTO Mr Warner writes...

Christmas is a time for novelty and celebration. In a horribly misguided moment of festive optimism, I trusted the brightly coloured advert and bought one of Pret’s Christmas flat white coffees. Inside the happy, red and green cup that literally promised it would taste like a mince pie, I was met with a rather horrid sludge that tasted like a pile of burnt raisins.

Utterly miserable. Happily, unlike Pret’s festive efforts, this year’s staff panto delivered an experience that more than lived up to the hype.

This year we were presented with the tale of Peter Pan (Miss Eaves) as he struggled to overcome his swashbuckling nemesis: the evil Captain Hook (Mr Lawrence). This production had it all. With bundles of jokes that would make any Christmas cracker salesman proud, costumes that could barely contain the thespian enthusiasm of their occupants, burgeoning romances that tugged at the heartstrings, epic fight scenes and a healthy drizzle of ‘he’s behind yous’ and ‘oh no it isn’ts’; there was never a soporific moment.

Miss Eaves provided an excellent protagonist, never has a Head of Lower School made such a convincing boy who refuses to grow up. Supporting her was the indefatigable, but tragically mute, Tinkerbell in the glittery form of Mr McFaul.

Early on they managed to

coopt the Darlings into their campaign to oust the evil Hook.

Christmas came early for Peter, in the lovely form of Wendy (Miss Hoskins) whilst Miss Kirk deployed ‘toodleoo’ with devastating effect in her role as John Darling, all the while receiving matriarchal support from the bewigged Mr Morris as Mrs Darling. However, all was not plain sailing. Soon after crash landing in Neverland, the Darlings were scooped up

by Cpt. Hook’s eager brace of sidekicks, messers Smee and

Sharkee (Miss Ridley and Mr Chidell). This happy pair of piratical numpties captured the Darlings, but we in the audience were not worried, we know Peter would sort something out.

From here, things developed pretty fast, but suffice to say that the plot thickened (like a Pret festive flat white left to its own devices for too long). Hook battered the audience with evil chuckles and impressive layers of lace cuff, but, in the background, there was a slightly lumpen

crocodile (Mr and Mrs Atkinsnon) sauntering on and off stage with the kind of ticking malice usually only reserved for spy drama ordinance, and a mysterious chef (Mr Avroutine) who was responsible for creating a toxic bake to destroy said croc. To add yet more layers to the festive tapestry, we also had the opportunity to meet the locals, represented by their towering Chief (Mr Meyer) and his daughter Tiger Lilly (Miss Webb) whose wiles quickly worked their magic on John Darling and the auditorium was soon glowing in the reflected joy of their romance. I forget the intricate details, but at some point we met a couple of jolly rats (Miss Maroudi and Mrs Skinner) who managed to let on to the Croc that his birthday cake from Hook was no Mary Berry showstopper, but poisonous!

Now the audience could smell blood – it could only be a matter of time until the cursed Hook would be toast. The croc ate the cake, but survived, Peter swooped in and battled Hook with the world’s least impressive pen knife, but boyish good looks and a winning smile won the day and soon Hook, like the very best of Christmas geese, was done.

This was a fantastic panto. Many boys laughed, some wept, a few nearly had to be carried out as they almost rolled in the aisles laughing; even the handful of Year 11s, affecting boiled egg-like countenances, found themselves cracking a smile as things warmed up. Bravo to all the staff involved for such a fab Christmas send off, and a big thumbs up to Miss Twomey for all her hard work!

COMPETITION - CALLING ALL YEAR 7 BOYS! The Victoria & Albert Museum are currently showing an exhibition celebrating and exploring the world of Winnie the Pooh. The much-loved stories of Winnie-the-Pooh are brought to life by wonderful illustrations that help readers to step inside the story and connect with the characters.

They are holding a competition, giving you the chance to design your own original character and possibly see it on display at the V&A! Thinking about the importance of the relationship between words and pictures, they’d like you to create a completely original, fictional character and tell us a bit about them.

The competition is open to anyone aged between 2 and 12 years of age.

PRIZES! First prize: Your illustration will be framed and displayed at the V&A and featured on our website Family entry to the Winnie-the-Pooh: Exploring A Classic exhibition (up to six people) A copy of our Winnie-the-Pooh: Exploring A Classic book An art supplies gift voucher for ÂŁ100 to spend at Cass Art Two runners up will also win: Your illustration will be framed and displayed at the V&A and featured on our website Family entry to the Winnie-the-Pooh: Exploring A Classic exhibition (up to six people)

HOW TO ENTER: Create an illustration of your own completely original fictional character and include a bit about them. A4 paper is best.

Email in your entry, attaching your illustration as a .jpg image to poohcompetition@vam.ac.uk by 1 February 2018.

You can do this independently at home if you like, the details of the competition can be found here: https://www.vam.ac.uk/b/content/create-your-ownstorybook-character If you would like some help with your submission please see Miss Bradley (by Tuesday 30th January latest!)

DUKE OF EDINBURGH AWARD Mr Dawson writes...

A big well done to Jack Connolly in 11 Tyburn for making WSS history and being the first boy to complete his Bronze Duke of Edinburgh!

This is a significant achievement and one that shows a great deal of tenacity and motivation.

I am already looking forward to seeing Jack begin his Silver Duke of Edinburgh,when he enters the Sixth Form next year!

Well done Jack.

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