Week 25 WSS Newsletter

The

Barometer Week 25

WETHERBY SENIOR SCHOOL NEWSLETTER

24th March

A French play Photography competition results Announcements Classroom News Club News Sport

From the Headmaster Dear Parents, As I mentioned in a previous newsletter, staff recruitment is never easy but we are lucky to not only have a strong profile but also a lot of connections amongst our highly-talented staff to safeguard and positively develop the School’s exciting future.

English Lottie Kirk has been appointed as Head of English. She currently teaches at Bradford Grammar School but is very familiar with the London senior school scene, having attended Westminster School in the Sixth Form. She’s currently Assistant Head of Higher Education with special responsibility for Oxbridge applicants. Her extra-curricular involvement includes running the student newspaper, debating and directing drama. She’s also been on a World Challenge Expedition to Northern India.

Nicola Ridley has been appointed as Second in the English Department. Aside from extensive curriculum design and implementation experience, Nicola is her school’s Literacy Co-ordinator and a Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme co-ordinator.

Adam Chidell also joins the English teaching team. He currently works at Bangkok Patana School but is a former colleague of Mr Lawrence and Mr Morris at Merchant Taylors’. A former Times journalist, Adam is also an accomplished photographer in his spare time. His teaching experience has always included a wide range of extracurricular involvement in sports and student journalism.

Maths Ellen Dunn has been appointed as Second in the Maths Department. She currently works at the Chinese International School, Hong Kong and has a BSc from the University of Durham. Aside from her extensive experience of teaching students across the age and ability range, Ellen has prepared pupils for entry to UK Russell Group, Oxbridge and US Ivy League universities. She has also got extensive pastoral experience as a Head of Year at CIS. Eden Smith currently teaches Maths at Lancing College, as part of her PGCE, and will join us full time in September. Eden has been gaining valuable pastoral experience of boarding school life to complement her excellent subject knowledge. She’s specialising in the use of IT in the teaching of Mathematics as part of her training. She’s also an accomplished sailor and horse rider.

Science In Mr Hasthorpe and Miss Lillington, we have Physics and Biology covered but, for a comprehensive level of Science expertise, we have recruited Poppy Hoskins as Head of Chemistry. Poppy currently works at Cheltenham College and is a top-flight sportswoman who was captain of Squash at Loughborough and who still plays regional netball. She’s also a trained professional cook.

Mr Meyer Mr Baker survey the InterInter-Trib Football To support theand Science teaching in Year the 9Department, Lisa Pfannes-Varrow arrives as Teacher of Biology. She has a BSc from the University of Southampton and an MSc from the Royal Veterinary College. As well as an impressive track record of teaching both Biology and Chemistry and supervising entrants to the Biology Olympiad, Lisa is passionate about Ecology and encouraging an active interest in the natural world. She is also a keen swimmer, having competed at national level.

Languages Though we will continue to teach French at the School, we have introduced three new specialists to offer a range of languages from Year 9 through to A Level.

Kate Eaves joins us as Head of German, having previously worked at The Leys School, Cambridge.

She has an MA from St Andrews University and has experience of being an assistant Housemistress in a girls’ boarding house at The Leys, with a wide extra-curricular commitment to games and activities.

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Ryan McFaul joins Wetherby as Head of Spanish. He currently holds a teaching position at The Douay Martyrs Catholic School and is a multi-talented linguist. Ryan studied Mandarin as part of his degree and teaches it at DMS as well as French. He is keen to encourage boys to experience languages at first-hand and has organised many tours and exchanges.

Mrs Gray will be leaving the School to return to New Zealand at the end of 2016 and we thank her for all her support and expertise in setting up the Classics Department. Miranda Nash replaces her as Head of Classics. Oxford University educated Miranda has an outstanding track record as a prizewinning teacher who has championed the study of Classics at her current state school. Her interests include travel and she’s recently led a trip to Pompeii.

Drama Abbey Twomey has been appointed as Director of Drama. Currently at John Lyon School, Abbey has an impressive pedigree of productions behind her, from the large-scale spectacular to the studio production.

Art and Design Nicola Bradley joins us as Head of Graphic Design from St Benedict’s School, Ealing. Nicola trained as an architect and brings state of the art expertise in CAD and 3D design to an already strong Art Department. Her experience includes leading extracurricular activities such as prop-making for drama productions. In 2015 her pupils won the borough prize for the Fourth Plinth School’s Award Competition and their entry was exhibited at City Hall.

Philosophy Andrew Atkinson has been appointed as Head of Philosophy. Andrew is currently Head of Philosophy at UCS and was previously at Berhamsted School. He brings extensive teaching experience as well as a background as a Sixth Form tutor and university entrance advisor. He has also been involved in preparing pupils for the Extended Project Qualification.

History Oxford University educated Holly Webb joins us as a Teacher of History. Aside from her expertise as an historian, Holly has been running the gifted and talented programme at her current school as part of her involvement in the Teach First programme. She’s also a dance teacher with an impressive track record of getting even reluctant pupils involved in the performing arts.

Games and PE Robin Montgomery joins us as Head of Academic PE. Robin’s background as a sportsman is multitalented as a former county rugby union and rugby league player. He has also coached youth teams for Surrey County FA. He has extensive experience of teaching PE at GCSE and A Level and is a veteran of leading sports tours, ski trips and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme expeditions.

Everything else remains the same; we all look forward to the remainder of this year with current colleagues and welcoming our new members to the Wetherby family in September.

Have a great Easter...

Nick Baker

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DIARY & LUNCH MENU Monday 18th

Monday Clubs

STAFF INSET

None this week

Tuesday 19th

Tuesday Clubs

Boys back to school

Chess & Backgammon Fencing Football Grub Club Wetherby Science

Wednesday 20th

Wednesday Clubs Table Tennis Rock Band History Film Club Quiz Soc

Thursday 21st

Thursday Clubs Lego Table Tennis Samba Percussion

Friday 22nd Year 9 Living History experience: The Trenches of World War I

11:10-14:55

School Choir

13:30

HM Assembly

15:00

Saturday 23rd & Sunday24th WEEK 1 Soup Meat main Meat free main To go with Served with Puddings

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

Cream of Tomato

Courgette And Basil

Moroccan Chick Pea

Green Pea and Watercress

Carrot and Chive

Spiced root & lentil Casserole

Pork and Leek Cow Pie Minced beef, Chicken Breast with a Jerk Chicken Wings Sausages with Fried baked beans and Creamy Bacon and Served with Onions cheese Sweet corn Sauce guacamole

Cheesy Jackets With Baked Beans

Vegetarian Sausages with fried onions

Steamed Rice

Mashed Potatoes

New potatoes

Roast Potatoes

Chunky Chips

Sticky Sweetcorn

Savoy Cabbage

Green Beans

Roasted Carrots

Mixed Herb Salad

Stuffed Portobello Onion Tart with Black Mushroom with Olives and Herbs on a Vegetarian Bolognese Puff Pastry Base

Cheesy Cauliflower and Potato Bake

Chocolate and Orange Jam Sponge served Banana and Peach Strawberry Jelly with Blueberry Cheesecake Mousse with Custard Crumble with Cream Strawberry Fool Always available Fresh Fruit, Salad Bar, Homemade yogurt and Dressings

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CLASSROOM NEWS From the Art & Design Department Mr Meyer writes...

This term, Year 7 have explored ceramics. Through this they have developed a firm understanding of the malleable nature of clay. They have learnt the following: adding

relief sections; using a potter's knife and hole cutter to take away areas of the clay and how to amend and improve work. Once at a leather hard state, they learnt how to refine their work using a loop tool, fire

into a biscuit state and complete by glazing.

Their Kandinsky inspired ceramic pieces speak volumes about how well they have taken to this challenging, but exciting, medium.

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CLASSROOM NEWS From the Maths Department Mr Bray writes...

Our boys certainly got into the spirit of things

On Tuesday, WSS entered a team into the

and were competing against the best of the best

Regional Final of the UKMT Team Maths

schools in London. A final position of 19 out of

Challenge, a competition which gives the boys

27 was very respectable and meant that the

the opportunity to tackle a variety of engaging

boys were able to answer the majority of the

mathematical

developing

questions correctly, which is no mean feat. I

teamwork and communication skills. It is

was also proud of the teamwork and sense of

designed for a team of two Year 9s and two

humour that emanated from our team.

Year 8s, but in the absence of Year 8 this year

teacher from another school who supervised

at WSS, two Year 7 boys stepped in, meaning

our team (I was with CLSG) commented to me

that

at the end of the event that we have a ‘great

they

activities

were

while

probably

the

youngest

competitors. There are four 45 minute rounds: 

a ‘Group Round’ consisting of 10 challenging questions.



a ‘Crossnumber’

where the

teams

in

work

pairs

independently; one pair has the across clues and the other pair has the down clues. 

a ‘Shuttle’: the answer to each subsequent dependent answer

question on

and

is

the

previous

pairs

answer

alternate questions. 

a ‘Relay’: pairs again answer alternate questions, but they are situated at different places in the hall so a race against the clock with lots of lively activity and excitement.

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bunch of boys’.

A

CLASSROOM NEWS Have a go at the Crossnumber that

the

boys

faced this week at

the

UKMT

Maths Challenge!

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CLASSROOM NEWS From the IT Department Mr Bray writes...

In IT, Year 9 boys have recently been using HTML and CSS

to

design

webpages.

Football, fast-food and video games seemed to provide the basis for most designs, but there were

some

exceptions,

most

notably

Lachlan

Walker’s page on pigeons and Alan Angert’s page on Zimbabwe.

Here

are

some

examples include features webpage

that many of design

by

Armand

Sharda,

Marcos

Burnett and Adin DeCarlucci (reading from top to bottom).

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CLASSROOM NEWS From the French Department Mrs Diamond writes...

From next term, we will start practising even more French at the Senior School, with “French Friday à la cantine”.

Alan, our amazing chef, is a French speaker and the boys will have to address him in French for their lunch. The menu will also be in French of course (see right).

On Tuesday morning, Wetherby Senior welcomed a small French company in to our theatre for a performance of their play “Les garçons”. As the play is all in French, boys had worked hard to prepare learning new expressions and vocabulary. And they were rewarded. We all had a fantastic time, lots of laughter and of course French language.

A few quotes from the boys: “C’était

FRIDAY

genial!”; “Cétait très amusant.”; “J’ai adoré l’histoire.” ; « Cétait très drôle! ». Can they come back again?

Sure, we will be delighted to welcome them next year for their new production.

Carotte et ciboulette

Ailes de poulet caraïbes servaient avec du guacamole

Gratin de chou-fleur et pomme-de-terres au fromage Grosses frites au four Salade d’herbes melangees Gélée de fraise avec fraise á la crème

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CLASSROOM NEWS Finally, I wish you all a fantastic Easter holiday and if your holiday itinerary takes you to a French speaking country make sure, boys, you use plenty of French out there. In addition, to prepare for the summer examinations, you should do some French reading, as well as revise all the grammar rules and vocabulary seen so far in class. More revision essentials can be found in an attachment accompanying this Newsletter.

Useful tools to revise are: Your textbook, grammar exercise book and Blue or Red folder 

Linguascope http://www.linguascope.com/ (Login : Wetherbysen – Pwd: Marylebone)



Vocab Express : https://www.vocabexpress.com/login (see login details)



Kerboodle website interactive activities http://www.kerboodle.com/users/login (see login details)



TV5 – apprendre le francais http://apprendre.tv5monde.com/fr/niveaux/a1debutant (free access)



BBC Bitesize French http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/french/ (free access)

Bonne Vacances et

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CLASSROOM NEWS From the Music and Drama Department Miss Valentine writes...

Year 7 Shows Preparations for the Year 7 shows are going well and we are looking forward to welcoming parents to come and see them on Monday 9th May. Attached to the newsletter today is a letter outlining the basic costume requirements. If there are any issues with the costumes, please let me know. Mr Murphy and Mr Meyer have been working hard to create amazing props so it’s now down to the boys to make sure they come back to school after Easter having learnt all of their lines. Please do feel free to help them, just watch out for the puns!

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CLASSROOM NEWS From the Biology Department Miss Lillington writes...

In the last few weeks in Biology, the Year 9 boys have been studying 'Enzymes'. The boys have

carried

out

several

practical investigations, looking at the effect of temperature and pH on the rate of enzyme controlled reactions. The boys have also been learning about the

uses

industry,

of for

enzymes

in

example,

in

'Biological Washing Powders' and they have created designs for their own brand of washing powder, explaining how they work.

I have been so impressed with their creativity, hard work and their high standards of practical work.

Well done, Year 9!

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CLASSROOM NEWS

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Announcing the winners of the Kew Garden’s Botanical Photography competition: Winner: Jack Connolly

Highly commended: Louis Jegou (right) Highly Commended: Seb Burckle (left)

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SPORTING NEWS From the Games Department Mr Sullivan writes...

Well done to everyone who took part in any activity, Inter-Trib and fixtures for Wetherby Senior School.

Whether competing or simply completing; it has been a great term!

Congratulations to Fleet and Tyburn on winning the Inter-Tribs!

We have been very fortunate with the amount of games we have played this term. On average each boy has played 6 fixtures, had 2 professionally coached sessions, 30 hours of games lessons plus 400 minutes of competitive sport. Well done, boys!

I would personally like to thank and congratulate all the parents, coaches, clubs and other members of staff for a fantastic term. Huge congratulations to our boys who are continuously striving to be the best and fully justify their accolades. And finally to the amazing Games Department who spend countless hours leading training sessions and offering their free time so that the students have the opportunity to succeed in sport at our great school.

Our award winning boys this term are: Players Player (boy’s votes) Year 7 – Rugby 2016 (Jan – March 2016) – George Gerson Year 9 – Football 2016 (Jan – March 2016) – JP Caraischi Player of the Term Year 7 – Rugby 2016 (Jan – March 2016) – Alexander Piggott Testa Year 9 – Football 2016 (Jan – March 2016) –Pip Evans Most improved Player Year 7 – Rugby 2016 (Jan – March 2016) – Manu Dixit Year 9 – Football 2016 (Jan – March 2016) – Rory Lawless The Barometer - 24/4/2016 15

SPORTING NEWS Inter-Trib Rugby

After an even middle part to the first half,

Mr. Meyer writes‌

Alex scored a second

Fleet 4 vs. Walbrook

try before Himat closed

trick.

Tyburn 4 vs. Fleet 2: Alessandro graceful

is

a

runner

with

2:

the half with his first of

The inaugural Year 7

the tournament.

rugby

Second Half:

and

After a bright start from

try.

both teams, Manu tore

excellent tackling from

through the defensive

both

line only to be denied

game ebb and flow for

yards

a

tournament

kicked

off

blanket

of

clouds. nothing

under

a

grey

There was dull

on

the

pitch though with Jack catching the ball from the

kick-off

dazzling

run

and

a

ensued

seeing him bypass a number

of

tackles

before scoring in the corner.

A quick try

from Alex after some great offloading in the tackle saw Fleet level the score.

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line.

from

ball in hand and this was evidenced with his,

the

Fleet’s,

first

Thereafter, some sides

saw

period.

the

Mid-way

During the mid-

through the first half,

part of the half, Fleet

Tyburn saw a gap in

gave

penalties

the defensive line and

Walbrook

some

away

allowing

quick

thinking

possession and in turn

from George saw him

Manu picked up the

score his first of the

ball

match.

and

scored

a

Tyburn went

wonderful solo try.

into

Alex closed the game

interval 2-0 up.

by

scoring

his

hat-

the

half-time

Second Half

again after yet another

half and dissecting the

In the second half, the

lung busting run. What a

opposition defence with

game suddenly became a

player he has turned into

relative ease.

lot more stretched and a

this season and well done

Two late tries from Alex

fourth try from George

to him for receiving the

gave Walbrook hope but

and

‘Player

it

Max

killed

game.

the

Bohémond

of

the

Tournament’ award.

He

performed heroically for

more than merited this

Fleet

honour. With a wide pitch

and

gave

them

some hope by scoring

that

two consolation tries. Well

expansive brand of rugby,

done to him.

Alessandro was able to

Walbrook 3 vs Tyburn 5:

allowed

for

an

use this to great effect and score two tries before the

break.

Adhémar

The final game of the

showed what a tenacious

Inter-Trib

Rugby

and determined runner he

saw

is by scoring with a few

Tournament Walbrook Tyburn.

take

on

A fascinating

minutes remaining.

was

Adam

who

eventually put the final nail in the coffin.

Tyburn

were

victors

worthy

of

the

tournament.

However,

this was a culmination of a term’s worth of hard work from all in Year 7, where

they

developed

a

have firm

understanding of rugby.

More than this though, they

have

developed

Second Half

teamwork,

The second half, saw

sportsmanship,

potential to go on and win

Beau score a wonderful

comradely

and

the competition.

Manu

individual try, running the

collectively

growing

was unlucky not to score

ball deep within his own

stronger as a year group.

fixture in prospect with either side having the

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SPORTING NEWS Cricket attire Spring is here and I can smell the Cricket in the air!

The Wetherby Senior Twenty20 Cricket attire for summer 2016 (this will be changing next summer) is as follows: A white polo shirt, black shorts or tracksuit bottoms, white socks, white cricket batting trousers and trainers.

You can purchase all the above apart from the trainers via the Perry Uniform website. Please clink on the link: http://www.perryuniform.co.uk/index.php/find-yourschool/schools-v-z/wetherby-school/senior-schoolmarylebone-lane/sports-kit Cricket bats will be placed in the locker room but they must be taken home after each session. If not, they will sent to lost property as the policy mentions it will be given to charity if no one claims it by the end of the term. Most importantly please name all your equipment and sports kit.

Rugby Bleep Test The bleep test is a standardised assessment of a person’s fitness levels. It is an extremely simple but powerful test that allows you to estimate your VO2 capacity and benchmark yourself against the fitness requirements for your sport. In short, it’s a great tool for working out if your fitness levels are up to scratch.

Is yours Year 7s?

All results are on the Games bulletin board. Well done Luca Grinceri who scored 11.11 and beating his last result by 1 level. #fitness4all

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SPORTING NEWS Conditioning plans Throughout the season it is imperative that you continue to work on your conditioning. This can mean that if you don’t keep topping up your aerobic and anaerobic systems with some of the workouts attached (Yr9 Development Tier/Easter Conditioning plan) then you will actual de-train and get less fit as the school year goes on! Try some of the sessions to keep your fitness going

Please remember the Development Tier is for Year 9s only and no weights will be used. The main focus is on developing your core stretch, using body weight to increase stretch and create a strong base before starting weight training.

Please read the technique points or use YOUTUBE to explain them. If you aren’t sure about the exercises or causes pain STOP! I look forward to hearing all about your progression.

through the season!

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SPORTING NEWS Boys’ Sporting News Mr Meyer writes...

William Piccione Neiss (right) would like to organise a group of students and their families to take part and raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital. http://www.gosh.org/events-andappeals/rbc-race-kids If you are interested, please contact Mrs Neiss on: k.s.neiss@btopenworld.com And finally…

Well done to Mr Savage for winning Wetherby

Senior Six Nations Fantasy League. He won a £20 National Book Voucher! Luck of the Irish I guess. I hope he spends it on some cookery books.

Sports Quote of the Week ‘Success isn’t the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you’ll be successful’ Follow us for results and updates on Twitter via @WetherbySSports #teamwetherby

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CLUB NEWS Mandarin Club Miss Vanstone writes...

In Mandarin club this term, as well as learning introductions and family members, boys have practised ordering food in restaurants. To test their knowledge we finished off with a Chinese meal. Boys had to order in Chinese before tucking into their roast duck and pancakes (Beijing Kaoya).

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CLUB NEWS Chess & Backgammon Club Mr Warner writes‌ We had an excellent final session with Chess and Backgammon Club this week included a challenge for the boys to come up with a chess puzzle that was 3 moves from checkmate for the white player (see below for one of these).

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CLUB NEWS

Basketball: Here are some action shots of this week’s session.

Learning @ Wetherby Mr Sullivan writes...

Move in close My learning proposal is to develop on photography skills to relate to my love for the arts and sport.

As you are aware have enrolled myself on photography and I am working on ‘Move in close’ Teaching point: If your subject is smaller than a car, take a step or two closer before taking the picture and zoom in on your subject. Your goal is to fill the picture area with the subject you are photographing. Up close you can reveal telling details, like a sprinkle of freckles or an arched eyebrow.

The closest focusing distance for most cameras is about three feet, or about one step away from your camera. If you get closer than the closest focusing distance of your camera your pictures will be blurry.

What do you think of my attempt - of a ‘move in close’ shot of my wonderful parents?

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From the Editor On this week’s front cover: hilarity abounds as the boys watch a French play. On the back we have Himat searching for the mot just as he is pulled from the audience by one of the French actors. For all comments and feedback please email: henry.warner@wetherbysenior.co.uk

http://www.wetherbysenior.co.uk/