Week 27 WSS Newsletter

The

Barometer Week 27

WETHERBY SENIOR SCHOOL NEWSLETTER

The

CRICKET SEASON

gets underway

NEWS: Street Safety Talk and a BAKE SALE

29th April

From the Headmaster Dear Parents, I do hope you are doing something more interesting this Bank Holiday than the Bakers, who have Autoglass coming round to fix the windscreen on the Rav 4 as the one diary entry this Monday. Living the dream out in South Bucks…

Long-standing Wetherby parents will know that the Wetherbuzz before a May Bank Holiday Monday is always accompanied by a photograph of the bluebells in the wood behind my house. Unfortunately, although there are bluebells, the cold weather this week has hit them hard and it is probably the least impressive showing for many years. Bluebell fans will have to wait until next year for what will, hopefully, be a better crop.

A taste of summer, though not

outdoors, can be found at the top of the Prep School’s Wetherbuzz this term, with some beautifully cheery and exquisitely illustrated drawings by our very own Miss Katie Clifford. We are immensely fortunate to have a number of ‘Katie Clifford originals’ to adorn future editions of the Wetherbuzz, so do look out for and admire the artwork of one of our own.

We really are blessed, in both Prep and Senior Schools, with staff who have hidden and not so hidden talents like Katie; staff who do so much for their local communities, raise huge amounts for Charity, sit on Governing Bodies of independent and state schools, skilled musicians, artists, amateur dramatists, chefs, helicopter pilots, ice hockey players, multiple linguists, martial arts experts, A Level examiners… and that’s all just off the top of my head. Together, they generate a collective character and warmth of spirit, something particularly evident at last night’s Senior School Admissions Team Dinner at the Prep School. Nights like this are so powerful, for many reasons, but I always journey home with a heightened sense of pride in our staff, having enjoyed seeing how well-received and at ease they are in many and varied contexts. Parents and visitors engage with our schools more than most, it seems to me, because of the welcoming, personable, down to earth nature of teachers and support staff alike, something that, ultimately, filters down to the boys and helps them grow into similarly fine, well rounded and socially gifted adults.

Have a good weekend…

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DIARY & LUNCH MENU Monday 2nd

Monday Clubs

Bank Holiday

None

Tuesday 3

rd

Tuesday Clubs

Year 7 talk from Marylebone Safer Neighbourhoods Team Year 9 talk from Marylebone Safer Neighbourhoods Team

Chess & Backgammon Fencing Football Grub Club Wetherby Science

Period 1

Period 2

Wednesday 4th

Wednesday Clubs

Cricket Year 7 U12 WSS A/B vs Notting Hill Prep A/ B (A)

Table Tennis Rock Band History Film Club Quiz Soc

14:15

Thursday 5th

Thursday Clubs Lego Table Tennis Samba Percussion

Friday 6th School Choir

13:30

9 Tyburn cake sale - all welcome!

13:40

HM Assembly

Saturday 7th & Sunday 8th Menu for Week 3

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

French Friday

Soup/Soupe

Courgette

Cream of Asparagus

Summer Squash

Roasted Tomato

Champignons & Estragon

Meat main /

Moroccan Vegetable Tagine with Apricots

Turkey Schnitzel with a Mushroom sauce

Bacon Chop served with an Onion Chutney

Chicken Creole with Tomato and Sweet Paprika

Hamburger (origine anglaise) servis avec des condiments

Meat free main / Plat végétarien

Pea & Mint Risotto

Chick Pea and Coriander Fritters with a Yoghurt Dressing

Mature Cheddar and Tomato Omlette

Vegetable Lasagne

Hamburger végétariens servis avec des condiments

To go with / pour aller avec

Cous Cous

Steamed Rice

Parsley Potatoes

Mini Jackets

Grosses frites au four

Roasted spiced Aubergine

Cauliflower

Green Beans

Sweetcorn

Tranches de tomates, fromage, cornichons, oignons et petits piments verts

Cherry Flapjack

Stem Ginger and Dark Chocolate Pudding with Cream

Pineapple and Mint Pots

Chocolate and Mixed Berry Cake

Mousse à la Mangue et au citron vert

Plat principal

Served with / servis avec

Puddings / Dessert

Always available Fresh Fruit, Salad Bar, Homemade yogurt and Dressings / Toujours disponible Fruits frais, Bar à salades, Yahourt frais et assaisonements

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ON THE NOTICEBOARD From the Deputy Headmaster Please note that the school will be closed for the Bank Holiday on Monday. Enjoy the long weekend.

Message from 9 Tyburn: Next week, 9 Tyburn will be hosting a bake sale to raise money for the Walkabout Foundation. The foundation’s aim is to provide wheelchairs to people in need and fund specialist research to help find a cure for paralysis.

It would be greatly appreciated if everyone would come along on Friday towards the end of lunch and enjoy a tasty treat while helping those in need. We look forward to seeing you next Friday!

Please note: Any baked goods brought in by boys must contain NO NUTS. If boys come in with Tupperware, please ensure it is clearly named.

From the Games Department As the weather improves I would like to strongly encourage you to include a bottle of factor 30 sun cream in your son’s kit on days that he has games. A sensible white cricket hat or sunhat with a rim that goes all the way around would also be a good idea. No baseball caps please! Even with London’s mellow climate the summer sun can be surprisingly strong and we don’t want any boys getting badly burnt or sun stroke.

From Mr Hartley On Tuesday boys in Years 7 and 9 will attend a safety briefing run by the Marylebone Safer Neighbourhoods Team. The sessions, run by the local police, will focus on a number of aspects of pupil safety, including safety on the way to and back from school. Although targeting of pupils for valuables is a rare occurrence, as a pupil travelling alone or in a small group it makes sense to be aware of how you can minimise the risk of this taking place and know what to do if it does.

From Miss Valentine: SAVE THE DATE MONDAY 9TH MAY will see the Year 7s performing their ‘Pantoperas’. The performance will run from 1900-2000 in the Theatre and all of the boys in the year group have a part to play. The boys have been working very hard to put together this show and they would appreciate a supportive crowd to laugh and applaud (in the appropriate places!)

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9 TYBURN

*

FRIDAY 6 MAY th th

FOR CHARITY

A Great Way to enjoy a tasty treat and give back to those in need!!!

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

A large part of the curriculum leant

has

itself

to

sculpture allowing

Lachlan Walker

Mikhail Demichev

boys to bring this area of art out in a number of different mediums from clay to styrofoam.

Towar

ds the latter stages of

the

Spring

Term, Art & Design Club

looked

Giacometti right),

Alan Angert

Sean Masri

a

at (see

prolific

artist, who created sculptures

of

abstract figurines.

This

provided the boys with an opportunity to use an array of media from metal wire to pulp. They completed work

by

acrylic paint.

Jack Henniker-Gotley 6 The Barometer - 29/4/2016

Gulliver Woods

their using

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

This week in Biology, the boys in Year 9 have been learning about diffusion and factors that affect

the

rate

of

diffusion.

In this practical, the boys were using their mathematical and practical skills to investigate the effect of surface area:volume ratio on the rate of diffusion using different sized agar jelly cubes.

They placed the pink alkaline jelly cubes in acid, and as the acid moved into the cube, it neutralised the pink colour, turning it colourless.

They found that as the size of the cube increased,

the

surface

area:volume

ratio

decreased and it took longer for the acid to diffuse throughout the cube.

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CLASSROOM NEWS From the Geography Department Miss Vanstone writes‌ Year 7 have been studying rivers and

have

recently

started

considering river management.

Water is a highly contested world resource

and

Turkey

has

harnessed the Rivers Tigris and Euphrates

through

the

GAP

scheme. This culminated in some excellent essays where the boys evaluated the pros and cons of this scheme including the knockon

geopolitical

consequences

involving Iraq and Syria. Boys also did an information hunt where they had to work as a team to find information about flood defences hidden around the room such as under tables and behind bins.

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CLASSROOM NEWS From the Physics Department Mr Dawson writes...

Year

9

have

been

exploring

the

electromagnetic spectrum this week. Here the boys were

conducting

investigation

into

an how

different coloured lights required

different

energies to activate.

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

Year 9 boys have been looking inside a laptop this week in order to understand the properties of key hardware components i.e. input and output devices, CPU and various types of memory. This applies to all computers, including smartphones and game consoles. We’ve also been looking at the best deals for computers of various specifications, so if you’re in the market for a new laptop, the boys should be able to advise you. Alternatively, if your current laptop is beginning to creak, they should be able to advise you on how to upgrade certain components to speed things up.

Excuse me sir, but I think there may be something wrong with my laptop.

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CLASSROOM NEWS From the French Department

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LIBRARY NEWS Two book reviews by Year 9 Talal Hangari, Ninety Eighty-Four by standards. The novel is intriguing to the end and the world in which it is set is just the same. 1984

George Orwell Simply put, 1984 is a masterpiece and a must-

is a great book and a must-read.

read - a book that I would recommend to anyone

Joshua George-Oppong, More Than

and everyone. 1984 follows the story of a man,

This by Patrick Ness

Winston, stuck under the boot of a highly

Patrick Ness will be an author treasured forever.

oppressive, totalitarian government, that attempts

Winner of the prestigious Carnegie Medal (twice)

to have control over all aspects of life. Winston

and author of one of the best-selling trilogies

begins to question the

(Chaos Walking), Ness delivers one of the best

government,

and

books that he has ever written. Patrick Ness tells

comes

the

a story of a boy named Seth who tries to find an

that

the

identity in a place he now calls home. Seth,

system

is

however, is seen in the first few pages drowning

wrong,

to his death. Murder? Suicide? Much to his own

to

surprise, he wakes up. Even after his own death.

and

Is this an afterlife? Does Hell really look like an

more as the book

English suburb...one in which he used to live? My

progresses.

1984

only criticism of this book is the fact that he

heavily explores the

leaves too many questions unanswered...What

to

conclusion current

completely and question

begins more

effects of extreme oppression on people. The way

species

that fear and anger, two emotions created and

‘Driver’? Did Seth find

reinforced by the government to serve its own

what he was looking

interests, pervade Winston's society. We are also

for? Is Seth gay in the

able to see the effects of indoctrination, leading to

real

people

being

accepting

direct

controversies

and

was

world? the

the

Ness great

oxymorons as possible - called 'doublethink.'

author he is has got

Another large theme of 1984 is the way in which

me hooked. At the

conformation and acceptance is done almost

moment I am reading

instantly, once again through the conditioning of

"The rest of us just

the government. Only in the mind is Winston ever

live here," and I love

safe, and even then it is difficult for him not to

it.

accept

coming soon.

and

conform

to

the

government's

More

reviews

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TRIB NEWS 9 Fleet Miss

Vanstone

writes‌ 9 Fleet have been studying Journalism this week including a brief introduction to politics.

On Wednesday and Thursday we analysed some newspapers and worked out whether they were to the left or right, tabloid or broadsheet and reliable or not.

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

Congratulations to Year 7 cricket players who

Here are the latest updates from the Sports Department at Wetherby Senior:

hope) some lovely weather ahead! It also means Cricket is upon us. With a couple more weeks we will have our first WSS hard ball fixture. We are here to encourage and develop the boys’ and

understanding

Radnor House. We lost be 7 runs! Bring on Notting Hill Prep next week.

The summer term means light evenings and (we

knowledge

participated in a tightly fought trail match against

about

After our lessons and trail matches we would like to announce our two captains in Year 7 for the Cricket season are: Finlay Waters (left) and Dylan Auerbach (right) - Congratulations boys!

this

amazing sport! Great start boys, keep it up!

On a bright cold afternoon the beautiful grounds

for scoring a 4 with the last ball of the match;

of Regents Park laid host to the Under 14 cricket

Luke Kirilenko for balling with a good line and

hopefuls staking their claim for positions in the

length and Pip Evans showing a level of maturity

upcoming cricket squads.

beyond his young years with his ground fielding.

The

boys

collectively

demonstrated

the

togetherness and ‘team spirit’ that Mr Sullivan and the rest of the games staff had cultivated throughout the school year.

Some excellent batting, fielding and bowling was on show making the squad decisions for the future fixtures a tough call.

Special stand out mentions must go Alan Azeaz 14 The Barometer - 29/4/2016

SPORTING NEWS Regents Park We are very lucky to use Regents Park as our Sports Ground this term but we all need to be aware of other members of the public and most importantly crossing the road. Some very useful points below: 

If

possible,

cross

the

road

at:

subways, footbridges, islands, zebra, puffin, pelican or toucan crossings, or where there is a crossing point controlled by a police officer, a school crossing patrol or a traffic warden. Otherwise, choose a place where you can see clearly in all directions, and where drivers can see you. 

Try to avoid crossing between parked cars and on sharp bends or close to the top of a hill. Move to a space where drivers and riders can see you clearly.



Look all around for traffic and listen Look in every direction.



Listen carefully because you can sometimes hear traffic before you can see it.



Remember, even if traffic is a long way off, it may be approaching very quickly.



Give yourself lots of time to have a good look all around - Don’t run!

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SPORTING NEWS Bank Holiday Fitness Your fitness challenge this weekend is to complete an endurance run and time yourself. Not the London Marathon!

Year 7 – 3K max Year 9 – 5K max Adults – 7K plus You can use the running map from Regents Park. Please tell me your times on Tuesday morning. Good luck Have a wonderful bank holiday weekend.

Sports Quote of the Week ‘Don’t let what you cannot do interfere what you can do’ Follow us for results and updates on Twitter via @WetherbySSports #teamwetherby 16 The Barometer - 29/4/2016

CLUB NEWS Grub Club Miss Lillington writes...

and raspberries.

This week in Grub Club, the

Star bakers this week were

boys made double chocolate

Beau,

short bread, then decorated

shortbread shapes and Finlay

them using white chocolate

for the best overall product.

for

his

creative

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CLUB NEWS Chess Club

Week 1 Philip vs Seb Mr Warner writes..

Philip vs Mr Warner Chess club has expanded this term and now Leo vs George occupies both the Geography and History Salem vs Luca classrooms on Tuesday afternoons. Miss Rory vs Tom Vanstone and I are keeping score and you Giacomo vs Nicky can see the results on the left with victors Salem vs Seb coloured red, stalemates in blue. This Philip vs Luca Lego Alan vs Hamood week the boys were encouraged to think about the relative points of Club Ed vs Ben Josh vs Zack pieces to help them calculate Frejvid vs Massi whether to take a particular piece or not.

Michael vs Thomas

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Week 2 Rory vs Philip Frejvid vs George Luca vs Nicky Seb vs Leo Philip vs Giacomo Frejvid vs Rory Mr Warner vs George Mr Warner vs Seb Alan vs Josh Hamoud vs Zack Massi vs Armand Bennett vs Michael Thomas vs Tom

CLUB NEWS

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LEARNING@WETHERBY Photography Mr Sullivan writes...

Use a plain background My learning proposal is to develop my photography skills to relate to my love for the arts and sport.

As you are aware have enrolled myself on a photography course and I am working on ‘Use a plain background’ Teaching point: A plain background shows off the subject you are photographing. When you look through the camera viewfinder, force yourself to study the area surrounding your subject. Make sure no distractions are in the background. This focuses more on the image.

What do you think of my attempt - of a plain background?

Can you see the difference?

You have a go!

Go Mr Warner writes…

My mission to learn Go has begun and I have downloaded the SmartGo app onto my Ipad. The essence of the game is simple: Surround more territory than your opponent; taking it in turns to place a counter on the 19x19 board. Playing the game well is far from simple and I have yet to graduate from the 9x9 board.

One of the first concepts I had to learn was how to capture another piece. In Go a piece is captured when it is totally surrounded. Have a look at the example and see if you can work out what White should do in order to capture a black piece.

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From the Editor On this week’s front cover: Year 9 hone their throwing skills. On the back: Year 9 learn what a joy it is to spend an afternoon playing a spot of cricket. For all comments and feedback please email: henry.warner@wetherbysenior.co.uk

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