Week 8 Barometer

From the Headmaster Dear Parents, I hope everyone had a good half term. Those parents who regularly read these notes (I know there must be some of you out there!) will recall that my older son, Patrick, took his Grammar School 11+ selection test earlier this term and we found out on the Friday before Half Term that he had passed the magic number of 121. Cue massive relief in the Baker household, particularly with Patrick himself who, whilst not appearing unduly concerned about these things, cut an extremely relieved figure that Friday evening. Of course, now I can say that it was never in doubt but I, like all of you out there in respect of your children’s senior school application outcomes, GCSE or A Level examinations, was very anxious on that final Friday, although hopefully none of you could tell in morning Assembly or around our two schools that day.

It’s not a given that Patrick will go to Grammar School though and there are a number of excellent independent schools in our area, a number of which used to employ Wetherby Senior School staff no less. We are still interested in Berkhamsted, Merchant Taylor’s and, whilst not a terribly popular view amongst other members of our family, I would love to send both of my boys boarding. The next morning in fact, as a prospective parent and not as Headmaster, I toured Harrow at one of their Open Mornings. I didn’t spot any Wetherby parents so I was completely ‘in disguise’…for about 5 minutes before Headmaster, Jim Hawkins, spotted me and came over to give me a grand welcome and any number of exWetherby boys greeted me with, ‘Hello Sir! What are you doing here?’ throughout the tour of the site. It must have seemed rather unsettling for others in our tour group, some very keen to impress themselves and their sons on the boys and beaks we came across, that I had such an ‘in’ with so many of the community but never mind, nice to be something of a celebrity for a morning. Patrick wasn’t massively impressed unfortunately and, to my utter horror, went completely mute when registrar and long-time friend of our school, Eric Sie, made such valiant attempts to engage him in conversation at the end of our time there. Where was the confident, carefree boy who had been happily singing to himself in the car on the way there? So frustrating. Not this wonderful school then for Patrick, by the looks of things, but a bit more enthusiasm might be forthcoming from younger son Joseph, so maybe I will get one there eventually.

Christmas term coming up then. Lots of things planned at both schools and, as you read this, Miss Twomey is taking the Senior School staff and me through our parts in the Staff Christmas Panto. Standby London!

Have a good weekend…

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NOTICEBOARD Herve Foucault d'Amecourt Mr Baker writes...

I was very sorry to hear over Half Term that Mr Herve Foucault d'Amecourt, father of Bohemond and Adhemar, (Pioneer Senior School boys who left at the end of last year to return to France) died suddenly on October 19th. I remember Herve as an extremely gregarious, amusing and intelligent man who was easy company and passionate about his family, for whom it is such a tragic loss.

I have sent condolences on behalf of the School.

From the Deputy Headmaster: Year 10 Parents’ Evenings A reminder that the Year 10 Parents’ evening is on Tuesday 8th (surnames L-Z) November between 17:30 and 19:30. If you have not done so, please sign up for a ‘start time’ by emailing Tessa Stewart: tessa.stewart@wetherbysenior.co.uk . The start times are 17:30, 18:00 and 18:15 respectively – we would be really grateful if you would arrive in good time for the start time selected.

PTA Meeting There will be a PTA meeting on Tuesday 8th November at 11am in school. All members from last year and any new parents are welcome to attend.

Social Opportunity for Year 7-9 boys The White Thistle Ball ticket office is now open. Boys aged 11-14 (Years 7-9) who are keen on going should look up: www.whitethistleball.com or email info@whitethistleball.com for information.

This is not a Wetherby event, but a chance for boys to potentially enjoy themselves whilst supporting a good cause.

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DIARY Monday 7th

Monday

Year 9 and 10 Choir

13:30

Rugby Year 10 WSS A/B vs UCS A/B (H)

14:30

Tuesday 8th

….

Tuesday Clubs

Football Year 7 & 8 WSS A/B/C vs Northbridge House (A) Year 10 Parents’ evening (surnames (L-Z)

14:15

Art and Design Bridge Climbing Football Graphic Design MFL Cinema Club Quiz Club Wetherby Scientists YAD Fitness

17:30-19:30

Wednesday 9th

Monday Clubs Performing Arts Basketball Cricket Documentary Photo Club GCSE Art and Design GCSE Graphic Design Social Action Club Quiz Club Videography YAD Fitness

Wednesday Clubs Performing Arts Duke of Edinburgh Award Community Service

Thursday 10th Year 7 & 8 Choir Rugby Year 9 WSS A/B vs UCS

Thursday Clubs 13:15-13:40 14:30

Friday 11th WSS All Stars (Orchestra) Guitar Club WSS act of Remembrance - Hinde Street Methodist Church

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13:30 13:30 15:00

Book Club Classics Club Food Chemistry Junior Geographical Society Lego Club

CURRICULUM NEWS From the English Department Miss Kirk writes…

This week, Year 7 have been learning about the history of the English language. The boys were shocked to discover that until 450AD, before the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons, everybody spoke Latin.

They were even more aghast to hear that after the arrival of William the Conqueror in 1066, English was deemed as the unfashionable alternative to an extremely ‘en vogue’ French. Gabriel Tournant, however, did not join the chorus of complaint but rather sat up a little straighter, glowing with patriotic pride! Above all, when exploring the influence of new technology on the English language, the boys couldn’t believe that the first email wasn’t send until 1972! Life without the internet? Just how did people survive?!

In order to demonstrate their learning, I asked for the boys to present the key information learnt in the lesson in a creative way.

Together, we created a detailed success criteria for what an outstanding presentation would contain. I am delighted to say that every boy fulfilled this criteria to a ‘Gold’ standard. These images reveal the impressively informative and entertaining presentations produced by the boys. As well as showing how much new information the boys had processed in just one lesson, the plays also exposed some veritable thespians in our midst! Danny Barta, Luca Obertelli and Danny Silver are ones to watch in particular…

Danny Silver and Luca Obertelli welcome the arrival of the English bible with open arms, whilst Faisal Abaalkhail describes the impact that it had on the 'everyday man', who no longer had to rely on the church to interpret the text for them.

Sasha Elgen (representative of the Jutes tribe) is brutally stabbed by the Angles and Saxons (happily represented by Ahmed Alsibai and Gabriel Tournant) as soon as the three tribes arrive in 'Angle-Land' (now England!)

Danny Barta enjoying the spotlight in a moving rendition of Juliet's famous 'Romeo, Romeo' solioquy. Arthur Chung was happy to cut Juliet's heartbreak short by telling the class some interesting facts about Shakespeare's influence on the English language- did you know that he invented over 1700 new words, many of which we still use today

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CURRICULUM NEWS From the Art & Graphic Design Department Mr Meyer writes…

During the first six weeks of the term, Year 9 looked at ‘Symmetry’ as a theme behind their work. During this process they learnt to use a number of printing resources from a lino cutter to a printing press. As well as this, they also created a number of 3D prints by immersing their inked up lino into a cuboid shaped wooden box; distorting the shape and then pouring plaster over it. Over the course of 24 hours this set, allowing the boys to reveal their piece in the next lesson (see below).

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CURRICULUM NEWS From the Graphic Design Department Miss Bradley writes‌ Year 7 have now completed their emoji designs and they are excitingly creative and original. The range of emotions they have managed to convey is very impressive and their skills on Adobe Illustrator are developing very quickly. Next week we are moving on to a typography project and the boys will be working towards designing their own typefaces.

Year 8 have been producing more beautiful Arts and Crafts Movement inspired wallpaper designs which are now decorating the Bulstrode staircase.

(L-R: Ali Guglielmi, Lucas Maynard, Tommaso Savelli, Leo Maydannik, Max Hashem, Joao Correia da Silva)

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CURRICULUM NEWS From the Classics Department Miss Nash writes...

As we enter a new month, it is now time for me to reveal which boys were top of the Memrise leaderboard for October. If you're still unsure what Memrise is, it's a website which the Classics department has been using to encourage boys to learn their Latin vocabulary. Boys who make it to the top of the leaderboard are those who have put the most amount of time into learning their vocabulary over that month.

The top boys from each year group for October are as follows: Year 7 - Atticus Cobb Year 8 - Dylan Auerbach Year 9 - Edoardo Usai Year 10 - Rory Lawless A special mention must go to Atticus Cobb who was top of the leaderboard overall. Well done to all those boys who have been using the Memrise website this term!

If you want to see who is currently doing well on the leaderboard for November, follow this link: http://www.memrise.com/user/WetherbySeniorClassics/courses/teaching/

Hitting The Nail On The Head: Language Idioms of the Week German: German: Ein Dienst ist des anderen wert Translation: One good turn deserves another French: French: Garder la tête froide Translation: to keep one’s cool Spanish: Estar como una cabra Translation: To go a little crazy (like a goat!)

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CURRICULUM NEWS From the IT Department In IT, Year 9 boys have been given log-in details to groklearning.com, an interactive online platform for learning how to code. All boys have been entered into a competition, where they are given a set of problems to solve each week, using ‘blockly’ code. They can run their code and when they submit for marking, they receive instant feedback and another chance if required. With new challenges each week, this will extend the boys’ computational thinking skills and introduce key areas of coding, such as use of IF statements with Boolean logic. Although we will be using the site in IT lessons, the boys can access the website from home, so they can complete any problems that they did not get chance to finish in class.

From the Biology Department Mrs Bennet writes...

In Chemistry the Year 9 boys have been learning about diffusion.

We demonstrated diffusion in a gas and liquid. The boys filled a petri dish with water and added a small amount of lead nitrate and potassium iodide on opposite sides of the dish. Both solids diffuse quickly into the water and start to move towards each other. When they meet they form a yellow precipitate called lead iodide. The picture shows the best results of the class created

by Ethan and Sasha.

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CURRICULUM NEWS From the Chemistry Department Miss Hoskins writes...

This week the Year 10 boys have been investigating the properties of carbon dioxide, including making it from thermal decomposition of metal carbonates and reaction of metals with acid. The boys also spent a single lesson exploring the properties of dry ice (solid carbon dioxide).

The demonstrations included: 

A comparison in mass of balloons, one of air and one of carbon dioxide.



Pouring carbon dioxide down a ramp of candles to show its use in fire extinguishers.



Adding dry ice to hot water and fairy liquid to make carbon dioxide bubbles.



Floating a balloon over a tub of subliming dry ice.

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CURRICULUM NEWS

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CURRICULUM NEWS From the Music Department AFRO CELT SOUND SYSTEM CONCERT REVIEW by Jack Henniker-Gotley On Sunday evening the GCSE Music boys and Miss Valentine went to the Barbican Centre to see a band called Afro Celt Sound System. The band was a fusion of Celtic (Irish and Scottish) and African music. The concert started at 8 o’clock.

Afro Celt played many different types of pieces of music fusing the African and Celtic styles. The African instruments were much brighter and more colourful than the Celtic ones. The main Celtic singer (who also played the bagpipes) did some Gaelic rap which was interesting because I had never heard something like that before.

I found the experience of going to the concert very insightful and interesting because I would never normally listen to that type of music but it has introduced me to a whole new genre of music that I might start to listen to more often. I hope to see Afro Celt Sound System again with my family.

GCSE Music boys getting to grips with some African drumming inspired by the concert.

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CURRICULUM NEWS Year 9 Drugs talk from Peter Hall Mr Hartley writes...

Prison, the judicial system, rehabs, divorce, drug addiction and alcohol abuse.

Peter Hall has had a wealth of experience relating to the darker corners of life.

From his personal experiences he gave a talk to Year 9 boys on Wednesday on the perils of drug and alcohol addiction and the chaos that surrounds the lifestyle. The presentation was designed to stimulate debate amongst the pupils on this important subject that is all too often swept under the carpet. As Peter says, "If they are talking about it, it means they are thinking about it." By his own account “unemployable”, Peter’s message came through loud and clear: "Don't let drugs and alcohol waste your life."

After a privileged upbringing, Peter revealed that he spent 25 years escaping from life and the last 5 years dealing with the fallout. He has been in and out of jail cells, rehabs and courts. His recovery began in earnest after a spell in prison followed by hospitalisation for alcohol abuse. As he told the boys, "Life finally got my attention. One day I woke up and realised I had wasted 25 years.”

Ultimately, though, Peter’s was a message of hope. He is not a preacher, but someone who shares his experiences of addiction and relates the problems he has encountered, and continues to encounter, as a result of years of abuse. As he says himself, "My problems didn’t end when I stopped drinking and doing drugs, in fact, they had really just begun. I had spent so many years running away that when I stopped and looked around I found there were a lot of people chasing me."

Peter recounted his story in a refreshing, matter-of-fact manner that made the boys sit up and listen to him as he explained the pitfalls to avoid if they did not want to make the same mistakes that he did.

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SPORTING NEWS From the Games Department Mr Sullivan writes…

Welcome back! Did you have a lovely relaxing break? Throughout the season it is imperative that you continue to work on your conditioning. If you don’t keep topping up your aerobic and anaerobic systems with some of the workouts then you will actually de-train and get less fit as the school year goes on!

So how did you get on boys? Pop into my office and let me know!

Games Kit Winter is finally here!

Please see below for our attire: Wetherby Training kit: Plain black beanie, wet top, training shirt, base layer, black leggings, shorts and black socks.

After training: Wetherby hoodie or tracksuit top, white polo shirt, track suit bottoms and clean socks and footwear.

Just in case of bad weather please could boys bring showering equipment (Towels, trunks, shampoo etc.) to wash before changing into fresh, dry and clean Wetherby Sports kit.

Please visit Perry uniform for Wetherby Sports kit. Link is below: Click here

Clubs outside school We do encourage the boys to be as active outside of school as they are in. If you are interested in joining any clubs. See the list below: 

Rugby – Speak to Mr Sullivan



Strength and Conditioning (JS9) - Speak to Mr Sullivan



Football – Speak to Mr Montgomery



Cricket – Speak to Mr Underwood



Swimming - Via this website: Click here



Athletics – Via this website: Click here



Rowing – Via this website: Click here



Tennis – Via this website: Click here

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SPORTING NEWS Year 7/8 Football WSS A vs. WPS A Mr Montgomery writes‌ What fantastic weather we are having!

A fine afternoon saw the battle of the schools take place at the park club. Wetherby Prep started the game off but it wasn't long until they lost the ball with the midfield of Daniel Silver and Alessandro Guglielmi pressing the ball. Wetherby Senior kept possession for most of the first five minutes frustrating the Prep School which opened space up in the middle, Alessandro Guglielmi who had started well soon scored after a great individual run.

Wetherby Senior were soon to score again as Alessandro Guglielmi made another brilliant run setting up Joao Correia da Silva after 13 minutes of play making the

score 2-0. The Prep School looked rather shell shocked and despite pressing couldn't keep the ball from the Senior School who were dominant in midfield.

Ahmed Alsibai made a jinking run beating two players before passing the ball to Billy Macpherson who placed it neatly past the keeper after 25 minutes of play making the score 30. Wetherby senior were on a roll and soon after Alessandro Guglielmi, who was having his best performance ever, smashed the ball from far out forcing a good save which Joel Correia da Silva toe poked past the goalie making the score 4-0.

2nd half: Wetherby Prep stared well and looked more dangerous as some substitutes came on but despite this lacked teeth in the midfield. Joao Correia da Silva used this to his advantage running straight through the middle scoring his hat-trick of goals for the game.

The Prep School scored towards the end of the game with a powerful shot which was too well placed for Jude Brazier to stop. Billy assisted in the last goal of the game with Joao Correia da Silva scoring again making the final score 6-1.

Man of the match Alessandro Guglielmi

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SPORTING NEWS WSS B vs. WPS B Mr Underwood writes...

It was the day of the Wetherby rivalry: Prep vs Senior. From the first whistle, our boys had a spring in their step, hunting down the opposition with intensity. With this early pressure, we started to create half chances to take an early lead, with Himat Singh Virdee being a constant threat.

Meanwhile, Leo Maydannik formed a solid partnership with Jude Jones, keeping the opposition at bay with well-times tackles and clearances. Despite our pressure, the Prep boys were awarded a free kick, which they subsequently converted; 1-0 to the hosts, just before halftime.

At halftime, we agreed that shooting was to take priority, aiming to convert our pressure and good play into scoring opportunities.

With Jude Jones playing further forward, our boys took the message to heart. Rafael Hajjar, Oscar Cornaby and Lucas Kane all came close to finding an equaliser. However, the Prep boys employed a counter-attacking system, breaking clear to double their lead.

Our boys were not to be perturbed, as they produced an immediate response. Dylan

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Auerbach distributed the ball to Himat Singh Virdee, who played Oscar Cornaby through on the wing. Oscar beat his man, produced a superb cross for Zachary Goodwin to tap the ball into the goal; 2-1, game on!

We continued to attack, searching for the everelusive second goal. Chance after chance were created and only phenomenal goalkeeping from the Prep School kept the score in their favour.

With two minutes to go, the opposition countered again to ensure the victory, scoring their third of the game.

Despite the loss, our boys contributed to their best performance of the season. They can all be proud of their efforts, with only fantastic goalkeeping from the opposition deciding the result. Due to his outstanding play and defensive decisions, the Man of the Match award goes to Leo Maydannik. Congratulations on a superb performance.

SPORTING NEWS WSS C/D vs. WPS C/D

create as many opportunities as possible.

Mr Betts writes....

After two very well contested games it was Wetherby Prep School who came out with the victories, however the WSS should be proud with their 'never give up' attitude that they displayed after the prep School scored a couple of early goals. The fight back from the Senior School boys is exactly the determination and willingness to commit that we want the boys to show on the field.

On Wednesday, Wetherby Prep School came to play against Wetherby Senior School at Twyford Avenue.

With two fixtures taking place at Twyford, the day was destined for goals! Both matches were extremely entertaining and provided what was promised with heaps of goals coming in each game. It was a joy to see the Wetherby Senior School boys keeping up their work rate that they had worked so hard to obtain in the first half of term.

A great afternoon and welcome back to Football!

It was a cold afternoon, which can often cause players to ease up on their performance but this was far from the case today. Both teams worked tirelessly both on and off the ball in order to

Sports Quote of the Week Sports Quote of the Week: ‘BLOOD, SWEAT & RESPECT. First two you GIVE. Last one you EARN’ Follow us for results and updates on Twitter via @WetherbySSports #teamwetherby

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CLUB NEWS Bridge Club Mr Lawrence writes...

This half of term the boys are moving from learning mini-bridge to the full game. The bidding boxes signal a shift to the major league.

Climbing Club Mr Bray writes...

Boys in Climbing Club have displayed real progress in their climbing ability since September.

Now all of the boys can reach the top of the highest climbing wall, which is no mean feat and requires a head for heights. Some of the boys are only using particular colours on the wall to make the climb even more challenging. The photos are taken three flights of stairs above the bottom of the wall – it looked a long way down.

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Looking down

CLUB NEWS

Jock Saeger

Raffi Naggar

Alex Piggott Testa

Ali Reina

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CLUB NEWS Food Chemistry Club Miss Hoskins writes...

This week the food chemists made honeycomb by making caramel from sugar and golden syrup. When this had boiled for 10 minutes we added bicarbonate of soda which reacted with the mixture to form lots of carbon dioxide bubbles inside the caramel. They thoroughly enjoyed being able to watch it bubble up and then crack the honeycomb open with a hammer when it had cooled and hardened.

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CLUB NEWS Lego Club

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VOTES FOR SCHOOLS This Week’s Topic has been: Should

involved in political issues?

With the American presidential campaign in full swing and both camps desperately seeking out some good old fashioned celebrity endorsements, the boys at WSS have been discussing the extent to which it is appropriate for celebrities to get involved in politics. Here are the results of their discussions:

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celebrities get

ON THE HOTSEAT Hello and welcome to Week 5 of “On the Hot Seat”. We know, we know… it’s been hard; two whole weeks without our witty banter and informative interviewing. Do not fear dear readers, we are back and this week we had the pleasure of grilling (like a sizzling sausage on a summer BBQ) your favourite Director of Drama and chocoholic Miss Twomey, (FYI that’s “Too-Me”. Not, “Twoo-Me”).

Readers, did you know that Miss Twomey’s theatre debut was the role of Juliet in Romeo and Juliet in Year 3? It was apparently a heavily edited version of the play and she still found it hard learning her lines, (I suppose we can forgive that, she was only 7 after all). Little could she have then known that she would one day be directing plays of her own. Drama is not Miss Twomey’s only skill. She hosted a radio show on a local station for 2 years and has also DJ’d at the biggest club in her University town, Exeter. (Who says teachers aren’t cool?) Whilst in a café one day, no doubt in search of a chocolaty treat, Miss Twomey ended up sitting next to Sir Ian McKellen, (Gandalf/Magneto for those of you who don’t know his “real” name!) Despite being told by her (seemingly wittier) brother to stand in his way and proclaim with great theatricality “You shall not pass”, Miss Twomey retained all dignity, smiled politely and let him through…

So, on that bombshell let us begin…

1) Curry sauce or gravy?

Curry sauce 2) Ice cream or sorbet?

Ice cream 3) Sweet or sour?

Sweet 4) Musical or play?

Play 5) Ron or Hermione?

Hermione 6) Jazz or classical?

Classical 7) Singing or dancing?

Dancing 8) Board games or video games?

Board games 9) Dark or white chocolate?

Dark chocolate 10) Truth or dare?

Truth 11) What would you do if you didn’t have to work?

Travel all day every day 12) Choose a movie title for the story of your life: (…giggles…looks perplexed…) this is impossible, maybe “the cookie monster” (you get to eat loads of sweet things, and you can be a bit mean too!)

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From the Editor On this week’s front cover: Food Chemistry club make honeycomb.

On the back: Year 7 & 8 footballers reflect on their game plan.

For all comments and feedback please email: henry.warner@wetherbysenior.co.uk

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