Christmas Celebrations
December is now finally upon us and preparations for Christmas are in earnest, with Christmas trees around the School grounds and decorated classrooms giving a festive feel to the School. The orchestra and choir have been enthusiastically rehearsing in preparation for the various events and I am really looking forward to the Christmas Concert on Saturday which promises to be an excellent evening. Of course, the Christmas Disco is soon upon us, so now is the time to note the details below.
Wellingburian
The Wellingburian magazine will be reaching you soon in which a year in the life of the school is fully captured. As I leaf through the pages, I am captivated by the breadth and depth of the school activity and the opportunities afforded to and embraced by the pupils. Congratulations to our Foundation Office for the production of a very high quality publication.
Do you have a question? Come and chat
My leadership team and I enjoyed meeting parents at our “Do you have a question? Come and chat” afternoon on Thursday. We discussed a range of topics from challenging our most able, assessment and reporting, tracking pupil progress, communication, to show my homework, speech and drama, sports fixtures and clubs. We will hold another session in the Lent term.
WPSA Christmas Discos
The ever popular Christmas discos will take place in the Prep School Hall on Thursday, 15th December.
- 4.30pm-6.00pm Years 4, 5 & 6
- 6.30pm-8.00pm Years 7 & 8
Tickets are £5.00 and are available to purchase from the Prep Office from Monday, 5th December. There will be drinks and a tuck shop and it would be appreciated if pupils could bring a small amount of loose change, rather than notes. The ever popular photo booth will also be available and all those who attend will be given a copy of the photographs on a DVD. Pupils should be collected from the Prep Hall at the end of the disco. If you would like to assist on the night please contact WPSA@wellingboroughschool.org - all help will be very much appreciated.
End of Term Carol Service
The end of term Carol Service will be held at All Saints Church in Wellingborough on Friday, 16th December at 11.30am. There are a limited number of seats available at the church, therefore only two places can be reserved and these will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. Further details will be sent via clarion. I look forward to seeing you there.
Mrs Knox
Headmistress
Pupil Reports
At the end of this term you will receive a report detailing your child’s effort for Michaelmas term and the progress they have made in each subject based upon their individual target and the WPS standard. The WPS standard aims to provide you with context about your child’s ability in relation to age expectation at WPS. All pupils will receive a written form tutor comment and pupils in Years 4 to 7 will also receive subject comments from your child’s teachers.
Year 4 Active Learning
This week I have watched the concentration on the faces of Year 4 pupils as they carried out drills and marching in formation, not only as convincing Roman soldiers, but also by following instructions in Latin! They have also participated in memorable Science lessons about digestion where they made their own digestive systems and observed the changes to food as it moved through the different areas including teeth and saliva (cutlery and water), oesophagus (cardboard tube), stomach and stomach acid (bag and orange juice) and intestines (tights). Much fun was had by all and the learning resulting from this practical activity was evident in the pupils’ written recounts of their experiences.
Mrs Owen
Deputy Head - Curriculum
Positive Parents Programme
The next session of the wellbeing support programme for parents is ‘Teaching choice in the way children and young people think’ on 12th December. Click here for more details.
Charity News
Thank you to everyone who supported ‘Wear Something Blue Day’ during Anti-Bullying Week the total raised for the School’s charity British Heart Foundation was £227.01.
Donations for forthcoming Charity Activity Break
We would be very grateful to receive empty jam jars (with lids) for one of the activities suggested for Friday, 9th December. Please leave your donations of clean jam jars at Prep Reception. Thank you for your help.
Christmas Jumper and Bobble Hat Day
On Thursday, 15th December pupils may wear a Christmas jumper for a donation of £1 and, if they wish, for an additional £1 they may also wear a bobble hat. All monies raised will be donated to the School’s charity British Heart Foundation. Thank you for your support.
Mrs C Petrie
Deputy Head - Pastoral
Music School
Christmas Concert
There are a small number of tickets left for this Saturday's Christmas Concert. These must be obtained from Senior School reception before the end of Friday, as there will be no tickets available on the door. All musicians should attend the afternoon rehearsal at 3.00pm - 5.30pm in the Senior School Hall. They will be provided with a light tea before the concert starts at 6.30pm.
ABRSM Examinations
Congratulations to all pupils who have taken their ABRSM or Trinity music exams this week. Results should be available immediately after the Christmas holiday.
Music Lesson Timetables
To view next week’s timetables of individual lessons, which are also displayed just inside the main entrance to the music department, click here.
Mr Leutfeld
Head of Music
Country of the Day
To continually improve location knowledge in the Prep School, here is a daily challenge from 6LW. Your focus for each day is to locate the country on a map! If that is too easy, there are some extension questions too…
- Daily challenge:
Monday 5th December - Mongolia
Tuesday 6th December – Vietnam
Wednesday 7th December – Saudi Arabia
Thursday 8th December – Oman
Friday 9th December - Iraq - Extension questions:
1. What is the capital city of this country?
2. What does the flag look like?
3. How many people live in this country?
4. What are the most notable features of this country?
Dr Fordham
Head of Geography
Sports Announcements
Achievements
Jack Mason broke the U14 County record for a Portsmouth shoot at the Bedfordshire v Northamptonshire County match.
Northants cricket announced the 20
17 Elite programme click here. There are only five girls on the Elite programme and three are from Wellingborough School, Poppy Bevan, Ella Harvey and Iris Kirk. Well done girls.
Cross Country Club
Every Tuesday night at 4:15 until 5.15pm, pupils from Years 4 to 8 meet at the cricket nets with Mrs McDougall and Mr Burrows or Mr Russell. We complete some warm-up exercises before doing a 1.2 mile run around the school. The mile takes us through various areas of the school and every week it is getting muddier and darker, but everyone still has lots of fun! We have been bringing in head torches now that it is so dark. As well as running we also complete some interval training, which involves sprinting and resting activities. This year we will be completing a Christmas themed ‘fun run’ where everybody brings in Christmas hats, jumpers and light up laces. After the mile run there’s hot chocolate and biscuits which will be well deserved I am sure.
Written by Pip Thomson Y6
Years 4, 5 & 6 Club Cross Country Event – 9th December
On Friday 9th December we will have our Club cross country event taking place here at Wellingborough School. All pupils in Years 4, 5 & 6 will compete for their house. We will also be using this event to help select our school cross country teams to represent us at next term’s cross country events. The event will start at 3.20pm and will finish by 4.15pm. Any parents wishing to come along and support are most welcome. There will be tea, coffee and cake for all supporters. Years 7 & 8 will take place on Monday, 12th December.
Sports Fixtures Week Commencing 5th November 2016
Wednesday 7th December
Rugby U13A & B v Spratton Hall (H) – 2.30 start
Rugby U12B v Spratton Hall (H) – 2.30 start
Rugby U11A, B & C v Spratton Hall (A) – 2.30 start
Hockey 1st/3rd v Spratton Hall (H) – 2.30 start
Hockey 2nd/4th v Spratton Hall (H) – 3.15 start
Hockey U11A & B v Spratton Hall (A) – 2.30 start
Hockey U11C v Spratton Hall (A) – 3.15 start
Hockey U10A & B v Thornton College (H) – 2.30 start
Thursday 8th December
Rugby U9A, B & C v Spratton Hall (A) – 3pm start
Hockey U9A & B v Spratton Hall (A) – 3pm start
Friday 9th December
Club Cross Country - Years 4, 5 & 6 at WPS – 3.20pm start, 4.15 finish
Saturday 10th December
Rugby U13A, U12A & U11A v Gresham’s (H) – start 11am
Results
To view this week’s results please click here.
Mr Irvine
Head of Sport and Extra-Curricular
Arts Action Christmas Camp
On the 19th and 20th December myself and Mrs Woodward are running a Christmas Art Camp in the Senior School Art block. I will be making felt drawings with anyone who wishes to enter this piece for their scholarship or GCSE/A level coursework. Mrs Woodward will be working with the younger children on Christmas themed activities. If you would like your child to attend please return booking form by 8th December to the School Shop, Prep Reception or the Art block. Click here.
Mrs Hennessy
Senior School Head of Art
Information to Parents
Please visit the parents’ login area on the website to view copies of letters and sent by Clarioncall and weekly team sheets. If you do not know the login details please email Mrs Eccleston, Prep Reception on prep-office@wellingboroughschool.org. Click here.