Wellesley HD Weekly 10th October 2022

Safety Notices

This is a polite reminder to parents that if you are walking to school each day that you enter and exit using the correct paths to avoid oncoming traffic at the exit.  Thank you.

It is also a polite reminder that parents must not enter our school buildings without signing in at the office first.  Naturally, this is for safeguarding purposes.  If children have forgotten uniform items or bags (which can happen!), these can be dropped at reception and we will ensure these reach your child.  Thank you.

Birthdays

If your child is celebrating a birthday in school, you are welcome to order magnum ice creams (mini magnums for pre-prep) for their class through the school office or alternatively they may bring in a treat to share from home.  We kindly ask for ease of distribution that these are either individual cakes or treats and that they do not contain nuts.  Please deliver them to the form teacher who will give them out at break time.  Boarders please contact Mrs Baird if you would like to order either ice creams or cakes for your birthday.

Social Media

If you would like to follow us on social media, please see the pages below, where you can keep up to date with day to day events at Wellesley Haddon Dene.

School Last Week

Harvest Festival Chapel Service

Always a significant fixture in our Chapel calendar, we were delighted to welcome parents, grandparents and other friends of WHD to the Old Hall and Ridgeway Chapel for our Harvest Festival.  The newly formed choir, led by Mrs Spencer, were in stunning voice and smartly robed and performed the anthem quite beautifully.  We welcomed children from years 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 who carried up harvest donations and laid them at the foot of the altar during the processional hymn and readings were conducted by our Deputy Heads of School.  Our guest speaker, Mr Rob Harrison, Housemaster of Tradescant at the King’s School, Canterbury engaged our congregation with two key messages during the time of Harvest – being grateful for what we have and being generous with what we give.  Aside from eagerly digesting the important message, our children also enjoyed the hand out of skittles as part of his talk!  Our thanks go to all parents for their kind and generous donations and to all who were able to support the event.

Pre-Prep Harvest Festival

On Friday morning, we held our Prep-Prep Harvest Festival assembly with Rhodri Walters who began the service with an interactive sermon on the creation of life.  It was an engaging service reminding us all to be thankful to God for what we have received on earth and as humans, to do better at sharing.  The children from Reception through to Year 3 delighted us with their singing, dancing and acting.  It was a joyous occasion for all and we are very grateful for all the food donations which were beautifully served in boxes decorated by the children.  

Sporting Review

It was another full sporting week for our pupils.  A special mention must go to our cross country runners – our seniors headed to the highly competitive Schools at Somerhill IAPS competition.  Standout performances were from Wilbur Henry and Harriet Brooks (both Year 7) who were the highest placed WHD pupils.  Recognition must also go to Ava Harris (Year 6) for racing and more than holding her own against girls two years older than her.  For our younger WHD runners, much fun was enjoyed at the Thanet Primary Schools Quex park cross country races.  Well done to all who raced, and a mention for highest place WHD children; Lucio Corbani (Year 3), Magnus Dilkes (Year 5), Joshua Eve and Ava Harris (Year 6)

Our junior footballers enjoyed their afternoon at Ashford for the annual U9 tournament.  Out of 16 teams in the competition, WHD reached the final four – narrowly losing out in the semi finals – with some breathtaking performances along the way.  The boys demonstrated great skill, teamwork, effort and determination throughout.  Well done!

Pupil Leadership

Following voting from children and staff, we are delighted to announce the following pupils in leadership positions this year:

Head Boy – Raf Cable; Deputy Head Boy (this term only) – William Franklin

Head Girl – Grace Flowers; Deputy Head Girl (this term only) – Teegan Pretzlik

Middle School Head Students – Olivia Dilkes & Joshua Eve

Middle School Deputies – Ava Harris & Rose Symington-Mills

Heads of Stone – Barnaby Williams & Asa Foster-Troy

Heads of Viking – Sunny Zhou & Ellis Keogh

Heads of Joss – Thomas Spanton & Mabel Dunbar-Brunton

Heads of Kingsgate – Arthur Huang & Hudson Redwood

Middle School Sports Captain – Tillie Spanton

Values Awards

Each week, there are “values” awards in Monday Assembly for Year 4 – Year 8 children based on attitude, effort, conduct and contributions throughout the previous week.  Congratulations to the following pupils who received applause and recognition in this morning’s Assembly in the Old Hall:

Year 4 – for showing kindness to a fellow pupil when she had lost her special toy, Eliza Beck; for her fantastic hockey skills and excellent sportsmanship, Ellie Uden.

Year 5 – for approaching all of the WHD opportunities with a really positive attitude, Isabella Stevens; for demonstrating impressive and growing resilience, Brooke Webb.

Year 6 – for demonstrating great kindness and manners to all, Rose Symington-Mills; for her positive attitude to her learning, Francesca Forrest.

Year 7 – for her enthusiasm and joy in all aspects of school life, Luna Sarafoglou; for teamwork and friendship, William Quinn.

Year 8 – for working diligently in his studies, being respectful of his peers and always being willing to give new challenges a go, Henry Obee.

School This Week

Mark Reading

Our first Mark Reading of the academic year was announced in Assembly on Monday morning.  All children in Years 4 to 8 were given “industry” grades by their teachers based on their efforts and attitude in the classroom and with preps.

Well done to the following children who achieved the top average in their respective year groups: Eliza Beck and Izzy James (Year 4), Clara Montgomery (Year 5), Olivia Dilkes and Ava Harris (Year 6), Freya Ralph (Year 7) and Grace Flowers (Year 8).  The highest scoring form group was Year 6K.   The overall aggregate House standings, including good and improvement marks are as follows:

1st – Viking

2nd – Stone

3rd – Joss

4th – Kingsgate

Year 5 & 6 Parent / Teacher Pastoral Check Ins

These are taking place on the afternoons of Monday 10th and Tuesday 11th October, as arranged by form tutors.

Wednesday Afternoon – Sports Fixtures

This Wednesday will be very busy again at WHD as we look forward to welcoming a number of schools for fixtures as well as having our usual sports training sessions.  Parking for spectators will be available through the barrier on the main field. Please drive carefully.

Wednesday Afternoon – After School Club Change of Venue

As a result of the dining room being used for match teas on Wednesdays, after school club will take place in the Old Hall and pick up will take place from there – thank you.

Team of the Week

Each week, a group of pupils is invited to meet with Mr and Mrs Franklin in the library at break time to enjoy some squash and snacks prepared by the catering team.  This week, it is the choir for their stunning performance at the Harvest Festival and for the time and effort that they give to their rehearsals.  Very well done to all of our choristers.

Wear it Yellow – Supporting Mental Health Day

On Monday 10th October, the Wellesley Haddon Dene community will be supporting Mental Health Day by “wearing it yellow” as part of a non uniform day.  A voluntary donation of £2 will be loaded onto School money accounts.  Thank you.   

Year 8 to Paris

Early on Saturday morning, 15th October, our Year 8 pupils set sail for France for their much anticipated 4 day trip to Paris.  The children will be accompanied by Mr Hallam, Madame Laurans and Mrs Spencer.  Among other things, they will enjoy visits to Montmartre, the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, Versailles Palace and (of course) Disneyland Paris.  They will also admire the Eiffel Tower from their boat cruise on the Seine.  We thank the staff very much for providing the children with this fantastic educational (and fun) opportunity.

School Calendar

Please click here and scroll through for the most up to date calendar of events for the term.

Future Events

Half Term

Please note, as per the calendar, half term begins for all children on Wednesday 19th October at 3.30pm.

Royal British Legion

The Royal British Legion have asked if we can support them in selling poppies (and other RBL merchandise) within our community in the weeks leading up to Armistice Day.  The children may bring a donation into school and choose from the RBL boxes something that they can wear during this period of Remembrance.  Pre-prep donations and boxes are in Junior House and Yrs 4-8 can make their donations outside the school office.  There will be a school only Remembrance service on Friday 11th November at 11am and a Remembrance Chapel service for year 4 to year 8 pupils, which all parents are warmly invited to in the Ridgeway Chapel/Old Hall at 4pm.

Menus

This week the kitchen will be serving menu week 3.

On Social Media