A Foreword From Mrs Parpworth
The final few weeks of term are full of numerous extracurricular opportunities, events and activities for our pupils. Additionally, this is just a gentle reminder of some of the many events that we have upcoming for parents. There are parents’ meetings for all year groups (see ‘future events’ below for details), the Denne Hill cross country event (for all), the elocution cup / poetry recitation (Years 1 – 8), the science fair, the Music Soiree evening for parents of children in Year 4 to 8, the pre-prep Easter service, the Lenten Service (for Years 4 – 8) and the end of term Easter Bonnet parade and family picnics as organised by the PFA. The online website calendar and the WHD weekly is the best way to keep abreast of all calendar events. We very much look forward to seeing many parents at these events and we thank you for all of your support.
Finally, it is with great sadness that we will say goodbye to Nick Venn, our superstar chef, from the catering team. He is relocating to be closer to his family and we wish him all the happiness and luck in the next chapter of his life. Nick has provided countless delicious and nutritious meals for hundreds of children and staff. We are so thankful for everything he has done for our school and the endless number of happy tummies he has satisfied. We are currently searching for his replacement so if you know of any chef contacts, please let us know! Our vacancies can be found on our website under ‘contacts’.
I hope you have a brilliant week ahead.
Mrs Jo Parpworth
School Last Week
Senior Trip to King’s
Our senior students enjoyed a fascinating trip to The King’s School in Canterbury on Monday. They were treated to a delicious lunch followed by some exciting science experiments in King’s new laboratories. They finished off the day with a tour of the beautiful grounds and cathedral.
Plastic Free School Assembly
Thank you to Mrs Sabin-Dawson and Wild Club for delivering a poignant and positive assembly regarding our fight against plastic this week. We are working towards an action plan which will ensure our school is as plastic free as it can be for years to come. They shared some very helpful tips on how to reduce household plastic waste such as avoiding black coloured plastics and buying loose fruit & veg. Did you know it can take up to 50 years for a chocolate wrapper to decompose? Parts of the world’s ocean now hold more plastic than plankton! We understand that some of these statistics can be frightening and we are working hard on encouraging children to focus on the positives, taking action and making a difference.
On that note, we are encouraging classes and our families to take part in #thebigplasticcount (https://thebigplasticcount.com). This audit of plastic consumption will provide vital and helpful data to help lobby the government to make fundamental changes which seem to be less of a priority than they should be! Our Year 4 children have already written to our local MP, Craig Mackinlay, to argue that more needs to be done to protect our local environment. Please help us by taking part by clicking here for more information and to access your plastic tally count sheet.
Mrs Sabin-Dawson’s daughter, who works for the Kent Wildlife Trust, has created some podcasts which you may find useful here and here. 
Year 2 Clip n’ Climb Challenge
Six children from Year 2 took part in the Thanet Passport Clip n’ Climb event on Tuesday. They completed various challenges and events to challenge themselves. They all showed great resilience and bravery. Well done to everyone who represented our school!
Gian’s Debut at the Thanet Music Festival
A huge congratulations to Gian who entered the Thanet Music and Drama Festival and participated in the 18 and under age category for Modern Style for the first time. There were 20 other fantastic performances from much older competitors who were experienced in competing at this level. We are absolutely delighted to announce that Gian WON the competition, with an outstanding score of 90 (the first the adjudicator had given in the competition).
Performing ‘You are the Reason’, the adjudicator said, ‘What a touching performance. There was honesty in your performance and a delicious tone that flowed expressively through the music. Words were clear and heartfelt.’
Well done Gian – we are super proud of you! We are sure there are big things to come for this bright and talented boy!
Élodie Shines at The Thanet Music Festival
Well done to Élodie who also debuted at the Thanet Festival last week. She entered the under 11 solo category and Light Opera/Musical category gaining a merit in one and commended in the other. Élodie has immense talent and we look forward to watching her musical career flourish over the coming months.
Fantastic achievement Élodie!
WHD Challenge Final
We very much enjoyed the final of the WHD challenge on Thursday. In a very close match the 3rd place play off was won by Kingsgate, whose knowledge of popular music and, particularly in their younger team members, of Roman History, allowed them to see off a late charge by Joss. In the final, some very challenging questions caused both teams some consternation at times. Viking impressed with their knowledge of pop art, and of Shakespearean quotes, but Stone held on to win a very narrow victory, showing some excellent quizzing whilst working out some tricky word questions. Well done to everyone who took part.
Free Book Giveaway
Thank you to Mrs Hodges and Westgate Bookshop for organising a free book giveaway for the children in readiness for World Book Day! We hope the children enjoy reading them.
Reception Trip to Manston History Museum
Reception had a wonderful day at the Manston History Museum for our transport topic ‘Adventure Above and Below the Clouds’. We started with a talk and a tour looking at all the planes. The children spent some time drawing some of their observations and we even got to go in the helicopter. After lunch, there was a chance for a teddy bear hunt plus a wordsearch. The children were brilliant. A big thanks to Mrs Hodges and Miss Marta, as always.
Parents V WHD Squash Tournament
Thank you very much to Mr Montgomery for organising a parents vs WHD squash match on Saturday afternoon. It was clear from the calibre of play that our pupils have progressed greatly under Tom’s tutelage. It was a tense match with both parents and students giving their fullest effort. In the end, it was a very close draw – well done to everyone who took part.
School This Week
Mindfulness And Yoga Studio is taking shape!
We wanted to share the progress we are making in the conversion of the rifle range to a yoga studio. What’s more, so far, we have only used recycled and sustainable materials! We are super happy with the results to date, thanks to Mrs Crompton’s vision and the maintenance team’s skill and hard work. This will be a hub for tranquillity and mindfulness which will be of benefit to our whole community.
Year 6 Trip to King’s School Canterbury – Monday 4th March
Some of our Year 6 pupils have been selected to attend a very interesting session at King’s where they will learn about the history of the site during a guided tour followed by lunch. We are very much looking foward to it!
Calling all Parents – A message from Ms Elliott!
As the PSHE lead for the school, I am in the process of developing the school curriculum to include careers advice and talks for the children up in KS2, especially the seniors. With that in mind I am asking all parents to think about their job roles/businesses etc and get in contact with me if it is something you would be able to come in a talk to the children about or give advice on what qualifications etc..they would need to achieve this. This would either be in the form of an assembly if that is something you would be interested in delivering to an extended group or as simple as a small classroom environment with each class individually. It would be great if we could get a diverse range of careers to be introduced to the children and information to give them to further their knowledge and development.
Please message me directly or email me: ae@wellesleyhaddondene.co.uk for any queries or to set something up. Many thanks, Anna Elliott, PSHE Lead.
Year 8 Mock exams begin 4th March
Year 8 will complete a range of CE or scholarship exams in the sports hall. We wish every student the best of luck!
Mother’s Day Gift Room – Tuesday 5th March
The PFA is holding a gift room between 9am-11am on Tuesday 5th March. Children can purchase up to 3 gifts which will be posted on School Money at a cost of £5 each.
World Book Day (Little Denes to Year 3) – Thursday 7th March
Children are welcomed to dress up as their favourite book character for the day. There will be a range of fun activities happening that day for the children.
Year 2 and 3 Trip to the Houses of Parliament – Friday 8th March
This is an exciting trip for our youngsters to witness inside one of the world’s most famous buildings and find out about the work of the UK Parliament.
Exeat Weekend – Friday 8th March – Sunday 10th March
School finishes at 3.30pm on Friday 8th March.
Future Events
Parent Consultation Evenings – begin 11th March
Year 4, 5, & 6
Parents of children in years 4, 5, & 6 will be able to meet with their children’s English and Maths teachers and with their form tutor. Timings of the meetings are as follows:
Monday 11th 15:00 – 16:30
Tuesday 12th 15:00 – 16:30
Wednesday 13th 14:00 – 16:30
You will soon receive a notification from the school portal asking you to book your slots and you will need to log into the portal to do this. Should you have any problems, please contact the Office.
Year 7 & 8
Parents of children in years 7 & 8 will be able to meet with teachers of examined subjects. These meetings will take place on Saturday 16th March between 9am and 12pm and will be online. You will soon receive a notification from the school portal asking you to book your slots. Nearer the time you will receive your timetable with links to the online meetings. Should you have any problems, please contact the Office.
Science Fair – Wednesday 13th March
We are looking forward to celebrating Science Week beginning on Monday 11th March. We will be holding a range of cross-curricular activities around the theme of ‘Time’. On Wednesday 13th March we will be holding a Science Fair in the Old Hall, parents are most welcome to attend so please save this date in your diaries. We will be issuing a project brief to the children where they will be guided to research and develop a science project/experiment of their choice to showcase at the fair. We are also looking forward to taking the senior pupils to the Natural History Museum on Tuesday 12th March for a ‘Mission to Mars’ workshop.
Elocution Cup – Thursday 14th March
For parents in Year 1 to Year 8, please save this date. There will be three sessions in the Old Hall:
Year 1 & 2 – 9am
Year 3 & 4 – 10.30am
Year 5 to 8 – 6.15pm
Great Big School Clean 15th – 31st March
Keep Britain Tidy are running their campaign ‘Great Big School Clean’ between the 15th – 31st March. Last year the campaign encouraged 400,000 bags of litter to be collected across the UK. You may remember that we took part and we managed to smash our target of 40 bags.
We would like to take part this year and your child’s teacher will be keeping you up to date on Dojo with our progress during beach cleans and litter picks.
We would also like to encourage you to take part during the Easter holiday, collecting as many bags as you can – sending photos into us so that we can share with the community. If you are interested, Kent Wildlife Trust have organised some litter picks during half term at Pegwell Bay. The details can be found here.
As a point of interest, a bottle was recently collected during a beach clean – it dates back to 1954 and it is still intact. This goes to show, plastic is being thrown away but it doesn’t disappear and it is having a detrimental effect on ecosystems, wildlife and our own food sources/drinking water.
Let’s work together to make Thanet a cleaner and more environmentally friendly place to live for people and animals.
Comic Relief – Friday 15th March
We will be supporting this important charity by wearing non-school uniform in exchange for a voluntary £2 donation.
Year 3 and 4 Show – Friday 15th March
Please note that this date has changed from the 8th March. We have changed the format of our Junior show this year, breaking it down into 2 smaller shows for Year 3 & 4 and then later in the year for 5 & 6. We have taken this decision so that every child is able to embrace a larger part and so will have a better opportunity to shine on the stage. More details to follow.
Music Soiree – Friday 15th March
We are looking forward to an evening of entertainment, providing our students in Years 4 – 8 with a platform to showcase their talents. Please save the date for your diaries with more information to follow.
Denne Hill Cross Country – Saturday 16th March
This event is aimed at children in Years 4 and upwards, however children in Pre-Prep are very welcome to come along and run the course. Cakes and refreshments will be served afterwards.
Lenten Service – Tuesday 19th March
Please join us for our special service between 4-5pm in the Chapel.
Term ends – Wednesday 20th March
Please note that term ends at 12pm and there will be no after school provision on this day.
Easter Fair – Wednesday 20th March
On the last day of term, we will hold our annual Easter Fair with lots of fun and refreshments on offer. The Easter Bonnet parade will take place in school time at 11.30am on the school field. Once term has finished at 12pm, the Fair will begin with an Easter egg hunt, daffodil picking and games. More details to follow.
Multi-Sports Holiday Camp
We are delighted to announce that we are running a Multi-Sports Holiday Camp in conjunction with Thanet Sports during the Easter holiday. This is in addition to the internal club we run, led by Mrs McBride.
The dates are as follows:
Week 1 – Tuesday 2nd April – Friday 5th April 9am – 3pm each day
Week 2 – Monday 8th April – Thursday 11th April 9am – 3pm each day
Please click on the link to book sessions.
Reminders
Please ensure that you have labelled every item of your child’s school uniform. Any lost property will be kept for 2 weeks. After that time, any unlabelled items will be given to the second hand uniform shop for resale.
School Values Awards
Pre-Prep
Reception | Arthur Smith has been kind and helpful this week, always offering support to his friends. He has been trying really hard with his reading at home and in school too. Keep up the good work! |
Year 1 | Tilda Hempstead for being extremely helpful and kind to her classmates, always wanting to see them succeed. She is also pushing through her classwork, taking her time and making sure she does her best. Dominik Foster has shone in Phonics and Maths this week, he is constantly on task and is proving to be a studious worker. Dominik is always keen to contribute to class discussions and continues to challenge himself further. |
Year 2 | Henry Honeyman- Henry has been making a concerted effort with his overall presentation, notably his handwriting has improved significantly. It is lovely to see him taking so much pride in his work! Mia Low- We are very proud of Mia for her increased efforts when reading at home, this is reflected in the progress we are seeing in the classroom. Keep up the good work! Indigo Gaspa- Indi has astounded us with the superb efforts she has made in her lessons. In phonics, she is focused and is consistently scoring top marks in tests. Her maths and english skills are showing marked improvements and presentation is much improved. Phenomenal work, Indi! Max Harper- Max is working so hard to improve his handwriting skills, both at school and at home. His work is now showing a greater maturity and his presentation has immensely improved. Max is also a keen reader and demonstrates great progress in his reading skills. |
Year 3 | Marlo Montila for his positive attitude across all subjects which he undertakes with good humour and resilience. Cooper Webb for resilience when making a dreamcatcher in humanities as part of our topic on American history. It took a lot of patience to wrap thread around the hoop! |
Seniors
Year 4 | Maisie-Jane Buckley-Patey and Amber Hutchinson for their continued effort in all subjects and their positive attitude. |
Year 5 | Pearl Dunbar-Brunton – for a super all round effort, a really positive attitude and learning her poem for the Elocution Cup so well. |
Year 6 | Conrad Baybars – for always, just getting on and being a shining example to others of how to conduct themselves around school. Conrad is always polite to everyone he interacts with around school. |
Seniors | Thara Aravindakshan for demonstrating resilience and courage in all that she does and for supporting her fellow peers. Macie Mansfield for demonstrating courage to tackle challenges with a positive attitude. |
Team of the Week:
The senior cross country team of: Melody, Freya, Wilbur, Freddie and Tate.
For their huge efforts at the Northbourne Cross Country event on Tuesday. Whilst we were only a small team in numbers, the children made a big impact on the day.
School Calendar
Please click here and scroll through for the most up to date calendar of events for the term.
Matches This Week
2.00pm start unless otherwise stated
Wednesday
Hockey v Kent College: U11 A Boys (Polo Farm)
Hockey v Kent College: U11 B Boys (Polo Farm)
Rugby v Northbourne Park: U9 A Boys (h)
Wellesley Haddon Dene Netball Tournament: U11 A Girls (h) 1.30pm
Thursday
Hockey v St Lawrence: U9 A Boys (a)
Hockey v St Lawrence: U9 B Boys (a)
Please always refer to the website calendar as it is the most up-to-date place to check for fixture changes and locations.
If your child has been selected for a fixture, we will communicate with you prior to the fixture with information regarding the recommended pick up time from Wellesley HD.
Matches Last Week
Northbourne Park Cross Country: U13 Boys and Girls | Wilbur 5th. Melody 4th. |
Rugby v Dover College: U13 A Boys (a) | Won 10 – 0 |
Rugby v Northbourne Park: U11 A Boys (h) | Lost 0 – 3 |
Rugby v Northbourne Park: U9 A Boys (a) | Lost 8 – 9 |
Netball v Dover College: U13 A Girls (h) | Won 15 – 4 |
Netball v Northbourne Park: U11 A Girls (h) | Won 6 – 4 |
Netball v Northbourne Park: U11 B Girls (h) | Lost 11 – 0 |
Netball v Northbourne Park: U9 A Girls (h) | Won 10 – 6 |
Netball v Junior King’s: U13 A Girls (h) | Cancelled |