Wellington Today Michaelmas 2020 by Wellington College

Wellington MICHAELMAS 2020

today

CONTENTS From the Editor It has been, in all sorts of ways, a remarkable term.

A Celebration of Romantic Songs A socially distanced concert streamed to the Wellington Community and beyond.

Lottie Wins Prestigious Diana Award At just 18 years old, Lottie is having a significant impact as a mental health activist.

Wellington College Celebrates IB, A Level and GCSE Results Students can look back on a set of grades that were a true reflection of the hard work they had put in.

Wellington Premier League Four franchises play in each age group across Football, Girls’ Hockey and Touch Rugby.

Wellington College’s Public Outreach: Bridging the Gap in the Digital World Staff and pupils have been working hard to help disdavantadged students.

Mia Wins Two Cambridge Essay Prizes To win one Cambridge essay prize during the summer months may be considered fortunate: to win two suggests something special. Connell Glory for Clara’s Story! Clara wins the Connell Guides Short Story Prize for her story The Bird Cage. The 15th Annual Wellington Heads of College Virtual Conference The conference brought together a diverse collection of student leaders to celebrate and discuss leadership. Remembrance Week Pupils reflect upon the sacrifice of Old Wellingtonians. Black History Month Offering an answer to the question of why Black British history is so underrepresented at schools. Why is Ending Racism Even a Debate? Use every privilege you have to make a difference to the lives of others. ArtsFest 2020 The very best of Wellington College’s literature, music, theatre and comedy talents. Festival of Musical Theatre Brilliantly compèred by Rosie Perry and Sir Andrew Strauss.

Golf During Covid For the first time in Wellington golf history, we have over 100 pupils signed up to play! Jasper Smith-Gordon Scholarship Success Signed his NCAA Letter of Intent, binding him to the Men’s Gymnastics programme at UC Berkeley. Berkeley Brilliance for Monet Stuckey One of Wellington’s finest hockey players has been awarded a scholarship to study as a student-athlete at UC Berkeley. Hockey Held the Key to Colette’s Yale success Inspiring and wonderful achievements from our U6th Colette. International Recognition for Ophelia Ophelia started skiing when she was just three years old. Cesca’s Cycling Success is So Sweet “I really picked up the bug for cycling during the last couple of years, particularly in Scotland...” The Wellington Spirit Shone Through This Summer The summer holidays saw a variety of imaginative charity initiatives from current Wellingtonians. Wellington Wins Wellbeing & Mental Health Initiative Award For its first-ever Community Mental Health Day, hosted at the College in February 2020.

Your Old Tech Could Change a Young Life Fifth Form pupils have set up an incredible charity that will bridge the digital divide in education. #REDFORRUTH To ensure families facing the death of a parent from cancer are offered professional emotional support, Follow the Stars! Biddy volunteered her time to help organise and curate Macmillan’s Follow the Stars charity Christmas concert. #COATS4CALAIS The charity Care4Calais aims to provide each and every one of the refugees with a warm winter coat. Meet Sarah Miller, Head of Prince Albert Foundation To ensure that young people with talent and promise, are able to reach their full potential. Wellington International Wellington College International Bangkok opened in 2018 with a beautiful, and highly innovative, pre-prep and prep building and full sports facilities. Fireside Talks Many would argue that the jewel in Wellington’s cocurricular enrichment crown is our weekly series of Fireside Talks.

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THEN & NOW

March 1919 vs September 2020 Images courtesy of @WellyMaster Twitter

(With thanks to our Wellington Archivist) Spot the Difference 1919 vs 2020. Not Spanish 'Flu but a fire in East Block saw 140 Wellingtonians living in iron huts on South Front. Fast forward 101 years & here's our C-19 marquee providing a second dining-hall. Plus รงa change!

A message from the editor In March 1919 there was a fire in the main Eastern block of College, starting in what is now the Hardinge and spreading into the Blucher. So much damage was caused that the whole block became uninhabitable, and 140 students were not able to move back in until rebuilding was completed in October. Temporary iron huts were obtained from the War Office and erected immediately outside Waterloo Hall, and this was where the students slept in the intervening months, using the Hall as a common room. Fast forward a hundred years or so to September 2020 and the area adjacent to Waterloo Hall was once again pressed into service — with a temporary marquee enabling socially distanced dining for the Wellington students returning to physical school for the first time since March. Now, as then, Wellington’s response to a crisis has been both ingenious and flexible — it has been fascinating to see the way College has adapted to life in the midst of a pandemic and the ease with which both students and staff have embraced the new normal. House and year group bubbles have become the order of the day and masks are now worn without comment in public spaces. A crenelated timetable, while altering the familiar shape of the day, has allowed year groups to experience just about all that Wellington has to offer, while ensuring that no one facility ever becomes overcrowded. Meals are taken in either Dining Hall or Waterloo Hall (with marquee!) or as a takeaway option in the V&A. The first half of term saw a summer sports programme, and if games in the morning as opposed to afternoon took some getting used to, then better

by far than no games at all. We even managed some school fixtures and a live Festival of Musical Theatre in front of a real live audience was a wonderful reminder of the astonishing talent here at Wellington.

The College’s test, trace and bubble system proved robust and reliable, while the experience of our virtual term’s teaching ensured that those students who had to isolate themselves from time to time could still access lessons remotely. Full school events such as House Drama and Dance saw performances recorded separately and then live-streamed, as were many of the academic extension and enrichment lectures and talks. As ever, Armistice Day was honoured with pride, respect and reflection and Chapel remained the important still centre of College life. The new normal soon became as familiar as the old one and while we are all looking forward to a resumption of life lived totally and without distanced restriction, one thing has remained absolutely constant: the enthusiasm, energy, fizz and spirit of this current generation of Wellingtonians. It has been, in all sorts of ways, a remarkable term. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.

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Wellington College Celebrates Another Year Of Superb IB, A Level and GCSE Results

Despite the unusual nature of the 2019/2020 academic year it has been very much a case of business as usual for our examined classes. The IB cohort achieved another set of superb results, the A Level candidates carried all before them and the GCSE students can look back on a set of grades that were a true reflection of the hard work they had put in throughout the course.

• Average IB score: 40+ (five students scoring the perfect 45) • A Levels: A* 37%, A*/A 79%, A*-B 95% • GCSE Level: 9 44%, 9/8 72%, 9-7 91%

Although this summer there could be no final exams, grades were awarded by the IB on the basis of externally assessed coursework, Extended Essays and Theory of Knowledge presentations and essays. A Levels and GCSEs were awarded by Centre Assessed Grades, which for Wellington College were generated by an algorithm that took past performance, coursework, mock results, effort grades, and teacher predictions into account. James Dahl, Master of Wellington College commented: “I could not be prouder of this wonderful group of Wellingtonians who have secured a superb set of results, albeit in the most unorthodox of circumstances. Just as impressive is the fact that, amongst the cohort, there are numerous young men and women who have represented their country at sport or won national titles; musicians, actors and dancers who have regularly produced West End quality performances; and so many pupils who, through our Global Citizenship programme, have had a positive impact on the lives of others. They have redefined what it means to be a Wellingtonian and leave the College equipped to make their mark on the world. For our GCSE students to have done so well across the board merely confirms what a special year group they are: as they enter the Sixth Form they can look back with pride on all that they have achieved and look to the future with confidence.”

Mia Wins

Two Cambridge Essay Prizes

“...one day to become a Professor and embrace a writing career” To win one Cambridge essay prize during the summer months may be considered fortunate: to win two suggests something special is happening. Step forward Wellington College’s English Literature student Mia Wu (U6th, C), who recently won both Peterhouse’s Thomas Campion English Prize, and Trinity College’s Gould Essay Prize. Mia only joined Wellington College UK in January of this year, having previously been educated at Wellington College Shanghai, and quickly made her mark as a student of vast

academic potential. Mia follows the IB Diploma programme, studying English Literature, Maths and Economics at Higher Level, and her ambition is to read English at either Oxford or Yale — she is American by birth — and ‘one day to become a Professor and embrace a writing career’. Judging by the areas she investigated — in her Peterhouse essay she explored the balance of power between author and reader, while in the Gould Prize she examined the political nature of literary criticism — this is no idle dream.

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CONNELL GLORY FOR CLARA’S STORY! “Poitiers. France. 1923. I did not want to be here. This visit had been forced upon me like an unwanted present; I had been dreading it for the last twenty years.”

Congratulations to Clara Hornby (L6th, Hn), for winning the Connell Guides Short Story Prize for her story The Bird Cage, which she submitted to the competition during the Summer Term of Lockdown. Clara commented on winning the competition: “I am very excited about this opportunity and will continue to develop my creative writing skills.” Clara said that the inspiration for the story came from seeing an old photo

of a canary in a cage: she imagined how it must feel to be held captive. “Poitiers. France. 1923. I did not want to be here. This visit had been forced upon me like an unwanted present; I had been dreading it for the last twenty years.” To read the story in full visit connellguides.com/pages/shortstory

The 15th Annual

Wellington Heads of College Virtual Conference

The 15th Annual Wellington Heads of College Virtual Conference brought together a diverse collection of student leaders to celebrate and discuss leadership, with over 80 Head Girls and Head Boys joining from across England, France and Guernsey. This year’s theme, 'Growing as a Leader', emphasised the importance of listening and learning in order to develop leadership qualities.

a great performance when public speaking. In between the talks, students joined smaller break-out groups where they got to know each other, shared what leadership looks like in their own schools and considered how they would react to a number of different scenarios. The wide variety of activities helped students to not only learn, but also engage and develop their own leadership qualities!

The hosts for the day, Wellington’s Heads of College Rosie Wriggelsworth and Guy Zilberman, introduced the importance of leadership, particularly in the testing times which we find ourselves in. Their address was followed by Dr Edward Brooks, the Executive Director of the Oxford Character Project, who illuminated the role of empathy and trust in leadership, using an insightful metaphor of the lungs to explain how effective leaders should enact change from within, breathing life into the organisation, rather than enforcing from the top. Another highlight of the day was a masterclass on public speaking by Jane Lunnon, Designate Headmistress of Alleyn’s School and past Head of Wimbledon High School, who is passionate about education as a tool for developing leaders. Jane spoke about how preparation, energy, authenticity and personally addressing the audience are key in creating

Overall, the conference was a great success. This was only possible thanks to the fantastic work of Mrs Woolhouse, the Educational Conferences Manager; Mrs Bidston, the Director of Wellington’s Leadership Institute; the brilliant technical team, Sarah Hamilton and Tom Lovick; as well as the nine prefects from Wellington who each kindly volunteered to host breakout groups during the afternoon. Everyone made the most of the virtual nature of the event, which was a fantastic way of learning how to grow as a leader with passionate leaders from a wide range of schools. Written by Rosie Wrigglesworth (U6th, Hn) and Guy Zilberman (U6th, R), Heads of College.

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REMEMBRANCE WEEK AT WELLINGTON COLLEGE Every year, as part of Remembrance Week, Wellington College pupils reflect upon the sacrifice of Old Wellingtonians through a series of Remembrance Readings in Great School. Here, in the heart of College, facing the memorial boards listing the names of pupils and staff killed in the First and Second World Wars, pupils sit in quiet contemplation to a background of music and readings from war poetry. Due to the pandemic, only Third Form pupils and new members of the Lower Sixth were able to attend in house groups this year, but the event nevertheless provided, as in the past, a moment of calm and stillness and a chance to pay tribute to those who have died in conflicts past. Unfortunately, this year the service on Remembrance Sunday had to be prerecorded, but the two minutes silence on Armistice Day itself was impeccably observed by house groups who gathered in a variety of locations around College.

We will remember them.

BLACK HISTOR WELLINGTON TODAY MICHAELMAS 2020 EDITION

MONTH 12

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;There is, undoubtedly, still much work to be done in raising the profile of Black history, especially within the study of British history, and we hope that our events in October raised awareness of these serious issues in a fun and engaging way.â&#x20AC;?

WELLINGTON TODAY MICHAELMAS 2020 EDITION

wellingtoncollege.com

I think suddenly knowing that my voice would be listened to, and that I could help make a difference to the way my generation thinks about things, was a bit of a lightbulb moment.

As a historian at Wellington, students study a diverse history curriculum, with a significant focus on race relations in South Africa and the US. However, Black History Month this year afforded us the opportunity to highlight some of the less well-known aspects of Black history, especially within Britain.

went viral and for many Darcy became the face of the protest. During Black History Month, Dasha Chukseeva (L6th, Hn) managed to get hold of Darcy, who is currently studying at Duke University and in an online conversation asked her how important that moment had been and what difference it had made to her life.

Our first event was specifically targeted at offering an answer to the question of why Black British history is so underrepresented at schools. In their conversation, Mr Macleod and Mr Joy analysed the nature of history itself and its relationship with national identity, before offering some suggestions for why the British national identity is so dominantly white when Black Britain has such a long and rich history. Following on from this discussion, the society then held a debate about the most significant civil rights leaders from history, pitting students against teachers in a bid to see who could persuade most of the audience. Jack Park (L6th, Bd) defended the baseball great, Jackie Robinson; Sareena Austin (U6th, Hg) fought in Martin Luther King’s corner, and Yash Jain (L6th, M) sided with the great South African, Nelson Mandela. For the staff, Mr Gutteridge argued for Oliver Tambo, while Mr Joy proposed Malcolm X. Most persuasive of all, with some wonderful ripostes to Mr Joy in particular, was Yash Jain who achieved the greatest swing of voters to his cause. There is, undoubtedly, still much work to be done in raising the profile of Black history, especially within the study of British history, and we hope that our events in October raised awareness of these serious issues in a fun and engaging way.

Darcy said: “It was a surprise to see the photo literally everywhere, but it did give me the opportunity not only to attend more protests but also made me realise that people were interested in what I had to say. I think suddenly knowing that my voice would be listened to, and that I could help make a difference to the way my generation thinks about things, was a bit of a lightbulb moment.

WHY IS ENDING RACISM EVEN A DEBATE? One of the most compelling images of the summer pictured Darcy Bourne (OW) holding a banner which simply said ‘Why is ending racism even a debate?’ at a BLM rally in London. The photograph

As you know BLM is important to me, and since I’ve been over here at Duke I’ve been given lots of opportunities and platforms to speak. I am lucky to be in the spotlight, not just as a student but also as an athlete (Darcy is an England International Hockey player and was awarded a scholarship to Duke) and I’ve realised that it is important to use that privilege. That would be the advice I’d give the students back at Wellington too: if you believe in something you have to speak out about it, and use every privilege you have to make a difference to the lives of others. Our generation needs to be the change we want to see in the world.” Photo Credit: Misan Harriman / misanharriman.com

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ArtsFest 2020: A CELEBRATION OF THE ARTS

ArtsFest aims to bring together the very best of Wellington College’s literature, music, theatre and comedy talents. The 2020 line-up did not disappoint. Even with strict safety guidelines in place, nothing was going to stop this festival bringing the College to life with the sounds of drumming, poetic soundscapes, music and drama. Events were held throughout the week, to both online and socially distanced audiences. It was a great honour to begin the week by welcoming one of the UK’s leading art critics, Andrew Graham Dixon. ‘In the Picture’ was a fascinating and fun lecture, delivered in the GWA and live streamed to an audience watching at home. Andrew played the role of detective and biographer, telling the stories behind some of his favourite artworks and revealing their hidden meanings. At the end of the talk, Maddie Power (L6th, O) interviewed him with great knowledge and understanding of the subject. Another highlight from the week was Dancing Solo, where our sixth form dancers inspired fourth form pupils when performing their coursework and lockdown solo choreography work. The technical standard was outstanding and demonstrated dance for camera, adapted living room solos as well as live work created in the studio. It was a wonderful way to illustrate that lockdown certainly did not stop us dancing and in fact inspired some truly wonderful work from these pupils. Well done to Isadora Bell (L6th, Ap) and Lexi Miller (L6th,O), Allegra Hutchings (U6th,

Hn), Lizzie Webster (L6th, Ap), Joely Collier (U6th, Ap) and Lottie Campbell (U6th, Ap). The return of OW Rory Bremner was an incredibly exciting way to end day two. He delivered a wonderful virtual standup routine live streamed from the GWA. It followed with an interview hosted by two school prefects, Laura Nicoli (U6th, C) and Harry Petrie (U6th, T). This proved to be a popular evening with pupils tuning in from across the College to ask questions. It was lovely to hear Rory answer the pupils’ questions with such humour and detail. This year saw Wellington’s first ever House Dance and Drama events combined into what was affectionately known as House Drance. Award-winning film director Nathan Theys delivered a stand-out cinematography workshop to the pupils involved, ongoing advice and judged the final pieces. The results were a wonderful display of pupils’ adaptability, creativity and teamworking skills. The grand finale was the Festival of Musical Theatre; a concert in aid of the Ruth Strauss Foundation and Autistica. Presented by Sir Andrew Strauss and Rosie Perry and with performances from St Crispin’s, Eagle House and Wellington pupils, it was a truly unforgettable evening. It was lovely to see everyone back on the stage and to raise over £3,000 which was split between each charity.

Festival of Musical Theatre

Friday, 16 October was a red-letter day in this year’s calendar, marking as it did the return of live performance — and a live audience — to the GWA.

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“there’s something about seeing theatre live that you simply don’t get through a screen”

“the highlight of the experience for me was seeing the sheer range of talent”

Conceived as the climax of this year’s ArtsFest, directors Baxter Westby (U6th, S) and Hugo Williamson (U6th, R) first began thinking about staging a Festival of Musical Theatre back in February: both had taken part in the Gala Concert put on two years ago to commemorate Charlie Perry and felt it important to keep him in our thoughts while also establishing a legacy for the future. They also wanted to celebrate live theatre and raise money for two causes dear to Wellington’s hearts – Autistica, the Stanley House charity that Charlie had embraced with such joy, and the Ruth Strauss Foundation. Brilliantly compèred by Rosie Perry and Sir Andrew Strauss, the evening featured

highlights from shows such as Hamilton, 13, Bugsy Malone, Dear Evan Hansen and Six the Musical. As well as talented Wellington performers such as Jasper Kirkby (5th, Pn), Emilie Harper (5th, W), Rufus Shutter (4th,T) and Maddie Power (U6th, O) it was a pleasure to welcome Eagle House and St. Crispin’s back to the Annenberg stage. The last words on the memorable evening must go to Baxter who said: “The highlight of the experience for me was seeing the sheer range of talent. The Festival was the first experience Hugo and I’d had in directing theatre and we couldn’t have asked for a better group of performers to work with. As someone who is hoping to

go into the theatre and film industry, the opportunity, despite often being a challenge, was incredible and the reception of the event was truly humbling. It was such a relief to finally have live theatre back at Wellington. Although it felt strange with the audience being socially distanced, it was a lot better than having no audience at all! There’s something about seeing theatre live that you simply don’t get through a screen, I hope we gave that experience to every single member of our live audience.” You certainly did Baxter, so thank you to you, to Hugo and to all the cast for putting the song back into our hearts!

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A Celebration of Romantic Songs Live streamed from the Annenberg Auditorium

“It means so much to us all here at Wellington to be back performing”

Aspiring musician, Matilda Noble (U6th, C), is so passionate about the transformational power of music, that she spent her lockdown planning and devising a socially distanced concert that could be streamed to the Wellington Community and beyond. Through this concert, Matilda hoped to raise awareness of the devastation the pandemic has had on the livelihoods of thousands of professional musicians and also show her appreciation of the art form and how live music is very much missed. Pupils from across the years at Wellington came together to sing both well known and less familiar pieces, from the romantic era. Highlights included a performance of The Flower Duet (from Lakmé), Automne (by Fauré), and some very special duets with teachers. Matilda said: “I’m so passionate about raising money for Help The Musicians UK. Music has always been around me and I have grown up with it in my home from a young age. My dad was in choirs and he told me how he’d gained a sense of unity and belonging when he was singing with them. I too

experience this when singing with my peers at Wellington. Music brings people together and in a time like this it’s so important for people to feel that they belong. I chose the theme of Romantic Song (which includes songs written in the romantic period and songs about all consuming love), as in this incredibly difficult year, this sentiment was uplifting for the audience. It was a really joyful event.” This concert was part of a host of events during the Michaelmas Term that were live streamed, so they could be watched anywhere in the world. Matilda and her fellow Wellingtonian musicians raised over £1,000 which will help support the thousands of professional musicians who are unable to work. James Dahl, Head of Wellington College said: “It means so much to us all here at Wellington to be back performing in the G.W. Annenberg Performing Arts Centre. The building has always meant to be a symbol of how the Arts can transform both lives and communities. We are very proud of Matilda and her company for creating an event that embodies these values.”

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The Wellington PREMIER LEAGUE

Covid-19 will undoubtedly be blamed for providing many challenges in 2020 and none more so than to the world of competitive team sport. In response to this challenge the prefects came to the Sports Department in early October, demanding action on the internal, competitive sporting front — and so the Wellington Premier League was born. Created to offset the lack of external fixtures, an internal franchise competition, the Wellington Premier League (WPL), was established. This included four franchises that would play in each age group across Football, Girls’ Hockey and Touch Rugby, with all results feeding into an overall league. Before any fixtures could be played identities needed to be established for the four franchises, and the pupils came up with these Wellington-based names: South Front Sharks, Copenhagen

Cavaliers, Rockies Rhinos and Pink Pav Panthers, which allowed the marketing team to develop a brand for each franchise. ‘Dahl’s Destroyers’ was also a popular choice but anxiety about both logo and possible refereeing bias saw it just miss out! The League started in the second half of term, with matches in all sports taking place during timetabled sports sessions. After Round 1 the Copenhagen Cavaliers took an early lead in the table with 77 points, but by week 2 the Rhinos had moved from 3rd place to table toppers with 147 points. The leagues continued to develop, but by Round 4, overall placings were beginning to take shape with the Cavaliers at the top of the table and, despite their valiant efforts, the Sharks stranded in 4th place. The final standings saw the Panthers in 2nd, Rhinos in 3rd and Sharks in 4th, meaning the eventual winners were the Copenhagen

Cavaliers. They topped the table by winning the rugby competition by a margin of 30 points and finishing joint 2nd in football, two placings which offset their less than successful hockey efforts. Congratulations must also go to the Panthers who won the hockey league and to the Rhinos for walking away with the football league. It should not be overlooked that the real success of the WPL was that it was able to provide over 300 pupils the experience of competitive sport in Michaelmas 2020, a term that otherwise saw very little real competition. We are looking forward to seeing interschool fixtures return — should they not, we are certain that the WPL will return in 2021 — but with a new round of sports to be contested!

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Golf During Covid For the first time in Wellington golf history, we have over 100 pupils signed up to play!

Golf at Wellington, like golf in general over this pandemic, has massively grown in popularity. For the first time in Wellington golf history, we have over 100 pupils signed up to play! The use of our first hole as a converted driving range, the second hole as an additional short-game area, our on-site simulator, and the much-welcomed addition of Farm Field driving range, has ensured that our programmes can cater for this boom in golf at College. The Performance Squad trains with internal short-game leagues, on course order of merits, regular measurable testing, and strength and conditioning support, to allow our students to practise their skills under competitive scenarios. This programme easily highlights and tracks improvement areas giving autonomy and ownership to the golfer. A rich fixture list of tournaments and matches against schools, counties, and clubs provides the stage for performance at a high level. Special mentions so far this year go to our dependable Freddy Dortmans (5th, R) and Giulia Lombardo (L6th, Hn) for their consistent performance across matches and individual success in tournament play. The development players now have their own professional tuition and separate driving range where they can receive the advice and guidance needed to improve and get confident for the course. With regular handicapped Stableford opportunities, running eclectics and fun challenges at practice, every golfer can play competitively. Our fixture list has been extended with varying formats and age groups, from junior triangular one-to-one Match Play, to girlsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Texas Scramble social matches. This year has already seen over 35 different golfers represent Wellington against other schools. Well done to everyone involved!

Berkeley Brilliance for Monet Stuckey Monet Stuckey (U6th, A), one of Wellington’s finest hockey players, has been awarded a scholarship to study as a student-athlete at UC Berkeley. Monet, who is following the IB programme at Wellington, first began to think about studying in the US when she was 15. Monet started hockey when she was ten and plays for Surbiton and was a National Indoor and Outdoor Champion at Under 14 level before joining the England Pathway programme for Mercia Lynx. She says that balancing academic work with her hockey commitments has required discipline, but her teachers have been very understanding, and given her the support she has needed.

Jasper Smith-Gordon Scholarship Success November 11 is National Signing Day in the US, and Jasper Smith-Gordon (U6th, Bl) had good reason to celebrate as he signed his NCAA Letter of Intent, binding him to join the Men’s Gymnastics programme at UC Berkeley, and awarding him a scholarship. Jasper, who is currently studying Maths, Physics and Economics for his A-levels, plans to major in Economics. He said: “ I’d had a successful year in gymnastics, competing at the Junior World Championships so I decided to go to a university which could support my ambition to represent GB in the World Cup and Olympics. This is something that universities in the US do really well as they take gymnastics very seriously. I received a lot of guidance about the application process and how to prepare for the SATs here at Wellington.”

Hockey Held the Key to Colette’s Yale Success Christmas came early for Colette Staadecker (U6th, W) as she was awarded a place at Yale after the coaches there recognised her outstanding hockey ability and her keen interest in Philosophy, Politics and English. Colette was initially attracted to Wellington because of the IB programme and the strength of its all-round provision. Now, her hockey successes — she plays for Surbiton at elite level and is a part of the English Futures programme — ensured that several top universities were keen to have her on their team. Colette, whose long-term ambition is to be a political journalist, looks sure to make her mark at Yale, just as she has done at Wellington where she has been an outstanding student.

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Photography by: Mike Coil Photography, 2015

International Recognition FOR OPHELIA Congratulations to Ophelia Vesely (L6th, C) on her selection for the English Alpine Under 18 FIS Ski Squad, due to the fine season she had last year, consistently finishing in the top three in the FIS races. Ophelia started skiing when she was just three years old and began racing when she was seven: at twelve years old she was selected for the English Alpine team and then represented England again at Under 14 level. Two years ago, she represented GB at the Youth International FIS races held in the Czech Republic which she says was an exhilarating, incredible and unforgettable experience. She normally trains in the Alps for about eleven weeks a year, and although this often means missing part of the Lent Term, Ophelia has

found that with the support of her teachers she is able to balance not only her academic work — she is following the IB Diploma programme and is hoping to go to Cambridge to read Natural Sciences — but also her other sports (she is a serious triathlete and distance runner). The Wellington Sports Department, alongside the British Ski Academy, is playing its part in facilitating Ophelia’s progression into the senior ranks by helping her follow her demanding Strength and Conditioning programme in the Wellington Health and Fitness Centre. We wish her the best of luck for the coming season and are keeping our fingers crossed that, as soon as Covid restrictions are lifted, she will be racing back to the slopes and setting new records.

Photography by: Showsport England, 2019

Ophelia started skiing when she was just three years old and began racing when she was seven

CESCA’S CYCLING SUCCESS IS SO SWEET Velodrome cycling is not a usual sport for a Wellingtonian, but Cesca Sweet (L6th, W) has spent this year adding it to her growing sporting portfolio. Wellington Today caught up with her and she had this to say: I really picked up the bug for cycling during the last couple of years, particularly in Scotland during several recent holidays cycling around Loch Rannoch. I also came across several videos depicting Victoria Pendleton’s performances in the velodrome during the London Olympics. These inspired me to try out something I had never done before: the velodrome. I researched how to get involved and discovered you must go through four levels of accreditation. In addition, I signed up to the British cycling registration process. I learnt the basics of the track at Calshot Velodrome in Southampton. So far, I’ve completed three levels, so one to go, and have completed various time

trials including a ‘flying lap’. I see this as a beginning and am keen to see how far I can go with it. What other sports have you been playing this year? How have they been affected by lockdown? Have you had any success? It’s been a tough year for sport but I’ve managed to retain two Under 19 National Schools Real Tennis titles — singles and with Lily May Redshaw (L6th, W) the doubles. Sophia Grillo (L6th, C) and I won the National Rackets Doubles title last December at Queen’s and I was seeded one for the singles in March, but regrettably it was cancelled due to Covid. Luckily, I’ve kept my rackets training going in the meantime. Meanwhile, I had a limited season of cricket with Sussex U17s, largely involving matches with Hampshire rather than the full county championship. Earlier in the year, my Surrey hockey matches were

curtailed by the beginning of the Covid crisis, but we did manage a couple of wins. Obviously, sport is important to you, but what else do you do at Wellington? I’m currently studying English, PE and Art History at A Level, and I’m starting to get into mountain biking which is a new activity for me led by Mrs G-C and Mrs Bidston which is great fun. I also reluctantly play golf from time to time with my twin brother who’s quite useful! Do you have any plans for after school yet? And will sport be a part of that? I’m sure that sport will always be a central part of my life: the plan right now is to try to get into Loughborough (or maybe Bath) and I have a feeling that I may discover new sports that I haven’t tried before!

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The Wellington Spirit Shone Through This Summer The summer holidays saw a variety of imaginative charity initiatives from current Wellingtonians, raising funds and awareness for a wide range of causes. In August, Elodie Sinclair (L6th, Hn) and Ophelia Vesely (L6th, C) committed themselves to the Three Peaks Challenge, climbing the UK’s three tallest mountains — Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon — in under 24 hours. They raised £2,000 in aid of Surfers Against Sewage (the girls are passionate about protecting the environment) and completed the course in 18 hours and 23 minutes. The harsh terrains, difficult weather conditions and a draining run through the night made their achievement all the more remarkable. Amelia Hutton (L6th, W) and Raph Robeson (U6th, W) set themselves the goal of running 200km in July for Médecins Sans Frontières and raised around £300 for this international charity. Raph commented: “We thought as we are both keen endurance runners it was not only a good challenge to push ourselves to the limit, but more importantly to try to help raise money for a very worthy cause, especially during these difficult times.”

The Stanley house charity is Autistica, and Sam Hind and Cosmo Smith (both U6th, S) cycled from England to Switzerland, a journey of 850km over a variety of roads and terrains, in just 8 days. They raised £6,245 for the Stanley house charity in the process, but there is no truth in the rumour that they are planning on joining the Tour de France next year! Saskia Sinfield (U6th, C), inspired by the work she had done with the WCPCI, set out to raise funds for Care4Calais. She writes: “The ongoing worldwide refugee crisis is one of the most challenging humanitarian issues of our generation, and so I decided to try to provide some practical help. With winter just around the corner tents are needed for the refugees stranded in the Calais camps. By running 5k every day for five days I managed to raise over £1,000, which hopefully will go some way towards helping them.” As the Master of Wellington College has said in the past, “Those who have the most should do the most to help those less fortunate’ so it is most pleasing to see these young Wellingtonians stretching themselves for the benefit of others. Congratulations to them all for being such fine embodiments of the Wellington values of kindness, courage and responsibility.”

WellingtonWins Wellbeing & Mental Health Initiative Award The Boarding Schools’ Association (BSA) has announced the winners of its annual awards. BSA unveiled the eleven winners at its Annual Conference for Heads, which took place virtually on 22 and 23 September. Wellington College was selected as the winner of the Wellbeing & Mental Health Initiative Award. Sedbergh School and Cottesmore Prep were highly commended in the category. Wellington was awarded this honour for the ground-breaking work it has done around wellbeing, but namely for the launch of its first-ever Community Mental Health Day, hosted at the College in February 2020.

Community Mental Health Day welcomed 40 speakers and wellbeing practitioners who delivered over 75 talks and workshops on topics spanning a spectrum of issues, including addiction, eating disorders, depression, and resilience. Through this series of talks and workshops, it facilitated an inspiring conversation between parents, staff and students, strengthening our community and cultivating progressive thinking. Mr James Dahl, Master of Wellington College, said: “Thank you so much to the BSA for selecting Wellington College as winner of the Wellbeing & Mental Health Initiative Award. Our College mental health lead, Delyth Lynch and her

team have done some outstanding work over the last few years to place Wellington at the forefront of mental health innovation in boarding schools. Congratulations to all involved.” Delyth Lynch, the College mental health lead said: “I am delighted that we have won such an important award. The Wellington Community places great emphasis on the importance of wellbeing in the curriculum and beyond. We’re all working hard to ensure young people have the confidence to raise issues and seek help and it’s wonderful that our efforts are being recognised.”

WELLINGTON TODAY MICHAELMAS 2020 EDITION

lottie wins

prestigious diana award On 1 July 2020, 184 inspirational children and young adults were presented with the highest accolade a young person can achieve for social action or humanitarian efforts — The Diana Award. Established in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, the Award is given out by the eponymous charity and has the support of both her sons, The Duke of Cambridge and The Duke of Sussex. These exceptional young people have demonstrated their ability to inspire and mobilise their own generation to service their communities through campaigning, volunteering, fundraising, fighting injustice or overcoming extreme life challenges. Although their causes and backgrounds are varied, what they all have in common is that they are changing their communities and the wider world. Amongst the recipients is our very own, Lottie Leach (OW, C). At just 18 years old, Lottie is having a significant impact as a mental health activist. After attempting to take her own life following years of depression and an eating disorder, Lottie became determined to destigmatise discussions around mental health through education and raising awareness in her school and the wider community. Lottie began by organising a ‘24-hour Danceathon’ which raised an incredible £3,200 for Mind charity. Lottie speaks openly about her own mental health experiences and has delivered school assemblies and external workshops for mental health workers and Designated Safeguarding Leads covering how to better support young people with their mental health. James Dahl, Head of Wellington College said: “Huge congratulations to Lottie on this outstanding achievement – we could not be more proud of her. I have known her since she was eleven years old and her dedication to raising awareness of mental health issues in young people has embodied what Diana’s legacy means. Lottie has shown immense bravery, compassion

and leadership. She is a true inspiration to the Wellington Community and beyond.” Wellington Today caught up with Lottie to congratulate her and find out a bit more about what it means to win such a prestigious award. How did you hear that you had been put forward for such a prestigious award? It was amazing and totally unexpected — I received a surprise email telling me I had been awarded it — normally my emails are just reminding me that I need to hand my homework in, not that I had won a worldwide award! What had you done to be recognised in such a way? I have been raising awareness (and funds for a mental health charity) among young people about the devastating effect that mental health issues can cause. At the star t of the school year I gave a talk to the whole school in Assembly about my experiences and how my own mental health journey had played out. I also arranged and ran a 24-hour Danceathon that raised £3,000 for a mental health charity and have given more talks to smaller groups at my school, Wellington College — and also to students at the Licensed Victuallers’ School in Ascot. I have also given talks to adults — designated school Safeguarding Leads — and have overseen the opening of a Wellbeing Hub. I was also able to help organise and take par t in the Mental Health Day that Mrs Lynch set up here at Wellington. What is it about mental health that is so important to you – where does your passion come from? From my own experiences mainly — I was a ‘normal happy child’ until I reached my early teenage years when I began to be really unhappy with myself. It wasn’t anybody’s fault — it was just me affecting me, but I

simply felt that I wasn’t good enough or perfect enough. Everyone else seemed to be leading perfect Instagram lives, and like many teenagers I became obsessed with fomo — the fear of missing out. I found it really hard to confide with anybody — friends and family for example, as my worries and depression tended to be dismissed by people telling me it was ‘just a phase’. I don’t think young people are taken seriously enough when they talk about their feelings. As I got older I realised that I was not alone and that it was time for change — but also that by sharing my experiences and being honest would not only help others but would also help me. That must have been hard — it must have taken a lot of courage? It wasn’t really about being brave — just realistic. I knew that it was time to make a change. I was talking about real life things that happen in real life. But I also knew how impor tant it is to build suppor t around individuals and let them know that they are not alone and that

the issues they are facing are far more common than they realise. Too many young people (and maybe adults too) are hiding behind glossy social media disguises. I wanted to destigmatise mental health, get rid of the sense of shame. By sharing my journey I hoped I would maybe stop other people having to go through what I went through – but that if they are struggling like I struggled (and it was a real battle that I almost didn’t win) they might find some hope from getting things out in the open. As I said, it’s time for change. I’ve been really amazed at how many boys and girls at school have thanked me for talking about things that they thought they were experiencing alone. What’s next for you? Well during lockdown I’ve been helping out at a local care home, but if my exam results are OK I am going to Newcastle Uni in September to read Sociology — and of course I want to keep helping young people with mental health problems — it’s really important to me to do that.

“It was amazing and totally unexpected — I received a surprise email telling me I had been awarded it — normally my emails are just reminding me that I need to hand my homework in, not that I had won a worldwide award!” 31

WELLINGTON TODAY MICHAELMAS 2020 EDITION

Wellington College’s Public Outreach: Bridging the Gap in the Digital World When UK schools were physically closed in March, our current Wellingtonians were fortunate to have access to immediate online lessons and, as far as possible, carried on with a (normal) timetable despite the huge social and cultural shift that we all experienced. However, not all school children were so lucky, and at the beginning of September Parliament published a document warning of the frightening gap that has developed in educational provision for disadvantaged students since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Many children experienced very little teacher-student contact; still more did not have the technology or social space to access schoolwork throughout March to September. This has led to a large gap in educational needs for many. Wellington College has been working with local state schools since 2008 and this relationship has grown exponentially over this time. The College now provides academic and pastoral support for fifteen schools across Wokingham, Surrey Heath, Bracknell Forest, Wiltshire, and extending to Newport in Wales. In the ‘old normal’, the College has opened its gates to over 2,000 state school students per academic year to successfully run: • Enrichment days, events for able students • Subject specific days – STEM subjects, languages, sport, music • Personal development – revision skills, university applications, wellbeing, • Oxbridge support programme • US college applications • Talks and lectures for sixth form students • Educational conferences – leadership, sport, environmental/sustainability • University information fairs Since the start of the Covid crisis Wellington has been able to build on these established practices and platforms to help bridge the gap. Wellington also offers a more bespoke programme for 100 selected state school students known as the Wheeler Programme. In this, 20 students are selected in Year 9 and the College helps support them until their graduation from the programme at the end of Year 13, when they have found their confidence and identified their future academic and professional goals. The aim is to mirror the outstanding Wellington education from Year 9 to Year 13 in order to encourage and motivate students to unlock their potential, and to enable them to become the best version of themselves. Whilst testimonials for the programme are abundant, the following data from June 2019 gives a snapshot of its success:

• 100% of Wheeler pupils agree or strongly agree that they feel proud to be a part of the programme. • 100% of Wheeler pupils agree or strongly agree that they enjoyed sports and activities provided by the programme. • 100% of Wheeler pupils reported they felt inspired to pursue a new subject, activity or interest after the residential. • 96% of Wheeler pupils agree or strongly agree that they feel more confident after beginning this programme. • 92% of Wheeler pupils agree or strongly agree that they feel the Wheeler programme is helping them. • 91% of Wheeler pupils agree or strongly agree that they have made positive personal changes due to the programme. • 92% of students agree or strongly agree that the Wheeler programme has extended their future prospects. So how is Wellington College helping in the current digital world? Due to the outstanding support given to these outreach programmes by all staff at Wellington College, the College has been able to offer these on a digital platform. This Michaelmas, 75 personal Oxbridge interviews were run online by Wellington staff to support the Oxbridge applicants from our local state schools. The College has also continued its work with the Wheeler students, changing regular ‘Study Days’ to regular ‘Study Evenings’ where Wheeler students are able to discuss subjects that extend them beyond their curriculum. Finally, with great planning from staff across College, a twoweek Catch Up Programme has been organised for digital access to core subjects in both A Levels and GCSE. Wellington staff will be delivering 27 sessions accessible online for up to 300 students from our local state schools to assist in closing this educational gap as best as possible.

Your Old Tech Could Change a Young Life During October half term, the UK’s headteachers were informed that laptop allocation in England’s schools was going to be slashed by 80% and that they would now receive far fewer laptops for distance learning than originally promised. In some schools, one in every four students do not have access to devices to enable them to learn at home during local lockdowns or periods when they need to selfisolate. This adds even more financial and emotional pressure on families who feel they are letting their children down. Grace Harvie (W), Nell Hickson (A) and Dewi Simons (L) are three of the pupils at Wellington who have set up Donation for Education, to make a difference to the lives of underprivileged children who do not have access to digital devices at home. The project involves the collection of old laptops and tablets, having them professionally

wiped of any personal details, then distributed to local partner schools. Grace: “We really wanted to make a difference to an issue that is close to our hearts. So many children don’t have access to technology and we find this really frustrating. We want to help.” Nell: “It could change someone’s life. We’re now living in a world where self-isolation and school closures are to be expected. At Wellington we are so lucky because we have all these resources and we know how important this is to stay on top of our studies. Giving kids the means to access online lessons means they won’t fall behind in lessons and they will be able to thrive.”

Dewi said: “It’s an issue that is affecting some young people quite significantly. Here at Wellington we have the means to help. I really hope that everyone at Wellington who has a spare laptop or tablet will donate. Even by giving just one device you can make such a big difference. It’s a project that YOU can play a part in, relatively easily. All you have to do is drop your devices into the MFL building as soon as possible.” So far this team of determined young people have collected just over 100 devices, a brand-new laptop and charitable donations. If you’d like to be a part of this fantastic project, then please get in touch today.

For more information contact Dr Kirkham and the ‘Donation for Education’ team on RSK@ wellingtoncollege.org.uk

WELLINGTON TODAY MICHAELMAS 2020 EDITION

#REDFORRUTH

The Ruth Strauss Foundation is a charity that is dear to many Wellingtonians' hearts. Its aim is to ensure families facing the death of a parent from cancer are offered professional emotional support, as well as raising awareness of the need for more research in the fight against non-smoking related lung cancers. Over the last year, through various fundraising events, the Wellington Community has raised over ÂŁ45,000, for this invaluable charity. As a thank you for our efforts the charity gifted us 750 â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Lady in Redâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; tulip bulbs to plant in the College grounds. On a frosty November morning, some willing (if not slightly chilly) lower sixth pupils came together, under the guidance of our Head Gardner, Mark Dodds, to plant the tulips around College. It will be wonderful to see them bloom in the Spring.

WELLINGTON TODAY MICHAELMAS 2020 EDITION

Follow the Stars While many spent their Lockdown summers perfecting sourdough starters or baking banana bread, Biddy Rooney (L6th, A) was quite literally following the stars. A family involvement with the Macmillan Cancer Support charity led to Biddy volunteering her time to help organise and curate Macmillan’s Follow the Stars charity Christmas concert. The concert, re-imagined for 2020 and free streamed online from the 11 December, sees a stellar cast of celebrities such as Joanna Lumley, Stephen Fry, Sinead Cusack and Jeremy Irons joining forces to bring Christmas sparkle directly into our homes. Biddy’s responsibility was both logistical and editorial, ensuring that recorded performances from the artists’ homes were ordered and properly formatted, and that actors turning up for recording sessions in July and August were properly kitted out with Christmassy trimmings. Biddy said: ‘However many times we reminded them to bring

something seasonal they normally forgot, so I ended up wandering around Oxford (the concert comes from Christchurch Cathedral) in mid-summer, festooned like a Christmas tree! It made me realise that even the biggest stars are actually just like the rest of us, but I was amazed at how kind they all were and how amazing it was that they were giving up their time for such an important cause’

“let’s all raise a glass to the wonderful work of Macmillan” Congratulations to Biddy for spending her summer so productively, and please do tune in, enjoy the concert, and as Joanna Lumley says in her introduction, ‘let’s all raise a glass to the wonderful work of Macmillan!’ Find out more at macmillan.org.uk/followthestars

#COATS4CALAIS

In Northern France over 3,000 refugees are currently sleeping rough. Temperatures are rapidly dropping and many refugees, some as young as 13, have no access to clean clothes, water or shelter. The situation is fast becoming an emergency and with the eyes of the world on Covid, the refugee crisis is being overlooked. This year, with the help of Wellington College’s Peace and Conflict Institute the charity Care4Calais aims to provide each and every one of the refugees with a warm winter coat. As part of our Wednesday afternoon Global Citizenship programme a team

of 5th form girls set themselves the challenge of galvanizing the Wellington Community to donate as many coats as possible. They planned a detailed marketing campaign to raise awareness and carefully devised the logistics for drop off and collection. Their tremendous efforts were recognized by the Care4Calais, who tweeted;

“..with the eyes of the world on Covid, the refugee crisis is being overlooked.”

If this is what the next generation is like, it's safe to say we'll be fine. Huge thanks to the wonderful girls of @hopetounwelly for their amazing effort collecting so many warm coats for #Coats4Calais.We expected nothing less from the fantastic pupils of @ WellingtonUK

WELLINGTON TODAY MICHAELMAS 2020 EDITION

Meet Sarah Miller Head of the Prince Albert Foundation What is the Prince Albert Foundation, what are its aims and when did it come into being? The Prince Albert Foundation was set up in 2012 by a group of Wellington parents with a clear objective of widening access by offering fully funded places to young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. This Foundation builds on the original purpose of Wellington College, which was founded in 1853 to provide a virtually free education for the children of soldiers who died in service. The ambition now is to ensure that young people with talent and promise, are able to reach their full potential via the Prince Albert scholarships programme, which brings together a first class academic education alongside a highly supportive and individually tailored pastoral offer. Prince Albert Scholarships programme, are available at 13+ and 16+, with the ultimate aim of significantly improving the life chances and future options of talented individuals, who wouldn’t otherwise have the financial means to afford a place at Wellington College. But the benefits of the programme extend both ways into the school community: Wellington College has inspired and been inspired by the young people that have come via Prince Albert Scholarships. What are the objectives and funding goals by 2025?: • We aim to have 40 students at College at any one time on fully funded Prince Albert Scholarships; these scholarships sit alongside other College scholarships, for example, for sport, for academics or for music • Prince Albert scholars meet the academic requirements for entrance, and demonstrate a range of values, via their personal statement and interviews which indicate their likely resilience for boarding and their likely engagement with the Wellington offer • Prince Albert Scholarship funding requires £2m annually • This will be achieved by building a £25m endowment, as well as from annual donations • The College will provide annual funding (circa £400k) for the programme generated from our international schools (Wellington College International) and from other commercial activities (Wellington College Enterprises) What has it achieved so far? • Since 2012 we have had 19 young people through the programme, and 17 PAF students currently. • 18 of these PAF students have gone on to top Russell Group UK universities.

Your thoughts on Welly Giving Week, November 2020? There has been amazing support for the Prince Albert Foundation programme from the parent body and the wider OW community, particularly in the last few years. In November 2020, Welly Giving Week raised over £250,000 principally via the personal donations of current parents and Old Wellingtonians. This funding alone equates to 3 x sixth form PAF Scholarships, but what was even more striking was the generosity of spirit which supported the financial donations: • Over 150 parents have offered to become PAF ambassadors, ensuring all parents are aware of these scholarships, and many have pledged their own time and professional support to Prince Albert Foundation recipients – by way of career mentoring, advice on CVs/ personal statements and potentially offering or advising on work experience too. Many Prince Albert scholars who are now at university or in flourishing careers, speak really highly of the Wellington “community” offer. One of our recent PAF graduates benefitted greatly from tapping into the OW professional network, gaining some fantastic work experience opportunities and careers advice, before going on to study Theology at Oxford University. What is your role and when did you start? My role as Head of the Prince Albert Foundation is really two-fold: first and most importantly, I support the young people in receipt of these scholarships to ensure they ‘max out’ the opportunities at Wellington and fully realise their potential. That means strong and consistent pastoral support, working in conjunction with Housemasters/mistresses, and taking a bespoke approach – finding out what each young person needs in order to thrive at Wellington and beyond. All students arriving at Wellington need to feel welcomed and respected regardless of their background or journey, so inclusion is very much part of my role. More broadly, I am also leading on Diversity and Inclusion for the College, ensuring our policies, our curriculum, our processes and our thinking are entirely aligned with our College values, and in particular the value of respect. Secondly, I run the admissions process for Prince Albert Foundation scholars, working alongside the admissions team, and with partner organisations and charities to find young people who will benefit from the scheme and who will also benefit the wider College.

“It’s the ambition of the students that hit me when I arrived.” – Will Hobson, PAF scholar

PAF Scholar, Will Hobson and Sarah Miller

I have just started the role, as of September 2020, so I am a “newbie” alongside the 11 PAF who have joined this academic year. It’s a strange time, with some Covid restrictions still in place, but I am delighted to be fulfilling this important role at such a refreshingly unstuffy and outward facing public school. It’s a time of change and renewal for the College with the new Master in role just over a year, and a new incoming Chair of the governing body. What is your experience in this sort of field? I have worked in education my entire career, not always within a school setting, but always in support of young people, enabling, encouraging and inspiring them to be the best they can be. I worked for 20 years as a producer and director at BBC Education, which was a phenomenally interesting career – bringing me into close partnership with schools, as I devised, piloted and executive produced a number of key education series to support different aspects of the primary and secondary curricula. It was a golden era for the BBC (and Channel 4 Education) during the nineties and noughties, before video was fully available on the net(!), when schools and colleges tuned in by their thousands to BBC Schools’ programmes both on radio and TV. My last role at the BBC was as a Learning Commissioner, creating and curating content for innovative websites such as BBC Bitesize. After I left the BBC, I returned to teaching, and have worked as an Assistant and Deputy Head in a variety of schools in London and the South East. I became interested in understanding the barriers to school engagement, and worked in a number of leadership roles with excluded teenagers, and young people in care for both Surrey and Brent Councils.

A report published by the Sutton Trust three years ago evidences the inequality of opportunity for young people in England today, and gives an in-depth analysis of the barriers to social mobility since the 1940s to present day: “The UK ranks near the bottom for income mobility across OECD nations. International comparisons are difficult to make for social mobility, due to differences in datasets and methodologies used. However, some studies have attempted to adjust for these differences to allow a meaningful comparison. In these studies, the UK (along with the US) is consistently ranked one of the least fair of many developed nations for income mobility. An OECD study finds that the UK is 3.3 times less socially mobile than Denmark, the most mobile country in their study of 12 OECD countries. This means that parental income in the UK has over three times the impact on their children's income than in Denmark.” Furthermore, the government report: ‘Widening participation in higher education’ from July 2020, states: “The most advantaged pupils (ie those from the most affluent postcodes), were over five times more likely to progress to high tariff HE (universities) than the most disadvantaged pupils.” For me, these two quotes summarise neatly the rationale behind the Prince Albert Foundation, and point to why I believe passionately in this work. Please see https://www.wellycom.net/scholarships/ to meet previous PAF scholars, talking candidly and enthusiastically about their time at Wellington College.

What is important about the scheme – and how do you hope to move it forwards? What really matters to me about the Prince Albert Foundation is enabling high potential students from disadvantaged backgrounds to thrive both academically and socially. My role supports Prince Albert scholars to the age of 25 (at least) – which demonstrates a real commitment to nurturing young people, and supporting them to overcome their hurdles, so as to achieve stability in their own professional and personal lives.

WELLINGTON TODAY MICHAELMAS 2020 EDITION

Chris, first of all how would you describe the development and objectives of the design for the new senior school? In keeping with the spirit of Wellington College International Bangkok, the new senior school will be in a light and airy, innovative educational setting. Ultimately, it has been very carefully designed inside and out to capture the ‘tone’ of what our school will be: vibrant, stimulating, thought-provoking, innovative (but not gratuitously so), and truly excellent. There will be two new buildings each with a 400 student capacity, and a second larger sports hall. The five-storey building has a magnificent cylindrical library and atrium at its centre running top to bottom. This provides many extra spaces for reading and learning, with great natural lighting. On the ground floor, flexible partitioning creates flexible spatial uses, as well as providing a

strong line of sight connection across the whole senior school — through the central atrium and library, towards the dining room. The dining area itself feels like a relaxed resort hotel, open to the ornamental lake on one side! Throughout the next three floors are well-appointed, flexible and innovatively designed classrooms with extra spaces allowing for different types of teaching and learning. Specific rooms for Harkness teaching are designed into the fabric of the building so that Harkness methodology is appropriately planned and specific. A key innovation is the introduction of ‘faculty salons’ for both staff and students in each subject area. On the top floor is the art department, a beautifully light, creative space, as well as performing arts spaces including an 84 seat performance facility. This is in addition to the new auditorium next door.

How do you envisage the development of the curriculum? We will be offering IGCSE and A Level, with the possibility to consider the IB Diploma programme perhaps when the cohorts grow. Regardless of the curriculum, the school is very aligned to the IB philosophy and the Learner Profile, so equivalents to Theory of Knowledge, CAS and the Extended Essay will be embedded into the curriculum. As in any Wellington College school, the curriculum is not restricted to the academic. The excellence of wellbeing, pastoral care and the co-curriculum will be central to the school culture. What do you see as the biggest challenges, and the most exciting aspects, of the development of the senior school? With a smile, Chris replied: “The same things!” One major challenge is

Concrete Aspirations Wellington College International Bangkok opened in 2018 with a beautiful, and highly innovative, pre-prep and prep building and full sports facilities. The second phase was to build a bespoke senior school and auditorium to take the school to capacity of 1500 students and deliver a facility and environment befitting of the Wellington name and aspirations. Iain Henderson, Deputy Head (partnerships) Wellington College, caught up with Chris Nicholls, Master of Wellington College International Bangkok, about his ambitions for the new building, now under construction in Bangkok.

that Bangkok is a really competitive market, piled high with good schools, and Wellington always wants to be at the very top of that pile! We are not trying to be all things to all peoples, but to build a truly outstanding, distinctively and recognisably Wellington College school, rightfully at the top of many peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lists when choosing a school for their children. What is really exciting is the chance to design a senior school that links the underlying education philosophy to the reality of education and experience every day in school. Wellington provides a truly holistic all-round education underpinned by a strong foundation of the Wellington values. The chance to make that aspiration concrete is both a great responsibility and an exciting sense of purpose.

FIRESIDE TALKS

WELLINGTON TODAY MICHAELMAS 2020 EDITION

“This term we were delighted to welcome, among others, Professor David Olusoga...Dr Jason Hickel...and Dame Sara Thornton.”

Many would argue that the jewel in Wellington’s cocurricular enrichment crown is our weekly series of Fireside Talks, where celebrity experts from a variety of fields inspire, inform and share their knowledge and experiences with the pupils.

Q&A with pupils submitting questions on the ‘chat’ function: we consistently had twice as many questions from the students as could be asked, and one speaker commented that they were of a higher standard than his undergraduate students!

This term we were delighted to welcome, among others, Professor David Olusoga, who spoke brilliantly on the topic of ‘Black and British: a forgotten history’; Dr Jason Hickel, who explored the unfair impact on climate change and the causes worldwide; and Dame Sara Thornton who highlighted the appalling existence of 40 million modern slaves in the world today.

Attendance has been excellent, with over 140 students logging in on a regular basis, rising to an audience of over 250 for David Olusoga. Many houses encouraged year group bubbles to watch the talks around large screens and while some of the intimacy of the Fireside has inevitably been lost, a significant bonus has been much greater audience involvement.

Covid-19 saw a reimagining of the format this year, with all talks taking place virtually. Typically speakers spoke for 20 minutes, then had a ‘conversation’ with a specific member of staff or pupil followed by 20 minutes

The series of talks continues next term, with luminaries such as Ben Saunders, Will Greenwood, Dr Pragya Agarwal, Will Carling and Annabel Croft lined up to make our Monday nights extra special.

Have a Welly Christmas In the run-up to Christmas, Wellington College wanted to ensure that we weren’t going to let the bygones of 2020 stop our celebrations. Sticking to our strict guidelines, the Wellington team worked hard to create a very Merry (or Welly) Christmas for all staff and pupils. With a socially distanced Christmas lunch, socially distanced year group carol services, live streamed end of term concerts and festive recordings from the Wellingtones and Chapel Choir that would be worthy contenders for the UK’s Christmas No. 1 slot. It was a very festive end of term that we’ll never forget. All in all, @wellymaster, Mr Dahl summed it up perfectly by Tweeting: “As the sun goes down on @ WellingtonUK at the end of a term like no other and as the final U6 pupils depart, I would like to thank every member of the Wellington Community for making the final past few months such a success under the most challenging circumstances... Merry Christmas everyone and see you in 2021!”

Christmas Card Competition This year Wellington College pupils were invited to get creative and take part in our Christmas card competition. We received some wonderful designs which made it very hard to pick a winner. After much deliberation, it was decided that a magical entry from Duncan Stewart (4th, Bd) depicting Wellington College in a winter wonderland, was the winner! Packs of cards featuring his design were sold in the College Shop and were a sell-out success! Thank you to everyone who bought the cards. The sales helped raise over £200 for the Beresford house charity, Tushinde, who provide tailored family care and education to over 350 vulnerable children from the poorest families in Nairobi’s Mathare and Kiambu informal settlements.

Wellington College, Crowthorne Berkshire RG45 7PU www.wellingtoncollege.org.uk +44 (0)1344 444 000