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Higher Education Offers
Upper Sixth pupils have been receiving and confirming offers from universities and music colleges across the UK since the start of the year. To date, pupils have received over 170 offers from Russell Group and other top UK universities including the University of Oxford, the University of Edinburgh, the University of Exeter and the University of York, to study a wide range of subjects from Architecture to Biochemistry, Geophysics to Liberal Arts. Several pupils have received multiple offers, including in Medicine and other subjects that are highly in demand. As always, the extraordinary variety of subjects reflects both the breadth and exceptional quality of the Sixth Form in Wells, where pupils are able to choose from a wide variety of subjects. For pupils who have specialised in Music while at Wells, there have also been further successes. Globally, pupils have received offers from prestigious institutions such as the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the New England Conservatory in Boston. Within the UK, Wells Musicians have received over 75 offers to continue their studies at top conservatoires such as the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music. Ten pupils have received multiple scholarship offers, while many others have received a major scholarship at the single institution they chose to concentrate on.
International Women’s Day Music and Talks
A group of Senior School pupils travelled to Westonbirt School to take part in WESTMUN, a Model United Nations conference. Model United Nations gives students the opportunity to develop skills in leadership, debate, public speaking and negotiation, by allowing them to play the role of delegates at a conference debating global issues and developing solutions to problems of international significance.
As such, it is a fascinating and challenging experience for which students need to be well-prepared, quick to respond and ready to face the unexpected. The Wells Cathedral School delegation acquitted themselves excellently on all counts at this inaugural conference.
The delegation, Jane Lee, Luke Doyle, Florence Gummer, Alice Clements (Year 11) and Alexei James-Cudworth (Lower Sixth), were allocated Turkey. All delegates had researched the country well and appreciated the nature of its geographical and political relationships both with the EU and Russia. They represented Turkey’s interests in debating the different questions that had been set, such as The Question of Refugees from War and The Question of the International Drug Trade, The Question of Finance for Development and The Question of Cryptocurrency. After an intense hour of lively debate, diplomacy and occasional skulduggery, the delegations were called to dinner, after which, each delegation presented their resolutions, and votes were taken. Three of the four resolutions prepared by Turkey were voted through, notwithstanding some last-minute controversies and international tensions.
We would like to express our thanks to Westonbirt School, and especially to Deputy Head Mr Balderson, for making us feel so welcome and for providing such a stimulating and challenging evening. Much was learned, fun was had, and friendships were made; we very much look forward to building on this experience by returning to WESTMUN next year.
For International Women’s Day, pupils held an evening of music and talks. It started with the rousing March of the Women performed by Choralia. Talks included an account of the Tiananmen Square incident of 1989, discussions on the possible fate of our universe and whether we should be afraid of death. Rocket Brooks performed a spine-tingling piece, written and conducted by herself, based on a collection of poems by war poets. A world-première marimba concerto, Chen Chen Ya Zi by Jian Zhen, played by Juffy Zhu, was performed, along with an emotive performance of early female composer Florence Price’s work, led by Vivian Kao.
Chris Eldridge, Head of History, has been made a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (RHS) in recognition of the unique work that he and his team have been doing in promoting the study of medieval history in the Sixth Form at Wells. He is thrilled to have been made a Fellow, especially as it is normally university-level academics who receive the recognition.
“When I first arrived at Wells I was captivated by our 10th century origins and the medieval heritage that we live and work within. Not studying medieval history in this context looked to me like a lost opportunity. Yet medieval history tends to get neglected in British schools. A lot of teachers think it’s either incomprehensible or irrelevant to modern students. I hope the work we do at Wells studying and promoting it dispels this myth.”
Founded in 1868, the RHS is the UK’s foremost society working for historians and history. Over 4,500 historians now belong and contribute to the Society, as fellows and members active in the UK and worldwide.
Creative Writing Workshops
In March, pupils were visited by local author Matt Dickinson who gave two fantastic creative writing workshops to both Senior and Junior School pupils.
Matt has found inspiration for many of his books from his trips to Mount Everest as a documentary maker.
Celebrating World Book Day
Pupils had a wonderful World Book Day with activities ranging from decorating classroom doors and book tasting in the reading restaurant to dressing up as favourite characters. Staff joined in with much of the Junior School being taught by pirates for the day!
Seminar on Coleridge
Sixth Form English classes enjoyed a seminar with literary historian Stuart Andrews on the subject of one of their A level texts, the poetry of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Mr Andrews, who is also librarian of the Wells Museum, has published extensively on the Romantic Poets.
School Library features Diversity Display
Our School Library has recently installed a new display celebrating the diversity of our pupils' nationalities. Our pupils represent 40 different countries! It is also an extension of the diversity and inclusion display featuring LGBTQ+ fiction and non-fiction literature. Thank you to Mrs Brown for her effort and passion towards this unifying display, and for enabling us all to be united by books.
