The Barometer Week 11 Spring

BAROMETER THE

WETHERBY SENIOR SCHOOL WEEKLY MARCH 19th 2018 | WEEK 11

A Field Day Round-Up!

FROM THE HEADMASTER

Dear Parents, After weeks of hard work, last night saw the first performance on the Senior Play, Punch, a piece of physical theatre written and directed by Miss Twomey.

The performances of the Year 10 boys were outstanding in a piece that challenged the boys to express the feelings of their character or the tension of the scene through movement.

With choreography by Miss Webb, the boys negotiated complicated changes of costume, scene and character seamlessly and delivered the dialogue while undertaking complex movements. It was a fantastic evening and unlike anything else I have seen in school theatre; the cast and crew are to be congratulated on making it look effortless when it was the result of a great deal of hard work. A small number of tickets are available for Friday’s performance; it is not something to be missed.

This week, the Firefly VLE has been rolled out to all the boys. There is more information later in this edition from Mr Avroutine but your sons should have received their login information and accessed the site. If they have not yet logged in, please encourage them to do so and let Mr Avroutine know if they encounter any technical issues. All academic departments have been uploading documents to aid with preparation for the summer assessments and there is a great deal aimed at the Year 11 and preparation for their GCSEs. A Parent Portal will follow in due course and will help to improve the communication between school and home.

I would also like to draw your attention to the save the date announcement for Speech Day which will take place on the afternoon of the final day of the year. This is

an opportunity to celebrate and reflect on the year that has passed and I hope to see many of you there. More information will be sent out early in the coming term.

I hope you and your families enjoy a restful break.

WEEKLY DIARY MONDAY

26.03.18

NO ACTIVITIES THIS WEEK Games Years 7, 10 & 11 14:00-16:00 Spring Concert 18:30-19:30

TUESDAY

27.03.18 Games Year 8 & 9 14:00-16:00 Duke of Edinburgh Award 15:30-16:30

WEDNESDAY

28.03.18

TERM ENDS 13:00

THURSDAY

29.03.18

FRIDAY

30.03.18

SATURDAY

31.03.17

SUNDAY

01.04.17

Year 11 GCSE Art and Graphic Design Open Studio 10:00-16:00

IMPORTANT NOTICES

Previously owned uniform in good condition can be donated to the school for resale with the proceeds going to the School’s chosen charities.

Please bring any donations to reception.

A clothing sale will take place in June, date tbc.

Open Day, Saturday 12th May All boys in Year 10 are required to attend school on this day, wearing school uniform, to act as tour guides. They will need to arrive by 10.30am and they should be finished by 1.30pm.

Any boy in Year 9 who wishes to help out is most welcome to volunteer.

Please email registrar@wetherbysenior.co.uk should you have any questions.

A date for your diaries: Speech Day Thursday 5th July, 2:00pm St Mary’s Church, W1H 1PQ

Summer Exams A reminder for all boys in years 7 to 9 that the summer exams will take place from Monday 23rd to Wednesday 25th April.

For boys in year 10s, the summer exams will take place immediately after half term, from Monday 4th June to Friday 8th June.

The Geography and Classics departments are very excited to announce that they will be running a joint trip to Greece in October half-term.

This year’s spring concert is on the Monday, 26th March, 6:30 pm7:30 pm at Hannah House.

All boys involved need to be at Hannah House for 6pm Boys must not be in games kit only school uniform. No ticket is required.

Performing at the concert are: ALL YEAR 7 boys, Orchestra, Brass Roots, Brass Academy, Funk band, Swing band, Guitar ensemble, String ensemble, Senior brass and Wind ensemble.

MENU

MONDAY

TUESDAY

Soup: Courgette Soup

Soup: Tomato

Main: Prawn and Vegetable Curry

Main: Spaghetti Bolognese

Meat Free: Macaroni and cheese

Meat Free: Tomato and Basil Pasta Bake

To Go With: Herbed Potato Wedges Steamed Rice Raita Naan Bread Sautéed Spinach Dessert: Vanilla Sponge Cake

Soup: Roasted Pepper And Tomato

WEDNESDAY Soup: Chicken Noodle Main: Fish Fingers Meat Free: Rocket Pesto Pasta with Sundried Tomatoes

To Go With: Aubergine Parmesan Garlic Bread Baby Carrots

To Go With: Sweet Potato Wedges Steamed Garden Peas Traditional Mushy Peas Tartare Sauce

Dessert: Jelly Pots

THURSDAY

Main: Baked Chicken breast and Vegetables

To Go With: Egg fried rice Balsamic Roasted Vine Tomatoes Grilled Yellow Courgette Baby Spinach

Meat Free: Vegetable stir fry with noodles

Dessert: Chocolate brownie

Soup: Mushroom and Tarragon Main: Meat Feast Pitta Bread Pizza Meat Free: Roasted Vegetable and Feta Pitta Bread Pizza

Freshly Made Bread To Go With: Oven Roasted Chips Mixed Garden Vegetables Green Salad Dessert: Chocolate Mousse

Homemade Salads Vegetable Crudités With Hummus Sandwich & Wrap Selection Meat & Cheese Platters Fresh Fruit Yogurt Pots

EVERY DAY

FRIDAY

Dessert: Winter Berry Eton Mess

WETHERBY SENIOR SCHOOL

HISTORICAL FICTION COMPETITION 2018

WINNER DAN R. HIGHLY COMMENDED JUDE B. & ANDREAS M.

WETHERBY SENIOR SCHOOL

SPRING CONCERT 2018 Free entry: no tickets required Monday 26th March 2018 6:30pm­‐7:30pm Hannah House Featuring: Swing Band, Jazz Trio, Guitar Ensemble Brass Ensemble & Academy + Solos

Please join us back in school after the concert for refreshments Please show your support and follow us on Instagram: @WSSMusic

We now have a system for school resources and tasks called Firefly, a Virtual Learning Environment that allows pupils to stay organised and up to date on all their tasks! The Alpha Plus Group has worked with a major educational provider RM who run a portal: rmunify.com.

Pupils can log in to this portal and get access to various helpful sites and apps, Office 365, which includes their own email, and Firefly.

Office 365

Firefly

As part of the Office 365 package, pupils now have individual email access via Outlook, which can also be downloaded as a mobile app.

All school correspondence with pupils will now be via this school email and we expect all pupils to check it at least once a day.They also have access to online versions of PowerPoint, Word and Excel, so they can work on the same document at home and at school.

Firefly is a VLE on which resources, revision and information will be stored.

Boys can access this through the RM Unify portal from anywhere. No more lost homework sheets!

There is also access to OneDrive, the cloud storage service holding multiple gigabytes of data on which they can store documents.

Firefly can also be downloaded as a mobile app.

We are really excited about this development and intend to make full use for it, especially in the case of exam classes.

Boys are currently being issued with log ins and can begin using it immediately.

Clockwise from top left: Firefly phone app, Firefly homepage, RM Unify homepage, Office 365.

YEAR 7 VISIT CAMBRIDGE THEATRE Miss Kirk writes...

Bubbling with a palpable sense of excitement, 26 Year 7 boys, Miss Twomey, Miss Webb, Mrs Atkinson, Mr McFaul and I burst through the doors of the Cambridge Theatre to begin the start of a theatre extravaganza of a Field Day! Grinning from ear to ear, the boys were thrown straight into a physical warm-up by a professional RSC actor, which the children’s cast of Matilda complete on a daily basis.

Once even more energised (if that were actually possible!) the boys got into groups and improvised short sketches as the characters from this wonderful story.

All teachers beamed with pride to see the boys really apply their acting skills and behave so politely. This workshop was the perfect start to a special Field Day and the boys certainly earned their burgers!

Miss Twomey writes: After exploring the play in our workshop (and talking excitedly about it throughout lunch), it was time to take our seats and watch Matilda: The Musical. The play follows the story of Matilda, a young girl with a brilliant mind and wisdom far beyond her years.

She devours books, creates magical stories and wows her teacher, Miss Honey.

However, Matilda is rejected by her family and bullied by her headteacher, Miss Trunchbull, an ex-Olympic hammer throwing champion who believes that all children are ‘revolting’. Matilda must go on a quest to do good by being ‘a little bit naughty’ and get her revenge on these (strangely loveable) villains.

We loved watching the very talented cast soar across the stage on swings and scooters, eat giant chocolate cakes and literally climb the walls and doors of their school- all whilst singing and dancing.

The boys thought the play was amazing, and we still haven’t been able to get some of the songs out of our heads!

YEAR 8 - FIELD WORK IN STRATFORD Year 8 visited Stratford with the Geography department to learn about the regeneration of the area and undertake some field work. The boys visited the Stratford Centre, and did a survey of all the shops, comparing them to what was there before Westfield was built. They also spoke to the local members of the public about the ways in which the area had changed and how this has impacted upon their lives.

In the afternoon, the boys visited the Olympic Park and created a field sketch, before finishing the day off at the Arcelormittal Orbit, the UK’s tallest public artwork, which offers amazing views over London, and The Slide which is an exhilarating ride back down to the ground.

The trip took us all over Stratford and we walked almost 13km in total. The teachers were very impressed that all the boys were brave enough to have a go on the slide!

YEAR 9 VISIT KEW GARDENS Mr. Meyer writes‌ Now in its third year, the Science and Photography trip to Kew Gardens was arguably the best yet, providing the boys with an excellent opportunity to take photographs of the orchids; experience the spectacular Hive; scale the dizzying heights of the roof top tree walk and enjoy the tranquillity of the Thames.

This was a fantastic chance to capture the beauty of the landscape, as well as to help the boys to understand the science of one Europe’s finest landscape gardens.

YEAR 10 DUKE OF EDINBURGH Last Wednesday, the Year 10 Bronze Duke of Edinburgh boys headed out to the blustery Surrey Hills for a day of navigation and safe stove use training. Boys each got the chance to lead a leg or two of the route and their work focussed on learning how to take grid references, reading contours as well as identifying features of the map and relating them to the ground.

All the boys also got a chance to use the Trangia gas stoves which they will be using on the expeditions to brew up a quick hot chocolate, which, given the weather, was much needed!

Our boys are making great progress and it was nice to feel so confident in their navigation proficiency - well done Team DofE!

What is The Felix Project?

Tyler M., Sebastiano B., and Jock S., collecting a delivery of fresh food from The Felix Project.

The Felix Project was set up by the parents of a boy who died suddenly from meningitis. Felix had always shown compassion to those less fortunate than him and he was shocked one day to have played against a football team whose members had confessed they had not had anything to eat that day. In his memory, therefore, the Felix Project collects fresh, nutritious food that cannot be sold in shops.

They then deliver this food to charities, such as the North Paddington Food Bank, so that they can provide healthy meals and help the most vulnerable in our society.

YEAR 10 - COMMUNITY SERVICE Year 10 Community Service boys spent their Field Day volunteering at the North Paddington Food Bank. The boys undertook a variety of tasks such as counting and itemising all of the donations, helping with deliveries to the food bank, and putting together shopping bags for service users.

At the end of the day, James Quayle, the manager of the food bank, spoke to the boys about the types of people who find themselves using their services. He explained that a whole spectrum of people use the food bank; young and old, single people as well as families. James told the boys that the vast majority of users might only come to the food bank as a short-term measure.

I think that the boys were surprised by the fact that some people who used the food bank were actually in work but on a low, unreliable wage due to

zero hours contracts. Prior to our visit, most of the boys were under the impression that a food bank was much like a soup kitchen and would be used solely by homeless people. In addition to this, it was interesting to hear James talk about the ways in which he wished to improve the food bank. Having sorted through tin after tin of canned food, it was clear to the boys that people who had to rely on the food bank would not have much variety within their diet.

James spoke about his wish to be able to provide more fresh food to his service users but also mentioned the current barriers to this becoming a reality.

I hope that the boys found their day at North Paddington Food Bank interesting and that it made them think a little more about the challenges some people can face in their lives, through no fault of their

Find out more: North Paddington Food Bank: http://www.npfoodbank.org.uk/ The Felix Project: http://thefelixproject.org/

own.

All of the boys were a real credit to our school. They got stuck into every single task they were asked to do, including some rather tough manual labour when it came to carrying donations from vans to the food bank itself! They were also very polite to both the volunteers at the food bank and service users.

Well done to all Year 10 Community Service boys who attended this trip!

Tyler M. says: “Our time at the Food Bank has highlighted how privileged we are and the need to give more to the community. It has allowed me to have a clear picture of things I would never come in contact with otherwise. I would volunteer again and would encourage others to do it as well.�

THE SECOND BI-ANNUAL APG ART & DESIGN EXHIBITION The Second Bi-Annual Alpha Plus Group Art & Design Exhibition took place at A&D Gallery, 51 Chiltern St. on Saturday 17th March. This was a wonderful occasion for schools and colleges to exhibit their fine work; from the Rolfe’s Nursery to DLD College the standard was extremely high and was admired by pupils, parents and members of the general public. Wetherby Senior School was well represented with both Graphic Design and Art & Design pieces on display. Well done, boys!

INTER-TRIB SO FAR...

The boys have been competing fiercely during Inter-Trib and we are waiting with great anticipation for the final matches and results next week!

SUPPORT MR SULLIVAN RUNNING FOR CALM! Would you like to see Mr Sullivan in fancy dress running the London Marathon for charity?

I’m taking part in the 2018 Virgin Money London Marathon for Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) on Sunday 22nd April 2018. Being a volunteer for CALM and helping young adults is a big part of my life.

Listening and communicating is the most important factor, but I have also been working to raise awareness and money throughout this year by completing the London Marathon, Spartan Race, Mini Triathlon as well as many half marathons and a memorial rugby match.

If you would like to see me jogging around London’s fine streets in my lovely fancy dress, please donate and come and support me!

Please also consider sharing my page so I can raise as much as possible to help CALM provide a campaign and helpline aimed at preventing male suicide in the UK: https://www.justgiving.com/ fundraising/james-sullivan17 If you would like to find out more about CALM please visit www.thecalmzone.net Thank you!

Mr Sullivan Director of Sport

http://www.wetherbysenior.co.uk