WaSSup! Week 18
th
29 January
Dear Parents, The question I have been asked the most this week is not, “What schools should my son apply for?” or “How do I stop my son playing on his iPad/Kindle/Playstation?” but “Mr Baker, when you say ‘dress-glamorously’ for 11th February, what does that mean exactly?” Well, it doesn’t mean black tie for men and it doesn’t mean full Cinderella ball gowns for ladies but party dress all the same: just dress to impress! (fyi, to dads and male staff, I’ll be wearing a dark suit, white shirt and tie, as always…) The Celebration Party will soon be upon us and then the next Wetherby social event, at the Prep School at least, will be the PTA Quiz on Wednesday 9th March.
A
Wetherby Quiz evening is like no other and the questions and answers will remain a closely guarded secret, both before and after the event (as I'll probably use the same ones for the Senior School evening in the Summer Term!). But who doesn’t love a good quiz? I love them and was part of the winning team at my village pub’s monthly quiz last week. Our team of 6, selected from around a dozen people able to attend on the night, always call themselves ‘The Fabulous Baker Boys’, even if I’m not there. This has its origins in a time when I, along with my two sons, who contributed no answers whatsoever, discovered their Bank Holiday Quiz many, many years ago, whilst I was trying to get my youngest son to sleep in his pram. ‘We’, or I, singlehandedly won that day (the prize is always a tub of Quality Street) and have maintained our lucky streak ever since. Before you think that I should put in a turn on ‘EggHeads’ , I can assure you, and with all due respect to my fellow villagers, that it’s a relatively easy and light-hearted quiz and our team comprises a very broad range of ages, interests and abilities so, between us, we can stay alert for the duration of the quiz more than most… This brings me on to my favourite moment of the week. Fantastic talks by our invited guests on Monday; the Official Opening of Wetherby Senior on Wednesday; some exciting staff recruitment for both Schools this week yet even these successes were
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surpassed when I joined Mr Hasthorpe’s Quiz Club at the Senior School on Tuesday afternoon. This isn’t just a quiz club with teams and questions; this is a quiz club with teams, questions AND ACTUAL BUZZERS! How exciting to join Frejvid and Sherif and participate in earnest competition.
I’d like to think I made a positive
contribution but, unfortunately, we lost on this occasion, coming a valiant second. Hopefully, I’ll be invited back next week to have another go at founding a new dynasty of Baker quizzing success. Have a good weekend…
Nick Baker
Luke, Jack and Philip at the Walkabout Foundation workshop
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This week at Wetherby Senior School Monday 1st
Monday Clubs
Year 9: Games
11:00-13:15
WSS All Stars
13:30
Tuesday 2nd
Art & Design Basketball Future Writers Videography Ukulele
Tuesday Clubs
Year 7: Games
11:00-1315
Year 9 : Drugs and Alcohol talk from Peter
15:00-16:15
Hall (Prep will be taken home)
Wednesday 3rd
Chess & Backgammon Fencing Football Quiz Yofit Music Tech
Wednesday Clubs
Rugby Year 7 U12 WSS B v WPS C (H)
14:30
Rugby Year 7 U12 WSS A v Notting Hill A (H)
14:30
9 Fleet trip to Oxygen Freejumping Centre in
Leave school at 16:05
West Acton. Oyster cards and jumping
Finish at 19:00
SlowMo Table Tennis Mandarin Family History
clothes needed.
Thursday 4th
Thursday Clubs
Football Year 9: U14 WSS B/C v UCS B/C (A)
14:30
Football Year 9: U14 A v UCS A (A)
14:30
Code Table Tennis Grub Club
Friday 5th Choir
13:30
HM Assembly – Hinde Street Methodist
15:00
Church
Saturday 30th & Sunday 31st
Resilience Week Miss Lillington writes… Henry Fraser Talk On Monday all of the Wetherby boys and staff gathered to hear a truly inspirational talk by Henry Fraser. I can probably say on behalf of everyone, that his talk was one of the most special events to have taken place at Wetherby and it will stay in our memories for years to come.
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Henry is a remarkable young man whose life changed forever whilst he was on holiday in Portugal in 2009. He damaged his spinal cord when he dived in to the sea, leaving him unable to move from the shoulders down. During the talk, Henry shared his experiences with the boys about his life before, during and after the accident. Although his story was sad, his message was hugely positive and inspiring, focusing on how we can all overcome challenges in life with the love and support of friends/family and by accepting what has happened and adapting. Henry, for example, has rediscovered his love of art by learning how to draw and paint using a mouth stick that can be attached to pencils and brushes. The talk was not only a very special moment for us, but also for Henry who was able present a portrait he had drawn of David Beckham to the man himself. After the presentation, David was able to join us for the talk and did a question and answer session with the boys after the talk. I was hugely impressed with some of the questions that the boys directed to Henry and David and we were all proud of the way they conducted themselves in front of our two guests. If you would like to find out any more about Henry Fraser and his story, do look at his website: http://www.henryfraser.org/
Year 9 Walkabout Foundation Workshop On Friday, the Year 9 boys attended a workshop led by members of the Walkabout Foundation.
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This was a fantastic opportunity for the boys to learn about the work of the charity, including funding research into cures for paralysis and providing wheel chairs to those in need around the world. They also had a chance to experience what it is like to depend on a wheelchair as we gave them the challenge of moving around school on a wheelchair. The boys then had a chance to work in their Tribs to come up with some fundraising ideas that they will commit to this year. As the photos below show – the boys really got a lot out of this and approached the whole process with admirable enthusiasm. Let's see which Trib will raise the most!
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From the Art & Design Department Mr Meyer writes‌ This term Year 7 have been learning about screen-printing, a medium which the boys have taken to unbelievably well. Why? Well, the fast paced and instantaneous nature of this area of art has been hugely appealing, allowing the boys to create a large number of screen prints as well as developing a number of techniques along the way. Well done to them.
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From the Games Department Mr Sullivan writes… What a week! With the QPR session, Henry Fraser’s inspirational presentation including Q&A time with David Beckham and the dreaded BLEEP TEST: these boys are really lucky! Using Henry Fraser’s favourite quote ‘every day is a good day’ the boys want to continue developing their fitness and wellbeing. I’ve been impressed by the maturity from the boys wanting to improve on their bleep test results and developing a better understanding of physical education. On that note we have set a goal for the week: Goal - persuade each family member to make one positive change in his/her nutritional health and fitness.
If you make one, small positive change to your health & fitness each week, in one week you will be amazed with how great you feel. Have each member of your family choose a healthy nutritional change and a new physical activity. Here is a list of ideas to help you get started: 1. Drink water – NO fizzy drinks for a week 2. Eat an apple, orange, and/or banana each day 3. Place more vegetables and whole grains on your plate than meat 4. Eat all of your food before 7pm every night 5. When eating, only eat (no watching TV, playing video games, reading) 6. Long family walks over the weekends 7. Go for a run before dinner 8. Walk, run or cycle to school (safely) 9. Join a Sports club after school or at weekends (Football, Rugby etc.) 10. Go swimming once a week as a family
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Maths Connection: A 330ml fizzy drink contains 139 calories. If you drink one 330ml fizzy drink each day of the week, how many calories would you be consuming each week and each year? This is the number of Calories you could eliminate from your diet if you drank water instead. Water has zero calories!
Players of the week: Well done to Paul Schell and Sean Masri in Year 9 for outstanding
goalkeeping
in
our fixture against CVMS. In Year 7 - Jacques O’Connor for his fast footwork and the ability to break tackles. Keep it up boys!
Fixtures this term Unfortunately City Academy cannot make our Year 9 Football fixture on 4 th February and Year 7 Rugby fixture on 10th February due to transport issues. I will do my upmost to arrange another fixture. Please see below for changes.
Year 7 Rugby - Feb 10th U12 Rugby – Hill House A/B v WSS A/B – 14:30 KO - @ Barn Elms, Queen Elizabeth Walk, London SW13 9SA
Year 9 Football - March 9th U12 Rugby – 7s Tournament (Arnold House, Falcon Prep, St Anthony’s and WSS) – 14:30 KO - Canons Park Activity Centre, Cannon Park Sports Fields, 837 Honeypot Ln, Stanmore, London HA7 1AR
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Year 9 QPR Session Mr Meyer writes... QPR has always been a team who plays with a sense of style. Glancing through social media this week, I saw it was nineteen years since Trevor Sinclair scored that spectacular overhead kick outside the penalty box for the hoops at Loftus Road; a technique that requires a huge amount of athleticism and agility. It was the second time since September that the QPR coaching team had come to Wetherby Sports Ground, the boys were taught the fundamentals of the game: dribbling, passing and moving off the ball.
Sports Quote of the Week ‘When your mind says give up, hope whispers one more try’. Follow us for results and updates on Twitter via @WetherbySSports #teamwetherby
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From the Geography Department Miss Vanstone writes‌ Year 7 have been studying Antarctica. They have looked at its basic geography, food webs, the different groups who use Antarctica and how it is protected by the Antarctic Treaty. Prep last week was to consider whether the Treaty should be renewed. There were some outstanding, carefully considered arguments from Jude Jones, Sherif Kotb, William Picionne Neiss and Leo Maydannik. Manu Dixit showed an exceptional ability to put himself in the shoes of a fisherman during the lesson and prep. Below: boys attempting to untangle the complex Antarctic food web.
Year 9 have been finishing off their unit on development and have a GCSE style test on Wednesday. Good luck! Essay Competition Entries have been shortlisted and are with Mr Baker for final judging. Winners will be announced before half term.
From the History Department Mr Warner writes‌ Just a quick appeal to any Year 9 boys who would like to go on the Normandy Tour in October (as Year 10s): I need to confirm numbers with the company very soon and there
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are still one or two boys who seem to be keen to come but I have yet to receive replies from. If you would like your son to come on the Tour please email me to confirm. I attach the initial letter should you wish to remind yourself of the details.
From the Library Miss McLaughlin writes… Design a work of art for the new Library This is a call out for any budding artists and designers, who would like to showcase their artwork in the library. As you may know, a lovely new library has just been installed at Wetherby, with oak shelving and lots of room for our growing collection of books. Now all we need is some artwork on the walls to make the room complete! The brief: design a new cover for one of your favourite books. Artworks should be A3 size, and can be made on a computer, or with a good old fashioned pencil and paper - but remember, the bolder the better! All artworks should be submitted to the Librarian, Miss McLaughlin, or to Mr Morris by February 8th.
From the Maths Department Mr Bray writes… Maths Challenge Cup
How many weeks are there in 8 x 7 x 6 x 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 minutes?
We are now in the third week of the Wetherby Maths Challenge Cup, a weekly competition between Tribs. During the last 10 minutes of Friday’s maths lesson, all boys attempt five questions, taken from UKMT Maths Challenge papers. A correct answer is worth 4 points, but an incorrect answer is -1. The average score from each Trib counts towards a rolling
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total, so every boy’s score is equally important. The scores after two weeks are: Tyburn on 17.7, Walbrook 15.8 and, in the lead, Fleet on 20.7 points.
Rather than testing concepts the boys have recently learnt, the questions require problem solving skills to be completed quickly within the time available. Take for example, the question above: although some boys did get the correct answer by frantically calculating the multiplication sum above, a much more elegant approach would be to think that moving from minutes to weeks requires us to divide by 60 (which is 6 x 5 x 2, so we can cross them off) then by 24 (which is 8 x 3) and then by 7, which leaves only leaves 4 in the calculation, which is the answer.
From the Science Department Miss Lillington writes‌ This week in Science, the boys have been learning about protoctists using the new digital microscope.
The boys were able to observe
a
number
of
rather weird and wonderful live organisms classified into the protoctist kingdom by using an app on the IPads that allows you to mirror the image shown under
the
digital
microscope.
The app also allows you to take your own screen shots and annotate the images. I was really impressed by some of the annotated photos produced by some of the boys, including these two by Alan Angert and Hamoud Al-Busaidi in 9C.
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Grub Club Miss Lillington writes‌
This week in Grub Club, the boys made mini pastries. They made a savoury tartlet with sundried tomato, mozzarella and micro basil, followed by a sweet tartlet using chocolate ganache and raspberries. Star bakers this week were Himat-Vir Singh Virdee who was so helpful clearing up and Alex Piggott Testa who brought in some fantastic homemade short bread using last week's recipe.
Well done, boys!
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Mandarin Club Miss Vanstone writes…
This term Mandarin has been attended by Philip Armstrong, Alan Angert, Rahul Thacker, Nicholas Mantafounis, Louis Jegou and Joshua George-Oppong. The boys have been working hard on their oral Mandarin (pinyin) and written characters. They can now say and write basic sentences such as greetings and asking whether family members are busy. Below is a photograph of Alan’s Mandarin exercise book where he has been practising his characters.
Videography Mr Dawson writes…… Videography is our first student-led activity at Wetherby Senior and what a start it has
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had! Three weeks of hard work was put to the test this week as the boys showed off their first video productions to the group. The boys had been given the task to create an advert for any product they could think of and were to write, film and produce a piece all in the very short space of two sessions. I was so impressed by the standard of the videos and how quickly the boys learned to use the iMovie software to edit their videos. There were some very professional productions and most definitely some aspiring actors and directors amongst the group. Luca Grinceri’s beats advert was funny and technically brilliant as was Louis Jegou and Luke Kirilenko’s guitar advert – a great effort for all boys though. Next week we will be using more advanced and higher quality camera equipment to shoot the videos. Now that the boys have got to grips with the video editing software I am excited to see just what they can produce second time round!
From the Wetherby Learning Community Mr Warner writes… When Mr Hartley announced the WSS Learning Community project some weeks ago I was really quite enthusiastic: what a great chance to take up that sport I had always dreamed of or develop a new passion for something-or-other, maybe even learn a new whatsit. But then I hit something of a wall. This reminded me of being told by my university tutor that my dissertation could be on anything in History. The immediate response is to be delighted by the rich jungle of choices laid out before you. But very quickly this rich jungle transformed into something of a despair-riddled wasteland. Just how do you pick just one thing from anything? This needed some careful thinking about, not to do so would be to waste the chance. My initial response was to reach for the easy option: two years ago my brother had given me a ukulele for Christmas (a joke that both he and my family now thoroughly regret) and I have been slowly teaching myself to play. Perhaps this would be the time to learn it properly. However this felt like cheating – the spirit of the challenge implied a new skill and two years on I have graduated from Away in a manger and I can torment the Warner Christmas-time household with a pretty varied festive medley of tunes ranging from Joy to the World to Jingle Bells, even a particularly murderous version of Ode to Joy. No, the ukulele is now a part of my life and already brings me, if not others, great joy. My new skill must be, well, new.
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I have always liked board games. As a boy I used to play chess, backgammon and draughts against both my father and grandfather on a regular basis. The latter was always kind enough to allow me the occasional victory; the former habitually delivered crushing defeats. All three games have stood the test of time and are great fun to play but a new possibility has popped its head over the parapet: Go. I bought a Go set five years ago and it has sat accumulating dust on my shelf ever since. This is the old Chinese game that is both immensely simple and yet so complex that it is only this year that a computer is able to match the best human players. So there it is, decision made. I shall finally learn to play Go. Now all I need is a willing opponent. I suspect Vadim Mandel will see this as an elaborate ruse on my part to continue evading him as an opponent in Chess Club. So be it. Maybe I should add Go to the club’s repertoire. Any volunteers to be my opponents?
And finally A note from the editor‌ You may have noticed that the title of the newsletter is a rather changeable item at the moment. So far I have been dreaming up names in my spare time and I will continue to do so. However this week we had a suggestion come in from one of the boys. Full credit for this week’s innovative and catchy title goes to J-P Cairaschi. All feedback on the newsletter is very welcome. Please do write in with your ideas or comments and if you have a particularly inspired thought about a possible name then please do send it my way.