Wetherby News
14 May
Dear Parents,
This weather really is becoming a chore. We haven’t been able to play one cricket match so far this term and the sight of the boys coming back from Games yesterday, wet from another rain shower, was depressing to see. That said, we are trying to reschedule all the matches that have been postponed so hopefully we catch up as the term progresses and the weather improves.
I visited Canford on Tuesday and, whilst it is not often mentioned in conversation with Wetherby parents as a potential destination for your sons, it is a beautiful and very well run school. The drive through the New Forest reminded me of how beautiful that part of the country is. Due to an upturned caravan, I was diverted off the M27 at Lyndhurst and had to feel my way through the heart of the New Forest, passing through heavy gorse and bracken, passing countless free roaming cattle and wild horses. If I wasn’t in such a rush, I would have liked to take my time to take it all in but I have vowed to return with my family as soon as possible. As a Geographer, I am ashamed to say that I am poorly travelled and there are many parts of the British Isles that I have never seen which are not too far away.
Year 5 will be taking the same route next week as they travel to Rockley for their Sailing Trip as part of ‘Junior School Residential Week’. It would be great if the weather improved but nothing I can imagine could douse the spirit of the boys in what is always a highlight of the school year. I will be ‘Clarion Calling’ as usual but Year 7 will also know that I was able to post photographs on my ‘Twitter’ page on their recent trip and will do so again this week. Please check the feed which is posted on the home page of the website. Alternatively, go straight to the Twitter site and search @wetherbynick.
Have a good weekend,
7 May
As you might imagine, I have been to hundreds of school events over the years. They are always enjoyable when you know the children involved, particularly from a Headmaster’s or father’s perspective, but there are occasions when the level of entertainment served up by, what to me, are complete strangers sometimes has my eyes wandering towards the exit signs! Brigid and I therefore travelled with some trepidation to the Royal Albert Hall on Monday night to watch ‘150 Years of Wellington College’ as guests of the College. I can honestly say that it was the best school event I have ever witnessed. It was slick, professional and showcased some of the most confident and talented children I have ever seen – a fantastic advert for what is a wonderful school. When I was 15, my whole school hired the Royal Albert Hall and all 1200 boys attempted to sing Carmina Burana in front of the audience of parents and invited guests. Alhough I enjoyed the experience, even then I didn’t think it sounded very good. It certainly paled in comparison to what we witnessed on Monday night.
Just as I was leaving home yesterday, there was an item on BBC Breakfast regarding the presence of defibrillators in schools. With the recent Fabrice Muamba incident fresh in the memory, an action group were talking about the need for these machines in schools as currently 12 children a week die from undiagnosed heart conditions in UK schools. This statistic is truly frightening and the first thing I did on my return to school was order two devices. They are very expensive but the cost is irrelevant. One will hang just outside the foyer and the other will be taken to Games and Break times. Please do not think that I am being unduly alarmist and reactionary here and hopefully they will never be used but I could not hear of this alarming statistic without taking positive action.
Thank you to all parents who came to Andrew Halls’s talk last night. It was a fantastic turnout and Andrew and his staff were very impressed with the school and our parents in attendance. We were all delighted by a returning friend of the school. Oscar Kelliher (last year’s Head Boy) spoke about his time at King’s and the transfer from Wetherby Prep. It was great to see him again and hear how well he is doing in his new school. His speech was eloquent, in itself a fitting tribute to his education at King’s and Wetherby!
Have a good weekend,
30 April
Welcome back and I hope everyone had a good holiday. I appreciate your thoughts on the length and timings of our holidays. Personally, I feel that there is greater benefit in a shorter Easter break and longer summer one, particularly with our focus on Common Entrance preparation and examinations in general. Next year, we will come back to school a week earlier for the summer term and break up a week earlier in July.
Earlier Summer Exams for Years 3, 4 and 5, taking place next week, are of benefit. It is important to assess boys’ attainment under examination conditions twice a year and, as a school, we seek to optimise the efficiency of our academic year, making the best use of actual teaching time. By scheduling these exams early, teachers are afforded a valuable window within which to address any shortcomings before the end of the year, an opportunity that would be lost if these examinations were scheduled later. When examinations take place after Half Term, you can find yourself spending a week preparing, a week doing the exams, the weeks after feeding back and then all of a sudden the rest of the term descends into a maelstrom of cricket matches and sports days. Competition for senior schools is fiercer than ever before, a trend that looks set to continue as more and more London families are choosing private education, so we cannot afford to waste a minute of teaching time.
As another shower passes by outside, it is difficult to write the next paragraph with the expectation of any great credibility on the part of the reader, but with warmer weather anticipated this term, our policy on sunblock and protection from the heat might usefully be clarified. The boys are permitted to wear short-sleeved white shirts during the Summer Term, although they can only remove their ties if I have declared ‘shirt-sleeve order’ for that day. We have a plentiful supply of sunblock which will be distributed at Games and Lunch Breaks on sunny days. Boys are expected to apply it themselves, protecting their faces, ears, necks and arms. If you would rather we did not supply your child with sunblock, please inform Miss Hodgson as our default position is as described above. I would also recommend that every boy has a Wetherby Prep Cricket Cap too. These are available from Miss Hodgson for £5 and can be worn whenever we are outdoors on a sunny day.
Here’s to a turn in the weather and another productive and successful Wetherby Prep term.
Have a good weekend,
2 April
This has been a most fulfilling and satisfying term, with success on the academic and sporting fronts and interest in our school at an all-time high. The school goes from strength to strength and that is down to our committed and talented staff, supportive parents and eager and enthusiastic boys. Whenever Brigid comes in to teach or visit the school, she always remarks on the nature of the children and their ‘Wetherby confidence’, which bears no hint of arrogance but is characterised by appropriately self-assured and eager behaviour. These are characteristics of those who feel completely comfortable in their environment. There is nothing specific that we teach the children in this respect but I believe that they recognise and respond positively to an innate culture of support, encouragement and praise, one in which every boy feels that he can be himself.
We have Junior School Exams during the first full week back. Whilst we encourage the children to do as well as they possibly can, please do not let them spend too much time revising and studying over the holidays. A holiday should be exactly that and it would be counter-productive to have boys sit in front of books for extended periods during holiday times. We set exams early so that we can resume our focus on teaching, using examination results to guide us as to how best we might adapt our approaches to address the individual needs of every boy. This worked successfully last year and will continue in the future. Although not all boys savour the prospect of exams (yet I know that many do!) there is much to be excited about next term: residentials, day trips, cricket matches, Senior Disco and Prize Giving, to name but a few. I’m looking forward to it already.
Mrs. Amelia Hickman has resigned her post as Director of Music to concentrate on her other areas of responsibility within the school. She will continue to help out with the Choir and will always be part of our ‘musical family’ here but we have appointed Mr Nathaniel Brawn as the new Director of Music from September. Mr Brawn is known to many of you anyway, from his work with the Choir, Music lessons and peripatetic piano teaching this year and the transition will be a smooth and exciting one.
I am also delighted to announce that we will be joined by a new member of staff in September. Miss Deborah Kroiter will teach a range of subjects in the Junior and Senior School and, as a keen and talented sportswoman, will also join us on the Games team. She has worked for the last five years at Caldicott School and, as such, is familiar with the curriculum, ethos and aspirations of a school like ours. I look forward to introducing her to you in September.
May I wish you a Happy Easter and restful break. In this photo, Patrick looks angelic but please excuse Joseph who is at that age, that I am sure you can all remember, when getting a sensible photo of your four year old child is almost impossible.
Have a good Easter holiday,
26 March
Last year, we thought we had a pretty strong 1st XV and went to Biarritz with the expectation of a victorious tour. This was not to be and, although last year’s rugby tour was a great success in many ways, we did come up short in the matches we played. This year, we thought that our unbeaten 1st XV was stronger but, with last years’ experience behind us, knew that playing in Italy was going to be quite a challenge. As it turned out, the tour exceeded all expectations. The Year 7 boys won the U12 tournament and the Year 8 team (playing at U14 level due to different age boundaries in Italy) lost only narrowly in the final of their competition. Not ones to come home empty handed, they were awarded the ‘Fair Play’ Trophy which one could argue is worth more as a touring party. In the lower years, the Year 5 boys followed up Year 4’s success by winning the Plate at Saturday’s St. James’ rugby tournament.
Add to all this today’s news that in the National Rowing Competition, some of the stars of the Year 7 rugby team, Edoardo Ricci (13th), Marlon Bellet (18th), Will Sutherland (21st), Nicholas Aliberti (34th) and Cosimo Prideaux (37th) performed admirably out of 107 boys in the U12 category. In the U13 section, Yaroslav Chichvarkin came a remarkable 17th with Nicolas Alvarez (28th), Tim Benson (42nd) and Oliver Hedger (82nd) not far behind in a field of 171.
Pretty good for a school with no playground and not one blade of grass. Anything is possible with a bit of effort, organisation, enthusiasm and no little skill.
Have a great weekend…
19 March
Sir Michael Wilshaw, the Chief Inspector of Schools, said this week that standards of literacy in UK schools are at an all-time low, having ‘stalled’. It’s been a while since I taught in the State sector but I expect he is probably right. Just looking at how the GCSE and A-Level syllabuses have been thinned down over the past twenty years and the current literacy and numeracy expectations required of primary age children, it is difficult to assume anything else. The default position of the National Curriculum seems to have been to make it accessible to all, with the expectation being to differentiate for brighter children. It should, of course, be the other way around: make the curriculum challenging for all and then differentiate for the less able. That is certainly the philosophy in our school.
Then there is the actual teaching. Work put into developing a nationwide curriculum or money invested in improved facilities is ineffectual without strong teachers in the classroom. Training programmes for teachers have definitely improved over the years and the process is far more rigorous and accountable than when I completed my PGCE, eighteen years ago. I have, however, seen hundreds of CVs and application forms over the years and would consider only a tiny fraction of them as potential candidates for our school.
Pay freezes and modest salaries do not help but nobody goes into teaching to make a fortune and it is not the main problem, as I see it. The main issue is the lack of status that teaching seems to have in the UK. The ‘well, you can always teach’ mentality is such an insult to a worthy profession and until the UK public regards educators with the esteem and status so evident in other countries, the progress we make in numeracy and literacy will continue to be sluggish.
How lucky we are at Wetherby Prep in comparison to those schools that Sir Michael Wilshaw has targeted. We have so much in our favour and so much respect from boys and their parents working with, rather than against, their teachers; we are housed in a beautiful building; we are well-funded and we really do manage to challenge every boy. Every now and again, I like to remind myself of that.
Thank you for all of your birthday wishes on Monday. Contrary to popular belief, I am still in my 30s. Brig and I went to le Gavroche to celebrate and, whilst the food was as exquisite as usual, it is the impeccably attentive customer service that really make it such a unique institution.
Have a great weekend,
12 March
I think we would all agree that our school enjoys an enviable reputation amongst prep schools, senior schools and our local community alike. Wetherby boys are instantly recognisable by their smart attire and number amongst our school’s finest ambassadors. With interest in our school at an all-time high, every boy finding a school at which he will thrive at Common Entrance and more gilt paint at the ready for the scholarships board, I find it distinctly reassuring that we retain our original values and ethos, which certainly include having fun!
It was delightful to enjoy an informal get-together at this week’s Quiz Night and witness such an impressive, impromptu rendition of Phil Collins’ ‘Against all Odds’! I very much hope that our school will always retain that sense of community and comradeship which make it such a unique and enjoyable institution. Congratulations to the Year 4 Team of Mr. Metherell and the Al-Saffar, Brendlor, DaCosta, Radcliffe, Silberschmidt and Thykier families – worthy champions, until next year…
Thank you to all parents and staff for coming last night and thank you to all the children who contributed so enthusiastically. For those that did not attend (and for any boys who fancy a challenge over the weekend), you might want to attempt the first round. The following clues all relate to members of staff – see how many you can get! Answers in next week’s Wetherbuzz…
1) King extinguishes Spanish cigarette in Yorkshire town
2) Purple shrub for Harry’s offspring
3) Princely presenter for University Challenge
4) Jane Austen’s deer
5) Stealing doughnuts
6) Aguilera joins Status Quo
7) Tennis star in the sky with diamonds
8) Dickensian character ends up in a bog
9) Kiss me inside the castle walls
10) Man of cloth
5 March
As ‘Scholarship Season’ progresses, I am delighted to announce that some of our boys have already been awarded scholarships to senior schools. Places, particularly at day schools, are becoming increasingly competitive and therefore a scholarship is a remarkable achievement.
Hussein Al Hussein in Year 8 has been awarded an Academic Scholarship to Latymer. With only a handful of places available at 13+, a place is a fantastic achievement which puts the award into context. Hussein has been a consistently strong academic performer over the years and it is very rewarding to have this recognised in the form of a scholarship.
Max Todes in Year 5 has been awarded a Music Scholarship to City of London School at 10+. Entry to City of London is increasingly competitive and even more so at 10+. To secure a place and a Music Scholarship really takes some doing but as Max is such an academically and musically gifted boy, it is well deserved.
Good luck to all boys taking scholarship exams over the coming weeks. I look forward to adding your names, along with Hussein’s and Max’s to our ever growing Scholarship Board in the foyer.
27 February
On Monday, I went to the Independent Schools Inspectorate to be briefed on the new inspection guidelines brought in from this January. With a few insertions and amendments, as appropriate, I am confident we are compliant with all regulatory requirements but I was delighted to learn that the new format allows for more lesson observation, more teacher and pupil interviews and more opportunity to really know and understand the school. This may not be a popular view amongst colleagues in other schools but I can’t wait for our next inspection and would be delighted if we got the call on Monday.
I like the notion of accountability and see an inspection as an opportunity to show our school at its best and have all the things that I believe make this a special school validated by an outside body. Those that fear inspections have something to hide and that is certainly not the case here.
Following my comments in the last Wetherbuzz, I have devised an ‘observational’ round to the Quiz on 8th March which, alongside the more usual rounds, involve your children. The boys are sworn to secrecy to not give out the answers so please, no cheating…
20 February
After my somewhat bullish comments last week, it was doubly disappointing to have all fixtures cancelled and Regent’s Park and Linford Christie closed this week. Sometimes I think that the Premises Managers are a bit trigger happy with cancellations but rugby on frozen surfaces is a serious safety risk. Hopefully, we will have a thaw over Half Term and we can make better progress as we go into the spring.
No skiing for the Bakers this week. I have no problem teaching the youngest or least capable geographer but teaching skiing to young beginners requires a special kind of talent and patience, that I do not possess to teach my two boys – yet. Instead, we will be travelling to Whitby to visit the in-laws and take some bracing walks on the North Yorkshire Coast. I also look forward to seeing some proper snow and not the meagre few inches we have had recently. Then we can make a proper snowman rather than Patrick and Joseph’s rather optimistic effort on Sunday.
6 February
New territory for me and Brigid this week as chicken pox swept through the Baker household. I am sure every parent has a story about chicken pox and their children and they all have my sympathy. Though obviously painful for the children themselves, it is agonising to see them in such a desperate state. It is also another example of how the Internet, for all the improvements it has made in society, does not help to calm a situation or provide reassurance – rather the complete opposite!
With the suggestion of snow in the coming days, may I reiterate that the school will close in only the most severe of circumstances. In the unlikely event of closure, please check the ‘Twitter’ section of the school website or your phones for a Clarion Call text. Please also remember that Wetherby Prep continues as timetabled, whatever the weather and play, Games and Rowing will be unaffected. Boys must, however, make sure they are wearing the appropriate clothing. Hats, gloves and scarves are perfectly acceptable!
30 January
This week, the Senior School have been hard at work with their mock exams. I have been really impressed with their scholarly and dedicated attitude but we did notice that too many boys risk putting themselves under too much pressure. These exams are for practice; we are perfectly happy for boys to make their mistakes now, rather than later.
It is important to view these exams in their appropriate context. A boy in Year 7, who scores 45% in a Common Entrance paper, halfway through the course, has done extremely well. What this really means is that, even though he has yet to be taught a lot of content, he needs only a further 10% for most schools to pass, yet he has eighteen months to go. In Year 6, we would expect the averages to be even lower. Again, please do not worry if your son scores in the 30% bracket. For all Year 6 boys, the scope of examination has broadened for every subject and they have only been following the Upper School syllabus for just over a term. The results are for the benefit of the boys, their parents, their teachers and our school only. None of the results inform my references and, in any case, I only report good news.
As the profile of our school has increased so markedly over the past couple of years, we are visited by more and more senior schools. This week, I entertained Andrew Halls, Headmaster of King’s Wimbledon, and Barry Martin from Hampton School. Both were impressed with Wetherby Prep and clearly enjoyed constructive visits but, as I said at Assembly this morning, our building, the size of our pupil body or the attainment of our exit groups counts for nothing if the boys do not make a good impression. They did and can always be counted on to do so, standing aside for our visitors, opening doors, engaging in conversation, handing trays and offering napkins at lunch – all of this unprompted.
Such small actions count for so much, helping me greatly in my role as Headmaster and improving immeasurably boys’ own prospects for entry to such highly competitive schools.
23 January
Dear Parents,
Some of you tell me that my missives are the only thing you read. This is flattering, yet frustrating, as the interesting content is always beneath my rambling prose! If that is the case for some readers, however, let me take the opportunity to stress here something that, whilst essentially constructive in nature, is fast becoming a problem.
This year, Mrs. Williams has purchased over £7,000 worth of books for the library. This is brilliant of course, particularly with the many imaginative and challenging texts she has bought for the boys to enjoy. You would expect us then to have a library brimming with books, whereas the opposite is true. There are still large gaps on the shelves which, to a visitor, would suggest a school that does not care much about the reading habits of its pupils. Nothing could be more remote from the truth. There are gaps because so many of the books are missing. Some titles have needed to be re- purchased six times. We could of course solve the problem by locking the library, having a few, supervised lending windows but I have worked in schools with libraries like this and the result is an underused resource and waste of valuable space.
No-one is stealing books from the library, of that I am sure, but a culture of returning books to their rightful place when finished needs to be developed. Mr. Ogden and I pick up dozens of books left on the staircase, in classrooms or changing rooms on a daily basis and the bus drivers regularly return school library books left on their buses too.
I will talk to the boys about this in Assembly but please help us by reinforcing this message at home and trying to spot any Wetherby Prep books that need to be returned. They are easily distinguishable as they have a clear plastic jacket, a stamp and a barcode on the inside cover.
We have a beautiful library with some fantastic artwork, furniture, books and Lego models. It would be even better if books were returned in a responsible manner, for everyone to enjoy.
16 January 2012
Dear Parents,
We have been back just over a week now but it feels like four or five! I don’t mean this in a bad way of course, just that the school kicks back to its normal routine and the boys conform to the standard procedure in a very short space of time. Children and boys in particular, love routine. They like to know where they stand and what the boundaries are. It is part of our job as teachers to not just educate the boys academically but also socially and to teach them appropriate standards of behaviour. I get teased by some colleagues in other schools about the boys standing up when I enter the room and for assembly. I, however, think those things are important and just because it is not the modern way, I see no reason to change it.
We must never forget that boys are always learning, academically and socially. They will inevitably make mistakes but they learn from this and develop as they get older. I often say to my wife that our boys are at the perfect age and I don’t want them to get any older. She quite rightly points out that I say the same thing every year – children just get better and better!
Have a good, long weekend – please remember that there is NO SCHOOL on Monday for the boys as we will be assessing 242 candidates for places at 7+ and 8+ in September – almost as many children in the school at present!
Have a good weekend,
6 January 2012
Dear Parents,
Welcome back and Happy New Year!
From speaking with the boys and colleagues, Wetherby families seem to have covered all parts of the globe over the past four weeks. The Bakers, however, travelled no further than their own village, Braziers End, in South Bucks. We had a very restful holiday period and my boys fully immersed themselves in the whole Christmas experience. Thank you, as always, for the kindness of so many thoughtful gifts that my staff and I received at the end of last term. It is very humbling and always hugely appreciated.
As much as I enjoy the festive period, I am a ‘take the decorations down on Boxing Day’ kind of person and as soon as New Year’s Eve is dealt with, I am ready to come back to School. A number of the boys still seem a bit weary and jet-lagged and some are still not back so I look forward to a full strength, eager school on Monday. We also welcome a new family to the school this term. Guy Ward-Jackson joins us in 5S and I am sure that, very quickly, he will feel as if he has been here for years. Welcome, Guy!
Although cold and blustery of late, this time of the year often produces some fantastic early morning skies. On my way in this week I couldn’t help but stop and take a picture of this scene – there was something so optimistic and symbolic about such a sky at the start of a new term.
Have a good weekend,
Nick Baker
8 December 2011
Dear Parents,
Thank you for coming on Wednesday night. I thought that was a highly successful evening and it was great to see so many of you there. We will definitely repeat the occasion next year (and Mr. Keighley-Elstub has also taken the band’s card for a similar Christmas event for Pembridge Hall!) so put it in your mental diaries for the penultimate day of every future Christmas term!
I have said this countless times before but this is always a busy school and I would worry if it was not. I never get to the stage on Friday evening where I think “Gosh, that was an easy week!” but rather a sense of extreme satisfaction and fulfilment of the job the school has done with our children over the past five days. Having said that, believe it or not, this has been a pretty straightforward term and for that I give all the credit to my staff and management team who put an enormous amount of energy and enthusiasm into our school. As I am sure you can appreciate, it is very difficult to recruit and retain good quality staff. The advice of the Head of my previous school was to be excellent at just one thing – recruitment. Thank you to every one of them for a marvellous term.
This Christmas is my four years’ anniversary as Head of Wetherby Prep and in that time we have seen the school quadruple in size, move location and rise in profile from the ‘scruffy school in Notting Hill’ (as one past parent used to call it affectionately) to one of the foremost prep schools in the London area. Quite a journey, but it’s not over yet!
Brigid, Patrick, Joseph and I will be staying at home this Christmas. The boys want Lego (no problem there) and a Toy Story Hama Bead Set (whatever that is) and hopefully my company for the best part of the next four weeks. Brigid wants some diamond earrings (bit greedy) and we will look closely at that – she may also have to be satisfied with Lego.
I am pleased to report, and thank you to those for asking on Wednesday night, Joseph’s Nativity performance was a complete success. He walked on and off in the right places and said his words (inaudibly) at the right time and looked great. Here he is below looking slightly bemused, as well as Patrick in his recent school photograph.
Have a very Merry Christmas and enjoy your interesting, intelligent, confident, witty and charming children. We look forward to seeing everyone in 2012.
Have a great Christmas!
Nick Baker
18 November 2011
Henry Keighley-Elstub
I am writing to inform you that Mr Keighley-Elstub will be leaving Wetherby Prep at the end of the 2011/2012 academic year. Henry has been appointed as Headmaster of our sister school, Pembridge Hall, from September 2012. Whilst this is a huge loss to Wetherby, I am personally and professionally very proud that he has been promoted to headship. I am sure you will agree that from his tremendous work as Deputy Head here over the past two years, he will make a first rate Headmaster and take Pembridge Hall on to continued success.
An announcement regarding his successor to the role of Deputy Head will be made in the New Year.
Yours sincerely
Nick Baker
Headmaster
Headmaster's Letter - summer 2011
Friday 8th July 2011
Dear Parents,
Thank you for all your kind words, emails and phone calls this week, regarding Sports Day and Prize Giving. They were both great occasions and although they over-ran, these special events thoroughly deserved that extra time.
I know from speaking with some of you yesterday and from previous experience that, as rewarding as it is to give prizes to some, others will be very disappointed. Writing as someone (and this also goes for most of our staff if that tells you anything!) who never received any public recognition at school beyond a brief stint as Form Captain, I understand.
The easy option would be to give prizes and colours to every boy and make all Year Eights a Prefect. I think all would agree that this would devalue the roles and, at the same time, remove an important element of aspiration from a school that has that same quality at its core. Our boys keep on trying, be it on the Rugby field, in the classroom or at clubs, applauding the achievements of others as well as their own.
Brigid and I would like to take the opportunity of thanking Year Eight parents for their hospitality at the ‘Leavers’ Dinner’ on Wednesday evening. This is always an enjoyable evening and I think a bit of an informal ‘Prize Giving debrief’, following the main event of a few hours before, is welcomed by all. I have enjoyed working with all of you over the past five years and thank you for your support of our school and me. Please keep in touch.
Yesterday afternoon, we welcomed the old boys and parents back for a reception in the library. Complete with a tremendous ‘Wetherby Prep’ chocolate cake, we enjoyed chatting about old times and finding out what each other was up to. Some towered above me, others were almost sporting whiskers but their essential characters were instantly recognisable. I hope all of the current Year Eight will join us next year for what is now an annual event.
My thanks, as always, to our hard working and dedicated staff. This is a lovely place to work in, not just because of the nature of the job but also because of our people. I have been immensely fortunate in my recruitment of new staff and am sure you will agree we have built a first-class team here. The spirit amongst our staff is pretty unique and although I know that most of them will be in the building at various times over the holidays, I urge them to have a thoroughly deserved rest.
This has been a very successful and satisfying year and as much as I am looking forward to spending time with Brigid, Patrick and Joseph over the holidays, September and the new academic year is going to be so exciting and will take the school further still, that I am looking forward to it already. Have a great summer, enjoy your brilliant children and I and the rest of the staff will see you on Monday 5th September.
Yours sincerely,
Nick Baker
Rugby tour to biarritz 2011
Year 5 2010/2011
Friday 11th June 2010
Year 4 parents received a letter last night regarding Year 5 next year. Due to the unprecedented demand for places at the school, I have decided to divide these two forms into three classes of 15 boys from September. This will mirror the three classes of 15 due to start in September in Year 4.
We are now officially ‘full’ across the school. If an outstanding candidate, both academically and socially, applies to the school we will still assess him, but I am more than satisfied with the current quantity and quality of our roll. This time last year we had 104 boys in the school. This September we will have 200. In what are increasingly uncertain times for private education, that is a truly remarkable rate of expansion.
slapton sands 2010
Friday 28th May 2010
The Year 7 trip to Slapton Sands in South Devon was a fun filled week of geography field work which the boys thoroughly enjoyed! The majority of each day was spent outside investigating landforms, erosion, river flooding and a study of the River Harbourne from source to mouth. This was one of the highlights as the boys were separated into small teams and asked to investigate various aspects like the wet perimeter, bedrock size and water flow. The boys tackled this task with gusto and particularly enjoyed using the various instruments required to fulfil these tasks!
Our final day was spent walking along the beautiful Prawle coastline which culminated in a scavenger hunt amongst some rock pools. This brought out the competitive side of the boys as they desperately tried to fill their buckets with the sea life in half an hour! It was a super afternoon and the winning team included Edoardo Marolda, Andreas Conte, Edward Jordan and William Corsellis. Their winning animal was the velvet swimming crab, which had red eyes and was several different colours.
from the headmaster
Friday 28th May 2010
I do hope that the boys get the opportunity to have some fun and relaxation over the next week. Exams are important but rest, recuperation and time away from school are vital for healthy bodies and minds. We expect the boys to do as well as they possibly can but they should not be disheartened if they get a low mark. Rather, they should learn from their mistakes and rectify them the next time around. When your son receives his marks, please take our exam policy into consideration. Wetherby Prep examinations are created with an average mark of 65% in mind: above this and the exam lacks credibility. Scores in the high eighties and nineties look good on paper but, in reality, parents, boys and teachers would learn little from them and such figures would not be indicative of thorough preparation for the competitive entry requirements of secondary schools.
In Years 6 and 7, boys sit past Common Entrance papers and, again, their marks need to be taken in this particular context. The commonly agreed pass mark at CE is 55-60%, thus if your son gets in the high 40s, he needs only to find 10/15 marks over the course of a year to pass the exam. We apply the most stringent of standards to our exam marking. Based on last year’s CE results, our assessment criteria were typically a grade below final CE results. I hope that you will appreciate the manner in which our approach serves the aim of higher standards and avoids the risk of complacency.
We wish our Year 8 CE candidates the very best of luck. Last year’s exit group set a very high standard but I am confident that the ‘Class of 2010’ can do even better. Good luck to them and to all of our boys sitting exams after Half Term.
Rowing 2010/2011
Friday May 28th 2010
Mr. McClinton writes…
We have had a wonderful year rowing on the River Thames at Putney with our Year 7 and 8 boys. The uptake and interest has been excellent and the levels of commitment commendable throughout the year. I am planning for the start of the rowing season, September 2010 and am looking to our current Year 6 boys for a fresh uptake. The current Year 7 squad are exceptionally strong, I expect exciting things from them next year given the experience they have had. If you feel your son would be interested in this please email me at: john.mcclinton@wetherbyprep.co.uk
from the headmaster
Friday 28th May 2010
Our ‘new and improved’ website was launched yesterday. This is easier to navigate than the previous version and I want it to become the main focus of information about the school for current and prospective parents. All past editions of the Wetherbuzz will continue to go in the ‘Parents’ Area’, as well as letters regarding clubs, trips and fixtures. Revision Guides will be accessed from the individual subject pages and the interactive calendar will be the most reliable and up to date place to find details of all events. There is even a ‘twitter’ feed – this is not really my area, but I have posted a number of ‘tweets’ already and hopefully I will continue to keep them interesting, relevant and frequent!
By navigating your way through the site, you will see that there are a few pages that require further development. These will be updated over the coming weeks and I am keen that the site stays ‘fresh’. If you have any suggestions about ways we can improve the website, please email me at the School.
You will recall from last week’s Wetherbuzz that I was keen to develop the Senior Boys’ Common Room into a Fitness Suite. I am delighted to announce that two families in our School have come together to donate the full cost of this venture. This is incredibly generous and I have written personally to thank them on behalf of the whole School community – we will have an official naming and opening ceremony at the start of next term. My thanks also to a number of other families who have offered to donate money towards the School. We do have a ‘wish list’ of superb equipment that we will now be able to buy for the boys. From everyone involved with Wetherby Prep School, thank you!
fitness suite project 2010
Friday 21st May 2010
Over the years, many of you have asked whether there might be an item or project that would benefit both the boys and the school. Through the generosity of our parent community we have been able to buy many prizes and library books, as well as a trophy cabinet, honours boards and paintings of the school. This year a parent has donated the cost of the commissioned paintings that will soon be displayed in the library. More on this later in the term, as these are truly spectacular works of art.
We have many rooms in the school and I would like to develop certain areas to enhance the unique experience of being a Wetherby Prep boy. Over the summer, I would like to transform the Senior Boys’ Common Room into a custom-made Fitness Suite. I envisage a fully integrated and networked suite, offering rowing ergometers, treadmills and a dual, adjustable multi-gym. All the equipment would be connected to a “Hosand system”, recording each individual’s work-rate over time.
This would be an excellent opportunity to supplement and advance our existing rowing programme in the senior part of the school and to improve and monitor the fitness and conditioning of all senior boys. The suite would, of course, be made available to staff and our parent body.
We have had an incredibly successful year but the funding of a Fitness Suite is probably not something that can be secured from the Board at this stage! We estimate the total cost to be in the region of £15-20000. If you are interested in finding out more about this project and wish to learn about the break down cost of individual items, I would be very pleased to hear from you. With any luck, this exciting plan could be in place by September...
I do wish to stress, however, that this is not the start of an annual appeal for funds as such nor is a Fitness Suite something that a good Prep School ought to have and therefore something that should be provided out of school fees. This is, what I believe to be, a constructive response to requests from parents for something worthwhile to contribute to the school. It is also something that would add an awful lot to what Wetherby Prep has to offer.
Budding musicians
Friday 14th May 2010
Over the last term, a band has formed at Wetherby Prep. The boys have been practising hard, working together in the music practice rooms during their free time. It was great to see these boys performing their rendition of Michael Jackson’s ‘I Want You Back’ so capably in assembly this morning. It was a performance enjoyed by staff and pupils alike. Well done, boys!
The instrumental competition is coming up on the 17th of June. The sign-up sheet is on the board outside the music room. Make sure you put your name down, and keep practising!
