AUTUMN TERM 2014
FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S STUDY
The new academic year began with the excellent news that
99% of last year’s MOD sponsored students had been offered
places at university, including 3 to Cambridge and 1 to
Imperial. This was a direct consequence of their outstanding
A Level results: no fewer than 25% of students achieved AAA
or better, and over 45% of all A Levels were awarded at A* or
A grade, an increase of 7% on the previous year, and in
contrast to the national decrease of 0.3% to 26%. This was
an impressive achievement considering that every student at
the College is required to study Maths A Level and 82% of
students take Physics to A2; these are, of course, amongst the most challenging of
subjects at A Level. These results reflect not only the fact that each year our students
are increasingly determined to achieve at the highest level, but also a teaching staff who
are totally committed to doing everything they can to secure the best possible outcomes
for our students. As I write, this year’s university application process is well underway,
and for the vast majority of the Upper Sixth this will continue in earnest until Easter;
thereafter their offers will have been received and it is down to them to work towards
the goals that these offers will provide. Several students have been called to interview
at Oxford and Cambridge, and are currently embarking on the final interview stages of
that process.
I am delighted to advise parents that Vice Admiral Duncan Potts has been appointed as
the College’s new Chair of the Board of Governors. Vice Admiral Potts is a Warfare
Officer with 35 years of service and extensive command
experience on surface ships and a broad range of staff
appointments. He was appointed as the Director General of Joint
Force Development and the Defence Academy in September
2014. The current Defence focus on recruiting STEM graduates
to be the engineering officers and civil servants of the future is
vital, and this is why Vice Admiral Potts sees his role as the Chair
of the Board of Governors as an extremely important part of his
broad remit. The College continued to host a number of senior
military and civilian visitors, including the Rt Hon Anna Soubry,
Minister of State for Defence, and Air Vice-Marshal Julian Young,
Director Technical of Defence Equipment and Support. The
active and ongoing engagement of such individuals highlights the key role that Welbeck
has in preparing young people for a career within the services, and in particular the
Technical areas of STEM within Defence.
The College made its final farewells to two of the College’s Military staff. Lt Dan Seager
RN, the College Adjutant, was replaced by Lt Gareth Williams RN, and the Training
Officer, Flt Lt Geoff Heard, was replaced by Flt Lt Steve Rowse, an Old Welbexian. Such
loyal and committed members of the Military staff are hard to replace, however their
reliefs have already demonstrated that they have the skills to support the leadership of
this important area within the College.
The College’s Service of Remembrance
took place on a wonderfully sunny day
and was led by the Deputy Assistant
Chaplain-General, Padre Philip Bosher,
and was presided over by Old
Welbexian
Major
General
Mark
Armstrong. The College was pleased
to welcome Peter Carr, the Deputy
Lord Lieutenant, members of the
Governing Board, local dignitaries and
the families of many of our students.
We were also honoured by a number
of veterans from World War II and
other more recent conflicts. Harold
Batchelder, a former Prisoner of War in Stalag Luft III at the time of the ‘Great Escape’
laid one of the wreaths to
commemorate
the
fallen.
Following the ‘Drum Head’ service,
trees were planted to mark the 100
year anniversary of the outbreak of
WWI. This year the College was
honoured by the opportunity for
three
students,
Ameer Khan,
Simren Sondh and James Henriet,
to take part in the multi-faith act of
remembrance at the Royal British
Legion’s
Annual
Festival
of
Remembrance at the Royal Albert
Hall; 30 other students were also
invited to attend the event. This
was a most memorable occasion and the experiences of all those present will not be
forgotten quickly.
Welbexians constantly seek to engage with the wider community and local charities.
This term students have been involved in a significant number of events, and this started
with their support for the Quorn & Woodhouse Great Central Railway’s Bonfire Night
event when over 40 students acted as marshals. The Poppy Appeal Auction and Dinner
at Half Term was a superb occasion and Lady Gretton, the Lord Lieutenant of
Leicestershire, was the guest of honour. John Wadsworth and Julie Mayer, presenters
from the BBC Radio Leicester programme ‘Clueless’ auctioned off nearly 40 pieces of art
produced by the Welbeck
community; thanks to the
generosity of those present,
and the collection tins, over
£3,751.63 was raised – the
College
handed
over
a
cheque to Colonel Robert
Martin, who is not only the
local President of The Royal
British Legion, but also a
loyal
supporter
of
the
College. The College’s own
clothes day raised funds in
aid of BBC Children in Need,
and 50 students joined over
1000 energetic Santas on a
sponsored fun run and walk around the streets of Loughborough in aid of local charities.
Half of the group helped to marshal the route whilst the others showed their competitive
spirit in their 5 km dash in Santa suits. Congratulations to Thomas Chambers for being
first home. Other events such as ‘The World’s Biggest Coffee Morning’ and fundraising
for The Pilgrim Bandits mean that this term the College has raised £4,799.08 for local
and national charities. This is a sizeable sum and reflects the selfless commitment of
students and staff to supporting those less fortunate.
Music within the College is seeing a significant
resurgence and this is highlighted by the
outstanding group and individual performances in
concerts, student briefings and at other events. In
December, our musicians performed a rich and
varied programme of instrumental and choral music
at a concert in St Paul’s Church in Woodhouse
Eaves.
The evening was designed not only to
enable the local community to enjoy the musical
talents of over 30 students taking part, but also to
raise money for the upkeep of the Church from ticket sales and a raffle. The new Rector
Reverend Lisa Temperley was amongst the audience of local villagers, and her words of
praise for the quality of the performances were endorsed by all those present. Term
ended with a wonderful concert and the College Carol Service; once again the quality of
the music was superb and demonstrated what a truly talented group of individuals the
students are.
Approximately half of the events of the InterHouse competition calendar have been decided
over this term, and I am very grateful to all
the students and staff who put so much time
and energy into ensuring that these events run
so successfully.
These competitions are
essential in engendering House spirit and a
sense of teamwork and support within our
community. This year competitions kicked off
with football early in September with Nelson
House winning the boys’ and Stirling winning
the girls’ events. Before Half Term Alanbrooke
walked away with Badminton and Swimming cups, whilst Portland won the boys’ Hockey
and Trenchard the Netball. A number of non-sporting events have been hotly contested,
including Chess (a draw between Alanbrooke and Stirling), Debating (won by Stirling),
and the Quiz (won by Trenchard). Most recently the
House Music Competition, the ‘House Shout’, was won
by Portland, and I hope many of you were able enjoy
the performance of their outstanding part song at the
Christmas Concert. Three more sporting events were
staged on the final games afternoon of term. Stirling
were on top form as they took possession of the
Basketball, girls’ Hockey and girls’ Cross Country cups.
Portland were victorious in the boys’ Cross-Country
race. At the close of the term the totals for the
academic year so far are: Stirling (530 pts), Portland
(470 pts), Alanbrooke (425 pts), Trenchard (410 pts)
and Nelson (265 pts).
There have been a number of academic triumphs by
students this term. Iona Smith and Matthew Cotton
are congratulated on being awarded Arkwright
Engineering Scholarships. These are awarded by the most prestigious UK scholarship
scheme of its type, and identify, inspire and nurture future leaders in Engineering and
Technical Design – the focus of such a scheme clearly sits extremely well with the STEM
based education that is at the heart of Welbeck. The College entered a team into the
Senior Team Mathematics Challenge, and Matthew Coates, Matthew Cotton, William
Deary and Simon West came a very creditable seventh overall. Students also entered
the UKMT – Senior Mathematics Challenge. There were some excellent individual
results, amongst these are the outstanding qualifications of Luke Perry for the Senior
Kangaroo and the qualification of Andrew Bolton for the BMO who, together with Ash
Tucker, all achieved Gold medals.
This term the focus of the Military Skills and Leadership Training programme has been
on the Core Values of Courage, Discipline, Respect for Others, Integrity, Loyalty and
Selfless Commitment within a military context, the College, and also the wider
community. The programme has been varied with students participating in skill at arms,
high ropes, navigation, air rifle shooting, obstacle course, kayaking and pre-exercise
lessons. The College Sergeant Major has also been able to conduct his favourite activity
of drill as the Lower Sixth prepared to 'pass off the square' and the Upper Sixth were
introduced to slow marching by way of early practise for next year’s AGI Parade.
The Upper Sixth deployed to Yardley Chase Training Area in September on Exercise
RETURN. This provided a good welcome back to DSFC and the Military side of life at the
College. The cobwebs were well and truly blown away after the Summer break and the
students conducted revision stands and two nights of sleeping under the stars in harbour
areas - they executed this very well, and the 'enemy' were only able to infiltrate a couple
of the harbour areas during the
night.
There
were
some
outstanding efforts in the final race
of the exercise with the students
demonstrating
real
grit,
determination, leadership and team
work. A slightly wet and windy
weekend in November saw the new
Lower Sixth deploy to Beckingham
Training Area on their first 'green
exercise'.
For many of the
students this was their first time
sleeping ‘under canvas’, let alone
being on exercise, and they
performed
very
well.
They
assimilated material from the lessons during the day, and then set up their shelters in
the platoon harbour areas ready for their first night out. The more experienced cadets
helped out those less familiar, as indeed did some of the willing Upper Sixth volunteers
who also deployed out. A great first exercise and again some excellent team work and
physical courage was clear to see.
Like many aspects of any busy school, sport is
constantly evolving, and Welbeck is no
different: following student interest, the
College
has
just
started
Boxing
and
Taekwondo as General Activities.
After a
period of absence of swimming from the
sporting calendar, the College competed in its
first swimming gala for many years finishing in
a very pleasing third place with outstanding
performances from Nancy Daykin, Tom Every
and Joshua James.
The emergence of
basketball as a sporting option under the
watchful eye of Mr Scoutas, and the increased opportunities in mixed hockey overseen
by Ma’am Shaw, has ensured that sport continues to thrive at the College in its many
varied guises.
On the rugby field, five teams have regularly battled against neighbouring schools on
what is a very competitive fixture list. To have 119 players regularly out on the pitches
every Saturday and Wednesday, for training or matches, has been truly excellent. At
the time of going to press, the 1st XV have reached the 5th round of the National Nat
West Vase having comfortably beaten KES Stratford 20-3 in the last round. The 2nd XV
have enjoyed their most successful season for many years, with several notable
successes including Princethorpe, Kings Grantham and John Cleveland College. On the
penultimate day of term, the College secured an outstanding win in the fifth round of the
County Cup with a convincing 40-17 win over King Edward’s Five Way; they now face
Bablake in the next round. Mohammad Ibrahim and Adam Hughes have both enjoyed
training with the Leicestershire U18 rugby squad and Adam should be congratulated for
his county and regional selection. It is always pleasing to hear of the success of Old
Welbexians with both Rory Williams and Adam Hayler playing for the Leicestershire
Under 20 squad this season.
The boys’ football team have trained hard to develop their skills and tactical awareness
in preparation for the start of the Mercian League in January. They have undoubtedly
benefited this term from many Leicestershire Colleges league matches. An exciting
development for the College footballers is the link with Loughborough Dynamo’s Football
team: both Blair Perella and Joe Dean have attended training sessions and matches with
this local side. The girls’ football team have travelled as far away as Malvern College this
term.
Despite still looking for their first win, they are showing real signs of
improvement. Several girls have been invited to trial for the Independent Schools’
Football Association Midlands representative squad, and I am delighted that Lauren
Howie achieved selection. The squash players have benefited from the expertise of Mr
Hardern, who has returned from retirement to take responsibility for squash this term.
The girls’ hockey team have had one of their best seasons for a few years, and the
netballers have also secured some
impressive wins and performed
well at the recent Leicestershire
County Tournament.
Ryan Orr has been selected as
part of the Royal Yachting
Association squads and competed
in a number of British teams,
including
representing
Great
Britain in Germany and Poland at
the 2014 World and European
Championships. His goals are to make the 2015 Great Britain team for the World
Championships in Japan, and the European team. The ‘300’ Club continues to grow,
with 13 students having achieved the mark this year. In the Upper Sixth, Martyn Matt,
Sam Powell and Reece Ingham all managed to secure the necessary standard, and Luke
Cooper and Amelia Sandell are leading the way for the Lower Sixth cohort. Both Luke
and Amelia also now feature in the top 10 run times since Welbeck moved to its current
site; they join Ed Calow and Sam Bilton on this impressive list. With so many talented
runners this year, we are looking forward to the cross country season.
The College is first, and foremost, a school and it is only right that I close this letter on
an academic note. All the students will sit the College’s Trial Examinations in the first
few days of next term, and whilst it is essential that all students take some time away
from their academic studies, they must all prepare thoroughly by investing in their own
comprehensive revision programmes. These are formal examinations and papers will, as
far as possible, use exam board mark schemes and standardised national grade
boundaries. This will give students a very clear picture as to how they are performing in
each subject, and what extra support is needed in the coming months to ensure
optimum performance in the summer. Guidance regarding revision and the most
appropriate way for each student to tailor their revision to their own abilities and
learning traits has been emailed to all students over the last two weeks by the Vice
Principal Academic.
At the end of an extremely busy term, may I thank you all for your continued support
and finish with offering my best wishes to your families for a very happy Christmas and
New Year.
12.12.2014