27th September 21

I hope that you have had an enjoyable week; as you would expect, it has certainly been busy here. We hosted a film crew this week who were shooting some new video footage for the website, and I hope to be able to share the finished product with you in due course. Their day was very busy as they endeavoured to capture as many aspects of school life as possible. The boys they met were fantastic, and as they always are, were terrific ambassadors for the school; I am much less certain about my contributions – I felt rather wooden in front of the camera!

Some of you may know that we have now been working for a number of years with an organisation called Beyond Equality who are a community interest company working across the UK to promote healthy behaviour and an awareness of gender issues amongst young men and boys. Their project aims to combat the negative stereotypes and attitudes sometimes held by boys towards girls – as well as themselves – that may adversely influence behaviour in later life. They returned this week to run some extended workshops with all Year 11 boys, and I am told that they went very well indeed. I know that our boys find these sessions incredibly useful, fun and thought-provoking. They appreciate the opportunity to discuss key issues in a safe environment, and always comment on how much they have learnt from the workshops. We are proud of our important work here and I am grateful for all members of the pastoral team for their continued commitment to providing the best resources and speakers for boys of all ages as we continue to help them develop and grow as individuals and seek to prepare them for the challenges of life beyond school.

Some of you who live locally may already know that Westminster and other London Boroughs are helping to support a number of refugees who have recently arrived from Afghanistan. Currently, there are about 500 Afghans staying at the Hilton London Metropole Hotel on Edgeware Road. There are approximately 100 women, 100 men and 300 children. About 20 newborns, a further 25 under 2, and another 10 on the way! Many different members of our local communities have been amazing at supporting and donating clothes and other required items to help these people who have arrived here with very little. I am extremely grateful for members of the PTA for bringing this to our attention, and I would like for all of us here at Wetherby to also help if we can. From Monday 4th October, we will be asking pupils, parents, and staff to bring in what they can from a list of required items. A mixture of boys and PTA members will coordinate the sorting of donations and their delivery.  It is at moments like this that we can demonstrate our commitment to our school values and shared humanity in helping those who need it.

20th September 21

This week has been a busy one for all members of the school, and some fantastic things have been happening.  We have held our first three ‘Meet the Head’ coffee mornings, and it has been lovely to see so many of you and great that you are able to make connections with each other as well. For some, it is their first time in school and in noting this, I am reminded of just how normal things feel at the moment.

Our relationship with Queen’s College is going from strength to strength this year, due in no small part to Mrs Dedat and her hard work on behalf of the Sixth Form boys. This week we hosted all members of Queen’s Y12 for the first shared lecture of the term. The speaker was Erwin James – former convict who is now a published author and journalist. Our second joint-enterprise that started this week was the Young Enterprise business competition. Ms Holmes noted that she had rarely seen Wetherby boys so bashful and reserved! However, after some initial encouragement, she believes that the boys from Wetherby and the girls from Queen’s College will make a great success of their companies and build some lasting friendships along the way.

In the Drama Department, rehearsals for Neville’s Island began this week after the casting auditions and I am pleased to hear that some very good boys indeed have been recruited into the play. Miss Twomey assures me that it will be a fantastic play to return with this Autumn.

The footballers were in action this week against Radnor House School, and we rather dominated proceedings – the U13 A,B,C all won their games on Thursday, and on Wednesday, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd XI all won as well. Next week sees our first competitive rugby fixture of the season in the CALM cup.

As you can see, it has been a very busy week, and there is a lot to look forward to this term.

14th September 21

Dear parents,

At the end of our first full week back, there is a real feeling of being back to business. Boys have now had a full week of lessons and a chance to meet their teachers. There have also been a lot of decisions to make for boys as they fill their diaries with clubs and activities for the weeks ahead. Today has seen the re-launch of our Friday afternoon activities programme, with a most impressive 34 different activities on offer. When the after-school activities begin on Monday, the total number of things on offer across the week will be 116! This is an amazing number of different activities for pupils in all the different year groups to take advantage of – it really is an enriching programme on offer to them.

Our full games programme is also now running, and with a much-expanded range of choices, it has been great to know that we are sending pupils to a fantastic variety of activities nearby; competitive football and rugby continue to be offered at the wonderful Ealing facilities. Closer to home, boys have been swimming, climbing, and playing recreational football in Regent’s Park. Here on site, the gym and new spin studio have been very busy indeed. The spin studio is a terrific facility to have on site and is of a quality you would expect to find in a commercial gym. More than one parent has remarked to me this week that they would like to be able to use it!

Last week, I promised to update you on the fixtures taking place this week. On Thursday, the Year 10 footballers travelled to Barnes for a six-a-side tournament. Although they had not played together for some time, Ms Bachmann noted to me how impressed she was with their individual performances and resilience in the face of stiff opposition. At the end of the afternoon, the boys left with a record of: lost two, won one, drawn one. Well done to Jack for his captaincy and all of the rest of the squad.

Having welcomed the boys back last week, it has also been nice to welcome so many of you this week at the events for Year 7 and 9 parents. Both evenings have been a wonderfully normal way to meet you and begin to build relationships with you.

With best wishes for the weekend.