Headmaster’s blog 30/06/2023

As the last full week of this academic year draws to a close, I can still hear the applause echoing round our Drama Studio, following our Lower School drama production. Congratulations to all the young actors involved – from both Wetherby Senior and Francis Holland, Regent’s Park – on such an impressive production that showcased their acting, comic timing and enthusiasm brilliantly. I would also like to say bravo to Mr Tibbles for doing such a marvellous job in translating, adapting and directing The Government Inspector.

We welcomed new families, set to join in Years 7 or 9 this autumn, to afternoon teas at Hannah House earlier this week. These are a great opportunity for parents and boys to hear from staff and current pupils, meet their form tutors, and purchase re-cycled uniform. And purchase re-cycled uniform they did – our PTA raised around £4,000, which will now go towards bursaries. Thank you to our PTA for this brilliant outcome and a reminder to current parents that there will be another re-cycled uniform sale in early September.

This time last week, we were preparing to host a farewell drinks reception for our outgoing Year 13 and this lovely event saw almost the entire cohort attend, along with parents and members of staff. Our Class of 23 look set to take up places at top universities around the globe this autumn and we often talk about how fantastic our boys are at getting offers for North American colleges. This is entirely fair, since they are fantastic – we currently have 12 boys set to study in the USA or Canada this year, and our Sixth Form has received over 50 offers for North America universities in the last four years!

However, the success of our boys in getting offers for institutions across continental Europe is not to be sniffed at – we now have alumni studying in Spain (Pompeu Fabra), Italy (Bocconi), the Netherlands (Amsterdam), France (ESSEC Business School) and Belgium (KU Leuven). In addition, from our Class of 23, we have three boys set to join IE Madrid, a world-renowned business school in Spain.

With that in mind, I’d like to highlight this new article by Talk Education, which looks at the rising popularity of European universities. As well as featuring Felix, currently in Year 13 and set to start his studies in Spain this autumn, the article also praises the strong support given by Wetherby Senior staff in preparing and helping our boys apply to top institutions across continental Europe.

As this will be our last newsletter for 2022-23, I wanted to look ahead to our final week. We have an exciting Sports Day planned for Monday and our term then ends on Wednesday, with boys dismissed at around 12 noon. A few future dates for your diary – our Open Day will be on Saturday 7th October and, as usual, we expect all current pupils to be in Marylebone on that day. Your son’s participation in our Open Day will not only build his transferable skills (including confidence and public speaking) but enable him to act as an ambassador for Wetherby Senior. Thank you in advance for your cooperation and support of this event.

I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you all a lovely summer and, with A Level Results Day on Thursday 17th August and GCSE Results Day on Thursday 24th August, please keep an eye on our website and social media channels to hear how our boys have fared.

A reminder that, while new pupils and prefects will be expected in Marylebone on Friday 1st September, all others are expected back on Monday 4th September.