Dear parents

This is just a short Week Ahead piece from me this week, as you will be getting a more comprehensive review of the year from next week. I just wanted to use this space to thank all our families once more for their loyalty and support for the school over the past year. It has been such a thrill to be able to come together once again as an entire community, and the thousands of visitors to our Summer Fair saw the terrific spirit in the school, despite the unfriendly weather. We will inevitably be saying goodbye to some families next week when the term ends. To those parents and children, I send my very best wishes for the future, whether at university or another school. I hope that your time in Wellington has fostered in your children a love of learning and respect for values that will stand them in good stead as they grow into adults.

To our other families, I wish you all a very happy holiday. The long break affords so many opportunities to refresh and recharge and explore new places and learn new skills. I look forward to welcoming you and your children back to school on Wednesday, 25th August.

Best wishes  

Julian Jeffrey
MASTER

‘And we strive to please you every day!’ - Twelfth Night: A Shakespearean production

It is with a slightly heavy heart that I write this post for the final Week Ahead of the academic year, at the end of a hectic and productive Shakespeare week. Given the restrictions and difficulties posed by the pandemic, we are very fortunate at Wellington to have had numerous productions throughout the year that have invited not only staff and pupils but also parents and external visitors. The production of Shakespeare’s famous comedy Twelfth Night took place in the theatre on Tuesday 22nd June at 6pm, as a highlight of the English department’s annual Shakespeare week. There were almost 60 pupils in the cast and crew.

This year’s Shakespeare production was centred around the pupils, with our Wellingtonians taking the lead with stage management, assistant directing, lighting and sound. A particular well done to Billy and Andy in year 10, Kaiser and Jassim in year 12, and Marcos and Bela (year 13 graduates), who helped to make the show run smoothly and added invaluable creative and logistical contributions to the final production.

Although performing Shakespeare is a notorious challenge for any performer, our cast members delivered their lines with conviction and fluency, embracing their individual characters and learning how to create both a comedic and dramatic atmosphere on stage.

The protagonist of the play, Viola, was played by Masa in year 9, who successfully recreated the strong feminist lead, mirrored by her twin brother Sebastian, played by Daned in year 10, entertaining us all with his comedic facial expressions! This adaptation of the play continued the motif of gender-crossing by having other male characters acted by female actors – Angelika in year 10 convincingly played the arrogant Duke Orsino, with Julianna in year 10 giving a very moving performance in the role of love-sick seaman Antonio. Dora, in year 10 brought an extraordinary level of both energy and mystique to her part of Feste the clown and was certainly a crowd favourite! Another recent graduate, Leo, wowed us all with his embodiment of the pompous steward Malvolio, even breaking the ‘fourth wall’ in the play's final act by jumping into the audience. Jerry and Michael joined Tiger in year 9 in year 8 to create a comedic gang of three somewhat unruly ‘gentlemen’, overseen by the ruthless countess Mimi in year 10 and the ever-cunning Maria, flawlessly portrayed by Catherine in year 12.

A huge thank you to my co-director and English department colleague Mary Stevens, who was an invaluable support throughout the entire process, with her compelling passion for Shakespeare and performance. We both hope you enjoyed the show, but “now that’s all one, our play is done, and we strive to please you every day!”

The Design and Technology department is proud to announce that our first Wellington Design Week was a success and that the Winners of the FUSION Dress Challenge are

Gold medal: Roger (Year 5)
Silver medals: Katherine (Year 1) and April (Year 2)

Congratulations to all the participants of the Fusion Challenge (which was open to the whole Wellington community- students, parents, and teachers). We hope to have even more Fusions around next year to enjoy and celebrate our Fused multicultural community!

We hope you enjoyed the Students’ Design exhibition throughout our school corridors and the Wellington Fashion show during our rainy Summer Fair. Here are some photos we would like to share!

Let’s enjoy good designs around the world and make them even better!