Wilson’s Update Issue 330 17 April 2015 JOINT SPRING CONCERT WITH WALLINGTON HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIRLS On Monday 23 March, Wilson’s and Wallington High School for Girls took part in what is fast becoming an annual tradition, and in fact a highlight of the school calendar: the Joint Spring Concert. To begin the evening, the Orchestra performed Dvorak’s Symphony No 9, Movement IV (Allegro non troppo). Enthusiastically conducted by Mr Rogers, the audience sat in hushed silence throughout the piece, giving a huge round of applause at the end. To follow, Mr Clayden conducted the wonderful Chamber Ensemble who played Symphony in E flat by Stamitz. After a short break to savour some refreshments, the evening concluded with the Choirs of Wilson’s and Wallington Girls and the Wilson’s Chamber Ensemble performing George Frideric Handel’s stirring Messiah. A number of soloists took part in the performance including Jack Robertson, who left Wilson’s last year and is currently an English and Theatre student at the University of Sheffield. Emily Furlong and Bethany Sanderson from Wallington Girls sang beautifully, as did Xavier Leonard, Lukas Alemu and Ewan Robertson. Expertly conducted by Mr Hann, the Joint Choir and Chamber Ensemble gave us a thrilling end to the evening. Dates for your Diary 6 May Summer Concert 7.00 p.m. 20 April Young Musician of the Year Final 7.00 p.m. 8 May Year 11 and Year 12 Study Leave begins 20 April Prayer Group Meeting 8.00 p.m. 11 May Public Examinations begin 23 April Vocal Evening 7.00 p.m. 13 May EARLY FINISH FOR STUDENTS 1.05 p.m. 27 April Used Uniform Shop 3.30 p.m. 20 May Junior Musicians’ Evening 7.00 p.m. 28 April Y7 Parents’ Evening 4.00 p.m. 1 May Y9 PFA Cake Sale 3.00 p.m. 4 May BANK HOLIDAY Issue 330 17 April, 2015 Issue 330 17 April, 2015 OLIVER WALES (10G) PERFORMS WITH THE ROYAL MARINES Cadet Oliver Wales attended the Air Cadet Organisation National Marching Band Easter Camp at RAF Halton. Oliver had a very challenging but enjoyable week. Towards the end of the week Oliver was awarded a Gold Lyre badge as a member of the National Marching Band, which is an outstanding achievement and a prestigious first for Wilson’s School CCF. At the end of the camp Oliver and the rest of the Band performed alongside the Band of the Royal Marines in Oxford. Sqn Ldr Leighton (Bandmaster) commented on the excellent attitude and determination shown by Oliver all week. Oliver will now continue to perform with the National Marching Band and we look forward to hearing about those performances. MR MOLYNEUX WINS AT THE ALL ENGLAND BADMINTON CHAMPIONSHIPS Although we quite rightly use our newsletter to celebrate the success of our students, every once in a while we include something special about a member of staff. A s a result, the school would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Mr Molyneux and his partner on their recent win in the doubles category at the All England Badminton Championships. The photograph below is of the presentation made by Geoff Rofe , President of Badminton England at the All England Badminton Champi- onships. Either side of him are the winners; Mr Molyneux and his partner Ian and on the other side of Mr Rofe the current world champions from Denmark. The All England Badminton Championships is the biggest multi National Masters Tournament played in Europe this year . Issue 330 17 April, 2015 MUSIC DEPARTMENT - SUMMER CONCERT ATTENTION ALL MUSIC LOVERS After an amazing Spring Term of Music, the music department are busy planning a wonderful Summer Concert. The Summer Concert will be taking place a little earlier this year, on Wednesday, 6 May at 7pm. As the Main Hall is undergoing refurbishment works, the con- cert will be taking place in the McAlister Room in the Lower School Building. Don’t miss out on the limited tickets available for what we are sure will be another triumph for the Music Department. Tickets will soon be available on ParentMail. Don’t delay, tickets will sell fast. WILSON'S SUMMER CONCERT Tickets The £4 adults McAlister £2 students Room 7pm Lower School Wednesday Available via Wilson's 6th May 2015 ParentMail2 400TH ANNIVERSARY COMPETITION As part of the school’s celebration of the 400th anniversary of for entries is 22 May 2015. There will be two sections: Year 8 to the founding of the school it is planned to bury a time capsule Year 10 and Year 11 to Year 13. somewhere on the school site to be disinterred 100 years hence, in 2115. The Year 7 pupils should not feel hard done by because they are not included in this competition, theirs is on a different topic. At A small committee of pupils has been giving its mind to the pos- the beginning of the year in History lessons they studied a sible contents of such a capsule. At the time of writing, the list of module on the history of the school. They should write an possible items to be left for posterity includes: entertaining précis of the school’s history of not more than 250 a) The most recent school photograph words. Entries should be sent to Mr Winstone at b) House badges/ties with explanation of house system [email protected]. – in further discussion it was felt that a fuller description of the organisation of the school from the point of view Every entrant will earn house points and there will be additional of the pupils was a good idea and that it should include house points on offer for those entries judged to be of an excep- a description of the role of the prefects and of a typical tional standard. Get writing! Anyone with ideas about what pupil day. could be left for posterity in a capsule (measuring, length – c) Sports strip with explanation of the role that sport plays 660mm, internal diameter – 225 mm) may contact Mr. Winstone in school by email at [email protected]. d) School uniform photographs e) How we learn in school – examples of pupil work; a pupil planner and photos of a working day f) Example of a menu g) Examples of posters around school It was also felt that a piece of original writing entitled “Wilson’s School a hundred years from now” might prove to be both enlightening and diverting for, as the School Hymn says, “ages yet unknown.” Therefore it has been decided to hold a competi- tion open to all members of Year 8 to Year 13, to write a piece no longer than 250 words which would describe what the author thought that Wilson’s School would be like in 2115. The deadline Issue 330 17 April, 2015 THE BIOLOGY CHALLENGE A total of 138 Year 10 students took part in the Biology Challenge at the end of last term. The competition is organised by the Society of Biology and consists of two 30 minute papers that are completed online. The questions are set on topics covered in most general biology courses but the Biology Challenge also rewards those students whose knowledge of the subject has been increased by reading books and magazines, watching natural history programmes, taking notice of the news media for items of biological interest and students who are generally aware of our natural flora and fauna. Congratulations to Gabriel Cairns who achieved the highest score in the year group with 91/110, followed by Isuru Jayasekera in 2nd posi- tion with 90/10 and Vincent Fideli in 3rd position with 88/110. The following students below are also highly commended: Michael Kuc 87 Jin Mac 83 Daniel Bedilu 86 Matthew Kayanja 82 Fu Ying Zheng 86 Adam Di Lizia 81 Oliver Wales 85 Toby Gould Fleming 81 Hal Kong 84 Sidney Panton 81 Toye Oladinni 83 Kenta Renard 80 Daniyal Ansari 83 Thuvaarahan Baskaran 80 Well done to everyone who took part! BRITISH PHYSICS OLYMPIAD 2014-15 Congratulations go to all of the sixth form physicists that entered the 2014/15 BPhO competitions. Our students were up against thousands of competitors from some of the best schools in the country. The success of these students stands as testament to the talents and abilities possessed by all of the boys at Wilson’s School. AS Challenge Charlie Newman-Sanders Gold Harry Goodburn Bronze 2 Eddie Heyne Gold Ewan Robertson Bronze 2 William Honeyman Siver Tom Bragg Bronze 2 Stefan Grant Bronze 1 Devjyot Awal Bronze 2 Vyas Raina Bronze 1 Daren Alfred Bronze 2 Janusz Nasiruddin Bronze 1 Branahvan Rajasooriar Bronze 2 Nasir Bawa Bronze 2 BPhO Sujay Nair Bronze 1 Pavan Murali Bronze 1 Philip Knott Bronze 1 Paul Plesniak Bronze 2 UK CHEMISTRY OLYMPIAD Congratulations to the eight Upper Sixth students who competed in round 1 of the Chemistry Olympiad this year. Each year the Royal Soci- ety of Chemistry organises a Chemistry Olympiad aimed at the most able A-level students across the UK. This consists of a challenging two hour paper with questions based on real world Chemistry problems. This year’s questions included, among others, the Chemistry involved in making “green” jet fuel and detecting molecules in space. Completing the paper is an achievement in itself, with competitors having to apply their chemical knowledge in order to answer questions that are beyond the confines of the A level syllabus. This year, Wilson’s yielded a plethora of awards in this prestigious competition, with every student (individual breakdown below) entered achieving Bronze, Silver or, in the case of Sujay Nair, the highest award of Gold (a truly impressive feat).