We welcomed a number of local schools to attend our Heads of School conference hosted by Mr Norris, Director of Coaching, Mentoring and Student Leadership. The demanding and exciting programme got off to a fast start with a couple of energisers before the students engaged in aspects of their role that they will have to contend with in the year ahead, including stepping up into the role and being visible, managing meetings, safeguarding responsibilities and aspects of leadership.
Quilter Hall held the first of many lunchtime concerts taking place throughout the academic year, beginning with a concert by the School’s new GMAs. Mr Laing, Director of Music, stood up and introduced the group: “For those of you who don’t know what GMA stands for, it’s ‘Graduate Music Assistants’. They have come to us from top universities and conservatoires and here they act as mentors, supervisors and galvanisers with their energy and enthusiasm, and because they are not much... Read More
Approximately 56 pupils studying GCSE and A level Drama and Theatre Studies were treated to an action-packed and inspirational Stage Combat workshop from Squire Theatre’s Mark Ruddick. Mark is a hugely experienced stage combat professional who has choreographed fight sequences for the films Captain America and War Horse, as well as for the recent Game of Thrones spin-off House of the Dragon. After beginning the session by learning how to safely execute hand-to-hand combat techniques such as the ‘parrot punch’,... Read More
Congratulations to our Sierra Leone Project runners who took part in the Wells Festival of Running as part of the group’s effort to cycle, run, walk and climb their way through 3030 miles, the distance between Wells and Freetown. The School was represented by eighteen pupils from the Junior School to the Sixth Form, four members of staff and a parent, and won the corporate prize for the largest number of entries. Grace Davies (Upper Sixth) said, “It was a great event and lovely to do something... Read More
The Bernard Society hosted the first speaker of the year on the evening of Tuesday 20th September. Professor Ronald Hutton of the University of Bristol came to speak to a substantive and mixed audience of pupils, staff and parents on Alfred the Great. In addition to a distinguished academic career, the professor has appeared on over 40 different documentary television series as a Historical Expert and been on the governing body of English Heritage. The engaging talk produced numerous questions... Read More
Thank you to everyone who took part and supported our whole School sponsored walk on Sunday 18th September – we had a great day and the weather was fantastic! Approximately one third of the pupils in the Senior School and many walkers and families from the Junior School walked either 5 or 10 miles over the Mendip Hills to experience the glorious views from the top of Bristol Hill and Ebbor Gorge. The sun shone throughout the morning and we... Read More
We’re very pleased to announce that our Food for Life Served Here (FFLSH) award has been renewed.To meet the FFLSH standards, which have been created with public health and the UN’s Sustainable Development goals in mind, the School is delivering more sustainable catering made from fresh, local, honest ingredients. Our food is served ethically and responsibly and we are proud to have a long-standing relationship with our local suppliers. All food is freshly prepared and cooked each day, the meat... Read More
We’re absolutely delighted to be able to announce that we are finalists for the Independent Pre-Prep School of the Year category of the Independent School Parent’s Independent Schools of the Year 2022 Awards.The award is for Pre-Preps which offer an “outstandingly rich experience for young students” with provision providing for educational, emotional and societal needs, a successful transition to the next stage of pupils’ educational careers and the introduction of impactful new initiatives.This follows on from the Pre-Prep’s recent success as a... Read More
Congratulations to Linsey Mitchell (Year 10), Georgia Chappell (Year 10), Tilly Matthews (Year 10), Florence Gummer (Lower Sixth), Dimity Williams (Lower Sixth) and Oskar Edwards (Upper Sixth) who were selected for the England Hockey Challenge Cup.There are 16 Regional Performance Centres in the UK, each of which selected their best 16 players out of a training squad of 24 to play against the other centres in a tournament-style competition at the Nottingham Hockey Centre.Linsey, Georgia and Tilly (Year 10) represented... Read More
Once again, Wells pupils have achieved a set of outstanding GCSE results.Out of 98 pupils, no fewer than 17 achieved a clean sweep of grades 7-9 (equivalent to the old Grade A and above) and 2 of those achieved the rare and remarkable achievement of grade 9s right across the board.Pupils enjoyed great success across a wide range of subjects. In a number of subjects, every single pupil gained a grade 5 or above; these included Art, Chemistry, Classical Civilisation,... Read More
The School’s Head of Netball, Mrs Williams, has been announced as the Tactical Coach for Army Netball.Alongside her role at Wells, she will be involved in a training weekend once a month and friendly matches against Superleague teams in preparation for the Inter Services competition taking place in March 2023. Excited to get underway, Mrs Williams said; “I am thoroughly looking forward to the opportunity to work with Army Netball. Working with a group of experienced coaches and a variety of... Read More
On A Level results day, Wells pupils have come together at the School to celebrate some outstanding A Level results.Pupils enjoyed success across a range of subjects, from sciences to languages to humanities to the creative arts. 100% of pupils studying French obtained an A grade, the results in Music were exceptional even by Wells’ phenomenally high standards, with 60% of pupils obtaining an A* grade, while the best performing subject of all was Geography, where all pupils obtained an... Read More
We are delighted to tell you that two Wells pupils – violinist Dawid Kasprzak (Year 11) and horn player Imogen Moorsom (Upper Sixth) – have been announced as Category Finalists in the BBC Young Musician 2022 competition. Out of thousands of entrants, just 25 outstanding young musicians have been selected for this televised stage of the competition, which will be held in July at Saffron Hall in Essex. Earlier this week, Imogen and Dawid – along with their recital partners... Read More
Congratulations to Hetta Falzon (Upper Sixth) on her successful performances on the Avalon Cafe Stage in Avalon Field at Glastonbury Festival! Hetta secured her place at the world-renowned festival after winning the Pilton Stage Competition, competing against an astonishing 600 artists. Both of her Glasto sets were an absolute triumph, with Mr Leaker, Coordinator of Jazz & Popular Music Studies, saying, “I am absolutely delighted for Hetta. To perform at one of the world’s best known music festivals to such a... Read More
Junior School teacher Kelly Fairey was selected to represent the England Badminton Team in the Nations Cup being played in Strasbourg, France, last week. Mrs Fairey had some incredibly tough games, playing in great humidity. She won all of her matches and the England Team were crowned champions after a very closely fought final with the Denmark Team. Congratulations, Mrs Fairey!
After being named as the Song Academy’s Young Rising Star, Woody Collins (Year 9) was invited to perform at the Academy’s Young Songwriter Showcase in London last weekend. Woody was the competition’s youngest entrant and was selected as the Young Rising Star over nearly 900 artists. Mr Leaker, Coordinator of Jazz & Popular Music Studies, said; “To perform for the Song Academy showcase is a richly deserved honour for Woody – his motivation for songwriting has never been stronger and becomes... Read More
On Thursday the Senior School were involved in Community Action Day. Years 7-9 were took part in a “triathlon to Ukraine” covering the distance to Ukraine to raise money for UNICEF, a community concert in the marquee and a performance of Alice in Wonderland. Years 10 and 11 held a sponsored walk to raise money for the Sierra Leone Project, while the Lower Sixth participated in a community sports day involving local primary schools, a memory workshop, art creation and... Read More
Our Lower Sixth physicists were challenged to design and build a bridge to an exacting specification in the space of three weeks. Using only balsa wood and cold melt glue, the pupils were tasked with ensuring their bridge would span 60cm and support a weight of 6kg. Congratulations to the winning team whose bridge held a record breaking 11kg!
Since its creation, the School’s Sierra Leone Project (SLP) has supported two schools in Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital city, one of which being the Ballanta Academy of Music. The Ballanta has been building a new mini auditorium adjacent to its current building which the SLP has been financially supporting and we are pleased to report that although it is not quite finished, the Ballanta were able to keep the postponed date of 24th June for the opening ceremony. The Ministers... Read More
As part of the Creative Arts programme and Arts Week, Year 9 pupils were afforded the opportunity to visit ‘The Making of Harry Potter’ at Warner Bros. Studio in London to discover the roles of different film departments and what they do. The unique studio tour took pupils behind-the-scenes to explore the magic of the Harry Potter™ films and showcased the huge array of beautiful sets, costumes and props. It also revealed some closely guarded secrets, including facts about the... Read More
On Wednesday, Pre-Prep enjoyed a fun-filled Sports Day with many variations of races: flat, teddy bear, egg and spoon, obstacle and seaside to name just a few. The sun shone, the races were run and best of all there were smiles on everyone’s faces! The view from the top of Cedars Field, overlooking the School and Cathedral, with us all together again without restrictions is one we will not forget for a long time. We began the day with some nerves and... Read More
Well done to Petra Kidd (Year 7) who performed in the Stardust concert held at Bath Abbey last week. Petra received a last minute call up after the scheduled performer was unwell and swooped in to save the day, singing fabulously alongside 200 primary school children. Stardust is a creative choral work following six characters as they travel through the solar system, written by Jools Scott and Sue Curtis to show how children can overcome adversity. Your performance was excellent,... Read More
Belinda (Year 6) had a wonderful experience singing with the Orchestra of St John’s over half Term. The concert was called Opera Gala Rising Stars of the Future and the other soloists were singers who had recently left music college and were embarking on their careers, making it a very special opportunity for Belinda! She sang Amarilli Mia Bella by Caccini and then a beautiful arrangement of The Oak and The Ash which was arranged for her. Well done, Belinda!
For the last two Terms in Science Club, pupils have been researching, engineering and constructing motor-powered airboats. With great excitement, they raced them in the School’s swimming pool to see which design was the most effective on water. All of the boats moved through the water and two even went in a straight line! The winning design from Mike Gillbanks (Year 9) and Alfie Carey (Year 9) was particularly impressive; it sailed the complete 25m with ease. Huge congratulations to... Read More
Pupils in Year 3 rounded off their ‘Romans’ history topic with an Ancient Rome-themed day of fun activities. In the morning, the children worked in teams to hunt for Roman town names in a Geography challenge, crack a code using Roman numerals, build a Roman temple out of Lego and even had a toga tying race. In the afternoon, the children showcased their wonderful ‘Roman Villa for Sale’ Google Slides and rounded off the day with a Roman Banquet… they... Read More
Congratulations are in order as we celebrate several recent piano pupil successes.Bridget Yee (Upper Sixth) has won first prize and Best Overall Competitor prize at the Beecham International Piano Competition, an online competition for outstanding young pianists. You can watch Bridget’s recital here: https://bit.ly/3n0kE47 Bibi Redford (Year 11) has won first prize in the intermediate class of the 2022 International Salzburg Grand Prize Virtuoso Competition. Bibi has consequently been invited to perform at the Solitär, Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria on Sunday,... Read More
Wells Cathedral School Combined Cadet Force has presented its annual awards for Best Cadet in each section to Colour Sergeant William Peutherer (RM, Lower Sixth), Colour Sergeant Finn Beattie (Rifles, Year 11) and Petty Officer Oliver Pearce (RN, Year 11) for their outstanding work in leading the Contingent, consistently being good role models and typifying the values of both the CCF and the School. Numerous other promotions were made by Lt Stephanie Sheppard RN who was visiting the school from... Read More
The Wells Cathedral School Clay Shooting activity has completed its first year of instruction with the group posing for a photo at the end of the final shoot with their instructors. They are looking forward to entering their first interschool shooting competition in November after dramatic improvement over the course of the year; most of the pupils had no prior shooting experience before starting the activity and the instructors have been very impressed by their progress. There are places available... Read More
On Monday 20th June, the Art and Photography Departments held a combined GCSE and A level Private View to celebrate the creative endeavours of Year 11 and Upper Sixth pupils. Held in the Art and Photography Studios as well as the Art Courtyard, the exhibition gave a fantastic overview of the pupils’ incredible achievements within the spaces in which they had been created. The show incorporated examples of a wide variety of approaches and use of media, including aspects of... Read More
Congratulations to the Junior School on their wonderful production of Shrek The Musical!They all gave their heart and soul to the production, whether it be on stage, back stage or even IN the stage, on occasion! The singing, dancing and sheer amount of words they had to learn are all a credit to the hard work and determination that was shown during rehearsals. They displayed poise on stage and also independence backstage when looking out for their cues. Each and every... Read More
The Governors and Head Master of Wells Cathedral School are delighted to announce the appointment of Mr Bob McCartney as the new Bursar and Clerk to Governors. Bob shone at every stage of the selection process, amid a strong field. He impressed throughout a rigorous process which was overseen by external consultants Odgers Berndtson.Until recently, Bob was Head of Finance Internal Control and Compliance at Airbus SAS, based at their Head Office in Toulouse. He has previously held the roles of... Read More
It is with much sadness we report the death of Richard Lewis. Richard was Dean of Wells and Chair of Governors from 1990 to 2003. His funeral will take place in Wells Cathedral at 2pm on Tuesday 28 June.John Baxter, Head Master for much of the time Richard was Chair of Governors, has written this tribute:“One of my early duties as Head was to provide the Prime Minister’s Appointments Secretary with a “wish-list” of the qualities of an ideal Dean... Read More
We have had lots of good news from our Drama department with pupils in Years 7, 9 and 10 successfully auditioning for a range of roles.Congratulations to Oliver Jenkins (Year 7), whom you may have seen as Bruce in the School’s production of Matilda, on being cast as Colin in The Hordernciani’s production of The Secret Garden as part of the Wells Theatre Festival. He will perform in Cedars Hall from the 8th to the 10th of July as part... Read More
In May, HRH The Prince of Wales presented the School’s Head of Piano, John Byrne, and Old Wellensian, Ashby Mayes, with major awards conferred by the Royal College of Music (RCM). The presentation was made at an awards ceremony attended by influential people from across the music world, including Wells’ Director of Music, Alex Laing.Ashby Mayes won the enormously prestigious President’s Award – given each year to honour a student for their outstanding work in the community – while Professor... Read More
The School’s Head Of Grounds & Gardens, Wayne Bradshaw, visited the Leicester City FC Sports Turf Academy and Training Ground this week for an Education Group meeting of influential turfcare professionals from schools, colleges and universities hosted by Turf Business.Mr Bradshaw was given a tour of the academy and the world-class football training facilities by Leicester City FC’s Head of Sports Turf & Grounds John Ledwidge, Senior Sports Turf & Grounds Manager Callum Allsop and Pitch Manager Graeme Farmer whilst... Read More
Over the break between the Whitsun and Trinity Terms, the School hosted the South & West A and B teams as part of the Bunbury Festival, an annual cricket tournament which selects and divides Under-15 boys into four squads across the country (London & East, South & West, Midlands and North).The tournament is the first stage of the ECB’s Player Pathway to the England cricket team; since its conception in 1987, over 90 players have gone on to play for... Read More
Year 4 treated their audience to a fantastic Music, Drama and Dance Performance Platform on Wednesday afternoon. Based on the theme ‘Decades’, the children performed some wonderfully nostalgic hits including Eye of the Tiger and Rock Around The Clock, and had parents rolling in the aisles during their hilarious performance of Horrible Histories. The Platform was completed by a slick routine to Soul Bossa Nova from Austin Powers. The volume and energy on stage was palpable and it was excellent... Read More
Congratulations to Christian Jennett-Butcher (Lower Sixth), Charles Rowley (Lower Sixth) and Ben Mapleston (Lower Sixth) who have been selected for the Somerset RFU U17 Rugby squad. Last weekend Christian and Charles represented the side against Gloucestershire in the first of two games during May. This weekend sees the inclusion of all three Wells Cathedral School pupils as Ben Mapleston is added to the match day squad in the fixture against Dorset and Wiltshire. This is a huge achievement for Christian,... Read More
On Saturday 21st May, over 50 young people joined us at the School for a free workshop with leading UK Brass players Onyx Brass kindly supported by B&S and Courtois Instruments.Celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2023, Onyx Brass continues to be the leading light in establishing the Brass quintet as a medium for serious chamber music, combining ‘staggering virtuosity’ (Sarah Walker, BBC Radio 3) with the entertaining and articulate style that has become the group’s trademark. The workshop, led by... Read More
Twenty of our pupils participating in The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme walked 10 miles from Clevedon Pier to the Grand Pier in Weston-Super-Mare alongside HM Lord-Lieutenant Mrs Annie Maw as part of her Somerset Jubilee Jaunt, a journey of 70 miles to mark 70 years in honour of Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Setting off promptly after 9:30am along the Somerset Coast Path, the group were participating in the fourth leg of The Lord-Lieutenant’s journey. Mrs Maw has lived... Read More
Choristers Belinda (Year 6) and Michael (Year 6) were very excited to have the opportunity to meet world-renowned organist David Briggs at Wells Cathedral on Saturday 21st May.David was an Organ Scholar at King’s College Cambridge and now teaches at Cambridge University whilst serving as Artist-in-Residence at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City. He frequently gives master classes at colleges and conservatories across the globe and serves on international organ competition juries. David was performing... Read More
Our School Library has recently installed a new display celebrating the diversity of our pupils’ nationalities.Including birthplace, where in the world they reside and which nationality they claim, our pupils represent 40 different countries including non-sovereign states such as Wales and Jersey. The flag of each country is displayed as part of the Library’s global display featuring stories and authors from around the world. It is also an extension of the diversity and inclusion display featuring LGBTQ+ fiction and nonfiction... Read More
Congratulations to En Xuan (Year 7) and Lucille (Year 8) who have each been awarded a winners certificate in the University of Southampton’s Junior Maths Challenge and will attend a Prize Evening at the University in June.The Junior Maths Challenge is aimed at pupils up to Year 8 and consists of a range of mathematical questions for pupils to complete outside of lesson time, enabling them to think outside of the box and beyond the standard curriculum. The most successful... Read More
The School have been celebrating some fantastic Girls’ Hockey achievements this half Term.Congratulations to Linsey Mitchell (left, Year 9) who represented the UK Lions U14 Girls in Rotterdam and Tilly Matthews (right, Year 9) who played for Clifton Robinsons Hockey Club at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre, part of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, in the semi final of the England Hockey Tier 1 Supra League. Congratulations also go to Tilly’s younger sister Lulu (centre, Year 7) who... Read More
On Tuesday 10th May, our Year 3 pupils and Year 7-9 Art Scholars enjoyed an exciting creative experience, working alongside world-renowned artist Sir Richard Long RA CBE, in the Eavis Auditorium of Cedars Hall. Richard, Turner Prize Winner in 1989 (and four times Turner Prize nominee), is one of Britain’s leading contemporary artists, creating land art and installation pieces across the globe. He very kindly agreed to work with pupils at Wells Cathedral School, helping them to create their own... Read More
Across the School, we celebrated Somerset Day on Wednesday 11th May. We were proud to promote the official day of our beautiful home county and had a wonderful time celebrating our heritage with bunting, craft projects and Somerset-inspired food.The School community got involved in a number of ways, with our fabulous caretaking team putting up flags and bunting across the site and our Pre-Prep children designing flags and bunting of their own. This was followed by a special Somerset taste test during... Read More
Sixth Formers Josh Chong (Upper Sixth) and Justin Chan (Lower Sixth) ran 33km from Wells to the McDonald’s in Street and back again to raise money for the humanitarian organisation Action Against Hunger.The duo learned to map read as part of their effort, with Josh explaining that the idea originally formed as a joke to run so far to reach the Golden Arches which, after a bit of research, became a golden opportunity to fundraise. The UN reported that up... Read More
Congratulations to Woody Collins (Year 9) who has been named in the Song Academy’s Young Songwriter competition as the Young Rising Star of the UK/Ireland 13-18 year old category, narrowed down from nearly 900 entrants. You can listen to his entry, Iron Fist, here:Woody was the competition’s youngest entrant and will be performing at the 2022 showcase on Saturday 25th June in Notting Hill.Well done, Woody!
Annie Campbell-Orde, who boarded in Haversham from 2007 to 2012 and had great success as a netball player, has been selected to represent Great Britain in the Women’s Eight rowing squad at the Windermere Cup in Seattle. Annie took up rowing while at Loughborough University, having been spotted through the talent ID programme, and went on to win BUCS gold for Loughborough and represent GB Universities in Serbia in the European Championships. After graduating Annie based herself in the East... Read More
More than eighty of the School’s Netball players enjoyed a trip to Bath to watch Team Bath Netball take on Saracens Mavericks in the Netball Superleague.The Netball Superleague is the highest level of domestic Netball in the UK and the game proved to be an exciting clash between the two sides. In the final quarter the Mavericks edged a five goal lead only for Bath to claw the game back and secure an emphatic win by one goal. The game’s... Read More
Twenty Year 10 pupils completed their Silver Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Practice expedition on Exmoor over the School holiday. The weather was kind but the terrain was not with the South West Coastal Path offering up some mighty ascents and a total of 60km was covered over three days of walking. The pupils coped brilliantly showing high levels of fitness, excellent navigation skills and outstanding teamwork throughout. Mr Padget, Mrs Gray, Mrs Stockall, Mr Lancey and Mr Elks were very... Read More
As part of their Thursday afternoon ‘909’ activities programme, a group of budding Year 7 cartographers visited The Combe, a nineteenth-century secret garden which lies to the north of the School. Divided into small teams, the pupils were presented with their challenge: to produce as detailed a map of the area as possible, complete with symbols, colour coding, and a key. While each team’s map-maker planned the design, their hardy researchers scampered off into the (manicured) wilderness before reporting back... Read More
English classes from the Upper and Lower Sixth joined together last week for a seminar with literary historian Mr Stuart Andrews on the subject of one of their A level texts, the poetry of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Mr Andrews, who is also librarian of the Wells Museum, has published extensively on the Romantic Poets – most recently ‘The Lake Poets in Prose: Connecting Threads’ (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2021) – and generously gave some of his time to allow Wells Cathedral School... Read More
For CHAT 7 of the CHATS series of talks in Cedars Hall, curated by Sophie Rucker, pupils had the rare opportunity to listen to Sir Antony Gormley OBE RA talk about his artwork, including his sculpture, Doubt, currently situated on the West Front of Wells Cathedral. The evening was both thought-provoking and highly informative, with a personal and intriguing insight into the artist’s creative concepts, views on art and the methods and techniques he has utilised to create many of his world... Read More
Members of our Estates team recently travelled to Lord’s Cricket Ground, also known as the Home of Cricket, to learn about groundskeeping techniques from Head Groundsman Karl McDermott.Kindly organised by Karl, the group spent three and a half hours at the ground which has stood for over two hundred years, during which they were shown both the Nursery Ground and the Main Ground, followed by a tour of the facilities including the Pavilion, Media Centre and the newly built Compton... Read More
Wells Cathedral School has partnered with a department of the University of Cambridge to trial a new online assessment that promises to help pupils perform even better in their A levels.The Cambridge Personal Styles Questionnaire (CPSQ) was developed by Cambridge Assessment Admissions Testing, part of the University of Cambridge. The CPSQ is an online assessment that helps teachers understand the attitudes and behaviours of individual pupils, so that they can then encourage each pupil to develop better learning habits and... Read More
The Choristers are in the midst of a busy Easter period with services beginning on Palm Sunday and ongoing through to Easter Sunday.Cathedral visitors enjoyed Hosanna!, a sequence of music and readings for Holy Week on the afternoon of Palm Sunday. This is to be followed by an hour of devotion as part of the Cathedral’s Three Hours Devotion service on Good Friday and a jam-packed Easter Sunday involving Cathedral Eucharist, Matins and Festal Evensong throughout the day, though the... Read More
Many of our Musicians attended the Mid-Somerset Festival and achieved fantastic results.The Mid-Somerset Festival provides an annual platform for children and adults to showcase their skills in creative writing, speech and drama, music, musical theatre and dance. This year, there were 5,000 entrants vying for 200 awards.Congratulations to Hetty Christopher (Year 11), who won the Concerto for Woodwind, Brass or Recorder category, and the Premier Award for best instrumentalist.Among pianists, Justus Frantz (Year 11) came first in the Romantic Piano... Read More
Upper Sixth pupils at Wells Cathedral School have been receiving and confirming offers from universities and music colleges across the UK since the start of the year.To date, pupils have received over 170 offers from Russell Group and other top UK universities including the University of Oxford, the University of Edinburgh, the University of Exeter and the University of York, to study a wide range of subjects from Architecture to Biochemistry, Geophysics to Liberal Arts. Several pupils have received multiple... Read More
Upper Sixth pupil Adele Beecham recently interviewed polar traveller and explorer Alex Hibbert for the Youth Perspective Interview Series on her YouTube channel. The series is an online programme where talented and innovative people share their views on current affairs through interviews with Adele.Alex is a British World-Record-holding polar traveller, expedition leader, public speaker, author and photographer. He has skied further on an unsupported Arctic journey than anyone in history. We were fortunate enough to have Alex come to the... Read More
Congratulations to Luke McCarthy (Upper Sixth) who has been awarded one of the two available scholarships to study at the Royal Academy of Music funded by Sony Music UK’s Social Justice Fund.The UK arm of the Sony Music Group’s Global Social Justice Fund was created in June 2020 in order to support equal rights, social justice and anti-racist initiatives, thereby addressing structural inequality for lasting change. The scholarship has been launched in partnership with pianist, composer and producer Alexis Ffrench,... Read More
The School is privileged to have Mater Dolorosa, a sculpture by Peter Eugene Ball, displayed on loan in the John Baxter Foyer in Cedars Hall.Peter’s work is often sculpted with, and inspired by, found materials with each piece being the latest form of an object’s many lives. His religious work frequently features figures with closed eyes as if capturing a moment in time, depicting deep concentration and giving the viewer an opportunity to stop and contemplate. Addressing the School’s pupils as... Read More
On Thursday 31st March we enjoyed a spectacular and deeply moving orchestral and choral concert at the Cathedral in celebration of the Queen’s Jubilee.The all-English programme encompassed Britten, Vaughan Williams and Parry, including a stirring performance of “I was Glad”, which was performed at the Queen’s Coronation 70 years ago, and concluded with Britten’s spellbinding arrangement of the National Anthem.The concert marked the first time in more than two years that the massed choirs and symphony orchestra have been able... Read More
Congratulations to Hetta Falzon (Upper Sixth) who won the Pilton Stage Competition 2022 and has been awarded a 30 minute set every day at Glastonbury Festival in the Field of Avalon.Competing against 600 artists, Hetta fought off tough competition in the heats and then triumphed in the final to secure her place at the world-renowned festival. She is the youngest person ever to win the competition.We wish Hetta the best of luck for her big performances!
A group of Senior School pupils travelled to Westonbirt School to take part in WESTMUN, a Model United Nations conference.Model United Nations gives students the opportunity to develop “skills in leadership, debate, public speaking and negotiation, as well as considering how to solve the major issues facing the world, all within a structured and supportive environment” by allowing them to play the role of delegates at a conference debating global issues and developing solutions to problems of international significance. As... Read More
Congratulations to our four Maths specialists who won the Millfield Team Maths Challenge this week.Samuel Chan (Year 9), Nathan Lam (Year 9), Chris Chan (Year 10) and Luca Ng (Year 10) performed extremely well against Millfield School, King Edward’s School Bath, Downside School, Shaftesbury School, Buckler’s Mead Academy, Norton Hill School, St Dunstan’s School and The Kings of Wessex Academy at the competition. Well done Sam, Nathan, Chris and Luca on your fantastic achievement!
Year 3 pupils from Saint Joseph and Saint Teresa Catholic Primary School and Wells Cathedral School came together for an enjoyable afternoon of netball. The pupils were split into small groups for mini matches with a large team of Wells coaches and Sixth Form pupils teaching them the rules of the game and providing useful tips.This delightful, non-competitive afternoon finished with a biscuit and a drink, and fun was had by all.
On Wednesday 23rd March, Upper Sixth Geographers took a field trip to the Somerset coastline in glorious sunshine. The pupils were studying different approaches to coastal management at Minehead and Porlock Bay. Porlock Bay adopted a soft engineering approach in the mid-1990s following the breach of the shingle ridge that protects low lying land beyond, whereas Minehead by contrast is heavily defended by sea walls and stone groynes. The group were able to investigate hypotheses by examining sediment patterns on Porlock... Read More
We’re delighted to announce the team of Harriet Carlill, Marco Yu, Hermione Christey-Clover, Will Peutherer and Louis Cronin have won the National Schools Geology Challenge, held at the Geological Society’s headquarters in London.The team travelled to the capital to take part in the final after qualifying with their video entry to the competition entitled ‘The Geology of the Mendip Anticline’, which can be viewed below, and upon arrival were faced with a real world decision-making scenario on the location of... Read More
On Friday 25th March, Wells Cathedral School and The Blue School presented a joint rock and pop concert at Cedars Hall for Philip Welch, The Mayor of Wells. Both Schools presented a rich variety of popular music with original music, cover songs, singer/songwriters and full bands. The evening culminated with a lively collaborative version of Status Quo’s ‘Rockin’ all over the World‘ with every young Musician taking to the stage. Pupils from both Schools had a wonderful time listening to and learning from... Read More
On Friday 25th March, Senior School pupils were visited by local author Matt Dickinson who gave two fantastic creative writing workshops. Matt has found inspiration for many of his books from his three trips to Mount Everest as a documentary maker. The theme of the School’s creative writing competition this year is therefore ‘Challenge‘ and we are inviting short stories of up to 1000 words on this topic to be submitted to a member of the English department by Friday... Read More
On the 24th of March the Bernard Society hosted its fourth guest speaker since re-launching this year after a 90 year hiatus. Mr Stuart Tibbs, Old Wellensian of the Government Economic Service, came to speak to an audience of Society Members and A level Economics pupils on the topic of “How Britain Can Build Africa Back Better and Careers in the Civil Service”. It was a fascinating talk enjoyed by all the pupils with networking opportunities afterwards.The Bernard Society is... Read More
On Sunday 20th March, Wells Cathedral School Jazz Orchestra performed at Strode Theatre with ace trumpet player and bandleader Mark Armstrong. Mark is the Artistic Director of the National Youth Jazz Orchestra (NYJO) and Head of Jazz at the Royal College of Music. He is an outstanding jazz trumpeter and a regular with the Ronnie Scotts Jazz Orchestra. The band played a selection of big band originals and arrangements by Mark. We are looking forward to welcoming him to Cedars... Read More
Congratulations to Sophie Nicholls (Year 11) who was selected to run for England at the Home Countries’ Cross Country International, held at Pembrey, Wales. Sophie qualified due to her superb performance at the English Schools Cross Country Championships at Hop Farm in Kent; she ran for Somerset in the Intermediate Girls race and won the bronze medal.Racing across hills and sand dunes, Sophie and the team ran in beautiful weather across the Welsh coast. Their efforts were rewarded and the... Read More
The School’s Concert for Ukraine was a success made possible in part by our brilliant musicians who put on a moving performance, including a powerful introduction by Music Specialist Dawid Kasprzak (Year 11) who quoted from the Ukrainian National Anthem and shared his own family’s efforts in Poland to help the refugees. The programme included A Fanfare for Ukraine 2022 (composed by Torbjorn Hultmark in response to the conflict), Nocturne by Reinhold Glière who was born in Kiev, and pieces... Read More
This year’s production of Matilda was a sight to behold: slick, professional and enthralling throughout. The messages that you can control your own story and that rebellion and protest can defeat the bullies was deeply embedded as the cast told the story with relentless energy, comedy and power. All of the characters were completely believable, adorable, scary, sweet and feisty in equal measures, and the relationships touching. The singing and dancing were second to none providing ample opportunity for the... Read More
On Friday 11th March, the Wells Cathedral School senior swim squad travelled up to London Olympic Park in order to compete in the Bath Cup, a prestigious competition that attracts many of the United Kingdom’s best independent school swim teams. Lara Keirle (Lower Sixth), Tamsin Howard (Lower Sixth), Xanthe Knott (Year 11), Maddie Wilkins (Lower Sixth), Mia Coakes Santamaria (Lower Sixth), Emily Trotman (Lower Sixth), Ethan Wright (Upper Sixth), Devon Mycock (Lower Sixth), Sebastien Barley (Lower Sixth) and Reuben Ashton (Year... Read More
Twenty-four of our School CCF cadets from Years 10, 11 and Upper Sixth have had an enriching fieldcraft weekend on the Mendip Hills.The cadets practiced occupying and maintaining a harbour area, living in the field, section and platoon attacks, patrol skills, break contact drills and fire drills as well as conducting a night ambush against a rather enthusiastic enemy who resembled a certain Head of History (he lost the firefight). They were met with some testing conditions under their bashas with... Read More
Sixty of our boarding pupils enjoyed a weekend away in Devon at the Manor and Ashbury Hotels for our Lent Term Exeat.Pupils from Years 7 to Upper Sixth swapped our boarding houses for hotels over the Exeat weekend on a full-board trip of food and fun. A huge variety of activities were on offer, including bowling, snooker, pool, spa, swimming, archery, roller skating, golf, a sports simulator and arts and crafts. There was something for everyone to enjoy.The School extends... Read More
Our First XI Boys Hockey team travelled to Oxford this week to play in the Quarter Final of the England Hockey Cup against Magdalen College School. Despite the awful weather the team were in good spirits as they looked to progress to the next stage of the competition. The boys put their hearts and souls into their performance, but unfortunately the opposition came out on top, claiming a 3-0 victory. Our side were gracious in defeat, acknowledging the talent of... Read More
The children of Pre-Prep worked together to make a wonderful production called Eddie the Penguin Saves the World! The play is about a penguin named Eddie who realises that the ice is melting because the world is getting warmer, so he and his family travel across the globe teaching the humans a variety of lessons to help them protect the planet. They meet polar bears, lumberjacks, school children, the Australian Prime Minister, a DJ, and more. It’s quite the adventure!After... Read More
Chris Eldridge, Head of History at Wells Cathedral School, has been made a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (RHS) in recognition of the unique work he and his team have been doing in promoting the study of medieval history in the Sixth Form at Wells. He is thrilled to have been made a Fellow, especially as it is normally university level academics who receive the recognition.“When I first arrived in Wells I was captivated by our 10th century origins... Read More
On the evening of Thursday 10th March, our Art pupils attended a CHATS talk with award-winning filmmaker Randall Wright and gained a valuable insight into filming and interviewing world renowned artists such as David Hockney, Lucian Freud and Maggie Hambling. Randall, who has created numerous documentaries for the BBC, gave a highly informative and thought-provoking talk that certainly inspired some of our own budding filmmakers and young artists here at Wells. The next talk in the CHATS series is CHAT... Read More
51 A level and GCSE Drama pupils travelled to London’s Wyndham’s Theatre yesterday to see the stage production of Life of Pi adapted beautifully by Lolita Chakrabarti and based on Yann Martel’s Man Booker Prize-winning novel. Pupils were mesmerised by the exquisitely designed large-scale puppets, especially Richard Parker the breathtaking Bengal tiger, as well as the vividly drawn characters and dazzling visual effects. It was truly a magical and life-affirming experience that has given them plenty to write about in... Read More
Our Little Wellies have been really busy this term having been inspired by Yayoi Kusama, a Japanese artist who covers everything in dots. A super practitioner launched this creative “dotty wotty doo dah” initiative after observing the nursery children having so much fun making dots with their bingo dabbers. They encouraged the children to be creative, work together, learn about a new culture and take dots to a whole new level. From dotty cakes with smarties on top to making all... Read More
Congratulations to our 1st VII and U15A Netball teams on a successful campaign in the County Cup Tournament.The 1st VII made it through to the semi-finals, narrowly missing out on a place in the final after a 7-5 loss. Taking on King’s Bruton in the third/fourth place play-offs, a tight game ended 6-5 with our side finishing the competition in fourth place.The U15A’s also made it through to the play-offs against King’s Bruton, competing for fifth/sixth place. A patient performance... Read More
The School’s Senior Choristers performed at their annual instrumental concert in Quilter Hall on Tuesday evening.Although the Choristers are always performing using their voices, this concert offers them a unique opportunity to show off their skills on their instruments of choice as well. The audience were treated to pieces played on a range of instruments, including piano, saxophone, cello, violin and viola.Thank you to the Choristers for providing such a very special evening!
In celebration of International Women’s Day, our pupils put on a fascinating evening of music and talks. The construction of the programme and even the idea itself was entirely pupil driven; together the pupils matched their talks on ideas worth sharing with music that resonates. The evening started with a rousing March of the Women performed by Choralia, followed by music interspersed with talks. The audience enjoyed hearing about the Tiananmen Square incident, the fate of our universe and whether... Read More
The School hosted a Badminton tournament on behalf of the Somerset Badminton Association, with ten of our pupils selected to play.Year 10 pupil Morris Chan won the U15 group, beating fellow Year 10 pupil Kingston Leung 21-8. The duo then teamed up to beat all other pairs in the group 2 doubles. Well done, Morris and Kingston! Thank you to both Adam Feather and Jane Lipton for running the tournament.
On Monday 28th February, pupils were treated to a visit from Old Wellensian and internationally renowned composer Richard Jacques. Richard, a BAFTA and Ivor Novello-nominated composer, spent the afternoon conducting one-to-one sessions and giving talks to our A level tech pupils and music specialists. Pupils found out about Richard’s career, from his first job offer at SEGA through to his recent work on Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy video game. They were able to take part in a Q&A to... Read More
Yesterday, for World Book Day, our pupils had a wonderful time celebrating a love of reading across the School through activities ranging from decorating classroom doors and book tasting in the ‘reading restaurant’ to dressing up as favourite characters. Even staff joined in with much of the Junior School being taught by pirates for the day!
As part of the School’s ongoing programme of developing links and working relationships with practising artists (whether local, national or international), this week we are pleased to exhibit work by local artist, Shelley Dyer Gibbins, in the John Baxter Foyer in Cedars Hall. The work will be on display until the end of March and although access to the exhibition is only available to the public immediately before and during each public concert or event, we hope that everyone enjoys... Read More
Congratulations to our 1st XI Boys Hockey Team on their 5-1 win against Blundell’s School in Round 4 of the England Hockey Cup. We wish them luck as they go on to the quarter final!
We’re thrilled the team of Harriet Carlill, Marco Yu, Hermione Christey-Clover and Louis Cronin have qualified as one of the top ten teams in the National Schools Geology Challenge final.The National Schools Geology Challenge is an annual competition in which pupils showcase their interest in Geology, learn more about the way Geoscience impacts our lives and put teamwork and presentation skills to the test.The 2022 Wells Cathedral School entry in the national qualification round was a five minute long video entitled... Read More
The Wells Cathedral School Matilda cast visited The Cambridge Theatre to see The Royal Shakespeare Company’s Matilda The Musical in London’s West End ahead of the School production later this month, which features pupils in Years 7-9. The cast were inspired by the sight of their roles on the big stage on this aspirational trip and will be able to add a new dynamic to their performances after this enriching experience.A limited number of tickets are remaining for the School production; click... Read More
The Wells Cathedral Choristers celebrated a longstanding tradition this week – the Shrove Tuesday pancake race.With frying pans in hand, pupils raced in groups along Vicars Row to test their fastest flipping skills. This was followed by a winner’s race to crown the quickest Chorister before gathering for a group photo. A joyous occasion for everyone, lots of fun and laughter was shared as this grand tradition was revived for another year.Well done to all of our Choristers on their... Read More
Wells Cathedral School has today welcomed the publication of a report from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), focusing on residential schools and with a particular focus on specialist music schools and boarding schools.Representatives of all of England’s specialist music schools were asked to give evidence to the inquiry. Wells Head Master Alastair Tighe and former Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) Helen Bennett both spoke about historical cases at the School, as well as current safeguarding systems and procedures.Head... Read More
Ten of our Year 10 pupils made the journey to Oxford on Monday for an Open Day hosted by Lady Margaret Hall, accompanied by Mr. Murdoch and Mr. O’Sullivan.After a brief coach tour around the city during which Mr. O’Sullivan talked a bit too much about all the places featured in Philip Pullman’s books, they arrived at the college and met their 3rd Year English undergraduate guide, Casey. She walked them around all the main areas of the college –... Read More
Congratulations to Lower Sixth pupil Madison Lewis (right) and our current gap year Sports Assistant Flora Collier (left) for their selections into the Celtic Dragons U19 NPL squad. Flora has also been selected into the Welsh U21 Regional Academy which makes her eligible for U21 international selection. This is a huge credit to both girls’ hard work, effort and dedication. Well done, we can’t wait to see you play!
Congratulations to Year 10 pupil Oliver Stankiewicz on receiving a Highly Commended certificate for his entry in the 12-17 category of the annual Snowdrop Festival Photography competition. The entries were judged by renowned nature photographer Carol Sharp. Oliver’s entry presented a very imaginative interpretation of this year’s brief to capture the message of reawakening of nature and excitement that snowdrops bring. View Oliver’s piece, The Photographer, below.Well done, Oliver!