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CCF at Wells Private Sixth Form College and Independent Senior School

23 Sep 2020

Activity Afternoon for Wells CCF Cadets

Senior Wells CCF cadets enjoyed an afternoon of rigorous activities in their year groupings on Wednesday, directed by recently promoted Major Stuart Elks, the Contingent Commander.After a fully distanced parade inspection at the front of Cedars, the cadets split into groups to focus on key physical and leadership activities. Year 10 cadets took part in Royal Navy Gun Run training and Life Raft Flipping; cadets in Year 11 learned Infantry Section Attack skills; whilst the Lower and Upper Sixth cadets...

22 Sep 2020

Wells Concerto Competition

On Saturday evening, seven of our exceptional musicians performed in the Final of the Concerto Auditions in Cedars Hall. The winning prize was the opportunity to perform their concerto with the School’s Symphony Orchestra this academic year. The finalists were:Stan Talman (Marimba), Elaina Charalambous (Clarinet), Nellie Whittam (Violin), Bridget Yee (Piano), Sejin Yoon (Piano), Luke Lane (Trumpet) and Vivian Kao (Violin) Mr Dinis Sousa, an eminent conductor who was our independent adjudicator, has chosen Sejin as the winner of this...

22 Sep 2020

Upper Sixth Art Exhibition 2019-20

The creative talent of last year’s Upper Sixth A level artists is now on display in the John Baxter Foyer of Cedars Hall. The work on show features a selection of A level Fine Art works within the theme ‘Personal Investigation’ by Polly Palmer, Andy Kwon, Chompoo Changfun, Yannis Chang and Katie Cadoret.Here is a video providing a virtual tour of their work: Personal Investigation Artwork

16 Sep 2020

Peterhouse Kelvin Science Competition Prize

Congratulations to Upper Sixth pupil Oisin Moriarty, who has been awarded one of the prizes in the annual Peterhouse Kelvin Science Competition for his essay, written during his Lower Sixth year: ‘Using numerical evidence, what carbon stocks could be enhanced to make the UK carbon neutral?’The Peterhouse Essay Competitions are a great opportunity for Lower Sixth pupils to start exploring their subject and have a taste of university-level research. Each competition has a prize pool of £750. There are three...

16 Sep 2020

Antarctica Creative Writing Competition Winner

Congratulations to Year 8 pupil Elizabeth Hanley, who has won the 11 to 13 age category of the Antarctica Creative Writing Competition.The competition, run by the Natural History Consortium – which includes the BBC, the University of Bath, the University of Bristol and the National Trust among its 13 members – was set up in celebration of Antarctica Day and formed part of the Festival of Nature in Bath and Bristol.The judge commented on Elizabeth’s story: “This was an exciting...

15 Sep 2020

Independent Schools of the Year Finalists

We are delighted to announce that we are finalists in the Performing Arts category in the Independent Schools of the Year 2020 awards. The virtual awards ceremony will take place on 8th October. Watch this space!

08 Sep 2020

Somerset Youth Music

Nearly 100 pupils and staff from over 30 schools in Somerset, including current Wells pupils and Old Wellensians, virtually reunited recently to perform a track and video, One Day Like This, combining the talents of musicians from the Somerset County Youth Concert Band, Somerset County Youth Orchestra and Somerset County Youth Choirs.Former Wells musicians who performed on the track included Niamh Davies, Polly Palmer on percussion, Eliza Talman on trumpet and Matthew Whitehead on trumpet. Current pupils included Amy Cleverly...

08 Sep 2020

Hosting Somerset CCC

Wells was honoured to host the U13 Somerset Junior Pathway cricket matches on the beautiful Cedars pitch over the summer break. The Grounds Team ensured that the grounds were in perfect shape and it proved to be a lovely afternoon of cricket. Jack Moore, Somerset Boys U13 Cricket Coach, said, “A massive thank you to the school for hosting the matches. In such a lovely setting, the pitch looked and played brilliantly so huge well done to you and the grounds team....

08 Sep 2020

Theatre Royal Sound Performances

Year 10 pupil Campbell Maddox took part in the creation of a digital performance piece with the Bath Theatre Royal over the summer. Young performers and sound artists from across the country worked with the Egg Theatre to make site specific sound performances which can be accessed via QR codes around Bath.Campbell created a piece inspired by the Beaser Maze. The pieces, called ‘Echoing’, form a kind of treasure hunt around Bath starting at the Royal Theatre and will be ...

Beth & Belinda, Choristers at Wells Cathedral School

08 Sep 2020

Unlocking Musical Talent

Two Wells girl choristers were finalists and prize winners in an international online singing competition, Unlock Your Talent, over the summer lockdown. Year 8 pupil Elizabeth Burdge entered the 12 to 18 category, singing Amarilli Mia Bella by Caccini; and Belinda Gifford-Guy the 6 to 11 category, singing Wishing you were Somehow Here Again by Andrew Lloyd Webber.With celebrity judges from The Voice and English National Opera, and young people competing from as far away as Australia, competition was tough and...

08 Sep 2020

Lucy Cavendish College Essay Prize

Congratulations to Wells Upper Sixth pupils, Max Li and Henry Leung, who were awarded first and highly commended prizes, respectively, in this year’s Lucy Cavendish College essay writing competition!

08 Sep 2020

Dorset County Girls Champion

Congratulations to Lower Sixth pupil Hermione Christey-Clover, who won the Dorset County Girls Golf Championship against strong opposition at Ashley Wood Golf Club over the summer, taking the title by two shots, with a round of one under par and gross score of 70, her personal best. Hermione is this year’s Dorset Girls Golf Captain.

21 Aug 2020

Wells Musicians Form Part of New Virtual Orchestra

To mark the 40th anniversary of the government’s Music and Dance Scheme, young musicians from the UK’s five specialist music schools have collaborated on a new commission.An 80-piece virtual orchestra has been formed by pupils from Wells Cathedral School, Chetham’s, St Mary’s Edinburgh, The Purcell School and the Yehudi Menuhin School.Wells provided one of the biggest cohorts, with 23 pupils playing string, woodwind, brass and percussion instruments.The pupils recorded their own individual parts of a new piece specially written for...

20 Aug 2020

GCSE Results Released in an Exceptional Year – Summer 2020

Year 11 pupils at Wells Cathedral School celebrated an extraordinary set of GCSE results on Thursday, despite an unsettling and anxious wait amidst Department for Education policy changes. This year, with all public examinations cancelled as a result of the Covid-19 crisis, pupils were awarded their results based on Centre Assessed Grades.Almost two fifths of Wells pupils gained the top two 9-8 grades for their GCSE subjects, the very highest percentage obtained in the School’s history. 20 per cent of...

15 Aug 2020

Budding Wildlife Photographer on the BBC

Upper Sixth pupil, James Manning, has taken the opportunity to significantly build on his photographic portfolio during the long months of lockdown and the summer holidays, as revealed on BBC Somerset online and on BBC Radio Somerset this morning: BBC Somerset.James spent lockdown taking photos in the glorious Somerset countryside around his home and said it helped him feel happier about his future, whatever his A-level results. He worked six 10-hour days a week out in the countryside near his...

14 Aug 2020

Impressive A Level Performance for Wells Cathedral School Pupils

Despite the complexity surrounding this year’s A level results day, pupils at Wells Cathedral School had much to celebrate, with an excellent set of A level results achieved by this year’s cohort and the majority of pupils offered places at their preferred institutions. The overall pass rate was 100 per cent, the highest ever pass rate at the School. Well over three quarters achieved grades A* to B; almost half achieved grades A* to A (compared to a national average...

02 Jul 2020

French Cafés Open For Business!

Pupils in Years 2 and 3 transported their families to France this week by opening their very own French Café at home! They have spent the week practising useful phrases and names of traditional French café snacks, making menus and table decorations, as well as brushing up on their serving skills! Not only were they tasked with setting up and serving in the café, but cooking up some French culinary delights as well, such as crêpes au sucre, croque-monsieur and some...

01 Jul 2020

Virtual Sports Day – Reaching Olympia

In lieu of the School’s competitively fought athletics-based Sports Day on the last Tuesday of term, the whole School community was encouraged between them to run, cycle, walk or swim 1,521 miles, the distance from Wells to Olympia where the Olympic Games originated.Despite the damp weather, the response from pupils, staff and parents was brilliant, with 524 participants covering 1,624 miles!Wells Director of Sport, Tom Webley said, “A huge thank you to everyone who has taken part in our virtual...

29 Jun 2020

Junior School Glast-home-bury Festival

Pupils in Years 2, 3 and 4 had a fabulous time recreating their very own Glast -home-bury Festival last week, making the most of the glorious sunshine in their own external and indoor campsites!Pupils and teachers kicked off the week watching a special video message from Old Wellensian Michael Eavis and seasoned Glastonbury performer, Jake. Over the next few days they then took part in a variety of virtual workshops, including Zumba, flute and piano masterclasses, a percussion workshop where...

29 Jun 2020

Senior Artwork for the Year

Here is a selection of GCSE and A Level artwork by Senior School pupils in Years 10 to 13, to showcase some of the fantastic work produced by our talented pupils both in School and during the remote learning period over the course of this academic year.

29 Jun 2020

Hetta Runner Up in Young Songwriter of the Year Competition

We are so proud of Year 11 songwriter, Hetta Falzon, who was the Runner Up in the main 13-18 UK/Ireland category at this year’s Young Songwriter of the Year, with her song ‘Obsession’.With entries from over 700 young songwriters, Hetta’s success, at only 15 years of age, in such a prestigious and competitive contest is extraordinary. Last week she was interviewed on Glastonbury FM and BBC Radio Somerset and has just released her latest song, ‘Overdose’, which she wrote and recorded...

Tom Webley from Wells Private High School

24 Jun 2020

Tom Webley Clip Goes Viral

Wells Director of Sport and ECB Level 4 Coach, Tom Webley, has gained international recognition this week, as the result of a clip he tweeted with old footage of his first class cricket debut for Somerset, which has now garnered over 130,000 views. Aged just 19, Tom faced the world-renowned fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, at Durham County Ground, Chester-le-Street, and was caught first ball. Hardly surprising, when facing the fastest bowler ever recorded, at speeds of 100mph!Tom’s clip went viral...

23 Jun 2020

Care Home Letter Delivery

Head Master, Alastair Tighe, aided by some of our Pre-Prep pupils, handed over hundreds of hand written letters from pupils and staff to Philip Welch, representative of the Wells Coronavirus Network, on Monday, to be distributed to residents of Torrwood, Fletcher House, Mellifont Abbey and Lawrence Centre care homes. We hope that these letters and the musical recordings made by Wells musicians provide joy and love to many in our community.

22 Jun 2020

British Biology Olympiad Awards

Congratulations to the following pupils in the Lower Sixth, who sat the British Intermediate Biology Olympiad at the start of June. This competition is run by the Royal Society of Biology and took the form of a one-hour Biology general knowledge paper.Silver Awards to Max Li and Shona M’gadzahBronze Awards to Wayne Chen, Serena Chung, Roisin Clarke, Thomas Fox and Amelia WatsonHighly Commended to Lily WebbCommended to Katie Hastilow

22 Jun 2020

Woody Features on BBC Radio Somerset

Congratulations to Year 7 ex-chorister and young composer, Woody Collins, whose song, Lockdown Blues, written over the last few months of physical distancing, was featured on BBC Radio Somerset this morning. Woody gave a pre-recorded interview about his enjoyment of composition and his musical ambitions.One of Woody’s previous compositions, Vicar’s Close, was shortlisted and commended in the top 40 entries for the 8-12 age group category of the Songwriter of the Year Competition 2020.

20 Jun 2020

Australian Pen Pan Exchange

A number of pupils in the Senior School have recently taken the opportunity to be part of a pen pal arrangement with pupils from Toowoomba Grammar School in Queensland, Australia. Communications have ranged from emails to video links over social media, and have given the pupils an invaluable opportunity to compare notes about life, school, home and social lives. Several commented that it was especially welcome to be able to reach out to another teenager over the last very strange...

20 Jun 2020

Letter to The Times – 1,111 Years and Counting

A letter written to The Times by Head Master Alastair Tighe about the continual flourishing of Wells Cathedral School during times of crisis throughout its 1,111 year history was published in the newspaper on Friday.Alastair Tighe’s letter is replicated below:Letter to Times: 19th June 2020Dear Sir,The ongoing physical closure of schools as a result of the Covid pandemic is undoubtedly unwelcome for the current generation of pupils, but I hope the example of my own school demonstrates that we will...

Musical Support for Care Homes from our Music School in Somerset

20 Jun 2020

Written and Musical Support for Local Care Homes

The School is aware that many of the residents of our nation’s care homes have had to endure the long weeks of lockdown isolated from family and friends. To help raise spirits and provide some contact with the outside world for those who are more elderly and vulnerable in our community, pupils from across the School and all round the world, as well as staff, in conjunction with the Wells Coronavirus Network, have taken time to write letters to the...

19 Jun 2020

Poetry By Heart Somerset KS4 Winner

Congratulations to Year 10 pupil Alexei James-Cudworth, who was the Somerset winner in the Key Stage 4 section of this year’s Poetry By Heart competition.Feedback from the judges included:Poem 1: ‘Jabberwocky’“Good modulation of pace and Alexei showed relish in the poem’s language.”Poem 2: ‘How to Kill’“A poised performance that captures the poem’s inner tensions well.”Julie Blake, Director of Poetry By Heart wrote, “Our panel of judges were impressed by how these young people managed to learn two poems by heart...

16 Jun 2020

Frances Awarded Bulkeley Evans HMC Scholarship Fund

Current Upper Sixth pupil, Frances Fraser, has been awarded a significant Bulkeley Evans HMC Scholarship to help fund her unpaid volunteering work in Northern Cambodia for the Project Trust during her forthcoming Gap year.Frances applied to a number of grant-making bodies who support volunteering projects for young people, as a representative of the Project Trust, and the Bulkeley Evans HMC Scholarship Trust considered her long term project in a deprived country of sufficient merit to award a £800 scholarship to...

15 Jun 2020

Lower Sixth Higher Education Morning

Saturday’s Higher Education Morning for the Lower Sixth, run by the Sixth Form Leadership Team of Sally Rowley, Rebecca Murdoch and Julia Bird, provided pupils with invaluable information and advice about the next stages of their education, post Wells, whether applying to university, music college, taking a Gap year or seeking apprenticeships and employment.In addition to advice from Head of Sixth Form, Sally Rowley, the School hosted talks from experienced and informative external speakers: The University Admissions Process, by Iwan...

08 Jun 2020

Poetry By Heart Somerset Winner

Well done to Year 9 pupil, Campbell Maddox, who was the Key Stage 3 Somerset winner in the county section of this year’s Poetry By Heart competition.The Key Stage 3 poem performances were judged by a team of poets, poetry experts and educators from the organisations which make up Poetry By Heart’s partnership. Feedback from the judges included: Poem 2: ‘The Language of Cat’ – “The judges were very impressed by the skilful pacing of this recitation. An enjoyable and well controlled...

08 Jun 2020

Hetta Reaches Final 3!

Huge congratulations to Year 11 singer/songwriter Hetta Falzon, whose song ‘Obsession’ has made it through to the top three songs shortlisted for the Finals of the Song Academy’s Young Songwriter of the Year, 13-18 year UK/Ireland category.This year’s competition attracted over 700 entries from aspiring young songwriters across the world, with a wide variety of genres, from folk to jazz, soul, rock, punk, reggae & pop.Hetta will now perform in a live Instagram event on Saturday 20th June, attended by...

05 Jun 2020

Pre-University Guide for the Upper Sixth

Assistant Head of Sixth Form (Upper Sixth and Ritchie House), Julia Bird, and colleagues have put together a fantastic Webinar Series for Upper Sixth pupils which includes academic lectures, workshops, presentations and advice on transitioning to Higher Education as well as links to useful online resources and MOOCs. The School is committed to providing pupils with the best preparation it can, albeit on a virtual platform, for the transition to Higher Education and life beyond school in general. The Old...

05 Jun 2020

Phased Return to the Junior School

We were delighted to welcome some of our Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 pupils back to School, as part of a phased return this week. We cannot tell you how exciting it has been to see their happy faces again in real life! However, this has obviously been tinged with sadness at not being able to see all our pupils. School is different, whether the learning is in the classroom or at home, but nevertheless we are all adjusting...

05 Jun 2020

Let the River Run from Choralia

Wells Cathedral School Choralia is very proud to share their first virtual choir performance with you: Carly Simon’s Let the River Run, in a fantastic arrangement by Craig Hella Jonhson. Thank you to Director Chris Finch for all his hard work pulling this together.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNqhgMZvHkk

05 Jun 2020

Welcome to the Trinity Term Message

Head Master, Alastair Tighe, has recorded a start of term message for the Trinity Term to the School community from a sunny Cedars Lawn:

05 Jun 2020

CARE Awards

At Wells, we live by our four core values of Creativity, Aspiration, Responsibility and Endeavour. During lockdown, our pupils have been displaying all of these in abundance. Not only have they been working incredibly hard on their academic studies throughout this strange time of remote learning, but they have also made the most of different opportunities to demonstrate creative and positive responses to the situation in which we all find ourselves.We are delighted to share this video, made by Year...

05 Jun 2020

Wells Signs Up to BSA Covid-19 Safety Charter

Here at Wells, the safety and wellbeing of our pupils and staff is always our foremost concern; and during the Covid-19 crisis, we have been and will continue to implement numerous measures to ensure their safety.We have taken great pleasure in looking after the children of Key Workers throughout the crisis, so far, and this week have been delighted to see the safe return of many pupils from the Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 classes. We are looking forward...

Performance of Happy with Wells Music School

03 Jun 2020

Stay Happy with the Percussion Ensemble

30 Wells percussionists from Year 5 to the Upper Sixth, along with five percussion staff have created a joyous and uplifting collaborative rendition of Pharrell Williams’ much loved song Happy.Smoothly coordinated by Head of Student Experience and well-being and Co-ordinator of Percussion, Jayne Obradovic; arranged by Toby Kearney; and produced and edited expertly by lead technician, Tim Walker, the musicians submitted many audio and video clips that they had prepared and performed over the last few weeks, to create this...

03 Jun 2020

Beyond the Seven Seas

With some members of the Reception and Year 1 classes back in school this week, but others, as well as Nursery and Year 2 pupils still based at home, lessons for the Pre-Prep have continued in both the classroom and online.This week’s theme is Beyond the Seven Seas, providing all the children with an opportunity to learn about sea creatures, pirates and treasure maps! For those in school, the Pre-Prep building has turned into an Octopod, with small groups of...

02 Jun 2020

24 Boehm Caprices Inspires Flautists

On 1st June, fourteen Wells flautists came together with Elizabeth Walker and Susie Hodder-Williams in a sponsored challenge to play all 24 Boehm Caprices in one session, which equates to approximately two hours of continuous playing! They played to raise money for HelpMusicians, a charity that has been supporting musicians who have seen significant loss of earnings at this time.Theobald Boehm’s 24 Caprices are advanced studies aimed to improve technique and variety on the flute. Elizabeth Walker asked flute teachers,...

01 Jun 2020

National Star Recording

In mid-May, National Youth Orchestra percussionists, Alfie Creber and Stan Talman, along with Co-ordinator of the Percussion Department, Jayne Obradovic, recorded videos for the National Star Charity project. The Charity has been working on a special project, called the Percushion Wave, to connect everyone who is in lockdown or shielding because of health issues.National Star is a UK charity which supports young people with complex disabilities. While some students are at college in Gloucestershire, many more are shielding at home...

26 May 2020

Live Streamed Popular & Commercial Music Concert

On Friday evening, the Popular & Commercial Music Department hosted a live streamed concert on YouTube featuring talented young musicians performing a selection of original songs and covers. The focus for the event was to showcase Wells singer songwriters. Among them they have recently featured on BBC radio and in the Song Academy Young Songwriter 2020 competition. We are proud to say that several pupils made it to the top 40 songs with Woody Collins receiving a Highly Commended prize and...

26 May 2020

Virtual Brass Concerts

Brass musicians gave two fabulous virtual brass concerts on Friday afternoon: A ‘Lockdown Lunchtime’ concert and a ‘Brass Teatime Treats’ concert.Performers, playing French horns, trombones, trumpets and tubas, ranged in age from 8 to 18, and took part from across the globe – from homes in Wells to London, Devon, Alderney and Hong Kong! Congratulations to all those who performed, and many thanks to Ross Brown and Tim Walker for organising and providing the technical expertise to allow these to...

22 May 2020

Online Learning – The Journey So Far

As the Whitsun Term draws to a close, remote learning has now been in place for 6 teaching weeks and teachers, pupils and parents have begun to get used to it as a way of continuing to deliver the best education we can in a lockdown situation. As with any new challenge, remote learning has proved to be a learning curve for all of us, and there have been challenges along the way. But thanks to the determination, commitment and...

22 May 2020

Scientists Create Choc Cycles

Pupils in Year 8 have been learning about rocks as part of their science syllabus this term.This week they went on walks to discover different examples of rock weathering close to their homes, created choc cycles, which demonstrate rock types made from chocolate; as well as designing excellent cartoons to summarise their learning.

22 May 2020

Year 4 Camping Trip

At the end of May, pupils in Year 4 traditionally enjoy an overnight camping trip, joined by their teachers, in a beautiful location in Priddy. This opportunity provides a wonderful experience for independence, learning basic survival skills, and enormous fun.This year, far from missing out due to lockdown, Year 4 pupils have embraced the same challenges, with advice and support from their teachers, but in their own homes and gardens and the involvement of their families this time!Over the last...

21 May 2020

Q&A Politics Session with Richard Bacon MP

Sixth form pupils studying Politics benefited from a fascinating question and answer session via remote video link with Richard Bacon MP this morning, set up by Head of History and Politics, Chris Eldridge.Richard is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for South Norfolk since 2001. He studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he gained a First in politics and economics.Richard was able to provide invaluable insights into the workings...

21 May 2020

TED Talks

A TED Talk is anything you want it to be, whether that’s teaching the audience about a global tax on billionaires or persuading them that love is just a chemical reaction. These are just two examples of the eight thought provoking talks that were performed at this year’s Lower Sixth TED Talk evening in late February.TED is an online organisation which converges technology, education and entertainment, with aims to spread ideas on almost all topics in the form of short,...

21 May 2020

Year 6 Technology Challenge

Pupils in Year 6 have been taking part in science and technology challenges as part of their academic lessons. This week the challenges involved weight and load. One involved building a tower from spaghetti and marshmallows. The current record stands at 90cm! Another was to use just paper to see how many pennies or marbles the pupils’ bridges could hold.

18 May 2020

Money Raised for the NHS

Congratulations to a large group of pupils who have actively participated in an ‘Art Saves Us’ charity event to raise funds for the NHS. Over £10,000 was raised by the pupils and their parents within two days, which successfully purchased 2,000 sets of ICU protective coveralls for the King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.With thanks to Year 7 pupils, Sophia Dou, Jinchen Ju; Year 9 pupils, Alison Li, Bonnie Liu, Nicole Wong; Year 10 pupils, Coco He, Noah Ip, Gary...

18 May 2020

Richard Long Inspired Artwork

Some of our youngest pupils have been learning about the artwork created by Richard Long, one the best-known British land artists. He is the only artist to have been short-listed four times for the Turner Prize. He was nominated in 1984, 1987 and 1988, and then won the award in 1989 for White Water Line.Richard heard about the pupils studying his artwork and has produced a special piece of Spring Line art to inspire them, shown above!

13 May 2020

The Butterfly Challenge

Some of our youngest pupils have enjoyed the creativity of the Butterfly Challenge that they have been set by their teachers this week, producing colourful artwork, learning about the lifecycle of butterflies, and even hatching little butterflies from chrysalises and setting them free in the sunshine.

13 May 2020

Pre-Prep Pupils Go on a Bear Hunt

One of this week’s key themes for pupils in the Pre-Prep has been the much loved children’s story We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Helen Oxenbury and Michael Rosen.The beautifully illustrated tale was read and ‘signed’ in sign language to the children by Rebecca Allen at the start of the week, and the pupils have subsequently embraced all things bear-related!Some have dressed up as bears, acted out the story themselves, made bear lairs and held teddy bears’ picnics for...

13 May 2020

BBC Televise Brass Finals

This Sunday evening, 17th May, BBC4 will feature the third programme in the BBC Young Musician of the Year 2020 series, showcasing the Brass Final, in which Old Wellensian trombonist, Meggie Murphy, will perform as one of the five finalists.Meggie, who left Wells last year to continue with her trombone studies at the Royal Academy of Music, will share the stage with another trombonist, a tuba player and two French horn players. The programme will include profiles of each of...

11 May 2020

Composition used in Interview with Michael Morpurgo

Upper Sixth composer, Thomas Nettle, has had one of his songs from last year’s Senior School Production of Private Peaceful, used to top and tail an interview with Private Peaceful author, Michael Morpurgo, for the podcast of this year’s Chiddingstone Literary Festival. Thomas’ composition was recorded by his family’s quartet for the podcast.

11 May 2020

The Big MFL Cooking Challenge

For the fourth week of remote learning, modern languages students went ‘off-piste’ with a very creative teaching and learning challenge. This week centred around taste buds, creativity and cooperation, as well as working on written and verbal language skills. The pupils were asked to devise a menu in the languages they learn and then, as an additional challenge, to cook their chosen menu for their families.In the Junior School, pupils had the option of baking delicious French desserts. The response...

11 May 2020

Pre-Prep Bank Holiday Celebrations

Pre-Prep pupils thoroughly enjoyed the preparations for Friday’s holiday last week, designing beautiful flags, decorating their homes and gardens with bunting, and baking and decorating delicious cakes and scones. On the day some even dressed up in glamorous war-time costumes complete with elaborate 1940s hairstyles, and many enjoyed afternoon tea in the garden with their families!

11 May 2020

Coral Oceans Experiments for Lower School Scientists

Year 7 scientists have been conducting experiments at home as part of their Coral Oceans project. In their latest experiment they used Secchi disks to measure water transparency. Pupils found the experience great fun and managed to extract excellent data, which they used to plot their resulting graphs. As part of their project they have also created Ocean food webs and Ultimate Coral Species posters.

Specialist Music School Commemorates VE Day

08 May 2020

The Last Post for VE Day Commemorations

Upper Sixth trumpeter, Matthew Whitehead, has recorded the Last Post & Reveille, with a timed two minutes’ silence in between, which has been circulated to church members in Castle Cary and the community of Galhampton and surrounding villages to be played as part of today’s VE Day Commemorations.

07 May 2020

Year 3 CARE Awards Work

Pupils in Year 3 have been focusing on their Wells CARE Awards in this first half of the Whitsun term, particularly impressing their teacher, Mrs Kinnersley, with their sense of community and endeavour. Highlights include making delicious cream teas as a treat for elderly and vulnerable neighbours; creating willow fish sculptures as gifts for distant family; designing a Veggie Vaccine to boost health and wellbeing for the community; and bringing the story of Mary Anning, fossils and all, to life...

07 May 2020

Junior School French Baking Challenge

Pupils in Years 5 and 6 have been busy in the kitchen this week baking tasty treats as part of their French lessons. Jules Desmarchelier-Arpino provided the classes with instructions in French for a variety of delicious traditional recipes and the pupils have risen to the challenge, translating the French, designing menus and taking over the kitchen!The resulting spectacular culinary goodies have included madeleines, a chocolate gâteau au réfrigérateur and tasty crêpes with a variety of delicious fillings. Chapeau!

05 May 2020

BBC Televise Woodwind Finals

On the evening of Sunday 10th May, BBC4 will feature the second programme in the BBC Young Musician of the Year 2020 series, this week showcasing the Woodwind Final, in which Year 11 Wells recorder player, Eliza Haskins will perform as one of the five finalists.Eliza will share the stage with a flautist, clarinettist, oboist and bassoonist, with the young musicians performing music by Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky, Messiaen and Peter Facer.Full coverage of each of the category finals concerts, presented by...

05 May 2020

A Star Wars Odyssey for Pre-Prep

From the start of the week, pupils in Pre-Prep have been enjoying a cosmic learning experience, as they follow the theme of space, rockets and stars, commencing with a celebration of Star Wars Day – May the Fourth – on Monday.Head of Pre-Prep Development, Rebecca Allen, welcomed pupils back for the third week of the Whitsun term ‘from space’, dressed as a Jedi Master and ably aided by her little canine Ewok. The morning began with a reading of ‘Bringing...

05 May 2020

Geological Society Section Winners

Congratulations to the Wells Geology team who have been awarded the winner’s prize for their presentation on ‘Cryovolcanoes and Ice tectonics on Europa’ in the remote final of this year’s Geological Society Competition.This year, instead of going to London for the final, the teams submitted their poster, sent a video of them delivering their powerpoint presentation and completed a geological quiz online. Rather than awarding an overall prize this year, the Society awarded a winner for each section.Feedback from the...

04 May 2020

Year 10 Circular Motion Experiments

Year 10 pupils have found interesting and creative ways to explore the phenomena of circular motion at home, whilst working on their GCSE Physics syllabus. From swinging buckets of water around their head to twirling headphones, they have explored the centripetal force and its effect on the world around them.

04 May 2020

Thanking Key Workers

Key workers in the Junior School helped pupils who are still at School paint a beautiful chalk rainbow on the gates of the Pre-Prep playground to show their appreciation for the NHS and Carers, whilst they were in Wells last week. We hope it makes lots of people smile!

04 May 2020

Lily Wins Design Competition for New Hockey Stick

Congratulations to England hockey player, Lily Webb, currently in the Lower Sixth at Wells, who has won the Y1 Hockey brand’s competition to design the artwork for a limited edition hockey stick. Lily won the public vote, having been shortlisted for the final with her vibrant design!

04 May 2020

Sports Wall Challenge

The Wells Sports department have set up the Sports Wall Challenge for all those budding sportsmen and sportswomen currently in lockdown. Together as a school we are aiming to do as many wall keepy uppies as possible. All you have to do is film yourself for 30 seconds hitting or throwing a ball against a wall with any sports equipment you like (tennis racket, bat, stick etc). Count how many you do and send in your videos to [email protected] See Head...

04 May 2020

GCSE and A Level Art

Senior Wells pupils have worked hard on their exam preparation Artwork over the course of the last few months. Year 11 pupils designed a variety of work on the theme of ‘Event’; whilst Upper Sixth pupils created pieces on the theme of ‘Change and Stability’.

04 May 2020

Hetta Reaches Final 10

Congratulations to Year 11 singer/songwriter Hetta Falzon, whose song ‘Obsession’ has been shortlisted in the top final ten songs for the Young Songwriter of the Year, 13-18 year UK/Ireland category. Hetta’s song will now be listened to by some of the most influential music producers and songwriters in the UK. She will find out in early June if she has been selected as one of the top three, and is absolutely thrilled to have made it this far. Listen to...

04 May 2020

Budding Chemists in Year 6

Year 6 pupils have just started their new unit of chemistry, as part of this term’s science syllabus. Part of the topic involves dissolving different harmless substances in water and then investigating the reasons for the subsequent differing reactions.Normally, the teachers work with mystery substances to see whether the pupils can guess what they are using their scientific knowledge, but with remote learning this has not been possible, and more specific instructions have been provided to help the pupils conduct...

01 May 2020

Year 4 Return to Tudor Times

Year 4 pupils have been learning about the Tudors in their history syllabus this week, creating menus and invitations to a Tudor Feast inspired by the Court of Henry VII, baking cheese-fritters from a Tudor recipe, and designing beautiful Tudor artwork.

30 Apr 2020

Netball Challenge

Wells Year 10 netball player, Madison Lewis, is fundraising for Macmillan Cancer Support over the next six days to help the charity during this COVID-19 crisis. Madison will be completing 2,600 shots on goal in six days for the 2.6 charity. Donations welcome here https://bit.ly/2WcwXMI

30 Apr 2020

Learning Independence and Life Skills

Wells pupils are clearly making the most of their time in lockdown, developing important life skills and independence through a range of stimulating and challenging activities. In true Somerset-style, the King family are juggling the management of a busy working farm with a milk delivery business whose demand has soared due to the demands of village shops to supply their communities across Mendip. Edward in Year 9 and Henry in Year 5, third generation Wellensians, are combining their school work with...

29 Apr 2020

BBC4 Televise Keyboard Finals

On the evening of Sunday 3rd May, BBC Young Musician of the Year 2020 will return to BBC4 with the first of six programmes covering this year’s competition.This Sunday’s programme, starting at 19.00, will showcase the Keyboards Final and will feature two Wells pupils out of the five finalists: Year 11 pianist Bridget Yee and Lower Sixth pianist Sejin Yoon. The pianists perform music by some of the giants of the keyboard repertoire – Bach, Scarlatti, Beethoven and Rachmaninov.Presented by...

29 Apr 2020

Here Be Dragons!

Pupils in the Pre-Prep have been centring part of their learning over the last week around the theme of Dragons, to tie in with St George’s Day last Thursday, a topic which has certainly unleashed creativity amongst pupils and teachers alike!Pupils have designed their own crests and shields to defend against dragons, created brightly coloured dragon masks and elaborate swords, used dragon stencils for face painting and dressed up as knights to defend their toys. There have even been some...

27 Apr 2020

Woody’s ‘Vicars Close’ Shortlisted for Young Songwriter Competition

Congratulations to Woody Collins, a young musician and composer in Year 7, whose song ‘Vicar’s Close’, inspired by his experience as one of the choristers at Wells Cathedral, is amongst 40 of those that have been shortlisted for the Song Academy Young Songwriter of the year for the 8-12 age group category. Using the knowledge of his time at Wells as a chorister and his own choral skills, Woody has integrated chorister singing and computer-generated Cathedral bells into his work,...

27 Apr 2020

Old Wellensian Concert Soloist Inspires with Beethoven

Seasoned concerto soloist and Old Wellensian, Lee Jae Phang (OW 2012), had a performance premiered on YouTube last week as part of the Beethoven Piano Society of Europe’s year long Beethoven 250th Anniversary Festival. The concert featured all 35 Beethoven piano sonatas, performed by 35 specially invited concert pianists. Lee Jae performed the Beethoven Sonata Op.22 in B flat (1799-1800). He was originally booked to perform this at St. James’s Piccadilly in London last Monday, but following the concert’s cancellation...

27 Apr 2020

Megan is BBC Radio Somerset Hit

Head Girl Chorister, Megan Curl, is also a prolific songwriter, with her songs regularly played on BBC Somerset Upload, after she was talented-spotted online. The following songs have already featured on the music show: Daydreaming Blues, Sticklebricks and The BFF Song.Next week she has already been booked for her song Stranger, and the following week, her brand new and particularly apposite song Distanced, about social isolation, will be played!Megan has a YouTube channel called Meg Curl Music where you can...

24 Apr 2020

Remote music lessons working across the UK

Pupil, teacher and accompanist successfully joined together from locations across the UK on Thursday for their music lesson. Percussionist Stan Talman, based in Somerset, was taught by Jayne Obradovic, based in South Wales, and accompanied by Nick Lauener, currently based in Scotland!

22 Apr 2020

Hetta Shortlisted for Young Songwriter of the Year

Congratulations to Year 11 pupil, Hetta Falzon, who has had three of her original songs shortlisted amongst the top 60 finalists in Song Academy’s Young Songwriter of the Year competition in the 13-18 year old category, selected from hundreds of entries across the UK. Hetta, who is a member of the School’s Vocal department and the Commercial, Rock and Pop department, is one of only two finalists to have more than one song selected.The panel of judges includes Tom Odell, Imelda...

22 Apr 2020

Start of Term Message

Head Master, Alastair Tighe, has recorded a Start of Term message to the School community from a sunny Cedars Lawn:

21 Apr 2020

Eager Pre-Prep and Nursery Pupils Back to School

Eager pupils in the Pre-Prep and Nursery classes have clearly been keen to continue with their home learning as the Whitsun term recommences this week, with some even donning their Summer school uniform!Pupils have started the term with a huge and creative variety of activities, from planting sweet peas, writing stories, calculating dinosaur maths, making butterfly feeders and enjoying countryside walks with their families. One of the key themes this week is Flowers, which ties in beautifully with the flourishing...

20 Apr 2020

24 Hour Challenge Raises Thousands for Musicians!

Throughout Saturday and into the early hours of Sunday morning, music staff at Wells completed a 120 mile 24 hour challenge to raise money for the charity Help Musicians UK and the Musicians Benevolent fund.Every hour over a 24-hour period, 24 Wells staff each ran, walked, cycled or skated five miles, raising a total of over £4,000 (including Gift Aid) to date.Communities around the world have turned to music during the coronavirus crisis, but many freelance Musicians are struggling as...

20 Apr 2020

Harriet Live on BBC Radio Somerset

Year 12 singer-songwriter, Harriet Perring, featured live on BBC Radio Somerset’s hour-long evening BBC Upload show last night. Her country-inspired song, Heartbreak, which she has recorded during lock-down, was played across the airwaves and she was interviewed on air about her musical influences by presenter Charlie Taylor.

20 Apr 2020

National Youth Orchestra’s Ode to Joy

On Saturday, members of the National Youth Orchestra, including many Wells musicians, joined together to perform Beethoven’s classic Ode to Joy, from his Ninth Symphony, in a show of solidarity, dedicated to everyone in need of a “musical pick-me-up”.The musicians were joined by Marin Alsop, music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, who conducted from her home in the USA.

20 Apr 2020

Virtual Hymn for Easter

50 singers made up of Wells Cathedral Choristers and Friends sang a hymn for Easter Day, conducted by Jeremy Cole: ‘Alleluia! Alleluia! Hearts to heaven and voices raise’. The melody (Lux Eoi) was written by Arthur Sullivan with words by Christopher Wordsworth. The descant was written especially for this virtual choir performance by Jeremy Cole, the Director of Music at Wells Cathedral.For more videos and recordings, visit the Wells Cathedral Choir ‘Webcasts’ page: https://www.wellscathedral.org.uk/music-the-choir/webcasts/

20 Apr 2020

Still Making Music

Harriet Perring, a rock and pop specialist in Year 12, has been busy recording one of her songs for a competition. You can find it on soundcloud. Link in bio! https://soundcloud.com/song-academy/heartbreak-harriet-perring?in=song-academy/sets/says20-competition-13-18-year

17 Apr 2020

Entrepreneurial Spirit

Head Boy, Jacob Potts, has been busy creating his own bespoke woodwork business, called FactusX, during the Coronavirus lockdown. He has just finished making the table shown above, which is now for sale! Follow his Instagram @factusx and if you want to find out more contact [email protected]

02 Apr 2020

Physics Olympiad Gold Awards

Congratulations to three Lower Sixth pupils, Francois Cloete, Timothy Ho and Leo Li, who have achieved Gold Awards in the recent Physics Olympiad, Senior Challenge (the Lower Sixth paper). This puts them in the top 5.5% of Lower Sixth pupils nationally, who sat the paper. The Senior Physics Challenge, run by the British Physics Olympiad, provides an exciting opportunity for physicists to stretch their lateral thinking skills and apply fundamental physical principles to novel situations. The Challenge is a single,...

30 Mar 2020

Achievement Assembly Celebrates Successes

Pupils in the Pre-Prep have enjoyed a very busy first week of home learning, which was rounded off with a celebratory Achievement Assembly streamed online by Rebecca Allen before the start of the Easter break. The Assembly focused on the huge range of activities that some of Wells’ youngest pupils have been working on over their time at home, as well as announcing the weekly Motivation Awards and celebrating each and every pupil’s successes.Highlights have included tadpole inspections, cookery, spellings...

25 Mar 2020

Joyeuses Pâques!

Year 7 pupils made a French Easter card as part of their remote learning this week, following instructions online to make a pop out beak. This joyous version was made by pupil Chris Dietrich.

25 Mar 2020

Aspiring Volcanologist Provides Insight for Pupils

Upper Sixth Geology pupils were joined on Google Meet by aspiring volcanologist and Old Wellensian, Emily Bell, for their remote Geology lesson on Wednesday. Emily, who left Wells in 2016 to study Geography and Geology at University, has very recently been working at the Colima Volcano Observatory in Mexico. She was expecting to spend another month working there, but has returned to the UK earlier than expected as a result of impending travel restrictions. Pupils were able to ask Emily...

25 Mar 2020

Pre-Prep Home School Club Activities

Pupils in the Nursery and Pre-prep have enjoyed an energetic start to their new school routines this week, with Head of Pre-Prep Development, Rebecca Allen’s rousing Welcome to the Pre-Prep Home School Club. Rebecca’s lively home video provided wake up exercises, tips for making the most of time at home and themes for the week, as well as reassurance to the youngest members of the Wells family. Every morning the team of Pre-Prep teachers greet their classes in videos which...

25 Mar 2020

Lessons Continue Worldwide for Wells Musicians

During the final week of the Lent Term, Wells musicians are continuing to have instrumental lessons from their specialist teachers, but are learning from the comfort of their homes around the world, rather than the music rooms in Mullins, Polydor, Cedars Hall or the Music School. So far this week, cello teacher, Richard May, has ‘visited’ Sweden, the Cayman Islands, China and various locations across the UK, without leaving his front door!

24 Mar 2020

Pre-Prep Rainbows

This week, children in the Pre-Prep have been asked to create a rainbow with paints, pens, plasticine, flowers, magnets or whatever they have to hand, to place in one of their windows at home to cheer people up when they are out on their fresh air walks.The Nursery pupils have themed all of their home learning around rainbows, with stories in Assembly based on rainbows, and suggestions including Rainbow Fish, Elmer and Plant a Rainbow on home learning documents that...

24 Mar 2020

University and Music College Offers

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 150 offers from Russell Group and other top universities to study a wide range of subjects, from Anthropology and Archaeology to Engineering, History of Art to Theoretical Physics.Six Wellensians in total have received Oxbridge offers. Two have offers from the University of Cambridge: Gabrielle Desalbres from the...

23 Mar 2020

National Schools’ Geology Challenge

The team of Wells geologists were again due to represent the West of England in the National Final of the Geological Society’s competition in London last week. Although they weren’t able to visit in person this year, the competition still took place, albeit remotely.The team of Nick, Megan, Ed, Isaac, Humphrey and Ellie had worked hard to research their chosen topic and they demonstrated an impressive level of expertise, especially as three of them intend to read geology, and one...

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