This Week's WESPA Round-Up:
Dear families,
The WESPA Quiz is back
There have been rumours and I can confirm that they are true - on Tuesday 3rd March, WESPA will host the return of the much requested WESPA Quiz. The Quiz will take place after school and is open to all parents, WES staff and friends. There will be pizza and a bar. At the last quiz, there was also a boys’ team and if the children of parents attending would like to form a team they would be very welcome.
So etch this one into your calendars and get swotting. Tickets here:
https://www.ticketebo.co.uk/wespa/wespa-quiz-2025
Thank yous
It has been a busy week at WES and I would like to extend huge thanks to WESPA Trustee Alex who helped organise the Y10 Mock Interviews. Thank you also to all the parents who volunteered their time to interview our boys and give them such valuable insight and experience. There is more about the event from Y10 parent Tim below. Thank you also to Alex for organising the visit from Michael La Rose. I hear that this was a really rewarding and thought provoking session for the boys. Thank you to Y9 parent and Eco Lead Jane, head of Y12 Andrew Mangham and Claudia from Growing Green, for organising the Eco Club Trip to see Wilding with students from our neighbouring schools. Claudia has written more about the Knepp Estate for us below.
WESPA Trustees were also very fortunate to gather for an Unconference session hosted by Y10 parent and Trustee Sibylle. The purpose of the gathering was to improve and develop WESPA strategy and thinking. Our themes were Legacy and Kindness. It was a very rewarding and informative time spent together.
Thank you also to the generosity (and baking skills) of the many parents and grandparents who contributed to WESPA Wednesday and for bringing some epicurean va va voom to the staff CPD session. If WES ever enters Bake Off, WESPA Trustee Vicky gets my vote!
Have a great weekend all
Al
Chair WESPA
WES Careers: Y10 Mock interviews
A group of us joined our year 10s this week, to give them some practice at being interviewed for a job. In advance, the boys had chosen one of four roles to which they would apply, they then prepared some potential responses to questions. Our task was to be the interviewers.
The often quiet, unprepossessing first impression I got from many of the boys I met belied what followed. After a few minutes of teasing out their background, it became clear that they are almost always leading full lives of activity, achievement and responsibility within their families and friendship groups.
The range of maturity is fascinating to see. Clearly some have a way to go before heading into the outside world, as you would expect at year 10, while others would be an asset to a team in the workplace right away. I fully expect others still to be leading teams in the not distant future.
Our boys are smart, caring and capable. They are integrating into society and taking responsibility. I hope the interviews gave the boys some valuable experience; they certainly gave me evidence to be optimistic about the next generation.
Tim, Y10 Parent and interview volunteer
Michael La Rose visit
On Tuesday in drama class we were visited by Michael La Rose from New Beacon Books in Finsbury Park. In drama class we have been studying different voices including immigration and identity. The bookshop sells books and also makes them with lots of Black British, Caribbean and African authors and poets. We used this to start our poems about identity and discussed our ideas in class with Michael.
Spencer Lockwood 8B
Wilding Cinema Trip
Last week, 32 students from Acland Burghley School, La Sainte Union Catholic School, Parliament Hill School, St Aloysius’ College and William Ellis School attended a viewing of Wilding. Based on the book of the same name by Isabella Tree, the documentary showed the dramatic transformation of the expansive Knepp Estate in Sussex from barren agricultural land to nature haven, after its owners put a stop to 400 years of farming on the family-owned estate more than 20 years ago.
Sponsored by Veolia, the cinematic experience was another successful initiative organised by local rewilding organisation Growing Green. Founded 2 years ago by a trio of energetic Camden residents, the Community Interest Company has been greening schools’ grounds, boosting biodiversity in community open spaces and encouraging young people to spend more time in nature.
Wilding illustrated in a beautiful and captivating manner the necessity to protect the ground beneath our feet and rethink our relations with the land and wildlife. The documentary left a strong, positive impression on the students and their teachers. "It shows nature can heal itself as long as people stop making bad choices”, one student commented on the explosion of wildlife witnessed in Knepp and captured in a picturesque manner by the film. “The story is very inspiring and made me think about the impact of farming, and the pigs were my favourites!”, shared another student following the film viewing at the Curzon Bloomsbury cinema.
The Growing Green team is delighted with the interest in rewilding sparked by the documentary. “It's important for us to show students that change is possible, and we hope that some may even consider careers that help drive this transformation!”, Capucine Schegin said. The showing was a project especially close to Claudia Kretzschmar’s heart. “Since visiting Knepp, I have felt compelled to share what true, healthy nature looks like with as many people as possible”, she said.
