The Lion - Issue 87

Trip! A Classic

Bablake and King Henry’s Classics departments embarked on a successful 50 pupil strong trip to Greece during October half term, visiting important sites, from Mycenae to Athens.

We landed in Athens to visit our first site, the Temple of Poseidon, which had been destroyed by the Persians in around 480 BC, and we had a perfect opportunity to take photos.

On Saturday morning, we enjoyed a busy and bustling Athens, where we then tackled a steep hill to discover the Acropolis, complete with its awe-inspiring temples to Athene and its theatres.

After lunch, we watched the changing of the guards at the Presidential Mansion and at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The procedure was not too dissimilar to that at Buckingham Palace here in the UK, but was strange nonetheless to many pupils. We then visited the 1896 Olympic Stadium where pupils took part in races, culminating in standing on the rostrum for more photos.

On day three of the week-long trip, we travelled to Delphi where we visited the Archaeological Museum, which covers over a thousand years from the Mycenaean era to the Greco-Roman times. The fine weather which we enjoyed all week created some incredible views.

On Monday, we travelled to see the Temple of Apollo and the Temple of Zeus in Olympia. It was a great opportunity to see key ancient Greek figures, familiar to many studying Classical Civilisation. Those who were more energetic competed in a 100m sprint race on the actual Olympic track.

Finally, on Wednesday we visited Mycenae, founded in around 1350 BC, where we saw the Lion Gate and key important artefacts of one of the oldest ancient sites in Greece. One thing which caught my eye in particular were the Mycenaean tombs which were the home of the Mask of Agamemnon and the five golden masks. After lunch in the coastal town of Nafplio, we visited the amazing theatre of Epidavros and tested the acoustics, discovering that it was indeed possible for those on the back row to hear a coin being dropped in the orchestra.

Our final day arrived all too quickly, but before we headed back to Athens we visited the city of Corinth and those with a head for heights gazed down into the Corinth Canal.

We had all enjoyed a great week discovering Greek culture and learning more about many of the ancient Gods we are studying.

Pilling

Joshua

News from Bablake

CHARITY SLEEPOUT

The Upper Sixth took part in a charity sleepout event this term to raise monies for The Coventry Foodbank.

This is the third time that the Upper Sixth has raised money in this way and thankfully we were blessed with a mild and mainly dry night for the event.

The Coventry Foodbank supply 14 distribution centres around Coventry, which in turn support 300 families. In total, £670 was raised and we would like to thank the students who participated, especially as some of them got up, got changed and then either assisted with the Entrance Examination Morning or went off to represent the School at sport.

If you would like to donate money or goods to Coventry Foodbank yourself, please contact them directly or scan the QR code above.

Business Brains

Four of our Upper Sixth students – George Corden, Ramandeep Johal, Joshua Sangster and Adam Tyas - achieved outstanding results in The London Institute of Banking & Finance Level 3 qualifications and have been awarded a scholarship towards one of their degree programmes. They have also been invited to a bespoke visit day at the City of London campus to experience an insight into studying banking and finance there. They were each awarded a certificate and sent a letter of congratulations.

Well done to them all.

Marvellous Maths

On Monday 14th of November, Lower and Upper Sixth Math students were lucky enough to go to the University of Warwick for the day to listen to and participate in a series of lectures.

The lectures covered a wide range of topics, including prime numbers, over-analysing video games, magical maths, fighting disease with maths and Nim, which is a game where the aim is to be the last person to move.

It was interesting to see how maths could be applied to such a diverse selection of topics, linking with other subjects such as biology. We were able to learn about the different types of prime numbers and why they are important in cryptography, how to always win in a game of Nim and much more. A highlight of the day for everyone was learning how certain illusions could be created using maths, which we learnt about in the Magical Maths talk by Matt Pritchard. All in all, it was a very informative day that provided an insightful look into the world of maths.

JOSHUA DOES THE DOUBLE!

During the summer holidays, I had the opportunity to meet Liz Truss during her leadership bid in Solihull and to hear her plans and thoughts on the country and the West Midlands.

In addition to this, I also got to meet the current Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, and was selected by Rishi himself to ask him a question. I asked him what his plans were to create equal opportunities for young people. Rishi spoke of how he believes that the most important things are education, creating more jobs and developing highly skilled individuals. To hear Rishi speak was inspiring, as he talked of how he planned to offer an array of opportunities to the young people of this country.

I have also been canvassing with local Wainbody Ward Councillor, Mattie Heaven, and West Midlands Mayor, Andy Street, in light of the recent local by election in the Sherbourne Ward. I have been participating in Policy Forum meetings and have attended meetings regarding the Conservatives’ upcoming manifesto. The most recent meeting had the most points in the country fed back to the Government, which was encouraging.

I was also fortunate enough to meet former Education Secretary and local MP Nadhim Zahawi at an event to discuss his plans to further enhance the education system and the impact of young people becoming more engaged in politics.

Joshua Pilling

Scottish Teenage Book Prize

In the Library Book Club, we have been following The Scottish Teenage Book Prize.

I was attracted to this particular competition because the winner is effectively chosen by Scottish teenagers themselves. Teenagers all over Scotland read all three books on the shortlist and decide the winner by voting for their favourite. The books are chosen to celebrate the best in Scottish teen fiction and the award itself is highly regarded. I also felt that three books would be a manageable task for our new members in Book Club.

The books chosen and shortlisted by a panel of book experts were: The Infinite by Patience Agbabi, The Infinity Files by SM Wilson and Fin & Fly & Fireflies by Harry Cook.

Nine pupils volunteered to be part of the pupil judging panel and they have spent most of the Spring Term reading and analysing the texts. I have really enjoyed listening to their comments in our meetings and online via our specific Book Club Team.

Fin & Rye & Fireflies by Harry Cook was voted our overall winner, which incidentally coincided with the choice of Scottish teenagers too!

To reward them for their efforts and celebrate the group, each pupil has been awarded a certificate, badge and book token. Well done all!

Mrs Needham

Sixth Form Library Prefects with some of the wonderful Library displays they have created with Mrs Needham this year.

Schools’ Climate Assembly 2022

On Thursday 20th October, an early start saw 12 sleepy pupils board a minibus for the journey to Sheffield to take part in the national Schools’ Climate Assembly.

Unfortunately, we arrived in torrential rain, meaning we got to the enormous marquee absolutely drenched, but spirits remained high and the pupils were a real credit to Bablake throughout the day. The Climate Assembly was designed to provide young people with a space in which to consider how they can respond to the climate emergency in a positive way.

The event began with an opportunity to hear from other inspiring young people who have acted to ‘make a difference’ in a wide variety of ways including: policy making; communications; direct action and climate justice. We then joined pupils from across the country to participate in workshops, which were both fun and thought-provoking. In one, they were placed on different islands and were set the challenge to ‘build a community’. It soon emerged that there were challenges to overcome, with many more for some communities than others, - simulating real life inequalities, differences in resilience and

the need for those in poverty to apply very creative thinking simply in order to survive. It was great to hear such mature and considered discussion taking place, as we talked about what had happened and how this might reflect some of the challenges faced globally today, particularly the concept of ‘climate justice’ and its increasing significance.

One of the highlights of the day (apart from the delicious, free vegan street food!) was Chris Packham’s motivational speech identifying the scale and significance of the climate crisis and detailing how he has personally worked to advocate environmental protection. His key message was that although the situation is extremely serious, it is not too late to act and that, despite their young age, the pupils gathered for the Climate Assembly were capable of determining their future through action to drive this change.

Michael Masterson and Sebastian MacGibbon were particularly pleased to get the opportunity to speak to Chris briefly and all of us signed the wall, demanding action by the government.

Mrs MacGibbon

HURRAH FOR HUGH

After 12 rounds of hard racing around the circuits of the UK, Shell pupil Hugh has become the 2022 Super One British Kart Champion. Despite breaking an arm and a leg in a dreadful crash in the last round of the Championship, Hugh was able to secure the title by winning the race after Motorsport modified his kart to accommodate his injuries. Hugh will receive two trophies at an award ceremony to be held at the Silverstone Racing Circuit in December, one for becoming champion and another for becoming Top Rookie, as Hugh won the Championship at his first attempt. Previous Championship winners include Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, Jenson Button and David Coulthard, so the future looks bright for Hugh!

Year 8 pupil Hema Thandi recently achieved her red belt in Taekwondo, which is a fantastic achievement meaning that she is only one belt away from becoming a black belt. Hema’s grading had unfortunately been delayed by both the pandemic and the fact that she suffered two knee injuries in the space of a year, so this really is great news.

Hema embodies the five tenements of the Global Taekwon-Do United Kingdom (GTUK) club with particular emphasis on ‘perseverance’ and ‘indomitable spirit’ on this occasion, which the assessing Grandmaster specifically mentioned.

TOP TAEKWONDO Food Voyager

This year, the Food Department introduced a new co-curricular club called ‘Food Voyager’. The aim of the club is to explore different foods and food traditions from around the world through taste testing and making different products.

So far, we have tasted a variety of cheeses from France, made Welsh cakes and sensory tested chocolate. Halloween-inspired cupcake decorating was a particular favourite amongst the club members. We also tasted food from Germany and Mrs Billings talked to us about the traditions associated with the various items.

A special thanks to Mrs Dennis who has prepared everything for our club. I think she has loved it as much as the pupils!

Mrs Bamforth

TOP AWARD

Huge congratulations to Erin in the Upper Sixth for earning the top Roentgenium Award as part of the Cambridge Chemistry Challenge C3L6 competition!

She scored in the top 0.71% and was invited to the residential summer camp at the University of Cambridge.

Bucking the Trend

Nationally, there has been a worrying decline in students studying English Literature at A level.

Thankfully this is not the case at Bablake, as students continue to relish the opportunity to study the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Carol Ann Duffy, Christina Rossetti, and Henrik Ibsen.

After teaching in the department for over a decade, I continue to have a sense of excitement as I look at the list of students who have signed up for two years of grappling with author intention and the intricacies of language.

Sometimes I fear our numbers will decline as students may no longer feel that the humanities should be valued after GCSE. This year’s cohort have reassured me that Bablake students, like the award-winning author and Oxford graduate Mark Haddon, realise that studying English is “about history, it’s about psychology, it’s about philosophy, languages, sociology, theology. It’s about what makes us human.”

And so, I look forward to inspiring the intellectual curiosity of a group of women and men who are astute enough to realise that the humanities graduate is just as employable as scientists and mathematicians. Who knows – some of our Lower Sixth may become future cabinet ministers and they will have the skill set to invest in people.

As to the future, I believe our English Ambassadors (who recently spoke eloquently to our Shell pupils) will inspire the next generation to explore literature with curiosity, integrity and resilience.

Mrs Martlew

NATIONAL HOLOCAUST MUSEUM

On Monday 10th October,Year 9 pupils spent a moving day at the National Holocaust Museum near Newark, in Nottinghamshire.

Pupils paid their respects to those who had died, learnt more about the Holocaust and heard testimony from Holocaust survivor Ruth Schwiening and her husband. Here are Luca Cervi-Daley-Wilson’s reflections on the day:

‘The thing that struck me most during the tour of the Memorial Gardens was the Children’s Memorial, which is dedicated to young people murdered in the Holocaust. A huge pile of stones covers part of the ground in tribute to the 1.5 million individual children who died.Visitors are invited to select a stone from the trough and place it on the memorial. Adding stones to the pile is incredibly poignant because it makes you feel that you are helping to remember the life of a child who died in the Holocaust. It is a sad, yet powerful feeling.This experience was extremely touching as it helped me to understand just how much suffering and pain the Holocaust brought to people. It also shows how much support the Centre gets from all the visitors.

Another striking part of the museum was the model of the Treblinka death camp, one of many forced labour camps established by the Germans during World War Two.The only purpose of the death camps was to murder new arrivals, most of whom were Jews, usually using poison gas.The model showed exactly how everyday life would be for a Jew living in a death camp. It was horrifying to see how badly the Jews were treated and the torture that they had to endure. I was extremely shocked when I learnt about the conditions and treatment they were subjected to. It was such a harrowing experience.

It was fascinating to hear Ruth’s story about how she got to England. She arrived via Kinder-transport at the age of three. Her father was imprisoned in Dachau and her mother was left to find a way out for the rest of the family. She was so young when she was sent to England and I can only imagine how terrified she must have been thinking she would never see her parents again. However, a few years later, once Ruth had been adopted by an English family, she was finally able to be reunited with her parents. Her emotive testimony about her experiences during the Holocaust made me feel very sad and I can understand how insecure and confused she must have felt. I was also amazed at the fact that her parents managed to survive and were able to find their daughter.’

BBC AT BABLAKE

The Design Technology Department recently welcomed BBC Midlands Today reporter Joan Cummings in to school to film a feature story about the DeLorean Time Machine Project.

The story was aired on Wednesday 26th October and has received many positive comments. The episode is available to watch on BBC iPlayer and on school social media platforms. You can follow the progress of the project on Instagram @bablakedelorean and at www.bablakedelorean.com

F1 IN SCHOOLS UK REGIONAL FINALS

12 pupils across two teams recently competed in the 2021-22 regional finals of the F1 in Schools UK competition. Racing Lions returned from their success in the entry level to compete in the ‘Development Class’, whilst Spiritus VI returned after a rebrand to compete in the ‘Professional Class’ as Zephyrus.

They had all spent many hours designing and developing their cars and displays ready for competition day.

F1 in Schools www.f1inschools.co.uk is a multi-disciplinary challenge in which teams of pupils aged 9 to 19 deploy CAD/ CAM software to collaborate, design, analyse, manufacture, test, and then race miniature compressed air powered cars made from F1 model block.

This season the event was once again presented as a virtual competition. Teams posted their cars to F1 in Schools headquarters, submitted their portfolios online and waited for ‘live’ events to premiere on YouTube. The event was split into two showsRacing Show and Awards Show - and both can be seen on the F1 in Schools UK YouTube channel, with events for each region.

Teams gathered at break and lunchtime to watch the events and waited eagerly to see their cars race against other teams and see where they had finished.

Once again, the Bablake teams’ hard work paid off as they were awarded several prizes, with Zephyrus winning the Best Engineered Car in Class award and the prestigious award of West Midlands Regional Champions.

Zephyrus is now in the stages of developing its car for the national finals which will be held at Autosport International at the NEC in January. The team will be in with a chance of winning a place at the World Final, which will be held at an F1 Grand Prix weekend. This is the first time in over two years that we have been able to attend a live event and it is exciting to hear that the final will be held at such a high profile event.

Zephyrus is currently seeking sponsorship to help with entry fees, to have the car manufactured and to produce their pit display. Please do get in touch if you think that you may be able to assist in helping the team to achieve its goal of reaching the World Finals. See them on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok@Zephyrus_F1

Mr Nicholson

Art

LOWER SIXTH

The Lower Sixth have thrown themselves into their A Level Art course and they are learning new techniques and experimenting before they embark upon their Personal Project.

At the end of last term, the Art Department took a group of Year 9 and Year 10 pupils to visit the Botanical Gardens at Kew in London.

This visit was a resource-gathering exercise, to collect invaluable first-hand observational information which will become part of a project based around the wonders of the natural world, and especially the botanical world. As well as the world-famous collection of plants, there was also an opportunity to see contemporary artwork in Kew’s own art gallery, as well as the collection of botanical paintings which record the travels of the Victorian painter and explorer Marianne North.

Pupils have already started work on this project and the fruits of the visit will hopefully be seen in our end of year Art Exhibition, which will happen in June 2023.

YEAR 9 ART

Our Year 9 Art Scholar, Holly, shared work with the Art Department that she has completed at home. We are looking forward to seeing her latest canvas, focusing once again on animals but this time it will be a pug!

Tea Parties in Art!

Year 9 Art pupils are currently covering the theme of food and we were delighted to host some fabulous tea parties at the start of term in the Art Department. Many pupils put their cookery skills to the test and brought in handmade cakes. The parties give pupils a fantastic starting point to inspire them to create work.

House Events Autumn term

This term has seen a plethora of House events taking place across all year groups.

The House team runs a wide variety of events and hopefully there is something to appeal to all pupils.We very much encourage them to get involved, as in doing so they gain House points and have fun along the way; many of the activities also promote teamwork and participation. House points accumulate throughout the year and we hope to be able to award pupils with Half and Full Colours at some point during their time at Bablake.

Bablake House System

Shell Olympics

Shell Olympics, which is usually the opening event of the year, was postponed due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II, and eventually took place on Saturday 8th October.This event saw Shell pupils competing in events such as welly wanging, a hockey shoot-out and a relay for the House Cup. Much fun was had by pupils, and parents got the chance to watch and to get to know each other with the Parents’ Association providing much needed refreshments.

Other events this term have included cross country, scrabble, basketball, dodgeball, the Junior Quiz and the Christmas Card Competition.

Thank you to everyone who brought in items for the Harvest Festival.These were eagerly accepted by Coventry Foodbank, which is currently experiencing a very high level of demand.

House Music

Just before the October half term, we welcomed the return of the House Music event. Due to Covid-19, this event has not been held for several years. It was held in the Main Hall with all pupils in Lower School in attendance.The event began with Crow offering a high energy performance involving whole year groups.The other Houses then followed with smaller groups of pupils performing a wide range of songs.We are fortunate enough to have very talented musicians and they showcased their talents through vocals, violin, piano, guitar and drums. Bayley House provided a rousing finale with everyone joining in.We all enjoyed the morning and it was a wonderful opportunity to see our pupils’ musical talents.

Macmillan Coffee Morning

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the Macmillan Coffee Morning; whether you baked cakes, bought cakes or ate cakes! We ran a House competition alongside the coffee morning and the theme was ‘nature’. Emilia in Year 11 took first place for Wheatley House with her wonderful toadstool cakes. Each toadstool was a miniature meringue that she had handmade and assembled before using them to decorate her cupcakes.When they were eventually sold in aid of Macmillan, there was a long queue of eager pupils ready to part with their money for them. We raised a total of £573.35 for this worthwhile cause.

NETBALL

The term started well with some continued warm weather during our pre-season training. It was lovely to meet our new Shells and to introduce them to the joys of netball.

We are starting to see a shift in how the netball and hockey seasons run in schools across the country, meaning we have been very hockey dominant with fixtures this term. Training for netball has nevertheless remained in preparation for matches that will take place after the Christmas break. However, we have still played in several important qualification rounds and congratulations must go to the U14s, U15s (qualifying a year early in the U16 tournament) and the U19s, all of whom finished as Coventry Schools’ winners this year. They will now all compete in the county netball tournaments and we wish them the best of luck.

Individual congratulations must go to Summar on her selection for the Wasps U17 performance netball squad and also to Shell pupil Scarlet, who is already showing great promise and has been selected for the U12 Warwickshire Netball academy squad.

GIRLS’ HOCKEY

The 1st XI, captained by Emily Haywood, has had a very tough season, where higher calibre opposition, such as Stamford School, has made the girls fight for every ball.The team narrowly lost to Leicester Grammar and RGS Worcester.The 2nd XI has had a slightly more successful season and has outperformed schools such as RGS Worcester, King’s Worcester, Nottingham High and Solihull. Individually, there have been excellent performances in the 1st XI from Sophie Davenport and Abbi Smith, and by Sheen Tomar and Kajal Trivedi in the 2nd XI.

There has also been success outside school for both Emily Haywood and Milli Robertson, who have been selected for the U18 England Hockey Talent Academy. Many congratulations to them.

The U15 team has been making progress all term, connecting passes and using the pitch space more effectively. Captained by Alexandra Becque, the team narrowly lost to Stamford School, RGS Worcester and King’s Worcester. However, they have enjoyed some thrilling wins over Nottingham, Leicester Grammar and King Edward’s School for Girls.Well done to Imogen Lane, Gemma Haywood and Georgina Paul, who have all made appearances for the senior teams.

The U14 team has had a difficult season, however the girls have been committed throughout, attending training weekly. The team, captained by Kiera Mann, shows lots of promise for the coming seasons.

The U13 teams have had a mixture of results, with some strong wins and near losses and it is clear that there are some very talented individuals.Tiyana Muchenje has captained the A team, but every girl in Year 8 has represented the School three times this term so far.

The U12s are a very promising year group, full of raw, young talent.They are learning to develop their hockey skills, but they have come up against some very strong opposition.The A team, captained by Emma Bath, narrowly lost to Leicester Grammar and RGS Worcester, but put in an incredible team performance. The B team, captained by Gursimar Dosanjh, enjoyed a 9-0 goal fest against Nottingham High and difficult losses against RGS Worcester.

We have had a busy term with many hockey games and tournaments and new fixtures to stretch our girls and enhance our fixture list.

BOYS’ HOCKEY

It has been another busy term with our 13 boys’ hockey teams training hard and playing in a competitive programme of fixtures.

The 1st XI started the season strongly, beating Warwick, King Edward’s Aston, Haberdashers’ Adams and Queen Mary’s Grammar School. However, defeats against King Edward’s Birmingham and Solihull should give them focus leading into the second half of the season when they will meet again in the reverse fixture.The 2nd XI is having another strong season and selection has been tough with so many promising players coming through from the 3rd XI and an influx of new Year 11 players. Promising performances against Stratford, Queen Mary’s Grammar and King Edward’s Aston should fill them with confidence.The 3rd XI has had a tough start to the season, however, they are starting to play as a cohesive unit and are improving as the season progresses.

Grantham’s Army marches on!

The 1st XI has enjoyed a turbulent first term of fixtures, garnering attention as an entertaining tactical outfit under Mr Grantham. The footballing cohort has worked cohesively since September and captain Tom Mousley’s persistent words of inspiration coupled with Eavan Deol’s poetic input have helped the group to build chemistry on and off the pitch. With a diverse range of talent within the ranks, the aptly nicknamed ‘Grantham’s Army’ kickstarted its campaign with a 2-1 victory over Blue Coat. This was a match in which the 1st XI was deemed to be the underdog, but has since been cited as its most valued success so far, overcoming a formidable side. Capitalising on this momentum, the 1st XI raced into a two-goal lead against Camp Hill, but defensive complacency and a lack of concentration saw the game end 2-2. October half term proved to be detrimental to the sharpness of the squad, as the first game back saw the boys suffer a loss of 4-1 to Alcester, in a match where the better side won on the day.

The junior teams have shown excellent dedication and commitment to training, working with our two professional coaches, Richard Major and Nisar Chaudhry.The U15s have enjoyed an unbeaten run, beating Warwick and King Edwards’s Stratford.The U14s have also enjoyed success and their work ethic on the pitch has been a real highlight. Friday night hockey with the U13s and U12s continues to thrive, and it has been great to see so many of our younger pupils developing their skills and understanding of the game.They have enjoyed triangular tournaments against Princethorpe and Warwick, which gave all players an opportunity to represent the school in competitive fixtures.

All teams look forward to the hockey focused term after Christmas and details of all our fixtures can be found at sports.bkhs.org.uk

Eager to bounce back, a fixture against Solihull was a chance for redemption, as the entire squad was utilised in a convincing 11-0 victory that was testament to their attacking efficiency. It was a match that had everything, from elaborate celebrations to long range strikes; both the footballing pedigree and comedic talent were on full display. As the season progresses, the boys will want more of the same.

Bertie Hancock

Athletics

BASKETBALL

One of the fastest growing sports at Bablake at the moment is basketball, with four teams now entered into the Coventry Leagues and Shell boys entered into the local NBA competition.

Our U14 girls put in an impressive performance with a 54-10 win versus President Kennedy and the U14 boys followed this with a 41-14 win versus Finham Park in their first match.

Athletics

CROSS COUNTRY

Our cross country runners have excelled in their early races and in the Coventry Schools relays, our U16 girls won the event, with U16 boys, U13 boys & U13 girls all finishing runners up.

There was individual success for Krista & Seb, who both won their races, with Ella and Zule coming second in theirs. In the English Schools event, the U14 girls won their event with the U14B team finishing runners up.

BOYS’ RUGBY

The merged Bablake and King Henry rugby programme has continued to flourish this year with an outstanding start to the season across the board.The 1st XV had an unbeaten first half term with strong performances against Nottingham High School, Princethorpe College and Leicester Grammar.Their first defeat came against a very physical King’s School Worcester; We were leading 12-10 until the dying seconds when the hosts sealed victory with a penalty kick last play of the game, finally winning 13-12.The 1st XV has scored a fantastic 239 points in the first seven games only, conceding 84.The 2nd XV has also had a strong start to the year, having won six out of their nine games.The highlight of the term was skilful and determined display away at Ellesmere College where they held out to record a 19-7 victory. More promising than the results are the number of players stepping up from U16s to represent the 1st and 2nd XV so early in the season.The U16s had a great start to the season with a powerful performance over Nottingham High School recording a 60-0 win, and followed this with a narrow loss to Princethorpe.They won a further game against Wrekin College and are continuing to build momentum, looking to push on into the latter stages of the season.

Under 15

The U15s started the season with a promising win, but have since struggled with results.Their performances have been improving, with a fantastic fixture against a very well-organised and skilful Solihull.They eventually went down 29-28, but are building for the rest of the season.

Under 14

The U14s have won 50% of their games this term, completing hard-fought wins against Ellesmere College and Leicester Grammar. In the National Cup, they were extremely competitive against Rugby School, scoring two wonderful tries, but eventually losing 52-12.

Under 13

The U13s have had a wonderful start to the season, winning eight and drawing two of their first ten games. B team practices and matches have been extremely well attended, with players showing strength and depth in the lower part of the school. Notable results for the A team were beating Warwick School 30-10 and King’s School Worcester 45-25.

Under 12

The U12s have started their school rugby careers with enthusiasm and purpose, and wins against Leicester Grammar and President Kennedy have helped drive excellent training numbers across the year.

Friday Night Lights returned on Friday 18th November with the 1st XV, U13A and U13B teams taking on Solihull School at Coventry RFC’s Butts Park Arena. It was a fantastic event and the rugby didn’t disappoint.The U13As drew 25-25 in a thrilling game, the U13Bs lost 20-15 due to a last minute try and the 1st XV recorded a 30-22 victory over the local rivals.

With U12A and U13A fixtures taking place, pupil participation is at an all-time high and all Lower School pupils are able to access the great game through full contact, adapted contact and tag fixtures.