Senior Chronicle 7 July 2023

Message from the Headmaster

This has been an extraordinary year at Cranmore. I am immensely proud of everything we have achieved and it is a real privilege to lead this school as Headmaster. We have kept our wonderful traditions and experiences of life at the school enjoying an abundance of fixtures, musical performances, assemblies, concerts, rambles and drama productions.

On the musical front, pupils have performed impressively throughout the year in soirées, concerts, competitions, workshops, and festivals. Some real personal highlights include our carol service and the visit of the London Youth Gospel Choir. Equally, in Drama, we have been privileged to watch some fabulous performances from different year groups, culminating in the summer Senior production of We Will Rock You.

In sport, there have been some astounding individual and team achievements. In many respects it was the most successful year since the school was founded with over 1000 fixtures played which is quite remarkable. We have won numerous tournaments, Surrey Cups, National IAPS, ESSKIA championships and Surrey championships. It is a testimony to the effort and talent of the pupils and the contribution of the staff.

Importantly, we also found time for opportunities to participate across the Trust with St Teresa’s during rambles, lectures, the World Scholars’ Cup, theatre performances, CCF training, musical workshops, the reading challenge, Maths challenges and the productions of We Will Rock You and Romeo and Juliet. This added greatly to the overall experience of the pupils.

Our guest speaker at senior prize giving, Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock MBE, encouraged us all to have a dream even if it seems crazy at times and to know we are all capable of doing what we are passionate about to realise our goals. Over the summer, I hope pupils will have the time and opportunity to explore what their dream might be.

I hope you have a wonderful summer and I look forward to seeing you back at Cranmore in September.

Mr Everitt

3 JULY 2023

Eco-Council News

We will need new members on the Council next year. Please speak to Mrs Sanders, Eco Co-ordinator, if you are interested in joining the team.

This year I was very happy with what our Eco Council have achieved. To start our Eco journey, we planted one hundred and twenty trees thanks to the Queen’s Green Canopy and planning for a gardening patch in the Forest School. These two things were part of our Biodiversity project. In the waste topic we have achieved new recycling bins in all the playgrounds, we also got people to decide whether they wanted a small medium or large portion to reduce food waste. We were so pleased to hear from the school chef that it made a difference almost immediately and could see cleaner plates from the very beginning. We print all of our posters, minutes and action plans on re-used paper collected from the staff room. On the Marine topic, we will organise a local river litter pick and a visit to Zero in Guildford in the next year. We taught students alternative options for single use plastics, and many students are still using Ocean Hero as their search engine.

Billy C, Year 8

Year 7 Winner – Charlie W (piano)

Year 8 Winner – Sam B (horn)

Year 9 Winner – Ronan M (voice)

Music News

My congratulations to the Senior winners of the Young Musician Competition who performed in the Winners Concert on Tuesday morning. Bravo!

Mr Harris, Director of Music

Music News

Congratulations to the following pupils for their ABRSM results:

Name Year Group Instrument Level

Grade 3

Oliver S 7 Singing Pass

Jack B 7 Piano Merit

Grade 4

Otis W 7 Piano Merit

Grade 5

Barnaby H 5 Trumpet Pass

Miles K 7 Trumpet Merit

James C 8 Cello Merit

Daniel B 7 Cello Merit

Mathew M 8 Music Theatre Distinction

Grade 6

Kamran H 9 Music Theatre Merit

Grade 7

Rònan M 9 Music Theatre Distinction

Congratulations to the Winner of the MTech Golden Disc for Project Arcade, Barnaby H (Year 7)!

Our drum and guitar teachers ran a competition to find the best drummer and guitarist in each of the Upper Prep and Senior year groups. Here are the results for the Seniors:

Charlie S 7 Best Guitar Performance in Year 7

Adam O 8 Best Guitar Performance in Year 8

Billy W 9 Best Guitar Performance in Year 9

Yash S 7 Best Drumming Performance in Year 7

Matthew R 8 Best Drumming Performance in Year 8

Gene G 9 Best Drumming Performance in Year 9

Mr Harris, Director of Music

School Council News

A clock has been mounted on the bus shelter in the main car park. This idea came from pupils through our School Council. A hot chocolate sale was held to raise funds for this purchase. Thank you to our pupils for this practical suggestion. It will help us all to be on time for school!

Mrs Spooner

Wimbledon Trip

On Monday 3rd July eight Year 9 pupils visited Wimbledon to watch the matches on Court 2. The boys watched an all American women’s match between Jessica Pegula v Lauren Davis, which Pegula won in straight sets. Then the boys watched David Giffon v Fabian Marozsan, which Giffon won in four sets. The boys were lucky enough to meet Giffon after the game where he signed autographs for them. The boys all had a great time and I hope they learnt a lot from the experience.

Mr O’Neill

Senior Sports Day

Spirits were high and the weather fair for the Senior Sports Day. Well done to all who took part, and special congratulations to all those who won their races. Borelli House were the winners in both the Upper Prep and Seniors. Congratulations to them!

Sport Update

The U13 cricket season finished with success in the 'Martin Alden' 6 aside tournament at Rokeby. Cranmore started well and finished top of the group with victories against Feltonfleet, Parkside and Summerfields. Qualifying for the main competition we also defeated Farleigh House in the semi-final to set up a return fixture against Feltonfleet in the final. Feltonfleet batted first and set a tournament record of 86-0 off their five overs. Despite this daunting target, Cranmore managed to keep up with the run rate, eventually requiring 17 from the final over. Some well-timed boundaries and excellent running meant we then needed 4 from the final delivery. Billy C remained the calmest person in the ground, hitting a 6 to secure an incredible victory.

Year 7 pupil, Daniel B and Year 8 pupil, Kobey M participated at the National Schools Athletics on Monday. Daniel did incredibly well participating in both the discus and shot-put events. He finished in the top 7 for discus and top 10 in the country for shot-put. Kobey, despite carrying an injury, finished in the top 10 in his triple jump. Well done to both boys.

Skiing

Head of Skiing, Mike Mellstrom, will be stepping down from his position at the end of this term. Mike has led the skiing at Cranmore for over 20 years with unprecedented success along the way. In his time, Cranmore has competed exceptionally well across all notable school skiing events, including the IAPS, ESSKIA, Surrey Schools and Interski. With many trophies won, Cranmore has been consistently recognised as the leading Prep skiing school in the country. With Cranmore now having older year groups, this success is now also being seen on the Senior circuit. Mike has built the most positive and friendly skiing community which has meant hundreds of pupils have taken to the slopes. His hard work and dedication for the sport has been obvious to everyone. Although Mike will still be advising and supporting our new Head of Skiing, Max Barson, we wanted to share our appreciation and gratitude for everything he has done. From everyone connected to the school, thank you, Mike.

Summer Sports Camps at Cranmore - please see links below and flyers:

Activate Camps - https://www.activatecamps.co.uk/venues/cranmore-school/

Football Camp - https://www.participant.co.uk/surreyfootballcoaching/holiday-clubs

Goalkeeping Camp - https://ab1academy.com/cranmore-camps/

Gymnastics and Athletics - please see flyer

ECDC Cricket Coaching at Cranmore, from September - please see flyer

God Bless

We pray together...

At the end of this school year we give thanks to God: For all the teaching and learning that has taken place in our school, both in and out of the classroom, For the talents and gifts that have been shared and the challenges that have been faced; For the burdens that have been lifted and the hurts that have been healed; For the respect and care that has been given. We give thanks for the friendships that have just begun and for those that have grown; For the faith that has been lived in our daily struggles, For the hope that has lifted our hearts on the dark days

And for the love that has kept us going. We give thanks for the community that we are, and we ask you LordBless our students:

May your Spirit inspire them with confidence and calmness; Bless our families as we take our holidays, May our time together leave us with memories to cherish. Pour out your love on us that we may return renewed and refreshed to continue our journey in faith together. We make this prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen.