Events/Art, Music & Drama
Sport Club La Santa Athletics training week – Lazarote 40 boys undertook a mix of technical event-specific work and a fitness improvement programme, making use of the wide variety of facilities available at Club La Santa’s outstanding athletics venue in Lanzarote. In addition to athletics, the group did extra work in the swimming pools, fitness suite, Body Bike studio, TRX centre and sports halls. In the team and individual pentathlon on the final day, the group played five-a-side football and beach volleyball, went mountain biking to various beaches around the centre and for the first time went go karting at San Bartolome race track. Pool tournaments proved very popular in the evenings. Ollie Hocking and Jamie Harper excelled in the pentathlon, Ollie throwing over 13 metres in the shot and 40 metres in the discus. Distance runner Jamie Harper ran 2.02 for the 800m and improved his high jump to 1.72. Other athletes to show good early season form were Freddie Shiret, Kit McDonagh, Henry Rocha, Tolu Elesin, who also did four swim sessions in the Olympic pool, and Adam O’Reilly who excelled in the 80m hurdles. A number of the group combined to put teams into the weekly Club La Santa triathlon which comprises of a 400m swim, 16km bike ride and 5km run, Tolu Elesin, Kit McDonagh and Jamie Harper combined to finish 7th, with Jamie running the fastest leg and Tolu recording the 3rd fastest swim. A special mention goes to Andrew Chronias who, despite having a tough start, kept going and mastered the hilly and very windy cycling course.
Herts County Doubles Championships The School’s top tennis players were in action at Welwyn Tennis Club in the Herts County Doubles Championships on Wednesday 4 May 2016. The standard of play was the highest it has been for several years – the senior winners even had a junior Wimbledon competitor in their pair. Our first senior pair Sudeep Khadka (L6C) and Adam Vaughan (L6H) fought hard throughout but were unfortunate to be beaten in the semifinal by Parmiter’s School. Under 14 pair, Jay Patel (9R1) and Arjun Parmar (9R1) performed magnificently to beat strong pairs from St Albans School, Sandringham School and Monk’s Walk School to set up a final against Parmiter’s School. In a really close final, played in great spirit, our boys held their nerve brilliantly to win 6-4 and retain the trophy that Freddy Nash and Sam Warner won in 2015. Well done to all of the boys involved.
Summer Term Cricket Report
Mark Foster opens Medburn Centre On Wednesday 27 April, the School welcomed Mark Foster, who represented Great Britain in the Olympics and world championships and swam for England in the Commonwealth Games, to open the Medburn Centre, the School’s new state-of-the-art sports centre. Named after the brook running by the School’s 100 acres of parkland, the Medburn Centre boasts a 25-metre, eight-lane swimming pool, fitness suite, squash courts, climbing wall, sports hall, conference suite, school shop and café. Inside, rooms are named in honour of Michael Palmer and Vic Matthews, a former member of staff and former pupil respectively, who both represented Great Britain in the 1960 Rome Olympics. In the presence of the Master of the Haberdashers’ Company, Mr Richard Glover, School Governors, the Headmaster, staff, pupils, Old Boys and other members of the extensive Haberdashers’ community, on unveiling the plaque to open the Medburn, Mark Foster said: “It is an honour to be at Habs to open this excellent new sports centre. The facilities on offer are second to none and among the best at a school in this country.”
The weather this term has been typically British! We have experienced sun, rain, wind, sleet, the odd flurry of snow and an all too brief heatwave. However, our cricketers have responded positively to all conditions and performed admirably. The 1st XI, captained by Ian Harris, has won four out of seven games so far, including resounding victories over Berkhamsted and St Albans. Charlie Mack has led the way with the bat, scoring 415 runs at an average of nearly 70. He recorded his maiden century at this level against Mill Hill and almost repeated the feat against St Albans. Wicket-keeper batsman Alex Willis has also scored a century, reaching three figures for the second year in succession against Berkhamsted, while Harris fell narrowly short of this notable landmark against St Albans after sharing in a partnership of 179 with Mack. Jordan Urban has passed 50 on two occasions so far and all-rounders Naresh Rasakulasuriar and Hugo Murphy have also made significant contributions. Left-arm spinner Shaniel Lakhani, after his five-wicket haul against St Albans, is currently the leading wicket-taker with 13 dismissals to his name, followed by Aman Chatterjee (11 wickets), Mack (eight wickets) and Harris and Murphy (both with seven wickets). Elsewhere, the 2nd and 3rd XI have each achieved six wins out of seven (beaten only by the rain causing the games against Magdalen College School to be abandoned as draws). Both sides have excellent bowling attacks, while managing to score runs with the bat, and have proved too strong for most of our opposition. The U15As have achieved mixed results to date, but, bolstered by the inclusion of several players from the year below, beat Royal Hospital School from Ipswich in the ESCA One Day Cup by the narrow margin of four runs and now face a trip to Wellington College. Unfortunately the U14As lost their 2nd round tie against St Albans, thus bringing an end to Mr Haring’s five-year reign as winning coach in this competition. All in all, it’s been a fantastic summer term of cricket with continued success!
Peter Hamilton, Headmaster, said: “A huge amount of effort and investment has gone into making this a first-class facility. The equipment and technology available will enable us to offer an unrivalled sports and extra-curricular programme that promotes competitive excellence and fit, healthy lifestyles for all of our boys.” After the official opening and lunch, Mark spent the afternoon coaching a swimming session. He provided a practical masterclass on technique, and afterwards, using video recordings of this earlier session, was able to give invaluable advice and feedback to the boys who participated. Thomas Cheng, Year 10 pupil, said: “As a keen swimmer I found today a great experience. It was amazing to receive advice from such a highprofile swimmer. I will certainly take his feedback on board and I’ve learnt how the smallest, most basic things can improve my swimming.” Mark finished the afternoon by fielding questions from the pupils, ranging from competing at the Olympics, breaking world records and even his participation on Strictly Come Dancing! The Medburn Centre is the newest addition to the School’s already remarkable sports facilities. Physical Education and Games are an integral part of both curricular and extra-curricular life at Habs. All pupils are provided with opportunities to participate at a level appropriate to them. There is a truly diverse range of sport available and boys at the School go on to represent national, regional and county sides. The new Medburn Centre will allow pupils to develop their talents and thrive in their chosen sporting activities.
National Youth Theatre success
Summer Concert
The School would like to congratulate Rishabh Shah (U6C2) who has recently gained a place on to the National Youth Theatre’s summer senior course. Having competed against over 5,000 budding thespians, Rishabh used his considerable acting talent and experience to demonstrate his potential. Under the direction of Mr Norton and Mrs Morris-Wolfe, Rishabh has taken advantage of the myriad of School Drama opportunities afforded to him, most recently in an adaptation of Catcher in the Rye and Twelfth Night.
Wednesday 27 April saw the Bourne Hall host the final whole school concert of the year. The Summer Concert is always a spectacle and the boys kept everyone entertained their impressive performances and was a testament to the vibrance of the Jazz community at Habs. The first half included film music from Wind Sinfonia and the Concert Band, an acrobatic Guitar Ensemble, the Samba Band conjuring visions of South America and perennial favourites the Big Band performing demanding and intricate music with their customary panache. Philomusica, the School’s second orchestra, started the second half and this went on to include a double reed trio, the Chamber Choir and the Symphony Orchestra playing standards of the orchestral repertoire – Beethoven’s Fifth and the Fantasy on Sea Songs. Congratulations must go to all boys who have won music prizes this year: George Handley MacMath, Hugo Murphy, Daniel Harris, Arun Doegar, Nils Gaukroger and Bruce Parris. There were touching speeches from staff, boys and the Headmaster wishing all the leavers – both from the Upper Sixth and staff (Mr Muhley, Miss Cousens and Mr Pritchard are all moving on this year) - the best of luck in their future endeavours. This concert was a fitting tribute to all that they have contributed over so many years.
Max Metcalfe wins national Shakespeare Writing Competition Max Metcalfe in Year 9 has won a fantastic prize from the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS). The competition was run to inspire young people to read Shakespeare and to write an imaginary scene based around copyright and plagiarism. This was a problem that plagued Shakespeare in his time so it is apt that the ALCS has chosen to run a competition to celebrate originality and authorship. Max is delighted to receive his prize of £100 book tokens and a tablet. In addition, he has won a theatre trip for his class and an author visit from a prominent writer to visit the School. Max was presented with his prize in the week of the Shakespeare 400th celebrations, a super way to connect with one of our greatest authors! Well done to Max on his fantastic achievement.
SKYLIGHT SUMMER 2016
The Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School