Skylight - Spring 2017

Trips Sixth Form Politics Trip to the United States During the February half term, a group of 18 Habs students, accompanied by Mr Clark and Mr Handley of the Politics department, went to New York City, Philadelphia, Gettysburg and Washington D.C. They visited historical sites, as well as places of political and educational interest, such as Ellis Island, the 9/11 Memorial, Independence Hall, the National Archives and Arlington National Cemetery. The magnificent hospitality of the American people was apparent throughout the trip; equally palpable was the remarkable endeavour of the American people, evident in the magnificent architecture of the US Capitol and the Empire State Building.

Golf Trip to Alvor, Portugal The School’s golfers enjoyed another successful and enjoyable half term trip to Alvor in southern Portugal. They played four different courses and benefited from an extended lesson with PGA Professional Rob Cheney. The overall winner of the tour was Kiaan Patel (9S1) with 143 Stableford points, closely followed by Ethan Myers (9R2) on 140 points. The boys also enjoyed quizzes on the rules of golf and swimming. The sun even made an appearance by the end of week - most welcome after departing Luton airport in a snow shower! Plans for 2018 are already underway, with a UK-based weekend trip suggested for the summer term.

Spanish Competition at Westminster School Sixth Form Spanish students Richard Matheson and Dhruv Kaushik represented Habs in the London Spanish Debating Competition at Westminster School on Thursday 26 January. They were accompanied by Ms Adams, Head of Spanish, and Mr Oscar Garcia, Spanish Assistant.

The competition is aimed principally at those studying Spanish to A2 level.

As our boys observed, “Debating competitions in a foreign language are both excellent preparation for public examinations and a truly stimulating experience for Sixth Form participants, and indeed teachers.” We were victorious in our debates against Mill Hill, Merchant Taylors and Wycombe Abbey Schools. The judges were impressed by the level of linguistic ability as well as the quality of the debates on issues affecting Spain. Well done Habs Spanish team for debating so well.

IGSCE Science Trip The IGCSE Science Live trip was one of the most informative and engaging events to open the term. Two of the best speakers were Dr Maggie AderinPocock, whose enthusiasm conveyed the topical issue of interstellar travel, and Professor Lord Robert Winston, whose talk on genetics and genetic modifications allowed the boys to think logically upon the issues of genetic modification and the numerous ethical consequences it could pose. The Science Live Trip not only provided key knowledge for upcoming examinations, but left the boys pondering the contemporary challenges facing mankind today.

Target 2.0 Competition at Moorgate Members of the Upper Sixth represented the Habs Economics department in the East of England Area Championship for the Target 2.0 competition. The boys won their regional heat in November to win a place in the final of this nationally prestigious competition. The final was held in central London at the offices of the new Prudential Regulation Authority, Moorgate. It involved the boys presenting for 18 minutes on which monetary policy decisions they would advise to help the UK achieve its inflation target of 2%. The boys performed brilliantly, their presentation perfect in its delivery and timing. Their responses to the subsequent questions involved admirable levels of teamwork and an astonishing level of knowledge, accuracy and detail. A huge thank you to staff, boys and external economists involved in the trip, including Advaith Dole, Amar Aiyar-Majeed, James Caplan and Rohan Virani.

The Habs Community MFL Careers Afternoon and Reunion On Tuesday 24 January 2017, Mr Roger Llewellyn, the Director of the Foundation, and Mr Richard Thompson, Head of the Modern Foreign Languages department, were honoured to host the first MFL Careers Afternoon and Reunion.

Old Boys and former teachers, who have excelled using languages in their work, were invited to speak to Year 11 and Year 12 linguists and enjoy a reunion thereafter. The first part of the afternoon focused on informing the next generation of linguists of the many careers possible having studied languages to a high level. A roundrobin format allowed the boys, split up into groups, to work around tables and meet all of the Old Boys and teachers present on the day.

After the round-robin session, former colleagues and OH linguists retired to the Old Refectory to catch up informally until the early evening.

The School would like to thank those former colleagues and Old Haberdashers who generously gave up their time to talk and inspire the students, as well as to current staff members who attended.

2000s Decade Reunion On Monday 6 March, the School played host to a reunion for those who left Habs between 2000 and 2009. Old Boys from the 2000s decade arrived to the Bourne foyer for tea, coffee and nibbles and a tour of the School. They were then treated to the sounds of Habs Big Band in the Bourne Hall, before retiring to the Medburn Centre for drinks and canapés to catch up with friends and teachers. It was fantastic to see so many Old Boys, teachers and former teachers in attendance.

Habs Welcomes Washington Expert On Tuesday 21 February, The HABS Foundation and Politics Society welcomed an experienced Washingtoninsider to give a lunchtime talk, providing insight into relations between the Trump administration and the new 115th United States Congress. Mr Jeffrey Weinberg has served as a legislative attorney at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Executive Office of the President, for over 43 years under nine different US Presidents (Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump).

It was a rare privilege to listen to such a distinguished American public servant and to hear his insights on the current situation in the US Government and political system. Mr Weinberg’s visit also served as an opportunity to celebrate the ties between the United Kingdom and the United States, often known as the ‘special relationship’, as well as Haberdashers’ own relationships with academic partners in the US. We sincerely thank Mr Weinberg for giving so generously of his time and speaking to our students during his short visit to the UK.

Can You Offer Work Experience?

We are extremely grateful to the large number of Old Boys and parents who support our current students by providing work experience placements for Year 11 boys – we would be delighted to hear from anyone else who would like to help in this way. The work experience period is one week and to be undertaken between Monday 19 June 2017 and Friday 7 July 2017. Placements can also take place over the summer holiday if this is more convenient. If you would be able to support Habs students in this way, please email Mrs Kerry Nash at nash_k@habsboys.org.uk.

Stay in touch with Habs Online Community – www.habsonline.org.uk Facebook – /habsboys Twitter - @habsboys LinkedIn – Haberdashers’ Aske’s Alumni

Art, Poetry & Drama SCS Prop-Making Amadeus The SCS Props Team have worked hard to produce the cakes for this year’s Senior School Play, ‘Amadeus’. The boys utilised a number of artistic techniques and styles for each cake, pastry and chocolate delight. The process for each creation started with a base form made out of cardboard.

They then applied Modroc to create a seamless surface. Each piece then had to be decorated with whorls of cream and fruits using Model Magic. Finally, they were painted using acrylic paints in pastel colours resembling those used in the time and place of Mozart. It was challenging to meet the deadline; however, the team managed to pull through with much effort and hard work.

Thank you to the props team: Fai Li, Siavash Minoukadeh, Ben ZomboryMoldovan, Ayshvaan Thevarajah, Josh Warner, Eugene Tsang and Sameer Barakat. Special thanks to Miss Norris and Miss Bird.

Professor Anthony Slinn Lecture on Salvador Dali Professor Anthony Slinn joined us for his annual art lecture at the end of February and enthralled his audience with his presentation on Salvador Dali. Professor Slinn is an old friend of the School and has entertained several generations of Habs boys with his tales of the great masters of art. Dali was a master showman with his waxed moustache and cane, but Professor Slinn was somewhat critical in telling us that Dali’s love of art was perhaps secondary to his love of income, and he was in fact the first artist to employ an agent. With his dry wit and expressive delivery, Anthony Slinn’s passion for art is tangible and we hope that he will return again next spring.

Slam Poetry Finals In a Habs first, LitSoc proudly welcomed five Senior School boys to compete in the Slam Poetry Finals. Hosted and judged by renowned slam poet, Maxwell Golden, LitSoc welcomed a large audience comprising a mixture of teachers and pupils. With poems ranging from Alex Cohen’s wry critique of ‘Hampstead’ to Manav Sharma’s harrowing ‘Cold World’, each participant delivered their poem with emotion and passion, much to the delight of our judges and audience. After five superb performances, Neil Jobanputra was crowned Slam Poet King. During his poem, he captured the audience’s attention with his bleak but honest reflections. All performers were superb in their delivery, and the contents of their performance left professional Slam Poet Maxwell Golden, ‘extremely impressed and inspired.’ Thank you to Siavash Minoukadeh, Alex Cohen, Manav Sharma, Neil Jobanputra and Ronit Anand for their contributions.

Sport Pre-Season Cricket Training The Solai Indoor Cricket Centre has been in constant use this term, as preparations for the forthcoming season continue apace. Experienced middle order batsman Jordan Urban will captain the 1st XI, with allrounder Naresh Rasakulasuriar as his vice-captain. Competition for the remaining places is strong, particularly with a tour of Sri Lanka to look forward to in October. Lower down the School, our U14s will be hoping to make it a hat-trick of successes in the County Cup, after winning in both Year 7 and Year 8, while the U13s will be representing Hertfordshire in the national stages of the Bunbury Cup. Block fixtures against Magdalen College, Felsted, Berkhamsted and Wellingborough Schools, amongst others, will test our cricketers. Once again, the Devon tours will be eagerly anticipated. As long as the weather holds, there is much to look forward to for all our teams!

1st XI Football Success The 1st XI football team have played in some very competitive fixtures this term. A battling 3-3 draw against Dr Challoners was followed by a great 3-0 win against local rivals Merchant Taylors; the pace and finishing of Ade Takota and Alistair Afeeva being the main difference between the two sides. The team have always tried to play attractive passing football and the positive influence of the Upper Sixth boys Josh Sassoon, George Lawrence and Chris Frangeskides has been evident throughout the season. Several Year 11 boys have also impressed, Joe Leslie and Dilan Markanday playing vital roles in the team’s 8-2 win against Mill Hill.

Old Boys Hockey Match Over the summer holidays, the Astro Turfs received their much-anticipated refurbishment. The two pitches had been in constant use for nearly 20 years and it was time for an upgrade! The first competitive match was held in January and placed the 1st XI and 2nd XI against the returning Old Boys. The School had never held an Old Boys hockey match before, but with over 25 Old Haberdashers attending, it is safe to say this match will continue for years to come! The 1st XI were drawing 4-4 during the closing seconds of the match, when Canishk Naik (OH 2014) fired the ball into the D, Rufus McAllister (OH 1st XI captain 2014) deflecting it into the bottom corner to complete a 5-4 victory for the Old Boys. Meanwhile, the OH 2nd XI proved too strong for the School 2nd XI, winning comfortably 6-1.

Under 14 Gymnastics Regional Competition After many weeks of training and preparation, the Habs U14s visited Chelmsford to compete in the floor and vault regional gymnastics competition. This was the first time that Habs Senior School had ever entered a gymnastics competition. After a stressful warm-up period, we were on vault. Everyone scored well and we exceeded our expectations. A few hours later, we were on floor. The routine requirements are to have at least six skills, and to use up the whole floor. A special well done to Xavier Shah for performing a roundoff back tuck somersault. In the end, everyone in our team had contributed to our overall score. We narrowly missed the podium, but we will return next time, stronger than ever! A big thank you to Miss Burman and Mr Kerry.

Best Basketball Season Yet Habs basketball has had its most successful season yet. With three scheduled training sessions per week, the quality of play has markedly increased from last year. Using the new state-of-the-art facilities in the Medburn Centre and the ever-reliable McGowan Hall, basketball at Habs has thrived. Boys from Years 11, 12 and 13 were involved in training and competitive fixtures; however, boys from across the whole of the Senior School participated in both training and games sessions. This season was particularly inspiring due to the commitment of the boys and the dedication of their coaches. Thanks to Mr Raatz and Mr Pearson.

SKYLIGHT SPRING 2017

Awards & Achievements Wind and Jazz Concert

Aske Project Award Assembly

Wednesday 8 February saw Habs host its annual Wind and Jazz Concert in the Bourne Hall. This concert provided an opportunity for all the exceptional jazz, wind and brass musicians at the School to perform. The concert was divided into two halves – the first was jazz and the second was wind and brass. Habs Big Band kicked off the night and the first half mixed smaller ensembles with the larger ensembles, providing a platform for star jazz performers and younger boys to play together. One particular highlight was the jazz trio of Freddie Bird, Leonard Maassen and Kielan Sheard, performing an original composition by Bird. In the second half, we were presented with a display of more classical music. Symphonic Brass and Wind performed to their usual high standard as did the Flute Choir, Wind Sinfonia, Concert Band and FT Band. Awards were presented for Jazz to Freddie Bird, Wind to Bruce Parris, and Brass to both Alex Astruc and Andrew Crabtree for their continued years of service to Habs music, to finish off a wonderfully versatile concert.

On Wednesday 18 January, Headmaster Peter Hamilton was delighted to award the prizes to this year’s Aske Project winners at a special assembly in the School’s Seldon Hall. The aims of the prestigious Aske Project, now in its fourth year, are to promote academic enquiry beyond the scope of regular A Level study, to develop independent study and research skills, and to encourage initiative and creative thinking within the student body. As was showcased in the School’s celebration assembly, the prize winning entries demonstrated the considerable academic endeavour and talent of our students. The range of questions posed and depth of enquiry across our Sixth Form body is, we believe, unique. The winning prize was Sohum Patel’s paper “Could Sickle Cell Anaemia save your life? Exploring the intersection of heterozygote advantage with population genetics.”

Sixth Form Ski Trip to Tignes Val Claret The Senior Ski trip went to Tignes Val Claret in the French Alps this half term. The weather for skiing was beautiful, with five and a half days of sunshine and barely a breath of wind. The boys made huge progress with their skiing and behaved brilliantly; it was a great pleasure to hear the hotel staff sing their praises. The boys also organised gifts for their ski instructors which they presented with confidence, clarity and good humour. The award for best skier was won by Arun Ray, the best beginner was Raunak Khanduja, the skier who made the most progress was Oscar Spalter and the man of the tour award was won

by Harry Sharer. A huge thank you to all the staff and boys for a fantastic half term trip.

Senior School Play Amadeus This year's Senior School production was directed

by Mr Eyre-Maunsell, who recreated Peter Schaffer's, 'Amadeus'. The play explored the attempts of Court Composer Antonio Salieri to plot and destroy the career of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

This captivating story was set on a thrust stage in the Bourne Hall at the end of the Autumn term, and saw Finn O'Riordan as Salieri and Bilal Hasna as Mozart. It was a production that encapsulated everything that makes Habs drama exceptional: stunning costumes, exciting set designs, outstanding acting talent and brilliant direction. It was a great pleasure to watch.

Prep & Pre-Prep News National Chess Competition at Roundwood School On Saturday 4 February, Habs played in the first round of the English Primary Schools Chess Association National Competition 2017 at Roundwood School, Harpenden. After a long day of nerves and tension, the boys proved to be very successful. The U11 A team came 1st and the B team 3rd, both qualifying for the Bristol semi-final. The U11 C team were joint 5th with Radlett Prep and can go forward to the semi-finals at Pontins Camber Sands.

The U9 A team came 1st and the B team 4th, both qualifying for Bristol. The C team were 7th and can go forward to the Plate Competition also at Pontins. Congratulations to the boys and many thanks to the parents for their support throughout the day.

Trip to National Gallery

Hazard Alley Safety Centre

On a cold morning in January, Year 6 set off on their annual trip to The National Gallery in London.

On arrival, they were met by enthusiastic parent helpers and knowledgeable lecturers. They were then given a fascinating talk on Still Life painting, a topic explored in class. Having eaten a packed lunch, the boys headed back to the main galleries to visit their Top 10 Habs paintings from our work sheets – examples included Vincent Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. The boys seemed to gain an enormous amount from seeing the real thing! The trip has inspired the boys and they will no doubt persuade parents or grandparents to revisit the gallery.

At the end of February, Year 3 spent a day at the Hazard Alley Safety Centre in Milton Keynes. They encountered a range of scenarios in real life settings to help develop their understanding of safety outside the classroom. These included fire safety, dangers in the kitchen, water safety and skills for crossing the road. During the session there was an opportunity for the boys to make 999 calls from an authenticlooking phone box. Each call was answered by a Hazard Alley staff member who talked through what needed to happen next.

Pancake Day at the Prep The Year 1 boys celebrated Pancake Day on Tuesday 28 February. The day began with an introduction outlining the reasons why pancakes are made. It also made clear the meaning of Lent. The boys then learnt how to make pancakes and used precise and careful measuring techniques to cook wonderful, fluffy pancakes. Finally, they carefully selected their toppings and devoured them! In the afternoon, despite the rain, the boys’ enthusiasm was not dampened and much fun was had flipping and tossing pancakes.

Events Geography Climate Change Conference On Monday 30 January, the celebrated Year 9 Geography Climate Change Conference took place. In the first half of the morning, pupils listened to key note speeches from Matt McGrath, the BBC’s leading environment correspondent, and Peter Haslam, Head of Policy at the Nuclear Industry Association. The second half of the morning saw the four successful countries, whose proposals had achieved support, present their resolutions and answer questions from both their peers and the judges in what was an inspiring Q&A session. It was a fantastic experience for all pupils involved; they not only had fun and enhanced their understanding of Climate Change – a key twenty-first century challenge – but also developed their range of transferable skills.

Higher Education Evening for Year 11 Pupils and Parents Pupils and parents enjoyed our very first Year 11 Higher Education Evening. This was a forum which marked the beginning of the preparation for A Level subject choice and the post A Level route; the start of the dialogue between Year 11 students and their teachers and university applications advisers. Mr Lloyd Gilby of RSM spoke about school leaver schemes, Mr Simon Lewis (OH 1999), of UES London, outlined the advantages of a US university education. Mrs Swallow advised as to AS and A Level subject choices and combinations and how to begin to research university course requirements.

Year 8 Historians Teach the Scientific Revolution to the Prep School Year 8 were given the responsibility to think creatively and produce games based on their current history topic - the Scientific Revolution. Initially, the boys thought that they would only test these games on the tutor group, but 8R surpassed themselves and produced such intricate designs that they decided to test these on the Prep boys. Mr Bloch kindly agreed to allow Year 8 to visit and support Year 6 as they played familiar games with a scientific twist.

The Year 6 were placed into teams and played online games, where they used their mobile phones to test their responses to the quizzes.

As one pupil explained: ‘I found the history lesson exciting and original. The board games were very colourful and well laid out, and lots of effort had clearly gone into them! I learnt lots of new and interesting facts whilst playing intense Scientific Revolution versions of Monopoly, Cluedo, Top Trumps and many more. I really found the lesson engaging and fun, and I hope there will be more to come!’ We hope to use these games for the Board Games Club over this term as part of the co-curricular programme and to continue to share our resources with the Prep boys.

Michael Lacewing Theology and Philosophy Seminar In March, the Theology and Philosophy department hosted a seminar given by Dr Michael Lacewing to the Year 12 Philosophy students in the Olympian Suite. Dr Lacewing is a member of both the British Philosophical Association’s Executive Committee and the Institute of Philosophy’s Management Committee, as well as the writer of the “Philosophy for AS” textbook. In the morning, Dr Lacewing ran seminars on the philosophy of religion, philosophy of language and epistemology. In the afternoon, Dr Lacewing observed colleagues in the department teaching lessons and spoke of how impressed he was with the students’ engagement. Thanks to colleagues who welcomed Dr Lacewing into their lessons and for their enthusiasm throughout the morning seminar.