Skylight - Summer 2017

Trips Year 9 STEM Day On Tuesday 21 March, Year 9 students took part in STEM day, an event informing children about Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. The main activity was a creative task involving the construction of an affordable, productive water tank out of limited materials such as corrugated plastic. The company who organised the day, Smallpeice, were looking to show us different aspects of creativity and design. The whole day provided an insight in applying engineering techniques, with the aim of finding the most efficient solution to making this water tank. At the end of the day the groups were tested for the most efficient and affordable project. STEM day was most enjoyable and engaging for all the students.

Year 9 and 10 Munich Exchange Programme During the first week of the Easter holidays, 24 boys from Years 9 and 10 spent a week in Munich staying with host families from our longstanding partner school, Gisela Gymnasium. They enjoyed a busy itinerary, which included exploring Munich itself as well as day trips to Salzburg and Regensburg. It was a fantastic opportunity for the boys both to practise their German and to partake in a meaningful cultural exchange - it was wonderful to see them making the most of the experience. Thanks go to Mr Charlwood and Mr Jones for accompanying the boys for the week.

Dorset Geography Easter Trip At the end of the Spring Term, students from Year 12 participated in Geography fieldwork on the Dorset Jurassic Coast. This three-day trip is a highlight of their course, allowing them to visit Britain’s first natural UNESCO World Heritage Site. Work undertaken included beach profiling, assessing flood risk and investigating coastal conflicts. A further benefit was the chance to prepare students for their Independent Investigation, a new feature of the reformed A-Levels. The weather was fantastic and students behaved impeccably. A warm thank you to Mr Baird, Miss McGrath, Mr Bown, Mrs Fielden, Mr Taberner and Mr Cooper.

Royal Navy Section Sailing Trip The Datchet Water sailing trip featured the keenest sailors of the Navy Section.

Under the watchful eyes of Alex and Paul, our instructors from Datchet Watersports, the cadets worked towards their RYA Spinnaker and Seamanship qualifications, learning about hoisting and dropping the kite and practising manoeuvres such as ‘man overboard’ and ‘coming alongside’. All of the coaching took place in double-handed Topper Xenons and RS Visions, dinghies that posed more of a challenge to sail competently than our Hartley’s at Habs. The cadets were excellent ambassadors for both the RN Section and the School and it was a pleasure to organise the trip for them. Thanks go to Lt Hall, Lt Cdr Hardman and Mrs Goldberg for helping with the administration.

Outdoor Leadership Field Day Students travelled to the Brecon Beacons, where they climbed the highest mountain, Pen Y Fan. Some also went on to climb the smaller peaks nearby, Cribyn and Fan Y Big. Students took part in caving and gorge scrambling, one of Wales’ most infamous activities. The staff that attended the trip were a tremendous support, both in the preparation and organisation of the trip and while out in Wales. The students were also a true credit to the School and we had compliments from the centre staff, instructors and from strangers walking the mountain as to how well-behaved and willing they were to get stuck in.

The Habs Community 1956 Starters Reunion On Wednesday 29 March 2017, a great time was enjoyed by all who attended the 1956 Starters Reunion at the School’s Elstree site.

The Old Boys, who arrived at Aldenham House, were given a tour of the School by current pupils, after enjoying tea, coffee and light refreshments in the Bourne Foyer. They tucked into a delicious three-course meal in the Old Refectory, where they shared jokes and stories with their former peers and teachers – and rekindled friendships that were established many years ago. We would like to thank all our Old Haberdashers for coming together and look forward to keeping in touch with them.

Sport Cricket Results This has been a good season for the Cricket Club - of 85 matches played by the Club, 59 (almost 70%) have been won by Habs teams. The 1st XI, astutely led by Jordan Urban, have exceeded expectations, winning six of their 10 matches, including victories over Aldenham, Bedford Modern and MCC. All-rounder Naresh Rasakulasuriar (206 runs, 16 wickets) has been the star performer thus far. Elsewhere, our U13s, representing Hertfordshire, reached the 3rd round of the national Bunbury Cup, defeating Aylesbury GS (Bucks) and Eltham College (Kent) before losing to very strong opposition in New Hall School from Essex. In the meantime, they have also made progress in the County Cup competition, as have our U14s and U15s, and will be spending the Bank Holiday weekend on tour in Devon. We now look forward to the second half of term, which will bring fixtures against Berkhamsted and Bancroft’s, a new fixture against Wellingborough School, the annual Fraser Bird match and the senior Devon Tour.

Lanzarote Athletics Training Thursday 6 April marked the start of another warm weather athletics training week at Club La Santa in Lanzarote. 41 boys from Habs and 20 girls from Princess Helena College supported by nine staff came together for the week long programme running for its 25th year. The training programme is a mixture of technical event-specific instruction and quality work to improve fitness levels which makes use of the wide variety of facilities available at this outstanding venue. The group did extra work in the swimming pools, fitness suite, Body Bike studio, TRX centre and sports halls. The programme finished with a team and individual pentathlon on the final day. A big thanks goes to the staff who supported and coached throughout the week.

Reunion of the Class of 1960-61 Director of the Foundation, Mr Roger Llewellyn (OH 1983), hosted the Reunion of the Class of 1960-61 at the Old Bank of England Bar in London. The reunion took place on Monday 5 June and gave Old Haberdashers the chance to meet up for the first time in many a year. Again, we extend our thanks to those who were able to attend the gathering in the heart of the City.

Drinks in the City for Old Boys After the recent success of the first few ‘Drinks in the City’ evenings, The HABS Foundation continue to organise these informal gatherings on the first Thursday of the month (in term time only). OHs of all generations are welcome to attend for evenings of reconnecting, reminiscing and networking. Visit our website or email foundation@habsboys.org.uk to find out more information, including dates and venues.

Old Boy stands on summit of Mount Everest Peter Whitfield (OH 2001) was one of a small party to stand on the summit of Mount Everest on Saturday 27 May 2017. Peter discovered his love of mountaineering while at the School and took part in many expeditions with Mr Hardman and the other members of the School Mountaineering Club. We look forward to hearing about Peter’s next adventure!

Junior Devon Tour

Athletics Report Having completed four rounds of the Herts League, both the U14 and U16 teams head the Area A league, the former by 30 points, the latter having a ten-point advantage. In the last fixture, the U14s scored 60 out of a maximum 70 points, whilst the U16s managed 57 out of the maximum 70. The scores are now reset for the second round and both Habs teams will be looking to add a significant number of points to their first round scores as they push to claim a spot in the National finals in July.

14 members of the U13 Cricket Squad, accompanied by Messrs Haring, Baird and Charlwood, enjoyed another successful Junior Devon Tour over the Bank Holiday weekend. Staying at the Old Vicarage near Sidmouth in south east Devon, the boys performed exceptionally well, both on and off the field. All three matches against Colyton Grammar School and teams from Sidmouth CC and Ottery St Mary CC were won and there were several excellent individual performances. Kellen Dubignon, Jacob Haynes and Kabir Mehrota-Bhatia all recorded half centuries against Ottery St Mary in a huge team total of 299 for 9 in 35 overs, while off-spinner Neel Madan emerged as the leading wickettaker on tour. Congratulations go to all the boys on tour, for their exemplary behaviour, their positive attitude and the way they played each game.

Coming soon…

A new alumni platform for The Habs Community will be launched soon. The Foundation will be in touch in the near future with more information.

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

Tennis Results The U13 tennis team has made excellent progress in the Herts County Tennis competition, reaching the semi-finals by topping their group.

With progress resting on the outcome of the final group match against St Clement Danes, both pairs held their nerve superbly to win close doubles sets and now await confirmation of their semi-final opponents. The team is also looking forward to returning to Eton for the Independent Schools Championships after reaching the quarter-finals last year, ranking Habs in the top eight independent schools in the country.

SKYLIGHT SUMMER 2017

Awards & Achievements Scrub Bashing

Habs Mock General Election

145 Habs boys and staff descended upon Croxley Common Moor for Field Day. They worked alongside five members of The Friends of Croxley Common Moor to clear encroaching birch, hawthorn, broom, blackthorn, oak and bramble from the site. In just one day, our boys and staff cleared material that would otherwise have taken the Friends over two years to complete. Fabian Hiscock, one of the Friends of Croxley Common Moor, commented on how impressed he was with the boys – they worked hard for five hours, lopping, cutting, sawing and dragging great quantities of material to the bonfire site. Congratulations to the boys, who performed all of this in good humour and spirit.

Prime Minister Theresa May surprised a number of UK citizens by calling a snap General Election. As ever, Habs Politics Society were swift into action, arranging a mock election within a few hours.

Candidates were nominated to represent the five main UK parties. A hustings event took place at lunchtime on Tuesday 2 May in the Aske Hall and was attended by over 150 students. This generated much discussion and some heated argument. An online vote was then taken by students from Year 7 to 13 on Thursday 4 May. Zak Wagman for the Conservatives was the winner with 40% of the vote. Our sincere thanks to the candidates for taking part.

Art, Music & Drama

Events

SCS Art Therapy

Ninth Annual HABSMUN Conference

Over the course of this term Thomas Cheng, Felix Cheng, Richard Zhong and Karan Vadgama have been working closely with the Volunteer Team Manager at Barnet Hospital. Using their artistic skills, the boys have produced a series of paintings to brighten up the walls of the Children’s Ward. Some patients in Barnet’s Children’s wards are very young and can feel lonely and anxious. The boys have specifically designed each painting to show that even well-known cartoon characters can get ill and need medical help. The SCS students have also refined their Photoshop skills and designed posters to help Barnet Hospital advertise for volunteers and fundraise for new machinery.

Sixth Form PSHCEE assemblies Daniel Ellis and Archie Ananthamohan took the opportunity to bring the important topic of mental health to the attention of their peers and staff in a pair of outstanding pupil-led assemblies. Their thoughtful exploration of related issues of identity, compassion for others and being supportive as a community drew many appreciative comments from the Sixth Form audience. Daniel tackled the impact of the language we use in describing mental illness and how difficult it can be for pupils to come forward because of stigma. Archie explained the science behind mental health and how all of us can be affected by lows at some point in our lives.

It was a privilege to hear Archie and Daniel speak so maturely and thoughtfully, bringing focus to the values of our school.

Habs Prep School entered a Year 4 team into the National Schools Rugby tournament at Epsom College. They qualified unbeaten through the regional rounds in February to proudly fly the flag for the School in this prestigious event. With teams attending from all regions of the country, the level of rugby was remarkable for those of such a young age.

For the Habs team to go through the whole event winning every game, scoring 21 tries and conceding only seven, places them as one of the best teams in the country for their age.

The toughest fixture was their last against QEGS Wakefield securing the win by five tries to three, but most impressive was their ability to play as a team both in attack and defence against a very strong traditional rugby school. The team’s success even made it on to Sky News.

Year 2 Cuffley Camp trip On Friday 19 May, Year 2 spent an exciting day at Cuffley Camp.

Cuffley Camp is an Outdoor Centre near Potters Bar and part of the Hertfordshire Grid for Learning. Habs Girls joined the boys for a day of wide stimulating and challenging activities. Through co-operation and teamwork the children developed skills such as self-awareness, confidence, resilience and self-esteem. They participated with huge enthusiasm and enjoyment in activities as diverse as orienteering, den building and a rather muddy assault course! The trip was tremendous fun and an unforgettable experience for the children. A thank you to all staff involved in making the day a success.

The Summer Concert was held only a few short weeks after the Spring Concert on Thursday 27 April 2017. Nevertheless, the musicians were presented with an entirely new programme of music.

Concert Band, Concerto Guitars, Wind Sinfonia, Philomusica and the CCF Percussion delighted all with their various performances.

Big Band performed superbly, as did a Jazz Sextet playing Alex Astruc’s A-level composition. As a grand finale, however, Alex Down performed the first movement of the Bruch Violin Concerto and Bruce Parris performed Andante and Hungarian Rondo by Weber, both accompanied by Symphony Orchestra. For the Upper Sixth this was their final concert with the School, and it was wonderful that a number of them had the opportunity to perform solos during the course of the evening. The School wishes them all the very best for the future.

Chemistry Olympiad Sahil Baid has been selected for the team of four to represent the UK at the International Chemistry Olympiad in Thailand in July. This follows a busy week over Easter where he attended the selection events for both the international Chemistry and international Physics Olympiad teams; he was also shortlisted for a place on the Physics team but had to withdraw when offered the Chemistry place. Sahil is the third Habs pupil to have had make it onto the international team during the past seven years and illustrates the fantastic success and opportunities for our gifted pupils.

Prep & Pre-Prep News National Schools Rugby

Summer Concert

Children’s Theatre GCSE Drama groups performed two devised pieces of Children’s Theatre, adaptations of “Stickman” and “The Incredible Book Eating Boy”, to an excited audience of Year 1 Pre-Prep boys. Aims of the theatre included the use of a playful, physical and ensemble performance style to engage the young audience through direct address and participation. The young audience was delighted and entranced throughout whilst the Year 10s were rightly proud of their achievement and learnt about the high level of commitment, creative energy and attention to detail required when devising theatre. For the teachers present, it was fantastic to observe this very special interaction between our older and younger boys!

The Battle of the Bands

Spring Concert The Spring Concert is traditionally the time for the Choir and Orchestra to join together and perform a large-scale choral work. This year on Thursday 16 March 2017 however, the two groups performed separately: in the first half the choir performed Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms with organ, harp and percussion accompaniment together with some of Tippett’s Spirituals from A Child of our Time. The Bernstein in particular was a very challenging work, not only because it was harmonically challenging, but also because it required the whole choir to sing in Hebrew! The first half contained solo items from Alex Astruc, Malcolm Parris and Lewis Forman who all performed brilliantly. In the second half, Symphony Orchestra performed Dvořák’s New World Symphony in its entirety. This was the first time the orchestra had ever attempted to perform an entire symphony, and the audience were suitably impressed by its superb rendition.

A-Level Art Show The GCSE and A-level art show was a charming event that showcased the creativity and diversity of the Habs community. Words from Mrs Gleeson and Greg Steckelmacher (OH 2010), provided a timely reminder of the importance of creative expression, not only for those who study it, but for those who have a creative inclination beyond the subject. The art show was as a beacon for all those who fear for the future of the arts and was a very enjoyable evening. Many thanks to the Sixth Form artists whose work was exhibited, and to the Art department for organizing the event.

The Grandfathers Review

This year Hendersons and Meadows hosted the annual Battle of the Bands charity event. The House charities of Alzheimer’s Society, The Duchenne Research Fund, and the school charity, Green Pastures, will benefit from the generous contributions made by the boys through the event and cake sales.

The music showcased the bands that have grown from an amazing range of Habs musicians. Mr Todhunter’s band, The Sideliners, opened the show brilliantly.

Other acts to perform were Echo Parade and Lyla.

The panel of judges, from the Music department, unanimously declared Echo Parade the winner.

A Fly in the Blizzard

Alex’s Trip to Parliament Square — Friday 5 May 2017 Here I am, sitting in the car, going from school to Parliament Square and looking out of the window trying to remember everything I knew from Mrs Newfield’s history lesson about Parliament and the House of Lords... it seemed like I knew most of it, but I couldn’t imagine what was happening inside, what people do there and what the afternoon tea is like at the House of Lords.

Cromwell is on my right. Westminster Hall is next. Everything seems grand, majestic, precisely built... without computers! There are long corridors in front of me with statues, great paintings on the walls, patterns on the ceiling and floor... and these very polite and disciplined people passing by.

Finally I’m in the House of Lords! Here we are in the chamber. “My Lords!” someone started...

What a wonderful experience it was!

HABSMUN returned for the ninth time on the weekend of Friday 17 to Sunday 19 March 2017, with the School playing host to over 600 people from schools around the country and around the world, with the delegation from Azerbaijan travelling the furthest to take part.

There was a vibrant, positive buzz around campus, as delegates arrived to debate some of the most pressing global issues. From climate change and mental health issues to refugees and NATO, delegates were able to grapple with serious issues.

Following the Opening Ceremony addressed by Lord Popat, the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Rwanda and Uganda, and Headmaster Peter Hamilton, delegates engaged in intense, reasoned debate, coming up with clauses and resolutions relating to topical issues. Amidst the debate, there was still plenty of room for fun, with a rap battle in the Human Rights Committee and a sing-along in Political One two such highlights.

The conference finished with smiles and laughter at the Closing Ceremony. The delegation of Tonga was awarded the ‘Best Delegation’ gong. Habs boys played an immense role, from organising the conference, to writing daily newspapers and producing the conference video. Over 150 Habs boys and girls were involved in the running of the conference.

HABSMUN 2017 ensured that the annual conference remains one of the highlights of the School calendar.

The School were recently contacted by the THIMUN Foundation, who have recognised and affiliated HABSMUN as a THIMUN conference.

For just over an hour on the evenings of Tuesday 2, Wednesday 3 and Thursday 4 May, the Drama Studio was transformed into a military camp, clad with scaffolding, sandbags and even two bunk-beds. This provided the location for the Middle School Play ‘The Grandfathers’, a contemporary piece by Rory Mullarkey, adapted and in part devised by the company. For seventy minutes, the ensemble harnessed the powers of improvisation, highly stylised choreography and powerful monologues to present the lives of new recruits, as they experienced the physical and emotional hardships of life in both the camp and on the battlefield.

The company of actors showcased an incredible honesty onstage that provoked both laughter and tears from its audience, who felt a poignant awareness of the very human observations about the nature of war and conscription which, although abolished 50 years ago, is still very much a reality in other parts of the world.

Adapted from a Gogol short story, A Fly in the Blizzard follows Richard Dick through a long, cold New York winter filled with bullying co-workers, omniscient cloakroom attendants, insecure mobsters and beautiful overcoats. The play was a testament to the creativity and imagination of Covi Franklin, Bilal Hasna, Finn O’Riordain and Harry Sharer, who devised and performed the piece. The four excelled as an ensemble, working together to create moments of brilliant physical theatre: characters were lifted off the floor and twirled around by the New York wind, a feverish Richard Dick was visited by terrifying hallucinations, and shop mannequins teetered and fell.

The play rose to an ending so haunting and heartbreaking that the actors received a standing ovation!

History Squad Mediaeval Warfare Kevin Hicks from ‘History Squad’ visited Habs on Sunday 14 May and attracted a crowd of over 200. The group enjoyed plenty of battle tales and stories: for example, we learnt that the common Mediaeval man wore the same pair of shoes until he was 50 and that the price of a sword would equate to the cost of a fourbedroom home today. A highlight was seeing and hearing arrows flying off across the grounds, with Aldenham House resplendent in the background. A wonderful occasion which we shall certainly be repeating in years to come!