Autumn Highlights

Duke of Edinburgh

by Mr Tom King, DofE Manager

Our silver DofE students overcame incredibly complicated circumstances caused by the pandemic to complete their expedition in the Autumn Term. After months of being stuck inside, our participants were eager to hit the trail and put some miles under their hiking boots. Maps in hand, they headed to the Surrey Hills and navigated beautiful countryside in their groups, passing through wooded forests and tranquil fields.

With government restrictions not allowing overnight stays, the boys had to be adaptable and demonstrate their abilities during the day. They all constructed a camp, erected their tents, and cooked meals over their Trangia stoves before packing up again to head home for the evening. All students rose to the challenge and showed great resourcefulness, enjoying the freedom of the woods and the calm of the trail. Many congratulations to these students for a successful expedition under trying circumstances. Our other cohorts for DofE have been adapting their activities to meet the ‘DofE with a Difference’ flexibilities, many working on their Skills, Physical and Volunteering sections of the award whilst at home. Students were encouraged to learn skills such as cooking, photography or bushcraft. Many volunteered to help siblings or their local community, and all enjoyed making use of their hour’s allocated physical activity to hone their sporting prowess. It was great to see those students who really embraced this award and made the most of their time in lockdown.

I look forward to seeing our students continue working on their award and completing the ‘Certificate of Achievement’, a new award granted to those completing their Skills, Volunteering and Physical sections during such difficult times.

My Voluntary Work for Duke of Edinburgh

by Max West-Cameron, Year 10

As part of my volunteer work for my Bronze and Silver Duke of Edinburgh Award, I have been raising money and collecting kit for a rugby club in Senegal, West Africa. The rugby club is called Rugby Club Thies, and the boys and girls aged 14-15 have limited sports kit to play in. I wanted to raise awareness and help them as it will mean a lot to them to have their own kit.

I have been asking friends, friends of friends, family and local rugby clubs if they have any second-hand kit that they don’t need any more. So far, the help has been amazing, and people have been very generous. I also set up a fundraising page on Just Giving, which means people can donate money if they want to help and don’t have any kit. So far, I have raised £240. If anyone wants to donate, the link is: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/maxwest-camerondoferugbyclubthies Thank you to everyone for your support. Mr King, DofE Manager, commented, “It is really encouraging to see students like Max engage with the Duke of Edinburgh award, especially during such a difficult time. Volunteering is an opportunity for participants to give back to their community and help others whilst gaining experience. Max has done so well to arrange a charitable placement that demands maturity and independence. His efforts are commendable and will make a significant difference to the young players at Rugby Club Thies in Senegal. His use of technology to promote his fundraising has helped his appeal reach more people and will ultimately result in more donated equipment. Fantastic effort Max!”

The Harvest Festival

by Mr James Davies, Headmaster

A huge thank you, once again, to our wonderful Halliford community, who donated so generously for our annual Harvest Festival in October.

We were able to fill 16 boxes which were absolutely brimming with food, and so I was delighted to be assisted by our Head Prefect, William Wheeler, and our Charity Prefects, William Cannell and Remy Matthews, who helped me to deliver the huge collection of wonderful provisions to the Manna Food Bank in Staines.

The volunteers at Manna Food Bank were overwhelmed with the delivery and sent a wonderful letter of thanks. Sarah Pasternak, Manna Food Bank Secretary, wrote, “Thank you once again for supporting Manna Food Bank at Harvest with the school’s magnificent gifts of nearly 325kgs of food. This donation will boost our food store to enable Manna to continue the work of supporting those who are in emergency need in this area.”

Local MP Kwasi Kwarteng visits Halliford

by Finlay Crichard, Upper Sixth

When it was announced that Kwasi Kwarteng, the Member of Parliament for Spelthorne, was coming in to speak to us, we wanted to come up with some good questions to ask him. Personally, I was struggling to think of questions at first, but by the day of the visit, we were all prepared to test him.

Mr Kwarteng began by introducing himself and explaining the role of an MP. He also told us about what happened to the previous MP of Spelthorne, who was forced to stop being an MP because of misconduct centred around the personal expenses scandal. For me, finding out an MP stood down for the next election because of a scandal was not surprising but to hear about it being an MP who represented Spelthorne was the biggest shock. Once Mr Kwarteng had finished his stories and explanations of some of the roles MP’s fill, we were able to move on to asking him questions. Dominic Rose in Lower Sixth asked about why he had wanted to become an MP which was an interesting question to ask because it’s never very clear why anyone wants to become a politician. Mr Kwarteng explained it’s because he wanted to give back to the community, which was the easiest answer for him out of all the questions he had to answer on the day. From Upper Sixth, the questions were a lot more specific and targeted at Mr Kwarteng’s voting record, which in my opinion, made the day much more worthwhile as I was curious to see how a government politician would respond to such questions. Some of the questions included the figure on the Brexit bus about the NHS, the conviction of soldiers from the Iraq War, possible changes to the electoral system, changes to the House of Lords and equal marriage. One of my questions was on the possibility of CANZUK becoming more important in the coming years after Brexit, and Mr Kwarteng discussed how he is always talking to his equivalent in New Zealand and Canada, but he sadly did not answer the question in the way I would have wanted. Overall, having Mr Kwarteng at the school was very enjoyable, and we even managed to have a photo with him for the Halliford social media pages. I am thankful to Mr MacLean for making this meeting with Mr Kwarteng possible for everyone who attended, and I am very thankful that he came to the school to speak to us. It was wonderful to meet an MP.

Senior Inter-House Debating

by Mr Ciaran Lee, Teacher of English

The season of Inter-House Competitions began this year with a debating tournament. Each House entered a team of four debaters from the Lower and Upper Sixth.

The season of Inter-House Competitions began this year with a debating tournament. Each House entered a team of four debaters from the Lower and Upper Sixth. In the first round, the Desborough House team of Finlay Crichard, Archie Rabett, Sebastian McGill, and William Jones proposed the motion, ‘This House supports the removal of ‘offensive’ monuments’ to the Wadham House team of Max Morrell, Nicholas Atherfold, Alex Donnelly, and Dominic Rose. The next semi-final saw a Greville House team of Yousef Alsaeedi, Piers Bowater, Sheridan Kerr, and Lucas Dallon propose the motion, ‘This House would close all non-essential businesses immediately’ to a Russell House team of Kian McGrath, Elliott Saunders, Danial Matoorian-Pour, and Max Pillinger. While all speakers did extremely well, Russell and Wadham made more detailed, convincing, and passionate cases and progressed to the grand final. In the final, Russell proposed the motion, ‘This House has no confidence in her Majesty’s Government’ to Wadham. Russell offered a compelling excoriation of the current government’s record, but Wadham was stalwart in their defence of the Johnson administration’s handling of the unprecedented public health crisis. In the end, Wadham House was most convincing and was named 2020 champions. The competition was a magnificent display of our students’ intellectual curiosity, passion, and articulacy. All those involved should be proud of their efforts.

Halliford’s Inter-House Pumpkin Carving Contest

by Ms Tamarind Hetherington, Head of Art

With Halloween approaching, the Art Department launched our first ever InterHouse Pumpkin Carving Contest in October. Students and staff set to carving their terrifying pumpkins, fully demonstrating the Hallifordian value of creativity. The entries were outstanding, with many taking inspiration from horror films and video games, from Harry Potter and Disney, and of course from COVID-19.

Over 50 students entered the competition, and it was lovely to see the whole family getting involved. We had family entries from our History teacher, Mrs Wilbraham, her son Daniel in Year 9, Mrs Johnson, our Afternoon Receptionist & School Administrator, and her son Olly in Year 9. Each form selected their favourite from the photograph submissions, and these students were invited to bring their pumpkin into school on the last day of term, where they were displayed under the mulberry tree in the courtyard. Mr Davies had the unenviable task of judging the superb entries, and after careful consideration, he chose three worthy winners. Congratulations to Oscar Luiz in Russell House, who was awarded first place for his wonderful Minecraft creation, followed by Sheridan Kerr in Greville House for her amazing angler fish, and in third place, Dayan Nana in Greville House for his ingenious Cookie Monster pumpkin. In addition, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award ran their very own pumpkin carving competition online via their Twitter page. When they saw our students’ designs on our social media pages, they selected Carter Green in Year 10 as their winner. Carter’s prize was a piece of personalised DofE clothing of his choice. Well done to all involved. It was a great display of our Hallifordian value of creativity.

1st - Oscar Luiz, 8R 2nd - Sheridan Kerr, L6G

3rd - Dayan Nana, 8G

Carter Green, 10W Cosmo Sumner, 9R Fin Bowden, 7W

Show Racism the Red Card

by Mr James Bown, Senior Deputy Head

In celebration of Black History Month, and as part of our continuing drive to promote further equality and tolerance here at Halliford, we wanted to do what we could to raise awareness of the Black Lives Matter movement.

We started on Monday 12 October with a Whole School Assembly, given online by Mrs Wilbraham, which focused on Black History and the British Army. Black History Month helps to shine a light on often neglected stories of Black people, both in the UK and worldwide. Mrs Wilbraham urged our students to use Black History Month to discover more of these forgotten stories. As a further part of this awareness campaign, we also held a Non-Uniform day on Friday 16 October to support the Show Racism the Red Card – Wear Red Day. Students were asked to wear clothes of their choice with the theme of wearing the colour red. It was great to see a show of red across the school.

Movember 2020

by Mr Matt Shales, Head of Latin

Once again, Halliford embarked on raising money for the Movember Charity. Movember is a charity that aims to raise awareness of men’s health issues, including mental health and suicide prevention, prostate cancer, and testicular cancer.

The pandemic and second lockdown meant that it could have been a difficult challenge to fundraise this year. However, this was not the case. The Halliford community came together, as it always does, to raise an amazing amount of money, £7261 in total. This year we were helped by an amazingly generous donation of £2,000 from Fin Hanna’s father and his company Michelmersh (Britain’s Brick Specialist). On Friday 27 November, we held our annual Movember Mufti Day. Sadly, we could not sell moustaches this year, but this did not stop boys from turning up with homemade ones. The traditional doughnut and sweet sale were a great success as always. I would like to thank the Charity Prefects, William Cannell and Remy Matthews, for their hard work in organising this. As always, several staff and students grew some wonderful top lip fluff for the charity, and these Mo Bros deserve great credit for the support they showed for the charity. These brave men were Mr Bruno, Mr Harden-Chaters, Mr Lee, Mr Shales, Mr Slocock, Mr Watson, Mr Willcox, and Sixth Formers Rob Pleasance, William Wheeler and Remy Matthews.

Halliford Mock US Election

by Mrs Fenella Wilbraham, Teacher of History & Politics

Never ones to let small facts like not being US citizens stand in our way, the Politics Department seized on the opportunity presented by the US election in November 2020 to hold a Halliford Mock (US) Election.

Mr MacLean had the brainwave of allocating each form a certain number of electoral votes, just as in the US, so that we would be able to report both a popular vote result and an Electoral College result. We divided the forms into different states, although our Electoral College consisted of 424 rather than 538 – so the magic number to win the presidency was 213 Electoral College Votes. Being the biggest voting bloc, the staff were allocated the key state of California with 55 votes. Due to the pandemic, we could not hold the usual hustings in assembly, nor could we set up ballot boxes for in-person voting. It would have to be an entirely virtual system both in terms of presenting the candidates’ messages and voting by form, which would be collated by spreadsheet. Fortuitously, the A Level Politics students had just started studying the US electoral system, so armed with their newly minted understanding of the Electoral College vagaries, the Upper Sixth split themselves into Team Trump and Team Biden. Elliott Saunders and Louis Mercer recorded a campaign commercial for the Trump / Pence ticket, featuring eerily accurate impressions of both men and an excellent outline of their intentions for a second term. Finlay Crichard and Max Morrell laid out in less theatrical style the promises of the Biden / Harris ticket, and from there, it was up to the voters. The pitch for each candidate was made in an online assembly on Monday morning, preceded by an explanation of how the US electoral system worked. Students then voted on election day, Tuesday 3 November. Form tutors counted and verified the votes, entering them onto a master spreadsheet, while staff voted via a ballot box in the Common Room.

Unlike US voters, we didn’t have a long and nail-biting wait for the result, which Biden won convincingly with a landslide in the all-important Halliford Electoral College of 246 ECV to Trump’s 162 (62% to 38%). Biden also won the popular vote 52% to 34% (with 14% of ballots rejected) and the House vote in which he took 19 forms to Trump’s eight. Controversially, at Halliford, Michigan’s 16 votes went to a third-party candidate – none of the above – with the form in question (11D) perhaps thinking wistfully of a potential Kanye West presidency. As ever, voting trends deserve some analysis. Biden carried all forms in Years 7 and 8, all but one form in Year 9, one Year 10 form, all but one Sixth Form group and the staff vote. Conversely, three out of four Year 10 and Year 11 forms, one Year 9 and one Sixth Form group voted Trump. My thanks to the A Level Politics students for their excellent presentations, all form tutors for joining in so wholeheartedly and counting their students’ votes, and Mr MacLean both for his support in running the election and his excellent assembly explaining the eventual outcome.

Winter Concert

by Mr Alastair Wright, Director of Music

This year’s Winter Concert was recorded over three days by the dream team of Mr DeZilva and his A Level Music Technology students. Whilst this concert did not include the full range of Halliford ensembles, owing to COVID-19 restrictions, we were able to put on a concert featuring small ensembles and some solo pieces. Performing live is such an important and rewarding part of music-making, and this was sorely missed, though the students did get the invaluable experience of performing within a professional set-up. The boys certainly got a real buzz after nailing a good take and then listening back to their performance straight away!

First up was the Key Stage 3 vocal group’s sensitive and touching rendition of Schubert’s well-known work, Ave Maria. James Grant in Year 7 delivered a beautiful solo, demonstrating an excellent technique and a lovely tone quality. We will certainly be hearing a lot more of James’ great voice in the years to come. George Phillips in Year 11 followed with his heartfelt performance of Nuvole Bianchi by Salerno, handily also recorded as his GCSE solo performance. As a lover of film music, especially minimalist music, this excellent song choice enabled George to deliver a very moving performance. The Key Stage 3 string group followed this with their delightful performance of the Jacques arrangement of Away in a Manger, in my opinion, a far superior version to the original. Monty Savarino, our Year 9 music scholar, then delivered a very musical and captivating performance of the hauntingly beautiful Meditation by Massenet, expertly accompanied by Mr Davies.

We then moved onto the brass and woodwind performances, starting with the Key Stage 3 brass ensemble. They performed the lively William Tell Overture Finale by Rossini with appropriate power and vigour. Louis Clark then performed the jovial Ragamuffin by Wedgewood, demonstrating the same expert skill on his trumpet that he showed during his excellent performance of The Last Post on Remembrance Day. To finish the brass and woodwind performances, Riley Whittington in Year 11 was coolness personified for his rendition of The Pink Panther Theme, showcasing superb dynamic contrasts. The Key Stage 4 and 5 barbershop group finished off the nonrock ensembles part of the concert with their performance of the classic Fever by Cooley. Despite the group being an entirely tenor and bass group, with no altos, and being new to the barbershop genre, the group pulled off a stirring rendition of the famous song. The second half of the concert featured Mr Savides’ rock bands. First up was the Year 8 band performing Wonderwall by Oasis. As the band’s first-ever performance, they did superbly well, and I am looking forward to seeing them progress in the years to come. The Year 9 bands, who do have some performances under their belt, performed Basket Case by Green Day, followed by Blur’s Parklife. Carter Robinson was his usual effervescent self in his energetic vocal performances, whilst Laith Shafighian showed remarkable drum speed during the performance of Basket Case. This band has a great deal of potential and, having had some great new additions in September, is set to go from strength to strength in the coming years. The Year 10 bands then gave a rousing and boisterous performance of R U Mine by Arctic Monkeys followed by a classic rendition of Sunshine Of Your Love by Cream, featuring a superb performance from Lower Sixth student William Jones on vocals. The final performance was by the experienced Year 11 band, who performed One Love by Mr Slocock’s favourite band, U2. There was a rumour that Mr Slocock was taking over from Will Greaves as the vocalist for this song, but thankfully we had Will’s dulcet tones and excellent falsetto! It was a suitably excellent end to an impressive virtual concert. My thanks go to all the students who performed, the Music Technology students who worked hard to create the recordings, and Mr DeZilva for his management of the recording process and his mixing of the tracks.

Inter-House Christmas Card Competition

by Ms Tamarind Hetherington, Head of Art

Halliford students were invited to get creative by making an A4-size design inspired by the theme of togetherness at Christmas. They could use any medium, or combination of media, for example, paint, crayons, pencil, pastels, inks, collage or digital media. All entries were sent to our Head of Art, Ms Hetherington, who collated them ready for Mr Davies to choose the top three designs. The winner was Lucas in Year 7 with his charming penguins design. As first place winner, Lucas had the honour of having his design as our Halliford Christmas Card, organised by our Young Enterprise Team, Hallidex. Well done to our two runners-up, Anthony in Lower Sixth and Felix in Year 7.

Halliford excels in LAMDA Examinations

by Mrs Olivia Oakley, Marketing & Communications

We were delighted to announce a 100% pass rate in our LAMDA exams last Autumn. Nineteen Halliford students took exams in either acting, verse and prose, or mime, securing an impressive 11 distinctions, 7 merits and 2 passes.

We are so proud of Sixth Former, Robert Pleasance, who was awarded an unbeatable score of 100/100 with distinction. Robert remarked, “When I received my result for LAMDA Grade 6, I was extremely proud of what I had achieved. I realise that without the amazing coaching from my teacher, I wouldn’t have been able to get 100%, so for that I am extremely thankful. I look forward to continuing working towards Grade 8, which I will be taking in the Easter period.” In addition, we had two students receive 98/100, and two students receive 96/100. Truly outstanding and a testament to the strength of our Drama Department here at Halliford School. LAMDA Tutor, Shani Woodley, commented “I am over the moon with our results from my first set of LAMDA examinations at Halliford. The boys have put in so much work and dealt with a lot of extremely unusual circumstances. They have risen above it all and produced these incredible results.” Our students received some amazing feedback from the examiners, including: “A spontaneous approach throughout your work complete with in-depth characterisation”, “A confident, easy presence in the space”, “You use your voice, face, and body with total focus in a scene”, “Delightfully energised and enthusiastic performer” and “You have a real gift for performing”. Mr Davies commented, “I am absolutely thrilled for the boys. These results are exceptional, and I am delighted to present our students with their richly deserved certificates and medals. Despite all the challenges that they face currently, it is so refreshing to see the boys dedicating themselves to these challenging examinations and achieving such stunning results. I am incredibly proud of them all.”

Name

Max Morrell Robert Pleasance Cormac Evans James Manzi Oscar Gammon Riley Whittington William Jackson Carter Robinson Aidan Tattersall Cameron Bird Harry Tuckman Cassius Buckle-Wright Oliver Johnson Rufus Shillington Ruaridh Bell Thomas O’Connor Toby Hill Toby Hill Joshua Hawksley Bill Ferguson

Year Group Examination Subject Grade

U6W Acting 7

U6R Acting 6

L6R Acting 6 11D Acting 6

U6G Acting 6

11D Acting 6

11R 9G 9R Acting Acting Acting 6 5 4

9D Acting

10D

Acting 8G Speaking Verse and Prose 9D Acting

8R Acting 4 4 3 3 3

8D 8D Acting Acting 3 3

8R Miming

8R

Acting 8G Speaking Verse and Prose 8W Acting 3 3 2 1

Bill Ferguson - Year 8

Carter Robinson - Year 9

Cormac Evans - Lower Sixth

James Manzi - Year 11

Max Morrell - Upper Sixth Cameron Bird - Year 9

Cassius Buckle-Wright - Year 8

Harry Tuckman - Year 10

Joshua Hawksley - Year 8

Oliver Johnson - Year 9

Oscar Gammon- Upper Sixth

Robert Pleasance - Upper Sixth

Rufus Shillington - Year 8

Toby Hill - Year 8

William Jackson - Year 11 Riley Whittington - Year 11

Ruaridh Bell - Year 8

Aidan Tattersall - Year 9

Tom O’Connor - Year 8

12 Days of Challenges

Jules Wain, 11W

by Mr Sean Slocock, Assistant Head Co-Curricular

The Autumn Term of 2020 was like no other Autumn Term in the history of Halliford School, and, as such, it needed to have an ending like no other. Whilst the 12 days of Christmas only starts on Christmas Day and ends on the Epiphany in January, the 12 days of Advent didn’t quite have the same ring to it. Similarly, the scrapping of the annual tradition whereby the entire school belts out (and possibly butchers) the coolest Christmas song in a semi Inter-House challenge meant there needed to be a suitable replacement. Therein lay the creation of the Halliford School, 12 Days of Challenges, a series of Inter-House competitions in which students represented their Houses.

In the first challenge, the combined strength of Mr Greggor, Mr Sessions and Mr Macefield meant that each day four ergo rowing machines found their way onto the basketball courts as students rowed continuously for 25 minutes, competing to row the furthest distance for their House. With teachers chipping in here and there and, at one point, a showdown between Mr HardenChaters from Desborough, Mr Lee for Greville, and Mr Shales and Mr McMillan from Russell loomed big. In the five minutes of pain that ensued, the lead changed hands on numerous occasions as the finesse and technique of a commanding Desborough outfit, much like that of a rapier versus a broadsword, pitted itself against the robust explosiveness of the powerful Russell triple. Starting much later than the rest of the pack was the underestimated and underrated U-boat of Greville that stealthily ate up the metres in an attempt to close the gap. The battle that followed was littered with the casualties of misused (or was it over-used and misunderstood rowing jargon?) as knowledgeable and less than knowledgeable spectators cheered on the gladiators like over-zealous and enthusiastic coxswains ignoring the help of a cox box to encourage the greater leg drive between back and front stop - pushing the novices hard to force down on the foot stretcher to use maximum recovery following the drive on each stroke. A thing of beauty, I am led to believe, had each ‘erg’ been a real shell on the water. In the end, however, it was clear from the layback of each team member who had put in the most effort to get to the final distances. Unexpectedly with their powerful triple, Russell was top, but surprisingly only by a mere three metres. Desborough placed second and Greville third. Nobody was quite sure how far Laura (from the Vibe Café) rowed, but it was, without a doubt, a good effort. It was Russell House with a distance of 30,311 metres which took first place, followed by Desborough, Wadham and Greville.

Sheridan Kerr, L6G

Mr Harden-Chaters

Mr Lee Mr MacLean

Mr Shales

Charlie Grant, 7G

The second challenge put students’ football skills to the test as they competed in small groups to see which House could complete the greatest number of keepy uppys in an allotted time. Here, it was Desborough’s (not-so-secret) weapon, Monty Conway, who powered them into a commanding lead with the finesse of a football trickster. Overall, Desborough took this second competition, followed by Russell, Wadham and Greville. The Chess Challenge was hotly contested, with favourites like Aidan Tattersall in Year 9 and Ethan Jansen van Rensburg in Year 7 looking to dazzle everyone with their advanced chess skills. In the Year 10 chess competition, Wadham’s Nathan Linde demolished all opposition in his path, winning every game, and Sankaran Suseelaan proved unstoppable in the Lower Sixth competition. Xander White in Year 8 helped Russell’s clean sweep in the junior competition and, combined with their first place in the senior competition, crowned them the overall champions, followed by Wadham, Greville and Desborough. The fourth challenge was yet another of Halliford School’s strongest activities, the Basketball Hoop Challenge. Each House had ten minutes to see how many hoops a team of five students could shoot. The combined number of hoops from each year group would determine the challenge winners. As students could not be selected for every challenge, the forms had to choose their competitors wisely. Desborough had a clear strength in

Field Lap Challenge

this competition, emerging as the victors ahead of Greville and Wadham, with Russell in fourth place. There were many fantastic entries to the Stop Frame Animation Competition, and the judges debated the result intensely. In the end, there were special mentions for Cosmo Chippendale, Theo Taylor, Oliver Scott and Joshua Newlands, but the winners were Louis Clarke for Greville, Freddie Lifton for Desborough, followed by Luca Sacoor for Wadham. One of the more popular events was the PS4 FIFA competition which we live-streamed to classes around the school. To even the playing field, students all played as France and battled for four minutes to see who could be crowned victors. In the end, the competitiveness of the competition was reflected in the results, with the thumb warriors in Greville and Russell sharing the spoils, followed by another tie between Wadham and Desborough. Mr Bruno ran an exceptional D&D Battle Royale for both the junior and senior teams throughout lunchtime break. The wizards of Desborough reigned supreme in the junior competition, followed by Greville, Wadham and Russell. In the senior competition, Greville was the clear leader, with a tie between Desborough and Russell.

The Daffodil Planting Challenge was meant to be a respite from the various physical and mental challenges but proved to be more difficult to arrange than was previously thought. With delays to the delivery of the bulbs reflecting issues in a wider, Covid world, a large order of 250 bulbs eventually arrived and, armed with PS4 FIFA Challenge - Seniors

PS4 FIFA Challange - Juniors

Chess Challenge

‘dibbers’ made by the wonderful Mr Sessions and Mr Macefield, students set about stabbing holes in the earth to plant the symbols of rebirth and new life.

The event of the week was, undoubtedly, the Lower Sixth Field Challenge, although the littered bodies of spent runners showed that they would disagree. Russell and Wadham kept up with each other throughout the race after Arya Shafighian had set the tone in an outstanding first lap followed by superb performances by Sankaran Suseelan for Russell and Daniel Wilkes for Wadham. Greville, on the other hand, misjudged their tactics completely and, at one point, left Rebecca to do all the work. Good Hallifordian that she is, Becca kept going until the House finally came to her aid and took the baton to give others a turn. With minutes to go, Desborough, Russell and Wadham were on the same number of laps completed, but with Wadham slightly ahead. Daniel Wilkes and Alex Donnelly stepped up to marginally increase the lead going into the final lap, but it was a dubious midfield handover from Russell, as they exploited a loophole in the rules and narrowed the gap. This left one final lap to complete the challenge and determine the winners. Step up the man, the myth, nay, the legend that is Dominic Rose. With a slender few metres lead, Dominic, or as his friends call him, Rosy, or Dommy, set off at a speed no-one thought he could maintain. In second place, Russell handed over to Patrick ‘YK’ Wanat, who began the chase. YK ate up the metres, narrowing the gap when, all of a sudden, he hit the proverbial brick wall. Dommy rounded the last corner and, unbelievably, stretched the lead down the final straight. As the cloud of tears and cries of exertion settled, it was Wadham first, then Russell, followed by Dungeons & Dragons - Junior Challenge

Keepy Uppy Challenge

Cooking Challenge - Spencer Bateman, L6G - 1st place

Desborough and finally Greville in an enthralling race. This race reflected the entire competition. Once the distances from each year group were added together, it was Wadham and Russell who shared the spoils, followed by Desborough, a whisker ahead of Greville.

The Junior Debate, run by Mr Lee, made up one of the challenges for this period, and the winning team of O’Connor, Needs, Cobley and Saunders from Desborough held off all challengers to be crowned victors ahead of Wadham, Greville and Russell. The penultimate event was the Christmas Cooking Challenge, where students took to their kitchens to produce an array of culinary delights. Covid regulations disappointed Mr Slocock immensely as he was not allowed to taste any of the entries, and in the end, it was the photographic entries that were judged. Spencer Bateman was unanimously voted as the winner for Greville, followed by superb efforts from Lucas Bullen for Wadham and Reece Pittaluga for Desborough House in third. The final challenge was the 12 Days of Quizmas set by Mr Newbery. Misha Edwards topped the table with a superb score of 93, followed by Finlay Crichard and William Jackson. In the House competition, Desborough took first place overall, followed by Russell, Greville and Wadham. With the results of all challenges added together, an overall winner was determined. The fact that there was a draw and a one-point difference in the top three showed the fierceness of the competition. Greville House managed to win by one point over Desborough and Russell, who shared the second spot ahead of Wadham. All in all, a great series of challenges. Well done to everyone involved!

Cooking Challenge - Lucas Bullen, 7W - 2nd place

Cooking Challenge - Arya Shafighian, L6W

Cooking Challenge - William Shanley, 10R Cooking Challenge - Reece Pittaluga, 10D - 3rd place

Cooking Challenge - Charlie Moria, 8D

Cooking Challenge - Alfie Saunders, 7D

Halliford School Carol Service

by Mr Alastair Wright, Director of Music

The 2020 Carol Service was held at the usual venue of St Nicholas’ Church, but with a very different feel to past years. Carol services are always one of the highlights of the year; everyone packed inside holding candles, singing heartily along to Hark the Herald, listening to a catchy, but undeniably cheesy, Rutter carol sung by the choir, whilst experiencing that Christmassy feeling that it is not long until Christmas Day.

As this was the first carol service I have ever experienced without a congregation, I even found myself missing the roar of the one out of tune congregational member who thinks they are a good singer, but nobody has had the heart to tell them otherwise. We all know someone like this, and if you don’t, then it’s probably you! With a (mostly) empty church and a small group of socially distanced singers, we had the carol service professionally recorded in the morning of Thursday 10 December, with the full service going live online the following Monday. In a remarkable turnaround, the abridged version was even ready for staff and students to watch on Friday 11 December as part of the Headmaster’s end of term assembly. Not knowing how exactly the final version would look or sound, I was a little nervous before watching it back but was soon

put at ease by the delightful opening shot of the beautiful stained-glass windows accompanied by the delectable tones of Riley Whittington’s saxophone playing. My thanks go to our videographer, Matt Pereira, who did a brilliant job capturing the essence of a Halliford School Carol Service. As Mr Davies mentioned in his opening address, 2020 had been a year like none other, so it was so pleasing to finish the school year in such a positive way. After the Headmaster’s opening address, we were treated to a full complement of congregational carols (though without a congregation), choir carols sung by the combination of the Key Stage 3 vocal group and the Key Stage 4/5 barbershop group, and readings by staff members and students. Some highlights were the lovely Once in Royal David’s City solo by one of our Year 8 music scholars, Henry Crowther, the powerful rendition of Gaudete by the combination of choirs, the staff choir’s entrancing performance of Warlock’s Bethlehem Down, Nicholas Atherfold and Billy Dobby’s beautiful solos in Darke’s In the Bleak Midwinter and Max Morrell’s wonderful pronunciation of the word ‘homage’ in his reading of Matthew 2. 1-13.

My thanks go to all the students and staff who worked extremely hard putting this service together in such a short amount of time, and to Mr Davies for his organisation of the service and his expert organ playing. I do hope that you enjoyed the service and that we will be able to welcome you all in person for next year’s carol service.

MY HALLIFORD SCHOOL STORY

Caleb Baker, 7W

I decided to come to Halliford School because it felt like a second home to me. I turned up to my exams feeling optimistic. However, I still gave 100% because I wanted to show what I can do. I was very nervous on the first day as I was the only boy from my school, but I knew that I would make friends. My friend Natty that I met on the first day helped me get to know everybody, and I made friends with the boys who took the train to school with me. The lessons I like the most here are PE because I am very sporty and love being outdoors. We study more subjects at Halliford than we did at my previous school and having to change to different rooms makes me feel very independent. I love Cricket Club because I am a good wicketkeeper and I love that we work as a team. I’m really enjoying playing football, rugby and cricket, as these are my best sports. Overall, I’m really pleased I came to Halliford School because it is a part of my life, it’s a special community, and it is where I can be myself. This is my school, and I am proud to be a Hallifordian.

MY HALLIFORD SCHOOL STORY

Dexter Lee, 7R

I decided to come to Halliford because of the sport, and it is also the right school academically. Thankfully, I found the entrance exam easier than I thought it would be. On the first day, I was introduced to my tutor Mr McElroy and the other boys in 7R. After that, the first week flew by because I met so many new people. I instantly made new friends. The lessons I like the most here are PE and Games because I love my sport. The biggest difference between Halliford and my old school is that Halliford is way smaller, and I like it like that. Lockdown was a bit of a shock! My routine had to change a bit. Instead of getting up at my normal time, I woke up about 15-20 minutes later. I worked in my study. The worst thing about online learning is that the internet quality wasn’t that good. The best thing was being home and being able to get a snack during my breaks. I tried to keep fit and healthy by using an app called Peloton, which you might have heard of before. This is my Halliford story!

HALLIFORD LIFE HALLIFORD LIFE

Virtual Carol Service

Egg Parachutes in Science Club Christmas Jumper Day

Movember Madness!

Poem by a Year 7 Candidate

HALLIFORD LIFE HALLIFORD LIFE HALLIFORD LIFE

Model Engineering Club Winners Remembrance Display at the Front of the School

Year 7 in the DT Workshop Movember Madness!Young Enterprise Award

1XI match against King Edwards Southampton

Autumn Term Sports Report

by Mr James Greggor, Director of Sport

RUGBY Rugby Season 2020

Traditionally we would be reporting on the progress of our rugby teams in their competitive fixtures in the Autumn Term. However, this has been a term of adapting and getting on as much as we safely can. Following the end of lockdown and the return to school, we started the year in our traditional way with pre-season rugby training for all age groups under the adapted COVID rules for training and playing from the RFU. Numbers were very pleasing, and the boys were keen to get back into their school sport. The first Saturday morning of the school year started with King Edwards Southampton, and the weather permitted us to switch our fixture from rugby to cricket. After such a long time without competitive school sport, it was particularly satisfying to see the reduced fixture block take place. We managed games for U13A, U14A, U15A and 1XI. Having lost our Summer Term cricket season due to working remotely, this was a great achievement. The tiered system meant that playing other schools was not a safe option for Halliford for much of the Autumn Term. This saw us instead adopt some internal competitive Saturday sport for Junior and Senior bubbles. The students enjoyed the Halliford v Halliford football matches and helped to keep the students in the habit of Saturday sport and give them as much of a taste for competitive sport as possible. Our focus for the Autumn Term was to run as much as we safely could, and aside from our regular competitive Saturday fixtures against other schools, we have managed to continue to run our extensive after school and lunchtime programme of clubs and practices. Traditionally our Autumn Term is our rugby term, but due to restrictions, we have blended this term with rugby and football in games afternoons simply because football had opened up a little more than rugby. The boys have still received lots of instruction on their rugby, and we have made good progress from last year. In the Spring Term, we will continue the blended football and rugby games sessions as we have now progressed to stage E of the RFU return to play pathway so we can train with some more purposeful contact activities and adapted gameplay.

New Year 7 Saturday Rugby Morning

Following pre-season rugby training, the first Saturday before the start of the Autumn Term sees the whole of Year 7 come in for a rugby training session. Their first experience of school life is on the sporting field, and this is a tradition we always enjoy upholding. Due to the restrictions in place in August, we adapted the morning from its traditional sole rugby focus to include rugby, football, athletics activities and cricket. As always, the boys worked superbly. Whilst we are looking forward to maintaining our traditions of keeping this a rugby training session, the adapted format this year was a great success, and the boys had lots of fun as they gained their first experiences of sport at Halliford.

Extra-Curricular Lunchtime & After School Clubs

We have been very satisfied with the amount of extra-curricular sport we have managed to keep running. Students have still had their full remit of clubs and practices, and once again, we have played around with the usual structure to ensure wide-ranging provision can be safely maintained. Lunchtime clubs have focused on the individual sports of table tennis and badminton mainly, with basketball also offered as an option. Lunchtime clubs are always thoroughly enjoyed by the pupils, and we have seen excellent numbers attend with great enthusiasm. After school practices have consisted of a mixture of football and rugby. The two Year 7 training sessions after school have had one focussing on rugby and the other football. Year 8 and Year 9 played football after school, and before the second lockdown, Year 10 played rugby after school but then switched to football. Rugby has continued in games afternoons for all age groups. Again, the rationale for doing after school football practices during this period was that we could safely accommodate more numbers under NGB COVID protocols.

CRICKET Elite Cricket Coaching Group

Despite the situation we found ourselves in at the start of term, our elite cricket training group have still been able to train with Ed Young. The sessions introduced last year have been a great success, and they are really having an impact on our top cricketers. We are hoping to see this impact in competitive A team fixtures when the Summer 2021 season begins.

STRENGTH & CONDITIONING Strength and Conditioning

Nick Rees continues to do great work with our senior strength and conditioning group, which is open to all students in Year 10, Year 11, and the Sixth Form. Like last year, training sessions occur on a Monday and Wednesday before school starting at 7.30am and finishing at 8.20am. Pupils are provided with breakfast post activity and as a reward for getting into school so early! I would encourage students who have not yet tried these sessions to give them a try. We will be expanding the offer to include Year 9 later on in the year.

RUGBY Notable Performances in Rugby

The boys eagerly anticipate our Headmasters XV. This is a rugby squad we select from all year groups based on their performances throughout the season. However, due to the lack of matches, we have selected students from each year group who have impressed in games lessons and training sessions. We are always impressed by the commitment to school extra-curricular sport shown by our students, and we could have mentioned many more in addition to the boys below. These individuals have progressed especially well in the COVID permitted rugby activity we have put on.

Year 7

George Bellis

George has really impressed the PE and Games staff. He has excellent hands and in the 1v1 contact permitted elements of training sessions, he achieves some fantastic body positions and demonstrates a superb technical ability.

Dexter Lee

Dexter is a powerful runner with a great speed change, coupled with a superb pair of hands and an ability to pass accurately off both sides. This makes him a dangerous prospect with the ball in hand running a defensive line.

Year 8

Theo Maroussas

Theo’s fantastic attitude and approach to sport see him constantly improving. Being new to rugby last

year, he played much of the season in the unbeaten U12B team. However, his hard work paid off, and he represented the A’s in the final game of the Autumn Term and gained experience playing Rugby Sevens tournaments in the Spring Term. Since returning, he continues to impress in training sessions and force his way into the A team squad.

Oliver White

Oliver is a gifted player with a strong skill set. He impressed hugely at fly-half last year, and his performance in training sessions this term has been excellent. His reading of the game continues to improve. At fly-half, he has a great pair of hands, and his strong passing skills give him an ability to bring those outside of him into the game successfully, therefore, providing a wide attacking threat.

Year 9

Thomas Lever

Thomas joined Halliford in September and has really impressed on the rugby training field. He demonstrates a good understanding of the game and has an excellent turn of pace. Handling and permitted contact skills covered have been of a high standard, and we look forward to seeing him in a competitive fixture soon.

Max Smith

Max’s passion for the game never fails to impress. Like many of the boys, he loves the sport and has been frustrated by the necessary COVID constraints on rugby. He continues to train with great intensity, and he has further developed his handling skill set. He possesses a lightning pair of hands due to the amount of conditioned touch and Ready4Rugby played at both school and club.

Year 10

Ben Hughes

Ben always displays a first-class attitude to training. He is strong, powerful and has developed his skill set further in this period where we have been unable to play and train with limited contact. He is a key player for this age group in the pack.

Josh Guild

Josh is a pleasure to teach. He loves rugby and maintains great focus in training and after school training. Although Josh has found this period a little frustrating, he has channelled this into getting fit and further developing his handling skills. He is a dangerous ball carrier, and we look forward to seeing this on the pitch soon.

Tom Wilkin

Tom is a talented player with a great flair for the game. As a back, he possesses a superb pair of hands and great accuracy with his passing off both sides. The current playing restrictions have allowed such skills to be further refined. He is also physically very fit, which sees great energy levels maintained and strong influence over competitive environments.

Will Shanley and James Webley

Will and James returned to school in superb physical shape, having trained together extensively over the summer break. Both boys are heavily influential in the U15 side. Will always has a huge impact in the pack as a ball carrier and strong defensive work. James’ turn of pace is always very destructive for opponents. In the touch Ready4Rugby formats permitted this term, his pace has been very difficult to handle for the opposition, and we look forward to seeing this on display in a competitive environment once more.

Inter-House Rugby Results

In the final weeks of the Autumn Term, each age group plays their Inter-House Rugby Competition in the year group’s games afternoon. These competitions are always keenly anticipated by the boys and again reinforce our philosophy of mass participation as most of the year group offer themselves for selection by their House Captain. This year we played the games in the RFU sanctioned Ready4Rugby format. We saw some keenly contested competitions, and all the players had good fun. It is always a great way to finish the term’s work off.

Winner’s categories

Junior (Year 7 and Year 8) — Desborough Intermediate (Year 9 and Year 10)— Russell Senior (Year 11 and Sixth Form)— Russell

Overall winners Russell

MY HALLIFORD SCHOOL STORY

Corey Pyke, 7G

I came to Halliford School because I came to the Open Day, and I thought it was great, plus I knew many of my friends from my primary school were coming here. The exams went well, and I liked it because instead of being in a big hall we took the exams in small groups in the classrooms. On the first day, I was introduced to my tutor Mr Cunningham who was very supportive and helped me. I was very relieved that the homework was not sudden and that we gradually received more homework. I already had many friends from primary school, but I also made more friends at Halliford. I like DT because there are great facilities and we have a nice teacher. A big difference is that many of the clubs are at lunchtime and you have more freedom over what you do and can make your own personal timetable. I play a lot of rugby, and right now, I am also playing cricket in games and having to change to different rooms makes me feel very independent. I love Cricket Club because I am a good wicketkeeper and I love that we work as a team. I’m really enjoying playing football, rugby and cricket, as these are my best sports. Overall, I’m really pleased I came to Halliford School because it is a part of my life, it’s a special community, and it is where I can be myself. This is my school, and I am proud to be a Hallifordian.

MY HALLIFORD SCHOOL STORY

Felix Armes-Ward, 7R

I decided to come to Halliford School because I thought the boys who showed me around on Open Day were very enthusiastic. The entrance exam was not as hard as I had expected it to be. I was quite nervous and excited on my first day. In the first week, I made about five new friends and I didn’t get too much homework luckily. The biggest difference between my old school and Halliford School is that I take the bus and train to school now. My favourite lessons are French, Spanish, Latin and Art, and I’m really enjoying the sport at Halliford, especially cricket. I’m really pleased I came to Halliford School because I got to meet new friends.

Hallifordian Sporting Achievements

Following the Summer playing season, Jivraj received two prestigious awards from his cricket club (Hampton Wick Royal Cricket Club), namely, under 14 Batsman of the Year 2020 and Junior Cricketer of the Year 2020. He received a trophy and a very generous £100 gift voucher for sports equipment from the club for his efforts in this relatively short cricket season. Jivraj played for the Senior 3rd XI team at his club, which is a tremendous achievement at the young age of 14. He scored 360 runs in his U-14 age group and was the 3rd highest wicket-taker for the club amongst the colt and senior teams. He was also invited to the Middlesex Regional Cricket festival, where he performed well.

Josh was awarded Sunday Player of the Year at Kempton Cricket Club, a senior team award. He also played in the Surrey Slam T20 competition. Josh played every Saturday and Sunday from when restrictions were lifted until the end of the season, primarily as a bowler but with some cameo batting performances. He played mostly for the 3XI, but he also played one game for the 2XI.

Having made great progress in winter nets at Halliford, Theo pursued cricket outside of school at Hampton Hill Cricket Club. Following a successful season, he was awarded the Team Player Award, collecting it in his Halliford PE kit straight after Games.

CRICKET Jivraj Singh, Year 10

CRICKET Joshua Burson, Lower Sixth

CRICKET Theo Maroussas, Year 8

RUGBY Josh Morrison, Year 8

Josh is a key player for the U13A team impressing hugely in his first season last year in the U12A’s at scrum-half. He has continued to progress well in our RFU COVID protocol training sessions this term too. His hard work last season was rewarded as he received the Player of the Year Award from Teddington Rugby Club.

RUGBY SEVENS Hayden Barrett, Year 9

Hayden is a talented all-round sportsman. While we usually update you on his progress in basketball, he has also been performing to a high standard in Rugby sevens. Before the second lockdown, Hayden took part in the Ultimate Rugby Sevens South East group training session for the Ultimate Rugby Sevens Academy. We look forward to hearing the results of future training sessions post lockdown to see how Hayden Barrett gets on.

RUGBY James Webley and Will Shanley, Year 10 LONDON IRISH ACADEMY UPDATE

Following last year’s success, both James and Will not only retained their positions in the academy but were also involved with the upper age group set up, a year ahead, without having to retrial at the start of the season. Clearly, London Irish think very highly of both boys. They are naturally very keen to return to academy training, as much of this has been on hold due to the lockdown periods. Both James and Will have trained together over the Summer and returned to school in excellent shape. They have continued to impress in rugby lessons, and we hope they are able to return to academy training following this second lockdown period.

HARLEQUINS RUGBY ACADEMY

Both Paul-Louis and Oscar were involved in an internal academy tournament in March and received very good feedback following this. It was a chance to test themselves against Quins Academy set up sites from Sussex, London and Mitcham, so the standard was high. Following the lockdown period, both boys are keen to get back into the set-up and training. Although provided with some remote work over the lockdown periods, they look forward to resuming training.

RUGBY Paul-Louis Howard and Oscar McArdle, Year 11

FULHAM ACADEMY Position: Goalkeeper

Monty joined Halliford this year and comes with some great sporting accolades, having trained with England’s 2005’s and sadly missed a game against Belgium due to injury. He impressed immediately at pre-season and in the internal Saturday morning football we organised before the second lockdown period. Monty has recently signed a two-year contract for the Fulham Football Academy, having already been there since 2017. He has continued to train hard and is looking forward to playing in competitive contexts. Monty has recently played Luton and Tottenham, and we are certainly excited to see him represent the school when this is possible. Monty had been looking forward to a tour with Fulham’s Academy to The Netherlands. However, this has naturally been postponed for the moment. He has been a great addition to the school, and we look forward to following his progress with Fulham closely.

FOOTBALL Monty Conway, Year 10

Max recently competed in the U15/U16 Surrey County Championship at Croham Golf Club. An excellent achievement and a valuable experience playing county golf. Max continues to work hard and takes all the opportunities to play available to him, and his handicap continues to drop. We look forward to Max updating us on his future county golf event involvement.

GOLF Max West-Cameron, Year 10

CRICKET Felix Porter, Year 8

Felix has made it straight through to the Surrey Cricket CAG (County Age Group) U13 after being involved at U12. Winter training was due to commence mid-November, but Felix is currently waiting to resume post lockdown. He has also been involved with our elite cricket group training on Monday after school.

Dexter is new to Halliford this year and, following a successful trial period, has been selected for Surrey’s U13 hockey squad. Dexter was surprised as it is with the older age group, and he felt his final trial didn’t go well as he was feeling ill. They also changed his position from an attacking R back/winger to a centre back.

Lucas is a member of the junior race training team at Island Barn Reservoir Sailing Club in East Mosley, sailing in his Topper dinghy “Blueberry”. The Junior Race Team are on the water most weekends and train hard through the school holidays, even in the winter months. This Autumn, Lucas competed in the RYA South of England Championships and the London and South East Topper Traveller series comprising five separate days of racing in various locations, including the coast at Shoreham. Each event comprised four races, each of around an hour in length, with the sailors staying out on the water all day. With the best three results of the five events scoring in the series, Lucas is currently the leading Topper sailor in the 4.2 sail Topper class (13 years and under) and one of the youngest in the Topper race fleet (15 years and under). Except for one windless day and an abandoned event at Shoreham, the conditions on race days were very challenging, with the sailors having to deal with gale-force gusts and heavy rain in three of the five events, notably the last weekend at Papercourt in Woking.

HOCKEY Dexter Lee, Year 7

SAILING Lucas Symons, Year 7

Hugo has become a member of Kingston Rowing Club this term. He completed their Learn to Row course in August, which involved rowing in the much more demanding single sculls rather than crew boats due to Covid restrictions. He won all of the challenges which tested his balancing skills, moving the boat on the water, and racing on the dreaded ergometers. This earned him one of a handful of places in KRC’s junior squad this year who train on the river twice per week. During this second lockdown, they have adapted to circuit training via Zoom calls and training on the ergo at home, but Hugo is looking forward to taking to the water again next month.

In a strange summer, some normality resumed, with half of the cricket season being able to occur. Christopher had a successful season for his club, scoring over 800 runs and taking 20 wickets, including a 100. He has really benefitted from working with the school coach, Ed Young, with the results on the pitch making this evident. Due to his hard work, Christopher was also able to earn selection for a 2-day game for Surrey EPG v Hampshire where he took two wickets, and he will train with the Surrey Academy over the winter. Towards the end of the season, Chris was able to get up to Scotland for some U19 practice in which he impressed. These games were in preparation for U19 world cup qualifiers for which Chris hopes to be selected. If Scotland wins, they will take part in the U19 world cup in 2022, a huge goal for Chris, and we wish him all the best.

ROWING Hugo Franklin, Year 8

CRICKET Christopher Cole, Lower Sixth

William has played for Surrey’s age group academy for the last two years. At the end of September, William was delighted to hear he had been accepted into the U14 County Age Group programme. There has been some disruption to training due to COVID lockdowns and restrictions; however, William has attended on and off training sessions at George Abbot School. Following the Christmas break, winter nets will resume building towards the summer season, where he is hoping for selection against other counties predominantly as a batsman, however being a talented bowler too, he is hopeful of getting some overs under his belt too.

CRICKET William Hamilton, Year 9

BIATHLON/ ATHLETICS/ TRIATHLON Spencer Bateman, Lower Sixth

2020 has been a very different year for almost everyone, and for me, it was the first time in eight years that I haven’t spent the summer racing. Normally, as soon as the cross country season finishes, triathlon, aquathlons, duathlons and athletics spring into action and from March through to September, I would spend almost every weekend at an event. This year March saw the whole country going into lockdown, children home-schooling, shops closing, people being put on furlough, eggs, flour and toilet rolls in short supply and every race that I had entered being cancelled, including the National Super Series that I had hoped to compete in this year. Gyms, swimming pools and athletic tracks closed, training switched to being delivered via Zoom sessions, people became creative with fitness bands and cans of beans. Swimming aside, I was lucky that I was still able to continue with some of my training by joining many others cycling in the Surrey Hills at the weekend and running locally, including St Ann’s Hill, Lyne, which is fantastic for hill reps. As some restrictions started to lift, open water swimming became the new swimming pool as I made use of one of many lakes we have in the area and the River Thames. As the year went on, we saw a few events advertised, and I entered an open water triathlon at Dorney Lake, Eton. This was the first event that I had taken part in for six months, and it was exciting to be racing again. I was so excited that I forgot to pack my bike shoes, and on the day my Dad had to make a mad dash back home to get my shoes – he arrived back just as I was about to start. Due to social distancing, no spectators were allowed, which made the event unusual – I don’t think I have ever raced with no spectators. An open water triathlon would normally have competitors start in waves, either by ability or age, and you would all get into the water together and then start together. Due to social distancing, this was not possible, and we were started individually with gaps of 20 seconds. It always makes it harder to race like this as you have no idea where you are in terms of places. It becomes more of an individual time trial, you against the clock. The event had two different distances – Super Sprint and Sprint. I was only able to enter the Super Sprint due to my age. It was a small but competitive race, and I won the Super Sprint race overall. On the run, I was lucky enough to spot a GB age grouper taking part in the sprint race, which gave me someone to focus on in the run. My second (and only other multisport) race of the year was in October and a little bit further afield. Leaving early on a very wet Sunday morning, we travelled to Stratford Upon Avon. As one of the only triathlons going ahead, this event was very competitive with 380 competitors in the Super Sprint. As it was pool based, the format wasn’t any different to normal triathlons. What was different was that I had to wear a mask in transition when I was setting up my kit. Due to the amount of rain and the number of people, the towpath based run quickly became a mud fest and was more like a cross country run and the shoes I had (racing flats suitable for fast, flat, firm conditions) made for a challenging run. With so many people entered, it was a great race, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It made me realise how much I love racing and the buzz that you get from it. I didn’t win this race but finished in a very respectable 18th place overall and won my age category. Aside from triathlon, I attended a couple of athletics track open meets and was delighted to post a small PB over 800m which was a pleasant surprise considering the severely limited amount of track time I had this year. As I write this, we have just headed into lockdown #2, the swimming pools have closed again, and the 2020/21 cross country season has been almost completely written off. However, with effective COVID vaccines imminent, 2021 will be different, and I am working on a winter training plan to prepare me for next season and plenty of racing which I have missed so much.