The Hallifordian 2021-2022

Contents

Introduction page 4

Autumn Highlights page 17

Spring Highlights page 59

Summer Highlights page 104

Art Exhibition page 144

House Reports page 170

Old Hallifordians page 178

Foreword by The Headmaster

As we come to the end of our Centenary year, it is a joy to look back at all we have achieved over the last twelve months. Despite having to plan and re-plan many events this year, we have managed to return to the site for all events and have been delighted to welcome visitors and guests to many of them. Undoubtedly the highlight of the year was the opening of our magnificent new Woodward Building. As we heard during Nick Pollard’s fascinating Centenary Lecture, throughout the history of the school, new buildings have been constructed and adapted and changed, with the main Georgian House remaining the only real constant. When the pandemic hit in 2020, we needed to get students back to school but socially distanced, so we had to take the difficult decision to close our previous library and convert it into two classrooms. It is said that bad libraries build collections, good libraries provide a service, but outstanding libraries form communities, and as we looked at what we could do to provide a library at the very heart of the school, the vision for our new building was born.

We wanted, of course, to create a library, but it was clear, even in the early stages of the pandemic, that simply replacing like for like was never going to be enough. So we set ourselves the bold dream of creating a Learning Resource Centre that would be the heart of both independent and collaborative learning at Halliford School. We needed a space that would offer areas for reading for pleasure, independent study space, and room for students to meet together and work collaboratively with the best facilities, both digital and analogue. I was also very clear that our magnificent Learning Support Department needed a permanent home within this facility at the heart of the school,

and so Mrs Peacock and I worked hard to create a space for our students to work with teachers in private and also a space to work together in a small group.

As Headmaster, I have always been very clear that as Hallifordians, we seek to provide our student body with the best possible facilities we can, and the Governing body has been both generous and bold in backing that vision during my tenure. When I arrived as Headmaster back in 2017, the Chairman walked me around the site and said to me that he one day wanted to see a building on the patch of ground at the back of the sports hall – I’m sure then neither of us could ever have imagined this incredible facility that we are all now so proud of.

There was no doubt in the mind of the Governing body that the building should be named after Ken Woodward to mark our gratitude as a school community to him for the magnificent work that he continues to do as Chair of Governors here at Halliford School. Ken was appointed a Governor in November 2002, and 19 years almost to the day, we welcomed him along with his wife Sue, daughter Zoe and son and Old Hallifordian Mark to be with us as our guests of honour. It was a day we will remember for many years to come.

However, while buildings and amazing facilities are impressive, it is the work in the classroom that truly counts. There can be no doubt that at the heart of our success as a school lie our staff. I reflected this time last year that as many of you had an insight into life as a teacher through remote teaching, there could be no doubt that the endless dedication my colleagues show to each and every student here at Halliford School is something none of us must ever take for granted. The search amongst many for a slower lifestyle and the elusive work/life balance does not sit easily with the demands of life as a teacher, and especially at a smaller school such as Halliford, where unlike many of our larger competitors, we ask a great deal of our teachers and support staff. I am immensely grateful to them all for the commitment and dedication they show every single day.

Please enjoy this edition of The Hallifordian, and I send you all my very best wishes and hope that you and your families will continue to keep safe and well.

James Davies Headmaster

Alexander Donnelly

Head Prefect

Finally, after the strangest and most difficult two years, Halliford has returned to normal. Face masks and lateral flow tests have been left behind and we can all move forward together as a community. The pandemic has given me time to reflect and evaluate the past seven years. Now I have finished my journey at Halliford, I will look back on my time with only fond memories.

I don’t think words can express my gratitude to all the teachers who have helped me during my time at Halliford. In particular, I want to thank Ms Hetherington and Ms Armstrong for encouraging me to go for the role of Head Prefect. I was initially sceptical about whether I had a chance to make Head Prefect, but they gave me the confidence to try out and thankfully, it has paid off and is something I’ll never regret. Yet again, the staff outdo themselves with their constant hard work and determination to help students succeed and become the best versions of themselves. One of the most important traits of a teacher at Halliford is to get the best out of each student and not focus on grinding out the best grades. I can firmly say Halliford was the best school for me individually, and I look forward to catching up with my teachers in the future.

The work of the Prefect team this year has been outstanding. To fit their duties into their study time is admirable and something that should not go unnoticed. Their hard work has also made my job much easier, and I will be forever grateful to the Prefects. They have worked together as a unit to put together several events for the school. Charity Week was a highlight where all students had the chance to participate in various fundraising activities, raising a lot of money for charity and creating a week of entertainment for the students. We have grown across all

areas as a school again this year, whether on the sports field or the stage in the school play. The vast array of extra-curricular activities offered to Hallifordians has allowed them to express many of the Halliford values and has connected the school, creating an even tighter family ethos.

Moving from GCSEs in Year 11 to A Levels in Sixth Form can be frightening due to the life-changing decision of university that beckons students. However, our Head of Sixth Form, Mr Carroll, has done a fantastic job ensuring all students are prepared for the upcoming exams and helping guide us through the UCAS process.

Being appointed Head Prefect has been a very rewarding experience. To be able to repay the school where you have been a student for seven years is a truly wonderful feeling and something I would encourage all students to apply for, as you never know what you are capable of until you try it out.

Sadly, this chapter of my life is finished. I will miss Halliford, and I am sure I will be back soon to visit. Whatever the future will throw at me, I know I am well equipped to tackle any new challenges, which is down to Halliford. I will proudly call myself a Hallifordian for many years to come!

Charlie Poulter

Deputy Head Prefect

When walking through the gates of Halliford seven years ago, I knew this was the place for me. The instant sense of community I felt really blew me away. Something that I had never really felt before in a school. This community environment is what makes the school so special, allowing me to grow as an individual academically and in maturity.

With the past two years being interrupted by Covid, life at Halliford continued to thrive due to the determination of every single teacher, as they enabled us to continue learning and achieve the best we could during a tough time, something for which I am profoundly grateful. This shows the commitment the school has to us as students. With coping during the pandemic just being a small example of the incredible things Halliford has done for me.

Coming from a highly academically competitive school, the idea of celebrating success no matter what level is something that Halliford has shown me. This concept saw me rise from bottom-set Maths to becoming one of my favourite subjects, with a highlight of my time at Halliford being when I got 100% on a Maths test. It shows how a combination of great teaching and belief in students allows learning to flourish. Every teacher is able to pull the best out of every student.

When I joined Halliford, Drama never really appealed to me much. However, the theatre is the place at Halliford where I have spent most of my time. I still remember my first Drama lesson and asking our former technician Mr Abbott about technical theatre. From there, the rest is history. The theatre has allowed me to develop confidence in showing my true artistic desires. From helping Mr Bruno to direct scenes in school plays to running

the backstage and technical side of SPAMALOT! I would like to thank both Mrs Rooke and Mr Bruno for the trust they put in me over the years and for always creating an environment that allowed me to be myself.

Although I have never been much of an athlete, the school has always found a way to lure me into playing. I believe this is due to the sense of pride it gave me to wear the Halliford badge. It is a means to give back to those around me and ensure everyone can live up to their true potential and achieve their goals. We are all in this together and giving back to those who help you when you are down is crucial. Outside of the sports field, the school has always provided me with an abundance of extra-curricular activities. I even had the chance to run my own club, which allowed me to hopefully leave an impression on the lower years, which will give them the confidence to run their own clubs.

The opportunity over the past year to take on the joint role of Deputy Head Prefect has allowed me to re-write the legacy left by my father in the eighties, which wasn’t a good one. I have tried my hardest to act as the best role model possible for those in the years below me, and I hope that when they leave, they can feel as proud as I do to call myself a Hallifordian.

Dominic Rose

Deputy Head Prefect

The seven years I have spent at Halliford have been a time of change and personal growth for me and have been very eventful. It feels like only yesterday that I joined Year 7 and got on my first train to Shepperton. Even though it may seem that I have always enjoyed my Halliford experience, it was very much the opposite when I first joined. I lived far away from the school and would take a long train journey to get in, which was very different to my previous small local primary school. I struggled to adapt early on and had great anxiety about going to school. However, my tutor at the time, Mr Willcox, spotted something was wrong and was extremely helpful in building my confidence again and calming me down. It took a while for me to come to grips with Halliford life fully, but once I did, I never looked back, and I am extremely grateful for all those members of staff who helped me through those early periods as without them I don’t know where I would be. It is that sense of community at Halliford and the amount of help I received at the start of my time, which is why I knew it was the school for me.

My time at the school has taught me to take every opportunity open to me and never look back with regret. There is always an abundance of new and exciting opportunities available at Halliford, with the numerous clubs held at lunchtime and after school and many trips taking place every year. My highlights would be the ski trips, which have given me such a sense of independence and confidence. The Current Affairs Club with Mrs Wilbraham has always been my go-to club on Wednesday lunchtime, where I really enjoyed debating the day’s news items. From Becker to Boris, discussing and learning other opinions has been enlightening. From these clubs and trips, I made new friends and had new experiences, making my seven years at Halliford so memorable and enjoyable.

Sport has always played a big role for me at school. I was never the best or a consistent A team player, but that never fazed me

as, despite our small year size, the Sports Department pushed to produce competitive A and B teams in all sports. The school introduced me to cricket and rugby, which I loved. Both sports tested me, but those who know me will understand when I say rugby was probably the tougher one out of the two for me. Playing sport for school taught me resilience and the die-hard attitude of a Hallifordian to never give up no matter the score line, which has stayed with me outside the sports fields and helped to keep me mentally strong.

I have always enjoyed certain aspects of academic life at Halliford. I bonded most with Humanities subjects, leading me to take Economics and Politics at A Level. I have developed my passion for politics and international relations around the world. It broadened my thinking and helped me understand what was happening in the world much more. Through this passion, I found my voice and realised I could debate and voice opinions both in the classrooms and in clubs. Teachers at Halliford never discouraged me from voicing my opinions and debating with fellow students and emphasised the importance of listening and respecting whoever you are debating against. Before I found my voice in politics, I spent my time in school plays and working with the Drama Department. Going on stage to perform at Halliford was very enjoyable. It filled me with great confidence, and the brilliant work of the Drama technicians and Mr Bruno and Mrs Rooke always meant that the school plays were spectacular.

These seven years at Halliford have been some of the best years of my life, and I am so grateful for the opportunities and experiences gifted to me by this wonderful school. I have made great friends, many of whom I will know for life, and I will look back on these seven years with immense joy. Without my friends and teachers at Halliford, I certainly wouldn’t be the man I am today, and I owe a lot to both. When you are low, your friends and teachers will always be there for you and support you no matter what. This commitment to the community and strong bond between teachers and students is why my time at Halliford has been so enjoyable. I am proud and fortunate to call myself a Hallifordian.

Editorial by Mrs Olivia Oakley

Marketing & Communications Manager

What a truly wonderful and memorable year it has been celebrating our Centenary, a proud moment in the school’s rich history. It has been brilliant to meet and welcome back many Old Hallifordians to the school for our Centenary programme of events. The highlight was the opening of our new Woodward Building in November, which houses our new Learning Resource Centre, and is a wonderful addition to the school.

Aside from our Centenary celebrations, it has been another exceptionally busy year at Halliford. With Covid restrictions easing, we have been able to enjoy a much more normal academic year, from international school trips and Duke of Edinburgh expeditions to the wonderful school production of SPAMALOT! and Lunchtime Concerts with live audiences.

We have also had great fun producing a drone fly-through video highlighting the amazing facilities we have here at Halliford. In addition, we welcomed a professional film crew into school for a week of filming in the Summer Term. The aim was to produce a video which truly encapsulates what it means to be a Hallifordian with the theme ‘Come as you are. Go as all you can be.’ I think it is fair to say the film crew did us proud with one Old Hallifordian commenting on social media, ‘THIS IS AMAZING, so funny, well said, not pretentious, it’s ambitious but not imposing, it’s perfect, whoever made it knows the school well.’ If you have not had a chance to view our videos yet, please head to our website to enjoy them.

It is a delight to be the Editor of this wonderful publication and to reflect on all the events we have hosted and everything we have achieved as a school community in our Centenary year. All of which would not be possible without our amazing team of teachers and support staff, ably led by Mr Davies and our Senior Management Team.

I hope you enjoy our Centenary edition of The Hallifordian

Congratulations to Mr Richard Fulford and his wife, Gemma, on the birth of their daughter, Lilian Rose.

Congratulations to Mr James Greggor and his wife, Hannah, on the birth of their son, Myles George.

Congratulations to Mrs Victoria Wagner-Hall and her husband, Tom, on the birth of their daughter, Sophie Annabelle.

Staff Farewells Staff News

Mr Tom King, Librarian, Teacher of History

Tom was a one-time Head Prefect and, following his degree in History, returned to Halliford as our much-loved Librarian. He took on additional responsibilities leading the Duke of Edinburgh Award, teaching lower school History, and supporting students needing additional help within the Learning Support Department. Tom’s warm-hearted approach shone out to all who worked with him. It has been good to hear that he has continued to pursue his love for all things outdoors, and we have no doubt that one day he will be on our TV screens involved with some form of wild outdoor challenge.

Mr Peter Gale, Head of Economics & Business Studies

Having stepped down from Headship, Peter led the Economics and Business Studies at Halliford for the last five years with commitment and passion for his subject. He also led Careers at the school and spent a great deal of time supporting students with their many questions about where to go on to next in life. We wish Peter well as he has moved on to be Director of Business Partnerships at his new school.

Mrs Jackie Butler-Smith, Teacher of English and Head of Wadham House

Following an extended period of absence due to poor health, Mrs Butler-Smith left Halliford School in April. She had taught at Halliford since 2015 and, during that time, took on the roles of Head of PSHE and Head of Wadham House. Her care for her students was a hallmark of her time with us, and we wish her and her sons, Marcus and Harrison, all the best for the future.

Mr Robert Todd, Teacher of Modern Foreign Languages

Mr Todd joined Halliford School in 2018 to teach German, and as a young trainee teacher, he has worked incredibly hard. His incredible care for his students and relentless commitment to doing his best have seen him grow into an excellent teacher we will all miss. Mr Todd’s drive to constantly improve his skills makes him take the plunge to move out to Spain to immerse himself in the language. However, we do not doubt that the call of the classroom will see him return to teaching again, and we wish him the very best.

Congratulations to Mrs Shani Woodley and her husband, Adam, on the birth of their second son Jackson Adam.

Congratulations to Mrs Hannah Weeks and her husband, Ciaran, on the birth of their daughter, Rosie Madeleine.

Congratulations to Ms Ashlea Armstrong and her partner, Greg, on the birth of their daughter, Olivia Rose.

Mrs Philippa Peacock, Head of Learning Support

Mrs Peacock has used her outstanding skills as a very experienced SENCo over the last five years to enable all our students to flourish. Her care and dedication to those within the Learning Support Department are truly second to none. She is a true vocational teacher, and we will miss her greatly. She was fully involved in designing the new learning support area in the Woodward Building. Thanks to her vision, we are fortunate enough to see students with many individual needs go on to do so well, not just in examinations but in all areas of their lives. Mrs Peacock is retiring to spend time with her husband and their new dog.

Mr Chris Heeney, Head of Design and Technology

Mr Heeney joined Halliford in 2015 and has led the Design and Technology Department with his calm but no-nonsense approach. He has overseen countless DT projects from students of all years, led the Duke of Edinburgh Award and offered guidance to many students who have gone on to study various engineering and design-based courses at university. We wish him well as he moves on to lead the DT Department in his new school.

Mrs Victoria Wagner-Hall, Head of Religious Studies

Mrs Wagner-Hall joined Halliford initially as a short-term appointment, but such was her talent that she was soon offered the position of Head of Religious Studies. Her wealth of knowledge and highly organised approach made her a hit with our students and saw numbers studying the subject rise. It is a testament to her inspirational teaching that one of her students will follow in her footsteps next year as a Religious Studies teacher. Mrs Wagner-Hall is looking forward to spending time with her two lovely children and will continue to tutor students at GCSE and A Level.

Mrs Emily Plumbly, PA to the Headmaster

Mrs Plumbly contributed so much to the school in many ways, often behind the scenes. Organising the Headmaster is not a job for the fainthearted, and Mrs Plumbly did a magnificent job. Her calm, kind, and reassuring manner with all members of the Halliford Community helped brighten our days. We wish her well as she moves to a PA role significantly closer to her new home, enabling her to spend much more time with her wonderful son Teddy.

A Tribute to Richard Talbot

by Mr Sean Slocock, Assistant Head Co-Curricular

Richard Talbot was the most amazing colleague, mentor, and friend. A true legend and inspiration to staff and students alike. A great servant to Weybridge Vandals Rugby Club and Shepperton Cricket Club, the respect that all the Halliford Community had for him was unparalleled. He instilled in all a true sense of what it meant to be a Hallifordian, and he was the greatest example of this. Richard believed that the best thing one could give students was your time, and for that, he will be remembered, among many other things, as generous, caring, loyal and passionate. He gave his time selflessly to his students at Halliford School for 27 years, and there is no doubt that he fulfilled his mantra to the full.

Richard started his career as a Geography teacher and has inspired many of his students to further their own paths in this field. However, he came into his own on the sports field, where his Year 7 rugby training sessions were legendary. For many of his students, the sight of Mr Talbot wearing a pair of short shorts and a Lions shirt that he wore for nearly every session, socks halfway up his calves, will be entrenched in their memories forever. He instilled in every team he coached, which at Halliford meant virtually every student, a deep desire to win coupled with respect and humility whether in victory or defeat. His ability and the accuracy with which he was able to judge how far a javelin or shot put was thrown without the use of a measuring tape was astonishing, as was his ability to referee a game of rugby or conduct a training session without a whistle. Richard was passionate about all sport supporting Stoke City to his newly adopted Pattaya FC from Taunton to Somerset County. To this day, his golf swing, once frequently put into practice, confounded the laws of physics. Running, however, became his passion and he was frequently seen traversing the seven hills or Beachy Head roads far and wide. Legend had it that one of his proudest moments was once he was an elite athlete, winning and then donating a fridge that he was unable to carry home.

Richard Talbot was an amazing Deputy Head, known for being firm yet kind and compassionate, but equally, someone nobody wanted to be sent to following a misdemeanour. To colleagues and friends, he was known to have immense emotional intelligence. Someone you could confide in, seek advice, or expect to be told straight and truthfully. He was a great orator whose ability to regale and enthral an audience, often off the cuff, with a different story for any given situation was possibly only overshadowed by an equally dubious taste in suits. Richard interviewed hundreds of students to join Halliford School, and his ability to settle the nerves of every student and his superb judge of character combined with his energy, enthusiasm and

‘Gone but never forgotten’ and ‘Legend’ are oft overused phrases and words, but never has it been so accurate when talking about Richard. You are the embodiment of what it means to be a Hallifordian.

Philip Cottam, Headmaster 2002-2014

Richard was a dedicated teacher and sports coach devoted to Halliford who always did the best he could for the school, its pupils, and staff. He was a rare breed - the complete schoolmaster - who will turn their hand to anything and for whom nothing is too much trouble. Geography and PE were his main subjects, but he seemed to be able to fill all sorts of unexpected gaps in the timetable. As a sports coach, he was in his element, and one of the best sights at Halliford was to watch him coaching and refereeing his Year 7 rugby squad. It was a wonderful essay on how to develop the confidence and skills of the young. Those who heard his assemblies will also not forget them. So often, they were based on funny stories in which he was laughing at himself. He was a charismatic Deputy Head who dealt with erring teenagers with fairness and a sense of proportion. I was so lucky to have his support. I could not have asked for a more loyal and effective deputy. He always said what he thought, and his sage advice stopped me from making many more errors than I otherwise would have. Halliford was blessed to have Richard on the staff, and I will always remember him with so much gratitude and affection.

drive helped shape Halliford into the school it is today.

Simon Wilson, Headmaster 2015-2017

When I arrived at Halliford, Richard was already an institution, and I think he had already decided to retire after 18 months of my tenure. But this did not stop him from welcoming me to the Halliford family and ensuring that I made the best possible start as Headmaster. I will have many fond memories of Richard: His questionable taste in suits, shirts and ties, which he assures me were all tailored in Thailand, his relentless enthusiasm for engaging boys in Halliford Sport, his interest in everything that the pupils were doing, seeing him umpire House Cricket at lunchtime, whatever the weather, his ability to know when certain boys needed watching or needed a firm, but guiding hand. One of my favourite moments came when I had taken him to Lord’s to watch his beloved Somerset play Middlesex in a T20. We were sitting in the pavilion, and Somerset was doing well, but his face was transformed into pure delight when the text came through that Halliford U15s had beaten St. George’s Weybridge. It was a perfect evening for him! He has been taken from us far too early and will be sorely missed by many. Rest in Peace, Richard.

John Carrington, Former Senior Tutor

The years working with you at Halliford were so much fun and working closely with you taught me much about what it is to be a true ‘schoolmaster’. I envied the relationship that you had with the boys and the ultimate respect that they gave to you. I tried to emulate you but fell short every time. I couldn’t work as hard, and I didn’t understand the teenage mind as well as you. I couldn’t put across the same passion for educating, and I certainly couldn’t tell as good a story. You have no idea how much it meant to me for you to have such incredible faith in me, and I hope that I repaid a fraction of that faith by doing all I could to carry on your work with the boys, ensuring that they were happy and safe. I grew to understand how much the job meant to you and how much it took out of you. I’m so glad you got to live your retirement to the full, and what a retirement! Truly living the dream. I am so sad it couldn’t have lasted longer but know that you would have hated growing old, especially if it meant losing any independence. I’m sure the Tabs of this last year was no different to the teenage Tabs. Always on the go and always wearing a cheeky grin. We miss you!

Fran Clatworthy, Registrar

Richard was the most charismatic, big-hearted, humorous, and supportive person anyone could wish to meet. The phrase ‘once seen, never forgotten’ comes to mind when I think of Richard, as he made such a good lasting impression on everyone who had the pleasure of meeting him. The parents of the boys he interviewed had nothing but praise for him, and many commented on his pure passion for Halliford. On one occasion, the cupboards in Richard’s office were open with all his sports kit on view. He asked the parent which other schools they had applied to, and the parents answered ‘RGS’. Richard remarked, ‘Well, you won’t

see cupboards like that at RGS.’ The parent later said to me, ‘What a delight it was to meet Richard. He put both my son and me at ease with his comment about the cupboard doors.’ The boy in question was offered a place at Halliford and accepted. Richard was a pleasure to work with, and I feel honoured to have known him.

Christian Jetuah, Old Hallifordian 1994-2001

Sir, you inspired a generation of young men and women to enjoy what we do and always apply the maximum level of effort, whether on the sports pitch or in the classroom. Not being built for running, I always came last in the weekly road race /crosscountry. One week I managed to get around without stopping in what felt like a record time. Mr Talbot gave me a Merit for the effort, a small act that I will never forget, and which has ever since inspired me never to stop trying. Sir, thank you for the important life lessons you taught us and the energy and enthusiasm you gave us to play and participate in sport no matter our ability. When one thinks of what it is to be a Hallifordian, you are the image that springs to mind. You have provided that firm path to firmer things for many an uncertain young man.

Charles Block, Old Hallifordian

I was devastated to hear of Mr Talbot’s passing. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life for a long time, but once I reached university, I reflected on my life so far. I decided that if it weren’t for Halliford, my life probably would have turned out very differently. It wasn’t just the education I received here that made me who I am today but all of the brilliant life lessons and good characteristics promoted at the school. Mr Talbot was a shining example of all of these characteristics. Always willing to help, whether that was helping a student with homework or getting his own hands dirty and cleaning the school. With the role models from Halliford, such as Mr Talbot, I decided teaching was an imperative role in society and am currently doing my PGCE at the University of Oxford. I can only hope to be as good as the teachers who shaped me at Halliford and if I’m lucky to be such a captivating storyteller in assemblies as Mr Talbot. I’m very grateful to have known him, and it is a tragedy to hear we have lost such a positive man in the world.

Sam Lawrence, Old Hallifordian Chairman

I will never forget my first interview at Halliford and being met by the larger-than-life character that was Mr Talbot. Little did I know that this very man would shape so much of my memory of the school and become an ally in some of the more difficult moments of my formative years. For that, I could not thank him enough, and it weighs heavy that now, I do not have the chance to give those thanks. I know the entire school’s thoughts are with you now and will continue to be. Thank you, Richard, for everything. I hope the putting greens and cricket nets are up to standard wherever you are.

Welcome to New Staff

Mrs Neelam Makkar joined us as Teacher of Economics & Business Studies in January. Neelam grew up in India, where she completed her schooling and first degree. She then studied for her Masters in France and the UK as an exchange programme and lived on the French Riviera for 17 years, working in the corporate sector and for an international school. Neelam moved to the UK in 2017 and taught Business for one year in a state school in Reading and then three years in a grammar school in Slough before joining Halliford. Neelam loves reading, travelling, and solving sudoku puzzles.

Miss Katrina Head joined us as Teacher of Humanities & Intervention in January. Katrina has a History degree from Reading University and a Psychology MSc from Glasgow. After eight years as a director in a chemical manufacturing company, she finally decided to follow her heart into teaching after completing her PGCE at St. Mary’s during lockdown. Katrina is starting her ECT with Halliford in September as a Humanities teacher. Outside of school, she loves sport and has competed professionally for Team GB in Alpine Skiing, and now she coaches young athletes aspiring to do the same.

Mrs Danielle Armstrong joins us as PA to the Headmaster Danielle worked as an EA, then an Account Partner in the corporate sector before taking a career break to have her two boys where she ran her own cake school business. She has been married to the local butcher for 20 years and they have two sausage dogs.

Mrs Zoe Fazackerley joined us as HR Officer in May. Zoe has worked for several years in HR roles predominantly in biotech and financial sectors. Zoe has three children and in her spare time enjoys open water swimming and running.

Mr Conor Fleming joined Halliford as the Theatre Technician in April, having spent the last few years working in a variety of theatres on a freelance basis. After completing a bachelor’s degree in Technical Theatre at St. Mary’s University, Conor has worked on a number of shows, ranging in size from small, fringe performances to extended runs of pantomime.

Mrs Tiffany Howkins is our new Librarian in the LRC and joined us in January. Originally from Belfast, Tiffany moved over to England in 2006 to study fashion design with business at university then spent several years working in buying for several high street retailers before retraining as a primary teacher. She has worked in local primary schools for the last six years. She enjoys reading, baking and exercising, and now does all three with a small person in tow!

Mrs Wendy Bird joined us in January as our Assistant Librarian

having previously worked as an administrator at a local primary school and two PTAs. Prior to having her family, she worked in an estate agency, in financial services and a large engineering firm. She is married with two teenage children and a rescue cat, and loves musical theatre, reading and travelling to warmer climates.

Scott Baker joined in January as the Evening Caretaker, the third wheel of the premises maintenance and caretaking crew. He covers the late shift doing all and sundry, much like his previous role as a self-employed handyman. He absolutely loves playing cricket and enjoys a round of golf and watching a myriad of sports. He listens to a wide variety of music and can be heard singing woefully with his headphones in after 7pm on site.

Mrs Nicola Sessions joins us as SENDCo. Mrs Sessions is no stranger to Halliford School, having been our specialist Dyslexia Tutor for many years. We are delighted that she has decided to come and join us as SENDCo this September, a role she is very familiar with, having worked previously in a variety of schools and most recently as an advisor to Hounslow Council before setting up her own specialist Dyslexia Consultancy. She has been so impressed with the developments we have made within the Learning Support Department that she couldn’t wait to continue the excellent work that has been done by Mrs Peacock. She is passionate about ensuring that all our students receive the help and support they need to excel. In her spare time, Mrs Sessions is kept busy by her three daughters and has a love of Youth Theatre.

Mrs Jennifer Piddock joins us as Teacher of Modern Foreign Languages (German and French). Mrs Piddock joins us following a relocation from Bristol, where she was Head of German at Clifton College. A Cambridge University graduate, Mrs Piddock is looking forward to teaching German and continuing our tradition of exciting exchange visits. In her spare time, she loves working on theatre productions and has a passion for film.

Mr James Hoare joins us as Teacher of English. A graduate of Kingston University, he recently completed his Masters in Creative Writing at Portsmouth University. Following a successful career as a professional actor, he decided to retrain as a teacher after the pandemic and has just completed his training at Ryde Academy on the Isle of Wight. He will look forward to bringing a wealth of experience to the classroom, having worked in many exciting roles, including the National Youth Theatre and starring in Emmerdale and Midsomer Murders.

Mr Dean Hewitt joins us as Teacher of Design & Technology. Mr Hewitt is Australian by birth and has worked in a wide variety

of settings before making the move to the UK. Since then, he has taught at Kingston Grammar School, Charterhouse and joins us in September from Esher Church of England High School. As well as teaching Design & Technology, Mr Hewitt also has a long association with the Duke of Edinburgh Award, and is looking forward to supporting Mr Watson in this area of school life. In his spare time, he enjoys golf and has a rather impressive handicap of 14. Mr Hewitt is also a registered cricket umpire with the English Cricket Board.

Miss Holly Mobbs joins us as Teacher of PsychologyMaternity Cover. Miss Mobbs joins us from Lord Wandsworth College where she was a Teacher of Psychology. As well as having a love of her subject, Miss Mobbs is also passionate about flatwater kayaking and has competed both nationally and internationally. She is a supporter of the famous Devizes to Westminster challenge and is now involved in coaching at both a local and national level.

Mrs Hazel Pears joins us as Assistant SENCo. Hazel previously worked as a Higher Level Teaching Assistant for 15 years in her previous school, and is looking forward to supporting the students and Learning Support Team at Halliford. Hazel has adopted a donkey named Cisco with The Donkey Sanctuary on behalf of the Learning Support Team.

Mr Max Zander-Holder joins us as our Gap Student working with the Learning Support and Sports Departments. Mr Zander-Holder is a name familiar to all associated with Halliford School. Having been the Headmaster’s first Head Prefect he knows the school incredibly well. Following his degree in Sports and Exercise Science at Birmingham University, he was eager to return and share his knowledge with our students.

New Responsibilities

Mrs Leila Brown – Head of Business Studies and Economics

It was a pleasure to be able to appoint Mrs Brown to take over the Business Studies and Economics Departments. Her care for the students she teaches is outstanding, and they all know she will always make time to help them with their work. Following a period before joining Halliford in Senior Leadership, Mrs Brown is very much looking forward to making the department her own with the wonderful support of Mrs Makkar, Mrs Oxley and Mr Slocock.

Mr Sam Watson – Head of Design & Technology

We are delighted that Mr Watson will take over as Head of Design & Technology. He has already worked incredibly hard to revise schemes of work for all year groups and to introduce new technology into the workshop, and we look forward to seeing the Department continue to thrive under his leadership. Mr Watson has also made a huge contribution to the school having taken over as Coordinator for our Duke of Edinburgh Award.

Miss Lauren Ferreira – Head of Religious Studies

Following an incredibly successful maternity cover, we are delighted to appoint Miss Ferreira to take over as Head of Department. Her youthful energy and passion for the subject have enabled her to continue to grow the number of students studying the subject at both GCSE and A Level.

William Aird, 7D

I decided to come to Halliford School because it was very friendly throughout the interviews and entrance exams. On the first day, I was nervous because of getting homework, but we got no homework for the first week! I mostly only made friends with people in 7D in the first week. I also made friends with people on the train. My favourite lessons here are History because the teacher is nice; DT, because at my old school we would only do a DT project once a year; and Art because it is creative. The biggest difference between Halliford and Latchmere (my previous school) is the size as Latchmere had 1,000 pupils. I have enjoyed some of the clubs and societies here. I go to Touch Typing Club, Science Animation, and when I can, Cricket Club. I used to go to DT Club, but it was moved to a Thursday lunchtime when I was already doing Science Club. I’m really enjoying the sport here too. I play cricket on Tuesday and do my best in Games. I’m really pleased I came to Halliford School because everybody is friendly.

MY HALLIFORD SCHOOL STORY

Speech Day 2022

Achievement Prize

7D Ben Snowball 7G James O’Connor 7R Hayden Sanghera 7W Keelan Thomas

Progress Prize

8D

Jonty Wright 8G Jack Crichton 8R Lucas Morgan 8W Omar Eldemerdash

9D Theo Maroussas 9G Josh Hawksley 9R Hector Rutter 9W Aaric Thomas

10D Thomas Lever 10G James McCummiskey 10R Cameron Terry 10W Dominic Connor

11D Matthew Sanders 11G Connor Foote 11R Ben Hughes 11W Jivraj Singh

7D George Sanders 7G Raphie Scott 7R Osbert Reynolds 7W Joshua Crook 8D Freddie Nash 8G Andrej Whelan 8R Josh Newlands 8W Caleb Baker

9D Alexander Murat 9G Leo Hobbs 9R Oscar Luiz 9W Humphrey Pedlar

10D Oliver Whitticase 10G Ollie Collard 10R Zachary Barlow 10W Joshua Turley

11D Zephan Avaan 11G Henry Ludlam 11R Theo Wilson 11W Mannat Virk

Art Will Shanley Daniel Hurlock-Bow Matthew Sanders Theo Marshall James Webley Calvin Harrington

Ken Kajay Moss George O’Loughlin Devin Prior Will Shanley Roald Aschim Roald Aschim Finlay Hanna Jivraj Singh

Calvin Harrington Ethan Manzi Josh Guild Ben Hughes Daniel Hurlock-Bow Connor Foote Jasper Stimson James Hallett

Jonathan Hobbs Memorial Prize for Art Archie Evans

Biology............................................................................................... Sean Rustin

Business Studies Cormac Evans Chemistry Becca Miles

Classical Civilisation James Wiltshire

Computer Science Matthew Turley Design Technology Alistair Clarke

Theatre Studies............................................................................. Charlie Poulter

Economics Dominic Rose

Oliver Griffin Prize for Politics William McGuigan

English Literature Arya Shafighian

Wendy Simmons Prize for French Arya Shafighian

Geography James Hanley

John Lewis Prize for History Owen Morris

Mathematics Daniel Wilkes

Bahadur Sunderji Prize for Further Mathematics Sankaran Suseelan

Music Technology Lucas Dallon Music Arya Shafighian Physical Education Anthony Robins-Kent Physics Spencer Bateman Religious Studies Matthew Grimes Psychology Sheridan Kerr Spanish Theo Rowsell

Upper Sixth Prize Winners School Prizes

Blackeney Shield for Best Newcomer

George Clark

Hardy Shield for Junior Rugby Lucas Hayes Garcia

Etherton Shield for Outstanding Sportsman Christopher Cole Nicks Plate for Sportsmanship Donnelly

Owen Cup for Rugby Owen Morris Football Captains Cup Patrick Wanat

Nauticalia Bat for Cricket Archie Evans

Richard Talbot Tankard Joshua Burson

Junior Drama Award Wilkinson Senior Drama Award Max Pillinger

Phil Abbott Award for Outstanding Contribution to Technical Theatre Charlie Poulter

Junior Music Award Billy Dobby

Senior Music Award........................................................................................ Tom Wittke

Alexis Hitchens Prize for Creative Writing Chippindale

Shepperton Aurora Rotary Community Service Shield Naveed Uddin Trophy for Service to the School Gurleen Ghotra

John Crook Prize for Improvement Misha Edwards Headmasters Prize Donnelly

Upper Sixth Leavers - University Places

University Course

University of Bath Physics with Astrophysics, Sports Management and Coaching

Bath Spa University Drama and Film and Screen Studies

University of Birmingham International Relations with Economics, Economics with Spanish Bournemouth University Business and Management, Sport Management

Brunel University London Games Design University of Cambridge Natural Sciences

University Campus of Football Business Football Business and Marketing

Cardiff University Mathematics, Business Economics, Archaeology

Central Saint Martins University of the Arts London Foundation Diploma in Art and Design University of Essex Business Economics

Kingston University Biomedical Science

Lancaster University Management, Politics and International Relations University of Leeds Economics and History, Mechanical Engineering

Leeds Beckett University Sport Business Management

Loughborough University Bioengineering, Mathematics and Physics University of Manchester Chemistry with Industrial Experience

Nottingham Trent University Business Management, Accounting and Finance, Wildlife Conservation University of Oxford French and Spanish University of Plymouth Geography with Ocean Science, Computer Science (Cyber Security) University of Portsmouth Product Design and Innovation University of Reading Building Surveying, Investment and Finance in Property Royal Holloway, University of London Biomedical Science, Psychology University of Southampton Geography, Aeronautics and Astronautics University of St Andrews Mathematics University of Sussex Psychology

Swansea University Accounting and Finance, Biochemistry, Economics, Journalism, Media and Communications, Marketing, Sport and Exercise Science, Philosophy, Politics and Economics

University of Westminster, London Real Estate University of Winchester Business Management, Economics and Finance

Laptop Donations for Level Up

by Mr James Davies, Headmaster

This September saw Halliford School move to a new Microsoft Surface Go 1:1 digital device strategy and so we were very pleased to have the opportunity to donate 81 Chromebooks, 17 HP Laptops and 5 Asus Laptops to Level Up.

Level Up Reigate & Banstead is a project that provides refurbished laptops for children and young people who need them for home study. The devices are cleansed and refurbished by technical volunteers before being distributed to children and young people via local schools and charities.

The charity was delighted to receive the donation and sent a message of thanks advising us that the laptops would be used to support over 100 children. My thanks to Mrs Julie McRobb, our IT Technician, for coordinating the donation on behalf of the School.

Dear Julie

Laptop Donations for Level Up

I am writing to say a huge thank you for the generous donation of laptops made by Halliford School towards the Level Up project.

The 81 Chromebooks, 17 HP Laptops and 5 Asus Laptops that the school has provided are being cleansed and refurbished by our technical volunteers. They will then be gifted (via schools and charities) to children and young people who do not have access to a laptop at home

Although demand for laptops has reduced as the lockdowns lifted, unfortunately there is still an unmet need. Many families cannot afford multiple devices and some children are struggling to complete homework or are using their mobile phone. Having access to a laptop for home learning is now a vital part of a child’s education and we have received requests for a further 800 devices from local schools for the new term

Thank you again for taking the time to donate your older devices. They will be recycled within the community and put to good use supporting the education of over 100 children.

Voluntary

Julie McRobb Technician Halliford

Nina Porter Chief Officer Voluntary

My Drive to School with Lando Norris

by Thomas Perrin, Year 8

Hi, I’m Thomas, and this is how I got a ride to school with the McLaren F1 driver Lando Norris. It was a summer day, and my Dad got an email from Hilton Hotels with information about a competition to win a ride to school with a Formula 1 driver.

My Dad entered the competition but, at the time, did not tell me about it. A few weeks later, an email came through to say that he had won, and when he told me, I was extremely happy. The whole family was shocked because we had never won anything like that before.

On September 20 2021, the day had finally come. I was looking forward to it throughout the summer holiday, and I just couldn’t stop thinking about it. When they arrived at our house, I saw the purple McLaren shine in the sun. Lando then knocked on the door accompanied by a film crew who were recording the whole morning, and all I thought to myself was, don’t look at the cameras. I was extremely nervous, but I managed to ask many questions. The drive to school was amazing. After a few surprise encounters with the public, we arrived at school. My friends and teachers were waiting for us to arrive, and I also spotted many of the older students looking out the window. After many photos with the Headmaster, my friends, and Lando, I sadly said goodbye. I got my last fist bump of the day, and he drove off. My family will never forget the day and experience, which was a dream come true.

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 a total of 23 boxes which were absolutely brimming with food, and so I was delighted to be assisted by our Head Prefect, Alexander Donnelly, our Deputy Head Prefects Dominic Rose and Charlie Poulter and our Charity Prefects, Owen Morris and Naveed Uddin, who helped me to deliver the huge collection of wonderful provisions to the Manna Food Bank in Staines, who were overwhelmed by our huge donation.

Special Effects Workshop

by Ms Tamarind Hetherington, Head of Art

The prop production company, Bentley Advanced Materials, visited Halliford School to host a fantastic masterclass for our GCSE and A Level Art students.

The students were introduced to industry-standard materials by Bentley, a company which is heavily involved in special effects used in Hollywood blockbusters. Students were given tuition on a range of various techniques, including advanced casting and moulding, foam casting, silicones and wound boards. Dave Oxborrow, who led the workshop, gave advice to our students considering prop production as a career and answered questions in relation to their working practice.

Dave commented, ‘We are showing students the kind of materials we use, how to use them and why they are important to the industries we work in. Practical mould making and casting, along with wound boards and various other types of material, are an integral part of the special effects work we do.’

The students enjoyed mixing silicones, creating moulds and making casts to produce realistic silicon special effect make-up and moulds. This new venture was well received and gave the students a real insight into the process of creating special effects work.

William Shanley, studying GCSE Art, said, ‘This was a great opportunity to create special effects in an amazing workshop. My current art project involves casting moulds, which was extremely useful to me, and I learnt a lot during this hands-on workshop.’

MY HALLIFORD SCHOOL STORY

Hayden Sanghera, 7R

I decided to come to Halliford School because it is like my old school and a suitable place to learn and be happy. I have been here for one Open Day. The entrance exams were not difficult, and they went well. On the first day, I was quite nervous, but my friends from my previous school were there to put an even bigger smile on my face! Also, the teachers comforted everyone, making all students feel at home. I was relieved that I did not have too much homework, but in my old school, I was given more. I made quite a few friends in my first week. The subject I like the most here is Science because we learn interesting and advanced topics that are all fun to learn. I have also enjoyed Computer Science. I have always enjoyed computers, but I especially liked using and making code. I have enjoyed various clubs and societies here, including Conspiracy Club, where you talk about interesting conspiracies of the world. I also enjoy Science Club, where we do many fun experiments every week. I do Philosophy Club, which challenges your mind to think of all counter arguments to the point given! Last but not least, I enjoy Photography Club as I have always loved taking photos and spending time outside. I am enjoying the sport here too. I mostly play cricket, and we are starting badminton, one of my favourite sports, next year. I am pleased I came to Halliford School because I enjoy the community and learning new and interesting things I have not learned before.

Halliford’s Inter-House

Pumpkin Carving Contest

by Ms Tamarind Hetherington, Head of Art

In October, the Art Department launched our Inter-House Pumpkin Carving Contest for the second year running. 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 Disney and the environmental crisis, and of course, from Covid-19.

Over 30 students entered the competition, and it was lovely to see the whole family getting involved. 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 James Haines in Wadham House, awarded first place for his powerful sea turtle surrounded by plastic, followed by Oscar Luiz in Russell House for his amazing burger in a bun, and in third place, Lucy Durham in Russell House for her Day of the Dead design. Well done to all involved. It was a great display of our Hallifordian value of creativity.

1st - James Haines, 7W

Dominic Connor, 10W

3rd - Lucy Durham, L6R

2nd - Oscar Luiz, 9R

Fin Bowden, 8W

Jenson Waite, 8D

Aaric Thomas, 9W

Felix Armes-Ward, 8R

Movember 2021

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. This year’s fundraising once again proved to be a huge success.

The staff and students were superb in their support of this fantastic cause. There were some outstanding taches on show from staff and boys alike. After years of trying, Mr Shales finally won the vote for best teacher Mo, but sadly his quest for a first overall victory was scuppered by Ben Witham’s superb effort that he is still sporting, a fantastic look with the mullet!!

The Mufti Day and food sale raised nearly £1,350, and the online donations neared £2,350, leading us to a grand total of around £3,700. I would like to personally thank all the staff, students, and parents who so generously donated. Charity Prefects, Naveed Uddin and Owen Morris, did a superb job organising the Mufti Day. Special mention should go to the Mills brothers who raised £145 between them by washing their neighbours’ cars. Well done to my Mo Bros, Mr Slocock, Mr Watson, Mr Cunningham, Mr Harden-Chaters, Mr Willcox, Mr Lee, Mr Fulford, Mr Greggor, Mr Churchill, Mr Cupido, and Sixth Formers, Sankaran Suseelan, Ryan Alavi, Naveed Uddin, Ben Witham, Seb McGill and James Manzi for growing some superb moustaches.

Mr Churchill

Mr Cupido

Mr Greggor

Mr Shales

Mr Watson

Mr Willcox

MY HALLIFORD SCHOOL STORY

Theo Fuller, 7G

I decided to come to Halliford School because both of my older brothers had come here before and have said it is the best school and highly recommended it. I had an online Open Day, and I thoroughly enjoyed it and thought the school was great. The entrance exams went well too. On the first day, I was very excited to have a proper look around the school as it was my first real-life experience. I was very relieved not to get too much homework, and I made a lot of friends in the first week. The lessons I like the most here are PE, English, and Design & Technology, because I love sport, writing stories, and using all the machinery in the workshop. I have enjoyed some of the clubs and societies here. I go to quite a lot of sports clubs, including badminton, volleyball, sevens rugby, football, and cricket. I have been involved with many events and tournaments for rugby and sevens rugby where we go out and represent our school by playing against other schools. We went the whole rugby season going unbeaten and won our rugby sevens tournaments. It was close for football as well. However, we lost our final game of the season losing to Salesians. I am really pleased I came to Halliford School because I have made so many new friends and the teachers here are very friendly and kind.

MY HALLIFORD SCHOOL STORY

Aiden Sairanen Fuller, 7D

I decided to come to Halliford School because it is very sporty, and they give you help if you are stuck. I was nervous on my first day, but my new friends helped me settle. The lessons I like the most here are PE and History because they are inclusive, and I enjoy attending Badminton Club. The biggest difference between Halliford and my previous school is that there are smaller classes, and the teachers are nice. I am really enjoying the sport here too. I am involved in football, rugby and possibly cricket in the Summer Term, which will be very fun. I am really pleased I came to Halliford School because it was my first choice, and it is my favourite school out of the ones I applied for.

MY HALLIFORD SCHOOL STORY

Jack Barry, 7D

I decided to come to Halliford School because it was a small school and when I looked around on Open Day it was really nice. The entrance exams were stressful, but it is worth it when you get your offer letter. On the first day, I made lots of friends from going on the train, and our form tutor helped by telling us where to go and showing us where the classrooms were. Also, we didn’t get any homework which I loved because we could focus more on learning where our classrooms were, so I didn’t feel really stressed. I like all the sports lessons because I love sport. I also like History because sir is very funny and makes it fun to learn his subject. The biggest difference between Halliford and my old school is that the food is way better at Halliford, but the teachers are stricter because we are in secondary school. The clubs are amazing because if the weather is bad, you can still do sport plus they help you make friends. I do all the sports clubs, and we play certain sports for half an hour during our lunch break. My favourite sports are rugby and cricket. I am in the B team for rugby, and we have not been put into teams for cricket yet. The sports teachers are nice, especially Mr Churchill. I’m really pleased I came to Halliford School because I have made lots of friends and have lots of fun in school and during break time.

Year 11 Geography Field Trip to Juniper Hall

by Mr Willcox, Head of Geography

With the return to a ‘new normal’ in the wake of the pandemic, the Geography Department were pleased to return to Juniper Hall, where our Year 11 Geographers could undertake physical fieldwork to prepare for the new GCSE specifications. It was an opportunity to get our students into the great outdoors and allow them to channel their inner Peppa Pig (jumping up and down in muddy puddles while wearing wellies).

It seemed like a good idea to time the trip in November, keeping the fieldwork experiences fresh in the minds of the Year 11 students just before they were to sit their December mocks. However, as the trip grew closer, this appeared to be a mistake. The clocks had recently changed, and it was darker in the morning and getting darker earlier in the afternoon. Our daylight hours were shortening, and of course, it was getting decidedly colder! Therefore, it was with great relief that on 9 November 2021, it was remarkably mild (mid-teens no less), and we were greeted with a clear, blue sky as we left Halliford School.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by our instructors, Emma and Alice, who guided the students through their river’s fieldwork. We had managed to use an online StoryMap with ArcGIS before the trip so that students were able to virtually visit and get a sense of the sites that we were going to visit prior to even departing on the trip.

Once we had covered the theory in the classrooms of Juniper Hall, we donned our wellies and headed out to the river to collect our data. At our first site, we managed to avoid being charged by a horse in the field that seemed determined to win over our students’ attention rather than allowing them to focus on their method of data collection.

Thankfully, the rest of the site visits were far less eventful. The students successfully collected their data without any mishaps, and the experience has proved to be invaluable in supporting the Geographers with preparing for their mocks and their final exams.

My thanks go to the Field Studies Centre at Juniper Hall for enabling the trip to go ahead and ensuring excellent safety procedures to ensure no Covid transmissions resulted from the trip. My thanks to Chef and his team for providing us lunch on the same day that we had over 300 people visit the school for our first Visitor Open Morning in 18 months, which added to their workload, but they provided for us with a smile and a song!

November Lunchtime Concert

by Mrs Helen Head, Teacher of Music

Friday 19 November saw our first lunchtime concert of 2021, which was very well attended by staff and students. For many of the performers, it was their first live performance in a very long time, and they were keen to show the pieces on which they had been working.

Keelan Thomas, in Year 7, began the concert on his trumpet with the very apt Thank you for the Music by Abba, followed by Verdi’s Anvil Chorus, impressing us with his confidence in front of an audience at his first-ever lunchtime concert. Olly Hume in Lower Sixth then played the piano – a rather misleading Chopin Mazurka which had the audience enthusiastically applauding before the end! Alexander White, in Year 9, performed the dramatic and energetic piano Sonatina by Benda and Josh Turley in Year 10 sang an Elizabethan Lute song by Ford.

Two Upper Sixth pianists, Seb McGill and Lucas Dallon, performed their Grade 6 pieces from memory in an impressive display of technique. James McCummiskey, in Year 10, performed a short but very atmospheric piece called Chorale after less than a term of piano lessons which was rather impressive.

Hector Buckle-Wright in Year 7 was another confident firsttime performer, singing the Scottish Skye Boat Song. Should I Stay or Should I Go by The Clash, played by Charlie Powell in Year 8, was a real contrast on electric guitar, before Hugo Franklin in Year 9 performed Nikki Iles’ jazzy piano piece, Blues in the Attic. Pianist James Grant, in Year 8, introduced a much calmer mood with his Grade 4 Moonbeams by Barbara Arens. The concert ended with the very stirring Imperial March from Star Wars played by Daniel Bootle-Wilbraham in Year 10 on the trumpet.

Congratulations to all the performers for some wonderful live performances.

Lucas Dallon, U6G

Joshua Turley, 10W

Charlie Powell, 8D

Daniel Bootle-Wilbraham, 10D

Inter-House Song Contest

by Mr Alastair Wright, Director of Music

The Halliford Inter-House Song Contest returned after a two-year absence on Tuesday 23 November 2021. It was a hotly contested event, with many hours of rehearsals leading up to the competition. The Heads of Houses were in a competitive mood preceding the contest. The rivalry between the Head of Greville House, Mr Howard, and the Head of Russell House, Mr Shales, being a particular focus of attention (and amusement). Mr Slocock was on fine form compèring, whilst Mr Richard Dacey took on the difficult task of judging the contest.

First up were the Year 7 classes with their songs. 7L had a couple of hairy moments performing Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger, mainly owing to some difficulties remembering the lyrics, but soldiered on for a rousing final chorus. 7K were the pick of the Year 7 classes and performed a passionate and energetic performance of the aptly titled 7 Years by Lukas Graham. The song’s climax was the highlight of their performance, the entire class singing their heart out to kick-start the competition. 7L completed the Year 7 performances with their rendition of Bad Habits by Ed Sheeran, an accomplished performance showcasing a decent vocal range from the class. Mr Dacey gave feedback on these performances, sharing some useful singing techniques and tips acquired from his vast experience as a choral director. 7K deservedly came out on top, winning Mr Dacey’s approval as the best Year 7 class performance.

We then swiftly moved on to the House performances of songs, starting with Desborough’s performance of the extremely popular Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond, a song made famous through its incessant renditions at England football matches during the postponed Euro 2020. This was a performance that will live with me for many years, unfortunately, mostly for the wrong reasons! A promising start was then taken over by a flurry of football fever, leading to the entire House being way ahead of the backing track for the rest of the song. Desborough sang enthusiastically for their performance, albeit with slight timing errors. Greville followed with a strong performance of Bastille’s Pompeii, led by their House Captain Anthony RobinsKent. Backing vocals were used effectively, whilst their timing was a definite improvement from the previous performance. Russell was next with the anthemic Mr Brightside by The Killers.

Greville House

An accomplished band performance did the song justice, and the singers were enthusiastic, though not so tuneful! Mr Greggor then led Wadham for the final House performance of Lewis Capaldi’s Someone You Loved. Wadham delivered a heartfelt and emotional performance, underlining their status as ‘the favourites’.

A new addition to the song contest this year was the band songs. These were smaller group performances, with a minimum of three singers, allowing the more accomplished musicians in each House to shine. Desborough kicked us off with Kasabian’s Fire, led by two of the best singers in the school - Will Jones and Billy Dobby. Despite a contrast in vocal styles, their technical prowess was clear, culminating in an excellent performance that set the bar high for the remaining band songs. Second to perform was Greville, who wowed the audience with their rendition of Henrietta by The Fratellis. This was a superbly tight performance from the band (who all sang as well), whilst Tom Wittke’s resonant bass voice complemented the other voices and instruments perfectly. This was arguably the performance that won the contest for Greville, such was the high standard of musicianship on display. Russell had the

difficult task of following Greville, and whilst their song choice of Don’t Cry by Guns N’ Roses suited the vocal range and styles of the singers, it felt a little out of place, given the high energy of the previous two bands. Despite not having an array of singing talent in Russell, the Lower Sixth girls and Upper Sixth boys did a commendable job, with some eye-catching fancy dress on show also. Wrapping up the competition was Wadham, who performed Freebird by Lynyrd Skinner. This featured an extremely accomplished band performance, though curiously lacking a great deal of vocals. The band, featuring many of the Senior Rock band members, knocked it out of the park with their performance, ending the competition on a great note.

It was all down to Mr Dacey, who gave feedback on each performance with expertise, humour, and compassion. Any of three out of the four Houses could win it (sorry, Desborough, Sweet Caroline wasn’t going to win!), and the audience sat with nervous excitement, waiting for the results.

Finally, Greville was announced as the winner of the 2021 InterHouse Song Contest. Congratulations to Greville for their win, and good luck to all the Houses for the 2022 edition!

Russell House

Desborough House Greville Band

Mr Wright presenting the shield to Greville House Russell Band

Wadham House

Hampton Court Palace Visit

by Mrs Fenella Wilbraham, Teacher of History

On a freezing cold November day, the Upper and Lower Sixth historians visited Hampton Court, fully prepared to use the palace and other sources to evaluate the driving forces behind the English Reformation.

Our day started inauspiciously with the fire alarm going off as soon as we entered the Great Hall, but after a brief evacuation and an assurance from the wardens that it was not our entry that had triggered the alarm, we got started. We took the traditional route through the Great Hall, the Watching Chamber and followed Henry VIII’s processional route into the Council Chamber and the Chapel Royal. The students were able to understand better the functioning of Henry’s court and the divide between its private and ceremonial aspects. In the Council Chamber, Henry’s policy of factional division was brought to light with a re-enacted imagining of the fateful meeting at which Cromwell was arrested and dragged off to the Tower, brought down by his enemies at court.

A light-hearted visit to the kitchens followed, reminding us

that we were ravenous after all that walking, and after a short break for lunch, our workshop started in the Educational Centre. The students discussed the different driving forces of the Reformation: personal beliefs and the influence of individuals, money, power, and Henry’s overriding need for a male heir. We then set out to examine the evidence for each of these around Hampton Court.

The palace itself exemplifies Wolsey’s astonishing wealth, and we examined contemporary sources detailing the luxury his guests enjoyed, from the wax candles provided (which our guide explained were so costly that he was literally burning money) to the en-suite bathrooms in all the guest accommodation. When the students were asked to link all this conspicuous consumption to the Reformation, they were able to recall Wolsey’s casual

corruption and appropriation of church funds and offices to fund his magnificent lifestyle, fuelling ordinary people’s resentment of the Church.

We moved through the Great Hall, where we learned that the tapestries hanging on the walls are worth more than the Crown Jewels due to the content of gold and silver thread, and considered the symbolism of the Great Hall itself, entirely remodelled by Henry to reflect his deep love for Anne Boleyn and which would have been covered in her heraldic device of a falcon together with H and A initials, some of which still survive today.

Our guide invited us to reimagine the trial for heresy of John Lambert, with the King presiding and questioning Lambert

on his Protestant beliefs. George made a convincing penitent Lambert with Robbie taking on his Henry persona to question him and finally condemn him to be burned alive for daring to deviate from the King’s dictated position on religion. Finally, we moved into the Council Chamber to consider the role of faction in bringing about the Reformation, not least Anne Boleyn herself and the influence she brought to bear on Henry.

Our day at Hampton Court provided our students with a fascinating insight into the driving forces behind the Reformation and reminded them of the importance of material and written sources in interpreting history.

The Centenary Carol Service

by Olly Hume, Lower Sixth

On 14 December last year, the school’s Chamber Choir made its way to the small but perfectly formed St Nicholas’ Church in Old Shepperton, a quaint and pretty part of town, for our second virtual carol service. We arrived in high spirits, partly due to the bags of sandwiches, sweets and cake the Headmaster had laid on for us, yet mostly excited to sing carols in such a great venue. Monty kicked off our Festival of Readings and Carols with his performance of Concerto in B minor by O. Reiding, which he played amazingly, and the church’s acoustics amplified his skill. The fact that we were missing a congregation, albeit a normally tiny one, was a shame, yet the performers still gave it their all and perhaps felt they could go for it when their friends and family weren’t watching!

After the insightful readings of both the Headmaster and Reverend Carole George, we performed Once in Royal David’s City with James in Year 8 performing the solo. He did the carol absolute justice and controlled his voice throughout, staying perfectly in time, difficult to do when you couldn’t even hear church mice squeaking. Well done, James! We went on to sing Gaudete with solos in Latin, and the sound of the choir at this point was fantastic, our mouths and stomachs remaining refreshed and replenished from the Ribena and muffins in our bags. I sang it perfectly, which you can confirm by watching the video on the school website in which no dodgy notes were sung by myself?!! Billy in Year 9 sang Pie Jesu a Faure piece, with Mr Davies on organ, a technically difficult piece of music to sing, but Billy nailed it and is also singing in his year’s rock band. It is encouraging to see musicians in our school interested in such contrasting styles.

Having sung Torches enthusiastically conducted by Mr Wright, and O Little Town of Bethlehem we heard a reading from Lucy in Lower Sixth and then for my personal favourite part of the concert, O Come, All Ye Faithful, not only because it is a stirring and extremely singable carol, but for the rather rousing sound

produced by Will Greaves standing next to me. If you have time, I urge you to skip to around the 29-minute mark of the video to witness the singing for yourself – the facial expressions say it all.

We finished the service with Unto Us Is Born a Son and finally, Hark! The Herald-Angels Sing which, without wishing to sound overly self-confident, we absolutely belted out! It’s fair to say that none of us left anything on the Lord’s table and knew we had recorded a wonderful collection of carols.

What has been achieved since that dark December night last year in the Halliford music scene is incredible, with ‘SPAMALOT!’, the Battle of the Bands competition, the Young Musician Competition, and the Centenary Summer Concert to round the year off. It has truly been a great year to be involved with music at the school, and I want to thank Mr Wright and Mrs Head for organizing the Carol Service and all the other events we have loved, along with Mr DeZilva and Mr Savides. My friends and I will have some fantastic memories of Halliford Music, and this year has been a welcome return to the normal plethora of performances after the relatively silent pandemic. Congratulations to all the singers and players in our school!

Remembrance Sunday Service

by Charlie Poulter, Deputy Head Prefect

For Remembrance Sunday, the Headmaster invited Alex, Dom, and me as the Prefect team to join him to lay a wreath on behalf of the School at the Shepperton War Memorial located at the bottom of Shepperton High Street.

It is truly one of the most amazing things ever to witness. Having only ever been to my School’s Remembrance Service, this service, led by the Rector at St Nicholas’ Church, blew away my expectations of what I had imagined. The local turnout was amazing, and the different groups that all turned up showed an incredible sense of community from Shepperton. This service only got better as groups went up one by one to lay their wreaths and show their respect for soldiers who gave their lives for our freedom. There were representatives from the local schools, community groups and local businesses. Taking part in this event has given me great pride and made me feel part of the local community, also helping to show the school’s respect for what happened to the soldiers during the war.

Charlie, Mr Davies & Alex

Wreaths at Shepperton Memorial

School Remembrance Service

The Shepperton Aurora Rotary Club Youth Speaks Public Speaking Competition

by Mr Joe McElroy, Teacher of English

After a two-year hiatus caused by the pandemic, the intermediate and senior teams participated once again in the Shepperton Aurora Rotary Club Youth Speaks public speaking competition. Having won Best Speaker and Best Chair last year, the Holy Grail of Public Speaking, the Best Team award has eluded us in recent years, but the long wait finally came to an end this academic year.

Year 9 students Toby Hill, Dion Henderson, and Oliver White impressed the judges with their well-drilled effort. Toby argued that we should all become vegan to improve animal welfare and to resolve climate change, facing off against Dion, who took the contrary position that whole-scale veganism would lead to economic problems for farmers at a time of great uncertainty, not to mention its challenge to personal freedoms. Oliver was an accomplished chairperson, providing the disciplined organisation and sweeping charm that kept the team on track and the audience enthralled. Well done to all three and I look forward to future success next year!

Dion Henderson added, ‘I was part of the intermediate team with Toby Hill and Oliver White in the Youth Speaks Debating Competition. It was fun, and my team did very well. Congratulations to Toby for winning Best Proposer. My main arguments against veganism were that it could send the farming industry and the UK economy crashing to the ground, and millions of jobs would be lost in fashion, supermarkets and car manufacturing.’

Toby Hill, Oliver White and Dion Henderson

I am pleased to share Toby’s speech below:

For thousands of years, we have consumed meat at an alarming rate. Slaughter after slaughter, pig after pig, cow after cow, death after death. Countless animals. Dead. Full of terror. Nothing to save them. Why should we love one and yet eat the other? Pigs and dogs are not different! They are sentient beings, as are we.

It is proven that a plant-based lifestyle is optimal at all stages of life. The levels of unnecessary amounts of fat from meat is one of the main causes of obesity across the globe. 28% of the UK are obese. A further 36.2% are overweight but not obese. We are killing ourselves, constantly chowing down on burger after burger. Slaughter after slaughter, death after death. Not to mention the profound effects we are having on the planet. The amount of land and nature we are chewing up to supply for these animals, only to exterminate them later, is staggering. We are causing our own demise, as well as the innocent creatures. Plant-based agriculture produces 1.5 trillion more pounds of produce than animal-based agriculture. It’s much more efficient. Plant-based agriculture uses 115 million acres of land fewer than animalbased agriculture. Scientists believe that if we don’t get our carbon levels down by 2050, 10% of the planet’s landmass will become uninhabitable causing devastating effects on the population density issue. Going vegan is the single most effective way to reduce your carbon footprint on the planet. We are willing our own destruction into existence.

People often argue that we should keep eating animal products for health benefits. This is not necessary. Meat-eaters are under the impression that we need animal products for high protein intake. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Things like nuts and oatmeal are extremely high in protein, especially almonds which contain 7 grams of protein for every 35 grams. As is corn. Yet people constantly eat the corpses of dead beings. Slaughter after slaughter, death after death.

There is of course the obvious issue of collapsing

the livestock industry. It is a huge reason against veganism. And I agree. It cannot just be ignored. However, people who make this argument imply that we will suddenly shut the industry down. The fact that they would imply this is ludicrous to me. It would be a very lengthy process of cutting supply chains and relocating people to new professions. In the UK alone there around 149,000 farm companies. However, most farms produce animal and plant products. This means that there won’t be as much loss in jobs. There would be loss of money, however that is the price we pay for a better world.

Have you ever stopped to think about the implications of eating an animal? Every bite was once part of the body of a sentient being. It was once a creature. Living, thriving, just like us. Studies say that pigs and cows going into the slaughterhouse are intelligent enough to know what’s about to happen. They know that they’re about to die and, in some cases, they’ve even been seen saying goodbye to their families, before they are exterminated and turned into minced meat for us to enjoy. Cows know what milking is and often get uncomfortable when they are milked. Some farmers have even reported that cows get defensive when their udders are touched, viewing it like sexual assault. You would never do this to a fellow human, so why do it to other beings? Slaughter after slaughter. Death after death.

The world is changing, it’s moving on. It’s moving forward. With that change brings a new age. An age where we protect the rights of all species. Whether that be cows, or pigs, even the hugest rhinos or the smallest ants, no animal should have to suffer, especially not the creatures that served us all these years. The age of meat-eating is over. Join us. Help us save the animals, not kill them. We shouldn’t be blindly eating animal products, knowing full well all the torture that’s gone into the burger that’s in your hand. However, we turn a blind eye. Because we think that the enjoyment of our taste buds is more important than the lives of so, so, so many others. Become a vegan today. Help change the life of not only yourself and the lives of all the helpless animals. Be a vegan. Be a hero.

Autumn Term Centenary Events

by Mrs Olivia Oakley, Marketing & Communications Manager

We started the academic year by gifting every student a Centenary tie in their House colour to wear during this special year. Mr Davies visited each classroom one morning in September to personally present the ties to the students.

We kicked off our Centenary Programme of Events with our Centenary Lecture on Wednesday 3 November, presented by Nick Pollard, Chairman of Sunbury and Shepperton Local History Society. It was a super evening and our huge thanks to Nick for such a fascinating insight into the history of the School.

Wednesday 10 November saw the official opening of Halliford School’s new Woodward Building. The building has been named in recognition of our Chair of Governors, Mr Ken Woodward QPM, who has dedicated so much to Halliford over many years. Ken has served as a Governor for over twenty years and has successfully led the School as Chairman for the last eight years, plus his son attended Halliford School.

Mr Davies led the ceremony with a moving speech about ensuring the best possible facilities for our students. Ken

followed by thanking Halliford for the honour of having this wonderful new building named after him. He encouraged the staff and students to use and enjoy this facility which houses a fantastic new Learning Resource Centre on the ground floor, plus six classrooms and offices for the English and History Departments. Ken unveiled the building’s name plaque at the ceremony attended by the Mayor of Elmbridge, several local school Heads, the School Governors, and local friends of the School. He then cut the ribbon and officially opened the building, inviting guests to see the new build for themselves. Guests enjoyed refreshments prepared by our in-house catering team and had a chance to tour the new space. Every student, teacher and guest was given a Centenary paperweight as a commemorative gift to mark this special occasion in the school’s rich history.

The Woodward Building Opening Ceremony

After the opening of the Woodward Building, our rugby teams headed to London Irish for our Centenary rugby match, and the Rugby Extravaganza at Weybridge Vandals was a fitting end to the season with some super wins across our Halliford teams. Our thanks go to our amazing Sports Department and Mr Slocock.

Unfortunately, we were unable to host our Centenary Concert in person due to rising cases of Covid in the area. However, we still wanted to share the musical talents of our students. Our thanks to Mr Wright and Mr DeZilva from the Music Department for recording and editing the performances to create a Centenary Concert that we posted to our website so that we could enjoy the music from the comfort of our own homes.

As the Autumn Term drew to a close and we started to think about Christmas, we headed to St Nicholas Church in Old Shepperton to record our Centenary Carol Service. Led by the chamber choir with support from the staff choir and readers throughout the School, we celebrated the Christmas story together. Our thanks go to all those involved and to the wonderful team at St Nicholas Church for their support in allowing us to use our beautiful parish church to record the service. While it was sad that we were unable to enjoy this service in person for a second year running, we were pleased that we could share the recording with our Halliford families and the wider community.

Mr Davies and Mr Woodward, Chair of Governors

Commemorative Paperweight

Centenary Tie Presentation

Centenary Concert

Sixth Form Team Building Afternoon

Charity Doughnut Sale & Mufti Day

Movember Madness!Senior Inter-House Debating Remembrance Poppies at the Front of the School

House Christmas Lunch

Movember Madness! Christmas Jumper Day

Junior Yoga & Relaxation with Matron

The Halliford Christmas Cards

Autumn Sports by Mr James Director of

Rugby Season 2021

After the loss of last season due to the global pandemic preventing any competitive sport from being played, it has been wonderful to resume the Autumn Term playing rugby once again. It has been a delight to witness our students’ approach to this season. We have had superb commitment to school sport demonstrated in all year groups.

Age Group coaches have been very impressed with the number of students at training, and we have consistently fielded A and B sides throughout the season. In younger years with smaller playing numbers, fixtures have also been played with C and sometimes even D teams too. The students in all age groups have represented the school superbly in competitive fixtures, and we are thrilled to be back playing rugby after the frustrations of last year.

As always, my great thanks go to those staff that give up their time to provide these extensive sporting opportunities for our students at lunchtime, after school and at weekends.

The U12s have been a fantastic group to work with this term. They have approached the season with hard work and enthusiasm and have developed a technical and tactical understanding of the game as the season has progressed. As playing records suggest, not only have they progressed as rugby players, but playing records also make fantastic reading, and this is a playing record of which to be proud. We have had unbeaten seasons previously but rarely do A and B teams in an age group go unbeaten. Particular highlights were wins against St George’s College, Hampton and Churcher’s College.

The A team have really progressed as a team this season, led by captain and fly-half Leo Smith. They have played an expansive running form of the game. Theo Fuller and the rest of the pack have provided forward impetus making the gain line consistently and helping the team gain territory. The backline benefitted from Morris Hyde at scrum-half, his decision-making and linking with captain Leo Smith at fly-half have helped the 12As maintain a cohesive unit. The backs are blessed with speed outside. Khai Vally, on one wing, has been electric. He always makes ground and is very dangerous in 1v1 scenarios. On the other wing, George Clark has also been a dangerous ball carrier for the team. The centres also make us a strong defensive unit, with individuals such as Harvey Connop carrying well for the side and maintaining a tenacity in defence.

From a coaching perspective, the most pleasing aspect has been the squad. Constant rotations can be made, as the boys are confident in a range of positions, and the side is never weakened when making changes. This certainly bodes well for next year’s U13 season.

The B team have also had a magnificent season, captained by forward George Sanders. The standard of play has been very high, and in other year groups, many of these players would be in the A team squad. We just have so much depth at the moment. Certainly, with numbers increasing to 13-a-side next year in Year 8, many of these players will be stepping up into the A team squad providing further depth. Key performers in the U12Bs have been James Haines at fly-half for his fantastic service to the back line and developing very quickly, having not played a huge amount of rugby previously. With his athleticism and strong finishing ability, Kai Russell has been a valuable asset on the wing.

Our ability to field C and D teams has been as satisfying this year. We have had real enthusiasm towards this activity area, and when these fixtures are available, many boys ask to be involved, which is a real credit to the year group. I am excited to see how this year group continues to progress as they move further up the school.

U12 Middlesex Plate Winners

U12Bs in action v Salesian College

A team B team

This season has been one of the most successful U13 year groups since the current Upper Sixth showed such dominance several years ago. Rarely has a team got into their rhythm so early in the season, and this set the standard for what was to follow. Squad selection was tough following a good pre-season, and this group remained ‘unusually’ consistent throughout the whole season, led by captain George Bellis. It meant that many boys, which in any other year group would have played regularly, represented the B team this season and showed what strength in depth this year group had. This meant the boys representing the A team had to keep standards high and put in performance after performance every week, epitomised by Luca Sacoor and Jacob Hollyhead, who were forever seeking ways to improve and keep their starting places.

It was a very strange start to the season as many teams simply could not field deep enough squads, and this meant loaning Halliford players to the opposition, which not only tested our resilience but showed true Hallifordian spirit, no doubt demonstrated by Caleb Baker and George Regan who regularly shared playing time in the front row this season. Results started with comfortable wins over King Edward’s, Claremont and then, unusually, Claire’s Court, who usually provide a great gauge to the standard required throughout the season. Though tougher opponents were around the corner, the first real test for the boys came against Tiffin School. Losing their captain before kick-off meant a quick re-structure of the backline, but flexibility allowed this to happen seamlessly with Jack Giddens stepping into the flyhalf position. Forwards produced a dominant tackling display during every minute of this game, which allowed the backline to distribute the ball with ease and see Christian Fleming-Jenner cross the try line time and time again, a sight that would be seen umpteen times throughout a free-scoring season.

Grey Court provided another stern test for the boys in very unusual circumstances where we attempted to match however many players were on the pitch for the opposition. It was a battling display but one where the team was orchestrated superbly by a back three of Ryan Mills, Sam Walker and Ben Parker. The toughest test of the season followed, and with it, the only defeat of the season. Hampton is always strong and something to aspire to, but unfortunately, this always seems to mean giving them a headstart and chasing the game. The boys deserve huge credit, though, as despite being several scores down at half-time, they came back to produce probably their best half of rugby all season which was certainly a crowd-pleasing performance.

Corey Pyke made huge carries up front, Veer Gill did not stop tackling in the midfield, and Dexter Lee produced some sublime moments of brilliance to keep the score close. Wallington and Churcher’s College mean the fixtures remained tough after half term, but the squad continued to train superbly throughout the week and let their rugby do the talking on a Saturday.

The support within the squad matched that of the parents on the sideline, and the team ethic was to back one another without question, so whenever they found themselves in a tough situation, they worked together, maintaining their winning streak. Even on the coldest day of the year, with players falling by the wayside, the boys battled to a 30-30 draw at home against Salesian College. This game could have easily been lost to a team that celebrated its biggest performance of the season. Still, they dug deep and maintained their impressive season, seemingly on the shoulders of stand-out prop forward Hugo Callington. On a snowy Monday in November, the team travelled to St. James’ to represent the school in the SOCS U13 Berkshire Festival, which despite the weather went ahead and tested the

resilience of all competing teams. Three comfortable wins out of three in the morning against Cardinal Vaughan, Orleans Park and Latymer School meant they qualified for the main Cup Competition and a pool including Hampton School.

Following a stirring warm-up routine from Mr Fuller after lunch, the boys started the afternoon with their best performance of the day and blew Gunnersbury away 35-0 with some outstanding support running. They followed this up with another great defensive performance against St. Benedict’s, taking chances when they appeared and won 15-0 to set up a final group match and, ultimately, a final against Hampton. Stanley Goddard deserves a special mention for this tournament after making the squad mid-way through the season following an injury. He cemented his place in the team with relentless and faultless defending throughout, rarely misses a tackle, and is so reliable.

Unfortunately, injuries and playing back-to-back matches at the end of a long day took their toll, and the boys succumbed to a very strong team to finish the day runners-up. The boys finished their season with a friendly fixture against Vandals RFC under lights on the final Friday evening of the term. It was a match for them to demonstrate their pace and power, regularly shown throughout the season and following a blitz of tries to start the game, the match slowed to a much more even contest with some serious defending needed to finish the season with a win. A huge squad of 22 meant players shared game time and played in various positions, showing their flexibility and team ethic, which has been so prominent throughout the season. It has been a season to be proud of, and it has been a privilege to coach them every week.

U13B Team

This season has been a huge success amongst the year group, and this squad have developed hugely throughout an accomplished campaign. Never have I ever had so many boys to select from every week, mostly due to their enthusiasm, camaraderie and general friendly competitiveness with one another. It meant that some big squads were selected regularly, and players rotated in and out of the team but also played some unfamiliar positions to help. It was a stern test in the first half of their first game of the season, which for some, was their first-ever game of contact rugby. An occurrence that was almost forgotten about with the previous season having been cancelled through Covid and some boys coming from a non-rugby playing background.

In the season opener, they were shell-shocked and gave the opposition a 0-30 head start before believing in their potential and finishing the game with a respectable 40-65 loss to King Edward’s. This set the tone for the next few games, though, as they went from strength to strength with highly impressive victories against Claremont (50-10), Tiffin (35-5) and Grey Court (50-10). Hampton proved a tough test, and their sheer numbers and size paid dividends in what is always a difficult fixture after the half term break. The boys bounced back with a hard-fought 25-10 victory away against Wallington and a close encounter, though just losing out 10-20 to Churcher’s College.

Unfortunately, their season was curtailed as schools such as Claire’s Court and Salesian College could not match our strength in depth and failed to put out a team for our boys. However, the squad spirit and enthusiasm were demonstrated in the internal squad fixture on the coldest day of the year, when 30 boys represented their respective captains in a highly competitive ‘friendly’ match. A special mention goes to Ewan Hill, who captained the side for the first half of the season at fly-half, with an integral knowledge of the game before being called up to the A team as a 2nd row forward. Alfie Saunders stepped in

brilliantly to lead the team for the remainder of the season and was ably assisted by vice-captains Finley Camino, Tom Perrin and Charlie Powell. Many of these boys would have played A team in any other year group, but the strength in depth throughout the whole year group meant boys stepped up to represent the school in whatever way they were selected. Many of these boys represented the school in the final match of the season against Vandals RFC and did themselves justice and were certainly not out of place within the bigger squad.

A team

B team

The Under 14s have had a really pleasing season overall. They have developed their skill sets throughout the term and have played with some very good shape and pattern. A number of the new boys have added even more strength in depth to both the A and B teams. We have had nearly 50 boys representing the school this season which is a fantastic achievement.

A Team

The season started with the visit to King Edward’s Southampton. After 15 minutes together as a squad at pre-season, this was always going to be a tough challenge. Despite some positive attacking play, we struggled to get into the game against a physical side and lost 41-7. The visit to Claremont followed. A number of the new boys got their chance to impress, and they certainly did so in a 45-5 victory. A third victory followed away to Claire’s Court. A dominant performance from start to finish saw us score 39-0.

Next came the challenge of a visit to Tiffin. With our attacking and defence structures developing well, we came out 30-20 winners in a very close game. After a comprehensive win at home to City of London Freemans we faced Gunnersbury a couple of days later in the Middlesex Cup. After a particularly physical encounter, we came out winners 25-10. Our final match before half term was the visit to Grey Court. Once again, we were giving away a fair bit of size, but our fantastic defence and dominance at the breakdown allowed us to register a 22-19 victory.

Our first fixture after half term was a 35-15 victory over Perrins. Despite not playing anywhere near our best, we showed character to recover from a poor first-half performance. Following this, we had Harrow at home in the next round of the Middlesex Cup. The boys started the game very strongly as we took the lead, but despite one of the best performances of the season, we could not match their superior skill and power and lost 45-10. The visit to Wallington Grammar followed. We turned up with the same desire and determination we showed against Harrow and put in a dominant performance to seal a 25-10 victory.

Churcher’s College were the next visitors to Wemberlee. The boys knew this would be a very tight game, so it proved to be. What a game it was for the neutrals. The defence on display from both sides was superb and blunted the other’s attacking threats. Thankfully we scored with the last play of the game to draw 15-15. Salesian College visited us next, and we continued our dominant attacking play and work at the breakdown to secure a 42-10 win. Our last home game came against an unbeaten Windsor Boys, who looked more like a U16 side when they got off the bus!! The game was a cracker, with both sides playing some great rugby in attack and defence. Sadly, we could not convert the chances we created and

lost the game 10-0, certainly not a performance or result of which to be ashamed. The season ended with a Friday night game against Weybridge Vandals, a brilliant way to end an extremely successful season. We secured a strong victory through playing some brilliant rugby thanks to our well-drilled patterns of play that highlighted the boys’ progress this season.

There were several stand-out performances throughout the season. Felix Porter, Oli White, Austin Johnson and Josh Morrison shared the captaincy during the season, and all led from the front with some consistently strong performances. Up front, Leo Hobbs and Barney Connop were particularly dangerous in attack and defence. JJ Lam-Denham and Lucas Hayes Garcia developed a very good centre partnership, and Josh Stimson and Theo Maroussas provided an attacking threat out wide.

B Team

The first game down at King Edward’s Southampton was a competitive one. However, the lack of prematch preparation meant we were always up against it, eventually losing 35-5. A home match against Claremont saw the first victory of the season, a dominant 45-5 victory. Next followed a trip to Claire’s Court. With some really good attacking structure now being employed, we picked up a 20-0 win. A visit to Tiffin was next, and once again, our dominant work at the breakdown and work rate in defence enabled us to run out 35-20 winners. The final game of the half term was a 35-15 win against City of London Freemans, despite not being at our best.

The first match after half term against Wallington Grammar was highly competitive. The score went back and forth, but in a very tight game, we eventually won 20-15. Another incredibly close game followed against Churcher’s College, but we could not repeat the narrow victory and lost 20-15. The next two games were cancelled, but we could play an internal B Team Fixture which was incredibly competitive and goes to show the strength in depth of this year group.

All of the boys who represented the team performed very well. Jake Symington and Jack Farrow led from the front as captains. Thomas Povey, Charlie Moria and Hamish Greany were dominant up front, and Charlie Scott and Henry Crowther were dangerous in attack.

A team B team

The season began well with 28 students attending pre-season training, probably a record for Year 10. Sadly, unavailability and RFU playing limits meant that the B team game against KES was cancelled, and the first matches were at the KES tournament in Southampton on the Sunday.

Eighteen students travelled down and were in high spirits. Their first game against King Edward’s Southampton was a cracker and showed definite signs of what this team can do when they play with their tails up. All this despite a few comical moments, such as the first lineout where it was evident that 18 months without rugby for most of the boys resulted in serious skill fade. All that said, it was a good run by Josh Rowe to score the only try in the match, and Halliford recorded a 7-0 win in their first game back. Back-to-back matches, with the second game being against arguably the strongest side in our group, showed up the fitness levels. The team were competitive in the first half but fell off tackles easily in the second. This game also highlighted the need for some mental fortitude which permeated games throughout the rest of the season. The second half score did not reflect the Halliford ability as they leaked four easy tries slumping to a 28-0 loss to Warminster. The arrival of Hayden Barrett spurred the side on, but sadly an injury to a Portsmouth Grammar player early in the next game took away some of the momentum, and the team had to wait some time for their next game. Watching Beechen Cliff beat Warminster ignited a fire in Archie Brake, who had an incredible game. Perhaps a slight miscalculation by their coaches meant that two of their best players did not start the game, and by half time, they were 7-0 down. BC came back strongly and managed to score, but ultimately it was the power and pace of Hayden Barrett who went through to score the decider. This set up the final match nicely. Halliford could top the pool with the game against St. Benedicts, although technically come second on points difference. However, the scorching sun and back-to-back games proved a step too far, especially with a very fresh Bennies side who had originally called the game off but whose players had rested and could play again. A tight, evenly matched game ensued, and Halliford were just in the lead for most of the game with a 7-5 score. But with the teams locked in an epic battle, it was Bennies who showed greater mettle and managed to score at the death. The tournament ended with three wins (one on a technicality) and two losses, but more importantly, an awesome return to rugby!

The first fixture was against Claremont Fan Court, and already, there were signs of improvement. The boys were trying to play our attacking pattern and were, at times, successful when led by Archie Brake or Tom Lever. Josh Rowe started the game off with an excellent try in a dominant first quarter. However, in the second quarter, Claremont came back but failed to score, despite camping in our 22. The final half saw Halliford continue their dominance, and a few excellent runs by Hayden Barrett and enormous hits by Freddie Humphreys saw a second score added to the sheet (Hayden Barrett). Unfortunately, our tries were not converted. In the game’s final minute, Halliford discipline let them down as they were marched back 50 metres from backchat and penalty kicks. The indiscipline led to a lapse in defence as Hayden was side-stepped, and three other players missed tackles leading to a converted try. Whilst the scoreline of 10-7 doesn’t reflect the Halliford dominance in the game, it was a positive beginning to fixtures.

Claire’s Court was always going to be difficult, considering the drubbing they gave Halliford in Year 8. The game started well, with exceptional defence and some sparkling runs by Hayden Barrett, and the first half ended 14 points to 5 to Claire’s Court. The Claire’s Court onslaught continued in the second half with a drier ball giving them the confidence to go wide. Some lapses in defence leaked a few tries, but all in all, it was a fantastic performance by Halliford to turn the eight tries to one drubbing from Year

8 into a mere five tries to one loss. The end score was 33-5.

Tiffin followed during games the following Thursday. Bouncing back in true Halliford spirit with good games from Freddie Humphreys, Carson Curtis, and player of the match Ollie Hepworth ensured a comfortable victory, scoring six tries to one and a score of 33-5.

Next up was the formidable Wellington College side. Coming off significant wins against the likes of Whitgift, confidence in the Wellington camp was high. They started well with an early score but weren’t ready for the onslaught from a determined Halliford side that followed. Several good phases led to a Halliford try to equalise the score. Sadly, the A squad diminished with injuries to Sam Griffiths, Charlie “Thorpedo” Thorpe and both props, Harry Macefield and Archie Brake. Despite this, Wellington was forced to work hard. The end score, whilst favourable to Wellington College, did not reflect how well the Halliford team played. The player of the match was, once again, Ollie Hepworth!

The City of London Freeman’s game was called off to allow Halliford to play Wellington, and they followed this game with excellent performances against a fantastic Perins School side and a determined Greycourt team. The team travelled down to Wallington for their match and, whilst dominant for much of the game, just lacked the spark needed to ensure victory, going down 28-22. This was reflected again in the Churcher’s game, where the U15s just failed to fire and recorded a loss of 24-7. Back-to-back victories against Gordon’s in the National Plate and Salesian will be remembered for the exceptional rugby played, but also, in the case of Salesian, for the near arctic weather conditions that were endured.

Halliford came up against St. Benedict’s in the third round of the national plate competition. Braving Storm Arwen, they headed down to Ealing to find that the match had been moved to the Ealing Trailfinders 4G pitch. Halliford, once again, dominated the game playing the best rugby of the two teams. A couple of breakaway tries led to a positive scoreline in favour of St. Benedict’s and a dubious victory to knock Halliford out of the cup.

The season’s final match was against Weybridge Vandals Rugby Club after Windsor Boys was cancelled due to Covid. It was a night that fizzled out with a Brentford Match taking precedence over the school. WVRFC had some mutant players (and perhaps one or two who required a passport check), but the boys who showed up stood up to the task, particularly in the second half. Some outstanding work by Freddie Humphreys, including an amazing try, kept Halliford in the game. Halliford dominated the game but could not convert their dominance to points going down 25-21. Special mentions have to be granted to the effervescent and ultimate cheerleader Edward Gentle and to Bryn Griffiths, Ben Mills and Monty Savarino for stepping into the team at the last minute.

The U15B team can lament the lack of opportunities this season, having recorded outstanding victories against City of London, (59-14), Tiffin (41-19) and Claremont Fan Court (34-0). Their losses against Wallington (15-21) and Churcher’s (15-17) were exceptionally close and would probably have been more positive with a touch more consistency in the team. They played five, won three, and a positive points difference of 93 is a record of which they can be proud.

The U16s have had an excellent season this year. The early stages were ravaged by the old enemy Covid19, leaving the boys short of players and scrapping for results. During that incredibly difficult period of the year, the commitment and desire the boys showed were outstanding and set the tone for the rest of the term. The following weeks saw the team going from strength to strength, securing results and continuing to play with the same rugged determination that had seen them through the earlier stages of the season. Excellent results against Forest, Claire’s Court and Windsor Boys saw us challenging for the league going into the last few weeks of the season, only missing out on the title by points difference.

Calm leadership from Hughes, Hanna, Guild and Will O’Loughlin was key throughout the year, always ensuring the team stayed in the game and remained focused. This was coupled with the outstanding contributions of so many in the year group that it is hard to name just a few. With that said, special mentions must go to those boys who were playing their first games for the school this year. Matt Jackson, Ayush Babber and Henry Ludlum stepped in at short notice and gave everything for the team, making some key contributions.

The 1XV have had an excellent season under the command of skipper Owen Morris and a great coaching team. The lads bought into the plan and reaped the rewards with only suffering two defeats at the hands of really close games. After not playing any games for a year, the lads were keen to get back on the pitch and hit the ground running.

This started with a scrappy win away at Claremont, which showed glimpses of how we wanted to play. A game plan was set, and a structure was drawn up, which immediately showed success with a 79-0 win at home on the day of the funeral of the late Mr Talbot. Spirits were high, and the lads were confident as they headed into the first big test of the season at Tiffin away. A spirited performance from a 14-man Halliford saw them win 15-5, with particularly outstanding performances from Bellis and Howard. Five more wins came for the boys before a well-deserved half term rest.

Written by 1XV players Owen Morris and Christopher Cole

The 1XV play a wide expansive game held together by an outstanding line-up led by hooker James Taylor. Taylor has been a real shining light in the pack leading the boy’s round and being superb at lineout time, setting a platform to play off. He has been ably assisted by props King and Alavi, who have both been solid week in and week out. Claire’s Court was next up for the lads, which was set to be a tough challenge. But a dominant 31-18 win showed the 1XV were on great form. With not being a big side, the back row of Holmes, Morris and Howard have been instrumental, being superb in defence, carrying hard and securing quick ball. This allowed the electric Burson at scrum-half paired with the dynamic Cole to play in the right areas meaning the fluid phase play could be set into play. Next came Wallington Grammar, a school three times the size of Halliford. The boys suffered their first loss of the season in a spirited effort with a depleted team, and it highlighted how special the bond was between the team. Due to Covid Sebastian McGill had to step in a 9 and did an outstanding job, his performances at full

back have been very strong and have earned him a Middlesex U18 call-up, which is very well deserved. After beating Holyport, the lads travelled to Churcher’s to attempt to make some history. The passion shown on that day was outstanding. The boys were immense but ended up losing the game by two points in the dying moments—an effort of which to be proud.

A cup semi-final away at Grey Court was next up, and this marked the return of Ollie Bellis to the team paired with the powerful Ben Witham in the centres. This combination has been potent, striking from anywhere on the field with some well-executed backs move. After Grey Court, it was time for the final against Cardinal Vaughan School. In an excellent first half, we took a 22-0 lead and managed to hold on to take the title as Middlesex champions and the Super 8 league winners. Windsor Boys were again the opponent in the final block fixture of the term, and it gave Year 11 students Fin Hanna and Ben Hughes opportunities to make their debuts. They joined fellow Year 11 Will Shanley, who has been impressive as a 16-year-old learning and really maturing through the season.

Friday 10 December marked the last game in a highly anticipated contest against club side Weybridge Vandals. It marked the last game for the Upper Sixth, ending their seven years of rugby at Halliford. It is fair to say the 1XV went out with a bang playing some excellent ruby mixed with relentless defence. A fitting way to finish. Representing the school 1XV is special, and I could not have asked for a better group of lads with which to share this season. There has been a special connection on and off the pitch, which has been evident to see. I would like to thank Mr Hodgkinson, Mr Fuller, Mr Slocock and Nigel, who have been a big part of the success.

Headmaster’s XV 2021

Each year Halliford’s rugby coaching staff sit down to agree on the Headmaster’s XV. Each age group is considered, and staff take into account who has impressed, influenced games, remained committed to training and shown an excellent work ethic throughout the season. As ever, some very tough decisions are made, and many redrafts of the final squad take place. Below shows what was agreed upon for the 2021 season.

Rugby Colours Ties

Colours ties are presented to senior students who have performed regularly for and impressed in our first XV this term. This year the senior side has an impressive playing record and an excellent pool of talent. Coupled with last season’s loss due to the pandemic, many individuals qualified this year.

Lower Sixth 1st XV Colours ties are awarded to: Freddie King, Ben Holmes, Paul-Louis Howard, James Manzi, and Riley Whittington.

Upper Sixth 1st XV Colours ties are awarded to: Ryan Alavi, Oliver Bellis, Joshua Burson, Christopher Cole, Sebastian McGill, Owen Morris, Max Pillinger, Sankaran Suseelan, James Taylor, Jai Toor, James Wiltshire, Benjamin Witham

RUGBY

Rugby Coaches Award

This year we have introduced a year group rugby coaching award to acknowledge some fantastic work by students. This may be awarded based on playing ability, significance to the team throughout the season, attitude, commitment to training, and demonstrating outstanding sportsmanship. Please see below who was awarded the award this year and presented with a rugby ball in the final assembly.

Year 7

James Haines

Commitment to B team and development this season, having not previously played rugby before joining Halliford.

Year 8

Max Hurn

For representing the B team consistently this year, having not played rugby in Year 7. His confidence and knowledge of the game have really improved.

Year 9

Thomas Povey

Commitment to the B team and a very good amount of progress made.

Year 10

Carson Curtis

He has broken through to play A team this year, and his football ability has transferred superbly to the rugby field, turning him into a speedy, agile winger. He has also attended every training session after school.

Inter-House Rugby Results

In the final weeks of the Autumn Term, each age group plays their Inter-House Rugby Competition in the year groups’ games afternoon. These competitions are always keenly anticipated by the boys and the results are below:

Winner’s Categories

Junior (Years 7 and 8) - Russell

Intermediate (Years 9 and 10) - Russell

Overall winners: Russell

Senior Competition - Due to the busy end-of-season playing schedule of the senior sides, we plan on completing this in the Spring Term.

GOLF Josh Stimson, Year 9

Hallifordian Sporting Achievements

Josh has not only been an important backline player for the U14 A squad this term, but he is also a talented golfer outside of school. Josh is pictured following a successful outing to Essex earlier in the Autumn Term, representing Surrey for the first time. Josh and his partner were edged out in their match, but Surrey was too strong and secured a 4.5:2.5 win. The golf was played to a very high standard, with Josh not missing a single fairway in his round. He will now realise that he has a really good short game and will need to improve to play at this level. As you can see, he was very proud and had a great day despite losing his match. We look forward to seeing Josh’s development and hearing an update the next time he represents Surrey.

CRICKET Theo Maroussas and Oliver White Year 9

Theo (full-back) and Oliver (fly-half) have had fantastic seasons in the U14A rugby team. They represented the Halliford U13A team for cricket last Summer and play their club cricket at Hampton Hill CC. Following last Summer’s club season, Oliver and Theo were award winners at Hampton Hill’s Cricket Club Awards for the 2021 season. Theo winning U13A batter of the year and Oliver U13A bowler of the year! Very well done to both, with Theo only in his second season of cricket and Oliver going from strength to strength in the Summer League. Following these award wins, we are excited to see their contributions to U14 school cricket in the Summer Term.

In addition to his colt age group award, Theo was invited to the Senior Cricket awards at Hampton Hill Cricket Club to accept (unbeknown to him) the award for Most Improved Colt. Sadly, he was not able to attend as he was in self-isolation, but as he was symptom-free and feeling well, they arranged for a zoom link and sent the award to his house, which was a very nice touch!

CRICKET Theo Maroussas, Year 9

Written by Spencer Bateman

As lockdown restrictions eased over the Summer holidays, I was able to get back to some racing and entered a Sprint Triathlon on the east coast of the UK at the seaside town of Redcar. It was a qualifier for the 2022 Age-Group European Sprint Triathlon, so it was a competitive race with lots of people hoping to secure the last Age-Group slots.

The swim at Redcar was a sea-swim and the first I had ever taken part in, and looking at the sea on the Sunday morning, it looked like it was going to be a bit rough. Despite being choppy with high waves, I had a great swim and a good transition onto the bike. The bike course was fast and flat with several laps around the town and was draft legal which helps the weaker cyclists. Happily, I secured an AgeGroup spot for the 2022 Europeans next year, where I will represent GB in my age category.

I managed to squeeze in a few more sprint distance races as fun events, and I particularly enjoyed one in the south coast town of Seaford, where I had an unusually strong swim, coming out of the water in second position, finishing 8th overall and 1st in my age category. Races such as these are non-drafting which means time-trial bikes are permitted, so I was able to start riding on TT bikes.

I was lucky to attend some ‘Super-Series’ races which give athletes a feel of what it is like to race at an elite level. One race consisted of three small races over the day. Athletes were seeded, and where you finish your first race, seeds you for your second and so on. They are a great learning experience, racing against other athletes from all over the UK, all hoping to be the next Alex Yee or Brownlee brother. In these races, you can be ‘lapped out’ on the bike, which is unfortunately what happened to me, where I was lapped out by a few 26-year-olds who came flying past me.

My last race of the year was Weybridge 10k, a popular local event with closed roads. This was my first ever 10k. It was bitterly cold with a strong breeze blowing off the River Thames, but I was happy to finish first in the U18 category and 18th overall.

My swim has never been my best discipline, and recently British Triathlon has been stricter on enforcing qualifying swim times for regional academies and series qualifiers. This puts me under a bit of pressure to get my swim sorted out, so this winter, I will focus far more on swimming.

Now it is winter, I look forward to the cross-country season, which is always fun and muddy.

TRIATHLON, ATHLETICS & CROSS COUNTRY

Spencer Bateman, Upper Sixth

CRICKET

Felix Porter, Year 9

Felix has been involved with our Elite Cricket group and captains his school-age group. Earlier in the Autumn Term, he shared with us the fantastic news that he received confirmation from Surrey that following his involvement in the County set-up at U13, he has made it straight through to the U14 Surrey County Age Group. We are delighted for him and look forward to hearing how the winter training programme goes.

HOCKEY Nishaan Bains, Year 9

Following Nishaan’s selection for age group Middlesex County Hockey he was selected to trial for Junior England Hockey one year above his age group. This naturally was a huge privilege to be selected, and following several trial training sessions, Nishaan was selected for the U15 Performance Centre squad. We are all incredibly proud because he is doing this a year in advance. Speaking to Nishaan, he explained the standard of players at the trial sessions was very high, so this is a fantastic achievement. There were well over 100 who tried out, and only 20 were selected. Nishaan has also moved clubs, now playing with a high-performing team (Old Georgians) and the Men’s 4th Team. He is very lucky in that, together with his brother, they are playing at a club with several Team GB Olympians and have benefited from such high-level coaching.

Dexter has been trialling for the Independent Schools Football Association U13 side. He attended two trials over the Autumn Term, which were very competitive, with large numbers of students attending. He has been selected for an ISFA match against AFC Wimbledon on 17 December. Unfortunately, he can’t play as he has other family commitments. We look forward to his future involvement and seeing how he gets on.

FOOTBALL

Dexter Lee, Year 8

MY HALLIFORD SCHOOL STORY

Christopher Ellison, 7G

I decided to come to Halliford because it sounded like a nice school and when I came to the Open Morning, the teachers and other students were nice to me. I have made so many new friends, and the teachers really help me with my work. Whenever I am confused with the classwork or homework, I ask the teacher for help, and they support me. I enjoy attending Chess Club, Computing Club, Science Club and D&D Club, plus I am involved in football and cricket. I have always been a cricket fan. I came to Halliford as I heard that it was a good school because the teachers are amazing and have helped a lot of their students pass their GCSE exams.

Lucas has impressed us previously with his performance level in sailing outside of school. He is a junior race training team member at Island Barn Reservoir Sailing Club in East Molesey, 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. 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). The conditions on race days were very challenging except for one windless day and an abandoned event at Shoreham. The sailors had to deal with gale force gusts and heavy rain in three of the five events, notably last weekend at Papercourt in Woking.

Lucas has been invited to join the RYA British Youth Sailing London and South East Regional Training Group. The RTG is a group of around 18 Topper sailors aged 11 to 15 selected to train and represent London and the South East in competition. He is very happy and has already competed in his first national event of the 2021/2 season at Datchet.

SAILING Lucas Symons, Year 8

MY HALLIFORD SCHOOL STORY

Ben Snowball, 7D

I decided to come to Halliford School because of how welcoming everyone was, the feedback from friends, and the sporting opportunities. The entrance exams went well, and the mentor was kind. The lessons I like the most here are PE because everyone challenges you and I love sport. At lunch, I did indoor football, a football tournament indoor in the sports hall. I do volleyball and badminton, which is good because I wouldn’t often play those sports in my free time. I also do Art Club, where you can do art homework, draw, paint and do anything where your creativity takes you. I am really pleased I came to Halliford School because of the great food, curriculum, sport, the welcoming teachers, and the brilliant Halliford community.

Lucas sailing at an event in Shoreham over the Summer.

CRICKET

Christopher Cole, Upper Sixth

Normality has been resumed regarding cricket for Christopher. He has had a busy summer with a full season. The summer started with school cricket, and Christopher began well with two 50s for the school contributing to some great team performances. His club Hampton Wick Royal had a great season as they won the league convincingly. Christopher was instrumental in this, with both bat and ball contributing over 300 runs and 22 wickets. This included a maiden league 5fer and century. Other notable club performances saw a 100 from 38 balls for the U17 and 4-17 in a U21 game. The bulk of Christopher’s summer was spent travelling around the UK, playing for Scotland U17 and U19.

Christopher performed well whilst captaining Scotland U17, and the standout was 40 against Cumbria with the bat and four wickets against Northumberland with the ball. For the U19, he put in some great performances against some tough opposition, and these performances led to him being selected for the U19 World Cup qualifiers. It was a great learning experience for Christopher, with Scotland being beaten by Ireland in the final. However, Scotland has been given a second chance with New Zealand pulling out of the tournament, and this means Christopher will potentially be heading to the West Indies in January to compete. We wish Christopher all the best and cannot wait to see him hopefully competing in the U19 World Cup.

In the October half term, Oliver attended the London Irish DPP (Development Player Programme) U14 rugby trials. There were hundreds of players from all around Middlesex. In the first week of half term, he was offered a place to train every Tuesday night until May 2022. The sessions are based on handling skills, highperformance behaviours and athleticism. They teach the players to be risk takers, learn to do things for themselves and not to rely on others (be their own coach). The notice board says: ‘Make mistakes, you will learn from them.’ This is very true. Unless told otherwise, at the end of the season, he will have to trial again for the U15s. Oliver has been a key player for the Halliford U14s at fly-half, and we are delighted he is gaining such training opportunities and look forward to seeing the impact on his game.

SWIMMING

Earlier this term, Jakob qualified for three backstroke events in the Swim England London Winter Championships, held at the London Aquatic Centre in November. Jakob was pleased to gain PBs in the 50m, 100m and 200m events. The Middlesex County Championships will take place in January next year, and he has so far achieved eight county qualifying times for a variety of events across all swimming strokes, although the backstroke events are his strongest and favourite! Some of these times were achieved this weekend at the Wycombe County Qualifier Gala, where Jakob raced in eight events and won five gold medals. He was ecstatic that all his training has been paying off. Jakob has also just qualified as a Timekeeper for swimming galas. He passed his theory and practical test in November.

Recently Harry has competed in two Cross-Country competitions - one in October at Richmond Park and one in November at Wimbledon Common.

This is for the Surrey Cross-Country League under 17s, where he did 4.7k in 17.28! This is a jump up for him in his PB on a hilly crosscountry route, so an amazing time for him.

He did another 4k cross-country race in November, with a time of 16.32, so all is going in the right direction. With these fast crosscountry times, we are keen to see a 5k time on a flat course. Harry continues to enjoy competing in park runs in the holidays.

London Irish DPP

Max and Sam were delighted to hear they were selected for London Irish’s Developing Player Programme after a successful trial period. They have both been important performers for the Halliford U15As this season. This programme focuses on developing players’ skill development, game understanding and athleticism. The boys have been training on Tuesday nights after school and are enjoying the sessions. There will be the opportunity to play in some fixtures later in the season, so we look forward to seeing how they get on.

London Irish Silver Academy

James’ rugby development continues to go from strength to strength. Over this season, he has been involved with the London Irish U16 Silver Academy. As you can imagine, places for this are very competitive and just making it to this stage is a fantastic achievement. James has made excellent progress, and his personal drive has contributed to being in this position. Even last year, when restrictions prevented playing rugby, he worked hard doing extra fitness sessions. James had developed superbly, and his physical fitness and athleticism continue to take performance levels to new heights. James has involved himself with Halliford’s U16s where his training schedule has allowed, and he always impresses when representing the school. He was a key performer in the U16 final game and win of the season.

Recently James picked up a hamstring injury. However, having returned to full fitness, it was certainly not causing him any issues in the last game of the season.

In the Silver Academy this season, James has been involved in a group of just 20. Places in this are extremely competitive, so it has been a fantastic achievement. James trains in a high-performance programme and has been making excellent progress. We wait with anticipation to see what happens next for James in the academy set-up and to see if he makes it to the next stage. From what we have seen in school, this high-performance environment continues to take his game to new levels. What makes this all the more impressive is that James sustained a serious back injury a couple of seasons ago. He has rehabbed, maintained his drive and overcome these obstacles to play at his current level. He is a great role model for our younger students.

FOOTBALL Conway, Year 11

Fulham FC Academy and Independent School Football Association National Selection

Monty is playing football at an incredibly high level and is currently the first-choice goalkeeper in Fulham’s U16 Academy. He was playing other Academies every weekend and maintaining a demanding training schedule. Due to his success in the Academy set-up, we wait with anticipation to see if he is offered a professional contract this season which would be an incredible achievement!

The school sent Monty through for U16 Independent School Association trials initially, and having impressed so much at the trials, he was moved up to the U18 age group. Monty has been selected for ISFA England squad after a successful trial process to play against Australia. As part of this process, Monty will get to train at England’s High Performance Centre, St. George’s Park, which will be an incredible experience for him.

MY HALLIFORD SCHOOL STORY

Theo Bavister, 7D

When I visited Halliford, I really liked the sporting facilities and was very excited to be part of a team and play against other schools. I also liked how the school grounds weren’t too big, and I didn’t think I would get lost. My parents came to an open day, and I came on a special visit with my dad during the lockdown. My favourite lesson is PE as I love sport and enjoy playing sport for lessons. I have played in the rugby and football teams, and I am looking forward to the cricket season. I enjoy doing the school clubs with my friends, particularly indoor football, badminton, volleyball, art, and computing. I am really enjoying my time at Halliford. I have made loads of new friends and have enjoyed all the new lessons I didn’t do before. I also love the choice of clubs and all the sporting activities.

MY HALLIFORD SCHOOL STORY

Denis Lynch, 7D

I decided to come to Halliford School because I thought it was the best option for me as it had most of what I was looking for. The entrance exams were the same for all schools. I found it a bit hard. On the first day, I was nervous and excited, and the older years helped me around, and the homework was good and fun. I’m very talkative, and I made a few friends in the first week. The lessons I like the most here are History, DT and Science as all the teachers here are nice. However, these are my favourite. I was not too fond of any of these lessons in my old school. I have enjoyed some of the clubs and societies here. I go to a few clubs, Carcassonne Club, a board game club, Music Tech Club, where you create music, Science Club, where we do science experiments, and Japanese Club, where I learn about Japanese language and culture. I’m really enjoying the sport here too. I play football and cricket. I’m really pleased I came to Halliford School because it is the right place for me and the best place for what I like to do.

Visit to the Goethe Institute

by Mr Robert Todd, Teacher of German

On Friday 21 January, Madame Wain and I took our Year 10 and Year 11 German students to the Goethe Institute in South Kensington, London. The Goethe Institute is a German cultural organisation responsible for promoting the German language and culture worldwide. The aim of the trip was to give students the opportunity to use their communication skills in a German-speaking environment and deepen their cultural knowledge. The day was a great success summarised by Olly Betts in Year 10 below:

On Friday 21 January, the Year 10 and Year 11 German GCSE students went on a school trip to the Goethe-Institute in London. We arrived in school at 8.30am, excited for the day of activities ahead. We collected our packed lunches and made our way to the coach with Mr Todd and Madame Wain.

Upon arrival at the Institute, we were greeted by Germanspeaking staff, which was challenging, but a great opportunity to practice our spoken skills. After explaining the safety rules to the

group, the staff led us into a library room, where we were met with an iPad, a bag, books, and various other pieces of padlocked equipment.

The Goethe team split us into four teams consisting of two Year 10 and two Year 11 teams. We had to use the resources on our desks and those scattered around the library; books, maps, key cards, fingerprints and a robot to figure out who had hacked into the Institute’s online systems. This task was particularly challenging,

as the staff explained all instructions in German-only, which meant Mr Todd had to run around to each group to explain our task in English!

For the next 90 minutes, each team raced to work out secret codes and find clues to unlocking the hacker. The clues were not obvious, as sometimes they would be numbers in a German song on the iPad, sometimes a code (given by drawing lines on a German map to track the hacker’s path) and even words on certain pages of books in the library!

Finally, one of the Year 10 teams (consisting of Aayush, Samraj, Max, Olly, Austin, Harry and Cameron) won by unmasking the hacker in just under an hour – one of the fastest times recorded! We then enjoyed playing on balancing seats and interacting with the robot in the library until all teams had finished. The final team finished after around 90 minutes, and we thanked the staff for their help with the escape room.

After all the teams had finished, we set off for Nando’s in Gloucester Road, as most of us had eaten our packed lunches on the way to London. After tucking into a very hearty lunch, we explored the local area in groups until our meeting time at 1.45pm. We spent the next 30 minutes in Waitrose, waiting for Zach and Cassidy to decide which snacks to buy before heading back to our meeting point for the walk back to the Goethe Institute.

We arrived back at the Goethe Institute at 2pm, where we then completed our final activity of the day – a film screening. Mr

Todd explained that we would watch an A Level film in German (with English subtitles), called ‘Goodbye Lenin’. The film’s plot revolved around a family that lived in East Germany in 1989 (before the fall of the Berlin Wall).

Alex is a young man, and his mother, Christiane, is a proud socialist. We learn that his father fled to West Berlin and, since then, Christiane devotes her time to her job as a teacher and speaking out against capitalism. Whilst at a protest against the government, Alex’s mother gets caught up in the chaos as she attends a government function and suffers a heart attack before falling into a coma.

When Christiane awakes from her coma eight months later, the world has changed. The Berlin Wall has fallen, and Alex’s sister has a West German husband. Warned that any sudden shock could kill his mother, Alex resolves to hide the massive changes that have occurred over the previous months, which leads to comical scenes with Alex pretending that it is the West Germans who are fleeing to the East and the claim that Coca-Cola is a socialist drink being produced in East Germany. I won’t spoil the ending; however, it is full of twists and turns, allowing us to deepen our knowledge of an important event in German history.

At 4pm we left the screening room and were given some gifts as a memento of our day at the Goethe Institute and made our way back to Halliford. We thank Herr Todd and Frau Wain for accompanying us and organising this trip.

Operation Bletchley

by Joshua Turley, Year 10

For the month of January, I participated in a competition called Operation Bletchley. It is a cipher, codebreaking competition. The aim is to raise money for army veterans who have gone to war, including any future serving military personnel who might need some assistance. The competition requires you to walk 80 miles (128.7 kilometres) in the span of 30 days.

This leaves you with an average of 2.6 miles (four kilometres) each day. After every eight miles, you are given a code to unlock. There are three difficulty levels; Junior for people who are not so confident around codes, Codebreaker for people who enjoy a challenge and Cipher Expert for the more advanced. These are GCHQ level and are meant to be very challenging.

I chose this competition for a variety of reasons. One of which was I have always enjoyed doing events that help other people. Since I was a young boy, I have always enjoyed helping others, so when my Codebreaking Club teacher, Mrs Crosbie, told me about this competition, I knew that I had to sign up for it. I have been part of the Codebreaking Club at our school since Year 8. Another reason is that it is the third career option I might pursue. I have been a part of a few cipher competitions before, but I have

certainly enjoyed this one the most. I’m certainly going to do this competition next year.

By the end of the competition, I managed to walk a total of 83 miles. Meaning I completed the walking goal, which I am extremely impressed with, and raised an outstanding £182, putting me in 15th place out of the 530 people who raised money. Unfortunately, I was not able to complete all ten codes in one category. However, I was able to solve a collective 16 codes, seven Junior, six Codebreaker and three Cipher Expert. Halfway through the competition, some of my teachers from Halliford School donated some money for the charity raising £120, which I am incredibly grateful for, and I owe you all a massive thank you for your contribution.

Lunchtime Concert

by Mrs Helen Head, Teacher of Music

Our first lunchtime concert of 2022 on Friday 11 February began with Jivraj Singh in Year 11 at the piano playing a very confident Ecossaise in E flat by Beethoven. He was followed by Year 7 trumpeter Theo Bavister playing a very smooth Jazz piece, All Alone, by Ray Linham.

James Williams also in Year 7, showed us what a fantastic start he has made to learning the piano since he arrived at Halliford a term and a half ago. James performed two short studies after a Russian folk song Birds played as a duet with Mrs Head.

Also, in Year 7, Nicky Bootle-Wilbraham showed some beautifully expressive and memorised piano playing with Hedwig’s Theme by John Williams. Daniel Wilkes in Upper Sixth resurrected one of his Grade 5 pieces from last term, Tchaikovsky’s lyrical Douce Reverie and Josh Turley in Year 10 performed the Les Mis favourite On My Own, revealing the wonderful sonority developing in his baritone voice.

Oliver Hume’s 3rd movement of the Mozart Piano Sonata in E flat K282 had some beautifully shaped phrasing. Daniel Bootle-Wilbraham in Year 10 gave a scintillating performance of Ray Linhan’s entertaining Circus Queen, and our final performance was from Piano Ensemble 1 – a demonstration of work in progress! Daniel Wilkes, Olly Hume and Maisie Russell in Lower Sixth, who make up this ensemble, played the famous Rondeau by Purcell. We look forward to hearing the final polished performance at the next lunchtime concert.

Monty Python’s SPAMALOT!

A review by Mr Anthony Cunningham, Head of Classics

What a lark! What a hoot! What a night! In March 2022, Halliford School audiences were treated to hilarious entertainment at the John Crook Theatre. A splendid ensemble came together to teach us to ‘look on the bright side of life’, and everyone left the theatre with a smile on their face and a song in their hearts!

SPAMALOT! tells the legendary tale of King Arthur’s quest to find the Holy Grail. Inspired by the classic comedy film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the musical also diverts a bit from more traditional versions of the legend. Instead, SPAMALOT! features some outrageous shenanigans, including flatulent Frenchmen, killer rabbits, and a jolly gay romance. All this is set against the background of medieval plague, pestilence, and famine.

Throughout the show, Arthur, travelling with his trusty servant Patsy, recruits several knights to accompany him on his quest. These include Sir Belvedere, Sir Robin, Sir Lancelot, and Sir Galahad. Among their other adventures, they encounter the notorious Lady of the Lake, Prince Herbert, Tim the Enchanter, Not Dead Fred, the Black Knight and the oddly menacing Knights who say, “Ni”.

It would be accurate to say that the audience absolutely loved the show. The script is jammed full of funny jokes, pastiche songs, dance numbers, and general hilarity. In fact, it was very clear that from the moment the curtain rose, everyone in the theatre was having a great time!

Both Mr Bruno and Mrs Rooke jointly directed this venture, creating an unforgettable production. But why SPAMALOT!? ‘This musical has always been special to me,’ said Mr Bruno. ‘As a Monty Python fan, I have always aspired to find a cast that will do this play justice and this year, it all came together. The cast worked so hard on this show – rehearsing for long periods and always being a delight. We had moments in rehearsals when we cried with laughter and others where we cried.’

Mrs Rooke, who created the choreography, was equally enthusiastic, ‘Journeying into the forest on a quest for the grail with Arthur and his gang of knights was an adventure and a delight. The fictional search for the grail has reminded us all of the essential value of live performance, and we have all found the grail within ourselves as we returned to the stage after a long and difficult period.’

The beauty of SPAMALOT! is that it is truly an ensemble show. Every single member of the cast gave their all and pulled together to make the show a joy. However, it would be churlish not to mention some stand-out performances in the leading roles. Carter Robinson as King Arthur and Joe Arbiter as his sidekick Patsy carried much of the show with aplomb. Their comic timing was superb.

Riley Whittington and Charlie Barker-Broe gave two stand-out performances as Sir Lancelot and Sir Robin, while Will Shanley and Tilly Ludlum delighted us with their characterisation of Sir Galahad and The Lady of the Lake. I must also mention George O’Loughlin, Charlie Grant, Josh Turley, and Will Jones, who all gave sterling support. In fact, on the night I saw the show, there was even an

unexpected cameo by our very own History teacher Mrs Wilbraham!

Putting a musical together is a massive task, and the orchestra was ably led by our Director of Music, Mr Wright. ‘Any show requires a huge amount of work from the cast,’ he said after the last performance, ‘and I have been so impressed by the dedication, passion, and enthusiasm they have shown during rehearsals. It was very clear that the band had worked tremendously hard – most of their parts demanded at least Grade 8 standard – so a considerable amount of time was spent getting everything right.’

Finally, the success of any production also depends greatly on the technical crew, who are the unsung, unseen members of the show. Madame Wain from the MFL Department had the huge task of sourcing the varied costumes, and what an astounding job she did! The lighting was handled by veteran Halliford technician Mr Abbott - who actually came out of retirement in the sunny South of France to help! He was assisted this year by our Deputy Head Prefect, Charlie Poulter. The soundboard was operated with care and skill by Miss Peacock. The role of stage managing such a huge show is no easy task, and this was done with smooth professionalism by two of our Sixth Formers, William Jackson and, again, Charlie Poulter. Finally, the memorable set was constructed by the dream trio of Mr Macefield, Mr Sessions and Mr Baker. It was then painted by the ladies of our Art Department, Ms Hetherington, Mrs Bannister and Miss Aung.

I never thought I would see a better production at Halliford School than Arabian Nights back in 2019, but SPAMALOT! has set the benchmark extremely high. I can’t wait to see what the Drama Department tackle next!

The STEAM Week Assembly at Staines Preparatory School

by Hayden Sanghera, Year 7

On Monday 14 March, a few students from Halliford went to Staines Preparatory School to do our traditional Science Week Assembly. I was joined by Sixth Former Kardo Mutabchie, Cosmo Sumner, and Joshua Turley, who are both in Year 10.

Cosmo started our Assembly with an amazing section about bacteria and viruses, which the students of Staines Prep found very interesting. Joshua carried out an experiment with marshmallows and a vacuum pump to take all the air out of a jar. We tested this experiment at Halliford a few days before, and the experiment worked like it was meant to, where the marshmallow grew. However, when we did the experiment at Staines Prep, it didn’t work, but Joshua made the children laugh, and we all almost forgot about the whole mishap!

Penultimately, Kardo achieved his Canon Fire and Elephant’s Toothpaste Experiments. The students of Staines Prep loved his last experiment as it was great to watch and is very intriguing! Lastly, I did my section about how a flower grows and why a plant always grows toward a light source. We really enjoyed taking part in this Assembly a lot, and everyone at Staines Prep seemed to enjoy it too.

A Masterclass with Stella Mariash

by Ms Tamarind Hetherington, Head of Art

Our Sixth Form Art students welcomed local artist Stella Mariash to Halliford school to run a dynamic workshop in drawing and painting.

Stella is a contemporary Fine Artist who specialises in landscapes and still life. Her inspiration comes from her travels all over the world and her work with art students.

The art students were given the opportunity to work on a sustained piece of work throughout the day, as well as a range of smaller studies, working from a still life arrangement, helping them widen and develop their portfolios, in a range of media. They were taught about tone, shading, colour, composition and what was needed to bring a painting together.

Ms Tamarind Hetherington, Head of Art, commented, ‘Stella has a wealth of experience, both as a professional artist as well as a private tutor. Her quick-paced and engaging approach ensured that the students focused on building their skills throughout the day and developed their experience in a range of approaches.’

Upper Sixth student Sheridan Kerr added, ‘I have really enjoyed this workshop. I am a fine artist with a particular interest in portraiture. This has helped to expand my knowledge on the art of rendering and colour blending.’

The Science Book Club

by Daniel Winders, Lower Sixth

The Science Book Club is a new co-curricular activity for GCSE and A Level Science students to explore the possibilities of careers and lives in the world of science. It is an excellent way for STEM students to figure out exactly what they are interested in if they are still struggling to find out.

The books involved cover aspects related to Biology, Chemistry and Physics and go into further detail about specialities in the science industry.

So far, we have read three books, two from doctors, specialising in gynaecology and neurosurgery, and a book on the human body and all aspects of it. These books are perfect for people who have little knowledge on the topics as they go into detail but in a manner that is easy to understand. The best book so far

is The Body by Bill Bryson. It goes through every major aspect of the body, from the immune system to how humans breathe. It relates complicated actions to everyday life activities and highlights how magnificent our bodies are.

I highly recommend you read these books even if you are not interested in a scientific career as they are extremely interesting, and you can learn a great deal from these books.

Theo Clark, 7G

I decided to come to Halliford School because I had looked around at an Open Morning and loved the school. The entrance exams were fine for me, with no technical errors or glitches. On the first day, I was a mix between nervous and excited, but Mr Cunningham helped a lot with the nerves. I felt relieved that I did not have the full load of homework at first, as I had barely any homework at my old school. In the first week, I made a nice group of friends. The lessons I enjoy most here are PE and Games as I love sports and the lessons are great fun.

A Level Biology Field Trip

by Dr Simon Brooks, Teacher of Biology and Physics

Our Upper Sixth A Level Biology students recently took their learning outside of the classroom to Bushy Park. Bathed in glorious sunshine in one of London’s largest Royal Parks, the students worked tirelessly together to collect data for a required practical. It was a breath of fresh air for us all to be out of the classroom and on a school trip.

Thanks to the Field Studies Council (FSC) tutor, our students were taught various field study techniques before being tasked with planning and executing their own investigation into the biodiversity of different ponds. They learnt about random and systematic sampling, used identification keys to identify different species of plant and invertebrates, measured density and percentage cover of various species, and investigated a number of abiotic factors using light intensity metres and temperature probes.

There were opportunities for the students to carry out in-depth statistical analyses on the data collected, extending them beyond the Biology syllabus. They were able to use previously taught maths skills to calculate species diversity in two different habitats, allowing them to put theory into practice. The students were also asked to conduct risk assessments and evaluate their methods, further developing their ‘working scientifically’ skills.

A highlight for me was seeing how our students have grown in confidence in their understanding of Biology and developing the necessary ‘working scientifically’ skills needed for STEM careers. Their teamwork and camaraderie were great to see,

especially off the back of what has been a very strange time in education. Testament to their effort and achievement on the trip were the comments by the FSC tutor. The FSC tutor remarked on how impressed she was with the group’s engagement, the data collected, statistical analyses, and their conclusions.

It has been a pleasure teaching this group over the past two years, and the field trip was a great way to start wrapping up their time at Halliford. The students thoroughly enjoyed the trip and added, ‘I found seeing and learning about different species of insects with my friends in the sun a nice way to finish the syllabus.’

‘Finishing the syllabus outside, doing activities in a group was a great way to bring our time together to a close.’

‘I enjoyed learning practically instead of being in a classroom. The weather was great, and spending time with friends whilst learning about new species and applying it to the Biology specification was interesting.’

‘Gathering data and then implementing them using statistical tests was exciting and a fun alternative to doing a required practical at school.’

Battle of the Bands

by Mr St.John DeZilva, assisted by William Jackson, Lucas Dallon and Tom Wittke

After a considerable enforced hiatus due to the pandemic, the scene was set for a thunderous and much anticipated live performance for the Music Department’s ‘Battle of the Bands’. Mr Savides had been diligently preparing the various Rock Bands for some time and this augured well for the competition, with all bands performing with gusto, flair and increasing confidence on stage.

The bands played to a packed house, and whilst all players are to be commended on their efforts, some notable early performances included Bill Dobby’s rendition of the Beastie Boys You Gotta Fight For Your Right, trading his usual classical repertoire for a downtown Manhattan Rap and Junior Band revisiting original Punk with the Clash’s Should I Stay or Should I Go. A considerable achievement given that some pupils only recently started guitar and bass lessons. With energetic and nuanced drumming from Laurence in Year 9, their rendition of I Love Rock and Roll captured the essence of the night and caught the audience’s attention.

The evening was compèred by James and Tilly, who projected

their voices to keep proceedings on track despite not using a microphone. The programme increased with energy as the audience grew more animated.

The Year 10 Rock Band kept the night flowing with a volley of Green Day anthems and their signature Arctic Monkeys’ Fluorescent Adolescent with Carter Robinson donning a Sheffield accent a la Alex Turner, which came to prominence with a smile, radiant to the audience in true frontman style. The tight rhythm section of James on guitar, Laith on drums, Ashwyn on rhythm guitar, Jamie on bass with Daniel on keys bristled with decibel power!

Year 11 Rock Band

With a composite band featuring the much in demand Upper Sixth singer Tom Wittke providing a passionate rendition of the Fratellis’ Henrietta, who would win the sparkling accolade of Battle of the Bands and become the headliners of tomorrow?

Would it be Senior Rock Band’s careful version of the early 70’s Bond theme Live and Let Die or even their unique cover of Radiohead’s Paranoid Android or maybe the Year 11 Rock Band covering Supergroup Cream’s Sunshine of your Love or Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door with Oscar showing his versatility on drums and vocals.

The Senior Rock Band consolidated the strong bond between audience and performers with Lucas Dallon’s rendition of his father’s own band from the 80s, Living on the Edge of a Knife by Cougar.

Mr Wright employed the latest QR code technology to calculate the winners, and lo and behold, the Senior Rock Band took the gong, led by the rousing Will Greaves. The consistency of Will Jackson’s bass playing, the flair of Jules Wain on guitar, and Oliver “turn it up” Hume on the keyboard all kept on time superbly by Josh’s powerfully metronomic drumming. With a straining yet enthusiastic vocal after all his sterling efforts, Will Greaves led the encore of Johnny B. Goode as the audience erupted with accompanying claps and whoops.

It was a fitting end to a rousing and poignant celebration of Halliford rock and pop, and Mr Savides is to be commended on spending many an after-school session priming the talent of tomorrow. A special mention to Will Jackson, who was ever-present and helped with the technical set-up, multi-tasking as a performer, stage engineer, roadie and mix engineer!

Year 10 Rock Band

Year 8 & 9 Rock Band

Senior Rock Band

Build Your Own Guitar Club

by Mr Sam Watson, Teacher of Design and Technology

As the old saying goes, getting started is the hardest part. What does it take to go from loving guitars to actually building them? A number of students decided to take on the challenge this year and join the Build Your Own Guitar Club. The club was inspired by my time as a luthier, with students often asking for details about the guitars I have previously built and how I managed it. I wanted to share my passion and hobby with these students, so I decided to start a Build Your Own Guitar Club where the boys could develop their workshop skills and learn more about luthier work.

The first six students who joined the club placed their guitar orders and patiently waited for their instruments to come. As the weeks went by, the first group of students continued to surprise me with amazingly creative ideas and fantastic execution. From laser etching tribal artwork to experimental finishes, the boys were creating looks I hadn’t seen before. The boys didn’t just learn how to build an electric guitar but also how to customise and adapt it. Interesting headstock designs, colours, laser etching and creative scratch plates were developed with outstanding outcomes.

Following on from the success of the first group, the second and third groups were larger, with a waiting list full of students desperate to join the club. The club developed throughout the year with students pushing themselves with abstract ideas and designs, pushing their ability and skill with each student putting their own creative, unique ideas into their guitars, using work from the previous students as a starting point.

The students did so well to rise to the challenge of building their own guitars. They all showed such engagement with the

club and supported each other. To see students in the upper years inspiring and helping students in Years 7 and 8 was heart-warming.

Will Jackson, Lower Sixth

Build Your Own Guitar Club is definitely the highlight of my Mondays, if not my week! I was fortunate enough to join the first group, and I enjoyed it immensely. Mr Watson has been a great help with giving me pointers for my designs and telling me ‘NO JACKO’ when my design ideas get a little bit too out of hand. What has made my experience is learning from Mr Watson’s great knowledge of building guitars, which has helped me make some of the finer adjustments to many of my guitars at home. Build Your Own Guitar Club has also opened a path for me to help other students going through the workings of the club, as Mr Watson has allowed me to continue in the club to provide help and guidance. I am very thankful that Mr Watson takes time out of his day to run this club, as I am very passionate about music and love learning from him. Hopefully, there will be a few more guitars to come!

Oliver Scott, 8D

Mr Watson tutoring Will Jackson, L6R

Built by Thomas Lever, 10D

James Dow, 8R

Built by Nat Kinmont, 8R

Built by Denis Lynch, 7D

Thiago Martins, 8G

The Elmbridge Literary Competition

by Mr Joe McElroy, Teacher of English

This year, our budding writers in Years 7 and 8 were entered for the Elmbridge Literary Competition, where many met with resounding success. Nicholas Bootle-Wilbraham in Year 7 was awarded first prize in the 11-13 category for his moving story of a small boy re-connecting with his long-gone great-grandfather in The Little Blue Boat, which you can enjoy below.

Fellow Year 7 students, James Williams took second place with his story Fallout, and Will Bentley received third prize in the same category for telling a nautical tale from World War II. The judges of the competition enthused that ‘all the Halliford School entries were of a very high standard in a category which received the highest number of entries from young authors across the world.’

The stories written by James Dow in Year 8 and Kai Russell in Year 7 were highly commended, and the entries by Year 7 students Louis Brati, William Stotesbury, and Oliver Gardner were all commended by the judges. All the winning and commended entries have been published on the R S Sherriff Trust website, and both winners have received book tokens for their efforts. Nicholas’s winning entry was published as a chapbook by Sampson Low.

With the theme of ‘Enigma’, the stories focused on exploring and solving mysteries, ranging from the deeply personal to the marvellously fantastical.

Halliford School held its own short story competition this year among Years 7 and 8 in which Kai Russell in Year 7 won for his story The Mystery of the Parcel while Year 8 James Grant was triumphant for Armageddon.

The Little Blue Boat by Nicholas Bootle-Wilbraham

Somewhere in Lancashire and an old man lay dying on a hospital bed. His name was Eddie Favre, and he was 96. He beckoned his greatgranddaughter Mira with a frail hand. She slowly walked over just in case she could give him a fright.

“Grampa,” she said, gently pushing his arm and repeated, louder this time, “Grampa… can you hear me?”

Slowly he moved, turning his head so his emerald green eyes pierced her face. With one slow and long movement, he brought his hand down to his wallet and opened the crusty leather. He took out a jagged and fractured photo on orange-stained paper. The photo depicted a younger version of the man laying in front of her. The man’s right thumb is out and on his head is a captain’s hat. Behind him are scores of soldiers: some sitting up, some standing and some lying down with their eyes closed.

Eddie smiled, “Find my boat. Find your grandmother’s namesake.” Those are the words that stuck in her head on the way back to the hotel they were staying in to look after Grampa.

“Mum, was Grampa involved in any of the world wars?” She said, cautiously avoiding mentioning the photo.

Her mother replied, “I don’t really know, I mean he was alive at the time as a fisherman but apart from that I don’t know.”

That was all the proof she needed. She took off down the corridor and picked up the photo, turning it over. Yes, now she could see a piece of paper glued to the back of the photo – a newspaper article! The pages were faded with age and all she could make out was the symbol of The Times newspaper and a year – 1940 - and a date she couldn’t quite read it: could it be June?

She thought back to the days where she went to the library, it might still be open around this time but she couldn’t be sure. Down the street first right then left and there it was. The sign was still shining as bright as ever, so she went down the stairs and found the librarian at her desk, speaking to another customer. When the librarian was finished, she turned to the girl.

“Yes, how may I help you?” The librarian’s kind voice calmed her.

“Please could you help me narrow down a date for a newspaper article that I have found?”

“Absolutely, what would you like me to identify?”

“Um, could you possibly identify the newspaper from 1940, I think around June?”

“Yes, I will see what I can do – but it may take some time. Leave your number and I’ll call you when I find something.”

A few days later the call came in and she rushed back to the library to find out what the librarian had found. She was handed a scrap of paper and a printed copy of a newspaper front page. She examined both closely, thanked the Librarian and ran home for supper.

After supper she went upstairs into her dad’s office, sat down in the creaky old leather chair and opened the laptop.

She examined the article closely: a much clearer copy of her grandfather’s photo was at the top of the page with a long story below it. ‘Victory for the little boats’ read the title. The article explained how this had been one of the little boats which had answered the call for help to evacuate British soldiers from Dunkirk. So that’s why there were soldiers in the photo! Her Grampa was a hero! She decided: the world needed to know his story and this might help her find the boat.

She took to social media, writing posts and filming videos telling her Grampa’s story and appealing for help to find the boat. No one replied, she was expecting that, though it meant it was time for YouTube and to post videos. The first one took the entirety of an hour and within 20 minutes someone had replied saying it was a good video. Then more people started to crowd in with more

posts and more replies. She was starting to feel nauseous. She was about to log off until another comment took her eye. It read, there is going to be an assembly of boats that were involved in Dunkirk we would enjoy if your boat could join us.

Within days she had gone viral and there was nowhere in Britain that you could not have heard about it. The press were writing newspaper reports and eventually it made the front page. She was asked to go to London to be interviewed by the BBC.

Soon after the interview aired, a man contacted her: “I think I know where that boat is.”

The next day the girl and her parents pulled up outside the boathouse. It seemed like a junkyard: piles of random boating equipment littered the floor. She could see a shape hidden under a tarpaulin: could that be it? A man came around the corner and introduced himself. “Shall we take a look?”

“I would love to, thank you,” Mira said with a huge smile. She went over to the boat and lifted the corner of the tarpaulin. She saw the ‘M’ and her heart started pounding. She pulled the tarpaulin further up the boat and there it was: Mira’s Dream. She had done it. She had found the boat.

Kai Russell, 7R

I decided to come to Halliford School because it is a healthy environment focused on sport, academics and outstanding pastoral care led by Mr Bown. It was the perfect school for me as a few football friends were joining too. Open Day was an excellent experience as I got a gist of what life would be like when I joined Halliford. It seemed a very friendly environment, and everyone seemed to have a group of friends. I was also treated to a tour of the school by a student who gave me an incredibly positive review which was nice, and I got to know the school well. In the first week, I made a group of friends in my class and my form, and we got along well as we were new and excited about the new environment, and most of us had a sport in common. The lessons I enjoy most are History, Art, Maths, and PE. These subjects are fun and we work well in them, so the teachers get the best out of us and make it enjoyable for us. There is an enormous difference between Halliford and my old school. My old school was less caring and didn’t offer as much academically and sports-wise, whereas Halliford offered more. The clubs that I do are badminton, cricket, football training, Art Club, Rugby Sevens, and rugby training. In football, rugby and cricket training, we do training for fixtures and maybe a match every now and again. In badminton and Art Club, , we have the freedom to do what we want. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Halliford and am glad to be here.

Spanish A Level Theatre Trip, La Casa de Bernarda Alba

by Mr Igor Arriandiaga and Mrs Emma Whitticase, Teachers of MFL

On 23 March, we took our A Level Spanish students out for the day to experience the very best in Spanish culture. We enjoyed a delicious Spanish lunch and then headed to the theatre to see La Casa de Bernarda Alba. Our students share their thoughts on the day below:

What a highlight of the week, if not the month. Before we went to the theatre, we all enjoyed some fantastic food at Meson don Felipe, which, even according to the exacting standards of Mr Arriandiaga, was delicious. It all went down a treat from lovely fresh padron peppers to croquettes, jamon serrano and sardines. Outside we were greeted by glorious Mediterranean sunshine, albeit just next to Waterloo Station, which added to the experience no end, making the whole thing feel like a lazy afternoon in a Spanish city. After a relaxed afternoon in the sun, the feeling of sleepiness descended on us all following the great meal we shared, but we still had just about enough left in the tank to watch and enjoy the play!

Oliver Hume, L6G

It was a real privilege to be able to get a taster for the play we will be studying in Upper Sixth - La Casa De Bernada Alba We started our day with the most delicious, authentic tapas, accompanied by Spanish conversation with the waiters. We had the most amazing lunch from croquetas to Iberian jamón and, of course, paella. We made our way through London to an intimate, quaint theatre and sat only an arm’s length from the action. Albeit difficult to understand, the play was so intense and gripping that we all understood the storyline with ease. The incredible few hours we spent sitting in the compact auditorium made me immensely excited to study the play in further detail and improve my Spanish.

Lucy Durham, L6R

It was such an amazing opportunity to be able to experience both authentic Spanish tapas and watch the play that we will be studying next year. Firstly, the food was incredible! There was such a variety of dishes, many of which I had never tried before, and it was wonderful to try so many delicious traditional foods of Spain, which was extremely convenient as we were also studying Spanish cuisine at the time. Regarding the play, we were greeted by many friendly Spanish faces who welcomed us into the quaint, intimate theatre, and we were seated right at the front. Whilst some parts of the language were difficult to understand, the incredible acting and expression compensated for this, and I was able to grasp the idea of the plot. It was a great challenge for our understanding of the language and has made me excited to study, in-depth, the context and meaning of the play. Overall, it was an amazing and educational experience, and at some stages, I truly felt like I was in Spain!

Maisie Russell, L6R

The play was such a culturally immersive experience giving us an opportunity to have an insight into the position of Spain and its people at the time whilst introducing us to the play, which we will be studying next year. The theatre had a great atmosphere, being nice and small, which helped add to the experience, making you feel like you were truly part of the play.

Oliver Grayer, L6D

The theatre had an authentic Spanish feel, and once the play had begun, the atmosphere turned viscous and suffocating. We could feel the tension as we watched from only an arm’s length away from the actors within this tightly confined space, each actor giving life to the words we had read in our Upper Sixth book: La Casa de Bernada Alba. Federico García Lorca’s play is

filled to the brim with vivid imagery, and the actors lived up to his work, creating a gripping play which has also aided in the assimilation of the book’s content and will in no doubt help us with our exams. It was a wonderful experience, and I would highly recommend watching it live.

Patrick Wanat, U6R

It was an absolute pleasure studying Lorca’s play in class with my teachers, whose passion for the writer’s work is infectious, and having the opportunity to see it performed live was a privilege and my first experience of watching a play in a foreign language. The stage was really intimate, but this added a real intensity to the drama, as we often came face-to-face with the bold, incredibly well-interpreted characters of Bernarda and Maria Josefa. The set was masterfully minimalistic but detailed, transporting us to the oppressive setting of Bernarda’s inescapable home and making our connection to the characters of the trapped sisters vivid. It was so great to hear some of my favourite lines and scenes performed excellently right in front of my eyes, and thanks to the school, I am now far down the rabbit hole of Lorca. His talent as a dramatist is truly singular.

Arya Shafighian, U6W

Antes de llegar al teatro, decidimos ir a un restaurante tradicional español y probar platos tipicos de España. Pedimos muchos platos y los compartimos y para mi, fue muy interesante porque nunca antes había probado platos como patatas bravas, pimientos de padrón y muchos otros. La comida estaba riquísima y los camareros eran increíblemente amables, hablándonos en español todo el rato. Me pareció estar en España. Fue el precedente perfecto para la obra.

Theo Rowsell, U6G

Young Enterprise by Mrs Leila Brown, Head of Economics and Business Studies

The Flower Kit Company, led by Lucy Durham, got off to a swift start offering Pumpkin and Squash Seed Kits by October half term. The aim was to develop sustainable products that minimised the use of plastic and focused on a gardening theme. Taking on board feedback from customers, they swiftly improved the presentation and information supplied in the kits. The team initially met once a week, but as the competition progressed and the team became successful, it soon became clear that they had to have more meetings.

In the run-up to Christmas, the team attended their first farmers market at the Clifton Nurseries in Weybridge. As a result of the success at the first market, the team managed to attend a further four markets, including one at Ripley. At each market, we had visits from Old Hallifordians and YE veterans, plus fellow stall holders were supportive and gave useful advice. Eddie and Ben led the sales team at the markets with early morning starts to get the stall set up, securing sales and finally packing up the afternoon. Thanks to our advisor Mike Harvey we sold honey on behalf of the bee charity and then developed a wildflower kit. After Christmas, the team developed its bestselling product, the Kitchen Herb Kit.

Flower Kit was successful in several competitive rounds,

Young Enterprise Team with their awards for Best Marketing and Best Presentation

Young Enterprise is a popular and successful extra-curricular activity for Sixth Form students. Recent Halliford teams Avenir and Quiddiem laid the foundation for this year’s team, The Flower Kit Company.

starting with Lucy and Euan winning the Dragons

Den competition for North Surrey. This was followed with a presentation team comprising Lucy, Euan, Jake, and Jai winning the Half Year Festival prizes for Innovation and Finance before getting prizes for Presentation and Marketing in the Area Final. The representative from Proctor and Gamble said that Flower Kit showed excellent marketing awareness.

The team would like to thank the school, our customers, and Mike and Panier Markets at Clifton Nurseries, for all of the support and advice, and Flower Kit wishes the next Young Enterprise team good luck.

MY HALLIFORD SCHOOL STORY

Milo Ketteringham, 7D

I decided to come to Halliford School because I liked the look of the facilities, especially the sports facilities. I didn’t attend an Open Day, but I had a tour with the Headmaster. The entrance examination went very well. I thought it would be harder. On the first day, I was excited as I knew many people going to Halliford and got help from my friends who had other siblings in the school as they knew a bit more about it. The biggest difference between Halliford and my previous school is that the food is much better here. I have enjoyed some of the clubs here. I like badminton and volleyball and after-school rugby, football, and cricket. We start with some basic drills and then progress into matches. I’m really pleased I came to Halliford School because many things are much better than my previous school, and I like how everything is set up. I am also very pleased to have a lot of friends.

MY HALLIFORD SCHOOL STORY

George Sanders, 7D

I decided to come to Halliford School because both of my brothers came here before me, and they talked about it like it was a really nice place. On the first day, I was a bit worried but also excited. I already had two friends but did not know what school life would be like at Halliford. My form tutor was very welcoming, and my friends made it even easier. I was relieved not to get too much homework at first. Homework was one of my main worries and the reduced homework in the first part of the school year helped me settle in. The lessons I like the most here are History, DT and Drama. I like History because the teacher is very nice, and I find the things that we are learning interesting. I like DT and Drama because they allow me to have structured creativity. I do Science Club, Dungeons and Dragons Club, Chamber Choir, and Football Club. I’m really pleased I came to Halliford School because there is a club for everyone, and the drama productions are amazing. The food is just so good, and it is easy to make friends. The teachers are all nice, and their lessons are all interesting.

The Learning Resource Centre

by Mrs Wendy Bird, Assistant Librarian

Our amazing Learning Resource Centre (LRC) opened in January 2022, and the students can now visit the library before school from 8am, at break and lunchtime and after school prep from 3.45pm to 5pm every day. They visit to either quietly read, finish their schoolwork, or complete homework. The two reading pods that are part of the Learning Support Department have proved popular and can be booked for quiet study or a one-to-one meeting. A separate meeting room for team or project work for up to six students is also available to book via the Librarians.

This amazing facility houses just under 6,000 books (including eBooks) which we have catalogued and are now updating with new resources and editions. The students have access to our web app from the Halliford School website. When they log in to their Microsoft Go and select the library web app, they can search all the books available to borrow or that are reference only. We advertise what new books are available and what themes we are running on displays in the library and on the web app dashboard. We have had International Women’s Day #BreakTheBias, the 25th Anniversary of the Harry Potter books, blind date with a book for Valentine’s Day and British Science Week recommended reads. For Easter, we hid laminated Easter eggs inside various books and posted clues on the web app. When students found the correct books, they received a chocolate treat.

Years 7, 8 and 9 can borrow up to five books at a time for a three-week period and renew them on the web app if they want them for longer. Years 10 and 11 and the Sixth Form can borrow seven books to support their learning and enjoy more senior fiction, including our graphic novels, which have proved very popular. Year 7 has a weekly reading lesson in the library, and Year 11 use the space for Drama lessons, plus the Sixth Form often visit to study in this superb learning environment.

It is a joy to see this wonderful new space enjoyed by staff and students alike.

My Uncle Tuchmann

by Harry Tuckman, 11D

In 1944 my great uncle, Heinz–Erich Tuchmann, was murdered by the Nazis, aged just 34. After Italian resistance fighters killed 30 German soldiers, Adolf Hitler ordered the killing of ten Italians for each dead soldier in retaliation.

It was one of the biggest atrocities committed against civilians in Italy during the 2nd World War. In the end, 335 people were murdered, mostly Italian citizens rounded up off the streets, including 70 Jewish prisoners, and my uncle was one of them.

Since this tragedy, Italy has paid annual homage ‘To the heroes of the Fosse Ardeatine’ with a lavish ceremony and a roll call in honour of those who lost their lives on 24 March 1944.

Unfortunately, despite my grandfather being certain his elder brother, whom he idolised, was one of the victims, he was never named or honoured as his remains were one of seven never formally identified.

For decades my grandfather sought the recognition his brother deserved. He left no stone unturned but to no avail, and he sadly died in 2017, aged 95.

My dad continued the quest to bring dignity and respect to Heinz-Erich’s death. He contacted authorities and journalists. Just as he had given up hope and with with the aid of swabs from Amazon and posted to Italy in the height of lockdown in 2020, he received a call from General Allesandro Veltri in July 2020 confirming that ‘the mortal remains buried in the sacellum 276, with certainty belong to your uncle Heinz-Erich.’

Immediately we were invited to Rome, and then Covid cancelled our invite twice. In March, it was the third time lucky, and we went to Rome, where we met high-ranking dignitaries, military and politicians, including the Italian president and paid our respects to my great uncle.

It is amazing that his remains were identified by the marvel of DNA 78 years after his passing. Of the near 8 billion people in the world, only five people (my dad, uncle, cousin, sister and me) have the DNA that would have provided a positive result.

I made the best use of the rest of my time in Rome, seeing the amazing sites and history and eating a lot of pasta and pizza!

The Guards before the service

My family with the Italian Major General in the tomb where 335 people were laid to rest

My Great Uncle’s tomb

The Halliford 100 Weekend

by Mrs Olivia Oakley, Marketing & Communications Manager

For the Spring Term, we had planned our Halliford 100 Weekend which was jam-packed full of exciting events. We had Rugby Sevens on Friday night, followed by Talking Heads on Saturday, with former Headmasters speaking about Halliford, lunch and tours of the school, and a Hall of Fame Evening.

Unfortunately, Covid meant we had to postpone our Talking Heads event, lunch and school tours. However, we were still able to head down to London Irish on Friday 18 March and enjoy watching our rugby team lift the Floodlit Sevens Cup for the first time since 2014.

We were delighted to welcome many Old Hallifordians to our Hall of Fame Evening on Saturday 19 March, to celebrate our great sporting Hallifordians over a delicious dinner prepared by our in-house catering team. Our guests included students and teachers who represented many different year groups, and it was a joy to see them catching up and discussing their happy memories of Halliford. Congratulations to our raffle winners who took home a Centenary rugby shirt, a Centenary print of the school and a bottle of champagne. All of our guests signed a Centenary rugby short which we have had framed as a memory of this especial event. Mr Slocock gave a short speech, and Sixth Former Chris Cole presented his sports report, which covered the school’s rich sporting history.

It was such a great evening that many spoke of making it a regular event in our calendar. Old Hallifordian teacher, Mr Mike Nicks, commented, ‘I enjoyed the evening very much, and happy memories were discussed with lots of Old Hallifordians. You could probably tell how much I enjoyed my 20 years of teaching at Halliford School, particularly my 16 years taking care of the Sixth Form.’ Old Hallifordian student Alistair Kinder added, ‘I had a great evening catching up with old mates and teachers. Thank you very much for the hospitality and for organising it all. You did an amazing job of it. I look forward to hearing about future events.’

Thank you to everyone involved in making it such a successful evening.

Halliford Ski Trip to Nassfeld

by Mr Sean Slocock, Assistant Head Co-Curricular

Anyone who has led any trip of highly exuberant teenagers will understand the comparison between herding a group of boys and girls and herding a clowder of cats. So the concept of taking 115 students away to another country, skiing and snowboarding whilst in a post-Covid world might be considered utter lunacy. Halliford School, however, viewed it as a challenge which ended as one that highlighted the fantastic nature of our Halliford students.

The logistics proved to be a nightmare; the group had to be split into two for the airline to accommodate the number of people, and each group was further divided up to fit onto coaches. Aeroplanes don’t always leave simultaneously, so whilst one group had a nice lie-in and left at a reasonable hour, the other group had to leave at crazy times in the morning. However, all groups got to the destination, and more importantly, they all made it home again. Despite the ungodly hour, the hours in buses, airports and planes and even the odd airline delay or newspaper reading moment here and there. All this whilst the Covid rules continued to change frequently!

Our accommodation was brilliantly selected, just 200m from the slopes, and the first few days in the resort were absolutely magnificent. Glorious sunshine and cold evenings meant that the morning ski conditions were superb. It became so warm that

it wasn’t uncommon to see people skiing in shirt sleeves and even the odd pair of shorts. A decision one teacher might have regretted after a tiny tumble!

‘Choosing a highlight from this ski trip is almost as hard as trying to parallel ski (and I never managed to do that successfully without stacking it in a big pile of snow). I think the funniest moment from the trip would have to be the first red slope we went down; everyone was following the instructor’s line going snake-like down the slope, but I started bombing it down the hill, unable to stop, with a consistent high-pitched scream, quickly followed by Lucy doing the same thing! What a way to start mountain skiing!’

- Abi Pring, Lower Sixth

As is the way in the mountains, glorious sunshine turned to overcast conditions and some complete whiteout days. But with this came wonderful, brilliant, outstanding powder and lots of it!

Having taken up over half of each aeroplane we were in, the group was getting used to being the majority wherever they went. Hotel Marcius, Alpenhotel was magnificent and once again, taking up 72% of all the rooms available, Halliford School was pretty much the only people in the hotel. Each mealtime had a magnificent spread of food to cater for everyone, and there was always plenty to go around.

‘The funniest moment was most definitely when our group were getting on the chair lift, and after announcing that the barrier was going down, a member of the group forgot to lift his pole, and it bent. It snapped and fell off the chair lift after he tried to bend it back into position. He spent the rest of the morning skiing with half a pole and eventually found one he could ‘borrow’ for the afternoon!’ - Maisie Russell, Lower Sixth

The first evening of entertainment saw teacher groups pitted against each other in the annual ski trip quiz, kindly organised by Mr Wright this year. Despite being tired from lots of travelling and a hot day of intense skiing, the teams battled it out and improved their general knowledge.

After this, more logistical challenges lay ahead. Our students were divided into year groups to accommodate each evening activity, and each year group attended a different activity each evening, adding an activity carousel to the festivities. Group Alpha started with the Austrian sledging, an activity that produced a highlight for the trip for Zac Spencer, who said, ‘My favourite memory of the trip was coming around the corner when sledging, far too quickly. I slid off the track and down a steep hill into the trees. It was so much fun!’

Group Beta competed in various board games in an evening where mobile phones and technology were cast aside for a bit of old-fashioned fun. Unsurprisingly, there were no comments from students about how much fun was actually had. The third part of the trilogy was Group Gamma, who set off down the mountain

to not-so-nearby Villach for a spot of ten-pin bowling and, for some, a little dancing.

‘Great trip. Apart from skiing very fast with the GoPro on me most of the time, the highlight was the ten-pin bowling.’ - Cosmo Sumner, Year 10

‘My favourite part of the ski trip is hard to choose, between skiing to Italy and riding a chair lift for the first time, but my favourite part was at the end of the pizza party. We were let into the room with sweets and Pringles, but as soon as the music started, my friend busted into the most ridiculous dance I’ve ever seen. I will not forget that gem of a sight any time soon!’ - Thiago Martins, Year 8

Inevitably there were a few accidents or incidents with two students being airlifted off the slopes and several trips to the local medical centre or hospital. Thankfully no injury was too serious, and one or two boys will have more than just memories to remember the trip.

‘The most memorable moment of the trip was being airlifted off the mountain on the last day after a dodgy fall. Although, I don’t remember much of the actual flight! A great time away, and I can’t wait to get back on the slopes again!’ - Noah Acheson, Lower Sixth

The spills and falls are always great fun to watch and entrench memories for a lifetime. Mr Churchill wins the award for the most monumental stack of the week, and remarkably, Mr Shales escaped unscathed only to break his knee on the playing fields back at school a few months later.

‘It was so funny when Nicky joined our group and knocked everyone down.’ - Freddie Phillips, Year 7

Ski trips are always great fun, and Nassfeld 2022 was no different. It was awesome to be able to take students away and help them create new memories. The number of comments from students truly highlights how much they enjoyed the trip and, despite the difficulties, makes them all worthwhile. As a teacher, it is always amazing to hear our students’ best memories which range from time with friends to simply taking in the beauty of our surroundings.

‘My favourite part of the ski trip was heading up the chairlifts in the morning and talking to my friends.’ - Sam Kinmont, Year 10

‘My favourite bit was the views from the chair lifts.’ - Dion Henderson, Year 9

‘This is the fourth Halliford ski trip I have been on, and whilst I have skied on the trip before, I would say snowboarding is for me. My favourite part of the trip would be chilling on the slopes and being able to free ride down the slopes, performing tricks, and jumps in the parks. It is also nice to interact with the younger years as the chances during term time are few and far between!’William Jackson, Lower Sixth Here’s looking forward to the next one.

Elite Cricket

International Women’s Day

Woodward Building in use

Heart Dissection in Science Club

Dress to Express Day

Safer Internet Day

Magic: The Gathering Club

Junior Debating - Desborough House

The Sports Department continues to be extremely busy this term, providing as many sporting opportunities for our students as possible. We have had Spring Term football training and competitive fixtures, Cricket Nets in preparation for the Summer Term, Rugby Sevens, Inter-House Cross Country and Football competitions, before school and lunchtime Strength and Conditioning Sessions, which continue to be a success, as well as after school Golf Club and Rock Climbing Club. Mr Director

It has been an excellent season for the U12s. Having had a very successful rugby season, they certainly maintained this in the football term. Our ability to put out A-D teams where opposition schools allow is most pleasing. Numbers at training have consistently been excellent, and the boys have worked to develop their knowledge and understanding of the game. Looking at the results, it has been a successful season, particularly for the A and B teams. However, more importantly, we have managed to get practically the entire year group out representing the school in a competitive fixture, which is fantastic.

The A team captained by Khai Vally has had a fantastic season, almost going unbeaten however they unfortunately lost to Salesian College Farnborough away in the last game of the season. A factor in this was fatigue, as eight of the squad had been at Orleans Park for a Rugby Sevens tournament the day before. Credit to the opposition. They were deserved winners on the day. Captain Vally has been an outstanding performer for this team, often leading the attacking line but also deployed in the middle of midfield when necessary. His goal tally is superb, and he has been ruthless in front of goal. Centre back Zack Brief has also been a key performer for the team. He adds lots of stability at the back. Being comfortable in possession lets him clear his lines successfully when under pressure and play out from the back when required. James Haines has also impressed. He has shown versatility in the positions he can play, always gives everything and has shown some excellent quality in possession. The fixture card shows some amazing results and score lines, and the highlight was beating Hampton away 2-1. After going behind, the boys showed great character and resilience to keep going, and as expected, Vally was there initially to fire the team level.

B, C and D teams have also had pleasing seasons. The year group has such a pool of talent, and many of the boys playing in the B’s would likely be playing in the A’s in other year groups at the school. Will Friend and Ben Snowball have been consistent performers in the side this season.

After two great terms of sport with rugby and football, we are excited to see what Year 7 can produce in the summer cricket season.

A team B team

The U13s have been a pleasure to work with this term. Training numbers have been outstanding, and we have been able to field A-C teams consistently. It has been our opponents who haven’t always been able to stretch to a C team fixture. At training the boys have worked to refine their skill set and have developed as the season has gone on. As the playing record suggests, the A team has had a fantastic season going unbeaten. Key performers have included Jack Giddens in goal, who provides real stability behind the defence. His distribution and shot stopping have been excellent.

Dexter Lee is an outstanding performer and key member of personnel. In midfield, he has been dominant and often behind the key moments in matches which have determined the result. He has often produced the necessary piece of magic at the appropriate time.

Christian Fleming-Jenner has also been a key performer from wide areas. His pace and power have caused problems for opponents with his ability to get in behind.

The B’s and C’s have maintained outstanding numbers at training. Although the playing record reads two wins and four losses, the boys’ hard-working attitude has seen improvement occur each week and with each fixture played. They have improved experience levels and knowledge of the game, which will place them in a good position when Mr Churchill inherits them in Year 9.

This season has been one of mixed fortunes for the U14s. The season started brightly, with the team winning a close-fought game, bringing confidence to the side. The team developed a strong structure, playing some excellent football and showing their ability to score goals. Following this, the team tasted defeat for the first time in the season, falling to a very well-drilled Reading Blue Coat side. Even in defeat though, the team showed the ability to defend as a unit, holding the visitors to very few chances in the first half. The rest of the half term saw progress being made every week, culminating in an electric performance against LVS, which saw the boys run out 5-1 winners. Following half term, the squad struggled to get going again, losing some tight contests and coming up against some strong sides. This season has been a frustrating one for the B team. The boys struggled to find form after a fantastic 10-1 victory in the season opener. In each of the following games, the team seldom lost by more than a goal, being competitive in every fixture.

Overall, this has been a season of progress for the U14s, developing their skill sets while learning how to play football on a full-size pitch, having missed the U13 season owing to Covid. Special mentions this term must go to A and B team captains Theo Maroussas and Harry Baker, who have been excellent in helping to organise teams and ensuring good numbers at training sessions. On the pitch, Daniel Gray has been superb in goal whilst Felix Porter’s eight goals have been a very valuable contribution at the other end of the pitch.

Year 10 embraced the football season right from the get-go and clearly missed their competitive fixtures from last year’s Covid-disrupted season. Numbers were unbelievable from the first training session all the way through to the last week and even after the final game of the season. It made selection really difficult, and there were undoubtedly some controversial decisions in the initial weeks.

The opening matches were against tough opposition in Gordon’s School and Reading Blue Coat, but the boys were in the contest all the way to the final whistle, unfortunately losing 1-2 and 0-2, respectively. Lewis Gomez-Moore was instrumental in these games and commanded the midfield with outstanding energy and enthusiasm. The boys then played Radnor House and behind influential captain, Carson Curtis, connected well to earn a 3-0 win and a clean sheet to boot. Our first home game of the season was against a resilient Claire’s Court side, and despite the playmaking skills of Will Hamilton, the boys fell to a last-minute winner and ultimately lost the game 3-4. Despite these early defeats, the lads continued to train hard and saw the fruits of their labour with a convincing win away at St. James’ School and then a very unfortunate and controversial 3-3 draw away at Latymer Upper School.

Our momentum was unfortunately halted mid-way through the season, though, when a well-organised and competitive Grey Court visited and comprehensively won, before three cancelled fixtures owing mostly to opponents not being able to field a side. This left two matches to salvage the season, and the first one was probably the most comprehensive performance of the season, winning 4-2 away at Salesians College. A first-half hat-trick from the season’s top goal-scorer, Joshua Rowe, set the standard for the match, and this was optimised by the defensive partnership of Ollie Hill and Oscar Shephard, backed up superbly with Sam Griffiths in goal. The final game of the season was a long mid-week away match at Glyn School, and despite their best efforts and a goal of the season contender from James Connolly, what felt like a long season had come to an end. Some special mentions must go out to several players for their contributions this season.

Firstly, Luke Harrison who battled for his starting position and earned a regular spot, before becoming injured late in the season. Next to Ollie Hepworth, who will quite literally run all day and put his body on the line in a defensive midfield position. Thirdly, Freddie Humphreys worked harder than almost anyone to improve his game and was always there and thereabouts, just not getting the rewards he deserved. Finally, to Charlie Jones, who played out of position almost the entire season, but whose drive, determination and overall competitive nature greatly contributed to the squad. Seeing these boys develop as players and be included in the senior setup will be wonderful next year.

The Year 10 boys involved in the B squad were outstanding this year in terms of effort, commitment and enthusiasm. Never have so many boys attended training and competed for places within this squad. It 10 Morriss

was a wonderful selection problem to have, and the boys responded superbly as the squad was regularly rotated. Flexibility was required throughout a disrupted season as many boys offered when they could play, only for several of the fixtures to be cancelled last minute to opponents being unable to field a side. It was such a shame for our boys, who turned up every week ready to play. Although this squad rotation ultimately led to a season with more losses than wins, the boys put in some superb displays against Latymer, Radnor House and Claire’s Court. Archie Ferguson, Zachary Barlow and James Ross shared captain responsibility, and all offered their own style of leadership, which ultimately meant they gave 100% effort in every match. Special mentions must also go to Cassidy Wyeth, who often took a managerial role helping out the teacher in charge of the game, and Olly Johnson, Sammi MatoorianPour and Federico Polosa, who alternated between the two squads and were always willing to put the team first when asked.

What a rollercoaster of a season! The boys had a lot to live up to following the success of the Halliford 1st XV Rugby team, and enthusiasm for this challenge was immense. Boys attended in large numbers at the start of the season to training held by Mr Morriss, Mr Greggor and Mr Churchill, who offered a range of different skills within the main session.

The first match of the season was a home opener against a resilient Holyport side, who twice came back to level the match. However, the tempo and passion were high, and a last-minute early goal of the season contender was fired in by playmaker Lucas Lindstrup. Next up was an away fixture to Ranelagh on what we thought was Bracknell Town’s first-team pitch. It turned out to be a sandpit in the middle of a field and was certainly an interesting way to welcome goalkeeper Monty Conway to senior football at Halliford.

Lindstrup carried on from where he left off and put in a hat-trick Man of the Match performance to inspire a 3-1 victory. This left the boys top of the table and everything to play for, balancing the disappointment of losing vice-captain Sankaran Suseelan before the season had even started.

The next match was against an unbeaten Claremont, who almost went the whole season undefeated before losing out to Salesians in the eventual top of the table clash. It was an incredibly even match throughout, but some controversial decisions upset the balance at times. It got the better of the boys, and a lapse in concentration meant conceding a last-minute winner to lose the game 1-2. An additional fixture to the calendar gave us a break from the SOCS Super 8 League, and we travelled to Latymer Upper for a rare Saturday fixture. The squad was much changed, but the performance was outstanding, especially considering the 0-0 score line. However, both teams created lots of chances, and the defensive efforts were outstanding also, especially from our ever-present centre-back, Max Hobbs and stand-in keeper Joshua Burson, who combined to help keep our first clean sheet for a couple of years. Despite this performance, the boys could not get their season going again, and with a tough 1-3 loss to Burnham followed by an atrocious performance in a 2-2 home draw against LVS, the squad started to look dejected.

The half term break came at just the right time, and with an away fixture to Bisham Abbey to play Claire’s Court on the cards, changes were made, a new formation provided and a target of playing with freedom, without any worries. They did not disappoint. It was a superb display from start to finish, back to front and generally all over the park. In what is usually a tight affair against this opposition, the boys were 7-0 victors and had seven different goal-scorers to demonstrate their overall team performance. A captain’s Man of the Match performance from Patrick Wanat set the tone for the rest of the squad to feed off. However, a different week means a different opposition and, quite often, a different result. Away at eventual winners Salesian College, the squad were obviously in high spirits from the previous week. Unfortunately, a couple of quick-fire goals in the opening 20 minutes halted any progress, and despite fighting hard and putting in a wonderful shift throughout the afternoon, that was to be the overall result. Credit must go to the other Year 11 students in this team, Harry Tuckman and Nate Broadhurst, who have played almost every game this season and been the heartbeat of the midfield.

A finishing position of 4th at the end of the regular season meant a play-off for 3rd spot away again to Burnham Grammar was the only thing left to play for, and for many of the players to go out on a high. Personnel changes meant the squad didn’t resemble anything like it had in previous weeks or against this opposition in the loss earlier in the season. However, many of the ever-present Upper Sixth students were not going to be outdone in their last ever school performance and led from the front. Despite going behind, the boys bounced back from conceding early in the second half, and Max Connolly struck a superb ten-minute hat-trick to seal the win. Special mentions must go to Theo Rowsell for his outstanding performances throughout the season, often unnoticed but always effective. Also to

Naveed Uddin and Freddie Chandramohan, who have often been called up last minute but always put in a performance when called upon. Finally to, Head Prefect, Alex Donnelly, who played wherever he was asked, whenever he was asked and always put the team first when representing the school.

‘I am happy with how the season ended. Although we weren’t able to come out on top in every game and potentially win the league, we showed our might in many of our games, and we were able to come out with a 3rd place finish, proving that on our day, we could beat anyone. There has been an enormous amount of tactical changes, with several players coming up and down teams, filling in for some absences, and on the whole, we adapted well. Despite not winning the league, we can come out of the football season and be proud of ourselves for how we have conducted ourselves all season, how, throughout the wins, we have shown some exceptional play and ruthlessness, and how, throughout our few losses, we were able to battle and easily be able to come back into the game at a flick of a switch. I am proud to have been able to lead this unit out during the football season, all with our different strengths and characteristics, and I hope that the 1st XI’s that follow will be able to take advantage of the ability and charisma that Halliford’s footballers have.’

Patrick Wanat, 1st XI Captain 2022

Max Beesley, 7R

I decided to come to Halliford because it is a small, nurturing school with a great sports reputation. I was lucky enough to attend a Halliford open day twice, and both times the boys and staff were very helpful and kind. To secure a place, I also had to sit the entrance exams, and I thought I did very well in them, but I was very nervous on the day. On my first day, I was quite excited but not too nervous because I already knew three people in my year. What also helped most other people with their nerves was how the teachers were kind and helped you if you got lost or needed help in lessons. I was happy when I found out that we only got Maths, English and Science homework for the first half term, but to be honest, even now we don’t get too much homework. Also, I made many friends in the first week because it is a warm community at Halliford School, and everyone is nice and welcoming. That is why I love my school Halliford.

Headmaster’s Select Football Squad 2022

Once again, Halliford’s football coaching staff have sat down together to pick a Headmaster’s XI, this is always a very tough decision, and as with Rugby selection, we have opted for a bench. Students are selected based on several criteria, including their commitment to training, influence in competitive fixtures and attitude.

Khai Vally

Jack Giddens

Christian Fleming-Jenner

Lucas Lindstrup

Joshua

Carson

Theo Maroussas 9

Patrick Wanat Sixth

Dexter

Harry Tuckman

Theo Rowsell Upper Sixth Max Hobbs Lower Sixth Brief Year 7

Monty Conway Year 11 1

Football Colours Ties

Nate Broadhurst Year 11

Colours ties are presented to senior students who have performed regularly and impressed in our first XI this term. They were awarded to the following students:

Year 11: Nate Broadhurst, Monty Conway, Lucas Lindstrup, Harry Tuckman

Lower Sixth: Euan Cole, Max Connelley, Max Hobbs, Paul-Louis Howard, Archie McGuff

Upper Sixth: Patrick Wanat, Naveed Uddin

Inter-House Cross Country

The junior competition comprises a 3.3k route along the towpath by Walton Bridge, onto Desborough Island and finishing at Weybridge Vandals RFC. Seniors run 4.2k as a perimeter around Vandals which is added to the junior route. The scenery by the river is stunning, and pupils competed in their games afternoons.

U12 U13 U14 U15

1st Russell Greville Wadham Russell

2nd Desborough Desborough Desborough Greville

3rd Wadham Wadham Russell Desborough

4th Greville Russell Greville

Winner’s Categories

Junior (U12 and U13) - Desborough

Intermediate (U14) - Wadham

Senior (U15) - Russell

Top three in each year group:

U12: 1. R. Maroussas 2. O. Lewitt 3. J. Haines

U13: 1. D. Lee 2. T . Perrin 3. S. Goddard

U14: 1. J. Goodman 2. E. Wilkin 3. B. Connop

U15: 1. C. Curtis 2. J. Warren 3. J. Lamprell

Inter-House Football

Students always look forward to this competition, and it achieves true mass participation from the House teams. Below shows the competition for each age group. The winners are listed as the top House in each column.

3rd

4th

Winner’s Categories

Junior (U12 & U13) - Russell

Intermediate (U14) - Desborough

Senior (U15) - Russell

Overall winners: Russell

MY HALLIFORD SCHOOL STORY

Leo Smith, 7R

I decided to come to Halliford because I am really into my sports and I have heard from my brother, Max, who is in Year 10, that it is a good school to attend, especially if you love sport. I was very excited to join Halliford School. However, I was nervous about making new friends, but instead, that went well for me. I found it easy to make a group of friends and get to know each other. My brother helped me a lot too. The lessons I like the most are Sport, Maths, and History. Sports because I love the sport equipment, Maths because Mr Cupido is my favourite teacher so far, and History because the teacher gives us sweets and is so nice to all of us during class. The biggest difference between Halliford and my previous school is that the food is way better, and we move to different classrooms for each lesson. I have enjoyed playing badminton, volleyball, and Sevens Rugby. I enjoy badminton and volleyball with my friends because it is fun and funny to be around them, and in Rugby Sevens, you get to do tournaments with your rugby team. U13

1st Greville tie second place

RUGBY SEVENS

Rugby Sevens season is always greatly anticipated by Halliford staff and students. We always aim to get year groups at least two tournaments in the half term to complement the football season. Lunchtime practices proved popular among the boys, complemented by some last-minute preparations in games afternoons prior to tournaments.

Following a hugely successful Autumn Term of rugby for our U12s, they turned their attention to the Sevens season. Lunchtime preparation sessions went very well, and many students made themselves available for selection. Their first competition started away at St. James’ School in Ashford. In the initial stages of the competition, the group saw the boys get off to an excellent start, winning their opening three games, including wins against Claremont, Isleworth, and Syon, to win the group and qualify for the Cup competition. A very competitive final against St James saw the boys win 10-5 eventually with an outstanding individual try by Oscar Lewitt to win the game.

Following a successful first tournament together, the boys then made their way to Orleans Park. Again a very successful group stage of matches saw wins coming against Christ’s School and Richmond upon Thames School to qualify for the cup competition. A 5-0 win against London Oratory, a 5-5 draw against Hampton and a 25-0 win against Windsor Boys saw Halliford’s U12s win the Cup competition. In very difficult conditions, they played some excellent Sevens.

Halliford’s U13s have also had a very successful series of Rugby Sevens competitions this term. Starting at St. James’ the boys beat Isleworth, Claremont and St. James’ to qualify once again for the cup final, where they once again won the competition. Dexter Lee and Christian Fleming-Jenner were outstanding and a constant threat with the ball in hand.

Following a win at St. James’, the boys travelled to Orleans Park for their second tournament of the term. After the opening matches with a loss and two wins, the boys qualified for the plate competition, which they again successfully won by playing some expansive Sevens. Orleans Park were beaten in the final to win the plate competition.

Finally, their third competition saw them travel to Millfield for the annual U13 school tournament. This is always a great challenge for the boys as some very talented teams travel to this. They were great company, enjoyed testing themselves against some tough opponents, and rose to the occasion.

Group games were very competitive, and the boys got off to a fantastic start against Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymi, going 10-0 up, which was the half-time score. However, the opposition came back strongly to win 25-15. Following this, Caldicott were our next opponents, again a very close affair which resulted in a draw 10-10. The final group game was against an excellent Clifton College side, and the boys did themselves proud, only losing 10-5, with Clifton College going on to win the entire competition. Following the earlier matches, the boys advanced to the shield competition, which consisted of three more matches. Wins against Port Regis, St Mary’s and Dulwich Prep meant the boys won the shield competition, which was a great reward for their hard work.

U14, U15 and Senior Sevens sides also experienced success this season. The U14s travelled to Orleans Park for their Sevens competition, following a 14-12 win against Teddington School and a 17-0 win against Hampton, the boys qualified for the cup competition. Having advanced into the cup competition, a 19-17

win against Orleans Park set the boys up for an exciting afternoon. A narrow loss to Windsor Boys 19-12 and a loss to St Benedict’s 28-14 meant we didn’t get a medal, but it was a good learning experience, with some excellent Sevens played throughout the day.

U15s travelled to John Fisher School for their Sevens competition. A tough opener drawing Whitgift saw the boys do themselves proud. They lost 28-7 but showed plenty of glimpses that more quality would come. They bounced back well, winning 28-0 in their second match against Ipswich. This saw some momentum gather with another win against Reigate Grammar School 21-14. Their final game in the group came against Wimbledon College, which was a close encounter drawing 10-10. The successful early results saw the boys qualify for the main cup competition, drawing Brighton College. This resulted in a 21-0 loss. However, the boys made progress, and it was a 0-0 second half in this match.

The Seniors did themselves proud in both their Sevens competitions. Starting with the Surrey Sevens, they got off to an excellent start beating London Oratory 26-7. Following this game, their next opponents were John Fisher, and in a very close match, saw the boys win 15-12. Next came Brighton College, who went on to win the competition, a loss of 12-33 was certainly very respectable indeed. Qualifying for the plate knockout stage, the boys drew City of London Freemen’s. Having put so much into the opening matches, the boys were tired and lost this 21-7.

Having made good progress at the Surrey Sevens, the boys turned their attention to Halliford’s Floodlit competition hosted at London Irish. Halliford were convincing winners against Hampton and Claire’s Court in their pool stage. Also beating Reeds in the semi-final and facing City of London Freemen’s again in the final of our competition. The boys were absolutely outstanding, and the standard of play from both sides was fantastic. Halliford were well-deserved winners and lifted the Floodlit Sevens Cup for the first time since 2014.

MY HALLIFORD SCHOOL STORY

Oliver Slaymaker, 7D

I decided to come to Halliford School because I preferred it to the other schools as it was the smallest school, and it was welcoming. I was nervous and excited on the first day because I didn’t really know anybody there, but my form tutor made the school welcoming. I talked to a couple of people during the week, and after the first week, I was more confident because I knew my way around. The lesson I like the most here is Spanish because I didn’t do languages in my old school, and I learned loads in my first term. The biggest difference between Halliford and my previous school is that there is a better learning environment here, which means I gain far more knowledge than at my old school. I’m currently doing badminton and volleyball, and I enjoy doing those clubs. I used to do basketball too as I prefer the sports clubs. I’m really pleased I came to Halliford School because it was an improvement on my last school in many ways.

FOOTBALL Dexter Lee, Year 8

Hallifordian Sporting Achievements

Following a successful trial period, Dexter was selected to play for the London Independent Schools Football Association (ISFA) against AFC Wimbledon. Dexter’s preferred position is left midfield, however, in this game he showed great versatility to play at centre back after being asked to play this position. The game was a great success which saw the London ISFA representative team beat AFC Wimbledon 7-4. We look forward to following Dexter’s progress with this.

FOOTBALL

Monty Conway, Year 11

Barney proved to be a key member of personnel in the Autumn Term for our U14A rugby team. Following a successful trial period with London Irish and Harlequins, he was offered a place in both of their DPP programmes. After considering his options, Barney has chosen Harlequins and has been enjoying the initial training sessions he has been involved with. We wait with anticipation to see if this continues to push his rugby from strength to strength, and it is great that he is enjoying the experience so far.

FOOTBALL Kai Russell, Year 7

Monty received good news earlier this term. Currently playing football for Fulham’s U16 Academy, he signed a two-year scholarship post 16. Recently he has also been training with the U23 squad, and we are excited to follow his progress over the next few years.

Kai has really impressed the PE and sports staff since joining Halliford in September. He is an outstanding football player, and earlier this term, he received the good news that his place in the Fulham Academy has been extended by a further two years, which retains him until the U14s. We wait with anticipation to see how this talented young man develops and where his football playing ability will take him in the future.

RUGBY Barney Connop, Year 9

Christopher has had a very busy term when it comes to cricket. He was away all of January with the Scotland U19 at the U19 World Cup in the West Indies. It was a great learning experience. Mixing with the best players in the world at his age gave Christopher a taste of professional cricket. He visited Guyana, St. Kitts and Trinidad on the trip. Christopher played against Uganda, Sri Lanka and Canada, performing well in all three. The hard work he put in with sessions before school and after with coach Ed Young paid dividends to showcase his talent on the biggest stage in youth cricket. He hopes to kick on with a big summer with the Halliford 1st team alongside the Sussex Academy, with whom he is training regularly. We look forward to seeing Christopher in action this summer!

Christopher Cole, Upper Sixth

With British Triathlon enforcing stricter swim times, I have spent the winter months focusing on my swimming, going four-five times a week. I hope my improvement will give me the best chance at the Super Series and the World & European Sprint Championships in the summer. Focusing on the swim has meant I haven’t participated in as many Cross-Country races as I would normally do through the winter, but I was fortunate enough to represent Halliford at the Surrey Schools Cross-Country as part of the North East Surrey team, finishing 13th and securing a place at the Surrey Inter Cross-Country Championships which would also be my last race for Surrey Schools. I also participated in the Middlesex Cross-Country Championships, under true XC conditions, muddy and wet! Whilst I haven’t done much racing over the winter months, I’ve continued running through St Mary’s & Richmond Athletics and have been enjoying some parkrun tourism and plenty of rides out to the Surrey Hills.

In February, I joined other triathletes on a warm-weather camp in Portugal. It was a real experience to travel to Portugal with all of my kit and a bike box and to get a feel for what it is like to be an international athlete. The triathlon camp was hard work with a two-hour swim every morning before breakfast, and long bike rides in the afternoon and beach running in the evening. We did, however, have plenty of down time to allow those that needed to revise to do so and some relaxation on the beach or hotel rooftop pool. One of the coaches who joined us on the camp was Gillian Sanders, who represented SA in three Olympics. It was a great opportunity to listen to her experiences through training and competing in the Olympics.

The next two weekends will see me racing locally at a duathlon at Hillingdon Cycle circuit and at Loughborough, where I will take part in the performance assessment weekend along with other athletes, all hoping to score well in order to take part in the super series over the summer. The highlight of the season for me will be going to the World Sprint Triathlon in Montreal the day after my last A Level exam and then to the Europeans in Munich in August, where I will form part of the age group GB team.

TRIATHLON Spencer Bateman, Upper Sixth (Written by Spencer)

Sebastian was selected to play for Surrey U18s at scrum half. In January, he played Essex in a match, and Surrey was victorious. Sebastian has been a key performer for Halliford’s first XV in the Autumn Term, and the Spring Sevens competitions played. We look forward to hearing how his next match for Surrey goes.

RUGBY Sebastian McGill, Upper Sixth

Harry has had a busy Cross-Country season competing in the Surrey schools. Pictured in competition, Harry ran 20.42 on a hilly 5.4k course in this race. Harry also ran his 100th Park Run this term, which is a fantastic achievement. He is looking forward to the athletics season, where we look forward to hearing what 1500m times he achieves.

ATHLETICS

Harry Tuckman, Year 11

ATHLETICS

Anthony Robins-Kent, Upper Sixth

Earlier this term, Anthony competed in the Surrey Indoor Athletics Championships and won gold in the long jump. He is currently busy preparing for his A Level examinations but feeling optimistic about this Summer Athletics season, where he will be seeking new PBs for Long Jump and Triple Jump.

SWIMMING

Jakob Holder, Year 9

Jakob qualified for ten events in the Middlesex County Championships held in January. Unfortunately, due to contracting Covid, Jakob could only attend one weekend of the two he was supposed to swim in. However, Jakob did achieve a Silver medal in the boys 50 Backstroke 15-year-old category with a time of 30.83 seconds which he was delighted with! Jakob is now concentrating on qualifying for the Swim England London Championships. Jakob has qualified for the 800 Freestyle and 50 Backstroke so far and has Consideration times for more swimming events which he hopes to turn into qualifying times over the next two months at various galas. Jakob raced at the Rushmore Royals qualifying gala last weekend in Aldershot and received four Bronze medals. Photos below show Jakob training on his club half term swim camp at Bishop Stortford College in Hertfordshire. Over the week, his squad swam over 65k! That’s approximately 2 Channel swims!

Hugo’s crew performed superbly at The Scullery Head. In torrid weather, which soaked the participants who converged on the 2km Dorney Lake from the strongest rowing schools and junior rowing clubs in the UK, Hugo and his crew mates represented Kingston Rowing Club in the J14 Quadruple Sculls (4x+), which is the premier event for this age group. Competing against 42 other entries in this division, the Kingston quad was third fastest on the outward leg before turning and racing the return leg towards the Olympic Rowing Centre at the bottom of the lake. Sporting his Halliford tracksuit trousers along with his Kingston RC shirt in the bow seat, Hugo was first oarsman across the line at the end of race. They had broken the key seven-minute threshold and overhauled the other crews to win their division, becoming the fastest J14 boat in the country this year.

Jack is a very talented goalkeeper and has impressed this season in the U13A team. Earlier this term, we received some good news that Jack was trialling at AFC Wimbledon. This has involved a number of training-based assessments and match assessments too. Jack even played a game the Sunday after playing in the Millfield Rugby Sevens all-day tournament. So far, his feedback has been very good from the club, and we keep our fingers crossed the trial process continues to go well and earns him a spot in the academy.

Olly Hewett , 7D

ROWING Hugo Franklin, Year 9

FOOTBALL Jack Giddens, Year 8

I decided to come to Halliford School because I thought it looked really nice on the online tour. Unfortunately, I couldn’t visit the school in person as it was during the lockdown, but I joined the online tour. I think I did well in the entrance exams, and I did them online from home. On the first day, I was nervous and excited at the same time. The teachers showed me where my classes were when I forgot, and at the start, it was good not to get too much homework. The lessons I like the most are DT because using the machinery is fun and I hadn’t done it before. I have enjoyed some of the clubs and societies here. In Science Club, I enjoyed doing the experiments, and we opened a phone to see what was inside. I enjoyed Climbing Club because it was challenging to get to the top of the climbing wall. I’m really enjoying the sport here too. I play in the D team for football and feel like I have improved. I’m pleased I came to Halliford because I like the clubs and playing with new friends.

MY HALLIFORD SCHOOL STORY

River Thames Boating Experience

by Mr James Davies, Headmaster

With the school so close to the river, it has always been my intention to try and offer our students the chance to get afloat. So far, we have offered opportunities to kayak and canoe on various occasions, but finally, this year, I was delighted to offer an opportunity for students to experience some time learning how to operate a motorboat on the river.

Prior to my arrival at Halliford School, I was for many years a volunteer crewmember and helmsman for the RNLI, and it has been a real joy to pass some of this experience on to our students. Last summer, I joined a group of local volunteers to set up the Sunbury Ferry Company, which operates a local weekend ferry service between Lower Sunbury and Walton-onThames. The school helped to sponsor this scheme, and as one of the lead skippers involved with the project, I was delighted to be given access to the ferry to offer our students an opportunity to get afloat and learn some basic river skills.

Furthermore, I recently took the plunge and purchased a 36ft Dutch Steel River Cruiser, and we have also enjoyed time aboard her as part of the experience. Such was the demand for places that every Friday evening in the Summer Term, we had a different group of students out on the water learning the basics

of how to handle a boat successfully and, most importantly, how to dodge the swans! It was a lovely opportunity after a busy week to relax and spend time with our students in a very different setting, offering them a new skill quite unique to Halliford School. It has been great to see them working together, and many of them have shown a real aptitude and interest. Most importantly for me though, they have learnt about how to enjoy the river safely and indeed the dangers it can present. Sadly this summer, a young person lost their life on the river, confirming that it has never been more important to educate our students on basic water safety.

These opportunities will continue again in September, and we will look to cover the elements of the RYA Inland Waterways Course with the possibility of students being able to sit for this qualification later in the year.

MY HALLIFORD SCHOOL STORY

Nicky Bootle-Wilbraham, 7D

I decided to come to Halliford because of the good education I would receive. I didn’t visit the school on an Open Day, but my mum teaches here, and my brother attends the school too, so I knew I would like it and they would help me. I thought the entrance exams were nerve-racking but exciting. My favourite lesson is English as I like writing stories. I have enjoyed some of the clubs and societies here. I do Warhammer Club on Wednesday, Indoor Football on a Thursday, and Cricket training on a Tuesday after school. I’m really pleased I came to Halliford School because I enjoy learning here, and it is very inclusive.

MY HALLIFORD SCHOOL STORY

Zack Brief , 7R

I decided to come to Halliford School because many of my friends were going, and I knew people there who said it is a very good school with a sporting background. On the first day, I had mixed emotions, but mainly I was excited. The lesson I like the most is History because Mr Cunningham is very nice. The biggest difference between Halliford and my old school is we have different teachers per lesson. I have enjoyed some of the clubs here. Indoor Football was very good because they kept a table and gave the winners a prize. I really enjoy the sport here too. I play football, cricket, rugby union, rugby sevens, cross country, and badminton. I am really pleased I came to Halliford because everyone is really nice and I don’t find the work too difficult.

Lower Sixth Geography Fieldwork Course

by Mr Miles Aarons, Teacher of Geography & Thomas Yacoot, Lower Sixth

The purpose of the event was to help all Lower Sixth Geographers plan their individual fieldwork project titles worth 20% of their final A Level grade. This was done over a three-day period where students were introduced to a variety of physical and human fieldwork ideas, methods and techniques.

We began our fieldwork course on Wednesday in the new Learning Resource Centre (LRC) with Mr Aarons, and Barry Cullimore from Geofieldwork Ltd. Barry started our course by introducing us to the Geographical Enquiry Framework and led us through three days of human and physical fieldwork ideas and techniques. This included introducing us to the different sampling methods needed, such as: random, opportunistic, systematic, and stratified.

We also learnt about the importance of geolocated data and how it is helpful in making the presentation of the data clearer. After break, we set off to Shepperton High Street and began a Clone Town Survey. This entailed counting the number of chain and independent shops and calculating whether Shepperton is a Home Town or Clone Town. In the afternoon, we headed to Feltham and did an Environmental Quality Survey using a random sampling method in the town centre. The purpose of this was to see how and why environmental quality changed in different parts of Feltham High Street.

Clone Town Survey, Shepperton High Street

Geographical Enquiry Framework

On Thursday, we focused on physical fieldwork and the water and carbon cycles. This included us focusing on data collection methods and using a variety of statistical methods. We then measured the rates of infiltration of water in the covered Shepperton woodlands across the road from school and compared them to the infiltration rates on the school field. We also discussed various factors affecting the rates of infiltration and, using coordinates, plotted this data onto a map of the area.

Finally, on Friday, we focused on our specific NEA proposals, discussing one to one with Barry how we could achieve the best grades possible. Overall, it was an engaging and incredibly informative event where we learnt lots of useful ideas that you wouldn’t find in a textbook. Everyone agreed that this event massively helped us start our individual fieldwork projects for our Geography A Level course, which will be written up over the summer holiday.

Environmental Quality Survey Feltham High Street

Infiltration Survey Halliford Playing-Field

Infiltration Survey Shepperton Woods

Anthea Bell Translation Competition

by Arya Shafighian, Upper Sixth

Halliford prides itself on seeing students’ potential and helping them pursue their passions, and for good reason. During the preparation of my UCAS personal statement earlier this year, I was in search of additional achievements to my academic progress that could say a lot about how I was pursuing my own passions.

Among these is my passion for translating French and Spanish literature, which emerged as I was developing my translation skills in my A Level classes. The Oxford-run Anthea Bell Prize for Young Translators had piqued my interest, and, after the limitless support I received from Mr Gruner in practising for it, I felt more than ready to compete come April. I recall being inspired by his own experience and ability every step of the way and, before I knew it, producing several translated poems of which I can say I’m proud. I was excited about showcasing my newfound ability in poetry translation. However, the piece I was assigned for the competition was an extract of prose. Just to clarify, prose translation is not without its difficulties! Nevertheless, I gave it my all and wound up with a commended

entry. This turned out to be more significant than I thought, given that there were over 14,000 entries. Thanks to the inspiration and guidance of the Halliford MFL Department, I have gained a deeply fulfilling new hobby that I will continue to enjoy for the rest of my life.

Below is a practice poem I translated into English. It is by far my favourite poem of Baudelaire and is among my favourite poems of all time. Translating it was a difficult but deeply enjoyable process. I wanted to keep its rhyme scheme and give my own take on the poem, hopefully without straying too far from the original meaning. It truly was spiritually enriching and connected me more with a text than ever before.

Souvent, pour s’amuser, les hommes d’équipage Prennent des albatros, vastes oiseaux des mers, Qui suivent, indolents compagnons de voyage, Le navire glissant sur les gouffres amers.

À peine les ont-ils déposés sur les planches, Que ces rois de l’azur, maladroits et honteux, Laissent piteusement leurs grandes ailes blanches Comme des avirons traîner à côté d’eux.

Ce voyageur ailé, comme il est gauche et veule! Lui, naguère si beau, qu’il est comique et laid! L’un agace son bec avec un brûle-gueule, L’autre mime, en boitant, l’infirme qui volait!

Le Poète est semblable au prince des nuées Qui hante la tempête et se rit de l’archer; Exilé sur le sol au milieu des huées, Ses ailes de géant l’empêchent de marcher.

Often, to amuse themselves, the crew of the ship Capture albatrosses, vast birds of the seas, That follow, indolent companions on their trip, As they sweep the briny deep with ease.

Scarcely have they placed them on the planks Than these rulers of the sky, clumsy and in shame, Pitifully leave their great white flanks Like oars dragging behind their frame.

This aerial nomad, once a sight to behold, Is but a measly, ugly, funny thing! One with clay pipe prods his beak of gold, Another limps to mock the fallen king.

The Poet can relate to this prince of cloud Who dwells in the storm and cackles at Orion; Exiled on earth, cast amid a jeering crowd, Hindered from walking by his giant pinion.

Charles Baudelaire, L’Albatros in Les Fleurs du mal (1861)

Year 11 Leavers Celebration Day

by Mr Sean Slocock, Assistant Head Co-Curricular

The highly anticipated final day of school for Year 11 seemed to take an age to come around. Students had been asked whether they preferred the adrenaline rush of white water rafting at the Olympic Park in Lee Valley or if they would prefer to shoot at each other with high-powered air rifles sending tiny plastic balls filled with paint at around 200mph. The choice was surprisingly obvious, and pain-inducing paint ballistic paintballs it was.

The day started well with the obligatory shirt signing whilst enjoying a full English Breakfast prepared by Chef and his catering team. After a slight delay on one of the coaches, the teams finally arrived at Campaign Paintball Centre in Cobham. Upon arrival, there were scenes reminiscent of World War 2 movies as students were handed body armour, camouflage overalls and helmets with visors with military precision. They were quickly divided into their House groups and issued instructions before being thrust into a variety of warzones where they pitted themselves against different tactics, terrains, and the very real possibility of running out of ammunition.

The games ranged from stealing the opposition flags to holding onto your own flag as well as last team standing. Tales of heroism and stupidity filled the deafening voids of silence as students chatted animatedly between breaks about their plans and tactics for the next game. One particular story was the final stand of one particular teacher who shall remain nameless.

In a Rorke’s Drift type situation, one man was surrounded by many ‘Zulus’ as he tried to hold back the advancing soldiers. As they gathered, hidden along a path, he only had a small log as cover. Firing wildly and, one might add, completely inaccurately, and with ammunition running low, the teacher could hear the gathering hordes as they worked out that he was outnumbered. With a call of, ‘there is only one of them and ten of us, let’s charge’, the students surged down the path and cut the teacher down, emptying their paintball canisters in the process. Amazingly, despite only one path to run down, the teacher did not hit a single student in the rampage!

All in all, there were many stories to tell, and for a moment, no matter how fleeting, they were able to take their minds off the looming exams and the pressures of studying and preparation for a short afternoon of fun with their friends. A good day was had by all.

Year 11 Paintballing

Lunchtime Concert

by Mrs Helen Head, Teacher of Music

On Friday 20 May we held our last lunchtime concert of the year and were delighted to invite parents to attend.

Trumpeter Keelan Thomas in 7W opened the concert with a confident performance of In Dreams from the film Lord of the Rings by Howard Shore. He was the first of five Year 7 brass players. Hayden Sanghera in 7R played Philip Spark’s My Lady’s Pavane on his trumpet, and we later heard the same piece played in the bass clef by Nicky Bootle-Wilbraham in 7D on the trombone. Harry Sarai in 7D, also a trombonist, provided some contrast with the rather exuberantly jazzy Strollin’ by David A. Stowell.

Much to the audience’s amusement, William Aird in 7D played a practical joke by pretending he would play a large brass instrument he had made out of piping for a class project before collecting his real trumpet and performing the Welsh traditional, Men of Harlech 8G pianists Jack Crichton and Andrej Whelan played a grade 2 exam piece. Jack’s Ecossaise by Hassler had a bold tone and a sense of purpose, while Andrej conveyed the excitement in Norton’s Intercity-Stomp.

Cassius Buckle-Wright in 9G gave the only vocal performance of the concert, exploring his new low voice with two well-loved songs: the Scottish traditional Skye Boat Song and Edelweiss from The Sound of Music

Daniel Bootle-Wilbraham, James Grant and James McCummiskey made up our Piano Ensemble No. 2 and gave their debut performance with Mike Cornick’s jaunty Encore. This set the scene for Jonty Whelan in 10G on the saxophone with Mercy Mercy Mercy by Joe Zawinul.

Three Lower Sixth pianists who make up our Piano Ensemble No. 1 each played a solo. Maisie Russell in L6R played the haunting Spanish Orphan Girl, La Huerfana, by Granados and was followed by Will Greaves in L6W with Tchaikovsky’s lyrical Douce Reverie. Finally, Oliver Hume in L6G got into the swing of Martha Mier’s Opening Night Jazz Our final concert performance was Piano Ensemble No. 1 with the Arabian Dance from Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker. Maisie did a sterling job on the endlessly repeating bassline, while Olly and Will entertained the audience with dialogue in the upper parts.

It was a joy to welcome parents back to our Recital Hall to watch a Lunchtime Concert once again.

Keelan Thomas, 7W

Jack Crichton, 8G

James McCummiskey (10G), James Grant (8R) & Daniel Bootle-Wilbraham (10D)

Jonty Whelan, 10G

Nicky Bootle-Wilbraham, 7D

William Aird, 7D

Upper Sixth Leavers Celebration Day

by Mr Andy Carroll, Head of Sixth Form

For the first time in two years, Upper Sixth students were able to celebrate the start of the exam period and their time at Halliford in a more traditional way. The day started with a tasty brunch and a chance to spend some time with each other over breakfast.

Mr Fulford and I then presented an assembly to the students where they were given some final tips on exam preparation and how to manage the weeks up to the first exams before a more light-hearted and fun period of reflection on their time at Halliford, the friends they have made and the things they have experienced. The Head Prefect and Deputy Head Prefects worked with staff to allocate a Mr Men or Little Miss book that suited each student’s personality, and they were then presented with a copy of the book that linked most closely to them. Harmless fun and a small memento to remind them of their time at Halliford.

During break time, the catering team treated students and staff to another delicious treat. Everyone congregated in the marquee for photographs, cakes and tea. Students had pictures with staff and tutors who wished them the very best. Some students even had photographs of their Year 7 tutor group, and it was amazing

to see how these once small children, many of whom had joined the school seven years before, had turned into young adults ready for the next step in their lives.

The final part of the day saw students travel to Farnborough to take part in a go-karting challenge. Students were put into groups, and they raced against each other on the track and against the clock to see who could get the fastest lap of the

day. Little did we know we had a former go-karting champion in the year group who narrowly missed out on a course record by less than a second. Some competitors took a more relaxed and leisurely approach with one unnamed member of staff taking over a minute per lap more than our fastest competitors. Overall, lots of fun was had and it was the taking part that was the most important thing.

Cadogan Hall Music Trip

by Mrs Helen Head, Teacher of Music

After no trips in nearly two years, the Music Department was thrilled to be able to arrange a visit to Cadogan Hall in Chelsea for an all-Beethoven concert given by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

It was part of a concert series entitled Beethoven: The Revolutionary and proved hugely popular with the boys. Russian piano virtuoso Pavel Kolesnikov played the famous 5th Piano Concerto, known as The Emperor, completed in 1809 just as Napoleon invaded Vienna. Mr Kolesnikov appeared to favour a less conventional concert attire, sporting a collarless white shirt and invisible

socks, much to our amusement! The second half featured the irrepressible Symphony No. 7, which held the audience in thrall with its rhythmic drive and exuberance. The thrill of hearing a live orchestral performance is something we have sorely missed over the past two years, and Beethoven’s genius made this the perfect concert to inspire and enthuse us for more concert trips next year.

LAMDA Celebration Evening

by Mr Roberto Bruno, Head of Drama

On Wednesday 25 May, the Drama Department hosted its third LAMDA evening. This evening is an opportunity for all the hard-working LAMDA students to showcase their performances to an audience.

Students who study for their LAMDA exams have an extra Drama lesson every week with Miss Woodley and Mrs Rush, who work closely with the boys choosing texts they enjoy and bringing out the performer. The LAMDA team is fantastic in seeing the potential in the boys, and if anyone was ever interested in taking LAMDA lessons, they should contact Miss Woodley as she is brilliant, and her spaces fill up fast.

The evening gave the students from each year a chance to show off their progress this year. The ever-lovely Will Jackson hosted the evening as he took us through a performance evening of magic and wonder. Some stand-out performances from Joshua Turley,

who showed an extract from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Freddie Phillips, who performed a very life-like and scary Voldemort from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

As the Head of Drama, it was a delight to see so many boys performing to a high standard. It was heart-warming to see the boys cheering each other on and clapping extra hard as each performer gave it their all.

The full list of performers is below. All these students had their final LAMDA exam with a 100% pass rate, and over 60% of students achieved a Distinction.

Hector Buckle-Wright, 7G

Joshua Turley, 10W

NAME YEAR PERFORMING

GRADE /SYLLABUS

G8 Acting Abi Pring Lower Sixth Death and Dancing (She) - Caire Dowie - 1996 G6 Acting Arthur Hetherington-Johns Year 7 Danny Champion G3 Acting Jack Crichton

Will Jackson Lower Sixth Compère

Year 8 The Scarlet Pimpernel G4 Acting Aidan Tattersall

Year 10 The Class (Wayne) - Luke Barnes - 2012 G6 Acting Bill Ferguson Year 9 Alice in Wonderland G4 Acting Cassius Buckle-Wright Year 9 Private Peaceful G5 Acting Connor Tricker Year 7 Whizziwig G3 Acting Toby Hill Year 9 A Few Good Men G5 Acting Eashan Chowdhri Year 7 Body Talk G3 Acting Felix Armes-Ward Year 8 Who Let the Gods Out - Maz Evans

G4 Verse & Prose Hugo Callington Year 8 The Wall in My Head G3 Musical Theatre Thomas Perrin Year 8 His Main Passion was Football G4 Acting Freddie Phillips Year 7 Voldemort - Goblet of Fire G3 Acting Joseph Oldham Year 9 Almost G4 Acting Hector Buckle-Wright Year 7 Detention G3 Acting Lucas Bullen Year 8 Rise Up G4 Acting Jack O'Connor Year 7 Teddy's Great Escape G3 Acting Joe Kennedy Year 7 Beachcomber G3 Verse & Prose Josh Turley Year 10 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe G4 Acting Max Beesley Year 7 The Magician's Nephew G3 Acting Monty Vinall Year 9 Blood, Sweat, and Fears G4 Acting Tom O'Connor

Year 9 Violence and Son G5 Acting Riley Whittington

Lower Sixth Wise Guys (Mike) - Phillip Osment - 1997 G8 Acting Ruaridh Bell

Year 9 Follow Follow G5 Acting Tilly Ludlam Lower Sixth On My Own - Les Misérables (1980) G8 Musical Theatre Torin Kirby Year 8 Beowulf G4 Acting

Abi Pring, L6R

Arthur Hetherington-Johns, 7D

Will Jackson, L6R

Mrs Shani Woodley, LAMDA Tutor

The Centenary Summer Concert

by Arya Shafighian, Upper Sixth

Since I joined Halliford in Year 9, the Summer Concert has always been my musical high point of the school year, both as a listener and a performer. The sheer range of musical talent and passion on display by the students is always a delight to take in, and proudly taking part in the performance has been the perfect reward for hard work. On that note, credit must be given to Mr Wright and Will Jackson, who met the challenge of organising, setting up and sound-checking the event in the unfortunate absence of Mrs Head and Mr DeZilva.

This year, the evenings commenced with the well-chosen repertoire of the School Orchestra, including the Theme from Mission Impossible by Lalo Schifrin and Edvard Grieg’s iconic suite, In the Hall of the Mountain King, each performed tastefully. Aptly following this was the Trumpet Ensemble’s performance of a rather enjoyable arrangement of Pirates of the Caribbean. The first half also saw some captivating solos: James Hanley outstandingly performed Johnny Cash’s chilling version of Hurt with crisp, dark bass vocals and expert pacing, and Will Greaves gave a beautiful, flawless rendition of Blackbird that would do Paul McCartney proud. Monty Savarino’s virtuosic violin playing once again delighted us as he performed Edward Elgar’s luscious Salut d’Amour, accompanied by the Headmaster on piano and boldly challenged by the wind which did not prevail thanks to a stand rescue from none other than

Halliford legend, Mrs Greaves.

Choral gems adorned the evenings, namely the Barbershop group’s charming American miner song, Bill Grogan’s Goat, which I had the pleasure of leading, as well as its tight-knit take on Billy Joel’s And So It Goes - absolute ear-food! Not to mention the school’s smile-inducing version of Mr Blue Sky with full choir and band, which only seemed ironic on the Saturday, given the rain clouds looming over.

I personally loved performing on double bass with the Jazz Band, particularly in Blue Bossa (among my favourite standards for soloing), as well as on electric bass in a trio with Mr Wright and the icon that is Will Jones, who provided immaculate vocals in our performance of On Days Like These. It was as if Matt Monro was singing next to me, and it was a joy soloing even

Carter Robinson, 10G

if the audience couldn’t hear me very well (such is the story of my life).

After the interval, the energy spiked with powerful performances from the school’s talented rock bands, each a testament to the students’ ability and that of our excellent band director, Mr Savides. Highlights for me were the Junior Band’s vivid performance of Mr Brightside by The Killers, the Year 10 Band’s professional performance of My Generation by The Who, the House contest’s winning piece, Henrietta, from the Greville House Band which saw Tom Wittke’s masterful vocal frying and Carter Robinson’s awesome drumming as a man with many talents, as well as the Senior Band’s rendition of a seminal piece of song writing, Comfortably Numb, from Pink Floyd’s rock opera The Wall. Jules Wain’s virtuosic feel of the guitar rivalled David Gilmour’s as he gave a face-melting solo, while each member helped to transmit the pain behind Roger Waters’ lyrics perfectly. Jonesy and I had one last hurrah as we performed It Must Be Love with the band, our final performance before leaving Halliford and one I shall fondly remember. I couldn’t think of a better way to end my time at this amazing school, and I cannot wait to attend this unmissable occasion next year.

Monty Savarino, 10D

The Barbershop Group

Summer Concert

Will Jones, U6D

Will Greaves, L6W

Year 7 Residential Trip to France

by Mr James Davies, Headmaster

We were delighted that despite many Covid challenges, we successfully took all of Year 7 off to Le Touquet at the end of the Summer Term. This trip has been something of a Halliford Tradition, but this year we extended it over three days to enable our students to get much more out of the experience. They were able to truly absorb French culture and had lots of opportunities to develop their speaking skills.

Denis commented that the best part was buying his own baguettes in the market and a new pair of shoes. Christopher was particularly taken with the sea life centre where we saw a Manta ray and sharks. The whole group enjoyed the experience of learning all about snails and then having a tasting session with the farmer! Hector found the bakery visit a little more to his taste and enjoyed helping to make his own bread.

During our visit, we were blessed with fabulous weather and enjoyed late evening walks and beach games on Wimereux beach. Josh and Moris thoroughly enjoyed the visit to Le Touquet beach with the chance to bury one another in the beautiful sand.

The final day saw us take a trip over the border into Belgium to a chocolate factory where we were all dressed in plastic aprons and hats and made chocolate bars before heading to the port for the ferry home. Thanks to all the staff for being so brilliant and to the boys for being magnificent ambassadors for the school, as always.

By Keelan Thomas

The Year 7 Halliford trip to France was amazing! In just three days we did so many activities across the country, from shopping in Le Touquet and learning about snail farming to making our own super scrumptious Belgian chocolate! While we spent a lot of time on the beach, my favourite part was the aquarium,

Nausicaá, the biggest one in Europe. We were mesmerised by the vast numbers of sea life. I would have stayed all day if I could! We spent lots of time with our groupmates and really got to know each other. The whole trip was a theme park of enjoyment and interest at every corner!

Très Bien Voyage by Arthur Hetherington-Johns

We travelled by coach and by ferry, the whole of Year 7, happy and merry!

Out of school and ready for fun

On a French beach, to romp, splash and run. We learned how to make some real French dough. Learned about the many fish in the aquarium. Octopus, jellyfish, a manta ray were just some. We learned beaucoup mots Francais that we didn’t know. We visited a chocolate factory, now that was very satisfactory. We saw some French looking houses, shops and other sites, talked with our friends in dorms well into the nights.

We ate our last meal, our last french fries and snail then packed our disposable souvenirs, all ready to sail. Back on the ferry, we looked to France and said ‘au reviours, goodbye’!

All in all, we’d rate this trip extremely, very, high.

Year 8 Activity Day Ski Trip

by Mr Sean Slock, Assistant Head Co-Curricular

Seeing snow in the United Kingdom is always exciting, but it is rare that there is enough to be able to ski on or enjoy sliding down. In Hemel Hempstead, however, there is a rare jewel. A slope full of real snow geared towards skiing or snowboarding. Cold enough to not melt and soft enough to fly down.

It is always questionable why someone would want to strap iron sheets to their feet in the world’s most uncomfortable shoes and hurl themselves down a steep incline, knowing that if they failed to stop, there would be a brick wall to slow them down. Yet, Year 8 jumped at the opportunity to try both skiing and snowboarding when the idea was proposed. Often it is heard that skiers want to try snowboarding but equally don’t want to give up time on mountain skiing when they finally get the opportunity and vice versa. This would allow those students to try something they might not have done previously. Similarly, for those who had never tried either skiing or snowboarding, it was the chance to see which they liked.

There was an inauspicious start for one student who, unfortunately, awakened an old injury before even getting onto the slopes. The poor lad was dressed and ready but unable to participate, although plenty of cups of hot chocolate were consumed! The centre was super organised, so much so that

they double-printed name stickers and put out too many skis and snowboards, causing much confusion. In no time, however, half the students were out skiing whilst the other half attempted snowboarding. An hour and a half of instruction flew by in what felt like seconds. By the end, beginner skiers were starting to turn beyond a snow plough, and the snowboarders were slowly zigzagging their way across the slopes. Well, at least some of them were. The rest were practising how to sit on the slope and get in the way, as snowboarders tend to do. We enjoyed a quick lunch, and then it was rinse and repeat as the groups swapped over to try out the opposite discipline.

A quick turnaround at the end of the day, and students were on their way home. Sadly, what looked like a fast track to school ended with a sudden stop as roadworks on Chertsey Bridge delayed our arrival. All good plans and all that, but still a great day out.

Year 9 Trip to Ypres

by Mr Luke McMillan, Head of History

It was wonderful to be able to restart our annual Year 9 trip to Ypres and the World War battlefield after the restrictions of the last two years. The trip started extremely smoothly, and by 5.30am both coaches were cruising down the motorway to catch the ferry from Dover to Calais. Check-in brought a very pleasant surprise as we were all given a free breakfast voucher to use on board, and before long, the entire group was tucking into a full English.

Upon arrival at Calais, we set off for Belgium and our first stop, Tyne Cot Cemetery. Tyne Cot is the largest British and Commonwealth cemetery in the world, with 11,961 soldiers buried there. Shockingly, 8,373 of these burials are unidentified.

Although the limestone headstones and immaculately kept grounds looked very peaceful in the sunshine, it was a really sobering way to start the trip, and as the boys studied the headstones and completed their worksheets, they were quite rightly horrified by the very young ages of many of those that had been laid to rest in the cemetery.

After that, we went to the Memorial Museum in Passchendaele. This museum really caught the boys’ attention. The upstairs contains a wide range of artefacts from World War One, including weapons, uniforms and soldiers’ equipment, and detailed information on the battles that took place nearby. However, the most interesting part is in the basement, where a complete network of underground tunnels and dugouts has been recreated. This is enhanced further by a reconstructed trench layout in the garden, which brings to life the experience of living and fighting in the trenches.

We then headed into Ypres to visit the In Flanders Fields Museum, which again brought to life the effects of the war on Ypres and the surrounding villages. We finished the day by paying our respects at the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate before returning to our accommodation.

On the second day, we made our way to the trenches at Hill 62. This is always a highlight of the trip, and the boys were given plenty of time to explore the labyrinth of trenches, dugouts, and underground tunnels. They found these fascinating, and this small plot of land, which has been left as it was found at the end of the war in 1918, provides us with a strong sense of how the trenches and the shell craters scarred the landscape.

Although one of the groups was delayed due to a fault with one of the coaches and got home much later than expected, this was a relatively minor inconvenience within the context of what we had seen. Overall, this was a superb trip. The boys’ engagement with what they saw and with the worksheets that they were asked to complete was first class, and they were an absolute pleasure to take on the trip.

Year 10 Activity Days

by Mr Ciaran Lee, Teacher of English & Mr Sean Slocock, Assistant Head Co-Curricular

On the first Activity Day, we took Year 10 to Thorpe Park. The boys were blessed with warm July weather for the entirety of the day. While their patience and resilience were tested in a few of the queues, all the boys had a thrilling day out on some of the UK’s largest rollercoasters, including Swarm, Colossus and the Nemesis Inferno, before cooling off on the log flumes and waterslides. The boys certainly enjoyed the freedom to socialise over lunch, and there was, no doubt, excessive consumption of sweets. Daniel Bootle-Wilbraham said, ‘Swarm was absolutely terrifying, but so much fun!’

Shooting ballistic spheres filled with different coloured paint is always an activity students enjoy. Particularly when they get to shoot them at each other and their teachers! The Year 10 Activity Days trips saw a little upheaval this year when their planned activity to Liquid Leisure had to be changed at the last minute. After some hunting and exploration into activities such as Go Ape, go-karting and alternative water-based activities, it was finally settled on paintballing as the activity to attend.

Students arrived on a sunny and hot Tuesday morning, and it was clear from the start that some serious tactics and planning were taking place. The day was going to run as an informal Inter-House competition, although some brave souls reluctantly left their House to make up numbers for the opposition.

The first game set the tone for the rest of the day as Charlie Jones from Greville came out exuberant, unscathed and the clear hero

(albeit quietly supported by a more modest Sam Tavaziva) of a victorious Greville campaign. Self-proclaimed ‘God among men’, Charlie did manage to help Greville to a 20-0 victory over Wadham, who, it is fair to say, were more ‘lovers and not fighters’ amongst the year group. The teams played six games in total, culminating in a ‘battle royale’ with the whole year group and teachers fighting it out in a mass ‘warzone’. There were tales of heroism, charges of the light brigade, sneaky manoeuvres and a whole host of welts, bruises and laughs.

Greville was unstoppable, amassing 91 points to their nearest rival, Russell, on 44 points. They were followed by Desborough on seven points and Wadham gaining four points. More importantly, exhausted but happy students headed home after two days of celebrating a busy year.

MY HALLIFORD SCHOOL STORY

Bertie Reynolds, 7R

I decided to come to Halliford because it is friendly, and I thought I would fit in. On the Open Day, everyone was very kind, and the teachers told us everything we needed to know. On my first day, I wasn’t so nervous as I already knew someone and then made a lot more friends. We only got homework in Science, English, and Maths for the first term. It was good that we didn’t have to worry so much about homework in the first term. The lessons I enjoy are DT, as we didn’t do this at my old school, and PE, as I learnt how to play rugby and made it to the C team. At Halliford, I started my new favourite club, Dungeons and Dragons, a tabletop game. I have also started volleyball, rugby, high jump and one of my new favourite games, badminton.

Lower Sixth Activity Days

by Mr Andy Carroll, Head of Sixth Form

As the end of a busy year approached, Lower Sixth students participated in two days of exciting activities.

On Monday, students were able to channel their inner Steven Spielberg as they took part in a Film in a Day workshop with Ed Boase, a professional Film Director who has worked on projects with Ridley Scott and made several horror films.

The day included sessions on film history, onscreen fights and the use of music to enhance the action. It culminated in students working in groups to create a two-minute silent movie that incorporated all the techniques they learned on the day. Students were given a genre which included Rom-Com, Action, Revenge and Thriller. They had two hours to plan, film and edit their masterpieces before an Oscars award ceremony at the end of the day. Students demonstrated creativity and teamwork throughout the day. Some fantastic work was produced, and it was clear to see the influence of many areas of pop culture in their work, with nods to films like Taken and Love Actually and an engaging and emotional piece inspired by Love Island. Following much deliberation between Mr Fulford and Ed, the Oscar was awarded to Jared, George, Olly, Will, Noah and Rob for their surrealist kidnapping movie, which interestingly featured an inflatable cow!

Students took part in The London Challenge on the second activity day. This was a race across London and against the clock to visit as many high-profile famous London landmarks as possible between

Ms Hetherington’s Group at Big Ben

The London Challenge Winners 2022

10am and 2.30pm. Students were divided into groups and worked with a teacher to plan their route and how they would meet specific challenges as they used the London transport network to get around. Groups had to have a photograph at each location, and double and triple points were awarded for managing to get to the more difficultto-reach attractions. Groups could also obtain bonus points for special challenges, such as having a picture in a red phone box with a group of police officers and a member of the Queen’s Household Cavalry. This led to some fabulous pictures and the quote of the day from one student, ‘I like horses, but they move around a bit too much for me!’ All the students had a fun and enjoyable day. When the final scores were calculated, the winners by a small margin were the group led by Mrs Brown. The winners were awarded a commemorative gold medal which they all proudly wore for the remainder of the term. Credit goes to Mr Hodgkinson’s group, who came a close second.

Overall, the two days provided a nice opportunity for students to learn new skills, challenge themselves and have a good time.

The Oscar went to Will, Noah, George, Rob, Jared & Olly

Film in a Day Workshop

Mrs Brown’s Group at The Globe Theatre

The Year 8 Production

by Mr Roberto Bruno, Head of Drama

This term Year 8 treated us to a performance of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales Every single student in Year 8 bravely took to the stage and performed a variety of entertaining and exciting tales.

There were stand out performances from Josh Newlands, Max Mardon, Thomas Reid, Jack Crichton, Harry Jennings, Omer Eldemerdash, and Thiago Martins, and special mention must go to Thomas Perrin who learnt a substantial role on the day to stand in as an understudy. They tackled the challenging language with skill and worked well as an ensemble to bring the tales to life with energy. We are incredibly proud of the students for their teamwork and confidence. It was a wonderful evening of laughter and a celebration of the talent here at Halliford School, and we were delighted to share this evening with many Year 8 parents.

Summer Term Centenary Events

by Mrs Olivia Oakley, Marketing & Communications Manager

Our Summer Term Centenary Events kicked off with our PTA Outdoor Cinema Night. This was a wonderful event hosted by our PTA, who had organised a large outdoor screen to play the 1980’s classic Back To The Future. Families congregated on the back field and enjoyed the popcorn and drinks served by the PTA while enjoying the movie.

The Richard Talbot Memorial MCC Cricket Match took place on Wednesday 15 June, and how fitting it was that we had a positive result for our first MCC Cricket Match in honour of former Deputy Head Richard Talbot. Congratulations to our cricketers who achieved a thrilling draw for the first time ever. This is a prestigious event on our fixture list, and our students made us proud. We had a Year 9 student and a Year 10 student who also took part (playing against adults who play at a good level!). Will Hamilton had an exceptional knock of 42, and Felix Porter faced the last over and kept his nerve to hold out for the draw. Chris Cole retired with his knee problem at 66, but who knows what would have happened as he was pretty much on song. Fantastic work by Mr Shales and Mr Greggor, a good day all round! Thanks to the staff who made it down for a bit and those who brought students down and supervised them.

The Halliford 100 Golf Tournament on Saturday 18 June at Pine Ridge Golf Club in Camberley was a brilliant day where Mr Slocock

Mr Davies, Head Prefect Alex Donnelly, and Toby Penty at Speech Day

PTA Outside Cinema Night

and Mr Fulford were joined by Old Hallifordians, young and old, and current parents and students. Well done to the Baker family, who had a hugely successful day. Mr Andrew Baker achieved nearest the pin, and his son Richard in Year 8 did the longest drive. We look forward to an even bigger event next year.

The PTA did us proud with the amazing Centenary Summer Ball on Saturday 25 June. With thanks to Mr Simon Rabett and Mrs Wendy Luiz for the huge efforts pulling this event together and, of course, to our wonderful catering team for the most delicious dinner. All our guests commented on what a super night they had, and they danced away to the early hours to music from our live band.

Our Old Hallifordians Weekend with the Art Exhibition and Summer Concert was a huge success, and it was a joy to welcome back many Old Hallifordians to the school to celebrate the exceptional talent of our students.

The final week of term saw us host our Centenary Sports Day and our Centenary Speech Day. It was a real pleasure to welcome Old Hallifordian Toby Penty, who has gone on to enjoy huge success on the badminton court, becoming England No. 1 and going on to represent his country as a member of Team GB at the Tokyo Olympics. It was also an opportunity to say goodbye to our Upper Sixth as they leave Halliford this year. This drew our Centenary celebrations and events to a close. It has been a super year celebrating the school’s rich history with our brilliantly supportive community. Thank you to everyone who attended our events and made it a year to remember.

The Richard Talbot Memorial MCC Cricket Match

Centenary Sports Day

Centenary Art Exhibition

The Centenary Cricket Tour to Jersey

by Euan Cole, Lower Sixth

One after another, the ‘fresh-faced’ Sixth Formers, travelling by ferry, arrived at the school early on Thursday morning, hours before the first bell would ring. The boys were greeted by a keen Mr Shales and Mr Greggor, eager to start the race to Jersey. Soon after, the kit was piled onto one bus with Mr Howard (pleased to have the quiet bus) and the boys on another. It was time for the two minibuses to set off and begin the 2022 Jersey Cricket tour.

A couple of hours later, the ferry group waited patiently to board. After some expert reversing from both drivers, the buses were parked, and we could explore our new home for the next several hours. Not surprisingly, the boys headed straight to the restaurant for some much-needed breakfast. Hours that felt like days passed as the group fell in and out of sleep whilst Mr Howard shared his dissatisfaction with the lack of Wi-Fi. But finally, a glimpse of hope, could our ferry be ahead of schedule? Is our ferry to be quicker than expected? Could this be Jersey at last? No, unfortunately, our dreams were swiftly shattered. This was just France.

Meanwhile, back in England, our fresh out of GCSE Year 11 students, accompanied by Mr Slocock, had boarded a noticeably shorter flight and would soon land in Jersey, ready to meet us at

our first venue. After multiple hours of sleep and team bonding, we slowly approached Jersey’s beautiful island. We raced off the ferry and were soon winding through the streets of St. Helier, overcoming some tricky navigation errors with no time to spare. Arriving at the ground of Farmers CC, the stiff-bodied boys somewhat fell off the coach at the stunning venue.

After an agreement to reduce overs, Halliford was sent into the field, and the boys witnessed Farmers put on a good total of 1572, wickets coming from Jones and Singh. As the boys struggled through the pain, our chief water technician, Chris Cole, out due to injury, had landed from his own leisurely flight and was making his way to join up with the tour. Rose and Burson were sent to the crease to start our innings. With a destructive 31, Burson was the chief attacker, but sadly we fell short in the

chase. After enjoying post-match hospitality, it was time to head back to the hotel for some much-needed rest.

On Friday, a pleasurable trip to the beach was in order. Minutes after arriving, the boys could not hold back their passion for cricket, and a game of beach cricket was rapidly underway. Whilst all the teachers stood in awe of the exceptional display, Mr Shales’s voice could be heard echoing something along the lines of ‘catch something for once.’ Many dropped catches later, and the boys quickly stopped at the hotel before heading off for some team building with an adventure course and zipline. After losing and then finding Jonesy, we were on the way, eager to get going with the second 20/20 game of the tour against Victoria College. A beautiful pitch lured the boys into thinking this would be like any game back home but no, some very experienced Jersey batters, with sources saying some were Jersey Internationals, brought us back to reality as the boys fiercely tried to protect the short boundaries from the barrage fired by the Victoria batters.

Victoria College reached a respectable 233-3 off 20 overs, with wickets coming from Singh and two for Van Rensburg. The boys’ heads were not down but only just lowered until word spread that 200 was a par score on this pitch. Wonderful news. With the boys sold a dream, the batters were hungry to get to the crease and chase this score down. However, disaster struck. It could not be. Rain. Cricket’s worst nightmare unless you are chasing 233. Several attempts to head the ball from one person to another, trying to get the ball in the bin, passed the time as the bombardment of rain continued. Our redemption chase was not to be as expert analysis of the conditions meant our second game was to be abandoned if we wanted a game the next day. The boys dealt with a hard blow, pondering the question: ‘Could we have displayed a glorious innings to snatch a win?’ I guess we will never know. To finish the night, the boys explored what St. Helier had to offer for dinner.

Saturday saw a spectacular pre-match breakfast once again, energising the boys for the tough day ahead before we took a trip back to Victoria College for two 20/20 games. The signs were aligning for a good day, sun shining, a repaired wicket

and a lack of Victoria’s opening bats. Things were going all too well. Halliford elected to bat first and saw a respectable performance of 56 from Evans with a cameo from Taylor. Our total reached 155-5, just short of par. The boys were sceptical about how our bowling would play out. However, good soon turned to amazing.

After some hard work from our usual bowlers, an unexpected decision was made. Rose stepped up to bowl. A self-proclaimed ‘batter,’ could he really survive this audacious task and beat their batters? He annihilated them. Rose took one, and he took another, one more. Surely, he must end his spell of terror. No, he devours another. Rose, on 4, simply playing with his prey, knew what needed to be done to get the prized 5th. Rose, ball in hand, stepped up for his final over. Hearts pounded across the field like drums, all nervously cheering Rose to claim his next victim. Rose completed his action. Time stopped as the ball elegantly swung towards the other end. BANG. The batsman released a mighty shot, but now there was a glimpse of hope.

Pillinger, a serial catch dropper, was positioned under the ball. Could he redeem himself? Yes, he could. The ball nestled into Pillinger’s grasp, and Rose walked away with 5. The boys won by 30 runs with wickets from Singh, Van Rensburg, BarkerBroe, Rose and myself. After a break, the second game was underway. A more relaxed game saw the likes of Jones getting a rare chance to show his batting capabilities. Could the Wizard produce something magical? Sadly not, and the boys lost by three wickets. At the end of the game, Mr Shales gave an emotional speech, and the captaincy was handed on from C. Cole and Donelly to me to carry on the mantel for next year.

As the tour came to an end on Sunday, the boys were relieved to find out there was a much quicker ferry ride home, although, on a concerning note, it was much less smooth than the one on the way out.

Jersey was a fantastic way to end the cricket season and a classy touch to send off the Upper Sixth for their last game as Hallifordians. Thanks must go to Mr Greggor and Mr Shales for organising and to Mr Howard and Mr Slocock for their company.

Upper

Tree Donation from the Rotary Club of Shepperton & Sunbury

Food Bank Donations

Centenary Speech Day

Anti-Bullying talk with author Rob Higgs

Year 10 Duke of Edinburgh Assessed Expedition

Students enjoying opening Mr Cunningham’s Time Capsule from 2015

Summer Term Sports Report

by Mr James Greggor, Director of Sport

Mr Hodgkinson

My thanks also go to the parent body for supporting the school’s sporting programme and encouraging the students to get involved with the many co-curricular opportunities, be that recreational or competitive physical activity. Finally, thank you to the staff who provide a huge amount of opportunities at lunchtime, after school and at weekends.

Students have approached the cricket season with a fantastic attitude, focus in games lessons has been excellent, attendance at training after school has been pleasing, and we have had many keen students wanting to involve themselves in the competitive fixtures against other schools mid-week and at weekends.

The Summer Term rounds off another incredibly busy sporting year. From a personal perspective, I am delighted to have completed a disruption-free year of school sport following the impact of the pandemic over the last couple of years. Physical Education and Sport is in a very strong position at Halliford, and my great thanks go to the student body. Their endless enthusiasm to engage with the programme on offer sees this aspect of school life go from strength to strength.. 7

The U12 cohort had been hugely successful in the rugby and football seasons, and from observing the talent on show through the winter net programme, the cricket season was highly anticipated. The A team was full of talent with a particularly strong bowling attack, coupled with a stylish and powerful batting line up. They came up against lbstock Place in their debut fixture for Halliford, being put into bat on the back of losing the toss, soon to be recognised as an additional ‘talent’ of captain Archit Dalvi. Ben Snowball led the way with an unbeaten 53, with the addition of 26 and 27 from George Clark and Zack Brief respectively. A huge total of 173 was achieved in 20 overs, and lbstock looked a little apprehensive and down on confidence with the mountainous challenge which lay ahead. Credit to their boys who battled hard but ultimately it was in vain, with Halliford’s bowling attack restricting them to 104.

A solid start, but greater challenges lay ahead. A respectable 131-6 was achieved against Salesian Farnborough, but the opposition had one very strong batsman who, despite giving a few wicket opportunities away, single-handedly led his team to victory. It was a good lesson in taking opportunities. A further loss came against Tiffin despite some fantastic bowling by James Haines, Archit Dalvi and Ben Snowball, which restricted them to just 95. Unfortunately, Halliford could not chase this total largely because Tiffin had a spin bowler of very high quality, wreaking havoc with the batting attack. Dusting themselves down, Halliford went on to win fixtures against Claremont, Dunottar, Wimbledon College and Claire’s Court.

There were, unfortunately, a few more losses in very tight games against Latymer and St. James. However, in each of the losses, the matches could have gone either way, and if for a few decisions going their way or dropped catches sticking, the story could have been very different. The boys should be proud of their performances, and I expect them to have huge success in cricket as they progress through age groups. Notable performers were Archit Dalvi with both bat and ball, scoring several half-centuries and taking many wickets, James Haines with the ball and Ben Snowball with bat and ball. Further mentions must go to Aiden Sairanen-Fuller for his fielding prowess, Zack Brief for several strong batting performances and a very rare hat-trick, and Theo Fuller for most improved. The season finished strongly with a brilliant win against Sutton Grammar School, Theo Bavister starring, hitting an unbelievable 50 off half the number of balls.

The U12B team has had mixed results but has continued to grow and improve weekly. They finished the season having impressively developed their cricket skills as the season progressed. With a fantastic commitment to training and an incredible desire to be involved, the B team continually had players rolling in and out of the team, which did not disrupt their performance on the pitch at all. Star performers included Ethan Johnson with his aggressive batting, Theo Fuller with extremely consistent bowling and James O’Connor for some fantastic leadership and all-round cricket ability. A lot of the team should really be looking to push into the A team next year, well done lads. 8

Mr

It has been a very satisfying season for the U13s. They have approached cricket enthusiastically and trained in pleasing numbers. Not only that, but in most break times, you can see the boys playing cricket in the courtyard because of their love for the sport. U13As have had a competitive season, captained by a combination of Caleb Baker, Jonty Wright and Rajveer Johal. Dexter Lee and Jonty Wright have

often provided strong platforms with the bat contributing with lots of runs this season, passing the 200 mark in total. Jack Giddens has proved to be a very economical bowler, maintaining a full and straight line and taking wickets with ease, taking 10 at an economy of 4.77. Many other members of the group have contributed with key wickets and runs at different points throughout the season.

The B team have shown real grit and determination this season, captained by Ben Chapman. Although not all results went their way, this did not deter their enthusiasm and willingness to progress. Their hard work was rewarded with a win in the last game of the season. Key personnel this season have been Ben Chapman, Nathaniel Schofield and Charlie Powell opening the batting, Tom Perrin keeping the wicket well has helped limit extras, and some economical bowling from Nathan Jones, Nathaniel Schofield and Ewan Hill has helped the side considerably.

Year 9 Mr Shales

U14A Captain: Felix Porter

The U14As have done very well this season, and what has been great to see has been how many different boys have put their hands up to win the game for the side. The season started away at Salesians. After a good start from Ethan Wilkin and Felix Porter, we somewhat stumbled our way to 120 for 9 off 20 overs. With the ball, we were always in control and managed to restrict them to 123 for 4, with Theo Maroussas and Oli Fenton, the pick of the bowlers. Next came the visit of Claremont. We were superb with the ball and bowled them out for 46. We quickly chased down the total for the loss of one wicket.

After that, we hosted Dunottar. We bowled well as a unit to restrict them to 123 for 6 off 20 overs, with Jack Farrow, the pick of the bowlers. In reply, an unbeaten 55 from Ethan Wilkin saw us chase down the total for an 8-wicket win. Next came Claire’s Court. This was a very tight match, and they posted 165 for 4, with Felix Porter and Theo Maroussas taking 2 wickets a piece. Felix Porter, Ethan Wilkin and Josh Morrison all scored good runs in response, but the game ended in a tie as we were unable to get the 2 required to win off the last ball.

After half term, we hosted Latymer. Once again, we were very good with the bat and posted 169 for 7, thanks to a fifty from Felix Porter and useful contributions from Josh Morrison, Theo Maroussas and Charlie Scott. With the ball, we bowled very tightly and restricted them to 130 for 7 to secure a convincing win. Freddie Golding the pick of the bowlers on that day. We then hosted Tiffin and were superb with the ball. Led by Oliver White and Felix Porter, we bowled them out for 105. We struggled early on with the bat, reaching 55 for 8. But then Charlie Scott and Josh Morrison made a brilliant partnership and saw us home with three balls to spare.

We batted brilliantly against Gordons, with Ethan Wilkin and Josh Morrison scoring unbeaten 50s. This enabled us to post 217 for 2. We again put in a good performance with the ball and won the match easily by 51 runs. Sadly, our match against King Edwards Witley turned into a bit of a farce. The late arrival of the

The season ended away at Sutton Grammar. After a sluggish start, Josh Morrison, with another unbeaten 50 and Charlie Scott with 45 not out, allowed us to set a good total of 143 off our 20 overs. The bowlers found their rhythm early on, and wickets from Oliver White, Owen Flower and Jack Farrow allowed us to seal a comfortable victory and a fitting way to end the season.

U14B Captain Monty Vinall

The U14Bs have been a pleasure to work with this year, they are very keen, and their attendance at training has always been great. The season started away at Claremont. A very strong bowling performance saw them restrict the opposition to 72 for 7 of 16 overs, Jasper Stimson the pick of the bowlers with three wickets. We chased the total down in 13 overs, thanks mainly to an unbeaten 30 from Austin Johnson. Next came the visit of Dunottar. We scored 123 for 8 of our 20 overs, mainly to Lucas Hayes-Garcia’s 56. The game was very tight, but we clung on to a 5-run victory thanks to the bowling of Oliver Hawkins and Tom Robinson.

Sadly, the next two games were not the best performances. Despite some good bowling from Henry Crowther and Leo Hobbs, we lost to Latymer, and a good innings from Monty Vinall was not enough to see his side to victory against Tiffin. The final game of the season came against King Edward’s Witley and what a game to end on. We posted 149-3, thanks mainly to Austin Johnson’s 50 not out. With the ball, Leo took four wickets, including a hat trick, to help us to a 12-run win.

Mr Greggor A team

Batting has been an area of strength this season, with the side consistently achieving 130+ off 20 overs. Captain Will Hamilton has been in truly outstanding form with the bat. He scored at least 50 runs or more in his first four matches. His highest knock of the season came against Claire’s Court, where he achieved 83*. He came close to this in the last game of the season against Sutton Grammar, retiring on 76*. He has been a real pleasure to watch in the middle and has played with real maturity. Not only has he been in opposition and the time it took them to bowl their overs meant that we only had 50 minutes to bowl ours. As a result, our pace bowlers had to bowl spin, and King Edward’s were able to chase down our total.

The U15s have been a side that has made real progress this season. In initial matches, we were searching for the complete performance, often doing one discipline well, for example, batting, but then the other would often result in the game being a little closer than needed. The final game of the season against Sutton Grammar School showed how far the team has come, posting a huge score of 194-4, bowling a good line and full length and almost no fielding unforced errors. Pretty much the complete performance!

1XI Mr Shales

fine form for school, he has for his club Egham CC and achieved the milestone of his first Senior century playing in the Conference Cup. Will has been ably supported by batsman wicketkeeper Cameron Terry, who opening the batting, contributed with lots of good 20s and 30s with an excellent strike rate.

Our bowling has really developed as the season has continued. Early on, the boys would bowl in good areas, but we needed to find a little more consistency to maintain this ball after ball. Sam Griffiths has been very economical, bowling with some excellent pace that the opposition has sometimes struggled with. He has often bowled his final over at the end of the match, seeing out results for us by bowling full and straight.

Felix Lebaki has overcome a shoulder injury to hit some nice form this season. His left-arm seam bowling has caused problems for opponents, and he has found much more consistency and built his confidence.

Particularly satisfying results came against Salesian College, Tiffin, and Gordon’s School. Out of the games lost, it often came down to the last over. A good example was against Dunottar when it came down to the last ball. The boys should be pleased with how they have developed this season, and I hope they involve themselves in senior cricket next year

1XI Captain: Christopher Cole

The 1XI has been an absolute pleasure to work with this season. Being mainly a U6 side meant that the camaraderie built up over the last seven years ensured the team spirit and enjoyment of playing together was extremely high. The season started dominantly at Claremont. We set them a total of 180 in 20 overs, thanks mainly to Christopher Cole’s 72 and Jivraj Singh’s 39. We bowled well overall to restrict them to 129 for 9. Joshus Burson the pick of the bowlers with 4-1-5-3, ably supported by Will Jones 3- 0-18-2.

Next came a double header against Gordons. The first game saw Archie Evans with 53, and Jivraj Singh 73 not out, enabling us to set 164 for 5 in 20 overs. Sadly, our bowling was not quite up to standard, and they chased this easily with two overs to spare, Euan Cole the pick of the bowlers with 4-0-29-2. The second game was a much tighter affair. Thanks to Christopher Cole’s 47 and Michael Van Rensburg’s 25 not out, we posted 142-5 in 20 overs. This time we were much tighter with the ball. Tom Wilkin being the pick of the bowlers with 4-0- 21-2. The match went down to the wire, and sadly they hit a four off the last ball to seal a 4-wicket victory.

Next, we travelled to St George’s to play their 2XI. Christopher Cole 89 not out, and Dominic Rose’s 23 helped us to set them 138 to win. Our bowling and fielding were spot on in this game, led by Charlie Barker-Broe and Alex Donnelly with the ball and James Taylor behind the stumps. We were able to win the match by 22 runs. Then followed our match against the MCC, named the Richard Talbot Memorial MCC Match for the first time, and the boys certainly channelled the fighting spirit that embodies anyone coached by the great man. With the ball, we were superb and stuck very well to the plans agreed upon. All bowlers did a great job on a very hot day to restrict the MCC to 256 for 2 declared off 44 overs. Will Hamilton with 4-0-21-1 and Euan Cole 7-0-28-1 doing a particularly good job. With the bat, we put in the best display we have ever done against this opposition. Everyone batted with discipline, and we put their bowlers under pressure. Archie Evans scored a combative 50, and Christopher Cole was going really well on 62 before re-injuring his knee. Will Jones also batted very sensibly for his 42. A couple of quick wickets put us under a bit of pressure, but Alex Donnelly and Felix Porter saw out the last four overs, leaving us on 216-6 off 49 overs, giving us a well-deserved draw. This was certainly a result of which Richard would have been enormously proud.

Next Year’s 1XI Captain: Euan Cole

Headmaster’s Select Cricket Squad 2022

As every sporting season draws to a close, the PE and Games staff sit down and face the difficult decisions associated with putting the Headmaster’s squads together. The cricket season is no different. Below is what we have settled on for the Headmaster’s XI this year.

Christopher Cole Captain Upper Sixth All rounder

Felix Porter Year 9 All rounder

Ethan Wilkin Year 9 Batsman

William Hamilton Year 10 All rounder

Jivraj Singh Year 11 All rounder

Dexter Lee Year 8 All rounder

Jack Giddens Year 8 Bowler

Ben Snowball Year 7 Batsman

Archie Evans Upper Sixth All rounder

Archit Dalvi Year 7 Batsman

Oliver White Year 9 Bowler

Joshua Burson Upper Sixth Batsman

Cricket Colours Ties

Colours ties are presented to senior students who have performed regularly for and impressed in our first XI this term. They have been awarded to the following students: William Shanley, Jivraj Singh, Michael Van Rensburg, Mannat Virk

Inter-House Cricket

Inter-House Cricket took place during allocated Games afternoons this term. Houses played each other in eight over innings in an 8-10 aside format depending on the year group size and availability of cricketers in each form.

The competition is always great fun, and all Inter-House competitions are popular among the students. This year’s results are below: U15

1st

Winners Categories

Junior (U12 and U13 ) - Desborough Intermediate (U14) - Russell and Greville Senior (U15) - Russell

Overall

Centenary Sports Day 2022

Sports Day took place on Wednesday 6 July this year. It is a favourite event among staff, achieving a true mass participation element. Throughout the day, boys and girls competed in a range of track and field events. There were many excellent performances all around from students, however, some highlights included Spencer Bateman breaking his own senior 1500m record from last year by nearly four seconds! His new record is 4.15.91. Other impressive performances on the track came from Dexter Lee in the 400m, Christian Fleming-Jenner in the 100m and Tom Perrin in the 800m.

In the field, Austin Johnson and Oscar Lewitt impressed in the javelin, Barney Connop in the discus. The attitude and effort of the students was commendable, and we are very grateful to the Xcel Centre for allowing us to rent their outstanding facility. It inspired some excellent performances from the Halliford students.

FOOTBALL

Hallifordian Sporting Achievements

Earlier this year, Dexter was selected to play for the London Independent Schools Football Association (ISFA) against AFC Wimbledon following a successful trial period. Earlier in the Summer Term, Dexter discovered he had been selected to represent ISFA at U14 Level as part of the core squad. This is a huge achievement. Out of 140 boys participating, one core squad and two development squads have been selected. As part of this selection, Dexter will participate in an academy tournament at Oakham School from Tuesday 2 to Thursday 4 August. We look forward to hearing an update on how he gets on.

During the Easter break, Rocco was given the opportunity to play several Chelsea and London Youth Premier League matches. Following strong performances, he was invited to play in a fixture for Chelsea v Brighton on Wednesday 20 April. Rocco had a great day and played very well. He was given super feedback and praise by the coaches on both sides. We wait with anticipation to see how this opportunity develops for Rocco. Rocco was awarded the golden boot in the London Youth Premier League for the U12. His team also won the league.

Theo, a key all-rounder for the U14A team this cricket season, got through to the final stages of the Richmond Borough/Middlesex County Cricket Pathway and played in a fixture which the borough side were selected from. Sadly on this occasion, he did not progress into the final squad. However, he did very well to get to this stage, and we are sure he will get another opportunity. He has since sadly broken a couple of fingers playing in a club fixture and missed a final couple of school matches of the season. We wish him a speedy recovery.

Will Hamilton has not only been a key performer and Captain for the U15A cricket team this term, but outside school, he has also been maintaining very high standards of performance. On a typical Saturday morning, Will plays cricket for Halliford’s U15As and then jumps in the car with Dad to head to a senior game for his club Egham CC in the afternoon. Will has been a regular in the club’s Senior 2nd XI, which is an excellent achievement for somebody his age. He is used primarily as a bowler. However, as we know at school, he is also a superb batsman, so he often gets runs too. The picture shows Will scoring his first senior century. He achieved this for Egham in the Bertie Joel Cup. Truly outstanding, and we look forward to seeing Will’s performances for our school 1XI next season.

In April, Tom’s club side Chobham RFC toured to Cardiff. This was originally planned as a U13 event in 2020, however, due to the pandemic, this was postponed to this year, and his club toured as a U15 squad instead. On the evening of Friday 29 April, Tom’s side was hosted by Llanishen RFC in a feisty and tightly contested game, quickly waking Chobham up to the physicality and commitment of Welsh rugby. They won the second half but lost the game overall. A highlight of the tour was the opportunity to play on Cardiff Arms Park, the spiritual home to Welsh rugby union, with games played continuously on its different surfaces since 1881. It currently has a 3G artificial surface. Chobham’s opponents in a round-robin competition were Llandaff RFC and Old Penarthians RFC. A combined 90 players were involved, and some great rugby was played.

Earlier this term, Lucas was selected to sail in the three-day RYA Eric Twiname Junior Championships at Rutland Water as part of the London and South East Team. It was a weekend of light winds and tricky conditions, but Team London & South East had a great weekend on the water, taking home the prestigious Eric Twiname Cup as the overall winning regional team. Lucas has a busy Summer ahead of him, heading to the Topper World Championships in Lake Garcia, Italy, in July and the Topper National Championships in Weymouth in August.

The unofficial Halliford Sailing Team of Lucas Symons in Year 8 and Harry Dence in Year 7 were in action a few weeks ago sailing their Toppers at the RYA London and South East Junior Sailing Championships. Strong winds for the three races on Saturday, followed by four races in lighter winds on Sunday, made for some close results, with Lucas placing 10th and Harry 17th overall. The boys have been training and competing over the Winter and Spring with challenging conditions at coastal races at Deal and Shoreham as well as the rather calmer waters of Crawley and Docklands and weekday evening races at home club Island Barn Reservoir in East Molesey. Symons, Year 8

CRICKET Will Hamilton, Year 10 RUGBY Tom Lever, Year 10

Congratulations to Hayden in Year 10, who was selected and played for Team Richmond in the Boys Open competition held at East London University last weekend. 34 London boroughs compete in the games, which have been running for over 40 years.

BASKETBALL

Hayden Barrett, Year 10

BASKETBALL

Bertie Reynolds, Year 7

On 11 June, Bertie’s Lions basketball team participated in the U12 National Basketball league final. Bertie’s team beat Milton Keynes to reach the final. Unfortunately, they came up against an exceptionally good team in Baltic Stars and will have to be content with the fantastic achievement of being beaten finalist for 2021-22. His team’s progress this year has given him greater confidence and further enthusiasm for the sport.

This season two current Year 10 and U15A rugby players have enjoyed their involvement in the London Irish Academy programme. The two boys feel this has had a significant impact on their games, and we are excited at school to see their impact on U16 and senior rugby next year. Earlier this term, both students were selected for a game against Bath on Sunday 5 May. Sam was selected to captain the side, which was a great personal honour for him, and both Halliford students did themselves proud. They also won the game, making this experience even more satisfying.

RUGBY

Sam Griffiths and Max Smith, Year 10

On the weekend before we celebrated the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, Dorney Lake was host to the National Schools Regatta 2022, where the top school and junior rowing clubs meet and race against each other each year to determine who is the fastest. Starting with the younger age groups on Friday, Hugo Franklin joined his crew mates from Kingston Rowing Club, lining up with the best from all over the country. Fortunately, the weather was bright and sunny with little wind - perfect conditions for racing on the purpose-built Olympic rowing lake. Processional time trials were held in the morning to determine which crews merit a place in the ‘A’ or ‘B’ finals - for the fastest six crews and the next six, respectively. The remainder of the 40 crews entered failed to qualify for either. It was a tense wait as the results came in - particularly as the commentators announced the wrong crew list! But Hugo’s Quadruple Scull had secured 4th place in the A final. Almost at the end of the afternoon, six J14 crews lined up on the starting pontoons to decide the medal positions. Alas, for KRC, it was not to be their day, and an error in aligning at the start cost them their chance to better their position from earlier in the day. Overall, it was a day to remember, and Hugo will look forward to the competition again next year.

Last weekend Jenson represented Richmond Borough in archery at the London Youth Games, where the team won a silver medal (Wandsworth won gold). He was shooting the Short Windsor (50, 40 and 30 yards) round. Having been doing archery for eight months, he has gained real confidence from this. We are looking forward to seeing how he develops further in this activity.

Recently James spent the weekend in Nottingham, competing in the National Sprint Championships at U16 level. He competed in heats for K11000m, 500m and 200m, getting through to the finals and becoming the GB U16 National Champion at all three distances. He also competed in K4 with another club and achieved silver. We are incredibly proud of how he has done, especially after the two activity days as part of activities week and paintballing yesterday alongside his daily training. James has also recently heard he has been selected to represent Great Britain at the Olympic Hopes Regatta taking place in Bratislava, Slovakia, in September. We wait with anticipation to see how he gets on and are hopeful we will soon be able to add another Olympic vest to our sporting shirt wall in the PE block.

SUMMER

RACING

Spencer Bateman, Upper Sixth

Written by Spencer Bateman

Summer is the best time of year; it’s when triathlons start, and they are my favourite type of race. With A Levels this year, I have had to make sure that I’ve had the right balance between racing, training and studying, and it has meant that I have picked my races carefully, trying to focus on races that will help me prepare for some bigger races this year.

I kicked off the season with a Sprint Triathlon out of Hampton Open Air Pool, a great race with a pool-based swim, a flat, fast course up to Hampton Court, over the river and down towards Walton with a flat run on the pavements up to Hampton Court and back to Hampton Pool. I placed 2nd overall and 1st in my age category and was significantly faster than the previous year. A great start and a good confidence boost in preparation for Eton, where I hoped to qualify for the Europeans next year.

Eton was an early start, with 450 people entering the ETU qualifying race. You have to qualify for every European or World Championship with age group representation from different countries. British Triathlon typically has three races where you can try and qualify, and you have to register your intent to qualify and then ensure you enter the ETU race, which is normally draft legal. I had another super race, managing to get out of the water in a reasonable time which meant I was able to get on to a pack for the bike. It’s really important in draft legal races that you find a group to work with. It makes a massive difference to be in a group rather than trying to work on your own. I managed to keep with the group for the race, which put me in a really good position for the run, finishing 13th overall and 1st in my age category, which gave me a qualifying spot for the Europeans next year.

I was able to squeeze in a few more races before my A Levels started and then spent most of my time revising and doing a small bit of training as a bit of light relief from exams. I finished my last A Level on 22 June, and on 23 June, I flew to Montreal for the World Triathlon Sprint Championships, for which I qualified last year. On arrival in Canada, I was reunited with my Bike box and, after a short bus journey, made it to our apartment. After a quick change, we were on our way to the Expo to register, pick up race packs and join in the opening ceremony. The next day was a chance to relax and watch the Junior and the Elites qualifying races. Unfortunately, due to heavy rain, the swim was cancelled and turned into a duathlon. The bike was exciting as it was six laps in the town, meaning it was really technical with lots of tight turns.

Saturday arrived, and I was up early. After watching some of the other age groups, I made my way to the start. The water temperature in St. Lawrence River meant that it was wetsuit optional, which suited me. I had a good swim but came out in the middle of the pack, which meant missing the top bike pack. The bike was tough, the conditions were hot and humid, and into transition, I went out on the run. The heat

was starting to take its toll on me at this point, and it wasn’t my best run. I still managed to finish in 17th position, disappointed, but the 16-19 men’s field was made up of some super USA & Canadian athletes. It was a great experience, racing in a World Championships, going to Canada and watching the elite up close, and I am sure all good experiences for when I go to the Europeans in August.

As this is my last sports report, I would like to say a big thank you to everyone at Halliford for supporting me over the seven years.

Current U13A team player and member of our elite cricket training group Rajveer plays his club Cricket at Sunbury. Following an assessment period through attendance at training sessions and performance in matches, he has now been selected for the regional squad under the Middlesex pathway. These regional matches will occur in August. We look forward to seeing how Rajveer performs in these. Johal, Year 8

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MY HALLIFORD SCHOOL STORY

Hector Buckle-Wright, 7G

I decided to come to Halliford School because I liked the welcoming and supportive environment. The open day pushed me to say yes, I want to go here, thanks to the constant positive mood flowing through the school. As I came on the bus to Halliford for my first day, I was nervous and filled with adrenaline, but I also felt excited as it was my first day at a new school. The first person that helped me was my form teacher Mr Cunningham as he gave the whole of the class some good advice, and as you would expect, I asked many other people for directions to lessons since it was the first day, but as the week progressed, I got more confident. The lesson I like the most here is History since it is a great topic. The biggest difference between Halliford and my old school is the size, and I prefer Halliford since it is far smaller. I have enjoyed some of the clubs and societies here. In goalkeeper training, we improve our technique, and in yoga, the teacher taught us certain stretches like Warrior 1 pose. I’m enjoying the sport here too. In the rugby season, I played for the D team, then in the football season, I joined as the second goalkeeper for the D team, partnering Bertie and Casper late in the season for two games. I’m really pleased I came to Halliford School because it is a great learning environment consistently, and the small size makes getting to lessons easy.

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William Shanley GCSE

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Ethan Manzi GCSE

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William Mardon GCSE

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Matthew Jackson GCSE

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Carter Green GCSE

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Calvin Harrington GCSE

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Jashraj Babbar GCSE

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Theo Wilson GCSE

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Joe Haines GCSE

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Xander Douglas GCSE

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Max Guest GCSE

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Max Guest GCSE

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Archie Evans A Level

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Archie Evans A Level

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James Fife A Level

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James Fife A Level

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Luke Davies A Level

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Ben Brine A Level

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Tom Wittke A Level

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Sheridan Kerr A Level

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Spencer Bateman A Level

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Spencer Bateman A Level

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Ben Holmes A Level

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Ben Holmes A Level

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Anthony Robins-Kent A Level

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Anthony Robins-Kent A Level

DESBOROUGH House Report

by Mr Vincent Harden-Chaters, Head of House

House Captain: William Jones

The 2021/2022 academic year saw a return to a full roster of House competitions, and I am pleased that so many of the Desborough boys took the opportunity to get involved. Throughout this year, there have been many positives to celebrate, and for me, the strong sense of community has been paramount in our many successes. These past three terms, I have seen the best in each of the boys in Desborough House. They are all dynamic and enthusiastic young people with a passion for learning and extending themselves beyond the classroom.

After the cancellation of the Song Contest last year, the boys were looking to put right the wrongs of previous years. However, it wasn’t to be. Even after an amazing rendition of Sweet Caroline followed up with Fire by Kasabian, we couldn’t do enough to overcome stiff competition. My thanks go to William Jones and Billy Dobby for leading the singing and to the band made up of Jake Goodman and Ethan Manzi on guitar, Tom Lever on bass, Daniel BootleWilbraham and Ruaridh Bell on trumpet and Jack Giddens on drums. I would also like to thank all the singers who are far too numerous to mention individually for their efforts.

Throughout this year, the three debating competitions have been a source of style, wit, and oratory. The senior team of Joe Farnell, Seb McGill, James Manzi, and Kardo Mutabchie were dominant, using strong and well-researched arguments to steamroller all opposition and win the competition decisively. The intermediate competition was also won in a similarly stellar way with Tom O’Connor, Olly Betts, Billy Dobby and Miles Cobley trouncing Russell House. Hopefully, the junior team will learn from the older students and be able to emulate their success next year. Rugby has traditionally been a mixed bag for the House, and this year was no different. One group did stand head

and shoulders above the others, so my congratulations go to the U15 boys who saw off some very stiff competition to win their age category. The boys showed a tenacious attitude and won after four years of trying. The U13 boys also had a strong showing, managing to finish second. The U14 and U12 boys showed great House spirit and gave it their all, which is all I can ask of them.

Staying on the sporting theme, this year’s football results were a marked improvement from previous years and allowed the boys to showcase some fantastic skills. The U14 showed excellent form to win their age group, and the U12 boys came close to emulating this success but were pipped to the post by a strong Greville team. The U15 team had one of the most interesting results and somehow managed to secure a secondplace finish, even though they only scored a solitary goal. The cross-country competition saw some extraordinary running, with Rocco Maroussas winning the U12 race and Jake Goodman winning the U14. The other boys also showed great spirit, with the House finishing in second place in the U12, U13 and U14 competitions and third in the U15 event. Rounding off the Inter-House sports events this year saw a cracking cricket competition. The U12 continued to show their sporting dominance by jointly winning the U12 competition. The U13, U14, and U15 students finished second in their very competitive fixtures.

Sports Day was the penultimate challenge for the House and one that has eluded Desborough for many years. Unfortunately, many of our U14 students were tired from their extended stay on the continent but seeing so many still manage to attend despite the lack of sleep was heartening. Before discussing results, I would like to make a special mention to the boys in Year 9 for filling in and ensuring we had a competitor for every event.

In the U12 competitions, I would like to mention the following winners: Rocco

Maroussas (100m A), George Sanders (100m B) and Xander Gavey (400m B). In the U13 competitions, congratulations on winning to Christian Fleming-Jenner (100m A and Long Jump), Nathan Jones (100m B), Andrew Razza (100m C), Veer Gill (High Jump) and the A relay team. The winners of the U14 competitions were Josh Morrison (High Jump and Hurdles A), Jake Goodman (800m and 1500m), Theo Maroussas (200m A and 100m A), Lucas Hayes-Garcia (200m C/D) and the A and B relay teams. The winners of the hugely competitive U15 category were Lewis Gomez-Moore (Hurdles B) and Cameron Bird (400m C). Last but by no means least were the U19 winners of James Manzi (Discus), Riley Whittington (High Jump) and the relay team. My thanks go to all of those who took part in all competitions for the House. Sadly, we were the bridesmaid for yet another year, but with renewed vigour, I am sure we can secure the win next year.

The year’s final competition goes on throughout the entire academic year, the Inter-House Merit Shield. I believe this is now three years in a row that we have secured the shield, with the total for this year of 5,334 Merits eclipsing last year’s total of 3,522 Merits, so a huge congratulations to you all. I would like to offer my thanks to my tutor team, who undoubtedly hold the House together and have been a continued source of support for the students and myself. Their dedication and professionalism have seen the students continue their path to firmer things.

In closing, I would like to leave you with a quote from Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, ‘When you arise in the morning, think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love.’ The achievements here only outline the incredible efforts of the pupils in Desborough House. It is a privilege to work with them, make them think, and see them enjoy their time in school and develop a love for learning inside and outside the classroom.

Oliver Bellis Ryan Alavi Sebastian McGill

Joseph Farnell

Joseph Martin Naveed Uddin

William Jones House Captain

Edward Luckins

Angelo Silvestri

William McGuigan

Alistair Clarke

GREVILLE House Report

by Mr Darren Howard, Head of House

House Captain: Anthony Robins-Kent

On our return, one of the few remaining Covid restrictions that did exist was limits on the size of gatherings. Whilst further helping me to update my rusty IT skills, unfortunately, it meant that House assemblies still had to be streamed to individual tutor groups, and this began to cut into Mr Wright’s hope of bringing forth a slightly different format to the House Singing Contest this year.

When these regulations were eased, it was a joyous feeling that we were finally able to congregate as a whole House. Rehearsals could now get under way, and Greville was fully committed to its defence of the Inter-House Singing Contest. The multitude of lunchtime activities meant that getting the instrumentalists and singers together proved a bridge too far, but under the musical leadership of Anthony RobinsKent and his team, the House song began to transform into Greville’s unique twist on Bastille’s Pompeii. Behind the scenes, Tom Wittke, Jamie Lamprell, James McCummiskey, and Carter Robinson worked, not so quietly, on perfecting their rendition of Henrietta by The Fratellis. In the School’s Centenary year, it was going to be Greville’s time. A massive thank you to all who participated in this competition.

A great start to the Autumn Term, and so much more was still to come. InterHouse Debating started, and with the junior, intermediate and senior levels, this competition ran throughout the year. Individual awards were achieved by Marcus Dunne (9G) and Lucas Symons (8G) as Top Speakers in their age groups, but Greville must undertake better preparation if we wish to be more successful in this competition. A huge amount of respect to those of you that

battled their wits this year.

Later in the term, the annual testosteronefilled competition, Inter-House Rugby, got underway. As so often in this event, there were Herculean team performances, but unfortunately, Greville could only come joint runners-up in both the junior and intermediate competitions. A big thank you to all those who took part in these bruising encounters and ensured that the House acquitted itself with honour.

Congratulations to Owen Morris, James Taylor and James Wiltshire on being awarded their 1st XV Rugby colours.

The Cross-Country competition was quickly upon us in the Spring Term. Over a humid week, this Inter-House event saw some strong individual performances. Jamie Lamprell came third in Year 10, and 8G came first in the U13 competition.

With Year 10 coming second and Year 7 and 9, a valiant fourth, victory slipped away this year. A huge thank you to all the runners who ran their hearts out and gave their best in the Cross-Country competition.

Throughout the final weeks of the term, it was time for pupils to try and emulate their heroes as Inter-House Football took place. Missed passes and some dubious refereeing decisions would all play a crucial role in deciding the outcome of these competitive games. Greville’s U12s twinkle-toed their way through to winning their age group and Year 10 managed to come joint second in their competition. With Year 9 finishing third and Year 8 fourth, it meant no overall win in any of the football trophies this year. A massive thanks to all the Grevillites who took part in the matches. Congratulations to Owen Morris, James Taylor and James Wiltshire on being awarded their 1st XI Football colours.

In the Summer Term, various competitions took place, including Inter-House Cricket during games afternoon. Whilst consistency is a good thing, and many games went down to the last ball, we only managed to finish fourth in all year groups. We must try to ensure that we display a calmer approach if we wish to be more successful next year. Lunchtime Centenary Challenges kept the InterHouse rivalry simmering away. Greville only managed a single individual victory in the PS3 challenge, but we managed to come second overall. It is a shame that some people forgot to turn up, making it far harder to do well in this sort of competition.

On a perfect day for athletics, Sports Day took place in Walton. The Greville spirit was displayed by Charlie Grant and Austin Johnson, who, whilst short on numbers, managed to fulfil all their events in an organised and seamless fashion. Although we fought hard and there were some fine displays of athleticism on the track and field, Greville could only manage third place in the Inter-House Athletics Cup. Individual performances went to Hayden Barrett (Senior Shot), James Breach (Long Jump Open), James McCummiskey (Senior Discus), Austin Johnson (Intermediate Sports Champion) and Zach Johnson (Senior Javelin). Despite narrowly missing out on breaking the 800m record, Spencer Bateman managed to break his own 2021 1500m time by 4.68 seconds. Many congratulations! Thank you all for your efforts towards the sporting events that took place throughout the Summer Term.

To Mr Fuller and those students who will not be returning to Halliford next term, we wish you well in your future endeavours. Please stay in touch and let us know what becomes of you.

James Wiltshire

Owen Morris

James Fife

Sean Rustin

Lucas Dallon

Theo Rowsell

Spencer Bateman

Anthony Robins-Kent House Captain

James Taylor

Becca Miles

Sheridan Kerr

Thomas Wittke

RUSSELL House Report

by Mr Matthew Shales, Head of House

House Captain: Max Pillinger

Here we go again. Every year I seem to talk about the new challenges facing the students in the House, and this year is certainly no exception. Whatever this new normal is, the way in which they have all embraced the challenges in front of them is absolutely to their credit. What they have achieved this year is truly remarkable and shows that they all possess the key Hallifordian values. As a House, we have done some very good work for charity. As per usual, we did the stocks during Charity Week. Thanks to all the brave souls who volunteered their time to take an absolute soaking.

It is always a sad time to say goodbye to the Upper Sixth, and this year is no exception. These boys will always be a special group to me as they are the first group I have seen all the way through from Year 7 to Upper Sixth as Head of Russell. It has been a real privilege seeing them develop over the years into the cracking young men that they are today and to welcome some wonderful new female students into the House as they joined us in Lower Sixth. The students have always worked hard, but what helps them to stand out is their collective sense of humour, always finding a way to make me laugh no matter my mood. They even found a way to get their final revenge on me through Ben in the Leavers Touch Rugby Match!! Max has been a superb House Captain, a real leader, and a shining example to the younger students of what it takes to be a true Hallifordian.

This year’s Music Competition required two songs. The first sung by the whole House was Mr Brightside by The Killers, followed by the ensemble song, Don’t You Cry by Guns N’ Roses. Max put an amazing amount of effort into both songs and was ably supported by Josh Guild, Will Jackson, Will O’Loughlin and Scott Smith in the band. It was certainly one of our best performances for a few years,

and although deemed not worthy enough of winning, hopefully, it was a positive step forward for us to be even more competitive next year.

Once again, we dominated the Rugby Inter-House, with Years 7, 8, and 9 all winning their respective competitions, and we retained our junior, intermediate, and overall winner crowns. Congratulations to Ben Holmes, Max Pillinger, Ben Witham, Sankaran Suseelan, and Jai Toor on being awarded Rugby Colours. The following boys played all season brilliantly and were deservedly selected for the Headmaster’s XV: Dexter Lee, Felix Porter, Will Shanley, Leo Smith and Ben Witham.

Inter-House Football was incredibly competitive this year. Year 7 came third, Years 8 and 9 both came second, and Year 10 came first, resulting in us winning the junior and senior competitions and therefore being the overall winners. Congratulations to Nate Broadhurst, Max Connelley, and Patrick Wanat on being awarded Football Colours, and to Zach Brief, Nate Broadhurst, Carson Curtis, Dexter Lee, Khai Vally, and Patrick Wanat for making the Headmaster’s XI.

Once again, the Cross-Country was very competitive. The Year 7 students ran well, coming out first overall. Despite Dexter Lee and Tom Perrin 1-2 in Year 8, we could not quite pip Desborough, finishing second overall in the Junior Competition. Ethan Wilkin finished second in the Year 9 event, and we came third overall. Carson Curtis and Jack Warren secured a Russell 1-2 in the Senior competition, leading to an overall victory.

Inter-House Cricket was a very close affair this year. The Year 8 and 10 sides came first, with the Year 9 side 1st equal. Year 7 narrowly came 3rd. This meant that, once again, we were the overall winners.

Congratulations to Tom Wilkin on being awarded his 1XI Cricket Colours and to Will Hamilton and Felix Porter for being

selected to play for the 1XI against the MCC. They also made the Headmaster’s XI alongside Dexter Lee and Ethan Wilkin.

Sports Day was once again a great event. The standard of all the students who competed was as high as ever across the houses. There were some brilliant individual performances but what was particularly impressive was the teamwork shown in the relays. Some of the results from those boys in the C and D teams were brilliant to see. Once the results were finalised, we were once again announced as winners for the seventh year in a row. It is always a great thrill to see the whole House coming together to work as one, and this year’s Sports Day epitomised this.

This year saw us be as competitive as ever in the debating. The Senior side was very unlucky to come second overall. Special congratulations to Maisie Russell, who was awarded Best Speaker in the final. The intermediate side was also sadly pipped into second place. However, the junior side of James Grant, Josh Newlands, Woody Perkins, and James Williams were able to go one better and win their competition. A fantastic effort to all involved and great to see us competing strongly again in an area that has not always been our strength.

The penultimate week of the Summer Term saw the return of the Inter-House Challenges. Once again, the House Spirit on display was superb, and thanks to some great teamwork, Russell House won.

I would like to congratulate Tilly Ludlam on being made the new House Captain, and I am very much looking forward to working with her. I have no doubt she will keep the boys and me on their toes!!

To the boys and girls, thank you for all your superb efforts this year. On a personal note, it has not been an easy last couple of months, and I would like to give a heartfelt thank you for all the kind messages of support I have received.

Cormac Evans

Kian McGrath Max Connelley

Misha Edwards

Patrick Wanat

Sankaran Suseelan

Benjamin Witham

Ben Holmes

Max Pillinger House Captain

Aidan Saunders

WADHAM House Report

by Mr James Greggor, Acting Head of House

House Captain: Archie Evans

It has been my great pleasure leading Wadham House in the interim this year following the departure of Mrs ButlerSmith. Taking over just before Christmas, I was instantly thrown into the action as the Inter-House Singing Competition was only a couple of weeks away. The House had two weeks to find a song, learn it and produce something competition worthy. The song selected out of a choice of three was Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi. With many tutor time and lunchtime practice slots, the House rallied together, and we did ourselves proud, finishing second narrowly! It is impressive that the students are always so willing to produce something competition worthy.

The House is blessed with some outstanding musical talent. Arya Shafighian in Upper Sixth was instrumental in coordinating the successful House music entry. Lower Sixth students William Greaves and Jules Wain are two immensely talented musicians, who performed superbly in the recent Centenary Summer Concert, and I look forward to seeing what they can produce next term.

Part of the joy of a pastoral role is the daily interactions with students, as you feel like you have a significant impact on them. Whether through weekly House assembly delivery or popping into form groups daily, the students in Wadham have been a real pleasure to work with. At the end of the school year, it is a great time for reflection, and many students in Wadham can be enormously proud of their achievements this year.

The Inter-House Debating Competition schedule was coordinated superbly by Mr Lee this year. Students competed in junior, intermediate and senior categories, and the overall title went to Desborough

House this year. However, I was extremely impressed with Wadham House and the willingness of students to participate and get involved. Hopefully, the House can go one better and challenge for the title next year.

A key feature of the year is the House sporting competitions, starting with rugby in the Autumn Term. Participation numbers were fantastic, and many willing students participated across all age groups. Two third places in U12 and U13 competitions, a second at U12 where we were unlucky not to win, and fourth place at U15 meant we did not win overall. However, we can build towards next year to hopefully improve on this.

The Spring Term saw two Inter-House competitions take place in the form of Inter-House Cross-Country and Football Competitions. The CrossCountry Competition always has fantastic mass participation as every student in the year group participates.

As a House, there were some fantastic team and individual performances. The U14s won their year group competition. At U12 and U13, two third places were achieved, with fourth place for the U15s. Individuals in the House who performed well included Barney Connop in Year 9, finishing third place in his year group, and Stanley Goddard, in Year 8, finished third in his year group run. Year 7 students Oscar Lewitt and James Haines also finished second and third out of their entire year group.

Moving to the Football competitions, Wadham’s U13s won their year group competition, and U12s came second in theirs. Both year groups played some particularly good football to achieve these positions.

The Summer Term key competitions on

the House calendar include Inter-House Cricket, played across several games afternoons and the final sporting event of the year, Sports Day. In cricket, we were consistent, finishing third in U14, U15 and U13 competitions. The U12s did superbly and won their age group competition.

Sports Day is always a keenly anticipated event by the students. This year Wadham finished in fourth place overall. However, there were some outstanding individual performances. Year 7 student James Haines was awarded the Junior Sports Champion award after victories in the 1500 and 800 metres. Lower Sixth student Euan Cole won the Grimwade 100m Cup for the fastest time of the day of 12.53s. He also won the Lictor Ludorum prize for being the most successful performing senior athlete of the day. Year 10 Freddie Humphries won the Carrington High Jump Cup after jumping 1.55m. Year 10 student Dominic Connor also won the senior hurdles prize after securing the fastest time of the day, which was 12.93s.

With my role as Director of Sport, it was not possible to continue to do the Wadham Head of House role moving forward. I have thoroughly enjoyed the interim period taking charge of Wadham House once again and am excited to hand this over to Mr Bruno from September and have no doubt he will be fantastic.

I would like to leave you with a Winston Churchill quote I often refer to throughout the school year, ‘Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.’ This resilience has truly been demonstrated this year by Wadham House students, and I thank them for that.

Archie Evans House Captain

Arya Shafighian

Ben Brine

Charlie PoulterCharlie Barker-Broe Christopher Cole

Dominic Rose

James Hanley Joshua Burson

Matthew Grimes

Luke Davies

Matthew Turley

Daniel Wilkes

Kishaan Satha

Alexander Donnelly

Old Hallifordians News

by Mr Sam Lawrence, Chairman of the Old Hallifordians

This year, once again, has been a busy year for not only the school but also the Old Hallifordians. I am sure you have read plenty about the Centenary celebrations that have occurred over the year, and as expected, most of our events this year have been part of those celebrations.

The school year began on a sad note as we learnt of the passing of Richard Talbot in August 2021, former Deputy Headmaster and a true Halliford legend if there ever was one. His passing brought the school and its alumni together in sharing memories at school, on the rugby and cricket pitches, and at a few bars, I am sure. His life was celebrated at a fantastically well-attended service in Taunton and later in November by an equally vibrant memorial match at Weybridge Vandals, where Richard spent much of his time. I know that Richard will be fondly remembered by many Old Hallifordians as a mentor, coach, and friend, considering his 20+ years of service to the school and community. All will greatly miss him, and the attendance at these memorial events is a testament to the strength of his memory.

November saw the opening of the fantastic new Woodward Building, which was attended by many Old Hallifordians and yet another perfect way to continue building on the school’s legacy in its centenary year. The Autumn Term also saw a special Centenary lecture delivered by Nick Pollard, Chairman of the Sunbury and Shepperton Local History Society, which was a fascinating insight into the school’s rich history. A huge thank you to Nick for delivering such a detailed and insightful talk. The school is very proud to have such a strong relationship with our local historians.

A final addition to the Autumn Term was the Centenary Concert (the first of two I should mention!) which, unfortunately, due to Covid, was held digitally and is available on the website. The school’s cohort of stellar musicians performed a range of numbers, and they were joined by two Old Hallifordian brothers, Matt and Tom Foley.

Continuing a theme of sporting events, a Centenary Rugby Extravaganza was held at Weybridge Vandals, bringing together some familiar faces. The next Centenary event was a celebration of Halliford Sport across the years in March, where Old Hallifordians were treated to a fabulous meal served by the school’s fantastic catering team (who never fail to deliver), an old-fashioned sports report by the current Sports Prefect Christopher Cole which took us all right back to those Monday morning assemblies and a video tour of the sporting life at the school. The event was extremely well attended, and we were glad to see some prominent sporting alumni, including George Edgson (2007-2012), who now plays for Doncaster Knights in the RFU Championship and has recently signed a new contract for the 22/23 season.

The Summer Term brought even more excitement as the school held its second Centenary Concert and Art Exhibition, its first inaugural Golf Tournament and the Richard Talbot Memorial MCC Cricket Match, which ended in a draw for the very first time!

It has truly been a pleasure to see the school thriving and continuing to build upon its excellent reputation this year and, equally, to see so many memories of the school being shared by Old Hallifordians near and far. I would like to thank the Headmaster for allowing and encouraging Old Hallifordian support over the year, the school’s fabulous Marketing guru Olivia Oakley for all her hard work in putting events together and for her tireless dedication to social media. Also, a thank you to the school’s Centenary Prefects, Misha Edwards and Spencer Bateman, who have put in much work over the year to support all the events the school has put on.

As a final note, please do register your details on the website so we can keep in touch with more Old Hallifordians and keep you informed of all the upcoming events.

Here’s to another 100 years!

Old Hallifordian Society

As always, we encourage all Old Hallifordians to get involved and help us to develop the society.

STAY IN TOUCH

Facebook

All Alumni events are published on our Alumni Facebook page. Please visit www.facebook.com/Hallifordalumni. Please like and follow the page.

LinkedIn

Our LinkedIn group can be accessed by visiting: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/3929687/ Email

We would like to communicate with you electronically, so please register your details by completing the online form on the Old Hallifordians page on the school website. Please visit: www.hallifordschool.co.uk/about/old-hallifordians

OLD HALLIFORDIAN CONTACTS

Old Hallifordian Committee

Chairman – Mr Sam Lawrence Committee Members – Mr Joe da Costa, Mr Alex Lenoel, Mr Justin Holder, Mr Ben Connop, Mr Adrian Wetherill

Are you vibrant and enthusiastic?

Then why not come along and join the OH Committee? For more details, contact the Chairman by email: samjlawrence95@gmail.com or call +44 7917 761 012

MY HALLIFORD SCHOOL STORY

Henry Breslin, 7R

I decided to come to Halliford School because it felt like all the boys were friendly. On the first day, I was nervous because I had been in the same class as my best friend since nursery, but all the teachers helped me settle. The lesson I like the most here is History because Mr Cunningham is friendly and makes the funniest lessons. I play cards against my friends in Magic: The Gathering Club, which is fun because it’s always entertaining to watch and play. I was very involved in rugby at the beginning of the year because it’s something I’ve watched for a long time. I’m really pleased I came to Halliford School because everyone is really nice and was very welcoming at the beginning of the year.

MY HALLIFORD SCHOOL STORY

Khai Vally, 7R

I decided to come to Halliford because when I came to the school on the open day, I saw all the good facilities and lots of interesting school work on display here. I was excited but nervous that I had to do well on my first day. I soon found it all fine, and the teachers were nice, and I quickly made friends. My favourite lessons are Design & Technology because I like seeing designs that have been worked on and created into cool things. My other favourite subject is PE as I am sporty, and we do loads of different sports in the school. There are loads of different lunchtime and after-school clubs, and these aren’t all sports but educational ones as well. I take part in Volleyball and Badminton Club. I am pleased I came to Halliford because it is a welcoming school, and the teachers have helped me thrive educationally. I have made friends easily and participated in fun events at the school.