SPRING 2023
‘Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might’ Ecclesiastes IX v.10
Contents
• Easter term highlights
• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
• World Book Day
• Cross Country events
• Spring Concert
• Top Year successes
• Keeping in touch with OLs
We’ve been busy over the last three months and I hope you enjoy flicking through the Easter Term 2023 edition of The Ludgrovian.
A sense of purpose underpins everything and these pages give a flavour of the breadth of education that Ludgrove Life offers. Academically, we are as ambitious as ever and we also reach for the stars on the creative, dramatic, musical and sporting fronts. We celebrate the scholarships and exhibitions our boys have been awarded so far this year in music, design and technology, sport and academia and it is heart-warming to witness the pride that the boys take in the achievements of their peers.
We have had a concerted ‘push’ this term on the importance of listening and reading. Both are fundamental to a happy school and both need to be highly valued. Listening is not the same as hearing, as hearing refers to the sounds that you hear, whereas
listening requires more than that: it requires focus. Likewise, reading requires concentration and time, and it was tremendous to witness boys who perhaps were somewhat ‘reluctant readers’ getting stuck into a book and loving it.
There have been many highlights of the term – the Speeches Competition, the Spring Concert, the IIIs’ performance of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, every rugby team in the Fours remaining unbeaten, as well as Sets Football and Mastermind… I could go on.
There is a happy atmosphere around the school which enables the boys to thrive – a big thank you to one and all who work to make Ludgrove such a special place and well done to the boys for all they have achieved.
The Easter term kicked off a new year at Ludgrove with an action packed calendar of new events, old favourites, sporting fixtures and charity challenges to keep everyone occupied and entertained, whatever their interests. Here is just a taster of what the boys and staff have enjoyed over the past 12 weeks.
What a show! A packed audience was treated to the IIIs’ ‘truly scrumptious’ performance of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. It was a magical night with outstanding acting, singing, dancing and even a flying car! The packed house of families, staff and boys enjoyed it so much they demanded an encore - bravo the IIIs!
One day wasn’t enough for World Book Day at Ludgrove, so the School marked the day with a number of events.
To kick off the School’s week of activities for World Book Day, the School welcomed Jack Meggitt-Phillips (and purple parrot Patrick). The world-famous children’s author ran a creative writing workshop, gave an excerpt from his book, Beast and the Bethany, and then answered the boys’ questions and signed their books. Fantastic fun and great inspiration for any budding authors!
For one day only on the day itself, the classrooms were taken over by children’s book characters. The boys loved having Harry Potter, Oompah Lompahs, Tigger and Paddington (to name but a few) teaching them and celebrating a love of reading. Mr Barber joined in the fun by dressing up as Sherlock Holmes.
Finally, well done to all the boys who completed the 20 minutes a day reading challenge. Mrs Bidgood rewarded these bookworms with treats at Fruit Break. The drive was replaced with a fun Extreme Reading challenge in the holidays, so keep reading boys!
Ludgrove hosted the Inter-Schools Cross Country Relays event with teams from Caldicott, Elstree, Hall Grove, Papplewick, Sunningdale and Summer Fields taking part. Although the weather was cold, the spectators were treated to some scorching races (and warmed up with hot chocolate!). The runners all showed incredible team spirit, with special mention to U9s who came 1st, and the Junior and Senior ‘A’ teams who both placed 2nd.
The U11 and U10 runners stormed round the Cross Country course at The Oratory School on 2nd March to lift the team trophies for each age group.
Competing against runners from eight other schools, Ludgrove is incredibly proud of our boys’ team performances.
Congratulations to the eight Ludgrove boys who competed against hundreds of runners in the National Prep School Cross Country Championships at Malvern College on 5th March. The Juniors (Arlo, Arthur, Freddie and Merlin) came 19th and the Seniors (Archie, Ludo, Tintin and Will) came 16th with outstanding performances by captains Arlo and Tintin. Well done boys, you did yourselves proud.
Junior and Senior Inter-Set Cross served up an exciting afternoon racing at Ludgrove School.
Juniors (VIs and IVs) were first up and produced and epic battle to snatch silver bronze. After Arlo had claimed 1st George and Merlin gave it their all the home straight and finished in a heat for 2nd place.
the starting line were the Seniors and Is) and for a second year in a
row, Tintin crossed the finish line to claim 1st place, with Will and Henry following as 2nd and 3rd.
With a huge crowd of spectators cheering them on, all the boys dug deep to complete the course and win points for their Set.
Once all the points were totted up the results were: Juniors won by Kitchener; Seniors won by Drake; and Nelson was the overall winner.
This year’s theme for Children’s Mental Health Week was ‘Let’s Connect’ and Ludgrove took the opportunity to incorporate the theme through the five Year Groups.
One such exercise was seen in Year 4 when the VIs proudly display their ‘lightbulbs’ incorporating all the lovely adjectives their classmates wrote about them. A great exercise for our youngest boys to feel connected and appreciated in their own unique way.
As the week drew to a close, the boys and staff were asked to write down their encouraging thoughts and fill up the ‘Cup of Kindness’ displayed in the Games Room. One that summed up Ludgrove Life perfectly is “be kind to everyone”. Wise words from young minds.
Mr Parker has pressed the green button for go and launched the Green Team at Ludgrove. The group of eager eco warriors joined Mr Parker, Mr Evans and Estates Manager Mr Heppolette to discuss what measures can be taken to help reduce the School’s energy consumption and move towards Net Zero.
With some great ideas under its belt, the group’s first tasks are to reduce Ludgrove’s energy use by 5% and cut back on food wastage at meal times. We will report back on how the initiative is going in the Summer term.
The boys showed incredible concentration when they took to the stage to compete in the Sets General Knowledge final in the Theatre. There was great participation from all teams and support from the audience as the final placings were announced with Nelson coming out on top followed by Drake, Wellington, Kitchener, Jellicoe and Haig.
Congratulations to Mr Western-Kaye and the U10A team who remain undefeated at the end their second rugby term. Well done also to the other U10 teams who completed this season without losing a match.
James Shone, from ‘I Can And I Am’, kicked off the term’s series of special guest speakers. Mr Shone shared with the boys his inspirational life-story which he uses to teach young people how to navigate challenges when they encounter set backs and anxiety. His was an extraordinarily honest and inspirational talk that has given our boys tools for life.
Over 100 musicians played to a full house of families and boys at the Spring Concert, Ludgrove's first musical offering of the year. The programme had something for all types of music lovers from the brass band to string ensemble, choirs to soloists and not forgetting the drums and a rock duo. After the rapturous applause subsided, Mr Barber praised all the boys involved for their talent and the courage shown to perform on stage.
Following the success of last year’s Parents’ Drink Party at The Bluebird, Chelsea, we are excited to be doing it all again! Please put Thursday 15th June 2023 in your diary - invitations to follow at the start of the Summer term.
What a term the Top Year has enjoyed with an unprecedented number of boys being recognised as an outstanding candidate by their future senior schools. Here are the five boys who received news of a Scholarship or Exhibition Award this term.
Congratulations to Ethan who has received a Music Exhibition to Eton College.
Since being at the School, this talented Year 8 musician has entertained us in numerous concerts and recitals playing either the violin or piano.
We know he will be a great asset to the Music Department at Eton and look forward to seeing him on stage there.
Well done to Henry who has been awarded a Sports (Swimming) Scholarship to Harrow School.
The award is very well deserved for Henry who has been a leading light in the pool and on the rugby pitch at Ludgrove. His sporting prowess was matched by his leadership skills in helping the younger members of the Swim Squad.
We are delighted to announce that Ivan has been awarded a Music Exhibition to Winchester College.
Having watched Ivan’s talents grow over his years at Ludgrove, the School is thrilled his potential has been recognised.
We look forward to seeing how this violinist flourishes at a school with such an outstanding musical reputation.
This term’s Award holders (above) join William and Arjan from last term. This brings the total to seven Award recipients so far this year, a record equal to that achieved in 2009!
The boys gave George a huge cheer when it was announced he had passed his violin ARSM (Associate of the Royal Schools of Music) Diploma with Distinction. This is the first time a boy has reached this level at Ludgrove and he is only in the IIs (Year 7)! George also has his Grade 8 in piano so maybe that Diploma is next on his hit list of achievements. Well done.
The whole School celebrated the “joy when hard work brings success” when it was announced Matthew had won an Academic Scholarship to Oundle School.
Not only is he gifted academically, he also enjoys life on the rugby pitch and is a part of the String Ensemble. There is no doubt he will be a stellar pupil at Oundle both inside and outside the classroom
We are proud to announce that William has been awarded a Design Technology Exhibition to Bryanston School.
Our Head Carpenter has worked hard to hone his skills, spending many hours in the workshop and producing some outstanding pieces for his portfolio.
We’re sure his creative skills will continue to develop at Bryanston.
Congratulations to Bear and Alex (top left) on becoming the U12 National Fives champions beating Sunningdale in a hard fought final.
The U13s team also enjoyed success in the Prep School Fives competition at Harrow when Arjan and William (top right) won the Jeremy Marston Salver. Well done to all the teams.
(www.henryvanstraubenzeemf.org.uk
Back in October 2022, Mr SmithBingham ran his first London Marathon with the hope he could raise £2,500 for the Henry Van Straubenzee Memorial Fund, a charity close to the School’s heart.
Little did he know then that he would garner such support from the generous Ludgrove community that he would smash this target to achieve more than he could have dreamed.
Fast forward six months and Mr Smith-Bingham’s momentous final total of £6,782 has funded a borehole to produce fresh water for the children at Kifuyo Primary School in Uganda.
Ludgrove’s kind-hearted staff have once again gone the extra mile to support a deserving cause. In February, the Hawkeye’s Harriers runners successfully completed the Winter London Run and raised over £5,000 for Cancer Research UK along the way! Well done to Mr Buckner, Mr and Mrs French, Mrs Musson, Mr O’Conor, Mr Parker, Mr Smith-Bingham, Mr Smyth, and Mrs Wilson.
The cold Winter months were brightened by the exciting news of Mr Western-Kaye’s engagement to his partner Miss Butler. The School community congratulates the happy couple and wishes them many years of wedded bliss. Now all Mr W-K needs to do is choose a Best Man from his Div!
Having received updates while work was been undertaken, we are delighted to share the photo (left) showing that not only has work been completed but children are now able to pump clean, fresh water from their very own supply.
Thank you to everyone who donated to this incredible cause and well done to Mr SmithBingham - what a reward for your sterling fund raising efforts!
The start of the Easter term saw the School welcome a new clutch of Gappers, four from Australia and one OL. The boys were excited to meet Mr Arnold, OL Mr Edwards, Mr Lazarus, Miss Tobin, and Miss Borg.
Sadly, Mr Edwards and Mr Lazarus were only able to stay one term so we will be welcoming two new members of the team in the Summer.
We love seeing the boys’ families supporting them from the sidelines and this term we’ve had a mix of younger siblings (Ludo served as a very lucky ‘mascot’) and older brother OLs giving them the benefit of their experience!
OLs from the Class of 2022 have had a very successful sporting Easter term.
Etonians Henry and Oscar made it to the finals of the National Fives competition, with Graham and Mischa appearing in the semis and quarters.
Moving on to rugby, OLs Henry, Gabriel and Willoughby, representing Eton and Sherborne, met pitchside at the Rosslyn Park National Schools 7s.
So proud to see these young men continuing their Ludgrove sporting legacy
Mr Barber thoroughly enjoyed the Prep School Heads Conference at Radley College especially as he was also able to catch up with many OLs including these ‘senior men’ Benedict and Max. As Mr Barber says: “Once a Ludgrovian, always a Ludgrovian!”
After a very competitive staff v fathers 9-a-side football match at Ludgrove, the staff team pipped the opposition at the post with a 6-4 win to take the Charlie Marshall trophy. All rivalry put aside, the players celebrated/commiserated afterwards with an evening get together.
