School

As another year passes, it is quite amazing to reflect on the depth and breadth of experience and success during another year in School House. As ever, the House has provided plenty of opportunity for pupils to thrive beyond the classroom and it has been a privilege in watching so many pupils wear the maroon of School House with pride!

“It has been a privilege in watching so many pupils wear the maroon of School House with pride!”

In classroom settings, both the Senior and Junior Challenge teams reached the semi-finals of their respective competitions, with some outstanding general knowledge on display along the way. Whilst the Junior Debaters couldn’t progress further than the group stages, Will Brown won plaudits for Best Speaker in the opening stages. Jamie Dunsmore, Mathis Piquot and Tom Uren led the seniors who swept all before them in the group stages before bowing out against Temple at the semi-final stage. On stage, Wannabe by The Spice Girls was the choice for House Sing and with Mathis Piquiot conducting, rehearsals went well and we managed to blend a perfect concoction of rhythm, melody and actions. Indeed we felt confident going into the event itself but alas, once again, the judges did not place us in the top three (we were clearly fourth) but this wonderful event was great at ensuring the whole House unites together towards a common goal.

On the sporting front this has been an incredibly successful year, starting with cross-country and particular praise going to Tierney Walsh who lead us home to win the Junior Girls event whilst Maddy Bennison and Ellie Spencer both finished in the top five and led us to win the Senior Girls event: what a start to the year! Sporting success continued throughout the year, firstly on the squash courts where the trio of Ellie Spencer, Amelia Blackburn and Hannah Aubrey gathered momentum throughout the Inter-House competition and successfully defeated The Rise in the final, whilst we had to settle for semi-finalists of House Badminton. After a narrow defeat in last year’s final, the girls took to the hockey pitches determined to go one better and with Fifth Formers LucyMay Robinson and Hannah Aubrey leading the goal-scoring threat, a 2-0 win over Clifton in the final saw us become House Hockey Champions 2018. Meanwhile over on the rugby pitches, the Senior Boys led by Upper Sixth Formers Tom Hatfield and Zak Darbandi saw us through to an impressive semi-final stage with a young and talented team missing a few key personnel through injury. Fourth and Third Form girls joined forces to finish in fourth place in the junior netball whilst the seniors, led by Millie Redshaw and Amelia Blackburn managed to go one better and edged a tight final to become House Netball Champions 2018. The Lower Sixth Form footballers qualified with style from the group stages of the House Football League, with the silky skills of Luke Race and Ewan Findlay, allied to the goal-scoring threat from Tom Robins, proving too much for the other teams. Despite taking the lead in the final, we lost out to a strong Temple team and finished as runners-up. The year

ended in some fine style at Sports Day and whilst individual praise went to the winners of various events, there actually weren’t too many maroon tops at the very top of the podiums! However, what we did see were many second and third placed finishes, with many individuals recording personal bests and simply giving their all for the good of the team. The event culminated in our outstanding relay teams anchoring us home and as the results were announced... Mr Ben White

Girls Winners: School House Boys Winners: School House

“Well done to everyone for their efforts and achievements across 2018/19.”

I can think of no better evidence of the whole (team) being greater than the sum of its parts - well done to all involved!

With all of the successes over the year, the real value has been to see pupils of all abilities pulling on their maroon shirts with pride and working together for a common cause - well done to everyone for their efforts and achievements across 2018/19. At our final House Assembly, we took the opportunity to thank our outstanding team of tutors and to pay compliment to Mrs Lawrence and Mrs Greenhalgh’s fine work in School House. To Mandy and Fay who keep the common rooms so clean and tidy, the pupils owe great thanks as well and we passed on our very best wishes to our Upper Sixth Form leavers who we will miss dearly. Mathis and Hannah have led the House superbly and as we say goodbye to such a strong year group, it is reassuring to know the future of School House is in good hands: roll on September!