Dear Parents,

I hope you all had a restful break and that the boys are looking forward to the new term. The theatre was safely demolished over the holiday and school is open and functioning normally. The building team will be working behind protective screens and they have a separate entry point from the pupils (the path from Wix’s Lane, behind the Girls’ School), so I can reassure you that the pupils’ education will be almost completely unaffected by the works. Assemblies, productions and concerts will take place in the Sports Hall for the next four terms.

Much went on at school in the second half of the Spring Term and I share with you some of the boys’ splendid achievements from February and March.

13+ London Day School Entrance Examinations

A group of Year 8 boys sat entrance examinations to a number of London day schools last term and I am delighted to report that they all performed superbly in the examinations. Many congratulations to the following boys who will be heading to the following schools in September:

Although Anthony Bennett is down for St Paul’s, we must also congratulate him on being awarded an Academic Scholarship by Dulwich.

Young Art Competition

Once again the boys have worked hard on their entries for the annual Young Art competition organised by the Royal College of Art. The following seven boys are to be congratulated on having their work selected to be exhibited at the Royal College later in the year:
Alexander Senior (4AH), Zach Daeschner-Dawson (4LM), Magnus Ellingsen (5JL), Tom Hill (5JL), Alimorad Marandi (6CL), William Richards (7AS) and Kunaal Hireker (8AW).

Primary Maths Olympiad

Theo Chevis, Daniel Kaddaj and Edward Richards (all Year 6) performed brilliantly in the Primary Maths Challenge earlier in the year and were invited to compete in the Primary Maths Olympiad in February. They were part of a very select group of primary-age children in the UK who have a particular gift for mathematics and they again acquitted themselves extremely well in this most challenging of tests. Well done to all three boys.

Year 4 Play : “Puss in Boots”

The Year 4 boys staged a glorious production of “Puss in Boots” in early March. The boys had all worked extremely hard at rehearsals during the term and they gave us a real treat. There were exceptional performances from the leading actors, with Wilf Inglis and Gabriel Levesque sharing the central role of Puss and both boys excelling. The whole cast performed brilliantly and it was a very difficult decision to choose just one boy to receive the Junior Drama Cup, but Bertie Gosling was selected for his confident, stylish performance as the King. Many congratulations to all the boys and to the talented directorial team of Mrs Hardwick, Miss Ferguson and Miss Mackie, with tremendous support from Mrs Freer as Musical Director. To get all 49 boys on stage was a logistical challenge in itself, but it was a really splendid evening. Bravo!

Senior Play: “A Gallop Through History”

A light-hearted look at some major historical events, “A Gallop Through History” was performed by boys from Years 7 and 8 at the end of March. They rehearsed after school for eight weeks and gave us a fast-paced production, full of humour and some unusual insights into history! It was great fun and we offer congratulations to all the cast on their excellent performances. Well done to Gaspard Baroudel on being awarded the Drama Prize in Final Assembly and many thanks to Mr Rixham, as ever, for all his hard work last term.

House Music Competition

After the House Singing competition in February, we enjoyed the second part of the House Music Competition in March – for House Bands as well as individual performers – which provided a fantastically varied repertoire for an appreciative audience of parents and family members. The individual winners of the different sections were Anthony Bennett (piano), Henry Darell-Brown (singing) and Theo Julin (violin). The winning House Band was Balmoral, with the overall prize also going to Balmoral. Many congratulations to all who took part from all four Houses. Particular thanks must go to Mrs Freer who masterminded everything so efficiently.

Public Speaking Competition

The senior finals (Years 7 & 8 ) of the Public Speaking Competition took place at the beginning of March and the finalists performed with great panache. The following were selected as winners of their respective year groups: Kulraj Soor (Year 7) and Kunaal Hireker (Year 8 ).

House Chess Competition

The House Chess competition came to an end in March and we congratulate our overall winner, Oliver Vincent, but we offer commiserations to our former champion, Nikita Gurbatov, who was very unwell in the last few weeks of term and was unable to defend his trophy.

Visiting Author : Damian Dibben

As part of our World Book Day celebrations we were delighted to hear from Damian Dibben,
author of “The History Keepers” series. The boys were enthralled by his insights into being a
novelist and gripped by his reading of extracts from his first two books.

General Knowledge Challenge

Our junior and senior teams acquitted themselves very well in the national Satips General Knowledge Challenge last term. Rory Muirhead was awarded the General Knowledge Cup in Final Assembly and we offer congratulations to the five scoring members of both teams:

Senior Team : Rory Muirhead (top scorer), Oliver Vincent, Freddy Campbell-Gray, Nicolas Gardner and Luke Player.

Junior Team : Tom Klafkowski (top scorer), Oscar Muirhead, Oliver Gordon-Brown, Sebastian Clarke and Oliver Lewey.

Sports Round-Up

The cross-country races in March brought bright sunshine and excellent support from parents as the boys raced around Clapham Common. Gaspard Baroudel won the senior event, with Zakariya Gaunt in 2nd place and Jack Hunter-Lees 3rd. Sam Smith was the highest-placed Year 6 boy, in 8th place overall. Max Eastwood won the junior event, with Ben Walsh in 2nd and Tom Hill 3rd. Lucas Jones was the highest-placed Year 4 boy, in 5th place overall.

The rugby and hockey matches were badly affected by the rainy weather last term, but notable rugby successes were chalked up by the under-9s against Thomas’s and Oakfield, the under-10s against Oliver House, the Hall and Harrodian, the under-11s against St Philip’s and 1st XV against Northcote Lodge (12 – 0). Oliver Vincent was awarded the Rugby Excellence Cup in Final Assembly.

Final Assembly

At Final Assembly prizes were awarded to the following boys:

The following cups were awarded to pupils who made a positive contribution in all areas of school life last term:

Many congratulations to all those listed above.

Staff News

I am sure you will want to join me in congratulating Mrs Louise Nickalls (and her husband) on the news that she is expecting her first child in October.

Summer Term Events

I trust your son has brought home the new Summer Term calendar for you; please highlight the key dates that affect you and your son.

I wish the best of luck to the Year 8 boys doing their Common Entrance “mock” examinations next week.

I say “Bon Voyage” to the boys heading off on residential trips next week (Year 6 to France and Year 7 to Flatford Mill) and to the Year 5 boys who are travelling to Osmington Bay in Dorset on 29th April. As well as being great fun, these trips are so important in developing the boys’ collaborative skills and teaching them how to work and live together harmoniously. My thanks, as ever, go out to the organising members of staff.

I hope that the boys have a happy, successful term and that the sun shines throughout the summer months!

Best wishes,

Jeremy Edwards