Dear Parents,

I hope you all had a restful break and that the boys are looking forward to the new term. 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
Two Year 8 boys sat entrance examinations to a number of London day schools last term and I am delighted to report that they both performed superbly in the examinations and were in the happy position of having a choice of senior schools. Many congratulations to the following boys:
Toby Morrison :  Whitgift
Oles Morris :  Emanuel (also awarded a music scholarship by Royal Russell School)

Senior Play: “Macbeth”
An abridged version of “Macbeth” was performed by boys from Years 7 and 8 at the end of March. It was a brave choice of play and the boys rose to the challenge manfully. There were some excellent performances and, in particular, we congratulate Milo Osborne-Young (Banquo) and Charlie Broad (Lady Macbeth) who were awarded Drama Prizes in Final Assembly. Many thanks to the boys who made up a highly efficient technical team and Miss Allen who offered invaluable help with the props and backdrop. To Mr Rixham we say “Bravo!” for having the courage to offer the boys the chance to tackle serious drama in their Prep School years.

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. Young Art is now the largest annual exhibition of its kind in London where young artists have the opportunity to exhibit their work at one of the UK’s most prestigious venues. The following eight boys are to be congratulated on having their work selected to be exhibited at the Royal College in May:
Peter Gilbey (4AW), Ben Walsh (4KF), Aman Shirgaokar (4KF), Pedro Azagra (5JL), Henry Darell-Brown (5JL), Mikhail Fedotov (7KJ), Philip Kaddaj (7KJ) and Max Lieberman (7KJ).

Final Assembly
At Final Assembly prizes were awarded to the following boys:

Form Prize		Form		Effort Prize
Jonathan Moeller-Schwartz		4KF		George Wrather
Ron Hentze		4AW		Jude Burton
Victor Wong		5NM		Edward Richards
Henri Dubois		5JL		Charlie Allison
Rory Muirhead		6CL		William Richards
Joe Morrison		6FN		Julian Hoyle
Nicolas Gardner		7SA		Tom Stewart-Smith
Zed Wakefield		7KJ		Guy German
David Heriot		8FL		Charlie Davies
Milo Osborne-Young		8AW		Thomas Westlake

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

Year 4 Industry Cup	:	Barend Donkersloot
Year 5 Quaich	:	Gulliver Woods
Year 6 Discipilo Egregio	:	Benedict Griffin
Year 7 Greenwood Cup	:	Nikita Gurbatov
Year 8 Headmaster’s Cup	:	Casper Woods
Good Show Cup	:	Kulraj Soor

Many congratulations to all those listed above.

House Music Competition
After the House Singing competition in February, we enjoyed the second part of the House Music Competition in March – for House Ensembles 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 Hugh Spaughton (piano), Tom Klafkowski (singing) and James Tamlyn (cello). The winning House Choir was Balmoral and Windsor’s Ensemble was victorious, with the overall prize going to Arundel.

Many congratulations to Arundel and well done to all who took part from all four Houses. Particular thanks must go to Mrs Newbery and Mr Freer who masterminded everything so efficiently.

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

Senior Team

Nicholas Hamber (top scorer), Charlie Broad, Oliver Vincent, James Tamlyn and James Maidment.

Junior Team
Rory Muirhead (top scorer), William Richards, Gaspard Baroudel, Luke Player and Oliver Gordon-Brown.

Sports Round-Up
The cross-country races in March brought bright sunshine and excellent support from parents as the boys raced around Clapham Common. Oliver Fox won the senior event in a new school record, with Gaspard Baroudel in 2nd place and James Sloan 3rd. Sam Smith won the junior event, with Kit Bellman in 2nd and Christopher Sloan 3rd. The rugby and hockey matches were keenly contested throughout the term, with victories hard to come by for some of the teams, but notable rugby successes were chalked up by the 1st XV against St Philip’s (31-5) and the under-9s against Ibstock Place (10-0) and James Tamlyn was awarded the Rugby Excellence Cup.

House Chess Competition
The House Chess competition came to an end in March and we congratulate our overall winner, Nikita Gurbatov (7SA), who retained his title for the fourth time, and the year group winners – Jasper Sodha (Year 4), Oliver Gordon-Brown (Year 5), Max de la Guerra (Year 6) and Alexander Spencer (Year 8).

Staff News
We welcome Mrs Louise Nickalls to the staff this term. She has joined us from Prospect House School and will be teaching maths within the Learning Enrichment department and will also teach science in the Prep School from September.

I am sure parents and boys will be keen to congratulate Miss Worthington who got married on 31st March and will now be known as Mrs Hardwick.

Summer Term Events
I trust your son has brought home the new Summer Term calendar for you. I expect you will be highlighting a number of key dates, but I would like to draw your attention to a few events:

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 5 to Osmington Bay in Dorset). 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.

The Year 4 boys will be performing “Wind in the Willows” in the Theatre on Thursday 10th May at 6.00 pm. I hope you can be there to support them and I look forward to seeing you all then.

Please note that the Charity Quiz Night takes place on Friday 25th May at 7.00 pm in the Theatre – an occasion when parents and staff can get together and have a bit of fun, whilst raising money for Trinity Hospice. Tickets can be reserved through Jane Doxford and I do hope you will be able to come along.

I hope that the boys have a happy, successful term and that the weather improves very soon!

Best wishes,
Jeremy Edwards