Private School News

Caterham School U12 Lacrosse XII are Joint Winners of Surrey Championship

On Thursday 12 March the Under 12 Surrey Lacrosse Tournament was held at St Catherine’s School.

The Caterham School U12A XII was in impressive form. They were undefeated in their pool matches and qualified for a semi-final encounter with Guildford High School. They performed superbly to achieve a rare victory over our old rivals, winning 2-1. In the final, they played St Catherine’s in an evenly fought game. At full time the score was 1-1 and the game went to ‘golden goal’ overtime. After three time periods, a ‘stale-mate’ was declared and both teams were declared joint champions.

The Caterham School U12B XII also played well to finish 3rd in their section.

Headmaster Julian Thomas said: ‘’ This was an excellent performance by the team as they had to play very strong competition. They played with considerable skill and determination. I was particularly pleased that they were able to maintain their focus during extra time.’’

PHOTO:
Caterham School U12A Lacrosse XII Squad

Medals galore at Bow, Durham School

Following on from the successes of the Bow, Durham School U11 rugby squad, who finished runners up in the Terrington School 7‘s Tournament and the U9 football team’s triumphant win at the Woodleigh Tournament, comes the win at the HMC North Eastern Division U11 7-a-side Football Tournament on Thursday 5 March 2009.

16 teams entered this prestigious tournament held at Hymers College, Hull. This was an unknown situation for the boys from Bow, Durham School who had never entered a tournament of this size, or played against such large schools, previously. The format was 4 groups of 4 teams with the top 2 moving forward into the Cup competition which in turn was 2 groups of 4 teams. At the end of these group games the winners of each group would contest the final.

Bow got off to a flying start in their qualifying group beating Barlborough 2-1, with both goals coming from Daniel Marsh, and then toppling the mighty Leeds GS with a Jed Howey shot from long range. Their last game saw a little hiccup as they lost by a solitary goal to Silicoates leaving them runners up in the group.

The main Cup group started with a hard fought goalless draw with RGS Newcastle before further Daniel Marsh goals saw great 1-0 victories against Birkdale and Hymers. This was enough to send us into the final against Yarm. At the end of a pulsating match, which could have gone either way, neither side was able to break the deadlock and the game ended goalless. With both sides exhausted the organisers felt it only right that the trophy be shared by both schools. This was an outstanding achievement by the boys from Bow, Durham School. The squad was James Elliot(captain), James Holmes, Alasdair Denby, Jed Howey, Luke Henderson, Daniel Marsh, James Ward, Ben Langthorne and Will Rogers.

SLINDON COLLEGE – STAR PERFORMANCE AT THE INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS MUSICAL EXTRAVAGANZA

Ashleigh Blackledge from Bognor Regis, a Year 11 pupil at Slindon College performed at the inaugural Annual Musical Extravaganza organised by the Independent Schools Association at Fairfield Halls in Croydon last week.
Over 500 young people from Independent Schools in London and the Home Counties performed to a full house of 1600 people. The music included various solos, classical choirs and a Beatles Medley.
Ashleigh, a very talented pianist, played two solo piano pieces and received a standing ovation from the assembled audience. Ian Graham, Chairman of the Independent Schools Association and Headmaster of Slindon College said “This was a most inspiring evening and as Chairman of the ISA I was particularly proud that a member of my school was invited to participate. Ashleigh is an outstanding musician and I am sure he will enjoy a very successful musical career in future years.”

British Schoolgirls’ Ski Races – Flaine 2009

Katy Neilson and Lauren Morton (L6) and Abigail Murphy (Y10) having been selected to represent the school, attended race training sessions prior to the competition at Bowles, Tunbridge Wells.

Unfortunately injury was to hit the team, with Lauren sustaining an injury in the week leading up to the competition. Then Katy fell in race training in resort, and spent the rest of her time on crutches! Abigail remained stalwart throughout, and represented Woldingham with great determination and competence.

The competition consisted of three slalom disciplines: Giant Slalom, Parallel Slalom and Slalom over two days. As Woldingham could no longer compete as a team, as three skiers had to compete, it was left to Abigail to get the results! She had two good descents in the Giant Slalom and was placed 98th out of 121 skiers. In her age group Abigail was actually 35th out of 52.

In the Parallel Slalom, which was a knockout team event, Abigail competed in the St Mary’s , Calne team, as they were a skier down. It was exciting to watch and looked great fun to compete in. In the final day’s competition, the Slalom, the course was complex with many banana gates! Weather conditions did not favour all skiers and Abigail had to make her first descent in fog!

She managed a very good second descent, but as she had not completed the first run down, she could not be given an overall time, or be placed. Both Katy and Abigail gained much from their race experience, and the school looks forward to next year’s competition, more race training and no injuries!

Prior Park Production of Oklahoma!

Over sixty Prior Park students auditioned for the production of Oklahoma!, with the successful young actors now keen to out-perform all other Prior Spring musicals. Richard Wells, director commented: “We have had some fantastic productions over the years and Oklahoma!, with its familiar, rousing songs, will engage and enthral our audiences this week. Four evening performances and a matinee for other schools on Thursday have been planned. This requires tremendous effort from our young stars, coupled with their normal school day”. He added “It is a wonderful family musical treat and three nights are already sold out”. The show includes songs such as the opener ‘Oh What a Beautiful Mornin’, followed by ‘The Surrey with the Fringe on Top’, ‘People Will Say We’re in Love’, ‘Many a New Day’, ‘I Cain’t Say No’ and the final rousing chorus of ‘Oklahoma’.

Oklahoma! broke all Broadway box office records when it opened in 1943 and changed stage musicals by telling an emotional story through music, lyrics and dance as never before. It was the first collaboration between the legendary team, Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is set in the American West’s Indian territory, in the early 1900s, against a background of conflict between farmers and cattlemen. The tale is of Laurey and the two rivals for her affections: Curly (a cowboy) and Jud (the hired farmhand).

England Netball at St. Mary’s.

Karen Atkinson, a member of the England Netball team since 1997 and currently co-captain with 92 caps, held an intensive two hour training session at St. Mary’s School, Gerrards Cross this month.

Nineteen senior girls from nine different local schools took part (Holmer Green School, Burnham Grammar School, Chesham High School, The Amersham School, The Misbourne School, Dr. Challoner’s High School, Beaconsfield High School, Chalfonts Community College and St. Mary’s School). Karen taught them some new tactics and skills, mainly on the defence side and gave them tips on how to improve their play. The girls all learned a great deal from the session and thoroughly enjoyed it. Karen is based in Marlow but has travelled around the world playing netball in several Commonwealth Games and World Championships.

Photo: girls with Karen Atkinson (centre back row)

A Very Hungry Caterpillar Party in Worcester

Springfield – Britannia Square – has joined libraries, schools and bookshops around the world to celebrate a special day for a very special character.

Today marks a ‘Very Hungry Caterpillar Day’ and a 40th Anniversary celebration that will touch everyone who has ever read the much-loved classic.

The Foundation Stages at Worcester’s leading city based preparatory school had decided to mark the day with a costume Caterpillar and Butterfly Party and the delight of the boys and girls was clear to see as they ate their way through the caterpillar’s sweet and savoury menu – with the exception of Sunday’s nice green leaf.

“It was a fantastic event that every pupil and member of staff enjoyed,” commented Marion Lloyd, Headmistress of Springfield.

“The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a classic that everyone remembers with fondness. Its vivid illustrations and easy to read words make it a perfect reading companion for any Early Years child.”

Kilgraston Hosts String Orchestra Day

Leading independent Perthshire school, Kilgraston hosted their first Prep Schools’ String Orchestra Day on Friday 13th March 2009. In total over 37 young musicians under the age of 13 from six preparatory schools across Scotland will be joining staff and other pupils from Kilgraston at the event which is being led by the Kilgraston’s Musicians in Residence, the Alba Quartet, one of Scotland’s leading string ensembles. The students will participate in a day-long series of rehearsals and other fun activities concluding with a concert in front of parents and other invited guests in the school’s chapel.

Kilgraston Director of Music, Andrew Jenkins said, “This is a very exciting initiative for the school and I am delighted that so many Prep Schools are taking part. Kilgraston has a long tradition of excellence in music and we are looking forward with great enthusiasm to working with so many pupils from other schools. I am particularly pleased that the Alba Quartet are also involved in the initiative; they are a young and vibrant Scottish based ensemble, all graduates of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow and the Royal College of Music in London. I know that they too are excited at working with the children helping them to develop their musical skills.”

Pupils from Ralph Sadleir get the measure of Wallace & Gromit

A team of four prep children from Ralph Sadleir walked away with the Haileybury Prep Schools Science Challenge trophy last Thursday.

Seventeen prep schools in all took part. As well as the overall title, there were also three individual section winners, with Brambletye winning the Biology section, Kingshott the Chemistry section and Loyola Prep the Physics section.

Wallace & Gromit was the theme of the day, and different activities in each of the sciences were devised by Haileybury’s science teachers. For Physics, the children had to construct a tower as tall as possible out of uncooked pasta to support a were-rabbit. The Biology section involved testing various foods such as the Wensleydale cheese so prominent in the film, while in Chemistry, the teams had to analyse soil samples to advise the gardeners which vegetable to grow in which soil.

Congratulations to all those schools who competed in the Challenge:

- Beechwood Park
- Brambletye
- Duncombe School
- Hilden Oaks
- Kingshott
- Lochinver House
- Lockers Park
- Loyola Prep
- Orley Farm
- Orwell Park
- Rickmansworth PNEU
- St Hilda’s, Bushey
- St John’s, Northwood
- St Joseph’s In The Park
- The Beacon
- The Ralph Sadleir Middle School
- Westbrook Hay

Triple triumph as Bilton Grange Hockey teams crowned Warwickshire County Champions

Boys Under-13 & Under-11 teams and Girls Under-13 team triumph

Beating off strong competition from across Warwickshire, three teams from Bilton Grange have risen to the top of their game to become county champions.

Last Sunday, 15th March saw a nerve wracking final for the Bilton Grange under-13 girls’ team, in the County 7-a-side hockey tournament held at Warwick School. In a hard fought match against the stiff opposition of King’s High School Warwick, great defending on both sides meant a deadlock of 0-0, and so the title had to be decided by ‘sudden death’ penalty flicks. After this nail-biting finish, Bilton Grange U13 girls emerged victorious and were given the County title.

A week earlier, the boys had seen similar success with both the U-13 and U-11 winning their respective matches to be crowned Warwickshire County Champions. Played at Warwick School on a wet and windy day, the competition saw the counties’ best hockey clubs and schools enter to try and win the prize of representing Warwickshire in the next round at the Midlands competition.

The U-11 boys beat the likes of Coventry and Warwick North Hockey Club and Solihull School to face Sutton Coldfield Hockey Club in the final. The team captain, Andrew Carr scored the winning goal in the final few minutes, taking the school on to the title. The U-13 boys, after beating Rugby & East Warwickshire Hockey Club 2-0 in the semi-final, had an equally tense final, beating Sutton Coldfield by one goal to take the winners’ pennant.

Both boys’ teams will now go on to represent Warwickshire in the regional competition on 26th April at Nottingham Highfields Sports Centre.

Mark Tovey, Head of Hockey at Bilton Grange, commented;
“We are all thrilled with our recent county successes amongst the boys’ and girls’ hockey teams. They have worked incredibly hard this term, and the finals saw them play some of their finest hockey. Despite nerve wracking finals, and stiff opposition, all the teams kept their cool and put in a great team effort – well done!”

Planetarium comes to Bilton Grange

Pupils at Bilton Grange School in Dunchurch have been seeing stars this week as the AstraZeneca Stardome came to the school, as part of National Science and Engineering Week. The inflatable planetarium recreates a perfectly dark night sky with hundreds of brilliant points of light creating star constellations, projected into their positions in the night sky on to the ceiling of the dome, which had taken over one of the school’s squash courts.

With stars in their eyes, and in the darkness of the dome, the children at Bilton Grange enjoyed state of the art animations and the latest images from space missions, as well as watching projectors join the ‘dots’ of the stars to illustrate the constellations of the night sky. From learning about the life of stars to the ancient myths about the stars, Bilton Grange pupils of all ages have been able to experience the Stardome.

Turtles, Twits and Trunchbulls

The highlight of Book Week for pupils at the Royal Alexandra and Albert School was on Friday 6th March when they came to school in fancy dress. There were many strange and wonderful outfits as pupils arrived dressed as characters from the Roald Dahl books they have been reading in school.

The children were greeted as they arrived at school by Oompa Loompas. These white suited, green haired, blue handed characters were their teachers who had also come to school in fancy dress.

There was a prize for the best fancy dress in each class and the winners were; Emily Morgan (age 10), Joshua Stafford (age 8), Josh Porter (age 10), Sam Creech (age 9), Amber Lewis (age 10) and Jacob Kelly (age 8).

Headmaster Paul Spencer Ellis said “Book week has captured the imagination of pupils and this is demonstrated by the wonderful outfits that bear such close resemblance to the characters in the Roald Dahl books.”

Open Days 2009

CANBURY SCHOOL

“An individual approach to success”

We are a small friendly independent secondary day school for boys and girls in school years 7 to 11.
Most pupils in year 11 aim to take nine GCSE subjects.
We offer an exceptionally high level of individual care and tuition to all pupils in small classes of no more than 16.

Canbury School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.

OPEN DAYS
TUESDAY 5th MAY 2009
2.00 – 3.30pm

WEDNESDAY 6th MAY 2009
10.45am – 12.30pm

Bursaries are available at the discretion of the School and are subject to satisfactory completion of the School’s Bursary Form.

CANBURY SCHOOL
KINGSTON HILL, KINGSTON-UPON-THAMES
SURREY, KT2 7LN
www.canburyschool.co.uk
TEL: 020 8549 8622 FAX: 020 8974 6018
head@canburyschool.co.uk

Ten Tors Trails

A group of King’s 4th Formers have safely returned from one of many practices for the Ten Tors. The school has a reputation for doing very well in this event and this recent group of resilient explorers are determined to continue the tradition.

Year 6 science visit to Bristol

Year 6 spent a day at the Science Museum in Bristol being CSI forensic investigators. They took fingerprints, extracted samples of their own DNA, carried out Chromatography on inks and used all their newly learned skills to identify who had carried out a kidnapping. A great day out, and a taste of how science is used in the real world.

King’s Bruton to be represented twice in National Biathlete Championships

The biathletes of King’s Bruton really have something to celebrate as two of their teams have qualified for the National Championships. Year 9 team gained first place in the South West finals at Millfield and will represent the South West area in the national finals at Bath University this coming Sunday. Whilst Year 10 team also came first and gained a place in the finals in Macclesfield, on the 17th May. Biathlete teams have always been strong at King’s but this is the first year two teams have qualified for the national final.

15 Pupils pass their Karate Gradings

Hazlegrove has always offered its students a wide choice of activities and in 2008 the Wado-Ryu Karate Club was introduced by Sensei Peter Fawbert. The club has gone from strength to strength and it now boasts some 40 members. Since its inauguration some twelve months ago, the pupils have worked extremely hard such that 15 of them have now passed their gradings with two boys gaining the 5th Kyu.

Norman Court girls netball success

The Norman Court U13 Netball Team are the Regional Champions in the IAPS Netball Tournament. The team won all their matches and went forward to the National Finals at Roedean where they came fifth in the country.

In the same week the Norman Court U10 Netball team won the Millfield School Netball Tournament beating off stiff competition from a number of local schools.

The girls were delighted with their successes and look forward to continuing their winning streak.

Dance and Fashion Week at Caterham School

Last week it was time to ‘strike a pose’ as Caterham School held their first Dance and Fashion Week.

Teachers put aside their text books to provide a wide range of lunch time activities throughout the week; however the highlight was a Dance & Fashion Show on Tuesday evening. A packed audience saw a wide variety of dance styles displayed, all choreographed by the students themselves. The Alley Cats performed twice, their ‘Tribal Dance’ inspired by the charity project which links Caterham and Lerang’wa School in Tanzania. Additionally, Fourth Year students Eloise Lawler, Robyn Noble, Charlotte Taylor and Zoe Webb researched and choreographed a traditional Ukraine folk dance to highlight the latest charity link which is between Caterham School and schools in the Ukraine. The fashion show, featuring the work of GCSE and A Level Textiles students, revealed an inspiring array of creations modelled by students who demonstrated their professionalism and lots of attitude! The evening raised £939.30 which will go towards the charity projects in both Tanzania and the Ukraine.

Other activities during the week included a variety of dance and fashion events. Head of English Gerald Killingworth led a Morris Dancing workshop which featured a performance by sixteen members of staff to encourage the pupils to have a go themselves.

Also on Tuesday, a felt making workshop saw both staff and students producing some eye catching 3D felt designs.

On Wednesday Miss Adrienne Green put aside French and Spanish books to teach a Salsa class with over fifty students taking part.

Thursday was the day for the T-Shirt design competition which saw a wide range of talent from across the school testing their creative skills. The added incentive was that the winners would be allowed to wear their T shirt the following day.

On Friday art teacher Neil Evans expertly led the students in an energetic Welsh Folk dance. This was followed by a massive display of group dancing as students and teachers gathered to perform the routines from ‘Soulja Boy’ and ‘Saturday Night’ in the Old Gym. There were so many participants that each song had to be played twice to make sure everyone had the chance to join in.

The week was organised by three teachers Miss Lucy Thomas, Mrs Helena Richards and Miss Anna Church who were enthusiastically supported by a team of 6th Form students. Miss Thomas said: ‘’This was a very busy week of entertaining events which gave the students the opportunity to discover so many more activities. It was wonderful to see so many staff and students getting involved and enjoying themselves whilst raising money for charity.’’

GIRLS STRIKE THE RIGHT NOTE

The girls from Church High Senior School choir in Newcastle hit all the right notes on their Choir Tour to Italy where they sang in one of the most famous churches in the world.

The 38 pupils aged between 12 -18 years sang at St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice on Valentine’s Day and performed at the Verona Love Festival as well as impromptu performances in the Verona Arena and in Venice.

The girls performed as part of Valentine’s Mass at St Marks and sang sacred songs including Ave Verum by Mozart and Ave Maria by Saint-Saëns. The pupils also learnt a selection of secular music including songs by Coldplay, Elton John and Billy Joel which formed part of their repertoire during a special concert at St. George’s Anglican Church in Venice.

Renate Rothe, director of music, has trained the girls and led this year’s choir tour. She said: “When the choir performed for the first time all together in St Lukes in Verona, the sound was simply stunning. The church was simply beautiful, and the girls’ angelic voices seemed to hang ethereally in the air after each piece finished. Some of the audience members were moved to tears, and we received a standing ovation.

Other highlights were performing an impromptu outdoor concert at the 2000 year old arena in Verona, and in a town square in Venice in the beautiful sunshine. Many passers-by stopped in their tracks, awe-struck, to listen to the girls sing. Performing in San Marks was an amazing experience, and the girl’s final concert showed what talented and professional musicians they are, singing with incredible skill in multiple parts and with such vibrant enthusiasm they drew in crowds from the street. It was an unforgettable day.”

The girls began rehearsing back in November spending up to XXX hours per week in preparation for their three-day tour. The girls have come on tremendously and are now singing in four-part harmonies which sounded incredible in the acoustically perfect venues and churches.

Rachel Kandola, 16 of Cleadon has already visited Prague, Paris and Barcelona during previous school choir tours. Rachel said: “I have really enjoyed singing in such prestigious cathedrals across the world as it really is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
“It has been a great experience to spend time with girls of all ages from the Senior School whilst visiting such outstanding places. I particularly enjoyed this year’s tour as Saint Mark’s was wonderful by night, which is when we performed.”

Daisy Abraham, 15 from Cleadon enjoyed her first choir tour after joining the school from La Sagesse. Daisy said: “I really wanted to be in a choir and I was excited to discover earlier this year that the school takes part in an annual choir tour.
“I have made a lot of friends since joining the school in September and couldn’t wait to visit Venice and Verona with them, whilst singing in such outstanding buildings.”

Jenny Shell, 17 of Alnwick took part in her sixth choir tour this year, she has previously visited Rome, Budapest and Paris with the school. Jenny said: “I have had so much fun in previous years and really enjoy singing as part of a choir.
“It’s a great chance to meet new people and visit some amazing places and this year was no different.”

Phoebe Elliott, 13 of Gosforth was looking forward to seeing such an outstanding building. She said: “I was really excited about visiting Italy and singing to an audience of up to 100 people in St Mark’s cathedral. It was an amazing experience performing with all my school friends in such a breathtaking place, it really was the opportunity of a lifetime.”

Rachel Allan, 13 of Cramlington was looking forward to travelling to Italy. She said: “It was a great experience to spend time with girls of all ages from the Senior School whilst visiting such an outstanding place. The rehearsing for the tour was tough and we have had to put a lot of practice in, but it was well worth it when we performed at St Mark’s.”

Charlotte Lowden, 14 from Morpeth was particularly excited about visiting Verona during the Love Festival. Charlotte said: “It was an amazing opportunity to travel to such an iconic city and sing within one of the most famous religious buildings in the world at such a romantic time of the year.”

Megan Taylor, 13 from Newcastle couldn’t wait to reach Venice. She said: “I was really looking forward to getting to Italy but was nervous about performing in front of the Italian public in St Mark’s.
“We had put a lot of practice in and the hard work paid off when we sang in the cathedral, my nerves quickly disappeared as we began to sing.”