Private School News

Sixth-formers interview author Philip Pullman

Budding sixth-form journalists Seb Sutcliffe, Aja Garrod-Prance, Maddie Kirk, Ben Honey, Jonny Davidson and Jonny Frost recently interviewed celebrated author Philip Pullman. The pupils spent half an hour with the Whitbread-award winner for the first issue of EXEPRESS, a creative writing and arts magazine that is due to be launched later this term.

They asked Mr Pullman about how he approached the process of creating a narrative for his new book, about characters in his novels, and the latest book The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ, due to be published in the spring.

Year 12 pupil Seb Sutcliffe said: “We were a bit worried that some of our questions might be a bit closed, but he gave us lengthy answers we could feed back from. He was a charming, charismatic and interesting person.”

Oxbridge success at Exeter School

Sixth-formers celebrate offers of places

Exeter School Sixth Formers and staff are celebrating further success at the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge this autumn. The school has received twelve offers of places so far, in a range of subjects, with particularly impressive achievements this year in Engineering: two pupils have secured Cambridge offers and four at Oxford in that discipline. Competition for Oxbridge places is very keen and the school is proud of its pupils’ performance in such a demanding environment.

Headmaster Bob Griffin paid tribute to the teaching staff, whose dedication and thoughtful approach have played a major part in these happy outcomes. Please see below for details.

Cambridge
John Broadbent Engineering Queens’
Hugh Collins Computer Science St Catharine’s
Adam Jackson Engineering Pembroke
Will Ouldridge Computer Science Homerton
Izzy Smith Natural Sciences Girton
Jocelyn Trayler-Clarke Land Economy Newnham

Oxford
John Baldock Engineering Exeter
Daniel Barnes Engineering Keble
Andrew Clay Engineering Lady Margaret Hall
Ben Glover Engineering St Hugh’s
Henry Renninson Modern Languages St Catherine’s
Michael Walker Physics Lincoln

Exeter School are Devon U18 rugby champions

19-12 win in closely-contested match v Plymouth College

Wednesday 2 December saw the final of the Devon U18 rugby cup, which was played at Exeter School between the holders, Plymouth College, and Exeter School. The two sides met last year in the final and once this season: Plymouth were the victors by a narrow margin on both occasions. This fixture had particular significance for both sides: it acted as a double-header, because it was also contested as the 6th Round match in the Daily Mail U18 Cup.

The match was competitive and athletic, in reasonable weather for early December, and took place in front of a large crowd. After an early Exeter break away try by James Collett, Plymouth narrowed the gap to one point by kicking two penalties. Two tries by Cameron Hansson gave Exeter a good lead, but Plymouth pushed them all the way, scoring two further penalties. Exeter held on to win 19-12, becoming Devon champions and qualifying for the last 16 nationally in the Daily Mail competition.
A number of the Upper Sixth (Year 13) members of the Exeter side, including the captain, Charlie Taverner, are now quadruple Devon champions, having won the U13, U14, U15 and U18 trophies in their time at the school.

Action for Haiti

Cake Sale and Mufti Day raise £548

On Thursday 28th January, the Junior School enjoyed a MUFTI Day and arranged a cake sale, with the specific intention of raising as much money as possible for the relief operation in Haiti. There was an exceptionally positive response from parents and children, resulting in a contribution of £548.07 to the charity ShelterBox, which is already flying out aid to the islanders.
Well done to all involved!

Primary Maths Challenge 2009

On Tuesday 17th November 112 Exeter Junior School children sat this year’s Primary Maths Challenge. After some extremely hard work, we have been able to present an assortment of certificates to the candidates.
Worthy of particular note are Harry Tremlett of U1F (Year 4) who won a silver certificate and Amber Seaward of U2A (Year 6) who scored a maximum 25 out of 25. We are now waiting to see which of our children will be invited to sit the PMC Finals paper in February – watch this space.

“Crazy for You” at Exeter School

Senior School Play 2009: ‘a show which had it all’

Audiences on three successive nights – and hundreds of local primary school children at a Wednesday matinee – were charmed and delighted by this year’s main school drama production of George and Ira Gershwin’s Crazy for You. Under the direction of Andrzej and Stephanie Chrupek, over fifty performers took us on the magical and hilarious musical journey from Broadway to Deadrock, Nevada. Outstanding in the romantic leads were Rowena Caine as Polly and Ed Pocock as Bobby, strongly supported by, among many others, Will Parslow, Rob McLaverty, Seb Sutcliffe and Helen Hoddinott. The imaginative decision to appoint lower-sixth formers Michael Dawson as Musical Director and Lucy James as Choreographer was triumphantly vindicated. This was a show which had it all.
The production gave the chance for a number of senior members of the school to display their considerable talent: Ed Pocock was the consummate showman, leading various numbers with great pizzazz and flair and showing a very strong musical and comic range. Leading lady Rowena Caine was Ed’s singing and dancing partner throughout the show. She reminded us of the range, power and delicacy of her singing voice and acting ability, and also of her capacity for rapid and regular costume changes! Will Parslow gave a beautifully judged performance as the impresario Bela Zangler and combined with great poise and comic timing with Ed, who was impersonating his character for much of the show. Seb Sutcliffe was a menacing villain as Lank Hawkins until he was seduced and calmed down considerably by the sassy vampish charms of Helen Hoddinott, whose allegiances changed during the play. Rob McLaverty, Annabel Clark, Emmie Giles and Sophie Hopkins all carried off their roles with imagination and gusto.
The large chorus of Follies girls tapped, danced and sang their way most impressively through a series of numbers and speedy costume changes and provide the feel and colour of a Broadway musical. Lucy James and her assistant Robyn Lockyer are to be congratulated upon their excellent choreography. The cowboys were a huge hit, too, whether they were in sleepy, gunfight or song and dance mode. Hugh Collins as Moose was a great delight and his singing with Jon Schranz, Ollie Wannell and Billy Gore would grace many a redneck saloon bar. At a time of year when the weather is gloomy, Lily Davies’ and Leander Crocker-Digby’s inspirational Chin Up routine might be used every morning to galvanize the community!
Particular congratulations must go to Musical Director Michael Dawson and his ensemble, which included the school’s Head of Strings Fiona McLean. Their work accompanied and supported the cast admirably and their contribution to the overall outcome was immense. A professional group would have struggled to match their timing and output. The fine singing of the principals was enhanced by the technical wizardry of Mark Endacott on the sound desk.
Crazy for You will be remembered with great affection and pride: Andrzej and Stephanie Chrupek deserve enormous credit for staging another stunning production which gave so much pleasure to performers and audiences alike.

Clocking In

Year 6 pupils recreate a Victorian child’s working day

On Monday 25th January Upper Two visited Coldharbour Mill at Uffculme. It certainly lived up to its name on what was a bitterly cold winter’s day! However, it only added to the authenticity, as the children had their history topic on the Victorians brought to life.

The children enjoyed a tour of the factory, where they found out what it was like to be a child worker in a textile mill in Victorian Britain. They also learnt about the processes involved in transforming wool into a range of manufactured products.

The second part of the day was a drama activity where Mr Robson, the factory foreman, put the children to work to decide whether they could have a job at the mill. Both staff and children dressed up in Victorian costume to bring the experience to life and the pupils wrote letters of application, in advance, to express why they needed work at the factory.

The whole day was a great success and served as the perfect climax to an enjoyable topic.

Everybody Needs Some Buddy Sometime

Year 6 pair up with Year 3 newcomers

Each year pupils from Upper Two (Year 6) pair up with children entering the school in Form One (Year 3) to help them settle in and find their way about. Special Buddy Lunches are also arranged from time to time. Here’s how some of this year’s older pupils see their role:

“I enjoy being a buddy because you are given more responsibility and you get to show a new person around the school and keep track of how they are adjusting to the school.” – Sam Berrisford

“I like being a buddy because you get to help little children who are very nice and see to it that they’re happy.” – Alfie Roddan

“I love having a buddy! I feel so important taking care of the younger students. I feel like a proper, responsible adult.” – Ben Toms

“Being a buddy is great fun because you get to meet new people. We get to go to lunch together. It is a big responsibility!” – Abi Grierson

“Being a buddy is great fun, but a big responsibility. You get paired up with a new pupil in your house. When I got my buddy, Emily Kelly, I was thrilled. It made me remember when I was in Form One and was really nervous, but then my new buddy, Becky, helped me out.” – Sophie Jefferson

Audience of a thousand enjoys Christmas music

The National Trust Christmas Concert in Exeter Cathedral last Friday evening got the festive season off to a flying start.

A packed cathedral heard performances by the Symphony Orchestra (Vaughan Williams’ Seventeen Come Sunday) and Chamber Orchestra (a duet from Bach’s Christmas Oratorio) the Middle School, Chamber and Senior Choirs, the Brass Ensemble and several solos, including a Bach ‘cello piece by Michael Dawson, an excerpt from Don Giovanni, played by the Chamber Orchestra and sung by Noah Mosley with Ben Lee on mandolin, and a trio of Partridge sisters sang Rutter’s Christmas Lullaby.

The various ensembles were directed by Liz Williams, Brian Moore, Julian Sutton and Simon Foxall, and the organist and accompanist was Andrew Daldorph.

The concert was enormously enjoyed by over 1000 people, who joined with choirs and orchestras to sing three carols.

Outstanding Music Practical Results

The school’s Director of Music, Dr Simon Foxall, described the results from December 2008 as being amongst the best the school has had. 62 pupils took an exam and all passed, 23 of them with distinction. All eleven pupils taking Trinity/Guildhall exams obtained a distinction.

Notable results include Bethany Partridge’s Grade 8 distinction on ‘cello to follow a similar result in singing Grade 8 last term. Artemis Crowley, Brittany Harris and former pupil Richard Robbins all achieved Grade 8 distinction in singing, a tribute to the school’s outstanding vocal teaching staff.

The school is also well-known for the standard of its string players, and brother and sister Fionn and Hannah Connolly both achieved Grade 7 distinction in violin, while Tom Tresidder obtained the same result on the ‘cello. Outstanding piano results included Hugh Collins’ distinction at Grade 7 and Katie Clark’s Grade 8 pass.

Most of these musicians are still in their GCSE year or are even younger. Chris Furby, taking GCSE music this year, achieved Grade 8 distinction on the drum kit.

Sporting Success, January 2009

The School’s sports players are having a good month, with the U16 and U18 boys’ outdoor hockey teams reaching the semi-finals of their respective Devon Cup competitions.

The U14 XI is to face South Dartmoor CC in its Devon Cup final on Thursday 29 January.

This weekend, three girls, Izzy Smith, Emmie Giles and Amelia Sydenham, are representing Devon with Isca Dragons HC in the national U18 hockey finals at Nottingham.

The senior rugby squad won the Plate Competition at this week’s Kelly College 10-a-side competition. Next week, the U15 rugby team is to contest the U15 Devon Cup final vs Ivybridge CC.

Dreaming Spires

Congratulations to the school’s seven successful Oxbridge candidates from Exeter School, who have recently received the following offers:

Cambridge

Josh Johnson
Gonville & Caius
Natural Sciences

Andrew Melzer
Sidney Sussex
Engineering

Hannah Partridge *
Fitzwilliam
Natural Sciences

Oxford

Claire Harrill
LMH
English

Rachel Holden
Christ Church
Experimental Psychology

Charlie Palmer
Keble
PPE

Max Taylor
Exeter
Modern Languages

* Hannah Partridge, who starred as The Queen of the Night in last year’s acclaimed school production of The Magic Flute, has also been awarded a Choral Scholarship by Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge

International Football Tournament at Terres de L’Ebre Spain