Dear Parents
INTRODUCTION
Yes it is that time again, the end of term letter. Something for the loo or does it go straight into the recycling bin? I will never know and so I won’t be offended! Last year’s end of term was blighted by snow which although welcome for a day or so, becomes an unwanted guest if it stays any longer. A rather apt metaphor for this time of year. My parents are only staying a week! This year there has been no snow in Shrewsbury, at least none when I have been awake, which thanks to Reggie and Edie and my wife’s bad back, seems to be the majority of the day and night! This has meant an active end of term with plenty of football to watch and be involved in as well as other activities designed to keep your sons as busy and as tired as possible, thereby negating their ability to come up with imaginative end of term pranks. I hope by now they will have recovered from the zombie like state in which many of you will have received them.
TRIUMPHS
Now is the time to bang the gong and celebrate the glory boys of School House. The first trophy brought home just before half term was the Junior House Swimming Shield. It is quite a new shield, having only been awarded for the last two years, and it is good to see that so far the only House name on it is ours! So well done to the excellent team of little swimmers! The big swimmers were not quite so successful; however they competed valiantly and with great stoicism. Even closer to half term was our next moment in the spotlight – The Entertainment Cup in the House Singing competition, and also the Best Arrangement award for Chris Hardman’s wonderful adaptation of Teenage Dream sung by the Part Song singers. Several Houses claim to have been victorious in the House Singing, but we were the only House to pick up two awards and therefore I think we can assume total dominance! I think it is the first time that a member of staff, or Matron, has ever appeared in a House song. This caused one or two sad souls to check the rule book, but luckily there isn’t one! So thank you Matron for stunning the crowd and in terms of the Entertainment Cup for ‘giving it to me!’ Thank you to all those who sang and of course the fabulous band and directorship of Mrs Curtis and Mrs Landon.The Part Song was placed third and involved at least fifteen members of the House. It was ably led by the three soloists and I would particularly like to thank the senior boys involved and Chris Hardman and Jake Pople in particular for all the work they put into it.
We are now probably out of chronological order but it was great to hear that Tom Marshall had been ranked number one in the country in his age group for sculling, and we are talking boats here. Whilst on the subject of rowing, a near triumph was our second place in the Hope Simpson Ergo Competition which included a notable success in that the senior ergo relay team completed a 2000m ergo in, I think, 9 minutes and 19 seconds which was a new record for the competition. The record breakers were Dimitry Tyshkevych, Henry Young, Henry Dashwood and Rory Sykes-Waller. The junior team also did extremely well, finishing second in their relay and enjoying a really good tussle with Ingrams who finished third. It was good to see so many School House boys involved in the competition and I am always impressed by the commitment shown by the rowers as it is never particularly pleasant training in the winter months.
The footballers had a good season. The First Leagues Team came second as did the Second Leagues team. The Under 15 House team performed well and battled hard before being knocked out in extra time by Port Hill. The First House squad looked very good in their stylish Nike shirts but unfortunately they were undone by Radbrook in the quarter finals. They then went on to take some consolation by winning the Plate. The Second House team triumphed 4-0 against The Grove in the final of their competition. They were a very good side and would have given most First House teams a good game, although not scoring many goals in the earlier rounds; they did not concede a goal throughout the competition.
There was a good performance by the Paper chaseteams and a number of School House runners performed extremely well indeed, although as teams we generously allowed others a taste of victory. The final triumph of the term belonged to Freddie Rowley who snatched the Maureen Donahue Pool trophy from the grasp of Pao Tantipiriyakij with some calm and cool potting under great pressure. This event happened after the Christmas dinner and was a great way to end the term as the watching crowd oohed and aahed at the spectacle in front of them and for a moment it really felt like the Crucible Theatre. I think next year everyone will have to invest in a waistcoat!
MUSIC
Numerous boys took part in the Carol Service, either in the choir or as readers; Nat Chumbala reading Genesis Ch. 3 in Thaiwas a most impressive spectacle and Ricardo Fishbourne’s Portuguese rendition of another lesson was equally inspiring. A large number of musical School House boys were involved in a variety of concerts throughout the term and the Woodwind Orchestra’s playing of Bernstein’s West Side Story was quite mesmerising. I hope you will all be able to see a few of our musical stars in action on the last night of next term which is March 23rd at 7.00pm in The Maidment Building.
ACADEMIA
Reading through the reports at the end of term was generally a very positive experience and I hope that most School House gentlemen will be fairly confident of a visit from Father Christmas! However, no-one should be sitting there quietly counting their chickens and it would be well worth our future movers and shakers ensuring that their brains do not turn to mush over the Christmas period. There are some with AS level exams to look forward to at the start of next term and I would hope their routines will be shaped, especially for the last week of the holidays, with that in mind. If Father Christmas needs help thinking of a good book to hand out this year, he could do worse than distribute a few copies of Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada. I was recommended it by an elderly gentleman in a book shop who said it was the best book he had ever read and I think it would have to be in my Top 10. Primo Levi called it ‘the greatest book ever written about German resistance to the Nazis’. It is not a laugh a minute, but neither is it as depressing as it might sound. In fact, in the afterword of the book Geoff Wilkes describes it as ‘comprehending and honouring the banality of good.’ You will have to read it to find out why.
GOODBYE TO MATRON
After sixteen years of continual good humour, a sunny, warm and loving figure is departing. Maureen Donahue has been surrogate mother, nurse, comforter and a good friend to us all at various times over the last few years. We had a terrific lunch party to celebrate her time in School House and I would like to thank all of you who contributed so generously to her leaving fund which looks like being well over £3000. For me the night of the term was our trip as a House to the China Rose where the boys gave Maureen a fantastic send off. Spirits were high, especially on the Chaplain’s table, but it was a tremendously positive and happy occasion and I know Maureen would like to thank the boys for their kindness and warm words on the night. So thank you Maureen for all that you have done for the House. It is not often a Housemaster has the honour and privilege of working with a fantastic Matron through a long tenure such as mine and I am hugely grateful for all her support and advice over the years. She will be a hard act to follow and it has taken two people to fill her shoes but we look forward to welcoming Tania Jones and Nadine Jones to the House as Matrons from next term. They are already well known to the boys who will, I am sure, make them extremely welcome.
DATES AHEAD
The House play will be a joint production with Mary Sydney Hall and the decision over what to do has not been finalised quite yet. But it will be the Friday/Saturday of March 2nd, 3rd. It will take place in the Ashton Theatre.
The House concert or Soiree was a great night last night and will be in the Maidment Building on the last night of term. Friday March 23rd starting at 7:00pm but if you want nourishment first turn up at 6:30pm!
AND FINALLY.
A House like ours is only as good as the people who inhabit it and work in it. I have a great tutor team and a big thank you to all of them and an especially big thank you to my deputy Laura Whittle for all her support and help. Thank you of course to the wondrous Maureen Donahue for the last time in one of these letters (it is her 37th official thank you from me). Thank you also to the support matrons and the cleaning ladies and John for helping keep the place sparkling and shiny for a few minutes each day before the boys return to redecorate! Thank you also to the boys for breathing life into these old walls and keeping us ‘entertained’! Thank you also to my lovely and amazing wife Emily for all her support and for organising most things, and my family who make me smile in the darkest hour (about 2:00am!).
HAVE A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR.
Giles Bell