Latin Prayer Spring Term 2012

Congratulations to those of you who won Merit Awards this week. It has been another busy week. I know many of you are deep in preparation for the House Music Festival on Sunday; it will be a super evening. Could I remind you please to keep quiet when waiting for the acts to start, particularly if standing in the foyer of Big School? Congratulations to Lawrence Gash (Grade 6 Distinction), Louis Edmanson Grade 6 (Merit), Jamie Morris (Grade 7 Merit) and Tom Golden (Grade 7 Merit )who have all done extremely well in their Lamda exams. The Big Band played very well indeed in the charity concert on Friday evening. Two pupils, Tatty Vause (Year 9) and Will McIntyre (Year 7) will have their Mini Saga stories published in 'Mini Sagas - Swashbuckling Stories of the West Country'. A copy will be kept at the British Library; thus providing a lasting record of their achievement. There was an excellent School House Recitation Competition on Thursday night with Ella Davenport winning overall. My thanks go to Miss Black who organised the evening. The Chinese New Year celebrations went well.

Sports

The Netball Club have had an excellent week, both on Wednesday against Ivybridge and on Saturday against Kelly College, with some fixtures against Shebbear. 1st VII 51-6 win against Kelly; this was a very convincing victory. The girls outplayed Kelly from start to finish and it was most impressive to see them maintain their game plan throughout the match despite the opposition not being as strong as we would have liked. The 2nd VII 56-5 win was also a very convincing victory, the girls were equally committed to playing hard throughout the game. Credit should be given to all the girls for maintaining their focus and concentration throughout. The 3rd VII were playing Shebbear 1st VII and they won 39-34. Their coach wrote "I would just like to say that their game was exceptional. This was the only game the 3rds lost last year (by 1 goal) and they were desperate to get revenge and win. The game was close all the way through with it being 9-9 first 1/4, 21-19 2nd 1/4 to us, 26-26 3rd 1/4 and finally 39-34 to us. Our shooting was accurate and our defensive play was outstanding." Their coach couldn't believe they were our 3rds. There were comprehensive victories for the U15As (31-9), and the U14s won 18-8. Lydia Gibson was named player of the match. The U14B defeated Shebbear College 23 goals to 8. The U13As and Bs also won. The U12A team played against Kelly College and won 14-1. Midweek all the teams won against Ivybridge; the 1st VII won 36-16. Ivybridge were a very strong squad who played exciting and fast paced netball. Mrs Candler wrote "The game was high quality and the score does not reflect how close it felt. It was a vast improvement on the game against Wellington with our main aim to play our style of netball which we did. It would be difficult to single out individual players in this match as all played well. This was an excellent squad performance in which we particularly dominated Ivybridge in the first and last quarters of the game". The 2nd VII also won in style. The Hockey Club played Wellington School; the honours were even(ish). The 1st XI won 3-2, which was a superb result. Mr Bucknell was very pleased indeed; well done to them. There were some excellent results in the middle of the week with the 1st XI beating Torquay 6-1, and the 2nds beating Kingsley's 1st XI. The 1st XI football team drew with BGS, and the 2nd XI scored a good win 2-1. Many congratulations to two of our rugby sevens teams, both won their respective tournaments which, given the strength of the opposition, was superb. The U16s won the Wellington Sevens, beating Millfield by one point in the final. The School House Rugby Seven won the tournament here on Saturday; in so doing they beat a number of local prep schools including Mount House in the final. The Boys' 1st V squash team beat Bristol Grammar School 15-1 at Blundell's on Saturday. The two Fives teams (a senior pair) and the Colts lost narrowly to Winchester at the weekend. Congratulations to Bradley Upcott-Fowler who has been made Captain of Cross-Country.

This Week

Thirty pupils had a very enjoyable walk around some of the more picturesque areas of South Dartmoor, experiencing a variety of weather conditions including some snow. Many thanks to the following staff: Mr Morrison, Mr Yates, Mr Wynell-Mayow, Mr Roffe-Silvester and Mr Candler for their help. This week we have the Senior House Debating Competition on Tuesday and the Juniors on Thursday. Please go and support your friends; both are in the Ondaatje Hall starting at 5.40pm. Any boy between 15 and 17 who is interested in auditioning for a lead role in a major new feature film should see Miss Baddeley between 4 and 6 pm today (Monday). Would all new Silver Duke of Edinburgh participants go to Ms. Scott's room for registration in this Thursday Activity time. Year 10 have Sexual Health with Mrs Bayliss this Friday 3rd February during their PSHCE lessons. Boys should go to Francis House, lesson 7, and Girls should go to North Close, Lesson 2; you should not miss RS lessons to attend. Year 13 have sexual health sessions on Friday as well; please check the notice in Westlake to see when you should attend. These sessions will take place in the Beale Centre. We have the Year 11 parents' meeting on Friday evening, which is preceded on Wednesday by the Academic Fair. It is also the Sixth Form Dinner Dance on Saturday night in aid of the Alzheimer's Trust. It is a busy few weeks now before Half term.