News Autumn Term 2006

	SH weekend activities programme
	School House pupils enjoying a Saturday afternoon trip to Living Coasts in Torquay as part of their regular weekend activities programme.

	Astronomy at Blundell's
	Members of the Blundell's Astronomy Network have been using the School's telescope to observe objects including the Andromeda Galaxy, the Pleiades and the Moon this term. Pictured to the right is an image of galaxy M77 (Cetus A) taken by Harriet Bunning of Year 11 using the Faulkes Telescope North in Hawaii, on 12th October 2006.

	Young Co-operative Fairtrade initiative
	A new enterprise initiative by year 9&10 pupils at Blundell's has been created supporting Fairtrade products and microfinance for developing countries. The Young Co-operative is part of the national Young Co-operatives movement promoting business experience for pupils and fair-trade products for use within their schools, families and local community. Over twenty pupils are involved in assembling and selling Christmas gift wrapped hampers consisting of Fairtrade tea, chocolate, coffee and other items together with information leaflets. The principles behind the Fairtrade label include fair wages for producers, environmental sustainability and co-operative workplaces. The pupils have voted to donate all their profits to the Microloan Foundation, a charity with which the school also has links. UPDATE (Jan 2007): In the end, over fifty hampers were sold and the Friends of Blundell’s loan was repaid in full. The pupils learned a lot about teamwork and business planning with an international dimension.

	School House art exhibition
	School House have produced an excellent exhibition of work in progress in Ondaatje foyer. In response to the theme 'Word and Image' the budding artists have created artwork ranging from autumn poems on ceramic leaves to printed money. The show runs until 1 December.

	U14s finish a promising 3rd in West Hockey Finals
	To finish 3rd in the West of England finals was a fantastic achievement. Their only loss was to the eventual winners Millfield and they finished ahead of the highly competitive Dean Close and Clifton - many people commented on their fast and flowing style of hockey and this bodes well for future campaigns. Squad names are on the hockey page.

	Royal Academy Outreach visit
	What a privilege it was to have the Royal Academy Outreach team visit the school. We hosted 5 other schools (Bramdean, Wellington, Shebbear, West Buckland and Kelly College) for an excellent day of lifedrawing in Ondaatje Hall. Paul Bandford RA delivered a series of well structured and thought-provoking activities to which everyone responded by producing work of outstanding quality; a selection of which will be exhibited towards the end of term. RDJM

	National Schools Equestrian Association Championships (Sun. 19th Nov.)
	Two teams competed in the Junior section and one in the Open at Wellington Team Show Jumping at Heazle, Somerset. The 'A' team of Sarah Malcolm, Emma Selby, Alexa Batting and Catherine Ayres and the 'B' team of Charlotte Hare, Rupert Batting, Tarka Carew and Rose Cookson both went through the first round. However, a delighted B team jumped even better when the course was higher, and they beat the A team to finish 3rd out of 15 (behind Danesfield and Kings Hall). The A team finished equal 5th on 8 faults. A special mention must go to Charlotte Hare and Emma Selby who both rode double clears.

	National Schools Equestrian Association Championships (Sat. 18th Nov.)
	The team of Hannah Greenslade, Sophie Birchmore, Emily Mayes & Catherine Ayres competed at the championships in Surrey recently. They qualified at Clayesmore earlier in the year. This was the first time Blundell's was represented here and they put on a creditable performance against thirty other schools from all parts of the UK. All the team completed the course with few errors, which was an achievement, but a special mention must go to Hannah who led the way with a double clear round in good time over a mixture of show jumps and x-country fences.

	U18 girls add the Devon Indoor title to their Outdoor
	The U18s emulated last years' team by completing the double as winners of both the Devon Indoor and Outdoor tournaments. Their vanquished adversaries this time were Exeter School, ISCA Hockey Club, Exmouth Hockey Club and Riverside Hockey Club. Jo Mardell led the way with a total of 4 goals, closely followed by Hannah Bazley with 3. They go on to the West of England Finals on 3rd December.

	Blundell's charity wine tasting
	John Brigden pictured with Jan and Rory Stapleton of The Jolly Vintner at a recent charity wine tasting event. The wine tasting took place at Blundell's school and included over 150 wines from all over the world which are regularly on sale at the Jolly Vintner. The event was in aid of Marie Curie and managed to raise £750. Organiser John Brigden said that this was the eighth year the event had been held and was delighted that it was proving to be as popular as ever. He thanked all who attended for their support.

	U14 girls become Devon Champions
	The U14s won their Devon Tournament for the first time ever (to be fair we have not always entered this age group), even so it was a very encouraging performance. In the finals a clean sweep of victories was recorded over the other area winners, Torquay Grammar, Holsworthy, Colyton Grammar and Mount House. They will get their first taste of the next level up on Sunday 26th November when they will go to the West of England Finals. Ably led by Captain Amy Woodruff, the whole squad played their part with Tessa Lomas and Sophie Birchmore making particularly strong impressions.

	Remembrance Sunday
	The Remembrance service took place on Sunday 12th November. The preacher was The Very Reverend Patrick Mitchell, former Dean of Windsor. There was a reading by J E Clarke, 47AD Squadron, 13 Air Assault Regiment RLC. An honour guard was formed by the CCF.

	Scholars' Concert
	More than 30 of the school's music scholars performed in a delightful concert that ranged from Ed Pocock's stylish "Mr Cellophane" to Jessica Morton's brilliant and demanding Khachaturian Toccata. The large audience was most amused and enthralled.

	North Close play
	The North Close play Hen Night took place recently. The play's leading roles consisted of Cathy Down as a girl, and Alicia Robinson and Diana Oliveira who played excellent chavs! The play was all about a hen night and they turned up at a pub to realise that the men were also there. It was most enjoyable to watch and was well directed by Louise Gillespie and Kirstie MacDougall.

	Guy Fawkes Night
	Simon Tang designed and built the Guy Fawkes for this year's fireworks display, which was attended by most of the school and many visitors. It was a splendid display, enjoyed by all.

	Shark Lecture with Richard Peirce
	Richard Peirce, Chairman of the Shark Trust, delivered a fascinating and at times disturbing lecture on the plight of sharks in the Atlantic and in particular off the coast of Cornwall where he has been running eco-tourist diving trips to get up close and personal to some of the 135 types of shark in our waters. Alongside some excellent slides of hammerheads and angel sharks were some stark images of sharks being tortured for their fins, an expensive chinese delicacy, after which they are dumped finless but still alive back in the water to drown. Year nine were suitably moved by this and many signed a petition to help prevent such cruelty.

	Harvest Festival
	The Harvest festival service took place on Sunday 15th October. The preacher was The Reverend Jeremy Hellier, Chaplain of Wellington school. As usual each house decorated their windows with food to be sent to charities.

	Rust Production
	We had a visit from the Visiting Theatre Company who produced Rust. The play was very amusing to watch and prompted great reactions from the audience as the puppetry was very skilful. It was about a boy who was taken from a factory and then under water into a submarine.

	Ollie Watts selected to the Devon U17 Hockey Squad
	Pictured is 15 year old Ollie Watts of Blundell's school who has just been selected to the Devon U17 Hockey squad. Ollie who played in last years' U15 team said the selection process was much harder than last year and obviously he was playing out of his age group. Ollie is a determined mid field player and has been selected because of his tenacious tackling and excellent distribution. New Head of Hockey at Blundell's ,James Coull, said he was pleased at Ollies success and looked forward to his inclusion in the School first team which will be coached by Rob Turner the former Somerset wicket keeper.

	Grace selected to the West of England U17 Hockey Squad
	Action picture of Grace Gabbitass of Blundell’s school who has just been selected to the West of England U17 hockey squad. Fifteen year old grace plays mid-field and is part of the successful Blundell’s first eleven and she has also played for Isca ladies when time has permitted. Grace will be travelling to Millfield school during half term for a National tournament. This will include teams from all regions and will act as a trial for the National squad. Grace is optimistic of her chances and would leap at an opportunity to represent her Country. Grace is also a talented athlete and achieved County honours in the sprint events earlier this summer.

	Judge Tyzack address
	On October 14th Judge Tyzack came to address a group of would-be lawyers. A circuit judge for the Western Circuit and father of OB Will, he first took us through his own career to show how one could rise in the Law, from degree to pupillage, keeping Terms in an Inn of Court like the Inner Temple, then working in Chambers, becoming a barrister, then a Silk (Queen’s Counsel) and finally reaching the heights as a Judge; in his case, in the Family Court. He then presented the audience with a series of real-life cases on which they were invited to test their judgement, from a burglary to a “glassing”, a horrendous careless driving accident and a C19th cannibalism case. Blundellian judges are plainly of the “hang 'em and flog 'em” persuasion, but it was fascinating to see how the verdict had been in reality. A most valuable evening for all contemplating a similar career. TD

	Spanish Exchange
	Blundell's Spanish exchange school, La Enseñanza secondary school in Valladolid, which is in Castilla y León about fifty miles north west of Madrid, were here for the fifth time recently. This year, 8 pupils from Spain are visiting Blundell's and staying with their partners as members of their families. Some of their time is spent in school attending lessons, and some visiting local places of historic and cultural interest. The Blundell's return visit will take place during the Easter holidays.

	Devon U18 Hockey Champions (again!)
	The U18 squad successfully defended their County title at Exeter University and they now progress to the West Finals. They had a relatively smooth passage and did not concede a goal. They overcame Colyton Grammar, West Buckland, Exeter School and Maynards before securing the clean sweep by beating Ivybridge Academy 2-0. The last game saw the debut of Mr Turner as team coach (Mrs K having had to leave early) and the team did not let him down; he described the game as 'very nerve-wracking and frantic'!

	Blundell's Development Plan
	On Saturday 23rd September 2006, the Chairman of the Governors (David Fursdon) and the Headmaster (Ian Davenport) launched a new, exciting and imaginative development programme for Blundell's. The plan involves a new IT/Academic Block, an extension to the Music School and an Indoor Swimming Pool. Please click here to read a PDF document detailing the plan.

	South Pacific musical
	South Pacicfic was performed on Saturday 16th September and Sunday 17th September. The leading parts were played by Briony Deuchar and Tom Woodruff as Nellie Forbush and Emile de Becque, with hilarious performances by Robin Hill and Lizzy Clark as Luther Billis and Bloody Mary. As usual Miss Symonds and Mr Barlow directed the fantastic ten day musical.

	Hockey Success
	The U18s won the seasonal warm-up Sherborne invitation Hockey Tournament for the second year running. The Group matches proved to be hard and well contested and despite few goals being scored the girls came second in their group, which included King’s Taunton, Sherborne and Wellington. The Knock out stages resulted in a draw against Canford. At this stage a penalty shoot out was introduced and after a tense time Blundell’s won 4-3. This placed them in the final against the hosts Sherborne. Again the scores were level at full time and excellent goalkeeping from Birte Streit gave Blundell’s a 3-1 victory and the Tournament. Coach, Nicky Klinkenberg, said that she was most impressed with the girls' superior fitness and ability to cope with the extreme pressure, particularly during the penalties.

[ Top | back to previous page ]