Assembly 14 May 2012
May 14, 2012
Firstly, although the forecast is still changeable, I am delighted to
see that we have a little better weather than that which we’ve experienced over
the last few weeks. Not only has it been getting everyone down, the inability
to go onto the fields for games has been extremely frustrating. Despite this,
there have been some superb things happening which I want to celebrate this
morning, many of which will be built upon over the coming weeks of this term.
I am always delighted to learn of excellence that has been recognised,
and a number of pupils have received over five awards. I’ll ensure that this
list is updated on a regular basis, but in no particular order, the following
have earned enough to be mentioned in dispatches:
Adam Pett – 10
George Chitty – 21
Ed Barrington – 5
Serio Pujol Dalmau – 20
Vinzent Ruppert – 19
Giulio Garrett – 5
Will Young – 11
Many of the L6 parents attended a UCAS information event prior to
exeat. All parents will be sent the booklet that Dr. Bradbury produced for this
meeting, and the L6 will be going through the deadlines and procedures that we
will put in place. Whether a L6 former is planning on going to University or
not is immaterial; as far as the school is concerned, everyone needs to go
through the process of completing an application form, which will give
experience at writing statements promoting yourselves, and provide a template
for any future job applications.
The House music competition was a great success, and thanks must go to
Mr. McKee and the special guest, Mr Kit Perona-Wright, for ensuring that the
night ran smoothly. Although I know all houses demonstrated a huge amount of
talent and hard work, I was delighted that Tregonwell won the event, and look
forward to presenting the House with the House Music Cup on Parents’ Day.
We haven’t had an assembly since the drama AS and A2 performances. They
were described as the very best in memory, and performing under such pressure
is a real testament to hard work. Well done to those pupils who put so much
time and effort into aiming for excellent results.
The Ten Tors Team returned last night and I look forward to celebrating
this achievement in more depth next week, when I receive a full report and also
anecdotes of the trip. Likewise, I was delighted to hear of the successful
silver D of E practice camping expedition with 24 fifth formers taking part.
This is wonderful preparation for the final expedition later this term.
Onto sport, anyone who uses twitter will no doubt have been delighted
by St. John’s Southsea tweet of our victory against them on Saturday afternoon.
Ed Barrington played superbly, but the whole team should be commended for their
wonderful performance after minimal practice. I know that Mr Williams has
hugely ambitious plans for the team over this term, and they have set the bar
high at the start. Well done indeed.
In other sporting news, on the 3 May Milton Abbey took on Clayesmore on
the first boys’ tennis match of the season. The juniors produced a star
performance that resulted in a complete whitewash of the opposition. All three
pairs played well together with total control of both the base line and the
net. They won 9 games to 0. The seniors put up a sterling performance, taking a
number of games off the opposition, but were outplayed by some excellent tennis
from Clayesmore. They lost 1 game to 7.
With Sailing, on Thursday 3 May both the senior and junior sailing team
had their first match against Sherborne. In the first race Sherborne were on
top in both the 420 event and Laser Pico event. In the second race Milton Abbey
fought back with a very good performance from Alex Harris, but were narrowly
clipped by both the Sherborne squads.
The golf result hosted by Sherborne on May 8 at Ashley Wood saw Will
Stogdale and Josh Parry, alongside Gonzalo and Rupert Turnbull put up a
spirited challenge to a strong opposition. The third pair of Will Blair and Ned
Chattey excelled themselves by beating their opponents 8 and 7, ensuring that
the final score line of Milton Abbey 1, Sherborne 2 an air of respectability.
I look forward to celebrating all the events of this Saturday when I
receive the full reports from the staff involved.
This Friday sees the termly Headmaster’s Lecture. Angela Findlay, who
is a superb artist, has worked for many years in prisons and the criminal
justice system. Her artwork deals with re-offending, expression and challenging
us to re-question perceived ideas about people who are guilty of crime. There
will be a number of guests at the lecture, and therefore everyone is to be
seated here at 1930. Roll Calls in Houses on Friday will be held earlier to
accommodate this.
For those who are not directly involved in public exams, a brief look
at the diary will demonstrate that we are now entering an extremely busy period
for public exams. I ask those who are not taking exams to respect those who are
by quiet behaviour in prep time, around the library and study areas.