End of Michaelmas Term - December 2018

End of term carol service
The boarders enjoyed a candlelit carol service on the last evening of term; a lovely and atmospheric way to greet the start of the Christmas holidays. Well done to Max Campbell who read one of the lessons. We hope that all boys and their families enjoy a good Christmas break and we wish you peace and happiness for 2019.

End of Term Assembly
The final assembly of term saw a number of presentations made for achievement over the term. The following boys were commended for gaining the best engagement grades over the term: Lower Fourth, Fyodor Shashkin; Upper Fourth, Mayaz Shabab; Fifth Form, Max Opengeym; Lower Sixth, Haydn Stanney and Upper Sixth, Tommaso Vago. Well done.

House ties, earned for service to the House and School in a number of different areas were also awarded, as is traditional, at the end of term assembly. Senior colours went to Max Lee, Max Campbell, Artur Levashov, Kelvin Liu, Jay Lyu, Solomon Wong, Andy Chia, Simi Jolaoso, Paul Pohl, Ed Rosbrook and Barnabas Shin. Junior ties were presented to Marcus Au Yeung, Marius Chung, Joe Foulds, Ayush Kedem Limbu, Sean Mo and Fyodor Shashkin. Congratulations to all who earned these. We know that they will be worn with pride.

Endeavour awards, given to pupils who have contributed especially strongly to the House over the term were also presented. The Senior Endeavour Award went to Max Campbell, the Junior Endeavour Award to Marius Chung, whilst the Commitment Award went to Head of House Tomasso Vago; all three have continued to be fantastic role models for their peers this term.

House Christmas Party



The boys enjoyed a very festive Christmas party in the Hospitality Suite on the last Sunday of term. A full Christmas dinner was followed by games and prizes for the boys. The lads also managed to raise over £150 for our House charity on the night. Mr Stockton organised a House rendition of ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ which, although far from tuneful, did seem to be enjoyed by all.




Senior Rugby
An outstanding effort in the Senior rugby competition saw the W-G boys narrowly fail to progress to the final. A close and exciting game against Walters finished with a defeat by two tries to nil. A super performance against Lyttelton saw a six tries to nil scoreline in favour of W-G, including a hat-trick from Dean Zulu. The squad showed commitment and bravery in their performances. Well done to Jack Gibson, James Bradley, Dean Zulu, Jakob Heptinstall, Max Lee, Louis Grosse Honebrink, Jamie Wood, Ajton Kalaci and Henry Kohler.

Grease is the Word
Congratulations to our boys who were involved in the hugely enjoyable School production of ‘Grease’. James Bradley and Alex Moskalevskyi were outstanding in their acting and singing roles, whilst Max Campbell and Arsenii Steshenko were part of the backstage band. The musical was one of the most accomplished performances produced by the school in recent memory and the boys played their part superbly. We look forward to the inter-House drama festivals later this year, in which our Juniors and Seniors will each perform a piece.

Junior Badminton Winners
Congratulations to our Junior badminton players, all of whom managed to win their respective competitions – so that W-G won the U15A and B and the U14A and B competitions – 4 out of 4 trophies in this sport this term! An outstanding effort from Leo H, Jason Y, Marcus A, Marius C, Sean M, Fyodor S, Victor M, and Sergei T – well done lads!








Junior Table Tennis winners
Well done to Darren and Donald who won the Fourth Form table tennis competition. Both A and B trophies came back to W-G after two fantastic performances. It was lovely to retain the cup that we won last year.




House Song
The boys chose The Beatles’ classic ‘In My Life’ as their entry for House song this year, with the theme being ‘memory’. Led by conductor Bennett Brockmann, and accompanied excellently by Owen Price on the piano, the boys practised hard and performed very well on the day. The judge was clearly impressed with their performance, although no prize came our way this year. Congratulations to all of the boys for their efforts this year – they will certainly never hear the song again without thinking back to evening practices in the day room! The performance can be seen on the School’s youtube channel.

Senior B Rugby competition



A new School initiative this year saw the B team inter-house rugby played as a league over the term, rather than as a one-off competition. This enabled a wider pool of boys from each house to enter, with only 1st XV, 2nd XV and 16A and B players barred from taking part in the competition. With a relatively small pool of available sixth formers, W-G saw a large proportion of fifth form boys represent the house on Wednesday afternoons in this competition. Despite wins coming few and far between, the boys gained great experience in these matches, often playing against much more experienced opponents. Well done to the following for getting involved: Louis Grosse Honebrink, Henry Koehler, Tim Bamberger, Bennett Brockmann, Andrii Iermolaiev, Georgy Markov, Kelvin Liu, Alex Hinkley, Michael Malam, Simi Jolaoso, Nic Bamberger, Andy Chia, Steve Nguyen, Kody Chik, Sushant Gurung, Jamie Rodway, Paul Pohl, Ed Rosbrook, Barney Shin, Daniel Wan and Eugen Wan.

House charity
Wendron-Gordon boys will be raising money for the Birmingham Children’s Hospital this term, an institution that has become very close to our hearts. We hope to raise some significant funds for a very good cause over the year.

House Photographs
The boys have all been ‘snapped’ this term with an individual, House and School photo all taking place, all of which can be purchased. Order forms have been given to pupils to take home – please contact the house office if you have not received these and would like one so that you can purchase a photo of your son.

Junior House Basketball
Excellent effort from the Junior House Basketball team. They won their group with good victories over School House 4-2 and Lupton 6-2. The semi-final against Elmshurst saw the team a little unlucky with their shooting to eventually lose 6-2. The team gave great efforts throughout with superb defence from Sergei T and dangerous attacking play from Alex C. The team was: Jason Y, Matt B, Sergei T, Stefan T, Victor M, Alex C, Joe F, Marcus A, Thando B and Sean M.



House Pizza night
Just before half-term, the boys kicked back with a pizza night, as a reward for their endeavours over a packed start to the year. It was lovely to see the lads relaxing with their friends and enjoying some treats just ahead of their half-term break.






Greenpower World Champions
Congratulations to Howard Goldstraw and Noah Rogers for their contribution to the school’s Greenpower car - also known as ‘the chicken’ - which finished in first place at the International Finals. This now makes the team World Champions in the F24 Kit Car. Huge congratulations to the lads - it’s always nice to have a couple of world champs in the House…

Remembrance
The School’s Remembrance services were particularly poignant this year, with the commemoration of the centenary of the end of the First World War. All of the boys in W-G attended Chapel services on Sunday 11 November and were immaculate in the way that they paid their respects to those who have lost their lives in war. Andy Chia played The Last Post during the traditional remembrance service at the flagpole, with both Andy and Owen Price also playing trumpet and piano respectively in the ‘Words and Music’ event that was held in the same week to remember those lost in war. Former Deputy Headmaster Mr Philip Bowen came into school to give a very moving talk on Bromsgrove School in the First World War years. Needless to say, the boys of Gordon House (as it was) featured very heavily in this. One such young man was Second-Lieutenant Reginald Harvey Chattock, killed in 1916. His father presented money to the House in 1917 to provide an annual prize in memory of his son. The Chattock Prize honours board still proudly adorns the day room of W-G – inscribed with the names of the Heads of House over the subsequent decades.



Junior Rugby competition
In the A competition, the W-G Junior boys put on some fine performances on a glorious autumn afternoon. A narrow loss to Lyttelton was followed by a fine win versus Lupton, before the team bowed out in the semi-finals. The House was represented by Joe F, Thando B, Ayush K, Connor M, Matt B, Serge T, Victor M, Marcus A, Kostya C and Fyodor S.



In the B competition, very well done to some very spirited competitors who performed really well against some good opposition. A loss against Walters was followed by an excellent win against School. The squad was: Chichi L, Stepan B, Marius C, Arsenii S, David C, Callum W, Howard G and Oleksii L.



Busy Bees
It has been great to see two of our new Lower Fourth pupils taking up the exciting opportunity offered through the new beekeeping activity. Lok and David have enjoyed learning about this hobby and have designed and created their own beeswax candles.



New joiners and new staff
We welcomed 33 new joiners at the start of term, most of whom came to the international induction taster days at the end of August, where they spent a few days acclimatising to their new surroundings and taking part in trips such as those to Birmingham, Warwick Castle and the local bowling alley. We also welcomed new members of staff to the house. Mrs Wilkins takes over from Mrs Batchelor as Housemother – we wish her every success in this role. Mr White, Miss Williams and Mr Stockton all joined the house as new tutors this year. We wish all new joiners happy and successful times ahead in Wendron-Gordon.