Speechless
Headmaster’s Routh Assembly Address
Monday 2nd December 2019
Excerpt from “The Power of Speech” generosity
At their root, words are nothing more than primitive utterances. They are sounds manufactured by two tiny pieces of muscle tissue rubbing up against each other in the voice box to produce a tone. That tone gets modulated and shaped by the tongue, palate, teeth and lips to form differentiated sounds. Those sounds convey meaning to oneself and others.
"The action of converting sound into meaning takes place in the two well-identified areas of the brain considered vital for human communication, known as the Wernicke's area and Broca's area.
And it’s the meaning of those sounds when they become expressed as words, that matter most. This is all to say that words matter on a level that’s more profound than many of us have even considered. Words touch our mood centres; they affect our emotions and even our bodies.
The Headmaster had intended to speak about the miraculous power of the human vocal cords, extolling the way that two tiny pieces of tissue could convey an infinite wealth of knowledge and stories.
That concept was a segue into encouraging everyone to attend this week’s season of the Senior School play ‘Great Expectations’, a tale that will be told with the remarkable voices of over 50 talented actors.
Regrettably, when it came time to speak, the Headmaster has lost his own voice due to a cold. The irony was not lost on him.
Thankfully, the Director of Performing Arts, Mr Norton, was able to step up and offer a synopsis of the play and a rousing encouragement to attend.
Presentations
Swimming
It was a good atmosphere at the Senior Girls’ House swimming last Wednesday. The results were as follows:
3rd: Webber Joint 2nd: Housman Hall and Hazeldene 1st place- Thomas Cookes
Table Tennis
The results of the Junior House table tennis competition:
Girls runners up – Mary Windsor and Hazeldene
Girls winners – Thomas Cookes
Boys runners up – Lyttelton
Boys winners – Elmshurst
Congratulations to Jayden Ng who won the British Youth Go Championships, both in the U18 category and overall. He will now go on to take part in the European Championships next term.
I invite Jayden forward to receive his certificates.
Review
Basketball
Mixed results for the basketball teams with the 1st team playing well to beat Rugby School 89-36, the U14’s winning both district games to qualify for the county finals. The U16 team lost against Shrewsbury and Derby Moor Academy.
Hockey
Well done to the 1st XI, who beat Kings Worcester on shuttles to progress to the next round of the Cup.
Also well done to the U16 team who also won their cup match 3-2 against Cheltenham College.
There were some closely fought games in the block fixture against Oakham School although Oakham managed to get the better of the results.
The senior boys’ indoor team beat Trent College 1-0 and Welbeck College 7-0 to qualify for the Midland finals.
Netball
The U16 team played well to beat Bablake, putting them in the last 16 of the Sisters in Sport competition.
Rugby
There were good wins for the U14C, U14B, U14A, U15C, 3rd XV and 2nd XV in the matches played against Clifton College on Saturday.
Squash
A combined Squash 1st and 2nd team played Malvern College. All games were extremely close and the match ended in a draw.
Preview
The Two Zero One team has announced that the theme for the next issue is “Great Expectations”. Contributions, related or unrelated to the theme, are due to Vivianne by Friday 6th December. These can take the form of articles, essays, interviews, reviews, short stories, poems, photographs, artwork, cartoons, crosswords or any other that you may think of. Students interested in joining the magazine team are welcome to email Vivianne or join them for Tuesday lunchtime meetings at 1:25 in Futures.
There is a BTEC business student organised event this Friday in the Arena from 13:20-14:00. Spectators should bring a donation of at least £1. Snacks and drinks will also be on offer for purchase during the event.
The motion for this week’s Friday lunchtime debate is ‘This house believes we should ban violent video games’. Please email Scarlett Bond if you would like to speak at lunchtime at 1;20 in Dr Whitbread's classroom.
Nathan Darby, from Rathbones, will be presenting a seminar on Investment Management and Finance on Friday 6th December in the Lecture Theatre at 4.15pm. giving an overview of his company and careers in Finance. This is open to all in the Sixth Form who are interested in a career in the Financial Sector. Please email Miss Leech to confirm your attendance.
Finally, although it is usually my habit never to use this assembly to go on about rules and regulations, with the darker Winter days now upon us I do need to remind you about your conduct in and around the School car parks.
We have had a couple of near misses recently, with pupils wearing headphones or concentrating on their mobiles walking out oblivious in front of cars. Can I remind you that you are expected to use the pathways and not cut across any car parks.
Please now stand as we say the Grace together.