End of Michaelmas Term Update - December 2019

A Fond Farewell
Mr Baldrey, Assistant Houseparent for the best part of six years, moved on from Wendron-Gordon at the end of the Michaelmas term. Being a resident member of staff for such a long period of time has required real commitment to the young men of W-G and we know that hundreds of past and present members of the House will wish him all the best for his new role. We wish Mr T Holdsworth the very best of luck as he takes over as Assistant Houseparent from January.

End of Term Awards
House ties were awarded to a select band who had managed to gain their W-G colours in the first term of the year. Senior ties went to Joaquim Pang, Dan Wan and Alex Collin, with Junior ties being awarded to Bowen Cheung, Josh Coyne, Nukohma Gurung, Oliver Palmer, Mark Soltyk and Hamza Suleman. Endeavour awards went to Jonathan Burke (Senior), Bowen Cheung, (Junior) and Max Opengeym (Commitment). Well done to all three for the fine examples they have set this term. We also recognised the best engagement grades of the term in each year group, namely: Bowen Cheung, Lower Fourth; Thando Best, Upper Fourth; Marcus Wu, Fifth Form; Theodore Garriazo, Lower Sixth; and Stanley Cheng and Artem Khodachuk, Upper Sixth. Well done.

Senior Rugby
A massive well done to our ‘Magnificent Seven’ of Jack G, James B, Alex H, Dean Z, Matt B, Alex C and Jon B for their outstanding performances in the House rugby competition, where they reached the final before losing out to hot favourites Elmshurst. Victories against Webber and Housman and a draw against School, saw W-G through to the final, courtesy of a drop-kick shoot-out against School to decide who topped the group. The boys were superb competitors and did their House proud.




Fourth Form Assembly
It was pleasing to see the following boys gain commendations for their efforts in Rugby over the term, all of whom were recognised by their peers in the Fourth Form Assembly towards the end of term: Thando Best (U15B), Chi Lam, Oleksii Li and Yui Cheung (U15C), Matei Militaru (U15D), Nukohma Gurung (U14B), Ayush Gurung, Josh Coyne, Oliver Palmer and Henry Goldstraw (U14C) and Hamza Suleman and Ernest Lam (U14D). Hamza Suleman, Bowen Cheung and Oleksii Li were also congratulated for having received Director of GCSE commendations for excellent academic attainment over the term.


Noël House Party
The boys had a lovely evening on Sunday 8 December as they went off in festive mood to their Christmas party, at the Holiday Inn in Bromsgrove. Some classic buffet food, soft drinks, a few alternative House awards (courtesy of the Upper Sixth’s answer to Ant and Dec, in the form of James B and Max C), Christmas jumpers and plenty of dancing, meant that a great night was had by all. It was really pleasing that so many tutors were also prepared to give up their Sunday evening to see the boys letting their hair down. Well done to Mrs W for organising such an enjoyable event.




Great Expectations
The annual school drama production, this year - Great Expectations, dazzled all who went to see it in the penultimate week of term, with a number of W-G lads amongst the cast. James Bradley, Max Campbell, Ian Chan, Jan Morozov, Kostya Chistyakov and Donald Li were outstanding in what was a superb production overall. Well done to all for their dedication and commitment to a very professional project – all of the boys can be very proud of their involvement in such a wonderful show.

Junior Debating
Congratulations to Oleksii and Marcus who made it through to the final of the Junior Debating competition, arguing skilfully that ‘Companies should be fined for their carbon emissions and other negative environmental impacts’ in their debate against Mary Windsor, in which they comfortably won the floor vote. Earlier, they had got to the final by successfully proposing the motion that ‘This House supports parents tracking teenagers through the use of phone GPS’. Well done boys, on excellent preparation and two fine appearances on stage.




Senior Swimming
Well done to the Senior Swimming team who put in a really good effort in the inter-House competition on 13 November. Ably led by Jonathan Burke, the team comprised of: Connor Mills, Dan Wan, Marcus Wu, Argus Ng, Alex Collin, Max Campbell, Stepan Bobrenev, Howard Goldstraw, Ian Chan, Andy Chia, Tang Mahathorn, Victor Mikov, Nurmash Tokmukhamedov, Fabian Rohde, Stefan Tarasov, Arsenii Steshenko and Max Opengeym.

Junior Drama
It has been great to see so many Fourth formers get involved in preparations for the Junior Drama competition in the Lent term. We are much looking forward to seeing their final performance of their scene from Kafka’s ‘The Trial’ after the Christmas break.

Reverence and Pride
All of the young men of Wendron-Gordon did their house proud in the annual Remembrance Services on 10 November in the Memorial Chapel. The boys looked immaculate and showed immense respect throughout the services. Well done to Maximilian Opengeym and Joaquim Pang who formed part of the wreath party during the services, and to Andy Chia, who played ‘The Last Post’ both in front of the Bromsgrove townsfolk and in front of the School, during the two minutes of silence on the day.

Junior Badminton Success
Huge congratulations to Larry, Marius, Callum and Sean, whose performance in the Junior badminton competition saw the boys bring the trophy home. The boys were delighted to see Marius collect the trophy on behalf of W-G in Routh Assembly.






Junior Rugby
Fine performances from all in the Junior Rugby competition, despite a big (and growing) injury list on the day. Thanks and well done to Thando B, Joe F, Marcus A, Dan V, Yui C, Matei M, Ayush K, Chi L, Oleksii L, Airan T, Henry G and Josh C (A team) and Marius C, Larry T, Jerry C, David C, Lok L, Oliver P, Ayush G, Bot T, Ernest L, Mark S, Sean M and Bowen C (B team). Despite not making the final, the lads were ‘warriors for the cause’.




House Song
Weeks of practising in the day room and superb leadership by the Upper Sixth helped hugely towards a fine performance in the annual Unison Song Competition. The theme this year was musicals and the lads chose, and enjoyed singing, Mamma Mia. Jonathan B gained the Conductor’s Prize, a reflection both of his hard work and of co-operation and team spirit shown by all the boys throughout the process, from start to finish. Owen P deserves a special mention for outstanding accompaniment on the piano. The W-G lads sang brilliantly on the day and their performance can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E9jBjesk8U

House Photo
On 3rd October, the annual House photo took place. All of the boys have been given an order form to take home with them, should parents wish to purchase a copy.

CCF Field Day
On 2nd October, the Upper Fourth boys accompanied the rest of their year group on the CCF Field Day at Peck Wood. The boys took part in a number of activities including basha building, ration cooking, camouflage and concealment, first aid, navigation, weapons training and a STEM activity provided by 37 Signal Regiment. They arrived back at House tired (and extremely muddy), but having had a fantastic day.




Junior Basketball Finalists
On 1 October, the Junior boys basketball team did superbly well to reach the final in the inter-House competition, where they just lost out in a nail-biter to Elmshurst. W-G despatched Walters and Lupton in the group stage, before defeating Lyttelton in the semi-final. It was also great to see so much support from the team’s peers in the arena. Well done to all involved: Dan V, Lok L, Felix M, Marcus A, Bowen C, Josh C, Henry G, Nukohma G, Airan T, Bob T, Thando B, Marius C and Matei M.

Junior House Swimming
On 19 September the Junior team of Henry G, Thando B, Oliver P, Noah R, Ernest L, Callum W, Airan T, Bob T, Yui C, Ayush G, Lok L and Nukohma G took part in the inter-House swimming competition. It was fantastic to see so many new lads get involved in what was an excellent competition. Well done to all.

Senior B Rugby
The Senior Rugby B team competition got off to a start on 18 September, with a number of matches against all other boys houses over the course of the term. Whilst victories were relatively hard to come by, the lads involved demonstrated great team spirit and commitment. Well done to Connor M, Ivan G, Stefan T, Howard G, Stepan B, Jan M, Nurmash T, Dariush M, Victor M and Arsenii S.




Badminton Success
Darren H has continued his fine form on the Table Tennis circuit, confirming his status as Worcestershire County Junior No 1, with impressive performances in a number of tournaments for the county.

National Cricket Champ
Congratulations to Alex H who was a key member of the Bromsgrove School Cricket team which won the National U17s cup on 4 September. The boys were delighted to hear of Alex’s achievement when we re-presented him with his trophy during House assembly.

International Induction
The final week of August saw the school’s international induction, for pupils entirely new to Bromsgrove. We welcomed 18 new joiners, who got to know their way around the School, as well as making new friends, and also participating in trips to Birmingham and Warwick Castle. The end of the week saw the remainder of the new W-G boys arrive (in the form of former Prep School pupils), whilst we also welcomed back another 60 or so old faces.