December 2014 - End of Term News

Dear Parents,
It gives me great pleasure to report on a fantastic first term of the year for the young men of Walters House, and to outline a few of its many highlights below. With 19 new boys and a new tutor starting in September, it seemed to take no time at all for them to settle into House routines. The new Fourth form have enjoyed an excellent term, whilst Mrs James has made a superb start as a House tutor, bolstering an already fine tutor team. 

The highlight of any Michaelmas term is usually the Unison Song competition, and so it proved again this year. The Walters entry in the competition was Elton John’s ‘I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues’, in keeping with the year’s theme of colours. Weeks of preparation and practices saw the boys perform very well on the day, gaining some excellent feedback from the visiting judge (and former Bromsgrove pupil) opera singer Olivia Safe. Jack Alsop’s ‘brave’ conducting (in terms of his dress, movement and ‘style’) earned him the award for Best Conductor. The House wasn’t chosen for either of the top two prizes, with Lyttelton House deservedly coming out on top, but gave a very good account of themselves.

The pupils and staff of Walters were delighted with the news this term that Harrison Hill was to be appointed as a School Monitor. He was presented with his badge and wrote in the historic monitors’ book in early October, a member of the first group of monitors to be made up by our new Headmaster Mr Clague. The House Monitor team has started off the year very well and was also added to this term when Tom Beattie joined the ranks, having really led by example around the House, in particular looking after the younger lads and helping to organise them. Walters was visited by Mr Bowen in the second week of the term and also by Mr Clague in early November. The boys were thrilled to host Mr Bowen at the start of his last year in the School, and also to be the first House to be visited by our new Headmaster. Another in-House highlight was helping to celebrate Housekeeper Lesley Gibbs’ ‘special’ birthday this term, as the boys sang her off to her birthday weekend.

A weekend Paintballing trip for the boys was very well attended in October, with around half of the House turning up on a Sunday morning to run around and shoot at each other. With much kinder weather than the arctic conditions of the last such trip, a fantastic day was enjoyed by all. Special thanks to Mr Stone who gave up his day off to get involved, and also, of course, to the Parents’ Association, who subsidised the outing. The now legendary PA Casino Night in Routh Hall also took place in October, and was well supported by boys, parents and friends of the House. The Sixth Form croupiers were superb in running the evening, whilst the Wild West theme really added to the night. Many thanks to all who supported the event. The PA continue to help the House immensely – currently working on adding new House kit, sponsoring awards and paying for some educational reading material for the lads in the shape of The Times (and Rugby World…). The term was rounded off in excellent fashion with the Christmas Drop-In on the last Monday of term – many thanks again to all those who hosted, baked or donated time, efforts or raffle prizes towards this event.

House sport continues to thrive. In the Junior Badminton competition, the teams of Nathan Buckley, Darragh Murray, Ben Hales and Nathan Boothroyd (U4) and Tom Boriello, Joshua Cunningham, Gurdeep Bhandal and Alex Waplington (L4) performed excellently in their matches against Lupton and Elmshurst, although just missed out on making the final.

The boys in the Junior B team squad won the inter-House Rugby trophy, with some excellent performances in the pool matches and then in the semi and final, with Christian Parris scoring two tries to help the side defeat Lupton for the cup. The A squad fought hard in their matches but were unable to make it past the semi-final stage. The teams were: Cameron Baxter, Nathan Boothroyd, Nathan Buckley, Will Cutress, Toby Davis, Ben Hales, Sam Morrice, Kieran Brinn, James Moody, Peter Olley, Will Pearson and Harry Thompson (A team) and James Allely, Antonio Sanghera, Evan Stokes, Josh Cunningham, Louis English, Morgan Hammond, Will Hayward, Christian Parris, Zachary Ralph, Alex Waplington, Daniel Webber-Goldsby and Mitchell Wise (B team).

In the Senior competition, injuries to key players meant that the House put out two relatively youthful teams (indeed, more than half of the Senior team was comprised of Fifth formers), who both put on very brave performances, without making it through the group stages. The spirit of the teams was typified by Daniel Johnson (F5) grappling with an Upper Sixth 1st XV lock forward time and again despite being very much second-best in terms of size and weight; skill, bravery and a real desire to compete for the House was displayed by all. Teams: Harry Cutress, Ben Davis, David Elphinston, Edward Hadlington, Jacob Matthews, Alex Ashworth, Dominic Edwards, Josh Gilbert, Jack Harding, Daniel Johnson and Tom Nolan (A Team) and Jack Alsop, Jivan Purewal, Sam Croft, Sam Gilbert, Jacob Hucker, Daniel Stokes, Richard Brookes, Peter Petrakas and Michael Townsend (B team).

To pick out just a few of the cultural highlights of the term, one must first recall the School Production of ‘The Winter’s Tale’ at the Artrix theatre in Bromsgrove, which was a dazzling show and saw hugely impressive performances from a very talented cast. Archie Parker, playing Camillo, key adviser and servant to Leontes, King of Sicilia, and later to Polixenes, King of Bohemia, was simply outstanding in his third main production at School. Ben Payne was also excellent in his supporting role as Mamillius, son of Leontes, uttering the classic line ‘A sad tale’s best for winter’. In Junior Debating, Nathan Buckley and George Bingham defeated the motion proposed by Hazeldene that ‘This House Believes Reality Television Does More Harm than Good’. George and Nathan both spoke courteously and confidently, with some astute argument swaying the audience into voting for a Walters win. The Music Scholars’ Concert saw Dan Johnson’s fine sax playing in ‘Tenor Madness’; George Bingham’s excellent ‘No ragtime’ on xylophone and Daniel Stokes’ superb trombone playing in Berlioz’s ‘Un bal’. Matthew Collins’ saxophone solo in the House Song (outdoing Stevie Wonder on the harmonica in the original version) was another fantastic moment of the term.

At the Final House Assembly, the achievements of the term were remembered, as well as the usual prizes being awarded. The following pupils gained congratulations for the best effort grades over the term in each year group: L4 Louis English, U4 Toby Davis, F5 Paddy Waplington, L6 Joe Morrice and U6 Jivan Purewal. Louis and Joe shared the accolade of having the best grades in the House this term. Junior House colours, ties given to those in the Fourth forms who have gained sufficient commendations both in their academic work and the extra-curricular life of the school, went to Gurdeep Bhandal, Tom Boriello, Joshua Cunningham, James Gill, Morgan Hammond, James Moody, Peter Olley, Christian Parris, William Pearson, Zachary Ralph, Alex Waplington, Daniel Webber Goldsby and Mitchell Wise. Senior colours were awarded to Alex Ashworth, Hugo Beattie, Dominic Edwards, Josh Gilbert, Jack Harding, Connor McStay, Tom Nolan, Peter Petrakas, Sam Gilbert and Jacob Hucker. The House awards, presented every term to people who have worked hard and given of their best across all areas of school life were also awarded at the end of term. The Junior Commitment Cup went to Ben Fitzmaurice, due to some outstanding effort grades, and an unfailingly hard-working and polite approach to all aspects of School life. The Senior Commitment Award went to Joe Morrice who enjoyed a fine term, with excellent grades, fine leadership of his L4 study, helping the new joiners to settle in, and also working hard to recover from injury and then returning for the 1st XV Rugby team. Tom Beattie, whose support for those around him was superb across the term, was the winner of the Endeavour Award.

Mark Reading saw Joseph Morrice (English Language and Physics) and Charlie Kendrick (Geography) pick up awards for the best performance at GCSE in their subjects. The Fourth Form Assembly, also in the final week of term, saw the following gain commendations for their efforts on the rugby fields for the School this term: Peter Olley (U14A), Kieran Brinn (U14B), Joshua Cunningham (U14C), Ben Hales (U15B), Evan Stokes (U15C) and James Allely (U15D). Certificates of Recognition for dedication and excellence in English lessons went to Nathan Buckley and Nathan Boothroyd (U4) and to James Gill (L4). The annual CCF Recruits pass off parade towards the end of term also brought success, with Archie Freer (U4) gaining the award for best RAF recruit. The Remembrance Services were particularly poignant this year and were very well attended. The House was thrilled that Archie Parker, Ben Davis and Sam Croft represented the CCF as members of the Escort Party for the laying of wreaths.

I’d like to thank the young men of the House for all of their efforts towards such a good term, and also House tutors and Lesley for their support for the boys since September. I look forward to witnessing further successes in the New Year.

With best wishes to you all for a good Christmas and a happy 2015,

Dan Wilkins