Lent Term 2015 Update
Dear Parents,
It is my pleasure to report to you following a very successful Lent term for Walters House. An incredibly busy term has seen many individual and group successes and achievements since our return to School in January. The Junior section of the House in particular did well on the sports fields this term, with a number of inter-House triumphs.
In a spectacular end to term, the 1st XV’s success at Twickenham really brought a ‘feelgood’ factor to House and School. A large number of Walters boys went to cheer on the School team against Oundle in a very exciting semi-final, and 90% of the boys were able to travel to Twickenham in a wonderful day out on the last Wednesday before we broke up. A very cheerful Walters bus was delighted to welcome Mr Bowen, who accompanied us to London and back. An incredible match at Twickenham was witnessed by a hugely supportive and impeccably behaved Bromsgrove crowd, and the boys were delirious after an outstanding second half performance took the game away from Dulwich College. Joe Morrice, the sole Walters member of the 1st XV, was applauded into roll-call on the following day; the boys were delighted for him (he had a stormer in the final) and for the rest of the team and staff.
Continuing a remarkable run of victories in recent history, Walters retained the coveted 1.2 relay trophy, with a sixth win in six years. Jamie Ross emulated the feat of last year’s leaver Alex Moore to win the trophy every year through the School, captaining the side and running the final leg to bring the cup home – a truly outstanding achievement. All of the boys ran superbly; just as pleasing as the victory of the team was the support and reaction of their Housemates during and after the event. The team was: Morgan Hammond (L4), Nathan Buckley (U4), Kieran Walker (F5), Hugo Beattie (F5), David Elphinston (L6) and Jamie Ross (U6).
In Junior Cross country, the Walters team finished as runners-up, with some excellent performances. The team was Cameron Baxter, Toby Davis, Archie Freer, Edward Hubscher, Keshav Laroiya, Antonio Sanghera, Tom Borriello, Kieran Brinn, Joshua Cunningham, Ben Fitzmaurice, Morgan Hammond, James Moody, Peter Olley, Christian Parris, Tom Siller and Harry Thompson.
The Junior Hockey competition saw the A team of Nathan Boothroyd, Tristan Bland, Nathan Buckley, Evan Stokes, Darragh Murragh, Harry Thompson, Tom Borriello, Ben Hales and James Moody claim the trophy for Walters. A good win against School was followed by a draw against Lupton, setting up a Semi-final with Lyttelton. A last-gasp short corner equaliser from Lyttelton saw the game go to penalties, with Walters making it through after an incredible shoot-out. The final saw Lupton defeated 1.0 with a marvellous Harry Thompson strike.
Another trophy found its way into the Walters Day Room through the inter-House Junior Football, where the A team played superbly to win the competition. With an opening draw against School House, Walters produced excellent wins against Lupton and then Lyttelton, with Keshav Laroiya scoring freely, to face a talented Elmshurst team in the final. Dogged defending saw Walters grind out a nil nil draw, for the competition to come down to a nail-biting penalty shoot-out. Walters eventually won after six penalties each, with captain Darragh Murray saving the crucial kick. The team was Cameron Baxter, Archie Freer, Keshav Laroiya, Nathan Boothroyd, Nathan Buckley, Antonio Sanghera, Darragh Murray, Tom Boriello, James Moody and Ben Hales. The Junior Football B squad of Toby Davis, James Allely, Evan Stokes, Will Pearson, Sam Morrice, Morgan Hammond, Peter Olley, Ben Fitzmaurice and Will Hayward acquitted themselves very well in their round-robin tournament, but were unable to make the semi-final stage.
In Senior Football, the team were unable to show their skills off for long (although they did show off the wonderful new House kit that the PA had purchased), given that the competition was a straight knock-out. A goalless draw in their first game was followed by a penalty shoot-out defeat to Elmshurst. The short-but-sweet performances came from Joe Hutchings, Harrison Hill, Dan Holmes, Amardeep Bhandal, Ed Hadlington, Connor McStay, Tom Beattie, Tom Nolan, Jamie Ross and Jivan Purewal.
Keshav Laroiya and Alex Waplington starred for Walters in the Junior Squash competition, accruing the most points in the preliminary matches to make it through to the final, both against Lyttelton opponents. Both Keshav and Alex won their matches in style to gain another inter-House trophy for Walters.
Senior Hockey saw the boys perform extremely well, before bowing out at the semi-final stage to Elmshurst. The team was: Jack Alsop, Jamie Ross, Callum Ross, Will Miners, Harrison Hill, Daniel Holmes, Daniel Stokes, Jacob Hucker, David Elphinston and Joe Morrice.
In Senior Debating Harry Cutress and Joe Morrice opposed the motion from Wendron-Gordon that ‘This House believes diversity should not be a criteria for university entry’. Although appearing to win the floor-vote comfortably, the lads did not make it through to the final, despite debating with eloquence and no little style.
An extremely enjoyable Quiz night was organised by the Parents’ Association for the Lent Term PA event, for the House’s first event in the Hospitality Suite. It was well attended and great fun and Mrs Stokes again impressed hugely as hostess and quizmaster. It would be immodest to reveal that the staff team were the winners of the quiz…. Many thanks to all of the PA who helped to organise and run the night, and for their continued support of the House and the boys.
There were too many individual highlights over the term to mention and do all justice, but a few that stand out include Charlie Kendrick and Jacob Matthews’ performance in the Uforia Young Enterprise team (with Charlie winning the award for best Finance Director at the Area Presentations), Jack Harding and Tristan Bland again swimming for the School in the Olympic pool, and Ben Payne and George Bingham’s performances in the Fourth Form play, ‘The Accordion Shop’. William Miners was also lauded for his contribution to the Target 2.0 team – ‘the most robust, well prepared and professional Economics Target 2.0 team the School has ever seen’ – with the team delivering a presentation on the UK economy to a panel of judges that included Monetary Policy Committee members. Finally, two Lower Sixth Formers were a credit to the school in two moving events this term. Archie Parker represented the School at a ceremony in Kidderminster to remember Old Bromsgrovian Captain Eustace Jotham on the hundredth anniversary of his death in Waziristan during the First World War; Captain Jotham’s Victoria Cross was on display to the public. David Elphinston read at the Holocaust Memorial Day’s Ceremony at Bromsgrove Council House on the 70th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
The following pupils are to be congratulated for gaining the best effort grades in their year group within Walters this term: Mitchell Wise (L4), Toby Davis (U4), Patrick Waplington (F5), Charlie Kendrick (L6) and Harrison Hill (U6).
The end of term assembly saw a number of House colours presented for commendations gained inside and outside of the Classroom. Junior ties went to Kieran Brinn, Ben Fitzmaurice, Will Hayward, Keshav Laroiya and Harry Thompson. Senior ties were earned by Richard Brookes, Matthew Collins, James Bruton-Gibney, Michael Petrakas, Kieran Walker and Patrick Waplington. The House Commitment prizes - for which good effort grades, as well as community spirit, are essential - were also awarded. Nathan Buckley, who had helped the House to three trophies during the term, won the Junior Commitment award, with the Senior Commitment cup going to Edward Hadlington. The Endeavour Award was presented to Morgan Hammond.
The final Routh Hall assembly of the term also saw a number of School awards announced. Minor Colours were awarded to Connor McStay for Rugby, Callum Ross for Hockey, Tom Nolan and Michael Townsend for Football and Jack Harding for Swimming. Jamie Ross spent much of the assembly plodding on and off stage, gaining his School Cap for Hockey, as well as the John Downey award, (presented to the player who has made an outstanding contribution to School Hockey over the past five years), also picking up his Gold Duke of Edinburgh award and the House trophy for the 1.2 relay. Daniel Holmes also received his Gold Duke of Edinburgh award.
Many thanks to all the boys for their efforts over such a good term, with congratulations and thanks too to all House staff for their support and commitment to the young men of Walters.
With best wishes to you all for a good Easter break,
Dan Wilkins