End of Lent Term Update - March 2016

Dear Parents,

I write to report on a very busy and successful Lent term for the young men of Walters House. A short, but incredibly full few months saw some excellent achievements from them. The House remains in very good shape and the boys must take huge credit for their efforts across all areas of School life.

The inter-House 1.2 Relay squad tasted success again – for the seventh year in a row – with a superb team performance. Jake Lowe got the team off to a good start, before fine runs from Hugo Beattie, Cameron Baxter, Morgan Hammond and Kieran Walker allowed David Elphinston a relatively stress-free victorious final lap by generating a commanding lead. The boys were again outstanding, with great support for each other, and this was shown by their Housemates too. The beautiful, hundred-year-old trophy continues to adorn the trophy shelf in the Walters Day room; it will be a sad day when it eventually moves on.

Another trophy was collected following a fantastic effort from the Senior Boys Cross Country team of David Elphinston (who finished as the leading Upper Sixth Former), Jacob Matthews, Daniel Stokes, Matthew Collins, Daniel Johnson, Kieran Walker and Hugo Beattie (who won the race overall). In Junior Cross Country, the team of Ben Fitzmaurice, James Moody, Peter Olley, Morgan Hammond, Edward Aston, Jake Lowe, Jack Peplow, Tom Reynolds and William Upton secured second place in the competition. Jake finished as the leading Lower Fourth former, whilst Morgan finished first overall. A super effort by all.

Walters competed gamely in the other Lent competitions, without quite managing to come out on top. In Senior Football, the Walters team did really well to remain unbeaten in a round-robin tournament. However, too many draws were ultimately to cost them the trophy as they were edged out by Lyttelton, who fought back to claim a crucial draw in the last game. The team was David Elphinston, Jacob Matthews, Ed Hadlington, Sam Croft, Charlie Kendrick, Richard Brookes, Sam Fitzmaurice, Nathan Boothroyd and Darragh Murray. In Junior Football, a small squad did wonderfully well to come third overall, defeating hot favourites School House in their first match before succumbing to W-G in a tight game. Walters comprehensively defeated Elmshurst in the third/fourth playoff match, with a fine hat-trick from Jack Peplow. The squad was: Gurdeep Bhandal, Kieran Brinn, Josh Cunningham, Ben Fitzmaurice, Tom Siller, Alex Waplington and Jack Peplow.

In Junior Hockey, Tom Borriello, Morgan Hammond, James Moody, Peter Olley, Will Pearson, Mitchell Wise, Max Campbell, Jake Lowe, Joe Newbon, Tom Reynolds and Jack Stokes performed excellently to claim third place overall. In the Senior competition, another great all-round team effort saw Walters play really well and, mirroring the achievements of the Football team, the boys missed out on a trophy despite being unbeaten. The team of Ben Davis, Jacob Hucker, Daniel Stokes, Callum Ross, Patrick Waplington, Tristan Bland, Nathan Buckley, Toby Davis, Edward Hubscher and Evan Stokes demonstrated spirit and a really good attitude.

Senior Badminton saw Jacob Hucker, Keshav Laroiya, Jacob Matthews, Callum Ross and Sam Phillips contribute to a solid team performance. In Senior Debating, Ben Davis and Dan Stokes performed well against W-G, proposing the motion that ‘This House Would Live by Reason Not Emotion’, debating eloquently and with humour.

In the School’s major production of the year, the musical ‘Sweeney Todd’ was performed at the Artrix in Bromsgrove. The show was outstanding, certainly one of the (if not the) finest that the School has put on in recent years, with wonderful contributions from Archie Parker, Ben Payne, Dan Johnson and George Bingham. Archie, in his final acting role at Bromsgrove, put in another show-stopping, short-but-sublime performance as Pirelli, the Italian rival of Todd, providing some wonderful comedy. His contribution to Bromsgrove drama and singing over the past five years has been immense. The Fourth Form play, a hugely impressive performance of Patrick Marber’s ‘The Musicians’ saw James Beattie and Billy Dunlop contribute their excellent thespian and technical talents respectively; very well done to both for their part in what was another outstanding show.

We were treated to another glorious day at Twickenham this term as, for the second year in a row, Head of House Joe Morrice (and the rest of the 1st XV) won the NatWest Schools Cup, defeating a strong QEGS Wakefield side in the final. It was a great day out; virtually the whole House was able to make the journey down to the home of English rugby to support the boys in maroon.

The final Saturday of the term saw the majority of the House’s Sixth Formers attend the Walters Ball at Grafton Manor. A wonderful evening saw the boys (nattily sporting their black and gold bow-ties) enjoy a meal, dancing and charity fundraising games. The staff at Grafton looked after the boys wonderfully well. Huge thanks must go to the Parents’ Association Committee for the colossal amount of effort that they put into organising such a superb event. It truly was a night that will stay with the Walters lads for a very long time. The evening was thoroughly enjoyed by all, and was attended by Mr Bell, who was given a warm welcome to the House ahead of next year. The kind words and thoughtful gestures from the PA – for the boys and for their Houseparent – were very much appreciated.

It is always a real pleasure to award House Colours – ties that are earned through academic and extra-curricular achievement – and to see how proudly the boys wear them once they have been won. At the Final House Assembly of the term, Junior ties were awarded to Edward Aston, Arun Bahra and Jack Peplow, whilst Senior ties went to James Allely, Cameron Baxter, George Bickerton, Tristan Bland, Nathan Boothroyd, Toby Davis, Archie Freer, Ed Hubscher, Kesh Laroiya, Darragh Murray and Sam Phillips. Well done to all.

The best academic grades of the term were also flagged up during that assembly and these were achieved by Jude Wynter, Lower Fourth (best in House); Zach Ralph, Upper Fourth; Nathan Boothroyd, Fifth Form; Kieran Walker, Lower Sixth; and David Elphinston and Ed Hadlington, Upper Sixth.

The commitment trophies, awarded to those who have given of their best in all areas of School life and who have contributed strongly to the life of the House over the term were presented to Nathan Boothroyd (Senior Commitment) Jude Wynter (Junior Commitment) and Hugo Beattie (Endeavour Award). All three have given excellent contributions towards the House, have worked very hard and have proved to be superb ambassadors for Walters this term.

Congratulations and thanks to all the boys for their efforts over such a good term, with huge thanks to all House staff for their support for the young men of Walters, especially to Ms McWilliams, who has settled in so quickly as a new tutor this term. We also wish Mrs James many congratulations and best wishes for the future as she departs on maternity leave for the coming couple of terms. She will be much missed, but we wish her a joyous time at home with her new arrival.

With best wishes to you all for a good Easter break,

D.G. Wilkins