School House
The only house not named after a Saint. School House is the former house of the old boarding boys (the old Boarding House is now the Music Department), green is the colour. They are rallied into battle by Miss Tess Cripps and Mr David Hughes. It had been many years since School House had tasted success until roaring to victory at House music in 2010 and have been pushing for the honours in every competition. This year, will they finally win enough to take the big prize at the end?
Their war cry
WHO ARE WE? ... GREEN ARMY!
Sports Day Review 2012
Friday 29th June was a big day for all of us: not only did we have one of the biggest House events of the year to organise, but it was almost the first thing for us to do as the new House Captains, making it truly a baptism of fire! School House began the day on strong ground, having won the House Music competition on the night, only losing out to Oswald’s due to the solo competitions. We had also won the Junior Department’s own Sports Day a few days before, which stood us in good stead for the House Cup. Throughout the day, our position varied, never quite reaching the top; finishing 3rd on the day we hoped Chad’s victory would then hand us the House Cup, but yet again we were defeated at the end. We finished a very respectable 2nd place, again to Oswald’s, thanks to the enthusiasm and will to take part shown by all members of the House.
Congratulations to all the other House Captains for making such a great day happen, and for carrying on with such good cheer despite the hectic schedule!
We would like to give a massive thank you to everyone involved in making this day work: those sixth Formers who gave up free time to help set up the gazebos and tables, who organised all the participants, anyone who created banners and cheered for the teams, who attended preliminaries and contributed to our score, who baked cakes and brought foods you were truly amazing, and we could not have done it without your help. Every person, whether they competed or organised, gave us yet another reason to be bursting with pride for our wonderful House! We must particularly thank our Housemaster and Mistress, Mr Hughes and Miss Cripps, for their advice and encouragement, which fuelled us through the day!
As we anticipate the next school year, we look forwards to welcoming the new members of our House, the challenges to come, and the feats which will undoubtedly make us proud to say we were in School House!
Rob, Nell, Emma, Miles, Jack and Becca.
Welcome to our new House Captains
House Music 2011 Review
There were great expectations preceding us in the run - up to House Music 2011 after School House’s impressive victory at last year’s competition, however the evening of 18th October was yet again one of huge success for us. The atmosphere was incredible, and the endless chants of “WHO ARE WE? GREEN ARMY!” echoed in our ears until the early hours of the morning.
We began with our incredibly cute Junior Choir, represented by both the Lower School and new Junior Department, who performed the challenging ‘Pure Imagination’ from Willy Wonka, with ease. Later on, Senior Choir delivered a powerful performance of ‘Every Breath You Take’ originally done by The Police. We were rewarded for our choral talent by achieving both the Junior and Senior Choir Cups - a brilliant achievement which we were thrilled with!
For our Orchestra piece, House Captain Becca conducted a dramatic rendition of the ‘Indiana Jones Theme’ and our Band piece was ‘I’ll Be Waiting’ by Adele, with Year 13 Jess Wing providing a polished performance on lead vocals. We finished with ‘Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy’ by the Tams, a lively, feel-good Finale reflecting the whole evening, which secured us a respectably close 2nd place overall.
Our congratulations go to St. Oswalds’ House for stealing that extra point which earned them the 1st place shield, however we can offer no fewer congratulations to both St. Chad’s and St. Peter’s, who also gave some fantastic performances.
We must thank every member of School House who was there that night, whether you were a singer, an instrumentalist or part of the invaluable backstage crew. Throughout the rehearsal period we had endless support from Sixth Formers and our Housemaster and Mistress, Mr Hughes and Miss Cripps, so our thank-yous extend especially to them. Everything came together on the night; the energy and passion that was displayed by School House made the weeks of relentless organising and rehearsing completely worthwhile, and we look forward to celebrating the New Year with a continuation of this success!
Paul, Tara, George & Becca
Farewell and Hello
This summer (2011) we bid a very fond fair well to our Head of House, Mrs Rebbecca Walker. When Rebbecca and I took over the reigns at School House in September 2010, only a few short months ago, neither of us expected the roller-coaster year that was to follow. Starting on a high with winning House Music in October, Rebbecca supported our House Captains with a barrage of pure and infectious enthusiasm. As the year rolled on we both looked nervously at every result, hoping that in the end we were still in the lead. We were, right up until midday on sports day, when we finally saw the house cup slip from our grasp and sadly ruining a fabulous goodbye present for Mrs Walker.
Mrs Walker leaves us to move back to the South West where she can be nearer her family and friends, all of us in School House wish her and her husband the very best of luck and happiness for the future.
Which means we also say hello to another defector from St. Oswald's, who has seen that the the grass really is GREENER on this side. I would like to extend a very warm welcome to Miss Tessa Cripps as our new Head of House. Tessa brings with her a similar enthusiasm and a will to win that can only benefit School House as we enter battle once again.Sports Day Review 2011
We would like to give a massive thank you to all those who were involved in Sports Day in every way, shape and form. Whether you...
- organised participants and teams
- showed your support by making banners and cheering for the competitors
- attended preliminaries and contributed to our overall score
- provided cakes, brownies or 'Cheerios'
- or helped set up or take down the gazebos and tables
...you were all truly incredible and we can't thank you enough. We must give a special mention to our Housemaster and Mistress, Mr Hughes and Mrs Walker, and thank them for their strong leadership and support.
There's really not enough space to mention all of you who have been shining examples for the house over the past year. Our consistent success since September, from the spectacular triumph that was House Music and the accumulation of various sporting and merit awards, meant that we finished a fantastic second place overall in the House Cup- a conclusion which all should be truly proud of.
This year has been a great year for School House, and now we begin a new year, as we look forward to welcoming new students to our house after the summer holidays. As a team we can once again rise to the challenge and make 2011-2012 the best era yet for School House!
Tara, Paul, Rebecca & George