Michaelmas Term Highlights
Our end of term assembly on Friday reflected upon the achievements of the Michaelmas Term. Headmaster Distinctions, Bronze, Silver and Gold Duke of Edinburgh awards were handed out and two new prefects, Noah A and Temiola L, were announced and awarded their prefect badges.
Awards for sports, music junior debating, MUN and The Bubble were given out to a number of pupils. We also said our goodbyes to Mr Pooley, Mr Coventry and Mr and Mrs McConnell and wished them all the best in their new adventures.
Pupils then enjoyed a delicious Christmas Lunch with a visit from Santa, his elves and the Grinch! Pupils then finished off the term by attending or performing in our wonderful Christmas Carol Service in the Chapel, Mr McConnell’s final service.
Read the rugby, basketball, hockey, cross country sailing and music reports below:
Jamie McCarroll - Rugby and Basketball Report:
Rugby has been the major sport for boys for this term – we have played over 100 matches of rugby from U12’s all the way up to 1st XV level, involving over 220 boys who have represented the 12 different teams.
The most successful team of the year has been the U14A team who have won all their full rugby fixtures this term (not including the non-contact game vs The Perse at the start of the term when the fields were too hard). The school has scored 1829 points with the U12B team scoring the most points this season with 330 and the U14A team having the best points difference of 163. The 1st XV have had a disappointing season, beset with injuries meaning that over 30 players have played in the team, which says much about the determination and grit shown by all boys involved – hopefully this will prove fruitful for next year’s group of senior players.
Some individuals to mention are Freddy G and Luke P who have been selected for the U15 Northampton Saints DPP Training Squad; as well as Ike I, Beau L, Oliver G & Joel M-B who have been selected for the U14 Northampton Saints DPP Training Squad. We also wish Jamie M, Tom M. Alex C & Josh O luck with their upcoming trails for the U18 Lambs Squad in the early new year.
Other players to be commended are Paul S, Tim P, William C, Kian J, Tommy L and Hugo M in the U12’s who have all been excellent this season. Dom A, Sonny S and Charley Green who were selected as U13’s to play up in the U14A team this season; and Archie L and Ed R who were all selected to play in the 1st XV as Year 11’s as well as special mention to Jacob A who played the full season as a Year 11 in the 1st XV. The rugby players now turn their attention to the 7’s season which starts towards the end of January, and we wish all those players involved the best with their season ahead.
Basketball has seen our 1st team play in a few games this term before a busier Lent Term where there are some exciting and challenging matches ahead. It has been a good start though with the team winning two out three games thus far and our U16s competing in their first fixture too. We look forward to watching both teams progress through the year. We have also seen the first interhouse senior boys’ basketball tournament, which was duly won by Collingwood. The senior girls’ basketball tournament will take place in the Lent Term.
Lydia Mayes - Hockey and Cross-Country Report:
Well done to all girls who have taken part in the hockey teams this term. 122 matches have been played and about 200 girls have played in competitive fixtures.
At the start of this half term the 1st XI girls represented Suffolk in the Regional tournament. They won 3 out of 4 pool games making it to the semi-finals where they lost to Bishop Stortford. In other fixtures this term, the 1st XI have won 9 out of 16 matches, scoring 50 goals! Some of the best performances were against Wisbech winning 8-1 and Woodbridge winning 8-0. Rosie C has been a standout player this season, as she has had to be very versatile having played a number of positions.
Well done to Molly N and Sophie D in Year 11 for stepping into 1st team with ease. Lily I has been critical for keeping many clean sheets along with Daisy C for her fantastic communication and aggression in defence. This has been another excellent year for the 2nd XI. A shaky start to the term with 3 straight losses was quickly turned round into 7 wins and 1 draw to complete a winning season. The U16A team also represented Suffolk in the East Regional Tournament. Unfortunately, they lost 3 out of 4 games.
A special mention to the girls in Year 10 who were selected to play in this team: Martha H, Georgia S, Jess H, Imogen T and Bella M. The U15A and U14As have shown a real determination to improve, which has shown in their results toward the end of the season. The U15B have won most of their games. The U14B team have improved, although in most fixtures the result has gone to the other team. We have fielded 7 junior girls teams this term, with everyone in Year 7 and 8 being involved. The U13Cs have the best record of all the junior teams winning 85% of all their matches. In the U12s, a big well done goes to Florence A, Sarah P and Tillie J in Year 7 who have played up into the Junior 1st team, as they have made a big impact on the outcome of games.
House tournament winners are:
Year 7: Francis
Year 8: Francis
Year 9: Cornwallis (with only 4 players!)
Year 10: Seniors: Drake
Cross-Country - this term, the cross-country team have taken part in the first two rounds of the Suffolk Schools Championships. Our intermediate boys have done particularly well, with four of them (Sean E, Henry S, Jack H and Jasper F) making it through to the next round, which will take place at Woodbridge in January. They will be joined in this third and final round by Tom L and Theo G in the senior boys and Isabella B for the senior girls.
Mr Martineau - Sailing and Music Report:
Sailing - despite being a member of staff short, we are still providing sailing activities for 86 pupils each week. All 54 pupils in Year 7 successfully completed their Year 7 sailing weeks with 37 certificates issued. Since the start of the summer holidays we have run two DofE silver qualifying expeditions and one practice expedition. We have a further three teams interested in undertaking a silver sailing expedition in 2023. In October we finished as runners up (first school) in the RYA Youth (U19) Team Racing Championship, our best ever result at this major, open entry event. We also brought home the Lancashire Plate (for the most improved team on day two) and, separately, the overall title at the National School Sailing Association Single Handed Team Racing Championship. Twelve of our sailors have places in one of the various RYA training and development squads.
Our attendance at Weymouth Speed Week turned a number of heads as we successfully resurrected the iconic Icarus, a foiling Tornado and former World Speed Record holder from the 1970s and 80s. Icarus did a number of runs on the 500m course over the week, with pupils onboard, recording a top speed over 22 knots. Accompanying Icarus were the school's two foiling Waszps as we ran a week of foiling fun for the school's older sailors and displayed the school's brand to a wide new audience of sailing afficionados.
Music: another busy term in the music school, as ever. Our Notes and Nibbles concerts continue to draw the local community together whilst offering some high-standard musicianship from amongst our pupil body. The choir and band trip the Washington DC, USA, was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for so many of our pupils, where they exemplary ambassadors for RHS during their time away.
The choir have continued their tradition of singing for the Royal Navy at both St Paul's Cathedral and St Martin-in-the-Fields and the band, under the excellent leadership of Lizzie Merrell, continue to astound parents and visitors at our Divisions parades. Sing Up! Suffolk saw almost 500 Year 5 and 6 pupils from primary and prep schools across two counties come together for a morning of singing and fun, and the Big Band gave a stellar performance in early November as they welcomed Ronnie Scott's jazz pianist Pete Letanka and his trio for an impassioned evening of swing music.
The Christmas celebrations continue with our Carol Service this afternoon. Last weekend the RHS Chapel Choir & musicians alongside the Holbrook Choral Society performed the UK Premier of Howard Goodalls ‘Christmas Cantata’ and then on Monday evening we had our first ever Nocturnal Notes and Nibbles which was a huge success.