1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th X1 AWAY at The Beacon

Colts A & B v Edge Grove at Woollams

Colts C, D & E AWAY at Edge Grove

The statistics are impressive:
· 38% of papers taken were passed with an A grade or higher
· 35% of candidates gained A grade in 5 or more subjects
· All boys taking CE to St Albans and Oakham passed with an average of at least A
· Science had 100% pass rate again this year
· This year, for the first time, we had some boys who sat Spanish and one who took
German, all of those boys gained at least an A grade
· The best overall individual set of grades was achieved was 6 A* and 4 A grades                      · The best individual mark achieved was 100% in Latin at Level 3 (the highest tier) – a remarkable achievement!
I would like to congratulate all of those who have done so well! Thanks are also due to the
teachers for all their hard work.

 Within 11 hours at Aldwickbury

• The Reception classes went to Wobourn Safari Park
• The School choir attended the R.S.C.M. Young Voices Festival at Eton joined by the parents for a picnic beforehand in a park at Windsor
• We welcomed a new housemaster from The Leys School, Cambridge who came to meet one of our Year 8 leavers who will be joining him in September
• HM receiving news of CE results! Top secret until Thursday!
• The whole of Year 4 played cricket against the Beacon School
• The 1^st XI played Cheam School in the quarter finals of the JET Cricket competition. (Note no mention of the result - shame!)
• Normal academic and music lessons along with games were taught for all boys remaining in school!
• Year 5 practiced their play on the top terrace at break times.
• Year 7 and 8 boys and parents attended a very interesting talk from a Harrow School master entitled ‘Happiness and Success’.
• The boarders enjoyed a glorious summer’s evening making the most of the grounds
• The Headmaster and Governors had their termly meeting.

Quite a day!

This talk is based around different interpretations of success and hopes to convey the point that success can be measured by what one does to help others. This will tie in with the notion that being kind to others can bring the most fulfilling form of happiness.

As this match is now away, there will be no Year 4 tennis club.

Friday morning will now run to the normal timetable and boys should come to school in their school uniform.

Vernon Hales
Headmaster

As a Headmaster there are plenty of things that are not so rewarding about the job– endless paperwork, hundreds of emails, latest government initiatives to read, disciplinary matters and so the list goes on. However, I am fortunate because other aspects of my role at Aldwickbury fill me with tremendous enjoyment! The other day  a group of Year 3 boys were sent to me so that I could read their stories about travelling to Mars. Each one was different, each boy had approached it with a different emphasis, the hand writing varied enormously, but what linked them was the sense of excitement and pride in the boys as they showed me their work! 

These times with the boys in my daily routine such as reading their stories really are a privilege and remind me why I came into education in the first place! I have to say that some of the paperwork that I see is far less interesting than the delightful stories about travelling to Mars, and not as well written in some cases! Perhaps we could put all that paper on the boys’ spaceships so that it can head all those miles into space……...the real bonus being that the boys didn’t seem to mention the return journey!

On Monday the ski teams took part in the first schools’ race to be run on an indoor snow slope as opposed to a dry ski slope. The day was a great success and it was very gratifying to maintain our strong level of performance. Satipski is the unofficial Prep Schools’ National Championship.

The Under 14 team skied exceptionally to win their competition by a very narrow margin, while the Under 11 team managed 3rd place. Special congratulations to ski captain Luke for finishing 2nd in the Individual event.

The teams were as follows: (with Top 10 Results)

Under 14:

Luke (2nd), Ben (4th), Max (5th), Michael

Under 11:

James P (4th), Adam , James R, Jacob

A Faultless Century!

The highlight on the cricket field must be George’s achievement of scoring a hundred for the 1st XI in their match against York House. George batted beautifully for almost two hours to complete a faultless century. Congratulations George, it was a pleasure to watch. Let's hope it is the first of many for this talented cricketer!

We also had great individual successes in our matches on Wednesday against St Martin's. 50's were scored by Mark F(1st XI), Sarvesh  and Luke (2nd XI), and Andrew (Colts A). Milo (1st XI) produced the incredible bowling figurers of 8 overs, 1 maiden, 6 for 17: all 6 wickets were cleaned bowled!!

1st XI cricket colours have been awarded to George and Mark F this week.

An Incredibly Successful Afternoon

Our boys took part in a Quadrangular athletics event held at St Martin’s school against the hosts, Lochinver House and York House. It was an incredibly successful afternoon with Aldwickbury winning three out of the four age groups. First places were awarded to: Year 5:

Brendan (100m and 800m), Jacob (HJ); Year 7: Christian (200m), Rory A (800m), Harry (HJ), Laurie (LJ); Year 8: Sebastian  (200m), Mark F (800m), Year 8 relay. Out of a team of 25, there were 18 performances by our athletes which guaranteed entry to the London Area Athletics Championships at Eton. The final overall scores were as follows: Aldwickbury 101, Lochinver House 91, York House and St Martins 83.

Christian  (Conservative)  146 (E)

Max  (Liberal Democract)   41

George  (Labour)   8

We have seen several instances this year where our boys have performed really well in competition against much bigger schools. On the soccer pitch our 1^st defeated Dulwich College in the first term and last term our General Knowledge Team defeated Dr Challoner’s Grammar School in qualifying for the national stages of that competition. It does go to show that with the right environment boys can achieve great things and often exceed their expectations.

The boys must continue to think about their targets and how they can achieve them. By setting them appropriately they may find that they too can beat Goliath – in whatever form he may appear to them. I hope that as the term progresses our boys will be able to achieve what David did, but perhaps without the same violent ending……….

Who could have asked for better conditions for the first cricket match of the season for the boys at Aldwickbury School? The 1^st XI and Colts A played their way into the season against Lochinver House. Balls were bowled, wickets taken and runs scored it was great to see the boys enjoying playing this wonderful summer sport. Even the spectators were taken by surprise by the sunshine. Most arrived with the traditional cricket spectators’ kit of woollen blankets, warm coats and umbrellas. All were left in the car apart from the umbrella which was needed for protection from the sun!

At the end of the day the boys were rewarded with wins for Aldwickbury in both matches. 1st XI won by 8 wickets. Lochinver House 75 all out, Aldwickbury 76 for 2. The Colts A won by 81 runs. Aldwickbury 123 for 4, Lochinver House 42 for 9.

Music continues to thrive at Aldwickbury School.

Term will start with a few boys staying on holiday, apparently unable to get back because of the closure of air space! We also have a few staff that have been forced to extend their holidays. However, the rest of us are looking forward to starting the Summer Term with a bang!

Whilst for some the problems caused by the erupting volcano in Iceland has been a real worry, for the Common Entrance candidates it has given them an excellent example of geographical hazards and their impact on man – just in time for their exams in June! Every cloud has a silver lining………

Some of the boarders returned on Monday evening to find a new huge TV had been installed just in time to watch the English teams in the Champions League semi finals! Well, perhaps we will have to wait until next year.

VWH

Everyone who enters the grounds at Aldwickbury always comments on the beautiful grounds and on the magnificent trees on site. We have to thank the past owners of Aldwickbury for these trees we take for granted.  Alfred Loder who had bought the house by the 1891 census was “one of t he generations of Loders re sponsible for many nationally important gardens… So it is reasonable to assume that Alfred would have recognised and developed the potential at High Firs ( as Aldwickbury was first known) when he purchased it”.*

 Sadly one of the large Wellingtonia trees in the car park had to be felled during the Easter break. We take looking after our trees very seriously and have a skilled team that regularly check that all is well with them. Whilst there is not much room to replant on site it has been good to be involved with the Heartwood Forest project planting trees there for future generations to enjoy.

*(Taken from ‘Aldwickbury – The Story of the House’ written by Mrs C Jeffery in the 1998 Aldwickbury Magazine).

It is with some fear and trepidation that I write my first blog as Headmaster of Aldwickbury Prep School. I have tried googling “my first ever blog” and this gave some ideas, but did not calm my nerves, as it reiterated just how important this form of communication is in this technologically based world.

I watched with sadness as one of the Wellingtonia trees in the car park was cut down. I knew that it had to come down before it fell on some unsuspecting four wheel drive parked innocently close by. But it struck me, as I watched the very skilled tree surgeons at work, that although sad it was a sign of the ever changing world in which we live – things can not remain the same forever.

As we begin the summer term, we are seeing the signs of summer sprouting up everywhere and they remind us so clearly that we live in a vibrant, wonderful and developing world. I am confident that the whole community at Aldwickbury is looking forward to making the most of the opportunities at our vibrant, wonderful and developing school. 

It was a terrific event which I know the boys really enjoyed and I do hope there will be more of these local events in the future.” Current parent

The Headmaster recently took a member of the Pre-Prep department and the Head of Latin to the IBSC one-day conference, Focus on Boys’ Education.

The programme began with an address by Ray Lewis, founder of the Eastside Young Leaders’ Academy, on the many challenges facing boys in UK education. Dr. Abigail Norfleet James, author of Teaching the Male Brain, and an international speaker and consultant, presented her recent research findings on the purpose of boys’ schools, with an emphasis on how gender-based teaching can promote boys’ engagement, motivation and achievement.

Dr. Michael Thompson then gave a presentation on the social-emotional development of boys in relation to parenting and education. Dr. Thompson is author of many best-selling books, including Raising Cain and It’s a Boy: Your Son’s Development from Birth to Age 18, and has consulted in over 500 schools world-wide.

Boys and staff all paid to wear casual clothes to school enabling them to send a cheque for approximately £1500 to SOS Children Villages towards their continuing work in Haiti.

Displays have been produced to bring further details of the situation in Haiti to the boys’ attention.