LOVEDAY HOUSE NEWSLETTER LENT TERM 2012 The boys will be ready for rest but for the top three year groups in the house there needs to be some focused and appropriate revision. The public exams come think and fast once the Summer Term begins. A Happy Easter to you all and I look forward to seeing you all again in a few weeks. Andy Logan SENIOR WATER POLO We entered this tournament as favourites to win with most of the Loveday water polo team made up of the schools 1st team. Enough said really but we still had to win!! Our first match was our toughest opposition - East, we dominated with 8 goals, proving too much for our opponents. All the team members contributed with a special mention to James. Bradley Scriven played really well in goal, only letting in one goal during the tournament. This was due to the superb HOUSEMASTER’S REPORT As I write on the eve of term finishing, the evening defence of Tom Lane and the extremely loud Ben sun is still poking through the broken cloud and boys Steffens. Final score against East was 8-1. In the final we came up against North, but as favourites we are meandering back to the house from supper in shorts and T-shirts. It all seems a long way from the did what was expected and won convincingly 5-1, snow we had in the first half of term and as ever the with good goals from James Steffens, Bradley Skillicorn and myself. Everyone that took part eleven weeks have shot past without much time to played well and hopefully we should retain the title catch breath. A real highlight was the Loveday/West Charity walk next year. Ollie Smith in week 8 and thank you to so many of you who came and took part despite what can only be described ‘challenging’ conditions! Bob Wilson, as usual, was on the BBQ at 6.00 a.m. to make sure there was enough bacon to go round (some the boys were still eating it that afternoon…) and even though the smoke caused the fire alarm to go off at 6.30 a.m. and the rain poured for much of the morning the day was a great success: Mr Batchelor tells me we have now raised over £2,000 for the two charities we are supporting, Beyond Ourselves and Fun in Action for Children. As Housemaster it really is a pleasure to see the whole house community, not just the boys, coming together like this. JUNIOR WATER POLO This newsletter describes many of the term’s sucWater polo went really well. The juniors performed cesses: we have had a particularly successful time well with great play from people who had never winning sporting and academic competitions alike played before, like Kola, who debuted for the house. but the most significant part of this is not the winning (OK, a bit of a lie) but the way these events pull There were some good performances, particularly the house together. Today’s ‘Stonesett’ hockey tour- from Charlie Gilbert, Charlie Forrest and James nament was a case in point: this is one of my favour- Bennett. It was a comfortable 4-1 victory over East with a great goal by Bennett. We then went through ite competitions as it involves four teams from to the final and a great win over a confident North mixed year groups and no star hockey players are allowed. The support was tremendous and our final side, beating them comfortably 3-1, with some great saves from James Harris. Great win and well played victory gave a real sense of house ownership (and prompted a Loveday congo round the Marcon astro- by all. turf….hmmm, best not tell the Head about that one). Bill Bathurst
HOUSE DEBATING We were speaking off the cuff on the difficult topic of ‘deportation’, and Noah Hathaway got the side off to a strong, if somewhat concise start, making good use of his minute’s protected time. He was followed by Nat McAleese, who now had something to say because he had heard the opposition and who then went on to hold his own in the tense floor debate. Alastair Young finished the competition off with an elegant and substantial summary, managing to fill the full five minutes by making good use of the opposition’s ability to blow hot air. Tragically however they were robbed by a competent Cubitt side with an enthusiastic collection of floor debaters, much to the surprise of the quieter Loveday support. Ed Stokes provided intellectual support as the fourth, nonspeaking team member. JUNIOR HOUSE CHALLENGE As Loveday were victorious last year we started this Nat McAleese year’s Junior House Challenge in the semi-finals. We were facing East who had beaten West. The HOUSE CROSS COUNTRY team of Nat McAleese-Park, Christian Round, Henri This year we had a fairly good team with some Martin and I were confident going up against East in strong 4th formers coming in including Matt Coates. the semi-finals. We completely dominated with Loveday set out feeling confident that we would do strong support and some great answers from well. We started the race in a very strong state but as Christian and Henri. Our next game was to be much we got further through the course we all got more harder as we were going up against Cubitt who had tired but thanks to the support at High Upfold we beaten South and North (our previous opponents were given a boost that carried us through to the finfrom last year’s final). We were facing a strong ish. Particular mention should go to Nathan Thorpe Cubitt side led by Finn Johnston. They started off who came 13th, Bill Bathurst who came 14th and very well and were in the lead, but with some quick Angus Young who won for the second time in a row. fire answers from Nat we started to level. It was Overall we came second in the junior competition. neck and neck until Matt Foster from Cubitt uttered ‘Nepal’ a second late and it wasn’t counted. Mr McConnell-Wood then read out the last question which Nat answered correctly. Mr. Longshaw read out the final score: we had won by 10 points (1 question). This was much to the disappointment of Cubitt’s ninety supporters, and much to the surprise of our three. Orlando Taylor HOUSE CHESS The chess team comprised of Alex Hill, Eddie Mitchell, Angus Young, Ed Stokes and Ali Young. In the first round, we came up against Cubitt, who we beat comfortably. We also came through victorious against a strong East side. However, the final against North would be both the most important, and the most difficult of all our games. Despite this, we won the required three games, leaving Loveday Chess Champions. Special mentions to Ed Stokes, who was sacrificed against the more talented opposition’s 1st seeds, along with Alex Hill and Ali Young who won all 3 games. Ali Young
HOUSE CLIMBING On Tuesday of week seven Nat, Charlie and I all took part in the house climbing event. We went into the competition with two of the best climbers in the school and myself who was relatively new to the sport. The competition went on for three hours while we tried to tackle 25 problems (routes). Nat McAleese climbed brilliantly that afternoon and managed to come in joint 1st position. Charlie ended
in 5th position; I myself managed not to come last even though it was my first competition for the House. George Berry STONESETT CUP On the 21st March 2012, Loveday House won 12 out of 12 hockey matches to claim the Stonesett Cup, a feat rarely achieved and thoughts are currently being held over whether this is a current school record. In case you were wondering what the Stonesett Cup actually is, well, it compromises four teams of five players from every year (who aren’t in the A or B team), each team playing the other three houses. This is arguably the pinnacle of the sporting calendar. The teams were lead by captains Edwards, Steffens, Wills and Smith. Yet, the junior school players should all be commended for their determination and in fairness skill, as they arguably scored the majority of the goals throughout the tournament. Some particular highlights include a stunning 3-2 comeback on Edwards’s team, the ‘Loveday Conga,’ Christian Russell’s reverse hit into a fuming East crowd and throughout the afternoon, such a large support, ably led by Ollie Smith. The four captains will lift the largest trophy in the school on Friday assembly, yet, if all 20 players were to be able to stand on stage, I’m positive there would be no hesitation in doing so, as each individual deserves it. Ollie Edwards
LOVEDAY AND WEST CHARITY WALK The Loveday House walk was yet again a brilliant charity event, which brought the pupils and family of West and Loveday together, despite the torrential rain. A great effort by all made the day a memorable success. Mr. Wilson is deserving of a special mention, cooking bacon at 6am and setting off the fire alarm, thus ensuring everybody was awake and ready for action! We are thankful for the huge determination and spirit of all the walkers, not to mention the runners. Their enthusiasm and effort has so far
raised over £2000 for ‘Beyond Ourselves’ and other local charities. Milo Maxton
HOUSE HOCKEY All three year groups performed really well in this years’ house event. The sixth form played particularly well, winning all of their matches. Each groups results are added together to decide the overall winner, and unfortunately we did not get top spot this time. Special mentions must go to Ali Clift on debut for the house, and Charlie Humberstone who kept goal outstandingly. Steve Batchelor HOUSE FOOTBALL Having drawn East, who were the probable favourites to win this years’ competition, in the first round, we found ourselves 5-1 down at half time. But a hugely spirited comeback, led to a final score of 6-3. We played off against North for third and fourth place, and achieved a comfortable victory of 4-0, with the boys slightly disappointed to have not scored a few more. Memorable goal from Tom Farrelly, chipping the floundering goalkeeper from outside the penalty area. Mike Brookes
HAPPY EASTER