West House News
December 2010
A happy Christmas to everyone in West Success Yet Again in the Fourth Form Cross Country! The annual fourth form cross country is an event that almost seems to be an initiation for all fourth form coming into the school. This year was no different and there was an air of nervousness as the fourth form girls lined up for the start of the race. They were off as the boys waited for their turn, huddled, house by house, to receive the final words of encouragement from their sixth form. It was a long and tough race for some but the first of the girls started to appear, red-faced but triumphant. Olivia Hartley from South led the way and was first to cross the finishing line. Tatiana St Pier was the first girl from West to cross the finish line with Tara Kohler not far behind. As the rest of the girls streamed in and collapsed to the floor, it was obvious that they had given their all. Later on that evening it was announced that West House had won the event; this is becoming quite a tradition with us having won it four times in a row so far! All in all it was a great event, the support from both the boys and girls was inspirational and the effort from the 4th form was faultless. We can only hope that next year will be as big a success as this one. Tash Misbah
End of Term Awards: Academic Excellence: Ellie Smith (4th); Cathy Hobbs (L5th); Maddy Austin (U5th); Nicola Hardwick (6th) Effort & Progress: Erin McCombe (4th); Grace Lent (L5th); Katie Seymour (U5th); Georgia Watson (L6th); Grace Devlin (U6th) Tutors’ Prizes: Saskia Bridgen & Abi Dahl (4th); Hannah Wallis (L5th); Livi Burgon & Hebe Westcott (U5th) Housemistress’ Award for Courage & Determination: Ellen Dixon (4th) House Half Colours: Cathy Hobbs, Hannah Wallis & Karina Bondareva (L5th); Amy Lent (U5th); Charlotte Bradbrook (L6th) House Colours: Tash Misbah, Nicola Hardwick & Nannas Syms (U6th); Emma Wallis & Lottie Grafton (L6th) Commendations to junior girls for one or more of their reports this term went to: Ellie Smith; Ellen Dixon; Abi Dahl; Chloe Nichols; Lizzie Smith; Issi Greeno; Erin McCombe (4th Form) Cathy Hobbs; Georgie Pask; Briony Pearson; Karina Bondareva; Tilda Martin; Georgie Beamish; Tara Beamish (L5th) Maddy Austin; Hebe Westcott; Maddy Austin; Amy Sansom; Katie Seymour; Hebe Westcott; Nancy Newberry; Abi Camsey; Imogen Thomas; Sophie Jones; Harriet Cowcher; Sophia Ambrose (U5th)
House Performance: A Night to Remember The House Performance in the Michaelmas Term is always an enjoyable night; this one was particularly exciting as all the spectators made a special effort to dress up and support those included in the dances and part songs. The noise coming from each house was deafening and the standard of each part song and fourth form dance was very high. Despite the judges being highly respected in each of their professions, with the standards so high in each house it was going to be a tough decision. North House’s dance was lead by Nannas Syms and Kelly Hughes who choreographed to a mix up of old songs; the Loveday dance was lead by Lucy Weston and Tash Misbah. Disappointingly neither North nor Loveday won the part song but both were extremely good. The part song was won by Cubitt with East coming second. North won the fourth form dance and Cubitt came second making Cubitt the overall winners. Kirsty Maclaurin
SENIOR HOUSE PUBLIC SPEAKING COMPETITION Being the opening House in the Senior Public Speaking Competition is an unenviable task and one that befell our West team in the latter half of this term. In spite of this, Ellie Connor, Nicola Hardwick and Mads Iafrate rose to the challenge in true West style, refusing to allow the intimidation of the opposition and the nerve-wracking prospect of appearing in front of an audience to affect their performances. Each delivered her speech with a conciseness and eloquence that complimented her fellow competitors and did justice to their controversial subject title: “Is it ever justifiable for politicians to lie?” As chairman, UVth Ellie Connor’s main role was that of delivering an opening statement which both introduced the main speaker, Nicola (UVIth), and hinted at some of the issues which she would develop upon. In overseeing West’s presentation, Ellie ensured it was well structured and possessed a fluidity that enabled the audience to remain interested throughout. Hearing Nicola practicing earlier in the day I knew it would be a performance well worth watching and needless to say she didn’t fail to deliver. She spoke her thought- provoking speech with ample confidence and illustrated her argument with interesting and relevant examples that have been shrouded in controversy, such as the reasoning behind Blair’s decision to join the war with Iraq. Her answer to Mr. Smith’s question about lying in a more general sense demonstrated her ability to think on the spot and provide an intelligent response to the more difficult philosophical angle of her argument. LVIth Mads Iafrate proposed the vote of thanks with a similar self- assuredness, highlighting the areas she had found particularly interesting and inviting the audience to show their appreciation for the judges and officials. Overall it was an excellent performance on the part of West and the only factor which prevented them from placing in the final line up of winners was the exceptionally high level of competition we saw on the night.
Sophie Shearer
WEST HOUSE MUSIC EVENING West provided a fantastic evening displaying Cranleigh music at its true heights; put on in the midst of a hectic term resulted in the girls rehearsing solo pieces and ensembles within two weeks of the final performance. There was a wide variety of musical talent from instrumental classics to renditions of recent hit singles. It was certainly an encouraging start to the singing careers of a few West 4th formers such as Georgie Heinrich and Ellie Smith who performed solo pieces reaching standards equal to those in older years. Accompanists such as Tash Large and Izzy Simpkin should be fully applauded for their multiple roles throughout the programme, providing background music for a variety of singers. Emma Wallis, who had a dominant part in putting together many of the performances, also succeeded in playing a challenging Piccolo piece by Brewer. Charlotte Bradbrook equally achieved a high level of instrumental complexity performing solo (clarinet and voice) and ensemble pieces, as well as Cathy Hobbs, Izzy Simpkin and Hebe Westcott performing solo pieces on the piano. However, duet and solo performances were not the evening’s only highlights; the Wind Quintet, Flute choir, and Big Band showed displays of willing contribution, fun and unity within West and its two affiliated houses North and Loveday (where boys were sneakily borrowed to fill up arrangements!) As a grand finale, the House Music Evening would not be complete without every West girl singing at the top of their voices to ‘Lean on Me’ displaying the outgoing, supportive and talented characters they all prove to be.
Lizzie Wait
HOUSE MATCHES HOUSE FIVE’S COMPETITION On a cold November evening, a group of West girls emerged out of the fog courageously towards the fives courts. The junior teams looked strong, Chloe Nicholls being an already superb Fives player teaming with Jenny Vincent a contender for the years ahead. The Beamish sisters came back for their second year running, as hungry for victory as ever, and of course, they failed to disappoint. Maddy Austin and Izzie Simpkin came together last minute after their unforgettable performance last summer in House Croquet and they showed natural talent beating last year’s champions. In the small but savage senior squad, Georgia Watson and Captain Lottie Grafton displayed an incredible performance, culminating in a stunning victory for West! Issie Simpkin and Maddy Austin
HOUSE SQUASH COMPETITION West seem to have a talent when it comes to Squash and the House Squash competition clearly proved this to be the case. West won 4-1 with some stunning and skilful play by Jen Vincent, Chloe Nicholls, Lottie Grafton, Tash Misbah and Tash Large. Well done to all girls.
Kelly working her magic
HOUSE HOCKEY SUCCESS West stole the House Hockey cup for the first time in several years after the competition had to be altered in the second round due to the frozen, still snowy pitches. The points had been very close after the end of the first round following impressive wins by the U15 and U14 A teams as well as the 6th Form A team: our B teams faired less well in this round but the indoor 6 aside with goalkeepers in the second round suited them better and although we still suffered defeat in the B Team games they were much closer. The seniors once again proved too strong for South and the U15 game was a goalless Draw when it had to abandoned after Harriet Blurton took a nasty blow to the Head that necessitated an ambulance! It was therefore down to the very last game Of the competition, the U14 A’s, to decide where the cup would rest this year and our 4th form played splendidly to secure a 2-0 win and bring the cup home to West! Well done to everyone who played.
Lower Fifth prepare for their House match
INDIVIDUAL SUCCESS THIS TERM SOPHIA AMBROSE has been working hard to raise money for West House’s charity ENKI, specifically for the child we are sponsoring Melvin Auma. During half term Sophia baked an assortment of cakes and went from office to office selling them raising a total of £30. She has also had the initiative to put money tins in each boarding House and at Gatleys and believes that they are almost full. Sophia’s final challenge is to swim as many lengths as possible in an hour. This will be quite a challenge for Sophia as swimming isn’t her natural sport. She is hoping to raise quite a bit of money. Last term she raised an incredible £216.50 through initiatives such as car washing and cake sales and Sophia should be commended for the time, effort and dedication she has shown towards raising money for charity; it is this type of selfless act that West House applauds. CONGRATULATIONS SHOULD GO TO THE FOLLOWING PUPILS: Tatiana St. Pier for being selected to play in the Surrey Elite Netball squad. Ellie Connor came 12th in backstroke at the English Schools Swimming Championships. Maddy Austin came first in the South-East of England Biathalon regionals and goes forward to the semi-finals in March ranked number 1 in the country to date. Jen Vincent was selected to play for the Surrey U15 cricket squad and is also a member of the county squash team. Chloe Nichols has earned herself a place in the Surrey U14 Hockey squad. Charlotte Tristem has earned herself a place in the Hampshire U14 hockey squad. Sophie Shearer and Alex Newman both had interviews at Oxford this month and we wish them luck as they await the results.
COOKATHON—NEW DATES! The Cookathon has been rescheduled for Sunday 6th February. Girls will be asked to sign up to cook in one hour slots between 7am and 7pm so that we can produce as many cakes as possible to sell in aid of EnKI and Tildy’s trust. Cakes will be on sale in the foyer of West on the Sunday evening for purchase for your daughters’ weekly tuck boxes. Thank you for all your kind donations of ingredients and we look forward to your support on the day! From Mrs Allison A huge thank you to Miss Mullins and her team of 6th form editors (Sophie Shearer, Kirsten MacLaurin and Lizzie Wait especially) for putting together this newsletter: thank you to Lottie Grafton and Georgia Watson for the photography. My main gripe this term is too much make-up appearing amongst the juniors, particularly the 4th form. Please make sure it is left at home: the rule is a good one and is designed to ensure that girls are not put under pressure to start wearing make-up when they don’t really want to! A lot of the L5th need to replace school skirts that are too small or badly torn. Some of the L6th still need to buy themselves a proper suit over the holiday and replace skirts that are in some cases far too short: they should sit on or just above the knee, not half way up their thighs!! I look forward to seeing the boarders back for 5.30pm on Wednesday 5th January. Day girls at 8am on Thursday 6th.