Michaelmas 2014
Michaelmas 2014
Academic Prizes— Jakub Bartoszewski, Ben Larwood, Nat Lubbock, Ted Walliker, Tommy Hartley
From the Housemaster
JMW This term has been extremely busy as is always the case in Michaelmas. The new IVth formers have settled into East exceptionally well and their victorious performance in the House Dance was a personal highlight of the term and got things off to a positive start. This term is vital with regard to the boys academic studies as it contain the lion’s share of the teaching time and I have been very impressed by the general levels of effort shown by the boys in East. The House Charity day passed with great success in October and my thanks go to everyone who made that day such a fantastic event. The support from parents in terms of attendance and donating raffle prizes was overwhelming. Special mention on the sports field must go to the Junior House Fives team as well the House Touch Rugby team who both won their respective competitions. It just leaves me to wish you all the very best Christmas and we look forward to seeing you all in January fully rested and raring to go.
4th Form X-Country
Piers Nicholls
A wet dusky day, underfoot it was damp and moist the course was challenging but of course all the East boys conquered it, the sun stood hidden behind the clouds, white and grey. East was missing some key runners through injury one of them being Freddie Esplen who had high hopes for the run. Ready for the run, house colours, rich in blue made us proud to be a part of East House. We Stood by the start line we watched the girls start nervously we awaited our start, a few five minutes later we lined up, the sky turned blue, perhaps in our favour. We started with a roar from the crowd, chanting EAST, the run was tiresome from the start with the hilly golf course including some demanding mounds and muddy lanes made it challenging. Piers Nicholls managed to secure 1st, with 2nd place from East going to the young stallion by the name of Sam Lubbock, followed by the wondrous Tommy Hartley; overall a sensational run from all the team.
Public Speaking
House Ties— Harry Adorian, Nick Going, Alex Kiely, Jamie Hemming, Joe Gill Jnr and Snr House Fives
Ben Larwood, Harry Gough
Senior—In the first round we played Loveday with Richard Eamey and Monty Clarke being first pair, Ben Larwood and Harry Adorian second pair and Joel Carne and Seb Hazel third pair. With Clarke and Eamey winning their match whilst Adorian and Larwood losing theirs it meant it was all to play for in the final game between the third pairs. Unfortunately, Carne and Hazel were unable to win their game but put up a valiant effort considering the lack of experience Hazel has had on a fives court. Proceedings meant that Loveday edged out winners by 2 games to 1 and we had to settle for 3/4 playoffs. In the 3/4 playoffs, we faced North and we saw ourselves as favourites to win. The team had slightly changed with George Gundry replacing Seb Hazel and he paired with Monty Clarke as first pair. Adorian and Eamey as second and Larwood and Carne as third. Clarke and Gundry eased through their match winning comfortably with North posing no threat. The same could be said for Larwood and Carne as they won 15-3 showing Easts dominance. The final game was little closer but wouldn’t change the outcome of the result and Eamey and Adorain eventually ran out winners meaning East won 3-0 and were third place. Junior—The team consisted of Jeff and Louis as first pair, Hemming and Wilko as second pair and Tomo and Gough as the third pair. In the first round we came up against North. We won very easily because there was basically no competition. North got beaten 3-0. We then came up against Cubitt in the final and yet again we won 3-0. Overall it was a great performance and a solid victory.
Freddie Coates, Joe Gill
Junior—Despite not being the most highly anticipated house event of the year, we fielded a team with a week to go. Tom Hemming as the chairman, Freddie Coates as the main speaker and Tommy Hartley as the third speaker. Our topic: Should we abolish the British Monarchy? As a team, we were up third. When Hemming stepped up, the crowd went wild for now came the time of EAST! After the sublime speech from Hemming, Freddie stepped up to deliver the main speech. The crowd were already itching for this as the intro by Hemming had turned them from bored sleepy people into demons with excitement! With this tough act to follow, Freddie was sweating with nerves, but it payed off. The speech that appeared was hot off the press with finishing touches only being added whilst the speech was being spoken! Every eye was looking at him. The speech flowed like cream and was as accurate as a good darts player being good. When the time came to Tommy, he finished our houses’ round. His speech, written purely by him and he finished EAST brilliantly. Unfortunately we didn’t win. Senior—On balance we were probably the most under prepared team in Cranleigh school history. With Alex Kiely still perfecting our speeches 5 minutes before we were scheduled to start. The team consisted of Tom Hollidge in upper fifth who was to give the vote of thanks, Ed Russell who gave the main speech and Joe Gill who was chairman. We were the first house to speak which was already a disadvantage as you cant get any momentum off the other speakers in the competition. The topic that we were discussing was whether or not to legalise cannabis. The problem with this topic is that there is so much to say in such a limited time of 6 minutes. However all the speakers spoke with conviction and panache. Moreover we were unlucky not to make the top 3. On balance a brave performance from East considering the lack of preparation.
House Rugby
Alex Kiely
th
On December 9 East set out for House rugby buoyed by their victory in the house touch the day before. Hopes weren’t particularly high however as due to the number of pupils that were NTC every lower school boy that wasn’t injured had to play, meaning we had teams comprised of practically all D team players. However, the competition got off to a great start with the Senior A’s, B’s, Heavies A’s and Lights A’s all making it through to the finals. A particular mention has to go to Monty Clarke (a 5th team player) who managed to sell a dummy on a 1st team player and run half the pitch to score under the posts to take the Senior A’s through. The day got better with all the sides in the finals leading in the first 5 minutes however the lack of subs took its toll and unfortunately our teams in the finals lost out to some impressive comebacks from the other houses. However, every boy that played showed the typical East House courage and spirit and as an overall house we managed to finish 2nd.
Michaelmas 2014
Michaelmas 2014
New Tutors— Charlotte Osner-Clarke, Simon Brearley, Angharad Simpson,
Charity Day
Nick Going
On the 5th of October East House set out with golf clubs and East blue shirts on a Sunday morning to raise money for Finlay’s Fighters, Raising money to fund research into Children’s Brain Tumour Research. As a House we went around the golf course with a playing fee to help raise money, along the course there were various competitions, such as closest drive to the hole, won by Ben Foster on 5th hole. With others competitions such as shortest drive on the first whole, won by a 2 metre shot delivered from Ed Russell. We raised money in many ways such as throughout the day there was BBQ with drinks that went on none stop. Also there were caddies in white lab coats being rented out for £10 to go around with the groups carrying golf bags. Towards the end of rather warm and sunny day, after a group photo, we held a raffle. The raffle consisted of gift brought in from the parents such as a cheese basket, wines, champagne and a variety of experiences such as a trip out to Singapore or tickets to an England rugby game. The day was a fantastic result with good weather, a great turn out and raising a whooping sum of £3,500 for Finlay’s Fighters.
Sixth Form Football
Ben Foster
After such a successful year last year (three wins from three matches), the sixth form this year had a lot to live up to. Arguably going into the competition as favourites on paper, but as we all know the game is not played on paper, and under the management of the well-established and world renowned Enjo Van Gaal, there was a lot of expectation. The first match was against North and although East were the better side, North came out with a narrow 1-0 victory with a goal against the run of play followed by a parking of the proverbial bus. This in my opinion was frustrating for the lads who showed a lot of character. After the disappointment of the North match, a change in formation to a ‘4-4-2 Diamond Wide’ was implemented. Loveday was the next challenge, they had also lost their opening game and so the match was a six-pointer. We began the game with a fresh set of impetus. Jamie Hemming opened the scoring early with a finish – ‘back where it came from’ – textbook stuff, for East’s first goal of the competition. This was the swiftly followed up by what can only be described as a ‘worldie’ from Joel Carne, from a good 30 yards out lofted into the top corner, leaving the keeper with no chance. Loveday pulled a goal back late in the game, and although this was nothing but a consolation goal for them, it affected the East goal difference. This was described by the infamous pundit Laurence Fortescue as a “Monday night master class. Going into the final match again a Cubitt side that had thrived as ‘underdogs’. East knew it would take a victory by two goals to win the competition, a feat that was yet to be achieved by any side in the competition, and so an ‘attacking’ mentality was required. It was really a “throw the kitchen sink at it” fixture. Going into the match the temperature had dropped to -1°C and there was the risk of getting ‘cold feet’, regardless of the conditions the East support was still as loud as ever. The match started well and an early Luke Rooke goal sent the Cubitt game plan out the window. The early goal meant it was all to play for and before too long East had a second through Joel Carne. At this point it was tempting for the East team to hold their lead, as 20 was all that was needed for overall victory – however, East worked with the principle of ‘the best form of defence is attack’ and Rooke added another before the break for a resounding East lead. It looked like it could have been ’a game of two halves’ with Cubitt scoring early in the second half, but Luke Rooke ended much of their hope with a goal from the resulting kick-off – a goal claimed to be the unofficial best ever Monday Night Football goal in Cranleigh School history, a true “Unbelievable Jeff” moment. At 4-1 East were cruising to retain the MNF trophy, but it wasn’t over yet, with substitute defender George Macdonald getting involved in the goalmouth action, volleying home a peach of a cross from Ben Larwood to leave a final score-line of 5-1 to East and a goal difference victory in the overall standings to retain the status of Champions (yes SDB champions). It was an impressive season in Monday Night Football with ‘blood and thunder, passion, swear, tears’ but ultimately through hard working and a ‘barca style of play’ we ended triumphant.
Michaelmas 2014
Michaelmas 2014 Senior House Cup— Alex Kiely
Junior House Cup— Max Fitzgerald Jnr and Snr Squash
Ollie Mitchell & Ed Russell
Junior—We started off the tournament without our captain due to injury. After a lengthy and strenous application process, a new captain of Josh Wilkinson was decided upon and we begun the tournament against a very strong North team. We sadly were not up to the power of North and lost 3 out of the 4 games played. This performance put us into the 3rd /4th play off against Loveday. The East boys cheered us on and led us to an impressive victory beating Loveday 3 games to 1. Excellent spirit was displayed all round so well done to everyone who represented the House. Senior—A team, ably led by the squash veterans Harry Watkinson and Oliver Valentine Reid, consisting of Joe Howell, Ed Russell and Charlie hill confidently ventured to the squash courts with the prospect of facing a somewhat inexperienced North team. Kindly, despite their comparative abundance of experience, Oli and Harry elected to play 3rd and 4th seed. Having taking to the court first, their defeats shocked the rest of the east team- both Joe and Charlie also suffered defeats. North elected the first 15 prop to take to the court as their seed one so the victory was nothing commendable. Scarred and surprised the team’s confidence was rocked but the 3rd and 4th place playoff loomed ominously in the near future. With one change due to ‘injuries’ Richard Eamey came into the squad replacing the fatigued and embarrassed Oil Reid. Cubitt, a house associated to have some squash prowess were East’s second matchup. Again, Harry , Charlie and Joe put up valiant fights but fell short of that increasingly important victory. At this point, I would love to declare that Ed and Richard had success but... they didn’t. However, as a house the support and ‘away fan’ attitude is the most important factor at any house event and I can confirm, that in this way East were the clear victors.
East in Pictures
Part Song & 4th Form Dance
T Going & F Banks
After a couple of changes to our song, we finally decided to sing ‘Dancing in the moonlight’. Rehearsals took place most nights after prep, and consisted of around 40 members of East and South from Lower 5th to Upper 6th. It was encouraging to see so many members of the houses step up for solos; notably Harry Simmonds, George Wilkinson and Harrison White from East. We were placed 3rd, which was quite harsh particularly as Ed Russell was miming – but, then again, you can’t win the double every year. On the fourth Sunday of the Michealmas term, Luke Rooke and Harry Adorian, along with Livi Hartley and Bella Marr, undertook the task of teaching the new 4th form the house dance which they had prepared over the few couple of weeks. The rehearsal was a tough process as we only had a small amount of space, and therefore had to split the group in two – which wasn’t ideal. Special thanks must go to Harrison White who edited the track brilliantly, making the transitions swift, which the judge even commented on. The track was very “fun”, consisting of an electro-swing remix of Peggy Lee, MC Hammer’s ‘Can’t Touch This’, ‘Pump It Up’ and ‘Staying Alive’. Another mention must go to Charlie North for his solo, as well as Jeff Olsen, Tommy Hartley, and Louis Halstead, whose enthusiasm and leadership throughout the process was outstanding. We, quite deservedly, won the dance. Thank you to ALL 4th form for their patience and
House Challenge
Ted Walliker
And so it came to be that on the 19th of September, all boys and girls of Cranleigh School joined together in harmonious rivalry to witness what is truly the epitome of academic competition: The House Challenge. All sat in the cavernous ALT awaiting the glorious entrance of East House who were due to face off against West House. The result ended in 420-140 (to East). The East audience then moved to view our next display of learnéd strength; East House vs. Cubitt House. Although Cubitt had proven their worth in previous House Challenges, East stood strong and ended up defeating them by a narrow margin; 350-270 points. Our final opponents were Loveday who were the only House featuring in the school challenges team last year. We tried our best but to no avail and the resulting score was approximately 470-220. Our thanks go to Mr Longshaw, Mr Neill, all the teams involved and the supporting East crowd who followed us to the bitter end.
Contacts
Housemaster: 01483 542040
Mr James Witcombe jmw@cranleigh.org
Warden:
Mr Ed Griffiths
Michaelmas 2014
Michaelmas 2014