A Housemaster Speaks... Goodbye to Mr Humes... SDB One of my first acts as Housemaster in 2007 was to appoint Richard Humes to the role of Deputy Housemaster for the following year. His qualifications to move into the bachelor flat above my house were manifold: he was already an outstanding tutor in the House, he was a Head of Department, he was Director of Rugby and a coach of any number of sports teams; he was also a close friend. What he wasn't of course, was a bachelor, and it says something about his dedication to the East cause that he was prepared to leave his fiancée in London to take up the position alone and within earshot of our noisy newborn son. (He was always unfailingly polite whenever I apologised for the sleepless nights, pretending not to have noticed, or mentioning that he ‘thought he might have heard a little squawk at one point’ but that it hadn’t disturbed him in the least – characteristically generous of him.) He has carried out the role with his inimitable charm and good humour, and has been a constant source of wise advice and uncomplaining support ever since. One of his great qualities is the ability always to understand how the students will interpret various situations and decisions and he is a passionate advocate on their behalf. As a result, they rightly see him as a figure with whom they can be open, honest and truly themselves. He manages this while maintaining steely‐eyed discipline in the House, and while being a reliable and well‐organised administrator. It was no surprise that he ran the House so smoothly for two terms in my absence and the return to normal management has resulted in more than a few whispered comments about callovers not being so much fun anymore. Richard leaves us to take up the post as Director of Boarding at the Jeradong International School in Brunei, where he will finally get the chance to live with his wife Tamsin. They are extremely lucky to have him, and while we wish them both well, the place that he called home for so many years will be much poorer without him.
...and a farewell from Mr Humes I can’t express how much I have enjoyed the last seven years and how lucky I feel to have been part of East House. I would like to thank the cleaners for their endless patience, all the housestaff and tutors for their phenomenal work‐rate and fantastic sense of humour, and the matrons for knowing the answers to all the questions anyone had. I would also of course like to thank the boys for how much fun they have been, they are a great group. The spirit in East is special; I will greatly miss the place and take away many very happy memories. Good luck in the future.
Contacts Housemaster: 01483 542042 Day Warden: 01483 542037
Mr Simon Bird sdb@cranleigh.org
Mr Rob Lane rgl@cranleigh.org
Deputy Housemaster: 01483 542073 Matrons: 01483 542045
Emergency mobile held by Matron : 07596 121105
Mr Alex Forsdike apf@cranleigh.org Jen / Sue eastmatron@cranleigh.org
Absence makes the heart grow fonder, they say, and I’ve got to admit that it’s been great getting back into the swing of life in East after my two terms looking longingly up at the place from my cold and solitary office downstairs. The energy, humour and general silliness you encounter every time you walk in the house room door are heart‐warming and continue to make the job a real pleasure. This is, of course, the most serious of terms – with four of the five year groups sitting public exams at some point and there has been an impressively productive atmosphere in the House in the run‐up to those exams. The example set by the UVI in this regard has been superb – as it has been in every respect throughout the year. Most significantly from an academic point of view they have worked well together, encouraging each other to study when the motivation was flagging, and their leadership in the House has been among the very best that I can remember. They have also lead the way on the extra‐curricular front, winning their sections of the House Swimming and Athletics (the Cricket is yet to be played) and generally throwing themselves into the spirit of the school. A highlight for me this term was the Charity Day on the first weekend where despite the weather a bizarre assortment of fancy‐dressed students trudged round the 18km of events with cheerful grumbling about the hailstorm breaking over our heads. As a result of their efforts East has contributed significantly to the school’s sponsorship efforts in Zambia and a host of children are now getting education, food and a uniform each month… that has to be well worth it. SDB
House Swimming Competition Tom White With a depleted team due to study leave, East turned up raring to go at the swimming pool. With our main swimmers in their final year, it was their time to shine. Special mention must go to our U6th formers Oliver Froy, Ben Durston, Paul Galagher and Will Osborne who were key in both the swimming and organisation. There were some new personal bests made, alongside some very close races. Chris Kinally and Matt Ludlow provided us with some vital victories. However, the true East spirit shone through for our squadron relay. Instead of placing our best swimmers in the team, we put the people who wanted to swim for the House. There were some valiant efforts from the likes of Henry Lamont and Will Yeeles. It came down to the last few races and North were initially declared the winners. However, after a re‐count of the scores the following day it was announced that East and North had in fact tied for first place! Our support was once again a key factor to our success, with our ongoing enthusiasm pushing the less experienced swimmers towards the finish line. Well done to everyone involved, lets go for the out and out win next year!
East in Pictures
Charity Day— The Multi Event Olympics Tom White On the first weekend of the Summer term East held their annual charity day. After running a half marathon last year, we decided we would do something similar this year. With the Olympics coming up, and the London Marathon being run on the same day, we decided we would run all the track events that are run at an Olympics (in total 18km) in fancy dress! We were given two ‘packages’ to choose from, a ‘Hercules’ package and a ‘Pocket Hercules’ package. The longer more challenging Hercules was made up of the 10km, 5km, 1500m, 800m, 400m, 200m and the 100m. The ‘Pocket Hercules’ was the same expect without the tough 10km. Down on the athletics track, we all started with the long distance events but within 15 minutes the sky opened and we had on and off hail showers for the rest of the day. Everyone did very well even though there were some pretty cold and wet boys by the end. Special mention must go to those in L5th who had just returned from their Duke of Edinburgh practice expedition and then still came to take part. The last event was the 100m which saw each year group taking to the track together and racing for the final stretch. Congratulations to Ben Durston, Chris Kinally, Harvey Jackson and SDB for completing everything without stopping! All the money raised is going towards “Beyond Ourselves” in order to help with the new school that Cranleigh has built in Zambia. We had a real push to get some more children sponsored. The £12.50 per month scheme gives a child at the Zambian school one meal per day, school books, a uniform, regular medical checks and helps the local community by paying the volunteer teachers a small salary and employing some local women to cook the lunch. It really makes a difference in a community where some families eat once every two days and where being able to read can make big difference to someone's prospects. Well done to everyone involved! Please go to www.beyondourselves.co.uk for more information or to sponsor a child.
Junior House Golf James Darke The team consisted of James Darke (c), George Wilkinson, Richard Eamey, Cameron Montgomery, Charlie Hill and their trusted caddies Ed Russell, Ben Larwood, Mario Marset (Spanish exchange student) and Max Subba‐ Row. In the first round East faced Loveday who put out a strong team of an average handicap of 18. With a win from Cameron and George the overall result relied on James. James played Charlie Gilbert which was a fairly even match until the seventh hole when he was one down. With some excellent play he won on the last hole. In the final we played Cubitt. James was won 5 up with 4 to play. George managed to clinch a win on the last hole and both Richard and Cameron won 3 up with 2 to play. Unfortunately, Charlie lost on the last hole but we had done enough to win overall. Excellent work by everyone.