House Shield

If you were lucky enough to join us in the deepest darkest November for the House Drama finals, you would be forgiven thinking that was the only House competition up for grabs this term.

The productions were spectacular and included fully choreographed dance routines, sets that wouldn’t look out of place on the West End and accents convincing enough to rival Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones’ Diary (no, she’s NOT British). Each House went above and beyond with many performing original scripts written by the pupils.

House spirit was in full flow and the camaraderie, community and support for one another was a delight to witness. After two nights of first round performances our finalists were confirmed as

• Atkinson, performing a script written by Fifth Former Olivia D in which moms and daughters’ fought it out at teen pageants in Southern USA
• Cedars, performing an abridged version of A Christmas Carol – with the biggest Tiny Tim ever seen in a production;
• Priestley with Upper Sixth Sofia L’s original script following the highs and lows of the cast before a big show
• Winfield (performing a laugh-a-minute parody of James Bond written by Upper Sixth Alfie C).

Atkinson were deemed the overall winners on the night and clinched the full 12 points. Whilst worthy winners, a huge congratulations must go to all four casts and crew – the number of hours that went into AM,PM and Sunday rehearsals really paid off, and the audience and judges were left watching performances that appeared far more polished than the six weeks of rehearsal would suggest.

It wasn’t just House Drama in which Atkinson took victory this term. Senior Monitor, Edie W and Head of House Julie M ran PBs to put Atkinson ahead in the Senior Cross Country. In the Junior category though, Kai S was the overall winner but no one could match Weymouth’s (woohoo) effort with both Jameson (despite his 4am swim session that morning) and Lysander in Fourth Form running rapidly to pip Weymouth ahead of the rest.

In the fiercely contested House Hockey our new Head of Hockey, Mr Stevens, remarked that he has not seen such fierce rivalry intertwined with such strong camaraderie and support between the girls in their respective House teams – staying to cheer one another on even when knocked out. The overall win was taken by, yes, you’d guessed it, Atkinson! Another sporting event took place in the chilly month of October with a revival of House Touch Rugby that brought boys and girls together on the Rugby field and overall victory was cinched by School House. We look forward to seeing that event continue to develop in the coming years and is a very welcome addition to the programme.

Although the events are a wonderful way to bring pupils across year groups and genders together, the average effort of every single pupil also matters. Ridgeway are leading the charge with this and have usurped Macgregor from their usual top spot. The final event to take place this term will happen in the final hours term where School and Atkinson go head to head in the Chapel to win House Debating. Stay tuned to our socials see who emerges the most persuasive...