Remembrance Sunday

We had a very special service yesterday for Remembrance Sunday. The chapel was fuller than it has ever been; it was fantastic to welcome so many parents, grand-parents and friends to our chapel. The choir sang quite beautifully, one of the senior boys read the lesson very well, a boy in his first term at Sunningdale played the Last Post with great aplomb and the Head Monitor ended the silence with a very moving piece on the bagpipes. 

I was very proud of the school yesterday. I really felt that it was Sunningdale at its best.

Bonfire night

Luckily the rain held off for bonfire night. Masses of parents arrived
to support this event which was hugely enjoyed by everyone.

Darren laid on hot dogs and flapjacks for everyone which went down
very well. Th bonfire burned beautifully, despite the wet week we have
had, and the fireworks were truly spectacular. We all them piled into
the library for drinks.

A great evening.

Football v. Horris Hill

What a great day!! The first XI travelled to Horris Hill having had a
couple of disappointing results recently. They have been playing some
great football but somehow results haven't gone our way. They went
down fairly early having given away a penalty but then equalised after
our opponents returned the favour. Half way through the second half we
score a great goal and held on to win 2-1. They boys were thrilled, as
was their coach!!

The second XI and third XI both secured big wins so all senior teams
were successful. Well done to all!!!!

Fives

The fives this term has been wonderfully successful.

Our first match of the term was against Eton and they brought a strong
side. All the pairs played very well for the first match of the season
and although we lost it was a great warm up.

Next came a two pair match against Ludgrove. The second pair played
brilliantly and won with the loss of only two points! The first pair
started slowly and were 8-1 down in the first came. They then came to
life and won it 12-9. The second game followed a similar pattern but
they came through 12-9 again.

Harrow were next and we took five pairs up there. Traditionally we
have struggled against public school opposition where size and
strength make a difference. Not this time, though. The first, second
and fourth pairs all won and the third pair finished at 1-1. A great
result. It was also nice to see three old boys playing in the Harrow
side.

The most recent game was against Cranleigh. They brought three pairs
to Sunningdale. We played brilliantly in all three courts and notched
up a comfortable victory.

It is fantastic to see them playing so well and enjoying it so much.

Catch up!

There is so much to say so I am going to split it up into a few blogs.
I haven't been very active of the blog recently - apologies!

Video night in the new Top Dormitories!

Guess the film!

New Friday afternoon activity!

The boys are loving archery!

Chromebooks

This term we have introduced Google Chromebooks which can be used in lessons. They have already proved to be a very useful teaching aid. The aim is certainly not to replace traditional teaching methods but it gives us another tool to help the boys learn.

Pre-prep football

Last Thursday saw 80 children descend on Sunningdale from London to
take part in our annual pre-prep football tournament. On a perfect
autumnal day, lots of parents joined us to watch the youngsters battle
it out in their six-a-side games.

This was the most successful tournament to date with some stunning
football played and all the boys taking part enjoyed themselves
hugely. Well done to everyone involved.

School in Gloucestershire bans footballs!

In an astonishing move, reflecting the health and safety absurdities
of current times, a school in Gloucestershire has banned the use of
leather footballs in their playground. They have said that children
must use sponge balls instead to play football. What are these people
doing to the children in their care? How are they going to cope with
life in the real world?

Football results

A good day for Sunningdale football. Six out of the eight teams won against Brockhurst. The 1st XI played their best football of the term so far to win 5-0.

Co-education

I learnt this morning that Shrewsbury School is to go fully co-educational from 2014. They have had girls in the sixth form since 2008. I love Shrewsbury; I have been lucky enough to visit the school a number of times with Fives teams and I have always been incredibly impressed. I very much hope that the move to co-education works.

What this means, though, is that there are even fewer choices for parents looking for all boys public schools. I still believe in single sex education, particularly for boys. Boys and girls develop at such different rates and they learn in very different ways. As prep schools, we will have to work even harder to make sure that we continue to get boys into the best schools.

Charity Bike Ride

I was so impressed when a former colleague from Harrow made it to Sunningdale with his group from Orley Farm School on their bikes. They stopped at Sunningdale en route for Eagle House and then Ludgrove all to raise money for the Henry van Straubenzee Memorial Fund. A terrific effort!

Golf

A beautiful day for golf lessons at the Berkshire!

Start of term

We have been back just over a week now and it struck me that I had been neglecting the blog. Apologies!

The start of term has been great. Certainly having 39 new boys has brought it's own challenges but they are a fantastic bunch and have settled in really well.

The atmosphere in the school is superb at the moment with everyone busy and enjoying life.

There is more to come from the blog but welcome back.

Teenager in rail suicide was sent abusive message on social networking site - Telegraph

Please read this to see how careful we must be with our children's use of computers. I have said this before but certainly our boys are not old enough to be allowed to use social networking sites either at school or at home.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/social-media/8653867/Teenager-in-rail-suicide-was-sent-abusive-message-on-social-networking-site.html

Somalia

I am sitting on a train on the way to Lords and reading about the tragedy on Somalia. It is so upsetting and makes me feel terrible that I am about to go and spend money having a jolly. I need to think of a way we can help. The stories and pictures are so desperate. No child or adult for that matter should have to live through that.

Wonderful weekend

What a great weekend. I do not remember a busier one but it went so well and was such a success.

On Saturday evening, after fixtures against Horris Hill, we had our annual art exhibition and summer concert. The standard of both was fantastic and it was so good to see so many parents at these events.

Sunday morning was charity day and we were blessed with the most wonderful weather. Pictures from the fair will go up on the website later today.

In the afternoon the Fathers took on the boys at cricket. In a very close game the boys won with one over to spare.

We then had our last Sunday evening chapel of the term, attended by masses of parents, and we were fortunate to have Mr Gareth Doodes, headmaster of Milton Abbey to come and preach. Both boys and parents thoroughly enjoyed his sermon on talents.

Leavers' trip (4)

Go-karting was fantastic. Some thrills and spills and yes, in case you were wondering, the staff did show the boys how it is done - well done AJPL!

Leavers' trip (3)

Part of the high wire course. This is an easy bit!

Leaver's trip (2)

Morning on the third day.

Yesterday was amazing. We all went off to a high wire course; and I mean high! The HM can admit to feeling a certain level of trepidation at certain moments of the day. Bravado led me to attempt the most challenging course which was incredible fun but exhausting! After completing the most difficult section of the course I was utterly spent and had the humiliation of being winched back down to the ground  - much to the delight of the onlooking crowd of boys!

Yesterday evening we all enjoyed the most delicious raclette. Not a bad life!

This morning they have all gone off to the market and this afternoon it is for go-karting. Time for me to get my own back!

Leaver's trip

Arrived yesterday afternoon in France for the leavers trip. Fantastic BBQ served up by AJPL and DCS!

100% pass rate at Common Entrance - again!

I am so proud of this year's CE candidates. When the chips were down they really went to work and their results have been amazing. They have all passed into their chosen schools and a lot of them have done a great deal more than that. An astonishing 54% of the grades were A grades! I am so pleased for them and they really deserve their success.

Cricket

We had great fun last night taking on the staff from Papplewick at T20
cricket. I am please to say that we emerged victorious after some fine
performances with bat and ball.

Today the boys return to the field, this time against Brockhurst.
Their coaches have led the way; can they follow?!

Common Entrance

Common Entrance is underway. The first two papers seem to have gone
well enough and they are now doing History.

Fingers crossed!

Finished!

Small is beautiful

Sunningdale was featured in an article in the Daily Telegraph on Saturday about the advantages of small schools. You can read the article here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationadvice/8538551/Parents-are-choosing-smaller-prep-schools.html

One Week to Go

While many schools are on half term this week, we are full steam ahead in the preparations for Common Entrance which begins on Monday. I think that it is so important that the boys are here this week so that we can continue to help them right up to their exams and make sure that they peak at just the right time.

It's all Greek to me!

What a pleasure it is to see Greek thriving once again at Sunningdale. This morning three boys brought Greek show ups to me. They are really enjoying studying the language and doing very well indeed. This is a great sign of the continuing academic strength at Sunningdale.

Telling the time

Recently, when teaching the time in French, I have discovered that a number of our youngest boys do not know how to tell the time on an analogue clock. They are aware of time but they are so used to seeing the time in a digital format that they have not learnt to read a normal clock. I would encourage all parents of young children to make sure that they have plenty of analogue clocks around at home and to draw children's attention to those clocks on regular occasions.

DT

The boys are loving DT and have made some fantastic projects.

Great Weekend

What a fantastic, action packed weekend!

On Saturday most of the boys were involved in cricket matches against St. Andrew's Pangbourne. The first and second elevens both recorded excellent victories, both sides bowling their opponents out for under a hundred. In the evening, as previously mentioned, a group of boys went over to St. George's, Ascot for a social.

On Sunday, the Mothers and Sons tennis was a great success, helped by the fact that the weather held off, although it was a little breezy! The go-karters raced with daredevil abandon and thoroughly enjoyed themselves (and came back safely!).

In the evening, a large number of parents came to chapel to hear Mr Keith Metcalfe preach in chapel. Mr Metcalfe is the housemaster of Lyon's at Harrow. He delighted the boys by getting them to throw rugby, football and cricket balls around chapel to huge cheers. Certainly a very popular sermon!

Social at St. George's!

Boys on one side - girls on the other! Early days!

The new building - nearly done!

Time for a catch up

I have been very slack at updating the blog this term so it is time for a catch up. It has been so busy that it is difficult to know where to start.

Over the holidays several projects were carried out. We now have three new dormitories for the youngest boys and I am thrilled with them. The boys seem to love them as well although the current lack of curtains has not been ideal. That should be completed by the end of this weekend though. The redevelopment of the courtyard in the middle of the school is very nearly complete. It really has transformed that area. I will post an updated photograph later today.

The term has started very well. On the academic side the two Eton scholars performed very well although they just missed out on an award. We heard yesterday that our Winchester candidate was safely through and the rest of the CE candidates all completed their French Listening, French Oral and Maths Listening this week.

The magnificent weather at the start of term has been perfect for cricket. There have been some good performances throughout the school with plenty of boys making good runs and taking plenty of wickets. The 1st XI were robbed of a victory on Wednesday because of the rain but will hopefully get another chance today against Brockhurst.

The athletics team have got off to a flying start. Already this term they have recorded wins against Hall Grove, Bishopsgate and Ludgrove. The senior Victor Ludorum looks set to be a very exciting competition on Sports Day.

So a busy start. Not long now until Common Entrance so lots of work to do. Updates will be much more regular from now on.

New Astro Turf

The new tennis court is now complete and ready to go!!

New astro turf

Work has begun on the new astro turf surface for the tennis court.
Very exciting!

Catch up

The last two weeks have epitomised everything that is so good about Sunningdale.

On the sporting front we have seen wins against Ludgrove and Dorset House on the rugby field, superb cross country performances and excellent fives matches. The two performances of 'The Pied Piper of Hamelin' were resounding successes involving every boy in the school. On top of this, four boys competed in the UK Maths Challenge and finished in second place, narrowly beaten by boys from St. Paul's school in London who were in the year above.

The boys have all been busy doing different things and doing them very well indeed.

The Pied Piper of Hamelin

Last night saw the first performance of this term's musical, 'The Pied Piper of Hamelin' by John Rutter. This is a challenging production which the boys have spent most of this term preparing for. The quality of the music was superb, (in my humble opinion!) and the large audience thoroughly enjoyed the performance. The next show is tomorrow so the boys will have to gee themselves up to do it all over again!

Celebration!

A happy 1st XV after a fantastic 22-12 win over Ludgrove!

Fwd: a picture for you

A great picture from Wednesday!

The seconds also won, in this case away at Horris. Two points behind with one play to go, Sunningdale are awarded a penalty which the Head Monitor coolly slots between the posts. He admitted to me at lunch yesterday that he didn't realise that things were quite so close - probably a good thing!

Vivat Sunningdalia!!!

What a game!! In conditions not dissimilar to the Somme, the mighty men of the 1st XV took on a Horris Hill side that has had a very successful season. We knew that this was going to be tough and so it proved. Horris were deservedly ahead at half time but Sunningdale struck back early to set up a thrilling second half. Despite the difficult conditions, the handling was good and the ball was spread nicely. Sunningdale took the lead and the supporters thought they were in for a victory until Horris Hill struck twice to make victory seem beyond us with the score at 24 - 35. Sunningdale showed unbelievable spirit, though, and ran in two very late tries to take an incredible win 38 points to 35. 

Both sides deserve great credit for a rugby game that will live long in the memory.

Second half of term

All back safely from Long Leave for an action packed second half of the Lent term. A lot of focus is now on preparations for the play, The Pied Piper of Hamelin. With every boy playing a role, the whole school is involved in this epic production. The Harrow scholarship is round the corner and we are hoping to add to our tally of two successes already. The rugby team have some important fixtures coming up ,not least against Ludgrove. The cross country team will be hoping to build on their success before Long Leave and the fives team will be building up to the two national tournaments that they are involved in. There are so many more things going on from music exams to trips to France so the next few weeks are likely to go by in a flash.

Rugby

A long trip down to Wellesley was very worthwhile but sadly ended in defeat. We had all the play in the first half and should have put the game beyond them but we were unable to turn our pressure into points. They came back strongly in the second half and score from a missed penalty. The game ended 21-17 to the home side.

Today our runners are in action again and we are taking on Harrow on the fives courts.

Catch up!

Ok, I have not been very good at updating recently - must do better. It has been over a week since my last ....

We had a ball on Saturday night to raise money for the new Library. It was a huge success. We raised over £12,000 and a thoroughly good time was had by all. Lots of those who attended are very keen for it to become a more regular event. I can't say I disagree.

Last Thursday we regained our cross country shield which had been held by Hall Grove for the past four years. The senior team ran brilliantly and they richly deserved their victory over four other schools. They are running again tomorrow, this time against Lambrook.

Today the 1st XV are making the long journey down to Wellesley House in Kent. Wellesley are a similar size to us so I hope it will be a really good encounter. 

It might also be worth casting your eyes over our new weekly newsletter produced by one of the boys.  It is a great summary of Sunningdale life. http://www.sunningdaleschool.co.uk/MainFolder/NewsletterFeb8.pdf

More regular news to follow I promise! 

Exeat Mondays!

I love them!

Resounding rugby results!

A fantastic day for Sunningdale rugby. A clean sweep of victories
against Bruern Abbey whose 1st XV had not been beaten at home for two
terms! 1st XV 12-0, 2nd XII 67-5, U11A 21-7.

Choir

Guitar!

IT club

Activities

I am having a wander around Tuesday evening activities. Among others
the boys can choose from music technology, IT club, choir, 5-a-side
football etc. More photos to follow.

U11s rugby

Fantastic practice with the U11s this afternoon. They were on great
form and learned loads!

Great start to the rugby season!

The 1st XV got the season off to a great start with a 40-0 victory over Bishopsgate. In a match which contained some brilliant forward play and some great running from the backs, Sunningdale were dominant throughout. Let's hope this sets us up for a good season overall. 

The U11A side were also victorious. They were 0-12 down at half time but came back strongly in the second half to win 14-12.

Rugby v. Bishopsgate

Really excited about matches tomorrow. Pitches are pretty heavy
underfoot but that should suit the forwards. It would be good to get
the season off to a winning start.

Matches in one sport or another every day until the end of the week!

Rugby session

The potential 1st XV had a fantastic training session on Sunday
morning with two masters from Pangbourne College. The boys learnt a
huge amount and the home team picked up lots of useful hints.

A brilliant way for the boys to spend Sunday morning.

5 star kitchen!

The kitchens had a surprise inspection from the local food hygiene authority and you will be pleased to hear that they were given a 5 star rating which is the highest award possible! Well done to the whole team in the kitchen.

Mr Brooks' birthday

Today is Mr Brooks birthday so a cake was a must!

New term - new resolutions

Term starts tomorrow night and the last few days have actually been great fun getting everything ready. There is so much to look forward to and the amazingly positive feeling of last term will, I am sure, continue this term. All members of staff seem to be on excellent form and it should be a great term.

One of my New Year's resolutions is to get better about doing my blog more often. We shall see......