Dear Parents
Last weekend was more than usually busy for the Colfe’s CCF squadron. The Remembrance Day service on Sunday at the Horn Park War Memorial was better attended than I can recall and did more than justice to the dignity of the occasion. It was particularly good to welcome back Old Colfeians who have recently returned from active service in Afghanistan, including Harry Garston who joined Gregory Jones, President of the Old Colfeian Society, myself and the School Captains of senior and prep schools in the laying of wreaths. Major Cherry addressed the whole school in Assembly on Monday morning, focussing primarily on real life portraits of Old Colfeians who had fought and died in the Great War. I am grateful not only to Chris Cherry but also to parent Andy Whittaker who has been doing a lot of valuable work in the school archives recently.
On a related point, it was a matter of regret to us that the material we submitted to Anthony Seldon for his recent book about the English Public Schools and the Great War seems not to have made the cut. I was particularly disappointed that Dr Seldon, erstwhile Deputy Head at St Dunstan’s, failed to mention the fact that distinguished author and, regrettably, something of a fascist, Henry Williamson was an Old Colfeian, whilst Victor Yeates was, to the best of my knowledge, the only Royal Flying Corps (subsequently Royal Air Force) novelist to have served in Great War.
The half term break saw a number of trips. Most notably, it marked our tenth working party to the Gambia. This is a unique project and our relationship with the Kotu School is stronger than ever. We are indebted to Dr Thompson for his tireless support of this important link. Elsewhere in Africa, 6th Former Oliver Deane, spent the break volunteering at an orphanage in Uganda. The senior netball team went swimming with dolphins (and playing netball) in Jamaica. The team came back in good heart and have won all their matches since they returned, winning the Eltham College Tournament convincingly last week. Also in netball, our U12 girls defeated Langley Park and the U14 team came 9th out of 50 schools in the Kent Tournament.
Two of our top rugby teams played against Langley Park under floodlights at Beckenham last Friday, performing impressively in both cases. The U15 team were (just) victorious and have made it through to the next round of the Daily Mail Cup. Although the 1st XV went out of the competition they performed well, perhaps anticipating the challenge of the Eltham College fixture this weekend. We wish all our teams well in this important local derby.
The recent successes of our ex-pupils include that of Max White, currently studying at Birmingham University, who has been awarded a prestigious Royal and Ancient golf scholarship. The specialist academic course which he is following at Birmingham is the only one of its kind to enjoy PGA (Professional Golfers’ Association) accreditation. Meanwhile our Cross Country runners in years 7 and 8 did exceptionally well when Colfe’s hosted the first race of the Greenwich and Lewisham League earlier this week with the boys’ team winning and the girls’ team coming second.
Senior school Mathematicians have continued their run in the prestigious Hans Woyda , this time with victory over Bromley High School. The end result (40-29 in our favour) was convincing although the team (Joseph Mafe, Oliver Skeates, Callum Melly and Vinesh Ravindran started slowly and caused Dr Vijapura a degree of unease. Prep school pupils were also busy with Maths this week, enjoying a specialist programme which included maths workshops and outside visitors.
Other Prep school achievements in the last fortnight have included the following:
· Ben Bowne and Barnaby Marchant in year 6 represented Colfe’s at the IAPS Regatta in Oxford. This is the first time the school has entered anyone for this prestigious event we are grateful to Mrs Pearson for her characteristically enthusiastic support of this new initiative.
· Ella Richardson and her brother Louis won trophies and medals in the Beckenham Music Festival, one of the largest amateur music events in the South East. Louis’ accolades included an award for being the most promising guitar player in the entire event.
· Elsbeth Green, Mia Connell, Denny Ashison and Caela Joy all won prizes in a national art competition organised by French Company Jacadi. Caela’s card design did especially well, securing a top prize of £250 of vouchers.
Other highlights of the week included our youngest pupils in the Pre Prep and Nursery laying a Time Capsule in the foundations of what will become the new school hall. Our senior school chess players embarked on a series of masterclasses with former India Champion and FIDE Rated player, Anuradha Beniwal, a fantastic opportunity to learn what it takes to be a world class player.
Many thanks, in conclusion, to those of you who have signed up to offering internships for our Lower 6th pupils this summer. We have already compiled a fantastic list of placements in finance, medicine and law. Any of you who still want to get involved should feel free to contact Mrs Cardnell or Mrs Burton in the careers department:jcardnell@colfes.com or 02084638123 or Jacqui Burton at jburton@colfes.com.
With best wishes to you all
Richard Russell