Half Term trips included a Classics trip to Rome, a cricket tour to South Africa and a CCF camp in Gibraltar. The whole of Year 8 departed for Outdoor Pursuits in Wales last weekend and Year 9 will soon be heading for the woods of Oxfordshire for bushcraft. These latter two trips mark the start of our annual programme of Outdoor Pursuits, with numerous pupils due to embark on Duke of Edinburgh
expeditions between now and July. Colfe’s is one of few schools which has its own Duke of Edinburgh awarding licence. This reflects the very high degree of confidence which the awarding authority has in the quality and professionalism of Chris Cherry’s operation. Chris will also oversee an enhanced programme of prep school outdoor pursuits next term, culminating in a Year 6 camp in Dorset.
I was delighted to hear that our Year 6 rugby team had made it into the final stages (last 8) of the national rugby tournament, having watched the corresponding football team winning a convincing victory over Eltham College before half term. Meanwhile our fledgling Year 3 netball team won four out of their six matches in the their first ever tournament whilst top swimmers in Year 5 and Year 6 have made it through to the finals of the Kent primary schools’ gala. Particular congratulations to Denny Ashison and Libby Bach who will compete in the finals of the 50m freestyle and breast stroke respectively. This follows a debut swimming gala for Year 3 pupils earlier this week and swimming lessons for pre-prep pupils who were keen to assure me that they could all swim when I met them coming back from the pool on Tuesday.
Further up the school, I was delighted to hear that all senior teams, including the 4th X1, were successful in their block fixture against Epsom College last Saturday. We wish them well for the corresponding fixture against Sevenoaks School tomorrow. The Year 7 team won their first ever football fixture in the first round of the Bromley Cup, with a 3-1 victory over Hayes and a particularly impressive debut in goal
for Teddy Cameron Burke. Within the context of football, it was a particular pleasure to welcome Old Colfeian Steve Parish back to the school last week. Steve is currently Chairman of Crystal Palace, having pursued a highly successful business career since he left Colfe’s in the early 1980s. His address to an
audience of pupils, (not just footballers and not just CP fans,) was genuinely inspiring and we hope to see more of him at Colfe’s in future.
I was also delighted to hear that the senior girls’ netball team remains apparently invincible with massive victories this week over Bromley High on Tuesday (64-14) and Hayes on Wednesday (62-2). Indeed Wednesday was a particularly busy day for sport in that we found ourselves hosting the Kent U16 Sevens Tournament at Colfe’s when the original venue was pronounced water-logged. The weather has not deterred our cross-country runners, two of whom have recently won trophies in the Greenwich and
Lewisham league. Congratulations to Maia Albarosa and particularly to Tom Simpson who came first in his most recent race. Both Maia and Tom have been selected to participate in the mini-marathon, along with Simone Korsgaard Jensen, Megan Marchant, Charlotte Kirk and Benjamin Tynan.
Thanks, as ever, to Mrs Rayes and her colleagues for supporting such a variety of sporting activity at all levels within the school.
Away from the sports field, we have been celebrating National Book Week which, inter alia, gave me an opportunity to reiterate my loathing for Pride and Prejudice. Events have included Reading around the World, a marathon reading event involving pupils in Years 7 and 8. We are grateful to the English department and to our Librarian Mrs Cardnell who tells me that the level of book borrowing at Colfe’s has risen significantly this year. Meanwhile top mathematicians have been competing in the Intermediate Maths Challenge, with Callum Melly and Ben Andrew qualifying for the prestigious Pink Kangaroo Paper at the end of this month. Maths looks likely to be our most popular A level subject next year, incidentally, with 52 Year 11 pupils indicating that they want to study it.
Debating and public speaking also remain popular in the senior school, with conspicuous success in the recent English Speaking Union (ESU) competition. Daisy Battersby won an award for best speaker and we
look forward to hearing of her further success in future competitions. I am grateful to Mr Dunsmore for his consistent support for this important activity.
Other individual highlights of the last two weeks include:
- Anousha Li-Sue Foulds who was invited to visit the prestigiousMetallurgy Lab at Cambridge University.
- Ben Bowne in Year 6 who has been invited to audition for a part in the West End production of Billy Elliot.
- Leonardo Bertocchi who won gold at the Independent School’s Championships for the second year running. We wish him well as he continues his training with the England squad.
- 6th Former James Maby who as part of the London Youth Choir sang with Brit winner Ellie Golding in the Wembley arena as part of a large charity event. Guest speakers at the event included Al Gore.
- Samveer Parris who acquired a prized work placement with McLaren over the
summer.
Finally, it was great to see so many Nursery parents at the reception last week, following the opening of
our wonderful new nursery classrooms. This marks the completion of the first stage of the pre-prep expansion. The two storey extension remains on schedule and will certainly be ready for September. We look forward to the removal of the temporary nursery classrooms when the weather has improved.