Dear Parents
As we approach half term, we have much to celebrate. The building work in the senior school is proceeding swiftly, efficiently and, (tempting fate,) on budget. Pre-prep pupils are enjoying their outstanding new premises and we look forward to the official opening in December.
This week’s intellectual high point was the inaugural meeting of our new scholars’ forum, the John Glyn Society. Taking its name from the original Founder of the school, (John Glyn was Abraham Colfe’s predecessor as Vicar of St Mary’s Lewisham during the reign of Henry VIII,) the society is pupil-led, under the expert guidance of Miss Henderson, Head of Philosophy and Religion. The guest speaker was Michael Binyon OBE, renowned journalist and Pastmaster of the Leathersellers’ Company. He spoke brilliantly (and without notes) about the highlights of his life as a journalist, including meetings with Russian leaders ranging from Brezhnev to Putin and the collapse of the Berlin Wall. I was impressed with the quality of the questions which followed and we look forward to the next meeting. Future speakers include A C Grayling, founder and Master of the New College of the Humanities in London.
Our biennial Going Dutch event last week was an opportunity for representatives from some of the best universities in Europe to address pupils who may be looking beyond the UK for Higher Education. The conference was also attended by higher education advisers from other schools, including Westminster, Charterhouse, Sevenoaks and Marlborough. This exciting (and significantly less expensive) alternative to study in the UK has much to commend it: teaching in English, small seminar groups and interaction with a genuinely international and cosmopolitan student population, amongst other things.
Blackheath Rugby Club provided the venue for the U15 Cup game against Eltham College on Wednesday evening, under floodlights. The game was well attended by parents on both sides despite driving rain and I was delighted to see us win an emphatic victory, 19-5. The final try, scored by Evan McDonald, involved kicking the ball along the ground from the half way line to the touch-down. Such footwork would have been welcome the previous week when the boys in the same year group lost 6-1 to Eton in the independent schools football competition. We hope that the half-term tour to Portugal will yield better football results.
Cross Country runners put in sterling performances in the Greenwich Championships this week, which had over 400 competitors taking part. Colfe’s girls’ teams in Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9 all won their respective events. In terms of individual success, Tom Simpson (Year 9) took first place and Benjamin Tynan (year 8) came 2nd. Simone Jensen and Maia Albarosa (both Year 9) also received medals, coming second and third respectively. In netball, cup triumphs continued with our U19s reaching the Finals of the Kent Schools Netball Tournament after a winning each of their five matches by wide margins. U13s won 32-5 against Benenden in the first round of the Independent Schools Cup and our Year 6s took Bronze in the Forest U11 Netball tournament whilst our swimmers hosted their first Prep Gala of the year against three other schools, finishing in first place by nearly one hundred points.
All Year Seven pupils have now returned from the Outdoor Pursuits week in the Lake District. As predicted by Major Cherry, my arrival coincided with the first rainfall of the week. The range of activities was a wide as ever and it was particularly rewarding to meet pupils who had just completed their first abseil, an important rite of passage for generations of Colfeians. The Sixth Form geography field trip in Wales was also blessed with abundant rain. It was likewise a great success. Half Term trips will include our annual working party travelling to the Gambia, a French residential trip to Normandy, and a rugby tour to Northern Ireland.
Last night’s House Drama competition involved upwards of 100 senior school pupils. Sixthformers directed lower school actors whose performances were unfailingly hilarious. It was great to see so many parents attending this occasion which is the first major house competition of the year. Meanwhile competitive mathematics got off to a good start with a resounding victory over Bromley High School (44-26) in the Hans Woyda Competition and St Mary’s Lewisham provided a venue for a Colfe’s art display in recent weeks which has won considerable public acclaim. Likewise our singers participated in a charity concert in Southwark Cathedral to raise money for Demelza House, one of our favourite charities.
Individual achievements in recent weeks have included the following:
• Old Colfeian, George Ronayne who has won a place on the prestigious one-year MA course at RADA.
• Equestrian, Georgia Noone, Year 10, who took part in the Wales and West Show in Chepstow, her first major show Jumping Competition as a professional, achieving an impressive eighth place out of over 100 entries.
• 6th Former, Gabriella Jenkins, who plays in the Junior Trinity Symphony Orchestra and has been invited to play bassoon with the Animate Orchestra at the Albert Hall as part of the Proms.
• Lukas Uzkalnis in Year 4 who is currently in Lithuania in the first of a series of dance events which will involve performances this year in the UK and abroad.
• Ruby Blythe in Year 5 who raised over £400 for the Alzheimer’s Society in a four mile ‘memory walk’ at Leeds Castle in remembrance of her grandmother who died of the disease.
• Accomplished athlete, Tom Simpson, Year 9 who competed in the Bec Cycling Club Hill climb on White Lane in Westerham, coming 6th in the U18 category.
• Sophia Clark Year 9 whose gymnastic team (A&V Rhythmic Team) won 3rd place in the junior group category in an international competition at Disneyland, Paris.
With best wishes for half term
Richard Russell