MASSEY HOUSE REVIEW

Once again Massey have had a successful year to date. We have experienced success by winning the following competitions: Year 7 & 8 Winter Sports festivals, KS4 House Photography competition, Year 7 public speaking, Year 12 University Challenge, Year 13 University Challenge and the Year 9 chess competition. Massey have also been runners up in countless other competitions showing the breadth of talents Massey have.

The House Shout was once again a great success. How Massey did not win the choral harmony I will never know! I am still unsure on the scoring system that Mr Soulsby (of House Stamford) decided upon on the night! One thing I am sure about is if you add the scores of all the three competitions together Massey accrued more points than Bradbury but still managed to come below them! The cynic in me might also think that Mr Soulsby deliberately planned the event on a date where he knew I would be away on the Year 9 Rugby tour, ensuring his new scoring system could be parachuted in last minute and I would not be able to ensure there was no skulduggery! But alas, we live and learn.

Every year my aim is to allow all members of Massey to represent their house in some form of competition. It has been great to see so many pupils wearing the white and green of Massey with such pride, passion, and determination.

The success of the house would not be possible without the dedication and leadership of the House Captain, Vice-Captain, and Year House Leaders. I have asked a couple of the year group leaders to write about their experiences of their year in office:

“Massey’s success from last year was replicated by those who represented us this year, showing our worth in sports, public speaking and debating.

The year started off as it did in the last, with Massey coming 1st in the Winter Sports Festival, despite the fact we came second in all 4 events (thankfully Tatton and Stamford didn’t do so well in two of the events!), retaining our gold medal and showing our consistent talent in rugby, badminton, hockey, and table tennis.

We would continue our show of strength a month or two later in the House Football Competition, once again coming 1st as we did in Year 7, in probably the most fiercely competitive event the school has to offer as we went to a penalty shootout after all games ended 0-0! In House Cross Country, Massey finished 2nd with one of our runners finishing first in the race.

This year, we had the goal of improving in debating and public speaking. Beginning with public speaking, we would be partnered with Bradbury arguing against ‘violent video games cause aggressive behaviour.’ We would ultimately finish second, though it is an improvement of what we did the previous year. Another goal we had was achieving star speaker, which we would achieve in debating, though we came third. Maybe next year we would have a chance to finally come first in either one of these events.

Overall, this year has been quite a successful one for Year 8 Massey, and with other house events coming up, we would like to add on to our list of achievements and successes. We have firmly established ourselves as a competitive and strong player in sports with House Cricket; maybe we can prove ourselves in another sport.”

“As house leaders me and my partner help make the teams for the competitions of our year. Through this year we have had many successes and some mistakes, those mistakes help prepare us for what is next and how to improve for the next time. Some of our successes include the recent 2nd place in the house debating competition as we barely slipped out of first place, maybe preparation was not as good as it could have been, but we will learn for next time and be even more prepared.”

A Moustafa (Year 9)

Massey is only as strong as the sum of its parts. If you have not represented your house this year, I implore you to do so next year. A team above all and above all a team!

S Meakin