House Life

Denson House Report

While 2016 fairly quickly, and justifiably, garnered a reputation for being a somewhat bleak one for the annals, on a personal (and, therefore, admittedly rather selfish) level, it figured two considerable highlights.

It would be entirely remiss of me not to namecheck the birth of my and Victoria’s baby daughter Saffron in February last year – a truly memorable and uplifting experience. But through the ensuing haze of soiled nappies and sleep deprivation, another beacon of jubilation shone out in May: that of becoming Head of Denson House.

Having been a Denson tutor for four years already, it was a great honour and fortuitous coincidence that it was a post in this House. It was much easier leaving my role as a tutor with a group who I have come to admire and care about greatly, knowing that I was still to be part of the same House as them. In taking on this role, I was, of course, to fill the large shoes (size 12, in fact) of the well-established and popular Mr Hill, who had done a great job with a wonderful set of students for seven years previously. I have much to thank him for in terms of guidance and support, both in the previous years, and in the transition period last summer (as well as the memory of a house assembly of his, in which unwitting participants consumed chocolate-coated Brussel sprouts – enthusiastically, at first. There was a moral in there somewhere).

Since September 2016, through to July 2017, it has been a wonderful first year as Head of House, and I can honestly say I have loved every moment of it. In short, it is a superb opportunity to get to know the students beyond the classroom, and for them to develop on a personal level in the forum of friendly competitions. Well, mostly friendly. I was lucky, too, to have support this year from some great Head Boys of House – Ben Haigh, James Maddern and Declan Miller, together with the might of Denson 13, featuring such talented luminaries as Josh Jamieson, Will Robinson and Connor Mulholland. Having last been with them as a group in English, when they were Denson 9, including studying Lord of the Flies, I was glad to see they had largely all matured more into a group of ‘Ralphs’ than ‘Jacks’.

Of course, it may well have proved to be a rookie error – of gross overenthusiasm winning over cool-headed reserve – when I was reminded of the fact that Denson has been suffering a prolonged period of ‘a-trophy’. That is, we have not won one in quite some time – not the Brodie nor Watson overall, at least. Since 2005 and 2001 respectively, to be specific. I used this as a basis for one of my first House assemblies – including listing the top films and pop songs of this era (the first Harry Potter film, in the case of 2001). In my time here, we have always placed well in each event – in the top half for the Watson, and usually mid-table for the Brodie. Very respectable, therefore – but just missing that top spot.

And, alas, so that legacy continues! For another year, at any rate. We came a decent 4th in the Brodie (one point behind Phillips in 3rd) and 2nd in the Watson – crucially, just one point behind deserved winners Paterson – to my knowledge, our closest result yet in these last 16 years! In retrospect, it was perhaps wildly optimistic to hope to win one of these coveted trophies in my first year in the role – but I am exceptionally proud of the boys’ fantastic efforts and determination here; and it has once again proved that we are absolute contenders. We ended the year with four individual event trophies on the main corridor board (only one fewer

than top trophy-winners, Paterson).

On the Brodie side, we were somewhat unlucky – as has proved elsewhere – to come 5th overall in Cross-Country. Unlucky, as we were only a point behind what might have otherwise been 3rd. We had some fantastic runs too, with Seniors coming 2nd – including an excellent 3rd place (out of 70) for Sam Stembridge-King of 11De, bearing in mind he was running against mostly 6th formers. Our crowning success in the first term, though, was a trophy for House Squash – our Inters and Juniors (led by the Connor brothers) coming 1st in their sections, but with some able assistance from Seniors and Year 7s. A 4th overall place in Rugby was encouraging, too, following on from an outright last the previous year: I was proud to see the likes of our Year 9s and Year 10s, in particular, coming 3rd in their sections through hard-fought games against tough competition. Although this was countered, this year at least, with an unfortunate last House place for Basketball – which I know we can improve next year. Even here, however, there were positives: a great 3rd place by our spirited Year 7s, and an even better 2nd spot for our Year 8s, who have really come on this year overall.

Our House efforts took something of a dent on both sides of the competition in the middle of the year, however. On this side, it was another last in House Swimming. That said, there cannot be too many last place Houses in Swimming, in which participants have also broken a school record. This accolade went to our Inters, for their barnstorming relay event – with Rakin Gilani, Alex Reidy, George Plummer and our ‘human fish’, Cam Brooker, ploughing through waters of a distinctly Denson blue. We picked up again magnificently with House Football – our second Brodie event trophy win for the year. This followed some nifty footwork by senior year groups in the Sports Hall Futsal – with a 1st for our Year 11s and 2nd for our Year 10s. Our Juniors went on to seal the deal on Fete day, including a comprehensive 1st for our first-time Year 7s – cementing an excellent year for captain Joe Barber and others in his team.

Having, at one point been running last overall in the Brodie, a first in Football, then 4th places in House Athletics and Tennis, helped bump us up to a 4th overall final spot, in what had proved to be a very close-run thing in the 3rd to 6th places. What made me particularly proud with these occasions, though, was the determination and input by individual members of the House – including returning Year 11s and 13s from study leave: the likes of Will Robinson and David Webb (the day after their exams finished!), running a brilliant Denson Seniors’ relay – to add to some excellent final relays, including a 1st spot for our Year 7s, powered home by Will Cliffe. As well as our very own Roger Federer, Elliott Abdey (Denson 11), coming back to secure our Tennis Inters a fine 2nd spot. Their commitment here really made me proud to be part of their House.

Where to start with the Watson side? We have proved, this year again, that we can very much ‘do’ Chess, Quiz and Public Speaking; we are definitely contenders in Writing especially, and Art. We are not, however, having much of a time of things with House Music still. As with the Brodie, our careful efforts in this tournament were once again blown off course by this event in the middle of the year. Unlike the Brodie, it really is this one event that seems to cost us.

Indeed, so dejected has the mood in the Denson music camp become, there is a prevailing feeling that we could field the Berlin Philharmonic, the original Led Zeppelin line-up and even Michael Ng, all under the guise of Denson – and still come last. But we are taking constructive criticism on board, and very much becoming the living embodiment of resilience. Plans are afoot already. We will survive! And, more to the point, endeavour to bag more than one lonely Watson point in 2018. Despite our repeated last place this year, we had a wonderful time – Connor Mulholland put in a huge amount of work as captain; Ben Harding and band brought back the spirit of primetime Stevie Wonder with Sir Duke; Xav Atkins and co brought the Hall to a spellbound silence with their rendition of New York State of Mind in particular – so much so, we could hear Xav’s mobile ringing in his pocket in time with the final notes; and our largest House choir revived stadium-era Queen with Radio GaGa; all held together by the excellent Josh Jamieson and Michael Adebiyi as comperes. The boys did us proud.

I loved our House Art this year – with the theme of ‘Film’. Once again, Josh Jamieson, together with co-captains Zain Hassan and Finn Walsh, and form captains, helped increase our submissions and put in the hours for some eye-catching displays. Particular credit must go to those who also rose to the challenge of making short

films, which were screened via some display called a Raspberry Pie (I still think the IT technicians are winding me up). Well done to the stop-motion handiwork of Danyal Uddin (Denson 10), as well as digital wizardry of Tharrshann Logarajah and David Gasinkski (Denson 8) here, as well as some brilliant main display pieces, not least Joe Stembridge-King’s ‘Jaws’ ceramic model. We certainly have individual talent, coming joint 3rd. With House Writing, I really do not think I could have asked for more from a superlative Year 12 Denson editing unit – Will Terrett, Tom Wright, Karsten Allers, Dan Comerford, and the design flair of Finn Walsh. We doubled our submissions this year, in what was the most polished finished Denson magazine I have seen, and with some very insightful, imaginative and evocative ‘Mirrors’-related pieces. A real hats off to Will here, as well, for getting eight different members of the House to translate a stanza of a poem each into a second language of theirs – both imaginative and innovative. A 3rd place here in a tough, competitive year. events gaining us some particularly useful, if not top-flight marks, we had to bring out our big brains for the other three intellectual pursuits. Ridley claimed our Chess crown this year, beating us to second in a hard-fought and very close all Denson-Ridley final - our Inters did particularly well coming 1st in their section. I had the great pleasure of running House Quiz this year, across four sections – and it was impressive how much students from across Houses and year groups knew, as some of the rounds were really not easy. Remaining entirely impartial here, of course, I was nonetheless proud to see Denson reach joint 1st with Ridley in this event - our Inters and Juniors in particular buoying our score: with the likes of ‘quiz machine’ Fitz Steger-Lewis (Denson 10), we certainly have our encyclopaedia’s worth of knowledge in the House! And, last but not least, I was delighted that we retained our Public Speaking trophy this year, too. Our Seniors – Josh Jamieson, Xav Atkins, Sam Stembridge-King and Tom Ward – did an excellent job in the autumn, coming an effective 2nd place. Their hard work led the way to our triumphant Juniors again, who came a decisive 1st place in the July event for the second year running. Our speakers – Dan Compton (Denson 7), Will Chapman (Denson 8) and Michael Adebiyi (Denson 9) – really put in the hours, together with the Seniors’ help. Once again, the Watson by that stage was just out of our grasp – Paterson’s 3rd place in Public Speaking securing it for them. But it was tantalisingly close!

Really, I could not have asked more from some superb teamwork and input from the whole House. All of this has been shown through some excellent captaincy work within forms and sections, together with senior leadership; I am excited and proud to have my old tutor group holding the reins next year, including the new Denson Head boys of House – Tanmay Mahesh, Finn Walsh and Shafiea Khan, who are already doing sterling work. And many thanks, of course, go to a wonderful group of supportive tutors – Mr Kemp, Mr Friar, Miss Rowling, Mr Goff, Mr Smith, Mrs Burnett and Mr Datta. We are sad to say farewell to Mr Friar, who leaves AGS after seven years as a Denson tutor, but wish him the very best. There are myriad others I would like to thank, too, not least the other Heads of House and Mr Dallas, for their kind words, advice and general friendly competitive spirit.

All it really leaves me to say is, well done Denson. Here comes another year, another clean sheet of opportunity. Ganbatte!

Mr A Streat

Hampden House Report

Having not won the Watson or Brodie competitions since 2010, last year’s Watson win came as a real boost for the house and was just reward for all the hard work and effort put in by

so many. When viewed purely as a competition, defending this trophy, as well as improving our standing in the Brodie was always going to be a test and although we finished with no trophy to our name, the House should be proud that it managed to sustain a serious challenge in both competitions until things took a downward turn in late June, early July (particularly in The Brodie).

Over the last few years, Senior Public Speaking has provided us with a strong start to the Watson, but despite the work and preparation put in by Theo Nze, Matt Bird, Ayaan Ashraf and Ashon Subramanian, our 5th place finish was lower than we were perhaps anticipating. Despite this, Matt’s 1st place and Ayaan’s 3rd were particularly impressive.

Moving onto Art, led by Ethan Elsenburg, Harry White, Nick Worthy, Tom Huntington and Wasiq Chaudhary, with considerable help from Head Boy of House Rob Paripovic, we experienced another fantastic team effort and by coming 2nd, we came very close to emulating last year’s great win, showcasing the artistic talent that we have within Hampden across all year groups. House Music this year brought about stress, lots of rehearsals, last minute decisions, more stress and then a set of performances that blew away some of our rivals. This year, Hampden House exceeded a lot of people’s expectations and our efforts on the night definitely surprised a few. Not only were we able to perform fantastic technical pieces but we also managed to do something that very few thought would be possible: we covered ‘History’ by One Direction with great style and discovered the most unlikely boy band in the form of Rob Paripovic, Mike Grimwood, Dan Bedwell and Tom Robertson. All boys who performed on the night were fantastic and fully contributed to an impressive 3rd place finish and 4 very well deserved points.

House Chess followed for the House and teams were selected, in some cases, through a rigorous process of intra-form competition to decide on places and promises were made by members of the senior team as to getting a positive result for the house. Unfortunately, this didn’t quite happen despite the best efforts of all who were involved and unfortunately we finished in a disappointing 6th place, gaining just one point towards our Watson Trophy defence, making it an event we really need to focus on next year.

As April approached, pieces were submitted for the House Writing competition. Maybe not in the quantities that we were hoping for, but the editing team went about its business and selected the best for submission, front and back covers were designed and Quinn Smethurst, together with Joe Weir and Charles Howley, did a fantastic job putting the whole thing together ready for submission. Again, a lot of hard work and last minute changes had to take place in order to get the magazine in on time, but it all came together beautifully in the end and resulted in a fantastic 2nd place finish and five points for the house, which is easily the best finish that Hampden has achieved in House Writing for a very long time!

The intellectual muscle of the house was once again demonstrated in House Quiz, where we finished joint 3rd overall, thanks largely to the efforts of our Senior teams, who both finished with top marks.

With 2 points already earned from the Seniors in Senior Public Speaking in September, in July it was the turn of the Juniors who put in a particularly impressive set of performances to finish 2nd and give us a 2nd place finish overall in public speaking. Tom Kirkpatrick-Brown (Hampden 7), Seb Shah (Hampden 8) and David Dallas (Hampden 9) were all fantastic as speakers, while a huge thank you needs to go out to Miss Holliday and her Sixth Form team for preparing these guys so well.

Finishing joint 3rd place in the Watson overall, just two points off first place, represented a fantastic effort in our attempt at retaining the Watson trophy and, in reality, it was only the comparatively poor result in House Chess that stopped us from finishing

higher. All who were involved this year in any of the Watson events should be extremely proud of their efforts, as this trophy usually requires a great deal of time and commitment, as well as talent and ability.

As an indicator to how we would approach the new year and the Brodie Trophy within that, Cross Country showed that we were definitely up for the challenge. In the Year 7 & 8 event we came 2nd, in the 9 & 10s 6th and our Seniors (Yrs 11, 12 & 13) recorded an impressive 1st place finish, meaning we finished 2nd overall. Easily our best start in the Brodie for a long time, thanks to some impressive runs from Alex Hodson and James O’Keefe in Year 7, Harry Edmonds in Year 10, Matt Bird in Year 11 and Will Liggett in Year 12.

With the year’s next event the illustrious House Basketball, highlights of our joint 4th place finish came from the 2nd place finish from the evercompetitive Hampden 9, who keep pushing to take the overall win in their year group, as well an impressive 2nd place finish from our Inters team, who were inspired by the significant efforts of Onyeka Ewuzie in particular. The overall position in Basketball was a little disappointing, particularly after last year’s joint 1st finish, but this is definitely a competition we can do much better in next year, particularly at a senior level.

Squash was the complete opposite to Basketball, in so far as we managed to turn around last year’s 6th place to finish in a tie for 2nd, which was a plus point for the house and put us in a good position in the Brodie before the Christmas break.

Another event that strengthened our position in the Brodie was House Rugby, an event that in the past has not been one of our strongest, but after last year’s promising 3rd place finish we again made significant improvements to finish joint 2nd overall. The year 7s excelled to win their competition, while the excellent Year 9s once again finished in 2nd place thanks to the efforts of Toby Cook, James Phillips, Tom Kemp, Alex Butler, Jasper Smith, Sean Bedwell et al! The introduction of Indoor Futsal was excellent for different reasons, as the Year 11s were extremely impressive and well deserved their 2nd place finish, thanks to the silky skills of James Richardson and his team. The Seniors finished 6th, despite their best efforts, while the Year 10s played strongly to finish 3rd. This gave us a really good foundation in the Futsal competition, with the junior Football still to come.

We finished on 15.5 points in House Swimming, just one and a half points behind the joint 1st place houses, which were Phillips and Lee. At the end of the morning session, we were in 2nd place, which really highlighted how tight the competition was overall and how close we were to finishing higher. It really was a fantastic team effort and I want to thank all boys who competed on the day. The Seniors and Year 7s were excellent and finished 3rd in their competitions, while the Juniors were outstanding and won their event convincingly. While it didn’t quite happen for the Inters on the day, it was not as a result of a lack of effort on their part and all came together to give us four excellent house points.

We therefore went into the last three Brodie events of the year with the chance of finishing higher than we had for a long time, potentially in the top three places, however the following results had a huge impact on our overall position:

• Junior House Football – 6th Place (Joint 5th Place overall)

• House Athletics – 6th Place

Over a few days late on in the year, despite the best efforts of so many, we had come unstuck and our Brodie campaign came to a disappointing finish. To come 6th by one point was really frustrating, given how much we have improved over recent years and how well we performed for most of the year. The target therefore has to be make the most of the early opportunities to take points and target those events that come late in the year, to see if we can unearth some runners, jumpers, throwers, kickers and tennis players!

Although both the Watson and Brodie are competitions, in reality they provide students with the chance to participate, perform and excel in a number of different sporting, academic and artistic events throughout the year. We saw this in abundance as a House and the fact that we were not rewarded by tangible trophy wins is irrelevant, Hampden House should be proud of its efforts, both individually and collectively, and we look forward to seeing what next year will bring.

Mr C McGill

Lee House Report

It has been 15 years since Lee House last won the Brodie Trophy, back in 2002: the year of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee and Arsenal beating Chelsea 2-0 in

the FA Cup. This year Lee House have done the almost impossible after so many years in the sporting wilderness. The most interesting thing is this was not a narrow victory in the end and we were so consistent across most of the sporting competitions over a 12-month period.

I am left elated and thinking of lines from ‘The Lightening Seeds’ song ‘Three Lions’ at this juncture.

“Three lions on a shirt, Jules Rimet still gleaming.

Thirty years of hurt, never stopped me dreaming.

So many jokes, so many sneers,

But all those ‘oh so nears, when you’re down, through the years.”

In the Brodie, the year once again started extremely well with Lee House winning Cross Country. I was impressed with the students’ willingness to turn out to represent the house and the determination which they showed during the races. We have some extremely gifted athletes particularly in our Inter and Junior cohorts and this was evident in Cross Country and later in the year in House Athletics. Our Inters and Juniors both placed 1st in Cross Country and in Athletics our year 7 and Senior teams both took the top spot; enabling us to finish joint 2nd overall in Athletics late in the summer term.

We had a mixed bag of results in the Watson in the autumn term. House Art, which has often been a strength of Lee in the past, proved to be extremely disappointing with a 6th place finish. House Music once again, previously our forte, did not go according to plan despite the best effort of the Music captains and our musicians. After last year’s top spot in this keenly contested and well-supported event, Lee could only finish 5th. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the students who gave up so much of their time and expertise to make our house music collaboration possible.

During the first term, House Rugby once again proved to be highly competitive! It is always good to see so many students representing their houses on the rugby field. Lee proved to be a dominant force, finishing joint 2nd; with Lee 8 and 10 winning their respective year group competitions. This was a dream start with many pinching themselves: Lee 1st in the Brodie at Christmas!! But a word of caution was required, as this had been the case every winter for the past three years.

Other success stories included our 1st place in Senior Basketball and our Senior Football team winning their competition.

House Swimming was another great competition for Lee, with the house sharing the overall victory with Phillips House. As last year, we once again proved to have real strength in our Junior sections and the Lee Inters team placed first. Lee House Swimming is safe in the hands of individuals like; Ed Birch, James Chennells, Tom Giles and Josh Greig in Year 10, Jack Edwards and Jai Horwood in Year 8 and Murray Wakeford from Year 7. The real highlight for me was the effort and commitment put in by our Senior team: not all regular swimmers but more than willing to do their best.

The summer term ended with House Athletics and Tennis. By this stage of the year, Lee House have normally been overhauled by the other Houses, with our lead after the first term quickly evaporating. Going into House Tennis we had a fairly narrow lead over last year’s Brodie winners Paterson and it was now a two-horse race. However, the Senior Tennis team of Alex Axford, Jonny Booth, Jonny Dance and Alex Rice won the Seniors’ event and the Tennis competition overall; this year Lee saw it through to the end with a “GREAT” win and all 6 points in House Tennis.

The final Watson events proved disappointing for Lee, 6th place in House Writing, an improved 4th place in House Quiz and a creditable performance in Public Speaking; a lot of food for thought and a tremendous amount of work for us to do as a House once again in the more cerebral events next year.

So: winners of the Brodie and 6th in the Watson, it is undoubtedly a real improvement on previous years. We have at last won the sporting competition, but we must work on many areas in the Watson events over the next 12 months.

I must take this final opportunity to thank our Head Boy of Lee, Alex Wilson and his two Deputies Jai Ghosh and Tom Alexander, wishing them every success for the future. Jai has set an excellent example all year for our younger students, delivering a range of high-quality and exceptionally-delivered assemblies. Alex and Tom will be very much missed for their efforts on the sports field, alongside their undoubted talent as musicians.

So as I said last year, in the words of Muhammad Ali, ”The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.”

So to all Lee House students it is once again time to reflect and prepare for the year ahead. We do not want to be a Leicester City, a one season wonder, can we win the Brodie again? Can we prove it was not a fluke and can Lee make a charge for the Watson in 2017/2018? Can Lee do the impossible and do “The Double” next year?

Have a good summer, rest and recover; let battle commence once again in September 2017.

Mr P Dean

Paterson House Report

Head Boy of House Perspective

When I first took up the position of Head Boy of Paterson I never thought it would be easy, but I also never thought for one second that it would be so rewarding.

After taking over from Jack last year, I had some big expectations to live up to. In recent years, Paterson House has enjoyed a wealth of success in both trophies and this was, of course, something I was looking to continue. I am incredibly proud to tell you all that Paterson has achieved this academic year. The credit, without a doubt, must go to every single member of Paterson House that participated in each event because, as all Head Boys of House will know, there is only so much motivation and organisation you can offer and it is up to the individuals in the House to go out there and consistently perform to the best of their abilities. I would like to thank all the boys in Paterson for getting behind me this year, stepping up when called upon and wanting to win just as much (if not more) than I did.

A personal highlight of the year has to be the victory of the Watson ‘Triple Crown’ of House Art, House Music and House Writing. These are events which rely heavily on the participation of the students and it fills me with pride when I think about our winning performances in these competitions, these are great memories that I will never forget. Enormous credit must also go to my Deputies Will and Chris, who, as well as being great leaders in their own right, have forever offered me a shoulder to lean on when times were tough and have shared my passion to drive Paterson forward this year, Paterson wouldn’t have managed it without them. This desire to win is a quality that I clearly see in the leadership team for next year of Michael, Tom and Luan, and I have absolutely no doubt that we will see even further success for Paterson House under their reign.

However, the biggest thank you of all must go to Miss Chalk. Many people do not fully appreciate the work that she puts in as much of it goes unnoticed and happens behind the scenes, but believe me when I say that Paterson House would not be anywhere near as successful without her. She really epitomises what we stand for in Paterson House and has managed to mould the House into a family with her pastoral and generous nature, under which every student has an opportunity to thrive. So, on behalf of myself and all the students in Paterson, thank you Miss Chalk.

Finally, I would like to wish all my fellow Year 13s good luck for whatever the future holds and thank you for making my seven years at Aylesbury Grammar School unforgettable.

Callum Eley, Head Boy of Paterson House 2016-2017

The new Head Boy and Deputy Head Boys of House were in place, the new year 7 intake were beginning to find their way around AGS and the race for the Brodie and Watson got underway. As winners of the Brodie Cup for the third year in a row last year, it seems like this would be a suitable place to start my review.

The year started as it always does, with House Cross Country. Well done to Nick Cay (Paterson 7) and William Ratcliffe (Paterson 8), finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively out of 48 runners in the Juniors race and Ben Lindars (Paterson 10) and Olly Cay (Paterson 10) who finished 2nd and 3rd in the Inters race. Overall, we finished the event in 3rd place, which was an improvement on last year – so a great start in our campaign to keep the Brodie for another year. A rather disappointing joint 4th finish in House Basketball, usually one of our strongest events, followed this. However, congratulations should be given to Year 7 who won their section of the competition. This was followed by a 1st place finish in House Rugby, with Year 9 winning their section. It was turning into a very unpredictable year.

House Squash was the next event in the calendar, where we were awarded with a joint 2nd place finish overall. Congratulations to all those who played, especially the Seniors who won their section. Following this, we had the House Swimming competition. To say this did not go as well as planned would be an understatement – we finished in 4th place. We faced a number of issues

during the run up to the event through illness and poor communication. This event was a low point during the year for us as a House. That said, Year 7 won their section and new school records were created by Sam Pyefinch (Paterson 7) for 50m butterfly and 4 x 25m individual medley, and these achievements certainly should be celebrated.

The next event was the biggest event in the Brodie calendar – House Athletics. Last year we had our best ever finish in the event (joint 1st) and we were keen to replicate this success. So, after some motivational assemblies ‘Team Paterson’ were assembled. They threw, ran and jumped to the best of their ability in scorching heat. The results were announced. We had not matched our success from last year, we had beaten it - 1st place overall! The team erupted with cheers, and it made me very happy to see how much the win meant to each and every one of the competitors. The House Athletics Superstars of 2017 were – Ben Kearney (Paterson 7), Nick Cay (Paterson 7), Riaghan Mattheson (Paterson 7), George Birch (Paterson 7), Josh Davidson (Paterson 7), Sam Kearney (Paterson 8), Sanjit Mallya (Paterson 8), Ollie Carolin (Paterson 8), Ashre Moses (Paterson 8), Kit Fairhurst (Paterson 9), Gus Burnett (Paterson 9), Albie Whittemore (Paterson 9), Ben Latham (Paterson 9), Michael Amaeshike (Paterson 10), Ben Lindars (Paterson 10), Olly Speake (Paterson 10), Aalim Shamsideen (Paterson 12) and the Year 8 House Relay team. Team of the Year goes to Year 7 for gaining the highest points out of all the Paterson teams.

House Football followed, with the introduction of Futsal for years 10-13. Overall, we finished the competition in 4th place. Special mention should go to the 7, 8 and 9 teams for exceptional teamwork and communication during their games, which were held at the PTA fete. As we entered House Tennis, there were only two Houses that could win the Brodie this year: Paterson and Lee. Unfortunately, it was not good news from the courts as we finished in 5th place meaning Lee House had won the Brodie and we had finished in 2nd place. It was a little disappointing that we could not manage a fourth year at the top of the Brodie, but as I look back on the days when it was an achievement when we didn’t finish in 6th place, as a House we have come a long way and I am very proud of all the work that went into taking 2nd place overall.

The Watson

The first event in the Watson is always Senior Public Speaking. Aidan Purchase (Paterson 10), Joey Horrox (Paterson 11), Tom Cay (Paterson 12) and Callum Eley (Paterson 13) put themselves up for the task this year. The team finished in a very pleasing 3rd place. Later in the year, we had the second part of the competition, Junior Public Speaking. Here, Nick Cay (Paterson 7), Kaustubh Singh (Paterson 8) and Sam Holcroft (Paterson 9) worked very hard to make sure they delivered interesting topics in a slick and confident manner and were awarded 3rd place in the Junior section. This left us with a solid 3rd place finish in the competition as a whole. Thank you to everyone who supported our speakers through the preparations for the competition, especially to Mrs Sampson for giving up her valuable time to help our team of speakers to be the best they can be.

After our 2nd place finish last year in House Art, we went into the competition determined to improve on this. Under the leadership of Haseeb Abassi (Paterson 13), a display based on the Ancient Orient was created. An excellent display was created, highlighting the artistic

abilities that Paterson House has to offer – work ranging from Lego to origami, pasta to matchsticks. With over 140 entries submitted, we were awarded 1st place, with a 12-point lead over last year’s winners Hampden. The level of talent within Paterson House was recognised with a total of 21 Certificates of Excellence being awarded in recognition of outstanding entries, beating last year’s total. Congratulations to Previn Chady (Paterson 10), Austin Balmer (Paterson 9), Will Rowles (Paterson 10), Nick Cay (Paterson 7), Tommy Healey (Paterson 7), Sam Choudhury (Paterson 9) , George Birch (Paterson 7), Sam Holcroft (Paterson 9), Joey Horrox (Paterson 11), Ryan Sara (Paterson 8), Alex Lincoln (Paterson 9), Tom Navin (Paterson 8), James Manley (Paterson 11), Alroy Pereira (Paterson 12), Sam Heasman (Paterson 11), Ben Ratcliffe (Paterson 10), Jay Raj (Paterson 8), Miss Chalk (Head of House) and James Grohmann (Paterson 13) for being awarded two certificates.

The next event was House Music. Preparations began four months before the actual competition with the usual disagreements over song choices. Finally, the captains Chris Louis (Paterson 13), Ayush Rodrigues (Paterson 13) and Joe Kearney (Paterson 13) made some firm decisions and rehearsals began. On the evening of the competition, the Compère duo of Oli Brown (Paterson 13) and Callum Eley (Paterson 13) took to the stage to entertain the crowd and introduce our songs. We started with an exceptional performance of ‘Elephant’ by Tame Impala, followed by the incredible vocals of Daniel Lindars on ‘How to Save a Life’ by The Fray and we finished with ‘Everybody needs Somebody to Love’ from the Blue Brothers, which included an enthusiastic performance from the powerhouse that is the Paterson House Choir. The judge, Jules Buckley took to the stage and the results were announced – Paterson House… 1st Place!! The cheers filled the hall – Paterson had not won House Music since 2009, so this was something to celebrate.

Following this excitement, we went into the House Writing competition. The theme of ‘Mirrors’ provided an excellent platform for a wide variety of writing styles. The magazine editors – Callum Eley (Paterson 13), Joe Kearney (Paterson 13), Jacob Heayes (Paterson 13), Michael Witham (Paterson 12), Tom Cay (Paterson 12) and Max Hutt (Paterson 12) worked through over 140 entries from Paterson House to create our magazine that was awarded 1st place in the competition. Congratulations to everyone who submitted work, especially to Jonathan Gopal (Paterson 8), Callum Eley (Paterson 13), Jacob Heayes (Paterson 13), Matt Ferutado (Paterson 13), Tom Cay (Paterson 12) and Michael Witham (Paterson 12) whose entries were highly commended by this year’s adjudicator. We should also thank Matt Feurtado (Paterson 13) for providing the artwork used on the front cover.

The only other events to discuss in the Watson are House Quiz and House Chess – the chink in our armour with 5th places in both competitions. However, it did not make too much of an impact as we had enough points from the other events and were crowned Watson Winners 2017. It has been a few years since Paterson has won the Watson, so we welcomed the trophy back with open arms.

And Finally…

I would like to thank Callum Eley (Head Boy of House) and Chris Louis and Will Knatchbull (Deputy Head Boys of House) for all the tireless work they have put into running Paterson House over the year. They have been so dedicated to their roles and their passion for the House was infectious. They have been motivational and an absolute pleasure to work alongside. They were certainly the driving force behind our success this year. I would also like to wish the outgoing Year 13s all the very best of luck and success in the future. They have been a wonderful year group to get to know and I will miss them greatly as they leave us. Remember ‘once a Patty, always a Patty’!

Here at ‘Team Paterson’, we have achieved great success and this has been facilitated by a wonderful group of tutors who provide first-rate pastoral care to their tutor groups, working tirelessly with them throughout the year, so thank you to all the Paterson House tutors.

It has been another positive year for us. The dedication and effort from all students in Paterson House has been incredible – every single one of them played a valuable role in our success. We continued to work as a team, and for that, I am incredibly proud and very grateful.

Miss K Chalk

Phillips House Report

This year Phillips House has faced tough challenges in all competitions and I am, as usual, extremely pleased with the commitment and skill in both sporting and non-sporting competition from boys in all

tutor groups. Those who have gained positions of responsibility in Phillips from Junior Prefects to Prefects and Senior Prefects have given up a lot of time to take on important responsibilities often providing valuable support to staff. I would like to start by thanking our outgoing Head Boys of House, James, Fraser and Ollie. Thank you for your leadership and hard work in supporting Phillips House this year. I know that our new leadership team of James, Jeffrey and Liam will do a fantastic job. We welcome Miss Draper who has been a fantastic tutor to Phillips 9 and hope she will continue to enjoy being part of Phillips into the next academic year.

Apart from pastoral support, at the heart of our activities are the Brodie and Watson competitions. Always hard fought and often unbelievably frustrating, they give us a focus and drive that is unmatched. The Brodie Trophy saw our greatest success with an overall 3rd place. This might not seem amazing but when we consider that by spring we had managed to come last in Cross Country and Squash, languishing near the bottom in Football, it does not seem that bad. In fact, the boys of Phillips rallied massively with excellent performances in Basketball for our first win of the year and then, the perennially successful House Swimming where our outstanding swimmers secured a joint win. Special mention to Carmello Almadin of Phillips 7 for his excellent performance first time out for Phillips. The summer term always provides Phillips with the opportunity to shine and in both Athletics and Tennis we were incredible. It was a testament to the hunger for victory that a joint 2nd in athletics proved to be a disappointment to the athletes but was, nevertheless, an excellent result. In Tennis, we are lucky to have some of the best players at AGS and all teams did well putting us overall joint second with the Senior and Junior teams winning their matches. Special mention to Josh Mayhead, Alex Gent, Leo Blackman and Ameya Tekale in the Senior team and Joel Good, Kai Bailey, Chris Bond and DJ Mentiply in the juniors.

The Watson proved more elusive this year although we had excellent contributions from across the House in all events. The Senior Public Speaking was an early highlight with our team coming first. Fraser provided easily the best speech of the competition. However, even the high level of enthusiasm and commitment from our Juniors could not make up for more well-rehearsed opposition and the Juniors came 5th putting us 4th overall. House Art and Writing have been plagued by a lack of submissions in the last few years but enthusiastic support from the Senior boys helped redress this slightly. Although we again came a disappointing 6th in Art there was a marked improvement in Writing and with a good concept, excellent editing and more submissions we pulled ourselves up to 4th this year. Thank you Ross and Adam for your hard work with this. We have turned a corner and I expect us to push up the rankings next year. As usual, there were many well-earned certificates of excellence in both competitions and I would again like to express my thanks to all who took part. The House Quiz was another competition where on paper we should have done well but faced strong opposition. Even with an

overall 6th position there was a great performance from the Phillips 8 and Phillips 9 team who came 3rd in their group.

Assemblies by the tutor groups were, as always, interesting and thought provoking. Thank you to all boys who took part. As I always say, speaking in public and the art of rhetoric is one of the most important life skills. Well done to all. The PTA fete was a big success and we raised well over £200. My thanks to all the boys who helped make it such a success. Your support was invaluable. I must mention Josh Mulgrew, who has supported the book and DVD Stall every year since year 7 and leaves us this year at the end of Year 13. Thank you Josh.

I would like to finish this report by thanking all the boys and tutors who have made this a successful year for Phillips House and especially those boys who have taken on responsibilities including running assemblies and raising money for Malawi. We wish Mrs Lillywhite all the best in her retirement and thank her for her unrelenting support to her tutor group. Well done to all in Phillips House this year.

Mr M Goodchild

Ridley House Report

In terms of the House competitions it has been a mixed year for Ridley, but with enough highlights to make it

a positive one. On Friday 7th July 2017, the last day of House competitions Ridley were still in a position to win the Watson Trophy, but lay in last place in the Brodie, as both competitions hung on a knife edge.

Entering the final competition in the Watson Trophy, Ridley and Paterson were tied in first place and with Denson also in contention. Sadly, despite the best efforts of our Junior public speakers, we would finish in 5th place overall in the combined Public Speaking competition, meaning that Paterson House won the Watson on 26 points and Denson were runners up on 25, with Ridley tied with Hampden on 24. The competition could not have been closer. The other area where we lost ground on our rivals was in the House Writing, where we finished in 5th place. Given our recent history of success in this competition and the work that had gone into our publication, we had hoped for better. An area where we have traditionally performed less well is in the House Art. This year we finished in joint 3rd. I should acknowledge the efforts of Year 13 captain Eddy Garton in leading our exhibition. We are always to an extent entering the unknown with the House quiz, but we had given ourselves the best chance of success by selecting our teams after practice quizzes in extended registrations. Our efforts would pay off with a joint 1st place finish. We performed even better in the House Chess, where we finished as outright winners, with Denson hot on our heels. Both our Senior and Junior teams won, with the Inters coming second in their competition. The House Music festival is always a particular highlight of the House year. Not only does it involve collaboration between all year groups, it is also the culmination of months of practice and takes place in a packed School Hall. As a non-musician I am always amazed by the musical talent we have in the school. Our captains Michael Ng and Jonts Hoft had begun preparations months in advance and their drive, organisation and vision would fully utilise the musical talents in the House. We produced three memorable pieces in the form of ‘Cake by the Ocean’, a movie medley and Michael Ng’s solo of ‘La Campanella’. On a memorable night Ridley were placed 2nd a mere point behind Paterson, with many observers thinking we were very unlucky not to win. This was truly a team effort, but I must mention Michael Ng. In all my years at AGS I have never seen a more talented performer and his is a void we will struggle to fill. Overall our strong performances in the Watson Trophy provide a solid foundation on which to build next year.

In contrast, the Brodie Trophy has been a bit of a struggle this year and we have rarely looked like delivering a top three finish. There have however

been some highlights! Our Year 7 squash team of Ethan McIntosh, Josh Armstrong, John McGregor and Tom Oakes won their competition and we finished in second place in the overall squash competition. Our combined Year 9 and 10 team came 2nd in cross country, whilst Dom Grimshaw in Ridley 8 won his race. Performances on the rugby field have been disappointing this year, meaning that we finished in last place overall in this competition. However credit should go to Ridley 10 for a 2nd place finish. Perhaps the two most high profile sporting events of the year are the House Swimming and the House Athletics, since they involve the competitors off timetable for the day and performing in front of a sizable crowd (particularly in the case on Sports Day). However, we would finish in 5th place in both competitions which lost us further ground in the Brodie. It really does seem a long time since Ridley have performed well in swimming! On to the good news: both Ridley 9 and Ridley 7 (boosted by the considerable talents of Jeremy and Gavin Thurairajah) were victorious, and we finished in 3rd place overall in basketball. The Junior House Football of course takes place on Fete Day and this always ensures an enthusiastic crowd of fellow competitors, students and parents. In the Year 8 competition Dylan Changer scored a vital goal 10 seconds from time against Hampden to take us into the final, where we eventually beat Phillips on penalties, with captain Jude Guest-Brainch scoring the vital spot-kick. Our Year 9 team would triumph in the same way when ‘keeper Oscar Cole saved the first Denson penalty in another shoot out after the final finished in a draw. It was therefore a minor triumph to win two out of the three football tournaments on Fete Day.

We therefore entered the final day of the Brodie competition in an identical position to the previous year – last place with only the House Tennis to go. Fortunately, we would finish in 3rd place overall, with our Inter team of Dan Dean, Alex Piddington, Dylan Holmes-Cowan and James Atkinson triumphant. This meant that we at least overhauled Hampden in the final Brodie standings, although in 5th place on 24.5 points, we were only half a point behind Denson and a further point off Phillips in 3rd. I cannot remember a year when both the Brodie and Watson competitions have been so closely fought (although Lee House did win the Brodie by a sizable margin).

There is of course so much more to House life than just the two major competitions. This year we have raised money for GAAF, a charity based in Uganda which raises money to assist those affected by HIV and AIDS. Ridley students made a substantial contribution towards money raised at the PTA Fete by running ‘Beat-The-Goalie’, ‘Cricket Bowling’ and ‘Guess the Time’ stalls. And who could forget the Ridley panto – performed by the Ridley tutors for our students in the final assembly before Christmas. The performance (this year ‘Little Red Riding Hoodie’) seems to get better year on year (if this is possible). Mr Grant is no doubt already planning the next instalment.

I must finish by thanking Head Boy Jay Patton, ably assisted by Deputies Jack Ainsworth and Ollie Hawken for all their leadership and hard work during the year. We also have a great team of tutors in Ridley and I am very grateful for the support they give to me and all our students. Finally well done to everyone who has contributed to House life during the past year. I am confident that Ridley will bounce back in 2017-2018.