House Life

Denson House Report

There are some rather rare years that seem more full of events and results than a single

year is able to contain. On reflection, 2017-18 will, in my mind, go down as just such a year for Denson. I thought 2016 was – the year in which I became Head of Denson and a father to Saffron (now two). However, this year, I became a father again in May (to Finn) – and Denson did the fabled ‘double’. And yet, by the end, I also had the opening lines of Dickens’ ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ – ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times’ swimming around my head. For this was the year, too, in which we lost Charlie Dunne (D13) in July to a tragic accident. Charlie was in my old form group and was one of Denson’s biggest personalities and a mainstay of events, especially Music. It is a loss which is still raw and was a great shock to the House as a whole. All I can say is that he will be sorely missed, and that Denson’s success this year is a fitting legacy to a young man who had a bright future, and who contributed with characteristic commitment and good humour over seven years to our House. Well done Charlie, you did Denson and AGS proud.

Before the review of the year in full, some other goodbyes and thanks, to Mrs Burnett and Mrs Waverley as D13’s tutors in their sixth form years, including for Charlie. They have been a huge support, especially in these recent, very challenging weeks. And to Mr Gardiner, tutor for D7 for only one year, but undeniably a driving force in both theirs, and more widely Denson’s success this year. He has made a huge impact. And my thanks, as ever, to our other tutors, including new-comer Mr Graham, who has made a great impact for D8 in his first year; Mr Kemp, Miss Rowling, Mr Goff and Mr Smith. They are the fundamental bedrock of our House system.

The Brodie Trophy

It was a year of unparalleled success, certainly in our House’s recent history. Where even to start? Well, it started, as ever, with House Cross-Country. Denson had come 5th the previous year, and we were determined to make our mark for our 2017-18 campaign.

We came 5th=. Perhaps not the most auspicious of starts. That said, our Seniors came 2nd, with tremendous runs from our 11s, including Cam Brooker, and among our sixth form, including Sam Stembridge-King. Our new 7s put in an encouraging performance as well, including Alex Davis. But, there was no glossing over the fact we were joint last in the Brodie after the first of eight events; though this was to be the last time this was to occur.

For what came next was an extraordinary hot streak of results which broke all boundaries of our recent performances. We had come last overall as a House in Basketball the previous year. And yet we started racking up some superb results – in particular our Year 7s and Inters, both 2nd. But, as outgoing AGS Basketball legend Mr McCarthy said, consistency is key, so our other performances proved, with 3rd places for our 8s and

9s – even our Seniors’ spirited last place was enough to secure Denson a trophy win. They played to win and win they did (even though they lost). Last to first in a year; I sensed something might be in the air.

And so it came to pass, in what was a hat-trick of trophy wins for Denson. We secured the Squash trophy once again, with the help of some of the school’s best players, including the Marcus and Ryan Connor and Lewis Milner. But it was our 7s again – Thomas Whitehead in particular – and Juniors, especially Silas Glover, who sealed it for us. And in Rugby, another event in which we have often languished. Here, too, our 8s triumphed with an overall 1st place, and our 7s really proved their worth in what has been an absolute banner year for them, under the guidance of their hugely supportive tutor, Mr Gardiner and a number of Year 12s who gave their support: they too sealed an overall 1st place across their A and B teams. It was the Year 10 result of which I was especially proud as well, though. Here was a form who had traditionally ranked in the bottom couple of spaces, but who powered themselves to a 2nd place finish. This surely can’t last, I felt.

House Swimming was another event in which we had come last the previous year. But again, a superlative team effort from across the year groups led to a 3rd place finish. There were stand-out swims and records from our stars, such as Cam Brooker. But again consistency was key; I firmly believe that every tutor group and section put in their best. By the end of the spring term in 2017, Denson were a comprehensive last in the Brodie; this time we were flying high in poll position.

Going into the final term, I felt Lee would be the ones to beat, having run away with the Brodie the previous year. House Football had been rumbling away in the background for a few weeks; I was keen for us to reclaim the trophy this year, but it was looking a tantalisingly closefought contest by the summer term. Everything pointed towards the end of June – House Athletics on Friday; Junior Football on the Fete Day. Athletics, almost impossibly it seemed, resulted in a 1st= with reigning champions Paterson (from our 4th last year). As with Swimming, it was a festival of activity, effort and drama. And here too, it was a wonderful team effort. Full praise, here, to our Year 11s, many of whom came back to rocket-power our Inters to a 2nd place; and likewise to a handful of 13s who came back for even better results for our Seniors with a 1st – in particular James Massey. The final relay was an emotional sight for me, to see four of my old tutor group (Sam Wright, James Massey, Oli Rae and Ayo Adesunloye) sprinting to a glorious 1st-place finish. It was impossible to tell whether the tears in my eyes were from pure pride or hay fever. The lower year groups helped secure it all – the 8s with a 1st place, including captain Will Cliffe; and excellent input from our 7s and 9s, as well as our 10s and, in particular 12s, too, in their sections. A truly memorable day.

So, Football decided it across the next two weeks – our 7s and 9s both coming 2nd on the Fete Day in their competitions – and both finally coming down to penalty shootouts, in which the ghost of England football past seemed to haunt us. Their quality and efforts were superb, though, as were our 8s when they helped seal Denson a phenomenal fifth Brodie event win (more than half of the events) a couple of weeks later in their deciding games. By House Tennis, we had pulled ahead of even the likes of Lee and Paterson, but still fought well for a 4th=. Once again, an excellent group effort, and special mention to Harvey Newland-Smith in 11De for coming back on the day especially, to help our Seniors to a 3rd place. As ever, there have been stars for Denson. But most of all, it was an incredible team effort.

And this was only one side of the competitions.

The Watson Trophy

So, I made vague promises to Mr Dallas to keep this report to about a thousand words, and I’ve already reached that limit with the other side of competitions still to go (and continue to eat into my word count as I type…). But when was the last time there was a year like this for our House? (2001, since you ask).

The Watson was the one. This was the one we were going to win this year (and aim for a top 3 in the Brodie), as this was the one we have missed out on winning by just a point or two for the last few years. And we hadn’t won it since 2001 – when Lord of the Rings was in the cinemas and Destiny’s Child in the charts, and the majority of the House weren’t even alive. And yet, by the half-way mark, we had surely missed our chance once more. Paterson had, again, comprehensively won House Art with an admirable display, and clinched House Music, too, in a tight run-off against Hampden. And then they came 2nd in Chess, where normally they can be relied upon to come about 5th. In March, I sat down with my head boys, Tanmay, Finn and Shafiea and we calculated that even if we came first in the three remaining Watson events, it was all relative to Paterson’s performance. In short, it wasn’t looking hopeful.

But here too, the crucial factor was that Denson had put in the graft in these earlier events as well. Our travel-themed Art display really showed off a wide variety of our talents to gain us a well-earned 3rd place. As ever, I enjoyed popping into the Art rooms to see the flurry of activity – including the final piece de resistance: a Denson-blue large scale model bi-plane, and paintcovered, eager art captains all getting involved. This was another excellent team effort, led by the charismatic duo of Finn Walsh and Sam Wright, with very able assistance from other year groups. Our lower year groups in particular should be commended for their efforts as well, some spending painstaking hours to produce a wide array of memorable pieces, from models to illustrations, films and paintings.

As ever, House Music was a phenomenal night, with the quality at the top as high as I have ever seen it. Hampden’s piece ‘Caravan’ remains the best single House Music piece I have yet seen. And I only half-joke when I say that Denson’s 3rd place was as though we had won; I think our reaction spoke as much, after years of having languished at bottom. All I can say is that the whole House did us proud, and I was especially pleased for our outgoing Year 13s, my old tutor group, who deserved this position. A big well done, therefore, to captain Tanmay Mahesh, Peter Mills, Xav Atkins, Marcus Lowe, Tom Wright, Ieuan Mulholland and Rutwik Mudholkar; as well as other main players, Rakin Gilani and break-out star Ethan Tran (D12) and singer Ben Harding (D10); all our other participants across ‘Just’, ‘As Time Goes By’, and ‘Take Me Out’ – including our 70-strong choir for the latter; and to our excellent comperes, Finn Walsh and Sam Wright once more.

And this night most of all will be enshrined in a memorial amber for me as the last performance of the aforementioned Charlie Dunne, after seven years’ sterling service in the name of Denson House Music. As ever, he was charismatic, ebullient and, just Charlie. He led ‘Take Me Out’ with his usual panache and style, and all I can say, after many attempts at articulating his loss to myself and others, is what a loss he is. But that I am happy the House could share this final happy House Music moment together in February at least. It was a night to remember.

Elsewhere in the Watson, House Chess produced our usual stellar result from our Seniors, with the likes of Richard Chappell and Callum Evans among the best in school. Lower down, it was indeed more tightly fought, but Denson held their own for a 4th place overall, and as ever it was great to see bright stars in our 7s, with Ben Cheetham and Freddie Hulett.

But our progress in the Watson all hinged on House Writing, an event we have never won in my time, even when I was the adjudicator. So it is to the eternal credit of the House, in particular our Year 12 editing team – Flynn Collins, Tom Aston and Sam Stembridge-King, that they produced just such a crucial result. Yet, it came as no complete surprise to me: they had worked tirelessly to gain a record number of submissions from the House, and with a wide array of styles and pieces of a dazzlingly high quality from across the year groups. The final magazine of nearly 40 pieces made me hugely proud of Denson, with standout pieces from the likes of Sam Wright, Edward Maher and Antoni Kocan, but with quality running throughout our blue-themed final edition. And yet still, Paterson’s third place maintained some clear water between us.

And so it came to the House Quiz, in which our Seniors and Inters (led by one-man-quiz-machine, Fitz StegerLewis) had already racked up some serious points for Denson; our Year 7s and Juniors especially sealed yet another trophy win for Denson, leaving us tantalisingly just a point behind Paterson in the overall Watson stakes. It would all come down to Junior Public Speaking. Our Seniors in this event had already more than done their bit in October – with strong finishes by Xav Atkins (D13) and Sam Stembridge-King (D12), together with a superb maiden speech and first-place finish for Ishaan Mukherji in Year 11, and Michael Adebiyi in Year 10, who sprinkled the occasion with his usual oratorical stardust and picked up best speaker in his section. But nonetheless, this was a fair amount of pressure and expectation for three lads in the lower years to shoulder. Tuesday, July 10th, therefore, remains a day of indelible pride for me, in a year chock-full of such sentiments. Isaac Sallé (7De), Dan Compton (8De) and Will Chapman (9De) held their nerve in one of the toughest fields of junior speaking I’ve seen, with highly engaging speeches on topics as challenging as hostile environments, the death of creativity, and gaming addiction. It was to prove a hat trick JPS win for Denson – and, most crucially, see us squeak past Paterson in the overall final Watson rankings. I’m not quite sure, still, how we did it – to my (admittedly wholly biased mind) it is one of the great recent comebacks, up there with Belgium vs Japan in the World Cup. Paterson remain formidable competition in the Watson and it took a concerted effort, both on an individual, but also wholeHouse, team level to achieve what is the first Denson Watson win in 17 years. Well done boys.

The stats and facts speak for themselves – eight event wins in total for Denson (five Brodie; three Watson – at least half of each side); our first Brodie win since 2005; first Watson win since 2001 (and first double win since then); and only the sixth double win at all since 2000.

How did this happen? I can never entirely be sure – though it was some alchemical mixture of team effort; excellent passion and leadership from our head boys, Tanmay, Finn and Shafiea; tremendous organisation and support from tutor group prefects, sixth form captains and tutors; a bit of luck at times; and an overall newfound self-belief and dynamism. Can it happen again? I believe it can. I believe in Denson. Next year will tell. In the meantime, well done Denson – and Ganbatte!

Mr A Streat

Hampden House Report

When you look purely at overall results and final positions, finishing 5th in the Watson (disappointing) and 4th in the Brodie (encouraging) could be viewed in a negative light, but the house system is so much more than just pure results and there were some amazing contributions made by members of Hampden House throughout the year.

The Watson Trophy

Public Speaking – 5th Place

A huge amount of hard work and a great deal of confidence is required in order to stand up and address not only a large number of your peers, but also a panel of judges and for that the efforts of Sam Knights (Ha13), Josh Horton (Ha12), Theo Nze (Ha11), David Dallas (Ha10), Seb Shah (Ha9), Tom KirkpatrickBrown (Ha8) and Will Annat (Ha7) have to be recognised. A 5th place finish in the seniors’ competition at the start of the year was followed up much later in the year by an impressive 3rd place finish by our juniors, who performed with great composure having been guided so well by Josh Horton, Matt Bird and Miss Holliday.

Art – 5th Place

Perhaps one of the more disappointing results of the year due to the amount of work put in by so many in terms of submitted pieces and overall organisation.

While there are a large number of boys who submitted work of a very high standard, it is the efforts of Dan Bedwell and Chris Owen (Ha13) which need to be acknowledged, as they oversaw the whole process with great enthusiasm. In hindsight, allowing our boys to flex their creative muscles away from the main theme for the year, would probably have resulted in a higher placing, which is something we need to consider next year.

Music – 2nd Place

In any other year, 2nd place in the showpiece that is House Music would have been an amazing achievement and to view such a fantastic evening in terms of final standing is perhaps wrong, but I don’t think our lads could have done much more on the day and they were simply incredible. To produce three musical pieces of such high quality and with great variations in style was extremely impressive and to not be rewarded with a win was perhaps a little harsh. A huge amount of praise and thanks is needed for a large number of Hampden students from all year groups, and it is not possible to acknowledge them all here, but the contributions from Tom Robertson, Dan Bedwell, Toby and Jack Insley, Corin Scott and Lester Ridout in particular need to be recognised, not only for their overall contributions but for their exceptional performance of ‘Caravan’, which will live long in the memory.

Chess – 6th Place

A huge thanks to all who represented the House and with more practice we will hopefully finish higher next year in order to maintain a challenge for the Watson trophy.

Writing – 4th Place

More pieces were submitted this year than in any previous year within living memory and the wonders of modern technology (Google Classroom) allowed us to see this very clearly. Ollie Mulcahy and his editing team did a fantastic job of putting together the magazine, while the likes of Philippe Pir in Hampden 8 really used House Writing as an opportunity to show their willingness to contribute to the house effort.

Quiz – 2nd Place

Once again, the house showed its intellectual strength with a fantastic 2nd place finish overall, in which all year groups performed with great consistency.

The Brodie Trophy

Cross Country – 1st Place

The season opener and an excellent start to our Brodie campaign thanks to our first individual trophy win in over a year! Wins for the year 7/8 and 9/10 teams, together with a 2nd place for the senior boys were as a result of some fantastic performances, most notably: Fionn

Clancy (Year 7) James O’Keefe and Alex Hodson (Year 8), Aryan Saxena (Year 9), Ted Gundry & James Phillips (Year 10), Harry Edmonds (Year 11), James Richardson & Matt Bird (Year 12) as well as Billy Jackson and Nathan Huntington (Year 13).

Basketball – 6th Place

While the overall placing was a disappointment, the senior boys’ performances were extremely impressive and they won their section thanks in particular to the efforts of Will Liggett, Kym Ibragimov, Jaden Adigun and Ollie Mulcahy.

Squash – 3rd Place

Continuing our improved performance in house squash over recent years, the overall 3rd place finish was pleasing and included an encouraging second place finish for the year 7 team.

Rugby – Joint 5th

After last year’s excellent 2nd place finish, it was perhaps a little disappointing to finish in joint 5th this year, but it should be noted that the normally excellent year 10 team was hampered by injuries while a few other year groups finished on the wrong end of some very tight and competitive fixtures.

Football/Futsal – 2nd Place

In an event we have really struggled in over recent years, to finish 2nd overall was a tremendous achievement and one that came about through good performances as well as good organisation by the boys. The year 10s and 11s performed extremely well to finish 2nd in their competitions, while the year 9s excelled themselves by winning their competition against some extremely strong opposition. The performances of Nathan McDonald, Ethan Loi, Max Cornish and Aaman Ahmed in this year 9 team were particularly impressive.

House Swimming – 1st Place

Having come so close to winning last year, to record a 2nd trophy win in this year’s Brodie was particularly satisfying, thanks to the quality of the teams put out and the performances produced by so many in the Hampden house swim team this year. Both the seniors and the Year 7s won their competitions and in total we had 23 finalists represent the house, which is an incredible achievement. Gabe Gullidge (Year 9), James Phillips and Ted Gundry (Year 10) as well as Douglas Birchall (Year 12) and Kym Ibragimov (Year 13) once again impressed, but it was the performances of the year 7 team that really took the eye, as Will Annat, Matthew Redhead, Sam Clark and Tom Clarke were amazing.

House Athletics – 5th Place

Notable this year not just because of the impressive performances from a number of boys in all age ranges (Fareed Gilani’s impressive win in the year 7 shot and Seb Shah’s battles in the 100m sprint were real highlights), this was the first year for a while the we as a house have not finished 6th in House Athletics…hopefully this is the start of an upward trend!

House Tennis – 6th Place

Despite the efforts to improve on last year’s 6th place finish in this event as well, we did not quite achieve this, although the performances from the three boys in year 7 (Jonty Woodward, Eliott Godley and Harry Woodus) gave enough hope to indicate that maybe next year might be different.

Review

Overall, it was a tremendously enjoyable and exciting year and we were able to celebrate a number of fantastic performances from Hampden students in both competitions. In reality, there are a few competitions that we are consistently underperforming in and to be more competitive, we must find a way of improving in these areas. I must thank the house’s fantastic senior boys leadership team, as Ollie Mulcahy (Head Boy of House), Sam Knights and Kym Ibragimov (Deputy Head Boys) were incredibly enthusiastic, motivated and well organised, as well as every student who represented the house throughout the year. A huge thank you as well to all Hampden house form tutors who do so much to help the boys and to the new Head Boys of House (Matt Bird, Jude Cornish & Alex Wall) who have impressed in the short time that they have been in their new roles.

Mr C McGill

Lee House Report

Until 2017, it had been 15 years since Lee House had last won the Brodie Trophy back in 2002.

I was left feeling elated and thinking of lines from The Lightening Seeds song ‘Three Lions’ at that juncture. Now 12 months later I am writing this report of Lee house’s year, on the morning after England have just lost their World Cup semi-final to Croatia, is that not a little poignant?

Unfortunately, a little like the Jules Rimet trophy the Brodie will not be coming home this year. However over the past academic year, Lee House has made a really valiant attempt to retain our place at the head of the AGS sporting table.

In the Brodie, the year once again started well with Lee House taking 2nd place overall in House cross country, I was again impressed with our level of organisation and with the students’ willingness to turn out to represent the house and the dogged determination which they showed during the races. We have some gifted athletes particularly in our Inter and Junior cohorts and this was evident in cross country and later in the year in House athletics. In cross country our year 9 and 10 teams both placed 1st and in athletics our seniors and year 8 teams both finished 2nd; enabling us to finish 3rd overall in athletics at the end of a busy summer term. It was particularly pleasing to see our year 13 students returning to dominate a few of the field events, in particular the javelin with Tristan Coe and Peter King and the discus with Will Smith throwing 31.57m in 1st place.

We have just had a truly horrendous year in the Watson trophy. House art which once was a genuine strength of Lee, proved like 12 months ago to be extremely disappointing with a 6th place finish. House music again, previously our forte, did not go according to plan despite the best effort of the music captains and our musicians. Like last year’s 5th place in this keenly contested and extremely well supported event, we actually fared even worse finishing in 6th. However, can I 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. Having spoken recently to Cameron MacDonald our new Head Boy of Lee, over the year ahead we must really focus on all of the Watson events, early preparation and high quality organisation are undoubtedly the key to success. After all we certainly have students who can write, draw, play chess and sing. Having taught Lee 7 this year we certainly have individuals who can talk! So Public Speaking, should in time be ours for the taking.

During the first term House rugby which is played by all students in years 7 and 8, alongside years 9 and 10, again proved to be highly competitive and extremely well

contested! It is pleasing to see so many students representing their houses on the rugby field. Once again Lee rugby proved to be free flowing and combative, finishing third overall; with Lee 9 following up their win last year as Lee 8 by winning their respective year group competition! This was a really promising start and once again Lee were performing well in the Brodie before Christmas. But unlike last year we were struggling a little in the year 7 age group and success in any of these junior events would be vital, if Lee were to retain the Brodie.

Other real success stories included our 1st place in the year 8 and year 9 basketball competitions, which enabled us to secure a great 2nd place finish in the overall competition.

House swimming, was yet again another great competition for Lee, with the house finishing 2nd overall. As last year, we once again proved to have genuine strength in a number of our year groups, with the Lee inters’ team placing 1st, our juniors joint 1st and our seniors taking 3rd. Lee House swimming is safe for a little while longer, with individuals like, Ed Birch and James Chennells moving to year 12 next year, Jack Edwards and Jai Horwood year 9 and once again Murray Wakeford leading a strong year 8 cohort. The real highlight, was the effort and commitment put in by our senior team led by Cameron Macdonald. Many of our team, unlike Cameron and the other more experienced junior swimmers I have mentioned are certainly not regular swimmers, but are willing to find their trunks and give 100% for the house. Lee contested nearly all of the individual finals and showed their true fighting spirit in the relays.

House Chess, saw our only area of success in the Watson and what a success! Lee took the top spot. 1st overall and 6 extremely valuable points secured. A massive well done to all our Lee chess gurus, masters in the dark arts of this most cerebral of pursuits. Let’s back this up with another win next year and we must hope our other Watson teams and competitors can follow your outstanding example.

The summer term ended with house athletics, junior football and tennis. Lee House were still in the running for the Brodie. However both Denson and Paterson houses were also vying for the title. Although our year 8 footballers took first place in their competition, the rest of our players could not back that up! So 3rd in athletics, 6th in football and 4th in house tennis ended our Brodie dreams, sadly we fell just a little short of repeating our success of a year ago.

The final Watson events unfortunately again proved extremely disappointing for Lee, =5th place in House writing, a horrendous 6th place in House quiz and a downbeat performance in public speaking; as last year even more food for thought and a tremendous amount of work for us to do as a house in this competition next year. Perhaps we can start composing our music, writing our speeches and formulating our entries for house art over the summer holidays? It is a thought, it might give us a slight head start in the Watson for 2018/2019.

So the year finishes, with Lee 2nd in The Brodie and 6th in The Watson, it shows Lee still has real ability in the sporting arena. However, next year Lee house must start using its brains as well as its brawn.

Can I take this final opportunity to thank our Head Boy of Lee, Peter King who really led by example and his two Deputies Oscar Brownhill and Sam Bhaskaran. Can I wish them every success for the future? Peter set an excellent example all year for our younger students, as well as playing school rugby throughout his time at AGS. Oscar and Sam will be undoubtedly missed for their efforts across a number of house events, alongside their undoubted talent as musicians.

Lee House, have a good summer the sun is certainly shining. Rest, recover and really prepare for BOTH the Watson and Brodie events next year; let battle begin between the six houses once again in September 2018.

Paterson House Report

Looking back, I have enjoyed every single year that I have spent at AGS, but none have been as rewarding or satisfying as this last one as Head Boy of House and I wish I could re-live

every single moment. Following on from a very successful year in which we won the revered ‘Triple Crown’, I knew it was going to have to be another big year for Paterson and I was not wrong. Fortunately, with both deputies, Tom and Luan, behind me every step of the way, each event was ours for the taking and I like to think that everyone believed we could replicate our former successes.

There is no denying it was hard work; sweat, tears and blood does not quite cover it. However, It’s been a momentous journey and I have thrived off the energy and enthusiasm of our House - thanks has to go to each member of all ages, I wanted to get to know you all and there’s no doubt in my mind that I’ve achieved that. You have done yourselves proud and all of our hard work has paid off. In terms of my personal highlights, House Art was the first time I’ve ever seen such a vast number of students come together to create something incredible and we were rewarded justly for the creativity of our pieces. House Music was perhaps the most stressful time of all this year but it is a night that I will never forget and that was only made possible by the talented people I have come to know and love within the House. Winning is great, there’s no doubting that, but in hindsight it isn’t the result that matters, it’s how we got there and the memories that makes - memories from this year that I, and I hope all of you, will cherish forever.

Thanks also, has to be given to my two deputies, Tom and Luan, for all the support they have offered me and all of the effort they have put into the House - I thought we would be a good team when we started, and I’m glad to say we’ve turned into a great one. Lastly, thanks has to go to Miss Chalk, someone I can now gladly call a great friend. The work she puts into her House is unmatched, she lives and breathes Paterson and I thank her eternally for making it all run like clockwork - thank you so much for everything this year and all the previous ones on behalf of myself and everyone else in Paterson.

Looking to the future then, I wish the new leaders, James M, James K and James W good luck - I hope you relish in the challenges you’ll face and bring the best out of the House. To Year 13, the class I’ve been with for 7 years now, it’s been a pleasure getting to know you all and I thank you for all the support you’ve given me and each other - I hope to see you all again in the future, good luck. To every other member of the House, you have made this year the best year of my life - you’re the best set of guys I could have wished for. If there’s anything I want you to take from this year, it’s that the most important thing, besides your exams, is that you enjoy every second you have at AGS because it’s over before you know it. Good luck for the future and always be proud to say you were a member of Paterson House.

Michael Witham - Pa13 (Head Boy of House 2017-2018)

The Brodie Trophy

After a few very successful years in the Brodie trophy, we were determined to make sure we stayed at the top.

The first event in the year is always House Cross Country. We have had fairly mixed results in this event over the years, but we secured an extremely pleasing joint 2nd place finish, which was an improvement on last year. Congratulations to Nick Cay (Pa8) and Thomas Young (Pa7) in finishing 1st and 6th respectively out of 48 runners in the Year 7/8 section, Will Ratcliffe (Pa9) and Sam Kearney (Pa9) finishing 3rd and 4th in the Year 9/10 section and Ben Lindars (Pa11) and Olly Cay (Pa11) finishing 3rd and 6th out of the 72 runners of the Year 11/12/13s section. A pleasing start to the Brodie. This was followed with what initially seems like a pleasing 2nd place finish in House Basketball, however it would be more accurate to say a joint 2nd place finish along with TWO other houses! A 4th place finish in House Rugby came after this. It was turning out to be a very unpredictable year for us.

We then moved onto House Squash where we were awarded a 2nd place finish. Well done to the Senior squash team of Harshi Gupta (Pa12), James Weller (Pa12), Krishna Chintamreddy (Pa12) and Simon Amaeshike (Pa12) for winning their section. I hoped that this was a sign of things to come in the Brodie. Unfortunately not. Despite our Inters and Junior teams winning their age ranges, and an inspirational assembly from our Head Boy of House demonstrating ‘how to swim and not be disqualified’, we still managed to finish in 6th place in House Swimming. There was only 0.5 points between the bottom 3 houses. Well done to Michael Witham (Pa13) who set a new school record in Senior Freestyle and to Billy Knibb (Pa7) for setting a new Year 7 Individual Medley record. At this point, it looked like the Brodie was quickly slipping away from us and we were making a return to the days of finishing in 6th place. After a few motivational speeches and some words of encouragement, we gathered our House Athletics teams and #TeamPaterson took to the field. The results were announced and for the 3rd year in a row, Paterson finished in 1st place (well, joint 1st place with Denson, but it is still 1st!). Congratulations to our Year 7, Year 9 and Inters teams who all won their age groups with the year 7,8,9 and Inters relay teams all finishing in 1st or 2nd place. Well done to our House Athletics Superstars of 2018, all of whom had exceptional finished in their events:

•Paterson 7 - Ryan Morrell, James

Baldwin, George Whall, Billy Knibb,

Richard Boima, Thomas Young

Nathaniel Arulanandam

•Paterson 8 - Sam Pyefinch, Nick Cay, Riaghan Matheson

•Paterson 9 - Sam Kearney, Sanjit

Mallya, Samuel Mitev, Evan Byles,

•Paterson 10 - Kit Fairhurst,

Gus Burnett, Albie Whittemore,

Ben Latham

Team of the year must go to Year 7 who not only had the highest points total out of any group in any House (76.5 points), but they won their section with a lead of 29 points over Phillips in 2nd place. Special mention also to the Inters’ team who had the second highest total overall with 60 points.

Just when we thought we were making our way back up the trophy ladder, and even with a 1st place finish from the Year 7 team, we were faced with an overall 6th place finish in House Football. This bought us to the final event of the year – House Tennis. Denson were already way out in front at the top of the Brodie and could not be caught, so we were facing our own battle whether we finish in the top three Houses in the Brodie, or the bottom three. On a very hot summer’s day, the players took to the court and secured a joint 2nd place finish in House Tennis, with the Senior team winning their section. Was this enough to undo the damage of previous events? Yes, it was. We finished in a comfortable 3rd place, which is in the top half of the table and considering how close some of the competitions have been and how inconsistent our performances had been, we had a really positive result. This will certainly give us some motivation to improve next year.

However, this was not our last sporting achievement of the year. After an exciting and well fought battle, Paterson House were crowned House Tug of War Champions at the school fete. There are no points attached to this, just pride!

The Watson Trophy

The first event in the Watson was Senior Public Speaking. Albie Whittemore (Pa10), Previn Chady (Pa11), Joey Horrox (Pa12), Charlie Sellar (Pa13) stepped up the challenge, delivering speeches on topics such as the Grenfell Tower fire and gender equality. The team finished in 4th place, a fairly solid start to a competition of two halves. In the summer term we had the Junior part of the competition. Jonny Buckthorpe (Pa7), Nick Cay (Pa8) and Ryan Sara (Pa9) gave passionate speeches on life, NASA and discoveries and finished in joint 3rd place, with Nick Cay (Pa8) being named as the Best Junior Speaker. All our speakers had worked very hard on their preparation, delivering informative and engaging speeches. When the points were added together, we finished overall in 4th place. 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.

One of our favourite events in Paterson House is House Art. The Senior captains, James Noble (Pa13), Michael Witham (Pa13), Luan Ross (Pa13), Tom Cay (Pa13), Max Hutt (Pa13), James Manley (Pa12) and James Wrigley (Pa12) led by Alroy Pereira (Pa13) decided on a theme inspired by ‘Alice in Wonderland’. A rather unusual display was created, featuring a smoke machine and some ambient lighting to create a slightly eerie feel to our creation. Work inspired by Cheshire cats, playing cards and the Mad Hatter were displayed, made from varying materials including paint, hula-hoops, matchsticks and papier-mâché. The Captains worked tirelessly to create a display worthy of the work it proudly exhibited, selected from over 150 entries that were submitted, and we were awarded 86 points and a 1st Place finish, with a 16 point lead over 2nd place Phillips. The level of talent within Paterson House was recognised with a total of 29 Certificates of Excellence being awarded in recognition of outstanding entries, surpassing last year’s total. Congratulations to Samuel Duodu (Pa7), Aqeel Saleem Zarook (Pa7), Ed Stubbs (Pa8), Previn Chady (Pa11), James Baldwin (Pa7), Dan Choudhury (Pa11), Bertie Heyes (Pa7), Ollie Main (Pa7), Daniel Poulton (Pa7), Charlie Lane (Pa11), George Birch (Pa8), Huned Mamajiwala (Pa9), Max Ward (Pa7), Nathaniel Arulanandam (Pa7), Sam Pyefinch (Pa8), Ashwin Paramanantham (Pa7), Billy Knibb (Pa7), Nick Cay (Pa8), James Manley (Pa12), Ben Curry (Pa7), Victor Poinaru (Pa8), Ryan Sara (Pa9), Jaytheep Raj (Pa9), Jonny Buckthorpe (Pa7), Sam Holcroft (Pa10), Ollie Cay (Pa11), Dylan Cleveland (Pa11), Samihan Joshi (Pa7), Miss Chalk (HOH). Thanks needs to go to Matt Smith (Pa13) and George Birch (Pa8) who both offered an exceptional level of support to the team throughout the competition.

The next event was for the highly coveted House Music trophy. The captains, Samuel Horrox (Pa13), Lewis Ball (Pa13) and Joey Horrox (Pa12) quickly made song selections and arranged their musicians. Being last to perform in the programme is always difficult, as the audience have usually decided on their favourite performance by then, so the last House needs to do something special. Our announcers Michael Witham (Pa13) and Charlie Leggett (Pa13) took to the stage to entertain the

packed Foundation Hall audience and introduce our songs. The first set of musicians performed a psychedelicrock piece ‘Solitude is Bliss’ by Tame Impala. Next, was the Latin rock inspired ‘She’s Not There’ by Santana. For me, this was a very special part of our set list. Throughout his school career, Samuel Horrox (Pa13) has always been a key member of the Paterson House music team on the drums. However, this year he stepped out onto the front of the stage taking lead vocals and guitar on this piece and gave a tremendous performance, which was wonderful to see. The final piece of the evening was Cab Calloways ‘Minnie The Moocher’. Our announcers had primed the audience to sing along with us, the exceptionally large Paterson House Choir were in place and Charlie Sellar (Pa13) gave us his own unique performance on lead vocals. It was a great way to end the evening. The results were announced and for the second year in a row, we had won House Music. The sheer delight shown on the faces of our House Music team is an image that will stay with me forever.

The next big event in the Watson was House Writing. The theme of ‘Blue’ was one that was not greatly received in the house; but nonetheless, everyone started to draw inspiration from a variety of places and produced work in a variety of writing styles. The magazine editors - Michael Witham (Pa13), Tom Cay (Pa13), Luan Ross (Pa13),Caelan Coney (Pa12), Jamie Fairhurst (Pa12), Jonah Donnelly (Pa12), Will Chalmers (Pa12) and James Wrigley (Pa12) worked through over 145 entries to create a magazine we could be proud of. We were a little disappointed with a 3rd place finish here, especially as we had wanted to win what we in Paterson House call the ‘Triple Crown’ of winning Art, Music and Writing – the mass participation events that make us work as a large team. Congratulations to James Weller (Pa12) who was awarded a Distinction for his entry and to Jonny Buckthorpe (Pa7), Nathan Curry (Pa9), Previn Chady (Pa11), Dylan Cleveland (Pa11), Charlie Sellar (Pa13), Tom Cay (Pa13) and Michael Witham (Pa13) for being awarded Merits. Well done also to James Manley (Pa12) who was selected as having produced the ‘Best Cover’ of the event.

And finally, that brings us to House Chess and House Quiz, events we have struggled to finish anywhere above 5th place in for years. However, this year we had a miraculous 2nd place finish in House Chess – our best finish since records began (well, since they went electronic in 2010 at least!) and in House Quiz we finished in 4th place with section wins for Year 7 Team A and Year 12/13 Team A. The results from these two events were potentially our greatest achievement this year. We ended up finishing in 2nd place in the Watson overall which we were extremely happy with.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Michael Witham (Head Boy of House) and Luan Ross and Tom Cay (Deputy Head Boys of House) for all the tireless work they have put into Paterson House this year. Michael said it earlier, but I witnessed the blood, sweat and tears they put in over that time, which demonstrated just how much they cared about their roles. For that, I am so grateful. They have been an absolute pleasure to work with, and have been truly inspirational to everyone in the House – they are certainly the reason we achieved success this year. I would also like to wish Year 13 all the very best of luck for the future as they leave us. They have been a fantastic year to get to know and I will miss them greatly as they leave us. My advice to you is to take every opportunity you can in life, don’t have any regrets and make the most of everyday. You will always be a member of #TeamPaterson.

I am so fortunate to have a fantastic group of tutors in Paterson House who genuinely care about their tutees, providing outstanding pastoral support to their tutor groups, so thank you tutors. We all really appreciate you.

I am always truly astounded by the level of dedication that all students in Paterson House put into making sure we can be as successful as we can. We remain a team, and I am exceptionally proud of every single member.

“If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.”—Henry Ford

Miss K Chalk

Phillips House Report

This year Phillips House has again faced tough challenges in all competitions and it is fair to say 2017/18 has been a real rollercoaster in the Brodie and

Watson. 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, James, Liam and Jeffrey. Thank you for your leadership and hard work in supporting Phillips House this year. I know that our new leadership team of Isaac, Tom and Michael will do a fantastic job. I also welcome on all our behalf, Ms Fabre who arrived in September and has been an excellent new tutor to Ph8.

Brodie Trophy

Again, we have struggled to match the glory of past times and by the end of the year sit 5th just above Ridley. That said, there have been some fantastic performances over the year. Cross country started off the year and overall a 4th place for Phillips was very good and much better than our last place in the previous year. Our senior runners did the best with a strong 3rd in their year group and from this reasonably strong start overall, the year looked to have some real promise for us in the sporting side of House competitions. Rugby proved to be extremely successful with 3nd place overall, supported by year group 2nds from Ph7, 8 and 9! I was massively proud of these achievements especially by our younger players.

Swimming is traditionally a strength in Phillips and although we came 4th there were excellent individual performances and a special mention goes to the inters’ team which broke the school record for medley relay, well done for that outstanding performance! As in previous years, Phillips was strong in basketball and with great results from the Inters who came 1st, Ph8 2nd and Seniors 3rd, there is no doubt that our overall 2nd place was well deserved and sets us up nicely for a victory next year. Having won last year it is clear that basketball is a great Phillips strength and I know many of our players train in the club before school. Hopefully next year we will once more earn the victory we deserve but well done to all the players from 2017/18.

Football has been a competition of ups and downs for Phillips this year. Stretching over the whole year and finishing at the PTA fete, the teams played hard and showed real determination in all their games. We came a disappointing 5th overall but the seniors excelled to come first in their year group and Ph11 an impressive 3rd. While generally, mid table has been the norm this year we have enormous potential for the future and good luck in the next season to all players.

In the flagship sporting day of the year, athletics has recently been a great success for Phillips House. Unfortunately despite brilliant effort from all competitors and some excellent individual performances that include Nathan of Ph12 1st in 100m, Harish of Ph9 1st in 300m, Ethan of Ph7 1st in both 800m and 1500m and 1st place for the Ph9 relay team. There were good 2nd places too from Daniel of Ph8 in both shot and

discuss as well as Zubair of Ph7 2nd in 200m and triple jump. These were outstanding achievements, especially from Ph7, who have laid excellent foundations for next year. Tennis is another Phillips strength and our excellent players came 2nd overall against tough opposition. Thank you to all of you and next year a win is within your grasp.

Watson trophy

This year the boys of Phillips once more showcased their creativity and musicality in the Watson Trophy. At times we have been tantalisingly close to stealing the top position but despite outstanding efforts all round, the prize has slipped our grasp in the last few months and we sit in a reasonable but not ideal 4th place.

Public speaking is always something we encourage in Phillips House and it manifests itself every week with the excellent assemblies taken by boys of all tutor groups. The Senior and Junior competitions straddle the year. In the Autumn term Abdullah, Max, Sam and Adam gave impressive and convincing speeches to score 4th, 3rd, 3rd and 1st respectively; well done to Adam for your outstanding speech. The Juniors were equally impressive. Aaron Ph7, Torin Ph8 and Humzah Ph9 all did extremely well to earn 2nd,5th and 2nd respectively. Their efforts earned Phillips an overall 2nd place in the most challenging individual competition.

Art was a great triumph this year. Where previously we have languished down the table, the artistic skills of Phillips shone through this year with a very good 2nd place overall. Well done to all who supplied pieces, many of which earned certificates of merit. My special thanks go to the boys who gave up lunchtimes to set up the display, you were all fantastic. Writing some excellent submissions and we were able to put in more than ever before. The editorial team was extremely well led by Adam and Nathan and our 5th place was not indicative of the quality of pieces. This was a great effort with real potential for next year.

In chess we again did respectably coming 3rd and were unlucky to get a 5th overall in the quiz. Music is a great highlight of the Watson and I am always blown away by the musical talent on display in Phillips. Despite outstanding talent on show we came a surprising 4th. Once more we felt we deserved better, but the other houses were also fantastic and next year we will aim for the top. Already, our senior boys are scouting for interest and musicians for the next competition so go for it Phillips.

Phillips House has continued to raise money for Malawi and is raking in a lot for our chosen charity Bloodwise, inspired by one of our own who is currently undergoing long term treatment. We wish him well as he

recovers.

I would like to thank the Junior Prefects, Prefects and Senior Prefects for all your organisational and leadership support this year. I also want to thank our head boys and of course tutors who are the glue that holds us together. Thank you and good luck in 2018/19.

Ridley House Report

It really has been a year of ups and downs in Ridley House. Let’s get the bad news out of

the way first! After flirting with the wooden spoon in the Brodie Trophy for the past couple of years, in 2017-18 we left our surge just a bit too late, meaning that sadly, this was the year that we came bottom. We undoubtedly finished the Summer Term strongly, but unfortunately we had left ourselves too much to do! Ridley did not win their first Brodie event – the House Tennis until the very last competition of the academic year. Our Seniors and Inters both came second, whilst the Junior team of Ben Perkin, Nick Beale, John McGregor and Tom Steal were victorious. I hoped that (as in the last two years) such a victory would drag us off bottom place in the Brodie, but unfortunately for us, our closest rivals, Phillips House came joint second in the overall House Tennis standings, meaning that we finished a mere 1 point behind (22 to their 23) in the final Brodie Results. The run in at the end of term also saw our Year 10s win House Football, whilst the Year 8s came joint first.

Apart from these sporting highlights, our sporting successes were few and far between. Mention must be made of our Intermediate Squash Team and the Ridley 7 Basketball Team who were both victorious. Ridley 9 were runners up in both the Basketball and Athletics events. Although we didn’t finish bottom in any single event (there were several joint fifth places) apart from the aforementioned House Tennis our only other credible showing was joint third place in the House Football. When viewed in these terms, despite the considerable efforts of so many in the House, our sixth place finish is perhaps not surprising.

Once again, the Watson Trophy, was a different story, although we never got close enough to really challenge either the winners Denson (on 29 points), or Paterson (27 points). Nevertheless, Ridley’s third place on 21 points was still a strong showing. Once again the House Music was a fantastic event and whilst we perhaps did not quite hit the musical heights of the two previous years, I was somewhat disappointed when we were adjudged in fifth place. This year we have said farewell to some fantastic musicians in Ridley 13 (George Wyatt, Tom Ramsbottom, Matt Proctor, Patrick Walters, Alex Walters, Nat Vincent, Patrick Harrington, Chris Harty and Martin Atkins to mention just a few) and they will be hard to replace. Our lowest finish was a fifth place in House Chess, although our Seniors reached the final. We were placed fourth in House Art and came third in the Quiz. A superb team editorial effort saw us come a commendable runners-up in the House Writing. A particular highlight of the year

was the Senior Public Speaking, which we won. Joe Harrington was the highest placed speaker in the Year 12 competition, whilst our other 3 speakers (Dylan Sellors, Dylan Holmes-Cowan and Ali Wasim) were all placed second in their year groups. When combined with the Junior competition, Ridley came second overall in the Public Speaking.

There were of course other notable achievements in another extremely busy academic year. One of these was winning the Good Citizens’ Trophy for Ridley House’s contribution towards the fundraising efforts at the PTA Fete, where we had more volunteers than any other House. This is just one example of the many members of Ridley House who are always willing to give up their time for a good cause or to help the House. I am of course extremely grateful for everyone’s contributions, whether assisting at the Fete, delivering assemblies, working with younger students in the House or volunteering within their tutor groups.

This year we have had a superb leadership team of Head Boy George Wyatt and Deputies Chris Atkinson and Tom Ramsbottom. I am very grateful for all their efforts driving the House forward. George is part of a unique double since his older brother Fred was Head Boy of Ridley two years previously. Mr and Mrs Wyatt have very kindly donated a magnificent trophy which will now be awarded termly to the member of the House who is adjudged to have contributed most to Ridley. The inaugural winner was Matt Proctor of Ridley 13 and he received the trophy from both Fred and George.

I must also thank our superb team of tutors (Mrs Harris, Mr Davey, Mr Pilkington, Dr Manley, Mr Roberts, Mr Suder-Chatterjee and Mrs Smith) for all they have done to support both me and all our students during the past year.

So what are our aims for 2018-19? To improve on our showings in both the Watson and Brodie competitions. It would be great to taste victory again next year. After all, Ridley are statistically the most successful House this century with 10 combined trophy wins (ahead of Phillips on 9).

Congratulations to everyone who has contributed to House life during the past year.