Bablake School newsletter
Girls’ Sport
December 2003
Music Activities Autumn Concert
The U18 Hockey squad reached the final round of the Warwickshire Hockey
A good and enthusiastic audience turned up to hear the
Tournament before half term. They had a superb game against Rugby School
Bablake musicians. The orchestra was in particularly good
and won 2-1, followed by a goalless draw against Twycross House and Rugby.
form with three pieces from different parts of Europe, the
This secured second place in the tournament and gave Bablake a place in the
Hungarian flavour of the Intermezzo from Kodaly’s ‘Hary
Midlands Finals. The Midlands finals were held on the last Sunday of the two
Janos’, which gave opportunities for solos from clarinettist
Bablake
Hockey
week half term break, so three training sessions were organised during this
Jeremy Bufton, Rachel Taggart on horn and Chloe
time. The girls’ commitment and work rate were excellent. They performed
Whittle on flute, the Spanish lilt in Turina’s ‘Clowns’ and
very well against all five teams in their section, but struggled to finish off their
the Norwegian bustle in Grieg’s ‘March of the Dwarves’.
chances with goals. They lost to Wrekin 1-0, Bedford High and Trent 2-0, and drew 0-0 with Newcastle-under-Lyme and 1-1 with Worksop.
The Jazz band played the traditional ‘When the Saints’
with a great improvised solo from Gemma Brown, and an intriguing version of Bach’s ‘Toccata and Fugue’. The
The U16 Warwickshire indoor competition was rather exciting and the girls
choirs were also on good form despite numbers reduced
were determined to qualify for the next round of this National competition
by illness. The chorale sang three Hungarian Folk songs by
after just missing out in the outdoor competition. They successfully came
Matyas Seiber accompanied by second former Michelle
through their section and met Princethorpe in the final. Bablake went up 1-0,
Jie. The Chamber Choir sang Psalm 23 by Howard
and then conceded a goal. The same happened again, but a splendid goal by
Goodall, better known as the theme tune to ‘The Vicar of
Jenna Thompson sealed a 3-2 victory, to take Bablake through to the zone
Dibley’, the Banquet Fugue by Rutter and the Drinking
county round of the Midlands. Here they met very strong competition from
Song from ‘The Liverpool Oratorio’ by Paul McCartney. We
other county winners but sealed their place in the Midlands round with an
then had had our fill of food and drink. The Bablake Choir
emphatic victory over Bromsgrove School 4-1, this after being 1-0 down. Two
finished the evening off with two opera classics, the
goals each from Sarah Mills and Stacie McDermott capped an outstanding
‘Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves‘ from Verdi’s ‘Nabucco’ sung
team performance. The next round takes place in early January in Birmingham.
in Italian and the ‘Habenera’ from Bizet’s ‘Carmen’ sung in
The U14 Warwickshire tournament was also an exciting competition. Bablake were undefeated and conceded no goals. They beat Stratford Grammar and Kineton 1-0 and drew their other two matches against King Henry VIII and
French with Sarah Potter as the capricious soloist complete with fan and flower.
Sarah also featured earlier in a recorder duet with Naomi
King’s High 0-0. However on goal difference Bablake just missed out reaching
Brown. Sean Clothier in his own inimitable way sang and
the final to King’s High.
played on the piano a song by Ben Folds Five called ’Philosophy‘. The instrumental soloists were Jessica
Loughborough Festival
Ramus, with a spirited performance of Bartok’s Romanian Dances for violin, Chris Parker with a fluent rendering of
This was an appalling day in terms of the weather but three teams, U12 & U13
Teleman’s Viola Concerto and sensitive flute-playing by
netball and U15 hockey travelled to Loughborough. The hockey team missed
Chloe Whittle in three movements from Rutter’s ‘Suite
out on reaching the semi-finals by just one goal. A little disappointing as they
Antique’.
had beaten the overall winners in their section. The U13 netball team won their section comfortably then played King’s High in their semi-final and lost 7-10. The U12 team went one better and came runners up in the competition after losing to King’s High by just one goal 4-5. It had been a wet and cold day but the girls (and some staff) were more interested in the Rugby World Cup Final than their own sport. They were over the moon when England won – weren’t we all! Netball The U16 and U14 teams played in the Coventry Schools’ tournaments. Both A and B teams in each age group emerged as winners. The A teams went forward to represent the city in the Greater Warwickshire finals. In this event the U16s were again victorious and the U14s were runners-up. This means that both teams go forward to represent the area in the West Midlands finals to be held in January.
The music department also provided singers for the
Christmas Fayre and an evening organised by Guy Salmon Jaguar in December.
Young Writers
Congratulations go to the following Bablake pupils who have gained regional prizes for their poems which were published in Zodiac West Midlands Volume 1.
First prize for the region; Saba Ghadimzadeh who wins a cheque for £20. Runners Up: Melissa Walton, Thomas Bend and Luke Stefaniak who all receive book tokens.