Eagle House

Houses

Some of our Eagle boys (including 1st XI captain, Danny Chapman) get to meet Sir Alastair Cook (OB)

EAGLE HOUSE

REPORT WORDS BY Mr Simon Lincoln, Eagle Housemaster

This year has brought so many challenges for everyone and in Eagle House we have had to face them together. The positivity and resilience the boys and staff have shown in such an unsettling year has been amazing. To have nearly all the boys return in September was an incredible effort especially for anyone overseas and that allowed us to build a really strong community quickly even with new rules and regulations for boarding in place.

The Year 8 boys led from the front immediately and have been outstanding all year at setting such high standards and helping others in the House. Ariyan Flora and Ben Rioch have been an amazing team as joint Heads of House and have really made an extra effort to look after individuals whilst also running events for the whole of Eagle House. Congratulations to Ariyan Flora, Ben Rioch, Henry Whitfield, Charlie Collard, Misha Savitski, Harry Wood-Rubio, Joell Creek and Danny Chapman on receiving House Colours. Also to Marcus Pateman-Hall for being the proud winner of the Boarder of the Year Award for consistently outstanding contributions to boarding.

Sadly, this year we are forced to say a few goodbyes and thank yous. Firstly, to our thirteen Y8s as they move on up to the Upper School. Good luck to them in their new adventures; well done and thank you to all. Mrs Relton continues with her weekly Matron duties but will no longer be visiting us on a Sunday to look after the boys. We are very grateful for all the fun and support she has provided, and we hope she enjoyed the baking, walks and various trips as much as the boys.

Thank you, but not full goodbye, to Mr Brett on his five fantastic years of service to Eagle House. He stays on in school in his teaching role. The boys and staff have really benefited from his youthful enthusiasm and commitment to making sure all in his care are happy and enjoying boarding life.

Best wishes to Mrs Travis as she retires to her home in Wales for a well-deserved rest and time with her family. The last six years she has given as Assistant Housemaster in supporting the running of Eagle House have been outstanding. Her desire to always do the best for the boys means she will be sorely missed. She was incredible covering the Housemaster role last Summer Term and her endless energy ensured the boys were in fine hands.

Sadly, we were not able to enjoy the same number of activities this year but as lock down has eased we have enjoyed Zorb football, the aqua inflatables at Box End, escape room, boarders’ games with the Upper School and an end of year BBQ to celebrate what has been a superb year despite all the disruption. We look forward to many more adventures and new opportunities next year with regular weekend trips and the return of the Summer residential trip to Derbyshire.

Congratulations to our prize winners this year. It is always a pleasure to see boys getting recognised for their achievements and again we have boys from Eagle House celebrating and making all the staff proud. Congratulations to Henry Whitfield and Danny Chapman for their Sports Captain awards. This is a first for Eagle House to have two major sports captains in the same year. Congratulations also go to Ben Rioch and Ariyan Flora for earning the Eagle Award, Nigel Ng for the EAL Award, Ben Rioch again for All Round Academic Excellence and Misha Savitski for All Round Academic Progress.

Moving forwards, and as a result of the above mentioned staff departures, I am delighted to welcome Mr Lee to Eagle House as he takes over as Assistant Housemaster. We are very excited to welcome Mr Lee to the Eagle family. He has already helped in the house in the Summer, so we know he is going to be a fantastic addition to the team. Mr Dennis will also join us once a week for a duty. He has a wealth of boarding experience. He was brought up in a boarding house in which his parents were houseparents, and he boarded himself in The Leys School, in Cambridge. Finally, we are all looking forward to welcoming 15 new pupils to Eagle House in September and are ready to give them, along with our current boarders, the full and exciting year that boarding provides.

2020 2021