Cubitt-Newsletter-Michaelmas-2010

Cerebral Pursuits House Competitions We had three competitions this term – Junior Public Speaking, Senior Public Speaking and House Challenge – in each of which Cubittians acquitted themselves with considerable credit. In the Public Speaking Competitions, the Juniors, led by Angus McConnell-Wood, offered a most impressive and coherent presentation on why the pen is mightier than the sword. Particular credit goes to George Collecott, who won the award for the most impressive Chairman of the evening. Clearly, a reunion of Cubittians in twenty years time will not be short of comperes, for Charlie La Fosse won the same award for the Senior event, introducing a fine speech by Peter Westcott on why the neglect of the Classics is the greatest folly of our time.

Matt Foster and Paddy Fletcher also performed with genuine aplomb on these occasions and we were, I think, unlucky not to win either. The House Challenge team, comprising Euan Johnston, James Thompson, Angus McConnell-Wood and Fin Johnston performed to an exceptionally high standard, defeating a strong West team in the semi-final before going on to face the North machine, led by James’ encyclopaedia of a twin brother, Peter. A heroic effort saw the boys lose by only thirty points to a genuinely excellent North team.

Cubitt House Newsletter Michaelmas 2010 Housemaster’s Comments have been given to Callum Osbourne (4th Form), Alex Clarke (5th Form) and Jonny Atkins (6th form) – many congratulations to them all.

It only remains to record this term’s winners of the House Fellowship Awards, given to those boys who most exemplify the spirit of the house. This term, these were awarded to Jack Hall in the senior school and Rob Zorab in the junior school. Congratulations to them both and I hope that all Cubittians and their families enjoy a wonderful Christmas holiday.

GJNN

The last week of term was a fun, festive and fitting climax to what has been a terrific term in Cubitt. As always it encapsulates what is best about the House community showing off the great sense of camaraderie and the supportive, friendly atmosphere (particularly impressive given how tired they all are) but even the old scrooges amongst us had to admit that it had an even more festive and jovial feel than normal. Whether it was the snow and early onset of winter, the wonderful Carol services, Gordon Neill’s brilliant Festive Story at House Prayers (your sons will explain!) or the plethora of Christmas decorations in the corridors (perhaps a little over the top in some cases...) it made for a fine atmosphere and lifted the spirits when most needed.

Gordon Neill will describe the impressive exploits of the boys during the term and there were some good trophies, some memorable individual performances and lots of honest endeavour; however, the end of term (and House Prayers especially) is also a chance to take stock and sincerely thank the dedicated and tremendously loyal team of cleaners, tutors and matrons who do so much to support the boys and foster the great atmosphere – they also make my job considerably easier and more enjoyable! Collectively, their work is enormously appreciated; they are responsible for making the day-today life in Cubitt so remarkably good-natured, positive and purposeful

Academics and Awards Academically, this has been a pleasing and productive term, with the vast majority of Cubittians achieving effort and attainment grades of which they can be justifiably proud. The Upper Sixth, in general, have been purposeful and organised in terms of university application and it is really good, in this most competitive of cycles, to see so many of them already receiving really good offers.

Particular best wishes over the Christmas period go to our three Oxbridge applicants – Jonny Atkins (Land Economy at Pembroke College, Cambridge), Tom Batchelor (Chemistry at Pembroke College, Oxford) and Matt Pepper (Architecture at St John’s College, Cambridge) - who have all been invited to interview. This year’s academic prizes

One piece of important news to pass on is that we were delighted to hear a few weeks ago that Gordon Neill had been appointed Head of English at the school from September 2011 but the unfortunate consequence of this is that due to the level of responsibility and time needed to run such a large department, it won’t be feasible for Gordon to continue as Deputy HSM. This is sad for the House and means his daily involvement will be less but I am delighted to say that he will be remaining as a tutor in the House and that his very able replace-

ment will be Sam Cooke (Head of RS & CT, assistant chaplain and rugby / cricket coach). There will be various opportunities during the rest of the year to meet Sam and his wife Anne, who also teaches at the school, before they move in next summer and to also show our appreciation for the outstanding impact on Cubitt that Gordon has had as Deputy.

Finally, you will have collected some tired boys at the end of term but they fully deserve a restful and enjoyable break after some wonderful achievements.

Sadly, the nature of the exam conveyor belt system means that the top three year groups will need to plan and carry out some effective revision over the holidays but I hope you are all able to enjoy some wonderful family time together; I wish you all a very happy Christmas.

CHDB

Deputy Housemaster’s Comments Squash and Fives Clearly, there is something about the prospect of propelling a small, hard ball towards a sheer, drably coloured wall that brings out the best in Cubitt’s seniors. Others may shirk from such a challenge; they rise to it.

Whether their medium of choice be a squash racket or a gloved hand, the Cubitt boys proved indomitable this term, achieving two “Greenwashes” to bring a pair of always welcome trophies to the Cubitt cabinet. Our Juniors were not quite so successful, coming second in squash and third in fives but, overall, Jeremy Slynn and his troops did some fine work this term, always spurred on by a committed and vocal band of supportive Cubittians.

Cubitt juniors to victory, Barney scored more baskets in one competition – eleven – than the rest of the house combined, although it would be remiss of me to ignore Luke Chitty’s miraculous three pointer, albeit in a losing cause.

Rugby To quote CHDB in his introduction to this term’s newsletter, “honest endeavour” was the order of the day in the House rugby competition. There were moments of individual brilliance, certainly, but there was also a great deal of cheerful yet futile chasing of opponents as they scurried off into the distance. The Lights B XV were by some distance our most successful outfit, winning each of their qualifying games but coming up short in their final against North. It would, however, be worth acknowledging the fine performances of Charles Alston, George Farquharson and James Thompson, all three of whom were key contributors in what was a very successful 1st XV.

Cross-Country Cubitt has a long-standing tradition of excellence in cross-country running and the current fourth form demonstrated that this tradition is in splendidly safe hands. The Michaelmas term invariably sees the whole of the fourth form involved in a cross-year event and we were delighted to see Matt Foster and Conor McCormack lead Cubitt to a comfortable victory. Matt – as is evidenced from the acBasketball companying photograph – deserves special credit for winOur senior and intermediate basketball teams duti- ning the race in spite of losing his shoe at virtually the first fully adhered to the ancient Cubitt traditions when it came bend! to the sporting smorgasbord that is house basketball; they neither knew the rules nor scored many baskets. Watching the fourth form team, it initially appeared that they had quickly received their induction from their seniors. That was until, however, the ball appeared in the hands of one Barnaby O’Neill. Virtually single-handedly leading the

House Performance Evening One of the most eagerly anticipated evenings of the house calendar is the House Performance Evening, in which the fourth form perform a choreographed dance and the four senior years unite to arrange and then perform a part song. As reigning champions, there was considerable pressure on Patrick Cahill (part song) and Dan Wasswa and Paddy Fletcher (dance) to ensure that we delivered a competitive and impressive performance. The results were genuinely splendid, as both components were performed to an exceptionally high standard, enabling us to bring the trophy back to Cubitt for a second consecutive year. More important than the trophy, though, is the extraordinary bonding experience that this event facilitates; the celebrations will live long in the memory, for seniors and juniors alike.

Music We have not had much in the way of house-specific music this term but this newsletter does, nevertheless, offer an opportunity to offer congratulations to those members of the house who have performed to a high level in school based competition. The School Choir comprises a large number of Cubittians and they have treated us to a sequence of high calibre performances, culminating in a superb Advent Carol Service at the end of term. In major school competitions, Peter Westcott, a fine exponent on the French Horn, has qualified for the Senior Finals of the Helen Wareham competition; a highly impressive effort from a most able musician.

Drama The highlight of the term was the school production of “Hamlet”, superbly directed by the Head of Drama, James Copp. It was a production in which Cubittians were

abundant: Marc Sadler as a quietly scheming Guildenstern; Rory Savage as an emotive and convincing Marcellus; Patrick Cahill as a Ghost with genuine presence and power; Jonathan Oldfield as Horatio combining stoic calm with the vulnerability of an affected friend. The tour de force, however, was a performance by Tommy Lyster which was genuinely extraordinary. For a lower sixth former to be able to capture the simmering resentment, the capricious eccentricity and the intellectual range of this most demanding of roles speaks volumes for Tommy’s exceptional abilities as an actor and I felt privileged to be amongst the audience that night.