West-Newsletter-Lent-2011

BATH CUP SUCCESS FOR GIRLS IN WEST The Bath Cup National Relay Championships is an event many swimmers at Cranleigh look forward to. This year the Girls’ team consisted of mainly West House girls: Sophie Kinally (Captain), Freddie Dicks, Ellie, Connor and Maddy Austin. With the girls competing against 40 other teams it was certainly a tough challenge. Their first race of the day was the 4 x 50m freestyle relay race; despite competing against a number of experienced older teams, the girls were placed fourth , putting them comfortably in the finals. Their determination to be the first Cranleigh Girls’ Team to secure medals resulted in them narrowly missing first place and collecting Silver medals for their achievements. The girls also swam in the medley relay heats and secured the sixth fastest time .For such a young team, this really bodes well for next year! Well done!

From within...

Junior girls please leave your MAKE-UP at home! There are a few girls simply trying to push this rule too far and too often. We will continue to follow them around with the make-up wipes and the nail polish remover (!) but we have never known so many of them wearing make-up to the extent that some of them are trying to. It is a sensible rule for good reasons...

Junior girls again...SKIRTS!! Some of them look dreadful: they are either outgrown or split or both. Please, please, please replace outgrown, paint-covered, scruffy skirts. The L5th are the worst! Please ensure a plentiful supply of BLUE tights as well: the 40 denier ones from M&S are the best buy and with careful management last the year!

Sorry to moan but some girls need to be encouraged to take more pride in their appearance.

*****20 MILE SPONSORED WALK***** Cranleigh School are hoping to repeat the successful 20-mile sponsored walk that took place in 2007.

This year the walk takes place on Sunday 1st May to raise money for the Beyond Cranleigh Zambia building project. Please put this date in your diaries as it will be a highly enjoyable day for all parents, students and staff. Each of the Houses at Cranleigh, as well as the Common Room and the Prep School, is hoping to raise £4-5k for the project. If everyone takes part, £50 per community member should get us the target of £35k. More details of the day can be found on the Cranleigh School Website.

End of Term Awards: Academic Excellence: Georgie Beamish (L5th); Hebe Westcott (U5th); Alex McWhirter (U6th) Effort & Progress: Poppy Heaver and Jen Vincent (4th form); Briony Pearson (L5th); Sophie Jones and Livvy Farrer (U5th); Indi Thompson (L6th); Anna Rickenberg (U6th) House Half Colours: Harriet Blurton; Alex Adams; Rosie Barton; Matilda Martin (L5th) House Colours: Sophie Shearer (U6th); Lauren Chitty (L6th) Special Awards to: Lottie Grafton and Emma Wallis for their work behind the scenes in so many areas.

Zoe Jackson as the most improved junior boarder.

Millie McKee as the most transformed junior boarder.

Sophie Shearer for her outstanding contribution in so many areas but done in such a quiet unassuming manner.

Commendations to junior girls for one or more of their reports this term went to: 4th Form: Ellen Dixon; Ellie Smith; Chloe Nichols; Erin McCombe; Jen Vincent L5th Form: Georgie Beamish; Cathy Hobbs; Hannah Walllis; Briony Pearson; Tilda Martin; Alex Adams; Georgie Pask; Issi Rennocks U5th Form: Hebe Westcott, Harriet Cowcher, Ellie Connor, Maddy Austin, Abi Camsey, Livvy Farrer, Amy Sansom, Katie Seymour, Sophie Jones, Imogen Thomas

West House News

March 2011

West House Cook Up A Storm.

Once again for West the objective of the day was good-natured gluttony. We very much succeeded. It is dedication to come in to school on a Sunday morning, but perhaps gallons of melted chocolate and innumerable decorations were a persuasive element. The concept of the West cookathon is very simple, it is a real marathon of baking, from 7am until 7pm, yet the beauty of it is the enthusiastic contributions of those who took part (fuelled if partly by sugar). Special mention must go to Ellie Smith and Sophia Ambrose for dedicating themselves to the full 12 hour shift and for their spectacular flour fight, in which I was sadly very much involved. We also had the expert company of all West tutors, particularly Dr. Kemp who turned up at 7:30am: their guidance and good-humour was very much appreciated. It was a swiftly-paced project, beginning at 12 dozen cakes in 45 minutes and by the end any flat surface in West was laden with dainties of a singularly pink hue.

During Monday break, Gatleys was crowded with hundreds of hungry students and teachers and needless to say, the cakes sold themselves. People were generous in both the quantity of cakes they bought and the extra donation they made, all of which will be going towards Tildy’s Trust and EnKi. The amount raised so far totals in at an admirable £350 and massive thanks needs to go to both Miss Mallory, without whose arduous planning and hard work the cookathon would never happen, and to all the members of West who contributed in whichever way they could with enthusiasm and cheerfulness. We certainly seemed to have cooked up a bit of a storm! (Alex Newman)

Good Luck to our Paddlers Georgia Watson and Lizzie Wait

Frankie Denney and Tessa Farrington

HOUSE DEBATING After reaching the final last year, West were given a bye into the semi finals of this year’s competition. This meant they faced a tough challenge competing against South who were fresh from their victory over Loveday, without the confidence boost of having won yet themselves. The team were really grateful to Maddy Austin and Chloe Nicholls, who helped them to prepare. The West team was made up of Sophie Shearer (first speaker), Ellen Dixon (second speaker), Hannah Wallis (summary speaker) and Alex Newman (additional sixth form helper). The minutes before the motion was announced were tense, and then Mr Hardee revealed that the argument would be on the topic “This House would give prisoners the right to vote”, with West proposing.

On their return after fifteen minutes preparation, Sophie opened the speeches, arguing in relation to issues of human rights and democracy. It was impressive that West team cut through superficial issues down to the very heart of the questions raised by the motion. Sophie spoke with clarity and confidence. After South’s speech, Ellen then extended the argument for West. It is always particularly hard to stand up as a fourth former to speak in this context. Ellen coped extremely well, especially in dealing clearly and effectively with a point of information. Following South’s second speech the floor debate took place, with many West girls eager to contribute thoughtful points. Tessa Farrington was later awarded the prize for the best contribution from the floor for her point about the criminal activities of the suffragettes. Finally then, both houses had a chance to sum up, with Hannah Wallis doing so for West. She made insightful points of rebuttal, showing once again her ability to think quickly and clearly. The judges then left to come to a decision, and returned only after a long discussion, and with a two to one split still in their votes, reflecting what a close contest they felt it had been. West were disappointed not to be the winners, but reflecting on their performance there was a great deal to be proud of, and plenty of enthusiasm for future competitions. APLC

Success at the National Schools Riding Championships

All four girls will be tackling the 125 mile Devizes to Westminster Canoe Race over the Easter weekend, supported by their families who have to ‘follow’ the route by car and meet up with them at strategic moments to quite literally put food in their mouths. This is the only help the paddlers are allowed and when they reach their camp site each evening no help is allowed in pitching tents or preparing meals. We wish them the best of luck in this mammoth challenge. They will arrive at Westminster Bridge at 9.30am on Easter Monday.

A further sum in the region of £500 has been raised for Tildy’s Trust and ENKI as a result of the Loveday/West walk and the sale of the charity T-shirts.

Many thanks to all those who took part.

Some T-Shirts still to pay for and collect next term.

Well done to Grace Devlin (co-organiser) and all those who took part in the end of term Fashion Show (not forgetting Ali Dicks of course!)

It was a fantastic event and raised yet more for some very lucky charities.

Well done to Hebe Westcott and Izzie Simpkin, both of whom won places in the final of the Helen Wareham Piano Competition next term. Good luck to both of them.

Congratulations to Cathy Hobbs who won the Junior Woodwind Competition.

It was mid-January when Cranleigh’s well established riding squad set off for Addington, Buckinghamshire, for the National Schools Riding Championships 2011. Cranleigh had successfully managed to qualify a team for all three disciplines: Show Jumping, Indoor Eventing and Dressage. All teams consisted of four Cranleigh pupils; their three best scores for each event would contribute towards their overall score, but with some very competitive opposition it was definitely not going to be easy! Overall, it was a fantastic achievement for everybody taking part, not only for the competitors who were successfully placed in their respective heights and classes, but to a lot of the younger riders who were faced with the biggest challenge they had ever faced before.

Once again it was WEST House which had the vast majority of riders. Two West Girls, Imogen Way and Lizzie Wait became National Schools Open Show Jumping champions! Cranleigh School was also placed 3rd for the Intermediate Show Jumping, which included Indi Thompson from West House. However, one discipline was not enough for Cranleigh to dominate and consequently we won 4th, 6th and 9th places for Eventing with Issi Rennocks, Alex Adams, Briony Pearson, Erin McCombe and Lise Taunton-Fenton all taking part. Mads Iafrate flew the flag in the dressage championship. It goes without saying that the hard work, commitment and additional training paid off, but it couldn’t have happened as efficiently without Mrs Allison and her team of staff at the stables!

Lizzie Wait

House Cross Country !

Monday 7th March was yet another sporting occasion where West House lived up to their athletic potential. The House Cross Country is a busy and fun event where the whole school are present to chant and support their respective Houses and to encourage those fortunate participants who have the opportunity to represent and run! An event which has always seen West girls’ potential flourish only progressed further this time round!

Overall, the senior girls won their race with six West girls including Lizzie Wait, Frankie Denney and Mara Waters coming in the top seven. Unfortunately, due to other commitments, we were short of a few regular runners for the junior team. As a result we narrowly lost to South. The House spirit and all those supporting, provided motivational words of encouragement to all the girls taking part, cheering them on at the tops of their voices from start to finish. ODM

House Netball As ever, the House netball provided the opportunity for West to show off their sporting talents. Many girls took part in the matches, including some sixth formers who hadn’t played all term. Nevertheless we dominated the courts. It is clear West has quite a bit of netball talent in the 4th form with us winning all the matches. The lower fifth form also won their competition as well as the 6th formers who played for the first team and the U16 B team. We do hope that Imi Thomas has recovered from her unfortunate (and painful) injury that meant the U16A game had to be abandoned. Well done to all girls who took part. ODM