Cubitt Newsletter Michaelmas 2012
Drama & Academic Competitions House Play: G. Collecott No one can doubt that one of the highlights of this term was the hilariously funny Cubitt house play, expertly directed by Mr Clarke and Mrs Neill who managed to put together the collection of diverse comedic sketches in only 6 weeks. The play included key ensemble performances from promising members of the lower school in the three incredibly entertaining main slapstick sketches from Round the Horne, filled to the brim with witty jokes, complemented by four smaller, but equally as comic, sketches from Monty Python and the Two Ronnies. There were great performances all round, however the two standout performances came from Alex Clarke; leading from the front in his brilliant rendition of Rowan Atkinson’s Schoolmaster, also in his role as the quizmaster in an absurd version of Mastermind, and his prominent role in the Moby Duck. The stunning performance of Angus McConnell-Wood dominated the stage in his leading roles in Stalag Limpwrist, Rome, and Monty Python’s Four Yorkshiremen. Angus also spent hours organisation the practical running of the play; from props, costumes and rehearsals and he rightly deserves our thanks and commendation. Aside from the acting performances, many thanks has to go to Theo Bowden, Noah Frett, and Mark Jenkins for the technical aspects of the play, and also to Guy Trevellyan, Luke Halls and Theo Golden for their enticing interval music. To finish congratulations to everyone involved, who all contributed to a great fun production.
House Challenge ; A. Clarke For the second year in a row, the Cubitt House Challenge Team was again spited by academic technicalities. Enjoying the fruits of last year’s success, automatically qualifying for the semi finals, Cubitt first faced a North team of known subject specialists. Seizing the opportunity to blood some of next year’s stars, the team consisted of the erudite Tom Stileman, the ever scholarly Fin Johnston, the cultured Cameron Scheijde, and the academic Ali Johnston. Brushing North aside, undoubtedly overconfident from their preceding victory, Cubitt returned to its proper place in the House Challenge final. Confronting our longstanding opponents Loveday, this was never going to be an easy fixture. Relying on some of the House’s more experienced competitors, the bookish Angus McConnell-Wood replacing Stileman, and the maverick Seb Leman replacing Scheijde, it seemed like nothing could stand in Cubitt’s way. Throughout the half hour match, the lead repeatedly switched between the two sides. Despite difficulties with buzzers, Cubitt, at the end, seemed victorious, ahead 290 - 280. Alas, this was not to be, for an unsporting appeal by the Loveday team, claiming that ‘the Democratic Republic of Congo’ was a historically correct answer instead of ‘Zaire’, saw the rare occurrence of extra time, last experienced in 1987. It was here that the sustained efforts of the team took its toll, and the competition, after a five minute sequence of difficult questions, ended with Loveday the undeserving victors. Mobutu would have been turning in his grave.
House masters comments
Public Speaking: Alex Clarke
The Michaelmas Term is one which largely sees the sports fields go vacant and the academic arena frequented. Considering the cold weather, and absence of in-house heating, the chance to migrate to the centrally heated lecture theatres of the school for the annual House Public Speaking Competition was one relished by all Cubittians. Starting the oratory proceedings was the junior competition. On the subject of ‘why aliens exist’, upon looking at the team, one could be forgiven for pre-empting Ali Johnston’s conclusion. Flanked by the melodious Theo Golden as chair, and the spritely Toby Chesser as the vote of thanks, the team cruised to an inevitable victory. With the other teams lying broken and battered, Theo, to further illustrate the team’s supremacy, deservedly took the individual award for best chairperson. Based upon an argument of logic and deduction, derived from statistics, this was a collective presentation which rivalled those of Cicero. This provided a supplementary boost to the senior team, with the talismanic Angus McConnell-Wood speaking on ‘why the defence and arms budgets should be increased’. Enjoying support from the ever-mellifluous and verbose Charlie La Fosse as chair, as well as the maverick and audienceinvolving Matt Foster as the vote of thanks, triumph was again assured. Despite (contentiously) not receiving any of the individual rewards, the judges likely trying to provide some comfort to Cubitt’s awe-struck competitors, the dominance displayed was plain for all to see. With the trophy cabinet now filled ever slightly more by these memorable performances, the behemoth that is the Cubitt intelligentsia marches on towards probable victory in House Debating next term.
The new 4th form and, a record, four new Lower Sixth formers arrived on the Cubitt doorstep in September and it has been wonderful to see how quickly they have settled into the community and felt at home. This is largely due to the friendly, open and fun feel there is about the house; from top to bottom the year groups are mixing really well and Henry Crinage as House Captain has led his prefect team impressively, setting the tone from the top. I should add that we have also had one of our most successful terms in terms of competition victories and whilst it is the taking part that is most important, we do also like to have a full trophy cabinet! The House Sketch Show was a memorable highlight and seeing 24 boys and girls performing so confidently and entertainingly was tremendous; special thanks must go to Mr Ed Clarke and Mrs Clair Neill, our brilliant co-directors, and also to Angus McConnell-Wood for his leadership. Lastly, I would like to thank the tutor team and our wonderful matrons who all bring so much fun and vitality to the place, as well as a genuine pastoral care for the boys. I hope everyone enjoys a fabulous Christmas and sadly of course the three top year groups will need to have more than one eye on exams at the start of next term.
Fourth Form Team Building: Toby Chesser It was the first Sunday of term and the school was certainly not deserted. The entire Fourth Form was in, preparing themselves for a day of team building. After the groups were chosen, we started the activities. These included; building a bridge across an imaginary river, uni-hockey, memory games and mind games. During these activities, massive camaraderie was shown, as team spirit grew and competitions were played in a competitive, but sporting manner. The day finished with doughnuts and a tug-o-war competition. This was high standard, but was won by the best team in the end. Prizes were awarded to the best teams, and everyone went back to house. The day was a brilliant success, and taught many of us the fundamentals of working as a team.
Part Song: Ben Castle-Gibb
IVth Form Dance : J. Gall This year, Luke Chitty and Gabs Hill were given the task to choreograph the IV form dance. The song was ‘Yeah’ by Usher, which meant Cubitt were the only house to have chosen one song rather than a mashup. Although the top two places didn’t quite fall into our hands, the group gave marvellous performances on the night, and only lost out due to the sheer quality of the other dances on show. Many thanks, firstly, have to go to the IV form that gave up a substantial amount of their time to practice, and also to Theo Bowden for helping to edit the song. However, special thanks must go to Luke and Gabs for their unquestionable effort throughout, words cannot really describe the hard work that the two put in over the course of the first half of term.
The Cubitt part song was put together by the skilled duo of Alex Foster and Charlie La Fosse, who chose to do a mash up of the songs ‘Hometown Glory’ by Adele, ‘Oh My God’ by Usher and ‘Swim Good’ by Frank Ocean. As Cubitt is generally a very musically gifted house, there was a large turnout to the rehearsals. Unfortunately for us we had to cut the numbers down to just twenty boys and twenty girls. So Charlie and Alex assembled the house’s elite singers and the intense rehearsal process began. On the night of the performance those members of the house who didn’t make the ‘cut’ gave their full support. With Weston Lord, Theo Golden, Ben Castle – Gibb and Alex Foster making an appearance as soloists. We performed with great soul and passion but unfortunately we only came third. It became apparent when talking to other houses that they too thought we were hard done by. We felt that we had been robbed.
House Squash : A. Foster
lived up to his reputation, annihilating the field with a blistering time, nearing the school record. There were lots of other strong performances, including a valiant effort from James Halls before he had to pull out due to an unfortunate injury just a hundred metres from the end. James Vickery, Will Gumpel and Matt Forster also put in impressive runs. Overall, despite the fact that we didn’t win, it was a good all round performance, with every member of the Cubitt IVth form giving it their all.
Sports Reports House Fives: M. McGibbon Cubitt has a fine tradition in the fives tournament, claiming first or second place for the last four years. This year the team contained Cubitt’s finest. In the first round, the 1st pair was Rob Zorab and Will Slynn, the 2nd pair was Max McGibbon and Fin Johnston, and the 3rd pair consisted of Matt Foster and Alex Foster. We met Loveday in the first round. We were feeling confident, as Loveday had WNB Trophy: Charlie LaFosse never posed us a problem in the fives before. This confidence was Saturday the 3rd of November signified the Gower Club match, not without good grounds, and we swept them aside 3-0. and the Official Opening of Bluetts, however little did the huddled masses suspect that history would be made beforehand, in the form In the Final, we met East. This was the grudge match. The final of of the inaugural WNB Touch Rugby competition. Safe to say, Cuthe senior fives for the last 4 years has been a Cubitt vs. East. The bitt entered as a pack of underdogs, lead by veteran staff members lineup changed slightly owing to injury, With Luke Chitty stepping BWB and STC. The tournament was a knockout format from the in for Rob Zorab. After a fierce 45 minutes of competition, the score outset, and with no previous practice, the men took to the field to do was 1-1, with Max McGibbon and Fin Johnston playing the final battle with North. After curbing offside disciplinary problems, brain match for fives supremacy. The crowd was chanting and singing as soon prevailed over the opposition’s brawn, with strong, graceful match point fell to Cubitt. It was not wasted. With a final shot into leadership from 6th formers Rob Zorab, Charlie La Fosse, Seb Hadthe corner from Max, East were vanquished, and the senior fives dock and Karthik Suresh. Sam Lubbock and Jake Storey thundered trophy fell into Cubitt hands once more. down their respective wings, whilst Charlie Firth and Dan Chitty provided continuity via their love of quick ball. Junior Fives : J. Pudge We started against North, with a strong team with new Fourth Form Cubittian’s stepping up to the challenge. Special mention goes out to Harry De Blaby and Matt Forster, who both played a great game in the 1st pair and won comfortably. Then in the final we faced a very good East side with experienced players. They always had the advantages over us, even before the match as a few of our players dropped out due to various injuries. We had to call on Will Gudgeon and myself to step up to the mark. Although there was a shuffle in the side, we put up a resilient performance with solid performances from Kitan Fowara, Freddie Edwards and Lewis Bedford. In the end, we lost the final but there were some very good games. IVth Form Cross Country: M. Foster This year’s Fourth Form Cross Country was, as ever, a momentous occasion. The pre-race hype was extensive to say the least, with Cubitt’s own Harry de Blaby the favourite. Needless to say, he
As North staggered from the field, tails firmly between their legs, the Cubitt contingent gathered in anticipation of the final. With an emphasis on taking advantage of the “rolling subs” arrangement, Cubitt reassembled again, to face East house in the final – a fearsome collection of fast runners and play makers, boasting an abundance of A team players. However, with a couple of early tries and tenacity from 4th formers Matt Foster and Harry de Blaby, the Cubitt men took control. STC was the hound of the defensive line, ensuring that the fortress allowed no invasion, whilst often finding space and making breaks too, in conjunction with the agile Rob Zorab. However, a special mention must go to BWB, who on frequent occasions tore open the opposition’s back line, searing towards the try line and leaving the competitors floundering in his wake. As the fine warriors celebrated their victory, Neil Bennet – England international, former Cranleigh Rugby coach and Cubitt legend – presented his namesake, the WNB trophy. A glorious occasion for Cranleigh rugby, and the dawn of a legacy for Cubitt house. Congratulations to all those who took part.
Basketball: B. Wilson Yet another year in House Basketball saw Cubitt ending up as overall victors of the house basketball, winning both the VIth and Vth Form competitions and coming second in the respective IVth Form competition. The new IVth form showed particular effort, especially as many of them had not played before. They won their first match comfortably by 10 or so points, with the help of the experienced Andy Bang. Unfortunately they could not carry this promise into the final, narrowly losing to Loveday but nevertheless they showed great determination throughout. The Fifth Form team demonstrated how to play basketball by winning the competition in a spectacular, well grafted final. The first round, against Loveday, was a walk over and we only conceded 1 basket to our 10. Special mentions should go to Chris Linford and Dan Chitty, who used their height to their advantage, scoring 3 baskets respectively. The Final against North lived up to expectations and by the third quarter they found themselves 1 point down. A well needed motivational team talk from members of the U6th meant that the last quarter was dominated by Cubitt, Barney O’Neil netting a three pointer in the last 30 seconds to win it by a point! The Sixth form continued the great form that the Vth form had shown, winning the competition. We played East first, and comfortably beat them by 12 points. Special mention should go to Khartik Suresh who was dominant up front; netting every chance offered to him. The final was against Loveday who were last year’s winners, so it was no doubt a tough task. After three quarters of good basketball we found ourselves 4 points ahead, meaning we only need to keep possession to win. Some good basketball from all and a second last minute three pointer from Luke Chitty meant that we ended as victors by 4 points.
Junior house squash came around and Cubitt were determined to keep the title after last year’s win. In the team were; Gregor McIntyre, Lewis Bedford, Zach La Costa, Sam Guinness and Tobias Chesser/Freddie Edwards. In the semi final, we played East who proved not only tough opponents but tough supporters. East chanted to deafening levels but we scraped through with wins from Gregor, Lewis and Tobias. That meant we were through to the final against Loveday. Yet again, another very close encounter but Cubitt showed their strength and pulled through with another 3-2 win with wins from Lewis, Zach and Freddie. Cubitt had retained the title of winners of junior house squash! Senior squash was a walkover, as we had the four top school 1st team players in our 5 man team. Despite injuries to Charlie Thompson and Will Slynn in the final round, we still only lost one match out of the 10 which were played. The team consisted of Ben Wilson, Alex Foster, Tom Howard, Charlie Thompson/Max Hemming and Will Slynn/Matt Foster. First was a 4-1 crushing victory over a rabble from North, and in the final we recorded a whitewash over a significantly stronger Loveday line-up, who were still no match for this Cubitt team oozing with such class and skill. Congratulations to the team on this dominating performance to bring the House squash trophy back into Cubitt hands.
House Football : T. McKenna This term Cubitt managed to destroy all rumours of being a house that does not compete in football events by winning ‘Monday Night Football’ (M.N.F) and coming joint first in the 6 a-side tournament across all age groups. ‘Route one’ was definitely not the case in the ‘M.N.F.’ competition with Mr Boddington dictating play across the midfield – much like he does in house - and Ben Wilson terrorising defences with his dangerous left peg, scoring goals of an extremely high standard. Ed De-Blaby offered a lot of flair on the wings, skinning his marker almost every time he got the ball and Alex Foster dominating the battle in the air at defence. but it was the disciplined formation and work rate which got us the victories we needed. The 6-a-side tournament was won by 3 of our teams across the age groups which highlights our strength in depth throughout the house, all teams putting in one hundred and ten percent, this resulted in us being equal first with East House.