South Newsletter Summer 2016 Mrs Frett’s Farewell To my wonderful South family - I can’t tell you how hard it is to sum up these six wonderful years as Housemistress of South in just a few paragraphs. I guess if there was one word to sum up this whirlwind of an experience it would be ‘surprise’ - I have never ceased to be surprised and amazed on a daily basis at what these fabulous girls have achieved and are achieving. The ethos of South is at the very heart of all we believe in and hold dear - it is about having a go and getting stuck in, and Southies embody that desire to step outside their comfort zone and try something new. My daily words at Callover, as they trudge wearily off to a lesson, is to “make it count”, and when I read through the “In Touch” editions or “Old Cranleighans” and even their school reports, I am surprised anew at how many times they have exceeded their own expectations. These past few weeks have been quite an emotional roller-coaster as it has increasingly dawned on me I am leaving my South family, and believe me when I tell you it is going to be hard. However, South is in safe hands and I have no doubt that Claire Lock with her merry team of Sarah Webb and Sam Leach (not forgetting our stalwart tutors, Mary Poppins-esque Matrons and magical cleaners - Val, Molly, Jan, Mel and Lynne) will continue the tradition of churning out resilient, resourceful, winsome and thoroughly awesome Southies who break through any glass ceiling that dares to be in their way. The South girls are so blessed to have such a team supporting them and caring for them, and they have made my life so much the richer because of their support to me. My personal thanks must go to Laura Sturdee who has been a rock for five years and has kept me sane and somewhat under control. As she enters wedded bliss with Matt and jets off to Brussels, my heartfelt good wishes go with them. We also have another person who has made South buzz the irrepressible Helen Merry, who has made me laugh on a daily basis and has enthused the girls and made South a force to be reckoned with. As she flies off to the Land of Oz I know she will have a blast - but only for a year as she is needed back here! As I am thinking about my final house prayers and trying not to well up, I want to leave with what I am going to say to the girls. Life is all about new adventures and taking up exciting challenges. We are never meant to sit still, but should keep looking forwards. Life is also about a journey, and sometimes the road is tough terrain where we need good friends around us cheering us on. That is what South has been to me for six memorable, fabulous years, and I cannot thank you all enough for making my journey so much fun. My heart, thoughts and prayers go with you where ever your road may take you. On behalf of Dan, Josh, Luke, Noah, Abby and Bertie - thank you for being part of our family and thank you for allowing us to share your lives. We have loved every moment and our lives have been enriched as a result of being part of the South family. Remember - once a Southie, always a Southie, and my door will always be open (although it’s now in Chepstow)! God bless. Mrs Frett x
Olivia & Bertie Head of House — Olivia Chesser I can't believe this year has finished so quickly. It's definitely ended on a high, with so many whole house events to celebrate Mrs Frett, Miss Sturdee and Miss Merry, with tea parties and music evenings. This term is always so different from the others, as everyone settles for exams and the house is so quiet on study leave! But everyone always pulls together to help each other through and this year was no exception. The Fourth Form managed to keep their dorm raiding to a minimum so everyone else could get some sleep, and the Lower Fifth looked for inspiration from Upper Fifth as they got through their RS! Upper Fifth look so ready to enter Sixth Form and the Lower Sixth are more than ready to step up and lead the house. Eva and I are so excited for Ellen and Ellie, who will do a fab job. It's so sad and so hard to say goodbye to somewhere I've loved calling home for 5 years, but I wish everyone in South all the best for next year and beyond! The Upper Sixth will miss you all; and thank you to my year for being such amazing leaders and friends this year.
Bertie’s Corner Woof woof and hello from Bertie! I can’t believe I’m being made to move away from this house, full of people who give me attention all the time to somewhere far, far away! Although I sometimes get told off for being naughty or stealing biscuits, I will miss it here lots. There are always girls to give me cuddles and take me for walks, and everybody is so smiley all the time (although it can also be a bit noisy when I’m trying to take my afternoon naps). I will miss you all so much— bye bye everyone!
House Events Junior House Badminton This term we had the Junior House Badminton competition and the team consisted of Aimee Williamson and Maddy Pollard, Ella Bounous and Emily Isted, and Lizzy Paton and Becca Taylor . It was extremely fun, although we lost all of our matches(!), but there was a great house spirit. Everyone really tried and lots of people came and supported the house!
Senior House Badminton House Badminton - always an eventful occasion! despite the brilliant team of Gaby Gerrard, Phoebe Osborn, Charlotte Livingstone, Victoria Parker, Gabriella Hodge and Amy Slade, unfortunately the results did not go our way. The team took it in their stride, however, and stayed determined throughout as our Southies always do.
House Golf Izzy B, Lily B and Becca T took part in House Golf. Although there were a few air shots along the way, there was a lot of enthusiasm and it was a lot of fun. Unfortunately we ended up losing to West, but thanks must go to all the caddies and spectators who cheered us on.
House Cross Country Cross country this year was a blast! We thrashed West! The Seniors won by 10 points and the Juniors by 26. Outstanding effort from everyone who competed as this is not an easy event!
House Events House Swimming Emma and PJ organised a superb team and it was a very close call, with South winning the Inters and Juniors, with the Seniors being won by west. Overall West won, but South will return next year to try and clinch a victory! Results were: U14 – West 48, South 30; U16 – West 31, South 47; U19 – West 43, South 35; Overall – West 122, South 112. And there were several records broken from us Southies: 50m Breaststroke – Annie Norton, 25m Butterfly – PJ Cunningham, 4x25m Medley Relay – PJ Cunningham, Annie Norton, Abbie Sterry, Emma Grainger, 4x25m Freestyle Relay – Emma Grainger, Abbie Sterry, Annie Norton, PJ Cunningham (Emma also got the 25m Freestyle record from the lead off leg of the relay). Bravo!!
Junior House Rounders 4th- IVA West won 12.5-7; IVB South won 12-11.5 L5th- A West won 8-2 ; LVB West won 9-3 U5th- UVA South won 18-7; UVB South won 23.5-11.5 Overall rounders results 2016 – 3 each so decided on by total rounders 65.5 South - 59.5 West. So overall, SOUTH won!
Senior House Rounders South L6th endured a long hauled battle against West for the victory of House Rounders. Despite all preparation efforts, from team sheets to nicknames, the A team had an infuriating loss with a score of 11-15 rounders. To quote Mrs Frett, "we had the moral victory". However the B team succeeded and managed to secure their victory with a score of 15 rounders to South and 10 to West.
House Events House Tennis This term South took the victory in the House Tennis, beating West by an impressive score. The team included Clemmie Ryder-Smith, Olivia Chesser, Emma Galletti, Willow Senior, Ella Batham-Read, Amy Mitchell, Poppy Watkinson and Jemima Stephenson, to name just a few of the players. As always, the girls played to an impressive standard with the rest of South cheering them on.
House Cricket House cricket was always going to be an interesting event as South had not won for the past 5 years. The team included Eva Solt, Rosie Forster, Laura Pollard, Kate Harris, Anna Davies, Sienna Chivers, Amy Mitchell, Ellen Talbot, Laila Shariff, Aimee Williamson and Phoebe Timberlake. Having lost the toss and batting first, South quickly scored 75 in the 12 over innings. When South took to the field, they quickly gained wickets with Fourth Former Kate Harris gaining 3 wickets. We left it quite close as West needed 4 off the last ball, but with some good tactics from Eva, South won the game by 75-71 runs!
House Debating Earlier this term was the annual and highly competitive House Debating event. The team consisted of Millie Glaister, Olivia Chesser, Ellen Talbot and Ellie Williamson. We soared through the first round, beating East and proposing the motion that all members of the public should take a simple test before being eligible to vote. The final, however, proved rather more tricky, with South opposing the motion that government benefits should be replaced with a universal basic income. We unfortunately narrowly lost to Cubitt but all in all it was a successful event, with some strong house spirit evident in the thought-provoking floor debates.
Drama & Music Treasure Island Treasure island was such a fun and exiting play to perform! Directed by Miss Sinclair, and much helped by co-director and fellow Southie Amy Slade, we couldn't have asked to be in better hands. After five months of hard and tiring rehearsals, the play was finally ready. It was a fantastic production that got much enjoyment and enthusiasm from the audience. The cast involved many South girls, including Fifi Robinson, Zoe Bickenson, Amelie Lambie-Proctor and our brilliant techies Emily Isted and Taylor Mundy.
Brave New World The other junior play of this term was Brave New World. Brave New World is a futuristic play about a supposedly perfect world where your happiness depends on ‘soma’. The six months of rehearsing paid off and the show went really well. It was a great experience and we all bonded together. There were loads of Southies in it and all of them were great. From the LVth there was Ella Basing, Flora Phillips, Emily Reynolds and Abbie Sterry, and from the Fourth Form there was Honor Reid, Allegra MacIntyre, Rosie Walker, Maddy Pollard, Aimee Williamson and Bella Hazel. Well done to everyone who took part!
Helen Wareham Encore Concert The Encore concert is the final concert of the academic year, where all the winners of the Prep School, Junior and Senior Helen Wareham competitions join together to put on a final performance. From South, performing was Fayruz Megdiche who had won the Senior Woodwind competition, Eva Solt who won the Senior Brass competition, Olivia Chesser who accompanied Theo Golden (who won the Senior Voice competition) and Millie Mazzone who won the Junior Strings competition. The Headmaster’s invitation, the Senior Choir, also consisted of many Southies including the two soloists who were Fayruz Megdiche and Victoria Parker.
D of E
Bronze Throughout the course of the year, those of us taking part in Bronze D of E have had to attend one session a week, where we planned our route and prepared for our expedition in our groups. We also have had to do two terms of volunteering, a skill and a sport to complete the four sections of the award. In April we had our practice expedition where the majority of us realised it is surprisingly hard to read a map and we didn't actually need half of the stuff we had dragged around with us! Hopefully when we do our real expedition next week the weather will be nicer than the snow we had last time, and we are all looking forward to it very much.
Silver This year Silver D of E has taken time off several of us in South. Our June expedition in the New Forest was definitely one to remember with thunder and lightning storms, paths turned into rivers, and for some groups more swimming than walking. Our March practice was also something with freezing cold nights, and waking up to fields full of frost, and our drinking water being inaccessible because it had frozen! We have definitely all been prepared for the future. The other aspects of our award such as volunteering and learning a new skill have also pushed us into meeting new people and trying something that we probably wouldn't do otherwise.
Gold On Sunday 12th June three Gold Duke of Edinburgh's groups drove to mid-Wales to begin our assessed expedition the next morning. This included four South girls: Amy Slade, Nadine Reeves, Charlotte Harris and Emily Thornton-Wood. We all made our way by different routes to shared camps each night (sometimes wild camping). It was a very tough expedition due to very wet weather, few footpaths, lots of incline and very annoying midges. Despite this everyone remained positive most of the time making the tough conditions a lot more bearable. Thanks must go to Dr Young, Mr Jenkins, Miss Gibson and Ash, our assessor, for helping us complete our Gold expedition.
Goodbyes... This year South sadly have to say goodbye to many of our lovely tutors, and so here is a little message to each tutor from their tutees...
Mrs Fearn Dear Mrs Fearn, thank you for everything you have done for your tutor group this year. Our PSHE lessons have been interesting and you have always been there for us and so supportive when we have had troubles. We are really going to miss you but we wish you the best of luck for the future. Best wishes, Helen, Freya, Caroline, Katie, Millie, Lizzy and Jess x
Miss Mitropoulos Miss Mitropoulos has been an amazing role model while she has worked at Cranleigh, being a supportive tutor, dedicated teacher and enthusiastic member of South. She has been such an inspiration to so many, and we know that she will be incredibly missed when she moves on to new pastures. She has helped us all get through those pesky GCSEs with her care, generosity and support guiding us through, helping us not to stress or worry too much! We will miss her so much and Cranleigh has been so lucky to have her, and we wish all the best for her future.
Miss Ventress Dear Miss Ventress, everyone in your awesome tutor group really just wants to say a massive thank you. You have been amazing this year and helped us all immensely. I think we all know that our tutor sessions are fab and we have the greatest time debating over everything and of course catching you up on all the gossip. Thank you again, and have an incredible time in Oxford.
Mrs Williams Mrs Williams has been a brilliant tutor to us. She is always so kind and we know she will be a lovely mother. She has been very supportive and we all trusted her with our problems, and she is very involved in our tutor group and encourages us hugely to improve. We all wish you the very best with your new baby, and hope that your upcoming year is full of good health and happiness. Thank you very much and we are looking forward to seeing you soon!
Mrs Sutton Mrs Sutton has been an enthusiastic, supportive and understanding tutor who has helped us with any problems throughout the year. We are all going to miss her positive ways in Art and her perseverance in each individuals work. We are all going to sincerely miss her as our tutor and teacher and wish her the best of luck in her bright future.
Goodbyes... Miss Merry We are going to miss Miss Merry so much. She is so generous and kind, she always looks out for us in our tutor sessions, and always tries her best to sort out our problems. Our whole tutor group and all of South are so sad she’s leaving for a year. She is the best Warden and is so cool; she is so much fun and we are going to miss her so much, but we know she is going to have an amazing time in Australia. Good luck and have an amazing time, and try to meet the man of your dreams! Lots of love from all your Southies xxx
Miss Sturdee Miss Sturdee has been a great tutor for all of us. She truly cares about how we are during this stressful period in our lives. On numerous occasions, Miss Sturdee has gone out of her way to find out how each and every one of her tutees is doing. Not only does she spend a lot of time with her tutees but she also brings a warm atmosphere to the house. Her puns are always heard at every callover and she makes all of our times a bit easier. We will miss her organisation and cooking! We all hope that Brussels will appreciate her kind heart and strong spirit as much as we all have here at Cranleigh. xxx
Mrs Frett Of course our final goodbye has to go to South’s amazing Housemistress Mrs Frett. You have been here throughout all current Southies’ whole Cranleigh journey, and we cannot express to you enough how thankful we are for everything you do for us and how much we love you. Although we may not always have been in your dreaded circle of trust, you are loyal and supportive and kind and have helped all of us become the girls we are today. Being a surrogate mother to 120 girls cannot always be easy, but you have made it look like a breeze with your never ending laughter, jokes and debatable Scottish accents. South will not be the same without you or Dan, with his unmistakable night-time calls of “Berrtiieee, you wanna go for a widdle?”. We wish you all the best of luck and happiness in Chepstow, and we hope South will always have a special place in your heart as you will have in ours.
Thank You Our Cleaners We would like to say a huge thank you to our amazing cleaners who always ensure that the house is clean and tidy. Thank you to Val (lower floor), Mollie (middle floor), Jan and Mel (top floor) and Lynne (on Saturdays) who always work hard and clean up after us! We really appreciate everything you do for us and we hope you have a good summer!
Matrons 3 people in South who deserve all our gratitude are our fabulous Matrons; Annie, Kim and Claire. This year we had Annie fully join the crew. It's been a great year with lots of Hot Chocolates, biscuits, Chips 'n' Dips, fondues and many, many more. Matron’s room has been as busy as always this term and continues be crucial to the house, with girls of all year groups gathering there on a daily basis. Each of the years has had a social and the U6th even had their last one ever. Everyone in South would like to say a huge thank you to our amazing matrons, who do so much for all of us with their expertise and advice, and without whom South would be an entirely different place.
Have a wonderful summer Southies, and see you in September! xx
Edited by Olivia Pedder & Ellie Williamson