A Year in Review - 2023

review LOCKERS PARK

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A YEAR IN REVIEW from our Headmaster

Welcome to our Year in Review. Looking back across a year gives me opportunity to reflect on how much the school has grown and flourished over that time, yet retained the very essence of what makes Lockers Park so special.

We celebrate our 150th anniversary next summer, and we rise to meet this wonderful milestone as a school in which I know our founders would share our huge pride. We now have over 190 boys across Pre-prep and Prep, and for the first time we have a three-form entry for Year 7. This is helped, no doubt, by our reputation for preparing students for senior school – including the UK’s top independent and public senior schools – and our many scholarships and exhibitions in academics, sport, music and the arts, and technology. There were an

outstanding nine scholarships amongst our recent leavers.

Our age-old traditions such as the shrubs and slatter have been supplemented with additional, newer ones including Lockers Got Talent and Dark Tower boarding night. This is something we would like to hear from our Alumni on. If you are an Old Boy please let us know what your outstanding recollection of Lockers Park is. We always welcome speakers coming in to share their experiences.

I hope you enjoy this edition of our Lockers Park Magazine and please look out for our 150th celebration events throughout the year.

Gavin Taylor Headmaster

1ST XI FOOTBALL

The 2022 season started with a trip away to Haileybury. Despite only having had a couple of days training, the boys headed into the game feeling positive and were looking to move the ball around with fluidity and be dominant in possession.

An early breakthrough from Leon put us ahead early which settled any nerves that may have been lingering. Lockers continued on the front foot and a cross from Ethan went unclaimed through the box, to find Freddie unmarked at the back post, who tapped in to put Lockers 2-0 up. A slight mix-up at the back brought Haileybury back into the game, but Lockers managed to hold on for a 3-1 victory. A great way to start the term.

Injuries hit the squad in the early part of the season, including both captain and vice captain, which meant we were a little undercooked for our ISFA Cup game, and the visit of Beechwood and Kingshott.

However, the visit of Sherrardswood saw our fortune change and the boys looked comfortable on the ball, and throughout the creative phase chances were aplenty. We used the pace of Ethan and Lolu out wide and capitalised on a few mistakes. William in goal was superb, keeping us in the game throughout, with reaction saves and his strong distribution. Ethan scored twice and Lolu once to put us 3-1 up at half time. An own goal from the opposition eventually handed us the 4-2 victory.

Best performance

The season finished with a trip away to Swanbourne, where the boys put in their best performance of the season. Although we walked away 4-3 winners, both sides could have scored about 10 each. William once again kept us in the game. Lolu looked deadly in front of goal and scored twice, and a beautifully worked team goal saw captain Ethan onto the scoresheet for the first time in the season.

An exciting future

A huge well done to the squad for the hard work they have put in this term. With 6 of the squad this term returning next year as Year 8, the future looks exciting for the 1st XI football.

Football colours awarded to: Ethan J (Captain) and Ethan S (Vice Captain)

JUNIOR MATHS CHALLENGE

Our senior mathematicians pitted their wits against the rest of the country by entering the Junior Maths Challenge. This year we went completely online, and the boys seemed to enjoy the experience. It is designed to challenge their problem-solving abilities and allows boys to shine in ways that are not always evident in more traditional exams.

LOCKERS PARK MATHS WEEK

In September, the whole school immersed themselves in the world of shape as the theme for our annual Lockers Park Maths Week. Boys learnt about the properties of all kinds of shapes, from symmetries and angles, to volume and area, from Pythagoras to Pi and everything in-between.

All through the week, we had Times Tables Rockstars tournaments within each year group to allow all the boys to sharpen their numeracy skills. Finally, there was a Set Competition to finish the week in which the best mathematicians from each set fought it out to become the Maths Week set champions! They faced a variety of challenges, working in teams to solve mathematical problems. The boys loved it.

The Year 2 boys love a challenge, especially a maths challenge! We had so much fun making irregular shapes;

the boys really enjoyed finding out about the shape names – did you know that a 20-sided shape is an icosagon? We were then joined by the Year 1 boys for an outside maths symmetry challenge with some very creative and impressive results!

Year 3 enjoyed a shape-themed Maths Week in which they looked at shape and maths in everyday life. This included a 2D and 3D shape hunt around our amazing school grounds, and some heated discussions about rhombuses and parallelograms! After studying different types of triangles and

3D pyramids, the pupils were tasked with creating their own square based pyramids from biodegradable straws. Once this was achieved, the pupils set to work on a giant tetrahedron. The boys loved the hands-on approach to their learning and can’t wait for next year’s Maths Week to find out what is in store for them.

ICELAND TRIP

In October, we embarked on the Science department’s third trip to Iceland. This is always a spectacular and unique trip, which takes us on an amazing adventure to the Land of Ice and Fire!

The boys were amazing tourists and scientists who took in all the sights we had to see with interest and enthusiasm!

We saw incredible waterfalls, including Seljalandsfoss (which we walked behind) and Gullfoss. We travelled to the golden circle where we experienced the steaming hot geysers and walked along the tectonic plate line. We also visited the lava caves that were beautifully lit and quite mesmerising, we had an entertaining guide who told of the history as well as lots of jokes! It was a shocking experience when he turned the lights off and it was truly as dark as dark!

Other highlights included a walk through Reykjavik to the large, looming church and down to the harbour to see the Viking boat sculpture. We visited the black sand beach with its stunningly beautiful rock formation; this is the sea you must never turn your back on!

A trip to Iceland would not be the same without a trek across the glacier, which boys and adults enjoyed equally. Our guides were really super and so knowledgeable, letting the boys drink from the small streams as well as painting their faces with the volcanic soot!

One evening, we also organised a walk to the local swimming baths where there was a Halloween party, with the local children. Our boys revelled in finding new friends and shooting down the water tubes! On the way home we stopped off to buy delicious local ice creams, which went down well on a cold night!

We had a dip in the secret lagoon where the boys languished in the relaxing hot springs, the steam creating a beautiful aura around the pools. It was tricky to get everyone out of there!

All in all, it was a truly awesome experience and one which the whole party will remember for years to come!

WHAT BOARDING LIFE IS REALLY LIKE AT LOCKERS PARK SCHOOL

I have built some wonderful friendships since joining Lockers Park just over 2 years ago. I feel as though I have a second family in the boarding house.

New students arrive in September at school with a lot of energy, wonderful new teachers make me feel amazing, and exciting new activities make me more engaged. At school, I feel safer because of Mr and Mrs Newman and happier because of my boarding house pals. It’s lovely to be in the boarding house.

One of the reasons I like the boarding house is because of the boarding events in the week and the activities at the weekend. They are so much fun that I decided to become a full boarder. On my first weekend, I had the best BBQ I have ever had. I enjoyed talking to the new students and it’s like we are an instant family. I was very surprised when Kit hugged me that evening, I think I am the first person who got hugged by Kit!

I can’t believe how lovely it was to have my best friends with me at Thorpe Park, one of our other weekend trips. People were shouting with great excitement when we arrived at the great roller coaster called ‘Saw’.

On another weekend we went to an Escape Room in Milton Keynes. We were separated into two groups and we went to the one which is about

finding the treasure box. We had a race between the two groups and we wanted to know who would win. It took us about 50 minutes to finish and the other group finished 5 minutes before - the trip was still amazing.

On a Tuesday night, we had a great boarding event called Halloween Havoc. There are different activities in the Mountbatten block, Old Gym and we watched a scary film in the Centenary Hall. Every single activity is fun. All the lights were off in the Old Gym and the teachers told us that we had to solve anagrams on gravestones using just a torch. The team who got the most teachers’ names won and received loads of sweets. In the Mountbatten block, we had some small activities like a ping-pong game, blowing a toy with a straw on a table and so on. The winners always get lots of sweets! This activity is one of my favourite ones in the school and the haunted walk through the shrubs is particularly scary!

After the exeat, I went to Darts Night 2022, it was absolutely fantastic because of how many people there are and how we can create our own T-shirts. I drew something about Leicester FC because they won the

Premier League title in 2016. In the competition I beat my French teacher (also known as Charles Magnus Carlsen Phillips) at darts and all my friends raised me up and threw me around. That was the best night. We then went bowling the next day and Mr Hobson bought us some sweets and coke.

After half term, we went to the Old Town sweet shop and Gadebridge Park before watching Black Panther at the cinema. We then went back to school to an absolute feast! The smell when we came to the dining room was absolutely phenomenal as well. The last two weekends of the term were amazing because we completed Christmas activities and hide and seek around the whole school. We went to the pantomime to watch Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs; the twelve days of Christmas was my favourite part.

It has been great to be the Head of Boarding this term, I have loved being in the boarding house and at Lockers Park School. Sadly, I am moving but I leave with so many happy memories. I will remember the school and the boarding house.

By Hongren

U13A RUGBY

Despite the appalling weather and frozen pitches, we managed to play some great rugby this term and whilst the results weren’t always a fair representation of the effort and chances we had, the boys showed true grit and determination, keeping their heads held high and refusing to give up.

Led by our captain Sam, whose tactical awareness and excellent kicking precision really stood out, we also saw some exceptional performances (and tries) from Lolu, Aman and Ethan whose speed and strength made it very hard for the opposition to stop. There were both convincing victories and tough grinds against some very strong and frankly enormous individuals, but our refusal to give up was truly commendable. Well done boys, you did yourselves and the school proud.

RUGBY

It has been a fantastic term for the U12A rugby team, only losing one of their games during the term. Early snow in the term meant cancellations against Edge Grove, but the following week we met Haileybury on the 4G at Cheshunt Rugby club. The boys ran in 12 tries to Haileybury’s 6 with the boys playing free flowing rugby and dominating the breakdown. A hat-trick from Barney H and 5 other try scorers saw a storming start to the term.

A close game against Westbrook Hay was our only loss of the term in a thrilling 5-4. Westbrook were held up on our line in the closing minutes and Lockers went on the attack, only to have an unforced error right on the final whistle. The boys rallied in training and focused on their shape in attack and defence and how best to recycle the ball and turn

Well Done Boys! U12A

opposition possession into our own and play on the front foot.

A blistering performance against Sunningdale saw Lockers 7-1 victors with some powerful and unstoppable runs from Tiger who crossed the line twice. Our second hat-trick of the season came on the same afternoon from fly half Leon whose strength and vision saw him break the line on multiple occasions.

A decisive 10-1 victory over York House saw 6 players cross the line in horrid wet and windy conditions. The boys moved the ball beautifully and made the pitch as wide as possible and took advantage of a disorganised defence. Leon scored his second hat-trick of the season and there was a dominant performance from all the squad.

It was lovely to see Obaro and German both score their first tries of the season.

The season closed with a rearranged fixture against Edge Grove. Although not our best performance, the boys moved the ball quickly and attacked the spaces with precision. Leon scored his third hat-trick of the season and the boys finished 6-4 winners.

The whole squad of 15 players have trained so hard this term and deserve all the praise in the world. They have been brilliant in Games sessions and it looks very exciting moving ahead for next season as U13s in what is the school’s 150th Year.

LEADING THE LEGO LEAGUE CHALLENGE

Lockers Park participated in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Lego League Challenge on January 28th.

It was an exciting time for all eight team members and our coach, Mr Phillips, as the school had never participated before! At the beginning of the club, I joined the team because I thought it would be fun. However, things were about to change.

When Mr Phillips announced that we would be participating in the FIRST Lego League Challenge, I experienced an instant rush of adrenaline and felt motivated to succeed! We put our best effort into everything, building the robot, programming it, and creating the PowerPoint. We would enter the

DT lab each week and immediately begin working. It was a true test of our commitment and determination, even though we started preparing much later than the majority of the teams we faced. We triumphed over obstacles and demonstrated tremendous teamwork skills.

Despite the fact that we saw people leave and others join in their place, our team spirit was unaffected. We were going to make it through together, like a small community. When the big day arrived, the team was both excited and nervous at the same time. We were all greeted by numerous other teams

seeking glory as we entered Stevenage. Since we had already accomplished so much, we were all pleased with our progress. The team had all learned a lot along the way; We had the best time. Due to our encounters with much more experienced teams, the first two matches were challenging.

We won the third and final match in the last ten seconds to advance to the knockout stages! Even though we were the underdogs, we still managed to finish in fourth place! A trophy that can be proudly displayed in the trophy cabinet was ours when we returned home.

OUR TERM IN SCIENCE

SET SCIENCE COMPETITION

The Set Science Competition took off with an engaging activity. The sets each had to design and build a run for a ping pong ball. The remit was to use as little card, paper and sticky tape as possible whilst making the longest lasting course. They could include as many turns, obstacles and twists as they liked so long as the ball kept moving. The teams lead by the set leaders were organised, inclusive and determined. It was a great, hotly contested competition ultimately won

by Jellicoe. Well done to all the competitors who worked hard and showed super teamwork!

WEATHER TALK

Our very own David Bowker reached out to our Year 6 to encourage them to connect with the skies! He gave a fascinating insight into the clouds, how they form and the weather they bring. The boys were captivated, listening carefully and asking pertinent questions.

PARENTS SCIENTIFIC EVENING

With trepidation, a group of parents turned up on a Tuesday evening for a taste of Science! Mr Iqbal didn’t disappointment, giving them thrills, flames, bangs and a great flavour of their sons’ lessons. They burnt some chemicals, deciding which was the unknown X. They also tested leaves for starch using iodine. A real eye opener and memory stirrer, we hope! This was followed with drinks, nibbles and science chat.

SCIENCE ROADSHOW

The STEM Roadshow is the UK’s longest-running science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) roadshow for schools.

A huge thanks to Oundle School and Imperial College London, for providing us with the opportunity to host this exciting space-themed event on Friday 24th March. The show was delivered by Scott Marley, an expert in astronomy, physics and engineering. The roadshow was engaging and informative, including fascinating facts about space exploration, the future of space tourism and some live scientific demonstrations. One of our parents emailed to say: “What a super event. We all loved it! Very inspiring speaker who kept the whole audience gripped for an hour. Just brilliant. Thank you!” Lockers Park was also pleased to welcome some of the Oundle School staff, Laura MacKenzie and Ros Goatly, who were available to talk to pupils and parents.

WHAT THE DICKENS?

The final weeks of the spring term saw the culmination of many hours of hard work and preparation in the form of this year’s senior play, SMIKE. Described as a “Pop musical freely based on Charles Dickens’ Nicholas Nickleby”, SMIKE tells the story of a group of poorly treated schoolboys who are thrust into the past through a study of Dickens’ 1839 novel.

From Diyon’s portrayal of the mean and uncaring Headmaster Squeers, to the gravelly tones of Thomas’ northern wench, Mrs Squeers, the audience were treated to an exceptional musical tour de force and we were extremely proud of all of the boys.

There were laughs, there were tears and a fine selection of catchy tunes which we feel will be very much in our minds and on our lips for quite some time to come.

Drama is an extremely important part of the curriculum at Lockers Park as it allows our boys to express themselves in ways that the core academic subjects simply cannot offer.

Whilst the productions do of course take centre stage, it is also the unseen elements, the “behind the scenes” activities which truly make a difference to the boys’ development.

From the hard work of boys such as Shrey and Ayaan in the sound and lighting department to the exceptional organisation (and stealth) of individuals like Sam who ran the stage crew, drama caters for a wide range of skills and attributes and gives every boy their chance to shine and enjoy their time in the (often very literal) spotlight.

Huge congratulations to all of the cast and crew for a superb performance and we wait with baited breath to see what next year’s dramatic offering will be.

LOCKERS PARK HITS THE AIRWAVES

Our two Head Boys Seb and Diyon, along with Oliver from the Charity Committee, were lucky enough to be invited to local radio station Mix 92.6 for an interview about our sponsored walk.

The three boys did a brilliant job. They were taught how to speak into the microphone (using the distance between your thumb and little finger as a guide) and took it in turns to answer questions about the sponsored walk. They were also shown how the station remains on air playing music all the time, how the equipment works and how they can tell what songs are lined up to play next. After completing the interview Mr Simpson gave the boys free rein to interview each other – which did lead to some rather offtopic questions! This trip was an amazing experience for the boys.

SPONSORED WALK

Our annual 5 mile sponsored walk took place on 31st March to raise money for the Charlie Waller Trust and the Collett School.

The heavens opened the whole week leading up to the walk and didn’t stop on the day but thanks to the amazing staff community who worked together to rearrange the route last minute the walk thankfully still took place. You would have never guessed that the boys, parents, family members

and dogs were soaked through and covered in mud with the fantastic smiles and energy that they brought back with them on their way to collect their certificate and treat.

We were joined on the walk by staff and children from the Collett

School, who also enjoyed the day immensely. Etienne from Year 6, a member of our Charity Committee, said “I think the sponsored walk is a great opportunity to raise money for charity, even in the pouring rain.”