Tuesday, 24 May 2016

Muster 24/05/2016

Hesperus Muster

A brief Muster today with Form 3 in Llangorse and boys sitting exams this morning.

Notices
  • I've been really impressed with the focus since exams begun - keep it up!
  • Please ensure our standards of uniform, punctuality, behaviour and manners are top notch.
  • Iain Headley, Pangbourne's Catering Manager, is raising money for two excellent causes - by walking to and from work (he lives 24 miles away). Please wish him good luck and drop some change into the charity box in Mess Hall.
  • Good luck to the boys competing in the National Schools' Regatta on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Room Inspection - Chiefs of College, 18/05/2016

Well done to the following for 10/10:

Tommy Hessian, Louis Winter, Kenny Xu, Ed Chapman, Louis Ellis, Adam Harris, Tom Nash, Seb Bearn, Adam Cook, George Lacey, Matthew Montgomery, Alex O'Sullivan, Rory Pearson, Tom Perring, Ed Winter

Merits
See posts below

Flag Value Awards

The Upper Sixth presented Flag Value awards to: Tom Nash (resilience and industry), Sam Holloway and Nick White (moral courage)

Student of the Week

There were some strong contenders from Form 4: Kenny Xu (joint top effort grade in the year), Louis Winter, Sam Holloway (top 5 in the year), Nick White, Tommy Hessian, Harri Doyle (improved effort grades and over 3.0).

However, Student of the Week was awarded to Luca van der Wyck for his outstanding improvements and effort grade over 3.1.

Half-Term

We finish for half-term on Friday at 3pm. Rowers will be staying in Hesperus on Friday and Saturday night so please make sure rooms are tidy, valuables are taken home or locked away and bed sheets are stripped.

Have a great week.

SCH

More Merits....

Hesperus
  Day, Aldwyn 9 1[1]
Evans, Jake 9 7[7]
Maclean, Ross 9 2[2]
Morrison, Oliver 9 1[1]
Nash, Ed 9 4[4]
Pan, John 9 2[2]
Sale, Oli 9 1[1]
Spiers, Alex 9 2[2]
Ward, Sam 9 3[3]
Ellison, Finn 10 1[1]
Holloway, Sam 10 1[1]
Winter, Louis 10 1[1]
Digby, Ed 11 3[3]
Farrant, Hamish 11 2[2]
Grieve, Seth 11 1[1]
Orton, Josh 11 1[1]
Paine, Tom 11 3[3]
Perring, Jamie 11 1[1]
Pugh, Bertie 11 2[2]
39[39]

Merits

Hesperus
  Pupil Name Year Merits
Andrews-Hirons, Oliver 9 1[1]
Bowden, Joe 9 1[1]
Evans, Jake 9 1[1]
Fitchett, William 9 3[3]
King, Charlie 9 1[1]
Rizwan, Muhammad 9 1[1]
Ward, Sam 9 2[2]
Doyle, Harrison 10 2[2]
Ellison, Finn 10 1[1]
Hessian, Tomas 10 2[2]
Holloway, Sam 10 2[2]
Pearson, Cameron 10 1[1]
van der Wyck, Luca 10 1[1]
White, Nick 10 1[1]
Winter, Louis 10 4[4]
Xu, Kenny 10 1[1]
Chapman, Ed 11 1[1]
Digby, Ed 11 1[1]
Orton, Josh 11 3[3]
Perring, Jamie 11 3[3]
Pugh, Bertie 11 2[2]
Findlay, Angus 12 1[1]
Harris, Adam 12 1[1]
Hart, Ben 12 4[4]
Heathwood, Christopher 12 1[1]
Ivanovic, Andrej 12 1[1]
Newcombe, Ollie 12 3[3]
Dwerryhouse, Hugo 13 1[1]
Lacey, George 13 2[2]
Montgomery, Matthew 13 1[1]
50[50]

Tuesday, 17 May 2016

Muster 17/05/2016

Hesperus Muster

Praise
  • Well done to the Hesperus musicians who performed in May Revels on Friday night. There has been a generous parent donation towards a reward for your efforts so let me know what you want!
  • Some good performances at the Bristol-Avon Regatta, Tennis and Cricket on Saturday - well done.
  • Angus Findlay was away last Tuesday so he received his Full Drama Department Colours this morning.
  • I've been really impressed with the work-ethic and focus. Exams have now started so keep it up!
Notices
  • Second Prep now begins at 9.30 as we have entered the exam period.
  • There is a boarders' trip to Oxford for some punting with Mr Bamforth this Sunday.
  • Please maintain high standards of uniform this term. In particular, Sixth Form need to shave regularly and please wear No. 2 uniform of Pangbourne games kit until 18.00.  

Room Inspection

10/10 from Gail & Jack last week goes to:

Tommy Hessian, Sam Holloway, Louis Winter, Kenny Xu, Ed Chapman, Louis Ellis, Ben Hart, Chris Heathwood, Rylan Li, Tom Nash, Toby Woollen, George Lacey, Alex O'Sullivan, Rory Pearson, Tom Perring, Ed Winter

Merits

Another good week - see the post below for names. A particular well done to Jake Evans, Oli Sale, Tommy Hessian and Kenny Xu.

Flag Awards

Awarded to Rylan Li, Chris Heathwood and Andrej Ivanovic for displaying industry when performing solos at May Revels.

Student of the Week

The Elvis Trophy (which needs to be fixed) was awarded to Tom Perring for his outstanding work ethic and management of his many commitments. Tom is heavily involved in rowing and music and gets up at 5.30 every morning to work because he has such little time for studying in the afternoons!

Exam Stress

I spoke to the boys about exam stress and how to combat it:


10 tips for anxious students

Last month, Anxiety UK launched a student guide to anxiety. Here are Anxiety UK and Dr Rudkin’s top 10 self-help tips:

  1. If you feel yourself start to panic, tell yourself: don’t panic; you can do this. Self talk can reduce anxiety.
  2. Work on controlling your breathing. Try breathing in through your nose for four seconds, holding for two seconds, then breathing out through your mouth for six seconds.
  3. If you find large busy lecture rooms a problem, start by sitting near the exit. Record lectures so you can listen back to any bits you missed.
  4. Break coursework and essays into small chunks. This takes a bit of planning and means not leaving it all to the last minute, but it staves off anxiety.
  5. Most research into young people’s attention spans suggests a limit of 40 minutes, so work in half-hour chunks with short breaks between for a drink or a breath of fresh air.
  6. Procrastination can be the anxious person’s biggest enemy. Convince yourself to work for just five minutes. Once you’ve started you may be able to keep going. If not, at least you have achieved five minutes of work.
  7. Be kind to yourself – but disciplined. It is easy to become your own worst enemy. Accept that things are tough right now and think about how you can work with your brain to make things happen.
  8. Moderate your caffeine and alcohol intake. Excessive caffeine increases symptoms of anxiety and although alcohol is a relaxant it may not help the next day.
  9. Remember you are not alone. Everyone else may look as if they are coping fine but many of them are struggling too. Talk to people.
  10. Follow a healthy routine of eating, sleeping and exercise. Even 30 minutes walking a day can reduce anxiety. Disrupted sleeping and eating are classic accompaniments to anxiety and can create a vicious cycle. If this is happening, seek help.

SCH

Monday, 16 May 2016

Sports Report


Cricket

Although the weather prevented fixtures and any meaningful training in the early part of last week, Saturday saw an excellent block against Shiplake.

In the U14s, there was a very convincing win for the B team – winning by a massive 97 runs – and in doing so demonstrating to Mr Walden senior that this is the best side he has had in years! Special congratulations go to Max Kiernan for 4 wickets from 3.4 overs for just 9 runs, and to Stephen Bonnett who scored 25 runs, retired, and Tobi Onalaja for smashing 22 runs.

The U14As fared less well, losing despite restricting the opposition to 154 runs.

Both U15 sides also suffered losses. However, credit should go to A team duo Max Sharpe-Matthews, who played some beautiful strokes, and to Theo Ward, whose cunning spin picked up 3 wickets.


In the Seniors, there was a convincing win for the 3rd XI. Mr Phillips would like to add his thanks to Mr Metcalfe and all the 3rd XI boys, as it was not that long ago that Pangbourne struggled to field a 3rd XI. Many thanks for your Pangbournian commitment!


Unfortunately, the 2nd XI couldn’t match the 3rds, and lost a tight game. However, game of the week was most definitely seen on Bigside during the 1st XI game. Chasing a daunting 201 runs from just 35 overs, Pangbourne were reduced to 85 for 6. Such was the opposition dominance, that the Shiplake coach was already enjoying what he thought was a first win over Pangbourne in 5 years. Tom Hills and Tom Chapman had other ideas, though. Playing with fearless power, they both sent the balls to all parts of the field, hitting some of the biggest 6s seen on Bigside. Their partnership of 105 runs from just 13 overs (including a single over that went for 23 runs) put Pangbourne back in the game. However, Chapman fell for 61, then Hills for 63, leaving Pangbourne needing 12 from 12 balls with just 2 wickets left. This then became from 6 from 5 balls, with the last two batsman at the crease. Undeterred, Stanley Walker hit a 4 from his first ball, and Sprake calmly nudged a single off the very last delivery to snatch a dramatic and unlikely victory. An amazing game, that will live long in the memory. Well done to all, but particular congratulations to the two PJ Toms – messrs Hills and Chapman!

 

Boys tennis

The senior boys relished their matches last week and thoroughly enjoyed coming away victorious against Leighton Park in a singles and doubles format. They also completely dominated play against Bloxham on Saturday. The 2nd team in particular played with complete confidence winning every round to finish 9-0. Bertie Pugh and Jack James only conceded 4 games in the whole afternoon.

 

Dunbar boys faced a tough Oratory side on Wednesday. George Young and Myles James led from the front and secured our 1 win on the day. Even though we lost, the boys came away learning so much from their first tennis fixture this season.

Rowing Report


On Saturday, the Boat Club recorded a total of ten wins at Bristol Avon Regatta. Pleasingly, these were spread across all the age groups involved and both genders.

Our Under 14 boys continued to impress, with a powerful and dominant performance from an octuple, though with a more erratic performance from the top quad, which almost allowed its opponents a sniff of success in the final through a series of crabs. The Under 14 girls have had less water time but are improving rapidly and gaining valuable race experience. In the last race of the regatta, Frankie Allen in a single, having set a blistering pace for the first half of the race, held off her fast finishing opponent to win by a quarter of a length in the second closest finish of the day.

At Under 15 level, both boys and girls won their respective sweep-oared fours’ events and the girls’ top Under 16 four was impressive in winning both Intermediate 3 and Under 16 fours against strong opposition from Great Marlow School.

Rory Harris, having put in some good performances in crew boats for GB at Munich Regatta the previous weekend, was back in a single and recorded two wins, beating two good Gloucester Hartbury scullers in the Intermediate 2 event and breaking Ben Maxwell’s course record in the process. He then won Elite Sculls by a commanding margin with a flat out scull.
In Intermediate 1 Eights, the boys’ 1st Eight lost to Bristol University alumni by a mere canvas in the closest race of the regatta, having closed down Bristol’s early lead all the way to the line. They learnt from this and went on to win both their races in Junior 18 eights with increasing assurance.

The next event for our top crews is the National Schools’ Regatta at the start of Half Term. This year, as a one-off, the event is being held at Dorney rather than at Nottingham, its usual venue. If any of those living locally would like to support, please ask one of the school rowing coaches for further details.

MW

Thursday, 12 May 2016

Merits 4/5/16 - 10/5/16

Hesperus
  Pupil Name Year Merits
Day, Aldwyn 9 1[1]
Evans, Jake 9 6[6]
Fitchett, William 9 3[3]
Sale, Oli 9 6[6]
Spiers, Alex 9 2[2]
Hessian, Tomas 10 4[4]
Pearson, Cameron 10 2[2]
Xu, Kenny 10 5[5]
Chapman, Ed 11 1[1]
Garnier, Philip 11 1[1]
Orton, Josh 11 1[1]
Perring, Jamie 11 1[1]
Riley, Nick 11 1[1]
Hart, Ben 12 1[1]
Ivanovic, Andrej 12 1[1]
Li, Rylan 12 1[1]
Owen, Will 12 1[1]
Riley, Charles 12 1[1]
Cook, Adam 13 1[1]
Winter, Ed 13 1[1]
41[41]

Tuesday, 10 May 2016

Muster 10/05/2016

Hesperus Muster

Drama Awards
  • Half Colours were awarded to Louis Winter.
  • Full Colours awarded to Will Owen, Sam Holloway, Bertie Pugh and Angus Findlay
Notices
  • 'Music for a Summers Evening' takes place on Friday night and I hope there will be a good number of boys supporting the Hesperoids involved. We have lots of talented musicians and it's important we support them.
  • The Hesperus Div. Photo is taking place at 2.45 on Thursday afternoon. Please have no. 1 uniform in school.
  • After some poor use of the pool table I have taken the balls away until further notice (you'll get them back this week).
Merits
Hesperus had a good week and the list of pupils can be found on the post below.

Flag Awards
Well done to Tom Perring, Nick Riley and Jake Evans who received recognition for their industry and initiative.

Student of the Week
Nick Riley was mentioned in dispatches but the Elvis Award was presented to Ed Nash. Ed received 7 Merits (!) last week and continues to be a great member of the Hesperus community.

Preparing for Exams
With exams approaching in the next week, Mr Cane-Hardy spoke to the boys about the things we can be doing to maximise our potential. The link below demonstrates the types of food and drink that help aid revision and  exam performance. I hope the boys take this on board!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z3xdq6f 

Welcome to Mr Cheney!
Next year's Hesperus Housemaster, Mr Cheney, came into Muster to say hi and introduce his wife and baby Alfie.

SCH

Sunday, 8 May 2016

Merits

Pupil Name Year Merits
Andrews-Hirons, Oliver 9 1[1]
Day, Aldwyn 9 2[2]
Evans, Jake 9 1[1]
Fitchett, William 9 2[2]
King, Charlie 9 1[1]
Maclean, Ross 9 1[1]
Morrison, Oliver 9 1[1]
Nash, Ed 9 7[7]
Pan, John 9 2[2]
Rizwan, Muhammad 9 1[1]
Sale, Oli 9 1[1]
Ward, Sam 9 2[2]
Hessian, Tomas 10 1[1]
Pearson, Cameron 10 2[2]
van der Wyck, Luca 10 2[2]
Xu, Kenny 10 2[2]
Grieve, Seth 11 3[3]
Orton, Josh 11 1[1]
Perring, Jamie 11 2[2]
Pugh, Bertie 11 1[1]
Riley, Nick 11 1[1]
Findlay, Rory 12 1[1]
Ivanovic, Andrej 12 1[1]
Nash, Tom 12 1[1]
40