HOUSE REPORTS (1975-76)
ABBOTS
After the disappointments of last year it is pleasant to record that Abbots have returned to winning ways, finishing first in the House Championship. This is due, to a great extent, to the revival of that collective spirit which is so essential to the House system, and credit for this must be given to P. Darrell, the House Captain, and to all the captains of House teams for their enthusiasm and qualities of leadership.
The state of our rugby looks to be sound. The Senior and Middle teams finished second in their respective competitions to two very strong Kevere sides, but the Juniors, as one would expect from a side containing J. Hughes, won their competition without too much difficulty.
Our Cross Country entries were nearly as good as usual and our results almost as bad. Although we had several outstanding runners D. Darrell and J. Henley in The Seniors, G. Woolnough in the Inters and L. Harvey in the Juniors, there were too few quality runners to support their efforts. The Seniors did wall to achieve second position, but the Inter and Junior runners could manage no better than third place in their respective races.
Reinforced by two newcomers, N. Tully and J. Worker, our Chess team shared first place. M. Dickins, who has captained the team since this event was first introduced, will be missed next year for his unfailing optimism, belated arrivals and speedy results.
Our Badminton team finished third. R. Penny played steadily throughout the competition, and we have two very promising young players in D. Hazard and M. Parker (a First Form boy).
The Art competition, which has brought the House so much success in the past, again produced first place overall. P. Darrell and K. Tucker did especially well in the senior section and T. Cant in the Junior. Our musicians, organised by S. Buckley who, in turn, was organised by his Housemasters, did well to secure second position; and it was a great pleasure to see our improvement maintained in the Drama competition, in which we finished second. C. Wells, J. Hawkins, P. Darrell, J. Davies, J. Henley and S. Buckley made major contributions to this achievement.
Our efforts in Basketball were largely unproductive with the Seniors finishing third and the Middle team fourth. Lack of height, as well as skill, is a great handicap in this particular competition.
Swimming, as has so often been the case, brought great overall success and put us on the way to the championship. Although the Seniors, with very limited talent, could only finish third, the Middle and Junior swimmers won their competitions. There were outstanding performances from C. Jennings, K. Brinded, P. Cook and G. Elford.
Our success in cricket was all the sweeter for being so unexpected. It was this that clinched the championship even before Sports Day. Although the Seniors only avoided bottom place by their annual victory over Kings, the Middle and Junior cricketers played consistently well and fully deserved to win their respective competitions. Capably captained by D. Neal, the Middle team always looked able to bowl out the opposition cheaply whenever D. Hazard was bowling his off-breaks. He received good support from M. Chippendale and A. Callaghan. The Juniors, led by J. Hughes, were a confident and well-balanced side. N. Sarratt, S. Court and A. Neal could be relied upon to do well with bat or ball.
By the time of Sports Day our overall lead was 75 points and it would have been difficult to have lost such a commanding advantage. The Seniors finsihed third, but their efforts were badly affected by the failure of many Upper Sixth boys to turn up for their finals. It is always one of the more distressing aspects of being a Housemaster to witness such indifference and discourtesy from boys who believe that their loyalty to School and House ends at the beginning of June, especially when it negates the efforts of their Sixth Form colleagues who have often put themselves out to honour their remaining commitments.
We would like to wish our leavers happiness and fulfilment in their future careers.
R. Birch
T. Ford
BEC
The great effort and participation of the Upper Sixth in the Senior competitions was the most gratifying aspect of this year's House Championship bid. If the whole House were to show a similar determination we should surely attain first place in more than three events, as happened this year. It was the total involvement of the Upper Sixth which won us the Senior Cross-country Championship - our only success of the Autumn Term, and Christmas found us points adrift of the rest of the field, reflecting sadly upon the disasters of the Intermediate Rugby, Badminton, Chess and Junior Cross country competitions.
Sometimes lack of talent can be made up by team spirit, but not in Chess and Badminton. Individuals apart, the junior part of the House sadly lacked talent and spirit, and this malaise seemed to mark all their activities, rugby excepted. Next year, it is to be hoped that they will be able to make a more positive contribution.
Our Senior Basketball team played very well, but lack of height was again our undoing, leaving us in last position. Our Junior Rugby XV, meanwhile, were covering themselves with glory by beating the other minnows to score their biggest success, gaining second place to the all-conquering Abbot's.
The thoughtful and artistic members of the House had been working well on the Art and Music competitions. We came second in the Art, thanks to a monumental total of standard points gained by a large entry (same again next year, please), and first in music, where we were so far ahead by Finals Day that no one could catch us, and we won twelve out of the twenty classes.
Our swimmers performed very well, gaining a good number of standards, and we had a fair number of finalists. We came second in both Senior and Inter competitions, and third in the Juniors. Our happier Easter term was concluded by a highly entertaining and well thought-out Drama production which, amid stiff competition, was awarded third place. Bec House was now in third place overall, only twenty points behind Kevere with Cricket (traditionally strong), Athletics (potentially strong), and Intermediate Basketball (an unknown quantity to come.
The Basketball remained an unknown quantity as far as some of our players were concerned, and we come third, having been soundly beaten by King's and having lost to Kevere by one memorable basket. Our juniors lacked direction in the Cricket and came last, but when joined by a strong third-years on Sports Day they won a thrilling competition by the narrowest of margins. If these boys started to believe in themselves, they would be a much stronger unit in the House.
The Inters played poor cricket to lose to Abbot's but won their other matches handsomely, showing their true potential, and gaining third position in Athletics was no disgrace.
The Senior section of the House tried their best, but could only finish second to Kevere in both Cricket and Athletics. The constantly helpful and workmanlike attitude of the outgoing Upper Sixth deserved better returns than third place overall, but they can be pleased with their personal contribution and attainment, and can hope that those who follow will try to emulate their good example.
Finally, our thanks and good wishes go to the Captain, Richard Burdett, whose personal ability and leadership have been an inspiration to all. Much of what has been done well in the House has been due to his drive and enthusiasm.
A. R. Taylor
R. Kraushaar
KEVERE
The year started in the best possible way with crushing wins for both the Senior and Middle rugby teams. The Senior team did well because all fifteen players applied themselves to the task and derived much satisfaction from three excellent performances. Stuart Taylor and lan Rice in particular had three very good games. Some of the rugby played in the Middle team was of the very highest class. The forwards played very well with Mumby and Hill outstanding and their good work was converted into points by a very skilful back division with Mason and MacKenzie being the leading try scorers. These good results were followed by our traditional fourth place in the chess but then immediately we won the Badminton competition with three very competent performances.
With three wins in four competitions it was perhaps understandable for a feeling of overconfidence to creep in and this certainly showed in the poor cross country results. The Juniors ran very well to come second in their competition to keep Kevere in second place overall at Christmas!
In the new term we had a good result in the Senior basketball when Ashcroft captained an odd collection of rugby players, cricketers and athletes to achieve second place. We then suffered our worst results with the Music, Art and Swimming competitions coming in rapid succession, leaving us in second place overall by now 95 points behind Abbots. In the last of the rugby competitions the Junior team played with tremendous spirit but managed only third place. Brown who captained the side is to be congratulated on his excellent leadership and play. The Spring Term ended on a high note with the Drama competition where Adrian Stent was our producer. He did an excellent job along with several others and all of those involved must have derived much satisfaction from their excellent winning performance.
The cricket competitions started very well with our dependable Seniors winning again. Adrian Bath and lan and Robin Rice were prominent in three good wins. The Junior team exceeded our expectations by coming a close second thanks in particular to good captaincy by Portlock and the fine batting and bowling of Reap. The house continued a good recovery with second place in the middle basketball where Hill was our main inspiration. Finally on sports day the Senior and Middle athletics teams both won and the Juniors were fourth. Ashcroft and lan Rice won two events each but pride of place must go to Richard Mount who beat off strong opposition to win both the 800 metres and the 1500 metres, an outstanding double.
It would be fair to say that this has been a very enjoyable year but it would have been so much better if we had not slipped in the middle of the year and conceded so many points to Abbots. The natural and historical position for Kevere is first not second!
I would like to thank all those who have contributed in any way this year and in particular to Robin Rice who has been a most enthusiastic and reliable Head of House. Our thanks are due also to Mr. Noble who has done a tremendous job in the last two years and will certainly be missed.
D. Rayner
KINGS HOUSE
Looking back over the year, it was not a disaster, but rather disappointing considering the enthusiasm and attainment of the previous year.
We started relatively badly, doing worse than anticipated in the middle rugby owing to injuries and coming last in the senior rugby, and although the situation was somewhat redeemed by winning the chess and coming second in the badminton, two of our traditionally strong events, we had still to date achieved 50% in what is usually our best term. The three cross country competitions, however, left the situation much rosier at Christmas. Several first years gave excellent performances in a win in the junior section, which augurs well for 1978, and when Johnson in the middle competition pulled out on the day through injury everyone else responded magnificently to win. The seniors, however, came last.
At the end of the Autumn Term we were joint second with Abbots five points behind Kevere with Bec at this stage some way adrift.
The Spring Term started well, with victory in the Senior Basketball. However, after this, setbacks began to multiply. We achieved only third place in the Art and Music competitions and entries were far fewer than the previous year and were somewhat unlucky to finish last in a keenly fought junior rugby competition. With only the juniors avoiding last place in the swimming, however and last place also in the house play we had been caught by Bec and were in last place. Abbots, meantime, had taken a good lead, seventy points clear of Kevere.
The Summer Term was a little depressing, apart from the excellent team performance in the Middle Basketball competition. The Middle cricket side did well to finish third, as did the juniors, but the seniors finished last. With last place also in the senior and middle athletics, gloom was only abated on sports day by some good solo performances and the excellent work of the juniors, who finished second, only two points behind Bee. Final positions therefore were
Abbots 625
Kevere 570
Bec 530
Kings 475
Why then, did we finish last, when second place had been achieved last year? These matters are always complex, but apart from the rejuvenation of Abbots and a few tales of misfortune, there were too many who, making an extra effort the previous year, had decided that this was the year they were going to take things easy. There is no reason, however, why such a situation should not improve. The spirit in the house is good and there is a great deal of enthusiasm from the majority and as our juniors are relatively stronger at games than our seniors, we are confident that results can pick up.
M. Fountain P. Gibson
1976 School Magazine
Suggestions:
The Founding Headmaster
The School Computer (1974)
PA Evening of Music and Drama (1957)
A Tragic Descent (1967)
The Archaeologists (1969)
An Exchange Year in the USA (1970)