Contents

Page 1 Open Days

Page 2 Helena TunksRoyal Parks Half Marathon

Page 3 Reading AchievementsModern Foreign LanguagesSixth Form Choices Evening

Page 4 National Poetry Day

Page 5 Gala Evening

Page 6 Read to Feed

Page 7 Read to Feed

Page 8 Football

Page 9 Football

Page 10 Football

Page 11 Hockey

Page 12 Hockey

Page 13 Hockey

Page 14 HockeyPembroke Evensong

Page 15 Smiles with Grace WalkDramaNetballThe School Shop

Page 16 MusicHarry Samuel

Page 17 Friends of Chigwell

Page 18 Chigwell ChoirStaff NewsAnd Finally

Page 19 Chapel

1

Open DaysThank you to all the pupils who have

helped with the various open days that

have taken place this term. We have had

a high degree of interest from prospective

families, many of whom have commented

on how impressed they were by the pupils

they met, who were either working as

guides or as helpers in the departments.

2

Helena TunksWe were delighted to hear that Helena

Tunks in the Middle Sixth has been highly

commended for the essay that she

submitted for The Edgar Jones Philosophy

Essay Competition organised by St Peter's

College, Oxford. The essay was on the

topic: 'Does the fact that our senses can

deceive mean that we can have no

perceptual knowledge?'. Helena wrote an

excellent critical analysis of Descartes'

philosophy and the adjudicators

commented that the standard of entries in

this national competition was particularly

high this year.

Royal Parks HalfMarathonCongratulations to the forty Chigwell

runners who completed the Royal Parks

half marathon on Sunday. The team was

a mixture of Old Chigwellians, parents,

current and former staff, and money

raised will go to Cancer Research UK. The

total has not yet been finalised but is

likely to be in excess of £25k.

3

Reading AchievementsI am pleased to report that there has been a really positive response to our endeavours

to promote wider reading. Bookcases in Houses are filling up with peer

recommendations and students are enjoying spending protected time within the

timetable simply reading for pleasure. I extend a special congratulations to Jimmy

Sawdon, Henry Bird, Alice Melvin, Immy Peck and Ayesha Patel in Swallow's Removes

who have taken to heart the reading challenge set by their English teacher and have

already completed five novels outside of their academic studies. In particular, I should

like to draw your attention to a new feature of the website 'Chigwell is Reading', on

which you will find brief reviews written by a cross-section of the school community.

This is regularly updated, so if your son/daughter reads something that inspires them

over the holidays do encourage them to write a 50 word review of it and send it along

to either Miss Charlotte Nairac (cnairac@chigwell-school.org) or Mrs Emma Rea

(erea@chigwell-school.org) who will see that it gets posted!

Modern ForeignLanguagesJust after half term, the Third and Fourth

Forms are going to watch a visiting

French play, Erreur d’identité, in the

Drama Centre. In addition to this, the

Upper Fifth, Lower Sixth and Middle

Sixth modern linguists will be visiting the

office of the European Parliament in

London in December.

You will be pleased to hear that

Mandarin Clubs for Lower One and Upper

One, and also the Lower Sixth will be

starting before Christmas and further

details will follow.

Former AQA Spanish chief examiner

Derek Bacon is coming in to deliver exam

technique sessions to Lower Sixth and

Middle Sixth hispanists on 27th

November.

Sixth Form ChoicesEveningMembers of the Upper Fifth will be

focussing on their GCSE exams but will

also be starting to think about A level

choices for next September. All pupils

will be interviewed about their A level

choices later in the term when we will

help them consider where those choices

might lead, but the A level choices

evening on Thursday 6th November at

7pm provides an opportunity for Upper

Fifth pupils and parents to discuss A level

options and the A levels reforms. I look

forward to seeing you there – it is an

important and very useful evening,

particularly as the Government is

starting to implement changes to A level

courses next year.

4

Memory, Nariko Gould (REM S):

Memory - it's something we all should treasure:

It brings us grief, it brings us pleasure.

Remember the time you took your first step?

Or the very first day you spent in pre-prep?

Remember the first time you went on a plane?

Remember waking to snow and not rain?

We take for granted what's in our brain:

Every second, every hour it's memories we gain.

They stay with us until we finally let go

Our memories of the sea or playing in the snow.

So hold on to your memories for they are part of you:

They show the success and the struggle you've been

through.

Remembering, Immy Peck (REM S):

Laughing, twirling, spinning, whirling;

Colours popping, stomach flopping,

Lights flashing, music crashing.

Happy day: I fizz inside.

Grey and crying, slowly dying,

Letting go, painful slow;

Heart aching, composure breaking.

The saddest day: I'm numb inside.

Cosy, warm, outside a storm,

Fire blazing, game playing,

Dinner roasting, toes toasting.

Family day: I feel settled inside

Piano, Ayesha Patel (REM S):

It stood there solitary -

The one instrument we were not allowed to touch.

It was not for the hands of young children; not for

Sticky fingers, it was preserved for

Pristine hands. The taboo instrument:

The piano.

Watching the extraordinary hands playing,

Flitting magically, led to my slow discovery:

Ebony and Ivory.

Eager eyes wondering what the black notes meant.

A cloud that came into focus.

I wondered how it was possible.

One hurdle at a time, though. At first,

Chopsticks. With two fingers!

Later, less clumsy, equally determined,

musically fluent and then

ambidextrous.

The piano player.

National Poetry DayOn 2nd October the School celebrated National Poetry Day. This year, the theme was

'Remembering' and English students spoke in chapel and assembly to complement the

lessons that occurred on the theme of Remembering.

5

Gala EveningChigwell students performed on stage in a

well-supported gala evening in aid of two

local charities. The evening of sketches

and musical performances was compered

by Lower Sixth Form students, Will

Weightman and Barney Walsh, and

organised by Rhea Gupta and Max Albert

from the same year. Close to £3,000 was

raised which will be shared between

Haven House Children’s Hospice and

Smiles with Grace, the charity set up by

Chigwell pupil Grace Boxall who sadly

passed away last year just days before her

sixteenth birthday.

6

Students have been asked to set

themselves a target of how many pages,

chapters or books (fiction or non-fiction)

they intend to read in the month and to

source sponsorship linked to their

reading achievements. Students should

have received sponsorship forms either

in class or via Chigwell post and we

sincerely hope that you feel able to

support this initiative which combines

the promotion of wide and varied

reading for pleasure with raising money

for an incredibly worthwhile cause.

Read to FeedThis October half term we have set

students throughout the School a reading

challenge linked to the ‘Send A Cow’

charity which is running the ‘Read to

Feed’ campaign.

7

8

FootballThe football season has been as busy as

ever with many boys and girls playing

plenty of football. Pre-season football

was yet again well attended with 51

senior boys attending. The 1st XI kicked

off the season in superb fashion,

finishing as runners up in the ISFA

National Sixes competition, which saw

32 teams from across the country

compete in the event which was held at

Chigwell this year. This was a remarkable

achievement by the team, considering

they had played Bradfield on the

afternoon before and also the calibre of

schools who entered the tournament.

The 1st XI was disappointed to be

knocked out of the ISFA Cup in the 1st

round by Trinity as it was a game they

could have won. The 1st XI has, however,

produced some fine performances and

secured four victories to date, the most

notable was the 5-3 victory over Alleyn’s,

which was very pleasing considering

they were 3-0 down after twenty

minutes. Tim Lovett is currently top goal

scorer with five.

9

FootballThe 2nd XI recorded a fine 3-2 victory over

notoriously strong opposition in Bradfield

College at the start of the season and have

developed a tight knit, successful squad.

The other senior teams have played

regularly with lots of boys involved. The

U16 team are through to the second round

of the ISFA small schools shield after an 8-

2 win over Thorpe House with Liam

Farrant and Justin Morse both scoring hat-

tricks. They will face Harrodian in the next

round. The U15s have enjoyed much

greater success this season and there is a

positive attitude towards the sport

amongst the group. The U15 team got

through to the 2nd round of the ISFA cup

after beating Portland Place school 6-0 in

the first round, however they lost 3-1 to

Highgate in the second. The U14s have

continued to play some fine football and

have reached the third round of the ESFA

U14 small schools cup. They played PACA

Academy from Brighton in the second

round and won 3-0.

10

FootballA large number of Junior School boys

have been involved in matches. The

U13A team were knocked out of the ISFA

cup by Yardley Court, but put in a strong

performance in the IAPS Eastern regional

tournament which was held at Chigwell

when they finished 3rd in their group but

narrowly missed out on going through to

the next stage. Nearly all of the Third

Form boys have represented the School

at some point this term, with all teams

playing some impressive football.

Chigwell recently hosted the U12 9v9

festival which saw Forest, John Lyon and

City of London schools come over for the

afternoon to enjoy lots of football in

the sunshine. The U11 festival at the

start of term was again a great success

with 21 teams playing football over the

course of the morning. Chigwell also

hosted the ISFA U11 Herts & Essex

regional tournament in October which

saw 20 teams compete. There has been a

lot of football for the Lower Two and

Upper Two boys and there has been a

real improvement throughout these

age groups. Finally, as always, the KS2

football club is well attended every

week with over 50 boys attending on a

regular basis.

11

HockeyCongratulations to the U14 girls who

finished 2nd at the Essex Tournament

yesterday. The girls won their group with

two wins and a draw, and then faced

Coopers in the semi-final. Despite having

the majority of the possession and

numerous shots, the Coopers GK played

extremely well and the score finished 0-0.

The match was to be decided by a

penalty strokes contest. Jasmine Illey

stood up big and strong and pulled off

some great saves and Chigwell girls Zoe

Wright, Stevie Southall and Venetia

Bailey did their job by scoring too. The

result finished 3-1 to Chigwell, and this

not only took Chigwell into the Essex

final but more importantly secured a top

2 finish which meant they qualified for

the Regional Finals. The Chigwell girls

faced Felsted in the final, and defended

confidently, but were unlucky to concede

a late goal from a penalty corner, seeing

Felsted win 1-0. The girls’ performance,

effort and results were outstanding all

day and we wish them all the best at the

regional finals on November 11th where

they will be the Essex representative at

the tournament in Bedford.

12

HockeyChigwell girls have had a very successful

half term with their hockey. The U14s are

currently undefeated, with performances

becoming progressively better with a

pinnacle display against Saffron Walden

last Saturday. Spectators watching this

match saw an excellent performance

from the girls with high levels of

possession and ample scoring

opportunities created. The final score

ended 2-0, with goals from Stevie

Southall and Aime Smithers, but it was

the team performance that was the real

winner. With a squad of 28 girls in the

U14s this year, rotation has been key,

and there are some U14B fixtures to

make sure everyone is getting plenty of

pitch time. The U15s have had a good run

of results with their last four games

seeing them earn a draw against St

Edmunds, a win against Forest and losses

against very strong Saffron Walden and

Brentwood sides.

13

HockeyThe 1st XI girls played at the Essex U18

tournament at the start of October. A

sleepy start saw the girls lose 2-0 to

Felsted, but this proved to be the catalyst

for better performances for the rest of

the day. They went on to beat King

Johns 4-0 (including a fine reverse stick

strike from Alice Melvin), and they then

faced New Hall in their final pool game

knowing that a win would secure them a

spot in the semi-finals. The girls went 1-0

down but showed true character to come

back and win 2-1, with goals from Emily

Goodhew and Kirsty Farquharson.

Chigwell faced Coopers in the semi-final,

knowing that a win would earn them a

spot at the Regional Finals. The girls had

a plan to play at high intensity, which

worked until the last thirty seconds.

Megan Wells and Captain Georgia

O’Connor worked tirelessly in the

midfield with the forwards rotating

continually doing sprints across the pitch

closing the opposition down, when the

Coopers’ centre forward scored with a

great strike that flew hard and high into

the net. Chigwell were disappointed to

have lost, but pleased that they had

played so well and could not have worked

any harder. The girls finished the day

with their best placing at this

tournament in many years. In addition to

the tournament, the girls have played six

matches this half term, picking up three

wins, one draw and two losses, but only

conceding three goals in these six

matches.

Pembroke EvensongThe Chigwell Chapel Choir returned to lead Evensong at Pembroke College, Cambridge,

the college where our founder became Master some four hundred years ago. The choir

were surrounded by interested tourists and prospective students during rehearsals in the

afternoon, some of whom stayed on for service itself. The Choir sang with appreciable

beauty and clarity, as we have come to expect. The vesicles and responses of Rose, were

charmingly intoned by Adam Melvin; the colourful lines and rhythms of Kelly’s Magnificat

and Nunc Dimittis were playfully

poised; and the anthem, Haydn’s

The Heavens are Telling gave an

uplifting end to the service. The

Choir’s next evensong will be at

Westminster Abbey on Friday

7th November at 5.15pm. The

service is open to the general

public.

14

HockeyWith an influx of keen and able UV girls

to the 2nd XI squad, the girls have really

developed this season. With a mix of the

experienced Middle Sixth girls showing

true grit and the enthusiasm and energy

of the new UV, the 2nd XI have proven to

be a tough side to beat, notching up

many draws this season.

Junior girls’ hockey continues to go from

strength to strength, with an extensive

fixture list for the girls with many A, B, C,

D fixtures for all year groups every week.

The U11s have already enjoyed their

involvement at the IAPS tournament last

week, and the U12s and U13s look

forward to representing the School when

they return after half term.

15

Smiles with Grace WalkSome two hundred pupils, parents and friends gathered to walk nine miles in order to

remember Grace Boxall. The walkers gathered at Chigwell, made their way along the banks

of the River Roding to Woodford Green Prep School where much-needed refreshments were

kindly provided. They then made their way back through Epping Forest and the Roding

Valley Meadows Nature Reserve before arriving at Chigwell School for tea.

The walk raised money for Smiles with Grace, the charity which Grace set up herself to raise

money for causes which help other children suffering from life threatening diseases. To date

the charity has raised nearly £90,000 and currently is sponsoring a project at Great Ormond

Street Hospital, where Grace was treated, to support children with Spinal Lipoma. Several

of the patrons of the charity are Grace’s friends from Chigwell.

DramaFollowing on from the Gala Evening, the

Upper Fifth performed their Scripted pieces

on Thursday 16th October. This was an

evening of five plays ranging from

Shakespeare to material written and

directed by Miss Janey Foster and Mr Joe

Maingot. Candidates offered light, sound,

set design, costume and make up as well as

acting. Well done to all involved.

NetballThe U16s will be busy during half

term representing the School at the

Borough stage of the National Schools’

Competition. Good luck girls.

The School ShopDuring the half term break the School

Shop will be open daily between 10am

and 3pm

16

MusicThe eagerly anticipated House Music

competition as always, lived up to and

in some cases exceeded expectations.

Item 1, the acapella part song, My

bonny lass she smileth by Thomas

Morely was presented with great care

and attention to detail from all Houses

but Penn’s and Caswalls’ won that item

with precise intonation and diction.

Item 2 saw some heavy weight

ensemble work with Penn’s winning

outright with their performance of

Muse’ United States of Eurasia

arranged and produced by Gopal

Kambo. The verve of item three was

no less diminishing, with one of the

most outstanding unison songs and

choreographs ever seen with

Lambourne’s The Lion King. Needless

to say, Swallow’s were crowned House

Music Champions.

Saturday 11th October saw some one

hundred children from twenty different

schools aged 7-11 coming to Chigwell

School for a One Day Music Festival. The

day offered the opportunity for

instrumentalists to receive professional

coaching and instruction; the occasion to

be a part of an orchestra of nearly sixty

players. Non-orchestral instrumentalists

and singers had the chance to work with

our resident song writer and voice coach;

to experience string playing on violins,

violas and celli and finally to compose

music in one of the School’s computer

suite. As well as this, the entire group of

children, directed by Mr Howard Ebden,

joined together as a united choir,

presenting the songs Let it Go and Ain’t

No Mountain High Enough. The day was

a huge success which culminated in a

spectacular celebratory concert to

family and friends.

Harry SamuelWe congratulate Harry Samuel in the

Lower Fifth who was part of the Essex U14

performance team that went unbeaten in

this year’s county competitions. The side

won two trophies – the ECB South of

England division and the ESCA Cricket

Festival. The team played fourteen

matches with 11 wins and 3 draws, and

Harry opened the bowling for the side all

year and took fifteen wickets. This was a

marvellous achievement.

17

Friends of Chigwell –A message from PurnimaSen (Chair of FoC)As I write my little piece today, I realise

that half the term has gone by and yet we

have managed just two FoC events!

However, then I realise very quickly the

reality and what this means is that we

have nine more event days to come and

they all fall in the second half of the

Michaelmas term! So it’s probably an

understatement when I say this is going

to be a madly busy time for the FoC. I

must admit I was (for the most part)

expecting to be a fancy PTA mum with

merely answering YES, NO, VERY YES,

VERY NO, when asked to run events and

then (in my fanciful mind) relaxing with a

cup of tea and an exotic cupcake

assuming that it will all happen by itself.

Boy, was I wrong!! Suddenly, now as I list

what we have coming up in the latter

half of this term, I feel like I am juggling a

hundred balls with my fellow FoC

members and all while standing in

quicksand at the same time.

We have, of course, got the 7th

November Fireworks Event where we are

expecting about 1500 people, so

arrangements for that are in full swing

and I suggest you get your tickets as soon

as possible. There is going to be a full

seventeen minute display by Kimbolton

and it will definitely be a fantastic

evening. 21st November is the FoC trip

to see Memphis at the West End where I

understand tickets are already sold out.

28th November will see our Christmas

Fayre and we have managed to get some

amazing and affordable Christmas gifts

for all ages for the children to buy. On

4th and 5th December we have agreed to

serve drinks for the Senior School play

“The School For Scandal”. 5th December

is also the Annual School Disco with two

sessions being run for the Pre Prep and

the Junior School. Finally, 11th, 12th and

13th December has us serving drinks yet

again for the much-awaited musical

arrangement “Les Miserables”. So, as

you can see, we have some very exciting

things happening in the FoC world and I

would not only urge you to get involved

and get tickets for all of the above as

soon as they go on sale, but I would also

request you to volunteer where possible

to help the FoC make all these events

successful ones. Please do drop an email

to anila_shah@hotmail.com and put

your names down if you can give us a

hand, for however short a time, so the

proverbial juggling balls and quicksand

both look conquerable. Finally, I wish all

parents a restful and much deserved

break this half term

18

Chigwell ChoirThe Chigwell Choir will be performing the

following two concerts:

100 Years Of Poppies - Saturday 15th

November at 7.30pm (Chigwell School)

Special Autumn Concert by The Chigwell

Choir to commemorate the outbreak of

The Great War featuring Sullivan’s Te

Deum, songs by Mendelssohn and

Vaughan Williams and WW1 songs. In

addition there will be a piece written and

performed by Theydon Bois Primary

School choir, and a performance of the

winning entry of our Composer

Competition. The choir will be under the

direction of Alexander Campkin and

accompanied by keyboard and brass.

Tickets £12 adults, £10 concessions, £5

under 16, available on the door, in advance

from Leonie 07958 763213 or online from

http://www.wegottickets.com/event/279553

A Babe Is Born - Wednesday 17th

December at 8pm (St. Mary’s Church)

The Chigwell Choir will present a Family

Christmas Concert of traditional carols and

readings, conducted by Alexander

Campkin and accompanied by Chigwell

Brass. There will be a retiring collection in

support of our local chosen charity, Vitalise.

Tickets/programme on the door: £8 (under

16s free) including mulled wine and mince

pies afterwards in the Church Hall to round

off a great evening. www.chigwellchoir.org

Staff NewsWe send our congratulations to Tim

and Michelle Crispin on the arrival of

Phoebe Grace, and to Kimberley

Skipper, who works for Chartwells, on

the arrival of Layla.

We also send our very best wishes to Miss

Jenny Meadows who will be marrying

David over the half term break and will be

known as Mrs Murray on her return.

And FinallyThank you for all your support of your

sons and daughters and the School over

the last half term. Whilst students in the

Upper Fifth and Sixth Forms will want to

devote some of half term to revision for

the November exams, I hope that all

pupils manage to have some rest as

well. We wish those students and staff

travelling to either Vietnam or to

Benalmádena for the Spanish tuition

homestay exciting but safe trips and we

look forward to hearing about their

adventures on their return.

With best wishes

Yours sincerely

Michael Punt

19

Chapel

It was a wonderful sight to see the area around

the altar in Chapel overflowing with food

donated to our Harvest Appeal for

“Streets2Homes”. It is an apt reminder that in

the extraordinary world that God has created

there are those who have very little or

nothing. We are also in the process of raising

money for “Send a Cow” which works with

impoverished families in Africa.

Harvest Festivals grew up in the Nineteenth

Century as industrialization separated people

from the land. It was a way of reminding

people of our dependence upon the God who

provides us with the perfect “home” in which

we can enjoy health and happiness. Today,

we are more divorced from the land than ever

and it is possible to live life without growing

any food ourselves. We rely totally on others

to grow the crops, raise the livestock and

prepare the food for our consumption. Mr

Graeme Inch has been working hard with

students to make Chigwell School a better

more environmentally sustainable place

where we also produce some of our own food.

We finished the half term with “Green Day”. A

non-uniform day raising funds for WWF and

local conservation charities. It is worth

reminding ourselves that God’s primary call on

Adam & Eve, in the Garden of Eden, was to

“tend the garden”. Remind ourselves that

growing plants, especially for food, is a sacred

calling. Few of us have the time or resources

to do this on anything but a very small scale;

however, it is good to stop and give thanks, to

celebrate all that we have and to remember

those who do not have enough. May I thank

you for your kindness and generosity in

supporting our fundraising initiatives towards

these ends.

Father Simon