Skylark 2013

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Transcript of Skylark 2013

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…from the Headmaster

Skylark is our pre-eminent annual record of the enormous range of activities and events that take place at our exciting and vibrant school.  Whether it is the Senior School play or the Pre-Prep art exhibitions, the CCF sailing programme or the 1st XI Cricket season, everyone from the youngest to the oldest pupils and staff enjoy a stimulating academic and extracurricular programme in the parkland setting of our Elstree campus.  Most of these activities, along with staff announcements, Old Boy reunions, and community events, are captured in Skylark magazine.

 

We pride ourselves on our academic excellence, our huge range of extracurricular activities, our marvellous grounds and facilities, and above all our strong and supportive multicultural community.  All this is reflected in Skylark: so please read, enjoy, and take justifiable pride in your association with our school.  Within these pages, you will learn and understand why Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School is one of the finest schools in the United Kingdom.

 

With my very best wishes

Peter HamiltonHeadmaster

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ContentsPerforming Arts .......................2

Music .....................................8

Events ..................................12

Trips .....................................22

Originals ...............................34

Features ................................54

Prep & Pre-prep ....................65

Clubs and Societies ...............75

Houses .................................80

CCF / SCS .............................87

Sport ....................................99

Common Room ..................120

HABS Community ...............124

The Skylark Team ...............129

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Performing Arts

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Skylark 2013 Performing Arts

Haroun and the Sea of Stories – Middle School Play 2013

Haroun and the Sea of Stories is not dissimilar to its young protagonist, Haroun – his father commenting that there is more to Haroun than meets the eye. He is a young boy damaged by his broken family, resulting in his suffering from an inability to concentrate for more than eleven minutes; nevertheless, he rises above this to travel to a foreign land and unblock the sea of stories from which all stories are derived, thus saving the strange land and curing his father of his inability to tell stories.

Equally, there is more to the play than first meets the eye. What initially appears to be a lively and comic tale actually has a far darker heart; the seed and inspiration for the play are the oppression and censorship which Salman Rushdie experienced after writing The Satanic Verses. This is encapsulated in the villain, Khattam-Shud, who is the archenemy of all speech. He forces his people to abstain from speech and wage war against Gup – the people who inhabit the land of story. Through Khattam-Shud’s final defeat, and the unblocking of the sea of stories, we receive our answer to the play’s most pressing question – what is the point of stories which aren’t even true? It is these stories that aren’t even true which have the power to defeat his oppression and censorship.

However, whilst the play is weaved of far darker threads than are initially apparent, it also features the most splendid purloining of

literary and popular culture since TS Eliot’s The Waste Land, which further belies its apparent simplicity. References to hit songs of The Beatles and tales like The Wizard of Oz are rife; furthermore, the language (such as the names of characters and places) imbues the play with a deep richness and humour, which can only reward further study. The depth of these allusions helps Rushdie to weave a sophisticated and humorous narrative, a modern Arabian Nights tale, in which the narrative itself is a veritable ‘Aladdin’s cave’ treasure trove of stories. It is these hidden complexities which surely make Haroun and the Sea of Stories one of the most ambitious plays attempted by Habs. The results did not disappoint, and Mrs Morris-Wolffe and Mr Eyre-Maunsell merit the sincerest congratulation for the success of their production.

Chris Muhley’s work on musical arrangement and keyboard and Rahul Kanani on drums were vital for transporting the audience from the Drama Studio to the Indian subcontinent. Simone Jones complemented this seamlessly with her excellent costuming. The stage crew of Aaron Gelfand, Jake Cooper, Jake Rich, Benjamin Wright and Roshan Panesar, working under the eminently capable Hugh Silver, ensured that the set looked superb and everything ran without hitch on the night. The quality of the make up by Stephanie Herbert and Tom Herbert demonstrated that we really are thoroughly spoiled in every area.

Indeed, there were some particularly memorable scenes. The choreography of the chaotic bus journey to the Valley of K was riotously amusing, and not in the least reminiscent of journeys to and from school on the coach service. The ambition of the choreography was amply demonstrated by the scene in which Haroun swims, carried on the shoulders of the chorus, towards the source of stories itself: a scene which, in its execution, would not have looked out of place in a professional production on the West End. Moreover, the performance of each member of the cast was consistently of the highest standard. In the absence of Major Saddington, Aron Rapacioli produced a fine comic performance as General Kitab that was for this reviewer highly evocative of an anonymous member of the CCF. Bilal Hasna was equally superb in his role as Prince Bolo, capturing the idiocy and hysteria of the character in his melodramatic and frenetic physical representation of the anti-Prince Charming. Saif Abbas Chatoo superbly navigated both Haroun and the audience through this strange world of fiction. These wonderfully electric performances were finely earthed by the touching and understated relationship between Covi Franklin’s Rashid and Romil Patel’s Haroun. Despite all of the dazzling brilliance of the production, it was these two characters which carried the emotional sincerity and impact of the play.

Behind the Scenes - Haroun

Haroun and the Sea of Stories proved to be one of the most interesting productions I’ve ever participated in. Being in the final year of the middle school (year 10), I among others my age were given the responsibility of leading the cast and helping with rehearsals and such other things.

I personally loved the chance to guide younger and some less experienced actors (and actresses) through the play and developing their skills as well as my own. My character, Khattam-Shud, (the typically evil ‘tyrant’) was a hard one to adapt to, especially when the roles I’ve performed in the past only required me to say a few lines here and there. Yet through the wise mentoring from the directors, I managed to create a whole new, more informed side to my character which subsequently helped me perform to a much higher level. I was however also required to perform as a member of our essential Chorus. I had to duck, dive, dance and even sing all around the place at very different times in the play. Obviously it was hard to grasp the complex choreography but I still enjoyed the finished piece as it looked truly brilliant. But what I found the most memorable was that after we had finished the performances, people around the school constantly came up to me and fondly reminded me of my character and the iconic black turban that I wore. This topped off a great experience as it’s always wonderful to know people remember you...

Joshua Davis (Khattam-Shud and Chorus)

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Comedy of Errors Review

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After last year’s joint Middle and Junior school production of “Bugsy Malone”, the cast of this year’s ‘A Comedy of Errors’ had some large shoes to fill; and step up to this mark they did, with one of the slickest and funniest productions that the Junior School has ever created. Shakespeare’s famous Sicilian farce, “A Comedy of Errors”, follows the mishaps of two identical merchants, and their two servants (also identical in appearance) as they go around their business in the city of Ephesus. Neither set of twins have an inkling of the existence of their conterparts, as they were both separated in a violent storm at sea whilst still mere infants. Cue a play of unknown identity, confusion and, most of all, hilarity.

The Drama studio was transformed into an exotic North African courtyard for its three night run, hung with drapes and aptly suited to the demands of the play. From the outset, the production captured the attention of the audience. Duke Solonius (Jacob Jefferson) made a towering and grandoise entrance, whilst Egeon (Joshua Baumring-Gledhill) enchanted the audience with his mystical and enticing tale of patriachal woe. We here witnessed the glorious job the crew had done, creating a stomy sea with some highly

evocative lighting. The boat Egeon travelled in, along with all other props excellently painted by SCS props and stage crews, triumphantly matched the successes of all aspects of the production.

When the fortuitous comedy of the two Dromio’s (Saul Federman and Sam Lander) was first witnessed in ‘The Centaur Inn’, the audience laughed uproariously, beautifully highlighting the fact that we were the only people who knew what was going on! One beautiful piece of physical comedy had the audience in stitches, as Dromio of Ephasus sidestepped around the stage in frustration at his contrasting instructions. All of this occured in the company of the seductive Luciana, (played by Josh Myers, who was almost worryingly convincing in his portrayal), whose continuous attempts to flirt with both Ephasus and Antipholus of Syracuse (Rahull Nagpaul and Jared Richard respectively) brought the house down.

Playing a woman can be very challenging for inexpierenced actors, but Kabir Kapoor and Guy Rapacioli seemed particularly comfortable in their respective roles as Nell and Adriana, not forgetting Ade Takuta as Courtezan, whose suggestive dance from on top of one of the porches will live long in the memory of all who witnessed it.

The comedy in the piece was abruptly halted at the height of the confusion, as what seemed like a simple misunderstanding led to the sentencing of Egeon to death. The movement from hilarity to tension was very skillfully engineered by the cast and many nails were bitten before Egeon was pardoned. The moment when all four characters responsible for the confusion eventually saw each other for the first time was highly memorable. The two Dromios suspiciously paced toward each other, faces slowly revelling in enlightenment, as they proceed to investigate their similarities. The production ended in celebration, and rightly so, as this was a wonderful piece of theatre, from many actors experiencing their first taste of HABS Drama. It was stylishly directed by OH Danny Fisher, whose vision to create a funny and physical performance which would be enjoyed by all was realised with aplomb. He was ably assisted by the technical crew, headed by our technical director, Hugh Silver.

This production set an impressive benchmark for Junior school performances to come, giving the audience a splendid oppurtunity to see such a highly skilful performance.

Jacob Whitehead Year 11

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Skylark 2013 Performing Arts

Doctor Faustus – Habs 2012 Senior Play

After the triumphant presentation of his own new play ‘The Death of Chatterton’ in 2011, director Tim Norton returned to the classical dramatic canon with the 2012 senior play, Marlowe’s DOCTOR FAUSTUS. But this decision was in no way a safe one – Marlowe’s philosophical tragedy, examining the titular character’s descent into damnation, is extremely complex, rapidly shifting between styles and making great demands on actor and audience alike. It is a play full of ambiguity, and many a professional production has come a cropper in trying to bring it to solid theatrical life. Thankfully, under Tim Norton’s supremely confident and stylish direction and design, the hard-working ensemble of HABS boys (and a few girls), many not yet in the sixth-form, took hold of the play with energy and imagination. The resultant production was clear, gripping, and unexpectedly hilarious in places.

The audience entered the Bourne Hall to the ominous sound of a church bell tolling, establishing a tense atmosphere of suffocating religion and impending doom. This mood was brilliantly sustained into the wordless opening sequence, as a black clad funeral party trooped up the wide ramp which thrust out into the audience from the stage, bearing Faustus’ coffin. This sinister dumb show of Faustus’ grisly end lent the rest of the show the fascination of a slow motion car wreck: the audience watched throughout with the inescapable knowledge of where Faustus’ dark path was leading. In the first of numerous spectacular coups de théâtre, the stained glass world of the church disappeared, the monumental stone set of Faustus’ study seeming to configure itself by magic.

Harry Sammons was tasked with tackling the mammoth role of Doctor Faustus. He did so with assurance and intelligence, using the opening scene to make Faustus’ thirst for knowledge seem appealingly enthusiastic

rather than foolishly ambitious. This wise choice immediately made Faustus’ situation accessible and comprehensible to the audience, rather than allowing us to sit in judgment over his dubious choices. Sammons deftly led the audience through Faustus’ journey, with his final desperate plea being exceptionally powerfully and hauntingly delivered.

A Faustus, however, is nothing without a strong Mephistopheles to serve as a credible force of malevolent temptation. Kurran Pooni’s performance conveyed a strong sense of demonic control, avoiding the temptation to slip into over-the-top theatrics. He instead took a subtler approach, making particularly effective use of sinister stillness. Beyond the central pair, the ensemble cast offered up superb work, transforming brilliantly from bishops to scholars to writhing devils. Despite the weight held by the two leading roles, the versatility and vigor of the company ensured that it truly felt like an ensemble show. Particularly

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striking contributions came from Christopher Combemale, whose ethereal good angel was a haunting presence throughout, and who provided the production’s most moving moment as he finally deserted the lost Faustus, and Scott Gordon, whose muscular Lucifer was imbued with an alternately aggressive and tender physicality. Adam Brookes’ Cockney wideboy take on the character of Robin was a thoroughly crowd-pleasing, superbly spirited performance, while Jack Reitman’s cameo as a hilariously smug Pride during the pageant of the sins was truly scene-stealing. This appearance of the seven deadly sins to Faustus was ingeniously choreographed and provided one of the production’s most deliciously theatrical highlights.

The scene which most displayed the cast and director’s utterly assured handling of their material was the farcical banquet scene, where Faustus and Mephistopheles cause havoc for Pope Adrian and his acolytes. Norton’s staging certainly achieved full comic mileage from this episode, as his

cast delivered, with absolute precision, a slapstick routine worthy of Chaplin – not to mention an outlandishly hilarious, speech-impeded performance as the pontiff from Nick Royce. Beside themselves with delight, the audience offered up rapturous applause after this sequence – not bad for a famously difficult Elizabethan play, 400 years after its first performance.

Beyond the contributions of the actors, other production elements were of an extremely high standard. The superb lighting and sound design strongly supported the palpable atmosphere of encroaching disaster, while Simone Jones’ costumes offered excellent, detailed signifiers of class, character and time. The set, epic in scale yet able to transform with admirable discretion, displayed a fine synthesis between Tim Norton’s vision and Hugh Silver’s tireless care and labour. At the production’s climax, the spectacular effect achieved provoked another round of raucous applause from the elated audience. The bookcases of Faustus’ library split open, like the vicious teeth of a

vast monstrous mouth, revealing legions of howling demons intent on dragging Faustus to hell. The fearless ensemble then writhed and shrieked their way across the stage, creating a precisely choreographed tableau of terrifying damnation, depicting Faustus’ final moments with lurid theatricality. This powerful, entertaining production was full of such unforgettable, evocative moments – a testament to the stunning commitment and talent displayed by the entire cast and creative team, and to the enduring resonance of Marlowe’s still potent work. The deafening audience response at the curtain call said it all – the cast and crew had done HABS proud, and the audience was proud to have been witness to it.

Josh Seymour

Music8

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Skylark 2013 Music

Summer Concert

Spring Concert

This was a concert of contrasts with a packed program and something for everyone. The musical proceedings were opened by Philomusica playing a spirited rendition of Dambusters March conducted at a majestic pace by Mr Muhley. Beautiful sounds from the flute group summoned up the balmy atmosphere of a Spanish evening in ‘Tango from Espana’. We then enjoyed Miss Cousens leading Wind Sinfonia through two soulful tracks from Earth, Wind and Fire.

The massed ranks of the Guitar Orchestra were impressive in scale and the quality of their playing was demonstrated in the performance of two catchy pieces. Paavan Buddhdev had a chance to demonstrate his prowess on the Solo Octave Guitar. As always, the first half was closed by the Big Band led by Mr Simm. Their most memorable number was Gordon Goodwin’s ‘Too Close for Comfort’ featuring Ellie Bignall on solo vocals. Mr Pritchard and the Jazz Band kept us entertained during the interval, this time with Martin Lee taking the solo part for ‘Fly me to the moon’.

Concert Band gave a moving performance of ‘Hymn to the Fallen’ conducted by Mr Simm. This piece was written for the film ‘Saving Private Ryan’ and provided a thoughtful opening to the second half of the concert. The percussion Ensemble showed great skill under their new director Mr Ormston playing ‘El Cumbanchero’ playing with energy and enthusiasm. Before the climax of the evening there was a charming performance by a woodwind quartet consisting of James Meir, Shamil Shah, Aaron Goldberg and Bruce Parris who played Scott Joplin’s ‘Elite Syncopations’.

And so to end the evening we were treated to the Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mr Muhley who played Schubert’s ballet music from ‘Rosamunde’ and then the lively Espana by Chabry to perfectly close the evening. The summer concert in May provides welcome distraction for the senior boys who are about to start sitting their external exams and once again provided us with a delightful evening of musical entertainment to close the musical school year.

Beethoven’s mighty Egmont overture has been described as a miraculous tone poem of heroism and victory over tyranny, and so it was that the school Symphony Orchestra, led from the front by Mr Muhley, took on this work and proved triumphant. On a chilly March evening in the Aske Hall, the atmosphere was electrifiying as the piece opened with the powerful block chords played with real energy. The beautiful sounds that emerged

from the strings during the coloured forte were answered by the expressive woodwinds and horns leading to a thrilling ending led by the brass section.

Habs is blessed with an outstanding group of dedicated young musicians and so it was fitting that the Spring Concert could showcase three of the school’s finest pianists who each played a movement of the celebrated Grieg Piano Concerto.

The work opened with James Herring playing the famous opening movement Allegro Molto Moderato with confidence and lyrical style. When Oliver Wheeler assumed command of the keyboard playing the Adagio, he may have had fewer familiar tunes but played with equal vivacity. The concerto was finished off by Leland Hui, who stunned with his interpretation of the final Allegro moderato molto e marcato.

After the interval Miss Cousens picked up the conductor’s baton to lead a smaller orchestra in the Mozart Requiem, a work completed after his death, giving added poignancy to the piece. The choir consisting of the 130 highly trained voices of the school Choral Society were privileged to be joined by four distinguished soloists: Soprano Augusta Hebbert; Contralto Rosemary Clifford (a former pupil of the Haberdashers’ Aske’s School for Girls); Tenor Adrian Coburn and Bass James Oldfield.

This was a joyful evening of serious music performed with exuberance by the boys and staff.

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Skylark 2013 Music

Autumn Concert

String Concert

The autumn concert is the first display of the new musicians that will become part of the music department’s ecosystem for the rest of the year. It is always an especially busy affair, being only given six weeks to prepare something that would hopefully be up to performing standard by the end of it. And somehow, they have never failed in delivering a top notch performance, this year being no exception.

The evening began with energetic performances from Philomusica and the percussion ensemble followed by the 2012 Habs young musician of the year, Dylan Dissanayke playing the Liebstraum Nocturne No.3 by Liszt, and who gave a stunning performance.

Shortly after were the army of winds that is Wind Sinfonia playing the ‘Armed Forces March’ and some Tchaikovsky from the flute group.

Big Band, which faces a challenge every year to live up to their previous year’s standards having lost their senior members, were able to pull it off again playing a Gordon Goodwin chart and ‘Cold September Morning’ featuring Dylon Sivam on the soprano saxophone

The concert band, known for its audacious brass and delicate woodwinds, began the second half with ‘Stray cat strut’ and gave a classy performance of ‘The Stripper’.

However, the highlight of the autumn concert program is always the Year 7 choir who this year sang four songs from the USA. They never fail to disappoint and the audience did not suppress their joy upon hearing their voices.

The symphony orchestra, conducted by Mr Muhley, closed the evening with the cinematic Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus, Op. 43 by Beethoven and the traditional Elgar. All in all, it was a superb evening of music and a showcase of what one can expect throughout the year.

The 2013 String Concert exhibited, as always, a fabulous variety of talent including several virtuosic solos and skilful ensembles - the audience were certainly in for a treat! The evening took off with a light-hearted performance of William Boyce’s Symphony No. 4 in F, the debut of the Baroque Orchestra, and sadly their final performance, conducted by Mr. Christopher Muhley.

This was followed by a riveting performance of Dvorak’s Sonatina in G major, Op. 100, Mvt. 1, Allegro risoluto by James Swaden (U6). The year 10 violin quartet consisting of Nils Gaukroger, Ben Lavelle, Aman Chatterjee and Nikhil Amin continued the evening, giving an excellent rendition of Telemann’s Chamber Concerto for 4 Violins in D major. The passionate Symphonic Cellos then performed the first two movements of Telemann’s Sonata in G major, leaving the audience awestruck. Another solo performance followed, this time with Edward Upson playing the final movement of Vivaldi’s Concerto in E major. Purushot Sadagopan demonstrated great skill at a

young age when playing “Scott Le Faro” by Teppo Hauta-Aho on the double bass. The multitude of violinists in the Violin Ensemble filled the stage with both their presence and wonderful music with a performance of Kember’s Waltz; Max Wilding, Richard Matheson, Rishi Dattani, Jai Thakrar, Timothy Tan, Louis Flinn and Fai Li all playing. The string orchestra, conducted my Mr. Leon Gee, performed an awe-inspiring performance of pieces from ‘An American Suite’ by Katherine and Hugh Colledge. Schubert’s Sonatina in D Major, Op. 137, Mvt. 3, Allegro Vivace was handsomely interpreted in a solo played by Henry Gould. At the other end of the spectrum of strings, the Bass Ensemble consisting of Oli Wheeler, Jack Adler, Dominic Lui, Rajiv Ark, Casey Chan and Jasper Wong, performed the rather aptly named Pink Elephant by Tony Osborne. To say that the conclusion to the first half was incredible would be a gross understatement. The Senior String Quartet consisting of Canishk Naik, Raman Sharma, Max Spiro and Ed Jeans gave a rendition of the first movement of Beethoven’s explosive String Quartet in

C Minor, Op. 18, No. 4, Allegro, ma von tanto, leaving the audience stunned.

After a refreshing interval, the Philomusica, conducted by the lively Mr. Christopher Muhley, showed great promise as they played Themes from Wagner’s Operas, arranged by Richard Weaver. Following this, the Sheila Watson String Prize was presented, extremely well-deservingly to Ronak Shah (Viola), and Leland Hui (Violin), both prime examples of the talent and dedication seen in all areas at the top of the school, especially music. As always, the Symphony Orchestra Strings concluded the evening with Mr. Bjorn Bantock conducting performances of the hypnotic Rosa Mundi by Lewis and the Lively String Serenade by Dag Wiren, and Mr. Leon Gee conducting the strings with piano for a performance of La Muerte del Angel by Piazolla, arr. Jose Bragato, a big finish to an extravagant evening. I can say, having enjoyed both performing in and listening to the concert, it was a night to behold, and not to be missed!

Raman Sharma U6

Wind and Jazz Bands’ Concert

The wind and jazz bands’ concert is always eagerly anticipated by all and with good reason – it represents one of the musical highlights of the year. Mr Pritchard led the Jazz band through a classic Miles Davis chart and set the bar high for all who followed. The double reed ensemble met the standard, firstly with the pleasant allegro concerto and then the ladder jive.

The wind ensemble, the jazz flute ensemble, and the clarinet quartet all played in rapid succession providing the rare chance to focus on just one set of instruments. The first half was closed with the impressive Big Band, led by Mr Simm, playing ‘The First Circle’ with grace and sensitivity. The First Circle is recognised

as one of the most complex pieces Big Band has played to date, but nonetheless it was played with style and apparent ease. Special credit must go to Dylon Sivam who took the solo on soprano sax.

To begin the second half, Miss Cousens and Wind Sinfonia produced an energetic version of ‘All that Jazz’ from the musical Chicago. The commitment of the band members was obvious and it resulted in an enjoyable performance. The Saxophone Ensemble’s rendition of Groovy Kind of Love also gave the audience a chance to appreciate tight playing in a small ensemble.

The woodwind section of Symphony Orchestra, known as The Symphonic

Wind Ensemble, gave the penultimate performance of the concert and were always destined to be great The finale from Schubert’s Symphony No.5 proved this prediction to be correct and gave weight to a question which can often be heard rattling round the wind section: ‘why do we have strings anyway?’

After the awarding of the woodwind and brass prizes to Tim Duschennes on clarinet and Ryo Yamada on trombone, the massed forces of the Concert Band took to the stage. Mr Simm took the helm once again and delivered a powerful rendition of the Phantom of the Opera to end the evening.

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Events

Skylark 2013 Events

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The 23rd of June 2013, 6am, the start of my last ever Mencap Funday. As the fourteen committee members and three members of staff came into school to finish the nigh on impossible task of setting up, we decided that it would be the perfect time to check the weather forecast for the day.

Huddling around the history office, eating a seemingly never-ending supply of Costco pastries, the seventeen of us froze as we gazed upon the report on the screen – the BBC had predicted rain, and a lot of it. “Don’t worry” Dr Perera said to us, “The day will run smoothly”. It was these words which took us into the final stages of preparation, as the grey rainclouds moved ominously above the school, the gazebos being set up on the quad seemed like they could soon be serving a double purpose.

An entire year of planning, cake rotas and insults towards Ashkan ‘broken nose’ Rezainia had come to this moment, and we were intent on making it a success. I am sure that it will go down in history as one of the greatest mysteries of all time, like whether Ashkan’s ‘Tennis Gang’ actually exists, or whether Ricky and Elliot actually knew that committee meetings were non-negotiable, but it hardly rained that day. Dr Perera’s words rang true, and we managed to make this year’s Funday the best one yet.

The moment volunteers began to arrive, we could tell that the day was going to be phenomenal. All boys and girls who walked onto the campus were smiling, and everybody seemed to know what they should be doing. The activities included a bouncy castle stationed in the Bourne Hall, arts and crafts, drama rooms, a disco, and a magic show. The activity volunteers worked exceptionally hard, giving up their Sunday to give our guests an amazing time. Those six hours flew by, and I am sure it will go down as the highlight of my school career.

I would like to wholeheartedly thank everybody who was involved with this year’s Funday, no matter how large or small their contribution. Mencap is an inspirational charity, which helps children with various types of disabilities to get through daily life. The charity provides care and support to the parents and carers of these children, for whom coping with a disabled child or sibling can often be very challenging. Mencap Funday is an opportunity to give these children a day of fun, and to give their carers a deserved break. It has been an absolute honour to work with Dr Perera for

the last two years, and I am really sad to say goodbye to our Friday meetings. However I am pleased to leave our committee in the capable hands of Edward Upson, who I am sure will work hard to build on this year’s successes when leading next year’s committee, to make next year’s Mencap Funday as fun as this one was.

Jack Lewy U6

Mencap Funday

Year 7 artists create a splash!

Four boys from Year 7 (Hubert Bialek, Rushil Hora and Louis Nobileau 7C; along with Ravi Vijaygopal 7S), recently took part in an art competition organised by Sunrise Care Homes.

The theme of the competition was ‘what does care mean to me?’, and all four pupils created personal, well-crafted and imaginative responses, in the form of posters. The boys’ work was judged, along with images from Girls at our sister school, by Sandra Parnell, a local councillor from Borehamwood. She judged Hubert to be the overall winner, being awarded a box set of art materials, and his poster will go forward into a national competition. Louis and Ravi gained second and fourth place respectively and both won pencil sets. Well done to all the entrants!

S N Todhunter

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Poetry Writing Competition

HABS’ Boys National Champions of the Junior Schools’ Challenge Competition

On Monday 29th April, 12 boys competed in the Final of this year’s Poetry Recitation Competition in Aldenham House. Some 250 boys had memorised poems and recited them in class prior to the final in the early stages in the competition.

This year’s judge was the Revd. Dr. Malcolm Guite. Dr. Guite is an Old

Haberdasher whose love of poetry owes something to the likes of Messrs. Fitch and Hanbidge, who nurtured in him an appreciation which has since borne fruit in his own published collections of poetry such as Sounding the Seasons (2012), his work as a singer-songwriter, and in his academic publishing. One example of their influence on the latter occurs in his chapter

in the Cambridge Companion to C.S. Lewis, writing on Lewis’s poetic output. Dr. Guite spoke with great persuasiveness on how poetry comes alive with recitation, and how the ‘clarity, purpose and vision’ of the writing gains from being heard rather than just read. The element of artistry inherent in poetry should be considered when referring to the quality of a poem.

The eventual winners, each presented with a certificate, book token and an anthology of modern poetry, were Sameer Aiyar-Majeed for his recitation of “In Daylight Strange” by Alan Brownjohn, Jack Ronayne for his rendition of “Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes and Bilal Hasna, for his performance of Charles Bukwosky’s “Bluebird”.

Dr. Guite commented that the overall standard was astonishingly high. He asserted that, as ever, choosing just one winner from each year was an incredibly difficult decision. The eventual winners stood out for their overall sense of inhabiting the poem and presenting it as a complete work, with many fascinating and insightful details explored along the way. We would like to offer our congratulations to not only to the winners, but indeed to all who took part and made the competition such a success.

A O’Sullivan

In 2013, for the first time, HABS entered a team into the Junior Schools’ Challenge. The general knowledge competition, based on the format of “University Challenge”, with starter questions for ten points and loud buzzers, was open to Year 7 and 8 pupils. However, the team selected and coached by Mr Sykes consisted of Thomas Sherlock, Joe Ward, James Verghese and Oliver Hocking, who were all boys from Year 7.

We sped through to the Regional Finals with comfortable wins over Aldwickbury and Dr.

Challoner’s. We then however found tough opposition from The Dragon School, Oxford. They had finished runners up in last year’s competition. We were fortunate enough to come out victorious. In the Inter-Regional Final we overcame Boston Grammar to reach the National Finals.

At Dulwich Prep, on a grey Sunday in June, our team, accompanied by Mr Sykes and a collection of relatives in support, started our campaign to win the competition. After a tough quarter-final match against Carre’s Grammar School. It was a contest which definitely caused some nibbled nails in the audience! However, we eventually picked up the pace and emerged with a victory.

In the first of the two semi-finals we competed against Torquay Grammar. For a while it was neck and neck. We showed our knowledge of subjects as diverse as Britain’s Got Talent, Charles Dickens, chemical processes, oysters and Premier League managers and shot ahead. In the

end we were proud to have won by a margin of 400 points.

After watching the hosts, Dulwich Prep, winning the Final of the Plate Competition, it was time for us to put our fingers back on the buzzers. The opponents we had to face in the Final were a group of students from The Perse School. The Perse had been victorious in the previous year’s competition and was coached by a former HABS old boy and teacher! The final felt much longer than its allotted thirty minutes. We took an early lead with all four boys playing to their different strengths. However, about two thirds of way through the match, The Perse started to rally and nearly drew even. It was crunch time, and a final surge from the team meant that we claimed victory and became National Champions of the Junior Schools’ Challenge for 2013.

Thomas Sherlock Year 8

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Bercow Visit

The Politics Society were deeply honoured to welcome Mr Speaker, the Rt. Hon. John Bercow MP, as their guest at lunchtime on Thursday 12th September. Mr Bercow was approved by the Queen as the 157th Speaker of the House of Commons in 2009. He is notable for being the first Speaker to be elected by exhaustive ballot, for being the first Speaker not to wear traditional court robes and for being the first Jewish holder of this important constitutional office.

Arriving from chairing a statement by the Foreign Secretary on Syria, Mr Bercow was welcomed by the Headmaster in Aldenham House. He then spoke to a large audience of students about his work as Speaker. Mr Bercow outlined how he has tried to make the Executive more accountable to Parliament, by summoning Ministers to answer urgent questions before the House, giving more power to Select Committees and allowing more opposition and backbench business days. He also explained how he has tried to make the work of the House of Commons more transparent to young people, by hosting the UK Youth Parliament in Commons and by undertaking extensive school visits. We were even treated to an impersonation of an anonymous veteran Tory MP.

Mr Bercow answered a number of questions from the floor, which included topics such as his own work as a paid lobbyist, whether he favoured future Lords reform and whether there had been occasions when he had struggled to remain impartial. These were all answered with wit, charm and flair.

The Politics Society are extremely grateful to Mr Bercow for giving of his time so generously. We look forward to welcoming the authors Jesse Norman MP and Douglas Carswell MP later in the term.

S Clark

Skylark 2013 Events

Junior Science Fair Winners 2013

Guy Dabby-Joory, Samuel Pfeffer-Matthews and Vivek Gudi, from 7 Hendersons won the 2013 junior science, with a fantastic project on supernovae. It was abundantly clear that these boys researched their topic well and prepared their presentation meticulously. They were able to communicate their ideas to the judges with style and they were entertaining as well.

It was a close contest this year as the year 7 boys reached new standards of excellence in their projects overall. Boys had a week to prepare their presentations and it was inspiring to see how well our boys were able to work under such a tight time frame. All projects displayed good science and there was a lot of quality presentation material. Most of the science fair projects were visually appealing and creative. The boys were able to improve their research skills through this project and the event was a great success for our boys and for the science department at our school.

B Ward

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Battle of the Bands

Once again Battle of the Bands returned to the Bourne Stage for another lunchtime of entertainment. The level of talent on display this year was of an impeccable standard, which posed a problem for the anonymous judging panel.

The afternoon opened with a special performance from HABS’ very own Mr Todhunter in his band the Sideliners. Next up the crowd was entertained by the sumptuous sounds of Puzzles. A rendition of Muse later and the modestly named Oli Wheeler Project (starring Oli Wheeler) took to the stage. To round off a lunchtime of music, Jack Reitman sang Adele’s ‘Skyfall’ with the backing of a band of merry men. Following much deliberation the judges eventually decided to award Jack Reitman with the prestigious first place prize. All of this would not have been possible if it weren’t for the tireless work of Miss Cousens, Mr Garvey, Hugh Silver, Ed Nutting, Jake Copper and the rest of the Battle of the Bands team. Thanks must also go out to the boys who baked cakes for sale too, and to the school for their Mufti contributions as well as for feasting on the various treats on sale in the Foyer. The event has raised around £2,800 for three charities supported by the school: DENS, Third Hope,and Kidzcare Tanzania.

Rufus McAlister and Harry Sammons

Skylark 2013 Events

Battle of the Bands

The stage was set and the lights were dimmed. The anticipation was slaughtering everyone in the room. A packed Bourne Hall on a Friday lunch signalled the start of HABS Battle of the Bands 2013.

Compered by Harry and Rufus, two self-described comedians, the crowd remained hyped for the show and they managed to keep the banter flowing between acts while the performers were tuning their guitars backstage.

Unusually, it began with a surprise act as Mr Todhunter and the Sideliners walked onto the stage and performed making the crowd go wild. Following this powerful opening was Puzzles, formed by Nikhil Banerjee, Canishk Naik and Harsh Prasad who totally rocked out on stage by giving us some Queen’s of the Stone Age and Muse.

The OliWheelerProject made up of Joe Fraser, Jack Bateson, Zach Breskal and Oli Wheeler, played a track by the Artic Monkeys and did their second run of Rage Against the Machine, expressing their mild hatred towards the ‘system’.

To finish Jack Reitman, Adam Brookes, Krishan Goswami, Aaran Kotecha and Luka Abeywickrama performed Skyfall with a mad shred guitar solo by Aaran. It was a great way to conclude the event and Jack Reitman’s last performance of his HABS career.

This would not have happened without the support and organisation handled by Mr Garvey and Miss Cousens, the mixing by Mr Phillips and Jake Cooper, and the lighting by Ed Nutting. We hope next year’s event will build on the success of this years Battle of the Bands.

Oliver Wheeler

Skylark 2013 Events

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Visit by local MP James Clappison

Economics Day

David Lammy Visit

HABS Politics Society welcomed James Clappison, local MP for Hertsmere, who came to speak and answer question from HABS boys and girls on Friday 19th April. He offered an insight into his life as an MP and the stresses of the job. Pupils asked him challenging questions on Europe, the economy and the voting system and he seemed delighted to see such enthusiasm for politics at HABS. The event was a great success and the Politics Society look forward to welcoming more speakers and politicians to talk at HABS.

Eli Bernstein U6

Historian, author and journalist Dominic Sandbrook visited Habs on Thursday, 18th January, to give a talk entitled “Why did Thatcher win?”

Mr Sandbrook spoke about why and how Thatcher rose to become Britain’s first ever female Prime Minister. He highlighted

Thatcher’s unpopularity when she was first elected in 1979 and her disastrous first year or so in office before she achieved national and worldwide popularity after smashing the power of the trade unions and achieving victory in the Falklands conflict. He went on to describe how luck was on Thatcher’s side due to the Labour party’s losing their

lead after the ‘winter of discontent’ in 1978 and their failure to recover after her victory in 1979. Mr Sandbrook argued that Thatcher was “a Prime Minister to be remembered” because the decisions she took still shape our world today.

Eli Bernstein U6

Dominic Sandbrook Talk

On Thursday 13th June, the Lower Sixth economists from both the Boys’ and the Girls’ Schools convened in the Old Refectory for our annual Economics Day. As in previous years we were very privileged to hear from a range of speakers who are experts in their field and who delivered impassioned presentations. We were pleased to host Mr David Wolffe, until recently Group Finance Director at HMV, Professor Jonathan Haskell of Imperial Business School and Mr Mitesh Desai previously of JP Morgan and RBC.

David Wolffe told the fascinating story of the challenges faced by the high street and of the pressures faced by firms such as HMV. Students learnt first-hand of the interests of various stakeholders and of how technology is re shaping our experience as consumers and workers. A dramatic and ever changing story, students were challenged to consider how UK plc. needs to adapt to the pressures of change.

Comparing the US experience to that of the EU, Professor Jonathan Haskell explained why monetary union in the United States is successful and the conditions required in the EU to make monetary union a sustainable prospect here. With some surprising and rather

Keynesian sounding fiscal policies, students debated whether the Euro really could deliver on its promises.

Finally OH Mitesh Desai presented our Economists with a snap shot of city trading. Using some interesting role play he was able to demonstrate the sometimes limited use of economics fundamentals in daily market activity. Students were shown how understanding the psychology of the trader and of groups might give them a deeper insight into market highs and lows.

Our Economists were also invited to the offices of Absolute Strategy Research in the City of London. Dr Ian Harnett (MD) led students through a discussion of the UK Economy and of possible careers as Economists. A wide ranging presentation with views based on the latest research and on the opinion of a leading global research house, students were deeply impressed and inspired by the opportunities on offer and by the challenging road ahead for the macro economy. We are very grateful indeed to Dr Harnett and his colleagues for spending the day with our students and for their open discussion that motivated our Economists to achieve at the highest level.

K Shah

On the 4th February, The Rt. Hon. David Lammy, FRSA, MP for Tottenham and Minister for Higher Education 2007-2010 visited HABS to give a talk on his book, ‘Out of The Ashes: Britain after the Riots’. Mr Lammy spoke in depth to the Politics Society about the social and economic problems which he thinks Britain faces today.

He highlighted that he felt that ‘a grand theft auto’ culture towards violence was forming in the UK which was worsened by the fact that many current politicians are perceived as out of touch with the ordinary people. He believed that a government that looked more towards uniting the country such as Miliband’s ‘One Nation’ Labour Party, was needed to help fight the problems in the UK at the moment. Furthermore, he also argued that the sense of community was in decline and that economic liberalism was harming the poorest in the UK.

Mr Lammy went on to answer some thought-provoking questions asked by students. During his answers, he talked about his own up-bringing in a single parent household in Tottenham and the crucial role that public libraries played in allowing him to have access to books and to go on to study at Harvard. Before Mr Lammy gave the talk, he took time to visit a Sixth Form Politics class to answer some of their questions. He also had lunch in the Bates dining hall with students. Mr Lammy was joined on his visit by his wife; an artist named Nicola Green. Her exhibition “In Seven Days”, on display earlier in the year at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, tells the story of Barack Obama’s historic 2008 presidential election campaign. We would like to thank Mr Lammy for giving so generously of his valuable time to talk to the school and all those who dedicated their time to making such an event possible.

Eli Bernstein U6

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Skylark 2013 Events

HABS MUN

It is the kind of event that every HABS boy dreams of. I think it is fair to say that the opportunity to show off both how well one can speak, and just how much one knows about international affairs, has always held a distinct appeal to our students. HABSMUN 2013 was the school’s most highly anticipated conference to date, and it certainly did not disappoint. The conference saw almost 500 students from across the country bring a mixture of enthusiasm, charm, wit and healthy debate to the school for a memorable weekend.

Model United Nations is an initiative which seeks to foster and develop a keen interest in international relations and public speaking. The event acts as a simulation of what it would be like to be a real delegate in the United Nations. All of the delegates represented their respective delegation. They were set the challenge of working with other people in their committee to negotiate and attempt to solve real world issues. Though

full world peace may not quite have been achieved by the delegates over the weekend, vital communication skills and strong friendships were certainly cultivated.

During the day the delegates debated the resolutions they had written prior to the conference. This provided them with the opportunity to express the views of their assigned countries as accurately as possible. Our guests were split into different committees where they would spend the majority of their weekend. Breaks in the Bates dining hall enabled time for jovial discussion. It was a time where politically opposed delegates could put aside their differences and dine at the table of brotherhood, so to speak.

The atmosphere was a highly social and agreeable. The secretariat team ensured the smooth running of committee aided and abetted by their ever dependable walkie-talkies. The event ran almost too smoothly

and all the attendees thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Unreserved thanks must be offered towards all the members of staff and the organising committee who gave of themselves selflessly in order to make sure the event was a success. This was also Mr Mckane’s final conference. Mr Mckane has been at the forefront of all things MUN over the past few years, and we would like to thank him again for the incredible influence he has had over the conference since its inception in 2009.

Bring on HABSMUN 2014!

Eloka Agu L6

The Year 11 public speaking team, consisting of Marcus Rapacioli, Harry Kingdon and Chris Combemale, stormed through the first round of this year’s English Speaking Union’s public speaking competition, held at HABS, with the controversial speech of ‘All forms of religious belief are harmful’. All the probing questions from Harry, charming wit from Marcus and an impassioned speech from Chris culminated in a tentative yet triumphant win for the HABS team. They since enjoyed a strong run in the competition, reaching the National final.

The next round was held on Saturday the 9th March. The team travelled up to

Cambridge for the East England round of the competition. Faced with extremely accomplished and well-practised teams our opponents looked ferocious, however, a couple of sandwiches and a spot of tea was enough to settle the nerves, as we dived into the competition with high hopes. We gave it our all - Marcus and Harry being lucky enough to be paired with a very friendly, accomplished speaker from the Royal Hospital School, Ipswich, and Chris doing his best to blow away the audience and the other teams with an emotive speech on the subject of “Being the bystander is just as bad as being the bully yourself”.

We were crowned East of England Champions and eagerly anticipated the

national final in April - Chris adding to the glory by picking up a “Best Personality Award”. The three of us rejoiced as we walked back to the car, largely due to the complimentary lollipops, handed out at the end, but filled with anxious thoughts of the national final which was to be held at Goodenough College in London, a bit closer to home than Cambridge.

The weeks passed, and we were eager to flex our speaking muscles once more. It was clear from the start that this stage of the competition was far more formal, with camera crews filming competitors arriving from all over England and Wales. Once again, Christopher dazzled the 200-strong audience, including a Peer who headed the judging panel. Although the team did not win, Marcus Rapacioli was awarded ‘Best Chairperson’ for his stellar performance.

Thanks must go to the previous Y11 team, Josh Zietcer, Jack Lewy and Eloka Agu for their outstanding guidance, and also of course to Mrs Pollock for her inspirational coaching, as well as for supplying the team with copious volumes of hot chocolate throughout the training period. We all feel immensely lucky for having had the opportunity to compete, the opportunity to form friendships all over the country and, of course, the opportunity to learn.

Chris Combemale, Marcus Rapacioli & Harry Kingdon L6

English Public Speaking Union Success

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Skylark 2013 Events

Dragons’ Apprentice

On Saturday 19th January a group of six L6 students hosted a dinner for 65 guests at the Indian Orchid in North Finchley. The six young men, known collectively as “Team Avengers”, were led by Rohan Mandamula and included Canishk Naik, Max Wilding, Dan Daniel, Arun Mehta and Xiaohan Chang. The Avengers have been competing in the Dragons’ Apprentice, a community initiative from the Centre for Voluntary Service (CVS) St Albans and District.

The competition provided the Avengers with an initial £100 and challenged them to convert this sum into as much as possible - £1000 being the target. Every penny the Avengers raised went to a charity named

Home-Start. Home-Start helps families with young children deal with whatever life throws at them. It supports parents as they learn to cope, improve their confidence and build better lives for their children. Home-Start has different schemes across the UK and the money raised went to the Home-Start St Albans City and District which is managed by Sally Patterson.

The Avengers would like to thank Sally for all her support and also thank their ‘Dragon’ mentor, SA Law, a legal firm in St Albans, and in particular Chris Alexander and Victoria Thomson for all their guidance and support.

Guests included parents and friends of the Avengers, a table of staff as well as

some students and parents of alumni. The evening’s entertainment included a raffle, Canishk on the violin together with a ‘Slave’ auction in which the Avengers offered their services for 3 hours of hard toil at the highest bidders’ home! The entertainment also included the magic circle magician Chris McGeever, himself an old Haberdasher. Chris wowed the guests with his sleight of hand and quick witted remarks. There was even time to wish team leader, Rohan, Happy Birthday!

A fantastic evening that was enjoyed by all. A cheque for £1,328 was presented by the Avengers on 1st February to Victoria, who received it on behalf of Home-Start.

A Campbell

Skylark 2013 Events

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On the 10th of October 2013, Habs Science Society was privileged enough to be able to host Matthew Tosh, a pyrotechnician, as he demonstrated the science behind fireworks and explosives. Mr Tosh, a technician cum teacher who works for Skyburst, a public events fireworks company, set up his explosive paraphernalia inside the Bourne Hall, following rigorous safety inspections (and more fire extinguishers than I have ever seen in one single location). It was an awe-inspiring and, above all, unique occasion; what other talk would require a two metre ‘fall-out’ zone and ‘danger, high explosives’ signs?

Personally, it is this practical side of science which keenly furthers my interest of it. Mr Tosh spared no detail in explaining chronologically the origin and development of gunpowder (or black powder as the professionals call it). He led the audience through the stages of gunpowder’s use, from a flammable compound to a high explosive and ultimately a firework. His excellent use of projected videos and diagrams helpfully explained the chemistry behind explosions, yet what sort of pyrotechnician would he be had he not practically demonstrated one? Safe to say, the audience was well entertained by a series of controlled explosions, increasing in magnitude, which culminated in a single explosion so large it sent shockwaves to all four corners of the Bourne Hall.

The best fireworks, however, involve more than just a ‘bang’, as Mr Tosh explained. Colour, sparks and sound also play vital roles in cloud-pleasing. To prove this point, he demonstrated several individual pyrotechnics, including ‘mines’ (ground flares) and ‘fountains’ (which shoot sparks high into the air).

It seems, therefore, that making spectacular fireworks involves almost as much art as it does science, in order to create a truly awesome explosion, and an unforgettable show for the public. Matthew Tosh makes a living out of creating such fireworks displays, and it is a job that I am very envious of.

Edward Boulton U6

Matthew Tosh Fireworks demonstration

Michael Scott Visit

On 11th December HABS was visited by the academic and TV presenter, Dr Michael Scott. Dr Scott spoke to the schools’ Classics Society on the topic of

Ancient Greek Theatre. He has presented programs on National Geographic and BBC 4 on a variety of subjects including “Luxury in the Ancient and Modern Worlds” and “Delphi: The Bellybutton of the world.” His engaging talk focused on the religious and political context surrounding much of ancient Greek theatre. The insights he offered were well received by all who attended.

Dr Scott introduced his stimulating lecture by speaking about the influence of Greek Gods on the culture of antiquity. Specifically he spoke about the role of Dionysus, the Greek God of wine and festivals. Having grounded us in a basic understanding of Greek festival culture, he connected the idea that the origins of theatre in the Western

world came as a result of performances in these festivals. The use of wine was intended to allow the person who took it to achieve a state of ‘ekstasis’, a feeling of being outside one’s body. It was this sensation that allowed people to take on the roles of other individuals and attempt to embody characters other than their own. Hence it was the religious festivals worshipping the Greek God of wine which may be said to have established the first form of theatre in Greek and therefore the Western world. We were all fully engaged in the whole discussion, which was expertly presented by an accomplished academic and speaker.

Benedict Harrison U6

Music Festival

26th June saw the final of this year’s Music Festival. Some 110 boys entered the contest this year. This year’s Music Festival saw 110 boys enter the contest. After 3 days of elimination and highly competitive semi-finals there were 17 performers in the final. The event was adjudicated by Mr Daniel West.

The contestants performed with great poise and dynamism, with a wide range of instruments on show; ranging from the tabla to the saxophone, from Debussy to Clapton. Mr West returned to make a difficult decision in distinguishing between the 17 finalists to choose a winner for this year’s competition.

This year the organisers introduced a House Music Shield. This new award was awarded to the House which had the most points gained from entries into the competition and performance in the final. Congratulations must go to Hendersons House for being the first winners of this award, with Harjivan Singh holding the House Music Shield for Hendersons.

After a suspense-filled period of uncertainty the winners were eventually revealed. Bruce Parris, who performed the 3rd movement from the “Sonata in Gmajor” by Saint-Saens, won the Audience Prize. Noah Max, who performed first movement of Elgar’s “Cello Concerto”, won the prize for Young Musician of the Year with an accomplished performance on the Cello. Other notable performances included James Meir on the flute and Jason Lam on the Guitar. All of the Finalists performed to an incredibly high standard and the audience were simply blown away by the talent of the boys.

Eloka Agu U6

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Skylark 2013 Events

Trips

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Skylark 2013 Trips

German Exchange to Offenburg

On Saturday, the 13th of July, 56 Year 8 students from HABS Boys & Girl School embarked on their first German Exchange. The German Coach arrived at 5:20 in the morning at the HABS Coach car-park and 25 minutes later it drove to Dover to take the ferry to Calais.

The coach journey to Offenburg took about 14 hours, but the time passed quickly as we all had lots of fun on the bus. We had many questions: ‘what is Germany like?’ ‘where will we live?’ and ‘do we know enough German?’.

We arrived at the Schillergymnasium, the German school, to meet our German exchange families. Luckily we already knew our exchanges as they came to visit us a few weeks earlier. We said goodbye to our friends before we set off to start our German adventure. The German families were all very helpful and kind, meaning we all settled in quickly and as soon as we ate our dinners and were shown our rooms we all felt relaxed and happy.

We spent Sunday with our host families to get to know them better. Each family

made a big effort and took us to various places. Some of us went to Strasbourg and its Cathedral, some went swimming in a lake and others went to a climbing park. Everybody had a great first day and we all settled in to our exchange families’ lives fantastically.

The activities HABS organised were vast and on Monday and Tuesday we were split into two groups. Over the two days we went with our exchange to school for half a day and then had a tour of Offenburg. We also went to Triberg to see Germany’s highest waterfalls and visited a cuckoo clock museum. Wednesday was the highlight for many: an eight hour long visit to one of Europe’s biggest theme parks – the Europapark! It also has the ‘Silver star’ – a roller-coaster that has a top speed of 130km/h! Some of us were additionally lucky as we were able to stay an extra two hours, as our exchange came to join us in the park! On Thursday we all went on a boat trip on the Titisee and then to Freiburg, where we had the chance to buy some souvenirs for our families back in England. On our last day we had the choice

of either going to a silver mine or an open-air museum with old traditional German houses. To finish off the day we all went on a summer sledge run and to an open air swimming pool with great slides.

Our day trips finished mostly in the early afternoons, which allowed us to spend time with our host families. The families organised many activities for us and we went swimming, did bike rides, played badminton or football and ate lots of ice cream! The weather was great and we had the chance to have BBQs and taste the many delicious German sausages!

After a great week we sadly had to pack our bags. We said goodbye to our host family’s home and then drove to the Schillergymnasium, where our coach was already waiting for us, ready to take us back to England. The return journey was a lot quieter than the journey to Germany as everyone was exhausted. However, without doubt, we all had an amazing and unforgettable week!

Henry and Max Colbert Year 8

Bologna Exchange

During the October half term, nine GCSE Italian students, along with two girls from St. Paul’s Girls’ School, set out on the annual Italian exchange to Bologna. We were welcomed at the airport by our Italian families and instantly our Italian knowledge was put the test! The families were very welcoming and seemed excited to let us into their lives and expose us to Italian culture, and we thoroughly enjoyed the first day with them, having our first taste of the wonderful Italian food. After this, our action-packed week really began with a guided tour of Bologna and its many squares, churches and, most notably, the bakeries! We also enjoyed day trips to Venice and Florence; it was fascinating to learn about the Renaissance in such a quintessential Italian setting. We were also treated to a visit to our exchanges’ school for a day; it was fascinating to see school life in a different culture and how it was so different from Habs. There were so may highlights to the trip but one of the best was the view from the top of the Asinelli Tower over the red roofs of Bologna; very memorable indeed. It was great to be able to practise our Italian in such an idyllic setting and many thanks to Mr Haldane and Mrs Knight for taking us around.

Jacob New Year 11

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Skylark 2012 Trips

Classics Trip

April 2nd – 6th saw this year’s Roman Britain Classics Trip kick off, an excursion that would take the 20-strong group of boys to York, Chester and Newcastle, visiting famous sites like Hadrian’s Wall and the Roman ruins at the historic town of Vindolanda on their way.

The group departed from King’s Cross Station, many bleary-eyed after waking up much too early but by the time the trip was underway, all tiredness was forgotten as eager eyes took in wonderful museums and breath-taking views; stunning monuments and brilliant artefacts, all

holding the pieces of the puzzle that is Roman Britain.

Some highlights were visiting the Jorvik Viking Centre in York, as well as the Roman Army Museum at Vindolanda. For the thrill seekers in the group, Alton Towers and York Dungeons were definitive highlights, places to get high on adrenaline and excitement.

The group enjoyed comfortable lodging and great coach journeys on the trip, all the way from gray and gloomy London to bright and sunny Chester. The trip was a brilliant experience for all who went on

it, and it will not be forgotten for a long time! Thanks to Mr. Whiteman, Dr. Joyce and Mrs. Simons for catering to the boys’ every need and helping organise this great trip!

The group readily await next year’s tour, which will take our budding Classicists to Italy, visiting Pompeii and Herculaneum. Details of this much-anticipated trip are coming your way soon! Hic est optime!

R Whiteman

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Skylark 2013 Trips

Year 8 French Exchange 2013

On March 22nd, a group of boys and girls from Haberdasher’s Boys and North London Collegiate School, led by Mr Haldane and Dr Sloan and two teachers from NLCS, set off on a French Exchange to Chambéry in France. We had all been looking forward to this and were very excited when the day finally arrived! Many of us were also a little anxious about what would be waiting for us there and were eager to find out what our exchange partners and their families would be like. Before long we had arrived and our concerns were laid to rest by the warm welcome we received from the families we were staying with.

After a good night’s rest, our first couple of days were spent going out with the French families. Some of us went hiking in the nearby, snow-covered mountains.

Others had a go at skiing and ice-skating and we all got a chance to spend time with our exchange partners, getting to know them better and even celebrating birthdays with them!

Most importantly, we spoke as much French as possible while we were there and this not only helped us improve our French language skills but also helped us appreciate their culture as well. The food was delicious and rarely without cheese! I was told that one the famous meals there was called Raclette which is made with potato that is filled with melted cheese cooked on a special cooker and served with salad.

During the week, the group went out to visit nearby historic towns and cities with our teachers whilst our exchange

partners went to school. This included Lyon, Annécy, Chambéry and also some high up gorges and a boat ride on the Lake Bourget. In Lyon, we visited the fascinating Institut Lumière about the life and work of the early film pioneers, the Lumière brothers. We were taken on tours to learn about the history of these places and spent some lovely afternoons exploring the shops and French town life.

On the last day, we said goodbye to our newly found friends, knowing that we would see them soon when they come to stay with us and left for home. I personally found this trip to be great fun and a fantastic learning experience with many great memories of the places and people we visited.

Rian Shah Year 8

Lower Sixth Dorset Geography Fieldtrip

Three days of hardcore coastal Geography down in Dorset. Can life get any better?

The first day in Dorset was spent carrying out questionnaires and pedestrian counts at different locations in Weymouth’s city centre. This data was later used to produce isopleth maps displaying the spatial distribution of pedestrians. Chesil beach was the next stop to carry out fieldwork, investigating how the sediment size and shape changes with distance from the shoreline.

The second day of the trip was designated to further study of coastal landforms

followed by an investigation of succession on the Studland dune system. As we marched our way over the rocky pathways and braved the fierce winds, we were soon met with the stunning view of Lulworth Cove. Here we were taught how differences in rock type and wave action have formed this unique coastal feature.

After warming up with some local fish and chips we made our way back to the coach which then took us to Studland Heath. Here we began investigating succession on the dune system, learning how the dune vegetation and soil type changes

with distance from the beach. This part of the trip really combined biological and geographical knowledge to further improve our understanding of dune systems.

The final day of the trip was spent studying coastal management at Hengistbury Head and Christchurch Bay.

Overall, the trip was extremely informative and great fun. Thanks go to all of the Geography Department for organizing and leading the fieldtrip.

T Joshi L 6

Skylark 2013 Trips

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Walton-on-the-Naze

In June, the entire Year 8 cohort was lucky enough to go to Walton-on-the-Naze with the Geography Department.

The purpose of the trip was to show the Year 8 pupils coastal erosion in action and investigate some of the real-life conflicts that arise from coastal management. The large gaggle of eager Year 8 pupils descended onto the coast, keen to practise their map reading and explore the local area, especially the beach! Pupils were split up into small groups of four to five, and given the freedom to carry out the investigation independently.

The sun shone all day and all pupils had a fantastic experience exploring Walton. The trip was a definite hit and thanks must go to the Geography Department for organising it.

Sohum Panda Year 9

Year 11 Geography field trip to Somerset

On the morning of Saturday 10th March this year, a large body of iGCSE Geography students embarked on a field trip to Somerset, in preparation for ‘Paper 4’ of their summer examination.

On the Saturday afternoon, the group made their way to the Quantock Hills, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Unfortunately, the weather did not possess such beauty itself, as the group swiftly donned their rain jackets and set off for the River Holford. When arriving at the modest source, the group slowly made their way down the river’s course, measuring river variables including the hydraulic radius and the cross-sectional area. Following the field work, the group collated, assimilated and processed their results, receiving valuable guidance from the Habs Geography staff and Field Centre assistants.

The Sunday saw the group’s attention turn from rivers to coasts; travelling to the West Somerset coast in order to investigate wave action on beach sediment at Porlock Bay. Whilst at Porlock Bay the group examined the beach profile, relating their findings to the theory and hypotheses they had formulated earlier in the morning.

Many thanks must be owed to the teachers of the Geography Department for organising the trip and for their expertise in the field.

Oliver Marshall L6

HABS Success at Munch

On Saturday 12th October, 17 HABS boys forming two delegations braved gelid conditions to travel to Cheadle Hulme School to participate in Model United Nations Cheadle Hulme 2013, the twelfth Model UN conference hosted by the school. Having completed countless hours of preparation and research, the boys were ready to represent the United States of America and South Africa.

What followed was an excellent two days of intense debating, forming alliances with other nations and of course, exercising diplomacy to tackle some of world’s most pressing issues. Topics ranged from the issue of landmines in the Middle East to the question of the UN’s approach to global counter-terrorism in relation to national sovereignty. The boys thoroughly enjoyed debating not only the aforementioned issues but also the conference’s ‘crisis situation’, which involved an underground nuclear explosion and subsequent earthquake in Qatar.

As HABS has a reputation for excellence at Model UN conferences, it was no surprise that awards were won by many of the boys who participated. Congratulations must be made to Jake Gilbey for being awarded the Outstanding Delegate award representing South Africa. Special mentions must also be made to those boys who were awarded the Highly Commended Delegate award for their participations to debate in committees. These boys were: Zachary Lande, Curran Kumar, Aaran Kotecha and Zak Wagman – all of whom represented the

USA. Khush Kotecha (USA) and Sahil Baid (USA) were awarded Best Young Delegate for their efforts in the Human Rights 2 and Disarmament committees respectively. Tom Kyriacou (USA), Theo Lewy (South Africa) and Jordan Bernstein (USA) were awarded the Commended Delegate award; Jordan for his work in the Security Council, a special committee reserved for only the most gruelling debate.

Finally, the delegation of the USA as a whole was presented with the Highly Commended Delegation award, an award that was presented to only two out of the sixty-one

delegations that were present.

On behalf of all of the boys who attended the conference, I would like to thank Mr Hall and Mr Simm for giving up their weekend to supervise us.

Model United Nations here at HABS is moving from strength to strength with more boys than ever participating in the school’s weekly MUN Club every Monday after school. We wish the best of luck to boys attending upcoming conferences, including RRSIMUN 13 and PAMUN 13.

Curran Kumar L6

Skylark 2013 Trips

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Munich Exchange

On our arrival at the airport, we were greeted with a warm welcome from our exchange partners and soon after a steaming bowl of pasta with a mushroom and cream sauce was placed before us.

Being vegetarian, we were reluctant about the food we would be eating … but we were pleasantly surprised! Every morning we were given pretzels and assorted bread rolls accompanied with one of the biggest pots of nutella we have ever seen. One thing that we were served was ‘Dampfudeln’; steamed yeast balls coated in deliciously cold and sweet custard. An explosion of taste, texture and temperature all in one. Throughout our lives, never has our palette been tickled so much!

Although the objective of the week was to speak as much German as possible, we were all thoroughly unprepared for what the week would throw at us. After a week of total immersion in German culture and language, we can all certainly say that our German has definitely improved.

Munich is a city of art and culture with an abundance of historical buildings, fine art, museum treasures and a lively cultural scene everywhere to be seen. The ‘Englischer Garten’ and the Isar meadows are right in the middle of the city and the Alps can be seen from the Olympiaturm. We could see why it has been described as ‘Italy’s northernmost city’, where the relaxed, often Baroque lifestyle gives it a southern flair.

The majority of people in Munich live in apartments because Munich is an expensive area to live in. The families and us exchanges spent most of our time in the living room and often sat, read and talked. When we ate, we all ate together, which is very different to what we do here, and we talked about many different things. We immediately felt accepted as part of our exchanges family.

On Monday, we had a wonderful tour around Munich a very diverse city with a mix of old and new as many buildings which had to be rebuilt after the severe bombings from WW2 as well as having a lot of culture throughout the city. We were fortunate enough to have some free time to wander around the city centre and fully take in the wonderful surroundings.

On Tuesday, we went with the exchanges to their school, the Gisela-Gymnasium situated in the fashionable area of Schwabing, an idyllic suburb to the north, which was a well known bohemian district inhabited by artists and intellectuals towards the end of the 19th century. We were all astounded at how different school life is there and were shocked to find blackboards still present making us all realise how privileged we are. Perhaps one of the largest differences was how short their school day is; starting at 8am and ending at 1:20pm.

On we travelled to Salzburg in Austria. Despite the two hour coach journey where

we were lucky enough to be informed about all there is to know about Salzburg by Mr Corrall, we had some free time to explore the city including Mozarts birthplace before going up to the Medieval Castle, Hohen-Salzburg from where we savoured panoramic views of the city nestling alongside the river Salzach and spectacular snow -capped mountains.

On Thursday we travelled with our exchanges to the vast Herrenchimsee, a lake dotted with islands. We had a most informative tour of mad king’s Ludwig 2nd castle started in 1878 and modelled on ‘Versailles’. Seven years later, he ran out of funds after completing 20 magnificent rooms.

Many of us have been invited back and we hope to return to this. In the meantime we look forward to welcoming our partners to London in the last week of June.

We would like to thank Mr Donaghey for organising such an amazing exchange in which we all had a brilliant time. We would also like to thank our ‘resident travel guide’ Mr Corrall for sharing with us his vast knowledge of Munich and its surroundings. Finally we would like to thank Mrs Donaghey for giving up her time to accompany us.

M Donaghey

Year 8 Bushcraft Field Day

The whole of Year 8 left school at 3:30pm on Thursday and headed for an isolated woodland in the depths of leafy Oxfordshire.

With the careful supervision and excellent organisation by the Bushcraft Company, the boys were organised into tribes and spent the night camping in the remote woods. They cooked and ate by the camp fire and after a night with varying quantities of sleep they were all instructed in some essential skills for survival in the wild; fire lighting, navigation and first aid. The lads also learned how to wash their clothes using silver birch leaves and how to recognise animal tracks in the wood. They played a number of team building games which provided an excellent opportunity for them to make a number of new friends in Year 8. Many of the boys had never spent a night under canvas before so it was a fantastic experience for all of them which they embraced manfully.

D Bardou

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New York Trip

The destination for the 2013 Art Trip was the vibrant, iconic and the concrete jungle that is New York City. The trip was coordinated brilliantly by the head of department, Mr Keenleyside. Mrs Gleeson from Ceramics and Mr Endlar from Chemistry (stepping in for Mr Todhunter) also came along to help run the trip with the other 29 boys from years 9 to U6.

The trip took part in the first week of the Autumn half term. The trip involved a good mix of art related events and sightseeing throughout the five days of our stay in The Big Apple. On the first night we were lucky to experience Manhattan at night by going to the observation deck at the Empire State Building. The other places that we managed to visit during our stay were The Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, Central Park, Brooklyn Bridge, Times Square and the infamous New York City underground system.

However the highlight of the trip for me were the fantastic art galleries and museums that showcased some the world’s most famous artworks from artists like Picasso, Mondrian, Balla, Gris, Dali, Close, Degas, Monet, Manet, Kandinsky, Rembrandt, Hopper, Warhol and Turner just to name a few. The two main museums we visited were The Metropolitan Museum of Art (more commonly known as The MET) at the heart of the stunningly gorgeous and massive Central Park followed by The New York Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). The group also visited the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Guggenheim Museum.

The trip was rounded off by fantastic weather and a selection of ‘typical’ American restaurants such as the Hard Rock Cafe, Planet Hollywood, Hearland Brewery, Carnegie Deli and Mama Sbarro.

This was one of the best art trips I’ve been on in the five years I have been at HABS and I know that everyone that went thoroughly enjoyed it too as we had a chance to experience a new city with our friends, old and new, while enriching our knowledge and appreciation for art in all its fields of painting, photography and sculpture. The long flights, long days and long walks were definitely worth it. Despite the fact that there was a mix up with the travel company that meant we couldn’t go to the Broadway show we were eager to see, I cannot fault this amazing week that I will remember for quite some time. I guess we all now have an excuse to return to New York one more time.

Juan Lopez U 6

Skylark 2013 Trips

Royal Russell MUM

The Royal Russell School International Model United Nations Conference (or RRSIMUN) is one of the most anticipated conferences of the year not just for HABS, but also for the hundred or so other schools that attend from such far-flung places as Greece, or Dublin, or even Japan.

And so, as the four delegations from our school (Togo, Peru, Kenya and Malta) arrived at Borehamwood Station on a bitterly cold Saturday morning in October, it was with apprehension that we set off deep into the heart of Croydon. Debate across the four days of the conference was incredibly stimulating, with immensely varied topics being discussed depending on which committee one was in; someone in the Environment committee could find themselves suddenly speaking about the mining industry, whilst in Disarmament, one would instead turn their hand to the ever-contentious issue of the Israeli blockade on Gaza. Of course, as with any conference, all boys were expected to speak not from their own viewpoint, but from that of their country; this as always was highlighted by the ban on the use of first-person pronouns.

With the end of committee on Monday morning came the start of the greatly anticipated General Assembly, where all delegates at the conference set themselves in for eight hours of fruitful debate on a large scale, chaired for the first time by the Secretary General and his Presidents. It was here where things became trickier; whilst in committees, with less countries being represented, one can get recognised frequently, speaking time for our four delegations in the Assembly was few and far between. However, with consistent bribing of the chairs, we certainly did not feel disappointed. A highlight of the conference for everyone was the “Motion to Airstrike” in the middle of GA, where all countries that had prepared paper aeroplanes released them at once, allowing them to fly into the podium in what can only be described with the antithesis of “well organised, but chaotic”.

And so onto the closing ceremony. A grand total of nine HABS students from across the four delegations were blessed with the coveted Distinguished Delegate Award, for their particular flare during debate in committee. And, carrying on the HABS

tradition, our “power delegation”, in the form of Togo, was one of only three teams awarded with Outstanding Delegation. Special congratulations must go to Togo’s two upper sixth members, Michael Chronias and Max Spiro, who have given so much to MUN throughout the years and for whom RRSIMUN was their last external conference, along with Nikhil Banerjee, who was chairing at the conference and will sourly be missed in our MUN circles. This report cannot be allowed to end without also thanking Mr Pauletto, who has been involved in running MUN for nine years and also Mr Teague, who we hope will attend many more conferences with us despite being relatively new to the advisory role. Both gave up four whole days during half term just to make sure we could attend, which is no mean feat. To all those involved in the conference, it was a pleasure and we shall see you next year!

Jordan Bernstein Y11

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Valencia Trip

During the Easter holidays, a group of eighteen year ten Spanish students, led by Mr Sykes and Ms Von Truchsess, undertook a six-day trip to Valencia.

The group assembled at Gatwick eagerly anticipating their exciting visit to Valencia. We arrived at Españolé School to find our very hospitable host families waiting. After greeting our family, we were escorted back to our house. Rocío’s flat was a 10 minute bus journey away from the school, where we had to be the next morning at 9:15. Arriving at the school the next day, we were introduced to Carlita and Mamen, our two

teachers for the week, both of whom helped us develop as linguists enormously. Each day, from 9:30 until 1:30 we had intensive lessons where we practised our Spanish speaking and learnt new tenses.

In the afternoons, we went on various trips around the city. We were shown the cathedral and the tower in the city centre, visited ‘El Museo Taurino’ where we found out about the history of bullfighting in Valencia and watched a fantastic dolphin show at Oceanográfic. We also went to see ‘El Museo Fallero’ where they kept all the spectacular and interesting Fallas, figurines that are saved

from the fire during the festival, ranging back 80 years. Due to them being traditionally humorous as well as them being so well made, it was almost like being in Madamme Tussauds only much more amusing. Apart from our educational excursions, we also went to the beach where Mr Sykes showed us his sensational footballing ability and went bowling. I would like to thank Mr Sykes and Ms Von Truchsess for their careful planning as well as everyone at the langauge school and our host families for enabling us to see such a wonderful city.

Benjamin Katz Year 10

YEAR 8 French Exchange

On March 22nd, a group of boys and girls from Haberdasher’s Boys and North London Collegiate School, led by Mr Haldane and Dr Sloan and two teachers from NLCS, set off on a French Exchange to Chambéry in France. We had all been looking forward to this and were very excited when the day finally arrived! Many of us were also a little anxious about what would be waiting for us there and were eager to find out what our exchange partners and their families would be like. Before long we had arrived and our concerns were laid to rest by the warm welcome we received from the families we were staying with.

After a good night’s rest, our first couple of days were spent going out with the French families. Some of us went hiking in the nearby, snow-covered mountains. Others had a go at skiing and ice-skating and we all got a chance to spend time with our exchange partners, getting to know them better and even celebrating birthdays with them!

Most importantly, we spoke as much French as possible while we were there and this not only helped us improve our French language skills but also helped us appreciate their

culture as well. The food was delicious and rarely without cheese! I was told that one the famous meals there was called Raclette which is made with potato that is filled with melted cheese cooked on a special cooker and served with salad.

During the week, the group went out to visit nearby historic towns and cities with our teachers whilst our exchange partners went to school. This included Lyon, Annécy, Chambéry and also some high up gorges and a boat ride on the Lake Bourget. In Lyon, we visited the fascinating Institut Lumière about the life and work of the

early film pioneers, the Lumière brothers. We were taken on tours to learn about the history of these places and spent some lovely afternoons exploring the shops and French town life.

On the last day, we said goodbye to our newly found friends, knowing that we would see them soon when they come to stay with us and left for home. I personally found this trip to be great fun and a fantastic learning experience with many great memories of the places and people we visited.

Rian Shah Year 8

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Washington Trip

During the recent February half term, a group of 28 sixth-form History and Politics students undertook a six-day trip to Washington DC and New York, accompanied by Mr Simm, Dr Sloan and Mr Clark.

In Washington the group were able to see many of the famous sites of the United States’ capital, including the Washington Monument, the White House, Arlington National Cemetery, the Jefferson Memorial, the National Archives, Ford’s theatre and the Abraham Lincoln museum, the Supreme Court and a tour of the Capitol building. An undoubted highlight of visit to Washington was the Lincoln Memorial where Dr Martin Luther King Jr. gave his legendary “I have a Dream” speech to Civil Rights marchers in 1963. Fifty years on from that famous oration, HABS can truly claim to be a happy multi-racial community where students are judged not the colour of the skin, but on the content of their character. We were fortunate as well to have the rare privilege of visiting the inside of the World Bank building, courtesy of Udayan Tripathi OH (Hendersons 2008) who works there. Udayan had very kindly arranged for a panel of young professionals from Washington DC to speak to the boys about their experiences working in the famous institutions of the city. The sparkling discussion ranged from the fight against climate change, to the importance of networking, to who are the rising stars in US political life and the wisdom of HABS-own PE teacher and guru Mr Metcalfe.

The group moved on to Gettysburg, site of the most bloody battle of the US Civil War. As we learned of how Union General Meade’s Army of the Potomac defeated Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, we had the benefit of an expert guide who has taken two Presidents around the battlefield and has been chosen each year by Sir Alex Ferguson as his personal guide to help him understand the battle better.

The final leg of the trip was New York City, with the group staying in the heart of Manhattan just a short walk from Times Square. We managed to visit a number of diverse sites associated with New York City’s rich history such as City Hall, the 9/11 Memorial, Wall Street, the Apollo theatre in Harlem, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Chinatown, Grant’s Tomb and the Frick Collection. During a Harbour Cruise, we saw not only the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge, but also the damage done by last October’s Hurricane Sandy and we were able to marvel at how quickly the City has bounced back after the cyclone. Following on from the Headmaster’s visit to academic institutions in the US in the autumn, we had a tour of the campus of Columbia University by Raphaëlle, a current third year student studying at President Obama’s undergraduate Alma Mater. The tour included not only the history of the institution but also information about the difference of the US university system to

that of the UK, about Columbia’s unique first year course which sees all students reading a list of common texts, about life in New York as a student and how to apply to a US colleges from the UK. Journeys up the Empire State Building and the Rockefeller Center allowed for stunning views of Manhattan by night and by day, as well as many brilliant photo opportunities.

The group would like to express their gratitude to all our guides and to all those who supported the trip, most especially Mr Simm for masterminding and leading such a memorable adventure.

S Clark

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Strasbourg Trip

As 18 keen French A-level students boarded the Eurostar on a cold Friday morning at St. Pancras, a life-changing journey began. Accompanied by the fountain of knowledge that is Mme Robson and her Girls’ School counterparts, we were excited about what was to come as some of us (Kyri, Tom) had already forged strong relationships during the first half of the exchange in England.

Arriving in France, we marvelled at the beautiful surroundings as we waited for our Exchanges to pick us up from the school, eager to immerse ourselves in the French language and culture. A weekend of hedonistic partying followed (or in some cases, movies and maths) as we threw ourselves into the locals’ largely laissez-faire lifestyle.

Our week away from home took us to the Strasbourg Cathedral, modern art museum, a very cold Colmar and a number of other cultural and historical

sites. A winding, snowy drive into the Alsatian countryside took us to Le Château Haut-Koenigsbourg where Ed Jeans took a special hands-on approach to soaking up French history. A boat trip down the River Ill provided us with some much-needed relaxation and educational commentary. A politically and intellectually stimulating visit to the Council of Europe left us wanting more, as we developed a fervent passion and interest for the many nuances of European politics.

Many lifelong friends were made, some toilets were blocked, much French was learnt and we are very grateful to all the teachers and people involved that made this trip as memorable as it was.

Tristan Maclaren U6S1 & Kush Purohit U6C1

Art Trip to the Courtauld Gallery

On Sunday 29th September 40 pupils and 4 Staff from the Art Department travelled to The Courtauld Gallery in Aldwych to view their magnificent collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and Fauvist paintings.

This beautiful gallery, which is one of London’s ‘hidden gems’, was the perfect location to take in masterpieces by Cezanne, Van Gogh, Matisse, Manet and many more. With the gallery being very quiet for a Sunday the boys were able to sketch directly from the works in relative peace. A number took photographs (without flash), in order to further illustrate their written reports which had been set as homework. All involved enjoyed the afternoon’s visit and some impressive drawings and sketches arose from the trip.

A Keenlyside

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Skylark 2013 Trips

Granada

Last October half-term I took part in a sixth form trip organised by Mr Sykes and Mr Haldane in which we travelled to Granada in Andalucía, Spain for a few days.

We stayed with Spanish families and attended a language school named the ‘Escuela Delengua’ each morning for a few sessions of spoken Spanish, in the hope that it would improve our command of the Spanish language. Indeed, we went on trips in the afternoons and evenings, intended to enhance our understanding of the rich culture and heritage that is so abundant in this particular part of Spain.

We met in the early hours of Sunday morning at Gatwick Airport and soon left for Granada. We touched down at Málaga Airport just three hours later and after a minibus journey we were acquainted with our host families. After some relaxation and chat with our hosts, we went out on the Sunday evening to meet our tour guide and embark on a tour of the city of Granada. We were shown around the old Arab quarter, some parts of the ancient Jewish quarter and several other important churches and cathedrals. Something quite striking was the difference in architecture in different areas of the city, as it reflects the diverse peoples and rulers that the city has had.

On Monday, we walked the “Ruta de Lorca” - the route that Federico García Lorca supposedly took when captured by the Fascist militia in 1936 - through the centre of Granada and up a cobbled hill where

we reached a peak with an awe-inspiring view of the town itself. From this view we saw the traditional mountain houses named ‘Cuevas’, in which people still live to this day. As a reward for our hard work, we were treated to an outdoor Flamenco lesson, which included singing the famous Andalucian folksong La Tarara. However, Mr Sykes stole the show with his brave and accomplished attempt at trying out some traditional Flamenco dancing.

Tuesday saw us take a trip to the beautiful beach town of Nerja, via the market at Almuñécar to buy some fresh produce, where we enjoyed the dazzling Spanish sunshine and luxurious ice-cream and other snacks, generously provided by Mr Sykes and Mr Haldane for a picnic at the beach.

On Wednesday, we visited La Alhambra, the grandiose, abandoned citadel of the last Moorish Sultan of Granada, Boabdil. The citadel dominates the skyline of Granada, perhaps even more so than the Sierra Nevada, and it was great to finally take a closer look at this imposing piece of architecture. Emblematic of the zenith of Moorish culture that took place in Spain before the Christian conquest in 1492, we took a tour around the iconic sites to be found there, such as the exquisite gardens of the Generalife, the royal complex and the Hall of the Abencerrajes. During all of this, our guide explained to us the culture, lifestyle and legendary stories of the Moors and the Sultans who lived in the castle, and we learned of vital role Granada played in the

Muslim rule of Spain, and what it came to symbolise when the Christians finally took it over. Later that evening, we were taken out for a meal courtesy of Mr Sykes and Mr Haldane where we enjoyed many courses of traditional Andalucian food, along with friendly banter between student and teacher alike, as we were leave the next morning for England after our last language class in the Escuela Delengua.

The trip was very successful, as we enjoyed the cultural and historical aspects of the trip, while at the same time improving our Spanish immensely, and I would like to thank Mr Sykes and Mr. Haldane for organising such a great and useful trip.

Joel Dwek U6

Madrid Report

The AS Level Spanish trip to Madrid in October Half Term was truly a memorable one. The balance of work and fun achieved on the trip was perfect and we had a great time, whilst also improving our spoken and written Spanish.

Staying with a traditional Spanish family really helped us with our Spanish speaking and also allowed us to better our knowledge of common colloquial phrases. Eating breakfast and dinner with our families allowed us to have interesting discussions as well as learning to hold a good conversation in Spanish.

Every day, we had lessons at the well-known Spanish language school “Estudio Sampere” from 9.00 - 12.30 with a 30-minute break in between. The teachers at the school were very engaging and all of their lessons were extremely fun and also quite diverse. For example on one of the days, for the first part of the lesson we learnt useful grammar but for the second, we created our own Spanish advert. I’m sure I speak on behalf of most the people when I say that we all really enjoyed the lessons at Estudio Sampere and that we also learnt a lot.

The trips organized for the trip were all interesting and culturally informing. We visited a few art galleries such as the Prado and the Reina Sofia, which is famous for having Picasso’s depiction of the civil war – Guernica. We also did a full day trip to the medieval city of Toledo, which was one of the best days of the trip.

The trip also included many recreational activities, which were all thoroughly enjoyable. From Salsa dancing and a Flamenco show, to a tour of the infamous Santiago Bernabeu, the trip had it all. Most notably, we managed to get tickets to the Real Madrid vs Juventus game in the Champions League. It was a great game and the atmosphere at the ground was electric. It was an unforgettable experience for all of us.

Karan Amin L6

Originals

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Skylark 2013 Originals

AS Artists

This year I chose to focus on portraiture as this is where my strength and interest in art lies. I produced a number of portraits during the course, one of which was my exam piece which was of me stretching my face with my hands.

The painting was inspired by artist Louis Von Patten whose style is that of distorting the face in order to create a striking image. This was my main motivation for me to do this painting, to create a piece of art that would be thought provoking and hard to forget. The last painting I produced during the year was a portrait of fellow art student David Hochhauser. This piece was inspired by the work of Alex Katz, a modern day artist. The piece follows a recurring theme found in my art; a background constituted of purple and pink tones. The background colour is something I adopted in one of my first portraits back in Year 10. I have continued this throughout the years as I believe that every artist has their own style and I like to think that the use of a purple and pink background is my trademark. The painting of David marked a step up in my painting technique and is probably my favourite painting so far.

Amir Kumarathas.

My art is more about what is not there rather than what is. Through the medium of space and neglect, one can achieve an effect that no mark can ever recreate, and this space leads to the mind of the onlooker filling the space with what they perceive subconsciously.

My work is not just my own expression of emotion, but somewhat of a social experiment, whereby how different viewers interpret my work manifests itself in their reactions, be it positive or negative. Using a mixed media of printing, painting and drawing, a range of colour and texture turns apparent chaos into an ordered calm, where serenity reigns supreme. Portraiture is my preferred field of art, but I enjoy doing it with a slightly abstract environment around a central focal point, usually around the eyes, which tend to be more sharp and detailed than the rest of the piece. My favourite piece was the pair of elongated canvases with faces that seemed to drip down the canvas, with a variance of muted tones.

David Hochhauser

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Skylark 2013 Originals

Last year I had the opportunity to develop my passion for the use of colour in art.

I had the chance to explore the work of the Futurists and Cezanne from which I managed to produce several pieces which are very vibrant in terms of their colour rage. These included a trumpet print and a still life. Moreover, I had the chance to develop my skill of etching, producing a total of three different prints over the year. The first one was of a classic statue of a female figure which was, in my opinion, the most successful one. Furthermore, the AS course pushed me in directions which I would not have ventured such as the field of sculpture. I created a small horse sculpture out of wire and an assemblage model out of mount board, wood and mesh. The most important aspect of the AS course was that through it I was able to find my most favourite and comfortable style of painting which is with colour. Next year I hope to develop this interest through my contextual essay study and some of my earlier projects this year will include a series of small monochrome portraits and a large charcoal study, thus developing my skill in that area.

Henryk Hadass L6

Ishaan Patel

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Skylark 2013 Originals

Shanil Shah AS

Douglas Fung AS

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Skylark 2013 Originals

HABS Art Private View 2013

Summer 2013 was the date for the fantastic Private View for all the GSCE Art and Ceramics, AS and A2 artists to showcase their work in front of each other, teachers, parents, friends and visitors to the school. It is an event that we all look forward to with great anticipation, anxiety and worry but in the end with pride and satisfaction. This year we had one of the largest cohorts of students taking throughout the final four years of school.

As is tradition, Mr Keenleyside gave a speech to inaugurate the exhibition but to

also speak of the high caliber of work on show and to welcome all the guests to the evening. This year the special guest was established artist and BP Portrait Award Nominee Nicola Green. Nicola was asked to judge all the work on display and award the best pieces a prize. The recipients from Year 11: Nat Meyers, Gbenga Ojo-Aromokudu, Alex Mindell, Jacob Radom, Niel Shah, Karan Amin and Jack Green. From Lower Sixth: David Hochhauser and Juan Lopez. From Upper Sixth: Tim Duschenes.

In addition, the sole A2 artist, Tim Duschenes made an inspirational speech and thanked the entire art staff for all their support, hard work, time and advice that they devoted to him since year 7. Tim achieved 100% throughout all his three art exams at GCSE, AS and A2.

It was a fantastic evening that has set a very high standard. Good luck 2014!

Juan Lopez L6

Nat MeyersGbenga Ojo-Aromokudu

Cem DegirmenciAlex Mindell

Ozan KhanNikhil Ladwa

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The Art Intern - Zarina Kawaja

I joined Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School in September 2012 having left The University of Westminster that Summer clutching my ceramics degree certificate and wondering what to do next.

I was drawn to a degree in Ceramics as it offered me the chance to be more sculptural than the 2D art that I had previously experienced and as I was not yet sure what kind of art I was going to create. The course promised ‘free rein’ in terms of artistic output and was all encompassing; providing not simply direction in ceramic technique but also encouraging individual artistic development. As well as the expected lessons in throwing, hand-building and casting techniques there was also instruction in life drawing, art history, glaze chemistry, kiln-building engineering and professional practice when dealing with galleries and curators.

As a result of the creative freedom the course encouraged, my degree show was a mixed-media site-specific installation, featuring only a very small proportion of clay.

Having spent six years completing the ceramics course part-time I was determined to use my artistic skills in some capacity so it was really exciting to be offered the Art Intern position and put my knowledge and creativity through the ultimate test: the boys at Haberdashers’.

The Art Intern position at Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School is a flexible role that can be moulded around the individual. At a basic level it involves learning how a busy, productive and successful Art department is run and provides the teaching team with additional technician support. Since the Intern is stationed in the A level Art studio it also provides the students taking AS and A level Art with access to a recent graduate for daily artistic direction, advice and critique. The role has also allowed me to help run the SCS props group with Ms Bird and teach some pottery classes under the watchful eye of Ms Gleeson. I am now looking forward to covering Ms Gleeson’s pottery classes during her sabbatical to China this summer.

My area of interest is site-specific installation. Working with found objects, ceramics and other materials I produce work which is shaped by and responds to a specific location, in this instance the school. I take inspiration from artists such as Sarah Sze, Susie MacMurray and Cornelia Parker.

The title of my work ‘175 Days’ refers to the number of teaching days in the school year. I initially reflected on the house system, tribes and various other groupings which students fall into which divide and subdivide them into overlapping groups of interactions.

My work is a reflection on the unique and individual journey that each student takes whilst also being part of a larger collective identity: that of the school itself.

The piece references children’s building blocks and is fashioned from simplistic materials which all boys have access to. The physical act of its creation did not require any specific artist skill. It is very much designed to fuel the debate that art does not have to be judged merely on one’s ability to draw or the difficulty of the techniques utilised and thereby encourage all students to explore the creativity within them.

I was inspired in part by an exhibition of work by Siah Armajani at Parasol unit this year. His work responded to an address given by Alfred North Whitehead on the Aims of Education. Part of that address states: “From the very beginning of his education, the child should experience the joy of discovery. The discovery which he has to make, is that general ideas give an understanding of the stream of events which pours through his life, which is his life.”

Just after the autumn half term, the first ever HABS Art Staff Private View took place. Here, my work was surrounded by that of the other teachers’ and an OH, Max Herbert, who had brought some of their work both old and new for the exhibition. It was also an opportunity to raise funds for the Marie Curie Hospice in Hampstead, with generous donations being made throughout the evening and also 10% of all Art work sold during the show.

Zarina Kawaja.

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HABS Art Staff Private View

Andrew Keenleyside

Jill Gleeson

Stuart Todhunter

Zarina Kawaja

Stephanie Herbert

Max Herbert

Neil Procter

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The Gilman and Soame Photographic Competition

REFLECTIONS

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Winner of the 6th Form Catagory - Ajit Ark

Winner of the Middle School Catagory - Aaron Gelfand

Winner of the Junior Catagory - Alex Jones

Winner of the Prep Catagory - Benjamin Hocking

Commendation - Piers Seal

With special thanks to Judy Woodham and Diana Tyerman

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The Escape

Mark Barkley crept through the mist and fog of the moor, treading lightly on the muddy bank of the slope. Crepuscular rays of moonlight managed to reach him through the thick soup that was the air, sparsely illuminating the ground in front of him. Usually, Mark possessed a demeanour that was of pretentious superiority, mixed with definitive eccentricity, and a small, skinny, almost decrepit figure. But today, Mark feared for his life.

Deafening silence continued to roar across the moor. Mark pressed on, clutching a tarnished, aged revolver in one hand and an uncannily large leather sack in his other. Despite his small frame his feet felt like they were carrying lead weights as he plodded on, murmuring words of encouragement to himself.

The silence was interrupted by two solitary sounds in quick succession, which Mark believed to be the opening and closing of a car door. Adrenaline coursed through his body as he heard this noise, and his arms began to shake profusely as he clutched the handle of his gun. The colour had flushed from his cheeks as his heart progressed into overdrive; Mark knew exactly who the man in the car would be.

Who else could be, wandering around the moor at this time of night, but his captor?

The sweat emanating from his forehead had turned into cold needles as he began to push his legs forward, his frame swaying from side to side. He had no clue where he was headed, as long as it was a secluded and safe haven where he could live free from his pursuer and his associates.

Seconds felt like minutes for Mark as he continued blindly, knowing that his pursuer could be on him like a rabid dog any second now. No matter what direction he ran, it felt like his pursuer was closing in on him, his footsteps coming closer and closer, louder and louder. Mark began to feel that despite his struggle for safety he was being led like a lamb to the slaughter.

A cloud of doubt emerged in Mark’s mind as he wondered if it really was worth going to all this trouble, trying to escape, even if it meant freedom. Then again, there was no turning back now; the die had been cast. In a stroke of bad luck, at this moment of self-reflection Mark didn’t notice the wide ditch that he was about to fall into. A supressed squeal emerged from his cracked lips as he plunged into

the darkness of the ditch, praying that his pursuer had not heard his cry.

Mark attempted to get out of the ditch, but in his dazed scramble to the brow he didn’t notice the other half of his now broken gun lying at the bottom, caked in the deep brown mud. Fear was turning into sheer hysterical madness as he kept on running, his pace slowing, as he didn’t notice the blood pouring like treacle out of his leg.

His vision began to blur as his original pace had been reduced to a painful walk. The incessant treading of his pursuers feet behind him was still as loud as ever. The noise in his head was reverberating with no end in sight. At this moment in time, Mark fell to the floor, as the darkness engulfed him.

Doctor Smith had tried as hard as he could to find Mark Barkley and bring him back, but he was too late. He had tried to search for him, but had reached a dead-end. They found his body face down, a few paces from the ditch. Mark had attempted to escape and killed himself in the process. The mental institute had failed to help Mark.

Ollie Nash Year 10

The Way We Are

Some people say, this thing, it’s wrong,

But they’re too blind to see,

It’s them, their views that are forgone,

So they should let us be.

Let us be, the way we are,

Be who we are inside.

Like little dolls, all shut away,

Inside themselves they hide.

For they’re the ones whose backwards views

Threaten to stunt mankind.

Not us, our views nor way of life,

For we’re all of one mind.

Unite for love, for love is love,

Don’t judge or criticise,

Live your life and I’ll live mine,

With love, life never dies.

So be yourself, don’t hide away

‘cause you were born this way.

Don’t be ashamed; so what? You’re gay,

And that’s the way you’ll stay.

James Hart U6

Winter Clouds

When the winter clouds paint the dismal land,A soft silken sheet buries the barren pavement,In a land where rubbish rules the streets,But is now concealed in the magic of snow.

It flutters down from the iron sky,Drifting about in the Winter windStroking the stone, embracing the black,Masking the ugly and shrouding the grey.

The street is now a glistening white kingdom,Encrusted with priceless fragile beauty,Sparkling in the saffron sun,Twinkling in the majestic moonlight.

Yet as the spring months draw ever so near,The beauty is disfigured by murky grey,The kingdom is besieged by stains of mud,And the city is sodden with the tears of snow

Toby Cohen L6

Literature

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Day’s Break

There was silence, but now sounds of the beach pierce the dreams. It’s my alarm, isn’t it? 6:30 - that’s right. It’s too loud. I’ll turn it off, it’s just too loud. Oh, that’s better.

I need to get up. Get up. It’s important to get up. There’s darkness forming in my eyes and it’s so appealing but I can’t and I’ve got to get up instead. Stagger downstairs, if I can. Creaking staircase because I’m not cushioning my step and thumping instead like a heavy machine. You’re as stealthy as an elephant mum would say with a wry smile as if it hurt me to hear. Thump thump thump. Hit at lights in kitchen. Too bright; painful squinting. Better now - breakfast - got to be quick.

Still half asleep but pulling on trousers and buttoning shirt gave me some focus but still need to put on jacket. Tie straightened. Fumble with toothbrushes and select a

haggard green one over a pristine red. Toothpaste squeezed on - half a tube left. Move my hand up and down and around I am more efficient than a machine. My eyes look hollow and empty of expression which is certainly not a good thing and I can’t correct it. Smile. Smile looks like a forced grimace, like when I saw a chimp on the TV it was warning other males said David Attenborough but it looked like a big fake smile. The mirror looks wretched today. Good morning, I say, pleased to meet you, my name is-. I break off and look away. I can’t make eye contact with those broken eyes in the mirror. I skirt my eyes around the mirror it’s a rectangle and I notice the contrast between mirror and marble wall. Voice says Life is a sales pitch, really. Should be Dad’s voice but it’s David Attenborough’s. Life is a sales pitch I don’t think that’s true but that is my life so it’s too late now. Glance again at the mirror but I look too naïve so I dust down my shirt

and stand more upright and smile more genuinely and say “sorry, I didn’t catch your name”. It’ll work like it always does stop worrying they’ll be buying by the dozen. I don’t want to-. Should be leaving in five minutes and still need to put the jacket on I don’t want to. Walk away from the mirror but I don’t want to go. I want to stay at home. Raised eyebrows mum would give. Your father works all day for you to go to school, and you think you’re sick? You’ve never done a hard day’s work in your life. She was wrong I worked hard at school and now I work harder and I’m always working. Dad would be proud or if not he’d be content maybe even humble. Jacket lying on my bed - a straight-jacket and I’ll get taken off for another day. Pull it on and put arms through sleeves and the cufflinks are handcuffs and the buttons are heavy iron balls. Outside is gloomy but I breathe and I’m ready to lose another day.

Rufus McAlister U6

The Lost Time

This wasn’t where he wanted to be. Ajax Agamendeous was stuck on an aeroplane 27 years in the future on the run from a group of Spies who wanted to know what was inside his father’s secret capsule. It was a bit chaotic. The Plane was landing in Uruguay in 5 minutes and he needed to get away. The Spies who were called E.S.S.A (England secret spies’ agency) were on the plane that would land an hour later. Ajax swiftly got off the plane and briskly walked down the pathway toward the town Salta. He saw a compass labelled S.T. and had a feeling he would need it but he had no time to go and pick it up. He needed all the time in the world. This was unfortunate because he had just lost 27 years of time last week when he went into that time portal. He walked towards a library unknowing he was being watched by a spy who had taken the last seat of Ajax’s plane.

Meanwhile the other spies were impatient as their plane slowly moved to Uruguay. “How long IS this going to take?” Fred grumbled. The three other spies shrugged their shoulders in unison. Fred grounded his teeth. He immediately broke a window open and jumped out. The other spies, James, Nick and Jonas, looked out. Fred had opened his jet pack and was zooming across. “I don’t know about you lot but I’m doing the same.” said one. There was a murmur of agreement and they jumped out and rode on jetpack only to find that various species of birds came across hitting them right in their faces like ham hitting a chopping board as they rode on the chase of Ajax Agamendeous.

Akshi Krishnakumar Year 7

The gospel according to a Goose.

“Life without nostalgia is the death before the womb.”

Once, you told me this, old Goose-Girl, rasping in your beak.

“Humans are the candles in the tomb.”

Other such mad ramblings were you often wont to speak.

“School halls don’t exist until some poor wretch burns them down.”

Then, you preened your plumage with my winking razor blade.

“Past, you long for, but with heart of now!”

I heard, as the quill that’s in my hand begins to fade.

Now and then, I thought that you perhaps had been so right,

Longed to hear your voice again, to trace your jagged beak.

Where? Where were we that fire-lit night?

Prints – They’re strange, and I’m not sure which way were faced the feet.

Loic Desplanques U6

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DTGraphic Products GCSE

Bhavik Shah

Nikhil Amin

Nnamdi Ezekude

Daniel Uri

Jamie Murray

Sam Rodgers

Eli Persky

Harry Jukes

Sajan Rajani

Vinay Popat

Miguel Perera

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Resistant Materials GCSE

Zachary Lande, Coffee table

Richard Quashie, Bird Table

Kian Savides, BBQ condiment holder

Jacob Leigh, Bird Feeder

Ben Dobowitz, Bird Feeder

Anthony Stein, Desk Tidy

Alfred Gherson, Desk Tidy

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Fahim Kibria - Childs activity toy

Eyal Shuker - Mobile phone charging unit

Alec Moore - Art Deco style table lamp

Adam Morgan - Collapsible camping seat

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Joshua Silverman - Toddler walking aid and game

Jack Ottman - Games Compendium

Daniel Landau - Childs activity Toy

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Resistant Materials GCSE

Sebastian Binns - Saxophone and Music stand

Russell Hughes - Gardening stool

Omar Allum - Coffee Table

Alexander Davis - Adjustable Boot Scraper

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Kumail Jaffer - Music Stand and Drum Stick Holder

Theo Dixon - Anti Squirrel Bird Feeder

Kaligen Balasundaram - Gadget Tidy and phone holder

Devin Chandegra - Chess Board and Storage

Ben Fox - Guitar stand and seat

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Year 7 Parents Workshop

In May, thirteen brave parents volunteered to spend the morning in the Design and Technology workshops making a practical project. The initiative, which the DT department staff organised, was aimed at providing parents with an opportunity to experience the challenges and technical processes that their boys face when tackling their own Design and Technology projects within their DT classes. As well as providing a hands-on experience using a number of Computer Aided Design and Computer Aided manufacturing techniques.

By the end of the morning each parent had completed their ultra-modern photo stand.

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DT Private View

In November the Design Technology Department once again hosted our annual Exhibition, showcasing the previous years AS and GCSE project work.

Daniel Black (OH 2009) was our guest speaker for the Private View evening. Daniel who is currently studying Geography at UCL has set up two internet companies since leaving Habs. One focuses on repairing/replacing parts for electronic devices and the other one is concerned with making bespoke watches.

Congratulations to the following boys who received Design prizes

for their projects – Edward Nutting for his stand to accommodate a radio-controlled yacht, Amit kurani for his Beech Chessboard, Alexander Kyriacou for his children’s activity centre and Harry Brian for his packing of the Milan Pizza Company.

Special Congratulations to Tim Duschenes who was awarded the Wagstaff Memorial Prize for Design - this was for his ingenious sustainable bed which was his AS Product Design Project – made predominantly from compressed cardboard and laminated plywood.

Tim Duschenes AS

Features

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From Russia with Police Escort

I had always thought Moscow would feel something like major Western European cities. But in Moscow drivers join the motorway by reversing down the off-ramp and filtering into the hard shoulder: Even the drive from Domodedovo airport past copied and pasted crumbling apartment blocks, lopsided concrete monoliths in places largely named after Lenin, made me realise this was in no way a European city.

I had been flown to Moscow with the rest of the UK Chemistry Team and a few mentors to take part in the international Chemistry Olympiad, but as this took only ten hours out of a ten day stay, what should have been a chemistry tour became a cultural adventure. Even staying in a hotel with teams from 74 other countries made possible a whole world of bizarre international meet-ups.

“Do you love to eat rice?” “Yes, I love to eat rice!” “We also love to eat rice!”

This surreal dialogue between the Indian and Japanese teams set up the feeling of being surrounded by people who were at once both very, very different but all linked if in no other way by being at least sort of smart and kind of liking chemistry. The thick accents and stilted English on both sides made the exchange that followed about the differences between Japanese and Indian curries quite impressive.

A striking fact I learnt very quickly was that national stereotypes are entirely true.

These things were sometimes trivial, like the Italians’ manic gesturing, the Indians wobbling their heads and making Bangra hands while they talked, the Japanese team’s love of eating sushi and playing Pokemon. The South American countries set up games of football whenever it was physically possible (and had some serious skills), and I only actually met the Chinese team after the competition had finished because they had been locked in their rooms to work by their mentors. They did much better than our team.

We were transported everywhere in a convoy of 9 coaches with a police escort which allowed us to jump red lights and squeeze into gaps that really shouldn’t take 9 coaches. It later occurred to us that the Russian coach drivers would probably have done these things anyway. These trips to zoos, planetariums, museums and circuses were very nice, but less remarkable than the things I saw in Moscow and the other teams. So here are some interesting things:

For some perspective on Russian culture, it’s worth mentioning that they do not do ‘small’. Moscow state university (Московский государственный университет for you Russian students flicking through this) is uncontroversially the biggest and best university in Russia. Loads of famous Russians like Chekhov, Turgenev, Pasternak, Gorbachev, and several Novikovs went there. It has 63000 students and

academics, and a sizeable chunk of that figure live and work in one confusingly large building. No picture can quite give perspective on how large it is, just like any soviet monument or undertaking to be found in Moscow, but I have tried anyway.

For some more perspective, our UK guide Medeya (a chemistry student who got married the day after we went home) had found it shocking that you can ‘just walk into the Houses of Parliament and see on TV what is happening inside’. She was also surprised at how protests were allowed to happen in London - during our stay a protest broke out near red square (красная площадь - Russian students, you may want to look up the history of the word красный, because the Soviets managed to cheekily merge the concepts of red and beautiful) and was immediately suppressed and dispersed by the police, never to be reported in the mainstream British press. Russians are not as free as their European counterparts, not even the Muscovites who seem so cosmopolitan.

For some reason every street in Moscow has at least one flower shop which is open 24 hours a day. Why so many people need to buy flowers at 3 AM I never got to the bottom of. I asked a taxi driver, but as surprisingly few Muscovites speak any English, I could not get any more detail from the part of his answer I understood involving crime syndicates and a government monopoly.

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You can tell a lot about a place by its drivers. You can tell on Moscow’s roads (which radiate out from the middle like the centrally planned spokes and rings that they are) that Muscovites do not fear death. About a quarter of cars and the majority of the hilarious little Ladas that are still pootling around have large dents, the hard shoulder is used as an extra lane, motorcyclists rip through traffic, and written off cars lie jagged and wrecked by the side of the road every few hundred metres. For a few rubles many vehicles (apparently including ambulances) will stop to pick up passengers in an outwardly trusting leftover of Soviet times, still spoken of fondly by older Russians.

As an amateur linguist, this trip was eye opening for me in other ways too. Aside from improving my Russian with the guides who were chuffed that I wanted to learn, a lot of language trivia came my way from my new friends: Latvian has no native swear words and has to import them from Russian. ‘Mama’ means Dad in Georgian. Estonian has 15 cases and is even vaguely similar only to Finnish. Mongolians, Uzbeks and Krgystanis (three different native tongues) speak Turkish to each other. I found this out a Mongolian girl, whose name sounded suspiciously close to the word kangaroo, filmed me chatting for ten minutes so that she could listen to me whenever she wanted and pick up a British accent instead of an American one. Touching but slightly creepy.

As the Ashes were happening throughout our training week in Cambridge and most of our stay in Russia, there was a lot of friendly ribbing between us and the Aussie team. It started friendly at any rate - by the second night and our first Ashes victory we had stolen their giant inflatable kangaroo, written “England 1, Convicts 0” on it, and invited every other country to come and celebrate with us. Naturally we blamed this on the French but they were unconvinced. Surreally, the Uzbek team turned up 5 hours late and gifted the UK team a huge loaf of traditional Uzbek bread covered in

dried fruit and nuts. From our conversation in broken Russian I gleaned they had brought an entire suitcase of this bread. It was very Borat-esque.

Moscow itself had a weird feeling to it. Communism has left its marks (or should I say Marx) everywhere, with its brutalist architecture, oversized sky scrapers in the middle of residential areas still topped with red stars, and busts of Lenin still adorning the marble clad, advert-less metro system. Occasionally the feeling crept forward that it was all a joke or posturing for tourists, but the lack of tourists and the oversized hats on soldiers and security men and the man-height letters CCCP (not actually pronounce see see see pee, the C’s are S’s and the P is an R) on the university building kicked back this idea and reminded you that Russian leaders think and act differently to those in the West. The stars and busts are there to remind you to be good. Everything is big because that’s how Russians like things.

My favourite people were the Scandinavians and Baltic people - Northern Europe is where business meetings and Christmases take place in saunas, kids are taught to kill and clean moose, and where some of my friends returned from Moscow to immediately start their compulsory military service. We eventually discovered the hotel sauna where I was given the bench of honour (or of fiery pain) at the top, learnt the Finnish sauna

song and the bizarre Estonian tradition of vihtalamina where you beat yourself repeatedly with a birch branch that has been soaked in hot water. Relaxing.

There was also chemistry involved in the trip, namely two five hour exams, one being written, the other practical. The written exam was largely impossible, with a score of 50% getting you a high gold, while the practical forced you to run three experiments at the same time using dodgy soviet era equipment (instead of the fancy vacuum taps we had got used to in Cambridge they had water suction pumps duct taped to taps) including viscometers, a piece of kit surely not useful since the 30’s.

Mentoring our team were professor Peter Wothers, of St Catherine’s college, Cambridge, who is a brilliant chemist and a really sarcastic yet overwhelmingly pleasant man (chair of the steering committee for the international chemistry olympiad, and did the RI Christmas lectures last year if you saw them) and two great teachers from Cheltenham Ladies’ College and Harrow as well as Ben the PhD student from Oxford who seems to know every organic reaction that exists.

The UK team of Ben, Phil, Ravi and I were taught very well and had a brilliant time both in training and in Moscow, winning two silver medals and two bronze medals (I won a bronze). We had trained for a week in Cambridge and a weekend in Oxford, where I learnt more chemistry than I had ever learnt before, and had lots of practice doing experiments with organic compounds like making drugs from smaller molecules which is quite fun. Absolutely everything was paid for by the hugely generous Royal Society of Chemistry with sponsorship from INEOS, a large chemical company, and if you are at all interested in travelling the world, meeting all sorts of people, and chemistry, work hard and do your best in the chemistry olympiad. The international olympiad is an entirely different kettle of fish which you will gain a lot from in many different ways, have a lot of fun at, and meet lots of interesting people.

Guy Lewy OH

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HABS hits the Edinburgh Fringe 2013 - RITES

Following the amazing experience of ‘The Death of Chatterton’ at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2012, a huge number of HABS and ex-HABS boys took the decision to audition, once more, for Young Pleasance’s 2013 show, ‘Rites’, an original adaptation of Wedekind’s ‘Spring Awakening’. A coming of age tale full of sexual anguish, teenage angst and adolescent struggle, ‘Rites’ stayed true to the original whilst adding a modern twist.

This year’s journey began back in January, where we all travelled to The Pleasance Theatre in Islington to audition to be a part of this year’s company. After a series of introductory warm-up exercises, improvisation sessions and script work the day was over and we headed home to await news of call-backs. Around a week later we all heard, and some of us had unfortunately been more successful than others, and those of us who had, headed off to a round of recall auditions in February. Much the same as the initial auditions, this round whittled us down from 30 to a final company of 24 and the successful HABS boys were Justin Hornsby-Cowan (OH), Jack Reitman (OH), James Hart (U6R), Harry Sammons (U6M), Harry Kingdon (L6S) and James Fowler (L6M). We were also joined by Talia Goldman and Franni Ball from Habs Girls’ and 16 other boys and girls from Dulwich College and James Allen Girls’ School in South London.

With a final company assembled, there was a long pause between now and first rehearsals, which took place in the Easter holidays in mid-April. These rehearsals entailed a bit more improvisation work to try and devise some scenes in Young Pleasance’s own adaptation. As well as these few days of preparation, a publicity photo-shoot also took place in the grounds at HABS which gave this year’s cast a first look at their costumes, hairstyles and make-up. Boys clad in boots, black trousers, white shirts and waistcoats, and girls in thin white summer dresses, we all headed out into the woods to get some snaps. These were then used in promoting the show, behind the scenes, whilst the cast all took a 3 month hiatus to prepare for and complete public exams. We all then met for 10 days of intense rehearsal at the end of July, to prepare for our trip up to Edinburgh to perform Rites!

As mentioned above ‘Rites’ is an original adaptation, by Jo Billington and Tim Norton, of Wedekind’s ‘Spring Awakening’ which follows three 14-year-olds, Moritz, Melchior and Wendla, in 19th century Germany as they struggle with the issues of becoming a teenager. Melchior Gabor, a good looking and charming student who seems to know it all, becomes swept up in all the new feelings and sensations that come with becoming an adolescent. We see, as the play progresses,

that he doesn’t actually understand as much as he appears to and this ends in a haunting assault on young Wendla. Wendla Bergman is a sweet, innocent girl who is over-protected by her molly-coddling mother. She too, begins to feel things that she doesn’t understand for Melchior (she still believes that storks bring babies) and is bewildered when she discovers she is pregnant. Wendla’s mother wishes for the baby to be aborted, but sadly this ends tragically for Wendla. Moritz Stiefel is curious, confused and always has his head stuck in his studies. Throughout the play we see him intent on passing the year, as well as asking his friend Melchior for information on ‘copulation’. Eventually the pressures of school become too much for him to handle and, when he passes the year but gets held back anyway, he decides to escape in the only way he sees fit. In today’s society where teen pregnancy, suicide and crime rates are at an all-time high, Wedekind’s original remains just as apt and relevant as it ever was.

Our run opened in ‘Pleasance Two’, a converted chapel, on 1st August with a reasonably small audience, and progressed throughout our 18-day run to a final show with an almost-full auditorium of 180 people. The performances generally went without a hitch once the new, more industrial, wheels had been fitted to our two rostra. Apart from the main characters, the other members of the ensemble all had a number of different roles to fill including students, parents, teachers and even bookshelves! All of these parts were played with panache and one reviewer commented how skilfully we transitioned between the different roles. This skill culminated in us receiving 3* reviews from Broadway Baby and The Skinny, 4* reviews from Three Weeks, Fringe Review and FestMag, and an almighty 5*s from The British Theatre Guide. ‘Rites’ was also selected as The Scotsman’s ‘Hot Pick of the Day’ towards the end of our run, an honour which undoubtedly aided us in pulling in the larger crowds.

In addition to these exceptional reviews from some of the Fringe’s most critically acclaimed publications, we also had to take part in Street Theatre every morning before our performance, to advertise the show. This involved walking en masse down the main performance street in Edinburgh, The Royal Mile, through hordes of tourists and other

performers trying to make ourselves noticed. A few times during our stay we were lucky enough to bag a half-hour slot on one of three stages on the mile, an opportunity that would surely draw enormous crowds to us. As we got more confident with our performances in the theatre, the more vigorous and enthusiastic our street theatre was and the larger our audiences. By the end of the run we were performing, changing costumes and moving props like it was second nature and our final performance ended with a standing ovation – something well deserved after all our hard work which elated the entire company.

In the time that we had spare between performing, eating and sleeping we were straight back up to the Pleasance Courtyard or Pleasance Dome to watch some of the thousands of other shows, comedians and musicians that were performing at the Fringe. Some of our favourites from 2012 were back with all-new shows such as Late Night Gimp Fight, Abandoman, The Cambridge Footlights and The Pin, featuring OH and ex-Footlight Ben Ashenden. These shows certainly didn’t disappoint and had us all roaring with laughter throughout. Some new performances also hit the Fringe this year and were inundated with 5 star reviews throughout their runs. These included ‘BLAM!’, which was described as ‘Die Hard meets The Office’ and it was exactly that, and comedian from across the pond Bo Burnham whose cutting-edge musical humour was simply ingenious and, once more, had us all in hysterics. These shows were only some of the many that we watched and they no doubt helped to raise our exhausted spirits during our time in Edinburgh.

Thanks must go to producer Kathryn Norton-Smith, directors Tim Norton, Jo Billington and Bertie Zuric for yet another unforgettable trip to the Fringe and for taking care of us for the three weeks that we were there. The process all begins again in January 2014 and many of us hope to return once more for yet more Fringe-based fun and adventures.

James Hart U6

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Tim Duschenes

Since coming to Art School at the start of this year, people have often asked me what it is in art that I ‘do’. I tell them: ‘Everything’.

Last year as the only Upper 6th in the department, Art A-Level gave me unparalleled freedom which gave me the opportunity to do everything. The list was very long and I admit I didn’t make it through the whole lot; wood turning, stone carving and computer-controlled cutting of print blocks will all have to wait for another time. However, I did cross off a huge number of things from the list, often producing art for the primary purpose of experimenting with a new process or medium. Among my projects from my final year were aquatint prints, wood and wire sculptures, reduction lino-prints and laser etched jewellery. On a related note, anyone interested in using a laser cutter or any other CNC machine in the future should begin learning Adobe Illustrator as soon as possible, as it turns out nobody uses Techsoft 2D Design in the real world.

In fact, I would strongly encourage every art student at HABS to study as much

Design and Technology as possible, as it will really set you up for later life no matter what you go into. I highly recommend the AS DT course I took and feel it has contributed an enormous amount to my work and my life. The skill of applying a rational framework to a creative process has been invaluable to me at Art School and I have seen an enormous number of people ruin beautiful ideas by having no practical sense to execute them with. Leaving HABS also makes you realise just how good the facilities are. HABS boys are very lucky to have such fantastic amenities at their fingertips and I would urge everyone to use them as much as they possibly can.

One facility I particularly enjoyed using in my Upper 6th year was the Ceramics Studio. Having left clay behind in Year 8, I set myself the goal of learning to throw ceramics on the wheel. It is not a task in which ‘success’ is really possible, one more aims for the distance marker of competency and keeps practicing. My successes were few, far between and usually due to luck, but my battle with the wheel culminated in a pair

of nestling bowls I made for my girlfriend, inspired by the work of Richard Baxter, which were some of my favourite pieces from last year. I eventually moved onto slip casting and fell in love with it, producing a cast of a crumpled plastic bottle as a twist on the idea of a Carafe. Working on ceramics pushed me way out of my comfort zone and taught me a vast amount, for which I must thank Jill Gleeson. She gave up an exceptional amount of time to teach me, inspire me, mentor me and occasionally centre my clay, a delicate skill for which I never truly developed the knack.

In Upper 6th Art all students must write an essay, a hateful bit of paperwork for which I will be eternally grateful to the amazing Lynn Bird for coaching me through. I definitely chose the wrong theme, focussing on depictions of the figure rather than experimentation, but as my art has been mainly figurative for a long time, it was not a limitation. I had been greatly inspired in Lower 6th by the work of Daniel Fooks and continued the brightly coloured, layered painting style I had developed from studying

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his portraiture. This went on to inform work such as my final exam piece and my portrait of Mr Dathan, done for the Art and Music Extravaganza and shown on the cover page for the ‘Originals’ section, a superb event that I hope becomes a regular fixture. I have continued portraiture in my Foundation Year at Rhode Island School of Design, under the tuition of one Tom Mills, a man famed in RISD legend for his brilliant teaching and brutal critiques. I am also continuing liberal quantities of life drawing, a skill taught to me primarily by Stuart Todhunter. I cannot recommend highly enough that all HABS artists attend his sessions religiously; you will see an immense improvement in your work. Another practice I am hoping to be able to continue this year is printmaking, an art form to which I devoted much of my HABS career. HABS boys are luckier than they know to have such easy access to a press and such a good teacher as Mr Keenleyside to inform their use of it. I owe a lot to his ready patience to answer wails of “Sir, the resin ground’s come off again and I don’t know why, help!” and his willingness to tutor me through even the most complex of printmaking methods.

Another thing HABS boys are lucky to have is an art intern. Zarina Kawaja taught me as much as all the other teachers, giving me some foundations in the philosophy of art, insightful critiques and as much interesting conversation as I could wish for. Stepping into the real world also makes me really miss someone else doing all my mounting for me.

I owe a lot to the Art Department, as I feel they were crucial in helping me get into RISD. Thanks to their efforts, I now have a whole world of possibilities open. The American system doesn’t require me to have chosen my Major yet, but I have always been set on Industrial Design, with the eventual aim of becoming a Social or Charitable designer in the hope of making the world a better place. By way of a shameless plug, you can keep up with my current work at www.timduschenes.wordpress.com

I would love to say I’d left a great legacy in the Art Department, brought in a new wave of cross-department experimenting or even just managed to get an extractor fan put

on the acid bath, but in reality what I left behind was a few pieces of art too big to get home, a funny face drawn on the clock, ‘the Tim Duschenes Swivel Chair for Artistic Excellence’ and my name signed on the ceiling. However, if I could also leave some advice for future generations of HABS artists it would be this:

• Try everything and use every facility you can get your hands on, because you may well not get the chance again

• Push your comfort zones

• Ignore people who tell you things are impossible

• Work harder until it is possible

• Find the faults in everything you produce

• Get others to critique your work and do the same for them. Critique others hard and yourself harder

• Make your work have sincere meaning

Tim Duschenes OH

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Further Adventures in Northern Uganda...

Avoiding pythons, bush-trekking with ex-war veterans, paddling a dug-out canoe at dawn to the backdrop of beating drums and facing the possibility of a Ugandan jail were some of this year’s dramas for our team visiting the Third Hope project in the post-conflict zone of Gulu in Northern Uganda.

By 2007 over 30,000 children had been forcibly abducted from Gulu and the surrounding area by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) led by Joseph Kony in his attempts to overthrow the government in the South. Kony deliberately targeted children because they are easy to manipulate and control. By making the children commit brutal atrocities such as murdering their own parents, he ensured that it was almost impossible for the children to return to their homes. In order to escape the threat of abduction, children from rural areas for miles around became night commuters, walking into Gulu to sleep in public areas such as bus shelters and shop doorways to stay safe. Schools in outlying areas were particularly vulnerable. This situation, although largely unknown to the western world , has constituted one of the worst humanitarian crises of the 21st Century.

Third Hope is building a centre which will provide long-term rehabilitation for these children who were captured and abducted into the rebel armies during the civil war and who are now beginning to find their way back home. One in ten of the local community is a returnee or badly affected by the war and in desperate need of specialist care and counselling in order to readjust to normal life. In addition to suffering psychological trauma the entire region lacks basic health, education and employment opportunities. The Third Hope centre is developing a health clinic and nursery school provision to support the local Ugandan community desperate to break the cycle of poverty, dependence and violence.

Our team from the UK went to Gulu in August this year to help in whatever way we could, to support the local Ugandan team members and to make helpful links for future staffing of the project from the local community. The team of 11 included Rose-Mary McIntyre (founder of the project and who used to be on the staff at Habs) and her family, Rose-Mary’s current Headmistress, a Deputy Head teacher from a school in Luton, my husband, daughter and me. As the Third Hope centre is still in the building stage we found ourselves doing small practical ‘DIY’ tasks alongside the Ugandan craftsmen, who enjoyed our enthusiasm even as they despaired of our skill. Among the jobs we tried were sanding and varnishing, and erecting bamboo supports, which involved sawing a vast amount of poles into the correct length, and hammering home an even larger number of nails. Those of us who enjoy gardening were quick to volunteer to help outdoors which involved a lot of hard digging under the sun and wary tip-toeing around ominously large python trails.

Rural Living: African Style

The project is situated in the bush, not in a town, and the local community lives largely by subsistence farming. We stayed on a farm run by a Ugandan pastor from the South who has set up a farming project to provide employment for young men and women who have been traumatised by the war. We lived alongside some of these young men and women:

• sleeping in single-roomed dormitories under corrugated iron roofs which allowed us very little sleep under the nightly pounding of the monsoon rains. Add to this, the visitations of the room rat/s. I always tucked my mosquito net in very tightly!

• bucket bathing using a few centimetres of cold water pumped from the bore hole

and carried in the yellow jerry cans to the square concrete shower/latrine block.

• using long-drop pit latrines, not to be visited at night if you are wary of African wild-life (I am!)

• enjoying a limited but nourishing diet of boiled egg and banana sandwiches for breakfast and beans and rice for lunch and supper, with chicken or goat every other day (very fresh meat!).

• cycling daily through the bush out to the Third Hope building site, often wading through thick mud and floods caused by the rainy season … and it wasn’t just mud we were wading through as the whole town’s limited drainage would quickly overflow. I desperately hoped that my dysentery and cholera protection would kick in. A few months on, so far so good!

A Grieving Community

Severe post-traumatic stress is evident throughout the community. We ate our meals in the open air and a mute young woman would join us and just sit quietly at our supper table. An older man would crouch outside his mud hut, mumbling incoherently, rocking backwards and forwards and holding what looked to me from a distance like a talisman. I immediately concluded, wrongly, that he was a witchdoctor but I noticed on closer inspection that what he was holding was in fact an old worn child’s pink hair-brush. Our Ugandan project manager informed me that this man had lost his mind as a result of a brutal rebel attack. It is likely his young daughter had been taken. This man, like so many lost in a world of grief, is in desperate need of the professional care which is well beyond his means and which Third Hope, when it opens in December 2014, will be able to provide.

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Third Hope has purchased a second piece of land which at the moment is nothing other than impenetrable dense bush and swamp land with a muddy path running through the middle. It transpired that the whole site had actually been an LRA camp and hideout during the insurgency. The very path we were on had been the LRA’s route out of Gulu, leading abducted children away. It was favoured by the LRA as the area is inaccessible to vehicles and it was very difficult for the Uganda army to reach it on foot, which gave the LRA time to escape into the bush before they could be intercepted. A sense of deep grief took hold of all as we walked along the path. Most of the Ugandans on our team had lost family members or been subjected to brutal attacks themselves and suddenly their memories overwhelmed them and their anguish burst forth in a welter of emotions. While one wailed loudly, recalling the horrors of the war, another crouched down, head in hands, silently re-living the past. We did what we could to offer comfort, insufficiently. Later, when we were working side by side building the Third Hope centre, our team members volunteered their personal stories, trusting us enough to open up and tell us their griefs. The team cook’s mother had been abducted by rebels and taken away into the bush. She has no idea if she is dead or alive. She survived with her sister who died just last year during a routine operation. Her life has been a hard one of poverty and abuse at the hands of unscrupulous men. One of our builders had escaped an attack in which his father had been brutally tortured and killed, leaving him as a street child. Another had been abducted as an adult and used as a porter, witnessing atrocities, before being released unharmed after three days because he had been a good porter and he was too old to be useful to the rebels. He had never been so terrified and was lucky to have survived the ordeal alive. Our project

manager had been at St Mary’s Girls’ School when it was raided by rebels and 139 girls had been taken from the year above to serve as ‘wives’ to the rebels. Whether abducted themselves or not, all have been affected by the war and the Ugandan members of the Third Hope team are going through their own rehabilitation even as they are part of a restorative process for others.

Education, Education, Education

We called in on the neighbouring primary school to the Third Hope centre to see what assistance we could offer. So many cheering children who at midday were still waiting for their teachers to arrive through the floods ran out to greet us. This school of 300 pupils had been closed during the war as it was so vulnerable to rebel attacks. Only recently reopened, the water tank was still broken following a rebel attack and the bore-hole was not dug deeply enough resulting in an unhealthy thick brown muddy water supply. We have asked our project manager to fix the water tank so at least they will have a rainwater supply. We are currently negotiating with World Vision the price of digging another bore hole which we can share with the school.

This primary school was full of bright young faces of all ages. Primary school is something of a misnomer as pupils are grouped by ability not age. Many children have to leave school for a year or two along the way until parents can afford to pay the meagre fees again. 7 year olds were being educated alongside 11 year olds. It is not unusual for children of 15 and 16 to be in primary education. Only a small percentage from this primary school would progress on to much coveted, more expensive secondary education. The very best secondary schools in Gulu are indeed excellent, albeit with limited resources and they do open the way to Makerere University in the South for those with funds and ability. Maybe that is why, later

in the week when in town, I was pursued by a brilliant young girl with impeccable English (an obvious sign of ability) who had had to leave school just before taking her O-Levels as her parents could not afford the fees. She is sadly so typical of the many who respond ‘only God knows’ when asked if they if they will progress to secondary school. 70% of the students at these excellent schools are only there because of sponsorship programmes through international aid agencies. These programmes really are worthwhile investing in.

In addition to building and staffing the rehabilitation centre, we also hope now to provide educational bursaries for some of the pupils from our neighbouring primary school to progress to secondary education. Education is the prized commodity. Slogans ‘Education Empowers’ ‘Education Liberates’ festoon taxis, lorries and shop windows. No-one asks for money, clothes or food. Everyone asks for school fees.

Thank you to all of you in Hendersons House who are so energetically and imaginatively supporting Third Hope and the community in Gulu. I hope there will come a time when you will personally be able to meet some of those whose lives you have been able to improve, who are so desperate for the rehabilitation and education which will transform their lives and communities.

And as for the Ugandan jail ... one of our party temporarily misplaced his passport but fortunately only after we had boarded the British Airways flight home. Although Heathrow gave our BA pilot clearance for us to travel back the Ugandan police decided that we had to get off the plane. Much frantic searching of the plane for the lost passport ensued, to the consternation of the other passengers, checking under virtually every seat and my last-ditch desperate pleas to the chief cabin steward ‘’can’t we just shut the doors and take off’’ which is seemingly what we did. In mid-flight the missing passport was found. “But we looked there at least twice!” Relief flooded through us. We were going home and yes, definitely looking forward to another trip next year.

K Pollock

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Tanzania

In July of 2013 a team of 10 Habs boys and 4 members of staff travelled over 4 and ½ thousand miles around the world to see first-hand the work of KidzCare Tanzania, the charity that we have been supporting as a school over the last few years. Arriving at the airport we were all a little unsure what to expect ahead of us, but armed with an industrial volume of insect repellent and sun cream, we certainly felt prepared for whatever Tanzania could throw at us.

After a long flight we arrived in the bustling city of Dar Es Salaam and were welcomed into our home for the next two weeks, the house of Robert and Mary Notman, a Christian couple who founded the charity in 2003. Having acclimatised to the atmosphere around us with a visit to the nearby Mbezi Beach, we set about packing for a 16 hour bus ride to the other side of the country towards the Malawi border with the aim of visiting the Red and Orange schools in the Ngonga and Isanga villages. However, these plans were halted abruptly when news broke of a regional outbreak of cholera in the area, sadly killing a number of people and making the journey unsafe. It served as a striking and instant reminder of how far we had come, demonstrating the difference and difficulty that people in the country have to deal with in their day to day lives. A subsequent hurried change to our itinerary led to us spending the next day in the city; visiting a tribal museum and being ripped off by local market traders who managed to sell Nabil a pair of plastic bird legs for £5, and Milind a ‘back scratcher’ which looked remarkably similar to a piece of wood with a nail in it.

The following day was our first chance to meet the children at both the children’s home in Kerege and the Yellow school where we would be holding a sports event in the afternoon. Upon entering the playground we were met by a group of very shy, and very small children clustered together, a little confused as to who we were- it’s not every day you see such a dashing group of young men (and women) in Africa after all. The children soon opened up, laughing and playing and taking great pleasure in putting cones on their heads and running around the playground just fast enough that we couldn’t catch them.

Our official Habs-run sports day in Tanzania may not yet be the most well-known of events, but I can assure you it is a truly prestigious occasion, and with the athletic role models of Milind Chohan and Raman Sharma on display there was no shortage of sporting inspiration for the children. The children aged 3 to 7 years took part in a carousel of events including a sprint, an egg and spoon race, a bean bag throw, a bottle fill race, and a sack race with a medal ceremony at the end that some have said rivalled Danny Boyle’s efforts in Stratford a year earlier.

Later that day the Habs team sat down as a group to reflect on Tanzania so far. Mr Campbell may well have spoken for us all when he said: ‘You hear a lot about Africa and the children here and you don’t really pay it much attention; but I know that seeing those kids today will certainly be something I will never forget’. These were poignant words at the end of a memorable day.

With our time seemingly flying by we spent the next two days in Mlingotini, a fishing village about an hour’s drive from Dar Es Salaam where the new Green school is being built with the money Habs raised last year. This involved a lot of manual labour: digging literally hundreds of holes to plant trees in, setting up concrete fence posts and transporting a large pile of cement by hand around the worksite. It was extremely rewarding in seeing the difference we have made, and seeing the world-class sunburn on the back of Mr Campbell’s neck made the day that bit more entertaining. We then travelled back to Kerege to paint the primary

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school, albeit difficult in the heat and with very thin Tanzanian paint, the difference was again immediately visible. Physically working with the charity is an integral part of the Tanzania trip, it is challenging, but it is also eye-opening and enjoyable, showing us what hard work can really achieve and bonding the group together, making us all feel part of Team Tanzania 2013.

On our last day in Dar Es Salaam we met up again with the children from the orphanage in Kerege on a day outing to the beach, showing off our lack of footballing ability and swimming in the warm sea. Our shared enjoyment of the day proved to make it one of our most memorable experiences. We then rounded off the day with an annual dinner to say goodbye to our hosts in a lovely Restaurant that overlooked the Indian Ocean.

Due to the cholera outbreak around the red and orange schools, we travelled instead to Morogoro, a mountainous region to the west of Dar Es Salaam, where we worked with a charity called Serving Our Nation. Our job there was to help make simple water filters to be distributed around the whole of Tanzania aimed at reducing water-borne diseases such as cholera which had led to the change of our plans in the first place. In the theme of filtered water, Russell and Theo had the enjoyable experience being urinated on by our hosts’ dogs in the middle of the night, a warming welcome to an enjoyable few days in which, besides working for the project, we camped out and climbed to the top of Mount Uluguru, providing us with breath-taking views of the countryside.

The final two nights of our trip were spent on the idyllic island of Zanzibar. Our guide showed us around the capital, Stonetown, where we visited the old slave quarters and the food markets, full of sheep heads and bull testicles, perhaps providing a clue as to why Rev Jan chooses to be vegan. We then visited a typical spice farm where we were able to see and purchase a huge variety of locally grown fruits, spices and herbs. A visit to an impressive Eco-village afterwards showed us how people can develop a whole economy from things we might regard as of little value; coconut shells and seaweed being made into profitable commodities.

Our journey home gave us an opportunity to reflect on the incredible two weeks we had had in the country. Tanzania was a trip we will never forget. Imprinted on our memories are the smiles, the laughs, the faces and the beauty of everything and everyone we met there with KidzCare. Tanzania was a trip that I believe will shape me as a person throughout my life; we were humbled, humbled by the people who could be so happy despite having so little; and

amazed, amazed at the progress that was being made in driving forward the quality of life for people in the country through work like that of KidzCare. The importance and benefit of what we’ve achieved as a school cannot be overstated, and we hope that we will be able to continue supporting KidzCare for many years to come. Thank you to Mr Campbell and Mr Gauntlett who admirably attempted to keep up Mr Metcalfe’s fitness theme of the trip the previous year and for keeping us in high spirits throughout. Thank you to Miss Pindoria who helped to feed us so well and provided us valuable experience

of the Tanzanian way of life; and of course, thank you to Rev Jan, who we are indebted to for connecting Habs with KidzCare and for masterminding truly one of the best trips Habs has to offer.

Rory Cartmell U6

Team Tanzania: Rory Cartmell, Rishi Dattani, Milind Chohan, Raman Sharma, Russell Hughes, Nabil Hajjar, Theo Dixon, Vishnu Gnanasubramanian, Matt Drean, Josh Navarajasegaran. Mr Campbell, Mr Gauntlett, Miss Pindoria, Rev Jan Goodair.

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Saif Abbas Chatoo completes challenging 95km walk through Iraq and raises £1,500 for Kidzcare Tanzania

On 22nd December Year 11 pupil Saif Abbas Chatoo completed a challenging 95km walk through Iraq, raising £1,500 for the school charity, Kidzcare Tanzania. Saif Abbas and a group of friends and family decided to set out on the pilgrimage from Najaf to Karbala, two of the holiest cities in Iraq, aiming to complete the walk in just 48 gruelling hours.

In addition to walking through the day and night, Saif Abbas and his group travelled

with no supplies, relying instead on the goodwill of strangers in Iraq to supply them with food and water during the walk. Saif Abbas also travelled without a phone and, to make the walk even more challenging, temperatures at night plunged to Minus 5 degrees Celsius.

Along the way, kind-hearted strangers handed out bread and tea to Saif Abbas and his companions, helping him make it through the two days and nights. However,

most of Saif Abbas’ group had to drop out of the walk along the way, including his mother who sprained her ankle, and he finished the walk on the third day with just his best friend for company.

Saif described the final leg of their journey, into the historic town of Karbala as emotional. “As we got closer to the city, more and more people joined us, ranging from old men on walking sticks to children as young as five. Soon there were thousands of people all aiming to reach the shrine at Karbala.”

Saif Abbas and his friend finally reached their shrine in the early hours of the third day, successfully completing his challenge. He has also raised more than £1,500 in sponsorship for his walk in aid of the school charity, Kidzcare Tanzania, which aims to fund an orphanage and nursery schools for children in the African country.

Saif said: “I felt this was a fitting charity for me to raise money for as these children have to walk many kilometres every day to get to school and fetch basic amenities, sometimes without the necessary supply of food and water.”

Please visit http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/SaifAbbas

Ben McCarthy L6

Prep & Pre-Prep

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Athletics

Sports day was blessed with warm weather and the whole of the Prep school followed a similar programme adopted in 2012 to celebrate the Olympics. All the boys completed their individual events in the morning and the afternoon saw a series of cross year group relays with distances varying between 50m runs up to 400m. After the completion of close to 50 events, Andrews were the winners of both the Relay Cup and the overall trophy ahead of David’s with Georges just 1 point behind in 3rd.

Some selected athletes competed in the Regional IAPS Championships at Bedford on the 6th June for year 6 and at Cambridge on 25th June for year 4 and 5. Several boys gained top 6 finishes and two athletes from the Prep School were selected to represent the Eastern region in the IAPS National Championships for Years 6, 7 and 8 which took place at the Birmingham International stadium on Tuesday 2nd July. Rohan Oyewole won the U12 javelin with a throw of 25.62m and Jacob Steinberg finished second in the U12 shot with a throw of 7.59m. Jacob also competed in the U12 High jump where he finished 5th with a jump of 1.25m. Andrew Rogers had an outstanding run in the 800m, he finished 5th but in an outstanding time of 2m.37.3, which would have gained him 6th in the National Final at Birmingham on July 2nd. Zamaan Dudhia competed in the 70m hurdles recording a time of 14.4 finishing 3rd in his heat. In most other heats he would have finished 2nd with this time and qualified for the final. Overall he recorded the 7th fastest time.

In the National Finals, Jacob threw further in the shot recording a distance of 7.69 to finish 7th. A mere 5cms further would have gained him 4th. Rohan threw 23 79m in the

Javelin to finish 9th. In total with the Year 7 and 8 boys included Haberdashers’ had 10 boys competing in these championships and of those 5 gained National medals.

A number of Year 4 and 5 boys represented Habs in the IAPS Regional Athletics Championship for the younger years at Cambridge on June 25th. Qualifying for finals proved tough and although several boys finished in the top two places in their heat, they did not record fast enough times to make the finals. The most successful performance on the day was by Jack Cobb in the U11 800m with a very quick time of 2.44.6 to finish in 5th place.

In a competition with slightly different requirements, the Prep School had several competitors in the National Aquathlon

Championships at Haileybury College in June. They all qualified through the regional round at the same venue a month earlier where Jamar Iferenta was the most successful on the day winning the U10 event by some 20 seconds. Noah Stewart, Jack Cobb and Ishaan Shah also all qualified by finishing in the top 12 competitors and Habs were able to secure the team title for this age group. In the U9 competition Sam Newmann, Bailey Newington and Sean Obiamiwe qualified by finishing in the top 12 although, Haberdashers’ were beaten into 3rd position in the team race.

On a slightly modified course for the final Jamar Iferenta had a very good competition and finished in the silver medal position just a handful of seconds behind the individual winner. Combined with the Main school, boys from Years 7 and 8 Haberdashers’ returned with three Silver and one Bronze Medal from our first visit to these championships.

S Lowe

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Prep Cricket

Played 31, Won 27, Lost 4, Cancelled 15

The Under 11s had a very successful season and seemed to hit the ground running after 10 weeks of pre-season lunchtime nets. The batting award was won by Arjun Parmar (6CG) for 157 runs in the season, including two match-winning innings of 48 not out against St John’s and 53 not out against Bedford Modern. The opening bowling attack of Imran Kermalli (6CL) and Kush Thakrar (6CL) regularly stalled the opposition batting line-up and Kush won the bowling award for his nine wickets during the season. A special mention should go to Arnav Sawhney (6CG) for securing a

memorable winning tie in the first game of the season at St Benedict’s when, with all the fielders on the boundary, he somehow managed to thread the final ball of the game for four through the covers to level the scores and give HABS the win due to less wickets lost!

We are excited by the potential of the Under 10 teams with the boys’ good team spirit and strong bowling attack. Aarav Nicum (5CG) and Chinmay Mullapudi (5CG) both took more than five wickets whilst Jack Cobb (5CG), Shreyas Shringapure (5CG) and Vayu Singhal (5CG) scored a great deal of runs throughout the season. The standard of

cricket across the boys in Year 4 was high; we won all 10 games played across the year group and we have high hopes of them as they progress through the school into hardball cricket.

A big thank you to Mr Dathan and Mr Shane Burger (from Radlett CC), who were indispensable members of coaching staff in the Prep. Thank you also to all the parents and family members who have supported us at home and away; and finally to Mr Davis for organising the Dads team for the annual Staff vs. Dads match which was a great occasion.

Sports Colours Awarded in 2012/2013

Rian Devram – Cricket

Zamaan Dudhia – Hockey

Khaleel Jiwa – Cricket

Arron Kennon – Cricket, Football, Hockey, Rugby,

Imran Kermalli – Cricket and Rugby

Henry Mattey – Basketball, Hockey, Football, Rugby, Swimming

Rohan Oyewole – Cricket

Arjun Parmar – Basketball, Cricket, Hockey, Rugby

Andrew Rogers – Cross Country, Hockey, Rugby

Arnav Sawhney – Cricket

Theo Sibtain – Swimming

Jacob Steinberg – Cricket, Swimming

Aidan Tang – Basketball, Cricket, Football

Kush Thakrar – Cricket

Myles Yates – Swimming

Outstanding Sports Achievements 2012/2013

AthleticsU11 IAPS Regional Athletics Championships Javelin – Rohan Oyewole ~ 1stShot – Jacob Steinberg ~ 2ndHigh Jump – Jacob Steinberg ~ 5th800 m – Andrew Rogers ~ 5th70M Hurdles – Zamaan Dudhia ~ 7th

U11 IAPS National Athletics ChampionshipsRohan Oyewole – 9thJacob Steinberg – 7th

U11 Herts County Cross Country ChampionshipsAndrew Rogers – 6th (5th Team)

U11 IAPS North London Cross Country ChampionshipsAndrew Rogers – 3rd (4th Team)Jack Cobb – 23rdJamar Iferenta – 50thJoseph Salt – 51stZamaan Dudhia – 57thTom Allibone – 27th

FootballESFA U11 7 A Side Borehamwood District WinnersESFA U11 & A Side Hertfordshire County Runners UpU11 9 A Side Wix County Cup – Semi FinalistsU11 7 A Side Wix County Cup – Quarter Finalists

HockeyIAPS U11 Regional Hockey – Quarter Finalists

Swimming

U11 Mixed Stroke Relay Squad at the East Region ESSA National Swimming Championships in Sheffield

Participants: Henry Mattey & Jacob Steinberg (Year 6)

Jamar Iferenta, Noah Stewart (Year 5)

U11 Primary School Team Championships Bucks & Herts / Beds County Round

Participants: Henry Mattey, Jacob Steinberg, Myles Yates (Year 6)

Jamar Iferenta, Noah Stewart (Year 5)

U11 Hertfordshire Schools’ Swimming Association Junior Schools’ Gala

Participants: Henry Mattey, Jacob Steinberg (Year 6)

Jamar Iferenta, Ishaan Shah, Theo Silverbeck, Noah Stewart (Year 5)

U11 IAPs National Independent Swimming Championships regional rounds

Participants: Zaki Hasan, Henry Mattey, Theo Sibtain, Jacob Steinberg, Myles Yates (Year 6)

Jamar Iferenta, Ishaan Shah, Theo Silverbeck, Noah Stewart, Elias Thierry (Year 5)

U11 Year 5 & 6 Individual Swimming Championship

Participants: Henry Mattey, William Murphy, Theo Sibtain, Jacob Steinberg (Year 6)

Jamar Iferenta, Ishaan Shah, Theo Silverbeck, Noah Stewart (Year 5)

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Swimming

Junior Swimmers

Sani Abubakar George Argyrou Noah Arram

Oliver Davis Aaron Barai Karl Dumasia

Siddhant Bhargava Ben Fisher Aman Chhaya

Jacob Halperin Kian Dharani Benjamin Hocking

Keelan Farrell Rayyaan Jiwa Arjun Gala

Indi Kulkarni Rohan Jagpal Alfie Mack

Ashwin Kalairajah Bailey Newington Charlie Nash

Samuel Newman Arun Oyewole Thomas Oakland

Raahul Ravichandran Sean Obiawime Dhruv Shah

Ayur Pulle Shay Thakkar Benjy Randall

Nicolai Woltery Jared Rosenthal Jonny Sawday

Manraj Singh Sahil Shah-Vora Jack Teoh

Sachin Shah Hugo Woodward

Senior Swimmers

Year 5 Year 6

David Cai Jake Charnley

Jack Cobb Zamaan Dudhia

Isaac Green Zaki Hasan

Jamar Iferenta Arron Kennon

Ori Katz Kumayl Khamisa

Daniel Loveless Henry Mattey

Aarav Nicum Rohan Millan

Max Permutt William Murphy

Mackenzie Pullen Charlie Petken

Ishaan Shah Shane Shah

Theo Silverbeck Theo Sibtain

Noah Stewart Jacob Steinberg

Elias Thierry Aidan Tang

Jay Treon Myles Yates

Swimming Report 2012-2013

This year saw the development of one of the largest Junior Swimming Squads for many years (37 boys) which made trying to give boys swims at matches and managing training sessions, a challenge for Miss Brandon and myself.

The Year 3 boys joined training towards the end of the Christmas term – more in preparation for next year than matches, as traditionally year 3 pupils do not swim in many school fixtures. However, the Girls’ School were kind enough to offer us a match on January 31st along with the Year 4s. We were able to swim the whole of the junior squad which was quite a feat! We were supposed to be swimming against Aldwickbury School on January 24th but unfortunately the

match was cancelled by them due to the snowy conditions at the time.

The Years 4 to 6 swam in another friendly match on October 18th against the Girls’ School, which was a good experience for the teams and enjoyed by all. We also had a fixture at Bedford Prep School on March 21st which we lost as we were down on some of our strongest swimmers but all of the boys swam their best. We hope to even the score in November 2013!

Years 4 to 6 swimming teams mostly represented the school in the Division 10 Primary Schools’ Swimming League.

Division 10 League 2012-2013

The Division 10 Junior Schools’ Swimming League is to give teams of boys and teams of girls a chance to swim against several other schools during the school year. There are usually 4 fixtures held in the Autumn and Spring terms, where points are scored for a win, draw or lose but the points are not accumulated through the season. These matches allow the pupils to experience gala situations and are not strictly judged but, they are seen as a learning experience. Schools do not always enter their top swimmers, thereby allowing more pupils to represent their school.

There is a finals competition held for both boys and girls (separately) in the summer term which is open to any of the competing schools – they do not have to qualify. These are more competitive and officials are present to ensure that, on this occasion, swimming rules and standards are upheld; again so that pupils, wanting to follow a more competitive route, are able to learn and experience what an official competition is like. Usually schools will enter their top 8 swimmers per year group for this stage of the league. Cups are then awarded and presented to each of the highest scoring teams per year group.

ResultsUnder 9: Won: 3 (Berkhamsted, Chesham Prep, Gayhurst)Lost 3: (Davenies, St Anthony’s , The Beacon)Under 10: Won: 4 (Chesham Prep, St Columba’s , St Martin’s,

The Beacon)Lost 4: (Berkhamsted, Davenies, Gayhurst, St Anthony’s)Under 11: Won: 4 (Chesham Prep, Gayhurst, St Anthony’s, St

Columba’s, St Martin’s)Lost 3: (Berkhamsted, Davenies, The Beacon)

Division 10 League Boys’ Schools Final

This event was held at Berkhamsted School on Thursday 23rd May. Unfortunately Year 6 was unable to compete as they were on a field studies residential trip in Orielton, Wales. Sixteen boys from Years 4 and 5 were driven to the gala by Mr Brown in the minibus and Mrs Davis (Oliver’s mum) in her car and Miss Brandon their swimming coach was also present. The current year 4 were competing in the finals for their first time (Year 3 do not compete in this league).

C Lessons

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Skylark 2013 Prep and Pre-Prep

Anuual Donkin Cup – Cross Country House Competition

Junior Race

Position Name Form House Time1 Samuel Newman 4JE Georges 8.492 Jonny Sawday 4JM Andrews 8.523 Max Nissim 3BG Andrews 8.534 Hugo Bach 4KT Davids 9.065 Remy Sanders 4KT Andrews 9.186 Dan Rogers 4JM Andrews 9.197 Arjun Gala 3BG Davids 9.268 Christopher Lewis-Holgate 4KT Davids 9.329 Bailey Newington 4JE Davids 9.3310 Ashwin Kalairajah 3BG Davids 9.34

Senior Race

Position Name Form House Time1 Andrew Rogers 6CL Andrews 11.122 Tom Allibone 6FQ Davids 11.333 Jamar Iferenta 5CG Davids 11.384 Jack Cobb 5CG Georges 11.415 Shane Shah 6FQ Patricks 11.456 Joseph Salt 5CG Georges 11.487 Zamaan Dudhia 6FQ Patricks 11.598 Jay Patel 6FQ Andrews 12.029 Toby Levitt 5CG Patricks 12.0410 Jamie Goodkind 5SA Georges 12.08

Hockey

Every Monday lunchtime during the winter term, the Year 6 boys braved the elements to improve their hockey skills ready for the Spring term fixtures.

After learning to control, dribble, push and strike, the boys played small-sided games and tried to get used to getting their feet out of the way! After an excellent opening fixture against Robert Bloomfield the ‘A’ team came up against a very strong Berkhamsted side and a combination of poor finishing and their pace on the counter attack led to a heavy defeat. In the Haileybury Shield we failed to qualify from the second group stage on goal difference, meaning the agonising 0-0 draw with South Lee in a game that we dominated, came back to haunt us. Similarly we left the UCS tournament in the group stage by virtue of fewer goals scored than other teams. There were many positives from the season and we look forward to hearing about the hockey that these boys will go on to play in the Main School next year.

Colours were awarded to the following boys who consistently contributed to the success of the teams this year: Zamaan Dudhia, Arron Kennon, Henry Mattey, Arjun Parmar, Andrew Rogers. Finally,

a special mention to Arjun Parmar who dedicated every Monday lunchtime of the Summer term to help train the current Year 5 boys ready for the hockey season in 2014.

Opposition ‘A’ team ‘B’ teamRobert Bloomfield Won 1-0 Won 1-0Berkhamsted Lost 1-6 Won 2-1Edge Grove Drew 2-2 Lost 0-2

Haileybury Shield Tournament

Opposition ResultThe Beacon Lost 0-4Aldwickbury Won 2-0Felstead Lost 0-2Kingshott Won 2-0St Martin’s Won 1-0Ashfold Lost 0-3South Lee Drew 0-0

UCS Tournament

Opposition ResultHereward House Drew 0-0UCS Won 1-0St Anthony’s Lost 0-1

These boys represented the hockey teams this season:Guy Coker Rian Devram

Zamaan Dudhia Jasper Federman

Ethan Fox Edward Isaacs

Khaleel Jiwa Arron Kennon

Imran Kermalli Jamanvir Kumar

Ayaan Latif Henry Mattey

Royan Oyewole Arjun Parmar

Jay Patel Andrew Rogers

Joseph Santhouse Arnav Sawhney

Rushil Shah Kielan Sheard

Theo Sibtain Jacob Steinberg

Aidan Tang Kush Thakrar

Arun Thavasothy Jamie Watkin-Rees

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Prep Creative Work

Skylark 2013 Prep and Pre-Prep

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Pre-Prep

Y2 Take the Train to Brighton

When I got to the station I was buzzing with excitement. A short time later we went to our platform and waited for the train to come. We got off at London.

I saw the River Thames and the Shard. Later on we got onto the train going to Brighton which took 1 hour. On the train my group and I played cards. We even

played a game that Rufus made up and then we got off the train and walked to the Brighton Royal Pavilion. After that we walked to the beach. When we got to the beach we walked to the pier and had our lunch. I was very scared when I looked down and there were seagulls and pigeons chasing my food! Next I went to get some rocks and then we went to the souvenir

shop and I bought a statue of a lighthouse. We made a pebble tower where we put stones on top of each other. Finally we threw stones in the water. We went on an Open Top Bus to the station and I had a lovely train ride home.

Dhilan Gudka 2AF

Skylark 2013 Prep and Pre-Prep

Clubs & Societies

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Skylark 2013 Clubs and Societies

Debating Society

Recent times have witnessed a regrettable decline in the standard of debating at Habs, but we are returning with a vengeance, setting ourselves up for a competitive future once again. Our Debating Society organises three annual inter-house events, two after-school training sessions a week, and continues to be a force to be reckoned with at external competitions, resulting in some fantastic speeches being made this year.

Our external calendar opened with the ESU Schools’ Mace, where the Habs team of Jack and Guy Lewy, affectionately known as ‘those Lewy brothers’, won their first round convincingly at the Royal Masonic School, against local opposition from St Helen’s School and Watford Grammar School for Boys.

The next event on the calendar was the Oxford Schools’ Preliminary Rounds, where the HABS A team of Jack Lewy and

Robert Harris advanced despite opposition from City of London School, UCS, QE Boys and thirty other schools to progress to the International Finals Day, with the B team of Daniel Gold and Boaz Levy performing well, but missing out by a narrow margin. At the International Finals’ Day, held at the Oxford Union, Jack and Robert won two of their debates and came second in a third, placing them at the top of ‘the tab’ of all participating schools internationally; however an unfortunate judging decision in one round meant that they were not able to ‘break’ to the final.

Habs continued to remain competitive at ICYD, the International Competition for Young Debaters at the Cambridge Union, where our teams consisting of Theo Lewy (another one) and Jordan Bernstein as Habs A, and James Rosen and Zak Wagman as Habs B both progressed to the International Finals’ Day, facing teams from Canada, South Korea and Greece in

the process. Congratulations must go to Jordan on his exceptional performance as an individual speaker at the competition, placing in the top five speakers at his first competition.

Cambridge Schools’ was a mixed success, as our team of Robert Harris and Guy Lewy worked through two rounds unbeaten to then unfortunately be placed into a qualifying round with Eton College, the team which eventually proceeded to win the international competition, and with more overnight competitive training than I have had hot dinners. The boys were unlucky to not make it through the round, and so missed a place at the Finals’ Day. However this year we will hopefully be able to progress if placed into a similar position, as the Debating Society is lucky to confirm that Pam Cohn, the best University debater in the world, will be coming to Habs to coach debating twice a week. This is brilliant news for the Society and for the future of Habs Debating – which is already looking promising, in the form of an enthusiastic group of Year 10 debaters looking hungry for future silverware.

With a new year fast approaching, we are delighted to have the expertise not only of Mrs Gleeson, but also of Mr Endlar and Mr Eyre-Maunsell, who have been invaluable in their commitment when taking us to external competitions, and organising internal training sessions. The future is most certainly bright on the debating front.

Jack Lewy U6

History Society

Rivalled only by the prolific Politics Society in terms of external speakers and Economics Society in terms of student-led presentations, the HABS History Society certainly provides the most rounded Society that HABS has to offer. Furthermore, it boasts an annual dinner and a Quiz fit for University Challenge.

The History Society provides a source of Historical enrichment for all boys with a passion for the subject that surpasses the school syllabi. It also enables boys to intellectually challenge themselves by delivering presentations and hosting Q & A sessions for their peers on topics of their choice. In just the past year, the Society has welcomed speakers such as John Bew (King’s College London) speaking on Castlereagh and the recent historiographical developments surrounding his memory, Adam Sutcliffe

(King’s College London) on the French Revolution, Human Rights and Jewish Emancipation and Mike Sewell (Director of Admissions, University of Cambridge) on The Civil Rights and American Foreign Policy 1940-1968. This year has seen an increase in the number of Student-led presentations too; perhaps the most notable ones including Daniel Gold’s ‘Why did the Nazis want war?’ and Harry Sammons and Joel Dwek’s on ‘The Paris Commune’.

However, the History Society shouldn’t just be seen as a fundamentally academic forum – some of its finer assets include the social side with the annual dinner welcoming David Smith (University of Cambridge) this year for an evening of fine food, wine and an eye-opening talk on the ‘King’s Evil’, better known as Scrofula. This year saw the inaugural History Quiz with the Girls’ School,

with Charlie Colenutt’s team somehow winning despite the best efforts of half the L6th Girls contingent trying to draw his attention. The History Society also organised the inaugural History Debate with the Girls’ School, with the Proposition Team of Jack Lewy and Pranav Subhedar triumphing against the Girls’ School representatives, arguing about whether Hitler’s domestic policies were successful before 1933.

As the Society grows from strength to strength, it looks forward to another exciting year of speakers, dinners and quizzes. Special thanks must go to Dr. Courtney and the History Department for helping attract the visiting speakers and organise events. Without their evident enthusiasm for the subject, History would most certainly not be such a popular and thriving choice among the boys.

The History Society Committee

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Jewish Society

No playing rugby on Saturday, various days off during the school term, prohibition from eating HABS’ world famous bacon, cheese and chicken burgers. This can only be the profile of a devout Jewish member of the school’s community. However there is one more vital ingredient missing in the recipe of what it is to be a Jew at HABS and that ingredient is membership of J-Soc.

This vibrant society has been part an integral part of school life for boys of all faiths and beliefs for many years. We reckon over the last ten years over ten thousand free kosher meals have been served as part of our weekly “Nosh and Learn.” It is these weekly gatherings that are the bricks and mortar of J-Soc, without Nosh and Learn J-Soc would fail to exist. Every week we attract boys from all years to come and listen to thought provoking speeches from a plethora of guests on a range of subjects varying from inter faith discussions to the Jewish take on the X-Factor.

However J-Soc comes into its own when it puts on events and this year three main

events spring to mind. During the Tabernacle festival of Succoth J-Soc enjoyed having ‘Pizza in the Hut’ in the Succah (tent) that is erected in the rose garden every year to

celebrate the festival. The boys enjoyed Pizza and some good weather in what made for a thoroughly enjoyable event. Back in April the society was honoured to welcome four soldiers for the Israeli Defence Force to HABS to speak at the Israel Birthday Bonanza about their experiences in the army and some of the emotions involved with loosing loved ones in war. The event, celebrating Israel’s Independence Day, was well attended and the boys enjoyed Israeli style Schwarma and the presence of their friends from the girls’ school. Our main event of the year was held in February and was the Purim Party. We were very excited to get into our fancy dress and enjoys kosher burgers and traditional Humentaschen (pastries). However the main attraction was the presence of world famous pop star Alex Clare who performed his hit single ‘Too close to Love You’. This was a massive treat for the society and furthermore Mr Clare kindly encouraged the boys to continue their good attendance to the daily Sacharit prayer service which is now in its fourth year at HABS.

Yet again HABS J-Soc has proven to be one of the most successful societies in the school with loyal members and frequent, high quality, speeches. HABS J-Soc is full of tradition yet always experiencing steady evolution to meet the needs of the boys. Over the many decades of its existence such great names have noshed and learned under the stewardship of J-Soc and turned it into what we believe the largest functioning Jewish Society from any Secular secondary school across the whole of Europe. There are however a few people that without them we wouldn’t have the society you see before you today. HABS J-Soc will always be indebted to Mr Haring (OH), his constant support is invaluable to us. Always the voice of reason Mr Haring makes the effort to attend every week and come to all the events, without him we would be a flock without its shepherd, thank you. Furthermore I would like to personally thank my co-chairmen Yoni Stone and Simon Fox. They ensure that rooms, speakers and food are all organised so that the society can function smoothly. They spend hours behind the scenes doing work that even I am unaware of. True professionals to work with and teachers of many valuable lessons there would be no J-Soc without them. The future is very bright for HABS J-Soc and I extend my best wishes to the new committee. HABs J-Soc is a truly special society and it has been an honour to serve all of you.

Clark Norton

Skylark 2013 Clubs and Societies

Literary Society

It’s been almost a year now since James Hart, Rufus McAlister and I took the reins of Lit. Soc and, under the encouraging and sometimes bemused eye of Mr O’Sullivan, tried our hand at putting our own touch to this great establishment.

Our first event, the Christmas party, is still fresh in my memory. With its tinsel, mince pies, festive atmosphere and distinct lack of literary knowledge, it really calmed our nerves at our new roles and reminded us that, even today, literature has the power to pull crowds (the free cake might also have contributed). After such an encouraging start, we decided to set an example early in the year by each giving a talk on our own passions. Rufus proved to all that his position as leader of the society was well deserved, with a fascinating presentation on Shakespeare’s work viewed in its historical context, and I followed a few weeks later

with my own modest lecture on Camus’ “The Outsider”. Only a relatively short time later, James gave his contribution, a tribute to the late Seamus Heaney featuring HABS personality Mr Boyle, which he presented just last week.

It’s been a fantastic year for our traditional style of events, with brilliant talks ranging from Austen, to the set playwright for this year’s coursework, Tennessee Williams (which, as expected, drew a large and rather desperate lower sixth audience). Most of this was thanks to Rufus once more, who appears to be related to everyone that’s ever put pen to paper. We also enjoyed a variety of unusual topics, including literature and philosophy, music and the brand new Q&A sessions with real writers. It was this final section which I felt really attracted the younger years, and quite rightfully confirmed that being a poet or playwright is as valid

a profession as a medic or lawyer, though perhaps not as financially viable for some. We hope to end our term of office with the return of a successful old boy, Oli Goldstein, which will be happening later next week.

On behalf of the whole committee I would like to thank Mr O’Sullivan for giving us this opportunity, it’s been intellectually stimulating, comical at times, and always rewarding. I wish whoever our successors are the best of luck, we will be enviously watching wherever they choose to take the society, whilst we venture into the dreaded “real world”. As a champion of English it makes me indescribably glad to see that the love of literature is alive and well at here at HABS, long may it remain so!

Loic Desplanques U6

Mencap Committee 2012/13

HABS has been involved with Mencap Charity for as long as anybody can seem to remember.

Under the watchful eye of Dr Perera, the committee continues to maintain its longstanding commitment to such a worthy cause, which has a vital role to play in the wider HABS Community. This year’s committee, mixed with the girls’ school committee, has accomplished great feats – Mencap’s Got Talent raised thousands of pounds towards our annual Mencap Funday, an immovable object on the HABS calendar. The committee consisted of Jack Lewy, Luke Prosser, Edward Upson, Ashkan ‘broken nose’ Rezainia, Amit Kurani, Yoni Stone, and the ever-present duo Ricky Savva and Elliot Steene. I wish Edward the best of luck in leading next year’s committee, I am sure that he will do an excellent job.

Jack Lewy U6

Modern Foreign Languages Society

This year, the Modern Foreign Languages Society (MFLSoc) has enjoyed a number of successes thanks to its stellar team of Scott Waissel (Chairman), Tristan Maclaren, Juan Lopez, Robert Ley, Harsh Prasad, Kush Purohit, Canishk Naik and Nikhil Banerjee.

We hosted the Year 7 MFL Christmas lunch, where they relished the opportunity to taste Christmas delicacies from all over Europe and also learned about the different ways in which Germans, French, Spanish and Italian people celebrated Christmas. Our next major event was the Inter-House Modern Languages quiz in which the top linguists of the junior school were pitted against each other in an epic battle of intelligence, applied knowledge and wit, an event thoroughly enjoyed by all involved. The main function of MFLSoc however, is to run languages clinics for the younger boys, all of which proved to be incredibly rewarding. MFLSoc would like to thank Mrs Gómez for all the hard work and endless enthusiasm which she has put into the society over the year and wish her and the new MFLSoc team all the best for the year ahead.

MUN

2012/13 saw the successful return of MUN at HABS, with Habs delegates attending numerous conferences throughout the year as far afield as Manchester, Croydon and Paris.

Though only a few are able to go to each conference, the Habs MUN society afforded all who wished, an opportunity to practise representing a country, learning the procedure and practising public speaking in preparation for future conferences. Here we train the new generation of world leaders who may decide to use the skills gained through MUN to pursue future careers in international diplomacy and politics.

Arguably the best part of the last year was HABSMUN 2013. This is our very own annual student run conference, which attracted 400 delegates and staff from all over Europe during a cold weekend in March. Over the weekend, debate was productive and banter was ever-present making HABSMUN 2013 a great success.

We look forward to the year ahead with out-going MUN trips, and of course HABSMUN 2014.

Alex Kyriacou

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Philosophy Society

The Philosophy Society has enjoyed a successful year. We enjoyed multiple speakers on a diverse range of topics including a talk titled “Who Am I?” given by an ex-pupil of the school, Dan West.

Over 100 students attended the debate between the boys’ school and girls’ school, with the motion being whether it was moral to kill one fat man to save five other people. One of the other highlights of the Philosophy Society’s calendar was a talk given by the eminent philosopher A.C. Grayling on political philosophy. We hope that the forthcoming year will hold many more successes for the Philosophy Society.

Josh Parikh U6

School Council

This year the School Council has enjoyed its most successful year to date, but first, a brief word about its structure.

The School Council is the formal system through which the thoughts and views of all students are channelled and filtered upwards towards senior staff at the school. Re-started two years ago under a new constitution, it constitutes members of the 6th form – directors –and representatives of each class in the school.

Dispelling the once cynical common consensus at HABS, the School Council has risen into one of the most revered institutions at the school. Over the last two years, we have achieved some monumental things. Things like the creation of the buddy system, the provision of new table tennis tables and football goals, the implementation of the new adventure training option, a student survey on the inter-house system and a student led departmental review of some of the teaching departments at HABS. This is clear evidence that the thoughts and views of the Student Body are listened to by the senior staff at the school.

Finally we welcome the incoming School Council directors and hope that they can improve upon the work that has been under gone over the last 2 years and cement the Council’s status as one of the school’s most treasured organisations.

Adam Nash U6

Film Society

“The thing about films is that is has the capacity to be both populist and academically valid at the same time” - Dr Courtney

Born out of a passion for the cinematic art, and noticing a lack of weekly entertaining film-based conversation, five sixth formers comprising of Dan Daniel, Joe Fraser,

David Hochhauser, Timur Khamidullin and myself, decided to launch the new HABS Film Society. Aided by a superb video advert, (search ‘HABS reservoir dogs’ on YouTube) and a cleverly realised poster campaign, Film Soc started strong at the start of the Winter term, and continued in the same vein. Each Thursday in E12 at 1.10, free popcorn in tow, we review some of the week’s recently released films, and we then have a discussion, on any film related topic. This can range from something as generic as ‘worst sequels’ or ‘best directors’ to something more specific, such as whether Nicolas Cage is a good actor or not, which provoked some polarised reactions. But of course, the discussion allows the people who attend to take an active part in each weekly session, and the arguments and heated debate that follows is all part of the fun of talking about films. Indeed, the interactive element of Film Soc is what I believe to have been its strength. Where many other start-up societies have failed, the spontaneous element of Film Soc allows for interaction between the Film Soc team and the attendees, and thus ensured its survival beyond a few weeks. Film Soc has gone from strength to strength and will continue to do so in the new academic year.

Joel Dwek U6

Law Society

This year was another successful one for LawSoc. It began with Mr. Myers of Clifford Chance coming to deliver an enlightening speech, which gave a fascinating overview of the life of a corporate lawyer.

The theme for the remainder of the year was to have student led talks, with an emphasis on discussion and debate. With many

people taking part, both attending and giving such talks, I feel that these aims were met. I wish to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Pinkus and the rest of the team for making all of this possible.

Pranav Subhedar

Houses

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Skylark 2013 Houses

This was the year of change and the Orange revolution. A new House colour (bright Orange), a new Housemistress , a new and highly driven Senior team and a new ethos.

The tone of the year was set in the first House assembly when Mrs Wright gave a loud and clear message to the House that mediocrity was no longer acceptable. The House was to pull together and work as a team; every one trying a little harder in everything they did would benefit the whole.

The Crossman competition started off poorly with last place in the 3 Chess competitions, not Calverts strength. Senior drama was the turning point. Brilliant direction from Jack Reitman and superb performances from middle school lads saw Calverts lift their first silverware of the year. The spring term Aquatic events saw more

silverware awarded for winning the Senior Water Polo and all but one of the cups at the swimming gala. House Captain, Jared Baker, led from the front and was a major factor in these triumphs. More excellent team performances in Hockey and Tennis put us in pole position ahead of the all-important Sports Day. The day itself was one of excitement and nerves. After the noisy House processions around the track, the Orange army got to work in the field. After a tense afternoon we were delighted to hear we had done enough to stay just ahead of Meadows, chasing at our heels, and to win the Crossman Shield for the first time in many years.

Excellent effort by all the lads in the classroom meant that we were also in course for being awarded the Dunton. Would we manage the double?

Highlights of the year were an amazing end of term House Video, ‘Skyfall’ directed by Jack Reitman, inspiring and motivational assemblies from Luke Vaz and Nick Spitz and Ned Birss’ extraordinary enthusiasm and drive with the Inter House Events.

It was a proud and emotional moment when Calverts were awarded the Dunton and Crossman shields in the final school assembly.

A great year for Calvert’s in so many ways. Thanks go to the senior team of Jared, Ned, Nick, Luke, Jack and Niloy who were committed, driven and inspirational leaders.

The future is bright, the future is definitely Orange….

R Wright

Calverts Housemistress

“This is going to be hard and difficult work”, acknowledged David Cameron in his inaugural address as Prime Minister. It was in much the same spirit that I took up the mantle of Hendersons House Captain at the beginning of the year. For as long as I’ve been at the school, Hendersons has had the reputation of being the ‘Fun’ House, the ‘Friendly’ House and the ‘Fervent’ House; but, unfortunately, also of being the ‘Fifth-placed’ House, resigned to accepting that only Joblings could perform worse than us when it came to the competitive aspect of school life. My mission? To retain the first three ‘F’ adjectives but to transform the last into the ‘First-placed’ House.

I am sorry to report that, in this mission, we have yet to succeed; the shackles of mediocrity remain pinning us down in the Crossman following a relatively disappointing year of Inter-House events. Once again, we finish the year with only Joblings to gloat at. That said, we did manage to achieve gallant victory in the Senior Debating and Bridge competitions, and the future looks bright with our year 9 Hendersonians having won their football and hockey competitions.

Perhaps, though, success in the Crossman was always going to be an unrealistic aim given that our strength as a House has never been in sport, on which the shield places

an excessive emphasis. If the competition took note of other areas of House life, then we would be sure to be positioned more favourably. In particular, this year has seen the launch of our magnificent House magazine, ‘The Bernard’, and our hilarious ‘A-Team’ and ‘Godfather’ videos have become the envy of all the other Houses; on these two endeavours, I am eternally grateful to Ben Klinger and Liam Brady respectively for all their hard work. Charity remains a Hendersons stronghold, with our annual Fun Run, Battle of the Bands Competition and Summer Fete raising around £6,000 for Third Hope this year alone; the money is being put to excellent use helping to rehabilitate former child soldiers in Uganda. In addition, House assemblies have been reinvigorated, we won the House Music Shield – entirely due to our musical talent, not due to the fact that both our Housemaster and Deputy Housemistress are music teachers and run the competition – and this year has seen significant innovation in the technological side of the House: we have a shiny new website, a new House record system and even a House Twitter feed, largely due to the fantastic efforts of our very own AV genius, Nakul Khanna.

The appointment of Miss Cousens as our new Deputy Housemistress was met with an extremely popular reception, and the work of her and of Mr Simm has been

tireless and never-ending throughout the year; Hendersons is privileged to have such an energetic and passionate leadership team in place. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank various members of my Prefect team: my two Vice-Captains, Daniel Lande and James Lawrence, have been a great support, whilst Joey Chong has performed the thankless task of organising duties with ruthless efficiency.

After seven amazing, memorable years in Hendersons, and the immense honour of leading the House over the past year, it is finally time to hand over the baton of responsibility to the incoming House Officials; I wish Tom Senior and his team all the best of luck, and I look forward to hearing about the successes of the mighty Red Army in the year to come.

Robert Harris House Captain

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Skylark 2013 Houses

The beginning of the academic year 2012-13 marked a renewal for Joblings House: a new pair of knees. No longer the reliance on the dodgy knees of a Dathan (or a Swallow for that matter); we had a brand new fully functioning set of knees belonging to our new Deputy Housemaster Mr Taberner. Mr Dathan inspired a generation of Jobloids with his enthusiasm, hard work and unmatched bellowing from the touchline; we are grateful that he remains in Joblings as a supportive and constructive tutor and friend to many within the House.

Mr Taberner enjoyed a robust first year as his successor. One of his first tasks was to coordinate the Joblings charity initiative for the year. We tend to support charities alternately on a home/ away basis. Two years ago we raised money for the British-based Teenage Cancer Trust, last year for the South African sports charity Touraid. This year we stayed at home and did our

sponsored rowing to support ‘Rays of Sunshine’, and we collected about seven and a half thousand pounds. A significant part of this was contributed individually by Sam Sharpe through his sponsored bungee-jump.

We had our successes in Inter-House sports. All years competed keenly and achieved good results in hockey and athletics, but we performed inconsistently in other competitions and were not serious contenders for the Crossman Shield by the end of the year. Our Year 8 however carried nearly all before them, winning their tennis, hockey and chess tournaments outright and finishing a strong second at rugby and athletics. They will continue to be a force to be reckoned with in future years.

In fact our Year 7 and 8 together combined to bring us our greatest success of the year. Once all their effort grades were counted Joblings were seen to have trounced the

other Houses; we comfortably retained the Junior Work and Conduct Shield, now situated beacon-like and resplendent in the Joblings Office.

I congratulate my predecessor as House Captain Noah Levy and his team for leaving Joblings in such good shape. Indeed I hope to build on past successes during my own term of office. Many thanks to Mr Swallow, Mr Taberner and their whole tutor team for their continuing commitment to Joblings House.

Rory Cartmell House Captain

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Skylark 2013 Houses

The purple glory have had a tremendous year of care-giving and success in many areas. Challenged for the first time by the newly branded paramilitary organisation in orange, Meadowsians have stepped up to the parapet instead of resting on their laurels, and have been magnanimous both in victory and defeat.

The new additions to the house settled in within minutes to the rigours of year 7 life, and although their performance in interhouse scrabble and the year 7 quiz could have left us flagging, they made up for these lapses tremendously, especially in cross country, but without making a fuss. Our success in interhouse swimming was such that even Charlie Colenutt’s unexplained absence was forgiven, as it would have

been anyway the next time his puppy-like squeals of happiness were heard. While there were some very notable successes, Meadowsians have stuck by Percy Meadows’ age old mantra of doing their best, racking up the mid-level points in each competition, never giving up, and coming out on top in the end.

The house has also had a great year for charity matters, raising £3,550 through the ever-popular Battle of the Bands, sponsored swims, MufTIE day and a new initiative involving sleeping rough in the sports hall for DENS, this year’s good cause. In this way we have kept up our role in the school community, with BOTB being especially well organised.

Mr Bagguley and Mr Garvey have done an excellent job keeping Meadows as strong as it has been, seemingly since the last ice age, and whether the unprecedented streak of 1sts in the Crossman continues or not, the house is in great shape. It has been a pleasure to be at the helm with such an accomplished and enthusiastic team, to be nagged about duties so efficiently and see such accomplishment in every year. Although of course a Meadowsian for life, I will be sad to say goodbye.

Guy Lewy U6

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So another year has come and gone. As the U6th prepare to leave the Greenhouse as tall oaks after seven formative years at Habs, another class of small saplings enter in 7R ready to be nurtured and I am faced with the unenviable task of summarising the world of Team Russells this year. Well, here goes…

The start of the year saw host to two Summer gatherings of the new 7R. Despite their relatively short Habs lives, 7R epitomised the Russells tagline of “getting involved” with their enthusiasm and keenness this year. They have settled in amazingly well and the future for Russells looks prosperous.

Again Team Russells camaraderie shone through as we fought gallantly in pursuit of the Crossman, finishing a noble third in this timeless classic. The level of involvement and team spirit shown by members of the house in the IH competition, not just for their own performances but for that of their friends, was unparalleled. Even though the end result was a slight disappointment when compared to the huge success of last year’s triumph everyone can be immensely proud of their efforts on this front and enter next year with a strengthened resolve to do even better. Above it all, we won and lost with characteristic good grace and my thanks go to Ben Kohler for spearheading the Crossman effort this year.

With a new year came a new charity to get behind with the enthusiasm Russells is renowned for. “Hands Together - Tiplyang Project” promotes health and education in areas of Nepal and we have supported it this year with the quintessential Russells charity event Ironman, the permanent fixture in the

house calendar. It is great to have an event that brings together different years in unison towards a common cause. The drum, the megaphone and the support poolside makes the atmosphere special and this year we have managed to raise a massive £3,376. This brings the total amount Russells have raised for charity over nine years to a humungous £60,847. Thanks must go to Ollie Warren for all his work in this area.

The year has also seen the Russells website achieve 100,000 hits. It is a testament to the tireless work of Mr. Hardman over many years that has made Russells not just a house but a community where both current pupils and old boys as well as parents can keep up to date with Russells news by logging on to the website. House assemblies have also made a resurgence this year with fantastic presentations given by members of all years on diverse topics including the St. Johns Ambulance and the Super Bowl. Thanks for the organisation of this programme must go to Mr. Campbell and Eliot Cohen. In other news, Efe Uwaifo (U6R1) was offered a place to study at Harvard, the first ever Habs boy to do so and Mr. Todhunter continues to rock nightclubs up and down the country with his band, the Sideliners. Many more amazing things have been achieved by Russellites this year but unfortunately there isn’t enough space here to recognise them all!

As I conclude my summary of Team Russells this year let me ask you a question; what does every greenhouse need? Well, it needs a chief gardener to provide an environment in which everyone can flourish and achieve their full potential. This role has been filled by the tireless Mr. Hardman for ten years now and many thanks must

go to him for his continued support, pastoral guidance and dedication this year. However, he can’t do it all on his own and Mr. Campbell’s encouragement and helpful demeanour has been invaluable to Team Russells this year. We thank him for his immense hard work as Deputy Housemaster and we will miss him as he moves on to his new job at the end of the year. In his place comes Mr. Haldane and I wish him the best of luck, I’m certain along with Mr. H the new dynamic duo will successfully nurture generations of Russellites for years to come.

As I prepare to leave Habs, I have never been more sure of the future success of Russells. Ably lead by James Hart and supported by Will Wright (i/c IH events) and Canishk Naik (i/c Duty), I have no doubt that, with this talented triumvirate at the helm, Russells success is guaranteed next year and I wish them the best of luck. Finally, I want to wish all members of the house luck in their future endeavours in Russells and at Habs. As the career of this Russells boy ends, those of many others continue into what I am sure will be an era of domination Russells is destined for.

Ronak Shah U6

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Being the most lucky man in the world, I never have to go to work. Although I am at work, physically and / or mentally for literally most of the time, to me looking after Strouts is not work. Being surrounded by some of the brightest minds in Great Britain, and having the opportunity to work with colleagues who are friends make each day feel like my birthday. HABS has employed Housemasters since around 1906. Many men have led Strouts, including of course the original Mr Strout, but I’m sure that none have enjoyed the job more than I do.

During the last year Strouts House has really gone from strength to strength. The final public examination results of the class of 2013 were astonishingly good, and our tracking grades were strong across all year groups. This really matters; of course we are an academic school, and Strouts aims to enable all boys to reach their full academic potential. I am grateful to Dr Gannerelli for driving forward our own

programme of academic support during his free time, for he has made a measurable impact in our academic achievement. I’m also grateful too for the great care and attention afforded to all Strouts boys by our simply amazing tutor team.

Yes HABS is indeed an academic school, but of course it is far more than that. Strouts places special emphasis on the extra-curricular and Inter-House programmes, and last year saw some absolutely stellar performances in activities as diverse as chess, tennis, cricket and drama. Great credit must here go to our own Mr Metcalfe who has a unique ability to inspire and motivate our boys. House Captain Adam Kayani and his able team also worked hard to keep the momentum running. In our Inter-House programme of events our sporting and acting superstars always shine brightly, but so too do those boys with perhaps less natural talent but the hearts of lions. Through teamwork and shared endeavour our boys

become men; men who are interested in the world around them, and who are most interesting to others.

Last year we set out to raise £4000 for SNAAP, our local charity for children with autism. This represented four times our total target for the year before, and many colleages wondered if we had perhaps set the bar too high. My response was that little progress results from setting the bar too low, and that our Strouts boys were capable of anything. Predictably we smashed the £4000 target, employing all possible means (some perhaps more dubious than others) to get there, and in doing so to improve the lives of others. This year we raise the bar yet higher with our “Strouts Secret Millionaire” challenge; we will raise money in blocks of £1000, and the top three fundraisers of each block will choose a local charity between them. We will then simply take them the money personally, and leave; there will be no cameras flashing, and they will never know who we are, for that is true service, and is what we are all about in Strouts.

What a fantastic year of progress we have enjoyed. Yet the “milestone” events described above for me are eclipsed by the thousands of small acts of kindness I witnessed from my colleagues in Strouts and the Strouts boys themselves during the year. As Aristotle once said, “We are that which we repeatedly do”; on that measure in particular our Strouts boys have performed especially well, and I remain both humbled and immensely proud to serve them as Housemaster.

G Hall

Strouts Housemaster

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Contingent Commander’s Report

The year began with the 140 Year 10 recruits preparing for their Duke of Edinburgh Expedition to Bricket Wood and testing the leadership skills of the new MOI Cadre to the full. Field Days to Portsmouth, Norfolk, Halton, Longridge, Bramley saw the cadets go flying, sailing and take part in an overnight military exercises.

The Field Days also enabled cadets to develop their campcraft skills as over 300 were fending for themselves in tents and bashas. Shooting, the assault course, survival training, first aid and mountain biking have also played a key role in the training program. The Navy Section made their annual visit to Rockley Point in June and the Year 9 Navy Sailing Course in July was a great success, introducing the new cadets to the toppers on Aldenham Resevoir. Army Summer Camp in North Yorkshire was blessed with exceptional weather. The cadets enjoyed military training, shooting on the ranges, high ropes, canoeing, archery and an overnight exercise. Lt Hamish Haldane distinguished himself on the assault course and on the football pitch in a number of hard fought games between the officers and cadets.

We said farewell to our SSI, Colour Sergeant Steve Macpherson, who has made an outstanding contribution to the CCF over the last three years. The cadets and officers will miss his energy, his professionalism and his sense of humour. Corporal Major James Sandercock, who served with the Blues and Royals, has become the new SSI. Henry Gauntlett and Georgina Chapman have joined the Navy Section while Che Ganarelli has joined the RAF Section. Squadron Leader Chris Bass has stood down as Head of the RAF Section and Deputy Contingent Commander. Fight Lieutenant Phillip Stiff has been appointed the Section Head of the

RAF and Major Alex Simm has become the new Deputy Contingent Commander. Major Nicholas Saddington will stand down as Contingent Commander after nine years in post. He will remain as an officer the Army Section. The new Contingent Commander will be Major Danny Moffat who joins the contingent from the Royal Marines.

In shooting the Army Team won the Winney Trophy as the top CCF team in Hertfordshire. Ben Lockwood was awarded a medal as top shot in Hertfordshire, he reached the Final of the Association Cup and was also was selected to represent the England in the Home Countries International. He has been awarded the Coules Cup, the school shooting trophy. Duncan Jenkins also presented the Jenkins Trophy for Adventure Training to Ben Lockwood for the second year in a row in recognition of his award as top British Cadet in the Expedition to the Rocky Mountains. Ben will return to Canada this summer as Cadet Officer for the expedition.

JJ Dixon was awarded the Contingent Commanders Cup for his exceptional contribution to the Signals Section.

The CCF social calendar is as busy as ever. The Old Boys’ Reunion Dinner at the RAF Club Piccadilly was a very enjoyable occasion where 90 old boys, cadets and officers were entertained by our guest speaker Lt Colonel Hugh Evans (OH) who entertained us with tales of his peace keeping exploits with the United Nations in Africa. As ever, we thanked the Upper Sixth Form at a dinner at the Tower of London for all their hard work and said farewell to them and their parents at our open afternoon in May. The Section Heads - Suraj Joshi (Navy), Jarad Baker (Army) and Adrian Algan (RAF) - and the senior cadets have managed to maintain the very high standards of the CCF and pass on a thriving organisation to the next generation.

Nicholas Saddington Contingent Commander

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Last year was a very successful one for the Army section. The upper sixth team extraordinarily had two Under Officers, the highest rank that can be awarded to exceptional cadets. Jared Baker led the section making a huge contribution to the development of the Army section, standing out as a role model for younger cadets. Ben Lockwood spent his summer in the Rockies as part of a cadet camp, which involved a selection process for people across the country. He was awarded the best cadet award, which by extension makes him one of the best cadets in the UK and the world; he also shot for the England A-team.

Our first field day was not so far from home; the year ten boys and the lower sixth leaders walked to Bricket Wood as part of their Duke of Edinburgh’s training. Luckily they did not experience the same adverse weather conditions as the year before at Otterburn. Meanwhile, the year eleven boys and the Upper sixth went to Thetford Training Area to practice their advanced infantry skills. They had the opportunity to do a blank firing exercise in the FIBUA facility, an area designed to look like an Afghan village as well as performing a night ambush in the pitch dark.

The Spring Term Field Day at Longmoor was enjoyable despite the non-stop rain. The year ten cadets enjoyed their first time live firing on a range as well as being taught a wide range of lessons on infantry training superbly taught by members of the lower sixth and Oliver Warren. The year eleven cadets had the most enjoyable field day including an escaping and evading the staff’s capture only one boy, James Cohen, managed to remain unseen. There were also evacuating a casualty under fire and recce missions that the cadets enjoyed. The final field day took place in Bramley. The night exercise involved an eventful capture by Rufus, exerting his new authority as head boy in a dictator-like fashion. After their escape the cadets developed their navigation skills at night.

The first Field Day of this year was promising and led to a large number of promotions. For year 11 cadets, in the Northumberland platoon had a night ambush, which was a success. After lying in the mud for an hour they were glad to go back to their bashers. We started with some fire and maneuvered, and then section battle drills. After this, we had the highlight of the trip, three full platoon attacks with blank ammunition, which was highly

enjoyable. The Method Of Instruction section of L6 spent the night helping the Year 11s by playing enemy during their exercises. The next day was spent being taught on the climbing wall and abseiling and being instructed in MOI by Major Moffat.

On field day the year 11 Support Platoon consisting of CAM, Race and Sniper were involved in numerous military exercises including a night exercise, “Operation Eagle Eye “where all three sections patrolled, observed and gathered crucial information about the year 10 base. On the following day all three sections applied their skills in action, which included CAM section carrying a casevac drill on a ‘wounded’ individual in Recce. The specialist sections also practiced breaching and clearing empty buildings in the mock village whilst under time pressure. The year 10 cadets had their first experience of spending a night in the field as part of their D of E training. They learnt valuable lessons like how to navigate and cook. The current lower sixth were keen to point out tips on how to survive an expedition such as not bringing washing powder.

Rajiv Ark

Army

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Interview with the new SSI

Why did you decide to join the Royal Marines?

I joined the Royal Marines for a variety of reasons. I joined as a 16 year old, partially because of the excitement of life away from my small northern mining village and to see what else was around. I joined because at the time I wasn’t academically minded at the time and I was interested in the different methods of learning offered by the Royal Marines. It also looked like a challenge, a couple of my colleagues and older friends had joined the army and it looked like the Marines was the most challenging service possible. I was fit at the time, running for my local county so I wanted to be physically challenged rather than mentally challenged and the Royal Marines seemed to offer this.

So you speak of a desire for challenge, what was the most challenging part of your time spent there?

It’s hard to nail down a specific time in a 20 year period, however going through training involved the transition to an environment where I was forced to become independent. I was also unsuccessful at one stage. Going through training there are a number of tasks that you must complete and one of these was to climb a rope whilst carrying a great weight. At the time however I was physically too small to get through this and consequently I was back-trouped, which involved leaving my original peers and repeating part of training. This was particularly difficult to get over as I was used to being successful in most aspects of my life to that point so at the time it was something of a shock, though the coping skills I developed at the time were very useful.

Were there any particularly rewarding moments in that 20-year period?

The rewarding moments tended to be those interactions, dealing with other people, whether that be congratulating other people from the organisation, giving them medals and praise or when you go to a different country and those people are happy to see you. I remember going into Iraq and fortunately I was amongst the first to get their boots on the ground and the first few people I met there were very positive about the experience as we were liberating from a dictatorial organisation and they were happy to see us. Whilst this did not stay the same for the duration of our involvement in Iraq, in the initial stages we had sweets thrown at us and it was great to engage with the people. This is arguably the best part of the armed forces acting as a ‘force for good’ and it is great to be dealing with such professional individuals in the military.

Did you find that this happy welcoming environment was not the case and how did you deal with this?

Every now and again however it differs from area to area. In Northern Ireland I recall being spat on, in Bosnia and Macedonia we had bricks thrown at us as we were not the force they wanted there and in Afghanistan Iraq and to an extent Sierra Leone here has always been a noticeable animosity towards the armed forces and that is sometimes difficult to cope with. It is only when you sit down with an individual rather than a group that you can begin to explain how you are trying to be there for all the right reasons and hopefully time and history will demonstrate that the British Military have been involved in things for the right reasons.

With regard to the enjoyment of congratulating those serving under you and your colleagues How did your leadership develop during your time in the Marines?

Originally as a marine, I was responsible only for myself and ensuring I was doing the right thing at the right time, for the right reasons and I believe that if you have the correct personal qualities, be they morally or religiously driven or as a result of your own characteristics they can mature over time and your leadership style becomes more effective as a result. I’d like to think that I am now a more mature leader, taking more time in making decisions and pausing rather than rushing in as I once may have done.

Do you think that the time spent as a non-commissioned member of the Royal Marines aided you when you made the transition to becoming an officer?

Between the ages of 16 and 25, I was progressing up the non-commissioned ranks and my leadership began to grow at this time. Knowing what the qualities of a good marine are and how they should conduct themselves is always beneficial as a leader because you often get a variety of different men with different skills underneath you, so deciding how to get the most out of those individuals is incredibly useful in knowing your strength and exploiting the talents of your subordinates.

Do you have away passions or hobbies that perhaps you continue to pursue?

I am continually involved in outdoor pursuits, I love running, triathlon, in fact i enjoy anything physical. I’ve spent a number of months over the last couple of years in Switzerland doing some high altitude mountaineering and although it is at times scary, I do lead a little climbing. I have

also raced around the island in boats and been victorious. However, now I have two small children aged 5 and 7, so whilst you may not call it a hobby, I do drive them to their activities like tennis, horses riding and acting so I increasingly find myself on the periphery of those activities.

What made you decide to come to HABS and take on the role of contingent commander?

It was time in my life to settle down. Working in two year assignment cycles of responsibilities in the Royal Marines means continuously move around the country to fulfil my obligations and I felt that it was a good time to settle down with my family and not have to travel so frequently. I had a great deal of experience in teaching whilst in the Marines and I found it something that I enjoyed immensely but I also knew I enjoyed the military side of it. As such the position of contingent commander in a highly regarded school was definitely something I was interested in pursuing.

What do you perceive the role of the CCF within HABS to be?

At the moment I am still designing it, at the start, it is important to assess what is going on and identifying the good and bad points with the aim of making the experience for the boys a more positive and enjoyable one. So at the moment my role is to increase cooperation between the three services. Being a royal marine I am not exactly pigeon holed into aiding with one particular service and I have experiences that could benefit all three. We are a combined cadet force so it is important to act In a more unified manner and impart the values of the school and the CCF.

Do you have any particular goals or aims for the School CCF?

In the short term my goal is to train and invest in the staff. Professionalism, ethos and values begin at home and if I can find the time to invest in the staff this should dissipate down to the students and cadets. In the longer term I would like to set the CCF goals in line with the school development plan to define what a successful CCF looks like.

If you had to give one sentence of advice to the officers and cadets underneath you, what would that be?

The ethos and values of the school and the CCF is not just a poster, it is the way we should live our lives.

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Navy

The Navy section has been awash with activities, making sure that cadets of all ages are participating side by side. Activities include sailing, shooting, orienteering and assault courses to name but a few.

With the Duke of Edinburgh expeditions approaching midway through the academic year, the new Year 10 cadets were taught vital expedition skills such as navigation and cooking right from their very first Friday afternoon with the Navy. Year 11 boys worked on many drill techniques to improve and perfect their marching and sailed before the cold weather had set in.

On the Autumn Field Day, the Year 10 cadets were put to the test with a practice expedition from HABS to Bricket Wood. Accompanying the Year 10s were Lower Sixth cadets who were all training rigorously in preparation for becoming SNCOs in their final year at HABS. These boys all partook in the excellent Method of Instruction (MOI) course led by Sergeant MacPhearson and demonstrated their newly gained leadership skills by leading the junior cadets through their first ever experience of an expedition and camping with the CCF, ensuring all of the younger boys enjoyed themselves and stayed safe whilst practicing their expedition skills. Year 11 boys managed to spend a whole day either scrub bashing or sailing at Aldenham resevoir.

As the cold weather set in, the winter program began. All cadets sat through rotations of several activities. Major team-building exercises took manifested itself in various PLTs including simulated river crossings and bridge building. Senior cadets also gave several lectures on ship design, knots and historic naval battles.

In the spring term, one of the highlights was the spring Field Day. For fifteen cadets, Mr. Hall and Dr. Chapman the spring Field Day brought a trip to the infamous Datchet Water reservoir, which provided fantastic sailing opportunities. Light rain and unseasonably cold weather were nowhere near enough to stop the boys enjoying a full day out on the water, gaining valuable experience in sailing

two- and three-man boats. Special commendation goes to Milind Chohan, who capsized his boat on the way back to shore, because ‘It doesn’t really count as a day sailing if you don’t go in’.

Many other cadets also embarked on a visit to Portsmouth where an overnight stay at HMS Bristol gave a small glimpse into life serving in the Royal Navy. The visit was both academic and active, with tours of the harbour, talks onboard HMS Victory and time spent at “Action Stations”.

During the Easter holidays many cadets were set to head up to Otterburn for the Tri-service Duke of Edinburgh expeditions. However due to adverse weather conditions (many inches of snow falling) the experience had to be cancelled – the expeditions were instead rearranged for the Summer holidays.

The summer Field Day brought with it yet another (and often regarded as the best) sailing opportunity of the year: the annual trip to Rockley Point, just across from Poole Harbour. The sheltered bay allowed

the cadets to improve their sailing on open water in relative safety even though the very high winds posed a challenge, even for the most experienced of sailors. Despite sailing every day, cadets still found time for an evening’s rock climbing and the traditional trip to Splashdown water park. The last day gave all the cadets the chance to take out a Dart catamaran across open water: not normally a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but with the wind as strong as it was, it very well could have been! Cadets were joined by all of the Navy CCF staff, who enjoyed the weekend as much as we all did and had to be dragged off the water so we could arrive home on time.

All in all the Navy CCF has had a great year with strong friendships and memories formed. All cadets have learnt valuable new skills be it in practical skills such as knot tying or things such as leadership and organisation. Thanks must go to Mr Ward, Mr Hall, Mr Hardman, Dr Chapman and Mr Gauntlett for their dedication to organising and running the RN CCF.

Jasper Wong

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Navy Field Day

Each year the RN CCF staff run a sailing course for our new joiners. Some years are wet, others are windy. Some years the days gather storm clouds around them like a clammy veil. This year was simply hot, hot, hot.

HABS has a unique RYA sailing centre complete with twenty-four dinghies and a suite of sailing-mad fully qualified instructors. Lt CDr Hardman runs the whole show, and over the years has amassed a PowerPoint presentation of gargantuan proportions to help drum home the key messages of sailing. It is so large that it requires its own van for transportation. Yet it is afloat training which we enjoy most; twenty four cadets were soon afloat, shepherded gently by Dr Chapman, SLt Gauntlett and myself. To ensure the correct safety ratios, Harry Jukes (Y12), Jack Tallboys (OH) and Mark Donnelly (Aldenham Sailing Club) also joined the instructor team.

In scenes reminiscent of “The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner”, our spirited cadets drifted around the local lake, learning sailing skills in slow motion. Lt Hardman’s unique style of direct-feedback-coaching proved especially effective as the RN CCF staff topped up their suntans whilst they worked.

It is testimony to the commitment of HABS to sailing that we can run such an extensive and thorough course as this each year. All twenty four cadets earned their Level One or Level Two award, and can now look forward to continuing their development in the HABS RN CCF.

Lt Hall HABS RN CCF

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RAF

The Royal Air Force section of the Combined Cadet Force has seen a great change over this academic year with a new officer commanding, Flight Lieutenant Stiff. Flight Lieutenant Stiff’s fresh ideas have included the implementation of a Junior Non-Commissioned Officer Development Course. This aims to prepare Year 11 cadets for larger roles and provides the opportunity for the younger cadets to reflect on their leadership skills and style. We hope that as this course progresses, it will be extremely beneficial for cadets in the future, not only as they reach higher ranks but also through other aspects of their life, where both teamwork and leadership skills are important.

The Royal Air Force section has also incorporated training on both the 0.22 No 8 rifles and on the L98A2 Semi-automatic rifles within the last year, widening the

scope of skills which are taught in the section. This training has been popularly received in the Air Force and there are hopes that we can include more Fieldcraft onto our training syllabus.

The Basic Life Support programme is another important course that is being pioneered in the RAF section. This First Aid course provides invaluable knowledge and skills which could save lives and is also well received by the section.

Adventurous training has always been a highlight in the RAF section. In the past year, cadets have learnt how to cook rations, build a fire from only one match, make temporary shelters - ‘bashers’ –from a waterproof coat. We hope to extend further on these fun, teambuilding activities and possibly introduce a Survival Experience course. Orienteering and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award are also highlights in the CCF. Last Summer, 6 RAF cadets completed their

Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, after a four day hike around the Scottish lochs and mountains, where the picturesque landscape was worth the physical and mental challenge – despite the rain! These cadets are now expecting an invitation to St James’ Palace, London to meet the Duke of Edinburgh for their Gold Award presentation.

This year, we are looking forward to some new exciting opportunities. The section has purchased a new Flight Simulator, which will be a welcomed new resource that will enable cadets to understand and be taught the basic principles of flight before they venture out on the actual runways. We will also be celebrating the centenary of the Combined Cadet Force at Haberdashers’ with our Biennial General Inspection, with an RAF Inspecting Officer. Life in the section for the next year promises to be eventful and exciting!

Warrant Officer Ark

RAF field day

This Field Day, the CCF RAF Section’s Senior Non-Commissioned Officers had the opportunity to fly alongside senior Royal Air Force pilots at RAF Benson in Oxfordshire.

The Field Day to RAF Benson was a highly anticipated event, being the culmination of all of the RAF cadets’ training and experiences in the CCF. Every U6th cadet spent at least 25 minutes inside the Grob Tutor aircraft dual cockpit alongside a pilot. The pilot explained to what he was doing as he did his flight checks and took off. Once the plane was up in the air, each of the cadets had the opportunity to take control of the plane and were taught how to use all of the various instruments.

Towards the end of the flight the Senior Non-Commissioned Officers had the chance to take part in some Aerial Aerobatics including the Loop, a Stall Turn, and some steep Advanced Turns. In the Loop and Stall Turn, the cadets experienced forces of up to 3.5g!

The Air Experience Flights were the most phenomenal, brilliant experiences which was thoroughly worthwhile. All of the cadets learnt a lot and had a huge amount of fun.

SCS

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Independent SCS

For my independent SCS this year, I have helped run the youth service at Kinloss Synagogue under the supervision of youth leaders Barry and Chaya Coleman. Every Saturday, I go into synagogue at 9:45 and set up for the service, which begins at 10 o’clock.

This involves going into the storeroom and collecting the tables and chairs for people, and setting out the right prayer books. During the service, I help to ensure that the younger members of the congregation are able to follow the service by helping them read the Hebrew, and help the smooth running of the service. This is by reading from the Torah, or maintaining a good decorum throughout the service, which is suitable for prayer. At the end of the service, I help to set out food for anyone who was present, and when all of it has been eaten, I help to clear away any rubbish and then help to clear away the tables, chairs and prayer books. Occasionally, instead of a regular service, the youth are invited to go and help out a prayer service at an old age home, which I will attend. This year has been very enjoyable and rewarding, and I hope to continue it in the years ahead.

Josh Harrison Year 11

SCS Art

On Field day Mr Keenleyside took five boys to experience the wonders of Australian Art at the Royal Academy in London.

With little previous knowledge of Australian Art we were enveloped by this totally different culture. The exhibition tells a visual story of Australia through the centuries showing it’s strong links to the Australia’s landscape and it’s history. Artists like Sidney Nolan, George W. Lambert, and John Glover are incorporated

in this exhibition, with their marvelous interpretations of Australia’s landscape.

This exhibition is the first major survey of Australian art in the UK for over 50 years and it covers over more than 200 years from the very first convict settlers in the 1800’s to the present day and portrays the fascinating social and cultural transitions of the nation through its art. It captures the impact of the indigenous people and their Art, to the pioneering nation-building of the 19th century through to modern day and urbanization. In total there are two hundred works including paintings, drawings, photography, sculpture and film with a vast range of mixed media pieces.

Landscape is a major part of the exhibition and is key to the artists’ ideas of land ownership. Does man own land as the European settlers presumed, or does the land own you as the Aboriginal people believe? All the artists have different conclusions on this fundamental question but all tell fascinatingly diverse stories of Australian history.

Many thanks to Mr Keenleyside for organizing such an inspirational day out, (and also for the cappuccino afterwards!). I now have lots of ideas for my own Art work!

Nat Myers L6

It is not difficult to find what some of the world’s outstanding thinkers and leaders think of service to others:

“If you’re in the luckiest one per cent of humanity, you owe it to the rest of humanity to think about the other 99 per cent.” (Warren Buffet)

“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.” (Charles Dickens)

“The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you will

fill yourself with hope.” (Barack Obama)

And, “No one has ever become poor by giving.” (Anne Frank)

In the academic year of 2012/13 almost 200 boys from Years 10 – U6 kept up the proud Habs tradition of giving service to others through their involvement in the SCS program. Almost half of these boys were involved outside of the school – visiting nearby care homes or primary schools, or working in independent placements – with the rest providing their energies in a large number of school-based groups. The energy involved, and the collective work done by the boys was

only possible thanks to the dedicated leadership of the almost 50 members of staff who lead the boys by their example. It is a humbling experience to see so many of our boys willing to give their time and their skills in the service of others.

I extend my thanks to the boys who have been a part of SCS this year and add my grateful thanks to my many colleagues who have worked so tirelessly to ensure the success of this most worthwhile program.

Geoff Kissane (SCS Coordinator)

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Rays Of Sunshine SCS

This year, for SCS, I spent my time working at Rays of Sunshine Children’s Charity (ROS), a fantastic charity that exists to grant the wishes of children who are living with serious or life-threatening illnesses between the ages of 3-18 who live in the United Kingdom.

They have granted over 2980 wishes since 2003, and will continue to grant wishes for many years to come. This year as a volunteer, I have been inputting wish applications into the computer system at the office in Wembley, shaking the ROS moneybox fundraising in St. John’s Wood High Street and helping in the organisation of events and outings for large groups of seriously ill children, such as trips to Legoland and the Sunshine Concert at the Royal Albert Hall. When I turn 16 I hope to participate in a sponsored sky dive from 13,000 feet for the charity in an aim to raise over £500. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at the charity and I am glad I am able to help children who are seriously ill.

Reiss Cohen Year 11

SCS Cricket

Going to Harrow Weald Primary School to teach cricket was interesting to say the least.

The children, all from various backgrounds and ages, ranging from 9 to 11 were eager, excitable and effervescent every week upon our arrival. For many, this was the first time they have had the opportunity to play cricket, a sport not best known for its enthralling and heart-pulsating nature. We organised activities that helped them improve basic skills with regards to bowling, batting and fielding. A match was then played at the end of every session to allow the children to actively practice their newly found skills and to engage their more than evident competitive instincts. The club was beneficial to both parties, teaching us how to discipline children and how to engage their rather vivacious selves as well as giving them an opportunity to play an alien sport. The most pleasurable part was, of course, witnessing their rapid progress throughout the year and their development as both players and individuals.

SCS Lighting

When one thinks of SCS Lighting, one could be excused for instantly conjuring up ideas of sitting behind a console for hours on end, listening to one person telling you what to do and when.

In reality, this could not be further from the truth. Between setting up for the numerous concerts and school productions which punctuate the year and then clearing up afterwards, as well as finding some time to learn about the ideas of stage lighting, we often find ourselves rushed off our feet. Despite there only being three productions a year, there is never a void in jobs to do, with SCS lighting often becoming an annexe of SCS Stage if there is ever any chance of an early finish. Indeed on more than one occasion this year, we have found ourselves under the discerning eye of Mr. Norton painting either an item of set, stage or prop. It is hardly ever menial, with high levels of banter and jokes being shared between the two SCS groups which often interlock. I have learned a huge amount this year; whether that is how to focus a stage lantern, operate different types of pulleys or simply how to work in a tight-knit team. Our thanks must go to Mr. Norton and Mr. Silver for their endless patience, and willingness to teach us something entirely new and interesting every week.

Oli Sims Year 10

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Grooms-Shaftesbury Livablility SCS

Every Friday afternoon for the past academic year, Vithun Illankovan, Pratheep Premaraj and I travelled with Rev Jan to the Grooms-Shaftesbury Livablility as part of the school’s SCS program.

The Livability is a home for the disabled, discreetly located in the suburbs of Borehamwood. Whilst there, we would interact with the residents and although some of them had some difficulty in doing so, they nonetheless enjoyed our company. Certain activities proved to be extremely successful in engaging the residents – particularly dominoes!

As well as being a way in which we could help the local community, the experience has been eye-opening to say the least. The calm, relatively tranquil atmosphere in the home was a stark contrast to the hustle and bustle of the HABS campus. It truly showed us not just how fortunate we are to be able-bodied, but also how we must not take that for granted.

Curran Kumar Year 11

The SCS group to Heath House has had a most enjoyable year, which involved many interesting conversations with the residents at the home, as well as serving them tea and biscuits.

On field days, we also learnt how to improve our bingo game by learning from the very best at the home. Many thanks to Dr. Pyburn for keeping us entertained along the way, as well as providing many laughs for the residents.

Heath House SCS

Kestrel Grove SCS

Visiting Kestrel Grove nursing home during the last year has been a highlight of our lower sixth year at HABS.

Each week we spent our time talking and interacting with the residents. Even though some of the residents were coping with dementia it was still possible to converse and discuss current and past topics, as well as updating them with our school life throughout the year. Doing activities with the residents such as quizzes and board games was enjoyable, as well as looking through their old photos and listening to them recall some of their experiences.

During our visits, we also met a former HABS boy who had gone to the school during the Second World War in the old site in Hampstead. He told us how the school had changed during the war and how only female teachers were employed, but they were still called “Sir”.

Each week it was very moving to see the residents’ happiness at our arrival and how much they appreciated us talking to them. It inspired us to try as hard as possible to make both the residents and ourselves enjoy our visits there as much as possible.

We would also like to thank Mrs Brock for taking us to the nursing home each week.

Freddie Marshall L6

SCS Props

In SCS Props this year we have worked on the set of Dr Faustus, and we honed our prop-making skills of making something from nothing.

From our extensive work on the set of ‘The Death Of Chatterton’ we have built a reputation for producing professional high quality sets. In the midst of all of this we have been on trips to museums, in particular the trip to the Victoria & Albert museum was particularly interesting as we learnt about the history of the art of prop making and how the advances in technology have affected it. Led by Miss Bird and Miss Kawaja our team of myself, Ollie, Rob, David, Henryk, Tim, Scott, Ricky, George, and Adam have learnt to create tablecloths that have items sewn into them, make a detachable leg and to replicate sets precisely from paintings. The best part of the SCS group is the family-like ethos that it has as well as the commitment and perfectionism visible in our work.

Kyri Droussiotis U6

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Sunrise Care Home SCS

Every Friday, Tanmay Jain (U6J1), Michali Demetroudi (U6J1), Roshan Patel (11H1) and myself Daniel Harris (10H2) looked forward to our visits to Sunrise Care Home. As we stepped in to the residential home, the smiles on the resident’s faces were for all to see.

The first thing we always did was offer them a nice cup of tea and coffee. One of the best parts of the visits was the weekly concerts played mainly by Michali on the piano. Apart from the music, there was the watching and sometimes even playing of bridge. But the best part of the visits was definitely hearing all the stories from the residents of the home. They had so much to tell and the boys had so much to learn from them each week. All the boys have thoroughly enjoyed their time at Sunrise this year, and we know the residents greatly appreciated and enjoyed our visits.

Daniel Harris Year 10

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School Shop SCS

When I got the news that I was doing tuck/school shop SCS I was pretty happy, as I had heard people saying that this was the best SCS in school. However it does not include free food as many people think.

The tuck shop has given me commercial awareness, responsibility and quick-fire math skills. A typical slot includes selling food and drink for 20 minutes and then taking lost property to the house office. I now know what regular customers want and

the position of every item possible. I enjoy the weekly chat with the staff there and even though I do not get free food, I couldn’t have asked for a better SCS.

Jake Cooper Year 10

Wilsmere House Care Home SCS

Every Friday afternoon Ronak Shah, David Lau, Karan Khushal and I, along with Mr Todhunter, visit Wilsmere House Care Home in Harrow Weald.

The care home is split into four wards and is home to residents of all ages with a variety of conditions including Alzheimer’s and Dementia. Whilst there we spent as much time as possible talking to residents there and over time built strong relationships with many of them. Almost all of them have a story to

tell and conversation never seems to dry up, with each that arises varying from their childhood to that of football. Over the course of the year, I have developed my communication and listening skills as well as my ability empathise. Without a doubt this is not for the light hearted but the most important quality needed is a good sense of humour! I’ll be returning next year and hopefully will see some of the same familiar faces, we have learnt so much and hope to give back as much as possible to the residents and community there as they

have to us. Finally I would like to thank Barbara who works at Wilsmere House for overseeing our visits and also for co-ordinating with the residents who were happy to see us and Mr Todhunter without whom, these visits would not be possible.

Jatin Mistry Year 10

Sport

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RUGBY

Despite recording a win percentage of only 45% across the school, the rugby season of 2013 was notable for some real progress in the development of the game at Haberdashers`. The excellent performances of the age group C teams reflected a growing enthusiasm for the game amongst the Game 2 squads and more fixtures will be found to assuage the hunger for matches in 2014. The 1ST XV won away in the inaugural Friday Night Lights match against Merchant Taylors and played superbly in terrible conditions at The Allianz stadium in their win against QE Barnet. Both events were an example of how the school is aiming to promote the game in our community. Furthermore, the Inter House rugby tournament, staged on a

Saturday for the first time, saw over 700 parents support the event at school on a Saturday and the success of the day was one of the highlights of the term.

I must take this opportunity to thank the rugby coaching staff for their efforts over a particularly long season. They have selflessly given up their Saturdays across a 16 week term and they continue to offer an unceasing enthusiasm for the game to our boys. Particular mention must go to Charlie Hughes (Saracens) who has coached across all age groups and imparted his knowledge with real empathy and skill.

AFM Metcalfe

1ST XV

After three days of pre-season training, it became apparent that both year groups had already begun to gel towards forming a tight knit senior squad and we approached the season very much united and with hope in our hearts.

This collectiveness would be needed over the coming weeks, however. A challenging start to the campaign saw us lose our first three games to St.Albans, St.Columba’s and Tiffin. A much needed win finally arrived in the first round of the Nat West Cup against St.Ignatius. The team had a boost and things started to look up … for about a week! Our next match was one against Haileybury and the team failed to conjure up the miracle comeback which we needed after being 14-0 down at halftime.

After this, our fortunes began to change for the better with good wins against UCS, Latymer Upper and Enfield Grammar. Next was Watford Grammar, the second local derby of the season. Previously injured players began to return to the fold and the engine began to fire. Ignited by a huge hit

from Sam Rodgers, we started to dominate all aspects of the match and a 30 point winning margin was an accurate reflection of our performance.

The pure ecstasy of Watford was dampened somewhat when we succumbed to another loss at Berkhamsted, where, despite our best efforts, the sheer physicality of our opponents could not be matched . Facing a team that steamrolled other sides on the circuit, we put up a resilient and defiant performance which included a defensive goal-line stand late in the second half. The team were not disheartened and instead set our sights on the next big fixture… The inaugural `Friday Night Lights` match against Merchant Taylors`.

‘Ruin their night’ – that was the mantra going around the team. They had sponsors paying for floodlights and a trophy which they expected to lift. However the mantra rang true, in what can only be described as a war of attrition. Late in the second-half, HABS were leading 7-0 yet we had to withstand a torrent of desperate MT

pressure. Like waves smashing against the harbour wall they came until O`Riordain, our talisman of emotion, won a loose ball and the storm abated. Victory was ours, along with the silverware!

Our penultimate game came at Hitchin, winning by a two score margin with a fiery performance, was an example of what we could achieve given quality possession on the front foot. In parts, we were magnificent. This standard would have to be reached again in our final match as a team. It was particularly special as we had the chance to play at Allianz Park; the home of the Saracens. The school turned up in force to support and the team did not disappoint, beating QE 24-0 in atrocious conditions. This victory, and the celebratory dinner afterwards, really capped off a brilliant year for The Goats, and all the team are grateful to the Games, Grounds and Catering staff in making the season so memorable.

Sam SCHUSMAN 1st XV Captain

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2nd XV

Despite a season plagued with injuries, the 2nd XV had a very successful season of 8/10 wins. The season started with a great win against St. Columba’s (22-10), in which Edwin Birch opened the scoring with a beautiful chip over their full back to score. Next, we played St. Albans, a team we have always struggled to beat, and this year proved to be no different. Our next game was against Tiffin which was not the easiest of games. However, it was extremely satisfying to see that the hard work in training sessions had paid off, with the team try of the season coming from this match, as every single forward carried the ball at least once in the lead up to the try scored by Adam Morgan. Following a long break, some of the boys had to step up and play for the 1st team, due to some injuries and this therefore left the 2nd team with the honour of being captained by a GB Maccabi Legend- Sam Goldsober. From what I hear, the team would firstly like to thank Sam for his ever present enthusiasm which helped inspire the team to two great victories against UCS and Latymer Upper. Sam deserves further praise for an incredible solo try which left UCS bodies littered all over the Habs pitch. Next we played Watford Grammar, in which Harry Mistry marked his return from injury with two huge dump tackles very early on, which really helped fire up the team to

win the game comfortably. However, his performance seemed to fire up Zac Mandel too much as he marked his return from injury with 7 attempts at a simple tap and pass penalty and then a sin-bin for a spear tackle. After this we played a very strong Berkhamsted team. We went into the second half with an inspiring 5-0 lead but were unable to hang on and subsequently lost the match 12-5. Following this disappointment we played MTs on the Saturday after the 1st team won their game against them 7-0 the night before. This was our best defensive game, with bodies lying everywhere by the end of the match and what more can you ask from a team? Adam Morgan scored the try of the season in this match and helped orchestrate a great attacking back line which led to Billy Lee`s pace being unmatched as he ran the length of the pitch after a clearing kick from them to score, to end the game 10-0. Dr Challoners were next and it was a game in which we underperformed, but

still won through moments of focused team play. But our main focus was on our final game of the season at Queen Elizabeth’s Boys School. This was a very emotional game, in which we really performed as a unit to win 22-5. I would be lying to say that I didn’t shed a tear when Ben Jones outpaced their forward pack to score. This was an incredible end to a great final season at Habs for some of the boys in the team. I cannot thank the team enough for their commitment to training and their bravery in matches. On behalf of the team, we would like to thank Mr Brotherston for coaching us throughout this season and I hope he will have an even better season next year. Also a big thank you to Charlie Hughes, who has really helped the forwards in particular this season and an even bigger thank you to Mr McIntosh for making Rugby at Habs such a memorable experience.

Mithushan SIVAGURUNATHAR 2ND XV Captain

U16 RUGBY

I was very excited about the prospect of coaching these boys again, having previously worked with them at U14 level. The group contains a large number of what I would term `genuine rugby players`, both in physical size and their understanding of the game and previous results would suggest that this year group were, perhaps, the strongest in the school.

As it turned out, the season was notable for the development of individuals rather than for the advancement of the squad as a whole . Results over this season would suggest that the group had, in fact, underperformed but the scoreboard never really reveals the true story…

We lost Wilkinson- Roberts, Willis, Withyman and Yarwood to the Senior squad on a regular basis after the first month. This meant that the spine of the team was absent, forcing us to encourage the remaining boys to fill this yawning chasm and develop some new found responsibility and leadership. This would take time, but by the end, even the boys would agree that the experience had been a valuable one. In fact, it became apparent during an excellent performance in beating Merchant Taylors`, that the boys

had progressed further as a consequence of the unavailability of these senior players. We learn much about ourselves in adversity.

Indeed, the situation allowed a number of individuals from the B team to become fully fledged A team regulars and the experience gained by these boys will further enhance the depth of the senior squad next year. Jackson, Clarke, Citron and Steinart all progressed rapidly under the excellent leadership of Mort. His authority as captain grew as his personal performances became more commanding and he looks like a 1st XV scrumhalf in the making.

A lack of experience within the group did, however, manifest itself in a frustrating inconsistency on match day. We could be brilliant one week and feeble the next and the boys need to realise that they owe it to each other to prepare properly for match day and arrive at the ground with the right mental approach.

The B team thoroughly enjoyed their rugby under the watchful gaze of Dr Hobbs. It is easy to forget that any selectorial changes at A team level have an enormous impact upon the B`s yet their esprit de corps carried them through to yet another successful

season. I must also mention the willingness of C team players to step up on a Saturday, sometimes at short notice, to represent the school.

So, a season of transition but a vital one in terms of the personal development of the players in this year group. Thank you for your efforts.

AFM Metcalfe

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UNDER 15

The U15A team squad had a long season, demonstrating everything that is good and bad about the sport. Playing 10 fixtures, winning 3 and losing 7 is not a true reflection of how the team played. A poor start due to injuries and religious festivals, resulting in understrength teams, really put the players on the back foot from the start. The last game before half term brought the first win against Dr Challoner’s, with the team playing good running rugby and some determined defence. A strong performance after half term against Latymer in poor conditions showed the fighting spirit and tactical rugby the boys could produce when they put their minds to it. A narrow defeat against Watford was the best display all season with quick ruck ball from the forwards providing the platform for the team. A spirited loss to a very strong Merchant Taylors team was followed by a large defeat to Hitchin. This game demonstrated the importance of mental preparation and a desire to get stuck in, as without these qualities, a rugby pitch can be a tough place to hide. The final game of the season brought a victory against QEB, which the team deserved at the end of season. On occasions they were brilliant, on others disappointing, sometimes commitment superb, sometimes lacking. Stepping up to more senior rugby was tough for a number of players but hopefully they will now appreciate what is expected of them on the training pitch and on match day. `The more you put in, the more you get out` and this is never truer than on the rugby field.

Bruce Parris was exceptional all season. His desire to learn new skills and improve set a really high standard for his peers. He never gave less than 100%, showing real passion and determination in all the games. George Lawrence worked his way up into the A team, becoming an integral member of the pack doing all the hard work at the set piece and break down. Eddie Gillow led the team well, setting high standards on and off the pitch.

There is a good core of players and it is now the responsibility of the others to step up to the plate and push themselves harder next season at U16 level.

Mr Taberner

This year, the U15B’s have had mixed results with a total of 4 wins and 5 losses. Despite the results, we have steadily improved throughout the season and we have enjoyed our rugby immensely. We started the season with tonnes of energy against St Columba`s. We put up a strong fight against them but despite this were worn down in the second half and defeated 7-10. A similar result occurred against St Albans in our 2nd match and despite gaining a convincing 14-0 lead in the first half, we were denied a victory by only 1 point and were defeated 19-20.

As the season went on, the team began to become more solid and we became a much better unit. This showed in the result against Latymer Upper, where we managed to completely destroy the opposition in a 52-0 win. This was one of our best games of the season. After this boost, the team got even stronger with

Ben Harris and Isaac Zamet proving to be important additions to the team; helping us with another huge 45-7 win against Watford Grammar.

Unfortunately, we had a slight dip in the season against some strong opponents in Berkhamsted and Merchant Taylors, however, with the introduction of Harry Sharer to the squad we found our confidence again, beating Hitchin 41-7.

We finished the season with our closest game of the year against QE Barnet. Riaz Ali scored a brilliant try under the posts before QE levelled matters with a try from their No 8. They missed the conversion and we managed to push QE back to achieve a 7-5 victory.

The entire squad was brilliant this year and by the end we became an extremely strong team. This is making next year’s season look extremely positive for the B’s. It’s been a really great team to play for. Although every player had some brilliant performances, a few special mentions have to go to our top try scorers, Josh Sassoon and Nikhil Sood with 7 tries each. Our scrum half Saul Kaye also got 13 conversions and finally there was Rohan Bindra, who was this season’s most improved player. Finally I’d like to thank Charlie from Saracens and Mr Taberner, who helped to train us throughout the term. Particular thanks of course to Mr Holmes our coach, who without him, our season would not have been nearly as successful or our team nearly as strong as it now is.

Covi Franklin U15B Captain

This year for the U16 B team has been one of our very best on our journey up the school. Competition for places and an extremely skilful side meant the bar was set high when we arrived for preseason in September. The season began with a tough test against an A-team Beaumont side. We lost convincingly but were physical throughout but lacked the pace and stamina the other team had. It was a good test to start the season and we quickly began to realise that more hard work was needed. We then faced a very different Tiffin side in which we won 54-5, Shivankar Sekaran notably had an outstanding game on the wing. The next few games we played would define our season and through the massive physical presence of Jonathan Clark and Jamie MacKay in the forwards and a nippy back-line, cleverly orchestrated by Joel Citron, we won three on the trot. We ended the season with another win over rivals QEB overcoming numerous injuries and call ups to the A-team. This season was a patchwork season with many players filling in each week and playing out of position but it just shows how much depth the squad has because the standard of our rugby was not affected. I would like to thank Dr Hobbs and Mr Metcalfe for their excellent motivation and coaching without both such a successful season would not have been possible.

Josh Steinart

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UNDER 13

It has been a year of ups and downs for the under 13 squad. We have enjoyed some great wins amidst some disappointing losses. However, we have faced up to every challenge and the character of the squad could not be questioned. When fully fit, the squad has had strength across the field, with forward power in plentiful supply, accurate decision makers at half back and an abundance of pace on the flanks. Injuries have been a factor, however and the group has had to cope with more its fair share. However, the B team players have filled the gaps in the A team with enthusiasm and this will help to add further depth to the squad in the future. Regardless of the selection, we have tried to play an exciting brand of rugby and most of our tries were scored in the wider areas, with some clinical finishing on

the wings. In defence, we have scrambled back to make last ditch tackles on many occasions but we could try and develop our defensive organisation to ensure that the opposition do not get in behind us. We’ve all tried really hard this year and we have recorded some excellent results as a consequence of our efforts. We have tried to always remember that there is no `I` in team and we have worked hard at developing a strong team spirit. This spirit has also been upheld by the B team and the boys have won some tough matches. I would like to thank Mr Stiff, Mr Yoxall, Mr Metcalfe, Mr Kerry, Mr Macintosh and

Charlie for all of the coaching and support that they have given throughout the year.

Oliver HOCKING U13A captain

UNDER 14

After a difficult start to the season with matches against St Columbus & St Albans, the U14 A team has gone from strength to strength. Huge wins against Tiffin & Dr Challoners were followed by a training camp in Biarritz during October half term which helped to build, not only our team spirit, but also our technical skills & the second half of the season has been particularly successful. Our most pleasing victories have been in the last few weeks when we beat Watford Grammar & QE Boys. Both of those teams beat us quite convincingly last season. In the Watford Grammar match we came back

from 10-7 down to win with a try in the last play of the match. This game showed our determination, team spirit and ability to play good rugby even when under huge pressure. When QE beat us last season they did so by 30+ points. In the team huddle before the game, we planned our tactics to stop the players that run their team and every player showed bravery and fantastic defensive skills to restrict them to only the single try. We came out 13-7 winners to round off a fantastic season.

The B team have also flourished this season. Winning every match except against

the unstoppable Berkhamsted and most games were won by a large margin. It was particularly pleasing to be the only team all season to score any points against them.

We would all like to thank Mr Bass, Mr Clarke, Mr Handley, Mr Metcalfe and Mr Haring for all the hours of training & matches and for the Biarritz tour. We have all improved immeasurably we cannot wait for the start of next season.

Michael MILLER U14A Captain

UNDER 12

This year the Under 12 squad have played some great rugby. They have developed their rugby skills and rugby minds. Our season has been very successful winning 2 drawing 1 and losing 3. We also reached the quarter finals of the Middlesex U12

tournament, before losing to a strong London Oratory side. Although the results across the season do not read that well, the games were all closely contested and we have enjoyed representing the school on the rugby field in our first year here. Mr

Kerry and Mr Cooper worked extremely hard at moulding us together as a squad and I would like to thank them for their efforts.

Henry MATTEY U12A captain

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On 12th October 2013 the school’s Inter-house rugby competition took on a new format as each age group played their respective tournaments on a single Saturday. Each house fielded two teams of seven for each age group, with many competitors bringing armies of supporters along with them.

The support, and the fabulous music provided by the Games Staff, created a comfortable yet competitive atmosphere in which the boys could compete for the pride of their Houses. Over 50 matches were played throughout the course of the day, with most of the matches managing to excite the diehard supporters on the side-lines with their tight score-lines and nail-biting endings. At various points during the day each house produced moments of brilliant free-flowing rugby which would not

have looked out of place on the hallowed turf of Twickenham Stadium. However, some houses managed to achieve such a feat more often than others, most notably Calverts and Meadows, with each of the two inter-house titans taking partial victories from the competition. Calverts claimed the most points for the hotly contested for inter-house shield, whilst Meadows gained the Inter-House Rugby Cup due to their superior cumulative win tally on the day.

Thanks must go to all those boys who participated, all the family and friends who came to support, and to the Games Staff who organised a successful and enjoyable show-case of the sporting talent we have here at HABS.

Sam Schusman U6

Rugby Inter-House

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2nd XI Hockey

Last year, when I told the late Mr Matthews that I would be playing 2nd XI hockey for games instead of rugby 7s, he told me that I was wasting my time.

It seems that Mr Matthews, in his coarse way, was right… We were amateur. We have had the worst hockey season since records began – winning one match against Bancroft’s, drawing another, against a woeful Aldenham side, and losing six. At times, the season has looked so bleak that the match teas were the only thing keeping us going. We didn’t win a game until the last week of the season. And when all of this is compared to the unbeaten season last year, it looks especially disastrous. It would be too painful for me to go through the season

match by match and the scores all seemed to have slipped my memory – just know that we lost a lot and by a lot. I may be being a tad harsh, however, as we did win a game on an Olympic training pitch and participate in a cup final, with two cup entrants. We knew that our impressive streak of not winning would come to an end as soon as we heard that the Bancroft’s side had their own Modi – and our prediction did not disappoint. Our Modi smashed in an early goal and we held on through the on-the-line defending of Captain fantastic. The cup final, meanwhile, exemplified our season – hard-fought and brave hockey that we could not convert into goals or clean sheets. Despite our issues, particular hockey highlights include Milind, against Stowe, flicking

the ball into the top corner sensationally. Jaimin also makes the highlight reel for his frequent last-ditch tackles that left his knees bloodied and scratched. Amateur it may have been, but this season was definitely not a waste of my time. It has been a pleasure playing alongside such great athletes. I think I speak for the team when I say that thanks must go to Mr Cooper for teaching us how to play this sport. And, finally, huge thanks must go to Mr Garvey who has tolerated, coached and loved us all –his sarcasm and wry wit has seen us through the bad times and I would urge the school not to prematurely sack him as 2nd XI manager because of us. It’s not his fault we’re not very good.

Charlie Colenutt U6

1st XI Hockey

wTrying hard to avoid using the rollercoaster cliché, it’s been an odd season for the HABS 1st XI hockey team.

As an opening thought, though we lost more than we’d have liked to, most of these were by one goal margins in tight games that we had to potential to win. The season kicked off with the Barcelona hockey tour, where we played three exceptional teams, being beaten only be one. We visited the superb Terrasa stadium last, which saw us chase a comeback with a sublime reverse stick goal from Noah, but which also saw Ben Lockwood injured, putting him out of action for every single game of the season. Highlights included Luke Minett with a double footed wipe out of a small Spaniard and Ed Almonds birthday dinner, which Ed will forever describe it typically as ‘the best birthday ever!’.

The season finally started with a 4-0 battering of Aldenham which put us in high spirits, Ishaan Rahman being a rock at the back, followed by four consecutive cancelled games due to snow. We then, back in action after a few weeks without game play, sent John Warner packing in a cup game which saw us put 8 goals past them putting us through

to the Bedford Regional tournament. Canishk got the pick of the bunch with a skilful and composed top corner flick. Needless to say after those high heights we had set ourselves, we made too many faults after. In a tense and dramatic game, we drew 4-4 with Harrow after going 2-0 up in the first ten minutes, which Mr Cooper described as the ‘worst game of hockey’ he’d ever seen which taught us the need to keep possession longer. It’s not conventional, but I’d like to go over some of the players themselves. They’re the guys who make the team what it is. The centre-backs Cian and Ishaan were solid and dependable, finally in the game against MTS mastering the art of aerial control. Cian, reminiscent of Lenny from Of Mice and Men, was the friendly giant who’s gentle intentions were mistaken for blood-thirst on many occasions. In the centre of midfield was Nikhil Joshi, a stalwart in the heart of the team. When he arrived, usually late, and played well, the team did too. The inside forwards Tom, Anand and the bashful Rufus ran their legs into the ground. The forwards, Ed Almond, Noah, Dan Lande and Canishk didn’t score as much as they’d like, but their movement and style of play made up for it. They scored when we needed them

to and were always the driving force behind the team dragging us up and down the pitch. It’s been a fantastic final season for the U6, ending with an emotional final Kukri Cup game against MTS, which resulted in a close 1-0 loss though we believed we were the more deserving team. It has been an intense season and I’ve never been so proud to wear the crest. You are a group of individuals in the L6 with enough potential and experience to take the school hockey scene by storm, and it’s been a privilege to play alongside you. Finally, thanks to Mr Cooper for helping us to play as good as game as we’ve ever played at the climax of our season, he picked us up when we were losing hard and told us how to improve where we could.

Luke Vaz U6

U16A and U16B Hockey

The U16As have continued to see widespread improvement in their Hockey performances, winning four, drawing two and losing three.

Our standout performance was our third attempt at beating Watford Grammer, a team who had beaten us several weeks earlier as a result of an unfortunate own goal. However, this game was undoubtedly

different, as HABS showed true commitment in an exhilarating battle where we held our opponents down to a score line of 2-2. The B’s, led by Boaz Levy had a somewhat inconsistent season winning merely one of their games. This win, unsurprisingly, was their notable performance beating rivals St. Albans 4-2. However, I am sure that they will be eager to return to their former

triumphant selves in the senior years ahead. On behalf of both teams I would like to thank Mr. Keenleyside, Mr Kerry and Mr Cooper for their hard work, and support that they have given us this season, developing us into a squad with the potential to do very well in the senior years to come.

Oliver Marshall Year 11

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U13A Hockey

The U13 As had an enjoyable season. Although it was short and not full of victories, we still learnt from the experiences that we had.

The season began with a match against Watford Grammar School. The team wanted a win for the first match of the season. The score at half time was 3-2 with Michael scoring two early goals in the first few minutes of the match, and Adam scoring a goal just before the half time whistle. HABS fought hard throughout the second half and managed to put away three more goals. After two further goals from Watford GS the final score was 6-4 to HABS. We then played both the Bancroft’s A and B team. It was a tough game and HABS battled well, however a strong Bancrofts team meant the final scores were 1-1 and 1-0. Our next match was against Dr Challoners. Dr Challoners were a strong side and we knew it would be a tough game. The work rate of all the players was amazing. And we produced many chances for goals. Two goals were scored in the first half and Leeran put away a well-rehearsed short corner. Dr Challoners fought back and scored three goals making the score at half time 3-3. After some encouragement at the break, HABS communicated well and scored 3 goals coming from Freddie and Adam. The final score was 6-4. We then had our second round against Watford GS. An early goal was scored after some great passages of play. Another two goals came in quick succession before half time. In the early stages of the second half Watford GS scored three goals making the score 3-3. HABS continued to work hard and after an exciting and intense final 5 minutes, HABS won 6-4. Special mention must go to Amaan, Leeran and Zac for great defending during the whole match. HABS endured an unfortunate loss in the next match against Haileybury as we fought hard and even scored two goals but Haileybury managed to keep the score line in their favour making the final score 3-2.

Our last match was against Edge Grove. With only 7 players, HABS had no substitutes and so had to work very hard. We managed to put away a goal in the first half. The score at half time was 1-0 to HABS. The HABS players started to look tired and after Edge Grove had put away another three goals, HABS heads dropped and this led to yet another goal from Edge Grove. The final score was 4-1. Overall it was a great season as we saw our potential to be a Hockey team to be reckoned with in the years to come, and we learnt about our weaknesses. On behalf of the team, I would like to thank Mr Haldane and Mr Cooper for all their time and effort they put into the training sessions and giving their time up on Saturdays.

U14A Hockey

This season has been a fairly disappointing but encouraging season for the u14 A’s with strong results coming at the end of the season against Haileybury, Harrow and Dr Challoners.

The season got off to a bad start with a defeat 4-0 to Aldenham. Following this we had three consecutive fixtures called off due to bad weather. This lack of game time then came back to haunt us as we lost 7-2 to a strong Bancroft’s side, this could have been worse if it wasn’t for another outstanding performance from our goalie Covi Franklin. After this disappointment we bounced back to win 4-2 against Haileybury. The next game came by on a Tuesday afternoon against Harrow; the grounds were ever so slightly intimidating but we still went on to an easy 4-2 win. For our last game we were playing a strong MTs side, which had won every one of their games this season. Unfortunately we lost the game 5-0. Our team put our bodies on the line but it was not enough to defeat the mighty force of Merchant Taylor’s.

U13Bs Hockey

The Bs have had a mixed season this year. Although losing a few games, they have pulled through a couple of times to grab the win.

With their formidable striking force, top goal scorer Kiran and captain Alex, they have powered past their opposing goal keepers. Midfielders, Josh, Tom, Saavan and Joey have set up the goals well. And their defenders, Vincent, Abbas and Dillan have played well throughout the whole season. But not to forget their goalkeeper Dylan who has made some incredible saves and not let the ball past him. Thank you to Miss Sander for coaching us and encouraging us from the side line. Well done to everyone who participated in the matches.

Dillon Kurani Year 8

1st XI Cricket

The first game was Aldenham, at first things appeared to be going according to plan as our bowlers combined to dismiss a strong Aldenham side for 125.

At 18 for 3 in reply we were in trouble, but a partnership of 46 for the 4th wicket between captain Tom Colverd and wicket-keeper batsman Rohan Mandumula appeared to be giving us the upper hand before the former was adjudged lbw. Even then we really should have won the game, but we finished 13 runs short of the opposition’s total. The second game of the season, against Queen Elizabeth’s Barnet, was also a close affair, victory going to Habs by the narrow margin of 10 runs. In the next fixture against Berkhamsted. Colverd and Rhys Jenkins took the score to 53 before the captain was dismissed and then our batting collapsed as the remaining wickets fell for the addition of just 33 runs. Berkhamsted lost three wickets in chasing a paltry target of 87, but their victory was never in doubt. The changing fortunes of batsmen from one game to the next were much in evidence a few days later as Wright (102) became the first Habs cricketer since 1969 to score a century against the MCC in a tightly fought draw. The next fixture against Merchant Taylors, hopes were high, but we succumbed meekly after a poor bowling display to lose by 8 wickets. Habs recovered from another poor start (16 for 3) to post a total of 189 for 6 before declaring. However this proved insufficient, the opposition batsmen reaching their target with ease following an unbroken partnership of 140 for the third wicket. A strong cricketing school Felsted provided new opposition for Habs a week later and clearly demonstrated their superiority in all aspects of the game, winning by the huge margin of 171 runs. The nephew of former England captain Nasser Hussain struck Colverd for four big sixes during a partnership of 140 for the second wicket and Felsted eventually declared on 274

for 5. Somewhat demoralised in the circumstances, our batting collapsed and we were dismissed for just 103! The final game before half term was against St Albans, a game we were determined not to lose! The captain (74) held the innings together on a difficult wicket to bat on and with Jenkins (35*) contributing valuable late runs. Our final total of 167 for 5 after 40 overs gave us something to defend. This time our bowlers were up to the task. All three seamers, Osman (2 for 14), Wright (3 for 17) and Patel (4 for 18) bowled superbly and the opposition batsmen never looked like reaching their target as they were dismissed for 112.

In the first game after the break, another strong side Abingdon racked up 312 for 6 in 50 overs. In reply only Colverd (49) offered much resistance as Habs were dismissed for 133 to lose by 179 runs, an even bigger margin of defeat than in the Felsted game. Needing a victory to resurrect our season, we travelled to Mill Hill for a twenty20 game four days later and got our win, despite playing much of the game in the rain. Although the umpires were reluctant to continue, Habs’ 144 for 9 proving too much for our hosts who finished 15 runs in arrears. So began a run of victories in which the side at last played to its full potential. Perhaps the performance of the season occurred in the next game at Bedford Modern. We recorded a second victory in two visits, repeating our 2011 success. After dismissing BMS for 155 with all our bowlers performing well in the conditions, Habs again started badly, losing three wickets for just 10 runs. However a superb partnership of 111 for the fifth wicket between James Lawrence (88*) and Nikhil Amin (44) took us from 35 for 4 to the brink of victory, which we achieved, despite a late stumble, with four wickets and five overs to spare. A week later, against Magdalen College School, Oxford, Colverd and Wright put on 144 for the first wicket and was the

beginning an amazing run of form for the two batsmen. Wright was lbw for 57 but Colverd reached his century. Our total of 277 for 5 in 50 overs proved far too much for our hosts, who lost their first two wickets without a run on the board but eventually reached a respectable 203 all out, Osman (4 for 34) the most successful Habs bowler. A second Colverd century (116*) followed against Bancroft’s. This time he and Wright (63) added 133 for the first wicket. Mandumula (58*) also batted well and we were able to post a total of 249 for 2. In reply, Bancroft’s fought hard with one of their openers also completing a fine century, but in the end they fell 32 runs short on 217 for 9, another win for Habs. The following day Old Haberdashers’ CC broke with tradition and invited the school to bat first. On this occasion, some fine innings from Lawrence (69) and Ben Kohler (34*) took Habs to a total of 242 for 9 in 50 overs. In reply, Hugh Brannan (70) and Akash Kadiwar (79) kept OHCC in the hunt, but in a tense finish they too fell short of their target, this time by 14 runs. Two similar games against strong invitation sides followed and both resulted in victories for Habs in the final over of each game. Doug Yeabsley’s XI, consisting of recent old boys and skippered by Dan Kerry, declared on 271 for 4 after Ben Peacock (76), Tom Edrich (100) and last year’s captain Nish Selvakumar (42*) had enjoyed themselves. However Colverd (67) and Wright (99) opened with 143 for the first wicket and further useful contributions from Jenkins (20) and Ian Harris (38*) enabled the school to reach its target from the final delivery of the game. Fifty years after the first such fixture in July 1963, the Fraser Bird XI, led by Nick Fielden with support from Michael Yeabsley and relying on a strong representation from Radlett CC 1st XI, posted one more than the DIY XI, declaring on 272 for 7. Again this proved insufficient as Habs passed this total, this time with five balls to spare.

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Colverd (124*) struck his third century of the season while Wright (80) passed 50 for the fifth game in a row and the pair shared in a partnership of 179 for the first wicket. Harris (35*) kept his captain company until victory by 6 wickets was achieved. Against RGS High Wycombe both Colverd and Wright fell cheaply but useful knocks from several other batsmen, including Harris (42) and Patel (34*) enabled Habs to post a competitive total of 200 for 8, this time from 40 overs. Twice, at 29 for 4 and again when the opposition’s best player was dismissed with the score on 165, it seemed likely that we would win the game, but somehow RGSHW reached passed our total with two wickets to spare off the final ball of the last over.

We awoke the following day to the sad news that Doug Yeabsley was in hospital following a suspected stroke. The boys were clearly upset, but wanted to perform for him against our Australian visitors, Wesley College from Melbourne, none more so than Wright who went to top-score with a superb 146 out of

a total of 257 for 7 in a game reduced to 35 overs per side. In reply the Aussies chased hard, but lost wickets at crucial times and finished 21 runs adrift on 236 for 6. In a season blighted by injury for him, it was good to see Ronak Shah pick up a couple of wickets.

Meanwhile the news regarding Doug meant that the annual Devon tour could not take place in its usual format. However, we were able to play the game against Exeter School at Sidmouth CC. This final game of the season resulted in another victory for Habs (our 11th of the term). Fine bowling from our spinners Mack and Purohit (both finished with figures of 3 for 34) did the main damage as Exeter School were dismissed for 198. Appropriately, Colverd (89) and Wright (100*) put on 177 for the first wicket and the result was never in doubt. Unfortunately Colverd narrowly missed his thousand runs for the season by just 21, but for Wright it meant a second successive hundred and third in all.

Captain Colverd scored a total of 979 runs at an average of 61.18, including three centuries, five half centuries and two further scores of 49. Will Wright finished well, scoring five successive ‘fifties’ and finishing the season with consecutive hundreds. In total he scored 793 runs at an average of 49.56 and shared in no fewer than six century partnerships with his captain. James Lawrence, Rohan Mandumula and Rhys Jenkins with 237, 300 and 204 runs respectively all batted well, especially when the situation demanded. Wicket-keeper Mandumula, in addition to his runs, also performed consistently behind the stumps, claiming 13 catches and 6 stumpings. All-rounder Ishaan Patel (164 runs) was the seventh player to pass the Wisden qualification of 150 runs. He also captured 23 wickets at 28.43, frequently bowling well ‘at the death’. The leading bowler was the ever-reliable seamer Khalil Osman (26 wickets at 23.80), who bowled consistently well with the new ball throughout the season. Unfortunately, vice-captain Ronak Shah injured himself early in the season but Charlie Mack (Year 10) filled his shoes admirably.

S Charlwood

2nd XI Cricket

The 2nd XI, captained by wicket-keeper Milind Chohan, enjoyed a good start and end to the season, but results in between were largely disappointing.

In addition to the captain, other players to feature this season included Nikhil Amin, Paddy Sidwell, Harry Mistry, Jaimin Patel and Josh Navarajasegaran all of whom had a few games for the 1st XI. Leg-spinner Jay Purohit soon earned his call-up to the senior side, as did hard-hitting batsman Ben Kohler, but not before he produced the performance of the season when scoring an unbeaten century against Queen Elizabeth’s Barnet. Ollie Marshall also batted well on occasions and Sachin Manoraj showed his true ability with five wickets against Bancroft’s. Jordan Hastings too had his moments while Vinay Popat was a reliable and consistent opening bowler. Several members of the U15 squad also played on occasions when their side did not have a game and performed creditably.

Many thanks must go to coach Andy Simm, who must have been pleased as his side won their final three matches in style against Bancroft’s, Old Haberdashers’ CC and RGS High Wycombe.

S Charlwood

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3rd XI & 4th XI Cricket

For the 3rd XI, the season started well but deteriorated and ended prematurely when the final two fixtures against Bedford Modern and Magdalen College School were cancelled.

To begin with the picture was bright and the first three games against Queen Elizabeth’s Barnet, Berkhamsted and Mill Hill all ended in victory. The Berkhamsted game was particularly exciting with Habs holding on to win by just one run, notably Tim Tan and captain Noah Levy who both registered half centuries. Weakened sides lost the next three games against Merchant Taylors’, St Albans and Abingdon.

The 4th XI lost both its games against St Albans and Merchant Taylors’, due mainly to weak batting, while the 5th XI won its solitary game against St Albans.

S Charlwood

U15A Cricket

The U15As enjoyed a season of variable fortune, but, despite defeat in the most important game (the County Cup Final), the boys emerged with much credit and achieved their fair measure of success.

After dominating the opposition for much of last season, the squad found life tougher this year, particularly as two and sometimes three of our number played for the 1st XI. Many of our nine victories were achieved in convincing style, but perhaps

the highlight of the season came in the quarter-finals of the County Cup where Habs avenged an earlier defeat against St Albans in the regular block fixture to record a fine win over our rivals with an impressive all-round performance. Our opponents in the final were Hitchin School, who we had defeated in last year’s U14 final. This time, we were not at our best and were well beaten by a good side. We also lost to an exceptionally strong Felsted side in the Lord’s Taverners competition,

but were certainly not disgraced. All members of the squad contributed at some stage during the season, but special mention should be made of Vaibhav Dubey, who frequently anchored the batting, Shaniel Lakhani, who worked hard to learn the art of spin bowling and wicket-keeper Alex Willis. It should also be noted that four boys in this age group represented Hertfordshire at U15 level.

Hugo Murphy Year 10

U14A Cricket

This was a successful season for the U14As, a team which improved dramatically and bonded gradually throughout the term.

After winning just three games last season in Year 8 and being knocked out in the first round of the County Cup, this season has seen a huge turn around in fortune for this group of players, with nine wins in total and victory in the Cup Competition. The season started promisingly with wins over Aldenham and Dr. Challoner’s, helped by unbeaten half-centuries from Jordan Urban, who dominated much of the batting throughout the season. A fighting victory over Parmiter’s created by late runs from Aneesh Oza and Ben Wright got things going

and a dominant bowling performance saw off Magdalen College School, Oxford. A narrow defeat to a strong Queen Elizabeth’s Barnet team taught us crucial lessons, which certainly helped the following day in a Cup semi-final victory over St. Albans, in which Urban hit 84 not out. The best display of the season came against Bancroft’s, where George Lawrence returned figures of 6 overs, 2 for 2. Concerted pressure from all the bowlers and two brilliant run outs from new captain Sudeep Khadka restricted the opposition to 104 for 9 in 30 overs and the runs were knocked off with 12 overs to spare. It was the team ethic which improved the most during the season and this was clearly demonstrated

in the County Cup Final. Andrew Crabtree top scored with 20 in a low-scoring match as Habs reached 90 for 9 in 20 overs. Lawrence then bowled his allocation of 4 overs, taking 2 wickets for 5 runs while Oza started with 2 maidens to keep the pressure on. As the required run-rate rose, run out chances came and were brilliantly taken by Wright, Urban, Raeman Banaik and Rahil Sharma to give Habs victory by just four runs. We therefore retained the County Cup for the third year running in this particular age group and can look forward to representing Hertfordshire again in the national stages of the competition next year.

S Haring

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U14B Cricket

For the U14Bs, a return of five wins and four losses represents a mixed season in terms of results, but a closer look at the season as a whole reveals that the players involved were able to work well as a team and made progress in terms of both their cricketing skills and knowledge throughout the summer.

The bowling attack was strong and whilst the batting was inconsistent and sometimes let the side down, there were nevertheless signs of improvement in this area too. All of the boys who played for the team this year

gave 100% to the game and tried to make the desired outcome happen even if they were not always successful. Disappointing results against Queen Elizabeth’s Barnet and RGS High Wycombe in the final two games of the seasons were offset by good performances and notable victories against teams such as Aldenham, Berkhamsted and St Albans. Hopefully, the whole squad will benefit from another session of winter nets in preparation for next season.

C Yoxall

U13A Cricket

This talented year group consists of a number of all-rounders, two excellent keepers, specialist fielders and bowlers for any conditions.

Captained ably by Leeran Talker, the As won thirteen of their sixteen games and lost only three, all of which were by the narrowest of margins. Notable performances with the ball came in particular from Naresh Rasakulasuriar, who was well supported in the seam department by Freddie Wright, Saneel Amin and Luca Ignatius. When a change of pace was required, the captain was spoilt for choice as he could opt for either Nikhil Chavda, Amaan Lakhani or Saavan Shah, as excellent frontline spinners. There were also some excellent individual performances with the bat. Notable results included victories against Abingdon, where Luca Ignatius (101*) scored an undefeated century, St Albans (Rasakulasuriar 4 for 15),

Bancroft’s and RGS High Wycombe. The junior Devon Tour at half term was also a great success. All three games against Colyton GS, Sidmouth CC and Ottery St Mary CC were won comfortably and, thanks to the hospitality of Doug and Jackie Yeabsley, the boys had almost as much fun as the travelling band of parents. Unfortunately, however, the overriding disappointment of the season was the defeat in a closely fought game by Watford at the semi-final stage of the County Cup. Hopefully the sense of frustration and disappointment engendered by this result will spur the side on to bigger and better things in the future.

D Cooper

U12A Cricket

The U12As had a mixed season in terms of results, winning eight but losing five of their fourteen games.

They nevertheless enjoyed their cricket and demonstrated great potential for the future. Amongst the victories, those against Berkhamsted, St Albans and Abingdon were particularly convincing. In addition the team reached the quarter-finals of the County Cup before losing to a strong Watford side, a defeat which seemed to herald a slightly disappointing end to the season. The star player was Oliver Nathanson, who batted with real authority at times, bowled consistently well and also captained the side. Vinosh

Jegatheesan with scores of 80* and 81* against Berkhamsted and St Albans respectively demonstrated ability with the bat. All-rounder Harry Cobb featured with both bat and ball on several occasions while keen sportsman Freddy Nash also made the most of his opportunities. The whole squad contributed at some stage and overall this was an encouraging first season together at Habs. Many thanks must go to Messrs Metcalfe and Yeabsley for all their efforts with this group, from whom much will now be expected!

D Cooper

U13B Cricket

The U13Bs also had a very successful season, winning nine games and losing just the one.

The solitary defeat was against Aldenham’s A team by the narrow margin of 13 runs, while notable victories included those against St Albans, Abingdon, Bedford Modern and Magdalen College School, Oxford. The side was superbly led by Abbas Kermalli and Jack Ronayne, both of whom contributed much to our success. The leading batsman was Suyash Mathur who scored fifties against Berkhamsted and Queen Elizabeth’s Barnet and a memorable 108 not out against Abingdon. Joel Carlowe was both Mr. Reliable and Mr. Enthusiastic behind the stumps. Many thanks go to all the players who represented the team this season as well as all the parents who came and gave their loyal support from the boundary.

S Clark

U12B Cricket

The U12Bs enjoyed a good season, winning six of their eight games, with notable victories against Berkhamsted, Abingdon and Magdalen College School, Oxford amongst others. The batting was inconsistent, although the side was usually able to post decent totals, while on the bowling front there were a number of excellent individual performances. The whole squad demonstrated strength in depth as well as excellent team spirit and character, epitomised by their performance in the field when successfully defending a low total against Bancroft’s.

V Gathani

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1st XI Football

The season began for the 1st team squad at 6.30am in Heathrow Terminal 5 for the pre-season tour to Greece.

The tour was thoroughly successful, after beating AO Loutraki 1-0 in a fairly uneventful but solid opening performance; we dominated our other opponents with confidence and style, showing promising signs for the season ahead. The highlights of a 5-1 victory against AO Corinthe, which was an evening game played under lights in front of a decent local crowd, were the controlling influence and superb industry of midfield pair James Lawrence and Ben Lewry and a sublime dipping strike from captain Ned Birss which was later nominated goal of the tour. The third encounter was a 3-1 win against an Olympiacos academy side, which couldn’t live with the quality of our left winger Jonny May who picked up man of the match ahead of a typically dynamic Rob Lynch.

On return to the UK our first fixture saw a 2-2 draw away at Brentwood with Jonny May getting both the goals. We were then faced with two group matches in the LB cup, a tournament which many thought would be a good barometer of success in the final, defining, season of Habs’ self-proclaimed golden generation. The games resulted in victory against St Edmunds but defeat at St Albans to put our chances of qualification in the balance. With games coming thick and fast, our next match was a Saturday trip to Bedford which proved very successful with goals from Billy Lee, Jordan Nathan, Ben Kohler and two from the captain giving us a 5-1 victory.

Despite a defeat against Berkhampsted we progressed through our group in the LB Cup

on goal difference and in the quarterfinal we drew St Edwards or ‘Teddies’ as they call themselves. Marc Rister put in his usual rock solid performance at centre back and with three goals of the highest quality including a trademark Jordan Nathan volley the teddy bears were well and truly stuffed in arguably our performance of the season.

After an interrupted period due to adverse weather at the back end of the regular season, which brought mixed results, it was announced that the cup campaign would have to run into the summer term, which meant that we would be making our very own bit of history by playing school football in all three terms of the year (ISFA Cup matches played in September). The semi-final game came around in the first week of the summer term and the match itself was fairly uneventful ending goalless in extremely windy conditions. Habs eventually prevailed against

Spalding Grammar school 4-2 on penalties, setting up a final with arch rivals St Albans.

The final was staged at Underhill Stadium in Barnet on the evening of the 7th May, and was seen as not only the defining moment of the 1st XI but also the culmination of a fierce 7 year sporting rivalry. The occasion lived up to the hype and a large crowd including staff, parents, students and friends turned out to witness the spectacle. In the second half St Albans were reduced to 10 men when they had a player sent off for violent conduct and we really pressed home our numerical advantage but couldn’t break the deadlock mainly due to some expert goalkeeping from the St Albans stopper. The game went into extra time and somehow we couldn’t break through so penalties would decide our fate. In an epic shootout, which can be seen in full on the highlights package (web address below), we prevailed thanks to some cool heads and a top class reaction save from ‘keeper Harry Fine. Jordan Nathan hit the winning spot kick, as he had done in the semi-final, to spark pandemonium amongst the Habs fans and players alike.

Captain Birss lifted the trophy in front of the crowd as champagne corks flew, in what was described by the lads as the highlight of their school careers. The cup triumph was the crowning of a tremendously successful three years for the team which also included an unbeaten season in 2011, victories against some of the country’s most prestigious football schools such as Ardingly College and a dominant tour to Greece. In a golden era of Habs football it must go on record the excellent work of Mr Ward and Mr Hails. We hope that our success will create a lasting legacy for football at Habs and that the school remembers our victories as fondly as we do. For the rest of my days I will remember how proud I was to play in that Habs XI.

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U16A Football

After 4 years of waiting, Habs Under 16A’s exploded into action with great ferocity and composure. We came up against teams that had played together for a number of years and ended the season unbeaten, winning all games except one.

Kian Savvides called the boys into a huddle before every match and gave an inspirational talk, which unfortunately no one could understand. Habs’ attacking style of play was evident from the beginning with a midfield duo of Jonny Daitz sniffing out passes and Dan Brennan forcing himself onto the opposition. Goals from Jamie Murray, who claims best goal of

the season, and Harry Graham sealed the win over Brentwood. After another couple of close victories against Bedford and Aylesbury Grammar we faced John Lyon’s under 17 team. A 4-3 win was sealed by a Jess Alexander winner two minutes from time. It was Jess who provided the guile and trickery on the left wing while Sam Grossman’s electrifying pace and unquestionable work rate on the right making us a force down both flanks. The second goal of the match scored by Daitz was a great team goal involving a brilliant cross from Hugh Odone causing his head to grow even more. Converted cricketer Josh Nav drove the ball home for the 3rd.

Our midfield was bolstered by the presence of our own Bastian Schweinsteiger, Jordan Hastings, but he wasn’t pleased to see the timely debuts of Jack Green and Tom Prais causing the competition for places to hot up. Our defence was solid all season, with Jamie Murray and Kian providing an element of calm whilst Zack Mandel and Emery Asher went for the more aggressive yet just as effective approach. Thank you to Mr Sykes for his help during training and a big thanks to Mr Hails who coached us with the man management skills of Harry Redknapp and the tactical acumen of Jose Mourinho throughout the season.

Jake Krais Year 11

2nd & 3rd XI Football

With the 1st XI having had such a successful couple of years it would be easy to forget the strength in depth the other senior squads have.

The 2nd XI was captained by Joe Myers and had a terrific record losing just once in eight fixtures in a season disrupted by the elements. They got off to a great start with a 4-3 win at Brentwood, although having led 4-0 at half time perhaps it could have been more comfortable. The match was dominated by great goals, with Ollie Kariel Striking a brace, and Stan Tang’s rugged defensive work did not go unnoticed.

A narrow 1-0 loss to local rivals St. Albans on a very windy pitch was a rare blotch on the seconds’ copy book, Ollie Kariel being moved up to the firsts did not help our cause, but we quickly picked ourselves up and moved on to Bedford. Kariel, now reinstated in the attack, showed us what we’d missed by scoring another two goals. Unfortunately he missed the chance to complete a hat trick when his penalty was expertly saved. Scott Waissel got in on the act before full time, and Kush sealed off the 4-1 victory.

Mr Kerr managed the team well when injuries struck and showed a great eye for talent when he pulled up Clark Norton from the 3rd XI. The striker showed his worth, on the final day of the season, by scoring a famous hat trick against local rivals UCS in a 3-1 victory.

Jacob Rabinowitz led the 3rd XI by example. They had a solid season culminating in a 4-1 victory over UCS in which Harry Kalms bagged all four. Clark Norton had a great season up front although Nick Spitz was arguably the player of the season, dominating the middle of midfield.

Tennis

This has been the most successful season for a number of years for Habs’ tennis teams. It is particularly encouraging that there have been excellent performances and impressive results at all levels.

Our senior team have been led by new captain Ed Curtis, with ex-captain Joe Gold providing excellent support along with Will Dunnigan, Andrew Gilbert and Ned Birss. In the Autumn term, the boys won through to the regional stages of the Aegon Senior Students competition for the first time ever, earning victories over St Columbas,

Aldenham and Merchant Taylors before losing to a very strong Bradfield side. Our under 13 and 15 teams again mounted successful county league campaigns, and the fact that many of the boys are still eligible at both levels next year augurs well for the future.

J Hails

HABS success at the Herts County Doubles Championships

In a competition that Habs have never won in recent years, the boys excelled to become both Under 14 and Under 18 champions. At senior level, Joe Gold and Ed Curtis were unbeaten on the day and overcame a talented St Albans pair 7-5 in the final. Serving at 4-5 and 15-40 down, facing two match points, Ed’s technique and nerve held firm under pressure whilst partner Joe was clinical at the net. They then broke serve to lead 6-5 and Joe

confidently held his serve for a thrilling 7-5 victory.

At under 14 level, first pair James O Brien (9R) and Vishaal Patel (9S) faced our second pair Adam Vaughan (9H) and Josh Sassoon (9C) in the final. Both pairs had performed well to beat St Albans and Aldwickbury in the earlier rounds. The final couldn’t have been closer with James and Vishaal just shading it 7-6.

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House Tennis

The House Tennis competition was again fiercely contested and the excellent support from pupils and staff really added to the event.

The year 7 tournament was particularly close with Strouts (pictured) taking the honours. Russells beat Meadows in the middle school final, whilst Joblings took the honours in year 8. Over 100 boys took part throughout the summer term and the tennis on show was of a particularly high standard this year.

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Senior Tennis Report

The Habs tennis season this year has been the most successful season for a number of years.

The season began long ago in the winter when Habs entered the under 18 Aegon National Senior Students competition. Previously, Habs had struggled in this competition, never getting passed the group stages but this year we achieved this for the first time by beating Aldenham, Merchant Taylors and Barnet and Southgate College. From the group stages, we progressed into a regional final, a first for Habs, and drew Bradfield College. Unfortunately, despite Mr Hails’ motivational words of ‘you could be in trouble here lads’, we were beaten 5 sets to 1 and our dreams of national tennis glory were over for another year. After a term’s break from tennis, the team returned in the summer to break more Habs tennis records. The first one came on a Saturday morning at the Royal Masonic School for the County Doubles Championship. The round robin format resulted in Joe Gold and I facing our counterparts from St Albans in a

one set final after they beat our second pair, Will Dunnigan and Andy Gilbert. In the final, we narrowly won 7-5 in a thrilling match, breaking St Albans’ 5 year run of winning the competition.

The next big event for the team was the Independent Schools Tennis Championships at Eton. In the Youll Cup, we won our first round match against Radley College after I won a singles ‘shoot-out’. Unfortunately, we were then beat by eventual semi-finalist Stamford after another singles ‘shoot-out’.Finally, and perhaps the highlight of the tennis season was the staff versus student tennis match which saw a select group of teachers take to the courts, high in confidence. Unfortunately for them, they seemed unaware of the talent among the students this year, and the younger team proved too hot to handle. Much praise must go to Mr Hails and Mr Lee, who have not only run the whole tennis section at Habs by themselves, but have also drove the team all over the country, their true passion

for tennis being the secret of our success this year.

Ed Curtis L6

Middle School Tennis Report

The under 14 and 15 tennis squad has had a successful season, competing in various tournaments, competitions and friendly matches.

At County level the B team, made up of James Cleaver, Abheek Dutta, Josh Sassoon, Sudeep and Rohan Shah managed to come a close second in an extremely tough group. The ‘A’s, with James, Adam and Vishaal playing a for the year above, managed to progress through their group, with comfortable wins against St. Clement Danes, Watford Boys, Aldenham and Parmiters. They also achieved friendly wins against Mill Hill and Merchant Taylors, not dropping a single set. However, their sole defeat of the season was the county semi-finals against Berkhamsted, when the equally matched singles and doubles scores resulted in a deciding championship tie-break, which was narrowly lost 10-8.

The District teams, in both age groups, have also had success, both of them winning the county finals at Queenswood last week. It was particularly pleasing for the year 10 team made up of Adam Freedman, Adam Burchell, Emilio Risoli and Harry Jacobsen as they had been runners-up for the previous two years. Overall it was a very enjoyable season and I would like to thank Mr.Hails for organising and arranging countless tennis matches and training sessions.

Aaron Goldberg Year10

Staff vs Boys

The annual staff v students match was closely contested this year. In scorching temperatures, the day after Wimbledon finished, the boys team of Ed Curtis, Freddy Nash, Kirill Bekov, Jacob Harris, Alex Whitehurst and Sam Kempner overcame the staff team 4 sets to 2. Mr Campbell and Mr Stimson, sadly in their final week at Habs, were joined by Mr Brown, Mr Lee, Mr Garvey and Mr Hails in a performance that unfortunately fell some way short of Andy Murray’s the day before.

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National Swimming Championships

Over the period of a fortnight in June, Felix and Thomas Cheng competed in the London regional swimming championships at Crystal Palace. Thomas won gold and became Regional champion in 200m Backstroke. Felix became Regional champion in 100 fly, 200fly, 200 free, 200 and 400 Individual Medley, also breaking the regional records of 100fly, 200fly and 200IM. Counting all events, Felix was 1st and I was 4th overall at the Regional level.

We had been training very hard all year at Barnet Copthall Swimming Club; training up to 8 times a week. I managed to qualify for 6 and Felix 8 events for the Nationals Age Group Swimming Championships which took place over 5 days at the end of July in Sheffield Pond Forge National pool. We were delighted as this gave us both an opportunity to compete against the best young swimmers in the country.

We competed every day. It was a nerve wrecking but very exciting experience. The heats took place in the mornings and the finals in the afternoon. I achieved personal bests in all my races and made it into the finals of the 100m and 200m butterfly and came 8th in both of the races.

Felix won gold on the second day and became National Champion in 200m butterfly, the fastest 12-year old in the country. He also won gold in the 4X100 medley relay in addition to 2 silvers in

100m butterfly and 200m individual medley. We would like to thank all those who offered us support in our efforts.

Thomas Cheng Year 8

Badminton

This year has been a success for the school Badminton squad, with a very enthusiastic group of junior school players keen to get involved.

There have been a series of matches against Immanuel. However, our most closely fought matches came against Hitchin, with senior school players including Nikhil Patel, Rishi Dattani and Casper Siu consistently producing outstanding performances. Overall, under the guidance of Dr Pyburn and Mr Whalley, the team has flourished and will continue to improve in the future.

Jay Lakhani U6

Basketball

This year has been something of a transitional period for basketball at HABS.

Having lost the majority of our senior squad and our coach, Mr. Jenkins, the ethos of this year has certainly been rebuilding. As a result, many boys have made the step up into

the senior squad, some of whom had never played basketball before. Our training sessions have been productive and we’ve progressed from teaching the very basics of basketball to practising complex and advanced plays. The standard of basketball has rapidly improved since the start of the year and I have high hopes for the future of basketball at HABS.

Andrew Djaba L6

Water Polo

This year, the HABS water polo has again been very successful with three years, U18, U16 and U14 all qualifying to the finals of the ESSA national league.

Teams travelled to Walsall where the finals were held and they finished 4th, 6th, 5th in the country respectively which is a great achievement. Currently there are many players playing for year above and are training regularly which is very promising for next year’s national league as well as the London league.

Ryo Yamada U6

Cross Country

This year’s cross country season has, unfortunately, been severely restricted by the weather.

The HABS home event, the Goater Cup, was just one that was cancelled because of the dangerous icy ground. Despite this, there have been many memorable races in which there has been some success: Ed Upson and Ajit Ark ran extremely well competing for the King’s trophy in Wimbledon. HABS produced two 6 man teams to compete in the St. Albans relays, against some formidable opposition. At the Watford and Districts championships, a total of 26 HABS boys competed, with some remarkable runs across the age groups. The Ultimate Loop has now come to a close for this year, and has been increasingly well attended. Most notably, Jamie Harper (7M) ran an outstanding 10:01, beating the year 7 record by over a minute! I would like to thank Mr. Waddington for his great support and commitment to the team this year.

James Herring U6

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Athletics

HABS Athletics grows from strength to strength in recent years, regularly competing in national competitions and enjoying great success in recent Herts League competitions.

This year, both the Under 14 and Under 16 athletics teams secured a place in the National Final of the ESAA Track and Field Cup which took place at the Gateshead International Stadium. The U14s performed well, coming 5th overall against tough opposition. Particular mention should go to the Javelin throwers Michael Miller and Romeo Box-Fahy who threw 49 points between them. The U16s came 6th overall, with Max Marmor and Shiv Sekaram recording 66 points altogether in the 300m, a fantastic achievement. Closer to home, HABS Boys won a record number of gold Medals - 17 in total at the Watford District Athletics Competition. An outstanding performance. Both the Year 8 and Year 10 teams won their respective age groups convincingly, with the Year 7 squad coming a very close second (by one point) and the Year 9 team gaining third. As a result the HABS teams gained the overall trophy for first place to regain the shield they lost last year!

Lower down the school, in the Regional IAPS championships, 10 Habs junior athletes qualified to represent the Eastern Area in the National championships in Birmingham. Five returned with medals, 4 of them silver to Adam Shiret (U14 boys 800m), Ade Tokuta (U14 boys 75 m Hurdles), Michael Miller

(U14 boys Javelin), Ollie Hocking (U13 boys 100m) and gold to Jamie Harper (U13 boys 1500m). Jamie added a second title to the one he achieved last year as an U12 beating his closet rival Charlie Crick from Tonbridge school by some 30 meters. These two athletes are currently ranked 1st and 2nd in the country, Jamie holding the slender time advantage by just 0.2 of a second.

Three Habs athletes were selected to represent Hertfordshire in the ESAA National Championships at Birmingham’s Alexander stadium. Efe Uwaifo bidding to make it his 4th ESAA title competed in the Senior boys triple jump, an event where he had already UKA 2013 U20 champion. The event was very close with Efe in third with 15.08m. This qualified Efe for the European Junior Championships in Rieti later this year.

Joe Bamford was selected to represent Hertfordshire for the first time at the ESAA champs; a deserved reward for Joe who has performed at the highest level for Habs teams throughout his school career. Joe currently ranked in the top 12 in the country for his age with a personal best of 55.17m threw the javelin 54.92cms to finish in 6th place in

an event which was extremely close between 3rd and 8th place; a throw 2 meters further would have gained Joe the bronze medal. Joshua Agyemang was also competing for the first time in the championships. In a large field in the Junior boys discus, Joshua was a little below his best throwing 31.06 which meant he did not make the cut after three attempts to receive a further three throws. These championships are on a very grand scale which can be very daunting for first time athletes, hopefully Joshua will be able to build on this experience and we hope to see him back competing in these championships in years to come. Such strong HABS representation at junior and senior levels in all competitions from local to national bodes well for the future of HABS Athletics.

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ESAA Track and Field Cup Final - Gateshead

On Friday 28th June the HABS U14 and U16 athletics teams set off at 10.30am to travel to Newcastle to compete in the Finals of the English Schools Track and Field Cup. Both squads had high expectations with realistic ambitions of a podium finish in each age group! Having travelled north for 6 hours on the M1/A1, the HABS athletics squad spent the Friday night in North Shields - just a 20 minute journey from the Gateshead International Stadium. On the Saturday morning of the meeting, the HABS athletes were the very first team to arrive at the stadium, looking forward to an exciting day of athletics.

The U16 team had qualified for the final with the 3rd highest score in the UK and were confident of challenging for the UK title. However, with an under strength team due to availability and injuries it was always going to be a struggle competing against the very best schools in the UK. During the morning session there were some outstanding performances in the field from the U16 athletes - the pick of them were, Josh Agyemang in the Discus, who threw a new PB of over 35 metres and Harry Wilkinson-Roberts who also produced a new personal best in the Shot Putt of 12.99. The two HABS U16 Long Jumpers (Will Yarwood and Shiv Sekaram) also managed to score big points with jumps in the region in 5.50. At the half way point - HABS U16 were in contention with their strongest events still to come on the track. However, despite the gallant efforts of the HABS athletes who produced some outstanding performances in a number of track events - the best being Phay Thi in the 80m hurdles and all the middle distance runners, including Jay Kaposi and Eddie Mort in the 800m Max Marmor and Shiv Sekaram in the 300m and also Dylan Kaye in the 1500m - the team finished a rather disappointing 6th

place! With the same team in the previous round, producing the same performances, HABS would have won the National Title by 3 points! Obviously, the team members were very disappointed but hope to return to winning ways at the final if the Herts League Cup on Tuesday 2nd July.

The U14 team finished 5th. Qualification to the final had been very close between the 3rd and 8th best scores in the regional rounds and expectations were high that 3rd could be achievable particularly as the team knew they could move on by at least 20 points from their regional score.

Ade Tokuta and Alistair Afeeva were in the 80m hurdles, the first junior boys event on the track and both had successful runs. Ade has been in fine form all season and in a very fast race finished 3rd with Alistair collecting a 4th place in his heat following a much more positive run than he had in the regional round. Conditions in Gateshead however were not quite so favourable and our other times in most of the sprint races were slower. Adam Shiret and Jamie Harper in the middle distance events produced outstanding performances, Adam recording a new best time of 2m11.2 secs and Jamie winning his event by some 30 meters in 4.41.5. By the half way point Habs were down in 10th position but our strength has been on the field and some good scores posted by Adam Shiret (High Jump), Fayo Timi Alabi (Shot), Dominic Evans and Ollie Hocking (Discus) and Michael Miller and Romeo Box Fahy (Javelin) helped to push us up the leader board during the latter part of the meeting. A final points total of 488 had us finishing just ahead of Campion school and Westcliff High school who were on 484 and 483 respectively but some way short of the 515 achieved by Dartford Grammar school who finished in 3rd spot.

The junior team had not experienced this level of competition previously and performed well against some outstanding opposition. Hopefully it will now stand many of them in good stead for the future years as they move into the older age group and have a better idea of the demands of the event. Perhaps this experience will spur them onto the podium finish next time around.

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Golfers win ISGA National title

Habs ISGA Golf team travelled to Kent on Sunday 14th April for the ISGA National championship finals to be held over the links at Princes Golf Club and Royal St Georges Golf Club. This was the third successive year in which the team have reached the National finals, and Habs were able to field the same three players who made the trip to Carnoustie in 2012.

The first round on Princes Dunes and Shore nines was a severe test of golf in strong winds, and William Aldred’s (L6S2) 4-over par round of 76 was enough to place him third in the individual competition, while Aidan Kovenklioglu (11J2) came in with an 80 and Amar Vaghela (U6C2) an 83, the latter having aggravated a shoulder injury early in the round. With the best two out of three scores counting towards the main team event, Habs total of 156 was placed a promising third behind Loretto on 154 and overnight leaders Bedford on 151.

The players made the 3 mile journey to Royal St Georges the following morning to take on the course where Darren Clarke claimed the Open Championship in 2011. Conditions over the front nine were calmer than the previous day, and Habs chances were dented when news came

through that Aidan had found bunker trouble on one of the holes en route to an 83, but spirits were lifted when we learned that William had carded an astonishing one over par round of 71, joint best of the day. Amar then played a true Captain’s role in coming home with an outstanding 74 to see the team leapfrog Loretto and Bedford to end up with a team total of 301, 2 strokes clear of the field.

William also finished in third place in the individual competition. All of the boys won top of the range Galvin Green waterproof Golf jackets for their efforts, and the team gain an automatic bye straight into next year’s finals at Carnoustie, as well as qualifying to represent England at the Home Internationals later this year.

This is an outstanding result for the boys who have been superb servants to school Golf over recent years. They have put Habs firmly on the Schools’ golfing map, and it is worth noting that Habs only entered a team into national competitions for the first time in 2004, when the team reached the HMC Foursomes national finals at the first attempt.

A M Ward

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Habs Independent Schools’ Golf Association (ISGA) golf team of William Aldred (L6S2), Aidan Kovenklioglu (11J2) and Amar Vaghela (U6C2) completed a 3-0 clean sweep in their regional final against St Albans at Harpenden Golf Club in March, and so Habs qualified for the national finals for the third consecutive year.

The national finals were held over the links courses at Princes Golf Club and Royal St Georges Golf Club in Kent in April, with teams of 3 players from 18 schools from across the UK providing the opposition. The first round at Princes was a severe test of golf in strong winds, and William’s 4-over par round of 76 was enough to place him third in the individual competition, while Aidan scored 80 and Amar 83, despite having aggravated a shoulder injury early in the round. With the best two out of three scores counting towards the main team event, Habs total of 156 saw the team placed a close third behind Loretto on 154 and overnight leaders Bedford on 151. Conditions the next morning at Royal St Georges, venue for the British Open in 2011, were calmer than the previous day, but Habs chances were dented when news came through that Aidan had found bunker trouble on one of the holes en route to a score of 83. The team quickly fought back, with Amar playing a true captain’s role in scoring a 74. William then came home with a one over par round of 71, joint best of the day, to see the team leapfrog Loretto and Bedford to end up with a team total of 301, 2 strokes clear of the field. William also finished in third place in the individual competition. All of the boys won waterproof golf jackets for their efforts, and the team gain an automatic bye straight into next year’s finals at Carnoustie in Scotland, as well as qualifying to represent England at the Home Internationals later this year. This was an outstanding result for Habs, only 9 years after having first entered a team into national competitions, and up against a number of schools with specialist golf academies.

Will Aldred L6

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Secretary’s notes

From the senior school play, Dr Faustus, in the autumn term, to ski trips in France over the Easter break and the Aske project launch in the summer, it has been another busy year at HABS!

As ever though, we say a fond farewell to a number of colleagues this year.

Michael Day retires this year, having served Habs faithfully for 37 years, in all areas of the school. Michael has helped out in the CCF RAF section, fundraising for Paul Sadi, Aero-modelling, primary school links, examinations and as illustrious Head of Careers, as well as Head of Geography. We wish him all the best in his retirement, including his gift from the staff for which he got a flying lesson at Elstree aerodrome!

Another long-serving member of the school, Mrs Jackie Mulchrone retires as Chief Librarian after 27 years. She made an enormous contribution during this time, initially in the Physics Department as a Laboratory Assistant, then Assistant Librarian and since September 1998 as Head Librarian. She will be a loss to Habs and will be missed by many staff and boys. We all wish her a long and happy retirement.

Another member of the Geography department bids us goodbye. Jack Argyle leaves us at the end of term to take up his new post at Greengates International School, Mexico City. In the two years he was with us, Jack established himself as an outstanding teacher of Geography who was instrumental in the development of the Department’s U6 enrichment programme, as well as the publication of HABS Geographical, which he developed into a society run by the boys. He leaves with our very best wishes for this exciting new post.

The third and final colleague to leave the Geography department, we thank Mr Robert Steel who leaves us after one year covering a colleague’s illness. He commuted an exceptionally long distance to be with us, and we are extremely grateful for his commitment and professionalism. Robert is a keen and active conservationist, a member of CAMRA, and a prolific writer of Walking Guides and Pub Walks. He leaves Haberdashers to continue his pursuit of these other interests. We wish

him great happiness in the future, and thank him most warmly for all that he did for the school during his short time with us.

We also say a fond farewell to Alastair Campbell leaves us after three years, having joined Habs straight from the city as a corporate lawyer. Alastair very quickly made his mark on staff and boys alike and has been a wonderful teacher of economics and Deputy Housemaster of Russells more recently. He takes up the post of teacher of economics at Harrow school and we shall miss his rugby coaching talent and Scottish wit alike.

Stewart McKane joined HABS in 2008 as a newly qualified teacher and he leaves us this year to take up his new role as Head of Physics at Pangbourne College. As well as being a superb teacher of physics, Stewart has been instrumental to the continued success of MUN at HABS and has always given his time generously to many other school activities and trips. We wish him every success in his future career.

Also in the physics department, Dr Bina Mistry will be leaving us for pastures new in the Summer. We would like to thank Bina for her hard work and service to the school and the physics department, and wish her well in the future.

Jennifer Morgan joined the Modern Languages Department four years ago as an N.Q.T. Since then she has made a huge contribution to the department. Not only has she been a fine classroom teacher, teaching both French and German to A Level, she has also led exchange trips all over Europe and has worked both as an UCAS Applications Adviser as well as in the charity team at the school. She leaves us to become Head of French at Whitgift School and we wish her well. Bonne chance!

Andy Palmer had large shoes to fill taking over the Examinations Office from Dr. Alvarez after many years at the helm but has managed the role marvellously, with his caring nature and sense of humour, as well as some outstanding IT skills which made the examination information all the more comprehensible! Sadly, the call of Middlesbrough was too much for him and he returns there to his family and friends.

Another colleague who leaves us for more northern pastures, Andrew Stimson leaves Habs following his appointment as teacher of Theology, Philosophy and Ethics at Trinity Academy in Doncaster. During his 5 years in the Theology and Philosophy Department Andy has made an enormous impact but one of his most noteworthy contributions was the first edition of ‘Veritas’ which was widely praised as a fascinating, engaging and high quality publication. As well as having made a significant contribution to school Badminton, Andy has also been a keen supporter of outdoor pursuits including Duke of Edinburgh Award and Mountaineering as well as having launched the first E&E Bushcraft course. He has been a delight to work with and we wish him well.

Another keen outdoors man, we salute Colour Sergeant Steve Macpherson who leaves us after 3 years as SSI. He has been a tremendous asset to the development and smooth running of the CCF and has been involved in leading a considerable number of school trips, including a major expedition to Iceland. He will be much missed, particularly by all those involved in the Corps. He leaves to take up the role of SSI at Shiplake College.

And finally, in the School Office, we say goodbye to Mrs Alix Smith, Senior Secretary, who has left the school temporarily on maternity leave. We are delighted to inform our community of the birth of her daughter Lucy Abigail on 20th February and send Alix and Matt our very best wishes.

Sadly, we must also say a more permanent farewell to Margaret Taylor, who passed away in the company of her family on Saturday 10 August 2013.

A lady of boundless enthusiasm and extraordinary vitality, Margaret Taylor played a pivotal role in helping to elevate a well-respected London school into one of the leading independent schools in the nation.

She was only 30 when her husband, Dr Tom Taylor, himself only 38, was appointed as Headmaster of The Haberdashers’ Aske’s School, Hampstead

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and in 1961 the school moved to its current campus at Elstree and adopted its current name, The Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School. Dr Taylor retired in 1973 and died eight years later.

Throughout his time at Haberdashers’, Tom always relied on the steadfast support of his wife Margaret, and between them they built up a reputation that extended far beyond the walls of the school. Her involvement in so much of the school’s life brought Margaret great fulfilment and her dedication to the boys with all its activities were noteworthy. She helped make the costumes for school plays, including those travelling to Germany touring the country in two minibuses. She was a warm hostess for visitors and staff in their home in the grounds. She was a source of strength for all, always supportive and encouraging, and was held in the highest respect.

Margaret’s support for the school remained undiminished throughout the years after Tom’s death in 1981. She was a constant attendee of school plays and concerts, and her speech at the 50th Anniversary celebrations of the move to Elstree when she was 95 remains a high point for all. Equally, her willingness to be the first Patron of the school’s fundraising campaign proved hugely important in establishing the credibility of the Habs Foundation. Her passing will be felt deeply by thousands of old boys, teachers and parents. They will never forget her humour, her strength, her enthusiasm and vitality.

This year also saw some milestones in marriages for colleagues - Al Metcalfe, our long serving PE teacher and Deputy

Housemaster of Strouts got married to Helen Stott on Saturday 3rd August 2013 at St Michael and All Angels Church in Alwinton, Northumberland. And Jon Ormston, one of our peripatetic percussion teachers married his fiancée, Kirsty earlier in the year too.

The stork has once again made his nest amongst the eaves of Aldenham House - William Stimson was born to Andrew and Claire Stimson on Saturday 27th April and Aksel Kaul-Green was born to Jonas and Parul Green on 16th November 2012. Congratulations to all and we wish them a happy and healthy life.

Congratulations of the more academic design are also in order to Chris Joyce, a recent addition to the classics department, who had an article published in Antichthon 2014, entitled: Me Mnesikakein and ‘all the laws’ (Andocides: On the Mysteries Sections 81-2): A Reply to E. Carawan. In this article, Chris argues for a conventional interpretation of the Athenian amnesty of 403 BC which followed on from Athens’ defeat in the Peloponnesian War and the oligarchic interlude of the Thirty. We look forward to the sequel…or should that be prequel?!

The Common Room Committee has also been busy this year (as ever) but our most notable success was surely the Boat trip at the end of the year. On a warm, summer’s eve, colleagues from all areas of the school gathered at London Bridge Pier in anticipation of what was rumoured to be the party of the year. No sooner had the anticipation built to a crescendo when the boat started up and staff were taken

on a four hour cruise on the Thames. As well as a fantastic buffet and disco, where we enjoyed some colleagues’ rather more retro dancing, we also had some fantastic floodlit views of Tower Bridge as night fell. Many thanks must go to all on the committee, but notably Al Metcalfe, Dan Endlar and Richard Thompson who helped organise such a memorable evening.

In other events, the school has continued to raise an enormous amount of money for charity. The House raised nearly £35,000 for their various chosen causes whilst the school as a whole amassed nearly £22,000 for KidzCare Tanzania, our whole school charity. In July, Rev Jan and her team of staff and boys spent many a hot day under the sun working to improve the schools run by KidzCare. A huge thank you to all who contributed to this worthwhile cause.

Other than casting an eye forward to events such as the CCF Centenary Celebrations or the Margaret Taylor memorial concert, all that is left is to wish Miss Corrine Grimes, from the Prep School, a successful and fulfilling sabbatical leave, having left from the second half of the summer term, where she will be working on a special project with the Royal Ballet School, as well as to Mrs Claire Russell, PA to the Headmaster who will be taking maternity leave from June 2013 to January 2014. Her responsibilities will be covered by Miss Rachel Dorban. Finally, to all the new staff joining this year, we wish you a successful, rewarding (if not entirely restful) year ahead!

Hamish Haldane, Common Room Secretary

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Mr. Michael Day

The school’s success, and the Taylor-inspired vision to be placed in the first order of day schools, was built upon the careers of brilliant teachers such as Michael Day. When Bruce McGowan appointed a young Michael Day he saw in him the qualities of dynamism and enthusiasm which have never diminished and have enlivened colleagues and pupils alike for 37 years.

For Michael, Geography is everywhere: in everything he does and everywhere he goes. Steeped in geography from his childhood on a small farm in the Ribble Valley, he was surrounded by drumlins, glacial valleys, melt water lakes and the limestone scenery of the area. Furthermore, at a young age he came to understand the link between economics and geography. The Air Training Corps gave Michael the opportunity to indulge his boyhood interests in walking, exploring and travelling. For a young man who had no interest in banks or money, the cadet exchange to Norway was a highlight of Michael’s career with the ATC.

There was no thought other than to study Geography at university. Michael chose Birmingham, he says, because he was “blown away by the skyline of skyscrapers and tower blocks”. He gave up on lectures and taught himself, graduating in 1975. His love of teaching started to blossom when he volunteered to teach in a Balsall Heath free school which specialised in teaching students who had dropped out of traditional education. Michael describes the environment as great fun, the syllabus was loose and the discipline was liberal (fortunately it was only the fun which made it into Haberdashers’). So, instead of reading for an MA in Landscape Architecture at Edinburgh, Michael went to the Institute of Education instead.

Michael Naish introduced Michael to the

world of modern Geography teaching. Through John Rolfe and Rex Walford he was motivated to throw himself into the course and achieved a double distinction. It was at the Institute that Michael met a delightful fellow tutee - a tiny figure with long blond hair and a big fur coat: the lovely Susan, who was to become his future wife.

Michael joined HABS in 1976. At the time, the School was still Direct Grant with over 25% of its pupils achieving their place through scholarship rather than parental income – a perfect match for Michael’s own philosophy. Michael describes his first day as a great introduction to being a schoolmaster. No such thing as an induction year, or even an induction day and there were no timetable allowances. It was straight in and get on with it, an ethos that Michael has used on many occasions in his life.

During the course of his career Michael has made myriad contributions to School life, including CCF RAF section, fundraising for Paul Sadi, Aero-modelling, primary school links, examinations and an illustrious Head of Careers. In this rôle, Michael supported the university entrance applications of hundreds of young men and shaped the careers of a full Haberdashers’ generation. Alongside this, the School is proud that during his time here Michael has become an accomplished international textbook and novel writer. His novel, ‘Slide’, is Michael to a tee: well- informed, brisk, thoughtful, thought-provoking and particularly timely, given its geopolitical slant.

His amazing personal organisation and neatness, together with his deep love of Geography and Geology, inspired his pupils and infected the members of his department. Michael never had to raise his voice to get the boys to fall into line – they were swept along on the great wave of his enthusiasm. Mike was pivotal to some golden years of the geography department at Haberdashers’ when, under Rolfe’s leadership, the department had a genuinely national profile. As ever, Michael’s tenacity delivered a raft of acclaimed textbooks for Oxford University Press which were classroom standards for 20 or more years. The first time I met Michael Day in 1992 I could hardly believe I was working alongside the man who had written my own GCSE textbook! As a young teacher myself, I was blessed with an amazing trio of role-models in Messrs. Day, Hayler and Stiff. What I learnt from Michael could fill a book but, in short, he taught me what he what was doing: to be outrageously organised, to make the lessons fun and to be unapologetically enthusiastic about Geography. Michael always stands ready to help but never interferes and has that rare

skill of assuming and trusting that you know how to do things: he could have written the modern teaching mantra of ‘guide on the side rather than sage on a stage’.

It is very hard to find many anecdotes about Michael’s time at HABS. He is invariably so well-organised and prepared that embarrassing or unexpected situations rarely come into his orbit. He is a total workaholic, the result of unassailable perfectionism. If the heavens open during a Field Trip, he will just carry on and ignore whatever the elements throw at the group. He is honest as the day is long and straightforward in his dealings with everyone: warm, caring and approachable.

He is also an intensely private man, a true family man with Sue and his two daughters. Occasionally, though, other sides to him spill out. He has let slip that during his retirement he intends to build a Caterham car, aka a Lotus 7. It is not commonly known that Michael is a certified ‘petrolhead’ and a former owner of a Ginetta sports car. He is also an authority on aircraft and the RAF; his father was a Second World War bomber pilot who flew many missions and survived. This was unusual – not many Bomber Command pilots lived – and those survivor’s genes have clearly been passed to Michael as he leaves HABS with his sanity and sense of humour intact.

Befittingly, he leaves as our Head of Geography, leading the subject with the verve which has been the hallmark of his successful career here. Michael’s professionalism and reliability shine through in everything he touches and his warmth and good humour will be greatly missed by colleagues and boys alike. But, more than this, we shall simply miss his humanity.

On behalf of everyone at HABS, may I wish Michael and Susan continued good health and much happiness as they start the next phase in their lives.

M Judd

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Skylark 2013 HABS Community

1970s Reunion

Following the success of the 1960s decade reunion in 2011, Habs hosted a similar event for all those Old Haberdashers that left the school between 1970 and 1979. Around 60 OH returned to meet up with old friends, reminisce and look through some of the archived photos and memorabilia. The Class of 1977 was particularly well represented, and more Joblings OH attended from the decade as a whole than any other house. Current pupils took our guests on a tour of the school giving them an opportunity to revisit some of their old haunts around the Elstree site and see the changes that have taken place. A drinks reception was held in the evening after a ‘school dinner’ in the Bates Hall and we were joined by further guests unable to attend during the day. The Old Haberdashers were also able to catch up with some of their teachers including Mr Broderick, Mr Hayler, Mr Morrish and Mr Yeabsley.

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2008 Reunion

The first of our 5 Year Reunions take place last June with over 50 Old Haberdashers that left the school in 2008 coming back to Habs to catch up, reminisce and meet some of their teachers. The event had a lovely atmosphere with many of the guests really pleased to see old friends and share their stories from their university days and the last few years. Dr Spence hosted the evening and introduced the former School Captain, Alex Petrides, who gave a short speech to the group. Some of the guests had submitted some of their fondest memories of Habs ahead of the event and these were displayed on the evening, giving many opportunities to remember particular lessons, incidents, trips and activities, often with great hilarity. The evening was finished off with a few brave souls trying out the Headmaster’s Chair on stage in the Bourne Hall. Many thanks go to Alex Petrides and Duncan Jenkins for helping to promote the event on Facebook.

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Skylark 2013 Skylark Team

The Skylark Team

Prep and pre-prep Sameer Atwal Trips Joe Fraser Events Eloka Agu Sport Harry Mistry Drama James Hart

Originals – Literature Rufus McAlister Originals – Art Juan Lopez Originals – CDT Raaj Vadodaria Music Trystan Lever CCF Alex Kyriacou

Editor Jack Lewy Assistant Editor Tilak Joshi Technical Editor Henryk Hadass Clubs & Societies Adam NashPhotography David Hochhauser

Staff Editor Jill Gleeson Assistant Staff Editor Ellie Simons

SCS Alfie Bambaji Features Max Marlow HABS Community Eli Bernstein Houses Alexander Whitefield

The Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ SchoolButterfly Lane, Elstree, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire WD6 3AF

Tel: 020 8266 1700 Fax: 020 8266 1800e-mail: [email protected] website: www.habsboys.org.uk