The Headmaster's Blog

Good Morning! I’m sorry to have been so uncommunicative over the last two weeks, but there has been very little to report. I seem to have spent the first part of this term cancelling everything due to the poor weather. There has been very little cricket – the first XI have had two fixtures, thumping St. George’s (as did the Colts A) and losing narrowly to a very strong Sunningdale side. My thanks go to them for allowing us to come and play on their very soggy wicket in the pouring rain – I hope that not too much damage has been caused to it for the remainder of the season. Apart from that, none of the other sides have had an outing, or really any ‘middle’ practice, but we are hoping that six sides will be able to test their mettle against Brockhurst (great egg sandwiches) this afternoon.

Talking of food, we did manage to squeeze in some year group barbecues in between the downpours, but sadly the pizza oven is still a bit of a building site as we wait for a break in the weather to complete the task. It will be magnificent when it is done. Sadly though there has been no camping yet but I am planning to reschedule the camping nights for those who have missed out, later in the term – when it WILL warm up and dry out.

Sadly I have no photos of the ‘Zorbing’ that took place two Sundays ago, but the boys loved it and it will become a regular fixture in the calendar of Boarders’ entertainment. This Sunday all the boarders will be outside learning some bushcraft skills – presumably how to keep warm and dry during an English Summer.

The main event, since my last blog, has obviously been Music in the Garden. This was a tremendous occasion, very well-attended and amazingly the sun shone throughout. My thanks must go to AGM and the committee for organising the whole thing. It was very slick and although it did get a little chilly towards the end of the evening, a good time was most certainly had by all. Once the bursar has crunched the numbers, I will be able to give you a final figure on what we raised to help send Jack Ostler to America for his operation. Any further donations would of course be greatly appreciated….

This week the 5th form have been out to Cadbury’s World on a geography/gastronomic field trip. The 6th form have a Barbecue on Friday and then both year groups are off to St. Mary’s on Saturday night for some African Drumming and Natural Disasters! We also hope to have a full set of matches against Sunningdale on Saturday afternoon. On Sunday the 5th form are off on their Battlefield Tour to the Somme and Ypres, returning on Tuesday evening.

EL took some great pictures of Music in the Garden and I will post them shortly.

That is all.

Evening all. So the first week of the new term is done and not a ball has been bowled in anger yet. The biblical downpour has ceased temporarily, but the forecast is still not great. We hope to have some ‘middle’ practice on Monday and Tuesday before our next scheduled matches on Wednesday against St. George’s, but only time will tell.

The rain has made the grounds look even more lush and green than usual; the leaves are growing on the trees; the wisteria is in first flower and Mrs. Mark assures me that the rhododendrons will be at their very best this year, so we mustn’t complain too much. The front of the school looks magnificent after its new coat of paint and the renovated dormitories have been very well received by the boys.

Sadly the rain affected many of the plans for Week 1: The matches were cancelled, as was the CCF camp – although this was due to the commanding officer tearing his ligaments during the holidays, rather than the inclement weather; our cadets are far tougher than that! The golf tournament at Windlesham House was also cancelled, but DP braved the weather and took the boarders to Thorpe Park on Sunday. It was a wise decision as the weather had put off most of the rest of Britain and so he and the boys had, pretty much, the run of the place…..lucky them.

On a more positive note, the arrival of the new minibuses has meant that we have been able to take many of the boys off site when the weather has been too bad for outdoor games. On Wednesday one bus made two trips to the gym at Lightwater while another went to the indoor cricket school at Sunningdale and the Landy took 8 more to Virginia Water for a hike round the lake.

The new Woodcote Fleet....

Also the wood-fired pizza oven is nearing completion. I was hoping to have it ready for the start of term but the rain has delayed the builders – isn’t that always the way? They are waiting for a dry day so that the whole thing can be rendered and then it will be finished in brick all over. This is what it currently looks like. I will post an updated photo when it is done!

The Pizza Oven....

Next week there are (hopefully) matches against St. George’s, the Eagle Radio Academy are recording another radio show, the 4th form have their barbeque on Friday, and the 5th form are camping out on Saturday. It is an Open Weekend, so chapel will be at 11:45am on Saturday morning. There will be senior house matches in the afternoon, so if your son is playing do please let Wendy know if you’d like to stay for lunch. Sunday will see the boarders ‘Zorbing’ at Heathfield. The mind boggles….

That is all.

Well, it is 4:25 pm and I’ve just finished the staff meeting, which signals the end of term. Just 100 HM reports to write, a letter to parents to compose and several public school references to send. Hope to be finished by Tuesday evening and then I too can be officially on holiday.

The last ten days have been absolutely hectic. Since my last blog I have taken the Colts 7s side to Brockhurst to watch them win the tournament; victorious in all 6 matches and scoring 24 tries during the course of the afternoon.

Theo scores another try...

The victorious team and their coach...

I have witnessed the Captain Snow Trophy, where our U8s didn’t exactly cover themselves in glory but it was good to see so many schools here competing for the cup.

I have acted as a judge on Woodcote’s got the X Factor – a pretty tough assignment as it is difficult to be critical of any of the acts as I can’t play a note or sing…and they were all very good indeed. The judges were remarkably complimentary and there is no doubt that the right act won – well done, FX!

I have hosted the Scholarship morning – 25 boys hoping to start at Woodcote in September. There was some real talent again this year and several offers have been made.

I have watched our Senior 7s team not only play in the Holman Trophy but win the tournament for the first time since 2003 with a hugely impressive victory over Ludgrove. The WHS team went on to the IAPS small schools tournament at Oundle the following day and reached the last 8.

I have been present at the inaugural 4Five Go Live drama production at Woodcote. It is always good to get the boys up on stage and I am always delighted to see new talent emerging – especially from the least expected quarters. Well done to all involved!

I have enjoyed a round of staff and boys golf – it was held over 2 days with 8 members of staff and 32 boys involved on each day. Chaotic but tremendous fun.

I have organised an Easter Egg Hunt for the boys with over 8kg of Easter Eggs dispersed over the 35 acres of grounds – it took the boys just 27 minutes to find every single one!

I have taken part in the Staff Revue – a pantomime of sorts with no real script but some terrific costumes, most notably Buttons and Jack’s Mother, although the Cow played by Mrs. Knight at one end and Mrs. Lyddon at the other was terrifyingly real.

And finally I am here at my desk in the office with an empty school and a stack of paperwork. On with the reports…..

Have a very Happy Easter.

That is all.

Morning All – I do hope you enjoyed a peaceful and sunny Exeat. Spring is most definitely in the air and the 7s season is upon us – more on that later. I cannot believe that we are entering the last 10 days of term, and that these will fly by as there is so much going on between now and next Thursday.

Let us stop for a minute then and review the week just gone….

Two more scholarships in the bag this week, this time for Bob and Henry to Sherborne – one Academic and one Sport. They should both be immensely proud of themselves – we certainly are!

The rest of the 6th form (minus the Eton and Harrow scholars) got stuck into Mock CE and there were some very promising results. It all bodes well for the Summer. On Wednesday the 1st XV and Colts A recorded good wins against St. George’s and wrapped up very fine seasons – the 1st XV losing just 3 games and the Colts only 1! The Under 8s also had a fine game against Papplewick drawing 6-6. They have really come on as a team and will look to build on this next year.

On Thursday Mr. Turvey took the V form down to the Arboretum in Windlesham to see if the bird boxes that they had built in CDT and donated to the charity last year were ‘occupied’. It was good to see that several of the boxes were, even more impressive as they had been put in quite late in the season. It is a very worthwhile organisation – it was initially set up to stop Windlesham, Lightwater and Bagshot becoming one sprawling conurbation – and we hope to do more to support their work. We have already volunteered a working party to go and help down at the Arboretum in the Summer.

V Form boys checking the Boxes

This week the V Form are off to the Imperial War Museum as part of their studies leading up to their Battlefield Tour to France and Belgium in May and the IV Form are visiting Hampton Court Palace to learn how to play Real Tennis. There are Hockey matches against Elstree and Hall Grove, an Under 11 7s tournament at Brockhurst on Wednesday and the Captain Snow Trophy on Friday. On Friday evening we have ‘Woodcote’s got the X Factor’ which promises to be enormous fun (!?)

Saturday morning is Scholarship morning and then we are hosting the annual Holman Cup in the afternoon – the Woodcote 7s tournament. EL is then taking the squad off to Oundle for the IAPS 7s tournament on Sunday. I think they will be a good side this year and we wish them every possible success.

Sunday is Mothering Sunday – there will be Chapel at 10am and then those who wish to go out for lunch with their mummy afterwards may do so. Please let Wendy know by Wednesday if you would like to do this.

Next week is even busier but I shall endeavour to blog again before the term ends.

That is all.

My apologies for the recent radio silence. As we get closer to the end of term, things are starting to get very busy and I am struggling to find the time to keep you posted. Anyway, I have a few moments now so here goes….

Since my last blog all sorts of strange things have happened. Mr Beharrell gave us a very informative lecture on fly-fishing, culminating in him playing and landing a 65lb ‘salmon’ in the shape of a Junior – the weight of the largest ever river caught salmon in the UK. Apparently it takes on average 10 minutes per pound to play a salmon but this boy was landed within about 5 minutes, after a good fight!

CB in his fishing gear....

CB reels in the 'salmon'....

The following day saw the return fixtures against Sunningdale. I took the Colts A over there, as a guest coach, and thankfully (it’s rather like looking after someone else’s pet whilst they are away) they were comfortably victorious. One could not fail to notice though the titanic struggle that was happening on the main pitch with the hosts running out as victors in what was a terrific game by all accounts.

In the evening we took the 6th and 5th Forms to supper and a dance at Heathfield. There was much excitement (and preening) beforehand, and the evening was a great success, with one boy proclaiming it as the ‘most awesome night of my life’. We hope to arrange a return fixture in the early part of the Summer term.

This week I have mostly been acting as the school chauffeur, taking boys to Monkton Combe and Sherborne. On Friday evening there was another excellent lecture, this time on the plight of Orang Utans!

Chapel on Saturday morning was a huge success with a congregation of over 150 and a very good sermon from Colin Holman. Pre-lunch drinks were served in the HM’s study and it was good to see so many parents staying for lunch and matches. On Sunday DP took a group to the Ski Centre in Hemel Hempstead in preparation for the Ski Trip in April and Mrs. Woodall took a trip to the Cinema.

This week the boys in the 6th Form have their trial CE exams and there are the final matches of term (excluding 7s) against St. George’s. This has been a very successful season for all the main teams so let us hope that we can finish on a high.

The final Exeat of term starts at 12/ 12:30pm on Friday and there is a 6th form Parents’ evening when the boys return on Sunday evening.

That is all.