Merry Christmas

Grant, Carolyn, Matthew and Sophie Lawson

Wish everyone in Everett House

A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Nativity

Last night saw the first performance of the school and local community 'Nativity'. An energetic production from start to finish involved several Everett pupils and Mr Brownley as a talking donkey! Cheskie Leach had a leading role as Mary and she held the stage well, whilst James Wilson looked slightly nervous as he perched on the back of a real life Camel as one of the three Kings. Zacchy Mettawa as a shepherd, Rob Brown as one of King Herod's henchmen and Michael Green in the chorus all also performed well. In the background Bella Le Blanc as ever gave a great performance in the choir and Chesca Kowles equally versatile back stage. This term Everett has proven itself on the cultural and sporting and academic front. I am lucky to be the Housemaster of such a talented group of pupils.

Christmas concert

Tonight I had the pleasure of watching several Everett pupils perform in a wonderful Christmas concert. Despite the snow and ice, a packed sports hall listened to an eclectic mix of classical music, carols and a spirited rendition of Whitney Houston's I Wanna Dance with Somebody. Everett girls Cheskie Leach and Cheska Knowles vocals got the audience clapping and the year 7 boys swaying. Bella leBlanc and Olly Berry seemed to enjoy the girls choirs rendition of Santa Claus is coming to town. Whilst Oliver Fogden, David Hawes and Dom Marsh and Myles Everett all played in a variety of pieces, Fred Mallin showed his versatility singing in the choir sang and playing his guitar in the soul band. All of them proving Everett's talents are not confined to the sports field.

Winners again!!

Monday afternoon was a challenging run in the cross country championship. But chilly winds and icy conditions underfoot didn't put off the Everett athletes. A fantastic effort from the whole House saw us win the Combined Standards, Junior Standards and Girls Standards and fourth place in the Seniors. Cheska Knowles came third in the girls event, but all our girls did us proud, alongside some strong running from the Juniors. The seniors were beset by injuries but all the runners counted, including a brave run from Greg Buchan who was determined to finish coming in at the back of the field despite a painful back injury.

Cross Country Triumph

In today's first cross country standards Everett House came first overall in the combined standards. Despite a couple of strong runners being off games, the seniors finished third overall
in their competition. The Everett girls did really well, coming home ahead of many junior boys with Chesca finishing 2nd, Cheskie 5th, Bella 6th and Alex 12th in their competition, 2nd place overall in the girls event. The Juniors again did the House proud, winning the Junior standards, Peter Baker and Anthony Miarli both finishing in the top 10, 6th and 8th respectively. I look forward to more of the same next week.

Year 9 in the spotlight

Tonight the Year 9 Floodlit football tournament got under way. Conditions were not great, a light drizzle and cold winds meant slippy conditions underfoot. Despite this the first game against Skipwith was an entertaining affair, solid defence combined with good passing and plenty of work off the ball resulted in a 4-0 win. The second game against Welsh was end to end stuff, Welsh took an early lead, but we soon levelled the score, Welsh went 3 - 1 up with a dubious goal that didn't appear to cross the line. we fought back well and scored another goal, but unfortunately the final whistle went as we pressed for an equaliser. All 8 players contributed to a great team effort, but leading by example Captain Markus Grun scored 4 goals, Anthony Miarli 2 and Max Chandler a thumping penalty that the keeper had no hope of saving.

Children in Need

This Friday Everett House in conjunction with the rest of the school will be raising money for Children in Need. Pupils will be allowed to wear non uniform casual clothes for the day if they donate at least £2.00 to this worthy cause. If the whole College joins in, we can easily raise over £600.00.

Junior Leaders

In this weeks Junior Assembly the Deputy Headmaster announced the appointments of the new Junior Leaders. Congratulations to Gus McCulloch who is Junior Leader for Everett House. Gus will be in post until the end of this term. He will be assisting the College prefects, taking a role in the organisation of House events and assemblies and chapel's. His first task is to manage the Year 9 team in the upcoming Prefects astro tournament. I wish Gus well in the post, it will be a great experience.

House Football - so close!

Last night the results of the House football were released. Everett have done themselves proud.

The Juniors scored 14 goals over four matches, they won two games and lost two, placing them third overall. The Seniors narrowly missed out on glory, they scored 15 goals, won two and drew two to finish level on points with Burr, but unfortunately lost out on goal difference to finish second. Winning isn't everyting I know and we should also be proud of the way both teams played, good sportmanship, a great spirit and plenty of support form the rest of the house on the touchlines. The boys now have the cross country championships to look forward to!!

Winners

Peter Baker and Gus McCulloch with the JUNIOR HOUSE RUGBY trophy. Both the A and B teams did Everett proud claiming overall victory in a hard fought competition. Peter Baker received praise from the tournament organiser for his captaincy, leading from the front and building a great team spirit.
Not to be outdone the Seniors played really well in the House football competition winning two and drawing two matches and now wait for the final round to see where we will come.

In the end of term assembly Anthony Miarli and Gus both received prizes for being awarded the most Excellence Slips this term. A good end to the term, the whole House deserves the half term break :-)

House Football and House Spirit

I was really impressed with the House spirit and sportsmanship showed today in the first round of the Interhouse football. Two very competitively fought games and loads of support from the sidelines made me proud to be Everett Housemaster. our Junior side fought hard all the way, with strong running, good passing and excellent defence to run out winners 6-5 over Burr. Only a great performance by the Burr goalie prevented more goals, but Alex Sanderson and Max Chandler both got hat tricks. The senior game was end to end stuff, with the lead constantly changing hands. In the end a 3-3 draw was a fair result, Buchan, Maguire and Madden were all involved in the three goals and some excellent defensive work was done by Kelly, the side was brought together well by captain Corke.

Academic excellence

The majority of Everett boys seem to have made a good start to the year, but Year 10 are leading the way with Excellence slips. Special mention must go to Peter Baker and Oran Mehmet who top the league table and both earned four last week alone!
Oran also got a special mention from the Head of English for his entry into the poetry competition - the theme was your House :-
E verett is the best
v igourously beats the rest
e very boy has a hairy chest
r ed is on all our vests
e ndangered pupils need chicken breast
t he prep is also the hardest
t he teachers are also the coolest

A busy start to the term

Well here we are 11 days into the term and I have finally worked out how to Blog! Apologies to any avid followers. Term has started well and I have been particular pleased with how well the new Year 9 and Year 12 have settled in. This may have something to do with how busy they have been, camping overnight on Shiplake Island, a bowling and laser quest trip, Headmasters BBQ and a trip to Longridge water sports cente among the activities they have been involved in. Not to mention dealing with a snake invasion!

Music BTEC has the Tithe Barn Rocking

Anyone attending the Music BTEC concert last night would have had a smile on their face by the end of the evening! It was great fun and some great performances were given. Our own Fred Mallin (Y12) looked cool and accomplished on the bass guitar during renditions of some classic rock tunes. Hannah Fitzgerald (Y13 Everett girl) led the way with some wonderful dancing!!!

Half-Term Holiday

Half-Term is here but most boys will be using the holidays to revise for their final few examinations. Not long to go now and then they can enjoy a well earned rest! These final few days and weeks of revision can be very important so the more encouragement they can be given the better.

Boys Y11 will be free to go home after their final examination until Wednesday 30th June when they should return by midday.

Boys in Y12 will be free to go home until the evening of Tuesday 15th June when they will return for the HE week (see separate email for details). They will then have a week of work experience and if they are not on site for this they must return by Wednesday 30th June.

Enjoy the holiday!!

Excellent Academic Effort

Many Congratulation go to Ed Allen (Y12) and Rowland Young (Y11) both of whom received Headmaster's Awards for effort in assembly on Tuesday this week. This comes at exactly the right time and lets hope their efforts are rewarded when the exam results come through this summer!!

Success in the Athletics

Congratulations go to our Senior Athletic team who came 2nd overall in the House Athletics Standards that took place over the last two weeks. The Juniors appeared to have mis-understanding about their requirement to compete in all events which cost them dear in the overall placings. Many did work hard, including Tom Clark running the 100m here, achieving an A standard!

(Sorry this is my first blog for some time! I hope to be better over the rest of the term!!)

David Hawes Wins at Ballroom Dancing!!

On Saturday evening Queen Anne's School in Caversham hosted a wonderful Ball in which Shiplake Y12 pupils had the opportunity to demonstrate their new found ballroom dancing skills. These boys have spent many Friday evenings over the course of this year practising for this event and so we were all very excited to hear that David Hawes (Everett Y12) came home with a gold medal for his performance in Foxtrot!!

(Photo:- Courtesy of Mrs Foakes - David being decorated for the event by Julie Knight)

Mothering Sunday and the visit of the Bishop of Oxford

Just a reminder that our Mothering Sunday service will take place at 7.30 p.m this Sunday, 14th March in the parish church. Hannah, an Everett girl, is helping organise this. It would be great if some Everett families could be there to give thanks for their mums! The dress for the pupils will be smart casual - I hope to see some of you there!


Moving on to Sunday 21st March. This is when the Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Revd John Pritchard will be joining us at the college to lead the service in the parish church at 11.30 a.m. This is not a Confirmation Service but a Holy Communion Service and we will be joined by the parishioners of Shiplake Church. This is Bishop John’s first visit to the college. I appreciate that this is a more difficult time than the Mothering service but it would be great if we could have a good student turnout for one of the most senior figures in the Church of England.

The Summer of '69

'Those were the best days of your life!'


Well it might not have been quite that much fun but the whole House did have a great time this afternoon in the Inter-House Music competition. Alas we did not manage to come out on top but we did gain 3rd place in the compulsory song, with recognition for our enthusiasm! Thanks must go to Hannah Fitzgerald and Georgie Crane for all their efforts getting the whole house ready for this throughout this week.

Headmaster's Prizes for Effort in Academic work

I would like to congratulate Christian Effenberg, James Wilson (both Y10) and Peter Brazier (Y12) on receiving awards for academic effort in the Headmaster's Assembly this week! Well done on a great achievement!

Let's hope Everett will have even more of these awards next time!

Welcome to the Everett House Blog

'And about time too!' I hear some say!!!

Welcome to the House Blog! I hope to use this regularly to help keep you up-to-date with happenings here in Everett House.

Harry Orford (Y9 Everett) is currently teaching me how to use this and hopefully it will not be long before I am fully up to speed!

I hope to be able to post more comments, with photos and links, before long!!