It is a pleasure to report back on the first half term of House activities of this academic year having taken over the role of Principal Head of House, continuing the brilliant work Mr. Brown has done in recent years. The 2024-25 year has already brought us two new Heads of House in Mr. Murray (Churchill Gordon) and Mr. Strachan (Raleigh), as well as early promises of renewed competition (Darwin Wilberforce’s lead aside). We kicked off as we always do with the General Knowledge competitions, which have all now completed their preliminary stages. In each year group, the top two houses (or more if there was a tie) will go head-to-head at some point during one of their assemblies to determine 1st and 2nd place. Even without knowing the overall winning house, however, we certainly can give praise to Harry S and Sebastian L of Year 11, who achieved the highest scoring prelim round of any pair in any year (40/50 questions correct in 15 minutes).
Elsewhere, we had House Chess taking place earlier this year. It was run online via Lichess as in previous years, allowing maximum participation, and it was delightful to see 320 students across the school taking part in the competition. Overall, it was Darwin Wilberforce who landed at the top, with last year’s winners Livingstone having to settle for 2nd place. It certainly gives Darwin Wilberforce a promising start to a year in which they could become the second ever house to win the House Championship for more than 4 consecutive years, a feat last achieved when Kingsley Montgomery won 8 on the trot from 1981-1988. The students played a Swiss tournament, in which opponents become more difficult the more you win. Naturally, that didn’t stop certain students from keeping a clean sheet and winning all 5 of their games (see details here): Berno W (Livingstone Y7), George C (Raleigh Y7), Ernest R (Raleigh Y9), Minhajul A (Raleigh Y9), Ryan K (Livingstone Y10), Jude R (Scott Y11), Cathal L (Scott Y12) and Isaac L (Churchill-Gordon Y12). Perhaps more incredible than their achievements were the missed ones. Joshua S (Turing Nightingale, Y10) pulled off the rather striking feat of checkmating his first opponent within 17 seconds and his second opponent within 34 seconds, only to absent himself from playing the next three games. One can imagine he will be a name to look out for in next year’s competition if he decides to stick around for all five games.
We have had bits and bobs elsewhere, with Year 9 Run occurring during a Games session and Year 10 Football occurring during the Stop the Clock day and sending Turing Nightingale house to an early House Football lead. What we really should be asking ourselves at this point is whether Drake house is entering a period of renaissance. Having done okay in House Chess, they have followed up with a triumph in House Dance, a full report of which can be found in this same newsletter from Mrs. Brittain. There are approximately 20 house events in a given year, but in the past 6 years Drake have only achieved two victories, for House Cricket in 2018-19 and again in 2022-23. Now, they have won Dance and earned a place in what looks to be 5 of the 7 finals that will be held for General Knowledge, assuring them either a win or a podium place at the very least. As we approach Christmas and beyond, it seems a surprising competitor may be thrusting its way towards the top of the table…
For now, the scores stand as follows. The above scores include the concluded Chess and Dance events only, and show Darwin Wilberforce putting themselves at a distance from the rest of the crop, with Kingsley Montgomery and Drake tied for 2nd. With House Public Speaking, Drama and further sporting events such as Rugby, Table Tennis, Basketball and Football due to take place in the upcoming half term, as well as the all important General Knowledge finals, we may well be seeing some movements in that leaderboard fairly soon.
Mr. Edwards
Principal Head of House
