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June 23rd
Dear Parents and Guardians,
The A2 exams finally came to an end on Friday with Ruth Cummings and Joon Ho Choi with the dubious honour of being the last to finish with their A2 Politics paper. All that is left to do is to wish them good luck on results day in August! The majority have now returned home for some well-deserved rest and relaxation and just a note to say that they need to be back in house by 9.00pm on Thursday 3rd July for their final two days. While we are on the subject of the last couple of days, a quick plug for our 'Champagne and Strawberries' event on Friday 4th at 7.30pm. This is the event at which we traditionally (3 whole years!) say thank you and farewell to our Upper Sixth leavers and we would love as many parents, guardians, and family members to attend as can make it. For catering purposes it would be helpful if we could know how many people are coming by next Sunday, so if you could send a reply to this e-mail to let us know, that would be great!
Last week we appointed the new House Monitor team for 2008/ 2009. For the next couple of weeks they take on something of a 'caretaker' role in the absence of the Upper Sixth, handing back the responsibilities on the evening of Thursday 3rd for the final two days, before taking over proper in September. House Monitors are appointed on the basis of a pupil vote and in consultation with the House Tutor team. It is particularly important in a Sixth Form house that the pupil body feels represented by the Monitor team, so particular emphasis is placed on their vote. The new team is Christopher Bailey, Hannah Birks, Jonathan Dearden, Mark Hutchings, Thomas Jones, Michael Lau, Brian Leung, Michael Peace, Aleksandra Petrova, Lucy Toft and Anna Zhuravleva. Good luck to the team in what is a crucial role for the success of Housman Hall. I attach a photograph of the new team (nice t-shirt Michael!).
The Lower Sixth are currently attending a series of lectures on various topics designed to broaden their educational experience. They range from "Deconstructing William the Conqueror", to "Black Holes and Time Travel" to "Designing a Computer Game". They also underrtake one extended essay on a topic that fascinates them; they can even submit their own essay title. It's a great opportunity to go beyond their 'A' level syllabuses and explore their own interests. A2 lessons begin again at the end of this week.
Congratulations to Elliot Dupree who has been doing great things in athletics this term. Last week he won the County title in the Triple Jump and also competed in the 1500 metres. I don't think there has been an athletics match this term where Elliot hasn't won one of those events!
Finally, last night's DVD presentation was 'The Bank Job' starring Jason Statham. Clearly it was the absent Upper Sixth who were responsible for the narrow choice in previous weeks... I think this was actually a good film!
As ever, we hope this e-mail finds you well,
Jon and Nicola
June 9th
Dear Parents and Guardians,
With both year groups on exam leave, the house has been rather short of news recently. (There's only so much you can make of "the house got up this morning, revised for the whole day, and then went to bed!") The majority of the Lower Sixth have now finished, with just one or two modules left to complete, and we hope that the results in August will do them justice. Last Thursday they began their A2 courses and will work on them for the next week or so before the end of year lecture and extended essay programme begins. During this time, many will also visit universities on Open Days and thoughts will now be turning to what they want to do at the end of next year. With courses becoming ever more competitive it is vital that they seek advice on how to make their application stand out from the crowd. Depending upon the course and the university, this may be relevant work experience they could do over the summer, additional reading beyond the A Level syllabus, or adding to their extra-curricular experience by looking at something like community service. Over recent years, the Section 10 (that is the personal statement the student writes in support of their application) has become increasingly important and this can also be worked on before the end of the year. It may seem early to be doing this, but the majority of applications will need to be sent off within a couple of months of their return in September to give themselves the best opportunity of getting offers. As ever, if you have any questions about this, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
The Upper Sixth have completed AS retakes and are now in the thick of their A2 exams. We did manage to find time to go for our Leaver's Meal last Friday night though. We went to 'India Spice' in Bromsgrove (an excellent restaurant, not least for being the only place we could find that would accept a block booking of 35 on a Friday night). It was a superb occasion and one enjoyed by tutors and the departing Upper Sixth alike. We are looking forward to Champagne and Strawberries now on the final Friday evening of term when we officially say our goodbyes to the year group. Speaking of leavers, the leavers' hoodies arrived on Friday and have been a huge hit. Please see the photo of Ollie sporting his. We also took delivery of the newly embroidered House Rugby tops. See below modelled by Duncan.
 
 
The next school Liaison Meeting will be held on the 17th June. If you have anything you would like Jim Hutchings or Jenny Day to raise on your behalf, please either contact them directly on Jim.Hutchings332@mod.uk or thedays04@hotmail.com, or send to me and I'll pass it on.
And finally, in the midst of all of that revision, the oasis that is the Saturday Night DVD presentation. This week it was 'Walk Hard'... which I think was supposed to be a spoof of the Johnny Cash Biography, "Walk the Line". I'll be honest, it didn't meet with the most enthusiastic of responses, but nobody screamed and it was relatively short... that's a decent review from a Houseparent's perspective!
As ever, we hope that this e-mail finds you well!
Jon and Nicola
May 12th
Dear Parents/ Guardians,
As I mentioned in last week's newsletter, effort grades were published on Friday and I hope that you have managed to have a look. For the vast majority they make for excellent reading at this crucial stage of the year, and almost half of the house received commendations this time around. They are, Beecy Day, Oli Frost, Rico Kwan, Jack Parsonage, Poy Puntuyakorn, Raymond Yang, Tony Xu, Anna Zhuravleva, Chris Bailey, Max Feld, Steve Harris, Mark Hutchings, Tom Jones, Brian Leung, Daniel Stanley, Roberta Conrad, Woong Kim, Tim Lam, Michael Lau, Victor Potapov, Aydar Sarsembaev, Conway Tam and Lucy Toft. Headmaster's Commendations for the best effort of the grades session are awarded to Celine Goodwin and Aleksandra Petrova. Congratulations to all!
The weather can be both cruel and fickle; just when heads should be down and focussed on learning, the UK's annual week of summer decided to hit right before exams. No doubt the final A2 exam will just be ending when autumn hits at the end of June! In addition to it being a distraction from revision, the beautiful unbroken sunshine also meant that we would actually have to play a full game of cricket in the semi-finals of the house competition rather than playing to our strength - the 'bowl-off'. We were drawn against School House and, just to provide a little perspective, a house cricket team has seven players and School House have about eight 1st XI cricketers. Housman played superbly and with customary spirit and determination. In the end School House won by just over thirty runs which represents a great achievement by Housman to keep it that close. All players were commended!
Last week I promised news of individual achievements at Sports Day. Hannah Birks came third in the Girls' Triple Jump and Beccy Day ran well to also come third in the Girls' 800 metres. Celine Goodwin proved to be our exceptional all-round female athlete coming second in the 300 metres, the High Jump and the Shot. Steve Harris came second in the Boys' 200 metres, just beating the third placed runner in the final few metres. Jack Parsonage jumped impressively in the High Jump to also come second. Special mention to Elliot Dupree and Duncan Shrimpton who both won their events, the Boy's Triple Jump and Shot respectively (see if you can guess which is which from the picture.)
On to the relays. Our Girls' 4 x 100 metre relay team came third and the boys came fourth. However, the boys 4 x 400 relay team of Elliot Dupree, Max Feld, Brian Li and Tom Jones were victorious and broke the school record by a good 4 seconds in the process!
The overall results placed our girls' team in 4th place and the boys in 3rd - a great achievement by both teams certainly, but once again the main triumph was the number of people involved and that they all enjoyed the experience.
 
Also last week, the girls' Inter-house Tennis Competition. At the time of going to press, the results have yet to be released, and so I hope to bring you news of that next week, but captain Frederike Notz was hugley impressed with their dedication and house spirit. I also believe that their enjoyment of the event didn't get in the way of them winning quite a few games and the result is eagerly anticipated. On her return Frederike announced, "Sir, I think some commendations are in order!" I quite agree. Commendations are awarded to Alex Petrova and Roberta Conrad and double commendations are awarded to Lucy Toft and Hannah Birks who won 3 out of their 4 games and for Poy Puntuyakorn who stepped in at the last minute to save the day! Frederike would not put herself forward for a commendation, so I decided to do it myself!
To raise funds for the sports tour to South Africa this summer, the school organised a Mixed Netball Competition. Housman Hall entered two teams, "Housman: South Africa" made up of all those going on the tour (Duncan Shrimpton, Beccy Day, Celine Goodwin, Jon Dearden, Chris Bailey, Steve Harris and Tom Jones), and "Housman: Boys" made up of some boys from Housman (Bruce Thomas, Elliot Dupree, James Stevens, Kevin Au-Yeung, James Riley, Max Feld and Nick Duggan). Housman Boys went out in the group stages, but Housman SA progressed to the final where they were narrowly defeated. We hope to have team photos by next week.
Study leave for the Lower Sixth begins this weekend, If you have any questions about what that might mean, please do not hesitate to get in touch. One thing it does mean is that the exam season has arrived; good luck to all!
Finally, this weekend's DVD selection was 'Man of the Year'; starring Robin Williams. There was a distinct absence of axes and zombies in what was a intelligent, satirical comedy set around a US Presidential election. What's more, everyone seemed to love it!
As ever, we hope this e-mail finds you well!
Jon and Nicola
May 5th
Dear Parents and Guardians,
We start with excellent news about House Cricket! Due to the inclement weather, House Cricket was postponed last week (not the good news!), but to get the preliminary round out of the way, Mr Greetham decided to settle the ties by way of a 'bowl off'. For those not in the know, a 'bowl off' is when four bowlers from each house take turns bowling at a set of stumps, much in the same vein as a penalty shoot out. The Captain of Housman Cricket, Matt Sernberg, selected three other bowlers, Elliot Dupree, James Riley and Steve Harris to face Lupton House. Housman were victorious and progress to the semi-final stage against School House!
 
Last Friday in Routh Hall Assembly, Ollie Binks and Hannah Birks were presented with their Bronze RADA Shakespeare certificates. They were assessed on reciting a sonnet, performing a monolgue and reading a scene from a play. As one would expect from an award that carries the RADA name, the assessment is rigorous and this is an excellent achievement for Ollie and Hannah!
 Also in Routh Assembly, Conway Tam received a certificate and shield to reward his effort and contribution to Young Enterprise. The company achieved a turnover in excess of £700 and profits of around £150. I know it has been an excellent experience for Conway and he has learned a great deal about business on the way. When I asked him if he was going to do it again next year he replied, "Mmm... it was quite stressful!"
As many of you will be aware, today was Sports Day. I will give details of results and individual achievements in next week's newsletter when they have been published, but it was an immensely proud day for Nicola and I as Houseparents. It was great to see so many wanting to get involved, from those with obvious ability in events, to those who just wanted to experience what it is like to compete. Several staff commented on how impressed they were with Housman in terms of their competitiveness, support for each other and house spirit. I also have to say that I have never seen a house athletics team so well organised and I will also pay tribute to the management team next week when I mention the individual athletes.
 This evening I went to see the dress rehearsal of Hannah Birks and Tom Jones' AS Drama production. It is an adaptation of three Grimm Fairlytales, "The Gold Donkey, The Magic Table and the Cudgel in the Sack", "Hansel and Gretel" and "Snow White". The cast remain on stage throughout what is an hour long production, moving seamlessly in and out of various characters. I was thoroughly entertained and Hannah and Tom were superb! Their examined performance is tomorrow night and we wish them luck. If you can get along, it is worth it.
Effort grades are published this week and should be available for you to see via e-Portal on Friday. Please do contact us, or your tutor if you have any questions or would like to raise any issues.
This weekend's DVD was 'Manhunter' based on 'Red Dragon', the prequel to 'Silence of the Lambs'. I tried to explain how it was directed by Michael Mann, who also directed the 1980's series 'Miami Vice' and how you see what an influence this had on the film. They were polite, but their glazed expressions told their own story!
As ever, we hope this e-mail finds you well!
Jon and Nicola
April 28th 2008
Dear Parents and Guardians,
With the focus now very much on academic matters, last week was something of a 'slow news week' especially as the first round of the House Cricket was postponed! I have to admit to a certain amount of relief as now the two cricketers in the house have a bit longer to explain the rules to everyone else! I'm still not quite sure how we're going to manage to borrow 9 sets of cricket whites, some pads and bats; but I'm sure with a bit of creative thinking...
Last week was Housman Hall's 'Chapel Week'; the termly week that we provide readers for Routh Hall and Chapel and the congregation for Thursday's Holy Communion. Alex Petrova and Ellie Cummings agreed to read in the Communion Service and were excellent! Attendance at Communion is optional, but we always try to get a third of the house to go when it is our Chapel Week; that way everybody gets the opportunity to go at least once a year. I am sure you can imagine that I don't always get met with a hugely enthusiastic response when I ask who wants to go and so I am grateful to Joon Ho Choi, Ellie Cummings and Matt Sernberg who have attended all three of our services this year. The Routh Hall Assembly reading is perhaps the most daunting reading of the week; one follows the Headmaster on to the stage and reads in front of the whole school. Lucy Toft agreed to take on the challenge only to discover that the reading was easily the longest anyone has ever seen, however her recital of the history of 'The Praying Hands' by Albrecht Durer was both eloquent and confident.
Speaking of Routh Hall assembly on Friday, great news for Celine Goodwin and Beccy Day, both of whom were awarded their Netball Caps (the highest recognition for contribution to a sport)! Fitting recognition for their outstanding commitment over their school careers!
The focus of discussion between tutors and their tutees last week was inevitably revision, but specifically how to use their time more effectively and how to manage the inevitable pressures of preparing for a major exam session. Obviously everybody will work and cope in different ways and the tutor is ideally placed to listen to individual concerns and offer advice. We also understand that this can be a stressful time for parents, so please do not hesitate to contact us or the tutor team if there is anything you want to know.
Leavers' hoodies are being ordered this week and we should also be booking the leavers' meal... the year will be over before you know it!
Finally, our regular DVD review. This week's offering was called 'Behind the Mask' and I offer you two views; one from House Staff and one from the Student Body. On reading the cover, Miss Rein declared that she was 'Happy that she wasn't going to be here to see it!'. And having watched the film, an anonymous member of the house declared that 'We seem to have perfected the art of choosing bad films!' Well quite! I think it may be time for them to broaden their criteria to include more than just "Horror!" or "Horror Comedy!" Perhaps there is a "Horror RomCom" section at the Blockbuster!
As ever we hope this letter finds you well!
Jon and Nicola
21st April 2008
Dear Parents and Guardians,
We hope that you had an enjoyable Easter and that every now and then your sons/ daughters/ wards raised their heads out of their books so that you could enjoy their company before they returned! No doubt by now you will have heard tales of Housman's epic and dramatic victory in the House Rugby; certainly one of the closest finals I have witnessed in house competitions! I am sure that you will recall we had narrowly been beaten in two finals over the previous week and the boys were eager to avenge their defeat by Elmshurst in the House Hockey. Remarkably the game was scoreless after regulation time and the game was extended into extra time as the evening light began to fail. Housman played with passion, skill and determination throughout and eventually Chris Bailey forced his way over the tryline to score the only try of the game which finished 5-0 to Housman. Our congratulations to Elmshurst who played well throughout the competition and were part of a superb game of rugby in the final!
Traditionally the final house assembly in the Lent term is more of an understated affair than at the end of the Michaelmas and Summer terms. It reflects the transitional nature of the term and that there is still much work to be done before the real celebrations can begin. However, it would be wrong not to look back on what was another hugely successful term for Housman Hall; once again I found myself congratulating them all on their House Spirit, the desire to get involved in house competitions, their support and friendship for each other and the great atmosphere they have created in Housman Hall. I find that more and more I am congratulating them all as a house and it is important that they take a collective pride in what they have achieved as a body of people. However, it is also important that they reflect on what they have achieved as an individual. Can they look at their effort grades and say 'I did my best'? Can they reflect on House Competitions and say 'I was part of that' either as participant or supporter? There were so many opportunities last term; house swimming, debating, solo-instrumental, solo-singing, cross country, 1.2 relays, house hockey, house netball, house football, house rugby, you will have read about them all in my previous newsletters. Not to mention the wide-ranging opportunities at school level; school sport, CCF, Young Enterprise, Street Dancing, Photography, D of E... the list goes on. The experience of being at a school like Bromsgrove and a house like Housman Hall is enriched by participation in these things and there is nothing better than hearing conversations that start, "Do you remember that time in House Cross Country when Matt got lost," or "when we were robbed in the house hockey", or "when Dupes ran the fastest time in the 1.2?" Life is about making memories, especially at school and university and it's worth taking stock every now and then and asking yourself if you're making the most of your opportunities.
End of term awards were as follows:
House Colours were re-awarded to Rico Kwan, Beccy Day and Max Feld.
House Colours were awarded to Chris Bailey, Hannah Birks, Jon Dearden, Tom Jones, Frederike Notz, Michael Peace, Aleksandra Petrova, Victor Potapov, Poy Puntuyakorn, Duncan Shrimpton and Seb Tadjer.
Lent Term House Endeavour Award went to Aleksandra Petrova
Lent Term House Spirit Award went to Jon Dearden
And so here we are at the start of another term and for half the house, their final term in the school. It will naturally be dominated by exams, but hopefully not at the expense of all else!
I finished the Lent term by talking to the house about 'value'. In Economics the value of something is often established by it's relative scarcity; how rare something is compared to how much it is wanted. If the media is to be believed, young people who respect themselves and others, who don't take a pride in anti-social behaviour and underachievement, who support others and are considerate, loving and caring, and who want to make the most of their opportunities, these young people are becoming increasingly scarce. If this is true, then Housman Hallians have a huge amount to offer society and when we talk about 'adding value' as a house, this is what we mean!
As ever, we hope this e-mail finds you well!
Jon and Nicola
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