From the Second Master
Singing and Fundraising
Thank you for your support at the House Singing Competition. It was good to see so many of you there. Thank you too for the donations to the Lotus Flower Trust at the end of the performance. This has been added to money raised by the Charity 4000 fun run, during which over 600 pupils and staff ran distances ranging from 6km to a half marathon, bringing the total to almost £9,000. These funds will allow the charity to build a new water pipe to the Basgo Nunnery.
Horse Racing Champion
Many congratulations to Archie (pictured, Trant's, VI Book 2) who won the 16 and under race at the Isle of Wight Grand National on Sunday, riding Basil. The race, which is run over two miles of open fields, hedges and ditches outside Ryde, was fiercely fought. In a hugely exciting race Basil fought off challenges from two other runners in the closing straight to win by a nose. They retained their title for the second year running and hope to return next year to compete in the Open Race.
Weekend and Leave-out Arrangements for Boarders
Please use the link below to inform us of your child’s plans for this weekend. This link will take you to the Parent Portal: please log in, select Interactive and Weekend Sign-out to complete the form. Guidance on Sign-out options can be found here.
In preparation for Leave-out on Thursday 20 October, all parents of boarders should complete the Leave-out Arrangements form, which is also accessed via the same route on the Parent Portal; under 'Leave-out arrangements'. Please complete the form by 13:00 on Friday 14 October so that Housemasters have the information prior to any pupil departures.
New Catering Partner
Introducing Lynsey Robertson
As the Director of Catering and Hospitality, my role is to work side by side with the team, to drive excellence across all aspects of our catering service, and engage with staff, pupils, and parents to continually improve what we do.
Food is an integral part of life at Winchester College. It’s about so much more than solely what’s served on the plate; it’s a conduit that brings pupils together within their houses, to create a homely atmosphere. To me that’s a huge responsibility, and I feel incredibly privileged to be trusted with this position at such a historic and beautiful school.
I’m passionate about honouring Winchester College’s traditions, whilst also evolving our operations and driving the sustainability agenda. I am overseeing an holistic approach to educating pupils on all aspects of the food system through an engaging programme with our dedicated team of nutritionists.
The welcome so far from the pupils and staff I’ve met has been immensely warm and I feel very much at home already.
Catering
Food at Winchester
Our new catering partner, Chartwells, shares their vision for food at Winchester:
"Feeding pupils nutritious and delicious food that fuels learning is at the very heart of what we do. Getting direct feedback from pupils is fundamental to doing this successfully, so our core focus this term has been implementing changes and tweaks to the house dining menu based on the research we conducted last term, prior to our appointment.
Based on the pupil feedback, we have made a few small changes to suit their tastes and preferences, which have all been well received. We’ve also introduced new salad bars to every house, which include a wide range of dishes, from beetroot, spinach and edamame bean salad to crunchy kale slaw.
Creating a homely and enjoyable atmosphere for pupils' mealtimes is incredibly important. We have made a couple of subtle changes to our service style, such as the introduction of new attractive chinaware, to enhance the overall dining experience.
Equally important to creating memorable mealtime moments for pupils, is cultivating a motivating and inspiring environment for our team members to grow. Education and development help us achieve this, and we’re delighted to announce that two of our catering team are now undertaking apprenticeships to grow their skillset.
Ultimately, the proof will always be in the pudding (as well as the starter, main, and snack!). We look forward to digging into the detail by regularly engaging with pupils through our house food review sessions, and termly pupil engagement panel, as we evolve and develop our offer over the academic year."
Outreach
Football Tournament
On Sunday, nine prep schools and one of our partners, the Crown and Manor Club from Hoxton, brought 100 Year 5 pupils to take part in our annual football tournament.
Ludgrove had looked impressive throughout the group stages until they faced Twyford 1 in the decider. Twyford scored two well-worked goals to take the lead and top their group. In the other group, four teams were divided by just two points going into the final round and it was Westbourne House’s 2-1 victory over The Pilgrims’ School that saw them reach the main final.
In the final, Westbourne took an early lead against Twyford and then defended resolutely to retain their lead. Westbourne sealed the result in unusual fashion as their goalkeeper scored the winning goal. Summer Fields received the Fair Play award for their excellent manner and conduct across the morning.
Environment
Celebrating Poetry
The theme of this year's National Poetry Day on 6 October was 'the environment - a rallying cry for the planet'.
Pupils in the first, second and third Years were asked to write about the environment – either in a nature poem or an activist poem, about the threat to the climate and the planet. Pupils enjoyed the chance to write creatively about a topical issue and a selection of their poems is on display in the library.
It was also a timely opportunity to launch a poetry competition for our partner primary schools, run in conjunction with local wildlife charity the Cameron Bespolka Trust. Renowned ornithologist Roger Morgan-Grenville will judge the competition, and present prizes at an afternoon tea for entrants and their parents and carers. The first prize is a trip to the charity's New Forest nature retreat, Cameron’s Cottage (pictured), for the winner's class.
On the same day, Roger will give the annual Cameron Bespolka Memorial Wildlife Talk to local primary school children, entitled 'Beavers and Buzzards; nature adventures on a very long walk’.
Houses
Singing Competition Results
This year’s House Singing Competition took place on Sunday evening, with expert adjudication provided by Emily Dickens, the internationally established singer, choir director and educator.
Hopper’s won the Julian Smith Cup, for the best performance of a classical song, with their stylish performance of Vaughan Williams’ The Turtle Dove. The adjudicator complimented the 'well sung solos and the sensitive accompanying', and the 'beautiful blended pianissimo ending'.
Freddie’s won Bobber Pot, for the best performance of a unison song, with Razorlight’s America, which impressed with an 'effective opening crescendo from pp to f …well-tuned octaves', and 'ohs that had commitment and style'.
Schuster Pot, for the best performance of a harmony song, was awarded to Trant’s for their version of From Now On, in an excellent in-house arrangement by James Porter. 'Well-sustained accompanying', along with 'sensitively sung solos' and secure intonation, were cited by the adjudicator in her praise of a performance that was rounded off with a 'tidy bow'.
Parent Event
Pseudium
On Saturday 12 November, 10:00 -12:30, all parents are invited to come back to the classroom, where Winchester dons from across the departments will teach their favourite lessons, and hope to convey some of their passion, knowledge and enthusiasm.
Expect bangs and whistles in the Chemistry department; brainteasers in Maths; Old Masters in Art History; Beethoven in Music; exciting experiments in Physics; medieval manuscripts in History; and plenty of debate in Div. You will have the chance to attend three 35 minute lessons of your choice.
Sport
Mixed Crew Rowing
Winchester College Boat Club fielded a mixed crew at Monkton Small Boats Head for the first time, this weekend.
All four rowers are completely new to the sport, although their performance made this hard to believe. Led by an experienced coxswain, they took to the water with confidence and displayed great team spirit.
The Boat Club has had a good take up for the start of the season's squad training, including weights, ergs and water sessions.
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