Aysgarth School

Since my last blog, there have been lots of happy events:

• Most important of all, the boys achieved 100% success rate in Common Entrance – congratulations to them and to their teachers.
• The concert, art exhibition and sports day went well with only 10 minutes of rain – we have to be grateful for small mercies!
• The 1st XI completed a very successful southern tour in which they defeated some of the best cricketing schools in the south – the Dragon School in Oxford, Prior Park who were the finalists in the JET Cup, and St. John’s Beaumont U12 side. Well done to a wonderfully talented group of boys, and thanks to their coaches, Ben Wicling and Gordon MacLelland.
• The leavers spend two days in London, and for some, this was the first time they had visited the capital. They also went to ‘As You Like It’ at Ripley Castle and to a Brewery!
• A cricket match between N. Yorks U11 and Cleveland U11 took place at Aysgarth with 6 Aysgarth boys playing in the victorious N. Yorks side.
• New Boys’ Weekend went well and we anticipate an intake of around 40 new boys in September.
• 10 boys went to the Military Bagpiping School in Edinburgh thanks to Colonel Simon West. We love our pipers and are keen to encourage them!
• The School Water Fight took place on the main pitch on Friday evening on a World Cup theme, following a S. African braai! Spartans were the winners.

The Common Entrance results have just come in - I will be reporting back on this as soon as I have communicated with all parents. Last weekend included the 3rd Form Camp in which the sun shone on them for most of it, but before they could get too rose-tinted a view of camping, the heavens opened at 5am on Sunday! The 1st XI got to the final of the Worsley Cup cricket competition at Ampleforth, only for the rain to stop play; we are, of course, convinced we would have won! The Aysgarth Boarder is on line at www.aysgarthschool.com/news/the-aysgarth-boarder.

The visit to the Bowes Museum was much enjoyed, and so was the whole of 'Arts Week'. More news on this to follow ...

World Cup Water Fight

This will take place for the whole school on the evening of Friday 2 July. There will be a Braai (South African barbecue!) and battle will commence afterwards on a World Cup theme.

UPDATE FROM AYSGARTH – 25 May 2010

The weekend was a celebration of Grandparents! It was great fun to have so many here – about 100, and they were very appreciative guests! We will aim to repeat the event every 2-3 years so that each generation of Aysgarthians has the opportunity to welcome their grandparents to their school. The Aysgarth Boarder is on line at www.aysgarthschool.com/news/the-aysgarth-boarder and includes some photos of the grandparents and other activities at the weekend, including the first outing for the water slide.

Tennis Competitions The 4th and 5th Form Parents and Sons competition was won by the formidable combination of Freddie Adair with his uncle, defeating the joint runners up of Harry West and his father, and Tom Bilborough and his father.

In the Repton Prep Schools tournament, for which we were the holders of the U13 doubles, both pairs reached the semi-finals but were knocked out at that stage. Well done to the team for doing Aysgarth proud!

With best wishes for a happy half term!

Start of Term

I hope you all have had a wonderful Easter break!

We will be joined for the first three weeks of term by the headmaster designate of Summer Fields, David Faber. He will be here from Monday to Thursday each week to see how another prep school works. As a former Conservative MP and author of history books, he will have much that he can contribute, and he will open the boys’ eyes to the joys of a General Election by running a Politics Club and an Aysgarth election.

Air Travel

There seems to be an emerging hope that some restrictions will be lifted. We look forward to seeing those boys affected as soon as possible.

Life is dominated at the moment by preparations for ‘the Pirates of Penzance’, with boys scampering all over the school in strange garb!

The 1st Form returned from Solway Bank on Friday having had enormous fun, but completely exhausted. They undertook challenges that have stretched them and I am sure that their friendships and confidence will have benefited. A big thank you to Paul Barlow and Sue Marshall for taking them. There are two volumes of the Aysgarth Boarder this week on www.aysgarthschool.com/news/the-aysgarth-boarder

Scholarships

Congratulations to Mungo Fawcett on being awarded an All-Rounder Scholarship at Radley in addition to his Music Exhibition. This brings the number of awards won to five.

French Trip

Eleven 4th and 5th Formers will depart on Sunday morning for the trip to Paris. We (Mrs. Pearson and I are accompanying the boys) will be travelling on Eurostar (no BA for us) and spending what should be a fun and stimulating time in Paris, returning on the day after the end of term. The purpose is to whet the boys’ appetites for all things French, and to give them an opportunity to practice their spoken French and hear it being spoken all around them. We plan to do this annually and hope that a number of this year’s 3rd Form will be planning to come next year.

Rosslyn Park Sevens Tournament

A group of 10 boys will be travelling south on Sunday to compete in this national sevens tournament. They will come up against some very strong schools and it will be an excellent challenge for them.

We enjoyed a happy weekend at the beginning of February with a visit from the lovely girls of Queen Margaret’s who joined the choir in chapel and then had a social at the school. There was also an outing to watch Newcastle Falcons being beaten by London Wasps.

Congratulations are due to a number of boys:

• Mungo Fawcett has been awarded a Music Exhibition to Radley College.

• Troy Lockyear has been selected to play for the U13 England Prep School Barbarians Team and Sam Hoddinott for the U11 team, both to tour Ireland in the holidays.

Inspection results

I am delighted to advise you that the ISI Inspection completed at the beginning of term was a great success. The inspection of the Prep School and classes 1-3 in the Pre Prep was covered by the main ISI report and the outcome was that the school received the highest possible grade of ‘Excellent’ in two of the three categories.

The Nursery and Reception in the Pre Prep were inspected separately under the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework and we were thrilled to be awarded the highest grade of ‘Outstanding’ in all four categories.

This weekend

It will be a busy one (see below for the events) and a good one to come to the school for one or all of the events.

Forthcoming events

Wednesday 24 February – the U13 Spirit of Soccer Tournament at Aysgarth has been cancelled. The U13 and U11 Sevens Tournaments at Woodleigh and Terrington respectively may still be on – a decision will be made tomorrow morning and will be texted to the parents affected. Thursday 25 February – CE Mental Arithmetic Trials Saturday 27 February – football matches vs. Cundall Manor (see calendar/website) Sunday 28 February – an ‘All-in’ weekend, but do join us for: 10am Chapel with Mr. Charles Milne, Admissions Tutor at Eton College, preaching. He will be accompanied by Mr. Paul Gilham, Housemaster designate 2pm The 8th Aysgarthian Run – parents, siblings and dogs are encouraged to join in 3.30pm Speech & Drama recitals – open to all followed by tea Tuesday 2 March – Common Entrance Trials for 5th Form until Thursday Tuesday 2 March – Chris Vine, author of the ‘Peter’s Railway’ series of books, will be speaking to Pre Prep and Forms 1-3 and letting them see his model train. Wednesday 3 March – 1st Form outing to Bolton Castle, U13 Sevens Tournament at Terrington and U11 Spirit of Soccer at Aysgarth. Wednesday 3 March – Lecture to whole school on ‘Wood as Renewable Energy’ by Mr. Ralph Assheton. Friday 5 March – 2nd Exeat starts at 12 noon, followed by the 4th Form Parent/Teacher meeting.

Last week we were visited by Inspectors. I am delighted to say that we have come through it very well. However, nothing further can be said until the report is published.

We have had a happy weekend for those who have been at the school and you can see the evidence on the 'Boarder' section of the website.

Forthcoming Events

Wednesday 3 February – football matches vs. Mowden Hall and Cundall Manor (see calendar or website) Wednesday 3 February – lecture on “Cycling home from Siberia” – Rob Lilwall. Saturday 6 February – football matches vs. Woodleigh and Moorlands. Sunday 7 February – the School Service will be at 11am and Rev. Simon Austen will be preaching. The Aysgarth choir will be joined by a choir from Queen Margaret’s School.

Happy New Year! I hope you had a good Christmas and are enjoying the snow! The school is looking beautiful with over 1ft of snow.

We will be joined at the beginning of term by 4 new Gap Students (from New Zealand and South Africa). They will stay for the usual year. Think of them as they come from an Antipodean summer to this winter!

We are looking forward to seeing boarders on Wednesday and day boys and Pre-Prep children on Thursday.

With best wishes for a happy and prosperous 2010.

Last weekend's main activity was a demonstration of circus skills where the boys had an opportunity to try out the various skills themselves! We certainly have a variety of activities here at the School!

It was also great to see so many parents at the Inter House and rugby matches on Saturday. It is a great opportunity for every boy to play and these matches are keenly contested. The U13 competition was won by Corinthians on points difference, the U11s by Thebans, who were clear winners, and the U9s by Corinthians, who were also clear winners. As of last week, Athenians were leading the House Competition, so the tension is building as to which house will win the prize at the end of term.

Forthcoming Events:

Wednesday 2 December – the Bedale Hunt meets at Aysgarth at 10.30am.

Saturday 12 December – 11am Carol Service for the local community. 6.30pm-9pm Christmas Party. The weekend is an ‘All-in’ weekend for all Full and Weekly boarders.

Monday 14 December – 7pm Carol Concert at Ripon Cathedral in aid of MacMillan Cancer Support (ticket only). This will involve all three choirs.

The main activity at the weekend was ‘German Spotlight’ on the Saturday night. Please go to the 'Aysgarth Boarder' to find out more.

Cyber Bullying and the Internet - during this week we have focused on the issue of Cyber Bullying. This has become one of the most common forms of bullying in the country, where children use various electronic media to be unkind to each other. Using the internet seems innocent enough, but we were sharply reminded of the risks of Social Networking Sites. We have advised parents that internet access should be possible for children only where you can see what they are doing.

• Junior Play - “A Surprisingly Happy Ending” will be performed on Thursday 19 November at 6pm. All are welcome! • 3rd Form Concert – the 3rd Form Instrumentalists will give a concert in chapel at 11.15am on Friday 20th November

The main activity at the weekend was the ‘Y Factor’ – Aysgarth’s version of the X Factor! To read all about it and to view photos, click on ‘Aysgarth Boarder’.

One of the highlights of the last few weeks has been the emergence from an under cover printing press of a newsletter produced by the boys called ‘The Randomer’. Its journalists have investigated key issues such as “Did Mr. Oakshott really play for Leeds United?”, “Did Mr. Barlow play for ACDC?” and “Is Mr. Goddard really 24?”. The latest issue asks “How did Mr. Southall save the world?”.

5th Form RS Project – Conscientious Objection

Thank you to the parents who have helped with the 5th Form RS projects by completing questionnaires. Thank you too to Mrs. Selwyn-Sharpe who came and spoke to the boys. We were also delighted and impressed that William Hague, our local MP and Shadow Foreign Secretary, took the time to respond in detail to a letter asking for his views.

The weekend included a visit from 20 Casterton girls for a social with the 5th Form whilst the 4th Form escaped to do some clay pigeon shooting. We also had great fun collecting up fallen branches to rebuild the bonfire and the 1st & 2nd Form went to Thorpe Perrow to see the birds of prey, meerkats and the like.

Higher Sports Dinner

Higher Sports will be holding their dinner at Aysgarth on Saturday 5 December. The after dinner speech will be given by Henry Olonga. If you are interested in tickets or want to know more, please contact Bryan Mason on bryan@highersports.lccnet.co.uk

Sedbergh Prep Schools Rugby Tournament

The Sedbergh Tournament is the most competitive tournament held in the north, and the U13s age group attracts schools from all over the country. The 1st XV played 7 matches and lost just one, winning the final of the plate competition. The U11s won their tournament with six straight wins. Well done to all those boys, their coaches and thank you to the supporters.

STOP PRESS

Congratulations to Aysgarth staff members Gordon and Jo MacLelland on the birth of Archie James MacLelland. Both mother and baby are doing well.

Book Week

One of the highlights of Book Week was a talk by Jonny Beardsall about journalism and travel. He spoke about his experiences of Borneo and the Puna people, and managed to get a ‘poison tipped’ dart stuck in the New Hall ceiling with the aid of a blow pipe! He knows how to get the boys’ attention!

The boys are settling well back into the Prep School after the Summer and the delightful collection of new boys are a great addition.

Immediately after the first exeat, there will be a competition to decorate the dormitories. For details on the winners, watch this space….

Forthcoming Events

• This weekend and on Wednesday we have rugby training games against St. Martin’s Ampleforth, Cundall Manor and St. Olave’s. Sunday’s Activities will include the 5th Form Leadership Day, 4th Form outing to Carlton Lodge Outdoor Centre, 3rd & 2nd Form Water Slide and 1st Form Activity Day. There will also be cooking and swimming.
• Next week is Book Week and we have a journalist and travel writer, Johnny Beardsall coming to speak to the boys. A travelling Book Fair will also visit.
• Parents’ Prayer Meeting – this will take place again at 11am on Thursday 22 October. If you are interested in attending, please contact Caroline on cgoddard@aysgarthschool.co.uk.