Newsletters

Friday 16 October

Next, is the story from the musical Wicked of the unlikely friendship between the teacher’s pet and most popular girl in the class, Galinda, and Elphaba, who was shunned by her classmates at the University of Shiz in the magical land of Oz. They take an instant dislike to each other. However, over time they begin to learn from each other and become friends.

Before they are sadly parted, they reflect on their friendship in a duet (which I have sung a few times), called For Good, by Stephen Schwartz:

 “...I've heard it said
That people come into our lives
For a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led to those
Who help us most to grow if we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you

… because I knew you
I have been changed for good

It well may be
That we will never meet again
In this lifetime
So, let me say before we part
So much of me
Is made of what I learned from you
You'll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have rewritten mine
By being my friend…”

I think people (and friends) come into your lives to teach you something you can learn and can absolutely be a handprint on your heart.  How wonderful!  Do you agree?

Artwork of the Week

3G At Work in the Art Room

Last Friday at 1520, I welcomed the boys of 3G into the Art room as the first class of this academic year to be allowed into the space again. Although COVID cleaning measures limit how much mess we can make in a lesson, it definitely felt great to be making Art in the Art room together again. It is fitting then that this week’s Artwork of the Week is this group of boys hard at work in the Art room! Here’s to many more lessons like this.

Mr Walters

Return of (the) D&T

The excitement has been building amongst the boys (and Mr Armstrong!) in the last few weeks, as the imminent return to the D&T workshop approached. 

Following new risk assessments, careful H&S consideration, and Covid approved measures, 5W were the first class to return to the workshop on Monday afternoon, after a seven-month hiatus. 

The photo shows 7S collecting the stools they began in Year 6 and testing them out in their lesson - unsurprisingly they worked very well, and should do for another thirty-plus years!

Mr Armstrong  

Quirister News

The Qs have had five rehearsals this week and sung for a Eucharist service, attended by College dons. The boys are hoping all the plans come to fruition for them to visit the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London to make a recording for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust's virtual carol service. The pieces have been chosen and rehearsals for them will begin next week.

A Winter’s Night, an album of Christmas carols recorded by the Winchester College Chapel Choir earlier this year is released today, 16 October. Watch out for details on social media.

Justin, Q Parent Rep

Sport News - Cross-country

Over the past week, the boys have enjoyed cross-country running within their year group bubbles, during PE lessons. Now, I use the word 'enjoyed' reservedly but I genuinely believe that by running within our beautiful grounds each boy took away some positives from their experience.

The inter-set atmosphere for each of the six races was fantastic and the boys were a real credit to themselves. We had 'competers' and 'completers'. There were races within races which caused great drama, but the efforts throughout were fantastic.

Nevertheless, the top three in each year were:

Year 3

1. Farid Akhundov, Wrens
2. Patrick Burnand, Wrens
3. Kit Marnham, Saxons

Year 4

1. Alfie Leyland, Wrens
2. Ike Crewe, Monks
3. Charles Nield, Wrens

Year 5

1. Barnaby Dobson, Romans
2. Fraser Noble, Romans
3. Bertie Wilson, Romans

Year 6

1. Sebastian Noori, Normans
2. Otto Grant, Normans
3. Toby Liddiard, Wrens

Year 7

1. Monty Weaver, Normans
2. Teddy McSheehy, Saxons
3. Thomas Edmondson, Normans

Year 8

1. Michael Jin, Saxons
2. William Bracey-Davis, Monks
3. Sasha Rich, Saxons

Congratulations!

And the Set positions after round 1 are:

Juniors:

1. Wrens 98
2. Monks 151
3. Romans 157
4. Saxons 181
5. Normans 248

Seniors:

1. Normans 175
2. Saxons 208
3. Romans 258
4. Wrens 317
5. Monks 374

Well done, everybody!

We look forward to the final Big Match. Tomorrow it is Year 6 and we also have our first inter-school fixtures: U13 A & B and U12 A & B in action at Stroud - good luck!

Mr Short

Year 7 -The Big Match report

It felt like normal service had been resumed on Saturday, with two teams lining up, and parents supporting vociferously from the sidelines! That the opposing teams were made up entirely of Pilgrims' boys didn't matter, you were red or green and stripes, and you determined to win and support accordingly.

And what a match it was! In what is a strong year group in terms of talent, it was excellent to see a maturity in both sides in terms of managing the larger spaces afforded by playing on Bailey. A willingness to pass the ball quickly meant for an end to end game and there were some exciting duels all over the pitch, none more so than Monty W and Ollie R. The game was finely balanced at half time, with the next goal likely to be important in terms of momentum. Both keepers made genuinely excellent saves to keep their sides in the hunt for victory and some of the interplay was thrilling to watch.

It’s rare for a boy to score a hat-trick, as Archie C did (including one where he took three defenders out of the game with a turn on the edge of the box before calmly slotting home!), and not be named man of the match. However, Oliver K’s performance at centre back was immense, nullifying attack after attack and snuffing out the ever present threat posed by Gabriel O. It was a commanding performance. The match ended 4-3 and was a fantastic spectacle, high in quality and hopefully one enjoyed by all who saw it.

Mr Darlow

Sailing success!

Following William B-D’s (Y8) recent regional sailing championships in Weymouth in very strong and testing winds, William has been selected to join the RYA Regional Feva Squad for the South.

Well done, William!

This is a fantastic opportunity and will involve training on the water throughout the winter to develop confidence, skill, and stamina, preparing him for the National and European Championships next summer.

We wish William all the best of luck.

From the Base - Seasons of the mind

Autumn is one of my daughter's favourite seasons.  She loves the oncoming cold, the feeling of heading into 'hibernation', of being able to wrap up in her favourite clothes and curl up with a good book.  Certainly, some of the chefs I watch on tv love it too; the bringing in of the harvest and the preparation of jams, pickles and other goodies.

Autumn to me is about making preparations for the winter.  It is the readying of oneself for potential bleak times ahead.  And as we would lay down reserves in a physical way, so must make ourselves ready psychologically too.  The next few months may well be tough going, so now is the time to prepare.  For me, that is making sure I take vitamin D and C; it is making plans, however small, so I have things to look forward to; it is being rested and keeping up the exercise.  I look forward to Christmas, in whatever form it takes, because I have family, friends and faith that things will be okay in the end.

I personally love the Spring.  My connection with nature means that as the new life emerges, so does my hope and sense of wellbeing.  It is full of promise and unknown possibilities, life's way of renewing our sense of place and purpose. So I will look forward to that too.

Make preparation, look after yourselves and each other, look forward to the joy that is yet to come.

Mr Shroff

Year 1

This week, Year 1 have enjoyed being creative and they have designed and made their own alien sculptures using plastic bottles and a range of craft materials.

The boys had a wonderful time taking on the persona of their alien with the help of their special alien hats which they also created themselves! Once in role, the boys wrote character profiles for their creations, including detailing their home planet and hobbies!

During Maths lessons, Year 1 have been practising varied fluency in addition calculation work and have impressed me with their ability to understand and manipulate the numbers to create addition fact families.

Well done, boys, for showing an excellent understanding of the equals sign too!

Mrs James

A recipe for learning:

Take a group of boys and add some water!

Many squeals of delight could be heard as the water cascaded down the tubes There was so much collaboration as everyone worked together to ensure no one got too wet, and so much discussion: “ Why is water going on the floor?” and "What's the difference between a volcano and a waterfall? One explodes upwards and the other crashes down."

All this in just twenty minutes of playing/ working/ learning outside in the garden.

No wonder that by the afternoon, the boys in Reception are exhausted!

Mrs Kent

Forest School

Dappled sunlight filtered through an abundance of autumnal trees as the Year R boys ran helter skelter through our Forest School site.

The boys were busy collecting red, yellow, gold and brown coloured leaves in a bid to create an autumn leaf rainbow. Green leaves were still evident, while the absence of blue leaves was solved by spreading the arcs on a blue coloured tarp.

The Year 1s continued their scientific exploration of materials, considering the differences between those naturally occurring and those that are man-made.

Meanwhile, Year 2 enjoyed a riverside session, toasting marshmallows on the camp fire, practising their knot tying skills and ‘fishing’ on the River Itchen. Sadly, the trout took fright!

Mrs Judd