Colfe’s younger students have been taking their learning out of the classroom in the last few weeks, studying curriculum topics ranging from animals to rivers. The pre prep and prep school have been on a number of trips from Epping Forest to Mudchute farm in East London.

The exciting and ambitious plans for the expansion of the Pre-Prep and Nursery are well underway as the tender process has now been completed and local firm Bryen and Langley have been appointed to build the extension, with the internal work to the existing building planned for the summer vacation.

Talented musician, Cecily Watts has released her debut single ‘Game Over’ in conjunction with the renowned DJ Parker.

Former pupils from as far back as the 1930s have had the opportunity to meet up again in a number of high profile Old Colfeian get togethers.

Talented Prep School dancer, Francesca Rameaux, has performed in front of 6000 people in a packed out Albert Hall for a large national dance show called ‘The Stars in the Round.’

Colfe’s students have the opportunity for the first time to take part in a three week course teaching them the fundamentals of the technical side of a drama production.

Norton and Beardwood have dominated this year’s House music finals with Norton becoming the triumphant overall winners in the end. The competition involved each of the Houses putting forward a musician to represent them from years 7 through to 10.

Philosophy students are celebrating the growing popularity of one of Colfe’s newest clubs which has only been running since September.

Prep School Pupil Ella Richardson has kept up her musical winning form achieving Silver and Bronze medals at two recent music festivals.

Girls’ cricket has been introduced to the official sporting curriculum alongside the boys for the first time this summer; continuing and expanding the long heritage and success of the sport at Colfe’s.

Tennis at Colfe’s is growing in strength with over 20 students currently attending the club each week to take part in the training sessions taken by a professional tennis coach.

With less than a term left, and a good number of events still to be held, Colfe’s four Houses are in the final straight and set for a thrilling finale to decide who will be this year’s overall House Champions.

Year 7 pupil, James Wisher has attained a Black Belt in Karate during the JKA Association International 10th Anniversary meet.

Two students are helping to keep up the Colfe’s tradition of excellence in Cricket. Matt Walker in Year 7 has been accepted into the U12 Kent squad and the equally fantastic news that 6^th former, Harry Furze is one step away from playing professional cricket after being invited to play with the Kent Academy, their elite squad, and getting 3 for 26 in his first fixture against Hartley Country Club.

Fourteen tables of music enthusiasts attended a successful Pop Quiz to fundraise for the Conservation expedition to Madagascar, run by Operation Wallacea.

Students in Year 6 have returned from a residential trip to Ashford, Kent where they spent a week enjoying a variety of outdoor education and learning activities.

Colfe’s has had the pleasure of holding its annual Individual Swimming Gala with another record number of children taking part.

Four talented gymnasts in the Prep School have all performed extremely well in this year’s London Gymnastics Competition.  

Some of Colfe’s best swimmers have competed in the London Schools Open Championships, with Jess Farrow in Year 12, winning an impressive silver medal in the 400m Individual Medley.

 

Talented musician, Miles Ashdown has performed a leading role in the recent production of Benjamin Britten’s ‘Noyes Fludde’ at Chichester Cathedral.

Talented horse rider Georgia Noone in Year 8 has qualified to take part in the Longines Royal International Horse Show at Hickstead this July – the youngest team member ever to be chosen by her club.

Our new prep School Head, Mrs Sarah Marsh has spoken to the website about her experience of the first few weeks at Colfe’s.

Four of our gifted CCF cadets have had the exceptional opportunity to learn more about a career in Aviation with a series of lectures from experts in the field at the Royal Aeronautical Society.

The Colfeian community has once again come together, raising thousands of pounds for charity in outstanding performances in the London Marathon and Mini Marathon.

Our Colfeian German scholars have enjoyed the sights, sounds and delights of Berlin, during a five day visit of the great European metropolis.

Colfe’s students Charlie Banks and Elliot Roofe have completed an impressive ‘grand slam’ winning tour of Ireland as part of the Independent Schools National XV Lambs.

Students and parents have packed out the school hall to join in a two hour session of the keep fit exercise Zumba and helping to raise over £900 for the school’s netball tour to Jamaica.

Art work by Colfe’s 6th Former Sashia Palmqvist has won a prestigious prize in the National Saatchi Gallery/Sunday Telegraph Art for Schools competition.

A Colfe’s Kent rugby player has been invited by Saracens Academy coaches to train with them for the rest of the season after spotting him during the county games.

Officers and cadets from Colfe’s have joined other schools from across the country to take part in a successful week long training camp at RAF Halton. This ended with one of our pupils winning Best Overall Cadet for the week.

The mosaics were beautiful, criss-cross patterns with images of the sea and mer-creatures in the middle. I stood there admiring and taking photographs. I had liked the giant white lion at the entrance, standing elegant and tall as you walked in the Archaeological Museum in Naples. It was truly astonishing with its statues and pottery that was centuries old.

Colfe’s U11s have proved they’re a netballing force to be reckoned with after winning the National Prep Schools Championships against 28 other schools from around the country.

 

Over the Easter break a coach of Colfe’s students, staff and parents headed to Oxford to watch Matt Gallagher represent England u16s in a fixture against Wales u16s. In what turned out to be a wonderful occasion, the conditions could not have been more perfect for both playing and watching a top game of rugby.

Hundreds of members of the Colfe’s community gathered together for the end of term highlight: the Spring Concert. Immediately setting the standard extremely high, the concert began with the Colfe’s Parents, Friends Staff and Students choir singing Bach Cantata No.4 with accomplished solos from 6th form students Rhianna Skeates, Cecily Watts, Miles Ashdown and James Maby.

Year 9 student Ruby Collins has returned to the national airwaves, acting in a Radio Four drama The three-part production, called ‘The Perfect Partner' and broadcast on Woman's Hour, featured Ruby playing a young teenager among a cast of professional adults.

Over one hundred girls took part in Colfe’s annual invitational Hockey Tournament for U13s. Now in its eighth year,this popular and successful tournament saw eight schools field a total of 10 A & B teams and brave the freezing weather conditions to play an afternoon of competitive matches.

Six of our talented chess players in the prep school have won their latest fixture against Bessemer Grange school in Camberwell, 9 games to 3. Our team, made up of Arthur in Year 6, and Oscar, Sam, Fiontan, Swastik and Finn in year 5, played 12 matches, only losing three. Arthur said, “My two games went pretty well with the first one not really being too close but the second one, against another year 6 player being slightly more challenging. The other school was very friendly and when I was playing the table next to me where laughing and chatting through their match. I felt that although these fixtures are always very competitive, it remained pretty fun the whole time.”

For a small group of Colfeians, the Easter holidays mean preparing for the up and coming London Marathon on April 21st. A number of our teachers and parents are involved in the event either as runners or family supporters, and the website caught up with some of them to find out a little bit more about their chosen charities and how the training is going.

Read more...

 

Year 8 headed off to North Wales for their annual Outdoor Pursuits week with the students doing a range of activities including gorge walking, mountain walking, rock climbing, abseiling, mining, high ropes, canoeing and kayaking, as well as building team work. Read more...

One of our talented chess players in the prep school has helped his Kent U11 team win Silver in the English Primary Schools’ Chess Association tournament, qualifying them for the finals on May 11^th.

Colfe’s school has recently had the extraordinary pleasure of being contacted by the family of a fomer Colfeian, now living in a retirement home, aged 104. Robert Campbell Muir was born in 1909, and according to our records, was admitted to Colfe’s on 11th September 1923. Robert has only just recently moved out of independent living to reside in a retirement home near Newport Pagnell and his daughter, Maggie, contacted the school as part of her work, piecing together her father’s remarkable life. Read more...

Students have been busily turning themselves into Journalists this week to produce the BBC Schools report. The Year 8 students spent time researching and filming stories, conducting interviews, and writing up reports for the Colfe’s website as part of this annual BBC event. This year, the reporters’ stories included the Year 8 outdoor pursuits and an interview with the Headmaster regarding the school’s first Dutch Conference. The day also included a talk from the BBC Journalist Manjusha Mitra. Please follow this link to get a flavour of the day’s work.

 

The recent case of Birmingham University illustrates how the balance between students and universities is shifting in the UK. In a letter the university advised heads of leading independent schools that it would make unconditional offers to their strongest candidates. High tuition fees have turned students into selective clients while universities compete ever more fiercely for student numbers to sustain their funding. In a climate where some British universities’ primary focus is on fees and funding – rather than the student – Colfe's hosted 'Going Dutch', a conference on studying in the Netherlands. We see this as an attractive alternative for students seeking degrees that offer a better value for money. Read more...

Master i/c of Rugby, Mr Miller sent this report to the website about some of the highlights for the school’s rugby teams in the last few weeks. Read more... 

Netballers in the lower school have continued to play some impressive netball with the U13 A and Bs winning their fixture against Kingston Grammar convincingly and the U12s coming an impressive 4th place out of 60, in the Kent Schools Tournament. Read more...

Colfe’s is delighted to hear about the successes of some of our recently graduated Colfeians; Charlie Whitaker, Pascal Crowe and Toyin Olaniyi, who have been making great headway in their chosen paths at University. Read more...

In a fast moving, action packed musical, Prep School pupils have brought to life the legendary story of Robin Hood and his Merry Men in a one night only production of ‘Hoodwinked. Read more...

A group of talented musicians who are often mentioned on Colfe’s website for their musical success have done it again; winning a series of competitions and award. Read more...

Judo Champion, Leonardo Bertocchi, has won silver and gold medals despite falling heavily during one of his fights. Leonardo won silver representing Colfe’s at the British School Championship in Sheffield last week, despite falling hard in his last fight and being treated in hospital for concussion. The plucky year 10 student was back this week, though, winning all his fights at the South of England Open in Crawley, and walking away with the Gold Medal. Read more...

Three of our Year 7 singers have had the opportunity to perform with the Carshalton Choral Society. James Wisher, Nikolas Charalambous and Max Gaskin, who all sing Treble, were invited by the conductor and director of the Society, to take the part of the ‘Pickled Boys’ during the performance of Britten’s St Nicholas at the weekend. The Carshalton Choral Society, a well regarded organisation, now in its 66th year, performed the concert at the local Methodist Church. Read more...

As part of the new student leadership and vertical tutoring systems, the selection of the House Captains, Deputy House Captains and House Competition Captains have taken place. The student leadership system, now in its second cycle, will see the students taking key roles throughout the school with the pupils, selected this month by the Assistant Heads of House, and holding their position until Christmas.

A group of our talented year 10 Mathematicians have beaten teams from ten other schools across the South East to win the Team Maths Competition regional heat. Oliver Stavrinidis, Callum Melly, Ciara Greaves and Jessica Knight played a series of six rounds which included short and long problems, problems related to 2013, multiple choice and a student round covering the A level topic of Absolute Value Functions. The 3 hours of competition ended with a carousel round where no one was allowed to talk. Colfe’s won convincingly, beating schools such as Cobham Hall.

From rocking horses to portable lecterns, students have displayed an extensive and exciting showcase of their GCSE and A Level coursework projects. Friends, family and teachers milled around the displays throughout the afternoon and were treated to a high quality, and extensive variety in both the way the students had approached the design brief, with written work displayed around the walls, to the final product itself.

Twenty 6th Formers faced extreme weather conditions during a six day tour of Russia over the February half-term. History teacher, Mr Patterson, said “We battled through temperatures of -13 ̊ C in Moscow and St Petersburg to enjoy the incredible sights and experiences of these two fascinating cities. The students learnt an enormous amount from the local guides who throughout our packed itinerary enthralled us with their insights into their history under the Tsars and the Communists. Seeing the opulent palaces of Catherine the Great and the Yusupov family made it easier to understand why there was a revolution in February 1917! The suffering that the Russian people endured under the Communists was made stunningly clear by the Seige of Leningrad museum in St Petersburg. Molly Skevington (Year 13) said that it was ‘a trip that I will tell my children and their children about’ and Matthias Nicholls (Year 12) said that it was ‘the best trip I have ever been on’.

A group of drama students have had the opportunity to go to the heart of theatre with a four day trip to New York. 17 year old Beth Warren said “Going to New York was probably one of the best experiences of my life and, if I could have stayed there, I would have done! It wasn’t until I got back though that it really sunk in; the sights of the tall buildings; the smells; and the iconic Yellow Taxis, which we were lucky enough to ride in. We packed in a lot in four days: taking in shows; eating at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company (from Forest Gump); climbing the Empire State Building just after we arrived, where the views were breath-taking; something you had to be there to understand, because you couldn’t capture it in a photo.

Our talented U16 Rugby team have triumphed at the U16 Invitation Sevens Tournament at St Olave’s, this week, remaining unbeaten all the way through the competition.

Throughout the history of Colfe’s, many of our former students have gone on to varied and successful careers. The website was delighted to catch up with former Colfe’s pupil Paul Olding, now a successful BBC Director and Producer.

Year 9 have learnt the skills of a professional sculptor; designing and making figures of ‘Giant Men’ out of aluminium, as part of an intensive one day workshop run by the artist and Sculptor Darcy Turner. The professional artist, taught the children how to create a life like giant figure, using aluminium to create the frames and held together with cable ties. The workshop which was run as part of their on-going classwork of creating the human body in 3D, saw the Y 9 artists, split into 3 teams, draw and design and eventually create a striking life-like human figure.

Art work by a Colfe’s school Sixth Former has been shortlisted for the prestigious Saatchi Gallery/Sunday Telegraph Art Prize for Schools. Sashia Palmqvist was shortlisted for her ‘blue work’ inspired during the school’s annual art trip last year to Dorset.

A 5 year old talented artist in the Pre-Prep has been shortlisted as a runner up in a schools art competition run by the Conservatoire in Blackheath. Ailun Zhou was one of only five shortlisted out of over 100 entries for the competition called ‘Why Art and Music Matter to Me’ and run as part of the Save the Conservatoire’s fundraising campaign. The pictures of the winner and the runners up are being displayed in the Giraffe Restaurant in Blackheath and in the exhibition space in the Art Building at the Conservatoire.

It has been a busy week for Colfe’s youngest swimmers who have done extremely well in their most recent set of high profile galas. Colfe’s, who hosted the event, took first place at the London League B Final competing against Abercorn, Rosemead and Oakfield schools. Sports teacher, Miss Holder, said “This was just the kind of gala I enjoy; lots of close races and displays of outstanding swimming. We had particularly excellent results in the butterfly races with Ruby, Daisy, Panos, Jess and Liberty all finishing in 1st place. Sean, in Year 5, had the whole school cheering for him as he swam the final leg of two relays managing to catch up the swimmer in front to put Colfe’s in first place! Overall Colfe’s finished 1st on 197 points ahead of Rosemead on 178, Oakfield on 128 and Abercorn on 42 points”

 

Colfe’s talented U12 netballers have won the Bromley Schools Netball Tournament beating Bromley High convincingly in the Final. This means Colfe’s start the season now holding the title at U16, U14 and U12 level: An impressive feat.

Megan Marchant, has been selected to represent London at one of the biggest events in the running calendar: The English Schools Cross Country Championships. Accomplished runner, Megan, year 9, was selected after coming 7th in the London Schools Competition earlier in the year and will compete against children across the country in the event to be held in Derbyshire on March 16th.

Chris Hugill was a pupil at Colfe’s from 2004 to 2011. He left to start a degree in Quantity Surveying at Birmingham City University. He had already had a brain tumour removed a year before coming to Colfe's when he was only ten years old; but you wouldn’t necessarily have known this during his time here. It was a great shock then that the same cancer reoccurred almost exactly ten years later and Chris died when he was barely twenty years old at the beginning of this year.

Year 10 pupil, Leonardo Bertocchi represented Colfe’s at the British Independent Schools Judo Championships took the Gold Medal after impressively winning all of his fights. 14 year old Leonardo, who in his weight category was competing against schools such as Harrow and Winchester, won his fights with clear Ippons; the highest scoring points in Judo.

As part of the continuing Colfe’s Careers’ programme, which runs throughout the year, 6th Formers have recently had the opportunity to learn more about work experience from two top firms. 17 year old Olivia Simpson won a coveted place on the Goldman Sachs A-Level Girls INSPIRE programme. Olivia, selected out of thousands of applicants around the country, was invited to an event in London which provided an insight into the world of financial services.

“What a fantastic, atmospheric production and to see my little one singing and dancing so brilliantly, just made it even better for me.” Kim, Year 2 mum. Year One students, supported by all the pre-prep, have led a performance of Pictures; a production inspired by Mussorgsky’s famous composition: Pictures at an Exhibition.

Talented Musician, Ella Richardson has beaten other inspiring pianists to win two medals for first and third place at the Bromley (Kent) Festival. Eight year old Ella won the Grade 4 Piano category and came third in the year 4 competitions. Ella can now add these to her growing collection of medals after she won two golds and two silvers at Festivals around the South East last year. 

 

Colfeians are being encouraged to put on their running shoes and join the school’s Cross Country Club which takes place every Wednesday. Former member of a National Cross Country winning team, Miss Abi Wilshire, the teacher in charge of the club, has just been appointed London School’s team manager for one of the biggest running events in the calendar: The English Schools Cross Country Championships.

A group of 15 Colfeians have visited Cambridge University and met with three of our former students who are current undergraduates. Following on from last month’s trip to Oxford University, our students had the opportunity to visit Fitzwilliam College and King’s College; the latter where they met with current undergraduates. The pupils had the chance to talk with former Colfeians; Charlie Whittaker, reading Natural Sciences at Jesus College; Ann Oduwaiye , reading Architecture at Clare College and Vicky Shehadeh, in her final year reading Law at Pembroke College; who were able to give them a real insight into the life at the university from the admissions policy to the cultural and social life of the Colleges and the City itself.

Mathematicians at Colfe’s have once again proved they are some of the best in the country after winning Gold, Silver and Bronze certificates in the National Intermediate Mathematics Challenge. 16 of our students achieved a Gold Certificate in the competition, run by the United Kingdom Mathematical Trust, which puts them in the top 7% of students in the country.

Catherine Brindley has qualified for the National Show Jumping Championship Finals in Gloucestershire this year, with her new horse, Gracie. Catherine, who has been riding since she was two and a half years old, qualified for the Blue Chip Championships after her horse, whose competition name is Adel Van De Kapel, won the qualifying round in Essex beating around 40 other competitors in her class.

Gifted rugby player Matthew Gallagher has been selected for the U16 England elite squad after three days of trials. 16 year old Matt, has been playing a number of county wide regional trial games which got him to the last 70 players trialling in the development camp at Hartpury College in Gloucestershire. Matt is now looking forward to the forthcoming international series.

Organiser of the Colfe’s annual trip to the Gambia, Dr Thompson, has said a big thank you to all those people who have been involved with the project over the years, after the Kotu School Hall has finally been finished. This hall is the largest and most ambitious of the many developments that have taken place at Kotu over the past decade.

Colfeians throughout the school have been engaging in a variety of language activities in the past few weeks; learning new techniques and skills, and having a great deal of fun in the process.

Twelve potential applicants to the University of Oxford visited the City and University earlier this month to meet three former Colfe’s students who are now undergraduates at Oxford. This annual trip provides the opportunity for current pupils to not only see the something of the University but also, more importantly, to talk with former Colfeians who can often give real insights to the admissions process, the distinctive mode of study at Oxford and the vibrant cultural and social life of the colleges, the University and the City.

“This was a challenging play; different from the things we had done before and it made all the actors involved, step out of their comfort zone and really produce something outstanding. It has been a real honour to be part of this production.”  Photographs of the production.

A Colfeian mum has talked of her “tears of joy” after her daughter; Lily beat over 50 other dancers in her Region to qualify for the Irish Dancing World Championships. Year 10 pupil, Lily Dirrane came 7th out of 12 qualifying places in the Southern Regional heat and this amazing achievement takes her comfortably through to the week-long World Championships in Boston, America at the end of next month.

One of our Year 9 students has made his first public performance at this term’s platform concert. Blaine Charnley played Forestside Blues by Fereday on the drums. He was part of a talented string of musicians from year 7 through to the 6th form at this term’s concert in the Beardwood Centre’s recital hall.

The Prep School has opened its doors to parents, aunts and uncles and grandparents for the opportunity to look at the children’s books and all their hard work since September, as well as colourful and informative displays of current work around the school.

Pupils in Year 8 have begun the process of considering whether to apply for selection to the Combined Cadet Force Squadron at Colfe’s. All pupils from Year 9 onwards, are eligible to join this highly successful unit and letters have now gone out inviting any 13 year olds who may be interested, to fill in application forms to apply for a place on the recruit training course.

Colfe’s talented runner, Megan Marchant, has automatically qualified to run in this Year’s London Mini Marathon in April. Megan was selected, circumventing the normal trial process, due to her outstanding past record particularly in previous mini marathons; she came 4th out of hundreds competing in the race in 2010.

Over 100 prep school pupils have shown off their dancing skills at this year’s Valentines Disco, run by the Parents and Friends Association (PAFA). 

Colfe’s has invited back a highly respected Performance Psychologist to work with pupils again; teaching a series of techniques to improve their motivation, concentration and general performance. Jon Finn, owner of Tougher Minds Performance Psychology Consultancy and Visiting Research Fellow in the Carnegie Faculty at Leeds Metropolitan University, worked with groups of students in Year 11, to go into greater depth with techniques that he had taught them before Christmas.

Colfe’s has a strong record of producing top class rugby players and this year is no exception. A number of our talented Colfeians throughout the school who are playing rugby at an extremely high level, have now been selected to play for regional and national squads.

Talented netballers in the Prep School have performed exceptionally well in a tournament involving seven other local schools.  

Colfe’s brightest mathematicians in Years 8 and 9 have taken part in a round one ‘selection’ test for a regional competition run by the UK Mathematics Trust. This year our forty eight students were joined by eight pupils from Conisborough college; split into twelve teams, the groups enjoyed a morning of challenging math questions and activities.

This week’s 6th Form Assembly had the rare treat of a performance by Miles Ashdown’s band “Loss Effect”. The band, consisting of Miles on guitar and vocals, his brother, Murray on lead guitar and vocals and friend, Charlie Pierce on the drums, is doing well, having performed a number of gigs in the last year around Deptford, Croydon and Forest Hill. The band played three songs to the appreciative audience, many of whom came out of the assembly singing! Miles said it was really great to finally play for his friends “I was slightly nervous because all my friends were there, and also friends who hadn’t heard the band before, but it was great and I really enjoyed it. I’m hoping that we can do a full assembly next. This is important to me but playing music is mainly about enjoying ourselves and doing something we love.”

Chess players in the senior school have battled it out in a tense series of matches to see who would be crowned this year’s House Chess Champion. Sixteen students from across years 10 to 13, played twenty minute knock out rounds to try and make it to the finals.

The Take One Picture scheme invites primary school children to study one painting as a way of learning and exploring ideas across the curriculum. This year the children have been studying Seurat’s painting Bathers at Asniere. Each individual year and class set about doing their own interpretation the picture and explored the different themes through art and storytelling.

Musicians at the Prep School have gathered to perform to friends and family for a special tea time concert. This eclectic mix of music and instruments ranged from group performances by the Orchestra and the Rock Band and solo performances on instruments from violin to saxophone.

Tickets have now gone on sale for the powerful musical drama ‘Piaf’; a celebration of the life of the French singer and cultural icon Edith Piaf which follows her rise from the streets of Paris to becoming one of the greatest artists of a generation.

Colfe’s has a strong record of producing top class cricket and talented cricketers and this year is no exception. The England Cricketer and ex-Colfeian Susie Rowe, who graduated from the school nearly eight years ago, has just got back from India where she has been training as a reserve for the upcoming Womens’ World Cup which starts this Friday.

“Beautifully written and a gripping narrative. The debut novel from R. Garlic is a triumph and highly recommended to all.” Review on Amazon. Exciting new author, Rufus Garlic has taken a quick breather out of his busy life to speak to the website about his debut novel, The Disappearance Club or A Polish Detective in London, and more importantly, what it is like fitting his writing into his full time job as a teacher in the English Department where he is known as Mr Joel Smith. (His real name).

Colfe’s bright mathematicians have got through to the last eight in the respected Hans Woyda Competition after a convincing win against Caterham School. The team, consisting of 6th formers, Manish Patel (Captain) and Alastair Porter, Oliver Skeates in Year 11 and Year 9’s, Max O’ Keeffe, beat the Surrey School, 53 to 33, in this knock out stage, to see them comfortably through.

6th Form Art students who are working towards their AS and A2 exams, have had the opportunity to exhibit their work in a show held in the Art studios. Guests were invited to come and look at the work which focused on Art produced for the exams so far, and to see how they are doing during this important stage in the year.

The school’s tenth trip to The Gambia was launched this month with a presentation evening to a packed audience of interested parents teachers and pupils. The trip to the Gambia is part of Colfe’s on-going partnership with Kotu Senior Secondary School. Last year’s expedition involved nearly 50 Colfeian teachers and pupils who took part in a week of activities to help in the development and extension of the Kotu school buildings.

The workshop included talks from outside experts, parents, teachers and former pupils on a variety of topics from work experience, writing a good CV and applying for jobs to sessions about going to university and its value.

As 2013 gets underway, sixth former, Sara Stevanovska, caught up with Colfe’s newly appointed Head of the Prep School , Mrs Sarah Marsh, to find out a little bit more about her and what we can expect when she starts working at the school just after Easter. Mrs Marsh was looking confident, calm and smiling, obviously happy to be coming to Colfe’s, when I sat down with her in the Deputy Head’s office in the Prep School. Mrs Marsh is a teacher of over 25 years’ experience in reception, all the way up to sixth form, and has experience as a Director of Studies, as well as being an ISI (Independent Schools Inspector). I started by asking her how she had first found out about the job and why she had applied.

Colfe’s is rejuvenating its programme of Outdoor Pursuits to bring together a structured and cohesive programme of events for both the Preparatory and Senior schools; joining the whole provision into one. The programme has been put together by Director of Outdoor Education, Major Chris Cherry. It aims to be both challenging and fun. Major Cherry is already responsible for the extracurricular trips in the Senior School and hopes to build on Colfe’s reputation for running outstanding team-building excursions.

Prep School pupil, Ella Newins has been selected by Kent Cricket to play in their U11 County squad. The 10 year old under went a series of trials over consecutive Sundays at Sutton Valence, before making it into the 20 strong girls’ squad; chosen from the best players in Kent.

 

With a display of flamboyant arm movements and exciting rhythms, Year 4 students took part in a lesson teaching them the basics of traditional African Dance. The session run by Lydia, an instructor from the company “Maximum Dance Design”, taught the children a traditional African Dance from Kenya.

Musicians throughout the school are celebrating their instrumental and singing grade exam results, taken at the end of last term, after a record number gained the top mark of a distinction. Twenty-seven pupils from the Prep School through to Year 11 sat the ABRSM exams over two days before Christmas with 100% passing; just under 50% gaining a merit and nearly one in five gaining the top mark of a distinction.

Two of our talented rugby players have been selected for a coveted place in the Independent Schools Rugby Football Club ‘Lambs’ National squad after a series of tough inter-regional fixtures. Elliot Roofe and Charlie Banks got through to the national side after a highly successful Northern XV versus Southern XV trial game on Sunday. All the fixtures acted as a series of trials for the full National XV selection.

Three 6th formers have joined teachers and other Old Colfeians to play for the club’s fixture against Beccehamians at the weekend. 18 year olds: Joseph Mafe, James Parker and Sam Pinnock joined teachers Andrew Pearson, Matt Stamp and Andrew Foster together with former pupils: Charlie Davis, Michael Cox, Aaron Gabriel, Dan Smith and Andrew Courtneidge, to make up the club’s 3rd XV side.

The whole prep school has turned out to take part in the Inter-House Swimming Gala. Split into two sections, Years 3 and 4 first, followed by Years 5 and 6, swimmers battled it out to see their House crowned the championship winner.

Just before we broke for the Christmas holidays, students in Year 7 had the opportunity to visit a traditional festive market in Lille, France. Head of MFL, Mrs Biggs who organised the trip, wrote this report, “Another icy cold winter’s morning in December and a group of 50 Colfe’s Year 7 pupils wait patiently at the end of Abergeldie Road for the coach which will transport them to the heavenly delights of Lille’s Christmas Market. The journey lasts over 4 hours and by the time we arrive pupils are suitably charged with energy-laden sweets and toxic-coloured drinks, hence the need to get off the coach and enjoy the treasures of the market!

The Year 7s are working on a number of art projects this term, based on their experience of a trip to the British Museum before Christmas. Together with the Classics Department, the 11 and 12 year olds had the opportunity to look around and learn about the classics: both Greek and Roman, as well as the Native American, Chinese, Indian and Aztec sections of the British Museum.

Over fifty Colfeians from the Senior School enjoyed a week of skiing and snowboarding in the Italian Alps over the Christmas break. Fifty four students from years 7 to 11 and five members of staff flew off to the small Italian resort of Artesina not far from the French border.

Two gifted Colfe’s debaters, are through to the next round of the English Speaking Union Mace Competition, after knocking out Blackheath High in an exciting first match. Joe Andrew and Shannon Burke, both in year 11 won the respected competition after proposing the motion “This house would tie development aid to enforcement of birth control mechanisms”.

An exciting ten month countdown has begun after the long anticipated netball tour to Jamaica has now been confirmed. Following on from the success of Colfe’s junior netball tour earlier in the year, twenty one of our most enthusiastic and talented netballers from Years 10, 11 and 12 have signed up for the ten day tour in the Caribbean which takes place this October.

Music scholar Ruby Collins has managed a rare and extraordinary triple: performing at all three of the UK's top venues in under 12 months. Year 9 student, Ruby, has performed at the Royal Albert Hall and Royal Festival Hall, and this week completed the trio by appearing on stage at London's Barbican.

Two gifted students have been selected for elite squads in Cricket and Rugby. Rugby player, Matt Gallagher is just a couple of steps away from trialling for England after being selected to play for the London and South East Division squad, and from there hopes to trial for selection to the England U16 group.

The inaugural Colfe’s cross country championships were held on Monday the 17^th of December. This new event on the Colfe’s sporting calendar took place at Oxleas wood and meadow and saw over 65 pupils competing across three races.

Swimmers in the senior school have competed in an exciting, fast paced Christmas gala finishing off a successful and enjoyable year of swimming. Students from Years 7 to the 6^th Form put on a good show against Farrington’s and Trinity Schools with some outstanding individual performances.

After another successful year for the Friends and Parents Association, the Chair, Mrs Dawn Bennett, has taken the time to say a big thank you for all the support and help that PAFA have received.

Sports teacher, and rugby player, Mr Bateson has been selected to coach for the prestigious Independent Schools Rugby Football Club known as ‘The Lambs’. Furthermore, two of our talented rugby playing students have also made it into the South East Regional squad of The Lambs; a club which takes the best rugby players from Independent Schools across England.

The term has seen a number of closely fought and exciting House matches in subjects varying from Geography to DT. The last of these battles this year have now taken place in Sport and History with the Houses fairly evenly matched overall.

Our legendary U15 Netball champions have reached the quarter finals of the Independent Schools Netball Cup. Two years after becoming the best U13 netball team in England, the girls of Colfe’s U15 netball squad are preparing to do battle in the quarter finals of the prestigious national tournament. Anna Foley, Hannah Skevington, Chantelle Akpan, Jade Lindo, Olivia Porter, Anna Beasley, Amy Grant and Emily Ireland are in fighting spirit and determined to win.

A team of Colfeian’s from the Robotics club have for the second year, competed in the First Lego League London Regional Robotic Competition achieving a respectable eighth place.

The Head of Prep Mr John Gallagher is leaving Colfe’s after 18 years of service to the school. In his time here, John has worked throughout the school as a Science and PE teacher, a Form Tutor, Head of Year and Director of Sport before being appointed as Head of the Prep School in 2007. John began his career in rugby; as part of the All Blacks Rugby World Cup Winning team in 1987 and later, coming back to England, to play Rugby League for Leeds. He says “After three years in Yorkshire I decided it was time to come back to London and teach, much to the relief of my mother who thought I’d finally got a ‘proper job’, teaching at Colfe’s! Apart from a two year sabbatical where I held the position of Director of Rugby at Harlequins, I have been at Colfe’s ever since and enjoyed it very much.”

Colfe’s students have put on a spectacular and accomplished Christmas production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic, The Sound of Music. The Drama and Music departments came together seamlessly to bring the musical to life with Jade Oswald’s Maria and Henry Chapman’s Captain Von Trapp setting the tone of realistic acting and remarkable singing. The leads were not let down by the rest of the cast though, who put in outstanding performances; the Mother Abbess, Rosie Taylor, who was a joy to hear, singing Climb Every Mountain; the seven children who all believably got across their ages particularly 11 year old Charlotte Tilley who was delightful as six year old Gretl; the touching duet scene between Caroline Hedley, a convincing Liesl, and Will Rowland as Rolf; the beautiful Nina Calvert as Elsa Schraeder and Amal Weatherill as Max Detweiler who had the audience laughing as soon he entered the stage.

“Yet again Mrs Hall has done something original which is completely inclusive for all the children to enjoy and be part of” Jill, Year 2 Parent. The Pre-prep’s production, ‘Countdown to Christmas’ has received an enthusiastic reception from parents and friends who filled the Beardwood Hall to watch the hour long production.

One of our 6th Formers has attended a glittering ceremony at the O2 Arena in Greenwich after being shortlisted for the prestigious ‘Spirit of London Awards’
Samveer Parris made it to the final three in the ‘Achievement in Education’ category after achieving 4 A*s and 5As in his GCSE’s this summer despite being diagnosed with a rare form of cancer two years ago.

Talented flautist, Natasha Dixon has had the opportunity to lead the flute section of the National Children’s Orchestra (NCO) for the second half of their performance at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. The Colfe’s music scholar, who has been playing for the leading children’s symphony Orchestra for three years, also played her debut solo, during the performance of Matthew Curtis’s Paths to Urbino.

Two of our young, talented musicians have passed a highly competitive audition to play with the National Children’s Orchestra (NCO).

 

Colfe’s maths students are celebrating after a convincing victory in the third round of the prestigious competition: The Hans Woyda Cup. The team, consisting of 6^th Formers Manish Patel (Captain) and Alastair Porter, Oliver Skeates of Year 11 and Max O’ Keeffe of Year 9, beat Bexley Grammar by 44 to 22 to take them into the knock-out stage of the competition. Having already beaten Eltham College and Blackheath High, to come top in their league, our bright mathematicians are now in the final 16 schools across London, which include St Paul's and City of London.

A former Colfe’s parent and CEO of the leading regeneration company, Renewal, has kindly offered to provide a scholarship for an outstanding Lewisham student, studying in the Sixth form at Colfe’s.  Mushtaq Malik, who set up Renewal over fifteen years ago, has agreed to pay the school fees for the local student from Conisborough College in Lewisham, and in doing so, support Colfe’s innovative and special relationship with the state school.

On the eve of our big Christmas production of The Sound of Music, the website caught up with some of the cast to find out how rehearsals have been going so far……

Colfe’s Art department has held its first ever collaborative Saturday Print Making Workshop where the school invited students from Conisborough College to join us in a ‘creative partnership’. This innovative and exciting pilot scheme brought together 17 enthusiastic and gifted Year 8 and 9 students to explore a range of print making processes that included etching, Callograph, and monoprint.

A group of our talented musicians have been out in Lewisham Shopping Centre, singing a selection of traditional Christmas Carols. The eighteen singers, conducted by Director of Music Miss Collinson and accompanied by Music teacher, Mr Gobey on the electric piano, performed a selection of carols, including Hark the Herald Angels Sing and Away in a Manger, in four-part harmony. All proceeds went to St Christopher’s Hospice.

The Prep School’s production of Jack and the Beanstalk has been warmly received by a packed out audience in the Main School Hall.

Hans Woyda Cup, Second Round;
Colfe's WON: 44 - 24
A nail-biting atmosphere, an enthusiastic group of our brightest mathematicians, a challenging competition and an immensely gratifying win over our local ‘rivals’. These all helped to guarantee that the competitors who arrived at Colfe’s school on that crisp Tuesday in November will never forget the second round of the Hans Woyda Cup; and for all the right reasons.

This year’s House Design Technology Competition has been won by Prendergast after teams in each House were set the challenge of designing and racing a motorised truck. Each house sponsored two teams from across the age range which were given a scenario to build a motorised buggy from a kit of parts and use it to transport 4 barrels, (cotton bobbins) in relay, from one side to another, on a set course in the main hall. The team’s success depended upon careful and accurate work to ensure that friction was reduced to a minimum and that the wheels made the buggy travel in a straight line.

Two Colfeians are hoping to get the music industry buzzing after their debut single, ‘Shouting at the TV’, has been released on iTunes and Amazon to great acclaim. Art teacher Stefan Zivanovic and ex-Colfeian Adam Leaver formed the indie pop band ‘Robot Anthropology’ just over six months ago. The band, who so far have been producing music from a front room in London’s Piccadilly, say they are stunned that hundreds of people have already downloaded their single in the one week since its release.

Swimmers from across the school recently participated in Colfe’s first swimming championships, held at Colfe’s Sports Centre; with students performing exceptionally well in all four strokes across a variety of distances.

 

A Prep School dad is taking part in a challenge to row across the Channel to raise money for his daugher’s sailing club.

 

A highly respected Performance Psychologist has spent two days training pupils, parents and teachers at Colfe’s in a series of techniques to help build confidence, motivation, improve concentration and performance under pressure in both academic studies, sport and music.  Jon Finn, a Golf Psychology Consultant to the Professional Golfers' Association of Great Britain and Ireland, and a Visiting Research Fellow in the Carnegie Faculty at Leeds Metropolitan University, worked with the whole of Year 11 in small groups with the aim of improving student achievement in class and at home, with particular emphasis on improving efficiency of effort. He also took separate sessions for the Sports Scholars and a group of Year 7s.

Colfeian musicians performed a wide variety of music, showcasing their work this term, to a packed Recital Hall. The audience fell silent as the Senior Choir began their rhythmic and spoken Geographical Fugue by Ernst Toch followed by Grace in Year 8’s confident clarinet playing of Winter from the Four Seasons by Vivaldi.

Five talented Year 8s have won this year’s prestigious Leathersellers’ competition prize, after being asked, at the end of last year, to design a poster about the company and its historic links to Colfe’s.

Saxophonist, Sam Barnett has been offered a highly sought after place in the new Julian Joseph Jazz Academy for a specialised Saturday course where he will learn from leading Jazz professionals. Sam passed an audition to gain a place at the Jazz Academy, which is launching in January, and has been set up by renowned pianist and composer Julian Joseph. Julian, who presents BBC Radio 3’s Jazz on Three programme, is starting the Academy for young, gifted jazz musicians, aged between 12 and 19. The specialised course includes performance and theory, ensemble, impro and singing with training from Jazz Masters like Trevor Watkis and Courtney Pine. It will also include performances in key venues such as Ronnie Scott's and Barbican.

Nearly Fifty Colfeians have sat this year’s Senior Maths Challenge, run by the UK Mathematical Trust, achieving a range of gold, silver and bronze certificates. The competition, which aims to challenge the most able students in Year 11 and the Sixth Form saw our able mathematicians walk away with one gold, nine Silver and nine Bronze certificates.

Hannah Skevington, Chantelle Akpan, Jade Lindo, Olivia Porter, Anna Beasley, Amy Grant and Emily Ireland have done it again, this time winning the Trinity Schools’ Netball Tournament.

 

Top runners of all ages have been achieving great success in Cross Country competitions across the South East. Colfe’s had outstanding results at the Greenwich Schools Cross Country Championships which took place at Avery Hill Park. With over 460 runners, from schools across the county, the Year 7 girls were exceptional, winning the overall team competition. Charlotte, Maia, Amber, Imogen and Bea lifted the trophy as the best in Greenwich for their age group; Charlotte said it was great “I felt good to be part of the race and even better to win! I don’t belong to a running club outside but I joined Colfe’s Cross Country club after school and really enjoy it.”

A top doctor has given an inspiring talk to Colfe’s students about what it is like to work in the field of medicine. In the appropriate location of the newly refurbished Biology lab, with its inspirational skeletons and soothing fish tanks, sixteen students heard Professor Anisur Rahman, from University College, London, speak about the Medical profession through his own experiences. A Colfe’s parent, Professor Rahman’s own specialism is Rheumatology, and he treats many patients with Arthritic complaints. As a Professor at UCL, he teaches students, is involved in admissions and undertakes medical research.

A Review by Farnam Pourreza-Jorshari

Students are required as part of their A2 level Drama course to prepare and perform a 15-20 minute piece of drama. The challenging part was this: once the students were placed into their groups, they had to construct a play completely from scratch – all in eight weeks! This year, the groups journeyed to Head of Drama, Mrs Vandergucht’s parents’ house for their ‘stimulus’, where they were set loose to explore and find things that could spark ideas for their play. On Wednesday 20th November 2012, all four groups were ready to showcase their performances in front of an enthusiastic audience. As a drama student involved with one of the performances, I can sincerely say that this was one of the most enjoyable experiences that I have had during my time studying A-Level Drama.

Sixth Formers have put their best foot forward and raised over £100 for the charity ‘Toilet Twinning’ which aims to improve the sanitations in developing countries. The students had a target to raise money which would go towards building the same number of toilets as the school, in developing countries, for people that do not have a clean, safe and hygienic place to use.

Students have attended a series of informative and entertaining lectures in London, given by leading experts in the field, explaining just how relevant chemistry is in today’s world. The group of ten Colfeian chemists, travelled to the London Institute of Education for the day and explored subjects such as the role chemistry has played in the treatment of cancer and the creation of new drugs, how chemistry helps in space and an even an in-depth exploration of the properties of ice and why it is so important.

U6th students have had the invaluable experience of undergoing a ‘mock’ interview by employees of the Computer Multinational, IBM.

Colfe’s showed their metal in a close-fought fixture against local rivals Eltham College. The performances of the day belonged to our U15 squad where the A team won 60-0 and the B team continued their fine season with a thumping 68-11 victory.

 

Colfe’s debaters are through to the regional finals of the respected Cambridge Schools Competition despite being some of the youngest to enter the event. Out of the 20 teams entering the competition, held near Stratford, East London, the majority were sixth formers. Colfe’s fielded the only Year 8s and 9s at the event. Our winning team included GSCE student Shannon Burke, who beat more experienced Sixthformers in her ‘room’ which included other local schools such as Eltham College. Shannon’s debating partner Matthias Nicholls said, “I am very happy and quite surprised really because this is the first debate I’ve done in two years and I was feeling a little rusty. It was a good experience in quick team work and public speaking and Shannon was a really talented partner. She was easy to get along with and came up with lots of ideas.”

Mathematicians in Year 12 had the opportunity to attend a series of exciting and expanding lectures in London by prestigious maths professors. The trip consisted of five talks, on a wide range of subjects, delivered by academics from Cambridge University and leading universities in London. Head of Maths, Miss Chase said “This was an important and interesting day which gave students an insight into the many applications of mathematics and exposed them to maths beyond the A level curriculum.”

“I love the new kit. When you look the part, you feel the part and it definitely makes you play better.” 17 year old Alice Foster; Netball U19 A-team. The UK’s biggest property company has agreed to sponsor a brand new sports kit for Colfe’s girls and boys, in a partnership worth thousands of pounds.

Talented musician, Miles Ashdown, has performed at the Royal Albert Hall in the school Proms. Music Scholar, Miles, was part of the seven piece group, ‘Zodiac’, which consisted of three singers, two guitarists, a drummer, a pianist and a violinist. The group performed a rendition of Labrinth’s Earthquake and an original song by Zodiac’s lead singer, Trey Qua, entitled Walking.

Colfe’s has played host for a day to French exchange students from Clermont-Ferrand, who came to experience life in a British school. Each of the 52 students followed a ‘host’ Colfeian for the day, having exchanged emails with each other before hand. All the students paired up during morning registration and then followed their counterpart throughout the day into lessons. The French pupils gave a presentation during lunchtime explaining a little about their school.

This year’s Remembrance Day Service, held at the Old Colfeian’s Club Memorial Cenotaph, saw the Colfe’s community come together to remember those who lost their lives in the service of their country and particularly those Colfeians who had fallen in battle.

Hundreds of people have attended the Colfe's Parents and Friends Association’s Christmas Market. Over 40 outside stalls took part in the PAFA event, and sold goods ranging from pottery, jewellery and cupcakes, to educational toys, fashion items and Christmas decorations. Combining the market at the same time as the school’s successful Open Day, the Hall was adorned with two large Christmas trees, sparkling lights and Christmas music.

Year Nine pupil, Ruby Collins has joined one of the UK's leading professional orchestras for a sell-out concert at the Royal Festival Hall. Music scholar Ruby, who plays the bassoon, was invited to join the professional London Philharmonic Orchestra to rehearse and play in front of an audience of 2,500. Ruby attended rehearsals at a professional recording studio days before the concert, and then joined some of Britain's leading musicians to play Danse Macabre by composer Saint-Saens.

 

Many of our talented former Sixth Formers have been taking their first steps towards their chosen careers since leaving Colfe’s. The website caught up with two of our most recent graduates. Eighteen year olds Max White, and Florence Yilma, left Colfe’s Sixth Form in the summer after finishing their A levels.

Gifted Prep School Irish Dancer, Mack Thompson-Copsey, has won the ‘South East Regional’ Competition with a perfect score. Mack who has already qualified to represent the UK next year at the World Championships, won the competition, in the U10s age group, without dropping a point. Five judges, over three dances, awarded Mack the perfect score of 500 points. The maximum they could give.

Colfe’s have taken the Bromley Schools Netball Tournament title for the second year running at U14 and U16 level. 

In the second round of the Independent Schools’ Netball Championship the Colfe’s U15 squad met Burgess Hill School for Girls.

The U14 girls’ hockey team has made Colfe’s history by becoming the first team to make it through to the semi-finals of the prestigious Kent Schools’ Hockey Tournament. The whole team is deservedly proud of its outstanding accomplishment.

Colfe’s young pianists have taken the opportunity to showcase their musical talent in the prep School’s first piano recital.

One of our Prep School teachers has won an outstanding two silver medals and a bronze at the ASA National Masters and Senior Age Group Championships held at Ponds Forge in Sheffield over half-term.

Over a hundred Colfe’s students packed into the Beadwood Theatre, to hear Professor Fred Toates, Emeritus Professor of Biological Psychology at the Open University, give a talk entitled, “Living in the 21st Century with a stone age brain.”

Thirty Year 8 and 9 pupils have immersed themselves in the beautiful French countryside, during a week’s trip to Normandy. The group, who went in late October, undertook a week of activities and excursions including a visit to the Bayeux Tapestry.

Colfeians have had another rewarding and enjoyable expedition to The Gambia this half term as part of Colfe’s on-going partnership with Kotu Senior Secondary School.

Four of Colfe’s gymnasts in the prep school have performed extremely well at the prestigious London Gymnastics Competition.

“The Jazz evening was amazing and inspiring. I was sad when it was over! Now I want to give playing an instrument a go for the first time.” Head of House, Mrs Cordell.

 

As part of their history curriculum, Year Six students were given first hand experience of what it would have been like to be a school child in the Victorian Times.

Colfe’s U15s are one step closer to winning the Daily Mail Cup after a convincing win in the second round, beating BETHS by 36 to 17. Sports teacher Mr Bateson said “This was an extremely hard fought game against a committed opposition but the boys performed well after being down 10-12 at half time. This was, in the end though, a convincing win with strong performances in the forward pack from Fred Hall and Murray Stewart. Well done to Brendan McMillan who scored a hat trick of tries.”

A group of Students from Year 8 have had the exciting opportunity to explore naval history during a visit to the Cutty Sark. The day involved the children working in four groups of six on a variety of activities and at the end they came together to compete for the chance to join Captain Woodget as a member of his crew. This honour fell to ‘Team Tea People’, captained by Vinesh Ravindran.

A group of sixth formers have had the chance to look into the Science behind sport after attending a series of University lectures on the subject. Organised by the PE department, the students attended seminars at Brunel University on Sports and Exercise. Director of Sport, Mrs Rayes said “This was a brilliant opportunity to learn more about sport as an academic as well as a practical subject. During the day, students attended lectures on performance analysis, sports science careers, Biomechanics and injury prevention. I joined in as well and was analysed putting up a netball shot!

Gifted musician, Harvey Montague has been invited to perform in a music gala at the end of this month after his success playing in front of hundreds of people at a large open-air musical event during the summer. The Year 10 student, who plays guitar and sings, performed many of his own compositions during the half-hour set, as part of the popular event in August, at the Tudor Barn in Eltham. Now Harvey is set to repeat the success at a large music gala, sponsored by the popular local magazine SE9.

One of our bright young musicians has been invited to play the bassoon with the prestigious London Schools Symphony Orchestra (LSSO). Talented bassoon and clarinet player, Ruby Collins, Year 9, has joined the nationally acclaimed orchestra for two prom performances at the Royal Albert Hall.

Our enthusiastic cross country runners have put in a good show at this year’s National Schools Qualifying Cup competition held in Bromley.

A group of Colfe’s netballers have taken part in an intensive weekend of netball matches and activities at the prestigious Condover Hall in Shropshire. Students from Years 6, 8 and 9 took part in a series of matches throughout the weekend with local netball clubs and relaxed with activities that included a climbing wall, abseiling and archery.

The music at Colfe’s is being taken to an even higher level after expansions this term in areas such as the Prep School Rock Band, Recitals and two new Chambers Choirs.

Report by 12 year old David Edwards, Year 8

“The first platform concert of the term started with the sound of strings, as the five-strong Guitar Ensemble (which included me!) kick-started the enjoyable night. Throughout the evening, there was a variety of beautiful sounds from instruments such as violins, flutes, pianos and, maybe one of the most beautiful instruments of all, the voice.

Students, teachers, parents and friends packed into the Beardwood Theatre to watch this year’s closely contested House Drama final. Over the summer, Year 13 students had set about adapting the four short plays from well-known originals, and in a very short space of time this term, were responsible for the casting, direction and production of each one. Norton Director, Adam Millar said “This was a fantastic opportunity and we really got to know the younger years and while it was extremely hard work, it built camaraderie and friendship.”

Language students in Year 8 are embarking on the successful Colfe’s ‘pen pal’ scheme with pupils from German and French schools. The Colfe’s language department scheme sees pupils receive a letter and respond to it once a half term. Students write in their target language (French or German) and the groups in Germany and France write in English. Pupils send at least two letters in the term.

Language students have had great success in this year’s national Vocabexpress competition, which is run to celebrate the European day of Languages. Pupils from Years 7 to 13 were invited to take part and Head of Modern Foreign Languages, Mrs Biggs, is delighted with the results, “This has yet again been a fantastic success with students accessing the competition, which ran for one week, on line via the Vocabexpress programme. Pupils took to the keyboards of their computers in their own time and drilled new vocabulary items in a competitive manner. Teachers displayed the scoreboards, with the points achieved at the beginning of their lessons to give the children a fresh burst of enthusiasm and it certainly worked. Over 500 Colfe’s pupils took part and Colfe’s secured, as a school, a respectable 16th place nationally after earning 220,405 points.

“We have to give food and think about people who don’t have much themselves”
6 year old Katie, 2NW. Parents and friends joined the Pre-Prep and Nursery to celebrate this year’s Harvest Festival. The assembly, which took place in the senior school hall, was a very traditional thanks giving service with readings, prayers, hymns and songs.

Colfe’s has been fortunate to welcome back former pupil, Ellie Pinney, who graduated from Oxford University this June, to help us out in the library before she starts her new job. Ellie, who read Physiology at St Catherine’s College, is taking a gap year before applying for a Masters degree in Science Communications. Ellie has kindly been filling the role of library assistant until she starts work as an Assistant Health Visitor next month.

One of our bright and talented sixth formers has, for the last two years, been developing a successful online business.

Year 1 have had the exciting opportunity to immerse themselves in an ancient culture with a visit to Lullingstone Roman Villa. This was a hands-on experience which included a tour of the villa, dressing up in Roman costumes and playing Roman games.

The Inter House Maths Competition has taken place with Norton beating Bramley House in an exciting final to become the 2012 Champions.

In the league stage of this annual Mathematics competition Colfe’s have been drawn against Blackheath High School, Eltham College and Bexley Grammar School.  Our first match was against Blackheath High School on Friday 28th September 2012 at Blackheath High School.  Colfe's started well in the initial round taking a commanding lead up to the break. After the break the team went into the calculator and algebra rounds. We performed well and then went into the race round with a comfortable lead. The race round went reasonably well, and Colfe's were the victors by 50 points to 13.

Colfe’s 1st X1 have beaten Oldham Hume Grammar School by 4 goals to 1 in an exciting match which saw them through to the second round of the prestigious Independent Schools Football Association Cup competition. Mr Otley explained what happened, “Our 400 mile round trip to Oldham for the first round of the ISFA Cup proved successful as goals from Alex Graham(2), Nick Duxbury and Teddy Hembrough gave us a 4-1 victory.

Talented musician, James Maby, has become one of the top choral singers in the City after gaining a place in the London Youth Choir. The sixth former passed an audition to be one of just 25 baritones in the choir, which starts rehearsals for its first concert later this year. The London Youth Choir, which is newly formed, is an exciting initiative which aims to provide London’s singers with a world class choral experience and , as well as the main 100 strong choir, has a training choir, chamber group and junior section as well.

Pupils from Year 6 have joined the senior school for an afternoon of activities in Science, DT, Art and Music. The Director of Admissions, Mrs German said “This is about giving them a flavour of the senior school, before they join us officially next year. They get to meet some of the teachers and have some fun in the classroom with science experiments, DT vacuum machines, making music, or moulding clay in the Art room. I’m really looking forward to seeing all of them next year and I hope that this taster afternoon will be a gentle first step towards senior school life.”

A Colfe’s student in Year 5 has passed an audition to be a dancer in the production of Peter Pan at Bromley’s Churchill Theatre this Christmas. Francesca Stephenson was one of only twelve who passed the audition to be part of the chorus for the Pantomime in December.

Colfe’s extra-curricular clubs, societies and activities, are becoming an increasingly popular way of learning new skills, developing established ones and having fun at the same time. Coordinating the Senior School club timetable, Deputy Head John King says “With over 50 clubs, and societies to choose from, this is a great opportunity for students to get involved in activities from sport and music to debating and chess. It is great for students to learn new things and have fun, but it can also can be invaluable when filling in UCAS forms, or job applications, as they show the ‘soft skills’ that employers are looking for.”

A group of swimmers from Colfe’s have competed to be best in Greenwich at the Borough Championships. In a thrilling and closely fought event, involving swimmers who live in the borough or swim for a Greenwich Club, the group of Colfe’s students performed very well, coming away with a clutch of Personal Best Times, and two Greenwich Borough Champions in Breaststroke and Butterfly.

Successful textile designer and ex-student, Georgia Bosson has come back to give advice to and talk about her experiences with our current Sixth Form Art students.

Talented students from Years 10 to 13 have been recognised by the school and visiting dignitaries in this year’s Governors’ Visitation and Senior Prizegiving. The packed audience which included school Governors, VIPs and representatives of the Old Colfeians, were formally welcomed by the Chairman of Governors, Mr Ian Russell MBE. Entertainment throughout the evening was provided by James Maby, singing, Oliver Bowring on Piano, Miles Ashdown on the Violin and George Brookes on Electric Guitar.

Colfe’s has hosted a successful swimming gala for our talented Prep School swimmers.
Five schools competed in the event with Colfe’s coming a creditable 2nd place and earning a number of 1st places for individual swimmers. Sports Teacher Miss Holder said “This was a very close fought event with Colfe’s performing very well. Only three points separated 1st and 2nd place. Thank you to Miss Manzi and Jack Roose, the boys’ senior swimming captain, as well as all the very enthusiastic swimmers who made this a really enjoyable event.”

Our U15s have once again proved they are a force to be reckoned with after knocking out Emmanuel school in the first round of the Independent Schools Netball Cup. Director of Sport Mrs Rayes said “The girls were once again resplendent with Chantelle Akpan and Hannah Skevington on fine form shooting everywhere within the circle and Anna Foley and Jade Lindo feeding them the ball beautifully.

A group of passionate equestrians who span the generations at Colfe’s are on track to make 2013 a successful year for them in Show Jumping and Dressage. Silver medal winning Show Jumper, Catherine Brindley in Year 12 has been riding for fourteen years, since she was two and a half years old, and has, since June, been training up a new horse to get ready for the National Championships in Dressage. Catherine says her horse is doing extremely well “In her first show in August, she only narrowly missed out on coming 1st and 2nd, but at Hickstead she qualified for the Patchetts Area Festival in Hertfordshire."

Four of our best Rugby League players have helped their club, Greenwich Admirals get through to the quarter finals of the Liontrust London Junior League play offs. Year 10 boys; Seb Ellison, Brendan McMillan, Elliot Dennis and James Bailey, travelled to the game’s heartland, Lancashire, to win matches against Leyland Warriors and Leigh Miners Rangers.

A Great Grandmother who has sent two generations of her family to Colfe’s, is to represent Great Britain in ‘Medau’, a form of movement and dance, at the Golden Age Gym Festival in Italy. Enid Olding, whose son Paul went to the school 28 years ago, and Grandsons, Huw and Evan who are currently in the Prep, is part of the GB Team performing in Montecatini.

Students at Colfe’s are being encouraged to improve their thinking and analytical skills by joining the chess club. Head of Classics Mr Corstorphine is hoping to give the club a new impetus with plans for more outside competitions and games. He said “I’m enthusiastic about the direction the club is going. I now lead both the Prep and Senior clubs which gives it a much more cohesive feel. Chess is an excellent opportunity to develop your thinking and analytical skills and have fun as well. Students don’t have to be experienced players; they can just give it a go and see if they enjoy it.”

Throughout the summer holidays, and the beginning of this term, ninety Colfeians have had the special opportunity to experience first-hand the Olympic and Paralympic games.  Thirty days of competition, 805 medal events, 14,690 competing athletes, four billion spectators and ultimately Team GB’s 185 medal tally meant his summer’s games were spectacular. Director of Sport, Mrs Rayes and other members of the teaching staff chaperoned students to watch a range of events. It started with the shooting events at the Royal Arsenal on the 29th July, which members of our CCF squadron attended. Two days later both prep and senior school students joined forces to watch the fantastic England V Brazil women’s football match at Wembley. The England team, which included Old Colfeian Claire Rafferty, won the match.

“I was a little apprehensive at first, as I’m used to talking only to people in my own year group, but when I got over that, I found it was fun to talk to people in other years and I’ve started making a wider group of friends” Dominic, Year 8, Prendergast.  Parents, pupils and teachers have been meeting this week to discuss the new Vertical Tutoring House structure, to give their initial reactions to their experiences so far and to build stronger relationships for the year ahead.

Claire Rafferty who graduated from Colfe’s five years ago has been telling us about her experience of playing in the Great Britain football team in the Olympics.  The 22 year old left back, who plays for England and for Chelsea Ladies, said “The experience for me has been surreal. The home spectators were unbelievably supportive and gave us extra strength. We played to a sell-out crowd against Brazil at Wembley. This was history being made for women's football.

A feature piece in the Times Education Supplement (TES) magazine has explored Colfe’s innovative and special relationship with the state school Conisborough College in Lewisham.  The piece explores the relationship between the State and Private Sector and explains how Colfe’s supports Conisborough in a range of ways from being on their governing body, to offering advice and expertise. Thanks to the generosity of the Leathersellers’ Company and other external sponsors, Colfe’s also offers means-tested sixth form scholarships to high-performing Conisborough pupils.

A gifted dancer in the prep school has qualified to represent the UK at the Irish Dancing World Championships in March next year. Mack Thompson-Copsey, who qualified in the summer for his age group at the British Nationals, will be heading off to Boston in America for the week long World Championships, in March.

Students living in East London can now easily get to Colfe’s after the school launched a new coach service this September. The bus, which picks up pupils from Westferry Circus and Old Millwall Fire Station in Canary Wharf has already proved very popular and is currently nearing capacity. It is in addition to the two other coach services on offer to Chelsfield and Beckenham. The Director of Admissions, Mrs Jane German, said the expansion of the service across the river is fantastic. “This has proved to be very needed, and we are happy at how successful it’s been. We are certainly looking to expand this service and increase the number of seats. At the moment it is for anyone in the Prep and Senior School.”

Colfe’s is delighted to welcome a number of new staff in both the Senior, Prep and Pre-Prep Schools and also to welcome back throughout the year some familiar faces who are returning to us after maternity leave. Teachers covering subjects from Maths, Chemistry and Music, to support staff in the Bursar, Maintenance Department and Office, are all keen to make a positive contribution to life at the school. Head of Maths Miss Joanna Chase, who is an experienced teacher of ten years, said she was thrilled to be here “I’ve been given such a warm welcome from children, parents and teachers who have all made me feel part of the school, immediately. As well as Maths, I love the outdoors, so I’m looking forward to getting involved in Colfe’s outstanding Duke of Edinburgh Award programme."

Colfe’s biology students have taken time over the summer holidays to go on a challenging expedition to the Cloud Forest and Coral Reef in Honduras. Accompanied by Drs Lea and Davies, Mr Seddon and Miss Lawton, the large group of pupils from Year 12 and 13, had a range of experiences over the week, including learning about wildlife, conservation, local poverty and Honduran culture. The children had to cope with the heat and the physical difficulty of the hikes and learn that they could live and work in tough conditions.

Talented musician, Sam Barnett is set to play saxophone this month as part of a huge event in Lewisham for the Borough’s pensioners. Sam will perform his solo to over 800 pensioners and the Mayor of Lewisham, at the event, taking place at the Broadway Theatre in Catford. Sam, now in Year 7, spent his summer playing high profile gigs at venues across London for the Mayor of London’s prestigious competition, which this year was also used to mark the Olympics. The 11 year old said it was a great summer “I really enjoyed the experience and although I’m sorry I didn’t get through to the final, I learnt lots and it was fantastic to meet the other musicians. I am really grateful to everyone who voted for me and all the support I’ve received from everyone at school.

Colfe’s has marked the beginning of a new school year with a brand new entrance and car park in the Prep School. The work, which was undertaken over the summer holidays, boasts two lanes for entering and exiting the car park, a disabled parking bay and improved security with electronic gates, extended walls and security cameras. Richard Playford, the car park supervisor, said this was a marked improvement “I am really pleased with how it looks and feels, it could run itself now as it’s so open and bright. The security is superb with high fences, gates and cameras which will make it much more secure and safe for the children.”

A student at Colfe’s who was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer two years ago, has achieved 4 A* and 5 As in his GCSEs this year.  Samveer Parris was in Year 10 when he was diagnosed with a tumour on his spine and took a year out of school while he underwent an operation, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Samveer was paralysed after the operation and took time to learn how to walk again.

Colfe’s pupils have gained a higher proportion of top grades than last year, despite the highly publicised national clamp-down on grade inflation. The proportion of A* and A grades was up from 49% to 52%. Colfe’s girls performed particularly well with 60% A*/A. Separate science results were outstanding: 83% A*/A in Physics, 91% in Chemistry and 96% in Biology.

Colfe’s has achieved its best ever A level results this year with 40% of all entries achieving A* or A grades. Girls performed particularly well, with 50% of entries graded A*or A. A quarter of the year group achieved AAA or better. The great majority have secured places at their first choice universities, including over 50% Russell Group. All Oxbridge candidates were successful in meeting the terms of their offers.

 

 

The long anticipated Lower School trip to Germany was crowned by huge success. The trip combined an educational programme that involved German lessons in the morning with a recreational and cultural component in the afternoons and the evenings. I had the delight to be accompanied and supported by Ms Cordell, Ms Crow, Ms Deutsch, Ms Lawton and Mr Gobey whom I would like to thank for their work.

Years 7 to 10 have taken part in an ‘Olympic Day’ which combined the qualities of the Olympics and Paralympic Games with the different aspects of the school curriculum. This wide-ranging House Event, expanded on the various skills used in lessons. The teams applied their knowledge of Maths, DT Art and Science, to design and build a stadium. For sport, pupils learnt to use a Paralympic wheelchair, undertook an obstacle course blindfolded and played a game of three-legged football. Finally teachers and students used skills in Geography, Languages and History for an orienteering event which included language and cultural questions.

 

The Year 10 Maths Trail had a series of activities and challenges which included; calculating the height of a building, navigation using bearings, problem solving activities using water and paper, creating exact angles without measuring, and calculating speeds by measuring a runner’s distance and time

As the end of the year approaches, the pupils’ outstanding achievements have been recognised and celebrated throughout the school.

The whole of Year 7 have had the exciting opportunity to learn more about Colfe’s historic links with the Leathersellers’ Company, with a visit to the Guildhall in London.  Traditionally, during their first year in the senior school, students have had the opportunity to learn more about the history of the Leathersellers, their relationship with the school and their relevance to today. This year, due to the Leathersellers Hall being redeveloped, the students’ trip was broadened out to learn more about the City and the role of other Guilds within it.

Claire Rafferty who left Colfe’s five years ago has been selected to play football for Great Britain in the Olympics. Colfe’s has an outstanding record of girls going on to pursue sport at international level, such as England Cricketer, Susie Rowe who has recently returned to Colfe’s as a coach. Claire heard the news after getting back from a double header European qualifier camp with England against Holland and Slovenia where England have to win to have the best chance of qualifying for the Euro finals 2013.

One of Colfe’s most outstanding musicians has passed an audition for the Mayor of London’s ‘Big Busk’, a competition that will see him playing in Olympic Venues around London. Saxophonist, Sam Barnett, in Year 6, will play at venues like the Olympic Stadium Grounds, Hyde Park and the stage next to City Hall for all the VIP visitors during the games and throughout the summer holidays.

With their last exams out of the way, Colfe’s Year 13 held a Leavers’ Ball to celebrate the end of their time at Colfe’s. This was the beginning of their summer (except for Cozette who started work at Harrod’s Bank this week) and there was a lot of excitement about their plans which included inter-railing and holidays in a range of resorts. 

A talented piano and violin player in Year 3 has won gold and silver medals at competitions around the south East.  Ella Richardson was awarded two gold medals in the recent Blackheath Music Festival for Violin Grade 3 Recital Class and Piano in the 8 years and under Recital Category.  She also gained a Gold and Silver medal in the North London Festival in May for Violin and at the Sevenoaks Festival in June. Ella came an impressive first in the 11 years and under Violin Recital and first again playing a piano solo in the 8 years and under category.

Deputy Head of Sixth Form Miss Taylor accompanied teachers, and 40 pupils on a visit to Krakow. Miss Taylor writes: The Krakow trip was  educational, emotional but also fun. The first day was spent taking a tour of the city centre, we visited the Jewish quarter and the ghetto as well as the medieval town centre in the afternoon. What struck me was just how vibrant the Jewish cultural scene in the city is, despite there only being 200 Jews left after the second world war (before the community was 70,000 strong, 65,000 died in the camps and the rest moved away).

On Tuesday 26th June, a party of 17 Year 12 Drama students set off for a veritable dose of Shakespeare in preparation for the A-level Unit 4. The first stop was ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ at the Globe Theatre where fortunately, the weather was kind although the legs weary. The production was quick moving and full of comical moments, although a woman tamed through starvation and sleep deprivation is questionable!

The results are published here.  Click on the story title to read a full report.

The prep school’s musical talent was beautifully displayed during this year’s summer concert.  Ella in Year 3, who opened the concert, set a high standard with a delightful performance on the violin of Gavotte by Bach.  7 year old Ella is already an accomplished musician and is currently grade 3 on violin and 4 on piano. She said “I’m really nervous but at least my mum was there on the piano.”

During the academic year City of London Boys’ School organised and ran an Olympic themed competition to celebrate London 2012 and the Cultural Olympiad. Entrants had to produce a project based on the Olympic movement using media of their choice.

 

The year 6 production, ‘Go For Gold’ has been warmly received by a packed audience this week.  This amusing, musical play is about a young athlete, who doesn’t want to compete in the Olympics and is persuaded by her trainer that it is a privilege to take part through a series of flash backs to the first games in Ancient Greece.

Students in the Pre-prep have been transported to Ancient Greece for their Summer Show: “The Olympians”

Leonardo Bertocchi in Year 9 has won a silver medal at the Kent International Judo competition and has qualified to join the pre-cadet GB squad.  This important competition saw Leonardo compete with 25 other competitors from around the world.  It was a point scoring contest, and silver now means Leonardo has earned enough points to qualify for the GB squad in his weight group.  Leonardo is now waiting for the official confirmation to come through.  Leonardo had five fights, winning four and losing in the final.

Year 12 students have taken part in an intensive week of events and lectures to help prepare them for their final year at Colfe’s and beyond. The wide-ranging week included lectures on preparing to submit a university application; how to write a good CV and an introduction to the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) to advice on how to be a mentor; a public speaking day and even a course on car maintenance. 

One of our top tennis players has won an important tournament in Beckenham, securing her place at the National Championships in August.  Daphne Pratt won the Under 12 Girls Singles at the Parklandley Spring Tournament, taking the final 6-3, 6-4 in a high quality match with very few breaks of serve.  The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) Regional Tournament, which attracts entries from throughout South East England, was Daphne’s first win at this level, having just been edged out in two previous finals. 

Last Sunday’s Founder’s Day Service in St Mary’s Lewisham enjoyed better weather than has been the norm thus far this term. This was particularly welcome, when,  after the Service, the School 1st X1 defeated the Leathersellers’ Company in the traditional cricket match which follows the Service.

“I can feel how this day has improved my self-esteem and I have really come out of my shell.  The exercises work on your self-belief” Bea Waller, Year 12.  Sixth formers have taken part in a day dedicated to public speaking. The event, run by the Speakers Trust, involved Year 12 students participating in both individual and group work. The day culminated in each student making a speech about a topic of their choice.    Each of the four groups being trained, then nominated three speakers for a House competition at the end,  judged by the Headmaster, Mr Russell and an incoming parent, Mrs Isabella Tafur, barrister at law.

Colfe’s top Athletes have just missed out on becoming National Champions after coming second in the National Aquathlon Competition at the weekend.  Crowds of supporters cheered on the competitors from 24 schools as they swam for 200m and then went on to run 1.5km at the event, held in Nuneaton, Warwickshire.  Our under 15 team:  Ellen Dunbar in Year 9,  Millie Bach, Edgar Haruns and Jonny Regnier in Year 10, did outstandingly well finishing in second place. The under 13 team: Evan Macdonald from Year 7 and Ben Debney,  Megan Marchant and Victoria Newman from Year 8, finished in an impressive sixth place.

Eleven of our students had the unique opportunity to attend the prestigious Boydell Lecture given by Lord Kerr of the Supreme Court, formerly the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland.  The students also had the chance, afterwards, to mix with, and talk to, some of the country’s top barristers and solicitors as well as a number of judges including Lord Hope, Lord Carnwath and Lord Dyson, all whom are Justices of the Supreme Court.

Talented actors in years 7 and 8 have transported Colfe’s to exotic lands full of genies, flying carpets, and mystery in their warmly received production of ‘Arabian Nights’ for which the Beardwood theatre was packed to watch the students create this lively and enjoyable musical. The famous and centuries old story tells of a King whose wife was unfaithful to him and so in revenge, and because he thinks all women are the same, cuts off their heads after only one night of marriage.  A beautiful and clever girl called Sheherezade volunteers to become his next wife and escapes execution, by telling him fantastic stories. Night after night she tells him another story and as long as her stories last, so does she! As Sheherezade narrates from a raised platform on the side of the stage, the chorus, of more than 50 year 7s and 8s, bring the stories to life.

Daphne Pratt in year 7 has been invited by the Kent Lawn Tennis Association to play for the county’s U12 Girls’ squad.  Daphne, who is ranked number two in the county, was one of five players picked for the side which is now training in preparation for the first stage of the County Cup event at the end of June.

An innovative newspaper which is written by students for the students will soon be in the classrooms.  ‘The  Flyer’ is a witty look at life from the students’ point of view and contains stories, reviews and comments on issues that interest them.  The first print run is due to hit the classrooms this week and includes entertainment, theatre reviews and a few interesting and quirky facts.  Everyone involved is hoping that this tentative first edition will expand and eventually develop into a popular and wide ranging publication.

Teachers and Students in the Prep and Pre-Prep are keeping their fingers crossed for fine weather on Friday, as they will be celebrating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee with a big ‘Tea Party’.  The children, wearing red, white and blue with a royal theme, will start the celebrations in the afternoon with food, fun and singing.  Everyone has been busily learning a selection of celebratory and patriotic songs including Land of Hope and Glory, We’ll meet again, and the Cliff Richard Classic, Congratulations.

A talented pupil in the Prep School has had phenomenal successes in Go-Karting and is currently in first position in two separate driving competitions. He is also taking part in the 2012 British Grand Prix for karting.  11 year old Charlie, who has been Go-Karting for two years, is in pole position at the Buckmore Park championships and at Bayford Meadows, where he is the 2011 champion. He is also leading the Kent Cup.

A group of our most successful chess players in the Prep have taken part in the Delancey UK Schools Chess Challenge Megafinal.  Swastik in Year 4; Arthur, Henry, James, Lewis, and William in Year 5; and, Charlotte, Eddie and Timi in Year 6, all qualified to take part in this year’s  Megafinal II in Bromley.  Around 140 players aged between 7 and 18 gathered for the tournament from across South London.

Given the success of the Colfeian production of Sophocles’ Antigone, the Classics and Drama departments reunited once again for a school trip to see the production at the National Theatre.  Farnam Pourreza-Jorshari in Year 12 was one of those who went. He thought it was a great experience to be able to compare the two productions.

A Year 12 student has had the exciting opportunity to gain first-hand experience of Archaeology on the site of a development in the City of London being undertaken by the Leathersellers’ Company, with which the school has close ties.  Alice Stevens, who is passionate about Archaeology and hopes to study it at University, was invited by Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) to tour around the ancient site in St Helen's Place which is also the site of the new 100 Bishopsgate development.

Over 100 of our best Mathematicians have sat the Junior Mathematics Challenge with great success.  This is a bi-annual national competition, held by the UK Mathematical Trust, which challenges our most able students in years 7 and 8.  Maths Challenge Coordinator, Dr Vijapura said “This is a maths challenge presented in a fun way and the students did very well indeed. Altogether we achieved a total of 2 Gold, 14 Silver and 30 Bronze certificates, which is fantastic. A breakdown of each year gave us 4 Silvers and 13 Bronzes in Year 7 and a fantastic 2 Golds, 10 Silvers and 17 Bronzes in Year 8.

The beginning of the warm summer weather was the appropriate backdrop to this year’s summer Platform Concert.  The Recital Hall was packed with friends and family for the performance which began with the Senior Strings playing Allegro by Fiocco.  The night’s solo performances began with an accomplished musician, Ruby from Year 8, playing German Dance by Haydn on the piano (her third instrument). Smiling and laughing, Ruby said “The concert is good and it’s a change for me to play the piano at it. I like these Platform Concerts. They’re great fun."

In soaring temperatures, the Pre Prep’s Sports Day took place, designed as a mini Olympics.  Each class, in each year, was divided into groups of ‘continents’; Africa, America , Europe and Oceania and the children then competed in Olympic style events including Equestrian, Hurdles and Javelin.

A team of Year 9 students have competed successfully in the Greenwich Schools' Athletic Trials and five have been selected to represent Greenwich at the London Schools’ Athletics Championships (LSAA) in June.  The boys and girls competed with distinction at Sutcliffe Park Athletics Track against athletes from across the Borough. Notable mentions must go to Elias Balogun in the 100m, Tobi Ogunjimi, 80m hurdles & 200m, Will Rowlands 1500m, Megan Marchant 800m, Jessica Lwin 100m, Emily Ireland 75m hurdles and Olivia Porter 1500m & discus who all won their events.

On Friday the Colfe’s community came together to celebrate the last day of lessons for its Year 13 students although the students are in school for A level exams throughout the next month and the real finish won’t be until the Leavers’ Ball at the end of June.

As part of the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations, Chemistry teacher, Ms Murphy was invited to attend a Royal Garden Party this month.  Lynn Murphy and her husband, Mike, were invited to the prestigious occasion, held at the Queen’s Gardens in Bromley, because of their services to cricket in the area. Despite the cold weather, around 200 guests milled around the garden, sipping tea and eating cakes until the Royal party arrived.

A group of Colfeians have attempted to break a Guinness record for the largest simultaneous dance routine.  35 students from years 7-11 and 3 teachers from the senior school participated in the Big Dance Day 2012 Schools’ Pledge which was danced in venues across the UK. The current record held by the Netherlands involved 264, 188 people across 1742 locations and Colfe’s is hoping to be part of the team to beat this.

This year’s House Music final was another great success with our top musicians putting in fantastic performances for their houses.  Musicians were divided into year groups from 7 to 10 and had to pass an audition to get through to the final which was judged by Mr Philip Collin, Director of Music at St Peter’s Church, Streatham.  Director of Music Miss Collinson said “All the musicians performed at a very high level, which made the final decisions very difficult.”

A strong team of Years 3 and 4 girls and boys have put in a fantastic effort at a Biathlon event held at Farringtons School, with Colfeians coming away with a Gold and a Bronze medal.  This tough competition involved a swim followed directly by a run with no break in between. Head of Swimming, Miss Holder felt the Colfe’s team were great “I was particularly impressed that everyone tried their absolute hardest, particularly the year 3 girls who put in a great effort and never gave up.

A top personal trainer has visited Colfe’s to speak to students about body image, fitness and health.  Phil Learney, who is the director of Education for Ultimate Performance - a leading personal training business in London - gave a series of lively and informative lectures to Years 7 through to 10 as part of their PSHEE  programme.

Students from Years 7 to 10 have stepped outside the classroom and taken part in a day and a half of Maths puzzles and logic.  The main school hall was filled with small groups of students taking part in the programme, ‘Building motivation and attainment in Mathematics, where they tackled  a series of tests, puzzles and challenges in mathematics and logic and competed to be the first table to finish.

One of our most talented drama students is in the unique position of receiving offers from two prestigious drama colleges.  Olivia Elsden has had the choice to make  between East 15, a well known and respected Drama College based in Essex and the equally prestigious Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

Girls, teachers and parents at Colfe’s are being encouraged to join in this year’s big “Race for Life”.  The 5K fundraising run, which takes place around Blackheath on Sunday 1st July, aims to bring together the female Colfe’s community to help raise as much money as possible for Cancer Research UK.  The race will see hundreds of women dressed in pink T-shirts and hats setting off from Blackheath Common.  Charity Coordinator, Miss Harris says “This is a fun way to raise money for charity and it is always a fantastic atmosphere.  Many people have been touched by cancer in some way and this is a great way to help in the fight against the disease.

Two of our most talented Sixth Form Students have taken their first steps to a career in the Arts after receiving offers from top Art Colleges. Eighteen year old Rob Ware has accepted an offer from the prestigious Glasgow School of Art to study Fine Art.  Glasgow School is ranked in the top five universities for Art and Design, and Rob is happy with the move “I’m extremely pleased, not least that I even got an interview in the first place as it is extremely hard to get into.  The department is Painting and Printmaking and I hope to specialise in Portraiture and landscapes. I think Glasgow has a fairly lively art scene.  It’s where Rene Mackintosh came from so it has a good feeling there.  The teachers are artists and so I know it’s a great place to develop my skills.”

Another Easter break and another combined French / Art visit to Paris.  A group of keen Year 11 & Year 12 students went to Paris on the Eurostar with the purpose of building linguistic confidence, exploring the tourist delights of this fantastic city and frequenting the many of the impressive galleries, including the Musée d’Orsay, the Musée Rodin, l’Orangerie and the Musée d’art moderne.  French students also made a visit to the Musée Jean Moulin to learn more about the Occupation and the Resistance, in preparation for their A2 cultural studies next year.

Chemistry students have conducted exhaustive research on the nature and impact of recycling waste paper.  The Year 7 and 8 pupils looked at how waste paper can be turned into good quality paper and how we do this, and how effective it is.  Chemistry Club Organiser, Dr Lea said “This was a really informative and constructive project which the students really enjoyed doing. It was all done as part of our Chemistry club activity and thanks to Chemistry Teacher Miss Mellor for all her hard work.  I was really impressed with how seriously and professionally the pupils have tackled this topic.”

Colfe’s says a sad farewell to Sandie Downie, a key figure in the school office, who is retiring from Colfe’s after 15 years’ service to the school.  Sandie who is 65 this year, came to Colfe’s after working at a number of other leading schools and has, over the years, become an important and significant member of not just the senior school office team, but also the Colfe’s community as a whole. She said “I love the variety of work because it’s different every single day.  The fact you can be very busy but still get to have fun while working hard.  I’ve loved getting to know the pupils, parents and staff and will miss everyone very much.”

A group of Year 11 pupils have done exceptionally well in an externally accredited examination before they sit their GCSES.  The six pupils all passed the Diplôme D’Études en Langue Française (DELF) examination which is an official French proficiency test administered by the Centre international d'étude pédagogiques.

Colfe’s Olympic summer programme is underway after the school was given ninety tickets for the students to go to Olympic events.  “Respect, excellence and friendship, courage determination, equality and inspiration” are the Olympic and Paralympic values that the students are being asked to demonstrate in a series of events to determine how the tickets are distributed.

England Cricketer and ex-Colfeian, Susie Rowe is coaching an ‘introduction to Cricket Course’ for fifteen girls in the school.  Susie, who made her debut for the England women’s team for the tour to Sri Lanka in November 2010, is a regular T20 player and recently helped England to complete a 4-0 win over New Zealand.

Dan and Eddie were members of a successful Old Colfeians U11s team that won their year group at Chichester International Rugby Festival at the weekend.  The team played six matches over the two days, winning four of their five group matches and drawing the fifth to win their group comfortably.

On Tuesday 24th of April, Firepower from the Royal Artillery Museum came to visit Year 6 to tell us about the wars England have been in from the first world war to present day Afghanistan. Everyone thought it would be about guns and shooting but....NO! It was about how civilians adapted to life living with war. What they told us was really informative and pretty amazing!

 

Seven of our brightest mathematicians have achieved excellent results in the European-wide Kangaroo Competition.  The students were among five and a half thousand other pupils from years 9 to 11, invited  to sit the one-hour long ‘pink’ or grey’ papers depending on their school year. Outstandingly, Callum Melly, in Year 9, gained a Merit for achieving a mark which placed him in the top 25% of the entrants.

Drama G.C.S.E. students have performed their examination pieces to a packed Beardwood Theatre.  There were a staggering 10 plays all related to the examination brief which was ‘ Everyone has a story to tell’. Students updated or adapted scripts to suit the group and time constraint. The Beardwood was filled to capacity by friends and family.

Colfe’s school has welcomed a leading professor in Biology to host a ‘DNA’ day.  Professor John Schollar came in from Reading University last month to run a series of practical investigations with our year 13 Biologists. The aim was to see how DNA technologies are used in everyday life and to help the pupils gain a deeper understanding of the techniques used.

The history of Colfe’s has been chronicled in a unique book being launched next week.  Written by one of the school’s former headmasters, Dr Vivian Anthony, “Good Wit and Capacity” the words used by Abraham Colfe to describe his scholars, records from 1972 Colfe’s return to being an independent school in 1977 and continuing the story to its 350th anniversary in 2002.

Congratulations to Jasper Cook, Year 11, who performed extremely well in the National Junior Indoor Rowing Championships.  Jasper came 29th out of 68 rowers in his age group in the championships which are one of the largest indoor rowing events in the world.  Jasper said “I am very pleased to come in the top 50 percent of such a prestigious competition and I found it a thoroughly enjoyable and exciting experience.  Other competitors had the opportunity to train more frequently but I am determined to continue working hard and to do even better at the next opportunity.”

Bibliophiles from across the school are reading this year’s Carnegie Medal shortlist. The Carnegie Shadowing book  group meets once or twice a week and discusses the eight books being considered for this year’s prize (awarded by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals) . A Balloon debate will be held and there is always fierce debate about the different books.

A year 10 student has achieved a certificate of Merit in the prestigious Intermediate Mathematical Olympiad.  Bhavini Vijapura was invited to sit the two hour Hamilton paper after achieving a Gold Certificate in the Intermediate Maths Challenge earlier in the year.  Around the country, 500 of the highest scorers were invited to sit the Olympiad papers for their age and Bhavini came in the top 50 percent to gain a Merit.

Students from Colfe's have performed very strongly in the County Aquathlon Relay competition.

Colfe’s School has proved, yet again, its excellence and talent at swimming with two consecutive galas.  This senior school girls’ House Gala was nail-bitingly close with Norton House eventually becoming the triumphant winners.  Sixth form helpers looked after the individual Houses and helped the girls decide what strokes they would enter.  Alice Foster looked after the Bramley squad.  She said “They were all really focused and up for it.  There was lots of enthusiasm and it was not hard to get them to race.”  Nina, Year 8, was swimming for Norton.  She said  “I’ve been swimming Front Crawl and I’ve really enjoyed it.  It was a great atmosphere.”

During the Easter holidays, a group of Year 7 and Year 8 students had the opportunity to visit the historic and beautiful city of Rome. The four day trip, organised by the Classics Department, included a visit to the Colosseum and the Vatican. Head of Classics Mr Corstorphine said “This was a wonderful opportunity for the children to see first-hand some of the most significant and exciting aspects of classical history. We certainly packed in a lot in our few days there. On the first day for example we walked for three and a half hours and as well as looking at the marvellous architecture we took in a church, the fountains and finally the Templo Adriano and the Pantheon. Highlights for me included the star-studded talent show in the final evening, the superbly accurate presentations around the Roman Forum delivered by students rivalling the local tour guides and seeing the original statues I frequently read and teach about in the Vatican Museums!"

A Colfeian family have used their Easter break to help build a much needed house in North Africa for charity.  Debi Crawford, and her sons Oliver, Year 8 and Emmett, Year 5 travelled out to Morocco and set about helping to begin a house in the Rif mountains near Al Hocemia.  The work was for the charity ‘friends of the Rif’ (R.O.F)  and the Crawfords were joined by eight people from a church in California to help do the work (her husband stayed at work back in London).

Geography students have spent some of their Easter break visiting Barcelona.  School Captain, Charlie Whittaker describes what happened: “It was with great relief that we fled rainy England and boarded the plane for sunny and vibrant Barcelona. Although this did not turn out to be quite the case for the former: the weather was a bit patchy in parts, the latter certainly met and exceeded expectations. It proved to be a thoroughly enjoyable stay in the Catalonian capital."

Pupils and teachers have taken part in the Grade-one-a-thon fundraising event by learning a new instrument in just one term, then taking the grade one exam.  The event, which is expected to have eventually raised hundreds of pounds, saw everyone studying hard all term to learn instruments from flutes and violins to percussion and even the harp. The momentous effort paid off with everybody who took part, passing the exam.

Colfe’s started its summer term Olympic programme with year 9 PE students taking part in a “Scientists in Sport” day.  The programme of lectures and workshops, organised by GlaxoSmithKline, was held at King’s College London, which houses the newly built Drug Control Centre for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

A year 7 pupil has received two ‘Young Achievers Awards’ for her contribution in both Girl Guides and Hockey.  Grace Calder received her award for Girl Guiding at a ceremony in the Albany Theatre, Deptford attended by the Mayor of Lewisham.  The award is from the Jack Petchey Foundation which gives grants to programmes and projects that benefit young people.  The projects who receive the money then choose a young person in the company who has made an outstanding contribution.  The Girl Guides, in Lee, chose Grace particularly for her public speaking performance on the Girl Guide Movement.

Shiver me timbers, Colfe’s has been taken over by Pirates! Parents, teachers and friends have gathered to watch the Year 5 Easter production of ‘Treasure Island’. This was an all singing and dancing stage adaptation of, arguably, one of the best children’s books ever written.

Colfe’s fundraising night, ‘The Auction of Promises’, has been a great success, raising over two thousand pounds for charity.  The innovative auction saw parents and teachers franticly bidding for lots which included a signed Manchester United shirt, a weekend in the Isle of Wight and tickets to Ascot. The night raised £2,271 for the Lion Ward, Mind and the Gambia Project.

Millie Bach has been selected to represent Great Britain in the Youth International Tetrathlon despite learning to fence and shoot only eight months ago. The two day event, held at the Sant Boi International in Barcelona comprises fencing, swimming, shooting and running. The British team is made up of 16 athletes, 8 boys and 8 girls, selected from across the UK. It will take place over the weekend of the 28th /29th April.

Hundreds of people descended on Colfe’s from around the world for the Biennial Careers and Higher Education convention.  Students from Year 10 to 13 came together to hear and learn from experts, advisers and universities  about the wide range of opportunities available once they left school.

Colfe’s has yet again excelled in a number of top swimming events.  The school was victorious in an exciting gala against St Dunstan’s College on Thursday 22nd March.

Every musician in the school came together for this Year’s spectacular Spring Concert with an impressive display of  solos, group singers,  strings and ultimately the striking finale: Roquiem.  Parents, friends and teachers filled the Hall to listen to the concert which started with the rocking sounds of the Swing Band, and 15 Year old Henry Chapman who joined them to sing “Come Fly with me”  He said “The concert is a wonderful atmosphere with everyone coming together and feeling part  of  the Colfe’s community.”

The biggest event in schools netball took place in Basildon at the weekend as teams from across the country competed for the title of National Schools Champions.  Colfe’s U14s had qualified for the tournament after winning the regional round for London and the South East in January and they joined 17 other teams from across the country.

In an excited and enthralling atmosphere, parents packed into the Main Hall to watch the pre-prep perform their Spring Production, Moon Man.  Based on a recent visit to the London Symphony Orchestra where the children listened to various pieces including Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the show was a workshop performance by Year 1 although all the pre-prep took parts and enthusiastically joined in.

The prep school put on their running shoes this week and set off on a mission to complete the gruelling long distance course laid down by the sports teachers.  Sweat, effort and even some tears ensued as the runners set off around the sports field with parents and teachers cheering them all the way.

On Wednesday 14th March the Sixth Form music students performed their A-Level recitals, which make up 30% of the AS and A2 course marks.  The A2 performers were Florence Yilma (voice), Simon Everett (electric guitar), Andy Fisher (trumpet) and Miles Ashdown (voice) and the AS performers were James Maby (voice) and Miles Ashdown (violin).

Three of Colfe’s swimmers have had the amazing opportunity to swim in the new Olympic pool in Stratford for the Six Olympic Host Borough Championships.  On Sunday 18th March, Kate Drury of Year 7, Ellen Dunbar of Year 9 and Millie Bach of Year 10, took part in the Six Host Boroughs Swimming Gala representing the Royal Borough of Greenwich. 

Around 80 Sixthformers turned up to watch this year’s Debating Competition, which was set up in memory of Colfeian Adam Stuart who died in October 2009.  Adam was so lively and full of fun that every year the debating prize celebrates his life with the winners much more likely to be the funniest, cheekiest pair rather than erudite debaters.

The Newgate Papers, Volume I, Issue 8.

A group of year 8 students  have taken part in the BBC Schools Report where they got the chance to make their own news reports for a real audience.  The Colfeian ‘journalists’(class 8B)  embraced the challenge with gusto with the bulk of their reports focused on the Olympics.  Small groups simultaneously created different stories using video, audio and text based news reports.  These were then published on the school website and linked to the BBC’s main website. http://www.colfes.com/senior/Departments/mediastudies/BBC-School-Report-2012.aspx

A year 10 student has been selected to train as part of the Olympic Development programme.  15 year old Matt Buck was invited out of the 30 fastest riders in the Southern Region to train with expert coaches who are there to spot the potential top cyclists. Matt is now waiting to hear whether he will be invited to go onto the next round of training.

Mud, rain and the biting cold did not stop Colfe’s intrepid Year 7 rugby team in their first Sevens Tournament in Putney. The tournament was the London Oratory School Invitation 7s and the weather did not make it an easy debut with horrible wet and cold conditions.

The Prep School is celebrating 12 years of its successful and popular string scheme. This time, 50 students took part in the termly strings concert, which showcases music from Years 3 to 6.  The concert ended with a delightful performance of Beethoven’s Ecossaise by the Chamber Group.

Prep school swimmers have competed against each other in a mini gala. The event had originally been against Blackheath Prep but they had to pull out, so the intrepid Colfeians decided to carry on anyway and swim against each other.

Following its successful debut last year, The Colfe’s 2012 Dance Show ‘Live to Dance’ has been another huge triumph with students raising an impressive £475 for charity.  Twenty three boys and girls from throughout Years 7 to 12 took part in the lively and entertaining event, held in the Beardwood Theatre, which raised the money for The National Autistic Society, a charity chosen by the students who participated in the show.

The latest edition of the Sports Newsletter is now available to download in pdf format.

Eloise Richardson in Year 11 has been writing poetry since she was young.  The 15 year old said “I love writing and I am producing, on average, a poem a week at the moment. The poems are about what I believe and how I feel.  Some of them are really true to me.  I feel it’s all down to Miss Cadwallender who has helped me put a structure on my creative writing as often getting started on a poem is the hardest part.  I often write out the first line and just see where it goes from there.”

The Colfe’s debating team of Charlie Whittaker (Year 13) and Marcus Brockman (Year 10) has competed in the South East England regional final of the prestigious ESU Mace competition.  They were among six teams fighting for just one place in the national final, and although they didn’t get through, our team certainly went down fighting. The actual round winners, Dulwich, beat St. Paul’s, a school that has won the competition twice in the last three years. Colfe’s finished in third place but defeated Sevenoaks School in direct verbal combat to demonstrate that “the NHS should fund assisted fertility treatment”.  Colfe’s also placed ahead of King’s School Canterbury and Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Girls.

The Sixth Form enjoyed a successful half-term break skiing in Serre Chevalier, France, organised by Miss Hargrave, Head of Girls’ Sport and accompanied by Miss Quinton.  “In the early hours of Saturday as the half-term began, 22 Sixth Formers, Miss Quinton and I departed for Serre Chevalier, France .  It was such an early start, that some might say it was hardly worth going to bed, and judging by the bodies and legs strewn across the coach on the way there and in some cases very heavy snoring (and no that wasn’t the staff),  some perhaps didn’t bother!

A group of Year 10 pupils have performed outstandingly well in the International Competition for Young Debaters with one of our teams getting through to the National Finals.  There were 46 teams taking part in this SOAS Schools’ Regional round at the University of London.  Colfe’s fielded two teams, Tom Whittaker with Marcus Brockman and Joe Andrew with Sam Chatterley.   Joe and Sam came a very creditable 25th. Tom and Marcus came 7th which puts them through to the National Finals which take place next week.

This year’s house drama competition saw the return of former Colfeian, and current RADA student, Henry Byrne as judge, ably assisted by Mr Russell. A packed Beardwood theatre was thoroughly entertained on Wednesday 29th of February. The evening was adeptly brought together by Mrs Cordell, and diligently directed by sixth form students from each of the four houses. Pupils from years 7 to 9 participated, with a chance to show their theatrical talent.

The cricket tour to South Africa has been a great success with Colfeians gaining invaluable experience of life in another country.

Charlie Whittaker, Year 13, has won Gold at a prestigious Judo tournament.  A wide range of schools were represented at the Headmasters' Conference of Independent Schools Competition including Harrow, Winchester, Charterhouse and St Paul's.  Charlie competed in the over 16 category and after the first round  of fights where he was awarded a ‘bye’, 18 year old Charlie went on to win all his remaining fights convincingly.   The impressive performance, at the High Wycombe Judo Centre, saw Charlie win each bout by a knockout ippon throw within 20 seconds.

The seventh edition of the sixth form magazine "The Newgate Papers" is published here.          

Colfe’s debaters are celebrating after winning the second round of the prestigious English Schools Union (ESU) Mace competition and getting through to the South East Regional Finals.  Charlie Whittaker (Year 13) and Marcus Brockman (Year 10) faced an extremely strong field and had to support the motion “This house would allow the torture of terror suspects.”

Students from Year 7 to 13 have another exciting chance to take part in the National Vocabexpress Championships.  Pupils have been issued with usernames and passwords so they can access the Vocabexpress website and already many are busy recycling old and drilling new vocabulary in a quest to gain high scores on the leadership board. 

One of Colfe’s bright and talented musicians is looking forward to pursuing a career as a professional musician after receiving offers from two top Conservatoires.  Florence Yilma, Year 13, was thrilled to find out she had been offered places from both the Birmingham Conservatoire and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.  The 17 year old singer was delighted to have had a choice. “It was amazing.  I was really pleased to get offers from two places because it really is very competitive. It is a totally different experience to applying to UCAS as they are all audition based and it all comes down to that one performance! They are looking to train you to be a professional performer, and they expect you to put in five days a week, nine hours a day.  Travelling to all the auditions on my own was nerve wracking, but in the end the independence gave me the confidence to go out there on my own.”

Talented students have performed in Colfe’s major musical production of the year, Sugar.  The production of ‘Sugar’, another great success for the Drama Department, is the story of the movie ‘Some Like It Hot’, starring Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemon and Tony Curtis and played to packed audiences in the theatre each night.

The Colfe’s community is coming together to welcome experts, advisers and Universities from around the world to our Biennial Careers and Higher Education Convention.  Students from Year 10 onwards will be able to hear and learn about the wide range of opportunities available once they leave school.  The evening will take place on Thursday 15th March from 6.30 to 9pm.

In the week before Christmas, a handful of Year 7s, along with some Year 8s, 9s and 10s went on the School Ski Trip to Serre Chevalier.

Colfe’s students have enjoyed record levels of success with their university applications this year. The UCAS picture for the year has yet to be finalised but we can report that, thus far, our 89 Upper Sixth applicants have received 120 offers from Russell Group universities, including four Oxbridge and two for Medicine. This year’s most popular destinations include Leeds (19 offers) Manchester (17 offers) and Nottingham (16 offers). We have also had a 100% hit rate with Colfe’s applications to York, Sheffield and the LSE.

 

Four of Colfe’s top mathematicians from Year 8 and 9 have taken part in the Regional Team Maths Final at St Olave’s Grammar School.Callum Melly, Oliver Stavrinidis, Pippa Britton and Maximillian O’Keeffe competed against 28 other schools in a Team Maths Challenge. Maths Teacher Dr Vijapura explained what happened “On Wednesday 22nd February when we arrived at St Olave’s, the students were given a range of interesting starter questions to warm them up mathematically.

Congratulation to Millie Bach, Year 10, who was invited to attend the Bexley Borough Young People's Sports Awards during the half term break. The event is held to highlight the sporting achievements of young people from the Borough and to celebrate sporting success at all levels. Millie was presented with an Endeavour medal from the Mayor of Bexley which is awarded for dedication, sportmanship and commitment to sport. Director of Sport Ms Rayes said “This is a fantastic achievement and reflects Millie’s hardwork, commitment and success in sport.  We are all very pleased and proud. Well done Millie.”

 

 

Tom Chapman made his England debut at Fylde Rugby Club in the first of the U18 Six Nations matches against France on Sunday, 19th February. He played an important part in a keenly contested match that England won eventually by a margin of only two points. The game was well-attended and we were welcomed by Bill Beaumont whose association with Fylde stretches back over many decades and who has recently agreed to stand for the chairmanship of the RFU.

Colfe’s top maths students have won 14 Gold, 19 Silver and 19 Bronze certificates in the Intermediate Mathematics Challenge 2012.  The Competition, held by the United Kingdom Mathematical Trust, is to challenge the most able maths students in Years 9, 10 and 11.  Seven students; Rachael Potter, Alastair Porter, (Year 11) Joshua Gayadeen, Oliver Skeates and Heather Douglas (Year 10), Callum Melly (Year 9) and Maximillian O’ Keeffe (Year 8) have now qualified for the next round which is the Europe wide Kangaroo round on Thursday 15th March.

We wish our Kent Championship swimmers the best of luck over the next few weeks. The 2012 Championships start at Crystal Palace this weekend and then move on to Medway Park in Gillingham for subsequent weekends. Qualified this year are Ellen Dunbar (year 9 - Greenwich SC), Millie Bach (year 10 - White Oak SC/Greenwich  Borough Mariners SC) and Nick Duxbury (year 12 - Greenwich Borough Mariners SC). Greenwich Olympic Borough 2011 captain Josh Ling (year 12 - Greenwich Borough Mariners) misses out due to other commitments and Kate Drury (year 7 - Greenwich Borough Mariners) has been injured this year.

The Preparatory School was open to visitors on Wednesday afternoon and, from the moment the hand struck 2pm, classes quickly filled up with Mums and Dads, grandparents, aunts and uncles, godparents and friends.

We have also had a lot of netball going on this half term, despite the snow! The highlights have been the Year 4 netball teams taking part in the Blackheath Prep Tournament.

The Prep school swimming teams have been to a number of galas this term, including the IAPS swimming gala that was held in February. This is always an exciting event as the race times are put through for selection for national finals.

An Old Colfeian, who is the Head Teacher of an English Speaking School in South America, has given a fascinating insight into the opportunities for Gap Years abroad.  Alan Shanks, who left Colfe’s  in 1979,  is the Headteacher of the Colegio Anglo Colombiano in Bogota.  His school is a member of the Round Square Consortium of schools of which Gordonstoun is part and so shares some of the ethos of this famous Scottish School.

 

On Monday the 30th January I went to the British Museum in London to learn a bit more about Ancient Egypt. We travelled there by coach and it was a long journey to get there. When I arrived at the museum I felt very excited.

A fun-packed time was had by all at last Wednesday’s Valentine’s Disco. It was great to see so many children dancing and waving their glow sticks, with only the occasional stop for a drink and a tasty handful of popcorn.
The tension mounted as the disco came to an end and the raffle took place for the many fabulous prizes.

Year 8 Students have taken part in the Colfe’s final of a Latin Reading competition.  The students read out loud a passage of Latin and were marked and judged on their intonation, emphasis and presentation.  The Headmaster judged the winners who will now travel to the City of London School for the Regionals.

Wednesday morning lesson 1 French.  In the classroom?  Not this week!  Having covered the topic of food and in particular rôle-play language with Mrs German, it was with great delight that Mrs Biggs organised an authentic French café in the senior school where all of Year 5 got to engage with 6th form and Year 11 garçons and serveuses.  The customers quickly devoured their croissant, pain au chocolat and pain au raisin which were duly washed down with jus d’orange and chocolat chaud.

A Colfeian student has overcome a serious knee injury to win Gold at a Judo Competition.  Leonardo Bertocchi won the medal at the ‘South Coast Open’ event in Worthing which was the first competition he had entered since suffering from a knee injury before Christmas.

Ten of Colfe’s most enthusiastic classicists have had the exciting opportunity to watch a production of Euripides’ Hippolytus.  The production, which will be a target text in A2 Classical Civilisation from September, was performed at the UCL (University College London.)

Colfe’s has welcomed the former top test England cricketer Derek Underwood who visited the school. He is now a Director of a company about to install an all-weather batting strip on one of the school squares.  "Deadly" Derek Underwood was a Kent and England International Cricketer in the 1960s and 70s who played in 86 tests for England claiming 297 wickets at an average of 25.83. He was lethal on a sticky (damp) wicket and bowled at the speed of a medium pacer.  He is also a recent (2010) President of the MCC.

The Platform Concert is a chance for us to display the music that we had all been working on and gain the confidence to perform it to an audience.  This half-term’s concert was a typically fun night for both adults and children.

We were delighted that two of the mounted police division at Lewisham Police Station managed a slight detour to their daily exercises and came in to visit us on Wednesday morning. Eric and Una, standing at 17 and 16 hands respectively, seemed to enjoy meeting the PPN and our Year 3 and Year 4 classes. 

The U13 netball squad has been ranked 5^th in the Kent Schools Tournament after getting through to the Quarter Finals.

We began last Friday with an assembly presentation given by Molly and Jenna in Year 4. With the aid of a very professional power point, they told us about the Freddie Farmer Foundation and the equipment that would be bought with the proceeds of the cake sale later that day.
Parents and children from the whole Prep School  jostled to buy from the tremendous range of delicious cakes available.

For our gallery of fun in the snow, click here

Two Colfe's Girls have been invited to represent London at the English Schools Cross Country Championships.  Millie Bach, Year 10, and Kassia Soards, Year 12, have performed superbly at the London Schools meet at Parliament Hill.

 

Millie came 5th in the Intermediate (Year 10&11) Girls’ race out of 58 girls, despite being the youngest in the field, and Kassia came 6th in the Senior (Year 12 & 13) Girls’ race.  That means they have both qualified to represent the London Region at the English Schools’ Championships in March.

The display which counts towards the students' final AS and A2 results, received a warm response by the many people who came to look at the show. Alice Stevens from Year 12, whose work was part of the display, said it was always exciting to show her work to an audience. "I've enjoyed bringing all my work together in one place because it has helped me see the progress that I've made over the year.  I was a little nervous at first but my friends have been very supportive and it's lovely that so many people have come to see the exhibition."

Colfe’s U14 netballers are now the best netball squad in London and the South East after winning all seven of their matches in the Regional Final of the National Schools’ Netball Championships.

 

Having won the Kent Schools’ Tournament in January, the pressure was on for the team to perform when they travelled to Redbridge Sports Centre, on Sunday 29th January 2012.

Pre-Prep Club Leader Audrey Baxter has been chosen out of thousands to perform at the Opening Ceremony for the 2012 Olympics.

Madame Baxter has been at Colfe’s for ten years and teaches the popular French Club after school.

Lynx have won a close and hard fought Prep School House Swimming Gala. The morning saw Years 5 and 6 Houses compete against each other with deafening screams of encouragement from students, teachers and parents.  Everyone swam very well and at the half-way point Orion was in the lead closely followed by Lynx and Aquila and finally Pegasus. The children stayed focused and swam hard.  By the end of the morning’s efforts though, Lynx had edged into the lead.  With only 77 points in it, the final results for the older children were: Lynx, 1^st with 295 points.  Orion, 2nd with 284 points, Aquila, 3rd on 264 and Pegasus 4^th on 218.

Colfe’s talented debaters have won the first round of one of the oldest national debating competitions in the UK- the Schools’ Mace. 

Julia Cummings , Year 12, and Marcus  Brockman, Year 10, spoke in opposition to the motion “This  house believes that organ donation should be  made compulsory  without exception”.

A nine year old Colfe’s student has made a documentary film about wine and had it shortlisted by two International Film Festivals.

Year 5 pupil, Huw Olding's debut documentary is called ‘Making Red Wine at Oldingmanor Vineyard’.   The 11 minute film was entered for the under 15 category at the Cinemagic Young Filmmaker Awards which took place in Belfast in December and also for the Young Film Makers Competition in Lancaster, both of which shortlisted his work out of the hundreds of entries they received.

Art students are busy making the final touches to their work for a grand exhibition this Friday.  The display features Fine Art and Graphic exhibits which will count towards their final AS and A2 results this year.  Art teacher, Mr Zivanovic, thinks this is set to be a fantastic exhibition “This mid-year show gives the students a real focus. Showing their work acts as a spur and allows them to essentially document their work.  The students are labouring hard to make this exhibit a very high standard”

The Drama Department has hosted the first ever LAMDA presentation evening. The first group of Students to take their LAMDA (London Academy of Music Drama and Arts) exam in December had the chance to perform their favourite pieces in an informal setting.

Colfe’s Netball U14 are through to the Regional County Finals and the Year 8 B-Team is preparing winners for the future!

The Prep school together with the Parents and Friends Association (PAFA) have held a cake sale to raise money for the Freddie Farmer Foundation

Seven year old Freddie Farmer, from Eltham, was born with cerebral palsy, and three times a year his family have been taking him to a centre near Oxford for unique and intensive physiotherapy using equipment called ‘spider’

The sixth edition of the sixth form magazine "The Newgate Papers" is published here.

The Historical Society has welcomed a top British researcher and author to talk about the doomed Franklin expedition to the Arctic.  William Battersby, the author of James Fitzjames – the Mystery Man of the Franklin Expedition, spoke to a packed Beardwood Theatre about the fate of the expedition led by John Franklin in 1845 where 128 men, including Franklin, died.

Colfe’s top Mathematicians have battled Sutton Grammar school in the Han Wodya Southern Plate Cup.  The Colfe’s team has done extremely well winning all their matches so far to get to the final eight, and this closely contested match went to the final question where we lost by just two points.

A group of Sixth Form students have achieved excellent results in their Extended Project Qualification.  The results, published this month by the AQA exam board, show that out of nine students who took the qualification, six achieved A* grades and three were awarded A grades.

A Colfe’s sixth former has got through to the final of the prestigious ‘Norman Trotman Instrumental Competition’.

Andrew Fisher, year 13, who plays trumpet for the Bromley Youth Music Trust (BYMT), is one of the final nine musicians in the competition which takes place on the 28th January.

Talented Golfer, Max White, in Year 13 has been selected to train with the England Squad next month in Spain.

The England squad held nationwide trials as part of the Advanced Apprenticeship for Sporting Excellence (ASSE) and Max was successful in becoming one of the 18 boys and girls who will train at Arcos Gardens in Spain.

Colfe’s top mathematicians in Year 8 and 9 have taken part in the Team Maths Challenge sponsored by Greenwich University.  The event consisted of twelve teams made up of two students from Year 9 and two from Year 8, each competing in three different rounds.  The first round involved the team working together on a mathematical crossword.  Next, it was a relay race to answer questions and finally a group round with each team having to solve ten problems. This hotly contested competition was adjudicated by the Maths department’s Dr U. Vijapura, Dr C. Craciun and Mr E. Landamore.

An Old Colfeian and Ex-Cadet has begun serving in the Combined Cadet Force (CCF) at Colfe’s, making her the squadron’s first female officer.  Pilot Officer, Mandy Tappin, who joined Colfe’s as a student in 2002, came top of her class on her Commissioning Course at the Royal Air Force College in Cranwell.  She says it was hard work.

St Christopher’s Hospice has said a big thank you to Colfe’s for helping to raise £723.71 for the charity.  Colfe’s students and music teachers went carol singing to raise the money for the Hospice which helps patients and families from across South East London.

As part of a series of Sixth Form Lectures, Year 12 had the unusual opportunity to listen to a convicted murderer speak about prison life and issues surrounding crime and punishment. Erwin James served twenty years in prison for murder and is now a writer for the Guardian and lectures on controversial issues such as punishment and rehabilitation.

The Colfe’s debating team has gone through to the second round of the Cambridge Schools debating competition.  The team, made up of Paul Shehadeh and Rebecca Dowse won their 'room' over teams from Crown Woods and Thomas Tallis, debating issues on nuclear disarmament and the criminal behaviours of sports fans.

Prendergast House became the overall winners of the Inter House Tae kwon-Do Competition.  The competition, which took place at the end of last term, was split into the three areas of patterns, including sparring and jumping high kicks.

It was standing room only in a packed St Mary’s Church, Lewisham, for the traditional Colfe’s Christmas Carol Service.  This was a time of celebration and reflection on the mystery of the Incarnation which is central to the Christian faith.

Once in Royal David’s City began the service with the welcome delivered by Fr Scott Anderson and the Bidding Prayer by The Reverend Tony Collier.

Colfe’s Head of English and Assistant Head of Sixth Form, Dr Robert Thompson, has spent much of his spare time in the last few years editing a group of Purcell anthems for the charity the Purcell Society.  This beautiful publication, which is vol. 29 of the Purcell Society Edition, contains a group of 11 anthems. The Purcell Society Edition is the standard academic ‘complete works’ publication of the composer’s music.

Colfe’s Robotics team, ‘The Robostormers’, were awarded a special judges award at the First Lego League London Regional Competition.  The team had to programme and run a robot in line with a special theme– this year it was the investigation of how food contamination and spoilage could be prevented. The special award was given for creative innovation in project presentation.

Year 7 had a wonderful opportunity to visit a Christmas market in Lille. Head of Modern Foreign Languages Mrs Biggs described the day:

Students have had an exciting opportunity to attend two Mathematics workshops at the Institute of Education (IOE).  The two trips, one for the sixth form and won for all of Year 11 took place at the IOE, in London and was a mixture of interactive sessions and lectures from leading experts on maths.

A small group of Year 13 Classics students have had an exciting opportunity to see the Clytemnestra put on by Oxford University.

The unique adaptation of Aeschylus’ The Libation Bearers, in which the tragedy was fused with a form of Japanese Noh theatre, proved that Greek plays can work in many different styles of theatre, not just contemporary or modern.

‘If you go down to the Senior School today you better go in disguise’ because the Big Bad Wolf has taken over the Main Hall. The Year 3 and 4 Christmas production this year was Roald Dahl’s Little Red Riding Hood from his Revolting Rhymes.

The dark and sinister opening began with a polished dance sequence by the Bunnies and the Bats to Bjork’s ‘It’s all so quiet’. Josh from Year 3 said “It was a special Bunny dance which involved some hopping. I like being in this because it makes me feel really happy” Sarah, Year 3, playing one of the bats, agreed “It’s been really fun and it’s gone really well”.

A former Colfe’s pupil, who recently won a top business award, has returned to school to give students from the Economics and Business Studies Department advice on how to start a business.

Colfe’s remained in sensational form this week as they beat St Catherine’s in the U15’s Independent Schools Netball Cup (ISNC) – taking us to the Quarter Finals. Colfe’s won their 3rd round match against a strong St.Catherine’s U15’s side which saw us down by 4 goals in the first quarter the battle of attrition commenced.

Three Colfe’s sixth formers have visited the Pre-Prep to give mini presentations on Christmas traditions in France, Germany and Spain.

Fun and games at the Christmas Fayre, with cakes and bumper prizes!

On the 30th November 2011, 5 Old Colfeians (class of 2010) and their proud parents attended St James Palace to receive their Gold Duke of Edinburgh award, achieved through the Combined Cadet Force at Colfe’s.

This year the pre-prep Christmas production “Children of the World” has yet again been warmly received and enjoyed by everyone.

It was a chance for our youngest pupils to celebrate the Christmas story and learn more about the customs of children from other countries around the world at this time of year.

Each pre-prep class represented the different nationalities with an intertwining narrative about Gabriel and the other Angels being each country’s special messenger.

Colfe's have beaten Eltham College to win their third match in the prestigious Hans Woyda Maths Competition. The Colfe's team consisted of Charlie Whittaker (Year 13 and team captain), Manish Patel (Year 12), Sophie Britton (Year 11) and Callum Melly (Year 9). They comfortably won by 43 points to 21.

Three Colfe’s boys have all successfully passed their practical coaching assessments to become qualified Level 1 Assistant Cricket Coaches.

Harry Furze, and Harry Graham both in Year 11and Alex Graham from Year 12 passed the assessment run by the Kent Cricket Board.

One of our top musicians at Colfe’s has secured a record deal that will see her release her first album early next year. Talented singer and songwriter Cecily Watts has a contract with ‘Major Music’ an artist development Company, where for the last year she has been working closely with producers, like Stacks (responsible for the rap artist Twista) and Steve Wilkinson.

Talented Colfe's mathematicians have done very well in this year’s Senior Maths Challenge, The Senior Maths Challenge is a competition held by the United Kingdom Mathematical Trust. The competition is to challenge the most able students in the sixth form. We achieved 3 Silver and 9 Bronze certificates this year with Charlie Whittaker also receiving Best In School certificate.

Over 300 hundred children and parents descended on Colfe’s, to start the Christmas Festivities with a bang...
The School held its Christmas Fireworks night with the playground awash with the smells of candy floss, mulled wine and a Barbeque run by the CCF. The gazebos lined the prep school playground with Christmas lights and were manned by the Parents’ and Friends’ Association (PAFA) little helpers (not elves but parents).

‘Outstanding’, ‘accomplished’, ‘professional’ and ‘magnificent’ were just some of the reactions after this year’s Winter Concert.
The night began with Vivaldi’s Gloria. This saw the Colfes’ community coming together across the generations. It involved around a hundred parents, teachers and students from both the senior and prep school. This was a skilled performance with the ten challenging movements, accompanied by an orchestra, sung very impressively.

Year 13 Drama students devised, staged and performed two plays to a packed Beardwood Theatre this week. The first play, "Finn's Room" explored parallels between the breakdown of society as a whole and the individual family unit as a result of neglect. The second, ‘Pan Am 103’, focused on the individual stories of people affected by the Lockerbie bombing.

Colfe’s A-level Drama students have visited the West End to watch a couple of hit shows.The Sixthformers visited the Peacock Theatre to see the highly acclaimed dance/theatre show ‘Some Like it Hip Hop’ (loosely based on the 1959 movie ‘Some Like it Hot’). After the show students were able to take part in a Hip-Hip dance class, run by members of the cast.

Colfe’s students have helped Greenwich Borough retain the top prize in the six host Borough swimming championships.

The Greenwich team, of more than 40 swimmers drawn from clubs and schools across the borough were presented with the “Speedo 6 Host Borough Trophy” by the former Commonwealth Gold Medallist Adam Whitehead.

Art students visited the British Museum to see the Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman exhibition and take part in a workshop by the famous artist Grayson Perry. The students were extremely animated by the exhibit.  Here, in their own words, they describe how the day went....

 

The Year 3s have got off to a flying start in their netball career. In their first ever tournament at Farringtons, the girls stunned me with how good they are so early on in the season. The team made up of Hawa , Katie, Daisy, Maya, Denise, Megan and Annys  played some superb netball.

 

The first round of the London Schools’ League Gala took place at Dulwich College Pool. There were six teams involved in our group. The schools we had to swim against were very strong but we didn't mind as we knew it would make for an exciting gala.

On Thursday 24 November, our Year 5s had a special invite from the All Blacks Rugby World Cup winning coach, Graham Henry, to watch the Barbarians train before their clash against Australia.  Thirty pupils descended on Richmond RFC to watch them go through their paces before having the chance to meet the stars for a picture and their autograph. Stars of the game included Bryan Habana and Victor Matfield (South Africa); Jerome Kaino, Keven Mealamu, Adam Thompson and Richard Kahui (NZ); Sterling Mortlock (Australia); Peter Stringer (Ireland); Simon Shaw and Danny Cipriani (England).

The newly appointed Met. Police Superintendent Operations at Lewisham decided to pop in to the Prep for a cuppa!! There were some nervous glances from a few parents in the playground, but he was not after them!! He was Mr Gallagher's brother, Michael!!

 

We had a fabulous day last Friday, 18^th November, showing our spots in support of Children in Need.  Everyone looked brilliant as you can see from the pictures.  The day began with a very entertaining assembly given by 6B who gave us Spot the Talent.!  The entrants were all extremely talented indeed, but the winners were Timi and Nick, AKA The Raptures.

 

 

On Saturday 12th November, the Sports Centre was transformed into a shoppers' delight. Over seventy stalls were selling a vast range of gifts, ideal for those Christmas stockings. Some Year 6 girls were particularly taken with the displays of jewellery, the quality of the goods and the reasonable prices.

After 23 years’ loyal and committed service to Colfe's School, Mr Stringfellow has informed the school that he will retire in July 2012. There will be ample opportunity to wish Mr Stringfellow a happy retirement, but he still has a number of school projects that he wishes to complete, before wishing us his final farewell.

 

My visit to the V & A Museum - Charlie 6B.  On Monday Year 6 went to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. I was very lucky as my mum came on her first prep school visit too! We started the day by travelling to London on a big double decker bus, much like a normal every day bus. I sat on the top deck going; it was really noisy as all my friends were really excited.

Director of Sixth Form Mr Drury said: I’m very pleased with the latest Newgate Papers, written by the Sixthformers. The highlights for me are Joseph Ives’ very interesting piece on this year’s trip to the Gambia and Paul-R Shehadeh’s witty and erudite account of the Cambridge Debating Competition, where we made it through to the next round. Well done to all the contributors”

Newgate-Papers-Nov-18-2011a.pdf

Talented horse rider, Georgia Noone has qualified to compete at The David Broome centre in Wales in the Great Britain Showjumping Championships.

Georgia will be jumping in the 11 and under category at the three day event, which takes place next April. Amazingly Georgia will be up against competitors in the 16 and under age group as well. Good luck Georgia!

A leading footballer has visited Colfe’s to take part in a charity week organised by Norton House.

Anton Ferdinand (brother of Rio) who plays for Premiership club Queens Park Rangers agreed to take part in the ‘Soak the Celebrity’ event to help raise money for Cancer Research. Norton House’s week of charity events has included face painting, sweet sales and ‘I’m a teacher get me out of here’. The organisers hope to raise up to £500 for the cancer charity.

Following their success in the Greenwich Schools Cross Country Championship five Colfeians represented the Borough in the Balfour Beatty London Youth Games Cross Country .

By all accounts our students were up against some very tough competition on Saturday 19th November but our competitors performed well.

In the U15 girls age group Millie Bach came 17th, Ellen Dunbar (who lost her shoe) came 71st and Olivia Porter came 82nd out of 162 runners.

The Lower School Platform concert was a great success with Colfe’s talented youngsters, from Years 7 to 9, performing a mixture of classical and modern music.

The concert began with the junior strings and then solo performances, ending with the Guitar Ensemble directed by Mr Williams. All the children were outstanding but a special mention to Henry Addy-Topping in Year 7 who evoked cheers from the audience with his performance of Adele’s ‘Somone Like you’ .

Beardwood House have won the Design Technology competition. Beardwood House Captain, Year 13’s Dom Rees, said:

“The project for this year’s competition was to build a metre long bridge that could hold weights a metre off the ground. Each House had two teams of 4: a Senior and a Junior team. We then had a 30 minute brief on what our objectives were and the mark scheme. We then had 15 minutes planning with our teams to create the design for the two bridges that needed to be made."

Colfeian Judo Champion wins another Gold. Leonardo Bertocchi in Year 9 has won a gold medal in an International Judo Competition this weekend…taking his gold medal tally in the last few weeks to two.

 

Following on from victories at Ardingly and at home to Latymer Upper in the ISFA Investec Cup, Colfe's U15 football team beat Whitgift School 1 - 0 in the third round played at the Old Colfeians, putting the team through to the last 8 of this national competition.

Colfe's 1st XV travelled to local rivals Eltham College with high expectations on Saturday following last year's victory. Unfortunately the  result went against us on this occasion, despite outstanding individual contributions from Tom Chapman (England U18 scrum-half) and Rob Ware amongst others. Colfe's try-scorer Alex Graham and hooker Elliott Roofe also played well, showing great potential for next year's 1st XV line-up.  

The Prep-school Head, Mr Gallagher and ten of Colfe's Prep's finest, have taken part in this year’s Lord Mayor’s Show by invitation of Sir John Newton, a Governor of Colfe’s School and a Past Master of the Leathersellers' Company.

A visiting speaker came to Colfe’s this week to give students a taste of what going to an American University would be like.

Karen Sullivan-Vance of Western Oregon University spoke to a group of pupils from Years 10, 11, 12 and 13 about going to university in the States and specifically to Western, as it is known. Karen gave the facts and figures of the system – how to apply and the costs involved.

Colfe’s sixth-former, Andrew Fisher has played at the Royal Albert hall this month.

Fellow pupil Miles Ashdown tells Colfe’s website all about the night:

“On Wednesday 9th November several members of the Colfe's music department attended the last night of the schools proms at the Royal Albert Hall in support of Year 13 student – Andrew Fisher."

Major Chris Cherry, The Commanding Officer of Colfe’s Cadet Forces (CCF), has been presented with the second clasp of his Cadet Forces Medal. This honour, has been bestowed on Major Cherry for his 26 years of service to the armed forces.

There has been a Cadet Force at Colfe’s since February 1941 when by Royal Warrant the Air Training Corps opened a unit - 665 (Colfe’s School) Squadron. In 1996 Major Cherry was instrumental in changing this over to become the Colfe’s school Combined Cadet Force Squadron that we know today.

The joint Drama and Classics production of Antigone this week has been a great success.

Jackie Vander Gucht, Director of Drama, was delighted: "This was a new venture, very different to previous Colfe's productions. It involved the close co-operation of the Drama and Classics Departments. I am particularly delighted for Gareth Stewart who directed it, since it was his debut Colfe's production. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive"

 

It has been another great performance by the U16’s team . Director of Sport Nicci Rayes said

“Facing the 2010 National School Winners, in the first round and in their first match was tough for Colfe’s. However, it was also good to get this match out of the way as it focussed the girls. If the team was going to progress to the later stages of the competition and further than they have done in the past, they would have to win all other matches with a significant goal difference, so this became the primary objective. As you can see from the results the girls achieved this and played out of their skins and the opportunity to reach the semi-finals was in grasp. Unfortunately, from a mixture of tiredness, over excitement and well matched opponents Colfe’s made a few mistakes which cost us the game. The team did however, progress further they have done in the past and so should be congratulated for that achievement”

Independent Schools Netball Cup Colfe’s U13 and U15 round 2 victories

Colfe’s has convincingly won its two matches against Bancroft’s school. The U13’s won 16-10 and U15’s won 31 - 26 both had great wins.

The U15’s (who are actually our U14’s) played superbly from start to finish. They were up against a very strong team with tall defensive players and shooters who did not miss from anywhere in the circle. However, what Bancrofts lacked was an Olivia Porter and Anna Foyle in centre court who both made interception after interception to ensure control of the game. The rest of the team obviously played some beautiful netball too and Anna Beasley and Amy Grant were superb in defence in the third quarter which secured the victory for Colfe’s.

Year 9 pupils had a wonderful opportunity to visit Tate Britain recently and look at the John Martin ‘Apocalypse’ exhibition. The joint Art and English workshop allowed the students to use the art works in the gallery to enrich their understanding of the links between art, literature and film.   All the students visited the ‘Apocalypse’ exhibition and discussed the links between these epic art works and film making.

 

Hundreds of shoppers turned up to visit Colfe’s bustling Christmas market.There was a constant stream of people who left the Leisure Centre Sports Hall with bags of early Christmas shopping.  Goods on sale from the 73 stalls ranged from Carlton pottery, shabby chic gift ware, jewellery, sports goods, essential oils, homemade cakes.   The flavoured vodka proved to be particularly popular.

A Former Colfeian has been awarded Greenwich's highest civic honour – the Honorary Freedom of the Borough. Peter King was given the prestigious award after holding public office and championing causes in Greenwich for more than thirty years.

Professor King attended Colfe’s from September 1943 until he left in July 1948. His brother Michael, his son Gavin, and his grandson Jason Stephens also came to the school.
Family, friends and Colleagues saw Peter presented with a certificate, stamped with the council’s corporate seal at a ceremony at the new Woolwich Civic Centre.

Colfe's has been chosen by Kent County Cricket to be one of its bases - establishing Colfe’s as the premier centre for Kent Cricket Development in the North of the county.

In November and December, Kent Cricket will run coaching and trials sessions at Colfe’s after which they will use our indoor facilities, nets and pitches to help select and develop county age group squads.

 

Please click here to download the Sports Newsletter.

Thirty-five Colfeians embarked on a classical exploration of Sicily during October Half Term.

"Antigone", a play written by Sophocles in 5th century BC Athens, is one of the great European, classical tragedies. It is the story of a young woman ruled by her conscience and driven by her desire to bury her brother Polyneices; Creon, an overbearing king, who wants to bring peace and stability to his nation; and Haemon, his son, tormented by conflicting loyalties.

Colfe's is celebrating after yet again achieving top results on its graduate teaching programme - marking Colfe's out as having one of the best in-house teacher training programmes in the country.

The latest teacher to complete the programme has been judged 'outstanding' by the external provider, E-Qualitas. This means that all five candidates so far on our training programme have achieved the highest grade possible.

The third edition of the sixth form magazine "The Newgate Papers" is published here.

Today two people from Freshwater Theatre visited our school and told us all about the Ancient Egyptians. Daphne Witherspoon was the explorer who had the curse that whenever this certain type of music played she danced like an Egyptian! We had to do three tasks: number 1 was to find out how long ago the Egyptians lived.

 

Colfe's School are extremely grateful to Jones Lang LaSalle for their generous sponsorship of the Under 15 rugby shirts for this season.

Click on News heading for Video and Slide-Show. Dear Diary: Today was eventful. It was my first day at Colfe’s Board School! My teacher’s name is Miss Wagenbush and she is incredibly strict. She does not allow boys to sit next to girls. I even have to address her as ‘Ma’am’. At the start of the day the class listened in trepidation to all of the rules. We are not permitted to talk or even laugh.

 

 

 

England cricketer, former Colfe's pupil and current Colfe's hockey coach, Susie Rowe, writes a regular blog when she goes on tour. She is currently in South Africa  with the England team.

“3 Borough Champions, 1 team trophy, 2 silver medals, 1 bronze medal and eight Colfe’s pupils selected to represent Greenwich in the London Youth Games - not bad for an afternoon at the Greenwich Schools’ Cross Country Championships.”

The music department has had a successful half-term with two well attended concerts.  The Jazz evening on the 6th October created the relaxed atmosphere of an old fashioned jazz club. 

Last week our U16 and U19 Netball Teams triumphed at Bromley Schools' Netball Tournament and the Independent Schools Netball Cup.

It was a bumper year for nominations and the last two weeks have been filled with fierce campaigning. Our candidates prepared their speeches, created catchy slogans and eye-catching poster, to win over their classmates.  Voting took place on Thursday and it was a tense 24 hour wait for nominees and finally,  results were announced in assembly on Friday.  Our School Council has been formed and will start this year's work with a meeting next week.

Three Colfeians have had great results at the recent Redbridge County Regional Swimming Qualifier and the White Oak Open Gala.

Colfe’s 3 Latymer Upper 2

Strong winds created difficult playing conditions and chances were few and far between in the first half as Colfe’s entertained Latymer Upper. It was goal less at half time but just three minutes into the second period a well struck half volley from Alex Arif put Colfe’s ahead.

Last week, 12 Colfe’s girls headed to JAGS to compete in the annual Biathlon event.

Second edition of the sixth form magazine "The Newgate Papers" is published. Newgate-Papers-Oct-7-2011.pdf

Colfe’s have comfortably won the first round of the prestigious Hans Woyda Maths Competition, beating Haberdashers' Aske’s Hatcham College.  The Hans Woyda Maths competition is played annually and this time Colfe’s has been drawn to play against Haberdashers' Aske’s Hatcham College, Eltham College and St Dunstan’s College.

The MFL department would like to say a big thank you to all of you who contributed to the Vocabexpress championship which was launched to celebrate the European Day of Languages.  (Click on the story title to see more details.)

Click here for Gallery Libby in 4A writes: When it was roman day, I was so excited! I had my costume on with gladiator sandals. There was a lady called Agrappina and a man called Marcos, they were both dressed as romans and had brought many exciting roman objects. I was the empress and William was the emperor.......

 

Our school captain Tom took 1st place at the Aquathon held at Tonbridge School. He swam 100m and ran 1.5km in 14min 10 sec. Tom also took part in the Hever Castle Triathlon at the weekend, with Josephine in 6B. Congratulations to both, particularily to Tom who won 3rd place!

The under 10 A netball team played in the annual Merton Court Tournament. We have won this tournament for the past three years & we wanted to go for the hat trick. The pressure was on. Wednesday was incredibly hot but it did not stop the girls playing some excellent netball.

Art work by four Colfeians has been selected to be considered for a national exhibition.

Crowds turned out to watch the official opening of the new parents and children’s shelter in Colfe’s Prep School playground.

It’s been two years since the initial idea was discussed but now this is the first time that parents and children will have cover in all weathers particularly the wind and rain.  The transparent shelter enables parents to have cover from inclement weather at drop off and pick up times, but to still be able to see their children when they come out of school.

Millie Bach (Year 10) has represented Great Britain at the World Biathle Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Click here for Slideshow  It was the morning and I was on the way to school in the car.  I had butterflies in my tummy because I was nervous about where I was going. I was going to Downe!  It was my first time away from my Mother and Father! As I got out of the car I spotted Ruby, my bunk buddie. I rushed over to greet her and left my poor old mum to carry my extremely heavy bag. As myself and Ruby ran back to walk with my mummy she handed me one of the handle of the huge bag and said, “Help is required,” and we laughed. When the bell rang I kissed my mummy goodbye and walked to the coach.

Eleven Colfe’s pupils participated in this year's Greenwich Borough Swimming Championships. Swimming for their own clubs, they achieved between them, 4 First places, 4 second places and 3 third places, and beat many of their own personal best times.

 

Ruby Collins, who holds a music scholarship at Colfe’s, sang on stage at the Queen Elizabeth Hall with a small choir chosen by composer Harvey Brough. Ruby and her fellow songsters performed Purcell’s The Fairy Queen for two hours alongside the Guildhall Graduates' Baroque Orchestra.

Matthew is achieving regional and national prominence on the world of cycling.  He writes here about his achievements in three recent competitions.

Congratulations to the U19’s who were runners-up in the Bromley Schools' Netball Tournament on Wednesday 21 September. This was a great achievement made all the more remarkable because five of the squad were unable to play because they were attending university open days.

 

First edition of the sixth form magazine "The Newgate Papers" published.

Colfe's welcomed this week a former soldier now turned successful children’s author to come and talk to some of Year 7 and other pupils form years 8, 9 and 10 about his book and experiences.

Trent Reedy's  first novel Words in the Dust is based on his own experiences serving with the US Army in Afghanistan in 2004 where he was working on building schools, providing security for the presidential election and handing out toys and sweets to Afghan children.

At Colfe’s we are very proud of what our children achieve both in and out of school. One Year 8 parent said recently “I think Colfe's is a wonderful school which really inspires children to achieve as much outside the classroom as inside.”

Please click on the link above to see the full article for reports on the recent achievements of nine Colfe's pupils.

 

Click here for CNN News link Alex Thomas from CNN (Cable News Network) came to Colfe's on Wednesday to interview  the Head of the Preparatory School, John Gallagher, about his memories of winning the Rugby World Cup in 1987 with the New Zealand All Blacks. CNN is an English speaking, world-wide television network that is viewed by over 200 million people in 200 countries.

Mr Ian Russell MBE, Chairman of Governors, welcomed over 400 parents, pupils and staff to the Visitation and Prizegiving. The Headmaster, Mr Richard Russell, gave his report on the 2010/11 academic year and Mr Matthew Pellereau, Second Warden of the Leathersellers' Company, presented the Prizes.

The Colfe’s Golf team gained an impressive victory over last year’s finalists in the HMC Foursomes at Wildernesse Golf Club.

Colfe’s reward for the victory is an away tie in the next round against Sevenoaks School.

The Centre of Policy Studies (CPS) is one of Britain’s most reputable political think-tanks which discusses and develops policy with the interest to ‘limit the role of the State, to encourage enterprise and to enable the institutions of society – such as families and voluntary organisations – to flourish’.  It was founded in 1974 by Margaret Thatcher and Sir Keith Joseph.

In the ISFA Cup (Football) Colfe’s U15 beat Ardingly by 2-0 in the first round with goals from Tom Potter and Alex Arif. Matt Gallagher was man of the match. Colfe’s dominated the match and should have won by more.

Colfe’s first ever ‘Surf and Turf’ Aquathlon went swimmingly well. Triathlon is a sport that is growing rapidly in the UK and, with so many excellent runners and swimmers at Colfe’s, we felt it was only right that we put on such an event. Children from all over the area came to compete. We had a marvellous turn out for the 8 years and 9-10 age groups. For many, this was their first experience of such an event. They had to swim 50m, quickly run to the transition area while the clock was still ticking and change into their running clothes ready for a dash round a 600m course.

Congratulations to the following girls:
Emily Ireland, Chantelle Akpan, Olivia Porter, Amy Grant, Jade Lindo and Emma Williams (U14's), Rochelle Mckay-Pryce (U17's) who have all been selected for the Kent Netball Academy System.

This August four Colfeian classicists attended a prestigious residential summer school for two weeks in Dorset. 

The Head of Colfe’s Preparatory School, Mr John Gallagher, had a distinguished record as a Rugby International before joining Colfe’s.

Colfe's pupils are celebrating outstanding GCSE results today with 15% of the cohort gaining all A*/A grades. Girls outperformed boys this year with 57% of subjects taken by girls gaining the top grades. Eleven Year 10 pupils who gained an A* in French a year early are also celebrating success today.

"Our top pupils excelled themselves this year with 20% of the cohort gaining at least three A grades and securing their places at top universities ahead of the tuition fees increase next year. History was the top performing subject at Colfe's this year with 95% of candidates gaining a B grade or better. I am delighted for the staff and pupils who have worked so hard to achieve these outstanding results."

A group of 51 Year 8 and 9 pupils and six teachers departed from the Old Colfeians on 26 June to travel by coach and ferry to Normandy.

We are extremely grateful to Gregory Jones, a Colfe's Governor, for organizing the recent Colfe's/Conisborough Legal Careers Day. The following report is taken from the FTB website: On Wednesday, 29 June FTB, Francis Taylor Building, hosted and sponsored a legal careers day for 17 pupils at Colfe's School and its partner school, Conisborough College.

 

Colfe’s School politics student attended the unveiling of a statue for President Ronald Reagan in Grosvenor Square on the 4^th July for the international celebrations of the centenary of President Ronald Reagan.

 

The CCF Parade was another triumph for Major Cherry, his officers and cadets. Colonel Matthewson O.B.E. (Late S.G.) inspected the cadets. There was a large crowd of spectators to see the march past and the various CCF kit laid out. 

 

Richard Gregg, the Saracens Premiership rugby club's development officer, paid a visit to Colfe's on the last week of term. Jeorge, Jordan and Evan managed to escape from lessons  to have a picture with the Premiership Cup, which Saracens had won at Twickenham for the first time!

 

This Year’s Summer Concert highlighted a choral work, ‘Harold.’ It is a collection of eight dramatic songs and narrative that tell the story of the Norman Invasion. 

Charlie was asked to represent Year 3 at the Megafinal of the British Land UK Chess Challenge 2011 over the May half term. Charlie did very well over a long day that began at 10am and ended at 5pm. He won 3 games, drew 2 and lost 1. Charlie is now through to the Gigafinal in July.
Well done to Charlie and all the very best of luck for the Gigafinal! 

Speakers from a top European University came to Blackheath this week to talk to Colfe’s Sixth Form students about studying abroad.

 

Congratulations to four Colfe's U15 pupils who  have all been chosen to play county cricket; Harry Chapman and Harry Furze for Kent, Matt Stiddard for Surrey and Frankie Fraser for Middlesex. Unfortunately bad weather meant cancellations for the first two county matches, but Matt and Frankie  have just come back from South of England trials where they opened the batting.  All  four boys play regularly for a very strong Colfe's School 1st X1 despite being only 15. Beth Fleming of Year 7 also represented Kent at cricket last weekend. Also rugby, golf, swimming, athletics and judo updates.

On Friday 6^th April pupils from the top three sets in Year 8 and the best mathematicians in Year 7 (a total of 112 children), sat the Junior Mathematics Challenge. This is a competition held annually by the United Kingdom Mathematical Trust. The competition is to challenge the most able students in Years 7 and 8 in a fun way.  In total we achieved 3 gold, 15 Silver and 20 Bronze certificates.

Slideshow and Video

Harry, 6C Probably my best memory was when Hayden and I were getting lifted up to the top of the Giant Swing. I looked down at my friends; they looked like tiny ants below us.

When Mr Vijapura joined Colfe’s School in September 2004 he was a qualified International Tae Kwon-Do 4th Degree Instructor and Umpire.

He has continued to teach this as an enrichment activity as well as Self Defence in the Active Citizenship programme for the last three years to Year 7 students. Last year in Mr Vijapura achieved his 5th degree in Tae Kwon-Do thanks to the support of the school. On the 10th June 2011, he was successful in passing his degree of ‘Doctor of Philosophy In Asian Martial Arts History’ from the World Academy of Martial Arts Philosophy and Science.

 

Wednesday 25^th May saw the annual House Music competition. During the fortnight leading up to the event a large number of pupils from each year auditioned for the competition, which resulted in one finalist per year per house. Mr Price made some very constructive comments at the end of each year group before announcing the winners, and it was excellent to see all the competitors supporting each other and to see the progression from Year 7 to Year 10.

The first selection stage of both the U14 and U17 County trials took place this weekend. Colfe's was well represented (especially in the U14 age group), and a Year 7 girl, together with five Year 8 girls and one Year 10 girl have made it through the first stage of this selection process.

 

They have been asked to attend a series of selection weekends over the next few weeks, and we are hopeful that some of these girls will make it into the county system for the 2011-2012 season. 

 

Many congratulations to Year 12 pupil Tom Chapman, who has been selected to take part in the England U18 Performance Camp Squad this summer.

 

 

 

The following departments are now on Twitter:

 

 

Year 13 celebrated their last official day in school before the start of exams with a fun sports day and bouncy castle. Fancy dress was the order of the day, whilst a visiting ice cream van provided free ice creams for the whole school (a special treat kindly paid for by Year 13). The highlight of the afternoon was undoubtedly the tug-o-war between students and staff (including the headmaster).

Keep a look out for Old Colfeian Travis Hickey who is appearing in Tuesday's semi final of Britain's Got Talent. Travis is one of the members of 'Enchantment' - a colourful troupe of entertainers whose dazzling performances have caught the eye of both judges and public alike.

Photo slideshow & Video

On Friday after school the staff (teaching, support and CLS) met the Year 13 leavers in their annual farewell football match.  After a hard-fought encounter full of stunningly superb football the game ended 3-3.  The staff then went on to win 4-3 on penalties! Thanks to all who played and supported. Chris Morriss

 

Maths Challenge Update

On 17^th March 2011 we entered four students for the Maths Olympiad as they had excelled in the Intermediate Maths Challenge 2011 back in February.

Millie Bach competed in the Pentathlon GB British Biathalon national finals in Sutton Coalfield this weekend and came 9th out of 66 girls for the under 14 age group.

Year 6 Learn about lfe in the World War II

A great start for the 1st XI this term - winning their first four matches. Well done! Click here to see the scores.

Congratulations to Senior School pupil Matthew Burke, who entered the British Schools National Mountain Bike Championships last Saturday and came 7th. Matthew can be extremely proud of himself, as participants included some of the fastest mountain bikers in the UK.

The Spitfires went to Aylesford on a warm, sunny Sunday morning to compete in the cup final of the Kent festival.

Many congratulations to Senior School pupil Georgina Renny, who took part in this year's London Mini Marathon. Georgina was running in aid of The Friends of Kotu Senior School'. The sponsorship will have raised £265 for the charity.

Swimming Gala Report

Watch Video

Watch Video

Pastime with Good Company

Congratulations to Tom Chapman (Yr 12) who represented England U17 v France in Brive at the weekend.

Yesterday the Modern Foreign Languages Department hosted a Mini-Symposium on Studying Languages at University.

Congratulations to Colfe’s pupil Charlie Whittaker (Year 12), who has been awarded a Bronze medal in the Year 12/13 under 60kg category at the recent British Schools Judo Championships.  

The School is delighted to learn that the Lord Chancellor has recommended Gregory Jones be appointed Queen's Counsel.

A Prep winner for the Kent under 10 Tennis Winter Championships.

The very first lunchtime concert took place in the Prep school this week. Musicians of all ages volunteered to perform their pieces on piano, guitar violin and flute.

The Prep Strings Concert last Monday afternoon was a resounding success.

We were delighted to see such a large number of parents, relatives and friends in the Preparatory School for our Open Afternoon last week.

What a fantastic time we had, dressing in our pyjamas and eating our way through an amazing array of scrumptious cakes, raising a grand total of £636.70 for Red Nose Day. 

Year 5, suitably dressed, spent the day experiencing Tudor life.

Many congratulations to the U13 netball team (and coaches Ms. Pearson and Ms. Holder), who are now the proud winners of the U13 National League Netball Competition 

Many congratulations to Millie Bach, who has come first in the South East Region Biathlon Championships!

Colfe’s School made the news with help from the BBC last week. Year 9 pupils from Colfe’s School joined up with around 800 schools across the UK making the news.  

The U15's & U12's had a busy weekend of 7 a-side competitions over the weekend (5th & 6th March).  They were taking part in two large and prestigious Invitational tournaments at Dulwich College (U12) and London Oratory School (U12 & U15).

 

 

Many congratulations to Charlie Whittaker, who won a silver medal in the Senior Under 60 kg category of the HMC Boys Independent Schools Judo Tournament .Schools came from as far afield as Belfast and Truro, and there were strong teams from Harrow, Winchester, Charterhouse, Sherbourne, Westminster, Manchester Grammar and King Edward's Birmingham, to name but a few.

Over half term 18 Sixth Form Colfeains enjoyed a five day History trip to Russia. They gained an insight into the legacy of the Tsarist and Communist regimes in the cities of Moscow and St Peterburg, enjoying a huge variety of experiences from the eery mausoleum of Lenin to the incredible decadence of the Winter Palace.

The Prep and Pre-Prep were privileged to hear from two parents, representing the ‘Friends of the Bromley Phoenix School,’ in assembly recently. They spoke about their experiences of discovering that their children had been diagnosed with a severe disability.  Read more.....

To celebrate Book Week the Prep School held a special competition. Read more.....

Congratulations to Old Colfeian Conor Henderson who made the Arsenal starting line up last night in the FA cup fifth round! Arsenal won 5-0 against Leyton Orient at the Emirates Stadium, to set up a visit to Manchester United in the sixth round.

 

 

On Tuesday 8th February, the Hans Woyda Maths Team consisting of Oliver Skeates (Year 9), George Charalambous (Year 11), Charlie Whittaker (Year 12), Roshan Warrier (Year 13) and Mr Vijapura (coach) went to Kingston Grammar School in Kingston Upon Thames. We were taking part in the semi-final of the plate cup of the Southern side - the first time ever we had reached this stage in the competition. 

 

On Tuesday 8th February, the Hans Woyda Maths Team consisting of Oliver Skeates (Year 9), George Charalambous (Year 11), Charlie Whittaker (Year 12), Roshan Warrier (Year 13) and Mr Vijapura (coach) went to Kingston Grammar School in Kingston Upon Thames. We were taking part in the semi-final of the plate cup of the Southern side - the first time ever we had reached this stage in the competition. 

Following a convincing victory over King's Ely of 37-17 the U13 netball team were delighted to qualify for the semi-finals of the Independent Schools National Netball Cup.

Following a convincing victory over King's Ely of 37-17 the U13 netball team were delighted to qualify for the semi-finals of the Independent Schools National Netball Cup.

 

One flew Over the Cuckoos Nest at Greenwich Theatre By Leonie Turner  

After nearly three months of long rehearsals and lots of hard work by the staff and the cast of Sixth formers and Year 11s, the week of the production 'One flew over the cuckoos nest' had finally arrived.

Building trebuchet’s – Roman siege machines – was the focus of this year’s House Technology Competition. Eight teams of pupils from all Years in the school raced against each other to construct the most efficient device. The resources were minimal and the tools were limited, but everyone used their initiative and there were some very creative solutions. The judge for this year’s competition was Mr.Guy Berridge who until very recently was the Head of Technology at Archbishop Tenison’s School in Croydon. When the scores were finalised the winners trophy was presented to Dominic Rees, captain of the Beardwood House teams.

House Drama returned this year with a vengeance. Consisting solely of pupils from years 7-9 and directed by students from the Sixth Form, each house put on performances of scripts chosen by their respective house captains; and they did not disappoint.

 

Colfe’s University offers 2011/Richard Russell/February 2011 

Colfe’s Upper Sixth Form pupils have been conspicuously successful in gaining offers from top universities again this year. As we approach the close of another UCAS season, I am delighted to report that four out of eight Colfe’s Oxbridge applicants have been successful, with offers in PPE (Oxford), Physics (Oxford), Maths (Cambridge) and History (Cambridge).

On Tuesday 15th February Y5 practised the French they had been learning at their imaginary French Cafés. Pupils played the parts of 'serveurs/serveuses' and customers.  Read more.......

Weird or Wonderful?   This was the theme of the concert performed by the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican on 16^th February. Year 5 arrived at the concert hall with only minutes to spare; their coach had been delayed by heavy traffic.Weird or Wonderful?   Read more.....

Congratulations to our Swimming Champions. Read more about our successes

It has been a busy term for both the Chamber Choir and the School Choir, which is made up primarily of Year Seven pupils.

 

 

The Year 4 A and B teams were quite simply amazing at the Blackheath U9 Netball Tournament. I say this because neither team lost a match during the entire afternoon. This is an awesome achievement. 

 

This year's Nursery and Pre-Prep production was a charming version of the Nativity Story called Born in a Barn, starring Katherine Bentinck as Mary and Joseph Hannon as Joseph.

Other cast members included: Summer Canterbury as the Innkeeper's Wife, Zoe Calvert, Margaret Fearnley and Victoria Graham as the Camels, Iris Brown, Elspeth Oliver and Ella Asare as the Mice, Joshua Hawkins and Malachy Ayres as the Innkeepers, Harvey Pilkington, Harry Stokes and Carlo Masiello as the Wisemen, Annys Thirkell Jones as the Cockeral, Daisy Ledger as the Owl, Lewis Johnson as the Dog, Megan Basham as the Donkey, Maya Vij as the Cat, William White, Shreyas Shubham, Tristan Wijewickrama, Lucas Dastros Pitei and Benjy Jarman as the Sheep and Joshua Graham and Sawa Banya as the Cows. Shepherds were played by Tommy Bach, Ole Heilmann, Finley Hollington, Jack Curtis and Kinsey Yiu.

The ducks, pigs, cats, cows and sheep were played by The Nursery children and the Shepherds and Angels by Reception.

Thanks go to Mrs Hall for producing the show, Ms Grover for the lighting, sound, props and scenery, and all the teachers and nursery nurses for their help with the production and of course the children for their wonderful performances.

Posted Monday 13th December 2010 by Susie Rowe

Since I last wrote from Sri Lanka, I have received the great news that I have been selected for the upcoming tour to Australia this winter where we will be defending our Ashes title. The Australia Ashes tour is the pinnacle of any player’s career and I can’t believe I am going to experience it so early on in mine!

After not being selected for any of the one day matches in Sri Lanka I was delighted to make my Twenty20 international debut in the first match of the series. I wasn’t needed to bat in the first game as we won easily and I was disappointed be run out for five in the second game which again we won. However, in the third game I scored 24 not out from 18 deliveries, putting on a 43 run partnership with my teammate from the last five overs. This gave us a score of 160 which was a total Sri Lanka failed to reach and we bowled them out for a mere 71.

The taste of my first international tour was a fantastic experience and one that I will cherish forever. I am now back in England and training hard for the upcoming tour to Australia. We have an early Christmas present of fitness testing on December 23rd but I will be passing the bleeps thinking about how amazing Australia will be!

We fly to Perth on December 28th for the three match ODI series held at the WACA. Then on to the Adelaide Oval on 12th January and then the MCG in Melbourne on 14th January for the first two of our five match Twenty20 series. Both of these games will be televised on Sky Sports and will be held right before the men’s Twenty20 matches. From Melbourne we travel to Canberra to complete the Twenty20 series and then on to Sydney for the four-day test match that determines who will walk away with the all-important Ashes!

I would love to play in the Twenty20 matches out in Australia and obviously love to make my ODI debut. However, we have a much stronger squad going to Australia and the seriousness of the tour may mean I don’t get as much of an opportunity. At the moment I am still learning an incredible amount just by being part of the squad. I plan to learn as much as I can out in Australia and any opportunity I might get to play will be a bonus! If you are interested in following our progress out in Australia you can follow me on twitter @susierowe6

To read more please, click here

This November Colfe's hosted the regional heat of the Cambridge Union Schools' Competition, which is a nationwide debating tournament. There were eleven local schools entering a number of teams. After a welcoming speech from the headmaster the competitors, including three Colfe's teams, split off into groups of four teams to engage in two successive 'short preparation' four-way debates.

Guys and Dolls has been rescheduled for: Wednesday, Thursday and Friday the 19th, 20th and 21st of January.

The tickets purchased will still be used for the corresponding day of the week i.e. if you purchased for the Wednesday, 1st December, your ticket is valid for Wednesday, 19th January.

If you would like a refund on your ticket please return them with a note to the Drama Ticket Box. If you would like to try and exchange your tickets, please return them with your request to the Drama Ticket box. Please note that the show is SOLD OUT and I cannot guarantee that I will be able to allocate tickets for another evening. Mrs Vander Gucht

The form staff and children had a great deal of fun putting this production together, and would like to thank everyone who contributed to such a colourful musical and memorable evening, including all mums, dads and relatives who helped with costumes, word-learning and face painting at home.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my first term being in charge of the House System.  So many exciting activities have taken place and many points have been awarded for every pupil who takes part, as well as for success!  writes Miss Cross.

House Eggheads:This term has seen the introduction of House Eggheads, currently being led by Norton and Beardwood, with the kind assistance of Mr Pearson and Mr Foster as the ‘Staff Egghead’ for each team, respectively. 

House Events: Additionally, this term, Colfe’s has hosted House events in Maths, Geography, Rugby (Years 9 & 10) and Hockey. Next term will see Senior House Chess, Design Technology, Rugby (Years 7 & 8), Netball, Cross Country, Science, Languages, Football and the highly anticipated House Drama evening, on Wednesday 9th February in the Beardwood. 

The Scores: So….the scores on the doors for Autumn term is what you have all been waiting for and here they are:

1st place
NORTON
288 points
 
2nd place
BRAMLEY
275 points
 
3rd place
BEARDWOOD
266 points
 
4th place
PRENDERGAST
153 points
 
Well done Norton!  However, there is plenty of time for the other Houses to catch up….  The House that has entered the most pupils this term has been Bramley, so they have gained extra points for this too.  The more people who represent your House, the more chance you have of winning so good luck for next term and get involved! 

Maths: The first round of the House Maths Competition took place in September with Beardwood against Bramley. Representing Beardwood were Josh Gayadeen, Ben Khoshnevisan, Charlie Whittaker and Simon Everett. Bramley house were represented by Alex Louis-Perez, Manish Patel, Priyanka Chatuvedi and Luke McCusker. After the first round the scores were still even, although as the rounds progressed, Bramley were starting to take control. However, in the final four rounds the Beardwood boys worked their calculators furiously to come back and win 9-6. Despite Beardwood winning, all contestants should be congratulated for the skills and teamwork displayed and thanks should be said to Mr. Vijapura for organising and running the questions. Joe Wilkins – Beardwood House Captain

Gegraphy: In October the annual House Geography competition was held in room 109. The competition consisted of various rounds including an alphabet round where each person was required to answer a geographical question relating to a particular letter in the alphabet and a ‘Guess the Country’ round where each house were required to guess a country for five points. If they were unable to get the country a series of clues were given (each time a clue was given a point was deducted from the 5). Competition amongst the houses was fierce and at the end of lunch on Monday, Prendergast were in the lead, followed shortly behind by Norton and Beardwood who were joint second. Following an anxious sleep Monday night, the competition continued on Tuesday where Norton found themselves at the top this time but again drawing. This time it was with Prendergast. The final result was left down to a tie breaker where Prendergast’s Matt Stiddard correctly identified a map as being Zimbabwe with the help of some clues. Prendergast finished on 34 points followed by Norton with 33 points and then Beardwood with 25 points and Bramley with 23 points. An excellent competition thanks to the Geography department. Henry Byrne – Norton House Captain

Young Voices is the largest school choir organiser in the world and currently organises over 14 capacity concerts a year in the UK & Ireland’s leading Arenas.

Greetings from hot and humid Sri Lanka!
 
We have been training every day but for the first two days we had to train indoors despite the 30 degree and humid heat as they had the worst storm here in 18 years. The very night we got here all the grounds were flooded! This caused our two ODI  matches to be pushed back a day but the 20/20s will stay on the same days. I didn’t play in the first ODI yesterday and had the incredibly hard job along with two others of making sure everyone's drinks were filled with the right sports drink or water requirements, and constantly kept cold in the cool bag along with delivering water to the boundary fielders. This was gruelling work on its own in the weather conditions and I cannot imagine what it was like to play in them for the whole day. The girls said they were the hardest weather conditions they have ever played in as they sweated so much because of the humidity which made it feel unbearably hot....

To read more please click here

Last week 4B visited Pre-Prep Year 2 to share their wonderful books that they had written and published.

Ex pupil Zoe Williams (class of 2009), made the national news on Wednesday, 24th November when she "risked life and limb to confront protesters intent on smashing up a police van" (to quote the Daily Mail). Zoe, 19, tried to remonstrate with the protesters, putting herself between the mob and the abandoned police vehicle in Whitehall. Unfortunately the protesters ignored her efforts and set about smashing up the van. However, her heroic efforts caught the attention of the media, and her story was picked up by the Times and The Daily Mail. She was also interviewed later on Sky News. Zoe achieved 4 A grades at A level and after a gap year is currently at the Courtauld Institute studying History of Art. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1332811/TUITION-FEES-PROTEST-Students-streets-girls-leading-charge.html#ixzz16II30U42

On Monday 18th October a group of thirty-five students and four staff began a whistle-stop tour of Greece to great academic success. Beyond viewing the superb architectural and sculptural remains of a distant civilisation in situ, students were able to imbibe the Greek culture and pride in their national heritage; the trip increasingly became a study in reception studies as well as Ancient Greek ingenuity.
As a group we experienced the acoustic prowess of the theatre of Epidaurus, the ancient citadel of the ill-fated Agamemnon, the ruggedly dramatic idyll of Delphi, the thrill of running around the Panathenaic Stadium, the superb panoramic view from the Athenian Acropolis, the visually stunning seaside resort of Tolon, and obviously the remarkable variety of ice cream at each archaeological site!
This trip proved integral to stoking the enthusiasm of our budding classicists and consolidating on their peripheral knowledge of all we study in the classroom. Many thanks should go to Miss. Cross, Miss. Brennan and Mr Koutsakis for all of their help and language skills!

Old Colfeian Major Jo Butterfill M.C. of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, recently back from duty in Afghanistan, lays a wreath at the Old Colfeian Association Annual Remembrance Day Parade and Service on Sunday, Major Cherry Commanding Officer of Colfe's CCF Squadron organised a moving and impressive event. Reverend David Garlick read the prayers on behalf of the O.C.A. and its President Mr John Nunn.

Also present were Mr & Mrs I.Wright who were visiting the OCA memorial for the first time. Mr Wright's father Mr H. Wright was a Colfe's pupil killed in military service during the Second World War. His name is honoured on the brass plate of the memorial.

Late November has become famous for the annual fixture between between local rivals Colfe’s and Eltham College. A crowd of several hundred watched as Colfe’s began the game with a high kick-off which was knocked on by an Eltham player. This provided Colfe’s with a good field position. This, coupled with some good back play, saw us score in the corner through Brandon Johnson to gain an early 5 point lead. As Colfe’s expected, Eltham came back strongly with 2 penalties and a try, to find themselves leading 13-5 at half time. Both teams struggled to play much running rugby in the first half and this continued through to the second. We were gifted with an excellent field position as Eltham’s indiscipline cost them and Colfe’s found themselves with a scrum close to the opposition’s line.  This gave Tom Chapman a chance to squeeze into the corner for another Colfe’s try (see photo). The score was now 13-10 Ten minutes from time a poor kick and chase from Eltham allowed Tom Chapman a free 45 metre run to the line to win us the match by 15-13. Although not our best game, we showed the determination required to win, and now have some good momentum for the rest of the season.

Chris O’Malley

Candidates for the Prep School Council from each form have been busy preparing speeches to give to their class. Slogans and badges supporting various candidates could be seen everywhere. Eventually the day of the vote came and then, with great excitement, at the end of the week the results were announced in assembly.

3A Dominic 3B Nathanael   3C Sam 

4A Alexander  4B Symran 4C Jeremy

5A Lekan  5B Henry  5C Molly 

6A Joe   6B George  6C David

Twenty three pupils, together with two staff and three parent helpers, met rather early on Tuesday 2 November, to travel across London to watch the All Blacks train. We had exclusive access to the players and it was definitely a day to be remembered! The NZ players, coaches and management were very friendly and a few of our pupils may have switched allegiances before their game against England this weekend!

Ms Chadha, a Year 3 parent, kindly gave an assembly last Friday on Diwali. It is the Hindu Festival of Light and also coincided with Bonfire Night. Ms Chadha and her husband, Mr Grover, then served traditional Diwali food at the PAFA fireworks later that evening.  Here, she is pictured with all of the Prep pupils who were also celebrating Diwali.

Throughout my time at Colfes I have always been aware of our involvement with the Kotu School development project in the Gambia, and of the worthwhile work that Colfe’s has been doing there. This and the great praise the trip has received from the friends I asked whom had previously been on the expedition, convinced me to embark on this year’s trip. In short, it is a decision of which I am hugely glad I made. From the satisfaction of seeing first hand the school rapidly grow after a hard day’s work, to the warm welcome we received from the Gambian people and the excitement of learning about their fascinating culture, not to mention Colfe’s scoring a goal at the annual football match against Kotu school, made it a hugely enjoyable week. Having met some of the Koto students, they seem very pleased with this year’s progress, especially with the greatly improved girls’ toilet facilities which, they told me, were essential. I now look forward to seeing the school grow even further over the coming years, and am very hopeful that both the Kotu community and the Colfe’s students student have all benefited greatly from the trip. Unfortunately I’m not so hopeful of Colfes beating the Kotu school football team anytime soon!
By Joe Ives

Three of our sixth formers have spent the last few weeks painstakingly hand-decorating 100 tea lights for the Demelza Children's Hospice in Eltham.They will be used for the Hospice's Remembrance Service, and the tea lights will then be given to parents afterwards in memory of their children.

Pictured: Anna Oduwaiye, Shivani Anandarajah and Terrie Kennor from Demelza.

The Pavilion has undergone a major transformation! A fabulous place for a party, please look at our facilities for hire page for more information.

Colfe's vs. Alleyn’s: We had a slow start to the game after missing some interceptions and centre passes, and struggled to keep up with the fast pace of the opposition. By the second quarter we still hadn’t properly adjusted to the pace of the game, having difficulty in moving the ball through centre court.

Candidates for the Prep School Council from each form have been busy preparing speeches to give to their class. Slogans and badges supporting various candidates could be seen everywhere. Eventually the day of the vote came and then, with great excitement, at the end of the week the results were announced in assembly.

On Thursday Freshwater Theatre came into the school to talk to us about Ancient Egypt. It was about an explorer called Daphne Witherspoon coming here to find the secrets of the tomb because she had failed and got cursed a few years ago. Now she was asking us to help her.

Year 6 experienced a day in the life of a Victorian School Child this week. Miss Wilberforce (from Freshwater Theatre Group) stood for no nonsense as she bellowed instructions to the awaiting Year 6’s. They undertook a number of activities involving the 3 R’s of reading, writing and arithmetic and naturally, a stint in the finger stocks or the wearing of the dunce’s hat would pertain should a pupil misbehave!

Fresh from their convincing win on Saturday the Colfe’s side entered into their first Daily Mail Cup match with renewed vigour. They faced a well drilled and physical Langley team. Langley started the better and saw themselves up by 7 shortly into the first half. However Colfe’s picked themselves up from this to comeback with four penalties with out answer.

The U19 senior netball have faced some tough opposition this term and none more so than during the last week before half term holidays. After an annihilating loss against Alley's the team were determined not to let this phase them as they faced JAGS.

On Thursday 14 th October the Colfe’s School Cross Country Team competed in the Greenwich Schools’ Cross Country Championships held at Avery Hill Park.

On Thursday 14th October the Colfe's School Cross Country Team competed in the Greenwich Schools' Cross Country Championships held at Avery Hill Park.

On Monday the 4th of October, Onay Kasab (‘Kaz’)came to talk to the year 12 and 13 politics students, and a few other dedicated political minds. Kaz stood for the Trade Union and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) for the Greenwich and Woolwich constituency in the 2010 General Election and was on the London Region list for ‘No 2 EU’ party in the last European Parliament elections.

Near perfect weather conditions met the two teams as they began the clash at the later time of 2pm. The game began with a high kickoff from St Bede’s which provided the Colfe’s pack with real difficulty as the chase from the opposition was a statement of intent. Unfortunately this was the only real point in the match when St Bede’s provided much resistance in what was a true demolition by a team just beginning to find their feet.

Colfe’s Year 11 Historians recently visited the Cabinet War Rooms as part of their new coursework, an evaluative study of Winston Churchill. Bright sunshine was a pleasant bonus but of little benefit once inside the subterranean offices from which Britain’s World War Two operations were directed. Colfe’s students took the opportunity to see the actual rooms where Churchill and his staff worked, ate and slept as bombs rained on London.

Old Colfeians Rugby Club hosts first ever joint training session for boys from Colfe’s School, Lee and Conisborough College, Lewisham. On Tuesday 5th October, Head of Colfe’s Prep School and former All Black and Rugby World Cup winner John Gallagher, held a training session for a selection of Year 9 boys from Colfe's School and Conisborough College.

The U10s A squad represented the school at the prestigious Dulwich College Prep School 9-a-side tournament on Friday 8 October. The boys did themselves proud by competing in every match against some of the finest prep rugby teams in London and the Home Counties. All of the opposition schools had twice and sometimes three times as many boys to choose from, but once again the pupils from Colfe’s punched well above their weight!

The girls arrived at Merton Court full of energy and focused on their goal – they wanted to win. With eight schools in competition for the trophy it was going to be a tough afternoon of netball. The first game was Blackheath Prep. We scored after the first couple of minutes which secured us our first win. Next we played Blackheath High. Amber worked hard to bring the ball from defence into attack to allow our shooters to score two goals whilst Olivia and Charlotte worked as a team to stop the opposition from scoring any goals, so the match ended in a 2-0 victory for Colfes.

This morning the pre-prep and nursery invited family and friends to join them in celebrating Harvest Festival. Children, including those who only started in Nursery a few weeks ago, sang a selection of songs and some of the older children did a couple of readings.

Fabulous Fours! Fantastic Fives! Year 6 Mix Up

The Under 11s followed a narrow defeat away to DCPS and a 14-14 draw away to Eltham College with a fine win away to Bickley Park. Last season Bickley went unbeaten and we suffered a narrow defeat to them, but yesterday the boys were determined to get a win on the board.

£889.96 Raised For Macmillan Cancer Support

On Tuesday 21st September we were visited by Legion XIII Geminae and his wife. They brought many Roman artefacts and we had an exciting day. It started when I walked to school. Everyone was staring at me because I had my Roman costume on.

Miss Harris' Year 7 Latin sets dabbled in Lego, cardboard amongst other materials to produce sterling miniature models of their ideal Roman villa.

Monday 21st September saw two groups of Colfe’s Lower Sixth Business Studies students take part in the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA) Business Challenge at Sydenham High School for Girls.

For the first time in living memory Colfe’s entered a team in the Under 15 ISFA Cup, this year sponsored by Rensburg Sheppards and faced a long trip to play Dover College.

Students studying Classical Civilisation were able to consolidate their knowledge of Greek architectural form on Wednesday as we ambled through the streets of London and looked at buildings such as Senate House, The British Museum and St Pancras' Church.

For Year 12 & 13 Academic Planners. Please click on the 'more' button to be taken to quick links.

His Royal Highness, Prince Michael of Kent, visited the School on the 16th September to distribute prizes to senior pupils, including Ran Xiong who gained five A* grades at A level and others who achieved at least ten A*s in their GCSEs.

We took all the Year 10 Art students to the Tate Modern on Thursday 16th September. The students spent the day working on the theme 'viewpoints' in three very different workshops.

With a scoreline which did not do justice to the efforts of the Colfe’s team this game veered back and forth between the two teams until St Olaves pulled away in the last ten minutes.

Colfe’s school 1st XI cricket captain was part of the Kent team which won the U17 County Cup competition this weekend. Jack Potter, who is in Year 13 scored 24 runs in 18 balls and kept wicket for Kent in their win over Nottinghamshire on Sunday.

During the summer Colfe’s cricketers have topped their County averages. Jack Potter playing for Kent U17 has ended up the top wicket keeper with 9 victims with the County Championship final to come. Mathew Stiddard of Yr 9 has topped the Surrey U14 batting, bowling and keeping averages. He has also been selected for the Surrey U16 tour of Jersey.

Many congratulations to our Year 11 pupils who are celebrating record GCSE results with a higher proportion than ever gaining top A* grades. Top performers included Katerina Charalambous, Alex Hill and Charlie Whittaker, each of whom achieved 10 A*s. A further 15 pupils gained exclusively A* and A grades.

Once again pupils at Colfe’s are celebrating some outstanding A level results, but none more so that Ran Xiong, who achieved a quite amazing 5 A*s, 1 A and an A* in her extended project qualification. Ran, who lives in Greenwich, joined Colfe’s in 2003. She is going to Imperial College, London to study Medicine.

Eighty pupils from the prep and senior school gave magnificent performances at the concert celebrating Abraham Colfe’s induction as Vicar of Lewisham 400 years ago. A harp solo from Lia and a trumpet solo from Olivier (both ex-prep school pupils!) were interspersed between items from the Prep Choir and St.Mary’s Church Choir.

The annual PAFA summer ball was, once again, a resounding success, and our thanks go to Dawn, Liz and all the other helpers who worked so hard on this event.

Colfe's CCF had its annual parade and biennial inspection on Saturday 4th July. The inspection was carried out by Wing Commander Chalklin. The boys and girls were also given the opportunity to fly in a Lynx from 671 Sqn Air Corps crewed by Old Colfeian Captain Jay Cherry brother of Colfe's CCF commander Major Chris Cherry.

Colfes was well represented at this year's Kent County netball trials. Girls from schools all over Kent spent an intense day being scrutinised by Kent county coaches for a spot on the U14 squad. Having won the U12 Kent tournament, 7 members of the U12 team had been invited to trial.

Yet again, a very successful Summer Concert took place on Tuesday 29th June. This was to be the new Director of Music, Miss Katie Collinson’s first concert. The concert began with a performance of The Gypsy’s Violin, which was a joint collaboration between the Prep and Senior string players.

Tuesday the 22nd June saw the musical recital hall turned into a mathematics class room when thirty-two pupils from local junior schools participated in the Year 5 Mathematics Master Class. Each school sent along their very best mathematicians to enjoy a morning of mathematical games and problem solving.

On the morning of Monday 21st June, a wide variety of moods were noticeable amongst Year 12. The prospect of a day of Public Speaking was approached with eagerness by some, but equally with fear by others. After being divided into four groups, we initially received some advice on how to structure and deliver a speech, before everyone was asked to individually deliver an impromptu speech on a given title, ranging from ‘my favourite time of year’ to ‘the pogo-stick as a mode of transport’.

Prep school pupils showed their support for England’s crucial game against Slovenia with a football-themed ‘mufti’ day. Senior school pupils were not to be outdone.

On Monday 21st June, the Hands On Risk Probability Roadshow in association with the Millenium Maths Project came to Colfe’s. We were pleased to involve all pupils in Years 8, 9 and 10 in 2 interactive Maths sessions. Session 1 was relating Maths to the real world and explaining how Derren Brown uses Maths for magic and mind games and the probability of winning the National Lottery.

We recently said Goodbye and Good Luck to Year 13 as they went on Study Leave. This is always an emotional time for the students as they look back on their years at Colfe's (many have been with us since the Prep School), and say goodbye to both friends and teachers.

Charlie Whittaker from Year 11 successfully fought for Colfe’s earlier in the year at the British Schools Judo Championships held at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield. In a strong, competitive group, Charlie won a silver medal in the boy’s Year 10 and 11 Under 55kg weight category.

On Thursday pupils from the top three sets in Year 8 and the best mathematicians in Year 7, (a total of ninety nine children in all), sat the Junior Mathematics Challenge. This is a competition held annually by the United Kingdom Mathematical Trust. The competition is to challenge the most able students in Years 7 and 8 in a fun way. This year we achieved a total of 6 Gold, 17 Silver and 17 Bronze certificates.

The annual House Music Competition took place on the afternoon of Thursday 20 May in the Main Hall. The first unenviable task for our guest adjudicator, Mrs Marilyn Harper, was to judge the House Singing Competition performed by Year 7 as part of their initiation into Senior School life! The weeks of intensive discussion (and days of rehearsal), organised by some very thick-skinned House Captains, led to some highly entertaining song and dance (well, movement) routines in a variety of costumes, wigs and short skirts (and that was just the boys).

This mystery was solved by four Year 8 students who took part in a Chemistry challenge held at the University of East London. The day involved carrying out various analytical experiments in a University laboratory in order to identify suspects in a fictitious crime.

Good luck to Year 11 (pictured at their pirate-themed Leavers' Breakfast), who are now on study leave prior to commencing their GCSE exams later this month.

Last Wednesday Old Colfeian and ex CCF Squadron Cadet Jo Butterfill, who has recently returned from Afghanistan where he won the Militay Cross, invited Major and Mrs Cherry, Cadet Sgt Maj Simon Cox and Cadet Cpl Gareth Kennedy-Brown to the Queens Guard.

On the 3rd April I travelled to Wellington College to play in an international rugby festival. On Sunday 4th April we played against Scotland, which was one of the hardest games I have played in, even bigger than being on the bench for Saracens Storm (the 2nd team, which includes some 1st team players) against Bath 'A'. I played inside centre against Scotland and this was a position I hadn't played in for a few years.

My Trip to the Imperial War Museum. In history we have been learning about what it was like during World War Two, so the teachers decided to take us to the Imperial War Museum to learn more about it.

Sousafun are two professional musicians who visited the school this Monday. The surprise came when they demonstrated musical points by the use of some really extraordinary equipment. The main instruments that Sousafun play are the Sousaphone and the Clarinet, but the real showstopper came when the pair showed that almost anything can become a musical instrument.

Year 6 recently spent their music lesson listening to three expert professional saxophone players perform a range of music which demonstrated the history of Jazz. They started in the 1900s with Scot Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag, and moved through various styles, ending with a piece that demonstrated the sounds of Funk Jazz. As a treat, their finale was a toe tapping version of the Simpsons TV theme.

Many of our pupils are being taught various styles of dance in their lessons with Mrs Turpin. They include Ballet, Tap and Modern Dance. Several girls recently took part in the Rainbow awards scheme and were successful in gaining certificates. Congratulations!

Many congratulations to Thomas Jewers, who last night (Thursday, 13th May) represented Colfe's school in the South East England Schools Cup final (Kent V Sussex). Kent won 2-1. Thomas was forced to play the match with his ankle strapped up due to torn ligaments, but he was so determined to play there was no way of stopping him. Thomas was also told by the U18's manager that he will continue to be in the squad for the forthcoming years.

The Arkwright Scholarship scheme encourages young people to study design and technology at advanced level with the idea of attracting them into engineering and industry where there is a need for people with creative and technical skills. Last term a number of Year 11 pupils took the Scholarship exam and two were successful in getting interviews with potential sponsors. Sarah Loughlin and Phoebe Roth were invited to Cambridge University where a day of aptitude tests, interviews and problem solving tasks were arranged. We will hear the result of the Arkwright Scholarship panel towards the end of this term but Sarah and Phoebe can be confident that their ability as designers has already been recognised.

Conor Henderson, who left Colfe's in 2008 to pursue a career in football, has been tipped as Arsenal's next young success story following his appearance on the Arsenal 1st XI bench for the recent Gunners match at Wigan.

The new Disney film, The Prince of Persia, is out today (14th May) starring our very own Year 10 pupil, Charlie Banks. Charlie is sharing the screen with those slightly less well-known stars, Gemma Arterton and Jake Gyllenhall.

On Friday 23rd April 2010, Year 3 had a sleepover at school. The boys were divided into two classrooms and the girls were all put into one classroom together. We put our luggage in these rooms then went to the hall for a quick kit-kat and drink – yum! After our tasty snack we went to the swimming pool. We had lots of fun, the floats were out and we played games with our friends. Around 6pm we all had dinner. I had saveloy and chips along with orange juice to drink. After dinner we went outside to play football and kingball. This was fun and we really enjoyed it. We finished playing outside at 7pm.

On Thursday 29th April Year 6 were taken down to the hall to learn about WWII. Waiting there were two men dressed in World War II clothes pretending to be actual soldiers from the war, one man who is actually in the war today and a woman. The men dressed as WWII soldiers had dull green jackets and heavy backpacks with various other smaller bags. One of them had a Lee Enfield bolt action rifle, a 2 litre water canister and they both had green army caps. The modern day soldier was dressed in a camouflaged t-shirt, shorts and hat , along with some black boots.

On a rather chilly Friday morning the entire school descended onto the playing fields for the annual House cross-country competition. Boys and girls competed against their own year groups and ran two laps of the field (three for the Year 5 and 6 boys).

A huge thank you to Dr.Thirkell and Mrs.Basham, who gave up their time last Friday to come and speak to the Year 3 children about the landscape, food, housing and schooling of people in rural and urban Kenya.

On Tuesday 23rd March Year 5 visited the Museum of Kent, to learn all about how the Tudors lived. We all wore Tudor costumes. I felt awkward because the clothes were uncomfortable. Jordan looked really good in his costume and reminded me of Henry VIII. First we went and met the Long Bowmen. He showed us all his bows, arrows and a musket. We got to have a go at using one of the bows. Luckily we didn’t have an arrow!

To supplement the GCSE Latin syllabus a group of six Year Ten students ventured to the Museum of London with Mr Corstorphine and Mr Symeou on Friday 30th April. In the morning we were lucky to receive a talk from the much-televised Curator of the Museum of London and we subsequently handled authentic pieces dating back thousands of years.

On Wednesday 24th March Colfe’s was extremely fortunate to welcome Mr Nick Denyer from Trinity College, Cambridge to give a highly philosophical lecture to an enraptured audience.

On Wednesday 10th March Matthew Buck and Sam Stone in Year Eight were a force to be reckoned with in the recent Latin Reading Competition held at City of London School. Their dynamic performance with superb pronunciation and performance skills blew the comparatively static renditions offered by other schools out of the water.

Congratulations to John Gallagher, Head of the Prep School, who was delighted and relieved to complete his first marathon this Sunday. He found the first 15 miles quite enjoyable, but tells us that the last 11.2 miles were excruciating! Supported by his running partner Garry Mallen (ex Colfe’s parent) and buoyed by family, friends and lots of Colfe’s faces, he managed to break 5 hours in 4:52:54.

The Year 1 performance last term was MOTHER GOOSE, however, it was not the Mother Goose that the audience might have known or been expecting! The performance was based on Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite which was originally written for two children aged 6 and 7 who played it on the piano.

Recently Year 11 pupil Francesca King wrote a poem called ‘Puma’ which she submitted to two competitions. She was delighted to learn that she had, in fact, won both competitions which meant that her poem would be published in two anthologies: Bust-A-Rhyme and Sparks of Inspiration.

During the Easter break, Ms. McAuliffe took a party of 29 students from Years 8, 9, 10 and 11 to Iceland. This proved to be a timely experience, as they were amongst the first to witness the now famous Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupting into life. Ms McAuliffe writes: We enjoyed a truly exceptional trip to Iceland at the end of March, a week after the first eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull fissure volcano in the South of the country near Vik. After a rigorous risk assessment and the reassurance of various experts, it was decided that we should go ahead with our expedition, and I am really pleased we did.

On Friday 19th March, over one hundred Old Colfeians gathered at the RAF Club to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Old Colfeians Association. It was lovely to see so many ex pupils, and we were particularly grateful to those who had made a special journey from abroad - namely Richard Burton from Germany and Ian Priestley and Pieter Cross from Switzerland.

Debating at Colfe’s took another step forward this term as, for the first time, the school was able to hold a day long debating workshop. Professional speakers from the English Speaking Union spent a full day at the school, teaching higher level debating skills to interested pupils

Two Merlin helicopters landed at the school this week as part of a RAF training exercise. They were attended by the Colfe’s CCF fire-fighting attachment

In March, Mr Snell, Miss Wilkinson and Miss Cross took 8C and 8E on outdoor pursuits to North Wales. They were lucky enough to enjoy superb weather, as these photographs show.

There was a real buzz at this year’s exhibition, as parents, friends and people from the design industry came to see our GCSE, AS and A level exam work. Contemporary and sculptural pieces caught the eye of many visitors, some of whom even enquired if the pieces were for sale.

In the school’s first ever mixed hockey match, we were delighted that our team scored an impressive six goals against the opposing team of St. Dunstan’s. Five were scored by Josh Herring, and one by Bethan. The final score was 6-0

On the morning of Thursday 25th February 2010 students from set 1 in years 8 and 9 took part in a Team Maths Challenge in the main hall. A team consisted of two students from year 8 and two from year 9. There were 11 teams in total. The competition consisted of 3 rounds.

Following a successful 15 a-side season, where they reached the last 16 of the Daily Mail Vase competition, Colfe’s entered the sevens season with confidence. A runner up position at the Dartford GS tournament earlier in the week proved this wasn’t misplaced and the team arrived at this prestigious competition on a high. A total of 16 schools from all over London, including Eton College and St Benedict’s, plus some from further north all took part in the knockout competition.

On Thursday 4th February 2010 a total of 112 students from the top 2 sets in years 9, years 10 and 11 sat the Intermediate Maths Challenge which is a competition held by the United Kingdom Mathematical Trust. The competition is to challenge the most able students in years 9, 10 and 11.

Former pupils will remember that Suzie Rowe (daughter of Colin), was the first female student to play cricket for the School. We are delighted to learn that she has just been selected for the England T20 squad for the world cup.

The Headmaster, Richard Russell, is photographed congratulating Year 13 cricketer Rahul Patel on his 5 for 68 against the MCC.

Over the half term holiday a lucky group of U14 cricketers, accompanied by Mr. Clinton and Mr. Brooker, escaped the dreadful British weather and headed to sunny South Africa.

Yesterday (Wednesday, 24th February) Lieutenant Matt Leat, Old Colfeian and one of the Officers in the Colfe’s CCF Squadron, was introduced to HM the Queen when she visited his RNLI Station on the River Thames. The Queen visited Tower RNLI lifeboat station to meet lifeboat crew members whose mission is to save lives on the tidal reaches of the River Thames.

From this September students will be able to study A levels in Philosophy, Graphic Design and Classical Civilisation. Philosophy: Develop the ability to think logically, critically and deeply. Explore fundamental questions about life.

Over Spring half-term a group of 6th Form German linguists, Historians and Artists enjoyed a culture-laden trip to Austria. Our initial destination, Vienna, was cold but impressive and the students visited the beautiful (yet unfinished) Stephansdom, the magnificently yellow Schonbrunn Summer Palace of the Habsburgs, the Sisi museum in the imposing Hofburg Imperial Winter Palace and many art galleries including the Belvedere which housed Gustav Klimt's 'The Kiss'.

Cheque Presentation On Friday 29th January the prep school were pleased to welcome Rachel and Debbie from Bromley Deaf Children’s Society to their morning assembly.  They spoke about their organisation and how they helped the families of deaf children in Bromley and the surrounding areas.  The school were delighted to be able to present them with a cheque for £1400 from the proceeds of our Christmas Fayre. 

Year 6 Visit The Thames Barrier By Ben and Edward 6A On Thursday 4th February Year 6 went to the Thames Barrier to learn about climate change and flooding. We had been learning about this in Geography. We got off the coach and were soon lead off to our first activities. Our group headed off to learn about sustainability and how to reduce waste. After playing lots of fun activities in the classroom we went into the garden which was designed to be completely sustainable. Some things helped to reduce energy, some were recycled (wormery) or reused (benches), and some used renewable sources of energy (solar powered lights).

Y6 Visit Lee Green Fire Station London Fire Brigade and Greenwich Council jointly organised a Junior Citizen Scheme Event for our Year 6s last Monday. The aim was to promote good citizenship in children in Year 6, which assists in preparing them for a more independent life at secondary school, and beyond into adult life. During their half day the children took part in 9 twelve minute interactive scenarios with professionals and volunteers from a range of partner agencies. The scenarios covered independent travel, stranger danger, home fire safety, health, safety in the community and peer pressure.

Tom Chapman and Alex Smith have been selected for a half term U16 England Rugby Training Squad. If successful, they will be picked for either the U16A or B team. We'll keep you posted!

We were hugely privileged to welcome Auschwitz survivor Eva Schloss to our school yesterday (Tuesday, 9th February). Eva, who was the ‘posthumous’ step-sister of Anne Frank, talked for two hours on her experiences as a child in enemy-occupied Holland, her two years in hiding and her nine months in Auschwitz.

Last week Terri Kennor from Demelza House visited the school to explore ways in which pupils can help with fundraising for Demelza House. The children’s hospice needs to raise £15,000 per day to cover running costs and without any government support all money comes from either donations or fundraising.

We will be holding a series of evening classes this term, giving adults and sixth form students the opportunity to learn the process of etching and printmaking processes

This weekend (29th & 30th January), the Upper School staged Michael Morpurgo’s award-winning novel Private Peaceful at the Greenwich Theatre, London. The production, which comprised over 50 students from Years 10, 11, 12 & 13, was directed by Head of Drama, Gavin Bruce, and played to virtually full houses on both Friday and Saturday night. In addition, there were two matinee performances, one of which was attended by a mix of local primary and preparatory schools.

On Thursday 21st January a group of fourteen Argentinean students accompanied by their teacher, Señora Clara Pérez de Falco, visited the School.

In September 2009 we began our campaign in the prestigious Hans Wodya Maths Competition. In our league we were drawn against Blackheath High, Bromley High and Langley Boys.

In September 2009 we began our campaign in the prestigious Hans Wodya Maths Competition. In our league we were drawn against Blackheath High, Bromley High and Langley Boys.

Colfe’s U15XV beat Christ’s Hospital School, Horsham 51-0 in the Daily Mail Vase with a superb all round display of running rugby. Charlie Banks scored four tries and Elliot Roofe two. Colfe’s face Reed’s School from Surrey in the next round.

Year 7 and 8 students had the opportunity to enjoy some Christmassy Science fun at the end of last term. The club was held at lunchtime and students who participated were able to grow their own crystal snowflakes, make some fake snow and observe silver forming on a copper Christmas tree. All students who attended thoroughly enjoyed themselves, particularly making the fake snow and were able to take their projects home at the end of the week. The Science department are intending to hold more themed Science clubs, like this one, throughout the year.

It was a snowy start to 2010 for the 90 students and 9 staff who travelled to Alpe D’Huez on January 3rd for a week of skiing and snowboarding. On the night that we arrived some 13 inches of snow fell, making it an ideal first day for all those beginners amongst us - falling over in fresh, fluffy snow doesn’t hurt quite as much!

On Monday 18th January 33 students from Year 8 attended an activity day exploring Britannia under the Romans and the courageous leaders like Boudicca attempting to prolong their freedom through high octane military campaigns.

“Colfe’s 1st XV deservedly beat a powerful London Oratory XV at the Leathersellers’ Ground on Wednesday by 14points to 8points. Jack Potter scored three penalties and Alex Gallagher scored a last minute try to clinch the win in dark and wintery conditions.

This Christmas the Nursery & Pre-Prep’s festive production had an out-of-this world theme. Please go to the next page to see our gallery.

Year 11 student Francesca King reviews the fashion show: On the evening of Monday 14th December, Colfe’s School hosted the annual Fashion Show; its purpose to raise money for Demelza House. The night was definitely one to remember with the huge inflatable flowers strung from the ceiling (supplied by Bubblehouse), fantastic lighting and of course, gorgeous outfits modelled by students from Year 11, sixth form and Year 6 of Colfe’s prep school.

Pupils put on their own Nativity - Years 3, 4, and 5 performed a lively and energetic Nativity. The play ‘Let’s do a Nativity’ by Theresa and Ali Kane showed the packed audience what would happen if the production was entirely in the hands of the pupils. All one hundred and fifty children danced and sang with fantastic enthusiasm. The main cast enjoyed their parts and acted with much energy. Over 58 speaking parts and solo songs gave many pupils an opportunity to show their performing skills. All of this, along with the transformation scene at the end, added to a fantastic evening. - Thank you to Staff and performers.

A report by Alexandra 6C - A choir of 8,000 at the O2 Arena - On Wednesday December 2009, I woke up and jumped into the air, my heart full of joy. Instead of groaning about lessons, I had a concert to go to, and I couldn’t be late. But this concert was different, I wasn’t watching a singer, I was a singer!

Our third match in our league was against Langley School. This took place on Wednesday 2nd December 2009 at Langley Boys School. We started well taking a lead in the starter round by 8 points. The geometry round proved to be difficult for both schools with Colfe’s increasing our lead by a further 2 points only.

Major Cherry writes: Once again well done to the large number of Colfe's pupils who have achieved their Bronze and Silver Duke of Edinburgh's Awards - and these are in addition to the awards gained by the CCF Squadron Cadets as part of their programme.

The annual House Design Technology competition took place yesterday, and the winners were Norton. Report to follow.

A Musical Treat Over 60 pupils took part in the Prep School Concert on Thursday evening. The Choir, Orchestra, String group, Chamber Orchestra, Guitar ensemble, Flute and recorder and soloists all contributed to an excellent concert.

Everyone dressed in their casual clothes on Friday 20th November and wore a hat in support of the BBC’s charity Children in Need.  We saw a wonderful array of hats but a special mention must go to Charles and Alexandra who made their own special Pudsey inspired hats.  In the Prep School we raised £187.

Thank you so much to everyone who donated a shoebox filled with gifts for Operation Christmas Child.  With the Pre-Prep we managed to collect a total of 260 boxes, smashing last year’s total!  A really fantastic donation.

Year 6 Visit Pond Life at the Senior School. This term all Year 6 classes have been visiting the Senior School to experience an exciting science lesson.  Mr Cummins and Mrs Wates took everyone to the pond to collect samples of pond life and then the children analysed the creatures using viewing slides and microscopes.  

This Tuesday the first round of Colfe’s Sixth Form University Challenge was completed with only a few arguments over the answers given - does hydrogen sulphide smell of eggs or rotten eggs was a particular bone of contention.

What felt like the coldest and windiest day of the year was to make a very dull game of rugby. The pitch seemed to reflect the weather, being atrociously muddy and uneven it seemed like it was not going to favour the 1XV’s style of running rugby.

It has been a very busy term so far both inside and outside the classroom. Academically, English coursework has featured predominantly and in the Science subjects pupils have been studying the Core Science 1B unit in preparation for their next external GCSE exam in March 2010. Your children should be in the position to explain to you the new sanctions system that went live last week.

Our class was eager to go to Canary Wharf; the reason for this was because we had been chosen to go for a business trip. It was on a Wednesday, we left in the morning and took ages going to Canary Wharf and Mr Otley went past Credit Suisse (the place we were meant to be going) three times!

Last week's City Lunch was deemed a great success, with parents and Old Colfeians who work in the City joining together for a networking lunch at the Leathersellers' Hall in St. Helen's Place.

Our breakfast club regulars with the help of Miss Lempriere decorated this year’s Christmas tree in the prep hall – and they all look quite happy with their work!

On Thursday 5th November 2009, 55 students sat the Senior Maths Challenge which is a competition held by the United Kingdom Mathematical Trust. The competition is to challenge the most able students in the sixth form. We achieved 4 Silver and 11 Bronze certificates this year.

On Saturday, 14th November, Colfe’s took part in the Lord Mayor’s Show as part of The Leatherseller’s entry entitled: ‘Supporting Education Since 1652’. Despite the extreme wind and rain, staff and pupils rose valiantly to the challenge as they marched the five mile route through The City of London.

November Update: With more than half of the contests now complete, the Colfe’s Sixth Form University Challenge is starting to hot up. This Tuesday saw a hard fought contest between a very knowledgeable team from Dr White’s form (supported by their three form tutors) and Mr Dunsmore’s form. Having started poorly, CWD’s team managed to drag themselves into the lead at 45 points to 40, only for EJW to pull away and complete a 165 to 105 rout.

The 1XV came to the game fresh from half term waiting for kick off with baited breath. They knew that a hard game awaited them but they were keen to show off their new kits. After a promising warm up that excelled above the normal 20 minute touch game the 1XV failed to deliver in the first 15 minutes as the physical intensity lacked. Careless penalties put them 6-0 down before Campion’s backs play ran in a try.

A Pupil Reviews the Lower School Platform Concert, which took place on Tuesday 13th October 2009: I always look forward to the Lower School Platform Concert each term as there is an eclectic mix of musical choices and a variety of instruments being performed. It makes for an interesting evening and I love seeing how people have improved from one term to the next – some make significant progress! This term’s offering was to be more special as we were all aware that it was Mrs. Hayward’s last Platform Concert with us, and so we wanted to make it a memorable one.

During the October Half Term the Classics Department were accompanied by twenty eager Colfeians on a grand tour of Rome and it's environ. A highly enjoyable, yet informative, trip was had by all as we visited sights like the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Vatican City, Ostia Antica and the San Sebastiano Catacomb.

Pictured: Photographs from an immaculately organised, and moving, Colfe's Cadet Force Remembrance Sunday Parade at the Old Colfeians’ Club on Sunday, 8th November. Many thanks to Major Cherry and Colfe's CCF for all their hard work.

Colfe's is delighted to announce that it will be taking part in this year’s Lord Mayor’s Show as part of the Leathersellers’ Company’s float entitled: Supporting Education Through The Ages. Over 50 pupils will be joining forces with those from Prendergast School in Lewisham to march in this famous procession, which is covered live on the BBC.

The U19’s have just broken Colfe’s netball history as the first team to score 50 goals against an opposition. The final score was 50 – 5 against Bishop Justus, in a forty minute match.

Our objective on the October 2009 trip to The Gambia was to finance and help to build a new domestic science classroom at Kotu School which is needed for a variety of reasons. The new building is an extension to an existing group of girls’ classrooms, and provides more space than the existing room as well as much better storage and office facilities; the old room, which adjoins the computer classroom, will in due course be turned into an extension of the computer room so that most of the school’s computers will be close together.

On Wednesday 14th October we were lucky to welcome Dr. Rosanna Omitowoju to Colfe’s School to give two separate talks directed to potential Oxbridge candidates and those interested in Greek tragedy. Dr. Rosanna Omitowoju was a former Admissions Tutor for King’s College

Prep Governor visits school We were delighted that Mr. Andrew Dobbin took time out of his busy schedule to visit us last Monday. Mr Dobbin is the ex-headmaster of St Paul’s Cathedral Preparatory School. He was especially pleased with the ‘wonderful and polite children’ he met.

School Council Results After many persuasive speeches and much campaigning for the position of Class Rep for the School Council, the children finally made their choice and voted for their favoured candidate. Results were announced in assembly this morning and we are delighted to present you with our new Class Reps for 2009-10.

Year 3 Meet Some Egyptians! As part of their history topic, Year 3 children enjoyed the drama of the Freshwater Theatre group as they led an exciting workshop on the Ancient Egyptians. Mysteries were solved, curses were lifted and well known pharaohs and gods featured. As active historians, the children participated with great enthusiasm. Well done to Year 3 !

Year 4 Become Romans for the Day It was Roman Day; Year 4 pupils entered the hall with excitement, dressed in their costumes. They discovered how Romans dressed in a toga! They found out about Empresses and Emperors like Caesar. They also learnt about their make up, their ear cleaners, nail cleaners and hair pickers for their nose!

Year 5 Netballers Bronze Medal Winners The Year 5 netball team took part in a very wet tournament at Merton Court on Wednesday. The girls played 7 matches in total. The first game saw Colfe’s take on Babington House. The team started out well and the first goal was scored within seconds of the whistle going.

Year 6 Get Victorian School Treatment Year 6 experienced a day in the life of a Victorian School Child this week. Miss Wilberforce (from Freshwater Theatre Group) stood for no nonsense as she bellowed instructions to the awaiting Year 6’s. They undertook a number of activities involving the 3 R’s of reading, writing and arithmetic and naturally, a stint in the finger stocks or the wearing of the dunce’s hat would pertain should a pupil misbehave!

The inter-form competition is divided into 7 initial rounds, with the winners and highest scoring loser going through to quarter finals after Christmas and then the semi finals and finals in the second half of the spring half-term. There will be a prize for the winning team.

With a team depleted through injury and other commitments the 1st XV were aware that it would be a hard game against a typically strong and physical Ravens Wood side.

In this year’s league stage we were drawn against Blackheath High School, Bromley High School and Langley Boys School. Our first match was against Blackheath High School. We started well in the first round, taking a commanding lead which increased slightly up to the team round. After the break the team went into the calculator and algebra round. We performed reasonably well and went into the race round with a comfortable lead, resulting in a win.

For all the latest hockey, netball, football and rugby match reports and results, please look at our new Sports Pages. These will be updated every week with reports from both staff and pupils.

Year 3 had their first match against Farringtons on Tuesday. The girls have been working really hard in lessons and in after school practices and Mrs P had high hopes for the team. The girls, in true Colfe's style did not disappoint. Right from the start Colfes dominated play but in the first quarter the girls just couldn't quite get it in the very tall goals. In the second quarter after an excellent feed from Ciara, Jess put the ball up & scored an amazing goal. Ione the shooter did not want to miss out on the action, and After Lily turned the ball over in defence, Ione scored her goal. From then on the goals just kept going in and Colfes won with an impressive 6-0 score! Well done to Karita, Tochi, Lily, Ciara, Liberty, Jessica & Ione.

We were delighted to be joined by so many parents and friends for our Harvest Festival assembly.

Over the last year the Art Department has run two highly popular evening courses in Etching. These have introduced both students and adults to the traditional processes involved in this fascinating medium.

See the full results of recent rugby fixtures here.

Following their win of 12-10 at Cranleigh Prep School the previous Saturday, the Year 6s were confidently looking forward to the Farrington’s friendly netball tournament. The team were on their toes from the first whistle of the first match, dodging brilliantly and marking Bishop Challoner out of the game. We won 5-0 and everyone was delighted by this fantastic start. We then had a tougher game against a very tall Merton Court team.

It is with great pleasure that Colfe’s Prep can announce its second World Champion! For you older readers, you may recall that Mr. Gallagher was a world champ with the All Blacks back in 1987, but that pales into insignificance when compared to the achievements of Mr. Biffen last weekend.

The U10s & 11s made the long journey down to Cranleigh Prep School to play their first fixture of the season. Cranleigh are a strong sporting school and the girls turned up to the match feeling nervous but excited about the game ahead of them. The girls played 4 x 10 minutes, the longest match that they had ever played. After the first quarter the U11s were drawing 3-3. In the second quarter despite battling hard they went 6-3 down. Going into the second half of the match, the girls had a steely determination to win. They scored 4 goals to Cranleigh’s 1, to put them only two goals behind at 7-9 going into the final phase of the match.

Fanfare for Year 3

Breakfast Club is now available! Monday 7th September 2009 marked our first breakfast club in the Prep School. Our excellent catering services manager Mr. Graham Renfrew has been overseeing the project. Pictured here are our first group of regulars.

There were celebrations at Colfe’s yesterday as the school achieved its highest ever percentage of A* and A grades, with 56% of entries being awarded in the top band.

Proud Colfe’s student Dan Courtneidge, who lives in Lee, is today celebrating outstanding A level results: he passed all five of his A level subjects with an A grade. Congratulations must also go to Alice Higginson, Jemma Hoare, Louis McLean-Wait, Alex Millington Marston, Frasat Shah and Andrew Sheridan, who all achieved 4 A grades each.

The Pre-prep and Nursery production proved to be a topical theme this morning! On what is tipped to be one of the hottest days of the year, the children staged a wonderful production of 'Whatever The Weather'. A few pulled the short straw and had to dress up in woolly hats and coats as they sang 'Snow is Falling'.

After several weeks of hard work rehearsing scenes, choreographing dances and learning lines; Year 6 finally staged their summer production of The Tempest. For the first time in several years, the performances were over two nights – both of which were hugely enjoyed by the audience.. Every pupil was involved in telling the tale of the wronged duke Prospero and the adventures and lessons learned on his magical isle.

Once again Sports Day was a great success. The largest number of participants to date took part in the programme which again included ‘Invitational’ and ‘Open’ events in addition to the finals.

The Wild West comes to Colfes! These last weeks of term come so quickly and it is always with a mixture of sadness and excitement that we hold a party to say good-bye to the children of Year 6 and wish them well on their new adventures in senior school. However this year we broke with tradition and instead of a disco, the children chose a Wild West themed party.

This year’s GCSE and A level art exhibition saw it’s biggest ever attendance by parents and friends, all eager to see the excellent range of work that our students have produced for their exam pieces. Exhibits ranged from large oil paintings and contemporary sculpture to a quirky fashion mannequin dressed in recycled material and a stunning mosaic dragon.

Tuesday the 16th June saw the musical recital hall turned into a mathematics class room when twenty-two pupils from local junior schools participated in the Year 5 Mathematics Master Class. Each school sent along their very best mathematicians to enjoy a morning of mathematical games and problem solving.

Britain may well have talent, and it would appear that a great deal of it is residing in Colfe’s School. The annual Talent Show took place on the evening of Tuesday 9th June, and the staff and students came out in force to support the brave contestants. The Beardwood Theatre was packed and it was ‘standing room only’, as the 13 acts competed for the coveted “Colfe’s Has Talent” trophy. This year, we were treated to six singers, two guitarists, a brother and sister duo, a year 7 duo, an Irish dancer and two dance groups.

Year 10 pupil Priyanka writes about one of her favourite lessons - Critical Thinking. When I first heard of Critical Thinking, I wasn't expecting too much. Perhaps we would write mini-essays on various issues in the world, criticise them, and possibly put forward our views; a bit like some of the work we had previously done in English lessons. However, fortunately Critical Thinking involves anything but writing essays. We simply discuss our views on global or national issues and argue for our own viewpoints. Of course, we must understand a little economic or political background first, but truthfully I was amazed at what came to my knowledge. Many of us had heard of the investigations regarding allegations of racism in the MET police force, yet when our class viewed the streaming videos it was evident that we honestly no idea about the scale of this matter.

Five go mad on Hayling Island. “On Wednesday 25 th of May we got on the coach and set off to JCA. Everyone was really excited! Tom taught us a card game called Twizzle. We stopped at a picnic area for lunch…back on the coach we had 45 minutes to go. Tom won Twizzle again, then we pulled into the gates of JCA and the real fun started!”

Today we said farewell and good luck to our Year 13s as they departed on study leave. The Leavers’ Tea proved the highlight of the day and it is the last time the students will all be together again until the Leavers’ Ball on 25th June. We wish them luck with their exams.

The ‘new look’ House Music Competition took place earlier this week after a two year break. The first half of the competition was the Year 7 House Singing. Each house had to perform a song of their own choice in front of the other houses. The winning house was Prendergast, who performed the song ‘I’m a believer’. Some of the judge’s comments included such praise as: ‘lovely chorus illustrating good phrasing’ and ‘good use of dynamics and words’. We were delighted to be able to present the house captains of Prendergast with the newly acquired House Singing Competition cup.

This summer we say farewell to the first girls to have been at Colfe’s from the Prep to Senior School. Co-education began back in 1998, when Alice, Stephanie, Jemma, Robyn and Emilia all started in Year 3 in the Preparatory School.

Congratulations to Tom & Alex (Year 10) who have been selected to attend a training week at Leeds Met University as part of the England U15 Performance Squad. Both Tom & Alex are part of the Kent County team and members of the Saracens Rugby Academy. The camp takes place in August and will give them a chance to showcase their skills prior to the trials for next years England U16 team.

All the children have had a lot of fun during our Science Week. Each class worked on this topic through a cross-curricular approach; and the highlight of the week was on Wednesday when ‘The Animal Man’ visited our school. He entertained everyone with his jokes, knowledge and animals.

One of our children at the controls of a submarine! On Wednesday 29th April, Year 6 went on a trip to the Imperial War museum in central London. First of all we got a coach and travelled all the way to the city, and then we made our way to the green, where we sat down and had a snack. After that we split into our two groups and had a look at the timetable. We had our workshop with a lady from the museum and during that session we had the opportunity to handle gas masks and other World War Two artefacts, have a look at what exactly children used to pack in their suitcases for evacuation and we also heard a real gas siren!

The first overnight camp for Year 4. OUR SCHOOL TRIP TO DOWNE by Alice and Lucy 4B. The things I liked about Downe: my favourite activity was the zip wire because you could do all sorts of tricks, like going upside down. I also liked the campfire when we sang songs and ate sweets. I liked the go karts because everyone kept crashing.

Year 3 Visit Coolings Garden Centre as part of their new Science topic 'Helping Plants Grow Well'. They were taken by Mrs Eggins, the Science teacher and driven by Mr Hamilton. Harvey from 3C shares his experience with us. When we got there we were shown around and were told they planted 40,000 geraniums each year! 3C noticed a strange cone that looked like a mirror cone.

On Monday 27th April 2009 we held the Inter house Tae kwon-Do competition. The competition was split into the two areas of patterns and sparring. We started with the patterns where the student had to perform a series of basic fundamental movements against an imaginary opponent either in attack or defence. This was close with the final being won by Bhavini Vijapura of Bramley against Adil Peerbhai.

Prep pupils enjoy ski trip

Spin Bike Classes are now at Colfe's Leisure Centre throughout the week.

Thursday 26th March is the BBC School Report day where thousands of pupils throughout the UK write, produce and broadcast the news. This year we are taking part and our stories have generated huge interest across the BBC.

Colfe’s commitment to cricket was enhanced by a visit from Geraint Jones (Kent CC and England) and Simon Willis (Kent CC Head Coach), who visited the School recently to conduct a highly instructive and enjoyable wicket-keeping course.

Congratulations to Ben Mawji, Louis McLean Wait, Shivam Sedani and Aadil Chowdhary who as The Love Kings are through to the National Finals of the IFS student investor (share dealing) competition

The Year 13 Biology students were in Epping Forest last week, studying organisms in their natural habitat and applying some statistical techniques to add scientific rigour to their enthusiastic investigations. We look forward to some magnificent coursework from them now they have returned.

This year, our Biologists have achieved success in the prestigious Biology Olympiad. This is a nationwide competition that tests knowledge from the International Baccalaureate syllabus rather than our A level specification, so we are pleased that our pupils have done so well. Julia Hall has gained a Bronze Medal and has been invited to a reception at Imperial College that will be addressed by Professor Steve Jones, author of the standard Evolution text, Almost Like a Whale.

We will be holding a series of evening classes this term, giving adults and sixth form students the opportunity to learn the process of etching. Along with engraving, etching is one of the oldest and most important methods of printmaking in use today. The workshops will be run by Jenny Hendra, a practicing artist and printmaker.

The U12 Rugby team followed up their victory in the St Olave’s 7 a-side tournament by winning the Dulwich College U12 Invitation 7’s Tournament. It is the first time for a number of years that the school have been invited to play and the first time we have been successful. The boys played extremely well to win this prestigious event, going undefeated throughout the competition and caps what has been a very good season for the whole U12 squad. Congratulations to the players involved and to Mr Bateson, Mr Fishwick and Mr Hughes for guiding them to victory.

On Saturday 7th March the Colfe’s 7 a side rugby squad travelled to Dulwich College for a rugby sevens tournament. It was the first time that Colfe’s have been invited to this prestigious tournament and the competition was tough. The squad managed to win all of their qualifying matches beating Dulwich Prep. Collet Court and London Oratory, before defeating Whitgift and Eltham College to get to the final. The final against a strong John Fisher was a decisive and well deserved victory after all the hard training and the commitment that the team had shown.

An amazing range of product ideas was on display in the Design Technology department at the beginning of March. The theme for the GCSE groups was lighting and this had been interpreted differently by everyone. There were lights for illuminating plants and trees; there were lamps for nurseries and consulting rooms and there were signs and advertisements with lights behind them. The 6th form students were free to follow their own project ideas and these included a stylish wall rack for a mountain board and a fitness bench that doubled up as seating for children on the school field.

On Thursday 5th February 2009 a total of 110 students from the top set in years 9 and top two sets in years 10 and 11 sat the Intermediate Maths Challenge which is a competition held by the United Kingdom Mathematical Trust. The competition is to challenge the most able students in years 9, 10 and 11. We achieved in total 6 gold, 13 Silver and 25 Bronze certificates.

This October the A Level historians spent six days in Russia; dividing their time between the cultural city of St Petersburg and the capital, Moscow. Our first three days were spent in St Petersburg, which is host to over seven thousand palaces, dating from the times of the Russian Tsars and sixty eight waterways. We were unusually lucky with the weather which made the sightseeing a little more enjoyable. The highlights of this city included the Peter and Paul Fortress, the Winter Palace and the Battleship Aurora. We were also lucky enough to see the summer residence of the Tsars in Pushkin where we were mesmerised by the extravagance of the Romanovs.

Year 7 have been practising their information skills by solving a terrible murder which was committed in the library. A series of clues which can be solved by finding out pieces of information, have so far led them to discover the name of the victim (Mr Worley – form tutor for 7A). They are now working out how he met his sad end and then finally they will find out the name of the murderer.

Year 3 Archaeologists

The Rhythm Is Going To Get You!

And the winner is.... Norton house!! For their fabulous version of The Witches by Roald Dahl.

The school’s new Deputy Head (Administrative) is John King, who parents will know as the Academic Co-ordinator and Head of Economics and Business Studies. John joined Colfe’s in April 1989 as Head of Economics from Epsom College in Surrey and Bristol Grammar School before that. He attended Crewe Grammar School as a pupil, then attended the University of Bristol to read Economics. After deciding against a career in accountancy, John decided to become a teacher. He is a keen sportsman, both as a player and watcher, and has supported Stoke City FC for 40 years.

A close win over Trinity has secured a place for Colfe’s as one the last eight schools in the prestigious Hans Woyda competition. After coming top in our league against teams from Bromley High School, Eltham College and Alleyn’s, we entered the knockout phase of the competition and were drawn against the highly regarded Trinity School, Croydon. We started confidently with the first round, taking a slight lead. The first few rounds went well and we were improving our lead until the Algebra round, which unfortunately went poorly and we lost 9 points to nil. As we went into the race round, with the scores very close, it came down to the last question.

The 'Lion King' comes to Colfe's

Bronze Award

An enthusiastic start for budding string players

Children Sparkle in ‘Snow Queen’ Performance!

Fascinating Day at Transport Museum! On the 13th of December Year 6 went on a trip to the Transport Museum. It was a fascinating day, learning all about Victorian transport.

Festive feeling found at Prep & Pre-Prep Fayre! A successful afternoon with £1116.80 raised to go towards a respite day out for Young Carers in Greenwich.

The final match in our league took us to Alleyn’s School in East Dulwich on 4th December. Our team consisted of Andrew Sheridan (Captain), Ran Xiong (Year 12), Harry Morris (Year 11), Vivek Patel (Year 9), Mrs Hamidzadeh and Mr Vijapura.

Congratulations to the Year 2 mums, who raised £165 at a cake sale for Demelza House.

Last Thursday, over 60 students sat the Senior Maths Challenge - a competition held by the United Kingdom Mathematical Trust to challenge the most able Sixth Form students.

The 1st XV beat Long Road 6th Form College, Cambridge, 43-0 in R3 of the Daily Mail Vase. It was a good performance by the team who were missing players through injury, illness and university visits. Several 2nd XV players stepped up and acquitted themselves very well. It gave the coaches an early glimpse of how next year’s players may fare and the future certainly looks a promising one. See the full results of recent netball and rugby fixtures here.

The Prep School has supported BBC Children in Need by dressing up in an array of colourful, spotty clothes, Pudsey ears and spotty bandanas. The total amount raised was £187. Thank you to everyone who dressed up and donated £1!

Last Friday evening 90 cadets and their fathers sat down to the annual Remembrance dinner at the Leathersellers’ sports ground.

In October the U19 netball squad travelled to Rainham for the annual Kent Schools netball tournament, where we faced some tough opposition.

Colfe's has won its next round of the Hans Woyda Maths Challenge against Eltham College.

Year 6 Spend the day as Victorians

2008 Events

Year 4 Enlist into the Roman Army

Congratulations for Sporting Success

Hans Woyda Maths Competition: Round 1

Year 7 go to the Lake District

The U14 and U15 rugby teams both won their matches for the Kent Cup this week.

Filming for the CBBC series ROAR.

Year 11 students celebrated today as GCSE results at Colfe’s kept pace with last week’s outstanding performance at A Level last week. Results' Table now available.

Colfe’s students are celebrating yet another year of record A level results. Results' Table now available.

In March two Year 12 students attended the Dicey Conference held at Trinity College (Oxford University)

On Tuesday 17th June the Lower Sixth Form (Year 12) took part in a public speaking event.

On Thursday 26th June 2008 Bradley Storey and John Sargent took their black belt grading in Tae kwon-Do.

Stunning Performance of the ‘Scottish Play’ by Year 6!

A day of drama at Greenwich

On Thursday 26th June, five prospective Colfeian medics embarked on a fascinating tour around King’s College London’s School of Medicine at Guy’s Hospital.

Colfe's wins the Inter Schools Maths Competition

Hot on the heels of ‘Exam Week’, Year 7 embarked on a much needed trip into the City.

On 11th June 25 History pupils ventured on a “Duck Tour” of central London.

School Governor Gives an Historic Assembly!

"PGL was awesome!"

As part of their Geography studies Year 4 visit Godstone.

Last Thursday evening the art department welcomed students and their families to the annual summer art exhibition.

Ross (Year 9) has his sights set on a Rugby World Tour; Elise (Year 7) prepares to exhibit her paintings at Bodiam Castle.

Year 4 Exhibit Artwork

A group of pupils from Year 8 spent an exciting afternoon at Headcorn aerodrome in Kent experiencing the thrills of skydiving.

Colfe’s 1st XI Football season concluded on 19th March at “The Valley”, home of Charlton Athletic, with a 4 – 2 victory over Darrick Wood School in the Bromley Schools’ Under 18 Cup Final. This marked the end of a highly successful 16 match undefeated season, which has seen 11 wins and 5 draws. In addition to lifting the Bromley Cup, last month Colfe’s also won the final of the Trinity Schools’ U18 Cup.

Today was the last official day in school for Year 13, who departed this morning on Study Leave.

Used to competing alongside her team mates at Cambridge Harriers in Eltham, Lauren uses her athletic talent to raise money for Asthma UK during ‘Asthma Awareness Week’.

Colfe’s Quiz Team do Themselves Proud!

Swiss Ski Sensation!

Jamie of 9D supports the effort to promote educational development in Nepal

Colfe’s eventually emerged as winners of this pulsating final played at the Tooting and Mitcham United Football Ground on Wednesday 16th April

Year 7 with Children from the Prep School perform 'Kofi’s Journey' and raise £1360.50 for our Gambia Project.

Congratulations to all those students who won medals in the recent Intermediate Maths Challenge; a competition held by the UK Mathematical Trust to challenge the most able students in Years 9, 10 & 11.

Colfes Prep won the overall competition and remain holders of the trophy for another year.

Jacob(6C) has recently competed in the English National Ski championships and made the podium!

Year 12 Politics students are encouraged to join Think Tanks which are active in London, here is an account of a recent meeting written by Year 12 Politics student Edward Patton.

John Gallagher congratulates Rory (6C) after he had received several prestigious trophies and ‘best swimmer of the year’ award from the Greenwich Borough Mariners Swimming Club.

Will this singing trio win?

On the afternoon of Wednesday 23rd January 2008 students from set 1 in years 8 and 9 took part in a Team Maths Challenge in the main hall. A team consisted of two students from year 8 and two from year 9.

The Amazing Magical Science Show

Bradley Storey and John Sargent both in Year 10 have been studying Tae Kwon-Do since Year 7. On 6th December 2007 both achieved their red belts black tag, which is one grading away from achieving their blackbelts.

On Tuesday 22nd January 2008 the Hans Woyda Maths Team consisting went to St Paul’s Girls School in Hammersmith. They were taking part, for the first time ever, in the knock out stage of the competition.

We would like to congratulate the following pupils who have all been offered places at Oxbridge

When I got the part of the Artful Dodger in the school production of Oliver I was really pleased, I enjoyed everything about the play

Last year the school council managed to get pupils access to the astro turf at lunch breaks and this year we hope to do more for the pupils.

The Twelve Days of Christmas comes to life!

Year 6 enjoyed a very busy day last week at the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green.

The Nursery & Pre-Prep christmas performance took place today in the Beardwood Theatre in front of a packed audience.

The Maths department is delighted to report three exciting wins in the latest round of the prestigious Hans Woyda Mathematics competition: Langley Park Boys 14 Colfe’s 35, Eltham College 29, Colfe’s 32 and JAGS 33, Colfe’s 38.

£1188 raised at Christmas Fayre

Parents and pupils lucky enough to have tickets for Oliver! are in for a treat! The show, which runs over five nights, is packed with wonderful songs from this much loved musical.

On Tuesday the 20th of October, Year 10 Set 2 Physics visited the SELCHP power station in Millwall. This was as part of their studies on electricity generation.

Operation Christmas Child receives 232 boxes from Colfes

Colfe's Under 16s have won the Kent Netball Tournament for the first time, going through to represent Kent in the London & SE Regional Netball tournament next spring.

Colfe's Rugby wins cup for first time

Prep Charity Concert

Chinook helicopter drops into Colfe's

On Thursday the 29th of November, Dr Deane will be talking to the Medical Society about 'Life as a G.P.'

Children in Need Day

Congratulations!

Issy Timothy 11D, Alex Gallagher 11B and Zina Alfa 11D are the Year 11 representatives on the School Council.

Julia Hall 11F has always wanted to be a veterinary surgeon, she would like to go to an Oxbridge college in order to pursue her dream.

Ruth Storrs-Fox 11A and Steven Parry 11A have been students at Colfe’s for several years. Despite the occasional pressures of GCSE study, both have enjoyed their time in middle school.

Lance Ranger is an old Colfeian and a lawyer. On 3rd December he’s planning to walk and ski the last degree to the South Pole in Antarctica, a gruelling trip lasting 10 days.

This November around 100 Old Colfeians and staff attended the School's annual reunion dinner.

Old Colfeian Adrian Li returned to address the 6th Form Medical Society on “Life as a 2nd Year Medical Student.”

In September 2008 the Physics Department will begin teaching a stimulating new Physics A level syllabus ‘Advancing Physics’

Adam Gibbs (Year 13), a viola player, who has been chosen as a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain.

Students designed a T-Shirt, which showed their team identity including their logo or slogan on one side and their career aspirations on the other.

Year 6 experienced a day in the life of a Victorian School Child. Miss Wilberforce (from Freshwater Theatre Group) stood for no nonsense as she bellowed instructions to the awaiting Year 6s.

Bike ride raises £582 for charity.

Since September 2006 we have introduced a new approach for delivery of the programe to pupils in Years 8- 11.

Jennifer of 9B and James of 9C represent the school at Open Morning

Amelia and Hugo are elected Year 9 representatives to the School Council

Colfe's Annual Prize Giving took place on Tuesday 16th October, celebrating the achievements of its current students and recent school leavers.

Colfe’s Prep collects the highest number of sports vouchers

On 10th October Colfe’s made their first ever appearance in this national competition when we entertained St Mary’s School from Crosby, Liverpool.

The Year 9 Ecology Club starts work on Colfe’s nature reserve

This spring the A Level German linguists werejoined in Berlin by students of Art and History.

On the weekend of the 14/15th September, Ms. Beetlestone and the art department held an exhibition of ex-pupils’ work at the Leathersellers’ Hall in London.

The Good Schools Guide is objective, free from sponsorship and reassuringly expensive!

In the first cohort of students to take Psychology A level at Colfe’s, half of the class achieved A grades.