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Term Reviews
Michaelmas Term 2015
The buzz on the first day of the first term of a new school year is a sensation that I think I shall
miss greatly. Although boys have perhaps seen a few of their friends during the summer holidays,
there are plenty of folk they haven’t seen for two months, and I’ve always enjoyed seeing the
delighted smiles on their faces as comrades renew contact with each other.
As they take their pencil-cases to the
classrooms or their recently-purchased
football boots to the boot-room corridor –
renamed, from September 2015, as the Peg
Corridor – friendly greetings are exchanged
and, gratifyingly, their spirit of bonhomie
is also extended to their teachers. Further
excitement is engendered if, as is usually the
case, there are new features or alterations
around the school, and this time there were
plenty of obvious innovations to observe.
Of immediate interest, of course, were
the peg-lockers which, though not lockable,
now provide a greater degree of security for
the storage of precious possessions, such as
footballs, tennis racquets and fives gloves;
looking back as I write, there has been a
significant reduction in the amount of
casual ‘borrowing’ of other boys’ belongings.
Further down the corridor, alongside the new
pavilion, there were new footwear-lockers
(cages) too, but this area was boarded off
as the interior of the building had not quite
been completed. Nevertheless, from the
outside the edifice was an impressive sight,
even though it was still partially obscured
by the builders’ compound. The refurbished
dining room also drew wide admiration, with
the floor stained a lighter colour, the walls a
pale pastel shade, modernised lighting, new
tables installed and all the benches replaced
by smart, wooden chairs. In Bolton one of the
classrooms (Room 5, not needed this year as
a form-room) had also been given a make-
over – fixtures, fittings, lighting, equipment
and décor – and CILM was charged with the
task of trialling the prototype environment
and its technological features, as well as
training pupils to help look after the facility.
All being well, we shall in due course see
other classrooms redesigned in similar
fashion. Other works carried out during the
summer break included redecoration in Borva
and bathroom refurbishments in Front Lodge.
The first few days were sunny and warm,
which allowed our 59 new boys ample
opportunity to familiarise themselves with
the school grounds. However, rain came at
the weekend, when the 5th Years departed for
their brief visit to Ypres and those remaining
were able to go kayaking on the Cherwell,
and was also much in evidence the following
Wednesday for the first football matches
of the season. At home it held off until the
final whistle, but our away teams got a
thorough drenching and then endured the
journey home in a faulty bus – heating stuck
uncomfortably on high and flooding on the
top deck due to a leaking roof! Happily, there
were only a few other days of rain in the
first half of term, and conditions for outdoor
games and activities were mainly favourable.
The Removes had a good trip to Cornwall,
the Parents and Sons Golf Competition
went well, the 2nd Years enjoyed an outdoor
Sunday-lunch in the Plantation, the SF Under
S u m m e r F i e l d s
2 0 1 5 – 2 0 1 6