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Procter’s lecture on genetics and gene
mutations; team-takers and Lodgeparents
were especially pleased to hear this eminent
consultant in clinical genetics emphasising
that ‘lots of sport and lots of sleep is good
for you’. Dr Richard Corfield returned to
Summer Fields to address the senior boys
on the subject of ‘Science and Valour on
theWestern Front’, in which he gave a
comprehensive summary of the many
technological advances that made the Great
War so brutally destructive in comparison
to previous campaigns. Robert Rigby came
to spend a week with us as writer-in-
residence. He worked on creative writing
with every form and also held a couple of
song-writing sessions. He addressed the
whole school twice and impressed us all
with the unexpected revelation that Andy
McNab, the well-known author with an
SAS background, is a big fan of Thomas the
Tank Engine. Bob Tait gave three separate
presentations to Removes, 5th Years and
Parents on drugs awareness, and we also
welcomed Dr Mick Donegan, from the charity
Special Effect
, to tell us all about the amazing
technology that this organisation provides
to enhance the lives of severely disabled
children. A memorable quote from the latter
was: the happiest people don’t necessarily
have the best of everything, but they make
the most of everything.We raised money
– over £3000, in fact – for this charity and
the Maclaren Foundation through holding
a Christmas Fair at the start of the second
short leave, an event that saw the inaugural
use of the first-floor space in the Salata
Pavilion.
Early November was very wet and the
fireworks display (breathtaking, thanks
again to the pyrotechnical expertise of DCP
and CS) had to be rescheduled, but on the
whole we escaped lightly from the worst
of the weather around the country: severe
flooding in Cumbria, and subsequently in
other parts of the north barely registered
on our consciousness within the confines
of Summer Fields. However, the shocking
news of the Paris massacre made us all sit
up and take notice of the world beyond our
school. As usual, the end of the football
season heralded the run-up to Christmas,
together with the release of a new
Star
Wars
film, which prompted the catering
department (in costume) to produce an
appropriately themed lunch, much to the
delight of the boys. According to custom,
exams (only for 5th Years – everyone else,
of course, now has low-key ‘Assessments’)
came after the school play (GIJP’s delightful
production of
TheWind in theWillows
) and
before the 1st Years’ Christmas show. The
series of choir commitments included a
concert at Blenheim Palace, in aid of the
Oxford Children’s Hospital, and the regular
Carols by Candlelight, carol singing at Sobell
House Hospice and ‘Christmas Cheer’,
culminating in the end-of-term Carol Service
in St Michael’s Church, Summertown. On St
Andrew’s Day, in a departure from previous
practice, the whole school went out on
year-group expeditions; this experiment
was an attempt to reduce the disruption
caused by having a series of trips taking
place throughout the term. On the whole
this was a positive step forward, even if it did
lead toWidow Twanky giving the first public
announcement of APWB’s forthcoming
retirement.
The term had begun with innovations,
had continued thus with the gradual move
into Salata’s new accommodation and the
conversion of the Matrons’ room and the
old changing-rooms into games rooms,
and ended with two further changes: the
school Cross Country races were held at
the end of November instead of the end of
the Lent Term, and the Juniors enjoyed – on
the penultimate evening of term – their
own Christmas Dinner, instead of a festive
lunch.With the traditional, whole-school
game of Bombers & Fighters and the League
Feast, smoothly masterminded by JDAN
and MLS respectively, it’s good to know that
Summer Fields can embrace change within
the framework of retaining the best of its
heritage.
APWB
“thehappiest
peopledon’t
necessarilyhavethe
bestof everything,
but theymakethe
mostof everything”
S u m m e r F i e l d s
2 0 1 5 – 2 0 1 6
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