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Lent Term
2016
The Lent Term began a week
later than normal and as ever, a
huge variety of different events
and activities were packed into
the shortest term of the year.
We welcomed three new boys to the school
and our new Gappers, eight fromAustralia
and one from South Africa, who were
given a first taste of British winter with the
cancellation of the first senior rugby matches
at the weekend. A number of boys sat the
first paper of the TownsendWarner History
Prize and the first lecture of the term was a
Summer Fields mother, Judy Hilton, talking to
the boys about her experience of competing
in the South Africa to Australia leg of the
Clipper Round-the-World Race.
The second week of term saw freezing
temperatures overnight which did its worst
to hamper the new rugby season.The season
also saw new RFU law changes implemented,
reducing the number of players in some teams
and making the game less structured. It was
to be the last season of a prep school 1st XV
as in future the senior game will be moving to
13-a-side, so we’ll have to get used to referring
to the 1st XIII.The midweek matches against
Cheam were frozen off but were instantly
rescheduled and played the following Saturday,
which happened to be free (showing excellent
foresight from the fixture secretary!).The new
Salata Pavilion changing rooms were by now
fully in operation, which freed up useful play
space in the centre of the school where the old
changing rooms had been.A couple of table
football games, snooker table and TV kept the
boys happy when the weather was too poor to
go outside. Equally, the new “Quiet” common
room next to the staff room proved a popular
space for board games and Kapla – hundreds
of wooden bricks for constructing and creating
all sorts of things! Match teas for parents
were served in the upstairs of the magnificent
Salata Pavilion – the only difficulty for visitors
being how to find your way there without
any obvious pathways leading to it from the
playing fields! By the second week of term,
rehearsals for
Animal Farm
, a Middle School
production, were taking place in earnest and a
very fine set, depicting the farmyard, occupied
Macmillan Hall for much of the term.
Minor sports really come to the fore in
the Lent Term, and plenty of fives matches
in particular kept APWB busy during his
penultimate term at Summer Fields.The
fives team impressed early on when playing
and beating much older opposition in their
Harrow fixture and the boys would continue
to perform well all term.The term also saw
the resurgence of squash (after last year’s
‘lost term’, thanks to flood-damaged courts)
with many boys getting involved and the
team recording some notable victories over
Caldicott and the Dragon.
The week preceding the first Short Leave
saw the start of the Public School Music
Scholarships and this year we had a record
entry of boys showing off their musical talent.
In all, seven music awards were won and,
added to that, an academic award and two
Outstanding Talent scholarships to Harrow
and an art award to Radley; it made for an
impressive start to the scholarship season.
The same week saw the school caterers
Holroyd Howe give a presentation to the
school on the perils of too much sugar in our
diet.Then ensued “Low sugar week”, and the
disappearance of hot chocolate at breakfast,
much to the dismay of the boys! Later in
the week, the ThirdYears visited Hampton
Court and the SecondYear spent an excellent
day working on a cross-curricular project,
“Bloodhound SSC”, alongside 50 or so visiting
children from local schools.The task to build
and race model rocket cars down the school
“ThenewSalata
Pavilionchanging
roomswerebynow
fully inoperation,
whichfreedup
useful playspace
inthecentreof the
schoolwheretheold
changingrooms
hadbeen.”
S u m m e r F i e l d s
2 0 1 5 – 2 0 1 6