The Senior Reptonian Issue 4 Term 2 - Repton School Dubai

14th March 2011 Issue 4 Term 2 Repton School DubaiDates for your diary:14th—16th MarchArabian Nights performance6.30pm20th and 21st MarchHouse Music Finals5pm in the Sports HallTuesday 22nd MarchYear 13 Parent’s Meeting3.30pmWednesday 23rdMarch House Shout2.45pm23rd—26th MarchDubai InternationalAcademy ModelUnited Nations Conference.Inside this issue:Music News 2Interviews 4Gymnastics 5IGCSE Concert8Art 9Mr Cooper’s year 7 and Art activity groups produced these 3stunning pieces for the Arabian Nights Production.Fun Page 12

ABRSM High scorers concertMusic News….Many of our pupils take ABRSM music examinations as part of their general instrumental progressbut only a few really excel and receive a high distinction by gaining a mark well over 130/150. Lastyear Guy Lockwood managed this with his Grade 4 piano exam and was invited to represent theschool at the annual High Scorers Concert hosted by Dubai College (whom are the examination centrein Dubai).This year we were thrilled to have two representations at this event; Isabel Grenville achieved 137in her Grade 4 singing examination and Henriikka Pentti secured 139 in her Grade 8 cello. Theyboth performed in the concert having to revisit a piece from that programme, and whilst they havemoved on with new repertoire they were able to clearly demonstrate why they received such highmarks. What was also clear was that they displayed an air of confidence and maturity in their mannerand presentation, which made them outstanding ambassadors for Repton. Well done!Emirates Airline Festival of LiteratureForty pupils from all three parts of the school (Senior/Prep/Junior) represented the school in theopening ceremony of the Emirates Airline Festival Literature on Tuesday 8 th March. They providedthe orchestra and supported the massed choir forged from schools around Dubai for the occasion.The piece performed was a specially commissioned song ‘The Mystery’ which draws reference tochildren’s mystery novels and relates them to real life. The composer is Yousef Khan who is one ofour singing teachers and coordinator of the choirs for the event. The orchestration was agreed toinvolve our younger musicians and provide support and splendour to the occasion. All the participantswere dressed as characters from mystery novels which made a real spectacle when they allappeared on stage – some 300 young performers.The performance went very well in front of a packed VIP audience at The Dubai Scientific and CulturalAssociation at Al Mamzar Park and all the children from year 2 to year 9 acquitted themselvesadmirably in what was a fairly lengthy wait to perform, rising to the occasion in true Reptonianstyle!In keeping with the Repton policy of welcoming outside organisations to educate and entertain us,we recently had a visit by the Trinity School Big Band from Croydon, South London. A Bigband, so called because it contains large numbers of saxophones, trumpets, trombones and arhythm section, plays mainly swing style jazz, originally dance music, from the 1930s to the presentday. The Trinity band members are all extremely capable exponents of their instruments and themusic they played showed off their abilities in a highly entertaining and effective way. We weretreated to a wide variety of the Big band repertoire including the notable Swing swing swing, socalled “jungle Music” from the 1920s – complete with animal sound effects from the trumpet section.Mention should also be made of the extremely talented and versatile vocalist who sung numberssuch as “Mr Bojangles” and “Is you is or is you ain’t my baby”. The band ended with a rousing,foot tapping rendition of “Jail House Rock” which was enhanced in no uncertain way by the interestingacoustical properties of the Atrium in D block. We are all extremely grateful to the Band for theirinspiring performance and hope they will return to see us on one of their future tours.Peter BeckoPage 2 Page 2

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What’s your name and what house are you in?Zara Zaman from LathamTara Mei Povall Macnab from New HouseKatie Cook from DahlMollie Danks from New HouseMiad Khetryian from Orchard…..with members of the castof Arabian Nights.What character are you playing?Zara: Jinee in the edited version of Judar and his brothers – now sisters!Tara: I’m doing extra parts and I’m also Abd-Al Ahad in Judar and hisbrothers.Katie: The MerchantMollie: Different characters including one of King Shariyah’s Queens.Miad: Ali BabaDid the play turn out as you thought it would?Zara: Well, I haven’t done many productions before. It’s a very intense procedure but I am sure that the overall product willcapture the audience’s imagination.Tara: Well, I’ve done quite a few professional productions and school plays, and this is definitely one of the best school playsI’ve done.Katie: No it turned out different in a better way, and it is very different to last year’s play.Mollie: More interesting than I thought it would be.Miad: It has turned out much better and fun.How are you feeling about the performance?Zara: Kind of nervous but very excited.Tara: I’m feeling so excited, because I am full of beans although I am sure I will be very tired afterwards!Katie: Excited, confident but a little bit nervous as well.Mollie: Nervous and excited.Miad: Really scared and nervous.How would you describe the performance in three words?Zara: Exciting, interesting, busy!Tara: Fun, exciting, adrenalin!Katie: Must-see performance!Mollie: Five star performance!Miad: It is phenomenal!Page 4 Page 4

China Gymnastics TourRepton Gymnastic’s A Squad are busy preparing for their up and coming tour inGuangdong, China this month. The Gymnasts will be training andcompeting at the Li Ning Gymnastics Centre of Excellence, run by amulti medal winning Olympian. Not only will our Repton Gymnastscompete against China, but they will also be up against gymnastsfrom Hong Kong. Emily Wilson (Dahl) who is one of the Captains onthe tour interviews Jessica Bruce to see how her last minute preparationsare going.Emily:Jessica:Emily:Jessica:Are you looking forward to China?Yes I cannot wait, I am hanging on by a thread!How long have you been doing Gymnastics for?Two yearsEmily: What apparatus are you most looking forward to competingon in China?Jessica:Emily:Jessica:Emily:Jessica:Emily:Jessica:The floorWhat move are you most scared of when you compete in China?The ‘Y’ balance move because standing on one leg is pretty hard.Have you ever been on any other gymnastics tours?No, this is my first!Are you scared about the competition?I am a bit nervous, but I also feel confident.We wish all the Gymnastics’ Squad well in their training and preparations leading upto the competition at the end of March.Mrs PartridgePage 5 Page 5 Page 5

Boys Table Tennis Competition50 boys, 25 teachers, 8 tables, 80 games, 156 bats and 55 balls- and three winners.School House won the prestigious Boys Table tennis Cup for the third time in a row and Duco Hofstee won the Junior title with theirrepressible Sunny Chaudry the clear overall Open Champion.The quality of play was very high with extended rallies, fierce smashes and some great defensive play. The standard of sportsmanshipwas extremely high also and the whole tournament was played in a good and friendly spirit.The two individual finals were excellent affairs much appreciated by the spectators. The Repton senior school teachers joined in intheir usual accomplished style and umpired and scored with enthusiasm and expertise making sure the tournament galloped along atan impressive pace and with the right balance of good humour and a muted degree of seriousness ; all rather splendid stuff.Special mention must be made of the scorers Matthew Wilson and Alastair Hann who brought structure and wit to the proceedings andworked with infectious enthusiasm to ensure the results were spot on and delivered expeditiously.It was, in short, a hugely enjoyable and successful afternoon across the net, in the stands and in the most important area of allsportsmanshipand good spirit.C.J.CrowleyA World TransformedCongratulations and best wishes to all those pupils (over 30) who will take part in the WorldScholar’s Cup regional rounds in Dubai on Friday and Saturday March 25 th and 26 th .This prestigious and exciting world- wide competition challenges the brightest and the best andmany of our pupils will be competing against pupils much older than themselves but I am sure theywill acquit themselves very well and benefit enormously from the whole experience.This year's theme is: A World Transformed.Pupils explore 6 topics from Biotechnology to the Modern Metropolis and compete in fourevents: Debating, Writing, Challenge, and Bowl.The regional round is held at Wellington School in Dubai and our pupils will be competing againstschools from the UAE, the Gulf and from around the world, including South Korea.We wish the Repton Team, every possible success!C.J.CrowleyKeep up with our boarders by reading the Boarding House Blog!http://boardinghousereptondubai.blogspot.com/Page 6 Page 6

Global Young LearnersRepton will be sending pupils to England in June to take part in theunique 2-week Global Young Learners Course.The GYL focuses on developing skills in debating and critical thinkingand is led by experienced Oxbridge graduates who have specific debatingskills at a world level.Over 100 pupils have expressed an interest in this course and I will be sending further course andfee details very soon.Thank you for those many people who have expressed an interest already in this exciting GYL programme.C.J.CrowleyTawal Village School, NepalDuring the April break, eighteen students, MissGrieve, Mrs Tomaszewska and Mr Pereira are headingoff to Nepal to help build a school in the village ofTawal. Tawal is in a very remote part of Nepal – an 8hour drive and then a four day trek from Kathmandu!The school in Tawal is a very important place, butunfortunately the whole area is very poor, and theschool is much too small and poorly resourced. It would be lovely, if when wearrive in Tawal, we were able to give the underprivileged students some basicstationery equipment, such as pens, pencils, colouring pencils etc. The school is also in desperate need of computerequipment, notably laptops. Please, if you would like to donate anything (stationery, old laptops etc) to the villageschool in Tawal, be assured it will make a huge difference to the children. Any items should be brought to Miss Grievein the Humanities Office.Dhanyabad J(Nepali for Thank you)Miss GrieveThe girls make pancakes in the boardinghouse....Page 7

Photography by Ali Zaidi Year 10IGCSE Art.Page 9

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Riddle...Chests without hinges, key or lid, but inside, goldentreasures are hid. What is the chest and what is the treasure?Maths Challenge....Sawing and weighing the blockHow should you saw a block of stone of 40 kg into four pieces such that you canmeasure all weights of an integer from 1 kg to 40 kg (so 1 kg, 2 kg, 3 kg, 4 kg, ..... 39kg and 40 kg) on a balance?HINT: if you have, for example, weights of 4kg and 5kg, you can use these in two ways on a balance. Eitheras a combined weight of 9kg, or by placing one on each side of the balance, hence weighing a differenceof 1kg.Recycle your waste—one recycled tin canwould save enough energy to power a televisionfor 3 hours.Volunteer to make a difference—volunteersome of your time to make a difference toyour local communityThanks goes to our fantastic team of students who helped to put this issue together:Journalism Society:Zaid Muhamad-Salih, Aisha Nazir, Harriet Sherlock, Maddie St John Green, Vedika Agarwalla,Hanying Lin Shipton, Hannah Wilding, Mariam El Sharbani, Nadine Refaey.Good luck with the House Shout next week!