983 - 14.12.12 - Yarm School

3 |14th Dec 2012 |Yarm School NewsletterNEWSHead of Yarm Preparatory SchoolWe are delighted to announce the appointment of Mr Bill Sawyer witheffect from September 2013 when Mr Toleman leaves us to take up hisnew post at Bishop’s Stortford School. Mr Sawyer is currently headmasterof an IAPS school (the professional association to which Yarm Prepbelongs) in Mombasa, Kenya. His school is the Braeburn MombasaInternational School, a co-education school for children aged 2 – 18. MrSawyer has been primary headmaster since September 2010.Previously, Mr Sawyer has worked elsewhere in Kenya, as well as in a stateprimary school in London. He has taught a range of subjects, includingScience, Maths, PE and Games and been responsible for DesignTechnology and PSHE.Educated at Tonbridge School, Kent and at Leeds Metropolitan andBrighton Universities, Mr Sawyer is a very well qualified and experienced primary teacher. His wife, Sarah, isalso a primary teacher and they have two young children, a daughter of 2 years and a son of 4 months.Mr Sawyer is a very keen sportsman whose particular passion is cricket, together with rugby, hockey, football,tennis and squash. He also boxes as part of his fitness training and enjoys kite surfing! He once trained atHarrods as a chef during his Gap Year between school and university. At school he also enjoyed singing andwas a member of the concert choir.We know that Mr & Mrs Sawyer and their family are very much looking forward to moving to the North Eastand integrating into the Yarm School community. We are very pleased to have secured such an all-rounder withexcellent, relevant experience of headship.Mr David DunnHeadmasterOpen MorningSaturday 12th January - 10.00am—12.00noon

4 |14th Dec 2012 |Yarm School NewsletterNEWSChristmas Music ConcertThe Christmas concert, set in the PrincessAlexandra Auditorium, was trulyspectacular. Over 150 pupils performed in theconcert, the highest number of pupilparticipation in any concert. The Sinfoniakicked off the concert putting the everyone inthe festive mood. Bands and other musicalgroups also performed throughout the evening,bringing fun and entertainment to theconcert. The evening also included a danceroutine, which added some Christmas sparkle.Victor Sampson and Matthew Bonaviaentertained in the interlude and were hilarious.Yazmin Gibson (5AJ)

5|14th Dec 2012 |Yarm School NewsletterNEWSYarm ApprenticePrestige's Premium PerformanceThe atmosphere was tense in the Board Room when the 2teams of wannabee apprentices faced Sir Alan (aka MrsAnkers), her PA and our own versions Nick and Karen tofind out which team would be victorious in the Christmasthemed task and who would be fired.Both teams ran Christmas themed stalls on the lunchtime of4th December, and each team had been given a budget of£50. Yousaf Majid, Project Manager for Empire tried toexplain his teams choice of selling Coca Cola and Christmaspackaged sweets.. Hannah Crosbie, Project Manager forPrestige was then forced to defend her team's choice ofproducts (candy canes, cellophane packaged sweets andChristmas crackers).After much deliberation, it was announced that Prestige hadmade the most profit and therefore won the task. WhilstPrestige went for treat of an afternoon cream tea (tea andscones) courtesy of Martin, Yousaf brought Alex and Tomback into the Board Room. After some friendly backstabbing,Tom was fired again, whilst bonus points wereawarded to Hannah Crosbie as Project Manager and as theteam's outstanding contributor, and to Hisham Saqib as "Nickand Karen's Best Apprentice".Many thanks to all the students for making the activity moreexciting than the television programme and to Mrs Ankers forbeing even scarier than the real Sir Alan!Agender Christmas DinnerMiss C E RhodesThis week members of the weekly lunchtime discussion group,Agender, met for their end of year celebration. The group hasbeen meeting over the last two academic years in order todiscuss issues relating to gender. The group of 18 personsincluded the delightful return of Former Pupils and previousmembers of Agender, Marcus Taylor, Emma Sisk and EddieJames. They were joined by a diverse range of members of theSixth Form and staff members. The group continues toflourish, providing an essential opportunity for pupils toexplore issues of critical importance, matters too oftendisregarded or buried beneath lazy, unexamined culturalnorms. Members of the group, open to all pupils of all ages,always include pupils of a certain intellect, capable of wrestlingwith challenging ideas that may run contrary to lazy thinking.The evening was a wonderful opportunity to relax, reflect andconsider future directions for the Agender group. The groupmeets every Thursday lunchtime in P3.China Photograph CompetitionThe votes have been counted and the results are in.Thank you to all the entrants for sharing theirfantastic images, as a member of the China trip Iknow every photograph evokes many fondmemories. The public votes resulted in jointwinners, Jackson Deans’ “pagoda style dwelling” andThomas Dorrington’s “atmospheric view down theYanksi River”. The panel of judges found the taskalmost impossible but finally settled on highlycommended, Victor Sampson’s “wooden hearts on arailing”. The Judges felt that though not instantlyrecognisable as a China scene, this image repeatedlycaught the eye of the judges. It invites viewers towant to know more about the reason for the hearts,the focusing was also superb. In third place wasUddhav ...... with “stone dragon”. The three objectsin the photo all represent iconic images of China. Insecond place, again Uddhav with “street scenethrough an archway”. The judges thoughts werethat the strength of the image was in its compositionas you are drawn through the arch way. First Prizegoes to “Terracotta Army”. Congratulations toThomas Street. Judges selected this as the winningphotograph as the photographer had selected anangle making it appear that one soldier had turned toface the camera whilst the others remained in theirranks. It gives the impression that the inanimatesoldier has come alive.Congratulations to all the entrants on helping toshare memories and contribute to a stunning display.Many thanks to our judging panel Mrs Ruston, MrsMenzies and Mr Wright who all share a great interestin photography, and greatly enjoyed being part ofthe process.Mrs A. JacksonMr S. Edwards

7 |14th Dec 2012 |Yarm School NewsletterSPORTHockey Round-upStatistics: We have played 59 games, won 34 drawn 8 andlost 17.HighlightsThe senior teams have undoubtedly had the best season in thehistory of girls’ sport at Yarm. The 1 st ’s won 5, drew 2 and lostonly 3 with many highlights along the way. The 3-2 win overDurham School was excellent and the second half comebackagainst Central High will stick in my head for a number of seasons;what character the team showed. I can’t mention all 13 leaverswho have played their part over the years but will single out ahandful. Hannah Carey, an excellent keeper and my voice on thepitch. She has an uncanny skill of shouting my thoughts constantlyand is almost as loud! Steph Dixon has had an excellent two yearsand her hat trick against Barnard Castle on the first day of theseason started the ball rolling and, at her best, she is unplayable.Lastly, I will mention Alex ‘Titch’ Metcalfe a great Captain and realsupport to me. She would die for the team and her hard work anddetermination is second to none.Not to be outdone the 2 nd ’s really have had a fantastic season. Theyhave won 4, drawn 1 and lost only two games. Katie Thornton hashad her best season and her work rate will be missed next season.High points include the wins over Giggleswick, Barnard Castle andDurham School.The 3rds have won both games against Ampleforth and BarnardCastle but the fact we can field 3 senior teams is brilliant comparedto other much larger boarding schools and the company andgiggles were lovely to be part of. Thank you.Lower down the school, the 15’s have excelled. The weathercancelled the last 4 fixtures but they enjoyed good wins over RGSNewcastle, Central High, Barnard Castle and Durham School. The14’s have beaten Wakefield Girls, Ampleforth and Durham High and their performance at the KO Cup wasexcellent. They are also County Champions. The 13’s not to be outdone have beaten Red House, QueenMary’s and St Martin’s (Ampleforth), but again the weather has meant their last 2 games were cancelled. Lastbut not least the 12’s have started their hockey careers with a number of positives. Amongst these the win overBarnard Castle and Queen Mary’s stand out and they will compete in the County Tournament next term.The weather hit us hard with the last 13 games being cancelled which was a sad way to end what had started sowell. The emphasis in the department shifts to netball with over 100 fixtures next term. So to finish my roundup we will select POS’s and MIP. Thank you to all girls who have played this season or been part of anysporting venture. Thanks also to Mr Grainge, Mrs Fletcher and Mrs Gratton for their coaching, umpiring,driving and cheerful enthusiasm.Player of the SeasonMIPU12 Susie Dunn/ Jen Banks Alex Elwine/Pippa RidleyU13 Amy Booth/Hannah Spencer Tasha Grylls/Fiona WeatherheadU14 Kim Guest Sorrel EavesU15 Kath Jackson Rosie Ravenhall3 rd X1 Helen ‘Twin set and pearls’ Elston Yasmin ‘Rapid’ Tanfield2 nd X1 Katie Thornton Yasmin Gibson1st X1 Alex Metcalfe Hannah Sunley

8|14th Dec 2012 |Yarm School NewsletterSPORTRugby1st XV v Pocklington Won 17-15With the end of the season drawing closer the 1st XVtravelled to Pocklington hoping to improve on last week’sperformance v Dame Allan's, however it did not happen.Poor execution and indiscipline kept the home team in thegame and although we had played the majority of the rugby intheir half the score at the break was 5-5, with Josh Jonesscoring the Yarm try.The second half followed a similar pattern. Yarm were on theattack in the Pock 22m we gave away a penalty, argued withthe ref and lost a further 10m. Two penalties later andPocklington were kicking to take a 5-8 lead. Yarm attack,attempt a chip which was charged down and kicked ahead fora converted try 5- 15.Not only was time running out but we were playing the worstrugby of the season. It looked like defeat was on the cards.Thankfully, Captain Jones didn't have the same opinion as hesmashed his way down the touchline to score in the corner -his 13th of the season and probably one of the mostimportant. Suddenly we were back in it. Simon Waller led thecharge as the forwards carried the ball into the opposition 22,the backs pulled an well executed move and AdamEdmondson carved thorough the heart of the Pocklingtonline. He outpaced the covering defence and got as close to theposts as he could to make the scores level.Will Guthrie casually stepped up to slot the conversion to winthe game 17-15. He did admit afterwards that he thought thegame was already won, hence the casual approach!With a minute remaining on the clock the forwards gatheredthe restart and put the ball off the pitch to snatch what hadlooked like an unlikely victory.It's doesn't matter how strong you start; it's how strong youfinish that counts.2nd XV v Ashville Won 53-0The Second XV converged at school for what has been a rarehome match on Saturday against Ashville College. The teamwere once again bolstered by a number of U16 players as theydid not have a fixture. With several members of the UpperSixth playing their last match for the school, the squad wasdetermined to put in a good performance. The Croft familymust have been particularly proud to see both Robin andMartin taking to field together for the first time. The first halfstarted brightly with both teams fairly evenly matched and anumber of handling errors, due to the wet conditions, meantchances were spurned. Eventually, after some sustained attackBen Grieveson crossed the line to score a well worked try. Itwasn't long before Max Harrison and Ben Grieveson addedtwo tries in quick succession. Saief Mahmoud made a breakfrom the base of a ruck, showed a clean pair of heels to thedefending players and crashed over to celebrate his first try ofthe season. It was good to have so many willing players on thebench which enabled us to rotate players throughout thematch. When one of the opposition went off injured, MatthewNargol stepped up to play for the opposition in the centresand he quickly became their most robust and effectivedefender. John Phellas made a break and was looking likescoring until Nargol swept him down like an exocet missile!Tam Fuat added a try before half-time putting the teamcomfortably into the lead.Playing up the hill the second half could have been difficultbut everyone worked hard and kept the pressure on theopposition. Ayoosh Chaudhury was particularly devastatingfrom the restarts making 20-30m every time he touched theball. John Phellas eventually made a determined run to scorea brilliant individual try and Tam Fuat added another shortlyafter. Martin Croft would have also added his name to thescore sheet, having made one of his bullish, storming runsthrough several defenders, had he not dived spectacularly forthe 5m line mistaking it for the try line! One of the best trieswas to follow when Jason He majestically took possessionjust inside the opposition half, he pinned back his ears andmade his bid for glory. It seemed at one stage it was to be invain, as he started to run in treacle, but his determinationcarried him over for his first try for Yarm. The final try camefrom the base of a ruck when Greg Mathieson saw the gapand duly strolled over the line with Jamie Doyle adding theconversion to finish what had been an awesome performanceand a great way to finish the season. The team duly allowedthe senior boys, Takoor, Cheung, He, Home and Chaudhurygo through the tunnel first and I would like to thank thewhole squad for their efforts throughout the season - welldone.U12 v Ashville Won 17-12One of the best performances of the season for the wholeteam. Yarm started very strongly, with slippery conditions.The team demonstrated their skills through great interplayand attack. With a great turn over and intelligent play tomove the ball wide Will Alexander’s storming run down thewing to score under the posts with James Foster added theextras. Ashville were quick to reply but scored out wide andconsequently missed the conversion. Just before half-timeYarm showed great determination and started very stronglyagain to score out wide but missed the conversion. At halftimethe score was 12-5 Yarm. In the second half, the boysbattled to keep Ashville at bay for large portions of the game.Five minutes to go an elusive Ashville runner ran through theheart of the Yarm defence leaving defender in his wake.Unfortunate on this occasion but a very pleasingperformance. Final Score 17-12.