The Importance of Being Earnest - Farleigh School

Newsletter
November 2007

Charlotte Wheeler, Charlotte Kilpatrick and Isabella Vaughan-Edwards, Year 4
A new look for Nico Bottari and George Hornung, Year 7
Harry Cook and Theo Syder, Year 5; two knights to remember
Boarding
The Summer Term is a fantastic time to board and anybody
who witnessed the children playing outside late into the evening
saw the huge amount of fun everyone was having. The cricket
nets are constantly in use and it is always lovely to see the
children riding their bikes and enjoying the grounds.
The term kicked off with the Girls’ Green Fashion Show
of which the boys were rather envious, and a World War II
performance by Aesop’s Touring Theatre. Other entertaining
boarding events were a Skittles Night, Ten Pin Bowling, an
on-site evening picnic, BBQ and ‘Dance Off’. Sunday activities
included trips to Basingstoke’s Aquadrome and Planet Ice,
and the children were fascinated by what they saw at Intech
Museum in Winchester.
Medieval Night and Caribbean Night were the theme
suppers of the Summer Term. The Medieval Banquet featured
Game Pie, chicken and a good deal of bread – and the
children took great delight in minimum cutlery, which made for
an interesting if somewhat ‘hands on’ meal. The dining room
was transformed into a tropical oasis for Caribbean Night with
palm trees and our very own beach. Stuart Whithear
Sarah Johnson takes to the catwalk in her ‘green’ gear
Medieval damsels: Alice White and Isabelle Dalley, Year 8
A tropical island… in the heart of Hampshire
Katie Ollerenshaw and Eliza Smith, Year 5, are all smiles
Ines Moreno, Year 8 leaver, and Catherine Cranfield, Year 7
Year 8 girls festooned with tropical garlands
Jack Bransgrove and Harry Pearson-Gregory, Year 8 leavers go ‘Caribbean’
www.farleighschool.com

Le Petit Déjeuner
pour les Troisièmes
Voulez-vous un croissant? The annual French breakfast
for Year 3 pupils was as ever a huge hit with the children.
‘Bleu, blanc et rouge’ was the order of the day as the
chic young waiters and waitresses served delicious fresh
croissants with jam, and hot chocolate with a certain
‘je ne sais quoi’. Henri Kennard
Head of English wins
Poetry Award
Congratulations to Farleigh’s Head of English, Rachel
Curzon, who was presented with an Eric Gregory Award
by Philip Pullman at the Society of Authors’ annual prizes
and awards ceremony in London. The Eric Gregory Award
was established in 1960 as a means of encouraging
poets under the age of 30. Past winners include Seamus
Heaney, Simon Armitage and the current Poet Laureate,
Andrew Motion. Society members turned out in force to
see a total of £69,000 in prize money given to 21 writers,
and Miss Curzon is using her prize money to support
her writing. Caroline Pryke
Magnificent Mathematicians
Tom White, who left Farleigh last term as an elected
scholar for Winchester, achieved a Gold Medal in the
Junior Maths Olympiad and is in the top 300 (top 0.1%)
of 250,000 able mathematicians in Year 8 and below
in the country. “What a wonderful achievement for
Tom in addition to all his other successes at Farleigh”,
said Fr Simon. Congratulations also to five other pupils
who received Gold Awards in the Junior Mathematical
Challenge that preceded the final Junior Maths
Olympiad: Hugh Watts from last year’s Year 8 and Harriet
Farquharson, Oliver Gash, Freddie Jackson and Freddie
Richards from the current Year 8. Oliver also came 4th out
of 30 finalists in Dauntsey’s Dodecahedron Competition,
in which several thousand competitors took part.
John Senior
Maths whizzes: Tom White and Oliver Gash
Farleigh Newsletter November 2007
Waiter service provided by Charlie Lindsay, Will Rigby, Olivia Whitehouse,
Archie Cripwell and Amelia Belle
Proud winner of the Eric Gregory Award
Pre-Prep Sports Day
What luck - the sun shone for the annual Kindergarten and Pre-Prep
sports day. The children of the Kindergarten took part in traditional
races during the first half and team games were the feature of the
second half. Dress the Scarecrow and The Obstacle Course certainly
created very vocal spectators. The photographs say it all. The look
of fun, enjoyment, concentration and determination on the children’s
faces made it an occasion enjoyed by all.
The theme of the Pre-Prep’s sports day in the afternoon was
Traditional Tales, and the games included Rescuing the Princess from
her Castle, Collecting the Golden Apples, Jack and Jill Filling their
Bucket, Hansel and Gretel Following their Path, and finally, Building
a Fairy Tale Wall. Everyone had a lot of fun. Marilyn Vernon-Harcourt
Pre-Prep Music Concert
The children in the Pre-Prep took great delight in performing the
music and songs they have learned as part of the curriculum in the
Pre-Prep’s informal music concert. As well as songs sung by pupils in
Reception, Year 1 and Year 2, there were violin and recorder pieces
performed by the children in Year 2, and solo performances by those
who have individual music tuition, including the drums, guitar, piano
and violin. Marilyn Vernon-Harcourt
Perfect pizzicato from Oscar Lopez-Valido and Patrick Heyman
Year 2 boys entertain in the Pre-Prep Ballet Show
Harry Hall-Smith, Angus Shorthouse, Finn Cunningham and Lara Miller
Tom Harvie-Watt, Angus Mihell and Ella Beardmore-Gray try to concentrate
Congratulations to the Year 2 prize winners announced at Sports Day:
Francesca Power, Freddie Dalley, Sophie Wheeler, Cecilia Hughes,
Emily Browning and Alice Byrne
Top cover photograph: Harry Ingrams accompanies the singers on the drum
Bottom cover photograph: Hannah Falk enjoys some well-deserved applause
www.farleighschool.com

Athletics goes from Strength to Strength
Farleigh enjoys an impressive track record in athletics and
this is witnessed throughout the school, where children of all
abilities delight in doing their best for their House. The Summer
Term saw some excellent performances from the children in
the athletics teams, but all the children in the school have
been commended for the immense amount of effort they have
put into their PE lessons to improve their athletic ability, which
culminated in a fantastic sports day in which every child played
their part and can take pride in what they achieved. Buzzards
won the day; Kestrels came 2nd; Merlins, 3rd, and Eagles, 4th,
though the latter won the House Competition overall.
For the athletics team, this was a scintillating season.
At our own athletics meeting, the competition with Cheam,
The Dragon and Port Regis was fierce, but with some home
advantage, Farleigh triumphed in seven of the ten categories.
Farleigh’s younger athletes fared extremely well at the 25th
Junior Wessex Championships in which over 500 athletes
competed. Charlotte Eden, U11, and Louisa Bradby, U10, were
awarded best girl athletes in their age groups, both winning
Is that Ben Vail in a skirt?
Middle cover photograph: Freddie Richards, Year 8, represents Eagles in the Long Jump
Farleigh Newsletter November 2007
two of their individual events (Hurdles and Long Jump), coming
2nd in the third, and being members of medal-winning relay
teams. Farleigh won the Inter-School Relay Shield for both the
U10 and U11 age groups for the second time in three years.
Other gold medallists included Sam Bradby (U9 200m),
Fergus Hamilton (U10 Long Jump), Georgina Hughes (U10
High Jump) and Honor Sandy (U10 200m), as well as the
relay runners: Jamie Atkinson, George Henry, Guy Melly, Tom
Rossiter (U11 boys); and Louisa Bradby, Georgina Hughes,
Helena Regan and Honor Sandy (U10 girls).
In the Senior Wessex Championships held at the Tidworth
Oval, Farleigh pupils won 14 of the 27 events entered, and
17 of them qualified for the National Prep Schools Athletics
Championships. Finally, at the Nationals in Birmingham, we
enjoyed our best ever medal haul with Cyprian Owen Edmunds
taking gold in the 70m Hurdles, and Will Stuart winning gold
for Discus and silver for Javelin. For the girls, Charlotte Eden
took gold in the Shot Putt and Alice Lindsay clinched silver in
the 70m Hurdles. Congratulations to them all. Justin Lynam
Year 5 Adventure Day
Mr Whitehouse led the Year 5s through a terrific on-site
adventure day in July, learning leadership skills through
stimulating adventure activities and fun competitive games.
It was so popular with the children that they didn’t want the
day to end! Annie Donnelly
Dressing up for the obstacle course
Farleigh athletics medals and trophies on display
Harry Graham passes the baton to Cyprian Owen Edmunds to win Relay gold
with Rory Chetwynd-Talbot and Freddie Richards at the Senior Wessex
George Hornung, Max Coen, Will Stuart, Rory Jennings, Jack Bradby,
Lydia North and Hermione Toomey, Year 7, representing Farleigh at the
Senior Wessex Championship
The two Maddies in action for Kestrels on Sports Day
Fr Simon presents the cup for Sports Day to Buzzards’ House Captains,
Hugo Leader and Chloe Herbert
www.farleighschool.com

Rounders The Cricket Season
The U13s had an exceptional A team in rounders. Their fielding
was tight and very proactive, resulting in some exceptional
catches. Batting was very tactical and a pleasure to watch.
Chloe Herbert was terrific at catching; Katya Hanbury Williams
and Polly Haggas at 1st post fielding; and Sarah Johnson
displayed exceptional batting.
The weather blighted the number of matches played by both
the U12A and particularly B team. Twice they set off and either
returned whilst travelling to the match or arrived only to turn
around and come home due to bad weather. The U11s enjoyed
an excellent set of results with every one of the girls getting a
good amount of experience in match play. They have been a
pleasure to teach with some excellent play in the As coming
from Alice Ashley, Charlotte Eden, Lily Marriott, Lydia North and
Xenia Petley. Some great play was also demonstrated in the Bs
by Kitty Peat, Francesca Herbert and Issy Hearn.
For the U10s, it was a successful season for the A team, and
the B team players were rotated into the A team during practice
and matches to give them experience. Well done to Victoria
Everson for her speed and strength in bowling and accurate
fielding; to Eliza Eastwood and Hannah Whitehouse for their
improved batting; Lucy Milligan for her speed in retrieving the
ball and the strength of her return throw; Catherine Valenzia who
had safe hands on 2nd base; and Bethan Shaughnessy, who
played very well as backstop despite receiving some very fast
balls from the bowler.
It was also a good season for the U9 girls with progress
and personal achievement from all of the players. Mrs Hill
congratulated the girls for their positive attitude and delighted in
the progress of all of the girls. Credit to Issy Firth for exceptional
batting and deep fielding skills; Louisa Bradby for tremendous
batting skills; Iona Todd for being the most improved player;
Annie Haswell for great concentration and playing well at 2nd
post; Katie Ollerenshaw for good improvement in batting; Willow
Cunningham for being keen and improving her batting; and
Georgina Haynes for hitting the ball well towards the end of
the season.
The U8s had a very good season, showing such tremendous
progress despite the inclement weather. The B team did not
lose a match and Tara Wood deserves a special mention for her
tremendous batting as an A team player. Jayne Walukiewicz
Hattie Henry, Year 4, meets Maddie Mead, Year 6,
at 1st post in the House Rounders Competition
Victoria Everson, Year 6, proves a ‘big hit’ on the rounders pitch
Charlotte Eden, Year 7, has victory in her sights
Junior Kestrels line up for the House Rounders Competition
After the building blocks laid last year, this season turned out to
be even better. The results were outstanding and overall we lost
only 42 out of 105 games.
The 1st XI were without doubt the form team of the season.
It has been a long time since this side have only lost one game
in school matches and one cup game. The side were very
well led by Wilf Marriott, who will certainly go on to bigger and
greater things in the cricketing world. The Year 7s that were in
the side (Matthew Brooks, Rory Chetwynd-Talbot, Louis Forsyth,
Louis Govett and Freddie Richards) show great promise for the
next season.
The remainder of the senior sides struggled at times, but they
showed some real improvement over the course of the season.
Boys like Oliver Gash and Ben Simon pushed themselves to the
forefront for next season.
The Colts sides had a mixed season and they have hopefully
learnt a great deal from playing at a higher level than the
previous year. Lockie Cunningham showed great promise and
he should prove hard to ignore next year.
The U10 sides were strong and showed that if they remain
together through the remainder of their time at Farleigh, they
will be a very good year group. The U9s were up and down
but, again, they are showing signs of real promise. They should,
given time, develop into a strong group led very ably by Fergus
Hamilton, Ned Marriott and Jack Spurrier.
The U8s were a joy to coach and in the matches that they
played showed that as they progress through the school they will
be a real handful against any school. Billy Mead will undoubtedly
play above his own age group for years to come.
Cricket is a real strength at Farleigh and the attitude of
the boys to focussed practice is outstanding. This bodes well for
the future. Ben Bentley
A perfect day’s cricket for the 1st XI Harry Cornett, bowler, and Jack Bradby, fielding, for the Colts A XI
Farleigh prefects for the new academic year: Harriet Farquharson, Ben Simon, Alice Simpson, Nina Capes, Anna Haynes, Marcus Kelly, Florence Butt, Abigail Rigg
(Deputy Head Girl), Freddie Richards (Deputy Head Boy), Richard Grew (Head Boy), Alice White, Lucia Syder (Head Girl), Archie Hamilton, Kit Sanders,
Matthew Brooks and Imogen Sands

The Importance of Being Earnest
A talented cast of 12 Year 7 children tackled Oscar Wilde’s satirical masterpiece on the artifice of Victorian high society. Comedy
is difficult at the best of times; but when you are delivering some of the most famous lines ever heard in an English theatre, the
pressure is immense. Well done to the children, who worked really hard and rose to the challenge. Caroline Goodall
Andrew Fenwick stars as Jack and
Oscar Page as Algy
Open Air Summer Concert
Almost 200 Farleigh pupils took part in this popular annual event,
during which a selection of classical and popular pieces were
performed by the Junior and Senior Choirs; Year 4, 5, 6 and
7 Singers; the Jazz, Junior, Samba and Wind Bands; Clarinet
Quartet, Flute Choir, Guitar Quartet, Saxophone Septet and
String Orchestra. The evening kicked off with a rendition by the
Wind Band of the ‘James Bond’ theme music and culminated in
a rousing performance by the Jazz Band of ‘Joshua fought the
Battle of Jericho’. The audience demanded an encore of the final
piece which led to an impromptu ‘conga’ dance, involving every
child in the school, their friends and siblings. Marcus Reeves An impromptu conga
The flute choir performs ‘Daisy, Daisy’
Farleigh Newsletter November 2007
The ensemble takes a bow Leading ladies: Isabella Speaight, Lucia Syder
and Abigail Rigg
The Junior Choir performs ‘No Matter What’
A balancing act for Octavia Rome
The class of 2007 on tour in Devon
Year 8s Leave on a High
Polly Dixon-Green, Sarah Johnson, Alice Campbell and Phoebe Ashley
take cover on Dartmoor
The Year 8 Leavers’ Programme had it all: Ready Steady Cook, The Generation Game, Film School, Indian head massage techniques,
some well earned pampering, and more... Days out at Highclere Stud and Newbury Races, Hampton Court, and Laverstoke Park
organic farm. Lessons in life-saving, ballroom dancing, film making, etiquette and personal improvement kept them all buzzing.
Sherborne teachers talked to them about ‘Life at Senior School’ and they tried German, Russian and Spanish with Marlborough College
language teachers. They took part in a triathlon in aid of Turkana in Kenya and the ever popular highlight of the leavers’ programme –
the trip to Dartmoor, where they refused to allow the inclement Devon weather to dampen their exuberant spirits. Stuart Whithear
The girls scrub up well for the Year 8 leavers’ dinner
Will Vaughan-Edwards puts his faith in his friends
Mr Butt and the boys look dapper too

World Class Cricket
When on 18th August, James Bruce, aged 27, opened the
bowling for Hampshire against Durham at the Friends Provident
Trophy Final, he became the first former Farleigh pupil to open
the bowling at Lord’s in a major one day final of the county
season. James was in the 1st XI at Eton for several years before
representing Durham UCCE and Cumberland, and being signed
by Hampshire in 2002. James and his older brother, Robert,
appeared in 1997 Wisden having bowled in tandem after lunch
at the Eton vs Harrow match at Lord’s. According to his Farleigh
teachers, James was always an outstanding cricketer with the
right temperament to succeed in the game.
For a current Farleigh pupil, Francesca Power in Year 3, 24th
August was a cricketing day to remember. She represented
England as mascot in the one day international against India
at Gloucestershire County Cricket Club, Bristol. Caroline Pryke
Confirmation and First Holy Communion
Francesca Power, right, witnesses the toss, which India won, with David Gower,
Paul Collingwood and Rahul Dravid
Fr Simon and the First Holy Communicants of 2007 A Confirmation Day to remember for 34 pupils
Bishop Crispian Hollis, the Bishop of Portsmouth, confirmed 34 of our pupils last term and, on the big day, reminded them of the significance of
the choice of a Saint’s name and the fact that they were members of a world wide community in which they have new responsibilities. Thirteen
pupils also received their First Holy Communion in a beautiful service which, due to the smaller than usual number of first holy communicants,
could be held in the Farleigh Chapel rather than the Sports Hall for the first time in many years. Liz Redmond
Farleigh School, Red Rice, Andover, Hampshire SP11 7PW
Tel: 01264 710766 Fax: 01264 710070
Email: office@farleighschool.co.uk Website: www.farleighschool.com