MAGPIE OLD HOUSE - Summer 2018 - Blundell's School
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Old House Magpie Summer 2018
OLD HOUSE
MAGPIE
Summer 2018
Old House Magpie Summer 2018
Introduction
Old House this term has seemed to be rather quiet in comparison to terms gone past, with the
Years 11’s leaving for study leave only a few weeks in. The Year 9’s, 10’s and 12’s however have
stayed to maintain the fort and all have worked hard right until the end of term.
The lads should be proud of the amazing year we have had, winning almost all the school events, I
hope that next year we can achieve the same volume of successes that we have had this year.
I would like to thank you all for a great and, for some, final year in Old House and hope that eve-
ryone has a fun summer holidays to relax and prepare for the challenges of next term.
Will Spencer, Editor.
Year 9
The Year Nines have settled into OH very easily this year. There has been lots of fun from the
House Shout in the autumn term to the OH Olympics just a few weeks ago. This crazy event con-
tained various fun sports day events including everything from an egg and spoon race to a Land
Rover pull and welly wanging! A major enjoyment and benefit in moving up from School House,
is the freedom you get. For instance, when you can relax, have fun and most of all play more
sport. House matches went well, we won the Russell, Overall House rugby, and most other events.
The Hockey term was also tremendous fun. The big dorm has been lots of fun for all of us, espe-
cially the flexi’ s who sleep there. This term on Field Day we took part in a First Aid course as part
of our Bronze Duke of Edinburgh’s Award training in CCF.
We are all very thankful to the Matrons, Tutors, Monitors and last but not least; Mr Olive.
Ed Swarbrick
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Old House Magpie Summer 2018
Year 10
This year in Year 10, the boys have been immersed in exciting talks and sporting activities, such
as sex education talks and the new arrival of House Cricket matches at the end of term, in which
we came second! The big dorm were, for a second time moved out for redecoration and asked to
live in the games room which if you ask any of them was the best time of their lives. On Field Day
the majority of boys went on their D of E expedition, completing it successfully. Four lads played
1st team cricket this term, Tom Murphy, Tom Reynolds, Joe Du’Gay and Will Bucknell all per-
forming well in each of their matches. Ben T-W ran brilliantly in each of the Russell races, manag-
ing to be placed in the top 5 on each occasion.
Toby Peyton-Jones
Year 11
GCSE’s dominated this term but so did the cricket having three players in the 1 st XI! Jack Bur-
nand cemented his place at the top of the order, only just missing out on two fifties and playing
against those two years his senior, he has had an outstanding season. George Gibbs, also in the
team played as an all-rounder, having consistently batted in the middle order and bowled first
change, it certainly shows there are things to come from OH cricket. Will Grubb, following his
performance in the 2nd XI also made the squad with a debut against Clifton. Ben Gresswell and
Ibrahim Khan have also played in the 2nd XI all season. Paco Chow has also impressed, as he got
himself a place in the school swimming team, proving his worth as a backstroke specialist. With a
Celebration Dinner and a BBQ before GCSE’s the two tutor groups battled it out with an after-
noons paintballing when the last exam was ticked off. Thanks to BAD and HDJ (who’s tutees fi-
nally won the battle!) A mention must go to Boon Pumapanich and David Marshall, who are leav-
ing OH at the end of this term. They are two really top OH lads and everyone wishes them the
best for the future. They will certainly be missed next year.
George Gibbs
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Old House Magpie Summer 2018
Year 12
It has been a sad past few weeks for the Old House Year 12’s as
we have begun to realise that our time in the House is coming
to a close. However we have been pleasantly distracted by our
recent A- Level mocks which have taken up much of our free
time. The rest has been spent, as usual, on the sports fields.
Luke Simpson has represented the school at numerous swim-
ming galas, Liam Syed, Charlie Cameron, Dan Hitchens and
Aran Dagwell-Spittle have fought hard on the tennis courts,
cricket this season has been attempted by Sam Dod, Elliot Cole,
Marcus Pengelly, Owen Thomas and Marcus Lloyd and not for-
getting the successes of Jacob Wright and Rory Bateman who
have jumped, thrown and run countless PB’s on the athletics
fields as well.
We have all begun to think about our future, beyond OH, this
term as we have taken time out of school to visit some of the
hundreds of universities, all over the country, from Falmouth to
Durham. We are all very excited about moving to Westlake next
year but also sad to leave the strong community of OH, and our
countless ‘Blue Room’ discussions and debates, that make us
such a strong, collective group. A final farewell gathering, host-
ed by the Cole family, allowed the year group to say goodbye to
both Old House and Lenny’s hair!
The year are all truly grateful for everything Mr and Mrs Olive have done for us, as well as both
Matron Swarbrick and Matron Clough who we couldn't have survived the past four years without.
We look forward to coming back to OH next term to help claim both the Rugby and Russel tro-
phies once again.
Will Spencer
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Old House Magpie Summer 2018
Senior Sports Day
This years’ sports day saw great success for OH. With many of the lads achieving positions in the
top 3 in almost every event and then rounding off the day with 1st place in a fantastic 4x100m re-
lay, consisting of Oscar Kolowski, Aran Dagwell-Spittle, Luke Simpson and Liam Syed. Other
honourable mentions must go to Elliot Cole and Zac C-B and Jack Winzer who both did well in
the 1500m and Charlie Cameron who got a PB in the triple jump.
OH came away with a well deserved overall win. A special mention must go to Oscar Kolowski
who was awarded the Victor Ludorum for his performances throughout the day. Well done to all
the lads who competed.
Aran Dagwell-Spittle
Junior Sports Day
At sports day, despite missing a few people, OH made a decent
performance. Promise Li came 1st in the 1500m and everyone
involved tried very hard, and made a great effort, but we were
unlucky, missing out on top positions. We showed up and gave it
our all, which is what it is all about. Many people stepped up to
do events they knew they found challenging, showing good ‘No
Passengers’ spirit. Will Cave volunteered to be the forth man in
the 4 x 100 m relay at the last moment, running from OH up to
Amory to compete!!
Well done lads, better luck next time.
James Elderfield
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Old House Magpie Summer 2018
House Cricket
The 2018 House cricket was a great success no matter the result. A close second hardly represents
the character shown by the boys out there on the square as we bowled and batted so well.
The first game against Petergate showed a challenging start as we took the pitch to bowl first. Max
Mayor and Sam Pryce opened the bowling, but we're hit around a little, until the slower bowlers
of Chris Churcher and Kit Barnes bowled brilliantly to contain their total of 84. Tom Murphy and
Will Bucknell then took to the field hitting 50 off the first 4 overs until Will Bucknell departed,
bringing in Kit Barnes shortly followed by Max Mayor as Tom Murphy retired on 30 to show us
home with a win.
We went into the game against FH as a winner takes all game. We won the toss and decided to bat
again. Once again the openers got off to a great start until Tom Murphy was caught on the bound-
ary. Kit Barnes then re-established the innings with Will Bucknell until Will retired on 30 brining
Max Mayor in allowing them to reach 70 at the end of the innings. FH struggled early on due to
the brilliant bowling from Max Mayor and Tom Murphy until they started to chase harder. Once
again Chris Churcher was the best bowler allowing us to put pressure on the chase. Sam Pryce
had the final over bowling and OH lost by 6 wickets with 2 balls remaining, giving us second
place.
Overall a very good competition that was enjoyed by all. The whole team put in good efforts and
we fully deserved a better result, but we will leave that for next year’s team.
Will Bucknell
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Old House Magpie Summer 2018
Swimming Gala
Swimming has never been an OH strong point with most lads falling rather than diving in and
then hoping to float to the right end without drowning or finishing after everyone else has left.
This year saw lads taking part competing who can actually swim! A big well done to everyone
who took part but a fantastic thank you to Promise Li, Luke Simpson, Sam Friend and Freddie
Clayton who were outstanding swimmers. They won most of their races and have set the standard
of OH swimming at new heights for future years. Well done and thank you lads!
CEDO
End of year BBQ
The end of year BBQ was a really lovely way to end a great year. When North Close joined us in
the OH garden they were welcomed by the whole of OH watching the battle of the titans in the
Sumo ring (Luke Simpson vs Sam Dod). It wasn’t long before the evening was in full swing with
everyone enjoying themselves on the bouncy slide, in the ‘rave’ tent or sweating it out in the Sumo
suits. Soon each of the year groups were called up for the delicious BBQ meal prepared by our
Head Chef Mr Craig Sampson. After food there was a buzz about a rematch between Luke and
Sam where the crowds were out in full to see Sam Dod crowned victor. This was then the que for
the NC girls and OH lads to exit the OH patch and proceed onto Big Field where we enjoyed some
ice creams while listening to live music from musicians such as Aran D-S, Freddie Davies, Finn
Muirhead, Hal Dare and many others. After a roll call at 10pm the Year 12’s continued their even-
ing with the Year 13’s around the fire pit, roasting marshmallows and signing their leavers books.
Meanwhile the Year 11’s, 10’s and 9’s played football and watched a film in the common room.
The night calmed down at about 1am with some year 11s sat around the fire and the year 12s say-
ing their goodbyes to the leavers and those with an early flight in the morning.
Elliot Cole
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Old House Magpie Summer 2018
OH charity car wash
At the beginning of the summer term the OH Monitor team thought that they had not quite raised
enough money for the RNLI this year and were keen to do something about it. After discussing a
few ideas we decided that a charity car wash would be a great idea. We decided on a date and
asked the rest of the House to invite their parents along. Although we asked for £4 to cover costs
and put profits to the RNLI, the OH parents were as generous as usual, and we ended up making
over £120 for the RNLI. I’d like to say thanks to all involved whether it’s the lads washing the cars
or parents donating so generously! Overall it was a very successful event!
Elliot Cole
Ten Tors
This year, 6 of the OH lads completed the Ten Tors challenge. Will Bucknell, Toby Payton-Jones
and Ben Thornton-Wood walked 35 miles, Rory Bateman and Will Spencer completed the 45
mile walk and Marcus Pengelly took on the hardest of the challenges, competing 55 miles, for his
old school. We started our training way back in the winter term and spent countless hours on
Dartmoor and in Wales. On the weekend of the challenge the skies were clear and it was generally
ideal weather for the challenge. This was surprising as the weather forecast had said that it would
rain all weekend. All of the teams made it back successfully on the Sunday and completed the
challenge.
Rory Bateman
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Old House Magpie Summer 2018
Matrons Corner
What a year! A dry autumn, very wet, cold spring and a glorious summer, the latter being bliss
for us all and especially Di and Leanda, our tolerant and patient cleaners.
The kitchen as a focal point for 74 growing teenage lads, has yet again yielded many goodies. This
year the boys have consumed a modest:
1,568 loaves of bread, of which a third was brown
3,216 pints of milk
Over 550kg of fruit – apples, bananas and satsumas
408 jars of chocolate spread - plus marmite, jam and peanut butter
4,896 chocolate biscuit bars - Gold, Blue Riband, Kitkat, Penguins, Taxis, Breakaways,
Clubs, and various other assorted biscuits
And over 300 litres of squash – orange and blackcurrant!
We would like to thank the “home” labellers who, this year, have eased our load considerably as
we have only sewn on 240 name tapes! Needless to say, kit went missing, was borrowed/lost/
abandoned and we have endeavoured to find or lend a lot of items.
We have had a great year and thanks to you all and to the wonderful monitors for being so much
fun. Have a great summer boys and we look forward to more shenanigans in September!
Best wishes from us both,
Your long-suffering Matrons,
Susie and Jane
House Master’s Report
Thank you Will for another great edition of
The Magpie!
Where did that term go? It seems like only a few days
ago that it was raining outside as the cricket nets were
going up over the Easter holiday and now we are hop- OH celebrates the Royal Wedding
ing the grass grows after a heat wave before the rugby
posts go back in the ground. The achievements of the lads in OH never fails to amaze me. The way
in which every single one of them
finds something on offer at Blundell’s
that ‘ticks their box’ is great. And
then to see them work so hard at it,
whether it’s sport, outdoor pursuits,
academic studies, extra curricular ac-
tivities, music or drama is incredibly
rewarding to see. For many of them
of course it is a bit of all the above
and managing the balance to ensure
each gets the time it deserves and is
prioritised appropriately is quite a
skill to master.
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Old House Magpie Summer 2018
This years big project has been the construction of our ‘BBQ Shed/Gazebo’ to give us somewhere
we can cook and eat when it rains on the evenings we have planned a BBQ. I suppose it was hard-
ly surprising that BBQing in the garage didn’t tick the Fire Safety regs. A team of would be design-
ers, carpenters and general ‘that seems the best thing on offer’ hopefuls signed up to the OH Ac-
tivity. An hour a week and some pretty horrendous weather at times made progress slow and of-
ten ended up with a long tea break but by the end of the year we had achieved our target of having
it ready for the End of Year BBQ. In fact it was first used at the Year 12 Social a few weeks earlier
when a mostly OH band entertained the whole of Year 12 and then used for the Y12 Leavers Meal.
I must thank all the lads who took part, each did a brilliant job and each contributed in their own
way to a very successful project. The photographs below chart its development:
10Old House Magpie Summer 2018
It has become quite a focal point and was a good spot to welcome and host the new lads and their
parents when they came in before the end of term. Under the roof there is also the names of the
Leavers from the last two years carved into a piece of wood. A new tradition that will be added
each year.
It is always sad to say farewell to a year group as they leave OH and move into Westlake from
September but this year perhaps more than most. The Year 12 Leavers were my first group of
Year 9’s when I took over OH in 2014 and after four year of them living ‘next door’ as a House-
master they really do become part of your life. As always by this stage they have grown out of OH
and are ready for the new challenges of their next step and I wish them all the very best for the
future. They are a great bunch of true OH lads and are always welcome to pop back at any time.
Mr Dawson and Mrs Olive also leave OH this year after many years of excellent tutoring. I would
like to thank them again for all that they have done and wish them well for their new jobs. Mrs
Olive will of course be keeping me under control still and keeping the Y12 in ‘beer and pizza’ on a
Wednesday night!
Final thanks at the end of another incredibly successful year must go to the Tutor Team, Di and
Leanda and of course our Matrons who continue to do the most amazing job. OH would be a very
different place if it were not for all the hard work and care that Susie and Jane give every day.
I hope that you all have a great summer and look forward to welcoming 22 new lads to Old House
in September.
Take care,
Charlie Olive
Housemaster, Old House
11Old House Magpie Summer 2018
Sixth Form Leavers around the fire on their last night in
Old House, July 5th 2018
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