Easter Term 2016

P E I A R S T The Greyhound E V E R A N

This term saw outstanding successes on the rugby pitch and five wonderful performances of Carousel.

AMBITION - OPPORTUNITY - COMMUNITY Junior School have been learning about the #Romans and their battle tactics in Great to see Louis Roach (Jago, left 2014) score his first professional try for #History. (9 January) @MoseleyRugbyFC yesterday! (17 January)

The Silhillian Fund for Assisted Places This has been an exciting year for the Silhillian Fund for Assisted Places and we would like to thank all those who have supported it. The Silhillian Fund allows us to help more pupils access a education and we hope that our donors feel proud of their connection with, and support of, future generations of Solihull pupils. One of our donors is David Aslin (1968, Fetherston). When asked about why he supported the fund David responded with:

‘For those of us who benefited so greatly from our time at Solihull, the instinct to ‘give back’ is strong. I was gratified to find a concrete way of giving back that resonated so well with my own assisted start at Solihull - the Assisted Places Scheme. I am delighted to play my part in funding the Scheme which provides invaluable support to pupils at a key time in their development as a person’.

To find out more about the Silhillian Fund for Assisted Places and how you can support it, please go to www.solsch.org. uk/giving or contact Susie Jordan on 0121 703 2898 or at [email protected].

The Greyhound Interviews… Mark Hopton, Chairman of Governors How long have you been Chairman of Governors? I joined the Board in 2005 and my term as Chairman commenced in 2010/11 and has been more or less coterminous with Mr Lloyd’s tenure as Headmaster. What are your fondest memories of your time at the School? I was struck at a recent alumni reunion by the importance attached by so many to the presence of former staff. Like many, one or two of the staff made a real difference to my time at the School. Arthur Brooker and Mike Dodgeon stand out for me, whilst Mike Savage, as housemaster, went the extra mile to help me to settle into the Shell Form. What was your favourite subject as a pupil, Carousel and Drinks Reception CV and Interview Evening and why? On Wednesday 16 March we were pleased to welcome back 50 Sixth Formers stepped out of their comfort zones in I was an enthusiastic linguist, so Latin and French were both former pupils, parents and staff to attend a drinks reception February and signed up to be interviewed by professional natural subjects of choice. Latin has had a profound impact and performance of the School musical, Carousel. The event recruiters. They were asked to submit a CV in advance and on both my use of vocabulary and helped with the derivation was extremely well attended, as we were joined by over on the night itself were asked competency-based questions of words in many foreign languages. I still familiarise myself 100 members of the Solihull community. Refreshments were and given feedback on their CV and their answers. The with a page or two of Saint-Exupéry before setting off on my served on the top floor of the new state-of-the-art Sixth Form interviewers were volunteers from our parent and Old Silhillian travels to , since this helps me to think in the language Centre, and guests were free to explore the rest of the Cooper network and came from a variety of industries: Law, Medicine, rather than just speak it . What did you do after you left Solihull School? Building at their leisure. Professional Services, Logistics, Finance, Recruitment What for you have been the most exciting changes One of the speakers at the school careers evening in 1972 and Training. Students reported being very nervous at the was hugely influential in my chosen career path. I joined his beginning but with encouragement and positive feedback they at Solihull School since you were a pupil? firm, KPMG, in 1974 and this was the start of a fantastic Choral Evensong and visibly grew in confidence! Feedback from the interviewers The most striking differences are girls, technology and career spanning almost 40 years. I gained broad business was glowing; many said that students should be proud of their facilities. Some of the co-curricular opportunities are Drinks Reception experience, took on considerable early responsibility, became On Monday 8 February 30 former pupils, parents and staff achievements and not nervous about talking about them. breathtaking. The atmosphere is so much more informal and a partner at 28 and was eventually appointed Midland joined us in London to listen to the Chamber Choir perform the pupils seem much more self-assured. Regional Chairman until my retirement in 2012. Retirement Choral Evensong at St Paul’s Cathedral. Following Evensong What hobbies and interests do you have? is a euphemism for a busy pro bono non-executive life. I am guests came together for refreshments at Corney and Barrow. I am a keen golfer and lifelong member of Olton Club. Pro-Chancellor & Chair of Birmingham City University and Here they were able to meet old friends and make new You will also find me regularly in the crowd at international and a Trustee of Acorns Children’s Hospice, in addition to my acquaintances in a warm and welcoming setting. The Choir Premiership rugby matches. responsibilities at School. have been invited to sing at St Paul’s again in 2017 and we would be delighted to see former pupils there.

Can you help @solsch1560 students with their CVs/interviews? We’re collecting bath & tea towels, sheets & pillow cases for our Malawi #charity. Contact Julia Skan, Head of Careers, to get involved! (11 January) (18 January) Junior School has raised £1000 to support @LAFFCharity. The Memorial Tree for #HolocaustMemorialDay has been put up in the George Hill by Each house will be sponsoring a different orphan in . (20 January) our wonderful ambassadors @solsch1560. (27 January)

Debating Society Equality Society Starts Up This term has been one of unprecedented success for the Debating Society. We have seen success in both British At School With the recent news articles about gender equal pay and Parliamentary and Mace Debating, including winning both the growing pressures to look at equality for LGBT groups, two Novice and Open final of the Nottingham University Schools Sixth Formers have started up an Equality Society. Evie Debating Competition. We have also performed well in the Townend and Freya Harding have set up the society to Oxbridge Debating competitions, breaking three teams to discuss issues regarding inequality both within the School and the final of the Oxford competition (a feat only also managed the global community. The group will consider issues around by Eton, Westminster, Tiffin and St Paul’s) and ranking in the sexism, sexuality, xenophobia, race, gender identity and top 40 out of 1000 schools entering the Cambridge Debating privilege. competition. In Mace we have succeeded in coming 2nd in the Regional Finals of the ESU competition, and in the ESU Public Speaking we were voted Best Chair. With our younger debaters seeing success in the Rotary Competition, which we entered for the first time this year, and five teams attending Durham University Schools competition, the future is looking bright. Professor Cofone returns to Solihull Oxbridge Success In January Albin Cofone, Professor of Social Science at Congratulations to the following students who now hold Suffolk County Community College, New York, returned for Oxbridge conditional offers for study in October 2016: the third successive year to deliver a series of fascinating talks Staff Achievement to supplement the curriculum studies of students across the Leticia Salmon - History and Education, Cambridge; School. Mr M Smith from the Physics Department has been awarded Ben Northam - Politics, Philosophy and Economics, Oxford; a Certificate of Theology with Honours, after successfully Isobel Fuller - Natural Sciences, Cambridge; The Upper Sixth Politics students were treated to a very completing a distance learning course with Moore College, Luke Sheeran - Computing, Cambridge; insightful look at The Good State and the Lunatic Fringe; Sydney. This included Biblical studies and church history, Lydia Stephens - English, Oxford; Decoding Iowa and the 2016 Presidential Primary and and qualifies him to be a lay reader in the Anglican Church Jack Edge - Classics, Oxford; the Upper Fifth History students enjoyed a talk entitled Mr (though technically only in Sydney Diocese!). Mr Smith is on Zershaaneh Qureshi - Mathematics and Philosophy, Oxford; Khrushchev Comes to Iowa, addressing the historic and the leadership team of a Baptist Church in Coventry and is Dominic Martens - Music, Cambridge. contemporary influence Iowa exerts on US domestic and involved in preaching there. international politics.

In the Junior School, Professor Cofone used his experience as a pilot to capture the imagination of all pupils from J2 to Classics Society J4 in his talks on The Death Valley basin, The Planning of the The Classics Society has had another busy term. The Lower Great American Cities & The Rain Shadow effect of the Sierra Sixth went to Warwick University to explore Greek Drama, Nevada mountain range. the Fourth Form Latinists visited Bath while the Shell Form Latinists went to Cirencester, both to explore what it was like All talks were very well received and stimulated many to live in Roman Britain. We have had several Classics Society questions and discussions afterwards. trips – to the University of Birmingham to listen to Professor Felix Budelmann on ‘How to end a Greek tragedy’, and to the MAC to see Splendid Theatre’s three-woman production of The Odyssey, where our very own Mr Jones had a starring role as the storm! Our Sixth Form Classicists attended the Birmingham and Midlands Texts and Topics Conference, to support their A-Level studies, and the Upper Sixth Classical Civilisations group spent a day at the British Museum, investigating Greek Art and Architecture. Much fun was had and many things were learnt!

Onatti Theatre Company In February, the Onatti Theatre Company once again visited the School to perform one of their plays in a Modern Foreign Language. This time the Spanish play ‘Primera Cita’ (First Date) was offered to Shell and Fourth Form Spanish students, and they really enjoyed the opportunity to hear the language being used in a context that was a bit different from the classroom! Many pupils volunteered to go up on stage and interact with the actors, really bringing the play and the language to life. The next visit from Onatti will be in March, when they will come to perform a play in German.

How many can fit in a @ShelterBox tent? 30 pupils and two teachers! @OldSilhillians Jessica Singer is performing in musical Tick, Tick...BOOM! We plan to raise funds for 10 boxes. (25 January) in #Birmingham (27 January) Well done to our U13 girls’ squad for winning tonight’s gala against KEHS Fourth Form at Aquae Sulis - the sun is shining, the children are learning! and EHS! #WinningWednesday (27 January) Happy days! (28 January)

Holocaust Survivor visits Solihull Solihull School hosted the British premiere of Close to Evil, a documentary marking the journey of Holocaust survivor Tomi Reichental and his efforts to engage with one of his former jailers. Joined by his partner Joyce and director Gerry Gregg, the film was shown twice on Monday 1 February and followed by a Q & A session to combined audiences of over 500 members of the School and wider community. The film focuses on Tomi’s discovery that his former jailer, SS guard and convicted war criminal Hilde Lisiewicz, is alive and protesting her innocence, claiming to be a victim of victor’s justice. The feature unexpectedly takes Tomi to where it all began, his native Meraisice, where he meets ghosts from his past and embraces a German woman related to the man who had a direct role in the deaths of 35 members of his own family. It was a day that all of those present are never likely to forget.

Young Enterprise Our thriving Fourth Form Young Enterprise team ‘Echo’ recently took part in the regional trade fair in the Touchwood Shopping Centre. In response to our repeated requests for New Hampshire and New York pupils to manufacture products for sale, the team brought Ski Trip to market several complicated mathematical jigsaw puzzles Thirty-seven pupils from the Lower Fifth to Upper Sixth (inspired by Dr Atkinson), some high quality wooden bowls ventured across the pond to enjoy five days of skiing in New and ornaments, hair ties and candle holders. The pupils’ Hampshire during February half-term. With temperatures organisational abilities were tested and they really got out of ranging from -20c to +7, we experienced every kind of their comfort zone in terms of approaching members of the weather, and all the pupils skied really well despite some very public to try to interest them in making a purchase. The profit challenging conditions, honing their skills thanks to great margins on the goods sold were high, although not quite as instruction from the American coaches. Before heading home profitable as the latest Tuck-Shop takeover, where the pupils we had an action-packed stop in New York, staying overnight sold over £350 worth of crisps, chocolate and fizzy drinks in just off Times Square and taking in many of the best known 20 minutes! sights of the Big Apple. With plenty of shopping opportunities and some great food throughout the week, the pupils really did get a taste of American life, as well as having a great time on the slopes. With impeccable behaviour and great camaraderie throughout, they were all excellent ambassadors for their School.

CCF and Charity The School’s CCF donated some surplus sleeping bags to the SIFA Fireside Charity in Birmingham this term. Cdt Sgt Leticia Salmon saw the Charity in action feeding those people unfortunate enough to have to sleep outside even in the winter. It was a very emotional experience for her and the Charity were immensely grateful for the chance to give out sleeping bags.

Dr Christina Schaeffner from @AstonUniversity came in to talk about growing up in Sixth Form biologists attended #Biology Live with @ProfRWinston, Prof Steve Jones, GDR & help pupils with #German (28 January) @DaveGoulson & @sophiescott. (29 January) @solsch1560 Sport Scholars #injuryprevention #injurymanagement presentation Lower Sixth Classical Civilisation pupils visited @WarwickArts for the Ancient Drama today with School Physio Phil Evans. (29 January) Day with @drmichaelcscott. (30 January)

Château de la Baudonnière At 3:30am on 12 February, 39 pupils set off on a 15-hour journey to Château de la Baudonnière in Normandy, France. It was a French immersion trip which meant we had French lessons every day! However it also meant that we got to go to Mont St Michel and a French market. We even visited a French Carrefour! Some of the activities included bread- making, climbing, archery, photogramme and aeroball but indisputably the best was the assault course involving wriggling through a tube that was three-quarters submerged in murky water, sliding on your stomach through commando nets and being hosed down with freezing cold water to get the mud off us afterwards. The evening activities included a French night where we tasted snails, a treasure hunt around the Château and bowling. On the last night, we enjoyed a talent contest. It was a great week and everyone had lots of fun. We would like to thank the teachers for using their half- ESU Final term to come with us. Secretly, we think they rather enjoyed The English-Speaking Union Regional Final running around after us! was a well-attended and lively affair. There were a range of Trip to Madrid motions discussed, from legalising the sale of organs to giving In February, 23 Upper Fifth, Lower Sixth and Upper Sixth Katy Thomas and Chloe Mander, Third Form doctors the power to overrule parents in all medical decisions. students, accompanied by Head of Spanish Mr Morgan AAAS Conference in Our team of Jessica Browne and Darius Shoja-Assadi and Mrs Roman-Blythe, travelled to Madrid to practise their were proposing the banning of the payment of ransoms Washington DC Spanish, visit Spain’s capital and establish new links with and produced an articulate and persuasive performance On Wednesday 10 February, seventeen students and two Colegio Mirasur in Pinto. We had a fantastic time exploring against the team from Edgbaston High School for Girls but staff set off on the biennial visit to the AAAS Conference held, the city, visiting some its most beautiful landmarks, cooking unfortunately were pipped to the one qualification spot by an this year, in Washington, DC. The conference lasted 3 and Spanish food and tasting some lovely tapas. We received a lot impassioned Landau Forte College team. The team thoroughly a half days during which we listened to many talks given by of praise because our students were really well behaved and enjoyed the evening and were particularly involved throughout world leaders in their respective scientific fields. The most made the most of the experience. Colegio Mirasur made us all debates, asking questions and participating in discussion. prestigious announcement, which made international news, feel at home and they had plenty of activities planned for us. was about the first detection of gravitational waves, from the It was great that the students had the chance to meet people coalescence of two black holes some 1.6 billion years ago. the same age as them. We are really looking forward to going Many of us agreed that one of the scariest was a talk on back for the exchange in October 2016. ‘Space Weather’, where a coronal mass ejection from the sun in our direction could cripple the Earth for years.

During the rest of the trip we took advantage of a guided bus tour, visits to the Capitol, the Pentagon, a match and the many museums in the City.

European Youth Parliament On Friday 4 March the European Youth Parliament team, consisting of Oliver Altham, Alistair Bevan, Jessica Browne, Tarran Dhillon, Amelia Dicicco, Jim Garbett, Jacob Gilbert, Joe Gilyead, Bianca Oberheim, Patrick Robinson and Thomas Robinson, took part in the regional round of the European Youth Parliament competition, and were by far and away the best team present. In particular, the judges were impressed by the eloquence of their speeches, quality of the arguments made and the strong teamwork which they displayed. This is the first time for a decade that a team from Solihull has won, and they will now go forward to represent the West Midlands at the national round of the competition in June.

Our #Deloitte careers lunch was fully booked today with students learning about Well done to our #golf A-team who defeated Ellesmere College 3-0 at Hawkstone entry and career progression. (29 January) Park in the regional semi-finals of the ISGA Matchplay. (30 January) Charley Gregory (IVF) is representing in # in Kenya. U12 squad are en route to play in the quarter finals of the He plays number 3 seed from Togo this week. (31 January) #schoolsportmagazine national competition. (2 February)

Theatre Design Team This term saw the launch of the Theatre Design Team, a group of pupils dedicated to learning more about every aspect of stage design. Enthusiastically lead by Mr Hunton and Mr Hammond, the team has so far designed a number of costumes, begun work on a set design, learned about make- up design and helped to prepare for Carousel.

Artist visits the School Photography Exhibition at School Celebrated British artist Mitch Griffiths visited the Art The Solihull Photographic Society held their 37th annual Department in February. He gave two lectures on his work exhibition in the George Hill building again this year. Students and painting techniques before spending time in the painting enjoyed a private viewing of the work and received a studios with the Sixth Form artists advising them on their catalogue of the stunning entries. A-Level work.

Carousel The School musical that took place towards the end of the term featured five dazzling nights of music in drama in the Bushell Hall from an extremely dedicated and talented company, crew and orchestra. Rogers and Hammerstein’s brilliant Carousel provided big numbers as well as heartbreaking moments and was enjoyed by all.

Theatre Trips Drama students have been to the theatre five times this term, with particular highlights being Don Quixote at the RSC and A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing at the Young Vic in London. Pupils came away from all trips inspired with plenty of new ideas for their Drama work.

Lower School Drama Club Lower School Drama Club has continued to flourish this term, very ably led by Emma Hadley and Ellie Miles. Participants have practised their improvisation and developed their understanding of a wide array of theatrical conventions.

Rehearsals are underway for our next school production, Carousel. Pupils visted the Goethe Institut in London to practise their #german. (3 February) #drama #dancing #schoolproduction. (1 February) Our Food Technologists were tasked with creating a 2 course meal for 1 with a Classics students attended the @CA_BhamMids Lecture on How to End a Greek £1 budget #food #onepoundchallenge. (3 February) Tragedy with @UniofOxford’s Dr Budelmann. (4 February)

Junior School Concert In addition to the termly Informal Concert, many of the Junior School pupils come together twice a year for a big concert in the Bushell Hall. This term’s concert was as lovely as usual. Thirty-three pupils had the courage to play a solo piece, covering a wide range of instruments and styles. These were Christingle! sandwiched by performances from Wind Band, Orchestra, On Sunday 24 January, the annual Christingle service took Guitar Ensemble, String Group and two chamber groups. place in Chapel. Many of the Junior School pupils had spent Fun with Symmetry! Everyone should be extremely proud of their performances. their lunchtimes in the preceding week in the ‘Christingle Junior School Easter Term Charity The pupils in J3 had great fun in Maths this term, working on Factory’ in the Junior School Art Room, attending to the Our most recent charity support has been for Action on creating symmetrical shapes, using their bodies. The pupils creation of 150 sweet-laden treats for the congregation to Hearing Loss. We were visited by Rhianna Cooper, Regional worked in pairs and small groups and tried to be as creative enjoy. During the service, a special cheque was presented to Fundraising Manager who taught the children some basic as they could, whilst still being mathematically accurate. After the Children’s Society. sign language and some of the problems people with hearing creating the shapes, they then looked at the photographs and disabilities had to face. She received a cheque for £1000. drew on all the different Lines of Symmetry. Miss Compton has since started a signing club to teach interested pupils more about Sign Language. We have also been able to work with LAFF, along with other sections of the School, to sponsor five children in the Azul Wasi Orphanage in Peru, as well as raising £1000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. Finally, the Junior School had an exciting assembly from Mr Garner about the Shelter Box Appeal, which the School is supporting.

Gold Star Awards Congratulations to two more groups of Junior School Gold Star recipients. They have worn their badges with pride! Telescope Fascination On Monday 14 March at the beginning of science week, the Junior School welcomed Martin Mayer who came to talk about the working of his telescope which he is kindly donating to the School. Martin, who was previously a wing commander test pilot and involved in training astronauts, showed the Ali Baba and the Bongo Bandits pupils the impressive telescope and discussed its use with The J4s performed two energetic performances of Ali Baba example viewings of our solar system. The children were and the Bongo Bandits to a filled Bushell Hall in January. fascinated by images of planets that the telescope produced The comedy had a twist on the traditional Aladdin tale, with and showed a huge interest and enthusiasm during the a set of bandits who were on a mission to steal the precious question and answer session. The telescope will be kept in ruby from the Sultan (Piers Kemp) so that the evil Vizier (Jem the Senior School for all pupils to use at a suitable point whilst Perry) could take control of the Genie (Annabel Bagshaw). at Solihull. However, Ali Baba (Daniel Abrahams) soon worked out that the ketchup bottle was more than just a popular sauce, and off he went on a magical carpet ride! The J4s worked very hard throughout the Christmas term to attend rehearsals for the performance and they all had a fabulous time performing the show.

Third Form pupils have been doing their French presentations on ‘voici mon collège’. Further congratulations regarding recent JAC hockey selection go to Louisa Miles, Bravo à tous! (3 February) Annabel Dalby, Bethan Bown and Louise Green. #hockey. (4 February) Well done to Adina Bailey and Clara Miles who were selected last night to represent @jamesdboys: As a former member of @SolihullCouncil I’m delighted to be returning to the West Midland Warriors in netball. (4 February) my home town to discuss my new book, Hillary Rising, at @solsch1560. (4 February)

World Book Day in the Junior Junior School Sports Tour Junior School Sport Report After the success of the inaugural sports tour last year, the The end of the Easter term marks the close of one of the School time soon came around again for our U11s to jump on the busiest periods of sport that the Junior School has seen in World Book Day was celebrated with gusto in the Junior coach and head out to test their skills against opposition from recent years. School this term – we all dressed up and had a Big Bumper a different part of the country. This year it focused on rugby Book Quiz in the morning, each class with its own team name for the boys and netball for the girls, with the destination being Boys across all age groups have been involved in house competing against each other. J4A, known as ‘The A Team’ that of the beautiful New Forest. competitions, with Shenstone victorious in J3/J4 House and J3H ‘The Humphreys’ Dumpties’ were joint winners! Hockey, and Jago taking home the plaudits after an afternoon Plenty more activities took place in English lessons and lots of The fixture list this year stepped up a gear and saw our pupils of fiercely fought Tag Rugby! The U11 boys have had a fun was had by all. compete in 12 fixtures across 4 days against some of the very demanding schedule competing in 7s tournaments at strongest schools we have come across. We were welcomed Bedford Modern (Runners up) and (Plate on the first day, en route to The New Forest, by Oratory Prep winners), and also the U11 regional hockey tournament at School in Oxford. This saw narrow losses for the U11A rugby Bilton Grange (in the same week!). Elsewhere across the team (losing 3-1) and both netball teams (losing 17-14 in the Junior School, there have been impressive performances ‘A’ and 21-19 in the ‘B’). Our U11 rugby players put in a great for the U8 boys’ football team, beating Eversfield in both ‘A’ performance to come out victorious at 4-1; a tough opening and ‘B’ fixtures. Both U9 and U10 age groups have also had day! impressive wins in several sports against opposition including Hallfield, Bromsgrove and Foremarke Hall. The second day saw us hosted by Ballard School and this yielded 4 excellent performances across both sports, coming Equally, the Junior School girls have been busy on the out with 4 wins out of 4, most notably the girls winning by a sports fields/courts! Shenstone emerged victorious in J3/J4 combined margin of 27! Last up was arguably our toughest House Netball after a nail-biting 2 week tournament! Netball test against Twyford School. The boys thrashed out two fixtures also produced some great performances over the fixtures of outstanding quality, winning one and losing term; U8s posting wins against King Henry VIII, U9s beating one. The girls came up against a very strong cohort and Warwick convincingly, the U10 teams narrowly losing out unfortunately lost both matches. to Hallfield and our U11s playing fabulously in the Warwick invitational tournament. The U11A team also gave a great During the tour, all boys and girls enjoyed various activities account of themselves at the IAPS regional tournament, held including archery, climbing, abseiling, a trip to Marwell Zoo at Uppingham School. The U11 girls narrowly missed out on and a morning at Romsey Rapids! A great time was had by qualifying for nationals in the regional IAPS netball tournament, all and most importantly it was a great sporting education for again held at Uppingham. They played fantastically well and all involved. Many thanks to Mr Thomas for organising the had excellent results against schools such as Beeston Hall, trip and also to Mr Mitchell, Mrs Johnson, Miss Hanlon and Northampton High and Laxton Junior. They were beaten 3-2 Mr Rudd for accompanying the touring party. Already looking in a close encounter with The Grammar School at Leeds in forward to next year! the knockout rounds. In Hockey, the girls registered a block win against Eversfield at both U10 and U11 level, along with 3 wins out of 4 against The Croft. School Council Report School Council has had a great term and one of our biggest events was visiting the Mayor’s Chambers. Once we had arrived we held our fortnightly meeting in the chamber itself with the Mayor watching. We discussed many suggestions, including the details of our annual Dress the Egg Competition, J2 Trip to Handsworth Gurdwara different club ideas and freezing the Astroturf to make it in to J2 visited Handsworth Gurdwara where they experienced an ice rink! As well as our trip to the Mayor’s Chambers we first-hand the welcoming nature of the Sikh faith. They were have held frequent School Council meetings and discussed given a tour of the Gurdwara and heard the Guru Granth many suggestions. Sahib being read in the Prayer Hall. They were offered prasad, blessed food, and listened respectfully to prayers. They heard Amelia, Alice and Pippa a talk about life as a Sikh, and were shown the 5 Ks. The children had a really enjoyable morning and learned a great deal.

Bhangra Dancing On Wednesday 2 March, the J1s were involved in a Bhangra dancing workshop as part of their India topic in Geography. Through photographs, the pupils learnt that India has a diverse culture and that its states are either very rich or very poor. They were then told that Bhangra dancing originated in the state of Punjab and is a farmer’s dance. Pupils were taught a simple, step-by-step, Bhangra routine to the beat of a drum. They also listened to a popular Indian fable about a mango and they were shown many different Indian artefacts that are used in Bhangra dancing. The J1s and their form tutors had a fantastic morning learning and performing their routines, and even Mr Penney and Mr Jones came and had a dance!

@solsch1560 Enjoy the letters from the children at Azul Wasi! They’re excited to hear Head Girl, Leticia Salmon is off to #Norway for an Ice Climbing Expedition among the back from their new pen pals! (4 February) frozen waterfalls. (5 February) Solihull is pleased to support Safer Internet Day. Help make the internet a better Congratulations to Aoife Mannion (Windsor, left 2014) on signing a new contract with place #shareaheart. #SID2016. (9 February) Birmingham City Ladies FC! (11 February)

Instrumental Concerts & String Masterclass In addition to the wonderful array of choral activities, we have had five concerts for instrumentalists at School: two Informal Concerts, a Chamber Music concert, a Strings Masterclass (given by internationally renowned violinist Lior Kaminetsky), a Junior School Concert, and a Recital given by Upper Sixth Form students. All these have provided wonderful experiences for pupils to perform solo and ensemble items in public. For some these will have been the first outings in public; for the Recitalists it has been the other end of their musical journey as soloists here at Solihull. In every concert all performers – young and old, beginner and experienced – acquitted themselves with confidence, musicality and panache. The Chamber Concert also demonstrated some impressive skills in performing very varied repertoire for string, wind and brass ensembles, in which each player is the only one on their part Visit to Steinway Hall, London – a scary, but also wonderfully empowering experience. Huge This term fourteen of our advanced pianists and other congratulations to all. instrumentalists travelled down to London for our first ever recital in Steinway Hall. Following the arrival of our own new Steinway pianos it was a great privilege to be at Steinway’s Choral Evensong at St Paul’s London base. In addition to the recital, the pianists were put Cathedral through their paces in a masterclass given by Steinway Artist On 8 February the Chamber Choir travelled, for the fourth Charles Owen who, in addition to his international recording consecutive year, to St Paul’s Cathedral in London to sing and performing, is a Professor of Piano at the Guildhall School Choral Evensong in that most stunning of settings. The music of Music and Drama. Mr Owen was consistently encouraging included Noble’s majestic Canticles in B minor alongside the and always illustrated his points at the keyboard with great Ayleward Responses and Psalms 97 & 98. The anthem was clarity and wit. ‘I will sing with the spirit’, composed especially for our choir by illustrious organist and Old Silhillian David Briggs, the first performance of which took place in our School Chapel during the previous evening. The event was a tremendous success and a real privilege, and we look forward to returning next year. Rising Stars On Saturday 5 March Megan Lloyd, Oliver Palmer and Ellie Ajao performed concertos with the Solihull Symphony Orchestra in their Rising Stars concert. They all performed brilliantly, with considerable style and fluency. It is a daunting task to perform a concerto accompanied by an orchestra, but they played with great confidence. The orchestra said that it was one of, if not the best Rising Stars concert that they have held, and judging by the applause, the audience certainly agreed. Daily Service Open Mic finalist On 26 February the Chamber Choir took to the airwaves Huge congratulations to once more via BBC Radio 4’s ‘Daily Service’ programme, Courtney Holland who broadcasting live from St Emmanuel’s Church in Didsbury. performed at Birmingham’s The theme of the broadcast was ‘The challenge of faith’ and NEC as one of the finalists in our music included Noble’s ‘Nunc dimittis in B minor’ and the the Grand National Final of the popular hymns ‘Lord enthroned in heavenly splendour’ and ‘Open Mic UK’ competition ‘Blest are the pure in heart’. We received wonderful feedback where she sang ‘Skinny from several listeners, many of whom took the trouble to write Love’. Only the winner was in without having had any previous contact with the School. placed and, whilst this was unfortunately not Courtney, Impressive Exam Successes she performed incredibly well Huge congratulations to all those pupils who took instrumental and we are very proud of her. exams at the very end of last term. In addition to their individual successes, the combined set of results was one of the best we have ever had. For those taking exams with the ABRSM, 50% were distinctions and 77% were either merit of distinction. All that practice must have paid off. Keep up the good work!

Friday night saw the 2nd Family Fun Night run by the SSPA for the families of the Catalina Eguiguren has being helping @solschMFL & other subjects for some Junior School. (10 February) months. Last week we sadly said goodbye. (18 February) Charlie Hadley competed in the UK Indoor Athletics Champs & became On Monday our lucky J2 pupils got to practise their swing with @jamie_murray and No1 Midlands U20 Indoor Triple Jump & 7th in UK. (23 February) the #daviscup winning team! (3 March)

U15 Netball Borough Tournament Rugby Successes On Wednesday 2 March, our U15 netballers attended the This term has been dominated by numerous 7s Tournaments borough tournament held at . Over recent at all ages. I am pleased to report it has been possibly the years, the growing popularity of netball in schools has made most successful in recent years. To date the School has this tournament very competitive and it was by no means achieved the following results, all of which carry with them a an easy victory. Through outstanding team and individual high degree of credibility: performances, the girls reached the semi-finals after winning all five of their league games. They beat Lode Heath in this U11 Bedford Modern 7s Cup Finalists game by a comfortable margin and faced Arden in the final. U11 Warwick School 7s Plate Winners Superb shooting from Sofia Cusack and Tabitha Botterill U12 Warwick School 7s Cup Winners ensured that our girls claimed victory and were crowned U12 Nottingham 7s Cup Winners borough champions. U13 Solihull 7s Bowl Finalists U14 Solihull 7s Cup Finalists U14 Nottingham 7s Cup Winners U14 Old Swinford Hospital 7s Cup Winners U18 Solihull 7s Plate Winners

These are results which take a great deal of time and effort; thank you to all of the players and staff. There are also a number of tournaments still to be played and I wish all the very best of luck.

U12 Netball This year marks our first entry into the recently formed national school competition for U12 netball, ‘The School Sport Magazine National U12 Netball Cup’. Our girls progressed through the rounds comfortably, gaining some very notable wins against high calibre netball schools. Sadly, travelling Sailing Team away to Berkhamsted to play in the quarter final proved too The new School Sailing Team was formed this year from a much for us and we were beaten by a very strong team, who group of already experienced dinghy sailors to learn how to do have subsequently gone on to earn a place in this year’s team racing. Team racing is a popular sport where a team of final. The girls have played fantastic netball; fast paced and three boats competes against another to make sure all three well organised, and they have provided great support for Ski Team boats finish ahead of the others. It’s very fast and very exciting each other. I am delighted with their attitude, commitment On Friday 4 March, the Ski Team left to participate in We have also had the most International Honours in a season. to watch. We are planning to race against other schools very and focus and I have thoroughly enjoyed coaching them and International School competitions taking place in France and Special mention and congratulations should go to soon and are training hard at Olton Mere. watching them grow. Well done! Switzerland. Our first location was Les Houches, nestled William Talbot-Davies on being selected for Wales U18 XV, in the Chamonix Valley, where we had two days of training. Charlie Morgan & William Cutbill on being selected for 1st VII Netball Racing started on the Monday, with the U18s and U12s racing England Counties U18 XV, and Tom Serle on being selected for Scotland U16 XV. The 1st VII netball squad travelled to Bromsgrove School Giant Slalom, while the U14s raced Slalom. On Wednesday on Sunday 31 January for the West Midlands regional we travelled to Villars in Switzerland, where more members of With the 1st XV also finishing 10th in the National Daily Mail tournament- the second time of qualifying for this highly the team joined us to compete in the Aiglon College Cup. On Merit League Table at Christmas, this season is proving to be acclaimed competition. After winning 4 out of 6 games, the Thursday all skiers competed in a Giant Slalom, which was a fruitful one. team narrowly missed out on a place in the national finals followed on Friday by a Combi-Slalom for the U12s and a following two tough opening games. The team have shown regular Slalom for everyone else. Over the four days of racing, great promise and look forward to the challenges ahead for all did exceedingly well in very large age groups. Ella Giles next season. achieved excellent results in Les Houches, Dan Giles skied consistently well all week, and Tom Lawrence competed for the first time after sustaining a serious knee injury in January. Special mentions go to John Patrick Gallagher, Erin Jennings, John Jennings, Alex Horne, James Shakeshaft, George Daly and Alex Johnson who all competed in their first snow races.

Last week our Chapel hosted a wonderful choir medley and organ demonstration - Incredible effort for @BrainTumourOrg by our Lower School #WearItOut (4 March) thank you to everyone involved! (2 March) In2Hockey 7-a-side Hockey Tournament On Wednesday 3 February the U13 hockey team put on a great performance against schools from across the county. With our positive team spirit and determination, we came out on top and won every single match we played. King Edward’s, Edgbaston High School, St Martin’s and many more schools were no match for the mighty Silhillians. The team on the day consisted of Louisa Miles (Captain), Annabel Dalby, April Urry, Izzy Gardner, Lana Ryan, Louise Green, Nicole Dann, Hanaan Welch, Eva Mahoney and of course Miss Wilcox and Mrs Hallworth who guided us along on our way to victory. We hope we can come back with another trophy after the next round at the end of March at Cannock Hockey Club.

Louisa Miles

Golf Success The School’s A-Team took on the B-Team in the Regional Finals of the ISGA Tournament. Congratulations to both teams for getting this far against some good golfing schools. As expected, the A-Team ran out winners with brother and sister Tom and Vicky Brewer pitched against each other in the last pairing. The A-Team now go on to the ISGA National Finals at St Andrews in April.

Easter Term Teams of the Week

U15 XV Rugby Team AAAS Scientists Excellent performance versus Bishop Vesey’s Outstanding contribution to an excellent trip Grammar School Fetherston Charity Team U13 Girls’ Hockey Team An excellent tuck shop ‘take-over’ in aid of LAFF & Superb performance and victory against King Azul Wasi Orphanage Henry VIII School U12 7s Rugby Squad Lower Sixth Spanish Team Fantastic series of 7s Tournament victories Tremendous help provided to the Junior School European Youth Parliament Team Open Afternoon Outstanding victory in the West Midlands Senior Golf Team Championships Excellent victory over Ellesmere College to reach CSLA Team the ISGA Matchplay Finals Excellent organisation of Lower School sports Debating Team event Fantastic performance in the Nottingham Debate Cast and Crew of Carousel 1st XI Boys’ Hockey Team Five fabulous nights of drama and music Excellent performance and victory against King Edward’s School, Birmingham in the National Cup

Follow Solihull School on twitter: @solsch1560. facebook: www.facebook.com/SolihullSchool Solihull School, Warwick Road, Solihull West Midlands B91 3DJ Telephone Numbers: School Office: 0121 705 0958 Admissions Secretary: 0121 705 4273 Bursar: 0121 705 0883 Fax: 0121 711 4439 Email: [email protected] Web: www.solsch.org.uk