BEHIND THE STUDY DOOR
The Christmas Fair on Saturday was absolutely spectacular. Thank you so much to everyone who joined us for your contribution in making it such fun, and to all our Year-Group Reps, members of the Parents' Group and the many others who volunteered on the day. It really was a tremendous day.
As I think back to the fair, and the many events each week, I often pause and consider what has gone into each event to make it such a success. This is more so this week as we come together as a community to celebrate so many festive events. Of course, the boys and girls are the driving force behind all that we do as a school, and it is down to their commitment, enthusiasm and desire to get stuck in that we are able to enjoy a wide spectrum of events and activities; the staff provide all the inspiration behind what happens, so often going above and beyond the call of duty. They also have an enormous appetite to make our community continuously improve and develop; it is, however, in events like our fair, the support, commitment and hand-on engagement from the parents that allows us to achieve what we do as a school.
St. George's is a family school in the fullest sense, and this extends to the entire community. I know I speak for everyone here in recognising the enormous impact that our families have in contributing to the ethos of culture. As we think back at the Fair on Saturday and look ahead to the final two weeks of term, may I thank you all - parents and staff - for all you have done over the past thirteen weeks. This generosity of spirit from the whole school family creates a very special atmosphere.
A family ethos that stretches into school can be transformational, and stands alongside the academics, co-curricular provision and the fabric of any school; it is critical to a child's happiness. This is very evident at St. George's, and for this, I am extremely grateful.
William Goldsmith
Celebration Assembly
Head Master's Commendations
Many congratulations to the following pupils, who were awarded a Head Master's Commendation during Assembly:
Toby C: for working hard on his descriptive writing skills in English
Charlie H: for mature and detailed descriptive writing
Reya M: for continued hard work in English lessons
Thomas G: for demonstrating great improvement in geography
Monty S, James E and Alex W: for excellent work in RS
Leah H, Jeevan H, Charlie H, Tabitha P, Ben I'A, Lukas O, and Jonah P: for outstanding homework in French, describing their ideal pet.
Noah N-C, Buddy P, and Harry E: for work in science, setting themselves over 50 questions in Educake online science assessment.
Spirit of St George's Awards
We thank the following pupils for making a difference to someone last week:
Cedric R: for being immensely kind and thoughtful to a fellow boarder
Poppy J, Leah H and Daniel P: for looking out for a pupil in the form, giving up lunchtimes to help
Benji S: for being a great ambassador to the School when out in town, showing great helpfulness to a member of the public.
Sports Players of the Week
Years 3 and 4: William F, Pursuit of Excellence. Having had a wonderful first season in sport at St George's, working hard to improve in all areas of the game and acting on feedback effectively.
Years 5 and 6: Nefeli M, Enjoyment. During the football masterclass Nefeli was committed to getting the most out of the session.
Years 7 and 8: Jay-Veer G: Teamwork. Has worked tirelessly this season for the 2nd IX as an invaluable and committed defender who his team could rely on.
Year 4 Victorian Experience at Reading Museum
On Thursday Year 4 were transported back to Victorian times and given an insight into the work that Victorian children may have experienced. These roles included laundry maid, fire builders, chimney sweep and even a chamber pot maid. The children were able to learn what the job would entail and enjoyed dressing up and becoming part of the child workforce. As times changed in Victorian Britain, children were then encouraged to go to school. With a strict teacher at the front of the class, the children experienced a Victorian classroom, writing in ink pens and on slate boards.
Kindergarten and Reception Christmas Productions
The St George's Christmas festivities were set off to a very good start with magical productions from the Kindergarten and Reception classes. The children had clearly been working very hard to learn their words and gave very confident performances. The Kindergarten production, called Our Christmas Story, was a straightforward telling of the nativity with some wonderful singing.
The Reception production, called The Innkeeper's Breakfast, was a Christmas nativity musical about a very busy innkeeper whose breakfast is more important to him than anything else.
Inter-House Swimming Gala
The annual Inter-House Swimming Gala took place at Eton College pool on Monday. This was a wonderful event in two parts, with every pupil in Years 3 and 4 competing in a number of different races including a range of individual races over 25m and a number of team relays. This was quickly followed by the Years 5 to 8 event, with House Captains laying down pompoms and donning swimming hats for their contribution to the team races. Congratulations to all medal winners, to Vindictive House, who ended up winners, and to all those pupils who overcame their own individual challenges. Our thanks to everyone in the school for their contribution, and to our PE and Games Department for overseeing the event.
The overall results were:
1st – Vindictive 216 points
2nd – Victory 179 points
3rd – Rodney 171 points
4th – Revenge 162 points
Prep School Assembly Speaker
A big thank you to Mr Dave Walia and Dr Walia for visiting our assembly on Friday. Mr Walia gave a very interesting talk about setting a world record by single-handedly preparing a meal for over 1,000 people in Portugal!
St Andrew's Day
On Friday the Catering team helped us celebrate St Andrew's Day on Friday with a Scottish-themed menu including neeps and tatties, finkadella meatballs and cullen skink.
Sports Report
Football fixtures
The 1st XI Football squad travelled to York House for a triangular tournament with the hosts and Keble Prep School. Despite the conditions being more suited to bog snorkelling, the team played very well. The first game was against York House, this was an extremely close game with just one goal separating the sides, partly due to some heroics by the opposition goalkeeper. The team did not allow their heads to drop and in the second game of the afternoon, they showed their true footballing ability, outplaying the opposition and creating numerous chances.
This has been a mixed season for the side, however, their effort and desire has never been questioned and it has been extremely enjoyable watching them grow as a side. We thank the Year 8 pupils for all their hard work in their final football season at St George’s and we look forward to watching the Year 7 pupils develop next year.
The 2nd IX played in a triangular fixture against York House and Keble Prep school. The conditions were far from ideal, with heavy rain and a very muddy surface but despite this, the quality of football was of a high standard. Both teams were keeping the ball on the floor and playing it around nicely. York house were clinical in front of goal and that was the difference between the two teams, but St George's performance was encouraging. The second game against Keble Prep, a new team on the fixture list, was quite the opposite, with St George's ruthless in the attacking areas, with great long range goals from Syun, Daniel and Carl. It was a fitting end to the football season with an accomplished performance both strong in attack and defence.
The 3rd VII played two well-contested matches against York House 3rds and 4ths. Against the 4th team, we began strongly, passing the ball into space, creating opportunities for shots on goal. As the shot-count rose but the score remained 0-0, it was feared that missed opportunities would haunt the team later in the match. Eventually, though, Seb H found the net - 1-0! The pressure continued to build, but we could not add to our total. Despite excellent blocking from our defenders Mansa H and Jon Jon M, Milton O in goal could not prevent an equaliser. As the rain grew heavier, and the pitch muddier, passing the football became a challenge. York House scored twice more to end the first game 1-3.
As we contested against a stronger 3rd VII, the rain abated and a rainbow appeared. Our play was excellent, but against more technical opponents, we could not find the net. It took York House a long time to score, and they eventually scored again late to win 0-2. Man of the Match was Jon Jon M for some terrific defending (even though he didn’t appreciate the mud!)
Colts
The Colts A and B teams played their final matches of the season against St Edward's U11As. With all of the boys keen to be involved in the final round of matches and with St Edward's only able to field one team, we played a Year 5 versus Year 6 warm up match for twenty minutes prior to the opposition's arrival. It proved to be a good game with the Year 5 team dominating much of the possession and surprisingly had the majority of the chances, unfortunately they could not convert these into goals. On the other hand, the Year 6 team showed their greater experience and clinically scored two goals from as many attempts on target. A great game and a learning curve for the Year 5 team.
The main event started with the Colts A playing against St Edward's in an extended half of football. After an even first ten minutes, St George's started to dominate midfield and with some excellent team play created a number of chances. The St Edward's keeper was very busy and in fine form, making some outstanding saves. It took a brilliant piece of individual play from Monty to break the deadlock in his final game. One more team goal followed for a 2-0 half time lead. It felt like an international friendly with the entire team changed at half time and the Colts B taking to the field. Again there was a cagey first ten minutes before St Edward's took the lead due to a defensive lapse coinciding with a lack of tracking back in midfield. An impressive immediate response led to a well taken equaliser by Fede that resulted in a tense final few minutes. St Edward'ds scored again for a 2-1 result, however, the match finished 3-2 overall to St George's. Well done to both teams for an excellent season.
Both the Colts C and D gave great accounts of themselves in the final football fixture of the season, winning 2-1 and 2-0 respectively. There were some terrific and unselfish passages of play, most notably from Nathaniel M, Gabriel R-A and George H. Goal keepers George S and Ben I made some superb saves to keep the score line in favour of St George’s. Team spirit in poor weather conditions shone throughout both teams; all the boys were terrific ambassadors for St George’s.
The Colts Development played the St Edward's C team in their last match of the season. They started the game with clear targets to move the ball quickly and utilise the big pitch through the counter attack. The game ebbed and flowed in the first half with opportunities for both teams. St Edward's broke the deadlock first and held the lead until the last five minutes when a well-worked move resulted in an easy tap in for the striker. This was a wonderful team effort from the whole team and a great way to finish the season, despite the 1-1 draw.
Netball
This week St George’s opponents were Reddam House, despite the wet conditions on Wednesday afternoon there was some excellent match play and successful team performances from every team, all with winning results. In the U10 matches there were some excellent individual performances from Poppy J, Tilly W and Jeevan H. The teamwork of both teams is showing great improvement and the communication between players is stronger, aiding the team to move the ball around the court without interceptions. The girls have been working on their defensive techniques this week and each quarter they have had individual interception targets to meet; this kept them motivated and resulted in some excellent interceptions. Player of the match for both games: Liv D and Tilly W. Well done to both teams.
In the U11 game there were some excellent passages of play from Willow W, Carys C and Ella G, some good defensive play from Noor O and Savannah K and some lovely shooting from Yana. The team worked together to move the ball up the court and made lots of successful centre passes, giving them possession of the ball for the majority of the game. Despite the wet weather, all the girls were positive and displayed great team spirit.
On Friday all U8 and U9 girls travelled to Reddam House and had a successful afternoon of netball. Both U8 teams were successful in winning their matches and some lovely match play was displayed by Cicily W, Willow J and Elise-May J who both moved the ball up the court smoothly.
Daisy W scored some excellent goals and her back-line marking caused the opponents some difficulty in moving the ball away from the defensive circle. Special mention to Aanya K who played an important role in defence, making many successful interceptions. In the U9 games there were some excellent individual performances, including Lara H who played in a different position and did this with such ease and positivity, scoring five goals. Milly W held her centre court role successfully and contributed to successful linked play. Scarlett S and Gracie M held their focus throughout the afternoon and were determined to win back possession of the ball. Well done to all the teams on a successful afternoon of netball at Reddam House.
Poppy Appeal Update
Major Pete Dale, the Poppy Appeal Organiser for Windsor, wrote to thank the School for raising the excellent sum of £539.30 during this year's appeal.
Maths Puzzle
We wish the following pupils a very Happy Birthday for the Week Ahead: Lucas T, Carys C, Sienna T, William F, James B, Francesca K and Isabelle S.