Congratulations to all the children who took part in this year’s Eastbourne Music and Arts Festival.  The Festival covers many different musical catergories and St Andrew’s entered children for both the choral and solo categories.  The super results achieved by the children as recorded as follows:

Ashraf Owasil won with distinction in the Solo Singing class (age 10 and 11) and was awarded the Willingdon Plaque for the highest mark of any solo singer under the age of 14. Ashraf also gained distinction in the Solo Singing: Stage and Film Musicals class (U12). 

Sophie Nicholles gained a merit in the Solo Singing class (age 12 and 13). 

Sophie Nicholles and Ashraf Owasil won with distinction in the Vocal Duet class (any age, any voice). 

Amber Gott won with distinction in the Solo String class (age 11 to 14). 

Amber Gott and Bethany Piper won with distinction in the Bronze Medal class for Vocal Duets/Trios (U13). 

The Junior Chamber Choir gained a merit and were second in the Year 6 and Under Choir class. 

The Senior Chamber Choir and Monday Choir were both awarded distinctions in their respective classes and the Senior Chamber Choir was awarded the Ivye Snell Challenge Cup for the best mark over two classes.

On Monday 24 February, 15 schools took part in the Sussex Mini Hockey Tournament held at Eastbourne College’s Beresford Astro.

The initial matches were played in a round robin and St Andrew’s draw 0-0 against Hurst and beat Moira House 2-0, Oathall Community College 2-0, Claremont 1-0 and Lewes Old Grammar 3-0 to go through to the semi-finals as the winners of their section.

In the semi-finals they faced Burgess Hill and a very exciting 2-2 game went on to a tense penalty shoot which St Andrew’s won.  They faced their old rivals Bede’s in the final!

Bede’s have a very strong team to whom the girls had lost very heavily at the beginning of the season so it was always going to be a tough game. The play was end to end with both teams having several chances to score but in the end it was Bede’s who managed to get one through finally winning the game 1-0. St Andrew’s should be very proud of themselves though – they played the best hockey of their season and they are now through to the Regional finals which take place in Reading in March. 

St Andrew’s Scouts and Beavers visited Reading Leisure Centre during half term for a Scout and Guide Day run by London Irish.

In the morning there were activities including tag rugby, basketball, mini-golf and arts and crafts, and in the afternoon, on to the Madejski Stadium to watch London Irish v Leicester Tigers (Tigers beat Irish 20-15). 

And as the St Andrew’s pack was one of the biggest groups there, they had the privilege of parading around the pitch beforehand!

Musicians from St Andrew’s joined four local prep schools for a day of Jazz at Eastbourne College.  Along with Holmewood House, Marlborough House, Vinehall and Saint Ronan’s, the 55 strong scratch orchestra spent the day putting together jazz numbers for a small concert held in front of parents at the College’s performing arts centre, the Birley Centre.

It wasn’t all music practice; the children enjoyed some extra-curricular activities such as cookery and water polo.

From only a day’s work, the children put together a superb show for the parents with numbers including I’ve Been Working on the Railroad, I’m Looking Over a Four-leafed Clover that I’ve Overlooked Before, I’m Confessing That I Love You and Tequila.

Congratulations to the U12 and the U13 rugby teams who were a great credit to the school in their recent respective Sussex Cup Semi-Finals.

Yesterday, the U13 travelled to Cardinal Newman, a school with 2,000 pupils and a team comprising of a Harlequins back row! Despite being under pressure for most of the game, the U13s held their own in midfield but they couldn’t prevent the two tries that came from the pressure of a physically powerful pack.

Despite the defeat here, the U13 team, under the captaincy of Edward Rosson-Jones and Joe McIntyre, have been undefeated in all their domestic rugby matches; they played nine and won nine scoring 355 points while only conceding 55.

On Monday, the U12s put in a great performance against Bede’s in their Sussex Cup Semi-Final. With a very young and comparatively inexperienced side the U12s managed to defeat Bede’s by 35-30 in what was a game full of excitement, incident and drama.

Special mention must go to Henry Turnbull, who broke and tackled superbly, and Theo Bevacqua and Charlie Dunton who dominated the forward play in the rucks and the mauls.

During the latest exeat, the school’s Brownie pack enjoyed a Harry Potter sleepover in the school’s playroom. The excitement started, just as it does in the films, with the sorting ceremony.  Once sorted into house, the Brownies prepared their beds for the night and then embarked on a Potter themed treasure hunt to find sweets and win jewellery.

After the treasure hunt, the pack split into groups to do some cooking and start their hostess badges by decorating tables in the dining room with beautiful golden decorations and cauldrons of soft drinks.

The children were entertained by three visitors, Helga Hufflepuff, Argus Filtch and a funny looking Dumbledore with very long white hair who judged the ‘Harry Potter in 99 Seconds’ act.

The next morning, after a magical breakfast, the children made wands out of paper and feathers and were taught a Harry Potter dance by the dance teacher, Mrs Robinson which they later performed to their parents while they enjoyed some Bertie Bott’s every flavour beans cookies.

During the following Brownie session the children spent time putting together their Harry Potter Sleepover Diaries. They all had a lovely couple of days and thank Mrs Moore and Mrs Gott for their time, help and planning.

A team of two Year 7 and two Year 8 children represented the school at the Quiz Club General Knowledge National Finals held in the historic Speech Room of Harrow School on Friday 31 January. The four children, Sam Leonard, Harry Jachuck, Joseph Shouksmith and Jonathan Baker, earned this honour after having won the area heat last term.

Thankfully the inclement weather did not hamper train and underground journeys to and from Harrow in North West London. There were 12 teams there from all corners of the country. Over the course of an hour the children had to use their voting pods to answer 40 multiple choice questions.

The team finished within the chasing pack and can hold their heads high having won through to the finals. Shrewsbury House pipped Dulwich Prep London to the title through the slimmest of margins. 

Four children from Years 7 and 8 children attended the Claremont Short Story Writing Competition this month. All the schools attending were split in year groups and the children were asked to write a story under the pseudonym of a famous author (to cover up their identity and which school they attended when the stories were read out).

The children had two hours to complete their short story and the stories were read by children’s author, Jenny Valentine. Jenny won the Guardian Prize for Children’s Fiction in 2007 with her debut novel Finding Violet Park.

A week later, they returned to hear the results of the competition and Sasha Marlow was delighted to hear that she had won the competition. Well done, Sasha – we look forward to reading your story.

The Friends of St Andrew’s excelled themselves this weekend with a superb Burns Night celebration.  The dining room was transformed with tartan, heather and thistles and there were the usual ingredients for a traditional Burns Night – the Selkirk Grace, piping in the haggis and a toast to the lasses.  After dinner the tables were cleared away for a ceilidh and a rendition of Auld Lang Syne. Thank you to the Friends for putting on such a good evening. 

The Selkirk Grace

Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it,
But we hae meat and we can eat,
Sae let the Lord be thankit.