St Edward's 150 Years - by Nicola Hunter

St Edward’s: 150 Years

Chapter 3 / Houses

Left: Shells, September 2012. Below: 150th anniversary Shells.

Judy Young, Housemistress, Oakthorpe.

Last year we held the first Oakthorpe 24-hour Danceathon, to be a biennial event in future, and raised over £5,000 for charity. This year saw the introduction of a hard-fought conker competition. Who knows what next year will bring with it? The answer is certainly something new. A House, like any tightly knit community, is more than the sum of its parts but the parts themselves are important too. Older pupils lead the way and are good role models for younger pupils. In recent years we have been very proud of those with excellent A Level and IB results, including Katie Battcock, with 45 IB points (full marks, putting her in the top 0.5 per cent worldwide), Augusta Charlton, Isabella Ogston, Holly Jackson, Ellie Johnson, Millie Edwards, Alice Railton, Nicole Rapeport and Emily Fletcher. We have benefited from the performance of our top sports players – Belle Burt, Ana Robinson, Mads Edwards and, lower down the House, Ellie Lloyd, Francesca Sargent and Natasha Tisminieszky. Our top musicians continue to contribute all round with Liz Isles, Claudia Posada, Imogen English and Imogen Allen leading the way with Emma Cheng, Susie Flory and Nicola Roberts already in the wings to take their places.

Below: Danceathon, October 2013.

Oakthorpe (J) Oakthorpe House might be tucked out of sight behind the labs, but Oakthorpe girls are certainly not tucked away when it comes to participating and succeeding in School life. As I write, the row of cups we were awarded last term says it all – the Warden’s Cup for good work, the House Singing Competition Unison cup, the Senior and Junior Netball cups and the Junior Debating cup are testament to Oakthorpe’s ability to work hard, play hard and take part across the board. Although not all terms have seen quite such success, the pervading ‘get up and go’ ethos of the House has always been there and last term was by no means exceptional. I look back at other memorable events of the year and of these, ‘Oakthorpe Presents’ has to come out on top. Year on year, I continue to be both amazed and impressed by so much talent in the House, most notably in what I discovered later came to be known as the ‘Pippa Bennett-Warner spot’ named after one of the best singers we have ever had. Ele Lighter, Lucy Bowen and Olivia Page have all risen to the challenge of performing the final solo in the past and this year it was filled by Liz Isles, with a virtuoso performance of ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ on the piano. It’s not just the actual show, however, that reveals so much about the House – it’s the way everyone pulls together and the way Oakthorpe members are so supportive of each other. The feel in Oakthorpe every year is always different after Oakthorpe Presents.

Other House traditions have grown up over time as well – the end-of-term House parties, the Shells’ Easter Egg Hunt, Pancake Day and the annual House dinners each have their rituals which are built on year on year. Any previous member of the House would feel quite at home coming back to join us on any of these occasions – please feel free to do so! New traditions spring up too; Cake Night on Thursday is now a highlight of the week and Cathy Day, our Matron, bakes for 60.

The piano in the Downstairs Common Room is in constant use and it says a lot about the House that no one feels self- conscious about playing it, whatever standard they are at. Its use encapsulates the message we all aim for: ‘Go on, try it out, don’t worry and we will support you’ – and we do. Our House motto is not ‘Amongst Friends’ for nothing. Judy Young Housemistress, Oakthorpe (J)

Oakthorpe Presents 2013 EmmaChengandImogenAllen.

Lower Sixth, 2012, ready for a climb!

Junior netball team, March 2013.

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