St Edward's 150 Years - by Nicola Hunter

St Edward’s: 150 Years

Chapter 3 / Houses

Right: The Corfe extension, 2000. Below right: Shells, 2009.

Left: Junior House Hockey Champions, 2012. Below left: Upper Sixth, 2012 ‘Corfe Field’ dinner. Below: House supporters.

Corfe (K) Corfe was established as the third girls’ house at St Edward’s in 1999, when the boys who had lived in Corfe moved to Kendall House. I like to look back at our recent history, although we may not have the archives of memorabilia some other houses have. The whole collection of House photographs are displayed in the Shell prep room and it is interesting to see all the girls who have been part of Corfe. We also have copies of the original architect plans for part of the building now known as Corfe 2 and the Link. The Link is the central hub of our House. Whilst the Common Rooms can be used to get everyone together, it is the Link where you can truly see the spirit of the House gelling. Girls from a number of different year groups will always be found here, at break times, call-overs and before bed time. Our House Tutors base themselves here and it is a good spot to see the comings and goings of the House. It is also the scene of the weekly Cake Nights, Pancake Night and most importantly it is where the Christmas tree goes! We were very proud to have won the overall sports shield last year for the most successful girls’ house and the girls have continued their successes this year. During the autumn term 2012, Corfe had a clean sweep of hockey captains, with Freddie Atkinson captaining the 1st X1, Rosie Hart the U15As and Imogen Higgins the U14As. Music plays a very important part in Corfe and in recent years we have had three Heads of Choir in Abby Hughes, Isabelle Josephs and Ella Phillips. The talent of the House is showcased in our annual House show ‘A Corfe Occasion’, which is held in the Spring Term. It is not only an opportunity for the girls to sing, dance and act; they also display their artistic talents in a gallery of work put together for the evening. Arranged completely by the Lower Sixth the show is always a great success and I never cease to be amazed by the depth of talent these young women have.

staff are all invited and both the Housemaster of Field House and the Housemistress of Corfe and the Heads of Houses give speeches; it is an occasion to be remembered. Having asked the Upper Sixth a couple of years ago to come up with a House motto, Clio Chartres summed up the character of the girls in Corfe: ‘ Fidelis usque ad finem’ – Loyal to the End. Eve Singfield Housemistress, Corfe (K)

Upon taking over as HM of Corfe in 2009, one of the very first things I was asked by the girls was whether we were going to continue our partnership with Field House at Christmas. Keen to continue the tradition, the ‘Corfe Field’ dinner at Trinity College in Oxford is one of the highlights of the year for the girls (and boys, I am sure). Tutors and House

Left: Has Teddies Got Talent, 2011.

70

71