On Saturday 27^th April two teams set off from Windlesham to compete in the Clay Shooting National Championships (a contest we won a few years back and which we have re-joined recently).  At a variety of stands on the Black Course, our boys took 32 shots each at clays flying overhead from different directions (and some rolling/bouncing along the ground, known as ‘clay rabbits’).  Windlesham entered two teams in a field of 16. Although our 2^nd Team (Tom Ibbitson, Callum Owen and Oli Hutchison) acquitted themselves well (taking 9^th place), our 1^st Team (Ed Higham, Felix Dennis and Hayden Frith – our Captain) performed very well indeed.  Ed achieved our highest score of 21, Hayden scored 20, and Felix racked up 19 hits. This put them in the running for the winner’s trophy. However, they tied with Maidwell and both of these teams were beaten in the end by the Ashfold, who took the trophy by only two clays (a top score of 62).  Mr Phil Williams, our Shooting Coach, was very pleased with the day’s results and the way our six intrepid competitors undertook the challenge.  Hopefully, Windlesham will be in the running for the top guns position again next year, but 2^nd in the Nationals was a worthy accolade. It was great to see the Windlesham Clay Shooting Captain of 2012 (Ollie Milne-Skillman) doing well for his secondary school team on the Red Course next door.

Competitive classes will take place every day that week for different instrumental ‘families’ such as woodwind, brass, strings, piano and organ and singers.

Between 4.15-5pm in the chapel, children will play their instruments to an adjudicator and get feedback, receive a certificate and be marked on their playing etc.

We are very lucky to have some very notable professionals come and adjudicate for us. We have professional players/ instrumental teachers, and Directors of Music from Brighton College, Eastbourne College and Lancing College to listen to the children and give them feedback on their playing and some encouragement.

We hope we will see many young players take advantage of this unique and wonderful opportunity and really celebrate their budding talents.

Hamish Milne Skillman qualified 4th in the U12 25 metres butterfly, and in the semi finals put in a great performance to go into the finals with the fastest time. Unfortunately he was beaten into 2nd place by a touch and 0.03 of a second, but both he and the winner broke the IAPS record (13.97 which stood since 2007) with a 13.88 winning time was an excellent achievement.

Both children did us proud.

On Wednesday evening Rachel and I fly out to Bermuda where I am giving a generic presentation about the merits of boarding in the independent school system. We hope to capitalise on the interest being expressed about Windlesham.  We are very much looking forward to meeting up with some past and present families as part of our trip.

When we return in the early hours of Monday morning we will be straight in to the run up towards half term.  I have always been of the view that the most important aspect of exams is finding out what you do not know.  We put great store in going through the exams in detail so that the children of all ages and ability can learn from their mistakes.  It is extraordinary how much knowledge can be retrieved in most, if not al,l subjects. The point I will be making to the subject teachers and the children in assembly is that next week’s lessons become the most precious of the year!

It was disappointing not to have more young golfers for our Windlesham Open Championship on Sunday but those who did play could not have had better conditions and I don’t believe our 9 hole golf course has been better.

Dr Anthony Seldon, the Master of Wellington College, was our guest speaker in our Sunday service and he made my day by starting his address by saying “Windlesham’s setting is the best of any school in the country”.  Praise indeed and good reason for all those associated with the school to appreciate how lucky we are.

There is a lot of news to share with you, beginning with an apology I anticipated having to make. I always miss out on hearing about at least one successful  London Marathon runner – this year it is Sophie Wright, to whom many congratulations and a big sorry!

I have delighted to catch up on news of Rohanne Collis becoming engaged to Thomas Campbell of Chew Magna, Bristol and to hear of Hannah Newman (nee Fryatt) having her first baby, Poppy Claire Avril, earlier this month.  Another to have a new baby recently is Chris Wheeler, whose wife Georgie gave birth at the end of February to Agatha Beatrice, a sister for Walter and Tilly. The other big news for Chris is that he is leaving St Christopher’s Hove and returning to Kenya to be Principal and CEO of Hillcrest Schools from September.

While on the African theme, I must mention next outstanding success for Tom Rowlands-Rees, whose fledgling film company, Cinema Kpatakpata, very recently won ‘Best  Film’ at the African Movie Academy Awards with their debut feature film, ‘Confusion Na Wa.’ Many Congratulations to Tom and his colleagues on this remarkable achievement.

A couple of alumni have been spotted in the press recently, with Tina Cook’s support for the charity that Badminton are sponsoring being mentioned – sadly she herself, riding Miner’s Frolic did not do quite as well as she would have hoped. However, to compensate, she did send out her first point-to-point winner as a trainer a week or so ago, when Peplum won at nearby Parham. A slightly bizarre article also appeared in the Daily Mail a day or two ago, when Richard Kay decided it was newsworthy that a college student was working behind the bar of a Chelsea pub. It just so happened that Sabrina Percy had been spotted doing so while she completes her course at the London College of Fashion – could it be linked to the fact that she is a former Tatler ‘Babe of the Month’?

It has been good to make contact again for the first time, after too many years, with Simon Scott, who runs VS Fisheries and lectures at Sparsholt College, and with Sandie Otero (nee Smith-Vaughan) who is living in Fargo, North Dakota, where she lives with her husband Manuel – both their children have now left home. A near contemporary of hers, Richard Gould, paid an unannounced visit to the school a couple of weeks ago  – it is lovely that alumni always feel able to do just that – and fortunately there was an experienced colleague, Steve Grobbelaar, here to show him around. As with many, he was very keen to see Chapel and was delighted to see his name on the scholarship board – he had started at Windlesham at the age of seven and a half, having lived what seemed a world away in Kenya.

Probably the biggest alumni headline in the last few weeks has been the announcement that Alexandra Hall Hall has been appointed Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Georgia. Her most recent posting was as Deputy Head of Mission in Bogota and, following maternity leave, she will take up her new role in July. This will mean that there are now two Windlesham alumni Ambassadors – the other being Andrew Page, who holds that position in Slovenia.

One particular job I have been doing during my convalescence has been to sort out some of the photos which we will be using in our new on-line gallery, which will soon be accessible to alumni. I began with the collection of images that James Beatty left for the archive and then have sifted through those given by Christine Lough (though her very best ones are firmly affixed to albums!). These two sources have produced many treasures which I hope will bring much joy, but even more than these two photo archives, I suspect that the photos taken by Naomi-Dyson-Rooke will prove a real hit. I have been going through these in the last couple of days and what shines out of them is the wonderfully warm relationship that Naomi had with all who knew her – the happiness to be seen in each image is so vibrant.

Finally I must give the forthcoming Reunion in Chelsea another plug. I sense that there are quite a few ‘out there’ who will be joining us, but who have yet to flag that up with Louisa Milne. It will aid our catering plans so much if you could take the step of letting her know at lmilne@windlesham.com even if you would like to leave payment until the night. The details are as follows:

Thursday 23^rd May, 6.00pm to 10.00pm at The Petyt Hall, Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, £15 per head (students free).

It is looking as if there will be quite a spread across the years, though it seems that in particular there are quite a number from 1993/1994 who will be looking to celebrate 20 years out! Whatever your era, please do come along and join us – partners/spouses are, as ever, very welcome. We look forward to seeing as many of you there as possible. Keep on keeping in touch!

Teams were split into two groups of 4 pupils and were accompanied by a Windlesham host.  They set off to complete a series of three indoor challenges:  ICT –  where they had to build an ice-cream out of shapes, DT – build a structure out of corrugated card and newspaper strong enough to hold a raw egg while being blown around by a wind machine and Science – pupils had to put together a torch.  Most exciting for most children however, was the opportunity to take part in the outdoor challenges in the woods which included making pizzas, building shelters and bridges.  There were no left-overs!

The day ended with a whole school relay race and ice-creams and a firm promise to return next year.

Winners were from Knightsbridge School Team 2 with Falcon Boys (Team 2) and The Gatehouse (Team 1) coming in joint runners up.

Like all the prep school heads attending the conference I was delighted that the Chairman of the  B.S.A. challenged the Senior Schools’ Heads over their obsession with academic selective entry almost at all cost.  Christian Heinrich went on to extol the virtues of allowing prep school children to enjoy and savour their childhood.  Like us at Windlesham, his school allows children to climb trees and have a sense of freedom.  My only retort being that as a predominantly day school his pupils do not have much time during the day to make the most of these opportunities; another reason why I promote full boarding so strongly.

It was a very good conference and I took much heart from the desire to promote the virtues of a boarding education and the obvious fact that Windlesham almost stands alone in the Prep School world given our very strong full boarding numbers.

Next on my agenda is to chair this week’s Oxford Group Meeting at Radley College.  I hope much good will be gained from reflecting on the mood of the B.S.A. conference.

It was indeed very touching to return to school last Thursday and be given such a warm welcome back by the children and staff alike. It was quite a sight with a sea of 8 year olds immersed in the Windlesham Challenge.  For many of the children from the ten schools, being in the woods and making pizza in our open air pizza oven would, I expect, have been the highlight.

 The visit gave the children wonderful first-hand experience of the impact of WWII in Sussex and provided them with new insights into this incredibly dramatic period in British history. The highlights of the day for many included learning about the courageous work of British secret agents sent out from Tangmere who were the bravest of the brave and also sitting in the cockpit of the flight simulator. The children loved the thrill of flying the Spitfire simulator which enabled them to step into the shoes of some of our greatest WWII heroes such as the irrepressible Bader. It was a very enjoyable visit. Here are some reflections from members of the Fours:

 “Our visit to Tangmere Museum was an exciting trip and gave us some awesome first-hand experience of WWII and helped us learn about the important role of the RAF and SOE spies during the war. Tangmere Museum is brilliant!” Max Hanison

“I most enjoyed the experience of flying a Spitfire in the simulators. Our trip to Tangmere Museum was great fun!” Jemima Attwood

 ”Tangmere Museum was a fantastic trip! It helped us learn a lot about WWII and the different planes which played an important tole in protecting our country during the war such as the Spitfire and Hurricane.” Saskia Norman

 Our visit to Tangmere Museum was an excellent trip and gave us a chance to see lots of different planes used by the RAF to guard us during WWII. There were lots of amazing planes to see from the last century and I really enjoyed the trip.” Niamh Healy