Dunbar Bulletin Lent Term 2014 3

From the Housemaster

I hope that you have all had a lovely weekend and that you have had a chance to enjoy the glorious and much needed sunshine! Reflecting on the past week, we certainly managed to pack a lot in; with a Dunbar dog walk/expedition, the ‘spaghetti tower’ building Dunbar Challenge, The Dunbar Concert and the Dunbar Family Quiz.

I hear that the Dunbar dog walk (now in its second year) was a great success, well done to Dunbar's Assistant Housemaster Jonathan Corry and Colin Hearn (College RSM) for organising this event for the second year running!

In the Dunbar Challenge, Forward Watch seemed to pull together most as a team and were rewarded with the tallest tower of 1m 59cm. Well done to Peter Hyde for leading his Watch to victory. Aft were not too far behind with their 1m 30cm tower.

I very much enjoyed the Dunbar Concert midweek, with a fantastic array of musical talent, with just over two thirds of the Dunbar pupils performing solos and all singing with enthusiasm for the Dunbar Choir.

It was great to see so many of you at the Dunbar Family Quiz! I thought Philip Bates pitched the evening perfectly in every way. We raised just over £220 for the Sue Ryder Hospice and had a lot of fun in doing so. Well done to the Beavers for their nail biting victory!

We have listened to three fact filled presentations this week, with Sam Holloway telling us all about Richard Branson, Lily-May Howe and Lucy Perring sharing their passion for eventing and Louis Winter giving us an insight to his rugby experiences.

We have a relatively quieter two weeks ahead of us but still have games fixtures on both Wednesdays for both the boys and the girls. This coming Sunday (23rd March), the Dunbar Choir are performing at the Spring Concert, with Dunbar and the Senior School working together and perform Dry Your Tears, Afrika by John Williams from the film Amistad. I am very much looking forward to hearing the Dunbar Choir sing again and look forward to seeing you all there.

Will Ogilvie-Jones

Housemaster of Dunbar

Dunbar Bulletin Lent Term 2014 2

From the Housemaster

I hope that the half-term holidays have gone well and that your son/daughter is refreshed and ready to return back to College. We return to the Summer routine version of the daily timetable from Monday 24th February, with the last lesson of the day finishing at 15:55 and games or activities beginning at 16:30.

We will hopefully fulfil all of the sports fixtures for the rest of the term with waterlogged pitches and gale force winds forcing the cancellation of some of the games before the holidays.

Despite the weather, the Dunbar pupils were characteristically busy during the past six weeks of the Lent Term. They have continued to present on a Friday or Tuesday morning during the Dunbar Assemblies. Peter Bezant gave us an insight into the world he had created in a computer world creation game of Mine Craft, Maisie Marsh gave a detailed presentation on her favourite boy band - One Direction, Sam Ward inspired us all with his talk on Nelson Mandela, Oscar Harper shared his passion for guitars and showed us his guitar collection and Bastien Hamilton followed his summary of e-safety with an adhoc performance of The Hall of Fame (by The Script/will.i.am) on the piano, with all pupils joining in with the sing-along of the chorus!

Bastien also played his piano in a far more formal setting when he played in a String and Piano Concerto on 31st January in the Nancye Harding Recital Hall on campus. Lucy Perring and Henry Dailey also played in the Concerto; all went very well.

We took the Dunbar boarders to see the College production of Little Shop of Horrors on the evening of Wednesday 12th February. Well done to Sam Holloway, Louis Winter and Cameron Branney for their performances and for all the time and effort they put into rehearsals especially the all-day Sunday rehearsals!

Two of the Dunbar 2nd Form were involved in the Design Technology Department STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) team Land Rover 4x4 Technology Challenge. Peter Hyde and Abbie Lewis contributed with their creative and technical skills to help create an all-terrain remote controlled vehicle that would have to be 'driven' across a series of obstacle courses that would test the vehicle’s design. The team did very well in the first round of the competition (hosted at City University, London) coming away with three prizes: Best New Comer, Best Course Time and Most Innovative Design.

The boarders enjoyed a variety of activities last term: on Wednesday 29th January the Dunbar boarders helped Kenny Xu celebrate the approach of Chinese New Year with a trip to the Imperial Palace restaurant in Reading. Miss Green has involved the boarders in Art and Design projects with self-portrait prints of the boarders and a Sunday trip to decorate pottery.

May I take this opportunity to thank those parents and guardians who attended the Dunbar Dinner and I hope that you will all agree it was an enjoyable evening. This year the theme of my speech focused on the fact that our current 1st Form will graduate from Pangbourne College in the year 2020. I suggested that in order to make our Dunbar pupils ready for the year 2020 we cannot really tell them what it will be like and what will happen but we can at least prepare them as to how they approach the ever-changing world that they will step into.

Finally, the 2nd Form will start ‘Buddy’ training after half term. They will be trained in various aspects of mentoring such as listening skills and knowing when to tell a member of staff if someone asks them for help, for example.

Will Ogilvie-Jones

Housemaster of Dunbar

Dunbar Bulletin Lent Term 2014 1

From the Housemaster

The Dunbar pupils have all made a great start to the Lent Term, refreshed from the long Christmas holidays! They have made our three new boys feel very welcome indeed and are to be congratulated on their selflessness in making the potentially difficult task of joining a school part way through the year, all the more easier for Sam, Kenny and Oscar.

I was fortunate enough to be able to watch both the boys’ rugby and the girls’ netball on Wednesday 22nd January. The boys certainly played with determination and grit against Leighton Park School and the girls were back on winning form with some excellent team work and awareness of each other around the court. Alex Barnes and Sam Holloway have ensured that match reports have been written for these fixtures—well done to them!

We have enjoyed a range of presentations given by the Dunbar pupils in the Friday morning ‘rewards and awards assembly’ slot. Each pupil will give some sort of presentation this term. So far we have listed to dynamic, multimedia and in-depth presentations from: Zac Fryer (kangaroos), Lucy Perring and Jenny Crossley (netball), Luke Hedley and Archie Coltart (ice hockey); Freya Harvey and Alex Barnes (netball—shooting) and Laura Hartwright (the Atlantic rowing challenge).

Lucy Perring and Wills Wildern gave an excellent presentation in front of the whole College during Headmaster’s assembly on Monday 20th January! They shared their experiences of the Dunbar Ski trip to Claviere in Northern Italy. They showed pictures of wintry fun and good times whilst wearing their full ski regalia!

The Dunbar pupils were involved in a Digital Citizenship workshop later that Monday. They discussed issues relating to risks involved with sharing information online or via electronic devices as well as being given advice and top tips for being a responsible Digital Citizen.

Will Ogilvie-Jones

Housemaster of Dunbar

Dunbar Bulletin Michaelmas Term 2013 4

From the Housemaster

Happy New Year to all of our Dunbar families! We hope that you have had a relaxing break and that the high winds and relentless rain have not dampened your spirits. The end of

Michaelmas Term seems an age ago but here are a few key events that stay firmly in my memory.

The main end of term event was the Dunbar production of ‘Ernie’s Incredible Illucinations’. In the words of the Headmaster in his tweet after seeing the show ‘Well done to all the boys and girls on a fantastic show’ - ‘slick and highly entertaining’. I was extremely impressed with the way the pupils delivered their lines confidently and with the way they all worked as a team to achieve a common goal.

 

 

The end of term trip to see ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ was a great success with all of the pupils getting fully involved in the pantomime audience participation, only to be occasionally upstaged by Mr Bates and Mr Metcalfe!

On behalf of the College and the PPA may I thank you for all of the Tombola donations and the cups that were decorated, filled with sweets and donated for the PPA Christmas Bazaar. The prize for the best decorated cup went to Archie Coltart for his ‘Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer’ cup.

The pupils were in fine voice during the Dunbar end of term disco! Luckily they still had some of their voices left over ready for their singing in the Carol Service! I would like to take this opportunity to thank the pupils for all of their hard work this term in preparing for the Carol Service. I would also like to thank Miss Bastin for leading the Dunbar Choir rehearsals and Mr Bates for his assistance.

Whilst the term ended there for most of the pupils and staff, a group from Dunbar travelled to  Claviere in Northern Italy for the Dunbar Ski Trip. I have heard reports that all went well and we will hopefully be publishing a full report on the trip in due course. Thank you to Mr Corry for organising the trip and to Mr Bamforth and Miss Long for accompanying the trip also.

You will have received your son’s/daughter’s report over the holidays, so please do take time to read these reports and return the Parents’/Guardians’ Response form if you wish to make any comments. Also, if you would like to discuss the report, please do contact your son’s/daughter’s academic tutor in the first instance.

We held our Final Dunbar Assembly on the last Tuesday of Term and various prizes were awarded and 2nd Form students were promoted to become Dunbar Prefects for the Lent Term 2014.

 

The prizes for Michaelmas Term 2013 were awarded as follows:

 - Student with the most House points: Cameron Branney and Louis Winter with a fantastic 121 Housepoints each!

 - Housepoints Cup: Forward Watch, captained by Sam Holloway

 - Best Shoes and Uniform: Forward Watch, captained by Sam Holloway

 - Boy of the Term: Zac Fryer; for his positive approach to life and selflessness.

 - Girl of the Term: Lucy Perring for her industry and integrity.

 - Boarder of Term: Bastien Hamilton

 - Best Dorm of the Term: Dorm 4 (The Girls’ Dorm!)

The promotions to Dunbar Prefects for Lent Term 2014 were awarded as follows:

Head Boy: Cameron Branney

Head Girl: Abbie Lewis

Port (red) Watch Captain: Archie Coltart

Starboard (green) Watch Captain: Louis Winter

Forward (yellow) Watch Captain: Peter Hyde

Aft (blue) Watch Captain: Wills Wildern

Co-curricular Prefects: Peter Bezant and Luke Hedley

Dunbar Sports Prefects: Alex Barnes and Sam Holloway

Chapel and Choir Prefect: Lily May-Howe

The Dunbar girls’ hockey team deserve a special mention for their efforts in being named the overall College team of the term! They won 10 of their 13 games, losing only two games and drawing one. A fantastic display of team work—well done girls!

We have three new boys joining us next week and I am sure that our Dunbar pupils will give them a warm welcome. We will be down to only two spare beds on the boys’ side of the boarding house as two of the new boys are boarders. 

I am really looking forward to the Lent Term and one of my New Year’s resolution is to tweet more! If you would like to follow Dunbar our Twitter address is @PCDunbarHouse. You can also see the Dunbar Blog page by following this link:  http://pcdunbarhouse.blogspot.co.uk/ 

May I take this opportunity to thank all of the parents and guardians for your continued support with all that we do here at Pangbourne College.

Will Ogilvie-Jones

Housemaster of Dunbar

Dunbar Bulletin Michaelmas Term 2013 3

From the Housemaster

The past three weeks have certainly flown by with a trip for boarders and day pupils to see London Irish play, more hockey success from the Dunbar girls, the start of assessment fortnight and some (voluntary!) early morning running from the Dunbar boarders (accompanied by the Housemaster of course!).

I have been lucky enough to have the opportunity to watch some of our Dunbar boys play for the Third Form rugby teams on a Saturday afternoon and this all bodes well for next term and the rugby season.

The Dunbar girls are doing very well in their hockey with Lily-May Howe being nominated as player of the week across all girls hockey teams last week.

May I take this opportunity to thank the parents who helped out for the Dunbar ‘Open House’ on Saturday 9th November, it was  a great success and hopefully we have convinced all of those who attended to bring their children to study at Pangbourne College.

As well as parents helping out we also had our Dunbar 2nd Form students acting as guides for prospective families. I have had glowing reports about our pupils and how well they conducted themselves and I have thanked them for being excellent ambassadors for the College.

I hope that you all have a lovely weekend and that the Dunbar pupils get some much needed rest to see them through to the end of term!

Will Ogilvie-Jones

Housemaster of Dunbar

Dunbar Bulletin Michaelmas Term 2013 2

From the Housemaster

 

The first half of the Michaelmas Term has certainly been eventful for all of the Dunbar students with an array of sporting fixtures, Friday activities, Geography field trips, the Dunbar Challenge, drama workshops and of course working hard on their studies!

 

The First Form have settled in well and the Second Form are showing themselves to be good role models for the First Form to look up to. I am pleased with the happy atmosphere that we have in Dunbar and I look forward to more of the same over the coming weeks.

Forward Watch won the first Dunbar Challenge of the year, captained by Sam Holloway. The pupils had to find the answers to cryptic clues in a treasure hunt around the College Campus. The main theme as with all of the Dunbar Challenges is ‘working together as a team’.

The Second Form (and some First Form boarders) thoroughly enjoyed the Geography Field trip to London on Saturday 12th October. The trip involved taking in some of the architecture and history of the City of London followed by some ‘mudlarking’ where the pupils collected and identified historic artefacts from the Thames riverside.

In the last week before the half-term holidays began, Dunbar enjoyed a Drama workshop, courtesy of the Fourth Form Drama students. The 4th form Drama students are studying a unit on Theatre in Education as part of their GCSE and they created a workshop for the Dunbar students.

And finally, I would like to echo the words of Mrs Jacqui Waller at the Dunbar Parents’ and Guardians’ meeting that the Dunbar pupils need to return from the half-term holidays ready to show off their positive academic intent and to build up momentum that culminates in the assessment fortnight. Pupils should have a clear idea of any academic ‘targets for improvement’ and they will need to work on these on their return from the holidays.

Further to any comments your son’s/daughter’s subject teachers made at the Dunbar Parents’ and Guardians’ meeting and/or in the interim reports, if you do have any questions regarding their academic targets, please contact your son’s/daughter’s academic tutor.

I hope that all of the Dunbar pupils and families have enjoyed their time together over the half term holidays.

Will Ogilvie-Jones

Housemaster of Dunbar

Dunbar Bulletin Michaelmas Term 2013 1

From the Housemaster

I would like to start the first Dunbar Bulletin of the Michaelmas Term 2013 by reflecting on the excellent start the new pupils have made at Pangbourne College.

Our Labrador puppy, Tilly, has been a big hit with all of the pupils and Tilly is certainly enjoying all of the attention she receives, both during the day and in the evening from the boarders! 

 

If your son or daughter would like to have a trial night at boarding, please do get in touch with me and we can arrange for this to happen — the first trial night is free!

I hope that those of who attended the ‘Back to School’ event found it useful, please do get in touch with your son or daughter’s academic tutor if you have any questions regarding their studies.

May I take this opportunity to thank those of you who supported the Parents’ and Guardians’ versus Dunbar pupil’s football match — in a close game, the Dunbar pupils were worthy winners!

The sporting fixtures have begun in earnest and although the Dunbar boys have been putting a lot of effort into their training and have been playing well as a team, they are still chasing the elusive win in their football matches.

The Dunbar girls on the other hand have won two games in a row and were named Hockey Team of the week last week! Good luck to the boys and girls for their games against St Andrew’s Preparatory School this coming week.

Some parents and guardians may wish to contact Dunbar staff during the day or in the evening. The best way to do this is to send the respective staff member an email, to phone the Dunbar Office phone or to phone/text the Dunbar mobile. If you do phone but get through to the answer message, please do leave a message and a Dunbar member of staff will get back to you.

Also, in terms of communication, we have a Dunbar Twitter page: @PCDunbarHouse

The College also has other Twitter pages: @TJCGarnier, @Pangcoll and a Facebook page.

I am looking forward to the next four and a half weeks until half term, with plenty more sports, a Dunbar Challenge and a 2nd Form Geography Field trip to London.

Will Ogilvie-Jones

Housemaster of Dunbar