Sunday, 31 August 2014
Talbots House Book Swap
We know you all work so hard at school and sometimes it can feel like there is a lot of reading to do (particularly for senior boys!) but we want to encourage you to relax and rediscover reading for pleasure during your time with us. With that in mind we are collecting some of our favourite fiction books to be stored in the book swap shelves on first floor of 27 side.
We'd like to encourage you to grab a book, write your name in the cover and read it. When you are done, return it. If you've read another excellent book that you'd like to donate, just write your name in the cover and add it to the shelves.
This way we can slowly build a record of who's read what, and if you're unsure whether a book is right for you, you can just ask another boy who has read it for a summary or review. It's a great way of sharing literature that you've enjoyed and discovering who in the house has similar tastes to yourself.Whilst there are other bookshelves with books donated to the house, most of these are text books, or very old. Hopefully having one shelf designated to fiction that boys have recently enjoyed will make this area much more appealing to those who want to try something new.
If you have a favourite that you are not willing to donate, but you think would be a great addition to the book swap shelves, leave a comment or tweet it to us +Talbot's House #bookswap and we'll see if we can get hold of a copy.
Monday, 25 August 2014
Welcome to new men of Talbot's
We want to extend a huge welcome to all of the boys who will be joining the house next week. We are really looking forward to you coming and becoming part of the house family. Over the next week or so no doubt you will feel a bit nervous and unsure about joining. That is completely normal and expected. Don't worry though, you will find a really warm welcome on the 2nd of September and find yourselves quckly immersed into house and school life. There will be a chance to ask any questions you have on new boys day so make sure you bring a lot of them! If you have anything that you need to make contact about before term starts then please do email Mr and Mrs Gracie using the email address to be found under the 'Meet the Team' tab at the top of the blog. You may also like to look at some of our material for helping you settle in. We have a previous blog post with a house dictionary and a fun video on how to pack below!
With new boys day in mind, don't forget to let us know how many will be in your party and any dietary requirements you have if you haven't done so already.
See you soon!
With new boys day in mind, don't forget to let us know how many will be in your party and any dietary requirements you have if you haven't done so already.
See you soon!
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| Welcome! |
Wednesday, 20 August 2014
Senior Boys in the House
As excitement starts to grow for this year, it is time to announce the senior boys in the house. These young men represent so much that is good for the house and are always on hand to help others settle in or find out how to make the most of their time at school. The Options team have set out a stall to get everyone involved in the house this year as far as possible. So introducing...
Head of House and Deputy - Michael and Jack
Options - Leo, Nico, Justus, Philip, Assan and Rufus
Tuesday, 19 August 2014
Monitor from Talbot's
We are immensely proud that Rio has been selected as a monitor of the school for this academic year. As one of the top 20 in his year, he will be in charge of helping the school run smoothly day to day and setting an example (as he already does) for the school community. We know he will do an excellent job.
Friday, 8 August 2014
Summer sporting success
We love hearing about our lads' sports participation at whatever level it is, but there have been some noticeably high profile achievements over the past few weeks.
Hockey:
Tom Crowson represented England U16 in a warm up series against Scotland in Edinburgh (Story here) before a home training camp with Belgium where they lost the first two games but then won the final one convincingly. This sent them to Spain for the four nations tournament in Santander with a good deal of confidence where they won bronze (story here). We are immensely proud of all of Tom's achievements and it is great to see him having success at this level.
Athletics:
Teepee represented Bedfordshire at the national schools' athletics championships, the highest level of competition available to a junior athlete. not only did he set a personal best in his event, the triple jump, but he took silver in 2nd place, an amazing result!
In the second half of the summer term Duncan broke the long standing school record for the intermediate boys 1500m steeplechase having barely tried the event before. Given that he is going into the 5th form, we hope to see him lower the mark further next year.
Weights:
Dom.B broke his own school back squat record just before leaving after his A-levels, lifting an impressive 180kg. He therefore left the school with 3 weightlifting records!
Cricket:
Fresh from being part of the senior squad that reached the national t20 finals, Ben.K's club team have reached the national finals on the 11th of August. We wish him every success.
Hockey:
Tom Crowson represented England U16 in a warm up series against Scotland in Edinburgh (Story here) before a home training camp with Belgium where they lost the first two games but then won the final one convincingly. This sent them to Spain for the four nations tournament in Santander with a good deal of confidence where they won bronze (story here). We are immensely proud of all of Tom's achievements and it is great to see him having success at this level.
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| The England U16 boys squad. Tom in centre position! |
Athletics:
Teepee represented Bedfordshire at the national schools' athletics championships, the highest level of competition available to a junior athlete. not only did he set a personal best in his event, the triple jump, but he took silver in 2nd place, an amazing result!
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| The published junior triple jump results from the ESAA |
In the second half of the summer term Duncan broke the long standing school record for the intermediate boys 1500m steeplechase having barely tried the event before. Given that he is going into the 5th form, we hope to see him lower the mark further next year.
Weights:
Dom.B broke his own school back squat record just before leaving after his A-levels, lifting an impressive 180kg. He therefore left the school with 3 weightlifting records!
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| Dom with his 3 records on the records board |
Cricket:
Fresh from being part of the senior squad that reached the national t20 finals, Ben.K's club team have reached the national finals on the 11th of August. We wish him every success.
Wednesday, 6 August 2014
House BBQ
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| The food was abundant and delicious, as ever |
As ever, another excellent year in Talbot's was finished off in style at the house BBQ. This is a great time in the year to celebrate all that has happened and honour those who make our house family so special.
Unfortunately, the day was destined not to be a sunny one as in previous years, but despite the rain a good time was had by all, including the many parents who joined us and OB's MJ, Mark and James, whom it was great to catch up with. The hog roast and side orders were high quality and, importantly, high quantity and were complemented by some incredible salmon prepared by Mrs Gracie. The bar was well stocked too and the inflatable games proved a big success. In particular, the competition to see who could stay on the rodeo bull the longest drew much attention, particularly when matron entered the fray (video here). The adults vs kids game on the over sized table football was also a tense affair.Head of house, Ben, gave an excellent speech about how he has valued his time in the house and what makes it so special. He was also genuine and clear in his thanking our amazing house staff for all they do. Mr Gracie then gave a rundown of all the successes and highlights from this year and gave out some end of year prizes. The best rodeo bull time was won by Alex.S, the only man to go over one minute, whilst Bob was this year's king of merits, though it is worth noting that Jun was not far behind. The prize for the best photo in the #talbotslife competition went to Justus (picture below) for the selfie taken during the house photo. Ben and Dom received a prize each for their excellent service as heads of house.
House colours were thoroughly deserved by and awarded to: Justus, Leonard and Rufus.
Of course, what everyone was waiting for was the awarding of the man of the year prize, which was voted for by the members of the house. Unfortunately, In a house where so many young men do amazing things and there are close relationships, the voting was spread wide and a number of very deserving men just missed out. However, it was easy to see why his humble service, respectful leadership and easy going nature won the prize for Dom.B.
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| Jack and Mike battle it out on the wrecking ball |
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| Great to catch up with some of our OB's |
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