the wellington college year book 2010/2011
34
the blucher
I am always amazed by the variety
of talents and achievements in a
boarding house and this has been
a vintage year in the Blucher. It almost goes
without saying these days that the work ethic
is good and August will bring exceptional
exam results, with the present Upper Sixth
and Fifth Forms being particularly talented
and focused on their academic work.
However it is the multitude of other things
that the boys get up to that enrich the lives of
all of us: the sport, the artistic endeavour and
the charity work, which is perhaps unique to
The Blucher and The Orange.
Perhaps this year’s leaders are unique
in the number of leaders amongst them.
Astonishingly they have included six captains
of College first teams: Charlie Gordon,
Rugby; Colman Chiu, Badminton; Guy Bishop,
Fencing; Harry Orpen-Smellie, Shooting;
Jordan Mann, Golf; Alex Miller, Swimming.
We have had three boys achieve full colours
for rugby and five of the leavers will be touring
South Africa in July. Two of them were part
of the sevens squad which won the National
Sevens at Rosslyn Park. One received full
hockey colours and currently two boys are
part of an extremely successful 1st xi cricket
team. Tom Brodie in the Fourth Form is in
the 1st polo team which won the national
schools cup. The senior boys have totted up
a huge number of house points in the sports
events, largely due to the strength of our
running, lead by James Harris, who won the
Kingsley for a second time and is busy setting
new school records for middle distance
events. Jordan Mann has been given a place
at Harvard to study and play golf, which is a
fantastic achievement. Not all are superstars
but most are involved in a variety of different
sports at different levels.
Luisa Rubio and Maddie Henri,
just before The Kinglsey Races
the combermere
When prospective parents come
to look around the Combermere,
they often ask, ‘What marks you
out as a House? Are you sporty? they
?
?’,
inquire, ‘or academic, or dramatic? Do you
?
have a particular specialism, with which our
daughter could identify??’ It is with great joy
that I respond in the negative. Through the
course of this year I have found out that The
Combermere cannot be categorised.
We have girls who excel in most areas
but, more important than this, we have a
spirit which inspires everyone to have a go,
regardless of their level or aptitude. So, we
have some exceptionally talented Hockey
players (our Head of House, Luisa Rubio, was
also the captain of the 1st xi Hockey Team
this year), but we also have keen d team
players who love their matches and play with
great enthusiasm. The same is true of music
and the arts. As regards academic life, we