Excellence

Names in lights for academic excellence this week include:

Sam Morin, Stewart Cartwright, Kallum Dixon-Mylum, Vicky Dovaston, Charlie Emerson, Bryan Heidinger, Charlie Phillips, Jaime Quirante, Andrew Rewcastle (four times !), Ben Rose (three times), James Rossi-Bull, Lewis Szewczyk, and Ollie Watkins-Murphy.

Ed Bowers collected a Headmaster's badge today for his outstanding exam results.

Well done to all.

Toasty night

Many thanks to Alex and David for a busy evening cooking toasted sandwiches for the rest of Burr.

What is the Church ?

We went to a different sort of service today - the monthly Five O'Clock Spot, taken by Mr and Mrs Alcock (he's Housemaster in Orchard House) in the Parish Church.

Lots of families from the Parish came too, and the theme was understanding that the church is about people, more than buildings.

Richard Fitz-Hugh joined in to read the words on a long strip of paper wound round some of the younger people present, in an activity led by Mrs Anne White.

The Pizza Academy

Eight boys joined in a pizza making session on Saturday evening. We managed to keep the cost to about 60p for half a big pizza.

For two big pizzas (4 people)

Dough: 500g strong white (bread) flour, 350 ml water, two teaspoons dried yeast, some salt and a good dash of olive oil.

Mix, knead well (it should feel elastic, like your earlobe) and leave to rise for at least 40 mins while you do some prep. You can leave it for a couple of hours if you like - it'll be even better. If you have a breadmaker or mixer with a dough hook, that saves work - but kneading is fun.

Meanwhile, make a sauce.

Perhaps with 2 onions, some garlic, herbs like oregano or marjoram (I grow my own), tinned (or fresh, ideally plum) tomatoes, and the secret ingredient: barbecue sauce. Soften the onions, add everything else, stir and simmer for 15 mins. Thicker is better.

And pre-heat the oven to it's hottest setting. If you happen to have a wood-fired clay oven - you should have lit it some time ago.

The knead the dough again, roll or flatten with your hands, spread to edges of a pan or baking tray.

Spread some sauce - not too thickly. Add grated cheese, salami, olives, mushrooms, anchovies - whatever you like. Give the dough 5 minutes to recover and start to rise again.

Slide the tray into the oven. Go for a walk. Check after 10 minutes - it may take 15 to be well browned at the edges.

Slide off the tray onto something that'll take the heat, and allow you to cut slices - or slice it in the dish. Let it cool a bit. Send dogs into the garden. Eat.

Hazards: knives, heat !

If there's some dough left over, make doughballs. Add in cheese, garlic, whatever you like. Give them some time to rise before putting them in the oven. Leftover sauce is good with pasta.

More about the right way to eat at http://www.slowfood.com/

House Parliament notes

Burr House Parliament
Thursday 24 Sept 2009.
This was a very productive meeting with many constructive and sensible points, and a very positive discussion. Many thanks to all the members, and to the Head of House for sitting in.

Year 9 – Ollie Manser and Peter Lap

1. Could we change duties more often ? They might be done more efficiently if we had variety. Let’s try it and see.
2. Medication – could it be issued in the House rather than having to go to the Medical Wing ? I’ll talk to Sister.
3. Could we have extra pool cues and new balls ? Yes
4. Could we have lockers in rooms for books ? There are some lockers – I’ll talk to the one boy who raised this.

Year 10 – Duncan Pullman and Alvaro Quirante

5. Could there be Burr House socks with the word Burr on them, in blue ? If anyone can find a supplier, who can offer this as a sensible price – then let’s discuss it again.
6. Student noticeboards for each year group, for leaving messages, such as “has anyone seen my headphones” ? Agreed – each year group will need to provide a monitor to ensure that unwelcome phallic art is removed.
7. Partition walls in toilets need some maintenance – bathrooms can be messy. We all need to take care to keep bathrooms clean. I’ll ask Mark to do what he can with the partitions.
8. Showers – need more pegs for hanging towels, and a solution to the wet floor issue between the showers and changing rooms. Hooks should be simple; we’ll look for more and better anti-slip matting, and perhaps a mop.
9. Could the toilet paper be multi-ply and thicker ? I’ll investigate.
10. Some fitted sheets are too small – and could they be blue, for Burr ? As we replace them, we’ll consider this.
11. New books for House Library. Great idea – we’ll start by asking for contributions from parents, and also look at a spending spree in the Oxfam bookshop in Henley which is very good value. Thanks to Duncan and Aliyu for offering to be Librarians.
12. Coca-cola – could we have a limited sale in Matron’s shop – perhaps a ration of three cans a week ? Sounds a sensible approach to balanced intake of additives: I’ll consider if this can fit in with the school’s healthy eating strategy.

Year 11: Alex Barker and Aliyu Mustafa

13. Room F3 needs improving. Agreed, and it’s on the list to do.
14. Room T1needs a curtain. Agreed - the blind went when the window was replaced. Sorry.
15. Posters could renewed and fresh ones displayed. Agreed
16. Toastie nights have become infrequent. Agreed – already one planned for next Tuesday, and fortnightly thereafter.
17. Could PE students keep some sports kit upstairs, to aid quick changes for their lessons ? I’ll discuss with Matron – perhaps a trial to see if any problems arise.
18. Milk in the top kitchen – There may be a misunderstanding about where the milk packs end up. I’ll investigate.
19. Could we watch TV after games if we have finished by 1600, instead of waiting until 1700 ? This is the Headmaster’s rule – I’ll discuss, and you may wish to propose this at the School Council next week.
20. Could we have different food at break ? Agreed that suggestions will be made at the School Council next week.
21. Could the Laundry room be open after games to get clean clothes for the next day. It’s closed to limit theft of clothing – I’ll discuss ways of dealing with the problem, with Matron.

Year 12 – Shinsuke Hashimoto

22. Water filter & chiller upstairs ? No – they’re expensive, and actually tap water is absolutely healthy.
23. A 6th Form Common Room ? We have had spare rooms in the last, but are now rather full – I’d welcome suggestions about which room to use.
24. Rats keep us awake walking in the roof space. Agreed – we all need to help by limiting available food supplies. Look out for toast crusts, dropped biscuits etc. The school has called in reinforcements from Rentokil – but we need to disband the Rat Feeding Society. I picked up an ornage peel from the drive yesterday – enough to feed a rat for a week. Rats will go away if there’s nothing for them to eat. Meanwhile if you find a tray of blue pellets – don’t taste them !
25. Chairs in the TV room – smaller ones round the edges ? We’ll look out for bargains.
26. Chairs for 6th Form rooms ? – As above.

General points

27. TV Remote would be good. I have a giant one – less easy to lose. The batteries were removed a week after I bought it. We’ll try again.
28. Could spreads be supplied in an upstairs room, to ease crowding in the diner at break ? See my comment about rats. I’m uneasy about food upstairs.
29. More chairs or stools for the diner. We’ll look out for bargains.
30. What could we do with the “quiet room” ? I’d welcome ideas.
31. The computers in the quiet room are not working fully. I’ll investigate. These were a free gift from a parent.
32. Could there be more socials ? Yes. One for the school council, or direct to Mr O’Brien. I’ll support any plans for a Burr social – bring me your ideas.
33. The fussball table is too broken to be fun. We’ll throw it out.

Winter term. ..

Winter term. ..

JB Brown and other oarsmen enjoy the fine weather.

Exeat Timings next week

Apart from year 9, everyone is free to go at 1300 on Fri 2 October.

We won't be re-opening until a little before 1900 on Sunday 4th.

Excellence

It's great to see many Burr names getting Excellent Slips for academic work which is not just good, but really excellent. So far this term they include:

• Alex Barker
• David Gooddy
• Andrew Lloyd
• Emmanuel Mike
• Duncan Pullman
• Alvaro Quirante
• Sam Shields
• Curtis Tseng

There are also excellent slips for extra-curricular moments, ranging from having a very tidy and organised room, to being exceptionally kind to someone.

Burr names here include:

• JB Brown
• Kallum Dixon-Mylum
• George Gardner
• Jack Gawlak-Johns
• Harry Griffiths
• Gregorio Ingham
• Louis Miller-Bains
• Jaime Quirante
• Alvaro Quirante
• Michael Reynolds
• Max Robinson
• Ben Rose
• James Rossi-Bull
• George Singleton

But there will have been more added while I compiled this list ! Sometime soon, the plan is for parents and guardians to be able to access a boy's record on the school Managment Information System, to take delight in these good things. Some other data may be displayed as well - reputations can go down as well as up.

House Parliament

Unlike members of another place, there are no expenses for members of the Burr House Parliament - although they are allowed second homes, especially at exeats and half terms. There isn't an official Opposition, and everyone has a voice. It meets this evening and although in constitutional theory it merely advises an absolute dictator (me) it does help temper the divine right of Housemasters.

The minutes will appear here soon - it can also be a channel for pushing topics forward to the School Council (which addresses issues including food) next week.

After Sales Service

One of the delights of the extended Burr family is that it just keeps getting bigger. It was great to see Frankie Pawley, a former Head of House, in the summer - with his extremely beautiful fiancee. Frankie is now running his own diving school in Dubai.

Then another face from the past appeared the other night - I wan't quite sure why, as he'd left under a bit of a cloud, only some of which was tobacco. He's been living in Germany and his accent has got stuck somewhere between south London and Dusseldorf. His companion has spent the last year in Asia, working through kundalini yoga to find the best spiritual path. This was all interesting but I still wasn't sure why I was singled out to receive these confidences. It eventually got round to the saxophone which had been left behind some years ago, and was it still here ? There have been two Directors of Music since, but we're still looking in the Music School.

And then there was the phone call from a charming international student who left this summer, and now starting Uni in London - did I have his Aunty's mobile phone number ? He'd lost all the numbers from his own mobile, and was due to meet her at Baker Street tube - mine was one of the few he could remember. Thanks to our database, I was able to text him numbers for both his aunt and his cousin.

And then I could get down to marking year 11's ICT coursework.

Inter House Soccer

The inter House competitions started off today with football - the juniors played well, and drew 1-1 aganist Everett, with new boys including the Quirante brothers, Bryan Heidinger and Greg Ingham showing plenty of skill and determination. New faces in Year 12 also contributed to a 4-0 senior victory over Everett, with old hand Lewis Szewczyk (who scored the decisive try in rugby on Saturday) getting three goals and Jack Gawlak-Johns the fourth.


Amongst the many supporters were Tom Dale and Jack Tooley - Burr fans in year 7.

Fire Drill

We always practise getting out of the house at the start of each term - today we had everyone accounted for in three minutes, in neat lines with the fire marshals for each year counting people in. Can you work out what time this happened ?

Rugby - Saturday - REVISED

1st and 2nd XV, at Reading Blue Coat School.

U16A and U14A(New Field),U15 A and B and U14 B and C (Riverside) - at Shiplake.

3rd XV, U16B and U15C - cancelled.

Apart from 1st XV who start at 1500, all start at 1400.

Pickup time for Burr boys - 1600 - unless in 1st XV (should be back by 1700)

Year 9 visit Mr and Mrs Starr

... and eat Pizza. It took three kitchens to satisfy them.

Tennis Coaching

Tuesday night tennis coaching starts soon! This is on our House Intranet blog (soon, I hope, also visible outside the school):


The coach, Danny Sapford (former Wimbledon player!), will be taking sessions on the school astro between 6pm - 8pm

If you would like to take part please see Mr Hunt by lunchtime Friday 18th September.

If you would prefer you could email me at ahunt@shiplake.org.uk

There is a charge (approx £8 per session billed to your account) so please ask your parents first.

A walk in the park

The afternoon stayed fine - we all made it Henley, although some chose to take longer routes to enjoy even more wonderful Thames Path scenery. Everyone now knows at least one person (or dog) a little better. Particular thanks to Lesley, Mr and Mrs Starr, Mrs Julie Hardy, Mr Dolan and Miss Stanley for coming along.(Photos by Mr Starr and me)

What I did in the Holidays

It's always good to have feedback on the blog, and one mum told me off yesterday for not sharing my holiday plans on the blog as I did last year !

Part of the story appears in the Royal Navy secti0n blog which describes the achievements of four candidates for the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award, doing their adventure by sail.

Otherwise we spent a lot of time decorating my late parents' house in Malvern, Worcestershire. We will be escaping there at exeats and holidays - we love the tall ceilings (I can swing a 10 foot scaffold plank without touching the top) but it does mean painting every room after some extensive repair work by reassuringly efficient builders will take time. We're thinking of advertising painting weekends - we provide B&B, and visitors get a roller and 10 litres of emulsion.

A highlight of the end of the holiday is the village fete at Whittington in Gloucestershire, where my brother's private press (The Whittington Press) has an open day. I spent too much on the stall of Dennis The Cycling Anarchist, whose hand printed posters (and T-shirts - see "A Walk in the Park" reflect his love of poetry, blues music and people.

Year 9 Island Adventure

Thanks for Mr Foakes for organising it, and providing his narrowboat as a ferry, and Mr Starr for the photos.

Sunny Sunday

Yesterday the sunshine made the rugby players hot - the rowers happy to be on the river, and my dogs unusually calm.

The rushed excitement of the start of term is slowing down - today we have a lie-in (blogging in bed with a cup of tea and a wireless laptop is a good way to start the day) before a house meeting where new boys will be formally introduced to the rest of the house with a one-minute speech by their mentors- or each other for the half-dozen sixth formers.

Then we'll all walk in t0 Henley (about 3 miles) along the river, in groups of five - one from each year group. The mission includes finding out where the bus stop is, how to call a taxi, and the opening hours of the Henley Library. No, not the Angel on the Bridge.

Yesterday afternoon saw the opening of Gilson House - for girls, by the recently retired Chairman of Governors, Mr Nigel Gilson. A number of recent old boys came for a tour, including Jamie Albon, Rob Lessman and Adam Middleton, which gave me a chance to congratulate them in person on their excellent A level results.

Last night boys cooked a barbecue in our garden at the end of the evening - the amount of food consumed (this was after a good supper earlier) always amazes, and there are only a few sausages left over for the dogs' breakfast.

As in previous years, Lesley and I feel so lucky to be able to get to know so many interesting young men. We've been hearing about allotment gardening in Co. Durham, copper minining in Chile, cooking musssels in France, shooting and gutting rabbits in Hampshire, as well as plans and choices for exam subjects, sports and activities here at school.

Rugby - Reeds on Saturday - UPDATE

The 1st and 2nd XV play Reeds at home - 2nds start at 1430, 1sts at 1500.

The U16A & B and U15 A & B XVs all now play at HOME, starting at 1430 on the Riverside pitches.

Year 9 will be training, and perhaps supporting.

Busy day

Well, by tonight Burr will be full again. Year 9 arrived yesterday and are (so far) quite wonderful.

Here's a summary of the plan for today:

0915 Rugby 1st Squad return for training at 1000
1000 New Year 12 arrive to Houses
1015 Ruth Cotton’s ICT training for Y9 tutors (ICT 30)
1020 Year 7 Director of Studies briefing (GH)
1040 Break for Year 7
1045 Break for Year 9
1045 Reception for new Year 12. (Pavilion)
1110 Year 7 English (DDS) Set prep.
1100 Tutors’ tour of campus
1115 Year 9 Study Skills (FK & Learning Development – Humanities Classrooms) [1230]
1215 ICT induction for Year 12 (Ruth Cotton ICT 30)
1200 Remaining day and boarders return
1220 Year 7 Lunch
1230 Year 9 Lunch
1245 Lunch for Years 10 - 13
1315 New Year 10 ICT Induction (ICT 30)
1315 Y12/Y13 with the Director of Studies (OVR)
1330 Year 7 River afternoon (Swim & Capsize afternoon)
1345 Assembly & Service for Years 10 – 13 (PC)
1345 Year 9 ICT Induction – Burr (ICT 4) Everett (ICT 28) Orchard (ICT 30)

1415 House Meetings Y10 - 13

1420 Year 9 Tutor Periods - Burr, Everett & Orchard [1500]
1430 Tutor Periods 10 – 13 [1500]
1515 Games for Year 9
1515 Major Games Options for Years 10 - 13
1600 Major Games for Years 10 - 13
1600 Year 7 prep
1630 Year 7 pick-up
1630 Director of Studies available in his office (Revs old office) to deal with pupil (Y12/13) course queries. [1730]
1800 Burr Year 9 BBQ (Court Mead)
1830 House arrangements for Year 9 (Letters and games: Chapel Wardens & Prefects)
1830 The Mystery of Edwin Drood meeting (TB)

Blazing Inferno

Among the many meetings, training sessions, team-building activities (let's hear it for the group who got 4.5 litres of "petrol" across the river of boiling acid, and Senior Tutor Mr Dolan's almost-supreme-champion team of racing drivers) we did an annual refresher on fire safety this morning. Burr maintenance guru Mark Long shows how to quell a liquid fire with a water/powder extinguisher.

Pre-emptive nagging

Haircuts !

Belts ! (Black, no fancy buckles !)

Lace-up, black, polishable (and polished) shoes !

Wristwatch ! (You can set it by my clever new clock - or even the lime on the blog)

Pen !

Smile !

There - now I don't need to mention any of these (just do the last one) for the rest of the year :)

Starting up again

Lesley and I are back in Burr after spending three weeks in our other house in Malvern, which is recovering from dry rot and various other maladies, and which we are now decorating. Through taking dogs for walks up 50 degree slopes, and working on scaffold planks to repaint the ceilings, we have both discovered an interesting range of muscle groups which had kept quiet until now.

Burr has also been redecorated (by professionals) and improved in various ways, including the arrival of some very smart new cushions, fresh hessian on the notice board and several less visible works, thanks to Mark Long and others who have been working through what some of us think of as a holiday. I have also spent several pounds on a radio-controlled clock, so there will be no excuse not to know the time to within one second in a million years.

We have a policy of replacing a quarter of the mattresses each year, so the oldest ones are on the way out (students looking to equip flats cheaply should rush to the Burr car park before the skip is emptied).

So now we are looking forward to seeing waves of people:

year 9 on Wednesday (9th Sept) at 1145;

new year 10 and 12 0n Thursday (10th Sept) at 1000;

and everyone by 1200 on Thursday, in time for lunch followed by the first assembly of the term.

I'm expecting the great majority to be in for the first weekend of term, when, as last year, the whole house will get to know each other, and also explore Henley.