Welcome back and I hope you all had a lovely half term. It was great to see the boys on Monday morning and hear all about their holidays. Lovely to see some of the boys out Trick or Treating too: though the promise of shared spoils has, as of yet, failed to materialise. What I would say is that I have yet to bump into one of the boys outside of school and they not be the polite, well mannered and amiable young men we hope them to be. I am sure you would agree that last term seemed to whistle by so please understand that info I may include relating to future vents is included with his in mind. For your info, House Music will be after school on Wednesday 19th November with an 8:30pm pick up, please. There will be no school transport this day. 

Tutor Changes 

As you all know, Mr Brownlee has taken over as Deputy Housemaster with direct responsibility for years 7-10. Please could I ask that all issues for these year groups go to both the boys' tutor and Mr Brownlee. I am, of course, here should the issue be more serious. In a slight tweak to our tutor line up, Mr Brownlee will now be our Year 10 Tutor with Mr Bryant reuniting with Year 11. This takes effect immediately. 

Sports 

Rugby has been back on the menu for our sportsman with our U14XV, U15XV & 1st XV all in action. Our U14s played well to earn a very good draw against Sedbergh earlier in the week. The boys fronted up well with top performances from Ethan B, Adrian M, Robbie S, Lucas F and a MoM performance from team captain James H. Our U15 XV defeated their Sedberghian opponents by a relatively comfortable margin which again highlights the potential in this year group. Freddie R, Thomas X and Ben R all having stellar games in what is always a tough away fixture. At the time of writing, our U12s AND U13s are gearing up for their fixture against Yarm. 

Drama 

Rehearsals for the whole school play are now fully up and running so do please ask the boys involved to show you the rehearsal schedule as I would imagine it will involve some late evenings! This years play is 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' which will no doubt be superb. 

Academic

Below are a list of boys who have been awarded academic Lauds (achievement awards) by their teachers this week: 

Albie A 

Kayode A 

Emile B 

Martin B 

George B 

Jack C

Cooper C 

Sebastian C 

Harry S 

Miles F

Sam F 

William P 

Marcus H 

Mustafa H 

Xavier J

Rory J 

Evan O 

Evan M 

Oliver OSB 

Harry P 

Kenneth P 

Ben R

Indiana R 

Archie M 

Alejandro VS 

Barney W 

Thomas X 

Robert Z 

Top 5 Overall 

1. Emile B 
2.  Albie A 
3. Sebastian C 
4. Indiana R 
5. Evan M 

Massive well done to all of the boys listed above. 

DHM's Diary 

It's been an absolute pleasure to take up the role of Deputy House Master in the School House this week. Firstly, I'd like to say a huge thank you to my predecessor Mr Eddie Bryant for his magnificent work in the house over the past few years, and for the support he has given me as I settle into the position; both are unbelievably appreciated. And to the boys in the house... thank you also for your kind words, congratulations and handshakes - i'm incredibly excited about the future and helping support you as you work towards your goals. 

As is often the way at DCSF, it has been very much business as usual this week for year 7-10 - a whirlwind of academic endeavour, sporting prowess, artistic excellence... the list goes on. Of particular note for me has been the number of Lauds that I have received for the boys, highlighting again that they have really started the half-term on the right foot. Moral Integrity, Ambition, Responsibility and Kindness are the cornerstone values of a DCSF pupil, and I have seen all of these characteristics commended in various ways this week. A particular shout out to the U13 Rugby players who performed admirably against Yarm on Thursday, a real stern test that will serve them well going forward. It's also been great to see how the junior boys have embraced House Music; under the stellar guidance of the Sixth Form, they have stepped up their game this week with enthusiasm and talent in (almost!) equal measures. 

The only negative of the week is a personal one... attempting to grow my Movember moustache has certainly not been my finest hour (as some of the boys have pointed out), but we persist for a great cause! 

Housekeeping

As above, please note the pick up time after House Music (8:30pm) and that there is no school transport after the event. We seem to be having a few issues with kit bags at the moment. As you know, the boys all have lockers so there is no excuse for missing kit. We still have over 30 Empty lockers should they need more space. What I would add is that instances of 'theft' are few and very far between so when the boys say their bag has been stolen, 99% of the time this is not the case. I cannot begin to count how many times I have been told that a bag has been left in place A, only to be found in place B, then an admission that said bag was never actually at place A!