The 104th Combined Cadet Force Annual General Inspection was honoured by the return of recently retired bursar, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Brooks, as Inspecting Officer. After ten years of sterling service to the School, he was delighted to return in this role, and was very impressed by the disciplined drill manoeuvres and the range of skills apparent in the various command tasks. He spoke warmly of the commitment of the cadets and encouraged them to have fun and enjoy their time. Lieutenant Colonel Brooks awarded the trophy for the Outstanding Senior Cadet to Christopher Lewczynski, while the Award for the Outstanding RAF Cadet went to Matthew Ascott, and the Junior Cadet Award to Harry Byrne.

In the summer, a group of cadets will be visitng Tanzania to climb Mount Kilimanjaro after spending time helping at an orphanage. A raffle held during the AGI to raise money for the orphanage raised £700, which was a tremendous achievement. The money will be used to buy materials for repairs to the orphanage building.

During the Easter holidays 47 of our tennis and golf players enjoyed four days of coaching and competition at Windmill Hill. Starting at 9am each day and ending with evening tournaments, the pupils had plenty of time for practice and the trip was an excellent start to the season, particularly for the tennis players.

The golfers were given much to think about over the four days of training and competition. All aspects were practised: full golf swing, short game, bunker play, awkward lies and putting. On Thursday the golfers visited Westhill Golf Course for a full 18 hole round. Luke Bevan won the award for the golfer with the best effort and Robert McDougall for the golfer showing the most promise.

In tennis, the player of the week for the U14s was Gordon Tveito-Duncan, for the U16s was Thomas Kolasky. The Senior player of the week was Katie Pollitt, who won the doubles tournament with Rosie Hutchings.

Sixty-six pupils and accompanying staff returned from a highly successful concert tour to the Czech Republic last week, the fifth overseas music tour in as many years. The choir, chamber orchestra, string ensemble, senior sax quartet and brass octet (many pupils participating in more than one group) performed to the highest standards, prompting music staff to comment that the quality of singing and playing was as high as it has ever been on foreign soil.

The first of the three concerts was in the Spa town of Podebrady, 50km from Prague, in a charming concert hall beside the main square and central park. The other concerts were held in prestigious venues in the centre of Prague: St Nicholas’ Church in Prague Old Town Square; and St Simon and St Judas, a deconsecrated church now used exclusively as a concert hall. Both venues were impressive in terms of size, acoustics and architecture and are regularly used by professional orchestras and choirs. Needless to say, such venues attracted healthy audience numbers.

Well before the crack of dawn on 30th March , 30 pupils and 3 staff set off on their trip to Vars in the Southern Alps for a week’s skiing. Fine snow conditions ensured that all 3 ability groups made excellent progress. The Advanced group exploited the fine conditions, spending most of the week skiing off piste through the tree lined mountains. Both Intermediate and Beginners groups made rapid progress, all coping well with red runs by the end of the week. Apres ski activities included quizzes, pool and table football tournaments, town visits and a disco. Sunburnt and a little weary, the boys returned from an energetic and very enjoyable week on the slopes.

The RAF Easter Camp was held at MOD St Athan, South Wales and fine weather conditions were enjoyed by all. Apart from visits to RAF sections both on and off the station, boys spent a day shooting and made good use of the facilities in the magnificent gym. A Palm Sunday Church Parade put all cadets on their mettle as did a drill competition and various initiative and role playing exercises. The activities ended with a morning at the Aerial Bombing Range at Pembray Sands, near Llanelli. For those who took part, the camp provided a full and exciting range of experiences.