U13 Cricket Tour to Dubai
Mr Nick Tester, together with Mr James Stedman and Mrs Jenny Gwinn, led a group of 18 U13 pupils to Dubai, for a week long cricket tour, as part of their pre-season training. The tour incorporated three matches against local opposition on three different wicket surfaces of concrete, grass and Astroturf, in temperatures ranging between 33°-36°C.
On the first day the group went to the Abu Dhabi stadium to see Yorkshire v Sussex, a game in the Arabian Cricket Challenge which also included Lancashire and Essex. The pupils watched from a VIP box, had a training session in the nets and then met all the players, including England internationals Darren Gough, Chris Adams and Luke Wright. What a great start to the tour!
On the second day the group played their first match in the beautiful surroundings of Zabeel Park, but on the unfamiliar surface of concrete! Despite losing the match, impressive performances came from Albert Padfield and Sid Koak.
On the third day the group travelled to the 27,000 capacity Stadium in Sharjah to play against the Dubai Academy. Chigwell bowled economically for most of the first innings before some big hitting from the lower order led the Academy to 142-5 off their 25 overs. Cordelia Griffith, the only girl in the team and the current Essex girls U13 Captain, impressed with two maiden overs in a row at the start of the innings. In every game Cordelia played, the opposition coaches remarked how impressed they were with her cricket. Safwaan Imtiaz, (Essex boys U11 cricketer of the year last season) hit a majestic 50, an innings of class in baking hot conditions. Dominic Higgins and Sag Kugathansan also made valuable runs, however, Chigwell fell just short, losing by 20 runs. In the afternoon the group was invited to Delhi Private School in Sharjah to participate in a 6-a-side tournament to mark the retirement of the school’s Headmistress. The players were divided into three different teams and the shorter format of the game seemed to inspire them. One of our teams, captained by Asim Shamsudin, got through to the final, played under floodlights at 8.30pm, and was awarded a trophy. Individual players’ trophies were also awarded to Safwaan Imtiaz, Sag Kugathansan and Nickolai Aoun..

The final match was played on Astroturf against Delhi Private School, Dubai. Nickolai Aoun top scored with 29 but the best innings came from Neel Chudasama, who batted with great maturity and growing confidence. The opposition were initially restricted by some tight bowling from Alex Morrow and Jason Driver, however, some late hitting meant the opposition won with three overs to spare.
The last day was a tourists dream when the group visited the Wild Wadi water park, home to the world's second biggest water slide, next to the famous Burj Al Arab 7* hotel. This was followed by a 'dune bashing', 4x4 ride over the desert dunes. The day ended at the desert safari camp where the pupils were able to experience some of the local Arab culture, including the chance to have a henna tattoo, a camel ride and enjoy a belly dancing show!
The tournament made all the participants fully appreciate the passion for cricket in the United Arab Emirates and our pupils made an excellent impression wherever they went. It really was a fantastic week for cricket!

We are delighted to announce that many of our pupils once again took part in the Stratford Festival of Music and Drama and there were many notable performances in this, though the one person who must be named is Marianne Schonle, one of our music scholars, who not only won her category, but was then invited to perform in the Festival's Musician of the Year competition which she won, despite competing again students of 18 when she is only 12!

This is a truly remarkable achievement.

U11 IAPS Hockey Tournament
On February 19 our U11 Hockey Team took part in the South East IAPS Tournament which was held at Haileybury School. The boys started against the eventual winners, Greshams Prep, and unfortunately lost 4-0 after having arrived 2 minutes before they were due to start. Results improved over the next two games with a 1-0 victory against Woodford Green Prep with William Sibley striking home and a 2-1 victory against South Lee School with the impressive Edward Tyler bagging a brace.   These results ensured the team finished 2nd in their group and qualified them for the Cup competition and the top 8 of 16 teams. Chigwell drew their first game of the cup competition with their best performance of the day. Chigwell had much of the possession and the boys were extremely unfortunate not to win the game against St Andrew's. Defenders Jamie Colton, Matthew Higgins and Ravi Taheam engaged in some strong tackling which left goalkeeper Daniel Mahoney as a mere spectator in the match. Joint Captain Chris Halls showed some excellent skills in midfield. Buoyed by the performance, Chigwell knew that a victory in their last two games would probably send them through to the semi-finals of the competition and more importantly a place in the national finals. But despite creating chances against two strong teams, the Abbey School and Culford School, the boys lost both games by 1-0. This meant they had to settle for third in their group and 5/6th place overall. However, this was a great achievement considering the calibre of the opposition and the fact the boys had had only two games and no training sessions before the tournament. Hugo Blogg, Tom Turner and Ben Good also represented the team. Mr Creag Lawrence said: “ All the boys conducted themselves in a dignified manner throughout the day and were a credit to the School. “ 

GCSE RESULTS 2007
Following the success of their A level colleagues, who last week managed to achieve record results with 84% at either A or B grade, GCSE students at Chigwell also have plenty to celebrate. 66% of grades awarded were either A or A*, the highest ever, and 100% of passes were at grades A*- C.
Headmaster, Mr Michael Punt, commented: "I am delighted that Chigwellians who worked so hard for their GCSEs have been rewarded with these excellent grades. Many pupils have achieved success across the board in nine or ten different subjects and I am very proud of them and grateful to their teachers who prepared them so thoroughly."
There were a number of individual successes including: Nick Raj Birdi, who gained 10 A* grades, Matthew O' Connor 9A*'s and an A, Felcity Osborn 9A*'s and an A, Shanil Shivji 8 A*'s and 2 A's and Jagveen Tyndall 8 A*'s and 2 A's.

Special mention should also be made of Jaga Johal, Nick - Raj Birdi, Jayveen Tyndall and Matthew O'Connor who were amongst the candidates who scored one of the top five marks, nationwide, in their Religious Studies GCSE. 22210 candidates entered for this examination and so this is an exceptional achievement.

Chigwell’s U11 Boys Hockey team recently took part in the Greshams School Hockey Festival which attracts many well known Hockey schools from all over the country. The format for the event was an indoor tournament and outdoor friendly tournament over 3 days with the pupils playing 15 matches. The outdoor tournament was played with great spirit and allowed the pupils to enjoy their hockey with no pressure. In the indoor tournament Chigwell won their group with hard fought victories over Greshams, Taverham Hall, Norfolk and Bilton Grange (Rugby). This resulted in Chigwell progressing to the final to play Greshams School who beat St Faith's, Cambridge after a play-off. An electric atmosphere was created by the home crowd but this did not deter the Chigwell players who went into the lead through an excellent goal by Josh Banfield after good work by captain William Godfrey and Adam Dackombe. Chigwell kept tight and defended well with Jack Nolan and Rory Taylor thwarting every Greshams attack. Greshams won a short corner at the end of time, knowing that they had one last opportunity to try and force extra-time. Greshams had obviously worked on their short corners and were able to get a shot away, only for Lucas Watts to become the hero with a sublime save. The ball was cleared and Chigwell became the well deserved champions. Congratulations must go to the remaining members of the squad which consisted of Adam Hooper, Jack Redmond, Henry Bate and Inderdeep Gill.

Comic relief day at Chigwell on March 18 was full of fund raising activities. Parents, staff, and Sixth Form pupils drivers were invited to donate £ 1 for the priviledge of dropping off pupils or parking within the Chigwell School Comic Congestion Zone, in addition students donated £ 2 of their pocket money for the priviledge of not wearing the School uniform! It all helped to raise over £4,000 for the charity! Well done everyone!

Michael Punt grew up in Brentwood and was a pupil at Brentwood School. From there, he went to St. Peter's College, Oxford, to read physics following which he gained a masters degree at Imperial College, London. In 1993 he began teaching physics at St. Dunstan's College in south east London where he later became Head of Physics. In 2001, he moved to The Perse School in Cambridge as Head of Sixth Form and subsequently was promoted to the post of Academic Deputy Head.

Michael is married to Gill who was Head of Girls’ PE at Culford School in Bury St Edmunds until their two boys were born. Matthew is now 3 and Benjamin 2. The whole family has been made to feel very welcome by the Chigwell community and are very much looking forward to the move and becoming part of the School. Mr Punt will be Chigwell’s 35th Headmaster!

This year's Choral Concert was held once again at Brentwood Cathedral with the pupils, staff and parents performing Bernstein's exciting Chichester Psalms and Mozart's exquisite Requiem. In addition, last year’s Musician of the Year, Alice Stobart (OC) performed part of Mozart's Flute Concerto in G and Anil Chopra (OC) gave a wonderful counter-tenor rendition in Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms.

The Middle School football development teams were flown out to Spain to train and play as Valencia Football Club's guests at their first team training quarters. The U14 and U15 squads arrived on February 11 in bright sunshine to be greeted by their academy coaches for the week. Throughout their stay, the players were put through rigorous training sessions in order to develop both their knowledge and technical skills of the game. The teams also had the opportunity of mixing with players such as Fernando Morientes (formally of Liverpool F.C), David Villa (arguably the best striker in Europe at this moment) and Miguel (the Portuguese national right back). The Chigwell contingent also got the opportunity to attend the Villareal match against Deportivo La Coruna, watching “legends” such as Diego Forlan and ex-Arsenal hero Pascal Cygan.

The five-day Hockey Tour to Barcelona at the beginning of January offered our girls a real international experience competing in the prestigious Hockey Reyes Tournament held at the city’s exclusive Polo Club.
The tournament boasted 40 of the top hockey clubs from across the world; in the junior women's group our girls found themselves up against strong club sides from Holland, Spain and Belgium.
The girls’ performances developed as the tournament progressed. They started the tournament playing against the eventual winners of the group, the highly impressive 'MOP' hockey club from Holland, ending the game facing a somewhat misleading 8-1 score line. The second match against a very skilful Spanish club side, 'Athletico Terrassa', saw our girls level the game to 3-3. The final match against a Belgian club called 'Victory' saw Chigwell win the game 2-1. As a result, at the end of the tournament, Chigwell came 3rd out of 6 sides, after the Dutch MOP side and our local rivals, Felsted School. This was a highly creditable result considering the standard of our opponents, and was a fitting end to a successful season that started in Cape Town in July 2006.
The girls also enjoyed numerous social activities in and around Barcelona, including the tournament's official black tie dinner, a trip to the Nou Camp Stadium and numerous strolls down Las Ramblas!

Photo: Bradley Walsh and Edward Richardson (LVI)

The Tim Pruss Memorial Walk

On Saturday April 1st, staff, pupils and parents got together in the Lee Valley Country Park for a ten-mile walk through lakes and delightful countryside to remember Tim Pruss. He would have been the life and soul of any such venture and the one hundred walkers were with him in spirit. The walk will help to raise funds to establish the Tim Pruss Sixth Form Prize.

The third match, against King John's, admittedly Chigwell's least skilful performance, still gained another Chigwell victory. The final match of the day, against last year's winners, Chelmsford High, witnessed outstanding play from every Chigwell athlete involved, resulting in a confident 2-0 result. With such impressive competition, the Chigwell team demonstrated fortitude and poise by playing such solid hockey and becoming the unexpected Essex U15 champions.

Myles Webb and Matthew Gibbs should also be congratulated for their helpful and creative approach to the technical side of things.