b'THE ELLESMERIAN serious entries. Other cerebral competitions saw Meynell doing well. Both the Junior and Senior Debating teams put up a good show and stood their ground. In the Senior Photography Competition, James Barker came second with his sporting portrait and, in the Juniors,23George Hinks was the overall winner. On the playing field, Meynells fortunes were mixed, with many matches going down to the wire and ending with us snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. That said, our boys stormed to victory in Senior Rugby at the start of the year and they became Senior Basketball champions in the summer too. They also won Senior Indoor Cricket with 9 balls to spare. The Sixth Form girls competed fiercely on the netball court, narrowly missing out on the chance to regain their former crown. In Senior Girls Indoor Cricket, we won our semifinal on the last ball of the match and posted a competitive innings in the final that was, sadly, a little too low to ensure victory. Cross-country saw Eleanor Broughton, Year 11, and Anna Farrow, Year 12, race impressively to win the Inter and Senior Girls races. In the younger years, the boys won Junior Football and, in all sports, the younger Meynellians competed with good humour and hard work. As ever, we won Senior Golf in the summer, though things were closer than normal with Ollie Barrett, Y13, winning things on the final hole.One other highlight of the year was the reappearance of the Meynell House Dinner. As in the past, parents attended in their droves to enjoy a formal meal in Dining Hall, listen to Alex and Lucy review the year thus far with eloquence and humour, and enjoy a large social gathering after the isolating experience of the pandemic. It was good to hear the shared laughter and see the communal spirit again, and it was a fitting send off for Lucy and Alex. Both will be missed and, in their footsteps, follow two more outstanding leaders, Charlie Sweeney and Carmen Kilgannon, who will lead Meynell to more successes in the new academic year that will, fingers crossed, be in a world that has returned to normal.DB'