b'THE ELLESMERIAN 32Competitive HousesWOODARDHousemaster: Dr R. J. Hansford At the end of the Michaelmas term the usual festival of rugby for the boys and hockey for the girls returned, although the boys did not play House Tutors: Mr J. J. Baggaley, Mr A. P. Coupe, Mr C. Davies,full contact rugby. The senior boys learnt from last year and improved on Mr C. Garratt, Mr J. N. Haycock, Mr A. J. Murphy, Mr J. W. Nicholson,their performance. The Junior boys, however, did do better and overallMr A. D. Quentin, Mrs M. Reynolds, Mr E. J. Richards, Mrs R. L. Schubert,on paper, at leastWoodard came in first place. However, due to some Mrs J. M. Underhill, Mr J. S. Underhill technicality, the boys were eventually pipped to the post by Wakeman-Lambart. The girls also put up their usual grit and determination in the Captains of House: A. Chezhian and W.J.R. Wilkinson House hockey against some difficult opponents. Although we didnt win either the junior or senior competitions the girls did well.Although you dont often associate the Michaelmas term with cricket, the junior boys, junior girls, senior boys, and senior girls all played well. Then onto the Lent term, which unlike last year, returned to almost The start of the year saw the promotion of some of last years Lowerthe full complement of competitions and activities. Competitive House Sixth to prominent positions within the House. Aditi Chezhian becamesport continued and we had House basketball for both girls and boys, the Captain for the Girls and William Wilkinson the Captain for the Boys.juniors, and seniors. However, the main event was the House cross Both were supported by the Vice Captains; Tabitha Leonard and Jennifercountry, which saw the whole House compete in the annual run around Hooper for the girls and Louis Lermite and Sam Appleby for the boys.the school. It is one of my favourite sporting events of the year and it This formidable team not only made the year run smoothly but alsokicked off with Aditi and Will doing a great warm up with the whole made it a thoroughly enjoyable experience. House before the event started. This was definitely needed as the wind was bitter. However, this didnt dampen the enthusiasm of the Woodard The House Plays took place in the first half of the Michaelmas term.pupils, who wore their purple tribal war paint with pride. The enthusiasm This years theme was based on a David Walliams book; the Worldsand warm up seemed to work as Woodard won the Athletics Standard Worst Teachers. Woodard was given Mr Bulk, which was about a PE teacher. Aditi took on the role of the director and script writer and did a formidable job. Peter Swinnerton did a brilliant job as Mr. Bulk and Will Wilkinson, like many House Captains before him, took on the role of Mr Bulks girlfriend. The red high heels have been a feature in many Woodard House plays and fitted him perfectly!Academic competitions got underway in the Michaelmas term, with the first being the Tanka Poetry Competition. Tanka poetry has a strict 5,7,5,7,7 structure for the syllables permitted in each line. Harvey Leonard gained second place in the junior competition for the second year in a row, which was a fantastic achievement. However, we had a good number of entries which showed the determination of the Woodard pupils, and we ended the Michaelmas term in the lead with the Academic Cup.'