Two GCSE Projects entered into the Hoopers Design Awards

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competition, D&T, design & technology, GCSE design & technology, RHS, the royal hospital school

This year the Royal Hospital School will be entering the work of two GCSE students, Jack Burge and Paul Stoddart, both in Raleigh House, into the Hoopers Design Awards. The competition is sponsored by Hoopers Architects and is a unique opportunity to celebrate some outstanding GCSE work by Design & Technology students across Ipswich. Overall there are five different awards: Resistant Materials, Graphics, Textiles, Product Design and an Achievement award.

Jack will be entering his table, which is designed for the cabin of a sailing boat, and Paul his model railway carriage. The competition runs from 1-5 July and the boys’ work will be on display for the general public to view at Endeavour House in Ipswich. The judging and prize giving will be carried out on Friday 5 July and prizes presented by the Mayor of Ipswich, Mayor Councillor Hamil Clarke.

 

Overall Winners of the Suffolk School’s Sailing Regatta

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alton water, Regatta, RHS, rhs sailing, rhs sport, Sailing, Suffolk School's Regatta, the royal hospital school

Yesterday the Royal Hospital School competed in the Suffolk School’s Regatta at Alton Water. They were one of 12 schools to take part and were among 170 sailors on the water. The RHS sailors maintained their cool and made the light and shifty winds work in their favour to bring them in 1st overall, with Ipswich School in 2nd and Farlingaye in 3rd.

Special mention goes to the following pupils for placing in their individual events:

Fast Fleet	Dominick Burke	1st	Nelson
Lasers	Sophie Opielok	1st	Cornwallis
Fevas	Luke Bailey Jake Embleton	2nd 3rd	Anson Anson
Slow Fleet	Hannah Tucker	3rd	Blake
Toppers	Freddie Grogono	3rd	Hawke

11th Annual Optua Games is a great success

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community action, community work, disability awareness, Optua, Optua Games, RHS, the royal hospital school

Each year, the Royal Hospital School, under the direction of Barry Hocking, Director of Community Action, works in conjunction with a Suffolk-based disability charity, Optua, to run the Optua Games. This is a sports day for people with physical, sensory and learning disabilities enabling them to take part in a variety of fun and competitive outdoor activities including welly throwing, firing a dart through a target and hitting suspended skittles with a football.

Today was the 11th annual Optua Games to be held at the School and not only is it a great day for those taking part, but Year 11 pupils also gain valuable experience as they help to run the games. On Monday the students undertook a disability awareness course in preparation so that they could really understand the difficulties these people have to deal with on a daily basis.

All of the RHS pupils involved, Year 11 games makers, buddies and Year 12 management team, put in a lot of effort and made sure the day was a success for the 250 plus competitors. Fundraising from this year has also exceeded expectations with charities having received £14,853 from the communities efforts. One such charity has been Help for Heros who received £9,624 for a recovery centre in Colchester, Chavasse VC House.

Well Done to our Year 7 Chapel Readers

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chapel, RHS, royal hospital school, the royal hospital school, year 7

All of the Year 7 pupils who have read in Chapel this academic year, congregated for a group photograph this morning. One 11 or 12-year-old was selected from Drake and Blake Houses each week to read during morning Chapel and, after some coaching in public speaking and tips on how to project their voices in the cavernous Chapel, each bravely spoke in front of some 750 people. Philip McConnell, School Chaplain, said, “This is wonderful opportunity for our youngest pupils to develop their public speaking skills and challenge themselves, which in turn helps to boost confidence. Well done to them all.”

Peter Crompton’s last Congo

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Congo, Peter Crompton, RHS, royal hospital school, the royal hospital school

Today was Peter Crompton’s last Congregational Practice ‘Congo’ as Director of Music at the Royal Hospital School. He delighted the crowds with his normal jovial banter, rewarded them with confectionary treats and even donned his beloved Stoke City football shirt! Peter, you will be sorely missed!

A Day in the Life of an Officer for CCF Royal Navy Cadets

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CCF, Combined Cadet Force, HMS Collingwood, royal hospital school, royal navy, the royal hospital school

45 cadets from the Royal Hospital School Royal Navy CCF visited HMS Collingwood as part of their Biennial Inspection, accompanied by Lieutenant Colonel Marc Godfrey and Warrant Officer1 Karl Weaver.

The cadets undertook a tour of the Close Range Weapons section looking at the mini gun simulators and the Ships Combat System and they had the opportunity to test their leadership and teamwork skills on the low ropes course at the Royal Navy Leadership Academy.

Cadet Petty Officer Emily Hassall, whose father is a Marine Engineer for the new Queen Elizabeth Air Craft Carrier, observed: “It’s been interesting, especially the simulator, I can’t believe how complicated they were. The visit to HMS Bristol was a great opportunity for the CCF. I have been fortunate to have been on board before, but for many others it was their first time. Their faces on arrival, were a picture.”

The visit to the base was part of wider programme which saw the cadets visit HMS Bristol and Longmoor Barracks. Those cadets keen on a career in the RN were joined by Commodore Michael Mansergh CBE Royal Navy as they embarked on Fast Motor Launches in the Solent and Royal Marine Cadets experienced some training on the RN field gun.

Visit Liaison Officer, Lieutenant Darren Belcher RN, a former pupil at the Royal Hospital School, enjoyed being on hand to ensure the activities ran smoothly.

Colonel Marc Godfrey said: “It’s been insightful; one of the best things I’ve witnessed around the establishment is how firmly it supports the powerful RN ethos. Everywhere one looks the core values of integrity, respect and loyalty resonate, whether in the excellent branding, or in the training. It’s important for the cadets to see that the CCF values also reflect those of the modern RN.”

HMS Collingwood is the home of the Maritime Warfare School which contributes to the operational capability of the Fleet by providing first class training to all officers and ratings of the Royal Navy in their professional specialisations which include, Weapon Engineering, Communications, and Warfare. The training they receive is relevant, agile and flexible in order to keep pace with the challenging operational needs. HMS Collingwood is also the Royal Hospital School’s partner establishment supporting the School’s CCF.

Pupils from Royal Hospital School Combined Cadet Force (RHS CCF), Holbrook, experienced a taste of Royal Navy life when they visited HMS Collingwood, Fareham, Hampshire

Successful Sports Day despite tempestuous weather

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athletics, rhs sport, sports, sports day, the royal hospital school

A successful Sports Day was held at the Royal Hospital School on Sunday 23 June despite the tempestuous weather. This ‘blue ribbon’ event has been masterminded by Mr Les Thompson for the past 30 years and the performances and achievements of the athletes involved were as impressive as ever.

Congratulations to Chichester who finished in first place in the Junior competition and to Hood and Collingwood who finished in 1st place in the girls’ and boys’ competition respectively. Daniel Smith (St Vincent) won the Catton Shield for the Senior Boys’ 100m, St. Vincent House won the Addis Trophy for the Senior Boys 4 x 100m, Collingwood won the Warde Trophy for the Senior Boys 4 x 400m and Jesse Vogel (Hawke) won the Bruce Cup for ‘Outstanding effort on Sports Day.

The overall results are as follows:

	Place	House	Points
Juniors	1st	Chichester	206
	2nd	McArthur	149
	3rd	Shackleton	100
	4th	Francis	65

	Place	House	Points
Girls	1st	Hood	210
	2nd	Howe	175
	3rd	Raleigh (Girls)	116
	4th	Cornwallis	106

	Place	House	Points
Boys	1st	Collingwood	252
	2nd	St. Vincent	199
	3rd	Hawke	88
	4th	Anson	69
	5th	Raleigh (Boys)	43

More photographs of the day:

Trick-shot golfer provides entertainment at the Royal Hospital School

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Kevin Carpenter, RHS, rhs golf, rhs sport, the royal hospital school, trick golf

On Monday 24 June, Kevin Carpenter, a golf professional and one of the country’s leading golf trick shot performers, entertained pupils at the Royal Hospital School. Kevin has been playing golf since he was 13 and it quickly became apparent that he showed promise. He has worked as a Pro in several golf clubs including Head Professional at The Celtic Manor Resort where the 2010 Ryder Cup was hosted. Kevin was inspired to create his interactive golf trick shot show after seeing the first ever “World Trick Shot Championships” in 2005. His show has now been running for four years and Kevin enjoys performing to both small and large audiences.

Kevin gives regular lessons at the Royal Hospital School as an after-school activity, but on Monday afternoon everyone was invited to watch Kevin juggling golf balls on a club while riding on a tall unicycle, hitting balls off a tee with with a putter further than you could believe, driving balls that were popping out of a drainpipe and driving from a tall tee while standing on a gym ball! He also got some of the audience involved with Ollie Williams (Year 9) very successfully driving a ball while kneeling down and challenging Mr Way to hit a ball off of a tall tee like a baseball. Alex Olkhovskiy (Year 10), Ben Barker (Year 8) and Michael Cowdrey (Year 9), who all have regular lessons with Kevin, also took part in showing off their golfing skills.

Ollie Williams driving a ball while kneeling down

STOMP workshops for local primary schools

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local primary schools, music workshops, RHS, rhs in the community, RHS Music, STOMP, the royal hospital school

On Monday 24 June the world-famous STOMP visited the Royal Hospital School to run educational workshops for local primary schools. Using their extensive knowledge in rhythm, choreographed percussion, movement and physical comedy they have been successfully running workshops for a range of ages.

The workshops took place throughout the day with Year 5 and 6 pupils from Monks Eleigh Primary School, Bentley Primary School, Widford Lodge, Stutton Primary School, Holmwood House, Riddlesworth Hall, Barnardiston Hall, Copdock Primary School and Holbrook Primary School. During their sessions they learnt about rhythm, counting beats, listening to each other and working together to maintain the correct rhythm.

Religion and Conflict – a spiritual view

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Chewang Guru, MOD, Pundit Ji, religion, religion and conflict, religious studies, RHS, the royal hospital school

On Wednesday the Royal Hospital School welcomed Buddhist Monk, Chewang Guru, and Hindu religious teacher, Pundit Ji, who came to talk to pupils on the topic of ‘Religion and Conflict‘. Both work as spiritual teachers in the British Armed Forces providing support and guidance for troops. They gave talks to the Sixth Form but also ran more informal sessions with a group of Year 8 pupils.

Chewang Guru

Chewang Guru became the first Buddhist Spiritual Teacher attached to the UK Ministry of Defence in 2007. Before gaining this position, he trained at the Shechen Monastery from the age of nine and went on to be appointed a teacher eventually awarded with the certificate of ‘Holder of Definitive Teachings’ (the equivalent to an MA) and PhD in the teachings of Buddhist Doctrine.

During his time with the MoD, he has travelled and given spiritual guidence to the Armed Forces in various Battalions and Regiments, Companies and Squadron’s. This has included travelling to Afghanistan in 2010 to promote mutual understanding and harmony within the multi-faith environment. As a result of his contribution to the MoD, HRH Prince Charles honoured his work with the Appreciation Medal on 28 January 2011.

Chewang Guru with Year 8

Pundit Ji

Pundit Ji was appointed as a Nepalese Hindu Religious Teacher for the Brigade of Gurkhas in 2007. Since this appointment he has served tirelessly in providing spiritual, pastoral care and moral support for Gurkha soliders, their families and local communities. Throughout his life he has worked as a university lecturer in Anthropology and has carried out research into the celebration of Gurkha religious festivals by immigrant Nepalese.

Pundit Ji talking to Year 12 on Hindu beliefs and his role in the MoD

Teacher of Religious Studies, Charlotte Anderson, said “It was an honour to welcome these spiritual and knowledgeable men to the Royal Hospital School. Their talks were fascinating and prompted interesting discussion into the nature of religion within modern society. We thank them for their time and enlightenment”.