Issue 20 Friday 19 May 2017  
Dr McNerney writes....

The summer term, as usual, is galloping by in a flurry of activities, most of which are reported in this latest edition of our newsletter. It is great to see so many aspects of the school, music, drama, sport, music, art, French, English, maths, IT and science, organising events that encourage the boys to be actively engaged in their learning.

There are a few of highlights of the last few weeks that I would like to mention specifically. Firstly, I am delighted that the Eco Garden is now complete and that boys have started using it as part of their Science learning. As you know, outdoor learning is a really important part of our ethos at MTP and it is great to have a new space in the school for the boys to learn and apply new skills. Secondly, the MTS Charity Committee organised a Magic Show for MTP families on Friday night. Those who attended were raving about what a fun evening it was and it was brilliant to see so many MTP families supporting that event. Thirdly, the PA Carnival was a fabulous day that included the whole community and my sincere thanks go to the PA Committee for their hard work and also to the numerous parents, boys and staff who supported us.

Staffing news: I would like to welcome Mrs Carritt, who has been a great addition to our team of staff at MTP. She is an experienced teacher who has recently moved to the UK from Texas and is currently working in our Learning Support department, providing specialist support and intervention at school. Parents at the Manor have no doubt noticed that Mrs Regan-Smith is expecting her first baby and will start her maternity leave in the summer holidays. I know that you will all join me wishing her and her husband all the best. In September, we will be joined at the Manor by Mrs Patel, an experienced Teaching Assistant, who is very excited about coming to work for us. Mrs Martin has decided that it is time to retire and I know that you would agree with me when I say that she has done sterling work in Junior School/Pre-Prep since she started with us in 2000. She will be replaced by Mrs Waddington, another very experienced Teaching Assistant, who will complement the existing team really well. Finally, I would like to congratulate Miss Levy, who will take over as our Head of Maths from September. She is a brilliant maths teacher who has great ideas for the department. Mr Westacott will remain with us part-time and will work on maths intervention and support.

Best wishes

Dr. Karen McNerney | Head of School

PREP NEWS
PRE PREP Y1-Y2
The MANOR
SPORTS
aRT
mvp mip
house
diary dates
LAMDA
MFL
 
PA
MATHS
MUSIC
SCIENCE
ICT
LITERACY
QUIZ
charity
   
DIARY DATES

Monday, 22 May
Y3G Swimming Exhibition for Parents Bushey Grove 0900 - 1000

Tuesday, 23 May
Y3-Y8 School Examinations

Wednesday, 24 May
1st & 2nd XI Cricket v Devonshire House (h) 1430
Y3-Y8 School Examinations
Y3S Swimming Exhibition for Parents Bushey Grove 0900 – 1000

Thursday, 25 May
MTP Y6-Y8 Summer Disco 1930 - 2130
U8ABC Cricket v Belmont Prep (h) 1430
U9 Athletics Meeting at York House 1430 – 1630
Y3-Y8 School Examinations

Friday, 26 May
Parents’ Association Summer Market 0900 - 1230
U11AB Cricket v Highgate (a) 1430
Y1 & Y2 Sports Day 1100 – 1230
YN & YR Sports Day 0900 – 1030
Pre-Prep finishes after sports day for YN YR Y1 & Y2

Monday, 29 May - Friday, 2 June
Half Term

Monday, 5 June
1st & 3rd XI Cricket v St Martin’s (h) 1430
2nd XI Cricket v St Martin’s (a) 1430
Old Boys Cricket Afternoon 1445 - 1615

Tuesday, 6 June
The Bug Man visiting YN & YR
U9AB Cricket v St John’s (h) 1415
U9CD Cricket v St John’s (a) 1415
Whole School Staff Meeting 0800 – 0830 Theatre

Wednesday, 7 June
1st & 3rd XI Cricket v St John’s (a) 1415
2nd XI Cricket v St John’s (h) 1415
Y2 Visit to Clay Lane

Thursday, 8 June
U9A Cricket v UCS (a) 1430
U9BC Cricket v UCS (h) 1415
Whole School Photo 0930

Friday, 9 June
Francis Terry Foundation Charity Day
U10AB Cricket v St John’s (h) 1415
U11AB Cricket v St John’s (a) 1415

Saturday, 10 June
U13 York House Super Sixes Cricket Tournament 1000 - 1430

Monday, 12 June
Expedition Week
Y3G Reveley Lodge Visit, Victorian Experience (pm)
Y3S Reveley Lodge Visit, Victorian Experience (am)
Y4 Woodrow High House overnight stay departing 1000
Y5/Y6/Y7 to Wales & France
Y8 Production Rehearsal Week - Theatre

Tuesday, 13 June
Expedition Week
Music Talk to YR Parents 0845 - 0915
Y3 to HOAC
Y4 Return from Woodrow High House Visit 1545
Y5/Y6/Y7 to Wales & France
Y8 Production Rehearsal Week – Theatre
‘Education Matters’ Evening for Parents 1900 Dining Hall

Wednesday, 14 June
Expedition Week
Manor Visit to RAF Northolt
Pre-Prep Music Recital 0900 - 0930
Y3G Batchworth Lock Canal Centre Visit
Y4 The Great Eggscape at MTP
Y5/Y6/Y7 to Wales & France
Y8 Production Rehearsal Week – Theatre

Thursday, 15 June
Expedition Week
Y3S Batchworth Lock Canal Centre Visit
Y4 Woburn Safari Park 0900 - 1545
Y5/Y6/Y7 to Wales & France
Y8 Production Rehearsal Week – Theatre
YN & YR Open Morning (Manor) 0930 – 1100

Friday, 16 June
Expedition Week
Music Talk to Y1 Parents 0845 -0915
Y1 visit to Clay Lane
Y4 Hampton Court Palace Visit 0800 - 1545
Y5/Y6/Y7 return from Wales & France
Y8 Production Rehearsal Week – Theatre

Saturday, 17 June
ABRSM Theory of Music Exams

Sunday, 18 June
Father’s Day

Monday, 19 June
1st & 2nd XI Cricket v The Beacon (a) 1515
3rd & 4th XI Cricket v The Beacon (h) 1515
Y3 Information Meeting for Y2 Parents 1630 – 1700 Theatre

Tuesday, 20 June
U11 MTS Colts Cricket Tournament ()
U8ABCD Cricket Development Day 1415 – 1615
Parents' Association AGM Tuesday 2000

Wednesday, 21 June
RNCF National Cricket Finals Day
Y7/Y8 House Cricket 1415 - 1630

Thursday, 22 June
Parents’ Association Summer Market 1415 - 1645
Y3/Y4 House Sports Day 1400 – 1645
Y7 Lesson Showcase of Midsummer Night’s Dream at MTS 1800

Friday, 23 June
MTS Jazz Evening 1900 MTS Dining Hall
Parents’ Association Summer Market 1415 - 1715
Y5-Y8 House Sports Day at MTS 1415 – 1715

 

CONGRATULATIONS          CONGRATULATIONS

Aman Gupta 3S
Arjun Gill 8J1
Lokan Bavisi 3S

 

            Vincent Hudson 8W3
             Niam Bhattacharya 8W2
            Thomas Groves 8W3
            Lukas Blom 8L1
            Krish Patel 6N1
HOUSE NEWS  
House News May 2017

New House lockers, Summer sports and weather have all arrived at MTP as well as exam anticipation and election fever. We witnessed the closest ever finish to the House Cup with a single point between all four Houses to conclude the Spring term. Congratulations to Livingstone/Newton who were joint first and commiserations to Johnson/Wren in joint third. Honourable mentions are extended to Raiyan Qureshi 8N1 for getting the most house points and the Watson Cup, 4M who won the Coronation Shield in Y3/4 and L1 who took the Coronation Cup as top tutor group.                                                                                                                                                                             
This term we have already enjoyed House Tennis (Alex Andelkovic 6W3 & Jack Groves 5W2 won for Wren in Y5/6, Amaan Kassam 7J1 & Rahul Patel 7J3 for Johnson in Y7/8) and House Maths (Johnson overall winners) with Cricket, Table Tennis and Sports Day Athletics to follow.                     

The recent Livingstone Games and Wren Yard Sale were a success and parents are thanked for their support. Mr Denham managed to fulfil his London Marathon ambition and to fill his jar to support Alzheimer’s. Thanks to parents and tutors for the recent Year 6 Tutorials and best wishes to all pupils as they prepare for end of year examinations. Tutors and subject staff have shared revision skills and techniques with pupils.

TOP 10 SPRING TERM

9= James Gray 8L1 & James Keeney 8N2
8 Daniel Drizen 5L1
7 Rahul Patel 7J3
6 Tristan Jassal 4M
4= Jack Groves 5W2 & Manvir Singh-Obhrai 4M
3 Sahil Shah 7L1
2 Raj Shah 8J1 
1 Raiyan Qureshi 8N1


Heads of House

SENIOR LEADERSHIP TEAM
From the SLT Corridor

It may not feel that way, but summer has officially arrived. The cricket season is well underway, and Ronak Patel made an excellent start to the season with two fifties to his name already. Siddhanth Kheria has continued the MTP tradition of producing top class leg-spinners, bagging an early season hat trick. Two notable debutants in the 1st XI are Year 6 boys Krish Patel, with his sharp work behind the stumps, and Rohan Shah, who was the man of the match on debut for his contribution with the ball. Weather permitting, we look forward to many warm sunny afternoons out on the cricket pitch.

We started the term with our Spring Term Final Assembly, rewarding boys for achievement in their academic studies, Sport, Music and Drama. We were delighted to award so many certificates to boys who managed an entire term without getting a single ‘Minute’, and likewise to our ‘Time Out Titans’ for always doing their homework. We would love to award even more certificates at the end of this very short term.

Congratulations to the boys elected as Form Captains this term: 3G - Ayaan Diddee, 3S - Aryan Kapoor, 4G – Zakarya Karim, 4M - Kayan Howladar. Vice Captains: 3G – Yash Kotecha, 3S – Parth Malhotra, 4G – Caleb Goddard, 4M – Sufyan Ismail.

We remind all pupils and parents that MOBILE PHONES ARE NOT ALLOWED IN SCHOOL OR ON SCHOOL VISITS. Boys that need them for travel must deposit them at the School Office on arrival.

This time of year, with changes in temperature and high pollen levels, can be really challenging for some of our boys. We please ask parents to ensure that the School Nurse has all the necessary inhalers and allergy medication.

We wish our Year 8s a very happy and fruitful last half term at MTP and many happy memories as they prepare themselves for their transfer to their senior schools.      

Mr M Hibbert | Assistant Head of School & Mr A Crook | Deputy Head

NEWS FROM PRE-PREP
From The Manor

The boys in the Manor have settled back happily into school life after the Easter break. They were eager to tell their friends about their holiday home learning which encouraged them to take a risk. I would like to thank our parents who all encouraged their boys to complete this and helped them to participate in a huge range of interesting experiences.

This term Nursery and Reception have started their new topic, ‘The Great Outdoors’. The boys are all so curious to learn about minibeasts. We have started our topic by learning about spiders and the Robins and Wrens used their imaginations to create an acrostic poem.  The boys started by looking at some examples of other acrostic poems and then created a class word bank of 'spider' words to use to write their own versions.  They used amazing descriptive language and all came up with fabulous poems and the photograph shows a couple of examples.

All the Nursery and Reception boys have enjoyed exploring small world minibeasts and identifying the features of each one. The photographs show Nursery and Reception boys engrossed in their play. In Nursery, the boys have been busy creating some 3D spiders and ladybirds and have concentrated on developing their fine motor skills. These have made a wonderful display in the Nursery.

There was great excitement in the Manor this week when 6 duckling eggs arrived. The boys are curious to see all the changes that have been happening and have shown great empathy in caring for them. The photograph shows the first of our ducklings a few hours after it was born.

Mrs S Funnell | Head of Pre Prep

From Year 1 and Year 2

 

Welcome back for the Summer Term! This term started with much egg-citment (!) because we have had chicks hatching in Pre-Prep as part of our Nature Watch topic. The boys watched with wonder as they observed the chicks hatch and they enjoyed handling them with care once they grew a little bigger. Three of the ten chicks we hatched (Shelly, Sandy and Pebbles) will be staying with us in Pre-Prep, kindly looked after by Miss Leach until they are big enough to join our other hens in the garden. We are looking forward to watching them grow. I have included a few photographs of the boys with the chicks so that you can see the care and empathy they showed when handling them.

Our topic was launched by Mr De Vynck with a presentation in the theatre and a visit to the new Eco Garden. This inspired the boys to find out more about the wonderful natural environment we have here at school and the photographs show Rayaan Vyas and Arun Sharma using the iPad to take pictures during a nature walk and the boys in Year 1 making observational drawings in the wood.  Our visit out of school this term is based on our nature topic and the boys will be going to Clay Lane Environmental Centre in June.

We are looking forward to our Sports Day next week when I am sure that, once again, the boys will show superb sportsmanship and we will be very proud of them all. The Pre-Prep day will end after the sporting events, 10.30am for Nursery and Reception boys and 12.30pm for Year 1 and Year 2, to enable you to start your Half Term. I hope that this break is a restful one for you all and that the boys will come back refreshed, ready for the last five weeks of the term. We really enjoy savouring this time with the children as they get ready for the transition of moving on to the next year.

Mrs S Funnell | Head of Pre Prep

SPORT 
Belmont Cricket Festival

Unfortunately MTP could not make it 3 consecutive wins for this trophy due to losing a very tight encounter first up against hosts and eventual winners Belmont. However we won all remaining games very convincingly. Some consolation in the form of Niam winning Player of the Tournament for being top batsman and fine bowling spells.

Mr M Horne | Director of Cricket

Sport Update

Congratulations to our first XI on winning their recent RNCF Cup fixture (formerly JET Cup) against Orley Farm, Ronak Patel leading the way with 56 not out. It has been another succesful start to term across the board with fixtures from U9 to U13 so far.

House Tennis was as competitive as ever with doubles sides entering across the Y5/6 and Y7/8 competitions. Well done to Rahul Patel & Amaan Kassam on winning the Y7/8 competition for Johnson, and Jack Groves & Alex Andelkovic winning the Y5/6 competition for Wren.

Our year 8 pupils recently took part in the annual St John's Northwood 500 Obstacle Course, attempting a range of disciplines against the clock. A nice reward for the boys involved for their dedication this year, with a great time had by all.

All pupils are currently preparing for their upcoming sports days, with extra anticipation around the Y5-8 sports days this year which are being held at Merchant Taylors’ Senior School. We wish you all the best of luck!

Mr J Denham | Sports Teacher

CHARITY UPDATE
Charity Memory Challenge!

We would like to remind you that there will be an all school sponsored event on Friday 9th June in aid of the Francis Terry Foundation.  Francis Terry founded our school in 1910 and the charity exists to support a variety of Educational projects both at home and abroad.

Your son will be taking part in a timed competitive memory activity and we would ask your sons to raise as much sponsorship money as possible for this worthwhile cause. 

The boys will get the opportunity to visit and observe a number of items set up on display and will then have to list as many items as possible, from memory.

Every contribution will be hugely appreciated and certificates will be issued to everyone who takes part. House points, or equivalent, will be awarded to everyone who raises sponsorship and there will also be prizes for all boys who raise over £10, for those raising over £100 and a special prize for the three boys who raise the most sponsorship (the sponsorship form was sent to you last April, please ask us if you want another/new one).

We hope your son will enjoy and benefit from the activities and we thank you for your continued support.

Mrs S Gadd, Mr R Kopel & Mrs P Steed | Charity Coordinators.
PARENTS' ASSOCIATION
Summer Carnival

We really hope that you all had a fantastic day at the Summer Carnival which we held on Sunday 7th May. 

Children (& adults) laughing and playing, a police car, candy floss and popcorn, an inflatable football table, bouncy castles and slides, face painting, balloon modelling and an ice cream van were just some of the many highlights of last weekend. The day proved to be full of fun with something for everyone to enjoy resulting in many families leaving suitably exhausted having spent a wonderful sunny afternoon at the MTP Carnival! Many of you described how there was a real family atmosphere on the day with everybody enjoying themselves with the help of our lively DJ Norman creating a real carnival mood.

The day would not have been a success without all of our parent and teacher volunteers giving up their valuable time to help support our school community, be it serving lunch, making popcorn or directing cars to their designated parking spots. We would like to thank you whole heartedly for your help in making the day a success.

It was a hat-trick for the nursery children winning 3 out of our 6 raffle prizes and thank you to Robsons for donating £100 of John Lewis vouchers, Mr & Mrs Malhotra for their generous donation of a leather handbag as well as all of our other donors and sponsors. 

We are currently in the process of pulling together the numbers for the day and will share these with you in our next update along with the grand total raised for our two chosen charities: the Michael Sobell Hospice and the Francis Terry Foundation.

We look forward to seeing you at the sports days where we will be holding our annual uniform sale.  Please can we kindly request that if you have any unwanted uniform in good condition could you hand this into the school office or to Afreen at the Gazebo on Monday afternoon. Only the current MTP uniform please.

Once again, we would like to thank you for supporting the MTP carnival and hope that it was a memorable day.

Best wishes

MTP Parents’ Association
     
SCIENCE    
Science in the news
Eco Garden
The boys are enjoying the new Eco Garden that has been developed behind the Sir Christopher Harding building, and we thank Dr McNerney and the Governors for realising the potential of this previously under-used part of the school premises.

We envisage it as a space where the boys can learn about the workings of the natural world in a practical and engaging manner, but also a space where various members of our community can come together. It encompasses a beautiful potting shed, as can be seen below, large beds purposely planted to allow for wildlife habitats to develop, but also providing a tactile and sensory experience for the boys, fruit trees and bushes, and four raised beds for experimenting with the growing of plants. There are countless potential links to other aspects of the curriculum and real life e.g. the idea that what we eat costs money, and that by growing our own food we can save money, but more importantly, that this can lead to a great sense of empowerment.

An early season Forget-me-not provides a glimpse of the natural beauty that the wildflower meadow will bring forth.

Three of our Year 8 boys enjoy their introduction to the Eco Garden.
The garden’s designer shares some of the ideas and philosophy behind the Eco Garden design with a group of Year 8 boys.

We still have a few spaces open in the Gardening Club (open to KS2 and KS3), and if your son is interested he should please come and see Mr De Vynck.

CREST Awards
As we approach the end of another busy and productive academic year I would like to take a moment to congratulate the Year 8 boys who have successfully met the requirements for the Bronze CREST Award. This is a national STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) initiative and requires the boys to spend at least 10 hours researching and investigating a relevant question of their own making. This acts as a culmination of their Intellectual Curiosity work in Science. They have to design their report around a set of criteria that prompt them to exhaustively look into their question of choice.

The boys named below achieved their Bronze Awards. Their research title is given next to their names. Three of the boys delivered particularly exceptional write-ups, and the ‘M’ in brackets next to their names signifies the awarding of a merit.

Lukas Blom – The effect of body type on physical activity
Nayan Chatrath – Pollution in different urban spaces
Ameya Dabral – Bouncing tennis balls
Arjun Gill – Tuberculosis
Tom Groves (M) – Do more expensive washing powders perform better?
Neil Prabhakar – Can malaria be eradicated?
Raiyan Qureshi (M) – How does coffee affect the human body?
Raj Shah (M) – How does age affect the ability to exercise?
Henry Wareing – What has been the most revolutionary shoe technology of the 21st Century?

Our current Year 7 pupils are encouraged to start thinking of an interesting, yet feasible, question that they can pick apart in a scientific manner.

Summer Exams
The time has once again come for the boys from Year 3 to Year 8 to show off their year’s learning in Science, and as this can be a stressful time for both the pupils and parents, I would like to provide some general guidance on how to best prepare for the Science exams.

Your son has been provided with a tick sheet for every topic, and this encompasses the theory and some general skills that they need to know for the exam. Use the tick sheet to guide revision of relevant material in the exercise book, text book, and online resources such as tigtagworld.co.uk, twig-world.com and BBC Bitesize. Your son should mix up the use of these resources so as to keep his learning as engaging as possible. The rote memorisation of copious amounts of facts is discouraged, as the exam scripts place an emphasis on the interpretation and application of science fact.

Your son is also encouraged to practise applying his knowledge using practice questions. Typing “KS2 / KS3 Science Sats papers” into a search engine will bring up various websites with free access to at least 9 years of past SATS exams. We usually refer the boys to a site called emaths.co.uk, as it also sports the mark schemes.

Please allow your son to take regular breaks whilst revising, at the most after 40 minutes, as it has been shown that this will lead to the most effective learning. Allow him to do something that will take his mind off the work, like kicking a ball around (avoid computer games as they might affect concentration and motivation). Please be supportive, but without placing too much pressure on your son; we want him to be calm and confident when he sits his papers, and if he is overly concerned about his performance this could have a negative impact on his efforts.

Hans De Vynck | Head of Science
MTS Science Challenge 2017

On April 28th, a team of four Year 5 boys went to MTS to compete in a full day of challenging experiments in three different Sciences. The goal was to stretch the Science enthusiasts and to problem solve.  This team of boys showed great collaboration and curiosity throughout the day. They took on every challenge with enthusiasm and displayed excellent practical skills.  Unfortunately, the team was narrowly pipped to first place by one point.

Pupil of the Month

Pupil of the Month (Independence)  – April
Kayan Howladar 4M
Zachary Jamal 5L3
Munachi Nnatuanya 6L3

Pupil of the Month (Concentration) – May
Samuel Sundram 4G
Benjamin Ward 5J3
Rayan Joshi 6L1

Miss C Burke – KS2 Science Teacher

   
ART
Y5 & 7 Artwork
Mr D Roach | Head of Art and Design
MATHS
MTP House Mathematics competition

This term we held the second MTP House Mathematics competition. After the enthusiasm displayed by Years 3 and 4 last year when they were spectators at the Year 5 to 8 competition, the competition was expanded this year to include pupils from Year 3 and Year 4 as well.

The competition was fiercely contested and remained in the balance right up to the final question with three places eventually being covered by just four points. In the end Johnson House emerged victorious, and congratulations go to Agastya Daphale (Y3), Amaan Sawani (Y4), Shaurya Jhunjhunwala (Y5), Rohan Olsen (Y6), Christopher Joseph (Y7) and Ankit Chadha (Y8).

Mr J Greenish | Maths Teacher
Quiz Club Maths Competition
On Thursday 11th May, Merchant Taylors' Prep School hosted the area heat for the first round of the Quiz Club Maths Competition. The questions were based on arithmetic skills as well as challenging problem solving questions. Pupils in year 5 and 6 competed against local schools, with one of our teams finishing third. The pupils involved in the competition were Siddhanth Kheria (Y6), Rohan Olsen (Y6), Aayush Pandit (Y6), Krishav Sehdev (Y6), Krish Thakrar (Y6), Sid Tiwari (Y6) Jack Groves (Y5) and Abhishek Patel (Y5). 

Miss R Levy | Maths Teacher
LITERACY
Kidzania

During the last week of the Spring Term, the boys enjoyed a week themed around the topic of London.  To end the week, the whole prep department visited Kidzania in Shepherds Bush.  Kidzania is a city designed for children where they have to work in order to pay for activities.  The teachers had to step back and let the boys organise themselves and make decisions to how they wanted to spend, and earn, their money.  A particular highlight was watching our Year 8 boys, dressed as policemen, completely in role and immersed in the experience!

The boys got to experience so many wonderful activities – assisting with a  liver transplant, flying a plane, changing the tyres of F1, creating newspapers, filming for TV, putting out fires – to name but a few!

All the boys had an absolutely fantastic day and learnt so much about the world of work, money and working as a team.  Many of the boys opened bank accounts at Kidzania, in the hope they would return again soon!

Mrs Ly | House Coordinator
Grammar Girl

Grammar Girl is ready… ready to take on the dastardly foes of bad grammar, poor spelling and no punctuation.  She has learnt from her old tutor and superhero Captain Grammaticus, but can she foil the plans of the most fiendish villain of them all…?

On Friday 5th May, we welcomed Quantum Theatre to Merchant Taylors’ Prep, for a morning of spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPaG) with Years 3 – 6. The boys were immersed in an interactive theatre production, where they brushed up on their SPaG skills in a fun and lively way.  Luckily, the boys in Years 3 – 6 helped Grammar Girl solve the mystery of Captain Grammaticus’ disappearance by showing what excellent SPaG skills they have, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience too!

Mrs Ly | English Department

LAMDA
Outstanding Y7 Spring Term LAMDA results!

On Wednesday 29th March, the latest cohort of nine Year 7 boys undertook their Level 1 Grade 3 LAMDA examinations in The Speaking of Verse and Prose. Once again, the boys rehearsed, recited and discussed two pieces of literature with an external examiner before performing their pieces to family and friends within an entertaining ‘Evening of Poetry and Prose’ in The New Barn Theatre. I am now delighted to announce that the boys’ hard work and talent has been rewarded with nine straight Distinctions for the whole cohort! This is an outstanding achievement for all concerned, and now breaks the 100 Distinctions barrier for 178 LAMDA pupils over the last seven years (101 Distinctions; 73 Merits; 4 Passes). Last term’s results in full are as follows:

Aarav Chadha (J2) – Pass with Distinction Sahaj Pankhania (J1) – Pass with Distinction
Taran Chahil (J2) – Pass with Distinction Adam Muneer (N1) – Pass with Distinction
Rohan Choudhary (W3) – Pass with Distinction Sahil Patel (N2) – Pass with Distinction
Max Little (N1) – Pass with Distinction Samuel O’Tuminu (W1) – Pass with Distinction
Sohan Mukherjee (J3) – Pass with Distinction  

Speech and Drama continues to go from strength to strength at Merchant Taylors’ Prep and LAMDA exams are a key ingredient in our quest to produce happy, confident and well-rounded boys with high self-esteem. Congratulations, Year 7 and good luck to this term’s candidates who can be supported in their endeavours at our next ‘Evening of Poetry and Prose’ after Celebration Afternoon on Wednesday 5th July. 

Mr S. Hinton | Head of Speech and Drama

MUSIC
Music Department News

What an amazingly busy start to the term it has been in the Music Department!  We must start by congratulating the boys on the successful results to last term’s music exams.  Following on from that I would like to congratulate all boys who auditioned for the Young Musician of The Year Competition.  The standard was again exceptionally high and I must commend all the boys who made it to the finals and represented the high quality of music we have here at the Prep School.  Congratulations to the category finalists:
Piano Niels Redman and Charlie Marshall
Woodwind Elliot Craft and Matthew Schiff
Brass Charlie Marshall
Singing Neil Prabhakar
Strings Niels Redman and Felix Regnard Weinrabe
And special congratulations must go to Charlie Marshall who was  Merchant Taylors’ Prep Young Musician of the Year overall winner.

Also last week we hosted our first ever ensembles concert and it was wonderful to see so many of our younger players featuring in this.  It was a debut performance of the String Orchestra and the Flute Group and they were joined by the Guitar Ensemble and the School Orchestra.  Thank you to all who worked so hard especially the peripatetic teachers who work with these boys week after week and who came along to the concert.

The Dedication of the Term was another success and I would like to thank the Year 2 choir led by Mr Edwards who sang so beautifully.  They were a credit to the Pre Prep Department.

Up Coming Events

There is still much happening and I would like to start by wishing the boys in Year 5 all the best as they sit their Grade 1 Music Theory exam shortly after half term. 

Please book in your diaries the Vocals concert on 27th of June which will feature our Year 3, Year 4 and Senior Choirs.  Also the Young Musicians Concert on the 26th of June promises to be a lovely occasion.  Performers are still to be confirmed but please come and support our boys as they play.

I am giving a talk to parents of boys in reception and in year 1 about the opportunities for music at Merchant Taylors’ Prep and I would like to encourage you to come along and hear how you can be involved and how to support your son in his music making.  The Reception talk is on 13th of June and Year 1 is on the 16th. 

Music Exam Results

CHARLIE MARSHALL PIANO 8 Distinction
AAYUSH PANDIT PIANO 5 Pass
FELIX REGNARD-WEINRABE  VIOLIN 5 Merit
FILIPPOS-SAVVAS KYRIAKOU SINGING 3 Merit
YIORGOS VELIMACHITIS VIOLIN 3 Pass
JAY GHELANI GUITAR 2 Pass
LUKA HINTON GUITAR 2 Pass
SHYAM PANKHANIA FLUTE 2 Merit
RYAN PRABHAKAR VIOLIN 2 Pass
SIDH SADANA GUITAR 2 Pass
JAYDEN THAKRAR GUITAR 2 Merit
KRISH THAKRAR GUITAR 2 Pass
VIVAAN VERMA B FLAT CORNET 2 Merit
HENRY CARGILL-THOMPSON ALTO SAXOPHONE 1 Pass
VINCENT CHEUNG PIANO 1 Pass
VINCENT CHEUNG CELLO 1 Merit
PARTH MALHOTRA B FLAT CORNET 1 Merit
DYLAN MEHTA SINGING 1 Pass
KYLE PALIHAKKARA CELLO 1 Pass
AYUSH SHAH B FLAT CORNET 1 Merit
RIAN SHAH VIOLIN 1 Pass
YIORGOS VELIMACHITIS PIANO 1 Distinction
VIVAAN VERMA SINGING 1 Merit
PARTH MALHOTRA PIANO 1 Merit
IVO REGNARD-WEINRABE  PIANO 1 Pass
AGASTYA DAPHALE PIANO P  
AYAAN DIDDEE PIANO P  
ARVIN NARAGHI CELLO P  
SAMUEL WILLIAMS PIANO P  

Mrs C Hawkes | Director of Music

QUIZ
Inter-school Quiz

On 5th May, the Merchant Taylors' Schools got together in Merchant Taylors’ Hall, Threadneedle Street, for their regular inter-school quiz – our first time competing in the event. Quiz teams consist of six members of Year 8, and Mr Hibbert and I went along too.

We began with a tour of the Hall, with plenty of emphasis on the historical elements of the artefacts and architecture, and a clear incentive for the boys to remember what they were told for when the information came up on the quiz – as it clearly would, and did.

When the quiz began, with a ‘Blockbusters’ round where the initial letter of the answer was given, the first two questions were quickly picked off by, as far as I could see (it’s very hard to see how your team is doing without appearing to be giving them the answers), Raiyan Qureshi and Henry Wareing. What, though, of our School Captain, Harry Williams, a boy whom I once handed over to his mother in France so that he could compete in the final of a national general knowledge competition? We had nothing to fear: he came to life on a question about Homer Simpson’s favourite drink (beginning with D… do you know it?) Our Vice Captain, Henry, meanwhile showed that he knows far too much about Justin Bieber. Ameya Dabral got a question about the computer game Legend of Zelda which I don’t now understand even though I wrote it down at the time.

It was clear that we were doing well. After two rounds we had 22/25, having successfully named five countries which begin and end with A (there are nine, the United States of America not of course among them) and recognised a picture of a wombat (Elliot Craft, I think, got that one). Raj Shah decoded a cryptic film – a picture of a monster, and a sink (Monsters Inc, get it?) and the boys (one of them a Newton Vice Captain) were able to give a year in Isaac Newton’s life.

There followed a music round including I’d Do Anything, which the boys started singing (Oliver! was their school musical two years ago) and the Great British Bake Off theme tune, which they got after half a bar. The final round was an ‘up and down’ round – with points in jeopardy. I knew it was close. The boys knew it was close. Correct answers would score one point. Incorrect answers would lose a point. Blank answers would not be penalised. Who’s the youngest head of state in the world? ‘Kim Jong Un,’ Mr Hibbert whispered to me. ‘They’ll know that,’ I said – and they did. How many lines in a limerick? For their hopes to survive, they had to write five…

They said seven. When the scores were totalled up, the MTP team came fourth, two points below second place and three points off first (it had been very, very close). The worthy winners were Wallingford, who were exceptional (I’m surprised they didn’t win by more) and our team acquitted itself creditably – and did finish one place above the team from next door. Their performance, unlike Homer’s favourite brand of beer, was anything but Duff. Congratulations to Harry, Henry, Raj, Raiyan, Ameya and Elliot. I hope that the more quizzical members of Year 7 are looking forward to next year.

Mr A McConnell | Head of History

ICT
Bloodhound article

On the 3rd May we went to the RAF air base for the Regional finals of the Bloodhound Racing competition. There were many schools there and in total there were 33 cars competing. There was a short briefing before the race and then we got to go to the mess hall to build our car.

On the way we saw RAF cadets training and marching up and down and doing drills. We got to a large canteen hall and there were many tables set up around the place. Also there was an aeroplane game were you had to fly through hoops using an iPad as a steering wheel. There were many drills and hot wire cutters and saws around. On each table there was a block, guidelines, sanding paper, a ruler and some gifts for us. We started to build, our name was Team Kraken and our car was called X2. The process ran smoothly with Charlie and I designing and cutting and Rohan sanding. Our car was the only car with colour at the end since we were the only ones to bring colour. We went for a design that was similar to our previous design, thin and smooth.

After we had built the car we had lunch, in the place where RAF cadets have their lunch. It was in a big hall with paintings of fruit on the sides.

After lunch, we went to an aircraft hangar where we raced our car. There were 33 teams that had more people than us. The cars were lined up in two rows for racing. If you did not beat your opponent then you were not going to have a good chance of coming in the top 3 place. When our car raced there was a problem, the engine slowed down quite quickly, but for the time it was on it was really quick, but luckily the engine failure happened after it had passed the gate that was tracking the speed of our car.

Once all the cars had raced, we went to the RAF museum and saw one of the engines that was in the Bloodhound SSC. There were also some very old aeroplanes. There was a model of the first aeroplane that was made by the Wright brothers. Inside there was an aeroplane simulator.

Results…   
Soon though, we were taken to the room we started in for the awards ceremony. The suspense was running high as we sat down on the comfy sofas and waited. They announced the junior results first, then there were the senior results. We were quickly rushed up to the stage, with two other lucky teams. We received massive posters and took photos with the sponsors. We came third, just missing out to the Nationals. Overall, it was an amazing experience, we are very grateful to Mrs Hibbert, Mr Roach and MTP for arranging this amazing competition.

Team Kraken – Sahil P Shah, Charlie Marshall and Rohan Choudhary


MFL
FRENCH Spelling Bee
  • After an intense Y7 French Spelling Bee Competition held in the Theatre just after February half-term, the winner, Sahil Shah (Livingstone ) and runners-up, Shay Thakrar (Livingstone) and Christopher Joseph (Johnson) progressed to the third stage of the competition, namely the Regional Finals at the beginning of May.

  • Spelling words in a foreign language can sound nerve-racking, but competing against other schools from all around London is definitely the ultimate challenge when it comes to being out of your comfort zone! Having said that, the three musketeers battled their way through the first round. Unfortunately, the competitors they then faced (mainly girls!) were beyond gifted and none of our pupils qualified for the National Final.

  • The French Department would like to thank the three competitors for their dedication and resilience, as well as their mothers for supporting this spelling bee adventure.

Mr R Kopel | Head of Modern Foreign Languages