We have finally arrived at the end of year and it is hard to understand where the year has gone! I would like to offer my sincerest thanks to everyone who helps to make our school such a happy and successful place: boys, parents and staff. It is a privilege to be at the helm and I am constantly amazed at how well our boys achieve and how creative the teachers can be. The last couple of weeks have presented us with some very memorable occasions.

Highlights for me have been the outstanding production of Twelfth Night (I run out of superlatives to describe this event), the Y2 and House Presentations that recognise every pupil’s achievements, and the Y8 Awards Dinner so that we can celebrate with our Y8 leavers and their families. I would like to wish my fondest farewell to all those leaving MTP this week: to our Y8s who venture with confidence to their senior schools, to all pupils who are leaving to go to new schools and even different countries, and to the staff who are moving on. We wish the very best to Miss Roberts, who has helped as a Teaching Assistant in the Pre-Prep this year and has a new job in a school in London, to Ms McClure who is moving to a school closer to her home in London, to Miss Bricknall who finally returns home to New Zealand, and to Mr Smith who is going to spend more time with his family. Each of these people has made a superb contribution to our school and we wish them the very best.

This week we have welcomed back Mrs Lỳ from her maternity leave and it is great to have her back with us. Final staff news: Mr McConnell has been made an honorary fellow of the Historical Association and is pictured with Rebecca Sullivan, the CEO of the Historical Association. This is a very impressive accolade and shows how lucky we are to have a Head of History of
Mr McConnell’s standing.

I hope that your sons have a chance to have a rest this summer and I look forward to seeing you all in September. 

Best wishes

Dr. Karen McNerney | Head of School

Thursday 1 September  
Staff INSET Day

Friday 2 September     
Staff INSET Day

Monday 5 September     
Term Commences
Y4G Swimming Commences
All Y3-Y8 Sports Trials begin (Y3-Y8 Rugby and Hockey)

Wednesday 7 September           
Y4M Swimming Commences

Thursday 8 September    
Reception Parents’ Meeting 0900 Theatre
Year 1 Parents’ Information Meeting 1430 Theatre

Friday 9 September    
Staff and Parents’ Coffee 0800 Dining Hall
Nursery Parents’ Information 0930 Theatre

Monday 12 September    
All After School Clubs Commence

Tuesday 13 September  
Taylors’ Hockey League Begins (U12 and U13 Training) 1615-1730

Wednesday 14 September
U12A and U13A Hockey v Berkhamsted (a) 1530-1745

Thursday 15 September
Year 5 Verulamium Visit

Friday 16 September
U11A Hockey v Chesham Prep (a)
Dedication to the Term 1700 Theatre

Sunday 18 September    
U10 Westminster Football Tournament

Tuesday 20 September   
Merchant Taylors’ Hockey League (U12 and U13 Training) 1615-1730

Wednesday 21 September
U13A and U12A Rugby v Caldicott School (a) 1430

Thursday 22 September 
U9AB Rugby v Haberdashers’ Aske’s (a) 1445

Sunday 25 September  
Moor Park Fun Run

James Keeney 7N2

Year 8 triumphed in their two night run of ‘Twelfth Night’ before enjoying their Leavers’ Weekend away. The four Houses also treated a packed audience to House Singing 2016, adjudicated by Singing teacher, Duncan Saunderson. Parents, boys and staff all enjoyed the Celebration Afternoon of awards. Congratulations to Mrs Smith (School Librarian & Photographer) for her editorial of the first MTP Yearbook.  Thanks to all Houses for their input and output in what has been a spectacular year. Raj Shah 7J1 won both the Watson Cup for most House Points in the Summer term as well as the Gullan Cup for most house points during the year. Newton won the House Cup for the term. Wren lifted the House Cricket Shield, Eesa Siddiqi 6N2 triumphed in Y5-8 Table Tennis (Grossman Cup) with Jack Groves 4G the champion in Y3/4 for Wren. Good luck to ABRSM Music & LAMDA exam candidates this week as another term and year come to a close.         
                                                                                                                   
We enjoyed welcoming Year 4 pupils to their new Tutor Groups and we thank Martin Smith for his contribution as both tutor and stalwart of Wren House. We welcome back Claire Lỳ from her maternity leave as N3 Tutor & House Coordinator. Our final thanks are for the House Captains/Vice Captains and all House members for their enthusiasm and commitment this year. The House year is now officially over.  

HOUSE POINTS

Heads of House

It hasn’t been very long since our last newsletter but it has been a busy time for the pupils and staff with a multitude of events. We’ve enjoyed a wonderful Year 8 production of Twelfth Night, House Singing, a Classics Reading Competition, Celebration Afternoon, An Evening of Poetry and Prose, the traditional Year 8 v Staff softball match (sorry boys, the staff won again) and the annual Year 8 Awards Dinner – and that is just in the last ten days!  As senior leadership team, we would like to thank all the staff involved in organising these events and for their exceptional dedication throughout the year. Thank you to all the parents who come to these school functions and support us.

It was lovely to welcome Denise Lewis today ahead of an Olympic summer. We can’t wait to see her commentating on the Track and Field Athletics from Rio. We hope that world class speakers like this will inspire our boys to pursue their passions and achieve excellence themselves.

It has been wonderful to see all the boys develop so well over the year and perform so well in a variety of areas of school life. We truly believe that every single boy is a success story and it has been a privilege to watch them strive and grow. 

At this time of year we can’t help but think of our leavers. We wish them all well in their new schools and would encourage them to come back and share their successes with us in future years. 

We wish you and your families a restful summer break and great fun together. We look forward to welcoming all the pupils back on Monday 5th September for what promises to be yet another incredible year at Merchant Taylors’ Prep.

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

We have reached the end of another wonderful year in Pre-Prep and I as I come to the end of a very enjoyable first year in my new role I would like to thank everyone for their hard work and support. I would like to say thank you to the boys for rising to every challenge and making such great progress; to the talented team of staff who inspire the boys each day; and to the parents for providing unending support for their children and the school. We had a beautiful Y2 Concert and Presentation of Certificates this week, which was an opportunity to celebrate Y2’s achievements and say farewell to them as they go ‘One More Step’ on their journey to the Prep school. It was announced that Safwaan Qureshi is this year’s winner of the Harvey MacGregor cup for caring attitude and generosity of spirit, and I have included a photograph of him looking very happy with his cup.

Sadly, there are always goodbyes to say at this time of year and I would like to say farewell and thank you to Ms McClure and Miss Roberts who are leaving to start new jobs after working so hard for us in Pre-Prep this year. We are also sadly saying goodbye to Miss Bricknall, who has brilliantly taught so many of our boys over the 13 years that she has been with us at Merchant Taylors’ Prep. We have greatly appreciated all the wonderful work that she has done for us over the years and she will be hugely missed. We wish her every happiness for the future as she returns to New Zealand in the summer.

Finally, on behalf of all of the staff, thank you sincerely to parents for their end of year gifts and kind words about our work. We wish you all a very happy summer!

Mrs S Funnell | Head of Pre Prep

This half term has been a busy one in Nursery. We concluded our ‘Let’s explore’ topic by learning about under the sea. We have also discussed our transition to Reception and have discovered that the boys are most excited about exploring their wonderful new classrooms in the Manor of the Rose and can’t wait to wear their new uniform! The boys have loved using their imagination in the role play area this year and have collaborated to act out some wonderful stories. In the photos Riyen Thakrar is ready to explore the bottom of the sea and Aaryan Brahmbhatt-Patel and Deiyen Hettiaratchi are imagining that they are a teacher and pupil in their new class.

Terry Bear has been on some wonderful adventures this year and we thank all the parents for their support with this. He had his own football adventure recently when he bumped into Gary Lineker at the airport!

As the year draws to a close I would like to thank all our parents for their continued support throughout the year. It has been a real pleasure to get to know you all and to teach your boys. We are proud of all that they have accomplished during their time with us and we wish them well as they move on to the next exciting stage of their learning journey in Reception.

On behalf of all the Nursery Staff I would also like to thank you for your very generous gifts and kind words at the end of term, we greatly appreciate them. We hope you all have a lovely summer break and look forward to seeing you all in September.

Mrs G Ladbury| Head of Nursery

At the end of June Year 6 boys went to the City of London to visit three sites. They first went to the London Guildhall, which is in its own right a worthy enough public space and art gallery with an interesting collection of art curated to show the qualities and values Londoners have had over time. The real reason for going, though, was that this was the site of the amphitheatre of Roman London. We were able to ask the boys to consider the significance of their being in the same place as people who had, many years ago, watched – and died in – sporting tournaments. Visiting sites, it seems, really can bring the past to life by awakening an emotional connection.

We then took the boys to the remnants of London Wall, just North of St Paul’s. They considered both the archaeology of the wall (the major damage to which was not done until the Blitz) and the reasons for its preservation. The preserved section is just next to the Museum of London, the main reason for our visit.

We asked the boys to consider, in both the Roman and the medieval galleries, the most interesting objects on offer, as well as the artefacts which they found most useful. The collections of the Museum of London include primary artefacts but also reconstructions, interactive exhibits, videos and explanation. The boys enjoyed viewing (and sometimes trying on) the artefacts, and also considered what it is that makes an object historically interesting, as well as thinking about the story (or stories) of London which the Museum was trying to provide.

Shailan Bavisi J2 summed it up for us when he identified that although the Roman era was earlier than the medieval era, living standards were clearly higher in the earlier period. Trying to figure out why took the rest of the week’s History lessons. Edward Gibbon (the author of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire) would have been proud of some of the answers the boys came up with.

The Museum of London is near Barbican tube, and I’ve encouraged Year 6 boys to take their parents there and show them around when they first complain of being bored during the holidays. Mr Waddington, Head of Classics, and I, are confident that they would now be excellent tour guides – and there is plenty more to see. If you do go to a museum over the next few weeks, I would love to hear from your sons in September about what they found interesting and why.

I’d like to thank all the boys for their excellent behaviour (we were complimented several times on the Tube) and Mr Waddington for running the Roman section of the trip, and Mrs Hibbert, Mrs Williams and Miss Levy for coming along.

Mr A McConnell | Head of History

Approximately 250 000 pupils enter the Junior Maths Challenge. Around 1200 of the highest scorers in the JMC are then invited to participate in the Junior Mathematical Olympiad. It consists of a two-hour paper of more in-depth mathematical problems to which there are two sections: Section A requires answers only, whereas full written solutions are required for Section B. All Olympiad participants receive a Certificate of Participation (75%) or Distinction (top 25%). Medals are allocated on a criteria-based formula. As the criteria are performance-related the number of medals awarded each year is variable but is usually of the order of 30 Gold, 60 Silver and 120 Bronze. To get a Silver Medal means that you are in the top 0.04% of the students who entered the UJKMC.

Following the Junior Challenge, several thousand candidates in the UK, who have not qualified for the Junior Maths Olympiad, are invited to take part in the Kangaroo. The Junior Kangaroo is a one-hour multiple-choice paper, with 25 questions, which is sat in school. It is therefore similar to the Junior Challenge question paper (but more challenging!). Certificates of merit are awarded to the top 25% and certificates of qualification to everyone else who takes part.

Congratulations to Arseny Uskov 8W1, who was awarded a Silver Medal in the Junior Maths Olympiad. His medal means that he was definitely in the top 90 pupils in the country, and looking at his score, I would estimate him to be somewhere in the top 50. A fantastic result and a fitting end to Arseny’s time at Merchant Taylors’ Prep.

Arav Karania Shah 8N2 and Sreesh Maheshwar 8N1were awarded Merit Certificates (top 25%) in the Junior Kangaroo, and Toby Michaels 8W3 was awarded a Qualification Certificate. Congratulations to all three boys on their achievements.

Mr B Westacott | Head of Maths

The House Table Tennis competition was played throughout the Summer Term. There were individual House tournaments within year groups in Y3-8. The standard of play was excellent throughout culminating in exciting finals for the Y3/4 Trophy and the Grossman Cup.
Each of the year 5/6/7 champions -  Rhys Varma, Eesa Siddiqi and Pahal Jariwala fought it out, with each producing some wonderful shots. Matches were of a very high standard, with  Eesa Siddiqi emerging as school champion and winner of the Grossman Cup. It should be remembered that each of these boys played a lot of matches to reach the final .
Saamir Deen (Y3 Champion) and Jack Groves  (Y4 Champion) played out an exciting final in the Y3/4 competition, with Jack Groves being the eventual winner.
House winners & Overall year group positions

Grossman Cup Eesa Siddiqi 
Winner (N)Eesa Siddiqi   Runner Up (J)Rhys Varma  3rd (N)Pahal Jariwala  4th (W) Kian Lalani (Withdrawn)
Y3/4 Trophy  Jack Groves  
Winner (W )Jack Groves Runner Up (L)Saamir Deen

The Grossman Cup and the Y3/4 trophy will be awarded at final House Assembly.
House positions overall were :- Well done to Newton House  Winners on 19 points, Joint 2nd Johnson & Livingstone on 14 points, 4th Wren on 13 points.

Another successful year in sport at Merchant Taylors’ Prep School! Throughout the season in all sports the boys have competed in all weather conditions against each other in House competitions and against other schools. Everyone should be proud of themselves for their conduct and the positive manner in which they have represented themselves and Merchant Taylors’ Prep School.

Sports Days were another great success, unfortunately losing the Year 5/6 day to the weather at the last minute. The Year 3 & 4 Sports Day saw several records broken, congratulations to Dhaya Thind and Shyam Pankhania on their new Long Jump and Discus records. The Outstanding Achievement award went to Jai Satheesh for an incredible three individual event victories! The Year 7 & 8 Sports Day Outstanding Achievement award went to Praneil Singh, also for his three  individual victories! Congratulations boys and to everyone that took part, we hope you enjoyed the day.

And for those of you who came to support in all weather conditions, we thank you sincerely and hope that you have as fond memories as we have of this season past. We look forward to welcoming you again next year for what we hope will be yet another year to remember.

Mr J Denham | Sport Teacher

Try the following program to get in shape for Games in September:

Cardio: 3 times a week, every week – no excuses!

Run, Cycle, Swim for at least 20 minutes. Make sure you get your heart beating fast for at least half this time.

Strength Work: 3 times a week, every week – no excuses!

Do as many push-ups as you can in a row. Rest for one minute and then do half of your original number again! Rest for a minute and do the second set again. As your strength improves, increase the number of push ups you can do weekly.

Summer Tennis Camps Leaflet here...

Mr D Todd | Director of Sport

Congratulations to Auke Veenendaal 7J1 for winning the Lab Coat Design Competition which was presented by the Chemistry Department at MTS. Mr Hingston, the head of the Chemistry department, was impressed by Auke’s  use of colour, the complexity of his design and also the level of artistry. We once again thank the MTS Science Department for providing us with this wonderful opportunity for our pupils to test their mettle in a scientifically creative manner.

Continuing on the cross-curricular theme, the Year 6 boys have been presenting a project of their choice as a culmination to the microbes topic. The “Top Microbe” task was set as homework across the duration of the topic and was left as open as possible to allow the boys to be as creative and inventive as possible. In the picture some of the Y6 boys show off a selection of their work, which included PPT presentations, audio clips, video clips, posters, models, investigative reports, raps and poems.

The boys’ enthusiasm and effort once again attested to the fact that they enjoy applying their knowledge and also enjoy the freedom provided by an open-ended project. In the Science Department we appreciate the value of cross-curricular studies and the opportunity to get creative with the work towards self-set targets. We will be building on this aspect in the new academic year as we look to keep enthusing our pupils in their work and love of the subject.

Mr H De Vynck| Head of Science

Science Pupil of the Month is awarded to the following boys for their exceptional effort this year:

Kishan Bharti  Year 4G
Rayan Joshi     Year 5L1
Sahil P Shah    Year 6L1

Miss C Burke | KS2 Science Teacher

We have had an extremely successful year in chess across the Pre-prep and Prep schools.  The influence of Sheila Jackson’s excellent coaching has already begun to have an effect on the game play of our boys.  All of those  coached by her passed their Bronze Award in the English Chess Foundation’s chess course and special mention must be made of Peranavan Satheeswaran 5N2 who not only passed with distinction but with a perfect score of 100%.

At tournament level the boys have also made a big step up in their achievements.  Not only did we perform exceptionally well in the English Primary Schools Chess Association national tournament, we also sent an unprecedented number of boys to the regional ‘Megafinals’ of the UK Chess Challenge, many of whom qualified for the national ‘Gigafinals’.  We will have a full update on how these boys fared in our September newsletter.  As part of this tournament we ran the first round in school and the individual winners were Adam Ladak Y2, Raeef Mohammadi Y3, Varshan Sasikumar Y4 and Peranavan Satheeswaran Y5.
We look forward to even greater achievements in the coming year.

Mr D Goddard | Head of Chess