PASTORAL CARE Harper House
video links, with boys “attending school” while half undressed and in bed. Seeing some random haircuts – like William Olsson’s top knot during lockdown and Hamish McCulloch’s mottled-dyed head for the Shave for a Cure appeal – were also unique and unusual. Using the Chapel as Harper House for a few weeks and having many different weekly routines. Having training bubbles for sports, no spectators at games, and having to sanitise footballs after every training. Having numerous bottles of sanitiser in the locker room and one-way in and one-way out rules … the Covid-19 list of effects could go on. However, there were also a number of positive things that accompanied the unique. The biggest positive, of course, is that we actually managed to get most things done, albeit with a few restrictions and tweaks. Yes, we did miss a few weeks of school, but we completed the year as we normally would. We did miss some tournaments, but we got most of our games played. We did miss the school ball, but we had a school dance, and most importantly, whilst it was not as per usual, we still had our weekly Harper House chocolate draw. The creation of games on the Quad at lunchtimes that then merged into spikeball, the way the boys looked after the Chapel while we were based there, and finding new ways to use Schoolbox, Zoom, Loom and Meet were all positive outcomes. The boys impressed with the way they stepped up to make the best of the situation and the way they dealt with it all in a positive manner. In addition to the silver linings of Covid imposed changes, there have also been a number of really positive highlights this year. Starting off with a massive whole House effort and
winning the overall competition at athletics for the fourth year in a row was fantastic. Although there were some outstanding individual performances, the sheer number of Harper boys in the finals was what made the difference. Other Houses did a fantastic job of winning a large number of events, but it was things like a 3rd, 4th and 5th place finish in the Intermediate 800m, the 1st, 2nd and 4th in the Intermediate triple jump, and the awesome effort in the relays where we had three 1st, one 2nd, and two 3rd placings that really stacked up good points for the House. In the individual competitions, Year 10 student Lachlan McVicar performed superbly to claim the overall Junior title, while Year 9 student Frankie Meates, Year 11 student Benji Ward, and Year 12 students Charlie Cameron, Marcus Hamilton and Nant Prachuabmoh all won individual events. Special mention must also go to Year 12 student Nont Prachuabmoh who also finished in the top 10 of the individual competitions, often annoyingly close behind his brother. Year 11 student Johnny Bullen’s middle distance heroics and Year 10 student Finn Melhuish’s gutsy run to win the 1500m non-championship race were also highlights. There were some good individual performances by Harper House boys at the swimming sports, with Year 13 student Connor Graham, Year 11 student Ollie Jones, Year 10 student Alex McEwan and Year 9 student PJ Palamo all finishing in the top ten of their respective individual competitions. The House picked up a number of placings in the relays, to end up coming 5th in the overall House competition – about where we usually finish.
Housemaster: Matt Cortesi Deputy Housemaster/Mentor: Graeme Christey Mentors: Lisa Trundley-Banks, Ginny Patterson, Emily Priest, Katie Southworth, Andrew Taylor Head of House: Josh Wynne Deputy Heads of House: Ben Abbot, Liam Adams It is fair to say 2020 has been a unique year for us all. In fact, the words unique and positive were often side by side when looking back and reflecting on the year, and you will see these words a lot in this year’s Harper House report. Despite all the trials and tribulations of 2020, we were able to come together at our end of year prize-giving and celebrate the achievements of the boys. That in itself was a big positive, as for large parts of the year such a gathering would not have been possible. As you will read, the boys in Harper House have done an excellent job in not always the easiest of circumstances. They have generally worked hard, done the best they can, and achieved some great results. The unique aspects of the year largely came from Covid-19 triggering a nationwide lockdown, which meant we experienced things like doing House assemblies, and subject lessons through Zoom, Google Meet and
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Christ’s College Canterbury
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