certainly humbled to hear of some of the acts of kindness shown by pupils and their families during this time which was a real reflection of the community which struck me when I first arrived at St Lawrence a number of years ago now. Upon our return, this year’s House Singing competition took a slightly different format under the new name of ‘Battle of the Bands.’ The formidable third form group of Leah Hodge, Phoebe Smith, Poppy Monckton and Marianne Robinson offered a beautiful rendition of Gnarls Barkley’s ‘ Crazy ,’ and what impressed me most is how they held their own against performers much older than them. I am grateful, once again, to Pratigya and Carys for helping to direct the younger girls, as well as for Carys’ composition of the piano accompaniment. It was a real pleasure to hear Phoebe and Leah’s beautiful vocals and I look forward to seeing their continued progress throughout their time in the senior school. In the wider school, Clifford have continued to recognise extra-curricular successes. Whilst I cannot list them all (for fear of Mrs Dickinson’s wrath as editor), it is a joy to hear of the plethora of musical, academic and sporting accomplishments across the House. Chloe Plumb has continued to excel (with her characteristic modesty) on the hockey pitch, reselected to play for England’s U18 hockey squad, in spite of having limited opportunities to train throughout lockdown. Harriet Westby has achieved the status of Sergeant Major for her contributions to CCF and has disseminated her skill set to third form prep, where she commands respect (and possibly fear!) from the younger years magnificently; I fear she may be after my job! Elen Nicholls continues to represent the school magnificently as part of the EKST initiatives (supported by Beatrix Robinson
and Lauren Cardy), in addition to her impressive contributions to the RAF. Amelia Lawton was a force to be reckoned with in the Kent Athletics Championships this year, bringing back a collection of silverware to add to her trophy cabinet. We wish the Lawtons every success with their charity fundraising effort with the Three Peaks Challenge this summer. Finally, we should acknowledge the monumental House effort this Sports Day, with the Clifford girls winning both the Junior and Senior event, as well as the Junior Tug of War. Cake Friday is clearly the path to success! Towards the end of the Summer Term, school prefects were chosen in preparation for Upper Sixth and perhaps even more poignantly, Clifford’s first ever applicants for such roles. In what has been one of our strongest cohort of pupils to date, I would like to congratulate all of the girls on their applications, interviews and continued contributions to the House and wider
school. In my eyes, they are all very worthy candidates indeed. It has been a pleasure to watch them grow into excellent role models and leaders, as well as just fabulous young women. However, after a rigorous process, I am delighted that Pratigya Peshen has been chosen to represent the College as our Head of School, with fellow ‘Cliffordians’ Carys Hamill, Beatrix Robinson and Harriet Westby supporting them on the school prefect team, along with peers from other Houses. Additionally, Carys Hamill will take on the role as our very first Head of House, supported by Harriet Westby as House Captain, Arabella Piper as Sports Captain, Lauren Cardy as Mental Health Champion, Sarah Smith as Events Coordinator and Lauren Gutrige as one of our mentoring leads - very well done to them all. My warmest and most heartfelt thanks to everyone who continues to make Clifford such a wonderful House to run.
Miss Humphrys, Clifford Housemistress
LAWRENTIAN 2021 19
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