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 The School has today announced an exciting new development.
Churchill House is to move from its current premises to the nearby building which is currently under construction (pictured right). The new Churchill House will open in September 2012 and will contain state of the art facilities. The move represents a tremendous opportunity for the boys of Churchill House.
The building which is currently home to Churchill House is to be renovated and will open as a boarding and day House for girls in September 2013.
The Headmaster, Martin Collier, commented: “This is an exciting new development in the move to full co-education at the School. Churchill House’s move to the new building is evidence of the School’s commitment to provide the very best facilities for boys at the School. The opening of a renovated House on the Quad in September 2013 as a House for girls will mean that the School will be able to meet the strong demand for girls’ boarding spaces and provide excellent facilities for all members of the new House.”
The name for the new girls’ House is under consideration and will be announced when confirmed.
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 Over one hundred and forty musicians from eleven prep schools joined forces for St John’s Orchestral Play Day.
The pupils rehearsed during the afternoon and then performed a concert in the evening for their parents. The highlight of the concert was the audience rendition of ‘I vow to thee my country’ accompanied by their sons and daughters. The concert had a ‘Last Night of the Proms’ feel about it with popular classical pieces performed.
The concert was organised by Nicholas Smith who is the Director of Music at St John’s. The orchestra was made up of pupils from Aberdour, Cranmore, Danes Hill, Downsend, Feltonfleet, Hoe Bridge, Homefield, Newland House, The Priory, St Andrew’s and Willington schools.
Mr Smith said: “The standard of musicianship that these boys and girls produced was the best yet. They are a credit to their schools and I was impressed with their focus and determination throughout the entire day. The concert was an excellent celebration of all their endeavours”.
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 The focus of this year’s House Poetry Recital competition was on Shakespeare. The competition was won convincingly by Churchill House.
The contestants were judged by Mark Probert, Head of Drama, and the Revd. Clive Case, former Chaplain at St John’s who is now the Senior Chaplain at Charterhouse. Angus King (Churchill) was the Fourth Form winner and Ian Alexander (North) runner-up. Marcus Discombe made it a clean sweep for Churchill by winning the Lower Fifth competition with William Laver (Surrey) a close second.
Nick Johnston-Jones, Head of English, said: “I was hugely impressed by the recitalists’ ability not just to master the language, but give depth of expression to the verse and engage with their audience. From the moment Ian Alexander took the floor with Puck’s speech it was clear that the standard was going to be exceptionally high, and so it proved. Churchill were worthy winners overall, but all the Houses can take pride in their performances.”
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 The English Magazine has been created to showcase some of the excellent writing produced by pupils in the course of their English studies. It also offers reflections on departmental trips and events.
The first issue features some of the terrific writing to emerge from the English Department in the Autumn Term. It also includes reviews of Arthur Miller’s Broken Glass, which Lower Sixth English pupils saw at the Vaudeville Theatre, and a report on the Upper Sixth Form Battlefields trip.
Head of English, Nick Johnston-Jones said: “The power of words on a page to kindle our imaginations is one of the most accessible and dependable pleasures we have. I never cease to be delighted by the best writing our pupils produce and am sure others will derive great pleasure from this too.”
The magazine will be produced each term by a small editorial team drawn from the Lower Sixth Form working with Nick Johnston-Jones. The second issue will be themed around Shakespeare and poetry. It will also publish the winning entries from the Junior Poetry competition.
To view The English Magazine click here.
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 Closely fought House hockey and rugby matches culminated in an exciting day of finals on the last day of term.
Honours were even in the hockey competitions with Haslewood winning both Junior A and B matches by a single goal. However, it was a different story in the Senior competition with hot favourites South beating Haslewood 9-0. Kate Scott continued her impressive form scoring seven goals in the final. The results of the hockey competitions were as follows:
Junior A: Haslewood 1 South 0
Junior B: Haslewood 1 South 0
Senior: Haslewood 0 South 9
Throughout the week, some excellent rugby was played in front of enthusiastic supporters. Churchill and West each won two of the five rugby finals with North winning the Junior B final. The keenly contested finals of the Fourth, Lower Fifth A and Senior A competitions were a fitting end to the competition. The results of the rugby competitions were as follows:
Fourth Form: West 14 East 12
Lower Fifth A: Churchill 12 East 5
Senior A: West 10 East 5
Junior B: North 5 West 0
Senior B: East 5 Churchill 10
Nick Platt, Director of Sport, said: “I was very impressed with the commitment and will to win displayed by all Houses in both the rugby and hockey competitions. All teams gave of their best and we witnessed some excellent skills throughout the week. We also saw the games played in the best possible spirit. Congratulations, not only to the winners but to everyone who took part.”
To see more images of the House hockey and rugby competitions click here.
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 This year’s Senior School Plays, Death and God by Woody Allen, were performed to critical acclaim.
Death is a Kafka-esque black comedy that follows the central protagonist, Kleinman, as he is roused from his bed at the dead of night and is forced to join a vigilante group who are roaming the streets trying to catch an elusive mass murderer. As well as excellent performances from the cast the production was enhanced by the “moving set” which saw the Lower Fifth stage crew constantly change the set by moving screens as the play was acted out to its grisly end.
 No less thought provoking but considerably more slapstick, God is a play within a play within a play. As the Ancient Greek actor, Diabetes, and writer, Hepatitis, struggle to come up with a satisfactory ending to their play, they are interrupted by members of the audience and characters who wander in from other shows. The pair steadily lose their tenuous grip on reality as events spiral out of control.
Mark Probert, Head of Drama, said: “I was delighted with the performances of everyone involved in these two productions and with the reaction of the audience. Comedy is always risky: get it wrong and there is an embarrassing silence; get it right and you are instantly rewarded with laughter. Last night there was a lot of laughter.”
 
To see more images of Death and God click here
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 The Autumn Concert and the Rock Concert show-cased the range of musical talent at St John’s.
The Autumn Concert, in the Chapel, provided a stage for experienced performers and developing musicians alike. The String Ensemble, who have only been playing together since September, opened the concert with three contrasting and entertaining pieces. Solo performances followed from Edward Evans (below), Jonathan Dudeney and South African exchange pupil Jaydon Farao. The Jazz Band and the re-formed St John's Clerkes added more variety in what was an excellent musical evening.
A few days later the Performing Arts Centre was the venue for the Rock Concert. The standard of the bands and soloists was high and the audience raised a significant sum of money for Street Child Africa, the School’s charity.
Nick Smith, Director of Music, said: “I am most impressed by the quality of all our musicians, both contemporary and classical. They have prepared themselves well for these concerts at this busy time of term. The diversity of the repertoire covered by both events is wide, proving that all genres are catered for.”
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 Captain of Girls’ Hockey, Kate Scott, scored back-to-back hat-tricks to lead St John’s to convincing wins against Hurstpierpoint and Woldingham.
 Kate (pictured right) has scored 32 goals in two seasons and is the School’s all-time leading goal-scorer. Her style of captaincy is to lead by example and she has inspired her team many times this season through her individual brilliance and spectacular goals.
Guy Hicks, Master in-charge of Hockey, said: “Back-to-back hat-tricks are a rare feat in any sport at any standard and we are proud of Kate’s efforts. Her skill, speed and directness would cause problems for any defence and, if she has the desire, I am sure she can go on to play at a high level at university and beyond.”
HAT-TRICK UPDATE: Kate Scott signed off her St John’s hockey career with a third consecutive hat-trick. This last hat-trick, against Eastbourne College, was arguably the best of the bunch. Kate's three crisp reverse-stick trademark strikes sealed a winning end to the season for St John's.
To read the match report v Eastbourne College click here
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 St John’s Shooting team posted some impressive scores in the final of the Staniforth Challenge Cup.
In the first round of the competition, the St John’s team of eight shooters had scored 755 out of a possible 800 to finish fourth with top scores from Freddie Becker (98 out of 100) and Tom Whitworth (97). In the final, the team scored 737 with Alex Morgan and Mark Woodrow both scoring 96. The boys now have to wait for all the results to be submitted from the ten finalists to know their final placing.
 The team are coached by OJ Jon Tapster and the competition is run by the School’s Head of Shooting, WO2 Stephen Vine who said: “I am delighted with the significant improvement the team has made. Our fourth place finish in the first round is an excellent achievement and I hope we are able to improve our position in the final.”
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 Visitors from The Beeches care home enjoyed an early Christmas tea after listening to a concert performed by St John’s Music Scholars in the School Chapel.
A group of Sixth Form pupils visit The Beeches every week as part of an extensive Community Service programme. Every week, over a hundred boys and girls from St John’s voluntarily attend Community Service placements in 25 different locations.
Judith Fowler, Head of the School’s Community Service Unit said: “St John’s daily life instils a real sense of community in our boys and girls and this is reflected in their enthusiasm to help others. I never cease to be touched by the spirit, kindness and passion demonstrated by these young people.”
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