The Hallifordian - 2016-2017

2 Foreword by the former Headmaster It is slightly strange to be writing my last foreword for the Hallifordian after only three years, but I suppose that is the way that these things sometimes happen. Equally if you had said to me 13 months ago that we would have voted to leave the EU, America would elect Donald Trump and that Jeremy Corbyn came “close” to winning a General Election, I would have thought you to be crazy; but life is like that. What does seem to remain constant however, is the range and quality of the activities that Halliford- ians are involved in. The passion that young people have for life is one of the great privileges of being in education. Day by day when I talk to Hallifordians I feel anything but pessimism, because what the staff, pu- pils and parents create here is living proof that it is possible to achieve that symbiosis between the individual and the community, between self and others. The message that is constantly reinforced in assemblies and, by extension, in tutor groups and classrooms, is that pupils at Halliford are individuals, each unique in his or her own way, and ambitious to make the most of their unique gifts; but their personal ambition is one that is intertwined with collective ambition, a genuine concern for and appreciation of the community as a whole. As with many other schools, we place a great deal of importance on the valuable lessons that can be learnt from activities outside of the classroom. Art, Sport, Music, Creative Writing and Drama all have top billing throughout the year but there are a host of other opportunities along the way. The Touch Rugby, Chamber Choir, Year 8 Shakespeare, Star Wars Club and Ultimate Frisbee to name but a very few. Pupils have opportunities to travel abroad to experience different languages and cultures in Europe, they have visited New York last autumn and this summer a lucky group of Rugby players will experience a tour to New Zea- land; whatever the results, it will be a life changing experience. In the summer term, activities week for Years 7, 8 and 9, gives the pupils time off-timetable to experience a whole range of activities. Recently these have included: 2 and 3 day residential camps, where the pupils have had to shop and cook for themselves under canvas, whilst partaking in a range of outdoor physical and mental challenges; Enterprise Projects, where the pupils designed, created the packaging and marketed a new board game; A day trip to France to experience the language and culture; Rocket design and building; Advanced motorised “Lego” construction. Alongside the usual Bronze award The Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme ran its first Silver award trip and is now plan- ning to add Gold to its offering. No doubt, there will be some part of Halliford Life that I have left out but in this edition of the Hal- lifordian you, the reader, are provided with a chronicle of what our pupils have been up to in all walks of life and I hope gives you a flavour of the all-round exciting and balanced education on offer at the school. As always my thanks go to all of those who have contributed, not only to the production of this maga- zine, edited for the first time by the effervescent Mr Cunningham, but also to all of those who have organised and encouraged the pupils to engage in such an array of activities. Simon Wilson