Brentwood School - Brentwoodian 2020

got involved which was excellent to see, with many more showing support for members of the House. As for our charity efforts, £411 was raised for Age UK (Essex); special mention must also be made of Kitty Vesey and Alicia Lindsay in the Fifth Year, who ran a bake sale and raised £141 for the Australian bushfire crisis... in just 10 minutes! School House Week saw further successes for North House - we put on a brave show in House Chess and House Basketball, and made it through to the final in House Volleyball. The day of the final was intense, with tension high and nerves frazzled - North’s team faced off against the favourites from School House. A slight lead at half-time for North meant a confident and decisive second half - North House won by more than 10 points in what was described as ‘the upset of the decade’! It was not long later that the world changed, and lockdown descended upon us. Despite this, Mr Murphy kept everyone’s spirits high with his bright yellow Assembly powerpoints, featuring snippets of Good News from the week, regular questionnaires and glimpses of brilliance from staff and pupils alike, and the ever-welcome ‘Wash Your Hands’ bitmoji - which got progressively more dishevelled and bearded as lockdown drew on! The final event of the year was Virtual Sports Day, and we could not have asked for more from our excellent participants - particular mention must be made of Solari Robert-Tariah, who participated in almost every event over the course of the day. Unfortunately we could not capitalise on last year’s superb 2nd place - we came 4th overall, but when combined with our Prep School ‘Super-House’, we were at least boosted to 3rd! We were so proud of all our Northerners for their participation, and for the enthusiasm and good humour they maintained throughout lockdown. At the end of the year, we were dismayed to learn that Mr Murphy would be leaving Brentwood for pastures new - he has voyaged to the far shores of Dubai, where we wish him all the best. So, too, did we say goodbye to Mr McNiff, who leaves us to take over as Deputy of Weald House. But there is good news among the sad! The excellent and generous Madame Dearmer-Decup remains part of the best team in the School, and we have been joined by Mr Whetnall - time will tell how his tenure will turn out! By Mr Whetnall