Bleary eyed and fatigued, yet full of excitement, thirty three intrepid travellers met in the early hours of the morning of Friday 21st October and boarded the coach to Gatwick Airport. Their destination was Italy and their goal was to have FUN (and to teach our Italian counterparts how strong rugby is at Bickley Park School). As you read on please decide if you feel the tour achieved its goals.

During the course of the tour the boys were given the opportunity to explore and experience one of the most beautiful and interesting regions in Europe.

There was the initial opening day visit and guided tour round the San Siro Stadium (home to AC Milan and Inter Milan football clubs). Although empty, you could almost sense the atmosphere when 80,000 screaming fans were cheering their team on. The visit to the two teams’ dressing rooms and the completely different philosophies surrounding their design was both intriguing and fascinating.

The day out at Gardaland (Italy’s largest theme park) was undoubtedly one of the highlights, with the boys experiencing some of the largest rollercoasters in Europe (when they were able to stand on their tip toes and pass the height restrictions!!). Not unexpectedly we were a little late getting back on the coach – having to wait for Mr White’s group of thrill seekers to drag themselves off the last ride. What was a little more surprising was that our tour party had grown to thirty-six with the addition of three six foot cuddly sharks. The problem of fitting them into suitcases for the return journey proved a difficult, but not insurmountable, problem.

The trips to Venice, Verona and Lake Garda exposed the boys (and some of the staff!!!) to some of the most amazing cultural sites in the world. Guided tours taught the boys some of the interesting and wonderful stories of the history of these remarkable places, ranging from St Mark’s Square to the Basilica and Doge’s Palace to the statue of Juliet - where many a young man had his picture taken!

This was, however, a rugby tour at heart and the teams enjoyed some wonderful results. On the field the tour was a great success with 6 wins, 1 draw and 1 very narrow loss being the result from the 8 matches played. Both the Colts and 1^st teams grew as the tour progressed and the quality of their teamwork and overall play was exceptional and commented on by parents and opposition coaches alike. In total the boys scored 245 points and conceded only 80.

Everyone on the tour was overwhelmed with how welcome we were all made and we can have nothing but praise for our wonderful hosts. Their hospitality was exceptional and I believe we all made some friends for life. War stories were exchanged and experiences shared over the odd beverage and it is an experience I will never forget.

I hope, like me, the boys enjoyed their Italian adventure and have brought back with them some memories that will last a lifetime. My heartfelt thanks go out to all the boys for making the tour such a successful one and in particular to Mr White, Mrs White and Mr Petrozzi for their support and hard work throughout.

Next stop Barbados…………??

AJH

On Tuesday, 2Mto performed an entertaining assembly based on the theme of Aesop’s Fables. They re-enacted a selection of fables explaining the moral behind each of them clearly. The boys had worked extremely hard to learn lots of lines and demonstrated some very good acting skills. Well done 2MTo!

As usual, Years 3 and 4 will be singing a carol at the annual Carol Service at St George’s on Thursday 15 December. This year it is “Stable Carol” and the boys have all been given a song sheet for them to learn the words by heart. The words can also be found on the Year 3 and Year 4 areas on the school website under “Recent Letters” where there is also a link to a YouTube clip featuring the carol so the boys can sing along with it at home. NS

Last week the school played host to the Onatti Theatre Company who delivered their play ‘Shipwrecked en France’. A French actress and an English actor performed all the parts required.

The feedback from the theatre company after the performance was extremely positive and they felt that the boys had been fully engaged and responsive; definitely not a tough crowd!

Some of the boys in Year 3 and Year 6 were called up to take part, to their delight. We will definitely be inviting the theatre group back and they also perform plays for schools in Spanish.

Some comments from the boys:

‘The best play I have ever seen!’ – George Kealey 3LM and Joshua Mogford 6MC
‘Very good actors’ – James Russell 3LM
‘Hilarious’ – Barnaby Corry 3LM and Max Hardwick 6MC
‘Fabulous – Easy to understand and clear’ – Jay Paranjape 6SB
‘Entertaining’ – Jonathan Percival 6SM
‘Remarkable’ – Arnav Barry 6SB
‘Great description of Nicolas Sarkozy’ – Benedict Llewellyn 6SM
‘Would love a Spanish version’ – Sam Eldridge 6MC (Watch this space!)
 ‘I loved being asked to take part in the dingy scene’ – Joshua Oakland 6SB
‘Pupil volunteers were a key part of the play – I enjoyed it immensely’ – Tom Cox 6SB
‘I hope we can see something like it again!’ – Daniel O’Driscoll 6MC
‘Weird but funny’ – Saul Luboff 6SM
‘I was invited on the stage and I learnt a lot of French’ – Derek Law 6MC 
‘Brilliant’ – Nikhil Paranjape 4RP 
'Tayler trying to escape the police and questioning the girl were funny parts’ – Christian Nuijens 4RP
‘The best scene was when Tayler kept being hit with the surfboard’ – Richard Northridge 4RP

J. Dean

Anna Young from Pampered Chef, who demonstrated today at the Coffee Morning, will be donating 10-15% of every purchase to the BPSA. If you did not manage to place your order this morning please order by phone on 020 8776 1597 or online at www.pamperedchef.biz/annayoung  via host name ‘BPSA’. You can also choose some FREE bamboo salad tongs, salad claws or cracker tray (one per £45 spent) as this month’s free offer.  Orders need to be in by 1st December for delivery during last week of term.  Please contact Anna or Lorraine Smith 07974 138434 for more details.

A huge thank you to everyone who helped us raise a magnificent £545 for this worthy cause last Friday.  Our spotty boys and Pudsey biscuits (kindly supplied free of charge by Holroyd Howe Independent, our school caterers) enabled us to contribute to another record-breaking year for BBC children in Need and your efforts are much appreciated.

A special thanks to the prefects for their assistance and enthusiasm. KA

V Merton Court

U9 A
Won 95 – 0
T: T. Mogford 3, C. Ebsworth 4, H. Toothill 4, M. Arman 2, J. Lambton 2, H. Jeffries 2, J. Blackwood, E. Worman

U9 B
Lost 25 – 15
T: J. Carter 2, W. Baker

U8 A  
Drew 8 – 8 
T: A. Almasi 3, A. Ramanathan 3, M. Lilley, W. Ide

U8 B 
Drew 6 – 6 
T: C. Pooley 2, C. Smith 2, J. Russell, C. Smith

V Trinity

1^st XV
Won 18 – 10
T: M. Buchanan, J. Raveen, F. Wadhams
P: H. Palmer

2^nd XV
Lost 60 – 0 

V Breaside

U10
Lost 55 – 5 
T: J. Jarvis

V St Christopher’s

Colts XII
Won 55 – 25
T: B. Fitzpatrick 2, C. Corry 3, A. Ogunyemi 2, D. Law, G. Ledger, W. Hoque, N. Amoo-Peters