Badminton
County Finals at Stoke Mandeville Stadium—Following the impressive success in the district round of the competition both the Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 teams went to the county finals ready for action! The key stage 3 team, comprising Paankhuri Bhatia, Ishita Mann, Harshita Shirkay, Jyotika Kannan and Lina Hughes, played impressively in the group stages finishing 2nd overall. They faced Ousedale in the semi-final and convincingly beat them 3-1 to bag their place in the final against Royal Latin. The girls played some superb badminton in the final and even though the girls lost 3-1 the team can definitely be proud of their performances. The Key Stage 4 team of Mia Hughes, Deepali Shirkay, Georgina Barnett, Akshaya Kannan and Olivia Tatum played well in their round robin competition. An impressive win over Wycombe High School started the day on a high. Tough matches followed against Aylesbury and Stantonbury which placed the girls 3rd overall.
On an extremely rewarding note we received the following from the organisers of the competition; “We have such a high standard of badminton being played across the county and that really was displayed at Wednesday’s event. The sportsmanship and maturity that all of your players showed across the day did not go unnoticed and they are a real credit to your school and the work you are doing. We would like to award Dr Challoner’s High School with the Fair Play Award from the day’s competition. Well done girls.”
Hockey
Two Year 7 hockey teams played against Beaconsfield High on Tuesday evening. The girls played with increased confi-dence and team spirit resulting in fine performances by every squad member. The A team drew their match 1 - 1 and the the B team won convincingly 5 - 0. Well played to all the girls.
The School of Mythological Creatures
The role for Head Student for the Year 7 group at The School of Mythological Creatures recently became available. Year 7s had to write a character reference for themselves, using the persuasive techniques discussed in class, to persuade Dr Hicklemapuff (Mrs Rogers), Dr Prof Lumley, and Dr Prof Dr Roe that they were the best magical creature for the role. The competition was very stiff, however, it was decided in the end that there should be a Head Mythological Creature for each class rather than just one overall. They are:
Lucy Dodd – 7L – also known as Nessie from Loch Ness; Nimrita Ryatt – 7A – also known as The Abominable Snowman; Zoe Large – 7M – also known as The Werewolf
My Airmageddon Experience
Recently I was featured in a new hit televi-sion show called Airmageddon, a drone flying competition. It was my first television experience and it was a great confidence booster that has hopefully started an acting career. I first found out about the show through my Drama For Life club run on Thursday after school. My teacher introduced this to us and said that the BBC was looking for fearless young flyers to customise and fly their own drones. As there was an element of art, which I enjoy thoroughly, I thought I would give it a go, never imagin-ing I would ever make it through.
I was sent the application and shortly after I filled it in, I got a call asking me to do a phone call audition. Soon I was invited to an interactive audi-tion, where I had to take an interview on camera, and fly a small drone through an obstacle course to show the BBC my skills. I was quite nerv-ous, but I tried my best and was very pleased at having got this far for only my first time auditioning for anything, whether I made it through or not. A few weeks later, my mum received a phone call saying that the BBC would love to have me on the show, and I was overjoyed. I wanted a challenge and I wanted to try something out of my comfort zone and with that in mind, I spent a few weeks practising my hardest, until I found myself at Flight School, where we were taught to fly the big drones, spe-cially designed for the show. I soon found the weeks of skilful practice whizz away, and it was time for filming. We were based in a huge air hangar in Cardington, and were able to see sets for Batman, Tarzan, and of course Harry Potter. After two days of furious training, we were ready to go and the day of filming had arrived. I flew my hardest, and with my dad as my Wing Man by my side, I felt on top of the world.
Although it would have been amazing to get through to the next round, I was so happy with how far I got, especially when only a month before, I never would have thought that I would ever be in that position. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life, and I hope it was the first of many. I am very grateful for all the support I was given by both friends and family, and I would like to say a great big thank you to everyone. Nimrita Ryatt
