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Monday, 27 February 2012

12 Hour Basketball Marathon Fundraiser - Sat 17th March

On Saturday 17th March, 11 members of the Gambia Trip group will take part in a 12 hour basketball marathon, running between 10am and 10pm in the Sports Hall. All fundraising will go towards the Ardingly College Gambia Charity which supports the building of more schools in Tha Gambia as well as improving existing facilities.

If you would like to support this marathon event, then please go to:


and follow the instructions.

Thanks for your generosity in advance!!

LINK to the YouTube Video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rwy-xIs306Y&feature=relmfu

Thought for the Day - Michael Tweedie-Smith

TRUST
In school you need to be able to trust the people around you whether it is your friends or your teachers. You need to be able to trust them whatever you need. If you need help in a subject or if you need a job doing they are there to trust and you have the confidence to trust them; you do it every day. In school you trust your teachers to teach you the things that will give you the knowledge required to pass your exams. And your friends to have your back if you forgot about some homework due in the next day. You have trust in them to help you. But most of all you need to trust yourself to trust others around you. You can’t trust them if you can’t trust yourself to trust them!!
I’m going to leave you with a quote by George MacDonald...
‘to be trusted is a greater compliment than being loved’
Michael Tweedie-Smith, Feb 2012

House Olympics - Mertens are Champions!!

Last Saturday night, the girls from Toynbee organised an enjoyable yet competitive evening filled with loads of completely random but thoroughly enjoyable events.
The Mertens boys performed well with notable performances including Chris Pernet in the standing long jump, Will Salt in the Olympic WordSearch, Marcus Hunter with the hula hoop, Gani with his narrow loss in the 'Plank', Manman Wong and his epic performance in the 'rummaging through a bowl of flour to get sweets' event and of course Mighty Henry Hinder and his scintillating performance in winning the Donut Eating Competition by a quarter of a donut!

Thanks to Toynbee for a brilliant event!

Gani......the plank.

Jake playing Chess...

Ivan and Laurence

A rather serious Will...

An all conquering Hang Kin!!


King Henry - Demolisher of Donuts...

Chris and Manman - medallists


Appointment of New Prefect

I am pleased to announce that Manman Wong has been appointed to join the Mertens House Prefect team for the remainder of the year.

Manman, through actions and initiatives, has demonstrated a passion for wanting Mertens to be the best that it can be. He raised the idea of a thought for the day, organised charity events, captained the College basketball team and contributed greatly to the Chinese New Year Social event back in January.

I know he will do a brilliant job and look forward to him joining what is already a fantastic group of prefects; Leo, Marcus. Will, Nico and Connor.

Wednesday, 22 February 2012

Marcus Monsell - Thought for the Day

Every evening, during callover in the Common Room, a Mertens boy takes the floor, in front of his peers and speaks about a topic of his choice. In the last few weeks there have been some exceptional speeches given by the boys but one recently stood out. Last Monday evening, Marcus Monsell (5th) gave a speech about 'chasing your dreams'.

Read and enjoy as we did who were there....

Today I am going to talk about chasing your dreams
I believe that everyone in this room is able to do anything that they want with enough dedication and commitment. Many of us in this room have dreams and goals that we want to achieve, I know I do and those who don’t probably haven’t discovered it yet. I believe that everyone should have a dream and it doesn’t matter how unattainable it is. Whether it is wanting to be a professional footballer, anything close to your heart, everyone should aim their goals as high as possible. It is better to fall short of your dream than not having the courage to make it happen in the first place and along your journey of trying to achieve this you will learn so much. Winston Churchill famously quoted that success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. Therefore if you are passionate enough then you will be able to achieve. I’m going to conclude with a though that I think all of you should consider and establish into your desired passion. Sir Jackie Stewart, who is a famous racing driver and a heroic figure for me, said that “some people believe that they have got to think of themselves as the best in order to succeed, I never ever thought that, I was thinking that everyone else was better that me that I wasn’t going to achieve”. This was said by a three times world champion, and everyone in here is able to be a champion in what they admire.
Thank you
Marcus Monsell (5th)

Thursday, 9 February 2012

Outstanding Performance in House Singing 2012!!


Mertens boys, after hours and hours of rehearsals, put in an outstanding performance in the House Singing Competition to finish 3rd overall after singing the Motown classic, 'Stand By Me' by Ben E King. James Mackay led the whole House as conductor and did a brilliant job in what is a tough position to be in. Well done to all involved for a brilliant effort and special thanks to Mr Tester for his expert guidance.

Monday, 6 February 2012

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

After a week of bitterly low temperatures, we were rewarded by waking to a winter wonderland at Ardingly today. Jack and Connor loved it, as did some of the Mertens boys (Chris, Jake, Max and Moritz) using their skills to build a snow shelter. Hot chocolate and marshmellows were enjoyed by the boys to warm up on Sunday night after an outstanding House Singing rehearsal in the Recital Room.