Harrisons’ triumphed in the 2021–2022 Eric Shearly House Cup, reaping the rewards of a year of consistently strong performance.
It was a striking reversal of the 2020–2021 results, when Harrisons’ ended the year languishing in the lower reaches of the inter-House points table.
This year’s eagerly awaited final totals were announced at the end-of-year House celebration assembly, with Harrisons’ proclaimed the winners to loud cheers from the boys.
Headmaster Neil Enright said: “My congratulations go to Harrisons’ House Captain, Utkarsh Bhamidimarri, his deputy, Anubhav Rathore, [both of Year 12] and to all the members of the House. Their impressive victory demonstrates how a combination of unflinching determination, high levels of enthusiastic participation and good organisation can often turn around unpromising situations.”
Founded in 1954, when it was the fifth House to be established at the School, Harrisons’ enjoys the distinction of being the only QE House named after two people, both of them long-serving Masters (teachers) from the School’s history: G.W.N. Harrison, who taught at the School for 41 years until 1929, and E.W. Harrison (no relation), another long-serving teacher, who retired in 1950.
The competition between QE’s six Houses continues throughout the year and includes points gained through the many House competitions, as well as the totals of merits and good notes earned across the year groups.
One of the biggest contributors to the overall points total is Sports Day, held near the end of the Summer Term. All The Houses battled hard at Sports Day, including Harrisons’, although this year, as in 2019 and 2021 (2020’s Sports Day being cancelled), the winning House was again Broughton.
Broughton sealed their Sports Day success by winning the QE Mile – the first time for some years that this relay has not been won by the staff team. Staff did, however, retain their Sports Day tug-of-war title.
The end-of-term assembly celebrated involvement not only in sport, but also in extra-curricular activities from chess to drama and music, as well as this academic year’s charity work and fundraising.
The latter included the 10km sponsored walks undertaken by pupils from Years 7–9, which, like Sports Day, formed part of this year’s QE Enrichment Week.
On some of the hottest days of the year, the 570 boys enjoyed the chance to get out into the countryside, raising £5,000, to be split between the Teach Sri Lanka charity and the School’s Robert Dudley Studio project.
During the walks, the boys devised some creative solutions to the issue of carrying their bags, while also enjoying tree-climbing, picnics and some impromptu games of football and cricket.
They slaked their thirst with water delivered to them en route by Assistant Head (Pupil Involvement) Crispin Bonham-Carter and Extra-curricular Enrichment Tutor Katrin Hood, who organised the walks.
Year 10’s Enrichment Week featured the performance of a French play, as well as animation and drama workshops. The animation was based on Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, which the boys will study next term, while for the drama, boys created tableaux from Romeo and Juliet, learned how to stage-fight, and used a Shakespearean insult generator to practise their Elizabethan English.