St John's Upper Sixth Form day and boarding House

St John's House sits in its own grounds yet is conveniently close to the centre of the campus

St John’s House is Hurst's Upper Sixth Form co-educational day and boarding House. Its structure, facilities and the light touch with which the House is managed ensure that it provides an environment best suited to students’ academic, personal and social development in their final school year. Each pupil has a study bedroom and all are encouraged to undertake independent study in their own time not least as preparation for the less structured life they will experience later at university.

All study bedrooms have desk, bed and handbasin; girls and boys are housed in separate wings, each of which has its own laundry and social room. The centre of the House contains the communal TV room, computer room, conference/workroom and social centre with a bar and kitchen. Its facilities are outstanding and enable students to work together in an atmosphere similar to that found at University.

Inherent in the St John’s concept is the principle that the students will manage their own community. They are strongly encouraged There will be opportunities for them to arrange School functions both for themselves and the rest of the School, to foster links with the local community, organise charity events and establish a close working relationship with both Prep and Senior Schools. Life in St John's provides an exciting challenge at the crucial point in a student's school career whilst continuing to provide firm foundations for many aspects of their future life.

The primary focus for St John's students will, of course, be their academic studies and residents are greatly encouraged and assisted to organise themselves and enhance their independent learning skills. Academic seminars, discussion groups and the dissection of quality broadsheets are all encouraged. Learning styles, levels of motivation and details of personal organisation are individual but the common goal is working towards the achievement of their UCAS targets and, in this, students are supported and guided through a strong tutorial system.

The Upper Sixth are also encouraged to be active participants in the broader school life. As positive role models and often as elite performers academically, musically, dramatically and on the games field, they are encouraged to coach, guide and inspire younger pupils; in short, for their own benefit and for the benefit of younger pupils, members of St John's are encouraged - where appropriate - to work with, and alongside, adult members of staff.

St John’s also has a powerful social function. The year group is now fully integrated (although each student maintains a link with the school House of which they were formerly a member) and quickly establishes a group ethos and loyalty which develop into strong, sometimes lifelong, friendships. A St John’s committee gives the residents an opportunity to express their views on matters of their choosing, whether relating to the House itself or to wider school issues. Various social functions punctuate and highlight the passage of the year culminating in the magnificent Leavers’ Ball at the end of the Summer term. On a domestic level, pupils are encouraged to do their own washing as part of their preparation for the ‘next step’.

It is our aim that by the end of the year, Hurst 'graduates' will face the world with confidence and maturity, having achieved grades that each individual once regarded as ‘ambitious’ and overall results that will enable every student to embark with confidence on the next stage of their chosen path through life.

Housemaster: Tim Leeper

Tim Leeper was the founding Housemaster of Crescent House in 2005 and was then appointed Housemaster of St. John’s Upper Sixth form House in 2009. He is an enthusiastic biologist and was, for many years, Head of Hurst's Biology Department. A keen sportsman in his own right, he is in charge of the 2nd XV rugby and helps out with the senior cricket club. Married to Jan, who is Senior Mistress, they have 2 daughters, both of whom are in the Senior School.

 

Housemistress: Angela Browne

Angela's three sons attended a local Independent School during which time Angela was a very active 'housewife'. Subsequently, she joined the IPC (Magazines) Division of Reed Business Information from which, some 8 years ago, she joined Hurstpierpoint College. Her husband Mike, now retired from the Stock Exchange, also works for the College.

 

St John’s House Report 2009 – 10

by Minallah Mamdouh and Oli Smith

It is fair to say that life in St John’s lived up to the exceptionally high expectations of everyone who joined the House last September. It has consistently proved to be  a vibrant and thriving community in which we all had the opportunity to excel in any and every aspect of Hurst life.

This has been made possible largely due to the unceasing support, encouragement (and direction) from Mrs Browne and Mr Leeper. The ways in which they have discharged their responsibility for keeping us all under control (no mean feat) has, on occasions, resulted in great good humour. In particular we just loved being roused by loud calls on the megaphone suggesting that we need to move quickly to attend the 8.20 am Monday morning House meeting.

Throughout the year, students from St John’s took part in a number of Charity events. Starting with a two mile charity walk we followed up with other enterprises (including our popular bacon butty enterprise) and over the year raised over £2,500 for charity. Special mention should also be given to those St John’s members who also took time out to raise money for charities on an individual basis.

Although St John’s quickly became a tight knit community everyone was happy to support their old Houses in Sports competitions, House Drama, House Music and Top House. In one sphere, however, we were all able to represent our new House and that was in the ever-professional and always amusing House Music competition. Although not allowed to take part in the competition per se, our two ensembles led by Izzy Harris and Andy Frost were outstanding and did  St John’s proud.

The social side of St John’s should not be neglected! We started with our ice breaker disco, the theme being “S and J” (for St John’s). It was a fun night with some very original theme interpretations including a pair of speakers, seedless grapes and John the Baptist. That was followed by “gig night”, very largely the creation of Vittorio DeSantis. This had the whole of St John’s on their feet. Sammy James was a particular hit, with his audience demanding encore after encore; he now has a significant, solid and admiring fan base! St John’s is famous for its love of dressing up, so it was only natural that the next event was another theme night, this time based on animals. The evening was marked by great fun and  some brilliant costumes including a whale, and a bird costume made entirely out of A4 lined paper. (What a creative bunch we are!).

Unsurprisingly bar nights at the Dog and Lamp Post (the St John’s bar) were also very popular; they are a wonderful opportunity for the Upper Sixth to socialise over a drink and, perhaps, a game of ping pong, table football or pool. One evening early in the Lent term when we were trapped in-house by the snow, Mrs Browne emerged with a range of board games and a group of us greatly enjoyed a somewhat rowdy game of Articulate, 5-a-side …

Mr Leeper was constantly reminding us to lead by example in everything we did and I believe we achieved a great deal. In Drama and Dance, in particular, many St John’s students were involved in the numerous School productions. There was the hilarious Shakespeare comedy, ‘Love’s Labour’s Lost’ (where everyone crossed dressed), the musical ‘West Side Story’ (with the great Charlie Finnamore in the lead role) ‘Abigail’s Party’, ‘Boeing Boeing’ and much more.  At the end of term we mounted the traditional Leavers’ Play, which was staged on the Martlet lawn only days after our last exam; it was, by common consent, by far the best production since Mr Beeby introduced the 'tradition' a few years ago. Oh, and then there was the annual Dance Showcase in which Chloe Wilkes was outstanding and Baran Ceylan led the boys in some quite wonderful street dancing.

Of course, for the Upper Sixth there is no getting away from the fact that the Summer term is largely taken up with that final, long hard slog in preparation for those critical A2 exams. Often in the evenings, even though prep was no longer compulsory, the House was completely silent as all got on with their work. There were breaks, of course, and it was good to have a St John’s BBQ in remembrance of Sam Griffiths’ birthday during which we sent a mass of balloons to the sky in honour of his memory. Another powerful memory for all of us was the 150th Anniversary Parade of Hurst's CCF; all the Upper Sixth formers involved looked impressive and impeccably smart in their uniforms and Matt Hearn led the salute with great aplomb.

At the last weekend of the Summer term we had our Leavers’ Dinner on the Friday night followed by the Leavers’ Service and Prize Giving on the Saturday morning. The Dinner was lovely and was held outside in the Inner Quad under the stars. It greatly helped being a balmy evening and the atmosphere was great and very relaxed. This year's Guest of Honour was Mr Clark who was about to retire; he was the original Housemaster of St John’s some 18 years ago. A Cup was presented in his name to Matthew Roper for “Outstanding Contribution to St John’s” . The equivalent for the girls – the Janet Copland Cup – went to Kirby Wickens. The following day numerous people received prizes, but the two most prestigious awards, the OJ tankards for “Outstanding Contribution to the School” went to Matt Hearn and Georgie Brehaut. In the afternoon quite a few of us helped our old Houses for the last time in the House Athletics competition. It was a nostalgic occasion.

I am sure we would all like to express our gratitude to the staff members of St John’s. They made our last year at Hurst both memorable and happy. Special thanks, of course, must go to Mrs Browne and Mr Leeper who have helped us through our final year here so superbly well; to the two of you, our grateful thanks.