Pelican

Housemistress: Philippa Maple

Philippa Maple was appointed Pelican Housemistress from September 2011. She first came to Hurst in 2009 as a teacher of History and went on to become Head of History for the Middle School (Shell to Vth Form years). She is familiar with Pelican House as she was a member of the house staff team before taking up her new appointment as Housemistress. She is looking forward to overseeing the transition of Pelican from a day to a boarding house from this September and to continuing the success of the newest house in the Hurst community.

 

 

Pelican House Report for 2009 -10
Introduction by Sarah Hyman (Housemistress until summer 2011)

The first year of Pelican House has flown by! As I reflect on the past academic year and all that has been achieved, I remember how we started the year. An anxious group of 32 girls – 20 new girls in Shell and the remainder in Remove and Lower Sixth  –  and their new Housemistress, all charged with starting the new girls’ House (pictured below with the Headmaster). How things have changed. As I reflect upon the enormous progress that has been made by everyone, I can now see how Pelican House has become such a strongly supportive and cohesive group in which everyone has an opportunity to participate and is valued by all the others in the House. The House Prefects, led by Olivia Beeby, have done an outstanding job and I am grateful beyond words for the standards they have set for Pelican House in the years to come. Of course, there are a few special moments in this special year that I would like to mention ...

Our group of twenty Shell girls have made an outstanding contribution to the House. They were a mixed group consisting of girls from Hurst Prep and girls who joined us from other schools, yet they integrated so quickly and effectively that within a very short space of time it was impossible to know who had joined from where. I’m so very proud of the way in which all our girls involved themselves from day one, taking on the challenge of preparing for the first InterHouse event, the House Singing competition. Olivia Beeby and Steph Liddell put a great deal of energy into making our first singing event the success that it was. It was the start of great things to come, and achieving second place in this competition was an outstanding result.

Our Christmas Party, organised by the Lower Sixth, was a wonderfully entertaining evening. Everyone dressed up for the occasion, and costumes were judged by Mr Spencer. The first prize went to Rosie Zeidler who appeared as a very sparkly Christmas Tree, and I have a lasting memory of Grace Couchman, dressed as a Christmas present, finding it quite challenging to move around and eat with her arms protruding from a cardboard box!!!

Special mention must also go to our small group of Remove students, Emma Webb, Emma Sutton, Lizzie Learmonth, Raheela Khan and our newest member, Laila Redin. This small cohesive group have kept us entertained in the Common Room with their constant banter, always full of ideas for Pelican House. We are very sad to say goodbye to Emma Webb as she returns to USA with her family this summer. We will miss her.

Our House party at the end of the year, ‘the Pelican Hog Roast’, was such a happy evening, in spite of the rain! It was lovely to gather with all the girls’ families to celebrate our first year and for parents to finally have the chance to chat to their daughters’ tutor and other parents. The games were a great hit – Alice Manly transformed into a sumo wrestler was quite a sight!

On my behalf and on behalf of all the girls in the House, special thanks must go to our tutor team. Miss Maple, Miss West and Miss Dominy who have shown tremendous support to the House throughout the year, and their wise counsel has been greatly appreciated by all the girls. Mr Spencer was our wonderful Remove tutor in the Michaelmas Term, and we were very sad to say goodbye to him at Christmas as he moved to start a new life in Sydney, Australia. He was instrumental in our success in the House Music competition and we all miss him.

For me, participation by everyone in Pelican at Sports Day was uplifting at the end of a very busy term. The way in which all the girls supported each other, shouting from the sidelines, and at times running beside their friends to keep their spirits up was very special. Pelican girls have shown they have respect in endless supply, both for each other and themselves. This has been a special year, and I know that we can look forward to many more like it. In the words of Mr Matthews, ‘If anyone can, Pelican!!’

 

Competitive Pelican by Stephanie Liddell

Being the smallest and newest girls’ House in the school, our pool of volunteers was often limited for various InterHouse competitions, but this was certainly not the case for the Arts. The year began with the House Music competition and it was during the frequent and often hard rehearsals that the House really bonded and began to work as a team. All the girls stood up in front of the entire school and sang the 70’s classic "Love Really Hurts Without You" which resulted in the House coming in second place; a fantastic result and a great evening. A special thanks should be given to the ten Shell girls who performed "The Call" as our ensemble piece.

Our next challenge was the House Drama competition. Our Upper Sixth Director was at first worried that not enough girls would audition, but this worry soon evaporated. Over half  the Shell were involved, as well as girls from the Remove and Lower Sixth. The play was an adaptation of the myth "Perseus and Medusa" and Pelican won Best Director as well as Commendations for two actresses.

Throughout the year, Pelican has also produced smaller teams to participate in the Top House competition. Although the Seniors were unlucky to be knocked out in the first round against Woodard, our Junior team got to the final; a very impressive result. Our Debating team competed against Eagle in the first round and were unlucky to have lost by six points; special commendation to Alice McGill in the Shell who found herself arguing against the toughest Upper Sixth formers and doing a great job!

On behalf of the whole of the Lower Sixth, I would like to thank all the girls (and the various teachers) involved for making the Arts and all other events in this new House so special.

 Community Pelican by Madeleine Hyman

 Throughout this year all of the Pelican girls have made a tremendous effort in support of the various charity events that have taken place. We began our fundraising this year with a magnificent cake stall, raising large sums of money for the worthwhile Help for Heroes charity. It was good that the girls were able to raise money for a charity that they were able to feel a real connection with. Indeed, during the Charity Day assembly, the Headmaster read out the names of all the students from the College who had died at war whilst fighting for their country.

The Lent term saw a fantastic response to the Haiti earthquake disaster, with Grace Couchman and Holly Jenkins choosing to abseil down the Chapel Tower in order to raise funds to help those suffering in Haiti. At the same time, a very popular ‘Guess the Teacher’ stall had many in fits of laughter whilst, once again, raising substantial amounts of money for various local charities. Particular mention must go to Olivia McShane and Molly Singer-Kingsmith who artistically created a fantastic collage of many teachers' baby photos!

The Summer term ended with an incredible Charity Day, which included all sorts of activities such as handing out leaflets, working in local homes, picking up rubbish off Brighton beach and helping with the Prep School’s sponsored walk. The Pelican girls immersed themselves into all these activities, really making the most of the opportunities to make a difference in the local community.

So whether it be baking cakes, abseiling from great heights or actively advertising these and other events, each and every girl has been heavily involved in raising money for those less fortunate than themselves. An incredible Pelican effort!

 

Sporting Pelican by Grace Couchman

Although Pelican started at a disadvantage (there weren’t that many of us) our team spirit has more than compensated. I'd like to thank all of the girls in the House for being so helpful and enthusiastic when tackling sporting challenges. A special thank you to all of the Junior girls who stepped up to play with the Seniors! We didn't come last in everything which - for a new and very small House - is a good start. We have managed to put teams out for all of the House competitions and events and at times provided some strong competition for the other Houses. The Senior Swimming was one of the highlights of my year because of the support the girls gave to each other (phenomenal) and because Maddy Hyman managed to be amazing and complete two individual medleys in a row. Another highlight was the House Athletics. Every member of the House took part whether they enjoy Athletics or not and this made the day really special and enabled the House to achieve 3rd place which was a great effort! I'd like to thank all of the Sports staff running the House matches and I'd also like to thank Mrs Hyman for being so supportive of us all.

 

Summary by Olivia Beeby, House Captain

This year has been an exciting and eventful start for the new Pelican House; so much has happened! I think I can speak on behalf of all the Sixth formers when I say that it has been a real privilege to be a part of opening up a new Girls’ House at Hurst. With just thirty five girls (and lacking a Fifth form) we have put fantastic effort into everything that we have done! Being a small House has advantages not least in that all the year groups are close and so the House has a great community spirit. Some of my fondest memories of Pelican are when we all sit and chat in the Common Room during break times!

This year the girls have been fantastic taking part in all the House events and working brilliantly as a team. Whether it has been in House Music or on Sports Day, it has been lovely to see the girls throw themselves into activities that they may normally not choose to ‘enjoy’. It has been a genuinely fantastic first year for Pelican. With great support from Mrs Hyman and her colleagues, we have created a great House which has a ‘can do’ mentality, a sense of humour and warmth and companionship; a House in which we are all encouraged to contribute. What more could we have wanted?