NEWS IN BRIEF #1 A ROUND-UP OF SOME OF THE STORIES FROM ACROSS THE BOARDING COMMUNITY

#1

England Hockey calls up Millfield goalkeeper

Lower Sixth Millfield student Lottie Wakeham-Dawson has been selected for the England Hockey U18 squad. Millfield’s first team goalkeeper has been selected for the side which provides young players with their first taste of international training camps and tournaments. The selection process was a vigorous series of trials and training camps in person and online including Zoom calls, tactical video analysis and Strava physical challenges which saw 26 hopefuls be selected for the U18 side.

The group of budding hockey stars will attend training camps every weekend throughout June before the opportunity to be selected for a series against the home nations in July.

Lottie said: “Balancing hockey and academics whilst boarding can sometimes by tricky, however teachers, coaches and house parents are really understanding and supportive, especially at a school like Millfield where a lot of students are in similar situations. I am looking forward to continuing my journey within the England hockey system and aspire to play for U21s or England Development Programme (EDP). ”

Rising to the challenge

Ashville College Sixth Former Thomas Grattoni-May has reached the final stage of a global competition to find 100 rising stars who have the ideas and enthusiasm to help build a better world.

The Rise Challenge seeks to identify talented young people, aged 15 to 17, from around the world who have the potential to use their talents to tackle the planet’s most pressing issues. Over the last six months, Thomas has submitted 14 video responses to various challenges, as well as spent over 50 hours developing his ‘big idea’ – a global speech and language therapy app –inspired by his stammering. In reaching this stage, the 17-year-old, a member of Action for Stammering Children’s youth panel, has already won one thousand dollars and the opportunity to apply for funding for his big idea from various Rise Partners.

If chosen as one of the 100 winners, he will receive a lifetime of personalised support - including scholarships, mentorship, career services, and access to further funding to develop his ideas to benefit others, a prize value that could exceed $500,000 for each global winner. As one of the 500 finalists, he now faces a gruelling interview process to select the 100 Global Winners who will be announced in July.

Tonbridge School and the New Beacon Prep School announce merger

Tonbridge School and The New Beacon Preparatory School are delighted to announce that they will merge with effect from 31 August 2021.

Tonbridge is one of the leading independent boys’ schools in the UK and currently has more than 800 boys, a blend of boarders (60%) and day pupils (40%). The School is renowned for its worldclass, innovative teaching and learning, as well as for its pastoral excellence, outstanding facilities and strong ethos of community outreach and social impact.

The New Beacon Prep School is in Sevenoaks, approximately 10 miles from Tonbridge. It is a leading independent day and boarding prep school for boys aged 4 to 13 and currently has 325 pupils, including a nursery for boys and girls.

The merger also means that The New Beacon will become part of the group of schools overseen by the Skinners’ Company, one of the Great Twelve Livery Companies of the City of London and a major not-for-profit organisation which supports seven other schools, including Tonbridge School.

#1

Students smash charity fundraising target

Creative Ripon Grammar School students touched by the tragic death of a London teenager came up with a series of innovative fundraising ideas to raise an impressive £8,685 for charity during a challenging year.

They were determined lockdowns and social distancing rules wouldn't stop them from collecting in support of the charity Blueprint for All, set up in memory of teenager Stephen Lawrence, who was murdered in an unprovoked racist attack.

Although they couldn’t hold the usual whole school Charity Week events such as music concerts, staff pantomimes, comedy performances and dance competitions, student leaders encouraged the whole school to get behind a new way of fundraising throughout the school year. The fundraising team organised non-uniform days, a sponsored Everest stair climb and a Christmas raffle, as well as sponsored walks and reads, raising £6,665 in cash donations in addition to a further £2,020 on the JustGiving online donation platform.

Head girl Molly Cushing said: “We are so pleased that the whole school got behind our fundraising effort to raise such a brilliant amount for Blueprint for All given the unusual circumstances of this year. ”

#1

Pupils grill best-selling author Andy McNab

A decorated former SAS soldier and novelist has undergone a gruelling mission of a very different kind – being interrogated by school students.

Andy McNab, a celebrated Armed Forces veteran who served in Northern Ireland and the Gulf War before turning his attention to writing novels and producing films, was put to the test by curious young drama students from Highfield and Brookham Schools.

The Year 6 pupils submitted a series of probing questions to McNab, with the author awarding signed copies of his popular young adult book Get Me Out of Here, which he co-wrote with Phil Earle, to the writers of the six most imaginative submissions. The winning questions were submitted by Monty Leach, Tom Hall, Lottie Alexander, Cindy Zhou, Isabel Salisbury and Ryder Larby.

McNab said: “I really enjoyed reading all the questions that Highfield’s Year 6 sent me: what an enthusiastic and creative sounding bunch of young people! I wish I could have answered every single question. ”

Richard begins junior captaincy

A Rydal Penrhos pupil formally began his time in a position of prominent leadership at a prestigious golf club.

Richard Wolfendale, who is a Year 13 pupil and current Head Boy at the school, was appointed Junior Captain of North Wales Golf Club in Llandudno last year, but due to the complications and course closures throughout COVID-19, committee members decided to roll over the responsibility to this summer instead where things should be a little more structured.

To mark the official start of Richard’s “year in office” , the pupil took part in the club’s traditional Junior Captain’s DriveOff recently. This saw him take to the 15th tee on the picturesque course, which is situated immediately outside the clubhouse.

In front of the assembled club members, Richard drove a magnificently straight 256-yard drive down the fairway, which was followed by a well-deserved round of applause.

Shebbear College pupil Mitzi releases her debut single

Mitzi Irish, a Year 11 pupil at Shebbear College in North Devon, has released her debut single, ‘Trivial’ , which is available to stream on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and iTunes – an incredible achievement for this gifted young musician.

Mitzi, 16, who describes her music as “somewhere between acoustic and pop” , wrote Trivial over Zoom during lockdown with London-based producer and writer Andy Gilbert, who she has been working with over the last six months, along with her Manager, Haydn Williams.

Talented Mitzi, who plays the guitar and piano as well as singing and song writing, has been passionate about music for as long as she can remember. She wrote her first song at just nine years old and performed at her first public gig when she was 13.

You can listen to and stream Trivia via this link:

https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/mi tziirish/trivial

#1

Strathallan student named top Senior Artist in the North by RSA

Strathallan student Topaz Walker has been named top Senior Artist in the North by the Royal Scottish Academy after submitting a mask she created depicting her grandfather and farmer Jim.

The mask was voted ‘best in show’ in the prestigious 2021 RSA Schools Art Awards.

Delighted to have been named Senior North Winner, Topaz said: “I’m thrilled the judges like my piece, it means more to me than I think they can imagine. The mask is based on my Grandpa Jim who I am very close to. He is 84 years old and still works on his farm. I wanted to capture the essence of the man both inside and out. I used different colours and textures of materials to describe his distinctive skin tones and lived in complexion. I added a variety of stitching techniques to further enhance details such as blemishes and wrinkles.

“Grandpa Jim is such a fun-loving person and his expression in this piece captures the funny side of his personality. Gaining recognition for this piece of work has been totally unexpected and it’s fantastic to be appreciated for my hard work during the Spring lockdown. I tried to think outside the box but also challenge myself by only using materials and resources that I was able to source at home. I’m looking to develop this series of work at school and do other faces that mean something to me. ”

#1

Taunton School students complete UK’s first alternative two-year pathway to university

Taunton School has seen its first cohort of international students complete a unique two-year course, which guarantees a place at leading universities in the UK and overseas.

The Somerset school, which welcomes pupils from 45 different countries, has become the first institution in the UK to offer international students a bespoke alternative pathway to top universities around the world.

Eighteen-year-old students Tricey Agbolu from Ghana and Paul Paclot from France, and 19-year-old Jarry Wang from Hong Kong have completed the International Foundation Year (IFY) course with a 100 per cent pass rate. The course was officially launched at Taunton last year.

They have now received offers from prestigious UK universities including University of Kent and University of Reading as well as Canadian universities HEC Montreal and University of Montreal.

Taunton School is one of only two UK secondary schools to offer the IFY, devised by top UK universities for international students wanting to study at English-speaking universities.