Borlasian 2018

THE BORLASIAN 2018

THE BORLASIAN 2018

30 Years of Girls at Borlase

Cece Briscow

Daniel Troth

Ella Ronan

Sophie Gladstone

Victoria Chong

Borlase Chapel’s magnificent stained glass windows depicting ‘The Helping Hand and the Pursuit of Excellence’, donated to the school in 1999 by Old Borlasian Stuart Lever (1939-44), who died earlier this year. An obituary is on p107.

The Borlasian 2018 HEADTEACHER’S FOREWORD I must start by saying how delighted I am to be writing my first foreword for the Borlasian. In my twelve years as Deputy Head I have always enjoyed the arrival of a crisp, new copy on my desk and thumbing through it to look back on the year’s highlights. The quality of the editorial work is always impressive and once again the team have done a very professional job. The tradition of producing the Borlasian dates back hundreds of years; our earliest copies date back to the mid19th century; there will be others out there possibly squirrelled away in someone’s loft that predate that. If you find one, let us know! Preparing for the service to commemorate 100 years since the V.C. was awarded to Old Borlasian, Basil Horsfall, I pored over copies between 1910 and 1916; the magazines capture the spirit of Edwardian Borlase. However, although the pictures don’t have the colour, and the school is now a much bigger and technically advanced place, the Borlase spirit is as evident in all of them as it is in this year’s edition.

Following in the footsteps of Dr Holding is an exciting challenge. He led the school through 21 years of growth and development. The Borlase he took on in 1997 has been transformed with new physical buildings and opportunities for pupils and teachers alike. I would like to pay tribute to his vision and genuine ambition for the school which he continues to hold, not just for Borlase, but for education more broadly, in his role as COO of the Marlow Education Trust.

However, this is a new era, and I am just as ambitious for this school and all its pupils. I want this school to be Outstanding for All, where our rich curriculum thrives and our pupils see no barriers to what they can achieve. It is a great privilege to be serving as the first female Headteacher of the school in this year in particular. We are celebrating 30 years since girls joined the school, as you will have seen from the cover of the magazine. The original Borlase girls have gone on to great achievements, and our current Borlase girls continue to break new ground. I am proud that gender is not something that influences either our boys’ or

our girls’ ambitions. I look forward to seeing them go on to influence positive change and lead the way in any and every field they choose. They are a generation who already show an understanding of the world’s challenges, and an engagement in how to tackle them.

It is my aim that Borlase inspires and empowers them to go out there and do that. Te Digne Sequere!

Ms K Mountfield

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EDITOR’S FOREWORD Dr. Johnson noted with customary acuity that ‘Great works are performed not by strength, but by perseverance,’ and the production of this year’s magazine has provided ample evidence of this. When I, with the help of the editorial board, set about the considerable task back in October, the long evenings, pleasant sunshine and intense public exam periods of summer seemed virtually inconceivable: yet here we are, and the Borlasian for 2018 is complete. Even the change in the seasons, though, has not been as striking as that which the school has undergone these past few months; although it is never pleasant, after a worthy two-decade long career at the school, it seemed timely for Dr Holding to retire. Notwithstanding the appointment of a continuity candidate, whenever the role of headmaster changes hands, there is a sense of eager expectation: how will things really change?

Hopefully the magazine can help to bring some order to an ostensibly chaotic year in the life of the school as a well-known — and, perhaps well-liked — institution.

You will see, contained within these pages, interviews, with the former and current headmaster, and with departing teachers — of which there are many;

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investigative features on the experience of students — both male and female — at the time of the arrival of the first girls, which we note the thirtieth anniversary of this year; the standard departmental reports, written by the heads, including the well-known ‘school trip’ articles, and the equally traditional ‘Old Borlasian’ section, incorporating the obituaries and club activity notices. I hope our labours have produced meritorious fruits, and that you enjoy this edition.

Alexander Lang, Andrew Forsyth

THIS YEAR’S COMMITTEE: Editor: Alexander Lang Associate Editors: Luke MacCallum, Sam Beesley Front Cover and Design: Victoria Chong Editorial Staff: Victoria Chong, Naomi Deraed, Swathi D’Souza, JJ Jones, Alex Maynard, Edward McLaren Photography: Emily Farmer, Andrew Forsyth

HEAD BOY AND HEAD GIRL’S FOREWORD Writing this article has proven to be our toughest challenge so far; saying goodbye is harder than we ever thought it would be. Looking back over our time here, we have made so many memories and friendships that will last a lifetime. In the past year we have loved being Head Boy and Head Girl, and have truly recognized what an amazing school Borlase is, filled with amazing people. The eclectic mix of talents and interests is unique to our community, completely covering the athletic, artistic and academic scopes. In spite of this we have written our final words in an artistic flourish….

You will pass many a milestone throughout your time here. From oversized blazers and clip on ties, to inconsiderately parking on Moyleen Rise. To avoid your own demise, think fast and catch on, guys.

As we step out into the wild and prepare to let the goose loose, we have some final words of wisdom for you to deduce….

1. Take every opportunity that comes your way 2. Don’t be afraid to try new things - get in a play …?

3. ‘You are the master of your fate, you are the captain of your soul’ 4. Appreciate the pastoral support - it is under your control 5. Continue to venerate your Head Boy and Head Girl 6. ‘Try something new today’ – give it a whirl 7. Eat, sleep, Borlase, repeat 8. Work hard, play hard – defiantly face defeat 9. Three cheers for Borlase, hip hip hooray 10. Follow things worthy Te Digna Sequere Mary-Ann Grego and Jack Broadbent

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HOUSE REPORTS

BRITONS

DANES

This has been a year of change for Britons, notable for the departure of Mrs Forrest and the end of Mr. Heywood’s venerable leadership. Fortunately, under the guidance of Sra Roman and Mr Rendell the house has continued to develop its own particular personality.

There has been some exceptional individual success; from Formula 3 racing, via cycling to a national win in ballroom dancing. As a house we have also had a good year, tragically characterised by getting pipped at the post! Sports Day was outstanding despite being overtaken in the relays. House dance was absolutely one of the best performances for a few years, led entirely by our prefects. Second in the whole house dance was a worthy result. Even in the lower school Sprintathon we were caught on the last two laps.

There was one important victory however, in our section of the One Can initiative; it is nice to think that we save our best for a charitable cause.

Otherwise it has been a wonderful year. Exciting and active house assemblies, singing(ish), dancing (sort of) and coming together to help others. We wish the best of luck to the students leaving, and look forward to welcoming back those returning next year.

Mr Rendell

Once again Danes proved to be superior to all others.

A win on Sports Day 2017 confirmed our position as the pinnacle of physical performance. Records were set in the Senior Boys’ relay to enhance other strong performances from all year groups in Danes. They shall be singing songs of our triumphs for years to come!

After a year of being blessed with Mr Rendell as our Head of House he has been offered a post at another school so it will be they who will continue to enjoy his history and politics knowledge and his funny stories.

It has been a pleasure and a privilege to share this job with him and I know I say it from all of us Britons we wish him all the very best. Also, we hope he lets us know when he passes his driving test – so we do not go out on the road :) We will miss you!

Sra Roman

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Our sporting endeavours didn’t stop there; we participated in an inter-form rounders tournament, which could be compared to the Olympics, the standard was so high! Some may have taken it too seriously, but the results were worth the monumentally unnecessary enthusiasm. Participation has always been keen for us, never failing to put out a team - Inter-house Netball for example. We managed to have the most fun on the court, probably because most of our team didn’t know the rules…

Mr Miall joined Miss Brooke as co-House Captain and a particular highlight of his many stellar leadership moments was standing up in front of us all dancing to Beyonce’s ‘Single Ladies’. Someone should definitely put a ring on him! But despite his, and our, best efforts, we just missed out on the podium.

Our enthusiasm for dance sprouted from our tightly knit Danes team spirit, woven from the plethora of weird and wonderful assemblies on offer: from Pancake Olympics and Alphabetic Speed-Typing to Wheely-Chair Curling and Acapella Challenges. We can speak on behalf of all Year 13’s Danes and say that being ‘a yellow’ has been a huge honour and we have all loved every minute of it and will be sad to say goodbye.

Sadly, Danes will also be saying goodbye to our most loyal and legendary House leader ever, Miss

HOUSE REPORTS Brooke. Any true Dane will have witnessed the sheer inspiration and passion of Miss Brooke’s ‘pep talks’ during House Dance and Sports Day seasons. After 22 years reign, the Great Dane leaves behind a legacy of unity and triumph!

We wish next year’s set of prefects and Mr Miall the best in continuing to achieve greatness!

VIVA DANES! Murray Whitaker, Joséphine Cadinouche, Matthew Jones and Isabelle Peplow

NORMANS This year’s main focus for Normans was House Dance and, in addition to the fantastic whole house performance of Praise You, ably led and choreographed

by Ella Norris and Nathalie Hughes, there were notable entries from Normans in both junior and senior group categories. Our house motto is ‘excellence through mass participation’ and, in this spirit, Normans were extraordinarily well-represented in the house lighting competition, with the vast majority of finalists members of the Green Army. Congratulations to all our Normans winners and thanks to all our entrants.

Despite coming a close fourth in Sports Day 2017, there were several outstanding performances from Norman athletes, with Olivia Hall and Nick Spicer winning the junior Victrix Ludorum and Senior Victor Ludorum respectively. Thanks must also go to those who helped out on the Normans stall which raised money for Millie’s Dream, a fantastic local cause. In addition to house performances, we have also been immensely proud of both Tom Dean and Kate Donnelly performing on the international stage in swimming and gymnastics respectively.

As well as sports and dance, several Normans were prominently involved in music throughout the course of the year, and the whole house is looking forward to the challenge of House Music in the coming year.

Ed Tyler A postscript from Mr Chappell and Mrs Hopper: Our thanks all the Normans prefects this year, who have led our assemblies and our house activities: Ed Tyler, Greg Tyler, Amy Sheldon, Ella Norris, Ellen Murphy, Esmee Molhoek, Evan Fisher, Fintan McKillop, Holly Harris, Izzy Davis, Natalie Hughes, Tom Dean

ROMANS This year has seen many triumphs and successes for Romans. One of our early successes was winning the House Dance competition, showing the depth and breadth of the talent in Romans. One of the major contributors to success was finishing second in the Whole House dance competition for which Holly Broyhill-Fogg and Siofra Bracken choreographed an excellent routine to Murder on the Dance Floor.

There were also several excellent individual and ensemble performances that helped gain valuable points for the house, including Elizabeth Rackstraw and Lia Graham finishing 1st and 4th respectively in the Intermediate Soloist categories, Emma Beilby and Finn Driver achieving 3rd in the Junior Ensemble category, Swathi D’Souza and Maddy Hill achieving 2nd in the Intermediate Ensemble category, and in the Sibling category Daisy and Issy Foley and Ben and Sam Furley finished 1st and 3rd respectively. There was a great number and variety of performances from Romans, and the whole house’s participation made a big difference.

Romans have also seen a number of successes in sports competitions. House cross country was an early triumph for Romans in the overall competition, which was due in large part to the first place finishes of the Junior and Intermediate boys and girls, which both won their categories. However, all the competitors counted and the Seniors supported the younger House members by finishing a respectable third. In other House Sports competitions, the Year 7s have been outstanding in a number of events including Girls and Boys Hockey and Football, as well as Touch Rugby. In House Netball competitions the Year 9 girls won first place whilst the Year 8s and 10s achieved second place and Year 9 made an excellent contribution by finishing third. There were also notable hockey performances, with the year 8 boys and girls both finishing second in their hockey competitions.

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HOUSE REPORTS Recently the Year 7 and 8 pupils won the school’s first Sprintathon by running the greatest distance in one hour, raising over £200 for Stand Up to Cancer.

During Sports Day the House Prefects chose to raise money for The Children’s Trust, a charity that supports Children with brain injury, raising money by selling popcorn and running a stall.

Throughout the year form groups, as well as House prefects, have run interesting and informative assemblies on a variety of themes, including: the importance of manners, using social media safely school values and environment, team building, new year’s resolutions, and will-power. The house prefects also showed their ability to lead assemblies, running exciting activities and delivering insightful presentations on topics such as what we can learn from the Roman Empire.

As well as assemblies, the house prefects this year, Holly Broyhill-Fogg, Josephine Moreton, Alex Russell, Will Ashwell, Adam Cox, Tom Morgan, Imogen Bell, Konrad Mayer, Millie Jackson, Grace Seymour and Nick Winter have been an invaluable help in organising house activities and competitions, and have made massive contributions to the growing success of Romans.

Special thanks should go to our Heads of House, Miss Holt and Mr Black, as well as to the form tutors for their work in tutor time.

SAXONS

Saxons have continued to prove it’s not all about winning, it's the taking part that counts. In last summer’s Sports’ Day there was some irony walking out to “We are the Champions” when we came runner up to 5th place but even though we take a little bit of pushing, Saxons never fail to put on an entertaining performance, to say the least. Hopefully Saxons will continue to persevere and maybe one day this hard work and dedication will shine through in the leader boards for sports, dance, musical and maths 6

competitions.

Some stand out memories have to be the assemblies spent preparing for this year’s House Dance getting everyone up and grooving to ‘Thriller’. We even took our rehearsals outside to perform on the canteen tables much to the amusement, and envy, of passers-by.

Thanks Amy and Holly for your inspiring choreography!

It helped our Year 9 & 10 Ensemble entry take away the first prize in their category and make up for our disappointing, and surprising, placement in the overall scores. At least we came 4th in House Lighting!

We have also tried to get every tutor group and many pupils involved in the assemblies giving them free rein to delight us with, among other things, dancing with spaghetti, and playing Kahoot; many of which have benefitted from the technical IT support of Ed, Harry and Oscar who between them managed to log on and click ‘Next slide’ - no easy feat!

We approach the end of the year with a feeling of growing pride as we boast about having never forgotten a litter picking duty, singing a bit louder in Chapel assemblies and coming up with some great ideas to improve the school environment… but then as Saxons, we make the place look good anyway.

VIKINGS At the end of last year, despite only a moderately successful Sports Day, and tug of war; Vikings again claimed the House Cup. The orange ribbons are still in place!

We would like to give our thanks to Mr Bagshaw, and although he left for pastures new we will all remember his rousing enthusiasm. Miss Williams came to the rescue as his replacement, alongside the ever constant Mrs Bownass, but without the orange laces.

Together with all tutors, we have all done a fantastic job of rallying Vikings to take part. Mass participation has been key to our ‘success’ over the last twelve months; and I’m sure the quantity of entries to interhouse dance, music and drama will increase and sustain for many years to come. This year the many Year 13 prefects have run a plethora of assemblies, mainly consisting of different variations on the ancient art of ictos pila (dodgeball) and a series of fables, such as the old, emotionally charged epic, “Jacob’s weekend game of Dungeons and Dragons”.

We hope that, even with the departure of the current Year 13 cohort, hordes of Viking warriors will continue to foray into inter-house combat to overwhelm our enemies, and carry us to victorious Valhalla!

Fraser Brown

HOUSE REPORTS

COMMUNITY PREFECT’S REPORT Borlase has a history of strong relationships with its community and has fundraised for a variety of local and national charities in the past. This year Borlasians have continued to show their support for important national annual efforts such as Children in Need and Sport Relief. Our October Mufti Day and various bake sales raised £1989.54 for Children in Need. In March we held our annual Sport Relief Mile, with students running in a range of fancy dress outfits, raising £2369.70. To raise more money a Year 13 team took on the PE department in a competitive hockey match, with the Year 13s securing a convincing win.

Each term the Community prefects have also decided which local charity the school should support. We have opened this decision up to all pupils and staff, requesting advocates to present the case for their chosen charity. In February, the Brittle Bone Society was chosen and the Mufti Day raised £1674.83.

Similarly in March, Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) was selected and pupils generously donated £1538.50.

All in all, during the year a grand total of £7769.36 has been raised for five worthy charities.

Sports Day provided another opportunity for the houses to raise money for their chosen charity:

Danes - MIND - £231.60 Britons - PAPYRUS - £196.79 Normans - Millie's Dream - £79.46 Vikings - Young Minds - £60.39 Romans - Children's Trust - £43.30 Saxons - Alzheimer's Society - £24.41 This year Borlase has once again supported the One Can Trust, which is the local food bank based in High Wycombe. The trust supports families across South Buckinghamshire, including Marlow and Wycombe, who find themselves in food poverty in a time of crisis. In December, a whole school collection resulted in over 400 items being donated to the charity in time for Christmas. However, for the next collection we decided to add some Borlasian competition to the process and pitted the school houses against each other with a stunning total of 761 items!

If you would like to keep donating to the food bank over the summer holidays, when many families struggle due to the lack of school meals, please look at www. onecantrust.org.uk for details of the items needed and drop off points.

Hannah Peperell Old Borlasian John Barry writes more about One Can Trust on p111.

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FEATURES

HEADTEACHERS

When Dr Holding announced his departure after 21 tireless years, we decided to honour this very significant event in the history of our school by recording his views on his time here. Later, the appointment of an internal, female, successor in Ms Mountfield compounded the rarity of this moment, and we concluded that it would make an effective, yet transparent and entirely sycophancyfree memorial to mark it with a companion interview. We have spent a considerable amount of time refining what were hour-long interviews, so they should not be considered transcripts, but rather hopefully faithful and entertaining dialogues: we hope you enjoy them.

Alexander Lang and Luke MacCallum

DR P HOLDING Headteacher January 1997 – December 2018

How would you summarise your time here?

It has been 21 years of pretty constant change. Some of the more visible, memorable highlights have been building programmes: we built the English block and the Design & Technology block; we did all the work in the Science Department area - those are the big building programmes. And then there’s been all sorts of other change relating to Performing Arts and Sciences and STEM and many others.

Has the school has changed culturally in those 21 years?

Yes, I think two or three things have changed significantly. I think that students have been encouraged to be more risk-taking and more creative - and that's partly through things like the performing arts being brought in as a major part of the school.

There’s also been a significant change in the school’s support for, and expectation of, students developing 8

leadership skills. For example, twenty years ago there were virtually no student-led clubs and societies; it was a very busy and very successful school, but everything was driven by the teachers and not led by the students. When you think about sixth-formers and you think about Medsoc, Femsoc, Debating, all the societies and clubs and competitions that the school’s involved in - many of which have student leadership - that’s a big cultural change, which has really only happened in the last ten years.

Do you think students leave Borlase better prepared as a result?

That’s the intention! Most Borlasians go on to University, and most of them tell us that they feel very ready to take responsibility for their own learning, which of course is the biggest thing that happens in University. So yes, I believe so.

What have been the highlights of your time here?

There are so many things to celebrate. I am very proud of our development of Performing Arts. Although it has been very much driven by Ms Mountfield and others, it was my decision that the school should become a Performing Arts school. I’ve also been delighted to see groups and individuals achieving national and international recognition: Henley winners; National Hockey winners; successful rugby teams; dance groups that have performed on national stages; individuals that have achieved national sports successes; individuals that have gone off to major ballet schools. In the end those successes are created by the students themselves, but I think most would recognise that we’ve had a contribution.

What aspect of the job do you think you’ll miss most?

The easy answer is people, and that’s the teachers, the non-teaching staff and the pupils. In the end that’s what schools are all about: the people.

And what will you miss the least?

Meetings! Endless evening meetings.

Obviously it's quite unusual to bring your dog to work every day. Has the presence of Henry changed how you’ve approached the job?

It’s not just Henry! I’ve had three dogs here in the school. When I started it was Will and Tom, and then Tom on his own and then Henry. When I was offered the job, I told the chairman of governors that the only condition I attached to accepting the job was that I would be allowed to bring my dogs - and they said yes! I think it has changed how I approach the job of

FEATURES headteacher, in small but important ways. There have been pupils to whom the dog has been a real lifeline.

I can remember a case when one pupil was going through a really difficult patch and she and I came to an agreement that whenever she needed to, she could come along and sit with the dog, in the hallway, and just have 20 minutes cuddling him, and that was her way of coping. I also think they have helped to break down the barrier and make the headteacher's office feel a little less intimidating. Henry comes with me just about every day for a cup of coffee in Mimi’s, and he goes and says hello to everybody downstairs whilst I’m there. Those things just make it a little bit easier to talk to the headteacher. (Sadly, Henry passed away in February.)

You have never permanently excluded a pupil, which is remarkable for such a long tenure. What can you attribute this to?

Firstly, I don’t believe that exclusion is the best solution in almost every situation. So I start with a passionate belief that we’ve got as good a chance of getting it right with a pupil as anyone, so why would we want to send them out? They’ve made the effort to get into the school and I think it's in their best interests to stay in the school. Secondly, I’ve demanded of all of my colleagues that they keep trying and trying and trying with those pupils. And sometimes trying even more.

So I guess I make the decision that it's not going to happen, but I’m not the one who makes it work – it takes a huge amount of effort from everybody else.

But, when you look around, you don’t get the sense that there are fifty pupils who should have been expelled but I have forced staff to keep them; instead you see pupils that my exceptional colleagues have put in the effort to help them to reform.

How do you think that Brexit will affect education?

I doubt it will have a major impact on education, but I think it will have an impact on us culturally. I think Brexit is a symptom of one aspect of the British psyche, which is to be inward looking rather than outward looking, and I want our school, and our education system, to be very much extrospective, so I think we will have to work even harder to make sure that students leave Borlase with a real sense of their place within Europe and internationally.

What do you think your legacy will be?

Well, inevitably part of my legacy will be the buildings: about three quarters of the school has been newly built, or rebuilt, since I’ve been here; coupled with expansion, since we’ve gone from just over 800 pupils to around 1100 pupils in my time. But ultimately I hope

I’ll be remembered as someone who demanded of his colleagues that they went the extra mile with every pupil, and refused to let a task — however difficult and seemingly insurmountable — beat them.

(The 6th form centre is now officially ‘The Peter Holding Sixth Form Centre’ in recognition of his remarkable contribution to school life over two decades.)

What advice would you give to students?

Take risks. Don’t be afraid to fail. That’s the only way you learn.

MS K MOUNTFIELD Appointed Headteacher April 2018 Could you give a brief overview of your time here?

I’ve been here quite a long time! I arrived in September 2005, so I’m in my thirteenth academic year. I joined as Deputy Head in the ‘halcyon days’ when there was money coming into the school for specialisms. Borlase had become a specialist school for the Performing Arts, the theatre was being built, and they wanted a Deputy Head with responsibility for development of the arts. I was head of KS5 at Windsor Boys’ School, but Drama and English had always been my background, so for me it was an absolutely dream job!

What was the school like when you arrived?

The school was quite different, in terms of its ethos and feel, to the way it is now. There was academic work, and there was sport, which was very high on the agenda, but the arts were very much in the background.

My job was to create a passion for the arts - for drama, for dance, but also for creative writing, for technical theatre. These were all things that became part of the school’s ethos after I came, and we gradually moved to recognising those things as very important.

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FEATURES Has the development of the arts been the most significant thing during your time here?

That was certainly one of the things that I made a significant contribution to. Other areas that were very important to me were developing academic students’ ability to be independent. What I was looking for was a way to enable students to prepare and compete for places at top universities, knowing that we only had so much capacity within the school to do it. I looked at various public school models, where obviously they have a lot more money to allocate to this sort of thing than we do, and one of the things I felt could be developed was the academic societies. We started with one academic society, the History Society, and that has grown into the large numbers of societies we have today. Then EPQs were introduced, again starting with History and Politics.

How do you think Brexit will affect the school?

I feel it is all the more important that we embrace diversity, and different cultures, because we are richer for these differences. I believe that as a nation we are stronger for working together with other nations, whether that’s within, or beyond, Europe. I look at some of our Old Borlasians who are working in science or in government — in the European Parliament, having studied languages — and the kind of progress they are making alongside those who studied in different areas or trained in different countries, so I feel absolutely we need to be an outward-looking school and an outwardlooking country!

Could you describe what your plans as headteacher are going to be?

The exciting thing about becoming Headteacher of a

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school like Borlase is that I’m taking on a school that’s already ‘outstanding’ (according to Ofsted); so I’m not coming in to solve major problems, but to see what small improvements can be made, to make this a better place for learning. One of my commitments is to involving students more in the decision-making process, asking them to identify where they feel the areas for development are. We have very astute learners who are able to make judgements about what works and what doesn’t work for them, so having more dialogue between teachers and students about how we move learning forwards is something we need more of. And in terms of pastoral care, mental health and wellbeing, we can talk to students more about what we can improve. We also need to think about what ‘outstanding’ means, what will make Borlase ‘outstanding’ for every pupil, and every member of staff.

It’s 30 years since girls were first admitted to Borlase.

How important do you feel that has been?

I’ve worked in all-girls and I’ve worked in all-boys, and the argument is always that girls do better in allgirls and vice-versa, but if you look at the statistics there’s nothing to prove that at all. When Borlase went co-educational in 1987, some people opposed it from a cultural perspective: ‘this is an all-boys school and we don’t want change!’ But the success of the school has proved conclusively that children thrive in a co-educational environment. We live in in a ‘co-educational’ world, so to be conducting History lessons or a Politics society in a same sex environment all the time doesn’t reflect the world outside school.

FEATURES

30 YEARS OF BORLASE GIRLS This year commemorates the 30th anniversary of female students being admitted to Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School and we have celebrated this with the cover showing the 572 girls currently attending Borlase compared to those first 25 girls. Clearly there have been great improvements towards equality during those three decades, but 2017 and 2018 have been significant in highlighting the continuing gender inequality in society with the women’s empowerment movements, #MeToo and Time’s Up, the first fighting against sexual assaults that women face around the world and the latter promoting equality in the workplace. We wanted to examine how things have changed for female students attending Borlase. We began by interviewing people who were at Borlase in 1987 and some of that original intake of girls, who came into a school that had been exclusively male for 350 years; we then sought the views of two current Year 12 girls to look at how things have changed.

Cover of The Borlasian 1988

BOYS IN 1987 Existing pupil Andre Compton and Adrian Broadhurst joined the Lower Sixth (Year 12) in 1987 along with the first girls.

Did the school feel very different when the girls joined?

In short, for the boys, yes! The Lower Sixth boys were somewhat dis-orientated for the first few weeks as everyone sized each other up. As the girls’ numbers were so small, their presence was a huge novelty to the whole school but they probably went fairly unnoticed by the younger years. I recall the Upper Sixth boys being quick to assert their dominance and being even more interested in the girls than the Lower Sixth, which caused some tension between the two year groups.

Teachers were also somewhat bemused, particularly the older staff, some of which had been at the school for 30+ years and had only ever taught boys. Adrienne Crittenden was a very busy staff member, dealing with some anxieties (from the girls) and typically puerile and ‘show-off’ behaviour from the boys.

We quickly established some good friendships – there were many great parties in the autumn term of 1987.

Remember, these were brave and spirited girls, to have joined an all-male environment. They were bright and very capable of fending for themselves!

Adrian: Also, Home Economics became a new subject.

I was only boy that did it in my year - but only because it was full of girls!

Did you play sports/games with the female students or separately?

Yes they did play sports although I don’t recall much mixed sports – again the sports curriculum was geared towards boys and probably took a few years to adapt to female interests. I don’t recall the first intake of girls being an especially sporty one – they were there really to get through A Levels and the experience of Borlase.

Did you feel that the teachers acted differently towards you compared to the girls? How did the female students behave?

We were certainly under some scrutiny to behave and temper natural 16/17 year old male boisterousness.

The girls were carefully stewarded by Mrs Crittenden, who whilst having their interests at heart, was also not afraid to take them on over issues of appearance and skirt lengths. There were issues I recall over female 11

FEATURES facilities (loos, changing rooms etc). The natural gulf in maturity and behaviour between girls and boys was also apparent and I remember the girls often looking aghast at the puerility of some antics from the boys.

Younger members of staff dealt with the situation fairly even-handedly and lessons with the girls were often interesting with lively debate, and occasionally competitive. However, on the whole, academic results for many of the boys were clearly a reflection of the social distractions that the girls brought with them.

Any other interesting experiences/events you would like to talk about during your time at Borlase?

I think it is fair to say that the Lower Sixth boys became fairly protective of many of the girls and were proud to have shared the experience of their joining Borlase.

Friendships were strong and have endured. Teenage romances blossomed (and many quickly wilted…) and we enjoyed a lot of shared experiences in and out of school. When the first intake of girls quickly realised that their male peers were essentially harmless clowns, they were able to integrate in a positive way into the fabric of the school. The drama production of “The Importance of Being Ernest” in the summer of 1989 was a brilliant one, bringing together both Sixth form year groups, male and female into a collaborative experience. This was typical of the spirit of those early years.

Adrian: The boys turned the swimming pool purple with potassium permanganate and put dead fish in it.

I think someone also ordered a limo as well. We did give the music teacher a nervous breakdown but that was all of us just playing up!

Editorial staff of The Borlasian 1988 including Madeleine Rogers and Diana Fitzwilliam

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THE FIRST GIRLS Madeleine Rogers and Diana Fitzwilliam were among the first 25 girls to be admitted to Borlase in 1987.

When you came to Borlase, did it feel very different to your previous school?

Madeleine: Yes it felt very different. I came from an all girls’ grammar (Wycombe High). The atmosphere was much more old-fashioned at Borlase, partly due the age of many of the buildings. In some ways it felt like walking into an antiquated private school.

Diana: I joined Borlase from an all-girls school and was desperate to leave that school behind as, to me, it was more focused on whether you were wearing the right uniform than encouraging you to develop and succeed.

I remember thinking that Borlase was a bit like the public school dramas you watched on TV - full of prefects, walled corridors, grass you couldn’t walk on, a tuck shop with a very moody owner, a headmaster who walked around with a black cape on…. but then also it had a huge field, a big art block and a brand new sixth form block where we would spend the time talking over everything that meant anything to us.

How did you find the transition process and how did you feel being in such a male-dominated environment? Did you feel outnumbered by the 458 male students at times?

Madeleine: I think we all thought it was hilarious that we were so outnumbered, but were at the same time slightly empowered by it... I think the novelty of the situation probably wore off after about a month or so.

Due to a timetable clash I took my art class with the year above me, so I was really outnumbered there but it was totally fine.

FEATURES Diana: It was a big change for Borlase and not everyone welcomed girls joining the school. I remember being told by some pupils and staff alike that girls would bring the school and the results down - which I think has been very much disproved by the results that Borlase now achieves.

Did you play sports/games with the male students or separately?

Madeleine: I remember playing mixed squash once and I might have had a go at rowing which was also mixed, but the rest of the time I use to just go and watch films at my friend Guy’s house.

Diana: Looking back at my time at Borlase there were pros and cons of being the first girls. There was a lot of scrutiny of us from both within the school and from ‘Marlow Folk’ and it was hard to get away with anything although we did manage to do quite a lot of disappearing when it came to games although a number of us tried rowing and Rachel Shui was very successful as the cox for our year.

Did you feel that the teachers/students acted differently towards you compared to other students?

How did the male students behave?

Madeleine: My teachers were actually really great and I don’t particularly remember being treated differently. The male students? Generally quite well behaved and welcoming I think, but I do remember being surprised at how much wrestling/play-fighting went on in the common room.

Diana: We had some great teachers (a big shout out to Mr Jones who taught us economics and a lot of life lessons) and some bad ones too just like anywhere.

Any other interesting experiences/events you would like to talk about during your time at Borlase Madeleine: I really enjoyed my sixth form at Borlase and I am glad that I chose to be in the first wave of girls to go there.

Diana: What is strange is that I still don’t feel that old (or grown up) yet it was 30 years ago since I joined Borlase as part of the first cohort of sixth form girls, which does make me think that a lot has changed since then. When I joined Borlase there were no mobile phones, no email, let alone social media, but we coped, managed to make plans, keep in contact and generally have a good time. It was also easier to socialise and I remember a main centre of school life was meeting at the weekends in the local pub, The Hand and Flowers, which was about as far removed from the gastropub it is now as it could be. There were no checks on ages back then, as long as you could

remember your made-up birth date when asked, and we were welcomed by the pub from our first day.

Looking back we didn’t stick together as one group of girls but rather integrated into our year and made friends equally with boys who shared the same interests just as in any school. I am pleased to say that I still have some very good friends (men and women) from Borlase, but also slightly sad that I probably didn’t realise how significant it was for our group of girls and didn’t keep in touch with that many after we left.

I enjoyed my time at Borlase as it offered more freedom than my previous school and supported me on my way to get to university.

Victoria Chong

THE DEPUTY HEAD AdrIenne Crittenden joined Borlase in 1986 as Deputy Head, to assist in managing its transition into a coeducational school.

How was it coming into the school for the first time?

The head was delightful, absolutely delightful, and the deputy, Mr. Banner, was wonderful to me. He'd been in the school for over 30 years, and he could have resented my presence enormously. But instead, his first statement to me was ‘Share my office’. He had a big office which was above the head's office. The staff were my friends as well as my colleagues, and that helped enormously with the girls.

What attracted the girls to the school?

To begin with, science attracted quite a few of them. I wouldn't know the exact proportion, but yes, scientists and mathematicians. Borlase had much better teachers in those subjects than the all-girls schools, especially Biology. After that, the girls, they were my secret weapon. They played a huge part in the promotion of the school and they were all high achievers.

How would you describe the first day?

Day one was quite funny. The girls that came in were very smart. They had black suits, very smart white shirts. We had a surprising turnout. But I must say, they did not cater for the girls coming in. There was not the proper structure at the beginning to cater for them.

There was some resentment towards the school becoming co-ed. Not everybody wanted that. I think it's a struggle that's repeated throughout schools, but history as well. The local population will step in as soon as something violates the town's tradition, even 13

FEATURES if it doesn't really affect them. So that was certainly the challenge when the girls came in at the beginning.

The girls were under scrutiny from the community for turning a boy’s school into a co-educational one.

At the end of the first day, the secretary ran to me and said, ‘Can you come to the office? There's a woman on the phone wanting to talk to you and she's very indignant.’ So I went to the office, picked up the phone and introduced myself. The caller said in a very imperious tone, ‘I want to complain about one of your girls.’ I said, ‘What on earth’s the problem?’

She said, ‘I was standing in the queue in Waitrose this morning. One of your girls was in front of me. And she had A HOLE IN HER TIGHTS.’ Well, all I could say was, ‘I am so sorry. I'm sure she didn't know that.’

How did the boys react to the girls coming into the school?

The junior boys were giggling, you know. But the seniors didn’t react as well as I would have hoped at first. Until the first boyfriend-girlfriend relationship.

But then there was an interesting situation with the uniform. The girls had to wear a black jacket and skirt and a white shirt and tie. And after a time, they came to me and asked if they couldn’t wear something with a bit of colour. I thought, well, all black, all the time, it is awfully gloomy. So I said to them, what would you like? They suggested cardinal red jumpers and we thought that was okay, so we agreed.

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But, when the girls came into school the next week with the jumpers the boys went to Mr. Banner. They had a petition and they wanted to be able to wear those jumpers too.

Well, Mr. Banner wasn’t going to agree to that, but he was such a wise man, he told the boys he would consider their request. A few days later, he called the boys in and told them, ‘I have thought of the ideal solution: we have no objection to you wearing red underpants.’

What was the most difficult part about the school’s transition to co-ed?

The girls were under close scrutiny from the community. I mean it was a radical change and you don't teach co-ed the same way, do you? A lot of people were brought in and we had a lot of inservice training about gender, really. That was very helpful. And the staff played a key role. They were very talented people. And ultimately it turned out very well. I wish my own daughters had experienced co-ed.

Girls are a very civilizing, soothing influence on young men. The challenge between the sexes is always in a good thing.

What would you say was your favourite part of Borlase?

I love the chapel. Outside of some of the people, that's the thing at Borlase I really did love.

Edward McLaren

FEATURES

BORLASE TODAY To try to understand how things have changed since 1987, we asked two current Year 12s to give us their perspectives on being a female student in Borlase today.

I am an A Level student who currently studies English, History, Spanish and Art and my experience studying such subjects has been very interesting and exciting. In the world that we live in, in which female empowerment is becoming such an important and often polarising issue, I have been very lucky to see this topic flow into areas of my academic study.

It has been refreshing to see so many fellow female students taking English as an A Level subject. In fact in our class, the amount of girls doubles the amount of boys which means that there is more of a chance for our ideas to be put across and for us to debate our ideas on theories and interpretations which otherwise in the past might have been overlooked.

In a similar way, studying Spanish as a female has been fulfilling too. A whole module of our course sheds light on the current issues that women face or have faced in society such as equal pay, how to improve the situation of women’s injustice in the workplace and how the status and social expectations of women has evolved from repression under Franco’s dictatorship up until the present day. As a female arts and humanities student, it has been enlightening to study this subject and to learn about the struggles of other women whilst also getting to hear many of my female friends having the voice and confidence to speak up about and debate the injustices that we face.

To conclude, my experience of school has been very enjoyable, because I can speak out confidently in my subject areas, be treated equally and learn about other women. However perhaps the best thing has been the fact that I have shared my experience with other like-minded girls who are taking centre stage in my classes.

Cece Briscoe Studying A Level maths, further maths, chemistry, and physics at Borlase can be a challenge, but it is definitely worth it. All of these subjects are considered to be part of STEM and with the current movement of encouraging more women to pursue these subjects, opportunities are always available and are often advertised within the school.

In contrast to the arts and humanities subjects, there are often more boys in each class than girls; however, there are always a few girls in each class. Obviously, this doesn't run true for all subjects that come under STEM, such as biology, where it is fairly even, and some classes even have more girls than boys. In all of my lessons, approximately 30 - 40 % of students are girls; for example, in my maths class, exactly 50% of us are girls. Another great thing about STEM subjects is that both boys and girls are treated equally.

Overall, studying STEM at Borlase is an incredible experience, as each day we learn something new within the subject, and being female does not adversely affect that.

Tara Hopson

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FEATURES During the year Borlase has been fortunate to be visited by two authors of Young Adult Fiction, who have spoken to students about their writing.

JOSH MARTIN

Josh Martin is a young author who has written two fantasy books - Ariadnis and Anassa. He visited Borlase in May to talk to Years 7 and 8. He began by explaining how comics and fantasy books inspired his own books and suggested that we are all storytellers.

When writing a story, he feels that it is important to think about the five senses, as this gives a story more depth. He encouraged pupils to think about the development of a scene by asking the questions, “What if?” and “Why?” This strategy produced some amusing stories involving Hobbits and Shrek that the author created together with pupils in the audience.

During the presentation Josh said that he started writing aged thirteen. Afterwards, when asked whether he remembered writing his first chapter and whether there was a particular turning point, he explained that he had been on a writing course. He had written several chapters when his tutor asked him

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to go away and think about who the main character was and who was going to be the most interesting to read about. Josh then realised that the main character should be the rather mean, aggressive character Aula who is also a very vulnerable person. After he had worked that out, he explained that, “the rest just seemed to work”.

When asked to pick one favourite character, Josh said that it would definitely be Aula because she was the first one he wrote about when he was thirteen.

Originally she was the heroine and Joomia was ‘the bad guy’. Then in later versions they were sisters and eventually he thought it would be interesting to have two characters who magically originated from the same person. Josh said that while Aula was his favourite, he associates himself more with Joomia.

The book titles are Greek words, Anassa and Ariadnis.

When asked about the choice of titles Josh revealed that he loves Greek mythology and has been inspired

by Mediterranean culture and Greek myths in the choice of names in his books.

Naomi Deraed

FEATURES

TARAN MATHARU

Taran Matharu is the author of the New York Times Bestselling Summoner series of books. His passion for reading and writing began at a very early age, and he even began writing his first book at the age of nine. He has now been writing professionally for around four years.

Focussing his books around Young Adult Fantasy, Taran gets his inspiration from his favourite books, films, video games and TV shows. When asked specifically which ones, he described how most critics and readers believed his book was a mixture of Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and Pokémon.

Taran started his writing career by writing on Wattpad - an online writing website. After graduation, he began working with a publisher and repeatedly asked his boss to let him show some of his works. Instead, he told Taran to put it on Wattpad, reassuring him he would get a book deal somewhere. However, getting a book deal from the platform was quite rare, and at that point, with over thirty million users, only around 6 had been offered book deals. Deciding to take his boss’ advice, Taran wrote a chapter of his story ‘The Novice’ and wrote a new chapter every day for a month. Within six months, he reached over three million reads; his book had gone viral. After getting noticed and then published, his book sold very successfully. It is now published in fifteen languages all over the world.

To date, Taran has written five books, and is working on his sixth. His advice to any aspiring authors is to practise as much as possible and to read good novels with a writer’s eye - when reading a book you like, analyse what devices the author uses, how they have made you fall in love with a character. Taran also advises to make sure to be concise when describing characters and settings.

Swathi D’Souza

FINLAND EXPEDITION During February half term seventeen Year 9 students took part in the first SWBGS expedition to northern Finland. The aim of the expedition was to develop leadership and team working skills, whilst working in a different environment. A very different environment - the students were greeted at Kuusamo airport with temperatures of -15 degrees! During the week students took part in activities such as ice fishing; building snow holes; cross country skiing; snowshoeing and fire-making. There was also time to visit a reindeer farm and ride on a sleigh pulled by a reindeer. The students were responsible for organising themselves each day, this even included washing up after lunches of reindeer soup. The evenings were spent relaxing in the sauna and playing cards.

The students commented on how much they enjoyed the activities, in addition to spending time away from technology in a remote location. The activities were challenging, but they learnt that, if they put their mind to it and worked as a team, they could succeed.

Miss Cowan

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FEATURES

BASIL HORSFALL V.C. MEMORIAL

This year marks the 100th Anniversary of the end of the First World War. This conflict shook all communities and the school community was no exception; as students walk down West Street each day, they may notice the commemorative plaque for Second Lieutenant Basil Horsfall V.C. Horsfall was born in the then Ceylon, and was a student at this school during the 1900s, but would later join the ‘Accrington Pals’-his local battalion. Horsfall would receive the Victoria Cross posthumously, as a result of remaining in his position despite severe wounds.

The 100th Anniversary of Horsfall’s award of the Victoria Cross was commemorated through a memorial service in the school chapel attended by Year 7 students and Old Borlasians. The moving service combined music performed by students and readings by staff and students. Contemporary music, such as a rendition of Butterworth’s ‘The Banks of Green Willow’ by MaryAnne Grego and Mr Robson, and poetry written by Mr Robson and Andrew Thomson, were particularly evocative. The service culminated in the presentation of the replica Victoria Cross by the Marlow Museum and the World War One Centenary Trust, which is now on display in the school. Chris Funnell, the current mayor of Marlow, was also present, and gave a reading during the service.

Sam Beesley

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From Epimetheus and Prometheus In memory of Second Lieutenant Basil Horsfall, V.C. For him the world was not dull Or bleak, or simply scorned But there was hope, for him at least In song of lark or beam of star Our song, in a world that misfortune made Sustain him in the great tirade And brothers past and future see him now Forever a torch, a medal for his brow For in the future when they are all gone This secret armistice will right all wrongs His actions rumble down the generations Running through these very foundations So when descends the red haze There proceeds to calmer days Brothers past and future give this secret to us And to Prometheus.

Andrew Thomson (Year 13)

SOCIETIES

CLUBS & SOCIETIES AT BORLASE As both Dr Holding and Ms Mountfield observe in their interviews, the wide range of student-led academic societies, clubs and groups is a significant feature of Borlase life today. From PolSoc to MedSoc, Debate Soc to to Gospel Choir, these societies and clubs are run by 6th Formers eager to share their knowledge, experience and passion with other students.

AstroSoc Previously, Astronomy Society was purely for star gazing sessions after school. We wanted to provide break-time presentations like other societies, so from November we began weekly talks.

For our very first session, Harvey delivered a talk on his own personal favourite constellation – Orion the Hunter. Consisting of several interesting features (such as the Great Orion Nebula and the red supergiant of Betelgeuse), it launched AstroSoc into action. The following week, Kate gave her first presentation on binary star systems. She also pointed out that star systems are not restricted to just one or even two stars, as exemplified by the Mizar-Alcor sextuplet system in the constellation of Ursa Major.

As the weeks went by we continued to give talks about a fascinating selection of astronomical bodies from the Moon to the Milky Way and AstroSoc’s reputation grew each week. Usually at the forefront of a few jokes, AstroSoc has certainly endured the good-natured rivalry with the likes of PhySoc, and responded accordingly.

After a month of delays, on 22nd March Dr Helen Mason of Cambridge University visited to give her own talk on ‘Our Dynamic Sun’. She explained the different spectra used to observe the Sun and why it is so important to monitor our closest star. Additionally, she described the effects of space weather on Earth and its origins.

The day after, an astronomically-spectacular STEM dinner provided a truly memorable evening. Astronomy Society embraced their astrological personality and produced an SWBGS STEM-themed horoscope for each of the tables. As we are the Number One society (alphabetically, at least) our talk was up first. A slight delay starting and a threatening Countdown-loop led

to a slight rush to cram it into 2 minutes, but all the necessities and subtle references were included.

Kate and I have thoroughly enjoyed leading Astronomy Society and look forward to any future endeavours.

Hopefully, next school year (weather permitting) we will be able to successfully host star gazing sessions.

Harvey Fraser & Kate Seeger BioSoc Taking over BioSoc earlier than most year 12s, we delved straight in with some captivating presentations about exciting biological questions such as “can humans live forever?” and “why do we laugh?” As leaders, we each have very different interests and a very different style, meaning we have covered vast aspects of the subject of biology, ranging from epigenetics to the Cambrian explosion. We are all very passionate, and excited about recent developments in biology including quantum biology and CRISPR genetic modification, and we love to share this passion with the members of our society.

A true testament to the depth of our biological study came about at the ‘Biology in Action’ trip in London where every one of the speakers discussed a topic we had previously given a presentation on, no matter how obscure; the topics covered the genetic modification of crops, coral bleaching, epigenetics, and even the zombification of a cockroach at the hands of a Jewel Wasp, which both everyone at the talk and at our own presentation was disturbed by.

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SOCIETIES The definite highlight of BioSoc this year has to be being given the privilege to carry out a rat dissection over the course of three weeks. This entailed the careful and detailed exploration of the digestive system, followed by the brain. The turn-out for this was tremendous, and we hope to carry out many more dissections in the near future.

We have many other exciting future plans for the society, including an investigation of the slime mould Physarum polycephalum, and its fascinating method of finding and eating food, followed by a sheep’s brain dissection, exploring the different lobes and structures within the organ. If you wish to be updated with these events, you can keep up with us weekly on the website: http://www.swbgs-society.co.uk/STEM/ BiologySociety/wordpress/ Jessica Lewis, Duncan Farquhar and Dominic Meeks ChemSoc Despite the fact Chemistry Society began its 2018 presentations with what can only be described as a lacklustre turnout, this rekindled society is lacking nothing. The first major event in the careers of the new leaders was the extravagant Briggs-Rauscher reaction that was demonstrated to ChemSoc’s largest audience. This successful reaction captivated many with its promise of vibrant and dynamic colour changes that were so close to what was witnessed.

Fortunately, despite the refusal of the mixture to turn anything but dark blue, the somewhat nervous charisma of presenters Joseph and Bettina managed to turn the experience into an enjoyable Thursday breaktime for many.

After a brief foray into regular presentation on chemical knots and other such trivia, it was off to Chemistry in Action for the intrepid leaders of this small but growing society. Even though the journey was marred by heavy snow, the talks that followed were nothing short of fascinating. After the enlightening event, a presentation was given to encourage younger society members to attend next year, as well as provide further depth into topics such as smart materials and Mercury. Not wanting the standards of their society to wain after the bar of presentation had been raised

by Chemistry in Action the, now solitary, leader of ChemSoc embarked upon a foray into the origins of the subject of Chemistry, tracing the science’s roots to the ancient art of alchemy, and even learning to adopt some of the more common alchemic symbols as a hallmark of ChemSoc. Whilst tracing the ideas of Chemistry through the ages, Joseph came across the world’s first ever recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. While this prize may have been mired in controversy due to its founder and the laureate Fritz Haber causing many deaths with their discoveries, there is no such trouble to be had with the admired Jacobus Henricus Van-‘t Hoff. After gifting the father of Physical Chemistry an honorary placement within ChemSoc, it was time to move on to the most important event, thus far in 2018, for the society: Arctic Live. The highlight of any academic society experience is the ability to speak with a research scientist, and where better to do it then in the Arctic tundra. Ellie Mackay’s enlightening interview was watched by many over the YouTube livestream and ChemSoc was proud to be among that number.

As we are coming to the end of another successful year of Chemistry, we are looking forward to ending this academic year with a bang.

Joseph Walker CompSoc Computer Science Society has enjoyed a successful year so far, quickly becoming one of the largest STEM societies. We’ve had a diverse array of presentations, ranging from overviews of popular programming languages to forgotten keyboard keys. Computers are everywhere, and our society helps to explain their intricacies in an easy-to-understand and relaxed manner, so everyone can take part in the exciting technological advancements that we see every day.

Perhaps our biggest achievement this year was the creation of the swbgs-society.co.uk website. It is a

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SOCIETIES collection of student made sub-websites that allows all the academic societies to have an online front for their work. We feel it is a great addition to the school ecosystem, as it will allow students to more easily keep up to date with what’s happening in societies.

In the spirit of the Bitcoin boom, we created our own cryptocurrency called Bogo coin. The name comes from a sorting algorithm known as Bogo sort, which involves repeatedly randomising the order of a list until it is in the correct order. This esoteric joke sorting algorithm featured in a few of our presentations, and was the perfect name for our society’s cryptocurrency. It only has 70,000 mined coins worth only 50 thousandths of a cent each, but it was a fun society project, and a great way to learn about blockchain technology.

We have thoroughly enjoyed building these projects and hosting the society, and can’t wait to find more great technologies to explore.

James Breedon & Syd Lambert EngSoc EngSoc has had a very successful 2018, despite almost blowing up Alexander’s hand with matchstick rockets!

Within the first two weeks, we had arranged a race car visit, to which we allowed PhySoc to tag along. The Birmingham University Formula Student team told us about this impressive engineering feat and its creation, from concept to construction.

Then, soaring to new heights, we celebrated the successful launch and landing of Elon Musk’s Falcon Heavy, which is currently sending PhySoc’s very own Ringo Starrman™ to Mars in a Tesla Roadster.

Unfortunately, despite inviting him over Twitter, Elon was not able to make it to STEM dinner 2018.

Later in the year, EngSoc sat down to have a web chat with two engineers in ‘I’m an engineer, get me out of here’. Here we got to ask them about the work they did and the career path that took them into such exciting fields of engineering.

As for the leaders, our presentations have soared to jet planes, zoomed into the future with driverless cars and separated fact from fiction in ‘The Martian’ and ‘Kingsman’.

With the highest success rate of organised practicals, we have been proudly building bridges and are catapulting EngSoc into next year!

Sara Helin, Matt Covus and Louis O’Connell GeoSoc After a rocky start to the year, with leaders being selected later than usual and exams looming around

the corner, we had a very successful take off with many new members joining our previously small society. We began the year with a number of topical presentations, discussing issues all the way from Trump to saving the world - aided, of course, by cake.

In collaboration with RockSoc, our school’s geology society, we had the pleasure of organising for Mr. Backhouse, a professional geologist for Terra Firma, to present to Borlase’s budding geologists and geographers.

In addition to in school presentations, GeoSoc has been across the country. In late March, our Year 12 geographers visited the beaches and towns of North Yorkshire, spending the week collecting data on everything from wave energy to the extent of regeneration in Scarborough. Furthermore, a number of our members have attended geography lectures and taster days from a number of institutions such as The Royal Geographical Society, Royal Holloway University of London and the University of Cambridge. We’ve had a fantastic year as GeoSoc and we look forward to welcoming many new members in the coming year!

Daisy Petersen, Olivia McDonald, Ruby Borg, Leah Otto & Immie Harding IRIS PROJECT IRIS (Independent Research in Schools) is a society about researching data and pushing the extent of our knowledge as a species. In the society we have looked at data provided by CERN about the Large Hadron Collider and have had scientific discussions based on it. To ensure our problem-solving skills were good enough to make sense of this data we worked on, and solved, many challenging questions from the Physics Olympiad Past Papers.

We look to continue our research by using a Vertigo, a machine which uses gyroscopes, GPS and accelerometers to accurately track its position and motion. We will use this machine along with variety of shaped planes to be able to find which design is the most aerodynamic. It may be possible to use the data we get from this to make a model which can calculate the drag coefficient of an object based on its shape and speed.

Brandon Smith, Sara Helin, Harvey Fraser and Kate Seeger MedSoc At the end of 2017, four ambitious Year 12s took over Borlase’s Oldest and Largest Society - Medicine Society. They continued the tradition of holding fascinating meetings every Monday breaktime in M6U, 21

SOCIETIES and attendance shot up like the shooting stars you hear about in AstroSoc. The society discussed many captivating areas of Medicine, from the UK’s Organ Donation System, to Autism Spectrum Disorder, to how daffodils could be the cure to cancer. We examined topics such as Obesity, Autism, Smoking and Alcoholism, and debated our opinions on whether the NHS should be responsible for funding the treatment for such conditions.

We have been lucky enough to host three external speakers in the six months that we have been in charge. The first two were former MedSoc legends and current medical students, Thomas Brockwell and Colm Kennedy, who both came in to share their application advice and experience. Colm is a medical student at Edinburgh University and Thomas is a second year or Oriel College, Oxford. Thomas informed us all about the differences between Oxford and Cambridge, whilst Colm talked to us about other university options such as the GAMSAT test.

In March we were lucky enough to welcome Dr Liz Warren, who is the clinical lead for contraception for Buckinghamshire NHS. She shared with us the variety of experiences she’s had throughout her training and practise as a doctor. This included time spent in an Accident and Emergency unit, public health and being a General Practitioner here in Marlow.

We also had a very interesting joint session with the Midwifery Society, with a visit from Catherine Williams.

Mrs Williams is a fairly well-known maternity activist, with many contacts in midwifery, as well as holding a NICE Fellowship. It was a very interesting talk which also helped us to understand the wider network and complexities around the NHS. We have thoroughly enjoyed leading MedSoc so far this year, and are in the process of arranging more compelling visits and talks from speakers all over the broad medical field, as well as more memorable presentations.

Toby Hill, Alex Rowlands, Charlie Brockwell AND Aman Sharif P(exτeiπ∫ β∝ℝ ∩ Gr2i⎣⎦) (PBΔG) Stepping into our predecessor's mathematical shoes was no easy task. Filling a whole lunchtime with numeric beauty made running PBΔG a tough challenge, but we were definitely up to the job.

H3U on a Tuesday lunchtime is still a haven for the mathematically inclined.

We’ve done some fantastic presentations on a new or familiar topic each week. Highlights have included 22

our talks on complex numbers, Riemann and knot theory. The most brilliant of these was our joint presentation celebrating international Pi day (14th March); it included pi art, pi inspired music and where pi appears in fiction! We also run a “Maths Question of the Week” for enthusiastic problem-solvers.

In March, we were lucky to have ex-head boy and former PBΔG Leader, Jed Thorpe, come back and lead a meeting with us on infinite series. Instead of a Powerpoint aid, he wrote everything on a whiteboard and graphed with desmos.

At STEM Dinner this year, rather than an ordinary talk about our society, we took a non-conventional route to derive the words Stem Dinner from a seemingly unrelated equation. It was clear no one in the audience had any idea where we were going until a few steps before the end!

We’re all incredibly excited to keep the mathematical spirit alive in Borlase and look forward to all the interesting questions that lie ahead.

Tara Hopson, Patryk Jonca and Ben Allanson.

PhySoc The Physics Society took a quantum leap into 2018 with an administrative error, giving Sam the opportunity to improvise a session deriving the formula for the velocity of a particle exiting a cyclotron accelerator. Former leader Toby James was next up; he spoke about studying Physics at Manchester. By just the third week of term we were hijacking Eng Soc’s usual slot to (jointly) host the Birmingham University Formula Student racing team, who brought their racing car with them for all to see! It’s hard to match that for cool-factor, but Robert Shalloo came pretty close in his talk about high-intensity lasers (he’s doing a PHD at Oxford.) After a few ‘normal’ sessions (read ‘relativistic derivations’), Alexander measured temperature with sound, inspired by the world’s most accurate thermometer. We also sent Russian nuclear physicist Yuri Oganessian, after whom element 118 is named, a birthday card.

The highlight of 2018 was, without a doubt, PhySoc’s speech at the STEM dinner. We took to the stage dressed as John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison, and got on with relating our exploits. Then - moments before our time ran out - we stopped the clock to make a special announcement: our new teammember, Ringo StarrmanTM! Alexander Williams, Sam Selbourne and Max Wermann

SOCIETIES PsychSoc PsychSoc had a slightly later handover in 2018 than a lot of the other societies, as our 2016-17 leaders were so enthusiastic and passionate about their presentations. During their time as leaders, we had a skype call with Dr Stephanie Burnett Heyes, a lecturer at Birmingham University, who had carried out a lot of research into the workings of the adolescent brain, which was hugely interesting and revealed truths about ourselves we never knew were there.

After the change in leadership, we started our presentations on topics such as addiction, PTSD, irrational phobias and even cannibalism! Our aim is to dive deeper into the human brain and attempt to understand why we act the way we do - whilst consuming cake and tea to lighten the mood.

Lastly, we often like to take part in questionnaires set by the professionals to further their research and help make a difference in the world we live in. With a consistently loyal band of year 11s as well as the regular 12s and 13s, we feel we have a firm basis for the future - wherever it may take us. Â Fabi Faulkes, Daisy Petersen, Emma Gazard, and Alana Williams

RockSoc While Rock Soc started quite late in the year, we started strong with a good turnout from fellow geologists and those interested in the subject. We have had a range of different activities, from guest speakers all the way to fun quizzes. We combined with EngSoc for one session in which an Old Borlasian who is now studying geoengineering at university spoke about her experiences in the subject and gave us an insight into the different courses and career paths geology has to offer.

Robot Wars Please see extended feature on p97.

SciSoc KS4 SciSoc is perhaps one of the most important societies at Borlase for the lower Key Stages in the sense that it helps to identify and fuel the interests of the senior society leaders of the future, of which there are many!

This year we took over from our predecessors in the early weeks of 2018, starting with some presentations from the one and only Ben Ford, certainly Sci Soc’s longest-standing member. We followed this with a presentation on genes and genomes by our youngest member Oscar Beswick, who showed a great interest and advanced knowledge which aided him in his Bronze STEM Project in March.

Recently, we collaborated with ChemSoc, which allowed us to work with Year 12s and enabled our members to experience what Sixth Form STEM societies have to offer. At the beginning of May, one of our SciSoc leaders, Grace Winter, gave a presentation which showed new research into how a diamond, the hardest naturally-occurring substance, can be bent and shaped. We discovered that this has been explored as a possible biocompatible carrier for delivering drugs into cancer cells. Following this, we had the opportunity to watch the livestream of ArcticLive, where Ellie Mackay gave us an insight into her work and research in the Arctic Tundra.

Finally, we could not run a science club without a few Kahoots, many made by our members, giving them a chance to show off their knowledge and enthusiasm for even the more niche aspects of science.

We have loved exploring all areas of science and having the opportunity to meet some of the most passionate scientists in the lower school, who we hope will continue to enjoy and find interest in STEM. Grace Winter, Olivia Annable and Ikmun Gill

HELM (HUMANITIES, ENGLISH, LITERACY, MFL)

DebateSoc This year Debate Society has seen some very interesting debates on controversial topics such as gun control, abortion and, more recently, whether the NHS should pay for self-inflicted diseases. As always, the people who joined the society have attained a very high level of articulation and have shown great argumentative skills. Throughout the year many people have raised very salient points about these issues, such as whether it is ethically acceptable to deny a person access to healthcare based on the simple fact 23

SOCIETIES that their illness was self-inflicted. Other interesting points have included whether the government has the right to tax members of the public simply because they can.

Another branch of Debate Society included a small group of us competing in the Oxford Schools Debating competition. This involved training every Thursday after school with Mr Bagshaw on the stricter rules involving professional debating, and really working on formulating our arguments under time pressure. The competition itself was both exciting and nerve-wracking, as each speaker had to debate for five minutes on a topic with only fifteen minutes preparation. Although we did not end up winning we still managed to progress and face some of the very best schools including St Paul’s Girls School and the Godolphin and Latymer School, which made us very proud. Overall, it has been a pleasure to lead this society and we look forward to next year.

Cece Briscoe, Lucy Wilson & Daniel Crane HistorySoc As children we’d come home, sit in front of the TV and watch the best comedy show: Horrible Histories. We’d watch it for the amusement that history can offer, all the while accidentally learning. Now we’re old enough to develop our understanding of the past and realise that history, despite all the boring textbooks, is actually interesting. Which is why at the Borlase History Society we learn about all kinds of history, from Ancient Egyptian medicine to the Salem Witch Trials to Hitler’s Third Reich. Not only this, we’ve come to think about the past through the eyes of the historian. In class, we’re often given definitive answers, but history isn’t always that straightforward, which is why in one session, our budding historians were given contextual evidence to how a medieval peasant came to an unexpected death.

Unbeknownst to them, there was no correct answer.

This is a problem that most historians will encounter during their studies. This activity, as well as many others, opened our eyes to the endless possibilities and interpretations that we can find within history.

Victoria Barlow 24

PolSoc The world has seen another year of intriguing news and Politics Society has seen another year of passionate debate. From Gun Control to the Royal Wedding, we have a covered a range of topics nearly as diverse as the political views of our members. Under the leadership of Amelia Crick, Oscar Murphy and Edward McLaren, presentations around a given subject were deliberately designed to motivate members to assess both the relevant debates in the news and the underbelly of the political establishment at large. As the largest society in the school, our aim this year has been to encourage members, new and old, left-wing and right-wing, to further develop their political ideas through reasoned and enthusiastic debate.

Edward McLaren

PERFORMING ARTS

Brass Ensemble This year in Brass Ensemble our work was dominated by the lead up to the Christmas Carol Concerts in which the group accompanied Cantorum and the congregation with a plethora of traditional carol favourites. With regular rehearsals on a weekly basis and extra hours put in, the ensemble was able to give a polished performance in All Saints’ Church to parents and friends as well as the whole school on the last day of term. Many thanks to Tristan Wride for co-leading this year and for the many hours spent arranging music for us all to play including Game of Thrones, a ‘Movie Medley’ and Beatles Classics. Thank you also to those who gave up their time for rehearsals.

Daniel Crane Chapel Choir The past year for the Borlase Music Department has been a busy one, and the ever-improving Chapel Choir is no exception. Much of this year’s success can be put down to the very hard working Jess Rollett, who has inspirationally led us all to one of the best years the Choir has seen yet. We started by performing in the Autumn Concert, giving a poignant rendition of Alexander L’Estrange’s Irish Blessing, followed by Ola Gjeilo’s Northern Lights in the famous Borlase Carol Services. The Languages Extravaganza gave us the opportunity to show the hard work we had put in to a larger group of students, and our performance at the annual Arts Dinner did not disappoint. Among the impressive number of performances undertaken this year, we also have Jess to thank for a new addition to the music calendar that proved very popular among

SOCIETIES those who were lucky enough to attend. The Choral Evensong, which I’m sure will be a long-standing addition to the calendar, featured a range of traditional Christian hymns as well as George Dyson’s Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis. I would like to thank all of those to whom we owe our success, especially Jess who made it a fun and fulfilling experience and to Mary-Anne Grego for coming to accompany us every Tuesday lunchtime. I am keen to emulate Jess’ hard work and to oversee Chapel Choir’s continued progression into what I hope will be yet another great year for us.

Mae Reineke Clarinet Collective This year was one of the Clarinet Collective’s strongest, with Alys Ramm introducing the group to several different styles of music, from the nearly impossible (but very fun) to play Super Mario theme tune to the Parade of Clarinet Soldiers and Easy Winners which we played in the Autumn and Senior Concerts respectively. The ensemble has a friendly atmosphere with encouragement all round, and we hope that next year we will gain some more players of all abilities.

Florence Ridley Dolly and the Dinosaur One of the school’s top rock bands, ‘Dolly and the Dinosaur’, headlined at the O2 Academy Islington in London! Unsurprisingly, a bus-load of Borlasians went up to support them. As we arrived, other up-andcoming bands were performing and we were struck by the size of the crowd. We were all really enjoying listening to the other bands, but at the same time very nervous for Dolly. Before they came on, the crowd started chanting for Dolly and the Dinosaur - such an amazing atmosphere! As Dolly and the Dinosaur started playing, their song ‘Unofficial’ could barely be heard above our screams! The crowd was all singing along, as we knew the words from listening to the song on Spotify, (do have a listen!) The 4 boys played a number of their songs, including one that they debuted on the night, which was really catchy and will definitely be popular amongst their fans. Dolly closed with their well-known song ‘Without’ which ended the night on a high. Congratulations to Rohan, Adam, Tom and Ben on an amazing performance. We’re very excited to see what’s next for Dolly and the Dinosaur!

Amy Sheldon Gospel Choir Gospel Choir has had another great year, this time under the leadership of Chloe Nicklin and Izzie Peplow.

Our first performance consisted of the classics,

‘Suddenly I See’ and ‘Say a Little Prayer’ at the Autumn Concert. The choir and audience alike thoroughly enjoyed the performance, and were clapping and tapping their feet along. The choir then competed at the Marlow Music Festival, in which we received a gold medal within our category!

Then there were the annual Carol Services held at Marlow All Saints Church, in which we performed two pieces; ‘O Holy Night’ and ‘Silent Night’, the latter being arranged by our talented accompanist MaryAnne, who we have been lucky to have for many years.

The choir’s next endeavour was the school’s Senior Concert in April, where we performed ‘Happy Day’ and ‘I know where I’ve been’, which both featured our Year 13 leavers.

Following this, our last performances of the year were at the annual Arts Dinner, performing ‘Another Day of Sun’ from La La Land, and at the Leavers’ Tea, when we reprised ‘Say a Little Prayer’ and ‘What a Wonderful World’. This provided an emotional and fitting end to yet another year of beautiful gospel singing from the choir. As a pair, we are extremely excited and honoured to be taking over the leadership of the choir for next year, and are ready for whatever the future may bring in our final year.

Emma Gazard and Sophie Yazdi-Davis Junior Girls’ Choir Being a student leader for Junior Girls Choir has been a very exciting and new experience for us. We were once members of the choir from Year 7 to Year 9, and so coming back to be the student leaders in Year 12 was very nostalgic. The traditional repertoire of the choir, such as ‘Come to the Fair’ brands the choir as quite mature for the year groups involved. Sophie went along with the choir to the Chiltern Concert Band in March to conduct this song and received such positive feedback about how the choir smiled and how lovely the performance was to watch, with everyone enjoying themselves.

As well as those pieces which were revisited this year, Junior Girls’ undertook a new Latin piece at Christmas which was quite challenging. However, the choir sang it very well, and it was a lot of fun to conduct, despite the fear of standing up in front of an entire congregation! The Year 9s performed their final piece as members of the choir at the Junior Concert in June; we chose the song with a clear idea in mind, so hopefully it was the perfect way to say goodbye and look to joining the senior choirs next year!

Alex Rowlands and Sophie Yazdi-Davis 25

SOCIETIES Rock Club You might be thinking, “Oh, a ‘Rock Club’ - a club for screeching guitars and booming drums!”, but frankly it can be quite the opposite. Actually, it can be anything you want it to be! Rock Club is a club for contemporary musicians to practice on their own or with their friends for upcoming school concerts or any concert out of school. For the past year and a half I have been attending Rock Club regularly on Tuesdays after school. And, if I may say, it may well have changed my life.

When I joined Rock Club in order to form a band for Rocktober! 2016, I was a singer. Then, after the concert, I picked up a guitar and learnt to play without a teacher but with the guidance of Adam Cox - the sixth former who has run Rock Club for the past two years. I have been practicing since that day and now I am taking the subject as a GCSE next year and I’m going onto my Grade 5. This just shows the amazing quality of learning you can absorb from Borlase and the people within it. On behalf of the rest of the Rock Club I would like to thank Adam Cox so very much for giving us an opportunity to practise our music!

Logan Foster-Lyons Saxophone Ensemble You may doubt the extremely professional and consistent rehearsal schedule of our group, or the fact that we know what music we are going to play just three days before a concert, but one thing is certain in Saxophone Ensemble: we always put together a brilliant performance. Boasting a range of talent in the younger years from the likes of Jonny, Emma and Josh all showing big promise for next year, we have also had the fortune of more senior members in the school offering their expertise to the group (Mr Hill).

However, it is with great sadness that we will be saying goodbye to our Year 13 role models (Alex, Amy and Anna) who for the last year have set a remarkable

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standard and taken this ensemble to new heights, not to mention the ‘Best Student-Led Ensemble’ award at this year’s BOSCARS! We will miss you all and wish you the best of luck in the future.

Julian Whitaker String Quartet With it being our final year, the Borlase String Quartet wanted to do something a little bit different and out there. Though our first outing with the new viola and cello players was less exotic than the last, the first movement of Beethoven's 6th String Quartet was tricky but fun, and gave us the confidence to tackle Janacek's Kreutzer Sonata in the Senior Concert. This dramatic piece tested our skills and required us to fully trust each other when playing. We hope the String Quartet continues: it has given us the opportunity to play interesting and challenging pieces together with a lot of laughs with four fun friends. Also, Mr Miall needs a group to turn to for classy events!

Matthew Joslin Year 7 Drama Club Since September, Sophie Yazdi-Davies and I have run a drama club for Year 7 every Friday lunchtime.

It has been a rewarding experience to witness the enthusiasm they manage to maintain every week! It is strange to look back and reflect upon the apprehensive students who walked through the Drama Studio doors back in September compared to their boundless energy now. As the weeks went by the once new, nervous students found the confidence to come out of their shell and play a diverse range of characters.

Most weeks we focussed on improvisation, as we wanted to take full advantage of their exciting and broad imagination. Typically, we would use improvisation in the form of games and the creation of mini-scenes so we could maintain their attention and enthusiasm.

For example, Sophie and I would give small groups a theme such as, Disney films, for the students to base their mini-performance upon. A stand-out memory for me was when we played music from ‘The Lion King’ and gave them a task to recreate a scene; we couldn’t help but smile when we saw their eyes light up at the thought of recreating such an iconic moment of our childhood!

Every Friday lunchtime has been filled with joy and laughter since September and even though there have been moments of chaos, Sophie and I have thoroughly enjoyed sharing our passion for Drama with such energetic individuals!

Rachel Opalinska (Year 12)

HELM

(Humanities, English, Literacy, Modern Foreign Languages)

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HELM

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS AT BORLASE Government and Politics continues to be a popular choice in the Sixth Form here at Borlase. The tumultuous nature of the current political climate has yet again fuelled our students’ interest and made the study of Politics and our classroom discussions all the more riveting.

This year heralded the first year of the new Politics linear A level. Our new intake of enthusiastic Year 12 students started the Autumn Term by studying the nature of politics and how people and the state interact.

They explored the emergence and development of the UK’s democratic system and the similarities and differences between direct and indirect democracy. In the Spring Term we focused on the role and scope of political parties, including the significance of the manifestos they publish at election time and their relevance to the mandate of the resulting government.

Simultaneously, our students have been learning about the fundamental rules governing politics in the UK, and the specific roles and powers of the main branches of the government: legislature, executive and judiciary.

The students are currently developing their understanding of core political ideas, starting with the principles of conservatism, liberalism and socialism and how they apply in practice to human nature, the state, society and the economy. They will investigate the divisions within each idea, and their key thinkers, and will have the opportunity to explore a further political idea such anarchism in Year 13.

Our annual trip to the Palaces of Westminster and the European Union’s UK headquarters this year proved to be a real triumph. We spent a very informative morning at Europe House learning about the role and function of the EU, a vital element of the reformed A Level course, and there was an opportunity for heated debate on the ramifications of Brexit – naturally the part of the morning most relished by our students. The highlight of the day was our visit to Parliament. The students had the opportunity to enter both Houses at Westminster while they were in session. They were particularly enthralled by the Commons debate on the issue of abortion in Northern Ireland, and were then able to take part in their own debate on House of Lords reform at Parliament’s Education Centre.

The final ‘cherry on the cake’ was the opportunity to meet Dominic Grieve MP and ask him questions about his role as MP and Chair of the House Intelligence and Security Committee. Undoubtedly the day really 28

captured the students’ imagination and gave them a greater insight into the way the political system works in practice.

A significant number of our Year 13 students have chosen to extend their interest in the subject at university and we wish them every success in their future studies and careers. I am very grateful to Mrs Wells and Mr Rendell for their hard work in the department, and particularly for their commitment to cultivating and nurturing our students’ innate curiosity for political issues and controversies.

Mrs A Godfrey, Head of Politics

HISTORY AT BORLASE Once again it has been a busy and exciting year for the History and Politics department. The results achieved by last year's leavers continue to echo the hard work and enthusiasm of the students, with our A Level cohort reaching an outstanding 98% A*-B, our highest grades in 11 years. This year has also seen the year 11 students finally complete the new GCSE course. Having studied international conflict and tension between East and West from 1945 to 1972, they then had a chance to look at life in Weimar and Nazi Germany, including Hitler’s rise to power. After spending over a year studying the 20th Century, they then stepped back in time over 300 years for a detailed investigation into the life and times of Elizabeth I, which was complemented by an enjoyable trip to Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire. The syllabus was completed with a broad sweep of 1000 years of history, considering many of the complex issues surrounding British migration and the British Empire from AD790 to the present day. This last course has proved challenging, but also fascinating, as the range of topics covered has allowed students to understand the background to many topical news stories this year, including Brexit and the recent Windrush Generation controversy.

In the 6th Form the students have been exploring historical parallels between civil wars. Our study of the causes and contexts of the British and American Civil Wars has been well received, and has prompted many interesting discussions and debates. The department's annual trips overseas have once again proved successful and popular. A large group of Year 13 students travelled to Washington and New York, visiting significant Civil War battle sites such as Antietam, Harper’s Ferry and Gettysburg to support their A Level studies. Year 10 GCSE history students were joined by both History and MFL teachers on a

HELM fascinating visit to Berlin during the May half term break. Fitting closely to the new curriculum, this visit linked to both the German Democracy and Dictatorship module and also our study of the impact of the Cold War, giving the students a much better understanding of the impact of both of these difficult times in Germany’s history.

Mrs J Wells, Head of History

ENGLISH AT BORLASE Examination prowess, Oxbridge success, creative writing trips, playwriting and poetry competitions, debating, theatre trips, academic conferences, interschool literary discussions, visiting speakers… The list of achievements, activities and stimuli just keeps on growing!

In terms of examination results, students at GCSE and A Level have continued to flourish. Students at

both levels completed the first round of examinations based on the new specifications and did themselves proud. Not only have Sixth formers shown their academic development in their A Level studies but also extended their creative writing skills and been a mainstay as learning mentors to younger students.

Excitement for creative writing starts early in English and Literacy lessons, a KS3 Creative Writing club and participation in many competitions. For the first time, every student in Year 7 contributed at least one piece for our annual collection of Year 7 creative writing ‘We Are Writers’. Daisy Foley was selected as one of two runners up in the prestigious Betjeman Poetry Competition. In the Chaucer Trust’s creative writing competition, several Borlase students won prizes, most notably Giulia Dissegna (Year 13) who was awarded 1st Place in the Senior category.

In Borlase itself, many clubs and activities capture students’ energy and attention. The Advanced Reading Group tackled texts and authors as diverse as Beowulf, Chaucer's The Miller's Tale, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Metaphysical poetry and nineteenth, twentieth and twenty first century novels and poetry. These were discussed as preparation for seminar style discussions of literature at university and interviews at the top universities. The Sixth Form English Society held weekly meetings focusing on a wide range of literature selected by the students themselves.

In January, six intrepid Sixth Formers bravely took the stage in Wycombe Abbey as participants in this year’s Rotary Club competition, ‘Youth Speaks’. This challenging contest involves the performance of trenchant speeches on a topic of the students’ own choice. Seizing this opportunity with relish, both teams chose demanding topics. Alex Lyons, Brandon Smith and Joseph Garcia-Ben tackled the issues surrounding the imposition of politically correct speech while Ella Watharow, Lucy Wilson and Millie Smith considered the legalisation of prostitution. Far from alienating the audience and judges, both teams managed to offer convincing, compelling speeches that truly prompted thought. Despite being narrowly beaten, they performed with sincerity and composure.

All were a credit to Borlase!

The annual KS3 competitions and festivals involving debating as well as poetry recitation and creation of drama scripts have continued to encourage maximum participation in literary activities, and communication skills were further enhanced by involvement in the BBC School Report Day. 29

HELM To support students’ study and enjoyment of texts, a wide range of theatre trips has been organised during the year. Year 7 students saw the Old Vic’s acclaimed production of ‘A Christmas Carol’ and Roald Dahl’s ‘George’s Marvellous Medicine’. Year 11 attended the National Theatre’s new production of ‘Macbeth’, and 6th Form English students saw a stage adaptation of Sebastian Faulks’ ‘Birdsong’, one of their set texts.

The wealth of literary and linguistic opportunities abounds. In order to maintain such a healthy participation and enjoyment of words and books a recent focus has been placed on a KS3 project entitled ‘Lost Words’ which highlights the depletion of the English language. In 2007, the new edition of the Oxford Junior Dictionary introduced new words such as “broadband” while others, describing the natural world, disappeared. ‘Lost Words’ is a joyful celebration of nature words and the natural world they invoke. This was thought such an important concept that the text was introduced into Year 7 and 8 Literacy lessons. As a result, pupils will write and illustrate their own poems and reintroduce their own words back into their vocabulary. Year 7 are also performing some of ‘The Lost Words’ poems in a cross-curricular performance co-ordinated by Dance and Music.

Delight in language and literature gained through reading, creative writing and inter-school activities does not happen by chance. For their continuous generosity and inspiration, I would like to extend my thanks to all my English colleagues who give of their time and expertise unstintingly.

Miss M Brooke, Head of English

VENICE CREATIVE WRITING TRIP In November 2017, a group of Year 12 students travelled to Venice to experience the history and atmosphere of La Serenissima to fire their creativity.

The resulting writing was collected in an anthology and used for EPQs. Venice is definitely the most interesting place I have been to.

Of course, its beauty is abundant, but there is something deeper about it, a sense of uncomfort that you cannot escape no matter how hard you try. As we arrived in Venice, the first thing we were faced with is a car park, which was rather an understatement given our expectations. As you reach the end of the car park, however, you are faced with steps leading you over the bridge. Given the very industrial and underwhelming surroundings we found ourselves in, there was not a great deal of hope placed into what we would find on the other side of the bridge. Throughout 30

the trip, we visited several sites in Venice, each with its own story, individuality in a place bound together by the water trying to break it apart, yet not one of these sites made me feel so overpowered. A city built from refugees that grew itself into the one of the most desirable cities of the world. Yet, among all these handsome, charming buildings, riddled with lone histories of their own, it was that moment of walking across the bridge that will me the most memorable for me. It highlighted the difference between the practicality of the city, the everyday lives of the locals that are hidden, and the romanticized appeal of it that has evolved from the asylum it was built as. Venice is a place more than its beauty, its history, the practicalities of the city that is fused with tourism, and it is something that you can never quite place.

Olivia O’Mahony

HELM

BETJEMAN POETRY PRIZE The Betjeman Poetry Prize is a nationwide competition for poets aged 10 - 13. Founded in 2006, on the centenary of former poet laureate Sir John Betjeman’s birth, the Betjeman Poetry Prize was established to promote literacy, foster creativity and provide a platform for new voices from the next generation.

Three Year 7 Borlase students were included in the shortlist of fifty – Daisy Foley, Louis Ellis and Eloise Rints. Daisy was then selected as one of the six finalists by the judges, poet Rachel Rooney and former Children’s Laureate, Chris Riddell. The finalists read their poems at an event at St. Pancras Station on National Poetry Day, 28th September, hosted by Betjeman’s granddaughter and the judges. Daisy’s poem was praised for its ‘gentle lyricism’ by the judges, and she was chosen as one of two runners-up, making her officially one of the three best poets under 14 in the country!

In addition to a prize of tickets on Eurostar, Daisy also won a place at a Betjeman ‘Poetry Camp’ in May. The Betjeman Poetry Camp was an amazing experience, and a wonderful prize. I managed to write over ten poems in the few days I spent at Waddesdon Manor, and learnt multiple different styles of writing that I had never come across before. The place where we were camping had a beautiful view of the grounds, and the house was incredibly interesting to look around. I met nine great people (that I am keeping in touch with) and had a lot of fun playing games at the camp. It was also fantastic that I got to meet John Betjeman’s granddaughter Imogen Lycett-Green, as well as the two poets Kate Clanchy and Paul Lyalls - both of whom very much inspired me to keep on writing poetry.

I recommend entering Betjeman Poetry Prize to anyone under 14 - it is a fantastic competition and I got a lot from it.

The River A dimly-lit room in the depths of the house, A nook that I don’t wish to share.

I sit on the sofa; in silence; alone, And out of the window I stare.

The sun it is rippling - low down in the sky, Weaving patterns of beauty and light.

Thy sky it is hazy - all orange and pink, A fuzzy, phenomenal sight.

But below the beams of trembling light, Below the apricot sky, A river is shimmering, smiling to all, As it watches the evening go by.

From on the horizon, a dark silhouette A charming and quaint little boat.

With only one boatman and flame still awake, It continues to peacefully float.

Upon the banks, in clusters of gold, Willows are starting to weep.

They are casting their sorrows in crinkly brown leaves, As the shimmering ripples run deep.

As nights slinks in like an ebony cat, The water nymphs start to return.

They dance on the banks, and they skim through reeds, And they laugh as the stars brightly burn.

The lights then go out, and the boats disappear.

I gaze at a mirror of black.

My eyelids then droop - I recline in my seat, With a silvery moon gazing back.

A dimly-lit room in the depths of the house, A nook that I don't wish to share.

I lie fast asleep; in silence; alone, Inhaling the frosty night air.

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HELM

CHAUCER In November, Dr Charles Farris, Head of Education at the Chaucer Heritage Trust, visited school to introduce Year 7 and 8 students to the first great writer in the English language – Geoffrey Chaucer. In a series of lively sessions he introduced them to Middle English, Chaucer, and some of the characters from his bestknown work, The Canterbury Tales, including the Prioress, with her love of jewellery and refined table manners, and the hard-working, honest Plowman .

The students all participated enthusiastically in Dr. Farris’ very interactive workshops, reading Middle English out loud and creating their own Canterbury Tales-style characters for the Trust’s creative writing competition. Entries from schools around the country were judged by a panel consisting of poet Patience Agbabi, Chaucer expert Gail Ashton, and broadcaster and author Stephen Fry. In the Junior category, Noah Parker (Year 7) was awarded 3rd Place for his story entitled Journey in Kenya, and Edward Thomson (Year 7) was awarded 2nd Place for his very Chaucerian description of a decidedly dubious dentist:

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BV

Joining the journey was a DENTIST, skilled, Countless rotten cavities had he filled.

So gentle was his manner as he drilled, That no one queried the amount he billed.

His dexterous hands, his patients did please, As he tuned their teeth like piano keys.

The same nimble digits could unwrap with ease, A whole box of assorted confectioneries.

Nervous patients, legs trembling like jelly, Were kindly distracted with the overhead telly.

He removed all their plaque, however smelly, Flecks sometimes landing on his ample belly.

Good flossing and brushing, he would always beseech, “Never eat sweets” to the children he’d teach.

The aspiring celebs, he’d whiten with bleach, Whilst his own breath reeked like a maggoty peach.

Diligent and thorough, yet his manner was mild, He’d coax open the jaws of the most stubborn child.

It was sometimes observed that he never once smiled For his own decayed teeth were so shamefully filed!

BV

HELM In the Senior (16 – 19) category, Edward McLaren (Year 12) was awarded 2nd place for his poem, written in Middle English, ‘The Old Fool’s Tale’ and Giulia Dissegna (Year 13) was awarded 1st place for her poem ‘Santiago de Compostella’:

BV

Fishing wire prophecy hooked itself under her gums Pulled up- and through and twisted itself off A cat’s cradle strung between her teeth, Mother’s multicoloured embroidery thread And her mouth caked in rapier rust - still She was gagged with Reverie in the morning - then, Tea with the cousin’s - alwaysIn her knitted shawl And His puckered crochet - work of yellow light.

She steeped herself in the other girl’s perfume for three long afternoons, after Friday, Saturday and Sunday afterschool Her molars clinked like ceramic There were cavities in her wedding china, Puddles of Fallacy where Auntie’s gold voodoo ring Still chimes - against the enamelAnd the little blue glaze flowers from a churchgoing childhood.

The cloves she crushed between her back teeth Saliva and Dissolving gelatine capsules.

Moreish opioids They traded that numbness on the tip of their tongues Peony finger pads Opal lobes And the Winking Eye of Grecian archaeology That had trowels tinkering between her mossy thighs.

There was a flowerbed on her rump, Soft rosemary buds to pinch off And faerie wings to pluck And a pair of white, anointed feet to stamp the Pagan out of her.

A Clementine was unfurled in the other girl’s lap And pomegranate seeds in her bellybutton And in the midst of the peel they found a stranger’s fingertips And the ridge of an old keloid scar in the rind.

The other girl talked of God Capitalised, always And with the white peal she crafted a pantomime road for the angles And she took the others hair, Made a slipknot for her pinkie And pulled it tight In The summer before her pilgrimage.

BV

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HELM

BORLASE BARD

The Whole School Poetry competition 2017 had the theme of 'Change' and a wide variety of wonderful interpretations of the theme were received. It was very hard for the judges to decide on the winners, particularly because the entries were anonymous with only code names used. This is to give an equal chance to every age group to be the winner of the Bard's Chair.

Once again, this year, Luke Johnston was crowned Bard, with Chloe D'Arcy winner of the KS5 section, Fin Anderson the winner of the KS4 section and Amy Greener, winner of the KS3 section.

BV

The Gilded Counterpart ‘To war we go,’ said he, the Lord, ‘Mine father’s land is yet restored, We’ll win the fight with swift advance, And strike our foe with sword and lance.’

But in the fields the common folk, Hear the word that does invoke Despair; for they must adhere And woe to they who interfere.

‘Call the banners!’ said he, the lord, ‘Those loyal, shall with me reward Themselves with plunder and with glory, And live to tell the noble story.’

But plunder is only conveyed To those who aren’t already paid With glory, that thus comes around When men are laid to the ground.

‘Ride with me, your Lord,’ said he, ‘Feel the wild gust, oh, how free!

Land’s beauty cannot be denied By day, and night brings silver skies.’

And after weary swift advance, Night brings rest, and so to chance, To scavenge from what may remain, And precious rest to dull the pain.

‘Fight and die!’ said he, the Lord, But in his scabbard was his sword, And when the battle tide did sway – So did he and rode away.

And die they did without a chance, Trampled fast, speared by lance, And in the fields they lie and dream, For now they yield a crimson stream.

‘Some other time, another day,’ Said the Lord as was his way, ‘My army does yet most remain – We shall resume our stout campaign!

But minor loss will not return their lives, Nor soothe their mourning wives.

In hope they weep upon those lost To thaw the pain like morning frost

For now, drink to our brief adventure, Pour the ale, fill your trencher, Don’t let this badly come across: ‘’Twas not defeat, ’twas minor loss!’

When it does turn to dew, As there are left a fortunate few, Who live yet, while the dead depart, The gilded counterpart.

Whole School Winner: Luke Johnston (Y13)

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BV

HELM

BV Seasons The summer still hangs heavy and sweet with sunlight as it did last year.

The autumn still comes showering us with gold and crimson as it did last year.

The winter still stings with a piercing icy bite as it did last year.

The spring still arrives like a whisper in the dark night as it did last year.

The only one who has changed is me.

KS4 winner: Fin Anderson (Y11)

BV The Falling of the Sun The sun bursts with light; Before it is smothered by night’s malicious cloak.

The rays of red slowly are smote out; And the struggle is over, For the sun has fallen.

Night then releases its jewels, Causing momentary happiness; And then dispatches its spine-curdling mares, To plague the innocent and guilty minds.

For the sun has fallen.

The night takes its throne; Extinguishing the sun’s merriment And replacing it with malevolence and unease.

For the sun has fallen.

Sun shall soon chasten the night; Retain the glorious landscape it set afire And end the plagues of mares; Though night shall triumph again, The sun can’t alter the land now, For it is falling.

Night’s foreboding sweeps through the land, Causing creatures to develop their true forms And humans to shroud themselves in their duvets.

For the sun has fallen.

BV

KS3 winner: Amy Greener (Y8)

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BV

The Serksby Institution for Psychiatric Expertise They sit with their backs to the world around, Fixated on walls, chemical green, Blank faces, cold they make no sound, Naive to what or where they are bound, Absent? present? somewhere in between, They sit with their backs to the world around, They’ve lost the sensation of air or ground, Eyes, corrupted by what they have seen, Blank faces, cold they make no sound, No welcome breath or footsteps resound, Hands soft heads, shaved, clothing pristine, They sit with their backs to the world around, Below, bright lights they are stunned, confound, Suppressed sighs, a hostile,silent scene, Blank faces, cold they make no sound Once vivid colours have slowly browned, Conscious? content? human? machine?

They sit with their backs to the world around, Blank faces,cold they make no sound

BV Maeve Dolan (Y13 - Winner of the Audrey Moore Prize for Creative Writing) THE QUESTION Where I live, we all live normal lives until 12. On our birthdays, masked men come round our houses and ask us one simple question to determine our whole lives. A question that can turn your life into heaven or hell. A question that will make you a god or a slave.

I’ve been anticipating this day since I first found out about it. No-one under 12 knows what the question is, and adults who tell us what it is get mysteriously taken away, never to return. It must be something so 36

serious if it determines the course of our future.

Last night I sat in bed, with my phone on under the covers, researching what the question could possibly be. My friend Bella, who shared my birthday, heard rumours that it’s a maths problem, but I had heard that it was a history question. We didn’t really know what the question was. No-one did.

It was around midday when I heard a knock on the door. My heart raced, I felt a pulsing in my brain, and rushed downstairs. My parents were already there, all thinking the same thing. But thankfully, it was just Bella, who had wanted to be with me on this important day. We tried to distract ourselves but it wasn’t exactly working. The atmosphere was so tense it felt like I could burst. Bella was fidgety and stuttered a lot.

Hours passed but it felt like an eternity. Finally, the doorbell rang with a high-pitched “ping!” Mum opened the door. The time has come. There stood a cloaked, masked man dressed in black. He spoke in a robotic voice.

“Girls, this is it. Answer my question. Both of you.”

A shiver went up my spine.

“Does pineapple belong on pizza?”

This was so unexpected I let out a quiet laugh.

“No! Eww!” gasped Bella.

“Yeah, sure, why not?” I replied.

Two other cloaked figures erupted from behind the man and grasped both my arms. Resistance was pointless and they dragged me into a black van. I saw Bella standing open mouthed.

I never saw her again.

Zhenya Fyodorova (Y8)

HELM

MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGES AT BORLASE It had been an exciting year for MFL, with many of our favourite regular activities and visits taking place with another cohort of excited students who relish the opportunity to put their classroom language learning into real life practice, in both extra-curricular activities and trips. But it’s not just the extra-curricular activities which count. During a normal school week, at breaks and lunchtimes, our Year 12 and 13 students can regularly be seen running language clubs for older students, and in support sessions for younger students.

The highlight of the year has been our biennial Languages Extravaganza with contributions in almost 30 languages to show the wealth and depth of the school’s linguistic heritage, as well as to showcase the talent and enthusiasm of our language learners from year 7 to 13.

MFL enjoys helping students learn and celebrate so many different national traditions. The Year 8 German Christmas party is now an annual fixture, with some creative card making and Weihnachtsgebäck (Christmas biscuit) decorations, Stollen and Lebkuchen to snack on, and well known Christmas carols, sung in the original German.

Stretch and challenge opportunities are rife this year and include UK Linguistics Olympiad silver medals for Fintan McKillop and Jemima Jones, and bronze for Konrad Meyer and Sasha Harding-Hubbard. We were also selected for the first time to compete in the EU ‘Juvenes Translatores’ competition, with 5 participants: Jemima Jones, Victoria Chong, Charlie Harris, Maisha Ahmed and Juliette Dudley. Although we didn’t win any major prizes, lots was learned, and it was perhaps our last chance before Brexit to compete in an EU competition. Olivia McCrorie (Year 12) has been awarded one of only three Dresden Trust Scholarships awarded by the British-German Association and will be spending 4 weeks as a 6th Form student in a German grammar school in the summer.

Our Year 9 Youthbridge winners, Raife Foulkes and Christima Gurung have also enjoyed extending their cultural knowledge of Germany with articles, respectively, on using quantum mechanics to further our communicational and computational technology, German festivals, and healthy eating trends.

We are very proud that our KS 4 exchange trips to Spain, France and Germany continue. Their success is due to the willingness and cooperation of colleagues in our partner schools - Collège Louis Lumiere in

Marly-le-Roi, France, (over 30 years link) Gymnasium Saarburg in Saarburg, Germany (over 20 years) and Colegio Diocesano Pablo VI in Ávila, Spain (4 years).

The experiences the exchanges offer our students are invaluable in developing an authentic linguistic and cultural experiences for the pupils, with visits to historical and cultural places of interest, as well as local and family traditions. Apart from the immediate benefits in both communication and comprehension, the diaries produced by the pupils are a vital memento, not just for GCSE study but often as a lifelong memento of a valuable visit.

A KS5 exchange with Lycée René Gosse in Clermont l’Hérault near Montpellier now takes place every 2 years, alternating with a full language immersion study week in Normandy, and a year 12 German work experience programme in Saarburg (soon to be mirrored by a Spanish equivalent) enrich the KS5 language and cultural experience. Alongside these longer visits, there is also a highly popular Year 9 trip to the Aachen Christmas market, a year 7 French visit to Boulogne, and a Year 12 study trip to Berlin.

These trips would not succeed without the expertise, enthusiasm, organisation and unstinting support of our new MFL administrator, Mrs Vicki Alexander.

Mandarin continues as an enrichment subject, with students starting after-school lessons either in Year 9 or Year 12. We currently have 14 pupils studying Mandarin from Year 9 to Year 12, and we hope to run a trip to China in October 2019.

Mrs J Hopper, Head of MFL

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LANGUAGES EXTRAVAGANZA LANGUAGES UNITE THE WORLD

The biennial Languages Extravaganza which took place in February represented a celebration of languages at Borlase involving pupils from all key stages. The evening opened with a video, compiled by Jacob Minihane with support from Will Davies from the Performing Arts Department, in which a host of Borlase students welcomed guests and parents in another language, often their mother tongue at home.

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The talented singers of Gospel Choir started the show in style with “Shozoloza”, an African piece arranged by Claire Murphy. Then we were graced with a stunning performance from Joséphine Cadinouche of “Porgi amor” from Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro. Year 7 French students went on to light up the stage with a wonderfully entertaining rendition of “Alouette” which had their fellow students dancing along in the wings.

Our Mandarin students also impressed us with their skills, as the Year 11 students gave a presentation about Chinese Language and Culture. Year 9 Mandarin Students, accompanied by Sophie Joscelyne (Year 7) recited an enchanting ancient Chinese Poem, “Thinking on a Quiet Night” followed

by Matthew Shaw and Melanie Stewart who both performed beautiful Chinese folk songs, Matthew on the piano and Melanie giving an exceptional vocal solo performance.

The talented singers from Chapel Choir performed “Northern Lights”, a beautiful piece by Ola Gjelo followed by German students from Year 9 who gave a presentation about their trip to Aachen to visit the Christmas Market and Aachen Cathedral.

HELM The first half of the evening came to an end with two fabulous performances from the Spanish Department.

Year 12 & 13 Students introduced us to the works of Pedro Almodóvar through their staging of “Volver” showcasing the beautiful voices of Isabelle Peplow, Maddy Evans, Sasha Harding-Hubbard, Cece Briscoe and JJ Jones. Year 8 Spanish students impressed us with their newly developed language skills in their pantomime “Blancanieves” (Snow White). The students were so keen to take part that Snow White had 9 dwarves!

The Youth Voices choir opened the second half of the evening with fabulous performances of the “Alphabet Song” from Matilda and “En chantant” from the film “La Famille Bélier”. From the same film, Year 12 & 13 French Students sang “Je vole” accompanied by Grace Dixon (Year 10) who moved the audience with her stunning translation of the emotional chorus in sign language.

The Year 13 German Students went on to entertain us with extracts from their A Level piece, Dürrenmatt’s “Der Besuch der Alten Dame” and Year 11 Linguists explained how the GSCE Oral Exams are undertaken through their fun Role Play Rap. The evening would not have been complete without a mention of Brexit which was hilariously presented to us by the Year 13 French Students, complete with berets, baguettes and a very amusing moustache!

Laughter turned to more solemn memories however with two moving performances, a sketch by Juliette Dudley & Louis O’Connell followed by a poem by Keanu Tamtekin commemorating 100 years since the end of WWI. The Year 12 Linguists gave a very informative presentation with their views, as 17 year olds, of the importance of languages in today’s world and in the future. The evening finished with the Year 8 German students’ presentation of the Karneval festival season. The catchy Karneval song “Das Fliegerlied” had the audience joining in and clapping along.

The MFL Department would like to say a special thank you Victoria Chong, for designing the logo.

Learning languages means understanding and appreciating different cultures.

Through languages we can communicate our differences but share our common goals.

Thank you for helping us celebrate that languages unite the world.

Ms. Alexander

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A LEVEL GERMAN IN BERLIN

Last October, the Year 12 German class flew out to Berlin. Few of us had visited the German capital before, so, whilst we knew Berlin from having studied it, it would always prove to be a new and interesting experience. Our sojourn took in some of Berlin’s most historic and culturally significant sites, as well as having a chance to feel and explore the city’s unique atmosphere; our visit began with a walking tour of the city with our own tour guide. The sights we saw included its most famous landmark: the Brandenburg Gate. The gate, completed in 1791, has been a monument throughout history and the site of many major political events. It is situated at the border between the former East and West Berlin, a theme that still pervades Berlin’s culture today. During our time in the East, we could see the old signs of the past. Most notable was the Stasi-Museum, where our guide took us through former interrogation rooms and prison cells. Our group was affected by the museum’s poignancy. The East German government was an authoritarian regime, and many of the former East Germans who were kept in this prison now work there as guides. The landmarks were not the only difference between the East and West. The West is home to modern things you would see in other cities, whereas the culture and architecture of the East is a reminder of its past.

In the latter stages of the trip, our tour guide gave us the opportunity to speak to ordinary Germans about the city, and we would also explore several other parts of the city: during the evenings we would walk through the Tiergarten, one of Germany’s largest green 40

spaces, and ascend the Reichstag (the current German legislature) for the spectacular night view of the city’s skyline from its dome. Like any school trip, there was also free time in Berlin’s centre, where there is a wide range of shops and restaurants. They do however still feel uniquely German; much German food was bought. Our final day was spent in the city centre. We would visit a number of museums and several German shops, particularly confectioners, before our flight home after five days well-spent enjoying this uniquely interesting city.

Im Oktober flog die 12. deutsche Klasse nach Berlin. Kaum von uns hat Berlin schon besucht, und obwohl wir wegen unserer Studien Berlin wussten, war diese Klassenfahrt sicherlich eine neue und interessante Erfahrung. Unsere Aufenthalt schloss viele von den historischsten und kulturell bedeutsamsten Stellen der Stadt ein, sowie die Gelegenheit, um die einzigartige Atmosphäre zu erforschen und zu spüren. Unser Besuch fing mit einem Rundgang der Stadt mit unserem eigenen Reiseleiter an.

Zu den Sehenswürdigkeiten, da wir sahen, gehörte das bekannteste Wahrzeichen in Berlin: das Brandenburger Tor, das im Jahre 1791 fertiggestellt wurde. Das Tor war im Laufe der Geschichte ein Denkmal und Schauplatz von vielen wichtigen politischen Ereignissen. Es liegt an der Grenze zwischen dem ehemaligen Ost und West Berlin; das ist ein Thema, das bis heute die Berliner Kultur durchdringt. Während unserer Zeit im Osten konnten wir die alten Zeichen der Vergangenheit sehen.

Am bemerkenswertesten war das Stasi-Museum, wo uns unser Führer durch ehemalige Verhörräume und Zellen führte. Unsere Gruppe war von der Schärfe des Museums betroffen. Das Ostdeutsche Regime war autoritär, und viele ehemalige Häftlinge arbeiten heute als Führer.

Die Landmarken waren nicht der einzige Unterschied zwischen Ost und West. Der Westen hat moderne Sachen, die Sie in anderen Städten sehen würden, während die Kultur und Architektur des Ostens ist seine Vergangenheit geprägt.

In den letzten Phasen der Reise gab uns unser Reiseleiter die Gelegenheit, mit echten Berlinern über die Stadt zu sprechen, und wir würden auch einige andere Teile der Stadt erkunden. Abends liefen wir durch den Tiergarten, einen der größten Deutschlands Grünflächen, und steigen auf den Reichstag - die aktuelle deutsche Gesetzgebung - um eine spektakuläre nächtliche Blick auf die Skyline der Stadt von seiner Kuppel zu erhalten.

Wie alle Klassenfahrten, gab es Freizeit im Stadtzentrum, und es gibt eine große Menge von Restaurants und Geschäften. Viele deutsches Essen war gekauft. Unser letzter Tag wurde im Stadtzentrum verbracht. Wir besuchten ein paar Museen und mehrere Geschäfte,

HELM besonders Konditoreien. Der Zeitpunkt unseres Rückflugs würde bedeuten, dass unsere Reise genau fünf Tage dauern würde; es war fünf Tage, um diese einzigartig interessante Stadt zu genießen. Wir möchten Frau Hopper und Frau Fortnam für die Rolle danken, die sie in dieser äußerst angenehmen Reise gespielt haben.

Sam Beesley

GCSE GERMAN IN AACHEN

Last December the Year 9 German classes went on the annual trip to Aachen and its Christmas Market.

This was a chance for us to experience German culture for the first time and use our new German skills. After an early start, we travelled by coach through France, Belgium and the Netherlands to the city, which lies near the German-Dutch border. We stayed in a youth hostel in the outskirts of the city.

Aachen is a historic centre and many tourists visit each year. In the Christmas Market there is a wide range of vendors who sell different products in their wooden huts. Naturally there are a lot of stalls selling traditional German food, such as Aachener Printen

and Bratwurst, as well as stalls that sell more unusual products, such as the German Nutcracker, a souvenir unique to these Christmas markets. Other attractions included the Lindt stall, where much chocolate was consumed. Aachen’s market is relatively new; it has taken place in the shadow of the cathedral since 1970.

The cathedral was consecrated in 805; it was built on the order of Emperor Charlemagne, and we were able to visit the cathedral and go to the top. Many of us brought home souvenirs, and enjoyed being able to explore a foreign country in a new way.

Im Dezember fuhr die 9. Klasse ihre jährliche Klassenfahrt nach Aachen. Es war eine Gelegenheit, um die deutsche Kultur zum ersten Mal zu erfahren, und unsere neuen Deutschkenntnisse zu verwenden. Nach einem frühen Anfang, reisten wir mit dem Bus durch Frankreich, Belgien und die Niederlande in die Stadt, die in der Nähe von der deutschen Grenze stattfindet, und wir übernachteten in einer Herberge am Stadtrand.

Aachen ist ein historisches Zentrum und jedes Jahr besuchen viele Touristen. Auf dem Weihnachtsmarkt gibt es eine breite Palette von Händlern, die verschiedene Produkte in ihre hölzernen Hütten verkaufen. Natürlich gibt es viele Marktbuden, die traditionelles deutsches Essen anbieten, wie Printen und Bratwurst, sowie andere Marktbuden, mit einzelner Produkte, wie den deutschen Nussknacker. Dieser Geschenkartikel ist einzigartig. Ein anderes Geschäft war die Lindt Werksverkäufe, wo viel Schokolade gegessen wurde. Der Markt ist relativ neu.

Seit 1970 findet es vor dem Dom statt. Der Aachener Dom war im Jahre 805 geweiht, nachdem Charlemagne es erbaut hatte. Wir konnten es besuchen und besteigen.

Viele von uns brachten Geschenkartikeln mit nach Hause und genossen es, ein fremdes Land in eine neue Weise zu erkunden konnten.

Year 9 German

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SPANISH EXCHANGE

Many thanks to Señora Román and all the other staff, English and Spanish, for helping organise this wonderful opportunity for us. I hope years below me continue to enjoy this trip, as I certainly did.

Leon Tasch

YEAR 7 BOULOGNE

Learning a new language can be a rather distant thing, if you don’t see it used in the real world. Without proper exposure it can seem almost meaningless... and language exchanges are a marvellous solution. I went on my much-awaited Spanish exchange this year and it’s safe to say it was a complete success.

I was greeted by my own exchange student and his family at their school, and despite my apprehension, they were very kind and hospitable. Every day was fun-filled, involving a combination of exploration and traditional Spanish activities (and food!) including: touring around Madrid, making authentic tapas and watching a flamenco dance and music show.

My exchange student introduced me to all his friends, as I did mine. Before I knew it, we were one big friendship group. They were always kind, and helped me with my Spanish, and we did the same with their English.

Accommodating my partner in England was fun too, and it was nice to introduce him to my own culture.

This involved a trip on the London Eye, a pub dinner and a full English breakfast (Black Pudding and all!). I threw one of a few parties to celebrate our reunion.

Also, with some help from my stepsister, I hosted a night out at a restaurant for the group which was great fun. Let’s just say some tears were shed when they returned to Spain.

Alongside educational benefits, this trip offered me (and my peers) cultural education, social opportunities, and memories with my friends which will stay with me long beyond my Borlase years. I returned home with not only increased knowledge of Spanish, but also the confidence to speak the language with locals and my classmates. I also gained some really important knowledge: I know that people are people, no matter where in the world; though we may live differently, and talk differently, we can all get along, nationalities aside.

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Every year, the Year 7s get a chance to go on a trip to Boulogne-sur-Mer in France where you get to visit two places, a snail farm and a boulangerie.

On arriving in France my coach went to the snail farm.

The staff were really nice, and knew a lot about snails.

We had a talk on how they harvest snails and where they live. We all got the chance to hold one, if we wanted to, and took lots of photos. After a while, we all went into a dining hall, where we were presented with 3 types of snails each, and got to try them if you wanted. The opinions were definitely split; some people loved them, some people hated them!

Next, we stopped off at Boulogne town centre, where we got to go off in small groups and explore the traffic free town. There are many shops where you can buy lunch and souvenirs. We found a very popular sweet

HELM shop, which is usually crammed full of people, but does do amazing hand-made toffees which I highly recommend. It was so fun to walk around the town with my friends, and speak French to the shopkeepers, who were all so nice.

Later, we went to the boulangerie. We were split into two groups, one to make bread first, one to make croissants first. In the bread group, you learn the ingredients used to make bread, how it rises and how it is baked. We got to play with some dough and shape it into lots of interesting shapes.

Next was croissants. In this room, you meet a really scary man, who almost hits you with a stick if you mess up on a question he asks you. He was so scary.

But the activities were fun. We got to roll up dough to look like croissants. After this, we met outside again and each got a croissant and a pain au chocolat.

Then, it was off home. This was such a fun experience, and we will all remember it for the rest of our lives.

Finn Driver

MFL BAKE-OFF

A highlight in the school calendar is the MFL bake-off in September to celebrate European Week of Languages, this year organised by prefects Fintan McKillop and Izzy Peplow, and judged by Dr Holding (who is very keen to be invited back to judge next year!) The background research, imagination, creativity and high quality baking skills of our students is really impressive, making the judging harder each time. The competition offers a real incentive for students to broaden their international cultural outlook and the resulting cake sale raised £55.00 for charity. The overall winner was Year 8’s Joe Starkey who impressed the judges with his exceptional Tunisian Orange & Almond Cake with North African spices.

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SIGN LANGUAGE

One of the highlights of this year’s Languages Extravaganza was Grace Dixon’s moving sign language rendition of the chorus from ‘Je vole’. Here she explains her interest in Sign Language.

When I was nine, I read a book about a child who befriended a deaf boy and learned sign language in order to speak to him. As I had had little previous experience of any form of language other than verbal, I was immediately interested and wanted to learn more.

A few years later, I came across a music video which showed a couple using sign language. Reminded

of my previous desire to learn it, I signed up to an online course teaching beginner’s BSL (British Sign Language). Through talking to people and watching films, I learnt about the importance of sign language and the inadequacies of the support currently in place for deaf people. Deafness, as stated by the director of ‘The Silent Child’, an Oscar-winning short film about a deaf child, can be one of the loneliest disabilities: I wonder what a difference it would make if schools started to offer BSL, alongside French, German and Spanish? Not only could this transform the lives of so many people, but everyone would realise that sign language really is a beautiful language. Unlike verbal communication, to sign to someone you must make eye contact and pay full attention to them the whole time in order to properly convey your emotions, which I think, in the busy modern day, is something very special.

Grace Dixon

ICH SPRECHE MIT MEINER KATZE Ich spreche mit meiner roten Katze Sie ist ein Akku - sie lädt mich auf Sie springt auf meine Beine und sie wärmt meine Beine Ich sage ich bin ein Kätzchen, und ich will Komfort Meine Freundin ist zu einem exotischen Ort umgezogen Die Familie meiner Katze ist in den Himmel gekommen Der Himmel ist im Schatten des Todes, aber er ist voller Leben

I TALK WITH MY CAT I talk with my red cat She is a battery - charging me up She jumps onto my legs, and she makes my legs warm.

I say that I am a kitten, and I want comfort My friend has been taken by an exotic place My cat’s family have been taken to Heaven Heaven is in the shadow of death, but is full of life.

Ich sage du kannst deine Taten nicht annullieren Du kannst deine eigene Geburt nicht sehen Du kannst deine tote Familie nicht anlächeln Ich sage die gelbe Sonne ist immer hier, Aber manchmal versteckt sich die gelbe Sonne hinter eine schwarze Decke Das Licht kommt immer zurück

I say that you cannot remove your actions You cannot watch your birth You cannot smile at your dead family I say that the yellow sun is always here But sometimes it hides behind a black blanket The light always returns.

Ich sage, das Universum wird nicht enden Aber Menschen werden versuchen, es zu zerstören Es ist ewig Ich sage alles andere wird stehen bleiben Wir können das nicht verhindern Die grüne Augen meiner Katze blitzen Ihr rotes Fell ist seidig und warm Sie versteht. Sie lächelt...

My cat’s green eyes sparkle Her fur is silky and warm She understands. She smiles…

Jetzt, sitzen wir auf dem roten Sofa.

Ich verliere mich in der Welt meiner Katze..

Now, we are on the red sofa.

I am lost in my cat’s world.

Daisy Foley, Year 8 44

I say that the universe will not stop But people will try to destroy it It is eternal I say that everything else will stop We cannot prevent that.

PERFORMING ARTS 45

PERFORMING ARTS

PERFORMING ARTS PREFECT’S REPORT

At Borlase, one rarely manages to escape the Performing Arts Department. Whether your interests lie specifically in the Arts, or in something else, it would’ve been hard to not be involved in one of the many events this year. From the House Dance competition to Rocktober, the Evensong Service to the Senior Play, I don’t think there are many schools with such an array of potential opportunities to get involved in.

Once again, this academic year has been another great success. Back in September we hit the ground running, introducing our newest additions to the Borlase family to the arts as part of their Performing Arts day. Seeing a class of 30 Year 7s singing ‘Revolting Children’ from Matilda made me smile, not only because of the irony, but because of their enthusiasm, and also because it was the first time I realised how relatively old I was.

Since then I don’t think I’ve rolled my eyes once when being told how fast my school days would go!

Through all of the many performances during the year, it has been lovely to see the involvement of all age groups in the school, from over 60 of our younger peers in Youth Voices to the Year 8s in the dance show showing us their best tricks and flips.

Thrilling, to say the least! And in the course of all these evenings we are lucky enough to see how these talents develop exponentially over the years. What’s clear is, with age comes a huge understanding of the real world and the Arts subjects are ones where links between our everyday life and our hobbies are easy to make. This year it was very special to see four female students performing a dance based on the Suffragette movement, and with the 30 year anniversary of girls at Borlase, it is always good to be reminded how hard women have fought to get to where we are today.

Our last day of school was rather bittersweet and looking back I cannot have wished for a better experience at Borlase; it will always be a place of many happy memories. It goes without saying that the teachers are like no other, giving up their time to help create wonderful memories that make it so hard to say goodbye, and supporting us as students to pursue pretty much anything! I speak on behalf of every student involved in the Arts this year, in thanking all the wonderful staff involved.

So for those of you who will continue to walk through those Chapel Gates in September, I have one small bit of advice: get involved and take all the opportunities going. Make your own mark, however big or small.

Jess Rollett 46

MUSIC REVIEW 2017-2018

The music scene at Borlase this year has been as vibrant as ever, with an amazing array of talent being showcased throughout the year.

The new academic year began with the sellout Autumn Concert, which saw students from across the year groups perform. The fantastic quality of the student led groups was particularly noticeable.

Christmas is always a special time and this year didn’t disappoint. Mr Robson’s annual Winter Concert was a fantastic opportunity for singers, string and woodwind players to showcase their talents. The four Carol Services at All Saints’ Church held even more significance this year as they were the last to be enjoyed by Dr Holding in the position of Headmaster.

The new Chamber Concerts are a great opportunity for students to perform solos or small group pieces in a small and more informal concert environment.

This year’s Spring Chamber Concert saw 24 students from across year groups performing solos in a range of styles. A ground-breaking event in Borlase history, in March we had our first Choral Evensong service in the Chapel. The thought provoking readings and stunning musical performances from the Chapel Choir created a fantastic atmosphere. It was a beautiful evening, and we hope that this will become another one of Borlase’s annual musical traditions!

On behalf of the students, we’d like to thank the Music Department staff for all the work they do to support us in pursuing our musical interests. The overwhelming levels of opportunity that we are given just wouldn’t be possible without all that they do.

Amy Sheldon

MUSIC AT BORLASE

Once again the Music Department has had a very busy and varied year. Music continues to be a popular subject at both GCSE and A Level in Borlase and it is very pleasing to note that, despite national trends, the numbers of students choosing the subject beyond KS3 are continuing to grow.

Extra-curricular music continues to thrive, with increasing numbers of students involved in a varied programme of ensembles and events. In line with the department’s philosophy of inclusivity it is pleasing that our concerts regularly feature hundreds of students, and the music rooms are rarely without the sounds of students rehearsing, working on their classwork compositions or just ‘jamming’ at break and lunchtimes. New events introduced last year to

PERFORMING ARTS provide further performance opportunities have also grown in popularity. The Autumn and Spring Chamber Concerts this year saw audiences as large as 50, and the number of performers signing up has increased. A focus of the department over the last couple of years has been to develop the musical opportunities for, and musical output of, years 7-9. It is therefore rewarding to see many more students from these year groups now taking part in extracurricular music. Junior Girls’ Choir and Cambiata (formerly the Boys’ Choir) have both seen increased numbers, and the new Youth Voices (mixed) group now maintains a membership of almost 70. Under Mrs Ross’ leadership Cambiata has developed a confident treble sound to give some really enjoyable and musical performances this year, from the Beatles to Benjamin Britten. The Junior Girls’ Choir, led by Mrs Redgard-Siler, performed at the National Music for Youth Final in the Birmingham Symphony Hall as well as performing with the Chiltern Concert Band, to raise almost £300 for the Organ Restoration Fund. The girls were a huge credit to the school at both performances and should feel rightly proud for the very positive audience reviews they received! Youth Voices has also had a very successful year, continuing to entertain audiences, with energetic performances of the ‘School Song’ from Matilda and ‘Mary Did You Know’ being particular highlights. Beyond singing, the Junior Jazz Band, under the fantastic direction of Mr Davie, has grown in size, and the ever popular Rock Club, ably run by Year 13 prefect Adam Cox, has helped to forge several new KS3 bands.

The music calendar this year has also included the traditional Autumn and Senior Concerts, and the much-loved Christmas Carol Services, all of which celebrate the huge variety and depth of the students’ musical achievements. These events continue to be sell-out successes - with the addition of a second evening Carol Service for Alumni and Parents now the newest Borlase tradition

The Chapel Choir has continued to flourish under the confident leadership of Jess Rollett, giving some wonderful performances over the year. Particular congratulations must be given to Jess and the choir for organising a beautiful Choral Evensong service in the school chapel just before Easter. The choir was rewarded with the award of a silver medal at the Marlow Music Festival. This festival was also a big success for the Gospel Choir, this year led by Chloe Nicklin and Isabelle Peplow, who were awarded Gold medal in their class, as well as the Alan Howorth Memorial Cup. Another highlight of this year was our biennial Jazz Night, which took place in February. This highly successful and enjoyable evening summarised the exciting developments that have been taking place within our jazz music over the past two years. This was not the only showcase for the Senior Jazz Band this year: in May the ensemble was invited to perform at the entrance to the Pub in the Park festival, which they did with great enthusiasm, entertaining the queuing public.

This year the Music Department released a ‘Best of 2017’ CD, featuring performances by many of the school’s various ensembles. It also features the first ever (known!) recording of the school song Te Digna Sequere, which a group of students from the senior choirs recorded in the school’s chapel.

As the academic year comes to a close we say farewell and thank you to our Year 13 musicians, who have given so much to the department in their time at the school. A huge thank you must also go to all the staff in the Music Department for their hard work and support, particularly my colleague Dr Parsons. However, things never stop and another busy and exciting year lies ahead, kicking off with the Junior Musical in early July.

Mr S Miall, Director of Music

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PERFORMING ARTS

AUTUMN CHAMBER CONCERT

The first main musical event of the year, the Autumn Chamber Concert, took place on Thursday 5th October in the Wethered Room. The chamber concert platform was introduced last year to offer students an opportunity to perform in a more informal setting.

Solo performers from all year groups provided a rich evening of musical talent and entertainment, with repertoire ranging from J. S. Bach's B Minor Mass to Ivor Novello's We'll Gather Lilacs.

Amy Sheldon

SPRING CHAMBER CONCERT

On the 14th March, Borlase showcased some of its finest musicians in the Spring Chamber Concert. This is a great opportunity for students to perform solos or small group pieces in a small and more informal concert environment. This year’s concert saw 24 students from all year groups performing, which was more than in previous chamber concerts at the school. It’s fantastic to see so many students stepping out of their comfort zones and performing solos in front of a supportive audience of around 50 people.

The concert was opened by Mary-Anne Grego’s entrancing performance of Chopin’s ‘Polonaise in A flat major’, which set the tone for the evening perfectly. Many singers performed in the concert, with particularly memorable performances from Joséphine Cadinouche, Cormac Diamond and Fraser Brown.

Cambiata also gave a very impressive performance of their three pieces. By chance, a jazz theme seemed to run through the evening with ‘Bluewater Blues’ performed on violin by Max Dexter (Year 8), ‘Fly Me to The Moon’ sung by Alexia Martin, Izzie Peplow and Chloe Nicklin, and ‘There’s the Rub’ performed as a duet on saxophone by myself and Anna Jones to finish the concert. It was a very successful evening and we all look forward to the next one!

Amy Sheldon

AUTUMN CONCERT

The Autumn Concert was a huge success, displaying the huge musical talent of Borlase’s students.

Symphony Orchestra opened the concert with an engaging performance of Beethoven’s ‘Symphony No. 7 in A Major’. Chapel Choir performed ‘Irish Blessing’ conducted by Jess Rollett, captivating the audience with their beautiful sound. Clarinet Collective was also directed by a student, Alys Ramm, showing how the school advocates student led groups. Youth Voices 48

was one of the highlights of the concert, involving over 60 students all singing with great enthusiasm.

Their second song, ‘If Only You Would Listen’ featured a number of solos performed with real confidence by younger students. This was followed by String Quartet directed by Mary-Anne Grego showcasing some of the school’s outstanding musicians. The orange trombone in Junior Jazz Band caught the audience’s eye, and their catchy performance of ‘Minor Blues’ featured an improvised solo from every member of the band. Dr Parsons conducted Senior String Orchestra in an impressive performance of Grieg’s ‘Praeludium’. Cantorum closed the first half with two pieces showing the varying styles in which they can sing and their sound came across beautifully.

Junior Orchestra opened the second half, impressing the audience with both of their pieces. Saxophone Ensemble’s performance of ‘Sir Duke’ , by Alex Russell, was rhythmic and got everybody’s toes tapping.

Madriguys performed ‘The Seal Lullaby’, impressing the audience with their tight and impressive harmony.

After just two rehearsals, Concert Band managed to pull it out of the bag, performing ‘Frozen’ at a very high level. Both Junior Girls’ Choir and Gospel Choir sang with enthusiasm and produced very impressive performances, involving a large number of students.

Led by Simon Davie, Jazz Band closed the concert with a finale. Their performances of ‘C Jam Blues’ and ‘Pick Up The Pieces’ were real highlights of the concert, featuring remarkable solos from many of the band members. Tom and Rohan’s drum battle in the final pieces wowed the audience. The concert left the audience with huge smiles on their faces.

Amy Sheldon

SENIOR CONCERT

This year’s Senior Concert, in April, was a triumphant celebration of music at Borlase, filled with outstanding performances across the board, from choirs to bands and ensembles. The night kicked off with Concert Band performing ‘Omens of love’ by Japanese composer Hirotaka Izumi, followed by Chapel Choir and the Borlase String Quartet. Madriguys (led by Fraser Brown and conducted by Dr Parsons) then performed ‘The Banana Boat Song’. The recital was well and truly complete with a banana in each member’s hand, while Leon Tasch juggled bananas in front of the amazed audience. Jazz band had the audience singing, and Cantorum filled the Theatre with a magical sound of ‘Deep River’ conducted by Mr Miall. During the interval the audience was treated to some fantastic

PERFORMING ARTS solo performances by Chloe Nicklin, Fraser Brown and Eve Shanu- Wilson. Arguably the highlight of the evening was the performance of the third movement from Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1, played by Mary-Anne Grego (Year 13) and accompanied by the Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mr Miall. MaryAnne deservedly received a standing ovation for her playing and the Symphony Orchestra also received rapturous applause for their sensitive and expressive accompaniment. As the evening drew to a close, the time had come for the much anticipated 2018 Leavers’ Medley. It did not fail to impress, with hilarious skits intertwined with cleverly arranged songs - a great way to say goodbye. A big thank you to the Music Department, the Tech Theatre and Front of House teams and all the performers (including members of staff!).

Josh Kaushal

SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

The Borlase Symphony Orchestra has performed to a high standard this year as is usual under the ever-enthusiastic Mr Miall. The repertoire has been interesting to play and listen to, whilst presenting new challenges, including the atmospheric 2nd movement of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony and the virtuosic 3rd movement of Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1, played by our own Mary-Anne Grego. This was performed three times over two weeks, each one receiving a standing ovation from the audience. It is

sad to see so many talented musicians leave this year and we wish them the very best in their lives. We will miss Mary-Anne particularly, because her talent as pianist is unparalleled here at Borlase, while still being a friend to us all. We are all looking forward to next year to see what challenges Mr Miall throws at us next.

Sean Douglas

SENIOR STRINGS ORCHESTRA

Senior Strings Orchestra has once again had a fun year of challenging pieces, with a mixture of new and old faces joining us. We have made significant progress throughout the year with the help of Dr Parsons. We began the year learning Grieg’s ‘Prelude to the Holberg Suite’ and, after a couple of months of rehearsals, performed it in the Autumn Concert. From January, we spent our rehearsals practising Tchaikovsky’s ‘Serenade for Strings’ and Fauré’s ‘Pavane’. Much work was done, going over the tricky bars, as well as mastering the art of page turning! However, we were rewarded with a very successful and enjoyable performance in the Senior Concert.

This year we wave goodbye to several students who have become a valuable part of Senior Strings. They have all made a valuable contribution to the group. We would also like to thank Dr Parsons for all his hard work this year - it’s been amazing fun and very rewarding.

Emily Farmer

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PERFORMING ARTS

MR ROBSON’S CHRISTMAS CONCERT

Mr Robson’s annual, Baroque-style concert is a fantastic opportunity for singers, string players and woodwind players to showcase talent and play some beautiful 17th and 18th century music. This year, there were some gorgeous pieces in the programme including a harpsichord concerto by Vivaldi and ‘How Beautiful Are The Feet’ from Handel’s Messiah. The music was interspersed with readings of mediaeval and Dickensian texts, including ‘The Cratchit’s Christmas Dinner’ from Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ and an extract from ‘Gawain and the Green Knight’.

Overall, it was a wonderful and entertaining evening filled with culture, and traditional Carol singing to end the evening. A fantastic event to both watch and take part in.

Amy Harris

CHRISTMAS CAROL SERVICES

Following weeks of rehearsal and preparation, the seven Borlase choirs took part in the annual Christmas concert, held at All Saints’ Church in Marlow, in the days leading up to the Christmas holiday. As with last year, popular demand meant that two services were required for parents and Old Boralsians, but because term ended on a Tuesday these both took place on the same evening, with the two services for students on the following morning. The concert held even more significance this year, as it was the last to be enjoyed by Dr Holding in the position of headmaster.

From his own words, it is clear that the services did not disappoint. In addition to the traditional carols sung with the congregation, senior choir ‘Cantorum’ performed a number of pieces including Bob Chilcott’s delightful ‘The Shepherd’s Carol’. Junior choirs focused on a range of material, from the more traditional and Latin-based choral score, to that which 50

was contemporary and modern. The senior choirs were also able to offer a variety of moods and styles; Gospel Choir performed two more traditional carols, one of which was arranged by year 13 student Mary-Anne Grego, while Madriguys sang a more upbeat piece and Chapel Choir, a Latin composition. The standard of the choirs was, as always, very high and the concert was enjoyable for both listeners and performers. It was an amazing event to be part of, and a perfect means of inspiring festive spirit in all present.

Alexandra Rowlands

CHORAL EVENSONG

On Thursday 22nd March Jess Rollett and the school Chapel choir led the first ever Choral Evensong at Borlase with Canon Christopher Smith as officiant, readings read by members of the Christian Union, and Mr Robson’s dexterous organ playing of Pachelbel, Fantasia in G minor and J.S.Bach, G major Prelude and Fugue.

Jess conducted the Chapel choir in music including: Psalm 121, the ‘Magnificat’ and ‘Nunc Dimittis’ from the setting of Dyson in C, Praises and Responses by Malcolm Archer and finally the anthem ‘The Lord Bless You and Keep You’ by Rutter.

The service and music were very poignant and moving, with a great sense of occasion and pride to be starting a new tradition in the school chapel, one that will hopefully be carried on over years to come.

Joséphine Cadinouche

CAMBIATA

Cambiata is a small, energetic group of junior boys who like to lift up everyone's mood with music and to have a good time singing. We meet on Tuesday before school and it is a lively wake up for the morning.

There aren't many choirs that would take on a song called ‘Concrete’ but Cambiata did at the Chamber Concert, much to the amusement and surprise of the audience. We have done other performances this year including the Christmas Carol Services and the Junior Concert.

In Cambiata we sing a wide variety of songs, including music by The Beatles in addition to both modern and traditional composers. Some of the pieces we have sung this year include Torches, I'll Be On My Way and This Little Babe.

Cambiata in Italian means a note of a melody reached by a skip of a third and progressed by a step, and we

PERFORMING ARTS will be taking that step into the future next year.

Thank you to Mrs Ross for leading us, to Cormac Diamond in Y11 for his assistance and to Luke Haldane in Y10 for accompanying us.

Alex Coe

CANTORUM

Another successful year with Borlase Performing Arts means another fantastic round of performances from our school’s resident first-half closing act, Cantorum.

Beginning the year with some powerful and uplifting renditions of spirituals and salutations alike (and as a result, some very exhausted sopranos) at the Autumn concert, we soon moved onto the muchanticipated Christmas Carol Service. Our varied and creative programme saw us tackling the interweaving melodies of Benjamin Britten and the complex time signatures of Bob Chilcott, as well as the return of Mr Miall’s visionary massed choir performing the most energetic ‘We Wish You A Merry Christmas’ the school has likely ever seen, to honour the departure of Dr. Holding. This, combined with some deafeningly spectacular ‘Noel’s from all members of the choir, brought the year to a resounding close. The next few months saw us battling the post-Christmas blues, school trips and heavy snow to prepare to say farewell to our Year 13s in the Leavers’ Concert at the end of April. The end result was a beautiful showcase of all of Cantorum’s strengths throughout this year teamwork, perseverance, and of course, some flawless choral singing across several genres from our Year 10s to our much-missed leavers. Of course, all credit is due to Mr. Miall, whose unfailing (and sometimes unbelievable) energy and enthusiasm never fails to liven up a Friday lunchtime, even when faced with any choir director’s worst nightmare: a wise-cracking bass section. Though we can’t wait for next year, thank you Mr Miall, from all of us, for once again managing to choo-choo us home (wow!).

Maddie Smith

MADRIGUYS

If you love singing and you want to have a laugh, Madriguys is the group for you. The group is led by Dr Parsons with energy and enthusiasm! At the end of every great performance (which is all of them), we are rewarded with his signature heart gesture in recognition of a job well done. Hopefully he knows this is reciprocated!

Madriguys is notorious for surprising the audience, an outstanding example being when we whipped out our bananas for the Banana Boat Song in the Senior Concert, continuing the song using the bananas as microphones. The performance was rejuvenated at the Arts Dinner when we swarmed the stage as a Flash Mob. In recognition of Dr Holding leaving the school, our performance of ‘The Rose’ culminated in each of us presenting him with a single golden rose.

Only those party to Borlase’s best male choir (and sometimes not even them) know what will be sprung upon the audience.

On a personal note, I will miss my fellow Bass 2 ‘dum’ chums, Ed and Dan. Four years of not singing the melody has led to a strong friendship; as they and all other Year 13s head off to pastures new, I know they will never forget this ‘Crazy little thing called Madriguys’.

Charlie Brockwell

YOUTH VOICES

Youth Voices is a large mixed vocal group ranging for Years 7-9 (with almost 70 students!) run by Mr Miall.

Over the past year, Youth Voices has appeared in the Autumn Concert, performing ‘The School Song’ from Matilda, and ‘If Only You Would Listen’ from School of Rock, which also included a live accompaniment from a group of contemporary musicians. In the Christmas Carol Services, Youth Voices performed ‘Mary did you know’, which created a beautiful sound throughout the church. In February, Youth Voices appeared in the Languages Extravaganza performing ‘En Chantant’ in French. This really tested the group, because we had to work on pronunciation as well as remembering the lyrics. For the Junior Concert, Youth Voices performed ‘This is Me’ from The Greatest Showman, ‘At the End Of The Day’ from Les Misérables, and ‘Angels’ by Robbie Williams. As far as performances go, Youth Voices has certainly achieved a lot this year, and there is definitely a good future ahead for the group.

Joe Parkinson 51

PERFORMING ARTS

JAZZ NIGHT

On Thursday 22nd February the theatre was transformed into a laid-back jazz club. Under the skilled hands of the 6th Form tech team atmospheric red lighting and cabaret-style seating combined, to form the perfect ambiance for a relaxing evening of jazz - although Lloyd’s Wines might have had something to do with that! An audience of over 100 came to hear the best of Borlase jazz, with soloists providing some incredible musical theatre songs alongside sets from both Senior and Junior Jazz Bands. The evening was hosted by the indefatigable Mr Davie, and also featured the Saxophone Ensemble. In addition, the audience was treated to a guest appearance by a group of Borlase alumni who returned to share their love of jazz with us one last time. The evening closed with Senior Jazz Band performing a resounding rendition of Tequila, complete with audience participation. All in all, it was an amazing evening, and we’re already excited for the next one. Tequila!

Florence Ridley

offering opportunities for our Year 13 leavers to show off their improvisatory skills. Our final performance of the year came outside the entrance to Pub in the Park where our music, unlike Mr Davie’s banter, entertained the crowd as they queued up for their evening, playing a set of songs we’d been playing throughout the year.

Special thanks must go to Mr Davie for his enthusiastic leadership. Thanks also go to the departing Year 13s for their commitment to the band over the years.

Harry Freedman

JUNIOR JAZZ BAND

In Junior Jazz Band we study, and play, a wide range of jazz music from ‘Think’ to ‘Freddie Freeloader’ with a bit of ‘Family Guy’ in the middle. It has been an awesome year learning about the different parts of jazz and what, overall, makes up a jazz piece. It doesn’t matter if you have just started learning an instrument or have been playing it for years: I only started playing the piano about 2 years ago, but am playing alongside someone who has been playing for around 5 years.

And it doesn’t matter what instrument you play - Mr Davie will always manage to fit you in somewhere, whether you play the Clarinet or the French Horn.

We have had great fun this year, performing at the Autumn Concert, Jazz Night and Junior Concert. This couldn’t have been possible without Mr Davie, so a huge thank you to him for organising Junior Jazz Band.

We look forward to next year!

Harvey Green

CONCERT BAND

SENIOR JAZZ BAND

This has been a very busy year for the Senior Jazz Band, continuing the tradition of playing fun and upbeat music. We began the year playing some big band classics, with ‘C Jam Blues’ and the always popular ‘Pick up the Pieces’ in the Autumn Concert.

This was followed by our main event of the year: the Jazz Night in February. It was certainly a busy evening for the group with 3 sets of 3 different songs.

We performed some of our favourite songs such as ‘Treasure’ by Bruno Mars and ‘Tequila’ (which featured audience participation!), as well as some new pieces including ‘Birdland’ and the timeless Stevie Wonder song ‘Superstition’. For this year’s Senior Concert, we learnt three new songs: ‘Pennsylvania 6-5000’, ‘Salt Peanuts’ and ‘Got to Get You Into my Life’, each one 52

The Borlase Concert Band’s year started with Mr Miall managing to convince the band that a ‘Frozen Medley’ would be a fine choice of a piece for the Autumn Concert. At first we were apprehensive; however the arrangement grew on us and we created a magical sound on the night. Another outstanding moment was the grand rendition of ‘Omens of love’, by Japanese composer Hirotaka Izumi. Performed at the Senior Concert, it was spectacular and received well by the audience.

Everyone has enjoyed the repertoire, and the experience of performing it. Concert Band is home to numerous instrument types, including woodwind, brass and rhythm/percussion sections. The environment is friendly, and it is fun to play along students of other ages and year groups as well as teachers, including Mr Hill and Miss Kilbourn!

Josh Kaushal

PERFORMING ARTS

ROCKTOBER!

Thursday 19th October saw the return of one of the loudest and most exciting performing arts events in the Borlase calendar. Punk Rocktober 2017 was a fantastic show with amazingly talented bands and awesome songs from start to finish. The drama studio was brilliantly transformed by the Technical Theatre students into an intimate club venue. The concert kicked off with iconic songs by My Chemical Romance, Green Day and Red Hot Chilli Peppers, performed

by Short End of The Stick, MZA Slaughter and Take 2. Sacha and Grain performed some more hits from Linkin Park and Arctic Monkeys which got everyone jumping and singing along. Although the evening wasn't all screeching guitars and smashing drums, we had some wonderful solo guitar performances from Charles Betz and Susanna Tobin, who gave us brilliant renditions of Catfish and The Bottlemen and All Time Low, before jumping right back into the action with incredible originals from Dolly and The Dinosaur and finishing with feel good pop songs from What The Funk. The evening was filled with great music, brilliant musicians and witty running commentary from our two MCs, Fraser Brown and Ed Manthorpe. Overall a brilliant music event. Bring on Rocktober 2018!

Ms Lewington-Chislett

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PERFORMING ARTS

DANCE AT BORLASE

This has once again been an exciting and busy year in dance. We kicked off the year with one of our favourite events: ‘House Dance’. We were so pleased to get a record number of entries across all houses and year groups, including some outstanding Whole House dances, with Normans emerging victorious. The heats culminated in an evening performance in the theatre in which the standard of dance was incredible. After a close battle Romans were announced the House Dance 2017 Champions.

One of the main projects Year 7 students participate in during their first year of Dance is a cross-curricular project, which requires students to learn and retain information from another subject area, then develop their creativity through expressing a stimulus. During the summer term the Year 7s have worked alongside Mrs Ashby, Mrs Hindley, Mr Jones and our Year 12 dance leaders Holly Lidgate, Kitty Pilgrim Morris, Sophie Yazdi-Davis and Rebecca Markwell to create a piece inspired by a book of poems called ‘The Lost Words’ by Robert Mcfarlane. In Literacy lessons during the term students have been reading the book, and writing and illustrating their own poems; in Music lessons they have been and creating compositions inspired by it; and in Dance, each of the four classes has used the book as stimulus to create a piece, working collaboratively with each other and their teacher. This piece will then be performed in a showcase for family members and local primary schools.

Year 8 students had the opportunity to perform in our infamous annual Strictly Come Dancing competition.

All students were partnered and taught the styles of Salsa, Waltz and Jive. The class heats built up to a live show in the Theatre which also featured guest performances by Tim Woodford (Year 10) and his 54

dance partner Tallulah Butler-Broad, as well as the Latin and Ballroom club, an open club for all year groups lead by Imogen Baguley. It was an extremely close final with the judges having a difficult decision on their hands; however the show’s winners for 2018 were Grace Potter and Andrew Linley who performed a beautiful waltz.

Evolve (the school’s youth dance company) has continued to thrive, with a new combination of students ranging from Year 9 to 13. Rehearsing every Monday after school for 2 hours, the group has worked with artist in residence and ex-Borlase student Jordan Pirrie and also professional choreographer Nina Von der Worth. They created two pieces which were performed at our annual dance show, ‘Tarantism’ at the end of March. The evening was a great celebration of dance at Borlase, featuring all of our exam classes and extra-curricular groups, including the Boys’ Dance company and the Latin and Ballroom club, as well as the debut of a new piece entitled 100 Years celebrating the centenary of women gaining the vote.

It has been an incredible year that has seen the department continue to grow in numbers, with more performance opportunities for students to participate and excel in, due in large part to the support, enthusiasm and recognition for Dance at Borlase.

Mrs K Ashby and Mrs C Hindley

PERFORMING ARTS

DANCE AT A LEVEL

As a student entering the school in year 12 and taking Dance A-Level, I couldn’t have hoped for a more welcoming start, despite being the only student in my year to take the subject who hadn’t attended the lower school. The number of opportunities the Borlase Dance department offered compared to other schools is astounding and have continued to amaze me throughout the year. The dance calendar began with House Dance, a competition in which the entire school committed to the Whole House category. I won the Senior Solo section after being given the opportunity to perform in front of a panel of judges, all from the professional dance world. The fact I had only been at the school for eight weeks became irrelevant as the dance community at Borlase allowed me to become quickly and fully integrated. Later in the year, following several busy months leading up to the Year 13s A Level moderation in March, the annual dance show had finally arrived. I was fortunate enough to be given the chance to perform the solo I had been working on for my Extended Project Qualification. This was a piece based on Millais’ painting ‘Ophelia’, focusing on her descent into insanity. It was a valuable learning experience to not only put together a longer piece of choreography, but also to step out of my comfort zone and perform an abstract and personal piece to a large audience. I could not be more grateful for the support and experiences provided by the dance department, and truly believe that I would not have received them at any other school.

Kitty Pilgrim-Morris

100 YEARS

Our Year 12 was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to choreograph the finale for the Annual Dance Show. We decided to use it to honour the 100th anniversary of women being given the vote and a century of female suffrage, hence the name of the piece, ‘100 Years’.

The Suffragettes were formed in the late 19th century to fight for gender equality, and specifically the right to vote, which was granted in 1918 (if you were over the age of 30, however in 1928 this was then lowered to 21 years of age). The strength of their protests proved that they weren’t giving up without a fight; with vandalism, hunger strikes, and the bravery of Emily Davison who ran out onto the track at The Derby on the 4th June 1913 and was trampled to death by the King’s horse.

The Suffragettes are still very relevant today with new, modern day movements such as the #MeToo that speaks out against sexual harassment and assault on an international scale and the Time’s Up movement that was inspired by Hollywood actresses and celebrities on 1st January highlight the gender pay gap.

As a group that felt very passionately about this subject, we worked collaboratively to ensure that our piece did the suffrage movement justice in an emotional, yet uplifting way. In performance, our piece began with a minute long video montage of various snapshots and clips of the struggles women had to face in the 1900s, this set the sombre atmosphere for our piece and captivated the audience’s attention immediately. As the dance went on, the tone began to shift to a more joyous celebration of how far women have come from then, right up until the present day. Despite the focus of the upcoming academic year being on our dance A Level work, this experience has developed our skills in choreography and performance as well as bringing us closer together as a class.

Sophie Yazdi-Davis

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PERFORMING ARTS

DRAMA AT BORLASE It has been another exciting year for the Drama Department and we are very proud of the high quality curricular and extra-curricular Drama that has been produced.

A highlight of the Drama calendar is always the Senior Production, which this year saw ‘King Charles III’ performed in December. The production was led by Miss Anderson, supported by members of the Performing Arts team, including Miss Rayner, Mrs Ashby and Miss Mountfield and involved over 70 Borlase students, including the performers, and the vast technical team, mentored by our fantastic Performing Arts technician, Miss Lewington-Chislett.

It was a joy to work with a cast of highly committed young actors, who were keen to be part of the creative process. Together we explored innovative ways to communicate the play to the audience in our own way, drawing on techniques from contemporary and classical theatre. The Ghost of Diana evolved into a choral role, with four actresses creating the haunting spirit of the late and much-loved Diana, Princess of Wales. The Conscience of Charles was also presented as a chorus, intended to reflect King Charles’ inner thoughts through various soliloquies, delivered by a small group of actors. Finally, a larger chorus of performers added another dimension to the play, and supported the action through taking multiple roles as various characters, including members of parliament and the press. The discipline, hard work and talent of all the performers were truly inspiring.

The brilliant technical team that worked on this production was equally impressive. Led by Amy Dring, a superb DSM, the team included stage managers, props managers, lighting designers and operators, sound designers and operators, scenic painters, set constructors, a make-up and wardrobe team and a Front of House team. Visually the production was highly impressive, due to hard of work of these students.

Overall the production was a huge success. The audiences truly enjoyed the play and were very impressed. Dr Holding and Miss Mountfield as audience members themselves praised the production, citing it as one of the best they had seen in their years at Borlase - high praise indeed!

The Borlase Drama clubs continued to run this year, with opportunities available for our juniors. The popular Year 7 Drama club, run by Rachel Opalinska and Sophie Yazdi-Davis, allowed students to develop 56

their improvisation and scripted skills, and of course have fun. The Year 8 Drama club, run by Rosie Aston and Katie Dark, explored ensemble-building and scripted text.

The standard of curricular work has, once again, been excellent. The year began with GCSE devised performances, where some equally moving and comedic Brechtian pieces were performed to live audiences by 70 GCSE Drama students. A special mention must go to this Year 11 cohort who, later in the year, produced some outstanding performances of their scripted plays in front of an external examiner and live audience. It was a busy two days of examining, with students performing a variety of interesting texts, both contemporary and classical, including: ‘Girls Like That’, ‘Monsters’, ‘Daisy Pulls It off’, ‘The Woman Who Cooked Her Husband’, ‘The Importance of Being Ernest’, ‘Kindertransport’ and many, many more. There were equally professional presentations from our technical theatre candidates in their individual specialisms, including Lighting design and Set design.

Our A level cohorts have been busy this year and have produced some outstanding work. In March, the Year 13 Drama & Theatre studies students performed both devised pieces and scripted duologues in front of an external examiner and live audience; a very demanding practical exam indeed!

We are now in our third term, and Year 12 students are working on re-interpretations of Timberlake Wertenbaker’s play ‘The Ash Girl’ in the style of Brecht, and Year 10 students are working on their GCSE devised projects, which they will perform in front of an invited audience in July.

Miss L Anderson, Head of Drama

PERFORMING ARTS

REHEARSING & PERFORMING ‘KING CHARLES III’

‘Groundbreaking’, ‘revolutionary’ and ‘pioneering’ are not words to be used lightly when talking about your average school play. But following the success of King Charles III last December, you are guaranteed to hear all three of them within two minutes if you decide to broach the subject with Miss Anderson.

From a much-anticipated reveal in September fresh from its BBC television debut, to three sold-out shows just a few months later, our talented family of seventy Borlase students managed to realise the glamour, duplicity and politics of our iconic royal family and their turbulent relationship with the state under the inspiring direction of Miss Anderson, assisted by the unique insights and collective sass of our assistant director Miss Rayner, and our choreographer (and exBorlasian!) Jordan Pirrie.

Our tumultuous rehearsal process wasn’t unlike that of Miss Anderson’s previous professional companies that we so sought to emulate; the emphasis from the very first rehearsal on unified movement across the stage, and large group action pieces to truly immerse the audience brought us together behind the same vision, despite the trauma that the whole-cast ‘slowmo’ may have caused at the time…..

A much more serious piece than Borlase is used to left the audience astounded as our actors took the stage in the professional manner that had been reinforced into us by our exemplary directors. Fraser Brown, who played King Charles himself, gave an Oscar-worthy performance, creating an almighty stage presence that would certainly be remembered by all as he sparred with Seth Harris-Reeve and Sophie YazdiDavis’ slippery politicians.

It goes without saying that the austere yet opulent roles of the scheming Kate and William could not have gone to two more worthy actors then Maddie Smith and Ben Allanson, who truly did the royal couple justice with their talented acting. We must also not forget the ‘vile and nasty child’ that was Libby Sparks, who portrayed Camilla in a dramatic yet classy fashion, helping to give the show its magnificent reception.

The more light-hearted moments were given to us

by Dan Capel-Smith and Juliette Dudley who proved themselves to be a very convincing couple in the roles of Harry and his controversially-Socialist love interest, Jess. The erratic and somewhat flirtatious nature of the two characters engaged the audience, leaving them eagerly anticipating the next encounter of the brunette and the man with the glowing ginger hair.

Lastly, where would the show have been without the tremendous company, providing intensity during the riots and bringing the boogie during the disco scenes? The hard work and commitment by everyone was second to none and really paid off. Once again, a massive thank you has to be said to Miss Anderson, Miss Rayner and Jordan Pirrie for being so dedicated, and for giving us the finest motivational comments that we all needed to hear, most inspirationally in the form of ‘act better.’ All that is left to be said is ‘Long live the King!’

Maria Rees and Maddie Smith (Year 12)

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YEAR 7 & 8 DRAMA CLUBS

Student leadership has enriched the opportunities for our KS3 cohort this year. Rachel Opalinska and Sophie Yazdi-Davis have meticulously planned and delivered exciting skill-based activities for our Year 7s. Meanwhile Katie Dark and Rosie Aston have been diligently working with the Year 8s to improve their script work, not forgetting the improvisational game "buzzy bees" which has been a sought- after favourite!

Ms Rayner

ARTS DINNER

Another year, another fantastic arts dinner! Hosted by our Arts Prefects, once again we were treated to a glamorous night of outstanding entertainment, food and of course the prestigious BOSCARS. Highlights of the evening included the reception in the cloisters where Madriguys brought us all to tears with their stunning rendition of The Rose.

In the theatre, highlights included a resetting of The Greatest Show Dance from the Annual Dance Show ‘Tarantism’, a repeat performance of parts of the Leavers’ Medley from the Senior Concert, Dolly and the Dinosaur and the Arts Staff special tribute performance of the King Charles III opening scene.

BOSCARS 2018

DANCE AWARDS Best Ensemble Dancer: Holly Lidgate And Sophie Yadzi-Davis Best Dance Performer: Alice Cox Best Dancer: Kitty Pilgrim-Morris Best Choreographer: Amy Foote Best Dance Leader: Rebecca Markwell TECHNICAL THEATRE AWARDS Best Make-Up: Olivia Mcdonald Best Technical Support: Dan Cooper Best Technical Design & Operation: Ed Manthorpe Best Technical Leadership: Amy Dring MUSIC AWARDS Classical Instrumentalists Best Brass Player: Tristan Wride Best Woodwind Player: Amy Sheldon Best Strings Player: Matthew Joslin 58

Contemporary Instrumentalists Best Jazz Instrumentalist: Alex Russell Best Contemporary Instrumentalist: Adam Cox Vocalists Best Male Chorister: Daniel Capel-Smith Best Female Chorister: Hannah Pepperell Best Male Vocalist: Fraser Brown Best Female Vocalist: Joséphine Cadinouche Musical Leadership Best Musical Director: Jessica Rollett Best Student-Led Ensemble: Saxophone Ensemble DRAMA AWARDS Best Company Actor: Alex Lyons Best Company Actress: Zara Harris Best Actor: Fraser Brown Best Actress: Libby Sparks Best Drama Leader: Rosie Aston SPECIAL AWARDS Outstanding Contribution: Mary-Anne Grego Lifetime Achievement Award: Ms K Mountfield

PERFORMING ARTS

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SENIOR PRODUCTION – KING CHARLES III

Before arriving and sitting in my seat for King Charles, I didn’t really know what to expect. I roughly knew the story line: a Royal Family feud following the Queen’s death – but all else was to be revealed. From the moment the curtain went up, the audience was in for a treat. The play was wonderfully done, with such heartfelt acting matching well with the perfect casting. The smoothness of the whole show, from the tech team to front-of-house, also showcased the all-round talents we have in this school. Borlase productions never fail to impress! It was also so lovely to see the likes of Fraser Brown, a familiar face for 7 years, performing a perfectly-suited role and also to see many new faces, those who’d only joined the school in September.

Congratulations to Miss Anderson for putting on a fantastic show- here’s to many more!

Jess Rollett

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PE & SPORT AT BORLASE

Sport at Borlase continues to thrive. Despite all the barriers we face with regards to facilities and contact time, we are still able to compete and win against the top sporting independent schools in the country.

We are very proud of our success but also the mass participation throughout the school. This academic year we have competed in 18 sports, fielded 115 teams and competed in over 650 fixtures (not including Rowing). In addition to these inter-school fixtures, students also have access to competition though the House Sport programme. House Sport competitions exist for Cross Country, Netball, Football, Rugby, Rounders, Rowing, Hockey, Tennis, Ultimate Frisbee, Croquet and Athletics. As a result of the extensive opportunities provided we have been awarded School Games Mark Gold by the Youth Sports Trust. In this section of the Borlasian there is an overview of some of the main achievements across sports this year.

As a PE department we want to ensure our young people develop AmBition EnjOyment Resilience An active Lifestyle LeAdership

ReSpect for others, and Aim for Excellence.

Therefore, we are always striving to provide more opportunities for our young people to be active. This year we entered a girls’ rugby team into Rosslyn Park, Handball teams into the Bucks county competitions and created a Triathlon/Biathlon team which entered local and national events. To improve the access to fitness for health opportunities, we introduced Boxercise, Squash, Golf and Yoga into the KS4 Games curriculum.

Thank you to all the staff who give up their time to enable our students to have these opportunities. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our departing Director of Girls Rowing, Gen Bailhache-Graham, 68

for her time, effort and expertise. She has not only had a huge impact on the Girls Rowing programme but has also been a team player in the PE department as a whole.

The future looks bright for Borlase sport - thank you for playing your part in making it such a success. As I depart on maternity leave next academic year, I am confident that Borlase Sport will continue to grow and thrive. Keep up to date with Borlase Sport via our twitter account @BorlaseSport and our website: www.swbgssport.com.

Ms Holt, Head of PE & Sport

SPORTS PREFECT’S REPORT

This year the sports prefect team has been involved in the organisation and managment of many events, as well as many of us also captaining our own individual sports teams or even representing our country in our chosen sports!

Our first experiences of working as a team, was when it came to assisting Miss Holt in her organisation of the school Cross Country Competition. We all rose to the challenge allowing the day to run very smoothly, and it was very much a success. Following this, using the teamwork and leadership skills we had learnt, other similar events, such as ‘The Sport Relief Mile’ ran smoothly, and resulted in similar success.

Sports Dinner 2018 was a night to remember. Again held at Harleyford Golf Club, the evening celebrated all the members of our sporting community and credited their achievements. The night ended with the announcement of the team of the year. This year it went to the Boys’ hockey team for their outstanding performance in both the indoor and outdoor season.

Overall we have had a very successful year as a team, however this success would have not been possible without the help and leadership of Miss Holt and the sporting staff.

Jade Patel

SPORTS

SPORTS DAY 2017

INTER-HOUSE CROSS COUNTRY

Another successful Sports Day was held on the 13th July 2017. Students were involved in Track & Field, Tennis, Ultimate Frisbee, Rowing and Croquet competitions. It really was a great day with all students and staff involved. There were some amazing performances throughout the day and 10 school records were broken! All houses also organised two stalls to raise money for their chosen charity. Well done to Danes for winning Sports day for the second year running. Results, prize winners and school record breakers are all shown below.

1st Danes 1841 2nd Britons 1721 3rd Romans 1551 4th Normans 1494 5th Vikings 1469 6th Saxons 1302

On the 29th September, all Borlase students competed in the annual House Cross Country event. The race starts in Higginson Park, runs along the river-side, through the woods and finishes at Marlow Sports Club. It is a fantastic event and one we are very proud of maintaining. To have over 1000 students running in one day is a great achievement and one that promotes the focus on mass participation and involvement.

Overall House Competition 1st Romans 202 2nd Saxons 201.4 3rd Normans 194.4 4th Vikings 190.9 5th Britons 190.2 6th Danes 175.8

VICTOR/VICTIRX LUDORUM Awarded to the individual who accumulates the most points in the Track & Field competition: Year 7 Boys: Freddie Pollard; Girls: Emily Roberts & Naomi Tilley Year 8 Boys: George Carter; Girls: Olivia Hall Intermediate Boys: Ollie Dawkins; Girls: Jas Presho Senior Boys: Nick Spicer; Girls: Eden Hudson School Records Broken Junior Boys’ Discus (1kg): Alex Presho - 25.94m Senior Boys Discus (1.5kg): Nick Spicer - 37.7m Inter Girls Shot Putt (3kg): Kat Krajewski - 9.65m Senior Boys Shot Putt (5kg): Nick Spicer - 12.73m Inter Girls High Jump: Jas Presho - 1.45m Senior Girls High Jump: Eden Hudson - 1.45m Junior Girls 300m: Ella Griffin - 46.38 seconds Senior Girls 300m: Eden Hudson - 46.25 seconds Senior Girls Relay: E. Hudson, J. Minshull-Beech, E. Brown, H. Gilmour - 54.38 seconds Senior Boys Relay: L. Emsley, N Emsley, Y Hassaine, L Funnell - 47.12 seconds

Senior (Boys & Girls) 1st Danes 48.6 2nd Britons 48 3rd Vikings 38.2 4th Saxons 37.1 5th Normans 33.2 6th Romans 26.4 Intermediate (Boys & Girls) 1st Romans 83.6 2nd Normans 83.4 3rd Saxons 73 4th Britons 66.8 5th Vikings 64.8 6th Danes 61.4 Junior (Boys & Girls) 1st Romans 92 2nd Saxons 91.36 3rd Vikings 87.92 4th Normans 77.8 5th Britons 75.4 6th Danes 65.8

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RUGBY

Rugby throughout the school has had possibly its strongest and most successful season ever on the back of an unbeaten tour to Australia. Our senior squad led the way and as well as National success in a Borlase shirt there has been individual representative success and club success for Marlow.

Our Junior squads achieved some promising results against the local schools and have worked hard on developing their rugby skills. The Year 10 squad, supported incredibly by our strongest Year 9 players, played with great determination and commitment and managed a number of crucial wins throughout the season. Their progress came to an end after travelling to Portsmouth and Bath to reach the last 32 of the schools vase, only losing to the eventual winners.

The real success for rugby has been with the school’s senior squad for a number of years now and this season was no exception with some stunning successes in both the 15s and 7s version of the game.

The 1st XV remained unbeaten throughout the season until narrowly losing in the National quarter finals away to Ripon Grammar School, North Yorkshire. On the local circuit there were big victories against the likes of John Hampden, Claire’s Court, Windsor Boys’ and Reading Blue Coat school.

Rosslyn Park National Schools 7s is the world’s largest school rugby tournament - over 7000 students from 360 different schools take part in 1753 different matches. This year was not the first year that Borlase would enter two teams. We have regularly entered both our U16s into the Colts tournament and our Seniors in to the festival (now renamed Vase), but it was a massive first as we entered our senior boys squad and for the first time a senior girls team.

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With huge rugby playing schools, mostly private, such as Uppingham and Shrewsbury in the team’s group and in the competition, it is no easy task to win a few games, let alone to top the group, but the squad battled through their 4 pool games unbeaten to progress to the playoffs for the second day. The final game would decide whether the team stayed in the top tier Vase or dropped down into the Bowl competition as they had done last year. This game was against Millfield, a highly respected rugby playing school, so this was certainly going to be a difficult challenge for the team especially after a long day of rugby. The boys showed real character and skill to beat a strong Millfield outfit 34-12, meaning that they would stay in the Vase competition, going one better than 2017.

Leaving at 7:30am the next morning the team made their way back to SW15 to play in a round robin quarter finals pool. With a difficult group consisting of King’s College Worcester and Felsted School (last year’s National Cup semi-finalists) the team went into both games with no pressure and would have enjoyed winning one game. After a difficult start against King’s in the first game, going down 14-0, the team rallied and were able to come back to win 28-26 in a tightly

SPORTS

AUSTRALIA NETBALL AND RUGBY TOUR

fought match. With Felsted beating King’s, it set up a winner-takes-all game between Borlase and Felsted.

This was a game in which the boys really began to show their ability and were able to beat Felsted 2814 meaning Borlase were into the Rosslyn park semifinals for the first time ever. It meant a semi-final pool of the highest calibre against a further two strong schools in Oakham and St Peter’s School, York. It also saw Borlase as the only remaining state school in the whole competition.

The first semi-final match was against St Peter’s York; it was a tightly fought game which Borlase unfortunately lost 21-14, meaning we were out of the competition.

However, the boys went out in style with one final game against Oakham (a rugby powerhouse) played on the main pitch at Rosslyn and live-streamed on You Tube. This was a massive moment for the whole squad and nothing more than the year 13s deserved after a long and successful Borlase rugby career. After 9 matches in 2 days, and the game against St. Peter’s which had been extremely draining, both physically and emotionally, it was a very challenging match. With 5 minutes to go Borlase found themselves 33-7 down; however, displaying the character that had always been on show over seven years of schoolboy rugby, the team rallied and scored 17 unanswered points to make the final score line 33-24.

This was a great way for this senior side to leave Borlase rugby behind. They have helped to take our rugby to a better place, and the pupils moving up to the senior squad have a massive void to fill. As a group they have achieved many things that have never been done before in Borlase history: they have won the County Cup, made the last 32 in the cup at U15, been quarter finalist in this year’s National Schools cup, qualified through to the quarter finals of the RPNS7s Bowl in 2017 and now been semi-finalists in 2018. As a group they have been a massive credit to the school no wonder they found themselves signing autographs as they left the main pitch at Rosslyn!

The end of the summer term saw the senior netball (A&B) and rugby teams head to Hong Kong and Australia for a 3 week sports tour. Following a successful winter season, the rugby team looked to continue their winning streak throughout the tour.

The netball team consisted of a mixture of netball and hockey players with a focus on improving their netball and having some fun.

A midway stop in Hong Kong allowed students to acclimatise to the 30+ degree heat, whilst enduring tough training sessions. The girls trained on the only netball court in Hong Kong, surrounded by skyscrapers, and the boys at Hong Kong Rugby Club. A once-in-alifetime opportunity for both teams.

Once in Australia, the boys had 4 matches against Joey’s, Scots College, Merewether and Hunter Valley Grammar, winning all of them convincingly. The girls played Rosebank College, Scots College and Merewether and obtained a mixed bag of results, with the A team securing some wins. But, most importantly, both teams’ netball ability and play saw a huge improvement.

When not playing rugby or netball, the students had surfing lessons, visited the Blue Mountains, went dolphin and whale watching, jet boating, snorkelling, watched live rugby, played netball and rugby for local teams and stayed with host families, immersing themselves in the Australian lifestyle.

This was a hugely successful trip which saw the students not only play sport at a high level, but also experience Australian culture, meet new people and try new things. All students were a credit to themselves and the school.

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NETBALL U12

The Year 7 netball girls have had a great season with some excellent play from all three teams. We started the season with the seeding tournament which, after some brilliant play from the A and B teams, coming first and fourth, meant that both teams could play in the A-league during the season. This allowed the C team to play in the B league and get plenty of matches.

The A team played some great netball all season, and only lost to a really strong Wycombe High team plus Great Marlow School when some key Borlase players were unavailable. We finished 3rd in the league, behind Great Marlow School only on goal difference.

The B team also played brilliantly and always worked well as a team. They had some very tough matches but always played great netball, finishing ahead of the Pipers Corner B team in the table.

The C team had an amazing season in the B-league, beating many B teams easily, including an 11-3 result against St Michael’s B team. They finished 3rd in the table after only losing 2 games.

Helena Kennedy

U13

This year the U13s set out to not only improve as team but also as individuals. The team worked well together; they fought together and always came and left as one; they were very committed, rarely missing training and stayed motivated throughout the season, even in the wind and rain.

The U13As won all but one of their matches, with notable scores being 23-6 against Great Marlow School, 18-0 against Sir William Ramsay and 27-15 against Pipers Corner. The U13Bs won 4 out of their 72

7 matches and were happy with a 12-2 win against Cressex, 11-5 against Great Marlow School and 12-6 against Pipers Corner.

As captains, we are very proud of how our teams have developed. We have really seen the friendship in our teams grow, playing a huge part in their match play.

Our tactical game play and ways in which we read each other have very much contributed to our matches and show in our results.

Krishni Chavda

U14

The U14A team has seen a lot of progress through the season. Although in the previous two years we had come top of the league, it is fair to say that standards rose and the competition got harder, resulting in a proud second place behind Pipers Corner. In our season we played 11 games: 7 league and 4 friendlies. Our first match was against Wycombe High School, which we confidently won 16-8 followed by 3 more wins against St Michael's, Great Marlow and Beaconsfield High. But then we were narrowly beaten by one of our top competitors, Wycombe Abbey. It was a stressful match, as we created our own mistakes and, in spite of Miss Holt’s very supportive cheering, we couldn’t quite get our heads in the game. We then played friendlies against The Abbey, Headington and Wellington to get used to a higher standard of opposition and to raise our game. League wins against Sir William Ramsay and Piper’s Corner B followed, but an 11-10 defeat to Pipers A team unfortunately lost us the league title.

To end the season we took part in the district tournament. We won all the games except a draw with Wycombe Abbey and a loss to Pipers A. It came down to goal average between us and Wycombe Abbey for second place, which we ended up taking by 1 goal!

I think that we have a very strong bond between us and couldn’t ask for a better team. I would like to congratulate Hannah Dawkins and Olivia Hall for the

SPORTS 147 goals that we scored overall; Ella Dyson, Rosie Harris and Immy Duguid for their fabulous mid court defence and attack with their multiple tips and interceptions; and Molly Edmondson, Poppy Murray, Charlotte Dudley, Caitlin Sadie and Flossie Rowley for their amazing defence work against towering shooters and all the interceptions and three foot stretches.

Hopefully next year we can beat Pipers Corner the way we always used to and come first again!

Ana Graham Usabiaga

year have improved in just a few months due to the team’s commitment and drive. We played 6 matches and won all of them confidently, scoring a total of 75 goals, against teams such as Beaconsfield High and Wycombe Abbey. Highlights included a 22-6 win against Bourne End Academy A, a 10-3 win against Highcrest A and a 22-0 win against Wycombe High B. Towards the end of the season we had our district tournament at Wycombe Abbey where the team continued to show just how much we had improved and we worked together to win all of our matches, securing first place.

Overall, everyone played their role in the team, and we became very close, really working as one unit up and down the court. This season has been very successful, but more importantly very enjoyable and I’m very proud of the team for how far each of them has come.

Immy Duguid

U16

The U14B team has had a very successful season, coming away with much deserved gold medals for winning the league and winning the district tournament, beating many school A sides .

We had a very hardworking team, many of whom have been in the team since Year 7. There have been noticeable improvements made by every single person on the team over the last couple of years and even those that joined at the beginning of the

This year has seen terrific improvement for the U16 team; we have progressed from struggling to find a team, to coming second in the district league. We have bonded as a team and it is a joy to play netball with them, such talent is an excitement to see. I would also like to commend the girls for their commitment to the matches, despite their busy lives with upcoming GCSEs. A key indicator of our progress was the tournament at Wycombe Abbey, at which we obtained a bronze medal!

Georgia Tuke

U18

U18A was lucky enough to start the season on tour to Hong Kong and Australia. Here we saw the likes of Alex Lane and Ella Brown pick up a netball instead of a hockey stick! We began by training on one of the few netball courts in Hong Kong. Playing in +30 degree

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heat was an experience I think none of us will forget!

In Australia we played against 3 school teams, all of which put up tough opposition.

Back in England, as the competitive season approached we had a number of friendlies to prepare us for the county rounds of the National Schools competition.

We secured a comfortable win against The Abbey School thanks to the shooting stats of Mariana Butler, Millie Jackson, Charlotte Holt and Ellie Gladwyn.

Another match that stood out was against Henley College; because we had previously lost to them we were determined to beat them this time round. Here we saw our defence really step up; Charlie Harris, Tassja Krajewski, Mila Welch and Rachel Hibbert narrowly let the ball into the opposition's circle. This fixture was also exciting because it was the first time in years that Borlase’s sixth form had put out First, Second and Third teams in competitive play.

At the county tournament we started off solidly winning our first few matches. It was particularly nice to see the centre court players, Emma Lewis, Charlie Harris and Miranda Coombs link the defensive and attacking play so nicely. Unfortunately we lost 2 of our games, meaning we only took 3rd place, and so narrowly missed out on the regional rounds of the competition.

In the district league, where we competed in weekly games against local schools, we managed to secure the District Champions title.

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Overall, we may not have come away with all the wins we wanted this season, but we have acquired many new skills through experience and teamwork.

Jade Patel U18B had a mixed season, with 4 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw. We had some excellent play overall, ending up with a few fantastic wins - 22-14 against Great Marlow and 18-16 against Shiplake College. Everyone stepped up in each game to give it their all, and we showed a clear improvement in skills and game-play throughout the season, contributing to some welldeserved results and lots of fun playing together.

Abi Webb

SPORTS

ATHLETICS It has been a successful year for Athletics at Borlase.

There has been a consistently strong turn-out to Athletics club and Year 8, 9 and 10s have represented the school well in the District Athletics League at Little Marlow Track on Tuesday evenings. There have been a number of excellent performances this term and we are hoping a few individuals will qualify for English Schools at the County Athletics event. Well done to Jas Presho who has already got the qualifying height for Pole Vault, and will be in the Bucks team at English Schools.

Schools Junior Cross Country Championships. Despite a difficult course across muddy terrain, all our runners did exceptionally well: the Junior and Inter girls teams both came third in Bucks and qualified for the Regionals in Bedfordshire. This was an amazing standard of competition and all the girls worked hard and placed well amongst the best runners in the region.

In February we took around 40 students to compete at the Wycombe Schools Championship. All our Inter and Senior runners finished in the first wave of athletes across the line. Natasha Rasmussen, Ella Dyson and Harry Turner all finished in the top ten and qualified for English Schools.

CRICKET

Team Successes: ESAA Track & Field Cup: 4 Borlase teams, 54 athletes competed. Junior girls and Inter girls qualified for the Regional finals.

District Championships (11 schools): Year 9 girls & Year 9 boys 3rd, Year 10 boys 3rd, Year 10 girls 5th.

CROSS-COUNTRY

In October, the Wycombe Phoenix Cross Country saw some excellent individual results with Jemima Ridley, Noah Fletcher, Harry Turner and Nathan Brammar all medalling. We then entered four teams into the English

This year we renewed our involvement in higher tiers of competition again after opting out last year and continued our involvement in both the Junior & Senior District Leagues, as well as the usual friendly fixtures.

As of mid June the U14s are in the Year 9 Cup (narrowly losing to Stowe in round 2) and the U15s progressed to round 2 of the County T20 Cup, where they lost to RGS. Particular mention should go to Year 7 Joe Hoggan, who has not only played for, but is emerging as the leading wicket taker for, the U15s!

The U13s retained the Junior Trophy at the end of last summer and are hoping to make it four in a row this year, having already booked themselves into the quarter-final.

The 1st XI’s season has to be the most buoyant in recent times and their approach to training has been superb. They beat JHGS in their opening game, after setting 197 off 20 overs (Will Neal 73, Henry Graham 64). For the first time in twenty years they have maintained their involvement into June & July, a big contrast to the short 3 week season that used to be affected by study leave.

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SWIMMING

Sadie Smith, Emily Roberts and Cressida Bell. Some of our swim team members also took part in biathlon (running and swimming) and triathlon competitions too.

TENNIS

This is the second year that Borlase has had swimming teams, and what a successful year it has been! We have a lot of experienced swimmers within the school and this showed in the pool at all events. There have been three girls’ teams this year; Junior Girls (Year 7-8), Intermediate Girls (Year 9-10) and Senior Girls (Year 11, 12, 13), as well as a Senior Boys’ team.

Our season opened with the English Schools Swimming Championships which saw the Senior Boys narrowly miss out on the national finals by 0.48 seconds. Although this was the only fixture for the boys, the girls went on to compete with other schools and also competed at the English Schools Swimming Championships but unfortunately did not qualify for the finals.

Our Senior girls, Sarah McKillop, Gemma Sarney, Charlotte Falconer and Bryony Chinn, competed in most of their galas towards the start of the year and saw a mixed bag of results. They regularly competed against Wycombe Abbey School and these races were always very well matched. A special mention must go to Bryony Chinn who was unbeaten in the 50 metres backstroke all season. Their commitment as a team was notable and they should be pleased with their effort this year.

The Junior and Inter Girls had particularly successful seasons, winning galas against Wycombe Abbey School and Pipers Corner, both independent, single sex schools that have on-site pools and benefit from regular training sessions within school. The Intermediate girls also won against Great Marlow School, making them unbeaten all season, but unfortunately, this gala was the only loss for our Junior girls. The Intermediate team consisted of Katie Haveron Jones, Ella Dyson, Ella Griffin and Charlotte West and our Juniors were Rebecca Canton, Chloe Adams, Helena Kennedy, 76

The 2017/18 season has seen further growth in Borlase Tennis after a successful season last year in which the BU15 team won the county Division Two title and reached the regional tournament in September. The team of Ben Stoolman, Ben Wiggins, Toby King, Joe Haslehurst and Tristan Rints finished unbeaten throughout the season and entered the regionals with confidence. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be on this occasion, but the team can be proud of their achievements.

This season we have entered six teams into the Aegon leagues. The BU13 A team are playing in Division One for a second season and only narrowly lost to RGS High Wycombe in their first fixture. Aylesbury Grammar and Dr Challoner’s Grammar are still to come.

The BU13 B team have won two fixtures against Thorpe House and Bourne End Academy, whilst the GU13 team have been competitive against some strong opposition in their league and are looking forward to further improvements in their forthcoming fixtures.

The BU15 A team have entered Division One for the first time in the school’s history and beat RGS High Wycombe in their first fixture. They went on to lose 2-10 to Aylesbury Grammar in their second fixture but have plenty of positives to take into the next round against Dr Challoner’s Grammar.

The GU15 team beat Amersham School by a comfortable margin of 12-0 but lost a tight game against John Colet.

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ROWING BOYS’ ROWING

Fuelled by the excitement of the Heineken Cup in Amsterdam in March, our squads were keen to get back into training in September and improve on last season’s performances. The usual British weather cancelled a few of our events, however we achieved several wins during the head season, including wins at Reading and Wallingford for our J15 Boys’ Squad and wins for our J18 Boys’ Squad in Amsterdam.

The winter season also saw many of our rowers invited to compete at the GB Junior Selection Trials, and Evan Fisher, Sam Nicklin, Oliver Lane, Norbert Bolier and Ed O’Neill were all selected to race at the Boston assessments. Performances from Evan and Ed saw them invited on GB training days and camps for athletes who have the potential to be selected for GB either this summer or in future years.

The winter season also hosts the British Indoor Rowing Championships with over 3000 competitors entered in this event. Borlase had a large entry and several athletes finished in top 10 positions; however stand-out performances included 4th place for Norbert Bolier in Year 11 boys, Bronze for Ben Furley in Year 10 boys and Gold for Ben Jackson in Year 10 boys.

Our summer Regatta Season has so far seen us race at Bedford, Junior Sculling, Wallingford and National

Schools, and we have picked up several medals, including: Silver for the J15 4x+ Boys and Silver for J16 4x at the Junior Sculling Regatta; and two 5th place finishes for Year 10 and Year 11 boys, and a 10th place finish for Year 9 boys at National Schools Regatta.

Next season we are planning our biennial trip to Lais in Spain for a 10 day Easter training camp. The endless kilometres of water and excellent facilities allow our squads to train and study with no distractions, as well as bond with their crew mates ahead of the big regattas in the summer.

Mr Wilkinson

GIRLS’ ROWING

To build on the success of last season the senior girls had a pretty tough winter training block, resulting in a 5th place finish in Junior Girls’ Fours at Fullers Fours Head of the River. This event also saw some strong performances from our second boat who finished 5th in U23 quads, and our J16s who raced in the Junior (U18) quad category. Our top quad also had some tough racing at Bedford head race where they took away the win and the prize for overall fastest women’s quad of the day.

After Christmas, our first major test was the Heineken in Amsterdam; this was a great weekend of racing, where, due to some injuries in our squad, Eden Hudson and Daisy Bethell teamed up with two juniors from a Swiss club, and proceeded to place 5th place at the end of the weekend, with three Dutch junior quads placing in front. Our second quad, which will be development for next year’s season, came 12th in the same category, and showed some real promise. Our 77

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J16 girls also had some fantastic racing and managed the step on from J15 rowing with aplomb; they finished 12th, but sculled well and will need to refocus on developing some more strength and power.

National Schools Regatta, saw the seniors (Bella O’Hara, Daisy Bethell, Eden Hudson, Sara Helin & Minna Hughes) come away with a brilliant Silver medal in the Junior Coxed Four event, overturning a defeat

by Marlow Rowing Club at Wallingford Regatta a few weeks earlier. This was the first Junior J18 medal that Borlase Girls have won since 2015. Day Two of NSR saw the girls racing in quads; unfortunately our first quad underestimated the level during the time trial and finished 13th, which resigned them to the C final; however they regrouped and out-classed the field.

The B quad had a great race and finished 5th out of the B quads, after a cracking time trial.

International This season we had six girls who competed in the GB Trialling System (Bella O’Hara, Daisy Bethell, Eden Hudson, Sara Helin, Tassja Krajewski & Minna Hughes). Bella finished 3rd at final trials and goes through to International boat selection with Minna Hughes in July; we wish them all the best.

Juniors The junior girls showed great development this year, with a brilliant 10th place in championship eights at Schools Head, and then a further improvement to 8th nationally at NSR. The whole squad has shown excellent teamwork, supporting each other to get those results, and it will be brilliant to see what they can do at the end of season British Champs in July. Further to this, Mel Stewart’s 4th and Gulia Sarno’s 6th place at Indoor Champs showed some real talent coming through. The Year 9 girls have shown real promise and it will be exciting to watch them develop further.

Ms Gen Bailhache-Graham 78

FOOTBALL

All Borlase football squads, boys’ and girls’, have produced some scintillating play this year and upheld the beautiful game with honour. In all competitions our record is: played 47, won 27, drawn 12 and lost only 8, with a goal difference of+89.

BOYS’ FOOTBALL YEAR 7

Toby Pettit captained a Year 7 side that played some impressive football for their first year at the school. Despite their high quality football they seemed to get out muscled at key times in some of their games, which led to a disappointing set of results. Their highlight probably came at JHGS where up to the last period of the second half they had a one goal lead only for it to be snatched away in the last minute. This performance and result showed the players that they really are able to complete at a high level, so the future is positive. A big thank you also must go to Mr Cullen who coached the boys throughout this year.

YEAR 8

The boys were in the top district league following last year’s impressive start and trained regularly throughout the Autumn term so Captain Ryo Punwani had a side ready for action. They beat Bourne End Academy 3-0 but this was, sadly, the high point of the season and the team never quite got the results after that, despite playing some attractive football. The future should remain bright, however, as the entire squad showed great commitment and ability. We thank VI formers Murray Whitaker and Jamie RietikerWright for helping to coach the boys in their free time throughout the autumn and spring term.

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YEAR 9

The Year 9 side needed to bounce back from a disappointing Year 8 season. They did this with some good leadership from appointed captain Eric Sharma. The size of the squad was pleasing still and the effort and attitude good. A 4-0 win in their final game against Cressex put some shine on what otherwise was a sluggish year. That said, there is optimism for the future and I am sure we will see some of these players turning out for the 1st XI in the future.

YEAR 10

Archie McGuinness captained a side full of promise. Having gone unbeaten the previous year they set their sights on winning the district league. Unfortunately, when commitment was required, commitment went missing, and the chance to take the scalp of Princes Risborough passed us by, as we were unable to field a side in a game that would have won us the league. Truly disappointing. Enquiry to follow.

These players are not short of talent. In fact three Year 10 players, Danny Burroughs, Harry Hopkins and Fraser Wilson picked up a number of 1st XI caps this season, and trained regularly with the U18 side. This ability and commitment reaped its own rewards, and we hope to see some other players in the year group training and playing 1st XI football next season.

1ST XI

As holders of the Bucks County Cup (having won for the second time in 3 years) we knew we had to both rebuild and compete - and fast. With the majority of our previous squad gone (9 of our 11 starting players) we had to find new players, new leaders and be ready for a County Cup campaign that began in early September.

We qualified comfortably, beating all teams in our group including another impressive 4-1 away win against local rivals John Hampden. By December we had played 7, won 7 and scored 26 goals along the way. Confidence was high! Unfortunately in the knock-out stages however we had our first blip. And when it’s knock out - it’s punishing. Losing 4-2 to Denbigh meant our dream of retaining the cup had gone. The players continued to train hard however and went unbeaten for the rest of the season. Final stats were P15, D5, L1. The leadership of the side is always a key factor and Joe Middlehurst captained

admirably. Vice captain Noah Emsley supported well and was also a key player on the field. A special note of recognition should go to our year 10 players who stepped right up to play 1st XI football this year, in particular Fraser Wilson who played in goal. For such a young player to command such an impressive season at U18 level deserves particular mention.

Harry Hopkins and Danny Burroughs were the other two Year 10 players, with Harry scoring several times in big games.

Half colours to Wills Houghton, Sam Selbourne, Ben Baldwin-Pask, Tom Godsoe, Jamie RietkerWright, Nico Cheeseman, Julian Whitaker and Murray Whitaker. Full colours to Noah Emsley. Next season’s 1st XI captain will be Sam Selbourne.

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GIRLS’ FOOTBALL U13

It was an extremely successful year for the U13 girls and the addition of some very talented Year 7 girls contributed to an unbeaten season. In 9 games, the girls won 8 and drew 1, scored 48 goals and only conceded 4. They were committed to both training and matches week in, week out, and under the captaincy of Sophie Carter, the team was a force to be reckoned with. The girls finished the season with an inspiring outing to the Women’s FA Cup Final at Wembley. Special thanks to Mr Cullen for coaching the girls throughout the season.

competitive games, beating Wycombe Abbey, Wellington and Headington. The girls are now looking forward to more competitive 11-a-side fixtures next year with Nikita Gurung named as captain. Half colours to Niamh Potts, Elizabeth Highfield and Chloe Robinson. The player of the year was Rachel Southby who was superb in all matches played. Well done girls on a fantastic season played!

HOCKEY U12 GIRLS’ HOCKEY

U15

Captained by Poppy Morgan, the U15 team went into every match with enthusiasm and determination and that showed in keys wins such as 5-0 against St Michael’s and 2-1 against Highcrest. The team worked extremely hard all season and definitely deserved to finish higher than 4th in the table. However, next season they will be joining with the current Year 8s to form what will be a formidable team and are planning to go into every match with the same attitude and hopefully end the season as winners. Final results: P6 W3 D3 L1. Special thanks to Mr Cullen for coaching the girls throughout the season.

1ST XI

This year saw the development of a girls’ 1st XI team, under the leadership of Niamh Potts and Elizabeth Highfield. They remained committed to training every week and entered the People’s FA Cup competition. They also played three 11-a-side 80

GU12 A: Our first “real” match was against St George’s Weybridge. We lost 7-0 but as this was our first game playing as a team we left with high spirits, and through matches against some good schools we were able to improve our hockey, leading to notable wins against Beaconsfield High (8-0) and Chesham Grammar (3-0).

The highlight of the season was the county tournament at Marlow Sports Club. We played against schools including GMS, St Michael’s and Wycombe High to win the tournament, and a place at Regionals. Coming up against tough competition there, we lost all but one of our games (against Newlands). Although the result was not as we wanted, we tried hard, stuck together

SPORTS and worked as a team, and we were very proud of how far we had come.

GU12 B Team: This year we have had a great season and there have been many improvements with all our players and a lot of hard work. We started with a 0-3 loss against St. George’s and a 0-0 draw with Chesham Grammar before wins at Headington (3-0) and Great Marlow (4-2). Triti Panda has given solid performances in defence, and Freya Livesey and Lauren Bull were amazing at scoring some goals with Lisa D providing many assists.

U12 BOYS’ HOCKEY

BU12 A: The BU12 A team had a great season, finishing on a high with a Regional Plate victory. We played 10 (excluding competitions), won 6, drew 2 and lost 2, with an amazing 44 goals for and only 20 against. Season highlights would have to be a 5-4 victory against Magdalen College and a massive 15-1 win against John Hampden, with George Evans scoring 6 goals in the space of 15 minutes.

We had lots of new-to-hockey players this season, with Ed Thompson being a star in goal and winning the Most Improved Player of the Season Award. Oliver West was a superb striker in his first season of hockey, with almost the most goals and assists! The Player of the Season Award was well deserved by George Evans, with the most goals and second most assists.

BU12 B: Many of the boys in the U12B team had never played hockey before joining Borlase. Despite this we had an excellent first season. Through weekly training at the sports club, their skills and game play got better and better - except when the weather got in the way!

We started off our campaign well, with a decisive 2-0 win over LVS Ascot, followed by a 3-1 victory away at Merchants Taylors’, then won the next 5 games on the bounce! Sadly this amazing start could not continue forever and we then drew 3-3 with Magdalen College and lost the last 2 games of the season against The John Lyon School and Desborough.

The whole team played superbly and contributed to a very successful first season. Special mentions to Larry Jones for his amazing goalkeeping throughout the season; Ollie West, who after only a few games was promoted to the As and scored an excellent goal against Merchant Taylors. Also, Dominic Porter, who, after joining the season late, was soon promoted from the D team to the B team and Jamie Shepherd, who was a consistent performer throughout.

BU12 C: The hockey season for the C team was

pretty good, considering many of our players had never played hockey before. Notable wins included a 2-0 win over LVS Ascot in our first match, victories over JHGS 4-1 and RGS 4-2 and a season-ending win over Desborough College 6-1. Elliot Day was our top goal scorer and has shown a real talent. Dominic Porter, Adam Ghani and Ryaan Ghani have improved significantly and we have become a great group of friends.

U13 GIRLS’ HOCKEY

GU13 A: We were very happy to finish the season as District Champions. We won a close semi-final against GMS on penalty flicks before beating Beaconsfield High in the final 2-1 to lift the trophy.

We were very sorry to miss out on regionals. However, we have improved greatly as a squad and will come back stronger next year. We will continue to improve throughout next year and aim to claim back our title as County Champions.

GU13 B Team: Sadly we lost our first game against Headington School 2-0, but we took away things we needed to learn and focused on working on them with Kate and Miss Webber during training. We had mixed results over the next few games, before our big match against Great Marlow, which we were very happy to win 3-1, with goals from Grace Potter and Georgie Hill.

In February we went on tour to Canterbury before the district tournament in April where we lost in the semifinal to come 3rd overall in the Bs category.

GU13 C Team: Throughout the season we have all had an amazing time training with each other and playing matches together. We have trained hard which has made us stronger as a team. Sadly two of our matches were cancelled due to bad weather. We lost 3-1 to Headington School and 5-1 to St Mary’s Ascot, however Issy Grimes was elected player of the match - well done, Issy!

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U13 BOYS HOCKEY

BU13 A: This season we have improved massively as individuals and as a team, resulting in a lot more success than last season. One notable performance was reaching the quarter finals in this season’s Regionals, losing 1-0 to the eventual winners, St Georges. By comparison last year we did not win a game at Regionals. The most improved player has been Freddie Pollard. He has shown great determination to become better and better during the season and this has really shown in his play and the number of goals he has scored. But there have been many other great contributions such as from Ollie Whall and Fin Dees.

BU13 B: The team continued to develop strongly this year, with a mixed set of results, playing against some strong opponents. Overall the squad played 7 matches (sadly 4 were cancelled/postponed) and we demonstrated good midfield and attacking performances throughout. Our goalkeeping and defence were resilient in most games keeping clean sheets in 3 of the matches.

One of our best performances of the season was during our match against RGS, where we played brilliantly as a team. It’s always great to win, especially against a local school, and we dominated this game – coming away with a 2-0 victory.

Overall, it has been a good season with a huge amount of team improvement and some exceptional individual development from Arda Dramali and Jamie King.

BU13 D: This season we have learnt a lot from the training sessions and have used those skills in friendly games against other schools. Our results have not been outstanding, but we tried our best and used what we had learnt over time. We won one game 2-1 back in October, but lost three other games later in the season. Our outstanding player this season has been Thomas Bull. Thomas has scored lots of goals, made a lot of clever plays, and also assisted goals for others.

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U14 GIRLS’ HOCKEY GU14 A: This year, with the help of Mr Monk and Kate Porter, we progressed as individuals but also as a team.

Our first league match resulted in an 8-0 win against Wycombe High which was one of the first times we had played in the 11-a-side format, and as a complete squad. Our following match produced another win for the girls, 6-0. With our confidence boosted we went into Counties and won our first game but then drew against our biggest rivals, Great Marlow. A 3-0 semi-finals win over Becky High sent us into the final against… Great Marlow. The match ended at 1-1 which meant flicks to determine the winner. Borlase got all our flicks in leaving us to go through to the next round with our rivals but with a new found confidence that would aid us when we played in the finals.

Our first match in the finals against GMS consisted of two incredibly tense halves which resulted in another draw. We then beat Thornton through goals

by Eleanor Sharp and Hannah Dawkins in the first half, and Charlotte Dudley and Hannah Dring in the second. The determination, resilience and persistence we expressed in this game was one of the team’s many highs during the season and I believe that at this point we had finally gelled as a team. Sadly, defeat by Stowe meant we did not progress to Regionals.

Our next big competition was districts held at Wycombe High and Borlase went into the tournament with the hope of success. We came through top of a difficult pool then beat Chesham for a place in the final against… Great Marlow. Another close-fought final, another draw, another flick shoot out, another win for Borlase! The players were exceptional and every member of the team brought something to their position and I couldn’t be prouder of the team. We were extremely happy with this outcome and it has been amazing to see everyone’s improvement and end the season fabulously.

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U14 BOYS’ HOCKEY

BU14 A: The U14s had a successful season, winning the County Cup for the first time without losing a game and qualifying for regionals. We started the season with a 2-0 loss to a really good Whitgift side with goalkeeper Elliot Kent keeping us in the game on a number of occasions.

After this, we played our County Cup matches winning the cup with a goal difference of +16, the highlight being beating Dr Challoner’s 4-1. However, the best performance of the cup had to be by George Evans, who was playing two years up, against John Hampden.

He scored an incredible reverse stick hit from the edge of the D straight into the top corner as we went on to win 11-0.

Unfortunately, our regional tournament was a steep learning curve. Being grouped with eventual National Finalists St. George’s, Kingston Grammar, Simon Langton and Radley College we lost all of our games, but we were unlucky not to get a result in most of them.

BU14 B: We made an excellent start to the season beating both Stowe and Royal Grammar 3-0 with players like Joe Starkey putting us ahead. However our winning streak was not to continue as we then encountered several losses, being beaten severely by John Hampden and Magdalen College. However, one game that stood out was our 0-1 defeat to the John Lyons School. Although we lost it was unanimously recognised amongst the team that we had fought hard.

There were many stand-out players, especially our defence with players like Gabriel Blake keeping a few clean sheets, and the midfielders who made great plays to our strikers. We tried to give our all in every game, regardless of the outcome, and each game tested us in different ways.

U16 GIRLS’ HOCKEY

OUTDOOR: This year the GU16 outdoor team didn’t have the best season as we have been slightly low on numbers and did not come away with the best results.

In the County Tournament we were beaten by strong Wycombe High and Beaconsfield High sides and sadly just missed qualifying for the next round.

Due to the snow, many fixtures were cancelled; in the remaining six fixtures we still managed to score seven goals, although we conceded more.

INDOOR: The indoor team has had an interesting season filled with lots of improvement which has thoroughly helped our outdoor play. We played a number of Monday evening indoor league games in which the combined U16 and U18 team reached the final. In a friendly against Beaconsfield High, we won 3-1, which was fantastic as many of the girls in the team were Year 9s, so it was their first time playing indoor this season. In the Regional Prelims, we beat Aylesbury High 4-0 and Cokethorpe 5-1, getting us through to the Regional Heats. However this did not go as well, as we lost to Lingfield 1-2 and Cranleigh 1-3.

U16 BOYS’ HOCKEY

BU16 A: The year began strongly, winning lots of games and training every week which brought the team closer together. There was a real bond between the two years which helped us in the latter stages of the season.

In our indoor season, we qualified to get through the South Prelims at RGS High Wycombe by beating every team there - this resulted in a trip to KES, Southampton for the South Heats. We played very 83

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U18 GIRLS’ HOCKEY

well in this tournament and due to great teamwork we got through to the South Finals in Canterbury.

Unfortunately we didn't make it through to the National Finals, but big thanks to the boys who stepped up from the younger years to help us in that tournament.

Our outdoor season began with multiple friendlies in preparation for the cup. We did well in this, reaching the South finals, but were then unfortunately knocked out on goal difference. Congratulations to Fin Anderson, our Player of the Season, and Joseph Haselhurst, our Most Improved Player, who both played big roles in the team throughout the season.

BU16 B: After a stop-start season, often due to the cancellation of matches (you can thank the British weather for that), we were able to enjoy some success in friendlies across the school year. The most memorable being the away match at Stowe in which we were 4-1 down at half time due to several goalkeeping errors. The squad picked themselves up and slotted five into the Stowe net in the second half to come home 6-5 winners. Pleased with their work, they were each treated to a Kit-Kat. Standout performers of the season from an attacking point of view have to be Tim Woodford and Logan Bruce, who both created and scored plenty of beautiful goals, often not in the greatest conditions. In defence, Adam Town and James Massie never really put a foot wrong when they played, often clearing up loose balls, making important tackles in the midfield, and occasionally taking a ball to the face on short corners when the rest of the team didn't fancy it.

So although not the greatest or most successful season, everyone thoroughly enjoyed playing a sport they love with an amazing bunch of people and we look forward to next season and hopefully a few more Kit-Kats.

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This year the GU18 1st XI made a promising start by heading up to Repton (one of the best hockey schools in the country) to take part in a pre-season tournament.

It was an honour to be invited and we played some good hockey, considering it was our first time playing together. This translated into our first match of the season where we won 3-0 against Magdalen College.

The 2nd XI also travelled to Magdalen College to play their first fixture of the season and had an outstanding victory of 7-0. This proved that we had depth in our squad and pushed those in the 1st XI to play at the top of their game.

We started off our national campaign strongly by advancing through the county rounds (beating Stowe to do so) and showed we had the determination and desire to win. Unfortunately, we narrowly lost 2-1 to Eastbourne College in the South Heats.

Our experienced indoor team enjoyed another successful season, training hard every week under the expert guidance of Kate Porter. Once again we progressed comfortably through the heats to reach South Schools Regional Finals unbeaten.

The morning of regionals dawned and we awoke to a blanket of overnight snow and a blizzard which threatened to prevent us from even travelling to compete! A thank you must go to our intrepid parents and Kate Porter for braving the elements and getting us to the venue just in time for our first game. As soon as we had defrosted we performed well in the pool games to top the pool and qualify for the semi-finals in style. The stage was set for a repeat of the semifinal for the last three years’… Borlase v. Beaconsfield

SPORTS High. We played some of the best hockey we had played all season, but despite dominating possession and dictating the play, we were cruelly denied a place in the final, and Nationals qualification, by a lucky goal in the dying minutes.

This was an emotional end of an era for the outgoing Year 13 players on the team : Alex Lane, Josie Nash, Ella Brown, Anna Gutierrez, Hannah Gilmour, Jess M-B, and Daisy Hacking. Credit as ever must go to the incoming year 12 players who stepped up and we wish them the best of luck for next season: Melike Gerrits, Ellie Yeomans, Mae Reineke, Millie Thomlinson and Mila Welch. Finally, the biggest thank you must go to Kate whose commitment and coaching helped us to become the players we are. I am very proud to have captained this amazing team.

U18 BOYS’ HOCKEY The 2017/18 season has been a fantastic one for the BU18 1st XI, where we exceeded all the expectations that we had at the start of the season.

For the first half of the season our focus was indoor hockey.

This year we finally overcame our inability to perform well in crucial games, and made our way to the national semi-finals without losing a single competitive game, scoring over 50 goals and conceding just 20 in 12 games. This included wins against powerhouses Reeds, Cranleigh and the reigning national champions, Kingston. Against Kingston we came back from 3-0 at half time to win 4-3 in one of our finest results in 7 years together, with a winner in the last 20 seconds from Captain Ed Tyler sending the team to nationals.

Maintaining our winning ways at nationals, we beat Repton, one of the country’s top funded hockey schools, 6-2, in an outstanding display of total hockey.

Following 2 more wins and a draw in the group, we made our way to the semi-finals. Sadly this was where the journey would end, even though we were the only team that the eventual champions were unable to beat, as we drew with them 3-3 twice.

Fantastic squad depth in every position, exceptional coaching and management from Mike Irving and Mr Chappell, as well as Murray Whitaker returning to

hockey were undoubtedly key factors. Throughout the campaign the boys showed real passion and dedication to each other even at the toughest moments. But above we all enjoyed playing the most aesthetically pleasing hockey whilst tearing several of the biggest hockey schools apart.

Our outdoor season also defied expectations, as we reached the last 16 stage of the national cup, having beaten schools such as Magdalen College and Cranleigh, who both boast numerous junior internationals. The result against Cranleigh was especially enjoyable as it was a complete turnaround from the 6-0 loss that they inflicted on us two years ago at the same stage of the competition. It was excellent to see the likes of Toby Bruce, Nick Winter and Miles Craigmile really show their quality in several dominant defensive performances throughout our cup run, as well as seeing Greg Tyler showcase his goal scoring ability.

In addition to our success in the two national competitions, we also attended the prestigious St. George’s Sixes invitational tournament. Following 3 wins and 2 draws in the group stage, as well as a tight loss to the eventual ‘cup’ winners Kingston, we progressed through to the plate knockout rounds.

We dominated King Edward’s Southampton and Charterhouse in the quarters and semis and then Eltham in the final, where an assured performance confirmed us as Plate Champions for the first time in many years.

Overall it has not only been hugely enjoyable, but by far the most successful season of hockey for this cohort, with 16 victories, 6 ties and just three losses.

With our South indoor silver medals, national semifinal appearance, outdoor cup run, St George’s Sixes Plate victory and Borlase Team of the Year award, next year’s 1st XI have big shoes to fill. Mr Monk has been a real father figure to the whole team throughout our time at Borlase and he deserves a lot of credit for our development as both a hockey team and young adults.

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SPORT RELIEF 2018

Congratulations to everyone who took part in the Sport Relief Mile to raise funds for Sport Relief. All students were allowed to wear fancy dress costumes and prizes were awarded to best individual and groups in the three Key Stages. Prizes were also awarded to the fastest girl and boy in the Junior, Intermediate and Senior races. We raised £2200 for this year's campaign which focuses on mental health in the UK, and sportrelated charitable causes overseas. A special thank you goes to the Sports Leaders and the year 13 Sports Prefects for their assistance in organising the event.

CHARITY SPRINTATHON

On Tuesday 15th May we hosted the first SPRINTATHON in aid of Stand Up To Cancer. Students in years 7 and 8 were challenged to run the furthest they could as a house team in the hour. Each house had one runner on the track at a time, sprinting 75m before passing the baton onto a teammate in their house.

The event was a great success and will now become a regular part of the house competition calendar.

Romans took the trophy, running 12.79 miles. Thank you to all the students for their fundraising - we hit our target of over £1,500. Thank you to Mark Evans, parent of George Evans, for bringing this event to Borlase.

Results Romans 12.79 miles; Britons 12.74 miles; Vikings 12.60 miles; Saxons 12.60 miles; Normans 12.55 miles; Danes 11.95 miles

CHEERLEADING

With a number of new recruits the Borlase Blaze squad went back to basics at the beginning of the year and developed together. They have since performed at the Wycombe Swan in the local schools competition, finishing with compliments on a clear ‘cheer and chant’ and some ambitious stunts. Unfortunately Wycombe High beat them to the top spot but everyone came away from the competition proud of the performance.

Congratulations to Kirsty Wardle who was awarded the ‘Star Cheerleader’ prize from Borlase.

SPORTS LEADERS

This year we enrolled 8 Year 12 students on the Youth Sport Trust’s Level 2 Sports Leader Award.

The group quickly bonded and have delivered lessons in badminton, athletics and multi-skills to some local primary schools including St Peter’s RC School, Spinfield School and Burford School. The leaders also ran a highly successful hockey competition where over 100 primary children participated. The leaders umpired the matches, provided some coaching and managed the results process. Thanks go to Mr Monk, Director of Hockey, for allowing us to get involved. This year has seen an exceptionally high calibre of sports leadership and it was difficult to choose the Borlase Sports Leader of the Year Award; however, this year the award goes to Karys Johnson.

Ms Amanda O’Hara, Sports Leader Tutor

SCHOOL GAMES TRIATHLON

On Wednesday 2nd May one junior and one intermediate team took part in the School Games Triathlon event at Stoke Mandeville Stadium. The event saw the girls swim, cycle and run as far as possible as a team in 15 minutes for each discipline.

Overall the junior girls placed 3rd and intermediate girls placed 4th.

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Pictured from left to right: Jamie Rietiker-Wright, Max Ellis, Mila Welch, Millie Thomlinson, Karys Johnson, Sophie Gladstone and Harry Turner

SPORTS

SPORTS DINNER Sports Dinner was another great success. Once again this year we had a record number of students playing senior sport, reaching the venue capacity with 130 students attending. The senior sportsmen and women looked fabulous as they arrived at Harleyford Golf Club. The Team of the Year award was won by Boys’ Hockey for reaching the last 16 in the National Outdoor competition and becoming semi-finalists in the National Indoors. This was closely contested by the senior boys’ rugby who reached the semi-final of the Rosslyn Park Vase competition and the last 16 of the Nat West Vase competition - the best results Borlase Rugby has ever seen.

Thanks to the outgoing sports captains, for helping to organise the event.

Ms Holt Senior Sports Awards The winners of the 2017-18 Sports Awards are: Robin Graham Award for Character and Sporting Integrity: Girls’ Football Patterson Trophy for Outstanding Sporting Endeavour: Kate Donnelly

Philip McIntyre Award for Outstanding Sporting Achievement: Tom Dean Audrey Moore Award for Commitment to Rowing: Daisy Bethell Sports Leader of the Year: Ella Brown Team of the Year: Boys’ Hockey Boys Rowing – Captain: Matt Jones; Player of the Season: Evan Fisher Girls Rowing – Captain: Eden Hudson; Player of the Season: Bella O'Hara Athletics – Player of the Season: Eden Hudson Cross-Country – Player of the Season: Harry Turner Football – Captain: Joe Middlehurst; Player of the Season: Sam Selbourne Netball – Captain: Jade Patel; Player of the Season: Charlie Harris Girls Hockey – Captain: Anna Gutierrez; Player of the Season: Ella Brown Boys Hockey – Captain: Ed Tyler; Player of the Season: Toby Bruce Rugby – Fin Selman; Player of the Season: Jamie Maddern

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OUR OUTSTANDING ATHLETES

The shortlist for this year’s Patterson Trophy for Outstanding Sporting Endeavour and the Philip McIntyre Award for Sporting Achievement was once again very strong. The nominees were:

TOM DEAN

I have been swimming competitively since the age of 8, and have progressed through the sport earning national medals from the age of 11. Over the past year I have represented Great Britain on the Junior International stage after becoming British Junior champion in April 2017. I went on to become both European and Commonwealth Youth Champion at the end of last season as well as breaking the British record.

Earlier this year I was crowned senior British Champion at the 2018 GB Championships where I became the first British 17-year-old to ever break the sub-2 minute mark in my event and therefore the youngest swimmer to ever do it in Britain. This ranked me as the number one Junior Swimmer in the world at the time of writing and secured my place on the Junior European team this year where I hope to defend my title.

players, but not in the final 23 that played the games. Â I have been playing rugby for Marlow since I was 6 and I am now regularly starting for the 1st XV each week at National Level 6. I am also playing in the Colts side who are top of Division 1 for the Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire league. I have been a part of the most successful Borlase Rugby side in recent years, reaching the quarter-finals of the National competition and the semi-finals of Rosslyn Park 7s.

CALLUM MACLEOD

I have been cycling competitively since age four. Cycling has taken me many places and last summer I won my first international race. This winter I signed with PedalOn and have competed at the British National Series achieving podiums in two rounds and 4th at the National Championships. This led to me being selected for Great Britain to ride in two Telenet Fidea Cyclocross

JAMIE MADDERN

I have been part of the Wasps academy since 2014, playing against the other premiership and Welsh academies and representing Wasps in tournaments such as Harrow and Wellington, being retained every season. This season I was selected for the South West England squad to play at the National Divisional weekend in February. From this an England squad of 30 was selected, I was selected in the 30 named 88

SPORTS World Cups in the Junior (U18) category. Winning all but one regional round this year meant I became the Junior Wessex League Champion. I have also won the South of England Cyclocross Championships. The road season is currently taking place and I have signed with Zappi race team, one of the best teams for my age and I’m hoping a good season will allow me to gain a professional road contract for next season going into the U23 category. When I finish A-Levels I will be riding full time and hope to ride for Great Britain in the U23 Cyclocross World Cups towards the end of 2018 and early 2019.

KATE DONNELLY

The sport I do is called aerobic gymnastics and I’ve been competing nationally since I was 9 and internationally since I was 13. In my career I was consistently picked to be part of the national squad up until 2016 when my club decided to withdraw from that opportunity. In the past year I’ve had 4 main achievements. Firstly, in the summer I became British champion for age group 2 (1517), trio and individual women, and at this competition I scored the highest score at the competition for my individual, higher than even the seniors, which I am very proud of. Then in September I competed in Italy at the European Championships in the trio category and was one of only 3 gymnasts selected to go from Great Britain. We placed 16th which was relatively good considering we lost a skill. Then in October I qualified in 2nd individually and came 1st in the trio and group categories at the Plovdiv cup which is an international open competition in Bulgaria. This year

I’m in the senior category (18+) and have already qualified my individual, trio and group to go to the World Championships in Portugal this summer. This is my greatest achievement so far due to competition in the senior category being much stronger.

BELLA O’HARA

I began rowing through the school at the start of year 9 and have since been competing at a regional and national level. I have picked up several wins across races such as Reading University Head and twice at Bedford head in the quad, amongst others. A highlight of this season was definitely coming 5th at Fours Head of the River, a national event, especially as we raced in the top category for our age. However I am most proud of winning the National final in a pair (with Daisy Bethell). I am currently part of the British trials system for the GB Junior team, which is a yearly process involving ten different stages/tests ultimately leading to selection into the GB team. These are erg tests, races on the water and strength tests. At each stage, more athletes are ‘knocked-out’ until they are left with the top rowers and scullers in the country.

This year around 90 girls made it through into the first stage and the final team will consist of between 1520 athletes across the two disciplines, depending on the standard produced by the athletes. At final trials I came 3rd in a pair with Celia Matthews from Lady Eleanor Holles School, and we are both through to the boat selection regatta to decide whether we race at Coupe de la Jeunesse (Europeans) or Junior Worlds as a part of the GB Junior Squad.

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DUKE OF EDINBURGH

The Duke of Edinburgh Award at Borlase continues to go from strength to strength with 323 students from years 9 to 13 currently taking part in the Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards.

For the third year running we have had a phenomenal number of Year 9 Students on the Bronze Award 107 signed up this year. They worked hard on their expedition section with training in Oxford and practice in the Chilterns, which was extremely challenging due to the adverse weather condition. They then completed their assessment expedition in June in beautiful weather conditions in the countryside south of Reading.

There are 43 students in Year 10 who are working towards their Silver Award. This year, all students are taking part in a canoeing expedition phase. They enjoyed their training in Little Marlow and did very well on their practice expedition, for which they canoed from Abingdon to Henley; the last two days proved extremely challenging due to the hot weather.

The students are now gearing up for their assessment expedition in the Norfolk Broads, which will take place in the middle of July.

We currently have 47 students participating in the Gold Award. The expedition element of the award will begin in early July with a two day training weekend in Oxford. They then set off for their practice expedition in the Brecon Beacons during the first week of the summer break, before either completing a UK based assessment expedition in Snowdonia during the last week of summer break or an overseas assessment expedition in Albania during October half term.

However, the Duke of Edinburgh award is not all about the expedition phase. At Bronze and Silver, students also have to undertake three other activities: volunteering, a skill and a physical activity. In addition, at the Gold level students need to organise a five day residential activity with people they have not 90

met before. Every student has been committed to completing these sections, which take 6, 12 or 18 months to complete depending on the award level they are participating in. In many cases our students have been a huge help in the local community, volunteering with charity organisations or coaching and helping out with local clubs and projects, enhancing Borlase’s reputation no end.

I am incredibly proud of every single student who has taken part in the Duke of Edinburgh Award at Borlase this year and I would like to say a big thank you to them. We have worked extremely hard to encourage them all to complete their awards, which is reflected in our yearly completion rates. This year our students have achieved 99 bronze, 49 silver and 16 gold completions, a total of 164, giving the school one of the best completion rates in the county. Their behaviour has been impeccable and they have represented the school superbly - they really make the expeditions enjoyable to be on. I hope they have been challenged enough to take part in the Award throughout their life at Borlase, and inspire others to do so as well.

I would like to say thank you to all of the staff who have supported me this year; Dr Sowden, Miss Cowan, Miss Holmes, Miss Rayner, Mrs Blane, Mr Lofthouse, Mr Adamson, Mr Matar as well as Mrs Sadie and Mrs Garrow in the administration office. It would not be possible without all of their help and support.

Mr Dowling, Duke of Edinburgh Co-ordinator

STEM

(Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths)

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STEM

STEM AT BORLASE

It has been another exciting and busy year in STEM, with a large number of students from all year groups regularly taking part in STEM related activities.

To celebrate National Science week in March, we held our annual STEM Fayre. Over 130 Key Stage 3 and 4 students displayed more than 80 projects, which just seem to be more impressive every year! The projects were incredibly diverse, ranging from: why was Enigma so difficult to crack? to roller coaster braking systems, to how to inhabit Mars, to the chemistry of luminescence and even how to make the best Baked Alaska! Thank you to Murray Whitaker and Konrad Mayer in Year 13 who supported all of the students in completing their projects and organised the Fayre. The quality and scientific depth of the projects was very impressive, and pupils were able to apply for bronze and silver CREST awards. In addition, a number of our Year 12 students have successfully completed their gold CREST awards, a brilliant achievement.

Our student-led societies continue to flourish, offering budding biologists, medics, mathematicians, vets, chemists, engineers and astronomers the opportunity to debate current issues, and explore cutting edge research topics in a supportive environment. We have been extremely fortunate to have a number of visiting speakers talk to these societies, including representatives from the Birmingham University Race team, Arctic Live, Dyson and Oxford University to name a few. We have been delighted that so many of our recent Old Borlasians come back to give talks to current students about the highlights and challenges of going to University.

We are incredibly grateful to all those students who have taken on leadership and mentoring opportunities within the department. A number of Year 12 students have regularly met with students in younger years to support them with their mathematics and science.

Feedback about the scheme has been really positive, and the dedication of our Year 12 mentors has been integral in raising the confidence and attainment of the Year 11 mentees. Likewise, Year 12 students have run a very successful KS3 science club, organising exciting experiments each week for a regular cohort of Year 7 and 8 students.

To support the learning of STEM outside of the classroom a number of successful trips and activities have run this year, including: university style lectures for Year 12 students at the Biology, Chemistry and Physics-in-Action days; our annual trip to Space Camp for Year 10 students; a Year 9 enrichment day 92

focussed on careers in medicine and sports science; a trip to the RAF Inspiring Women STEM Day; a visit to Dyson Headquarters; a Year 7 visit to New Scientist Live and a visit by the Royal Society of Chemistry to teach Year 10 and 12 students about spectroscopy.

We continue to be impressed by the independence and motivation shown by our students, with record numbers completing EPQs this year and many students organising to attend university subject taster days or lectures to extend their subject knowledge beyond the classroom. Of special note are those students who developed STEM projects for external competitions - Sara Helin and Ikmun Gill were the Big Bang Fair runners up in the Engineering category and Olivia Winter was the runner up in the Tomorrow’s Water Final. We are particularly proud of the thirteen Year 13 students who entered the Biology, Chemistry and Physics Olympiad competitions. Congratulations to Hannah Green who achieved a Gold Award in the Biology Olympiad, Dan Capel-Smith who achieved a Gold Award in the Chemistry Olympiad and Konrad Mayer who achieved a Gold Award in the Physics Olympiad. Nine of our Year 12 physicists also tried their hand at the British Physics Olympiad AS Challenge for the first time this year - well done to Alexander Williams for achieving a Silver Award.

We are incredibly grateful to the parents, friends and families of the wider Borlase community who continue to support STEM activities. We would particularly like to thank the Old Borlasians for their kind donation to medical society for an ECG monitor.

Miss Cowan, Mrs Walder and Mrs Barclay

STEM PREFECTS’ REPORT

Anyone who has ever hungered after some cake has no doubt stumbled in on one of the many STEM societies run by we students. From the classics of MedSoc and VetSoc to the more unusual RockSoc and ‘Meme Society’, the last year has seen many of us celebrate and enjoy STEM at Borlase! These academic societies have continued to grow, inviting lots of external speakers from research and industry to give students an insight into life beyond school. We have been fortunate to host talks about laser engineering, building race cars, star formation and plenty more!

Others of you may have been out on a STEM related school trip, such as the visit to the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, or a day out at ‘Science in Action’ workshops in London.

Without a doubt the biggest dates in our calendar were the STEM Fayre and STEM Dinner. Our youngsters

STEM showcased some very mature understandings of science and technology and their applications in the modern world and parents, students and teachers were fascinated by the quality of presentation and range of projects on display.

The STEM Dinner was a fabulous way to finish the school year for older students heading into exams.

Entertainment for the evening came in the form of our excellent hosts, Dan and Ellie, as well as the debut of our latest school band: Earth, Wind and STEMpire.

It was also an opportunity to say a heartfelt goodbye to Mr Bagshaw, Miss Webber and Dr Gallienne, who have each contributed to the success and growth of STEM at Borlase during their time here.

We are always very grateful to Mrs Barclay for her continued support - none of this would be possible without her!

We would like to thank everyone who has contributed to creating the friendly and enthusiastic atmosphere in STEM at school. Have a wicked summer!

Murray Whitaker and Konrad Mayer

SPACE CAMP

Over Easter, a group of Year 10 students visited Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama. We had a long journey (almost 24 hours), and some of us on the trip were definitely fighting a losing battle to jet lag during the first couple of days. Despite this, the first few days, which were endlessly fun, were filled with classic American food (burgers, fries, etc), interesting historical sites, and (my personal favourite) a trip to The Mall.

Upon arriving at Space Camp, we were separated into crews and were greeted by our leaders, or crew

trainers. We were then shown all of the rockets around the site, and were suitably impressed, both by our trainer’s knowledge of them, and the rockets themselves. Each day consisted of a good mix of lessons, including everything from the Space Race to Astrology and the Russian language. We also had engineering tasks and, in my favourite of these, we built and launched a rocket containing an egg (which was sadly cooked by the engine). The remaining time was spent doing simulations, which included a 3 hour mission to ‘Mars’. Each of us had a different role, and different responsibilities to accompany it. We faced medical anomalies (which resulted in me ‘dying in a coma on Mars’) as well as several tasks, which for me included flying the shuttle.

By the end of the week I was proud to say that I had a great deal more knowledge about space, and the different missions led by NASA, as well as other space programs. On our last day at Space Camp, we had Graduation. This included each of us being given a certificate confirming that we had successfully completed the camp. There were also crew awards, and Team Acidalia (my team) won the “Outstanding Crew” award, which was awarded based on an average of the points gained on missions and during the engineering challenges. There was also an individual award, called the Wright Stuff Award, which was won

by Andrew Dobson.

Overall, Space Camp was an amazing experience, and my favourite school trip. It was educational, without being fatiguing, as well as lots of fun and let me bond with new people.

Ellie Harkin

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STEM FAIR

March saw us celebrate another fantastic year of STEM at Borlase with the much-anticipated STEM Fayre and the equally loved annual STEM Dinner.

On 15th March, Mrs Barclay was bombarded with over 100 science projects and presentations, made entirely

by KS3 and KS4 Borlase pupils. From homemade artificial intelligence machines and video games, to ‘Baked Alaska’ cakes and model rollercoasters, the afternoon was a huge success. The younger Borlasians deserve great credit for all the hard work and effort they put into their research. Well done to all; particularly our prize winners…

Year 7 1st Prize: Tvisha Mediratta - Artificial Intelligence 2nd Prize: Louis Blissett - Rollercoaster Braking system Year 8 1st Prize: Laurence Bedford - Jump Me game

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2nd Prize: Sofia Ziaullah and Amalie Taylor Inhabiting Mars Year 9 Outstanding Research Award: Oliver Neal Luminescence STEM Prefect Prize Pia Andrew and Millie Elwood - Imagine your Imagination Mrs Barclay’s STEMTASTIC Prize Phoebe Roehrig and Flossie Thornton-Wood - Baked Alaska Old Borlasian Prize Jemima Ridley - Why Was Enigma So Difficult To Crack?

The STEM department is very grateful for the support of the Old Borlasian Club in contributing generously to the range of prizes and awards.

Murray Whitaker

STEM

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STEM

STEM DINNER On the evening of Friday 23rd March over 140 students gathered for the biggest STEM Dinner yet.

Entertainment included live music from the newly formed ‘Earth, Wind and Stempire’, outstanding debriefs from our Year 12 academic society leaders, maths and origami puzzles, and mathematical singalongs! The celebrators then enjoyed some local fish and chips and ‘space cakes’ whilst awards were presented to those students who have gone above and beyond for STEM at Borlase this year.

Murray Whitaker STEM Awards 2018 Biology - Connor Fairman Chemistry - Hannah Bruce Physics - Brandon Smith Geology - Olivia McDonald Computing - Syd Lambert STEM Prefect’s Award - Konrad Mayer STEM Star - Konrad Mayer Old Borlasians’ STEM Award - Murray Whitaker Innovator Award (from Alex Dust) - Sara Helin The Jed Thorpe Prize - Fraser Brown

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ROBOT WARS EUROS On 2nd September 2017, Borlase had the privilege of hosting the European Championships for Beetleweight Robot Combat. Kindly sponsored by VMware and supported by Team Storm and Kinematic Events, the event was a thrilling display of engineering; from cobbled-together k'nex robots to precision-engineered power-houses, all 33 robots on display provided a great show for everyone watching. The winner of the school ‘Robot Wars’ competition earlier in the year also competed. The crowds cheered whenever ‘Snakebite’ entered the arena. Coming 2nd in their first heat moved them on to Round 2 where, in the last second, Daniel Hiller and Henry Spencer sent their opponent hurtling into the arena pit, to claim victory.

Next up were the one-on-one rounds. Unfortunately Snakebite was defeated at this stage. This was not the end of the fights for them however, as they returned for grudge matches, and for the final ‘gladiator’ fight, when the arena was filled with as many robots as possible.

all of the teams in the pits supporting such young competitors, applauding their returns, giving them tips, and suggesting ways to improve in the future.

Fraser Brown

ROBOT WARS AT BORLASE

The Borlase Tech Team ran the lighting, sound and projection with incredible professionalism. The LED theatre lights were used to complement the countdowns and other sound effects to create an exciting atmosphere, added to by the haze filling the room. To help the audience see the robots if they were obscured by arena walls, a live projection of the events in the arena ensured not a moment was missed.

Huge congratulations to all competitors involved, especially the winner ‘Incomplete Control’, second place ‘Orbit’ and third place ‘Spinza’, and of course to ‘Snakebite’ for representing Borlase so well, and for their incredible enthusiasm. It was great to see

Thanks to Fraser Brown, Robot Wars is now a thing at Borlase. Under his leadership the first events were held last year and were a great success, with Daniel Hillier & Henry Spencer of team Snakebite in Year 7 winning the contest.

Now, with more corporate sponsorship from the software company VMware as part of their STEM outreach program we have 2 major events coming up this year at Borlase with much increased interest. First is the local schools’ championship on July 16th, in which members of the Borlase Robot Fighting Cub will compete against each other, and against local schools.

The winner of this event will go on to compete in the European championships in October, which will be held here at Borlase for a second year.

Jana Baguley 97

STEM

PHYSICS OLYMPIAD

Out of 4,000 entrants nationwide, 6 Borlase Year 13 students were awarded medals in the Physics Olympiad 2018: Gold Konrad Mayer - one of only 120 awarded Silver Tristan Wride, Luke Johnston Bronze Murray Whitaker, Andrew Thompson and Chloe Hooper

CHEMISTRY OLYMPIAD

Gold Dan Capel-Smith Silver Daniel Cooper, Luke Johnston, Murray Whitaker Bronze Hannah Bruce, Connor Fairman Commended Jack Broadbent

CHEMISTRY IN ACTION A large group of Year 12 chemistry students attended the Chemistry-in-Action day in London. We were given five amazing lectures on the various careers and research topics that Chemistry can lead to, including smart materials, quantum imaging, ocean chemistry, pheromones and mercury. They were all phenomenal and the range of topics covered every aspect of the chemical world.

Joe Walker

BIG BANG FAIR

Big Bang is a national competition split into 2 categories: engineering and science. For our entry in the engineering category we created an electricity free, self-cooling jacket and, despite over 1000 entries and impressive competition, we were declared Runners-up. Our prize was presented on the last day of interviews and judging at an awards ceremony by celebrity guests. It was so unexpected that we almost didn’t stay for the awards ceremony and ended up on stage in our wellies!

Sara Helin and Ikmun Gill 98

JET RESEARCH INSTITUTE On Tuesday 11th July, 12 lucky pupils were fortunate to visit and explore the nuclear fusion reactor project at JET research institute in Culham, Oxfordshire. Nuclear fusion is considered a top candidate to resolving the energy crisis we face as a planet.

The population is forecast to double in size by the end of the century and energy demands will undoubtedly increase. We are desperately seeking alternatives to fossil fuels for energy and electricity generation.

Known by many as a technology that is ‘always 40 years away’, nuclear fusion reactors aim to harness the power of the sun, through a reaction involving deuterium and tritium hydrogen isotopes combining and releasing energy through a loss of mass (E = mc²).

Nuclear fusion is not only an environmentally responsible and carbon-free process, it is also inherently safe, creates little radioactive waste, and involves fuel sources that are in abundant supply, such as sea water (which provides deuterium and lithium compounds in abundance). Just one cubic kilometre of seawater contains enough deuterium to generate more power than the world's entire oil reserves.

In some respects, it is also self-driving as an energy process. For instance, when deuterium collides with lithium compounds on the walls of the reactor, this may produce tritium, which is otherwise a rare and extremely expensive isotope; our (incredible) guide, Dave, informed us that 1 gram of tritium could cost anywhere between ten thousand and one hundred thousand pounds!

Murray Whitaker

STEM OLYMPICS

STEM

In June, two teams of Year 8s took part in the STEM Olympics at Wycombe Abbey School. There were five fun events from making lighthouses with flashing lights out of paper, to designing a boat to race along the water. Throughout the day teams completed a quiz on all the STEM subjects: Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Psychology, Maths, Computing and DT. The competition tested pupils’ teamwork and communication skills by requiring them to work together to complete a task against the clock.

Congratulations to Laurence Bedford, Eloise Rints, Zhenya Fyodorova and Konrad Box, whose team came joint 2nd out of 25 teams.

YEAR 12 GEOLOGY It was been a truly wonderful first year studying Geology at Borlase. As a group we have had the opportunity to explore an entirely new subject ranging from ancient fossils to the solar system and, of course, the various types of rocks and their associated features.

In March, Year 12 and 13 students travelled to Langton Matravers, a small village on the outskirts of Swanage.

Here we had the opportunity to study the fascinating geology of the Jurassic Rocks along the Dorset coast, including examining some unique fossils as well as the occasional dinosaur track! Each day consisted of various activities around the area, including Keates and Swanworth Quarries, Swanage Bay, the Etches Collection and Lulworth Cove, followed by classroom work in the evening. The trip was a truly wonderful opportunity for us, as it provided us with the chance to learn and explore a geologically fascinating area of the UK, as well as develop so many new skills.

I would like to thank Mrs Addison and Mrs Barraclough for all of their hard work and time as well as the

inspiration they have passed on through their passion and enthusiasm! We are also saddened to bid Mrs Barraclough another farewell, but appreciate all her hard work during the time she has filled in.

Olivia MacDonald

MATHEMATICS UKMT Maths Challenges  Nationally around 600,000 students take part in the three UKMT challenges, and the top 40% receive a Gold, Silver or Bronze Certificate in the ratio 1:2:3.

For each round a few hundred nationally are invited to take part in the Olympiad Follow-on competition, and a few thousand take part in the Kangaroo Follow-on Multiple Choice round.

180 Borlase students take the Senior challenge, 180 take the Intermediate challenge and 150 take the Junior challenge. Our students this year achieved 56 Gold Certificates, 127 Silver and 126 Bronze certificates, with 49 students going through to the follow on Kangaroo round and 4 students through to the Olympiad competitions.

The students who went through to the advanced Kangaroo and Olympiad rounds this year were: Year 13: Luke Johnston (British Olympiad), Tristan Wride, Nicholas Winter, Murray Whitaker Year 12: Joe Walker, Jinna Kim, Luke Maccallum, JJ Jones, Matt Covus, Ben Hall, Tara Hopson Year 11: Robert Coates (Maclaurin Olympiad - Merit), Ben Ford, Alex Huxley (Merit), Ethan Cole, Alex Wood, Kester Jacob (Merit), Harjeev Soomal, Thomas 99

STEM Kershaw (Merit), Tom Chorlton, Daniel Porter, Stevie Cooper (Merit), Michael Hall, Phoebe Brown, Nikolai Hinterreither Year 10: Leon Tasch (Hamilton Olympiad - Merit), Adam Town (Merit), Cameron Wilkins, Gabriel Smith (Merit), Emeshe Kaic Year 9: Dominic Young, Elliot Kent (Merit), Yubin Kim, Amy Greener (Merit), Anthony Adamson (Merit), Mani Ipchi, Adam Ulhaq, Lily Meyer, Christopher Jackson, Olivia Hall (Merit), Harry Fayers, Sadie Brown, Kitty Cooper Year 8: James Ley (JMO), Joel Taylor, Alex Stephens, Billy Dhariwal, Thomas Bull, Georgie Hill, Daniel Hillier, Hannah Rooney Year 7: No students qualified for the follow on round this year, but Katarina Finney, Dominic Porter, Amelie Crook, Lisa Dixon and Jack Lee all achieved Gold.

Team Competitions and Trips We regularly send teams to Maths competitions which allow our most enthusiastic and able students the opportunity to pit their maths brains against students from other schools. These occasions are always tremendous fun and extremely exciting, especially for the accompanying teachers!

MEI Competition: Ritangle: Borlase entered a team called ‘Front Row’ to this online maths competition.

This set a series of problems over a few weeks culminating in a final answer. 600 teams entered and only 60 (including our team) got to the final answer to the problem before it was published. Well done to Ben Allanson, Sam Selbourne, Matt Covus, Patryck Jonca, Tara Hopson, Sara Helin and James Breedon. Many thanks to Ms Watson for suggesting the team take part - they thoroughly enjoyed it.

Senior Team Challenge: Ms Watson trained the team at lunchtimes and took Luke Johnston, Alexander Williams, Joseph Walker and Tara Hopson to Oxford.

Borlase came 6th out of 20 teams there, a great achievement.

Year 10 Maths Feast: Leon Tasch, Adam Town, Clara Maccallum and Emeshe Kaic won the “What No Words? “ round, beating all the other grammar schools.

Team Challenge: Anthony Adamson, Alex Stephens, Joel Taylor, and Adam Ulhaq, went to Oxford to take 100

part in the regional heats with Ms Womersley. They performed brilliantly as a team and came a very close second to a private school, out of about 20 teams.

They have qualified for the national finals which take place in Lindley Hall, London in June, an amazing achievement.

Extra Curricular Clubs STEP - the Thursday after school group who just love maths and work on the hardest problems: James Groenweg, Tristan Wride, Anya Swales, Ben Allanson, Tara Hopson, Alex Williams, and Patryck Jonca.

Mr Campbell’s Chess Club seems to run every break and lunchtime. It is virtually impossible to walk past his door without seeing students engaged in challenging games at the back of the room.

Maths Mentors Year 12 mentors contributed enormously to the maths department this year and a team of wonderful mentors ran the KS4 support on Wednesdays and the KS3 support on Fridays.

Many mentors also gave individual support to students, as well as helping teachers in their classroom. We are hugely grateful to all our mentors - thank you!

Staff News Mrs Sanghera has returned from maternity leave welcome back! Mr Campbell had a new addition to his family in October. Mr Marchand is now Head of KS5 Maths, Miss Hird is Head of KS3 Maths. We have very much enjoyed having Mr Matar and Mr Vyse in the department for the year and wish them well in their future ventures.

Mrs Walder

MATHS IN ACTION In March, a group Rear 12 Maths students, accompanied

by Mrs Lewis, had the opportunity to attend the Maths-in-Action lectures at the Camden Centre in London, where we experienced five incredible lectures covering various uses of maths, with a sixth on exam techniques. Some of the topics covered were relevant in today's society - such as data science and mapping diseases - where we could use these applications of maths in the not too distant future. Others were more philosophical, questioning if maths exists or it is just something people do. The day ended in spectacular fashion with the final speaker (Mark Lewney) playing a Bohemian Rhapsody parody on his guitar with lyrics about matter.

Tara Hopson

OLD BORLASIANS 101

OLD BORLASIANS

DEVELOPMENT UPDATE ALUMNI FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN Borlase is operating against a difficult funding background, but we continue to be even more ambitious. We keep adding more and more opportunities for our children – new activities, competitions, clubs, societies, academic groups and, of course, improving facilities.

We continue to apply for grants for much needed facility improvements; however, we are not permitted to use these funds for any operating costs. Upon receipt of a grant, Borlase is obliged to make a percentage contribution to the building costs, paradoxically decreasing funds.

This is why in the summer of 2017 we launched our Here&Now telethon to ask for support from our alumni and parents. I am delighted to share with you that, thanks to the generosity of the Borlase community, we raised £187,000 in pledges and have so far raised an actual figure of £157,000. This is a wonderful testament to the generosity of Old Borlasians and our parents. Thank you from everyone at Borlase to those

of you who gave gifts to the campaign.

Our awesome fundraising team comprised: Catrin Williams (2016), Olivia Reed (2016), Dominic Tyler (2016), Alistair Brady (2014), Katie Fyffe (2016), Harriet Parfitt (2016), Juliette Butler (2014), Toby James (2016), Josh Bojarzin (2008-2015), Cameron Murray (2014), Phoebe Mansfield (2015), Jake Smith (2017) and Emily Martin (2008-2015 not pictured)

OLD BORLASIANS REUNIONS Rowing Reunion The first Borlase Alumni reunion at Henley Royal Regatta was a great success. More than 60 alumni, parents and students enjoyed getting together and reconnecting over afternoon tea at the Regatta.

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Performing Arts Reunion Last summer we were delighted to welcome back Performing Arts Old Borlasians from across the last decade and beyond. With street food, Rebellion on tap, a jazz platform and fairy lights, the Cloisters provided the perfect venue to reunite the wonderful Old Borlasians who had entertained us and each other over the years. A crowd of creatives ready to relax and share music and memories is a great recipe for a very enjoyable evening.

As guests arrived on a lovely summer evening they were issued with their Timetables (in House colours of course) for the night.

Period 1 involved drinks and entertainment from current Performing Arts Staff.

Period 2 involved everyone marching to the "cinema" to see edited highlights of shows and concerts over the years.

Period 3 took place in Chapel. What could be more perfect than Mr Robson playing the processional and he and Alex Garrett (2013) duetting (fresh from his First at the Royal Academy) on cello? The school song and Jerusalem have never sounded as good as when sung by Performing Arts Old Borlasians - the sound was simply incredible.

1921 Club Onwards and upwards! The 1921 Club (the newly formed Borlase rowing club for alumni and parents) was proud to have its first win at the Staines Regatta.

Well done to Joel Watson (2016) and Simon Jones (2016). The Club has grown in size, ability and ambition in 2017. We have joined the Thames Valley Explore League (a British Rowing initiative for new and inexperienced rowers) and competed recently in Reading, finishing 4th out of 6 crews in a round robin day of 250m sprints.

Ilona Cains Old Borlasians Carols by Candlelight 2017 We were delighted to invite all Old Borlasians to our 2017 Old Borlasians Carols by Candlelight Christmas Service. It was a very special evening with nearly 100 alumni and friends enjoying the traditional Christmas service, including performances from both current students and our wonderful alumni choir.

OLD BORLASIANS

OLD BORLASIAN CLUB A message from our President Greetings to all Old Borlasians everywhere.

With Summer now in full flow, another productive and eventful academic year nears its end.

Looking back to earlier this year we have lost some dear friends, but more importantly fine Old Borlasians, both former teachers and pupils who struggled valiantly, but sadly lost their health battles and are now no longer with us. Please take a moment to reflect and read the other articles in this section and celebrate their lives and contribution to the school.

As we race into the rest of the year we are delighted that Kay Mountfield has been appointed as the new Headteacher to be the guardian of the next phase of SWBGS. We look forward to working together with Kay and her team in continuing to reinforce and grow the Old Borlasian community and relationships, with exciting projects and initiatives already underway.

With change firmly on the agenda, your Old Borlasian club and committee volunteers have worked hard in the background in the past few months and we have spoken about challenges in remaining relevant and true to the spirit of Old Borlasians as we approach the next decade.

We have centred our future aspirations on three priorities: club longevity, membership and events, and protecting school history. The committee is now organised as follows and is committed to provide an impactful service to the many hundreds of Old

and former Head of Maths) back to the committee, along with other Old Borlasians Paul Merchant (of my Marlow Facebook and twitter account fame, as digital guru) and Julien Bussell (as digital archiving specialist and historian ) So… why not join the Old Borlasian Club?

By joining, you will be keeping in touch with Borlasians, not just from your time as a student at the school, but from every part of Borlase’s history, through social events and our extensive memorabilia collection.

There is also the opportunity to play a pivotal role in becoming a communication lead for your own year group, helping to encourage more of your peers to engage with the Club. The Club subscription of just £15 a year, enables us to provide the school with prizes for Drama, Sport and STEM activities, as well as supporting current building developments. In the past the Club has contributed to such projects as the building of the Theatre, and the Chapel spire repairs.

Of course the success of the Old Borlasian Club and its events depends on you, so we are always delighted to welcome new committee members to the teams who are keen to share their ideas and enthusiasm.

Parents/guardians and pupils, please help us to keep Old Borlasian traditions going and stay in touch by making contact today with our membership group lead andy.howland@gmail.com and sign up to help us for the future.

Best wishes Chris Funnell, Club President chris.funnell@hotmail.co.uk

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2017

Borlasians around the world: Having made these priorities a focus, everyone has engaged in a service committee of their choice and we have lured Andy Howland (communications expert

This year the AGM was held on 28th November.

Minutes of the previous AGM were read by Secretary Tony Compton. Honorary Treasurer Peter Allen’s annual financial report for year ending 30th June 2017 was distributed. The accumulated funds stood at £2,660.

The Club continues to support the school by funding the Sports, Performing Arts and STEM awards annually, as well as contributing the Old Borlasian prize at Speech Day and wreaths for the Remembrance Day service.

The committee welcomed new member Julien Bussell.

Chris Funnell was elected president for a second year.

Cathie Wells is President-elect.

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OLD BORLASIANS

THE OLD BORLASIAN CLUB COMMITTEE Your committee elected at the AGM comprises the following: P.J. Allen [1955-63) Hon. Treasurer R.G.F. Annable (1968-74) J.W. Barry (1984-54) J. Bussell (1978-84) J.G. Cooke (2000-07) A. Compton (1957-64) Hon. Sec. D.P. Dandridge (1950-58) C. Funnell (1975-78) President S.K. Funnell (1972-79) G.B.S. Lim (1997-2003) Mrs C. Wells (1990-92) President -Elect Dr P. Holding Head Teacher ex officio Mrs I. Cains co-opted school liaison.

Note: sadly David Dandridge died earlier this year – see obituaries.

After the meeting everyone adjourned to the George and Dragon for an informal dinner.

For any enquiries, or to stay in touch with the Old Borlasian Club, please contact Tony Compton via honsecborlase@hotmail.com or the school Development Office via icains@swbgs.com

THE OLD BORLASIAN PRIZE 2018

This year the prize is awarded to Mary-Ann Grego and Jack Broadbent to whom we offer our congratulations.

They share the Bates Cup and £100.

IN MEMORIAM 2017-18

Old Borlasians who have sadly passed away in the last year and whose deaths have been notified to the school: Roy Child (1937-43) Robin Cox (1935-41) David Dandridge (1950-58) Stuart Lever (1936-43) Peter Perrett (1936-43) Malcolm Roe (1956-64) Francis Smith (1940-48) Liz Chubb, former teacher (1998-2002) Rod Hamer, former teacher (1973-91) Dennis Paton, former teacher (1953-89) Brian Teasdill, former teacher (1959-90) 104

OBITUARIES ROY CHILD (1936-42)

Roy Child, one of nature’s true gentlemen, was born a twin with his late brother Gordon, on 4th July 1925, near Spade Oak, Bourne End. Handily, living just up the road, Roy and Gordon, after finishing their primary school days, both came to Borlase on 15th September 1936 and remained until 1942. Both twins were very active sportsmen.

Roy mentions little apart from winning a boxing competition in which he won a spoon in the under four stones division. He was a bright pupil but remembers being awarded only four marks out of a hundred for a Latin translation!

As we shall see, the war years upset many young people’s aspirations. Roy had wanted to be a solicitor since the age of 14. It was therefore no surprise that he qualified at Borlase for a place in Kings College London. He was lucky to have the benefit of a year at Cambridge, as King’s had been evacuated there, and with about 12 others comprised the 1st year students of King’s Law Faculty and also spent some time at Peterhouse College.

Along with 2 particular friends in his year, this threesome became the first, and possibly the only, non-Cambridge undergraduates to play rugby in the Cambridge Colleges’ Rugby Cup. Roy also swam the length of the Cam from Trumpington to King’s College Chapel. This was in 1942 and, as for so many others of his age, the call to war service came clearly. Roy recorded that he joined the Cambridge University

OLD BORLASIANS Naval Division in October, only to become the first member to fail the course (June 1943). However, he did scrape through his Intermediate LLB. Roy then Joined the Navy as an ordinary seaman at H.M.S.GANGES at Shotley Gate near Ipswich. Now closed as of October 1976 – it was renowned for its fearful MAST - 143 ft tall. Climbing this, Roy said, was his main achievement. But he was the first member of the Cambridge Naval Division to be commissioned as a Midshipman – “the lowest form of life”, he selfdeprecatingly said.

The next phase of Roy’s life was traumatic. On 28th April 1944 the American army sent out a large detachment in a rehearsal for D-Day named ‘Exercise Tiger’. It included 8 LCTs - Landing Craft Tanks – which carried heavy armour, Sherman Tanks and about 100 men each. Due to careless radio communication by the Americans, the Germans learned of the plans and despatched several E-boats which attacked the convoy from the rear. All LCTs were lost and 750-800 GIs were killed.

In order to man the replacement transports, the Royal Navy was called upon at short notice to replace the lost crews. Roy and a more senior officer were drafted in to sail one of these craft across the Channel for D-Day. On 6th June 1944, Roy’s LCT, along with thousands of other craft set sail. Roy was headed for Omaha Beach with the first wave of GIs. It is probable that all of his passengers died – Omaha was the bloodiest of all the beaches. He made several more trips along the same route. A Sherman tank now stands on Slapton Sands, Devon, as a memorial to those who lost their lives in ‘Exercise Tiger’.

After leaving the Navy, Roy married on 21st June 1947 and, with his usual wit, commented on the day saying “...know it was the longest day – forgot it the shortest night”. He determined to pursue his chosen career and was rewarded on 24th April 1958 when he passed his Law Society finals at the fourth attempt.

As the Honorary Secretary to the Club, I enjoyed the privilege of much humorous correspondence with Roy. He was an erudite person, discovering the charm of Old Borlasian author Sir Hugh Walpole’s (1894-96) Lakeland tales, The Herries.

Thomas Hardy held huge attraction for him and I think it was this influence that led him to make his home in Dorset. Roy was an author himself, writing inter alia a book on the history of the office of the Lord Chief Justice in his work In Search of the Chief. Roy’s wit was ever present in letters usually, again, passing selfdeprecation of his own profession.

Roy was our President in 1993. He leaves two sons.

Neill was ever-loyal in bringing his father to Old Borlasian Dinners. A gentleman of great wit and mirth has left us.

John Barry (1948-54) ROBIN CHARLES ROY COX (1935-41)

Robin Cox, always known as Bob to his schoolmates, died at his home in Johannesburg, South Africa on 19th November 2017.

Bob was born in 1924, in Wooburn Green. His father was the manager of Glory Mill, a well-known local landmark. His mother died when he was only 5 years old and at that point his father’s sister came to run the house and brought the family up with her own daughter as well.

Bob’s first school was in Wooburn and he came to Borlase in 1935 where, as he said, “I soon discovered that I was in a new atmosphere with standards, discipline and friendship, and the staff approach to pupils was very appropriate”. Bob was a bright pupil and enjoyed his sport. Although destined for a place at Oxford University he declined the opportunity. War had come in his last two years at Borlase and he wanted to join up for war service. He found employment with a company which had evacuated from London to Chalfont St. Giles, to which he cycled 7 miles each way every day. At this point, aged 16, he joined the Home Guard where, he recalled with pride, the Irish Guards who trained them imparted sound knowledge of weaponry and field tactics.

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OLD BORLASIANS When he reached the age of 18 he signed on. His first choice was the Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry, but with a full complement at that time he was slotted into the Somerset Light Infantry. His Home Guard training stood him in good stead when, after his basic training, he applied for a Commission. He obtained it after a further 4 months training in the Isle of Man. His Home Guard experience compensated for his youth.

September 1944 saw Bob in Belgium making his way with his platoon to the ill-fated battle of Arnhem.

Making his way by river, he and his men were shot up. Several of his platoon were killed and Bob himself suffered minor injuries. After a further 8 months, Bob’s war in Europe ended up with his men facing the Russian Army on opposite sides of a river. They were our great allies then!

On Bob’s return to England, he expected to be sent to the Far East where the war was still mercilessly continuing. But that posting never came; instead he was sent to Palestine, now a full Lieutenant. After a course in insurance he joined a British Government set-up to aid business reconstruction in that area. Still in the army of course, he was promoted to Captain and ran the Government business until it was closed down in Palestine and transferred to Egypt. The new job brought a further promotion to Major. Bob stayed in this post until his demobilisation when he returned to London and immediately joined Price Forbes, with whom he had worked in Chalfont St. Giles before his army career.

In 1947 he was sent by his new employer to South Africa and worked there for the rest of his business life.

Price Forbes was an agency in South Africa dealing in liquor, perfumes, tobacco, fabrics and insurance.

Conscientious work eventually earned Bob the position of the Chairmanship in 1965. This company employed 600 people and Bob’s leadership skills involved him in the Transvaal Insurance Institute and the Insurance Brokers Association.

When writing to me as the Hon. Sec, Bob would mention his memories of school and some of his school mates, Tony Chubb, Bill Bates and Reg Hobden. He also remembered a bomb dropping near the Chapel in the School, and was subsequently a very generous benefactor especially in the project to restore the Chapel tower.

Bob finally retired to his home in South Africa where he was surrounded by his family. He will be missed as a thorough gentleman by those few people who can still claim to be his contemporaries.

John Barry (1948-54) 106

DAVID PAUL DANDRIDGE (1950-58)

David was born in Bourne End on 29th January 1939.

As a direct result of the 1947 Education Act, the prospect of secondary education was made available to any child passing the 11plus exam. Now no longer a fee paying school, Borlase was open to David, who came in 1950. David’s brother, who was 7 years his senior, was not so lucky.

David thrived at school becoming a somewhat feared prefect (‘he was always dishing out lines’ as Tony Compton recalls) and later Head Boy, in the new era of Mr Hazelton (who took over as Headmaster in September 1956, after Mr Booth’s 29-year headship).

David recognised the effort of some well-established and other, more recently-appointed, teachers at the school, but David was declined admission to Bristol University. However, he was directed towards the accountancy profession, missing National Service.

David was articled to the firm of Bullimore Wright near Moorgate Station to be told he was the first person since the foundation of the firm in 1888, who had not come from a Public School, to be granted articles. His qualification stood him in good stead as a Chartered Accountant up to the day he died.

OLD BORLASIANS But David’s all-consuming passion for cricket was at the centre of his life. Introduced to it by his father, he enjoyed cricket at Borlase then, further encouraged

by Marlow Cricket Club, David, nicknamed Dorothy (after the film actress), got to play for Bucks Young Amateurs. Now he got involved in games against Leicestershire, Sussex and Warwickshire, (first Old Borlasian to play at Edgbaston)!

Where to focus? David recalled - ‘It transpired that bowlers came from state schools and batsmen from public schools including, of course, Eton. By the time I was leaving school in 1958 my bowling skills, such as they were, had disappeared. I persevered with batting and slip fielding. I was at Marlow CC with Dad until I was commuting to Paddington via Maidenhead when I moved to Maidenhead and Bray CC. In 1965 I joined Teddington CC in Bushy Park. I’d been known in recent years as having more clubs (and club dinners) than Jack Nicklaus, which included Richmond, Brentham, Boyn Hill and now Shepherd’s Bush and various wandering sides including Incogniti, Stoics and Jack Frost XI. I managed MCC side at Barnes CC for 14 years, some years ago.’

Only in later years did David join the Old Borlasian Club and its Committee. He suffered with leg pain which restricted his movement, but stoically came to meetings, either at the school or in the George and Dragon. David was the President of the Old Borlasian Club in 2012. He died on 12th March 2018.

He is survived by eight children and lived happily as a bachelor in West London.

David’s funeral, held at Mortlake Crematorium on 6th April 2018, with a good representation from the Old Borlasian Club, was a celebration of his life at which brightly coloured clothes were requested; a reception followed at Shepherd’s Bush Cricket Club. A ‘Bon Viveur’ passed on.

John Barry (1948-54) STUART LEVER (1939-44) Stuart Mordecai Lever, an eminent, well loved, and respected member of the Old Borlasian Club, passed away on Sunday, 4th February 2018, aged 90. Born a Londoner in 1927, Stuart and his family were evacuated from the capital during WW2 to escape the Blitz, and settled in Cookham.

Stuart entered Borlase in 1939 and remained until 1944. He excelled in rugby, rowing and athletics at a time when the School was really stretched for staff. Three of the younger members amongst the

teachers were called to Military Service for the war: George Dewhurst went to the Meteorological Branch of the RAF, whilst Charles Davenport served in the Army with the Royal Artillery, and Russell Sage was a despatch rider also in the Army, where his linguistic expertise was also valued. This left a much depleted staffroom. Maths/Geography, English/RE, and French all gone!

Stuart could relate stories which might be hard to believe these days. A few temporary staff were engaged by Mr. Booth ( Headmaster) and, in a shock to the old system, lady teachers were to be seen for the first time since 1634, the first of whom was Mrs. Laetitia Jones (May ’41-Nov’43). Girls, too, were engaged in debating society competitions, an exercise which Stuart himself promoted. Sport continued mostly by sheer will of the boys and selfhelp. An active, keen type, Stuart threw himself wholeheartedly into athletics, rugby and, probably his favourite, rowing. He recalled his pride at scoring the School’s first ever try in a match against a team from Bomber Command. Then, one Saturday in June 1944, he set off with a rowing crew by public transport to row against Beaumont College, having been advised 107

OLD BORLASIANS to alight at the Bells of Ouzeley in Old Windsor. When they arrived, this well-known public house was a pile of smouldering rubble, having suffered a direct hit from a V1 flying bomb. Thought to have been the first ‘Doodlebug’ sent over, it gave the Bells of Ouzeley the distinction of being the first house to be wrecked in this manner when, most probably, the Royal Lodge was the intended target.

But the bitter pill of that era was to hear the Headmaster announce at morning chapel the casualties of the war – young men, lately school chums, who would not come back.

Stuart and his contemporaries could tell tales of gardening in which Mr. Booth delighted, being short of a gardener for his considerable patch; potato digging in the ‘Dig for Victory’ campaign of the time, and salvaging various items of value which earned him the nickname ‘Salvage Stu’.

After school came National Service in the Army Intelligence Corps (1946-48), mostly in post-war Vienna. After this he went to Magdalen College, Oxford to read economics and philosophy, where he rowed for his college before pursuing a career as a Chartered Accountant for the rest of his working life.

Stuart took a great interest in the ancient guilds of artisans in London and became a Member of the Worshipful Company of Glaziers. He eventually served his turn as the Master of that Guild in 1993. Being ever fiercely loyal to his old school and college Stuart, in his huge generosity, was a great benefactor to Borlase.

Recognising this fact, the O.B. Club installed him as President in 1990. In that year he founded the Borlase Development Fund. Envisaging that much new expansion of the school was afoot, Stuart encouraged all past and present Borlasians to contribute to this Trust, and the first of these was his old classmate Gary Weston (biscuits), followed by his own mother.

Stuart wrote several varied items in the School Magazine ‘The Borlasian’. A very notable item was on the Holocaust (Borlasian 2007). As one who, in his own words had a ‘declared interest of a traditional Jewish background’ he had seen terrible evidence of suffering at the hands of the Nazi regime in post-war Vienna, and a visit to both Moscow and Leningrad (besieged for over a year) convinced Stuart of the immense stoicism of the Russian people, their sacrifice and huge contribution to the final victory. He needed desperately to impress on new generations the pure evil of those terrible days. His visit to Auschwitz itself, leading on from his visit to Russia, swelled a compunction to research the facts for posterity.

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True to character, Stuart combined two of his loves and loyalties when, in 1999, he gave the magnificent stained glass window in the west wall of the School Chapel. The very colourful glasswork depicting ‘The Helping Hand and The Pursuit of Excellence’ is a magnificent piece of work, much prized by the School, and could well be described as the jewel in the crown of a very special Borlasian in a very unique era of the School.

A Memorial Service was held for Stuart at St. Lawrence’s Church, Lechlade on 25th April 2018 and Old Borlasians were able to meet Mrs Susan Lever and her daughters Rosalind, Marion and Barbara at a reception afterwards. Stuart also leaves nine grandchildren and fourteen great-grandchildren.

In a eulogy delivered by a friend, Stuart’s other four great loves of his life after his family were the Henley Regatta, fine wine, going to the opera, and attending Lords Cricket in later life.

So many people will miss Stuart’s amusing and intelligent company.

John Barry (1948-54) DENNIS PATON (Staff 1953-89)

OLD BORLASIANS Dennis was involved with the school for nearly 65 years. His modest and cheerful demeanour and his characteristic chuckle will be long remembered by many. As senior Physics master throughout his time here, he was Head of Science for nearly 30 years. For many of his latter years, Den stood third alone in seniority behind Head Roy Smith and Deputy Head Don Banner. Of course, Den was far from "hierarchybound" and much preferred what he termed a "collegiate" manner of working.

He was a highly able Head of what grew into the school's largest Department and was an excellent Head of House, in the days when that role was much more significant. Russell Sage, Don Banner, George Dewhurst and Charles Davenport are the only "always full time" teaching staff in over 100 years (perhaps in the near 400 years of the school) to have been at Borlase longer than Den. Within their timespans at the school, all but Don were on War Service. Thus, Den is probably second only to his great mate Don in terms of days spent on the premises.

Born at the end of 1928, Dennis attended Aylesbury Grammar School, which was then mixed, and was very fortunate to be prodigiously talented. He was an excellent sportsman (cricketer, Sports Day Victor Ludorum and First XV captain), the possessor of a fine singing voice (soloist in the town's best church choir) and, most significantly, was superb at both Maths and Physics.

Unfortunately, due to the master being on war service, the school did not offer Chemistry to Higher School Certificate Level (predecessor to A Level).

Although very able academically, he did not stay on at school the necessary extra year to apply for ‘Oxbridge’ but instead attended King's College, London, which, due to war damage, was then housed in Leicester.

He read Physics and Maths, specialising in the former. One of his exam papers was written in German, the key language for many academic papers. His ability at Rugby was soon recognised and he played as a back row forward for both the UAU (England and Wales Universities) and for the East Midlands.

1951 to 1953, what Dennis termed as "his two Gap Years", were spent doing National Service with REME at Arborfield, near Reading. In September 1953, the 24 year old Den arrived at Borlase. He joined on the same day as Bryan Welch, another long serving member of staff. Bryan lives near to Witney. Den's long time close pal and drinking partner, Don Banner had arrived two years previously. Among the staff were

many who would serve Borlase for many years history master "Junk" Davis had been there for 30 years, whilst maths master W.F. Jones and languages teacher "Jammy" Robertson had arrived in 1929 and 1931, respectively. Relative newcomers included Fred Peirce , Robin Pitman and Fred Davies.

William Sykes Booth was Den's first Head. The young Mr Paton was very soon prodding him to much improve the quality and extent of the Physics equipment in the Laboratory above the archway. In 1956, Ernest Hazleton took over as Head; in the less austere times which followed, he was able to significantly improve facilities for Science. Soon Bryan, Don and Den would be joined by other young men - including Tony Saunders, Norman Bateman, Brian Teasdill and Den's dear friend Trefor Williams.

In 1956, Den married young Marlow woman, Angela Collins. They had four children, Andrew 1969-76), Laura, Julia and Vivien. Den helped with Rugby and cricket, and accompanied pupils on skiing trips and (along with Norman) on cultural visits to Germany. He became Head of Science, initially in charge of Physics and Chemistry - but, from the 70s, also of the newly established Biology Department.

Den appointed many staff; my former colleagues Cynthia Ayres and John Stebbings (among others) received particularly fulsome praise from him. In 1974, Roy Smith took over from Hazleton and soon afterwards, Don became Deputy Head, whilst Den became the school's first Senior Teacher - in the late 20th century sense. Aged 60, Den retired from Borlase in July 1989, but taught for one further year on a part time basis at what is now Buckinghamshire New University.

Outside school, Den was one of the very best known of our teachers of the post-war era. He lived in the town, married a Marlow girl and joined many clubs - some to do with sports. He was a fine squash player and for a number of years represented Marlow Cricket Club and Marlow Hockey Club. Prior to switching to Hockey, his Saturday afternoon sport continued to be Rugby.

Along with other stars of Marlow Rugby Club (including the superb Colin Trundell and Trefor Williams), Den represented Bucks in the County Championship. This was in the era when then current England players played in the County Championship and among Den's Bucks team mates was the legendary Ted Woodward. Until his very last years, Den was a bass voice with Marlow Choral Society.

Den tutored Maths and Physics until past his 85th birthday. For many years, he had supplemented his 109

OLD BORLASIANS income through very many hours of private tutoring, as well as through the marking of A Level papers and teaching evening classes at Slough College.

Den and Angela enjoyed a long and very happy marriage. Over Dennis' near 30 years of retirement, he and Angela enjoyed many holidays, including a number of cruises on major European rivers. He was a great supporter of Old Borlasian events and, as recently as 2016, attended Speech Days. Over the course of his long life, many counted Den as a very close friend. During the last 15 or so years of his life, Den was one of my very best friends.

The deepest condolences and very best wishes from many Borlasians go to Angela and to her and Dennis's family.

Andy Howland (staff 1989-2008) with much help from many memorable conversations with Dennis and Angela (and helped by the occasional glass of red wine!)

BRIAN HARVEY TEASDILL (staff 1959-90)

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For 31 years, Brian taught Physics and, mainly, Maths here, and contributed extensively to extra-curricular activities. He was Head of Saxons, at a time when the Heads of House presented the Prefects to Head Roy Smith for almost invariable ratification.

Born in Leeds on 16th March 1935, Brian was a very active youth - achieving the honour of becoming a Queen’s Scout, awarded to only a few boy scouts. In his teens he spent a lot of time with a cousin with whom he learnt how to dispose of surplus WWII explosives - a skill which came in useful later in life!

Although Brian achieved A Level results which won him a state scholarship to attend University, he opted for an alternative: a scholarship from the National Coal Board to study Mining Engineering at Leeds University. There, he met Pansy, who had also been bright enough to be on a state scholarship. Pansy later also taught Maths at Borlase; their son, Robin and a grandson attended the school.

On leaving University, they married and Brian worked for the National Coal Board on a management training scheme. He was sent to Austria for nine months to work in the deepest coal mine in Europe, where he became fluent in the German that he had learned at school. Returning to England, the young couple set up home in Pontefract, a Yorkshire mining town, where they started their family. Brian took on the highly paid and highly hazardous job of the mine's shot firer. His young bride closed her mind to the dangers of the pitfalls which were a common way to perish. To her relief, Brian realised that being groomed for pit management was not for him and he applied for a teaching job in Marlow. During the interview, Headmaster Hazleton took Brian up to Winter Hill to show off the Thames Valley. Agreeing that it was better than the view of slag heaps, Brian accepted the job.

The Head of Maths on Brian's arrival was W.F. Jones, who had been here since 1929. Whilst Brian taught with a number of Heads of Maths, Dennis Paton, just six years his senior, was his only Head of Physics.

The passings of Messrs Paton and Teasdill were just 21 days apart. Over quite recent years, both Dennis and former Head Roy Smith, had often remarked to me on Brian's calm and pleasant manner, his command of his subject matter and his ready smile.

Soon after joining our staff he acquired the nickname "Seth", which he didn't mind. A good long-distance runner, Brian was involved in running the senior cross country team. He also took the infamous and popular skiing trips. He had strict rules: do what you want

OLD BORLASIANS within reason, be on the slopes first thing, and, if you are sick, then you clear it up.

In July 1989, aged 54, Brian took early retirement, only to return six weeks later for one full academic year on a part-time basis to help with a massive increase in the number of sixth form mathematicians. His encouraging, engaging manner helped me very much during my first year at the school.

After leaving Borlase, Brian went on to teach on a part-time basis at Henley College for two more years until his complete retirement at the age of 57. During retirement Brian did a second degree in Geology, his final thesis being on The Formation of the Thames Valley. His knowledge was extraordinary and I am told that a walk anywhere with him was transformed by his explanation on what was around us. He and Pansy also travelled extensively.

Brian passed away peacefully on 7th March 2018 after a short illness. Our deepest condolences go to Pansy and her family Andy Howland (staff 1989-2008) with enormous contributions from Pansy Teasdill (staff 1966-74) and Robin Teasdill (1970-77)

THE SHAME AND THE PRIDE

The Shame: It is a matter of deep shame that in the UK in the 21st century we find pockets of poverty the length and breadth of the country, leaving people hungry. Encompassing a variety of individual misfortunes, we discover people of all ages and genders trapped into a corner of their lives which, however long or short the duration, is destructive, hurtful, humiliating and resented.

Few, if any, would want to admit finding it necessary to call out for help without sensing a huge personal hurt. Sorrowfully, it is not just the individual adult who needs help. Very often couples or single parents with dependent children have arrived at the point where they simply must somehow get a respite from the desperation brought by the lack of the basic foodstuffs which we all need.

Here the FOODBANKS step in.

There are many reasons why people find themselves in this terrible predicament. We can list some outstanding generalisations, such as stagnating wages (i.e. just pure poverty), rises in food and fuel costs, and Government cuts and changes to the benefits system. The recent roll-out of Universal Credit, temporarily at least, made matters worse as the switch-over to the new system resulted in a five week waiting period before payments

resumed. Other matters surface to push more people into that unfortunate state; here we find families abandoned or abused by a partner, individuals released from prison without any caring follow-up, families pushed out of their homes, and those who are simply unemployed, temporarily or otherwise. Bad housing arrangements often lead to an inability to pay for the gas or electricity with which to cook the food requested.

The Pride: True pride may be taken by a growing number of thoughtful people who, following a genuine feeling of goodwill towards the less fortunate members of society, buy some extra items of shopping every week to deposit in a Foodbank collection bin.

Sometimes there is a donation of food etc from the supermarkets themselves.

The Trussell Trust was set up in 1997. The Slough Foodbank, a separate charity, was established in 2010 and follows the guidelines and principles of the Trussell model. In Slough we have a central warehouse where the collected goods are stored and very quickly released to four distribution centres, according to need.

Around the town there are over 120 referral agencies which can assess a client’s needs and issue a voucher to obtain a 3-day food parcel from Slough Foodbank.

A minimum of four people at each distribution centre comprise a team to distribute the supplies to clients.

The Foodbanks supply emergency food packages sufficient for 3 days. Necessarily, of course, the food is non-perishable, either dried or tinned, but the food is wholesome and of sensible proportions to fill the immediate need. Usual household toiletries are part of the package and, where advised, the client’s fuel supply is supported by a voucher system. Suggested practical menus are also available.

During the year ended 31st March 2018, Slough Foodbank received 50 tonnes of food and essential items and saw an upsurge of more than 25% in clients over the previous year’s figures from 3,099 in 2017 and 3,890 in 2018. Of the latter total 1,335 were children.

Two distribution centres, such as that in St. Andrew’s Shared Church in Cippenham, are associated with local churches and the volunteers tend to be drawn from the connected congregations. But anyone wishing to be a volunteer is enthusiastically welcomed – there is always a shortfall, despite our having 80 volunteers on our books The approach adopted towards a client is one of friendship and calm. A cup of tea or coffee is the first offering to set a client at ease and dispel any possible embarrassment. Friendly chat may follow and, with the aid of various information packs from 111

OLD BORLASIANS a variety of agencies and authorities in the town, we are able to offer signposting with any queries. But the conversation is never probing or judgmental; instead it is sympathetic, helpful and, above all, discreet.

For the majority of the nation, it must be said, we have food, shelter, warmth, security and a square meal, thank God! We are on the ‘right side of the counter’.

But for some in our society, who find themselves on the ‘wrong side of the counter’, life is lived in real hardship, usually silently and often with a feeling of dejection and abandonment. Even worse, there often lurks the fear of what might be the next blow of misfortune.

Frequently aired on the TV are some of the latest scenes of the poverty issue and Foodbanks are mentioned as the charity supported by the public which comes forward with help. The Rowntree Foundation has described the Foodbank Network as the 4th emergency service. You may hear some people mutter about this type of ‘do-gooding’ only encouraging the continuing situation. Take it from one who has served others on the ‘wrong side of the counter’ - this is not what first hand observation bears out.

The correct view? There, but for the grace of God, go I. John Barry 1948-54.

PRESIDENT AND MAYOR

Chris Funnell is in his second year as President of the Old Borlasian Club and in May was elected Mayor of Marlow. Chris typifies the Old Borlasian commitment to give something back to school and community. We caught up with him in a rare quiet moment to ask him about Borlase life and how it has shaped him.

What years were you at Borlase?

1975 to 1978. I attended Borlase having spent two years at Reading Bluecoats School and one at John Hampden school as I didn’t step up to passing my 11plus! I joined the school after taking my 12 plus, but it was well worth the wait.

Who were your best friends at school, and are you still in touch with them?

I had many friends at school. Probably the most formative were in my GCSE year in the famous class of 5A. My main buddies were my rowing mates and those who at that time were boarders at Sentry Hill.

Boarders were always camped out at our house for extra food supplies. There are a few good friends that I still see around town, and I still remain in contact with a few that are scattered around the globe.

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What were you best and worst subjects?

Without doubt my favourite and best subjects were the science based subjects, and anything with a practical element in it. Literature, History and Geography were my worst - I was far more interested in fixing boats at the school boat house or helping Rod Hamer, our talented jazz-playing art master, build his sailing boat in the art room .

What school activities did you take part in?

School activities were defined by mainly sports and team-based activities; Performing Arts, and STEM didn’t exist at all. I spent most of my spare hours rowing for both Marlow rowing club and the school, although I was asked to give up rowing for the club by our great legendary rowing masters Tony Craig and Russel Sage who asked me to review where my true allegiance was. I’m not sure there was much choice!

My claim to fame is that somewhere there is a House Sculling cup in the school, which I won for my house, Danes What did you do after leaving Borlase?

When I left I joined the Royal Navy to become an engineer and move on from there to further my career and training in industry, ultimately as a process engineer in the food industry with Rank Hovis Mc Dougal and Associated British foods. After that the bulk of my remaining career was within the pharmaceutical industry with Johnson and Johnson in Engineering and plant management roles around the globe. I now

OLD BORLASIANS spend my time on a variety of property investmentbased projects and Council work, Presidency of the Old Borlasian Club and, of course, the important role I now have as the Marlow Mayor for this year.

What did you enjoy in Borlase school life, what life qualities did it give you?

Borlase life was very different for us. It was a very traditional old grammar school with just a couple hundred of boys, and was quite strict as you can imagine. I probably didn’t realise it at the time, but cold dips in the outside pool, tough regular cross-country runs, scrambling up the ropes in the gymnasium and the occasional caning or lines and detentions were all probably more akin to a military regime than the school we have today - I guess that’s what they used to call ‘character building’.

Why did you go into local politics and what do you want to achieve and what is your vision locally?

I’m not sure that I would classify myself as a hardened politician, but I was drawn to the role more by a desire to put something back into Marlow where I have had the privilege of spending large chunks of my life, and have the opportunity to help shape and maintain what is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful towns in our country. I do have a passion for maintaining the core traditions and assets we have in our town, and I do think we all have a duty to do our bit for community and pick up the baton at some point in our life, so I guess this is my time. The challenges of local government are getting tougher, so my vision across the multiple projects and initiatives in town, and our interface with the district and county, are to act pragmatically, but also do that with humility, data- and knowledge-based arguments, and as one Marlow together. Putting it simply, I’m going to work hard on delivery, rather than complaint and over-discussion.

Your children attended Borlase as well; how has the school changed between your day and theirs?

Jessica my daughter has now finished her degree in nutrition and is off researching the future of mankind’s health, and Luke will have just finished his A-levels when this goes to publication, so fingers crossed!

The old school looks the same on West Street and the older buildings having expanded gracefully over time to accommodate more and more. I still believe the core values remain of what it is to be a Borlasian remain: although the curriculum, sporting facilities and endless new initiatives are beyond recognition since my day they are still rooted in following things worthy and true.

What is important for the future of Borlase?

The continuing integration of new and old is critical and that is why Old Borlasians give up their time to support the school and keep a gentle hand on those past values and steer them into the future, maintaining historical elements and traditions. I know the pupils can’t wait to get on to their next stages in life beyond Borlase, but let’s hope that we can keep Borlasians coming back and taking up the local and school challenges for a long time into the future.

Proud to be a Borlasian!

Tony Compton (1957-64)

1925 AND ALL THAT

Whilst collecting various items of memorabilia and sifting thought them for historic reference and display in school it is easy to get side-tracked reading all kinds of documents and studying photos and not getting on with the job in hand. A case in point is the collection of Borlasian magazines which, when you start to read them, give a fascinating insight into school life in the past.

So far as I can ascertain the first school magazine was published in 1885, but no doubt was nothing like the annual magazine that we are familiar with today.

Amongst many of my father’s school memorabilia is his set of magazines from the years he was at Borlase.

I recently took down the one for 1925, his first year at the school, and was interested to find out what life at Borlase was like in his day compared with when I started some 32 years later.

In 1925 the country was still picking itself up after the Great War which had finished only seven years previously. But at the same time it was the roaring twenties: New Orleans jazz, the Charleston, short skirts, and art deco were starting to influence design and architecture. A wild time for the young, perhaps, just like the sixties when I was teenager.

In that year the headmaster was the Reverend A.J. Skinner who was to retire two years later and hand over to W.S. Booth. The school was obviously very popular, as there was a waiting list to enter where an entrance exam had to be passed. There were about 135 boys in the school, some of whom were boarders.

Sports played an important part in school life, and that has not changed it seems. In athletics on Sports Day, events included a tug of war between houses and also one against the Old Boys. There was also an Old Boys 100 yards race which I recall in my day. A splendid shield was presented by the Old Borlasian Club for this 113

OLD BORLASIANS event in 1948 and was last recorded as being won in 1979. I found it languishing in the cups cupboard and hopefully it will eventually be brought out for display.

Better still, reinstate the event, and the tug of war too!

Cricket and football were the main school games and there are some interesting individual critiques of players in the First Teams. First cricket - “G. Butt.

A slogger who yet kept his eye on the ball and was a useful man in a race with the clock. At long field he was a sure catch if a little slow in returning the ball”. Football - “Simmons. A clever player who heads and shoots well. As a centre forward his dribbling is rather overdone. If he swung the ball about more the progress of the forward line towards goal would be quicker”.

Borlase had also started rowing a few years before. The magazine records that “the boat club was handicapped by a lack of a coach in the early part of the season”.

No health and safety with a coaching launch or even a coach on a bike up the tow path then; just a few boys coaching themselves! It is also recorded that the average weight of the school crew was nine and a half stone - well short of being even a lightweight these days. One interesting rowing statistic is that in 1925 the Marlow Rowing Club first eight contained seven Old Borlasians and the crew won the first round of the Thames Cup at Henley Royal Regatta. The school also had a Boxing Club and a Rifle Shooting Club and appeared to have competed at quite a high level.

On the academic front the annual Speech Day saw 99-year-old General Sir George Higginson present the prizes as chairman of Governors, a position he had held for 21 years. Sadly he died two years later. He had been a stalwart supporter of the school for many years.

Even in those days the Old Borlasian Club was very strong, given the number of boys that passed through the school, and the Club was helping the school where it could. They helped complete the internal decorations of the chapel (unfinished since the war) and a War Memorial Fund was set up which funded oak panelling, screens and choir pews. 258 people are listed as contributing to the fund, quite a remarkable number of people in those days.

Well, nothing has changed in that respect: the Old Borlasian Club continues the tradition of helping the School and giving back where it can, ever grateful for a solid educational foundation for life, just as my father was back in the Jazz Age nearly a hundred years ago.

There is so much more fascinating reading in these old magazines. I have only skimmed the surface of the 114

1925 edition. For anyone interested in Borlase history there is a full set of magazines held in school.

Tony Compton (1957-64)

THE BORLASE MASONIC LODGE

Now incorporated into THAMES SCHOOLS LODGE No.6216 Current Master – Brian Wilson Master from Oct 2018 – Chris Spracklen Anyone requiring information about the Lodge should contact K.R. Cartland, 4 Fontwell Close, Maidenhead, Berks SL6 5JX

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

All Old Borlasians are welcome to attend these events: Remembrance Day: The annual Service of Remembrance will be held in the School Chapel on Friday 9th November at 10am.

AGM – to be held at the school late November, date to be confirmed.

Presidents’ Sherry Party – to be held at the school on Thursday 20th December at 1pm.

REMEMBRANCE DAY SERVICE AND THE PRESIDENT’S SHERRY PARTY

These two long established events during the latter half of the autumn term bring the school and the Old Borlasian Club together in very different ways.

The Remembrance Day Service in the chapel filled with Year 7 pupils is a time for reflection on the disaster and destruction of war, particularly in the last few years where we have been remembering the First World War 100 years on. The seriousness of the occasion is lightened by the lovely singing of the chapel choir in that most intimate and attractive of spaces, the

OLD BORLASIANS school chapel. Adjourning for coffee and a chat after the full school turn out for the two minutes’ silence brings us back to some normality. Only a handful of Old Borlasians attended this year; it would be good to see more if you are able to make the journey on Friday 9th November.

The Sherry Party is always a light-hearted affair which brings the term to an end, although not a lot of sherry is drunk these days - many of the staff seem to prefer other types of refreshment. This event providing lunch and drinks for the staff is well attended and always enjoyable. This year saw the focus on the retirement of Peter Holding as Head teacher with the O.B. Club presenting him with an engraved wine decanter to mark the end of twenty one years of leading the school through a very successful period. The event was held in the large meeting room off the cloisters now known as C5/C6. This room has been identified as the possible space for displaying school memorabilia which we are

helping to organise - watch this space!

Again, we welcome all Old Borlasians to this event, especially past staff.

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SCHOOL RECORDS

2017 LEAVERS' DESTINATIONS

Abdi, Ali: Social Sciences - Sussex Ahlgren, Viktor: Philosophy, Politics and Economics - New College, Oxford Allpass, Harry: Editing and Post Production - Ravensbourne Annable, Grace: Special Educational Needs and Inclusive Practice - Kingston Archer, Olivia: Psychology with Criminology - Nottingham Trent Arkinstall, Esme: International Business - West of England Arthur, Henry: Political Science and International Relations Birmingham Avery, Annabelle: Physics - Edinburgh Aykol, Julie: Psychology - Bath Aykol, Jenny: Biomedical Sciences - Southampton Barber, Lois: Neuroscience - Bristol Barrett, Jerome: Natural Sciences - Nottingham Bayliss, Tye: History - Exeter Bell, Melissa: Economics - Leeds Bilsland, Elena: Physical Activity and Health - Bath Biswas, Himal: Medicine - Cardiff Blazey, Natasha: Food Science - Nottingham Blumenthal, Joy: Design for Film and Television - Nottingham Trent Bond, Ethan: Economics - Loughborough Bone-Anderson, Lucy: Sociology - Nottingham (2018) Booth, James: Economics - Leeds Boundy, Benjamin: History – Swansea (2018) Bownass, Benjamin: International Development with Economics - East Anglia Bradley, Carla: Human Physiology - Leeds Bray, Amber: Medical Sciences and Engineering - University College London Brown, Calum: Mathematics - Birmingham Brown, Molly: Physiotherapy - Birmingham Bruce, Katie: Economics - Cambridge Brune, Emma: Medicine - Leeds Bujakowski, Alicia: American and Canadian Literature, History and Culture - Nottingham Bujakowski, Sophie: Sports and Exercise Science - Swansea Bull, Freya: International Business with Language Birmingham Burling, Kate: Mechanical Engineering - Imperial College Burns, Oliver: Business and Management - Oxford Brookes Butler, Francesca: Geology and Petroleum Geology - Aberdeen Butler, Alexander: English - Exeter Campbell-Hood, Bruce: International Relations - Leicester Cassells, Oliver: Politics and International Relations - Bath Chester, James: Business and Management with International Studies - Exeter Coates, Samantha: Journalism, Communications and Politics Cardiff Cooke, Oliver: Modern Language Studies - Nottingham Corke, Georgia: Economics - Southampton Cousins, Lorna: Accounting and Finance - Bournemouth Craft, Alice: History - Hertford College, Oxford Crockett, Maximin: Mechanical Engineering, Warwick

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Cromie, Ella: Geography - Oxford Brookes Cromie, Henry: Medical Engineering - Swansea Cross, Rhianna: Medical Biochemistry - Manchester Crossley, Bridget: History - Sussex Cunnington, Chloe: Psychology with Criminology - Nottingham Trent Curran, Luke: Geography - Bristol Dampier, Aimee: Geology - Exeter D'Arcy, Chloe: English - York Darnell, Charlotte: History and Modern Languages - Exeter Daruvalla Davies, Jocelyn: Management - Nottingham Dean, Connie: Medicine - Duke University, USA Deraed, Loic: Computer Science - Oriel College, Cambridge (2018) Dicker, Anna: Paramedic Science - Anglia Ruskin Dixon, Polly: Biological Sciences - Exeter Doarks, Catherine: Civil Engineering - Sheffield Donkin, Harry: Medicine - King’s College, London Drage, Benjamin: Computer Science with Business - Aston Duke, Catherine: Economics - Kent Dust, Alexandra: Engineering - Dyson University Elliott, Harry: Mathematics and Physics - Exeter Fillmore, Hannah: English Literature - Durham Forster, Saskia: International Studies - University of Amsterdam Foster, Harriet: Veterinary Medicine - Nottingham Frankish, Lia: Philosophy, Psychology and Scientific Thought Leeds Frost, Thomas: Economics and Finance - Bristol (2018) Gale, Isobel: English Literature - Durham (2018) Garry, Sebastian: Mathematics and Economics - Nottingham Gemmel, Stefan: Economics - Newcastle Gerard, Cameron: History - LSE (2018) Gerard, Brett: History - Birmingham Gerrits, Imre: Electronic and Communications Engineering Nottingham Glover-Watts, Kibibi: English Literature - Edinburgh Goyal, Krishan: Medicine - Imperial College Greenwood, Isobel: Biomedical Science - Birmingham Hacking, Emily: Civil Engineering - Exeter Hall, Daniel: Business Management - Birmingham Halpin, Ronan: Finance - LSE Harding, Luke: Physics - Nottingham Hearn, Tess: Psychology - Nottingham Trent Helin, Sofia: Chemistry, Biological and Medicinal Chemistry York Heppenstall, Luke: Mathematics and Economics - Nottingham Herridge, Harriet: Zoology - Exeter (Cornwall Campus) Hill, Matthew: Business Studies - Lancaster Holgate, Eleanor: Physiotherapy - Brunel Hucks, Oliver: Geography with Business - Nottingham Hunt, Hayley: Geology - Royal Holloway Inch, Stephanie: Modern Languages and Business Management - Manchester (2018) Isaac, Ayush: Medicine - Nottingham Jackson, Eleanor: Nutrition - Nottingham Jackson, Hannah: Biological Sciences – Nottingham Trent

SCHOOL RECORDS Jefferson, George: Aerospace Engineering - Swansea Jenkins, Jake: Sports and Exercise Science - Swansea Jhamb, Sagar: Biology - Sheffield Jones, Amy: Chemistry - Birmingham Joseph, Benjamin: Business Management - Swansea Joshi, Mihir: Philosophy, Politics and Economics - Warwick Kennedy, Ella: History - Exeter Kershaw, Rebecca: Linguistics - Jesus College, Cambridge Logan, Ben: Biological Sciences - Cardiff Macmillan, Samantha: Economics - Exeter Maisey, Thomas: Psychology with Criminology - Sussex Marshall, Grace: Biomedical Sciences – Southampton (2018) McCaffrey, Harry: Geography - Swansea McKie-Smith, Cameron: International Foundation Business and Technology - Oxford Brookes McNab, Iona: Politics and International Studies - Exeter (2018) Mehhovits, Matvei: Acoustical Engineering - Southampton Milsom, Julian: Accounting and Finance - Oxford Brookes Minter, Emily: English - Durham (2018) Missen, Claire: Aerospace Engineering - Sheffield Monks, John: Politics and International Relations Southampton Morgan, Alexander: Economics and Politics - Leeds Morris, Nicole: English Literature and American Studies Manchester Murphy, Claire: Liberal Arts – Harvard University (USA) Naismith, Eliza: Biomedical Sciences - York Nash, Isabel Caroline: American and Canadian Studies Birmingham Nash, Isabel: Psychology - York (2018) Neal, Charlotte: Biology - York Nicosia, Geri: Automotive Engineering - Surrey Paskins, Benjamin: Mechanical Engineering Loughborough Patchett, Jessica: English - Birmingham Paterson, Andrew: Architecture - Nottingham Pearce, Terri: Physics with Astronomy - Cardiff Philliban, Josh: Cyber Security and Networks - Glasgow Caledonian Pilgrim-Morris, Jemima: Physics - Birmingham Pirzada, Ramsha: Biomedical Science - Brighton Rae, Caitlin: Biological Sciences - Exeter Reed, Finlay: Geography (Science) - Liverpool Reynolds, Patrick: German and Politics - Bath Ritson, Megan: Bioveterinary Sciences - Royal Veterinary College Roberts, Fraser: Biology - Kent Roberts, Benjamin: Physics - Keble College, Oxford Robinson, Alexander: Electrical and Electronic Engineering – Bristol (2018) Robson, Harold: English Language and Literature - Manchester Rolfe, Eleanor: Biomedical Science - Birmingham Rushton, Louis: Electronic Engineering – York (2018) Ryman-Kingston, Yasmin: International Foundation Arts, Humanities and Law - Oxford Brookes Sanger, Nicholas: Business and Management (Marketing) Bath Spa

Santa-Olalla, Ethan: American Studies and English Nottingham Scurlock, Henry: History - Exeter Selman, Caleb: Economics - Manchester Sethi, Jaya: Psychology - Sheffield Singh, Ashish: Politics and International Relations - Bath Slater, Harriet: Economics - Bristol Sloots, Frederick: Biomedical Science - Birmingham Smith, Jake: Economics and Accounting - Bristol Smith, Dominic: Biomedical Sciences – Newcastle (2018) Smith, Matthew: Business and Management - Royal Holloway Snowe, Isabel: Economics and Politics - Leeds Soomal, Amnaik: Medicine - Nottingham Spicer, Alexander: Accounting and Finance - West of England Spragg, Charlotte: History - Queen Mary Stalder, Annabel: Biology - Nottingham Stanton, Lucy: Biology - Swansea Stepkowski-Fellows, Alan: History - Lancaster Stevens, Katherine: Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Science - West of England Stone, Georgia: Psychology - Nottingham Stoolman, Chloe: Curating and Art History - York Taylor, Natasha: Biology - Nottingham Taylor, Abigail: Biochemistry/Pharmacology/Neuroscience Southampton Thoday, Joanna: Economics - Loughborough Thomlinson, Annelise: Social Anthropology - LSE Thorpe, Jed: Mathematics - Trinity Hall, Cambridge Thrush, Joseph: Natural Sciences - King’s College, Cambridge Tidy, Ella: English Language and Literature - Leeds Tolkien, Unni: Chemistry, the Atmosphere and the Environment - York Trailor-Thompson, Jack: Pharmacology - Bristol Tuckerman, Robert: Sport and Exercise Science - Oxford Brookes Turner, Maisie: Anthropology - Goldsmiths Uden, Emily: Biomedical Sciences - Bristol Waiton, Harry: Business Management and Economics - West of England Walker, Laura: Geography - Birmingham Walsh, Matthew: Economics - Sheffield Walter, Joshua: Accounting and Finance - Swansea Warnock-Horn, Bryony: Natural Sciences - St. Catherine’s College, Cambridge Webber, Natasha: Biomedical Science - Sheffield Williams, Sarah: Philosophy and German - Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford Woffinden, Katherine: Environmental Geography - Cardiff (2018) Wolfin, Joseph: Physics - Bristol Woodward, Alisha: Neuroscience - Bristol Wright, Lucy: Contour Fashion - De Montfort Wright, Benjamin: Natural Sciences - Durham Zaziemski, Hannah: Accounting and Finance – Swansea

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SCHOOL RECORDS

SENIOR PREFECTS 2017-18 Head Boy – Jack Broadbent Head Girl – Mary-Anne Grego Deputy Heads: HELM – Jacob Minihane Sports – Jade Patel Community – Hannah Peperell Performing Arts – Jessica Rollett STEM – Murray Whitaker

SCHOOL PRIZES 2017-18 YEAR 7 7A Academic Achievement - Ananya Chakrabarti, Ryaan Ghani 7B Academic Achievement - Sarah Jolly, Emily LaytonWatts 7C Academic Achievement - Katarina Finney, Sasha Helin 7D Academic Achievement - Charlotte Bridges, Sacha Smith Year 7 Sporting Prowess Prize - Joe Hoggan, Ruby Paish

YEAR 8 8A Academic Achievement - Alex Britton, Maya Kunchur 8B Academic Achievement - Holly Baker, Joel Taylor 8C Academic Achievement - Tom Ainscough, Daniel Hillier 8D Academic Achievement - Elliot Spicer, Alex Stephens Year 8 Sporting Prowess Prize - Freddie Pollard Year 8 Sporting Endeavour Prize - Emily Roberts The D.J. Colthup Prize for the most promising artist in Year 8 Rebecca Johnny Prize for Academic Excellence in KS3 - Daisy Foley The Dr Isles STEM Prize - Joseph Martin YEAR 9 Art - Nicola Chmielewska Biology - Emily Stephens Chemistry - Adam Ulhaq Computing - Keanu Tamtekin Physics - Anthony Adamson Design - Amy Greener Dance - Harry Fayers Drama - Poppy Morgan English - Noah Fletcher French - Mali Knibbs Geography - Nina Passler German - Harriet Evans History - India Hancox Mathematics - Anthony Adamson Music - Josh Kaushal Physical Education - Ella Dyson Religious Studies - Anna Tennant Spanish - Giulia Sarno

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Extra-curricular Performing Arts - Will Tucker Extra-curricular Sport - Charlotte Dudley Youthbridge prizes for the most promising pupils in German in Year 9 1st - Raife Foulkes, 2nd - Christima Gurung, 3rd - Shivani Shrestha The Hamer Prize for Draughtmanship in Year 9 - Giulia Sarno YEAR 10 Art - Taran Sandher Biology - Jardine Barrington-Cook Chemistry - Emily Farmer Computing - Oscar Wilkinson Physics - Adam Town Design - Ben Jackson Dance - Swathi D'Souza Drama - Imogen Baguley English - Emily Farmer French - Jardine Barrington-Cooke Geography - Rishi Miriyala German - Adam Town History - Florence Ridley Mathematics - Emeshe Kaic Music - Olly Gale Physical Education - Ellie Woodgate Spanish - Leon Tasch Extra-curricular Performing Arts - Luke Haldane Extra-curricular Sport - Danny Burroughs YEAR 11 Art - Ella Williamson Biology - Millie Stevens Chemistry - Tom Chorlton Physics - Ashwin Goyal DT : Resistant Materials - Ritu Rajan DT : Graphics - Charlotte Falconer Dance - Georgia Patel Drama - Evie Amos English - Cormac Diamond French - Ashwin Goyal Geography - Millie Stevens German - Charlie Evans Mandarin - Stevie Cooper, Raphael Conte History - Georgia Tuke Mathematics - Alex Huxley Music - Cormac Diamond Physical Education - Charlotte Falconer Spanish - Tom Chorlton Extra-curricular Performing Arts - Georgia Tuke Extra-curricular Sport - Ben Ferguson The Colin Prime Prize for Design - Charis Horsley

SCHOOL RECORDS YEAR 12

Art - Ella Ronan Biology - Alexandra Rowlands Business Studies - Ella Beales Chemistry - Alexander Williams Computing - Syd Lambert Physics - Brandon Smith Drama - Jana Baguley Dance - Kitty Pilgrim-Morris English - Phoebe Rogers Economics - Alex Nairn French - Alexandra Rowlands Geography - Jemima Jones Geology - Tom James German - Sam Beesley Government & Politics - Oscar Murphy History - Matt Fitzgerald Mathematics - Ben Allanson Music - Maddie Smith Physical Education - Millie Thomlinson Psychology - Jessica Lewis Spanish - Victoria Chong Technical Theatre - James Breedon Extra-curricular Performing Arts - Sophie Yazdi-Davis Extra-curricular Sport - Mila Welch The Governors' Award for the best GCSE Results 2017 Victoria Chong, Alexander Lang, Alexandra Rowlands

SPECIAL PRIZES

The J.C. Davies Prize for History - Olivia Vail The E.W. Hester Prize for Geography - Isabella O'Hara The Sixth Form Geology Prize - Chloe Nicklin The Moores Prize for Music - Mary-Anne Grego The Enos Moore Memorial Prize for Literature - Jacob Minihane The G J White Prize for Economics - Anya Swales The Marly-le-Roi Prize for French - Anya Swales The Urenco Prize for German - Fintan McKillop The Mor de Fuentes Prize for Spanish - Josephine Moreton The D.C.W. Banner Prize for the Arts - Ed Manthorpe The Xerox Prize for Business Studies - Ben Baldwin-Pask Audrey Moore Prize for Creative Writing - Maeve Dolan The Alex Wylde Government & Politics Prize - Ella Hird The Wendy Farmer Psychology Prize - Ellen Marsh The Eatwell Prize for Mathematics - Anya Swales The Tim Magee Prize for Drama - Libby Sparks The Ken ‘Snakehips’ Johnson Prize for Improvised Music Alexander Russell The John Schofield Prize for Science - Konrad Mayer The Enterprise Award (for the most enterprising member of the sixth form) - Fraser Brown, for establishing Robot Wars The Old Borlasian Prize (for all round positive contribution to school life / outstanding achievement - Jack Broadbent and Mary-Anne Grego Thames Schools Lodge Prize (School Service Prize) - Tom Dean Wethered Prizes - Holly Lidgate, Tim Woodford, Raphael Conte

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SCHOOL RECORDS

STAFF 2017-18 Mike Adamson Jillian Addison Vicki Alexander Nayani Algama Rachael Allen Lauren Anderson Kirsty Ashby Brett Bagley Michael Bagshaw Gen Bailhache-Graham Helen Bambridge Erica Barclay Amanda Barrett Sarah Barrett-Klikis Alan Bigsby Sarah Birch Suzanne Birkett Christopher Black Jane Blane Fiona Bovis Kate Bownass Mary Brooke Lucy Budge Jane Bungey Ilona Cains Mark Campbell Suzanne Chaplin Kevin Chappell Anu Chawla Silvia Colmenero Rachel Cork Nigel Couch Danielle Cowan Lynn Cupitt-Jones Diana Davis Will Davies Nicola Day John Dowling Sarah Elenz Linda Fortnam Alice Gallienne Christine Garrow Clémence Gautier Alicia Godfrey Glenda Godfrey Caroline Goodall Marshall Hall Yinghua Han 120

Science (Chemistry) Geography MFL Co-Ordinator Science Technician Science Technician (Biology) Head of Drama Dance (part-time) Assistant Caretaker Physics, Head of Vikings, Head of Year 9 Rowing Geography STEM Administrator Learning Mentor Cover / Admin MFL Design & Technology Technician MFL – Schools Direct Assistant Head of Sixth Form, English Psychology, Head of Romans Geography MFL School Counsellor, Head of Vikings Head of English, Head of Danes Alumni Relations Officer English, Head of Key Stage 5 Director of Development Maths School Administrator PE, Hockey, Head of Normans Director of ICT Services Spanish Language Assistant French Physics / Head of Physics Assistant Head, Head of Science SIMS Administrator Learning Mentor Student Support KS3 Performing Arts Apprentice Matron Duke of Edinburgh Co-Ordinator German Language Assistant Y13 SSO Biology Reception, Peripatetic Music Administration French Language Assistant Subject Leader, Government and Politics Art Technician Teaching Schools Administrator Head of Art, Photography Mandarin

SCHOOL RECORDS Mark Hartley Peter Heywood Stuart Hill Claire Hindley Isabel Hird Peter Holding Rachael Holmes Kimberly Holt Jenny Hopper Nick Horne Kate Hyett Sarah Johnson Sam Jones Sammy Karim Georgina Kilbourn Paul King Harry Kipping Ray Kipping Jenny Lewington-Chislett Patience Lewis Susanne Lewis James Lofthouse Henrietta Longstaff Dianne Malatt Bevan Marchand Hadi Matar Catriona McLeod Joseph McNally Seth Miall Helen Milne Nathan Monk Charlotte Morris Kay Mountfield Richard Neill Kim Nicholas Graham Nicholls Margaret Nixon Amanda O’Hara Ben Parsons Anita Pollard Anneka Potts-Lewis Fiona Pryor Sophie Ramiz Sarah Rayner Thomas Rendell Craig Robertson Sonya Robinson Tammy Robinson Hugh Robson Blanca Roman

Music Technology, Technical Theatre, Jam Theatre Head of Design &Tech, WRL, Head of Britons Head of Key Stage 4, PHSCE Dance Maths Headteacher Assistant Head, English & Literacy Head of PE, Head of Romans Head of MFL, Head of Normans Science Technician (Physics) Head’s and Deputy Head’s PA & Data Manager Examinations Officer School Administrator/Reception Sixth Form Administrator Head of Biology Head of Geography & Geology, Economics IT Apprentice Site Manager Performing Arts Technician PE Maths Literary Co-ordinator, Borlasian Editor English – Schools Direct Maths Maths Maths – Schools Direct Director of Finance & Operations Head of Business Studies & Economics, Head of Saxons Director of Music, Head of Danes Biology Director of Hockey School and Performing Arts Administrator Deputy Headteacher / Headteacher Assistant Caretaker Psychology D&T Finance Assistant SSP Admin. Assistant

Assistant Head, Teaching Schools, Music Cross Key Stage Liaison English – Schools Direct Business Studies & Economics, Head of Saxons Learning Mentor KS4 Drama & English History Head of Key Stage 3 Science Technician (Chemistry) Cover Supervisor, Admin. Asst.

English, Organist Spanish 121

SCHOOL RECORDS Karen Rooke Megan Sadie Harneet Sanghera Hannah Shearer James Simpson Rebecca Sowden Petra Stafford James Steyn Anna Summerfield Danuta Tinn Neil Vyse Louise Walder Anetta Walkowska Elena Watson Hanna Webber Julie Wells Ben Weston Brian Wilds Tom Wilkinson Rhian Williams Kyaw Win Sue Womersley Henry

Biology Finance Assistant 2ic Maths English Head of History, Gov’t & Politics / Acting Deputy Head Head of Chemistry Chemistry IT Technician HR Manager Maths Maths – Schools Direct Assistant Head, Head of Maths Year 12 SSO Maths Head of Physics History / Head of History, Gov’t & Politics PE/Geography – Schools Direct Assistant Caretaker Director of Rowing Assistant Head, Head of Vikings, History, Politics Computing Maths Headmaster’s dog

Interns: Mohan Bains Ben Bui, Hannah Jackson, Charlotte Thornton-White Peripatetic Music Teachers - Hugh Robson (Harpsichord /organ); Jason Reeve (Percussion/Piano); Jean Garrett (Piano); Emma Walker (flute); David Young (classical guitar); Simon Bishop (electric guitar); Jon Woodhouse (saxophone); Sue Cossins (clarinet/cello); Marilyn Vanryne (violin/viola); Gilly Ross / Robina Redgard-Siler (singing); Simon Davie (Brass).

STAFF LEAVERS During the year we said farewell to the following members of staff: Dr Peter Holding Mike Bagshaw

Gen Bailhache-Graham Helen Bambridge Sarah Birch

Mary Brooke

Alan Cartwright Sarah Elenz

Clémence Gautier Joe Gleeson 122

Alicia Godfrey

Henrietta Longstaff Hadi Matar

Anneka Potts-Lewis Sophie Ramiz Tom Rendall

Charlotte Thornton-White Hanna Webber Ben Weston Julie Wells

Sue Womersley Henry

STAFF LEAVERS

STAFF LEAVERS 2018

Swathi D’Souza caught up with some of the members of staff leaving this year and asked them some searching questions.

MR BAGSHAW How long have you been a teacher at Borlase?

Four years.

What are three words you would use to describe students at Borlase?

For one, definitely unique. Excited. They are always excited to learn. For a third word… exciting.

What will you miss most at Borlase?

A lot of different things. Borlase is such a unique school.

One of the many things I’ll miss are the Christmas services - one of Borlase’s most traditional events. I really love all the Borlase traditions.

What is your favourite part about teaching physics?

I love the subject as a whole, obviously. One of my favourite parts is definitely the experiments.

Do you have any hobbies outside of the sciences?

Cycling, definitely. I wish I had a musical bone, but I don’t play any instruments, unfortunately. I do love listening to music, though.

What are your plans for after leaving Borlase?

I’m heading into the marketing industry. I am going to work for a coffee company called Gaggia. After that, I’m just going to see what looks exciting.

What advice do you have for students at Borlase?

Just relax. Have fun. Enjoy school.

DR GALLIENNE How many years have you been teaching here?

A year and a half.

What will you miss most about Borlase?

The students and the staff.

What was your favourite moment at Borlase?

I have so many, from dressing up as a mermaid for Briton’s house music, to setting the fire alarm off accidentally in my first ever Year 9 chemistry lesson.

What three words would you use to describe students at Borlase?

Engaged, polite and… hard-working.

What are your plans for the future after leaving Borlase?

Sleeping. No, I’m just kidding. I’m going to continue teaching as a biology teacher.

Is there any advice you’d like to give students doing Biology GCSE or A-Level?

Find something in biology you are passionate about, a subject you love, and read more about it than your curriculum. It will fuel your passion; don’t stick to the limits we have to teach you. Definitely watch some David Attenborough.

MR RENDELL How long have you been teaching at Borlase?

Four excellent years.

What three words you would use to describe students at Borlase?

Bold, active, themselves What is your favourite part about teaching history?

Having a captive audience to rant about the Roman Empire to? But seriously...the time travelling aspect.

Taking students back to a different world and showing them that the cartoonish figures of the past were breathing, thinking human beings who did exceptional things.

What has been your favourite moment at Borlase?

What will you miss most?

The B4 Christmas parties ("mane alterius dei"), Year 7 producing their time-traveller's guides, Year 11 being horrified at the thought of making board games, some outstanding spoof documentaries and 1920s German cinema, the 'Cold War in Colour' intro, History Knight, the Britons chariot, election dodge ball, the 'Rex Factor', the quote wall, the trips, ping pong, Africa by Toto...

What will I miss most? Easy, the students.

What are your plans for after leaving Borlase?

Well I'd very much like to find a Head of History job somewhere. Short of that? Write a book!

Any advice you'd like to share with the students at Borlase?

Don't waste your time. Do the absolute best you can at whatever it is you find yourself doing. Don't lounge around because you think you deserve better. Whether it is menial or exciting throw yourself entirely into the job. It is a much surer route to fulfilment.

And remember: the people who matter don't mind, and the people who mind don't matter (I can't remember who said that!)

MS WELLS How long have you been teaching at Borlase?

Four years.

What three words you would use to describe students at Borlase?

Engaging, interested, surprising

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STAFF LEAVERS What is your favourite part about teaching history?

Connecting the past to the present (updating the Donald Trump quote of the day!)

What has been your favourite moment at Borlase?

What will you miss most?

Watching the Year 7 Charles I puppet shows 3 years ago - possibly the funniest thing I have seen in ages. I will miss the willingness of Borlase students to try anything new.

What are your plans for after leaving Borlase?

I am moving to Bath, settling down after 27 years of moving around. Having lived in 14 different homes I am hoping number 15 will be the last.

Any advice you'd like to share with the students at Borlase?

Always remember that you have choices and that the path you are on now is not fixed. Be open to change and keep on trying new things.

MS BROOKE After twenty eight years of inspiring literary enthusiasm amongst students and teachers, Miss Brooke is sadly leaving Borlase. In an interview, she reflected on the variety of experiences she has gained at the school as Head of the English department, director of “humble plays” - before the installation of the new theatre Deputy Head of the Sixth Form, Head of Danes, Literacy Co-ordinator, Chair of the LRC, editor of The Borlasian and instigator of Sixth Form mentoring. Other notable experiences have involved the encouragement of debating and, on one occasion, dressing in bin bags for a charity event for which she was awarded the prize for “looking the most ridiculous”.

An influx of staff and resources fuelled Borlase’s Performing Arts department as the school’s theatre rose from the swimming pool; prior to this, Miss Brooke’s productions, including ‘The Merchant of Venice’, ‘Major Barbara’, ‘Animal Farm’’ ‘On the Razzle’ and ‘Sweeney Todd - The Musical’ represented drama at Borlase. As well as teaching English, Miss Brooke also taught drama to GCSE but ultimately chose to invest her time and knowledge in the English Department and has been an extremely successful Head of Department since 1997.

Miss Brooke has taught a vast quantity of literature over the years and commented that teaching the timeless classics like ‘Hamlet’ and ‘The Tempest’, numerous novels and a vast array of rich poetry has been a delight as students have always brought fresh insights to the texts.

Miss Brooke has also represented English at Borlase by travelling with students to fascinating locations with rich sources of literary history, prompting a mass of creative writing. As well as accompanying students to Venice,

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where she taught them about Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’ and ‘The Merchant of Venice’, other noteworthy creative writing experiences have been based on visits to Haworth, Derbyshire and the Lake District.

Witnessing the various developments in Borlase since January 1990, Miss Brooke has introduced “innumerable examination specifications” which have challenged her to reshape the English course for all students. However, she regards the progression of technology at the school as an advantageous change, mentioning the improvements in independent learning and extra efficiency, in contrast with the days of the infamous ‘banda machine’.

Miss Brooke has additionally played a pivotal role as Head of Danes, leading the House to countless victories since 1996. Her zealous attitude towards Danes has never wavered. She was particularly proud of helping Danes win Sports Day three times in the last four years, as well as the most recent House Drama competition.

When asked what she will miss, Miss Brooke reflected on the ‘curious, kind and ambitious’ Borlase students who work so hard to reach their academic and personal goals. Similarly, she will remember with great pleasure and gratitude the intellectually stimulating presence of her colleagues; Miss Brooke described the “daily enjoyment” of witnessing her colleagues’ enthusiasm for literature as well as their innovative creativity inside and outside the classroom.

Miss Brooke has been a highly valued member of Borlase, both as our exuberant Head of English and as the ardent Head of Danes. After a teaching career of 42 years, we wish her luck with future endeavours, including the exciting prospect of gaining a degree in Art History and pursuing her love of sailing. We will miss her enthusiasm for House competitions and ability to inspire Borlasians to ever greater literary and creative achievements.

Phoebe Rogers

Cece Briscow

Daniel Troth

Ella Ronan

Sophie Gladstone

Victoria Chong

Borlase Chapel’s magnificent stained glass windows depicting ‘The Helping Hand and the Pursuit of Excellence’, donated to the school in 1999 by Old Borlasian Stuart Lever (1939-44), who died earlier this year. An obituary is on p107.

THE BORLASIAN 2018

THE BORLASIAN 2018

30 Years of Girls at Borlase