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Summer 2015
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Speech Days to Celebrate
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Summer sunshine blessed Culford Senior School’s annual Speech Day in May when the Guest of Honour was Old Culfordian, Mark Lowcock, Permanent Secretary at the Department for International Development. There was plenty for pupils and their families to see and do after the prize giving and speeches, including tours of the new library, a £2.2million project scheduled to open in September 2015. Afternoon activities included a golf competition with PGA professional, Lawrence Dodd, a musical concert and chance to try out a flight simulator with Culford’s CCF, together with drama, music, debating, an art and design technology exhibition, a tennis tournament in the championship-
standard Indoor Tennis Centre and a cricket fixture against an Invitation XI. The Prep School’s Prize Giving followed in July, on the last day of term, when the Guest of Honour was another Old Culfordian, successful children’s author Sarah Mathias. After leaving Oxford University, Sarah worked at the BBC and then trained as a barrister. Sarah now writes historical mystery stories and says that “When I was young I always had my nose in a book and still do now. My advice to anyone who wants to become a writer is to read, read, read!” The Headmaster, Julian JohnsonMunday, said: “It was an honour to have Mark and Sarah here as they have both had a genuine impact on the world since leaving Culford.
Their motivating speeches encouraged pupils to aim to make their own positive impact and Mark’s message to find happiness in helping others really resonates with Culford’s ethos. I hope pupils will learn to do both at Culford”. At the end of both afternoons guests were able to enjoy a traditional tea on the glorious South Front of Culford Hall. To view photo galleries of the days, visit: www.culford.co.uk
Culford Connections is a termly newsletter for Culford School bringing together news from the Senior, Prep and Pre-Prep Schools
Senior: C2015 Excited crowds of students gathered in a packed Centenary Hall to watch the annual Culford Rock Concert, C2015, this May, in aid of music based charity Nordoff Robbins. The concert was produced entirely by pupils and enhanced by professional lighting. Culford’s Director of Music, Peter Burge, said “C2015 showcased some fantastic bands and singers from the Senior School. With acts perfected during a series of House Concerts last term, the standard of performance was very high. More than £1,000 was raised for charity so a big thank you goes to everyone who took part”.
Silver (20+ certificates) Fourth Form: Mary Grace Godfrey, Annastasia Hutchinson, Joshua McCullough For a full list of the twenty-two pupils who were presented with Bronze benefecits, please visit www.culford.co.uk/seniorawards PELTS: Personal, Learning and Thinking Skills awards were awarded to: Fourth Form: Independent Enquirer Team Worker Effective Participator Self-Manager Reflective Learner Creative Thinker Tenacious Learner Best in Year
Anna Hutchinson Emma Howard Inés Sanmartin Leo Williams Jess Walters Katie Shea Mary Grace Godfrey Zander Minns
Lower Fifth: Independent Enquirer Team Worker Effective Participator Self-Manager Reflective Learner Creative Thinker Tenacious Learner Best in Year
William Baines Kate Shillitoe Maria Luiza Kiryakova Jevony Hall Emily Harris Melody Lee Nella Walters Katie Veitch
End of Year Exam Results The following pupils achieved a suite of A and A* grades: Fourth Form Alice Barkley Mary Grace Godfrey* Inés Sanmartin Jess Walters
Lucy Flynn* Anna Hutchinson* Fergus Schofield Ophelia Yannaghas
*10A* and 1A Lower Fifth Lano Mo Sol Franklin
Joshua Stephens William Baines
Do You Tweet? Culford now uses Twitter. To follow us just search @CulfordSchool for the latest news, sports results and events.
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Assistant Head (Pastoral) Q&A Describe yourself in three words. Rugby playing mathematician. How did teaching start for you? Late! After a degree in Civil Engineering from Loughborough and a yn Diploma in Computer Re n i G av Science from Cambridge, I decided what I actually wanted to do was teach and did a PGCE in mathematics at Cambridge.
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The following benefecits were presented to those who received a large number of academic achievement certificates this term:
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Senior: End of Term Results
Whose brain would you have liked to have? John McEnroe. I loved him as a player and would love to know what he was actually thinking when he had his outbursts. What’s the best thing about being a Housemaster? The day-to-day interaction with the boys and hopefully being able to make a difference in their lives. Who was your childhood hero? Glenn Hoddle. I had a near perfect youth: my Saturdays were spent playing rugby for my school in the morning and then I’d jump on the train going to White Hart Lane to watch Spurs play. Hoddle was known as ‘The King of White Hart Lane’ and the crown fitted him well. What were you doing 10 years ago? Teaching at St George’s in Harpenden, a state boarding school where I was Head of House and responsible for the pastoral care of over 200 pupils. Also learning to be a parent: Holly was only one and it was a steep learning curve. What is the single most valuable thing you have learned? That one is not defined by one’s mistakes but how one reacts to them.
Gavin Reynolds
Pla y s & Prod uct ions Prep: Run Rabbit Run!
Pre-Prep & Nursery: Animal Rumble Grumble The pupils at Culford Pre-Prep recently performed their summer production of ‘Animal Rumble Grumble’. The play is set in the African plains of the rumbling jungle and features many different exotic animals.
Culford Prep School children took to the stage in front of an audience of parents, friends and teachers in Centenary Hall to perform the World War II based drama, Run Rabbit Run. Directed and produced by Prep School’s Head of Drama, Jason Calvert, this wartime drama centres on the story of two evacuated siblings, Rabbit and Mouse. As well as acting, the cast performed a variety of songs with a live orchestra, showcasing their musical abilities and talents brilliantly.
Nursery: The Smartest Giant in Town
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Culford Prep School parents and pupils enjoyed an exciting day at their annual Academic and Creative Arts Celebration Day in May.
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Senior: Scholars’ Programme Lectures Two very interesting visits this term ended the Scholars’ Programme ‘Science and…’ series. Firstly, Culford was pleased to welcome Dr Ingo Gildenhard, Fellow of King’s College Cambridge, who spoke about ‘Shakespeare and the Classics.’ He argued that Shakespeare was heavily influenced by the works of Ovid, Homer and Aeschylus and other great tragedians. The Headmaster, Prof Also, Culford were delighted to welcome acclaimed neuroscientist and Professor of Blakemore and Deputy Head Dr Guntrip Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London (UCL), Prof SarahJayne Blakemore, who spoke on ‘The Social Brain in Adolescence’. Prep and Senior Scholars, as well as many interested parents and staff, attended the lecture in which Prof Blakemore gave a detailed insight into the neurological reasons for typical teenage behaviour. She explained how their risk-taking behaviour is an inevitable consequence of the developmental reorganisation of grey matter in the brains of adolescents.
Senior: Life after Culford Event Over several days in June, the Lower Sixth listened to industry experts and Gap Year providers, took part in a Q&A with recent leavers, visited a University and took part in their own ‘Enterprise Challenge’. The Enterprise Challenge was aimed at helping pupils gain an insight into business’s decision making processes, the functions within a business and an insight into university teaching methods. This year the Enterprise Challenge focused on generating a bid for crowdfunding with pupils required to produce a submission and pitch it to a panel of Dragons’ Den style judges. Recent leavers with current Sixth Formers
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Parents and guardians were invited to join their children for the day, taking part in activities such as ‘Have a Go Lessons’ in Art and Science and ‘The BIG Bible Quiz’ in Religious Studies. They were also given the opportunity to see first-hand what the pupils have been learning throughout the year in a range of subjects such as English, Geography and History, by visiting their classrooms and viewing some of the children’s work. In the afternoon, all the children took part in a Music Showcase and Workshop. Pre-Prep pupils give a thumbs-up to the new library
Library Due to Open in September Pupils, parents and staff have enjoyed watching the progress of the new £2.2million library build this term. During Speech Day and Prep Prizegiving the site was open for tours. The pupils in Pre-Prep had a chance for their own guided tour, as you can see in the picture above. All are looking forward to the official opening in September 2015.
Senior: Gold in Chemistry Olympiad Culford Sixth Former Siqi Fang (U6) became the first Culford pupil to win the acclaimed Chemistry Olympiad Gold Certificate; Jack Veitch (L6) also did very well in the Olympiad, coming away with a Bronze award. Mr Rees, Head of Chemistry at Culford School said, “We were delighted with both Siqi’s and Jack’s results from the Olympiad. It is an extremely challenging paper to take and both students did very well to gain their certificates”. Siqi and Jack, along with with Henrike Goebel (L6) have also been awarded certificates for the Cambridge Chemistry Challenge.
Pre-Prep: French Assemblies Pre-Prep pupils took part in Frenchlanguage assemblies this term. Working in their year groups, the children performed a French play to their audience of teachers and classmates.
Arts
As a culmination of the year’s superb work, the Art department presented GCSE artwork during Speech Day and A-Level pieces at a Private View on Thursday 25 June.
Senior: Arts Awards Evening
Prep: A Visit from the Theatre
Miss Jackson with award-winner Scarlett Simmons
Mr Burge with award-winners Christopher Howells and Chloe Gimson
Mrs Hunt with award-winner Natalie Ratcliffe
Prep and Pre-Prep & Nursery: Arts Workshop PP2 and Lower First enjoyed the opportunity to explore sculptural techniques in a workshop run by two artists from Access Art in June. They began the morning session with observational drawing of underwater creatures. They were let loose on a vast range of recycled materials - everything from ribbon to sponges, wadding to wire - and encouraged to experiment and reproduce their drawings in 3D.
Culford Prep School pupils enjoyed a visit from a theatre group last week to watch some authentic French farce. Upper and Lower Third and Upper Second watched a production of Erreur d’Identité (Mistaken Identity) staged by the leading schools foreign language theatre company, Onatti.
Prep: Culford’s Got Talent On the last day of spring term, 50 Prep School pupils took part in the final of Culford’s Got Talent. The overall winners were pupils from Lower First who performed a Cinderella-inspired skit which had the audience in stitches. Lower First teacher, Mrs Veitch said, “It was the most fun-filled event at Culford that I can think of! I laughed so much I was crying during the winning Cinderella sketch.”
The winning team performing their sketch
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Charities
Senior: Preparing for Malawi Trip Lower Sixth students participating in the forthcoming Malawi trip presented their researched projects to the Rosetta Trust in the spring term. The trustees, school governor Neil Gillis and his wife Nicola, who are current parents, generously donated £8,000 across four very worthy causes in Malawi. The team set off on June 27 2015. You can follow their journey online, through the blog: www.culfordmalawi2012.wordpress.com
Pre-Prep & Nursery: Toddle Waddle Every year, Culford School Nursery hold a sponsored Toddle Waddle in aid of the Meningitis Research Foundation. On the walk, the children saw Culford’s beautiful church, St Mary’s and the excavations for Culford’s new AstroTurf hockey pitch. They also marvelled at the new Library building site with more than a little interest being shown in the diggers sitting outside it!
Sport s Da y s Prep and Pre-Prep & Nursery Schools enjoyed their Sports Days this term, with Yellow House winning at Fieldgate and Honess taking the trophy at Prep.
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Senior: Spring Walk in the Park To raise money for the Meningitis Research Foundation, Culford held a Spring Walk in the glorious grounds of the school on Saturday 2 May. The Culford community raised over £650 with more than fifty parents, children, staff, OCs and friends enjoying a stroll around the school’s 480 acre estate. The walk finished at Culford Hall where everyone had the opportunity to buy homemade cakes, preserves and goodies, and take part in a charity raffle.
Pre-Prep & Nursery: Sponsored Bounce for Malawi At the start of May, Culford Pre-Prep had a fund raising afternoon for Malawi. The PTA kindly organised a bouncy castle and all the children took part in a sponsored bounce. Much fun was had by all. The cake sale and the bring-and-buy sale took place in the dining room and approximately £500 was raised for the Sixth Form Malawi expedition.
Sport
Summer 2015 has seen another season of sporting successes at Culford. There is not the space here to include all of our sports stories, so please find some highlights below. To read more please visit our website, clicking ‘News and Events’ under the relevant school section: www.culford.co.uk
Swimming Scholars This term swimming scholars, Hannah Brecknell (L5), Annabel Heywood (L5), Lana Mo (L5), Olivia Nicolai (L5), Emma Lees (U5) and Angus Robins (L5) competed Lana Mo with her County in the Summer Champion awards East Regional Championships in Luton. All did well and Lana made the finals in all her events, excelling in the breaststroke and gaining three silver medals in the 50m, 100m and 200m distances. This followed on from her three County Champion titles in breaststroke races at the Suffolk County Championships in Ipswich this March. Later in the term, Olivia Nicolai had the amazing opportunity to compete at the Dutch National Swimming Championships.
Senior: Cricket Season Round-Up The 1st XI have had a great season under the direction of outgoing cricket coach Andy Marsh; winning 8 games out of 11, with 1 draw. The 2nd XI also played well and it was encouraging to see the potential in the U15s and U14s teams. Highlights from the season include wins over the MCC, King’s Ely, Framlingham and Gresham’s. Credit goes to Kieran Pask (U6) for his outstanding batting. Charlie Holt’s (L6) final batting average of 94 was a testament to his ability to bat through and play some superb long innings. Matt Mitcham (U5) had a fine debut season. Freddie Statham (L6) and Ben Milner (U6) bowled with pace and aggression. The team spirit has been superb and at least eight players will return next year with a season’s 1st XI cricket behind them.
Prep: Kylie Wins Tournament Tennis Scholar Kylie Bilchev (L3) has won the Girls’ Under 12 Nike Junior International Halton Tournament, representing Great Britain. During the week Kylie won 10 out of 10 matches.
New Golf Academy in September We are delighted to announce the launch of the Culford Golf Academy, designed to offer golfers aged 8-18 the opportunity to combine a first-rate education with first class golf coaching from PGA Professional and Culford School’s new Director of Golf, Lawrence Dodd. Culford’s bespoke golf programmes give young golfers of all abilities the opportunity to develop their golf skills, and use four nearby clubs, including the renowned Royal Worlington & Newmarket Golf Club. Lawrence Dodd, said ‘What excites me most about the Culford Golf Academy is the opportunity to develop a player pathway for children 8 to 18 years of age. I wish there had been such an opportunity when I was a schoolboy’.
Senior: Runner Olivia Fourth in UK Middle distance runner Olivia Allum (F4) runs at Culford and with West Suffolk Athletics Club. She recently competed at the Anglian School Track and Field in Peterborough where she came first in the 1500m at 4.38mins - just missing her 4.37mins PB. She is now 4th in the UK rankings, a position she hopes to improve upon following the forthcoming English Schools Competition in Gateshead in July.
Prep: Tennis Team County Champions Culford Prep School’s U11 tennis team recently won the County Tennis Finals. The team beat Ipswich Prep in the Semis and saw off an excellent challenge from Orwell Park in a dramatic Final to be crowned as County Champions, winning by 27 games to 26. Well done to the Upper Second team of Gene Swain, Dean Haferman, Aryan Bhagat and Max Brais. Winning team (L-R): Max, Gene, Aryan & Dean.
Prep: National Swimming Success Seven Prep swimmers went to the IAPS National Swimming Finals in Crawley this May. The boys swam in the morning, with Jack Bowyer (U3) making the Final of the Finals and finishing 2nd. All the girls were strong off the blocks, with all of them making it through to the Finals. The warm
up for the Finals started at 6.00pm, it had been a long day for the girls but that did not stop them from putting in another amazing set of performances. Chloe-Jeane Parsley (U3) came 2nd in the U13 50m backstroke. Overall, all swimmers were placed in the top 16.
Pre-Prep & Nursery: A Sporting Round up Pre-Prep and Nursery have had a busy term filled with sport. Pupils took part in their Swimming Gala in May. Each race focused on a different stroke and they took part in a relay style race, working in two teams using their chosen swimming style. This was followed by the annual Tennis Tournament. The children took part in a variety of games that showed off all the skills they have been learning in their weekly tennis lessons.
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Culford School’s second Opera in the Park took place on midsummer’s eve and the collective opinion of the 550 music lovers who attended was that it was a triumph. Staged on the South Front, Opera in the Park saw the acclaimed London Festival Opera perform highlights from Bizet’s Carmen in addition to other operatic favourites. A particular highlight for many was seeing former pupils Florence Taylor and Joseph Dodd perform. Under sunny skies, guests enjoyed picnics, explored the glorious gardens and even had the chance to test drive a range of new Audis courtesy of lead sponsor, Bury St Edmunds Audi, who created a pop-up dealership for the
event. Musical entertainment by Culford pupils before the opera began included a superb jazz band, two Sixth Form pianists and orchestral performances, ensuring that there was something for everyone. A raffle in aid of the East Anglian Air Ambulance raised over £1,000, and funds were also raised for The Campaign for Culford which is helping to build the school’s stunning new library that will open in September. Guests commented on the helpfulness and great charm of Culford pupils who welcomed everyone to the event and many said they were already looking forward to next year!
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8Culford CulfordSchool, Connections Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP28 6TX Tel: 01284 728615 www.culford.co.uk 8 Culford CulfordConnections School, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP28 6TX Tel: 01284 728615 www.culford.co.uk
© 2015 Culford School Photo credits: Warren Page, Wendy Turner Editorial contact: communications@culford.co.uk © 2013 Culford School Photo credits: Warren Page, Wendy Turner, Andy Abbott, Peter Joarder Editorial contact: marketing@culford.co.uk