Connections summer 2014

Connections Summer 2014

www.culford.co.uk

Spitfire Flypast on Speech Day Culford’s annual Speech Day on Saturday 24 May was marked by a low level flypast by a Spitfire from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. Large crowds of parents, pupils, staff and guests watched as the fighter swept over the lawns and over Culford Hall in fair weather.

The Guest of Honour at Speech Day was David Beech, an Old Culfordian, who left the school in 1951 to eventually become a pioneer in computer languages and now lives in California.

The Headmaster, Julian Johnson-Munday, said: “It was an honour to have David here as he and his wife, Judy, are great friends to the school. I was especially delighted that we had a ceremonial flypast on the occasion of their visit”.

The day saw drama, music, debating, CCF demonstrations, a tennis tournament in the championship-standard Indoor Tennis Centre and a cricket fixture against an invitation XI. Guests were also able to see the art installation by pupil Harry Reidy which won this year’s prestigious Saatchi Schools Art Prize, beating off an international field of 16,000 entries to take the prize.

More pictures from this event may be seen www.culford.co.uk/news

at:

Culford Connections is a termly newsletter for Culford School bringing together news from the Senior, Prep and Pre-Prep Schools

Prefects Q&A

5 minutes with… the new Senior & Prep Head Boys & Girls

Why did you want to become a prefect?

Oliver Thompson: Becoming a prefect at Culford is a great honour.

Teachers set the example in a school but pupils have to support them and I have always thought that prefects have an important part to play in setting the right example.

Chloe-Jeane Parsley: I wanted to be part of the running of the School and help where possible.

Prep

What do you think will be the best thing and the most challenging thing about being Head Boy/Girl?

Senior

Carl-Thaddeus Braun, Deputy Head Boy, Emma Beardmore, Head Girl, Eleanor Weller-Poley, Deputy Head Girl and Kieran Dibley, Head Boy.

What attracted you to becoming a prefect?

Kieran Dibley: I like the idea of being able to give something back to the school, after everything I have gained from being here.

Emma Beardmore: The prospect of responsibility and achievement that the role entailed. Also, the chance to make my mark on the school.

What areas of school life would you most like to influence and are there any particular changes you would like to champion?

Emma: Pastoral care and boarding are two things we are most able to influence as prefects. Maintaining pupils’ wellbeing and overall happiness is very important, otherwise they will not perform to their full potential.

What are you plans after Culford?

Kieran: I would like to gain a Master’s Degree in Chemical or Aeronautical Engineering and go on to work my way up in a large international company.

Emma: In the future I hope to become a journalist because I’ve always had a huge interest in literature.

What are your passions?

Kieran: Playing rugby, rowing and I like to go to the gym.

Emma: Theatre above all, which is why I applied to be a Drama Scholar. If the acting world wasn’t so competitive, becoming an actress would be an instinctive choice for me.

What would you say was your greatest achievement at school so far?

Emma: Completing my Gold Duke of Edinburgh expedition and I’m sure the Malawi trip this summer will be an experience which will stay with me forever.

What’s your guilty pleasure?

Kieran: Being in the gym nearly every day!

2 Culford CulfordConnections Connections

Chloe-Jeane: The good points of being Head Girl are helping other pupils, setting an example to younger pupils and also letting them know that you care.

Oliver: The challenge will be having to always have my shirt tucked in. Mine always comes untucked and there appears to be no solution known to man to stop this happening! I know that Mr Schofield will be watching out for that…

What are your hobbies and what do you do for fun?

Oliver: I like to play a lot of sport. My favourites are rugby, cricket and snowboarding.

Chloe-Jeane: When I’m at home the most fun is when Dad and I go out on our quad bikes together.

What’s the best thing about being at Culford Prep School?

Oliver: My friends; Culford is a very friendly school.

Chloe-Jeane: The best thing is being able to enjoy all the fantastic facilities and also being able to talk to all the teachers and staff. I have never been nervous about talking to a teacher here. I really enjoy being at the Prep School.

Prep: Guest Speaker at Prizegiving On Thursday 3 July, the Prep school ended their school year with their traditional Prizegiving ceremony followed by refreshments in the glorious sunshine on the South Front. The guest speaker this year was Dr Lara Menzies, a paediatrician currently working at University College London and University College Hospital who also contributes to leading scientific journals and radio broadcasts.

Prizes were awarded for academic, sport and artistic achievements as well as for Activity House Competitions.

Common Entrance awards were also presented to each pupil in U3. The PA Shield, presented to the most successful House this academic year, was awarded to Honess.

Opera in the Park

Bravo for Sell-Out Gala Opera programmes and presenting the opera singers with bouquets and wine. The school string trio performed before the opera while guests were enjoying their picnics on the lawns.

Talented Old Culfordians Joe Dodd (2004-2011) and Florence Taylor (1997-2011) performed alongside the LFO. School governor and current parent, Neil Gillis, said “This was an outstanding event which showcased the very best of Culford, from the beautiful grounds to the success of two former pupils who performed with such ability”.

The Headmaster, Julian Johnson-Munday, said “We hope that this will be the first of many such events at Culford. We are especially proud of our Old Culfordian performers who returned to sing and we are delighted to have raised some £4,000 for The Campaign for Culford”. y lo Ta

r, O

Cs

o dd

and

Fl o

re

nc e

Current pupils also enjoyed being part of the event, welcoming and helping guests with their picnics and chairs, handing out

J os e p h D

On Saturday 21 June, 400 guests gathered in Culford’s beautiful grounds for the school’s sell-out inaugural Opera in the Park event. After enjoying picnics and a complimentary aperitif, courtesy of sponsor John Valentine from WineTrust100, the audience turned to the stage as the London Festival Opera performed famous opera arias from Mozart, Verdi and Puccini through the sunny summer evening.

Summer 2014 3

Academic

Senior: Politics and… Scholars’ Seminars

To end the successful 2013/14 Scholars’ and Gifted and Talented Programme’s series of lectures, the Headmaster gave a speech entitled ‘The Politics of Language’, which explored the changes to English caused by centuries of invasion and linguistic development, as well as how individual choices of language reflect our political views and desires. Head of Psychology, Dr Butler, who spoke on ‘The Psychology of Politics’ summarised, “We like to think our political allegiances are the product of rational consideration, however, there may be more, or less, to it than that. There is increasing evidence that opposing political leanings are biologically distinguishable with the liberal and conservative brains presenting significant structural and functional differences.”

Senior: Delving into Family History This year saw the History Department produce its fifth set of Family History projects, which pupils in Fourth Form create following guidance on how to question members of their family, as well as on how to use the Ancestry Library to access online records. The Family History Prize winners were Abbie Farrow, Arantza Rascon San Martin, Jacob Roberts, Olivia Nicolai and Paula Sansano Viana.

Senior: Ecology Day This term the Lower Fifth enjoyed surveying one of the fields at Culford. This involved measuring the composition and pH values of the soil and identifying wild flowers and grasses. This helped them to build up a picture of how the area in which Culford is situated has a bearing on the flora and fauna which thrive here.

Senior: Chemistry Prizes for Bright Sparks Peter Chrispin (U6) was awarded a Silver certificate following the first UK round of the 46th International Chemistry Olympiad, a challenging written test paper sat by over 5,500 students.

Nathaniel Chan (L6) also gained a bronze certificate for the Cambridge Chemistry Challenge.

This competition aims to stretch and challenge pupils, taking them significantly beyond the syllabus and encouraging them to think about science as they would at university.

Some of the pupil teams during their fieldwork

Prep: Celebration Day Celebration Day enables Prep pupils to share their achievements with family and friends and the afternoon saw a series of wonderful concerts, which included nearly every child in the school making music. Elsewhere there were drama performances, a banana piano in the ICT suite, Latin treasure hunts, maths games and many displays of excellent work to enjoy.

Dissection in the science lab may not have been to everyone’s taste, but Mme Hollins’ infamous French shopping trolley game certainly was! The event finished with the spectacular Beowulf puppet shows presented by Lower First and afternoon tea.

4 Culford CulfordConnections Connections

Pre-Prep: Discussing Bones in the Nursery The children were really fascinated to learn about their latest topic which is ‘bones’. Mrs Bainbridge brought in some real animal x-rays and they looked at how bodies are made and even met Victoria the skeleton.

They also discussed the story ‘Funny Bones’ by Janet and Allan Ahlberg and then made their own skeletons.

Trips & Activities

ue

st

OC

In June, guest speakers, including Old Culfordians, came to Culford to talk to Lower Sixth students about university, employment and work G experience. The pupils also visited universities in the region and took part in an enterprise challenge. The task set was to come up with a pitch to a business angel, a ‘Mr Haagen-Walls’, for a £50,000 investment into a small local ice cream operation, Angela’s Ice Creams.

s

Senior: Life After Culford for Sixth Formers

To assist the 14 teams with their preparations, the pupils attended a lecture and a seminar on business management at Anglia Ruskin University. They were assessed by judging panels of governors, business academics, and senior executives and after a hard fought final on Saturday 14 June, Team G, comprising Ben Milner, Zola Ncube, Elliot Phillips, Harry Randall, Jack Riddleston and James Stewart, were declared the winners.

Prep: A Gallic Easter Break

During Easter, the Upper 2nd went on the traditional Prep French trip to Château de la Baudonnière.

The beauty of this trip is that all the activities are conducted entirely in French by the very enthusiastic and motivating Château staff.

Mrs Hollins led her final trip, accompanied by her future successor, Mme Rautureau, who will carry on the tradition in the future.

The winning team’s prize was a visit to the Newmarket and Suffolk Real Tennis Club followed by a formal dinner hosted by the Headmaster in the Billiard Room (pictured above).

Prep: Visitors from Mayo College For the third year, a party of boys from Mayo College, India spent a week at the Prep School during the second half of term. Their programme included time spent in lessons, football and cricket fixtures as well as visits to Bury St Edmunds and Cambridge, taking in a moving tour of Madingley US War Cemetery before sightseeing and shopping in the city centre. Prep pupils enjoyed a wonderful assembly given by the Mayoites, which consisted of dances, magic, sketches and a film about the College and the city of Ajmer in which it lies.

Next term an Aeronautics Apprenticeship is launching, run by Rev Crompton-Battersby, where pupils will have the opportunity to study the principles of aeronautics and gain their wings in gliding from local RAF airbases.

Summer 2014 5

Trips & Activities

Pre-Prep: Summer Outings Fieldgate pupils enjoyed a host of exciting trips and visits over the last term, including a visit to an Owl Sanctuary, a visit from the police, a residential trip away and even a jaunt to Pizza Express where they made their own pizzas!

Charities

Senior: Women on Wheels A group of 7 teachers and 15 pupils from the Fourth Form to Lower Sixth took part in a charity cycle ride in aid of St Nicholas Hospice Care in May, the same day that hundreds of international female cyclists crossed the finish line at the end of the inaugural Friends Life Women’s Tour.

They raised £160 for the hospice.

Nursery: Toddle Waddle for Meningitis Trust Ten groups of parents and children from the Nursery’s Parent, Babies & Toddlers group walked in Culford park in aid of the annual Toddle Waddle for Meningitis Trust raising almost £200.

Senior: Emily Gains Rotary Award The annual Rotary Club “Service above Self” awards dinner was held at Bury St Edmunds Cathedral in May and was attended by the Mayor, Rotarians and representatives from local schools. Emily Hounsome (U6) received the award for her contributions to charitable work and, in particular, her fundraising efforts for the Kailash Bodhi School in India. Emily aims to read 40 books over 40 days over the summer as part of her fundraising activities.

On Thursday 3 July a group of Lower Sixth pupils and teachers departed for the annual charity trip to Malawi Keep up with their news by visiting the blog culfordmalawi2012.wordpress.com 6 Culford CulfordConnections Connections

Sport

Prep & Senior: Summer Athletics News Culford pupils from both the Prep and Senior Schools have been competing in Athletics events across the Eastern Region this term.

Senior: A Fantastic Season for the Cricket First Eleven The 1st XI have enjoyed one of their best seasons and displayed a fine team spirit which has helped them through on a number of occasions. The bowling was particularly strong and helped create pressure against other teams. Wins were recorded against St Joseph’s, Greshams, Wisbech, Woodbridge, Langley, King’s Ely and the President’s XI. The team expected a tough challenge in their OC fixture on the last Saturday of term, however, the game finished as a draw when rain stopped play. The last match of the season was against the Gents of Suffolk; this proved to be an exciting game, even though it ended a draw, with the Beaumont brothers Tom (2001-2010) and Jack (U6) both scoring centuries.

Beth Keswick (L5), Isabella O’Brien-Miller (F4), Kieran Dibley (L6), Kieran D’Lima (U5) and Olivia Allum (U3) have all been selected to represent Suffolk Schools at a Regional Athletics Event in Norwich.

Olivia Allum, Charlie Ives, Finlay Morrison (all U3) and Max Derbyshire (L3) have all qualified for the National Prep School Athletics Finals in Birmingham.

Younger pupils from U1 and U2 recently took part in an athletics competition against other schools hosted by Cherry Trees.

Prep School pupils from U2 – U3 have been taking part in team athletics events against other West Suffolk Schools on the athletics track in Bury St Edmunds.

For the latest results visit the Prep and Senior News pages on www.culford.co.uk

Pre-Prep: Gymnastics Trip The children visited the Ipswich Gymnastics Centre where they used the specialist equipment, concentrating on how to safely negotiate space. After the warm up session they were given the opportunity to use the parallel bars, balance beams and spring boards to perform gymnastic routines, finishing with a talk about keeping active and healthy. The children particularly enjoyed jumping into the foam pits!

Sports Days

Pre-Prep Sports Day

Prep Sports Day Summer 2014 7

Sport Senior: Lucy Scores for England Sports Scholar Lucy Holder (U5) made her debut for the England U16s Girls Hockey Team in May. Following training in Holland in April with the England team, Lucy was in the starting line-up for a series of matches against Ireland during the May Day Bank Holiday weekend. After losing the first match of the weekend, the team bounced back strongly to record a 5-1 win in the second game with Lucy scoring her first ever goal in an England shirt.

Prep & Senior: Show-Jumping for Culford As part of the Culford School Equestrian Programme, a show jumping event for Culford riders was held at Newton Hall Equestrian Centre. In all, eleven riders took part: the youngest was Patience Leslie (L1) and the other riders came from Lower Third through to Lower Sixth. The winner was judged to be Francesca Sanderson (L3), riding Betsy, one of the Newton Hall ponies; 2nd was Katie Farrant, on her own pony, Bobby; and 3rd was Abbi Warburton, riding her own horse, Murphy.

Matt Copping, Head of Hockey at Culford, said “This England selection has been several years in the making and Lucy has shown that hard work, dedication and a high level of commitment will bring huge rewards. She has the skills, passion and desire to succeed at the very highest level in the future.” Lucy said “Walking out onto the hockey pitch in my England shirt was a very proud moment for me and my family”.

Prep: Regional BAGCAT Championship

This term saw Culford swimmers competing at the Regional BAGCAT Championships in Norwich. Jack Vickers (U2) secured his first Regional medal with a strong performance in the gruelling 1500m event, taking home the gold. With a busy schedule, Charlie Whyte (L3) competed in 9 races over the two weekends, including finals swims. Charlie’s best result came in the 100m butterfly final, where he finished just outside the medals in 4th place.

In the IAPS National Swimming Finals in May, Jack Vickers finished 5th in U11 50m Breaststroke and Chloe-Jeane Parsley (L3) finished 4th in U12 Backstroke.

Tennis

Senior: Lawn Tennis Association National Schools Final For the second year running both Culford’s Senior Girls team (Aberdare Cup) and Senior Boys team (Glanville Cup) have qualified for the LTA National Schools Finals in Sheffield from 8th to 11th July. Culford is one of only four schools in Great Britain that has both boys and girls teams who have qualified for the end of year championships, which is the most prestigious competition in the national schools tennis calendar, involving 16 girls and 16 boys teams.

Lucy Holder Photo Credit Peter Joarder Photography

Senior: Elizabeth Pam’s Tennis Trip to Africa This spring Lizzie Pam played in the Central Bank of Nigeria Open Tennis Tournament in Lagos. Lizzie was given a wild card into the competition and, despite the intense heat and humidity, gave a good account of herself defeating the 2nd and 3rd seeds on the way to the finals which she lost in 3 sets to a state tennis coach. In the All Africa Youth Games Lizzie reached the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles with her partner.

8 Culford Connections

Prep & Senior: Summer Tennis Successes Following on from their victory last year, once again the Culford Year 10 and under Girls’ team and Year 10 and under Boys’ team are County Tennis Champions. This was a superb result for the girls who beat Ipswich High in the semi-final and then beat Framlingham College 7-6 in the final. The team was Lizzie Pam, Marie Owino, Isabel Gil Castellano and Tatiana Ruleva.

The boys also gave a very accomplished performance from a strong team who beat Ipswich School in the semi-final and beat County Upper in the final 8-4. Both teams now progress to the Regional knock-out stage in the autumn. The team was Oscar Cutting, Ed Pomeroy, Martynas Blazys and Joe Gollifer. The Year 8 and under Boys’ team gained 2nd place and the Year 10 and under Boys’ B team finished in 3rd place.

Later in the summer are the IAPS National Prep School Championships at Eton College. This year Culford took 10 players and will be hoping to emulate our success from previous years which currently stands at ten national titles since 2008. The full match report will be available on www.culford.co.uk/news

Arts

A-Level Art Private View As a culmination of the year’s superb work, the Art department’s Private View on Thursday 26 June was a wonderful chance to stand back and reflect upon the high standards achieved by Culford’s A Level art students over a glass of wine.

A selection of A Level artwork.

Senior: ISTA Independent Schools National Championships Culford were represented by fifteen players in this year’s championships at Eton College. Particular mention goes to Lizzie Pam and Marie Owino who came second in the U15 Girls Doubles and Maria Andrews and Hannah Vickers who also came second after reaching the final of the U19 Girls.

The Senior U19 Boys (pictured below) reached the quarter finals and were entered into the Youll Shield for all the losing quarter-finalists and after a victory against Hampton defeated Repton in the Final to retain the Shield won in 2013.

Senior: Chorister Sol has European Trip Academic Scholar, Sol Franklin (F4) has been a full chorister at St Edmundsbury Cathedral for four years and this May went on tour to Kevelaer in Germany.

Kevelaer is twinned with Bury St Edmunds and is where the Cathedral gets its Paschal (or Easter) candle from. Sol sang in Cologne Cathedral, the Basilika in Kevelaer, at Essen Cathedral and the Church of St Anthony of Padua in Nijmegen, Holland.

Culford head to the Fringe! Director of Drama, Maria Kane, is taking the cast of The Press-Ganged Fool to Paradise in Augustines as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. They will be performing at 4.30pm from 8-10 August. All are welcome, please do support them if you are Edinburgh bound. Visit www.culford.co.uk/edfringe

Summer 2014 9

Arts

Pre-Prep: Beautiful Mosaic Unveiled

Pre-Prep: Ocean Commotion

The children at Culford Pre-Prep have worked together to create a beautiful, large mosaic sign now displayed at the front of Fieldgate House. Artist-in-residence Sarah Draper has been teaching the children how to create mosaic tiles, exploring colour, tones and shape to achieve a desired look. The children were tasked with designing the sign and have incorporated our Forest School theme and all were in awe of the finished piece when it was unveiled in front of the school!

Senior: Arts Pres Event

Prep: Summer Concerts Makes a Noise!

The annual arts presentation dinner at the start of the summer term was attended by over 150 Upper Fifth and Sixth Form pupils, teachers and parents. The evening was a great success with a delicious dinner followed by dancing to a superb band.

Prizes were awarded in Art, Music, Drama and Technical Support.

The Prep School Summer concert organised by Prep Head of Music Mrs Weyers and music teacher Mrs Combes, was a rousing success with a choir, orchestra and instrumentalists on guitar, piano and violin.

Nursery: We’re going on a Bear Hunt

10 Culford Connections

Each of the Prep School’s ensembles contributed to the Strawberry concert programme, which culminated in two particularly fine pieces by the Orchestra. Another highlight was the Harmony vocal group. The younger pupils who played their string, brass and woodwind instruments all did so extremely well and it was a particular delight to hear the Upper 1st group singing. After the music-making, everyone headed to the quad to tuck into strawberries and cream.

Plays and Performances

Fourth Form: Blue Remembered Hills

The Fourth Form presented this wartime drama with the cast playing a group of seven-year-olds romping about in the Forest of Dean in the summer of 1943.

Their fun, allegiances and childhood innocence ends abruptly in a tragic accident at the climax of this unsettling play. The talented cast performed with great energy and candour, leaving the audience both entertained and deeply moved.

Find more photographs by visiting www.culford.co.uk/photographs

Summer 2014 11

Plays and Performances Prep:Joseph and his Technicolor Dreamcoat There was a carnival feel in the Studio Theatre for the Third Form Production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. With colourful costumes, balloons, energetic dancing, plenty of comical moments, lively singing and lots of clapping along, the show proved great fun for both the cast and audience. The forty-strong company was led superbly by Joshua Cope in the title role along with narrators Emily Hope and Isabel Whyte. Perhaps the audience’s favourite moment, however, was when the strikingly-costumed Mr Harrison bounded out of an on-stage pyramid to perform a sparkling version of the Elvis-inspired Pharaoh’s Song.

We’ll help you sell in Suffolk by keeping an eye on London.

With 28 offices in London, we are perfectly placed to find you the perfect buyer.

Thinking of selling? Think Savills. Call 01473 234800 savills.co.uk SA74541 Suffolk Telescope Strip ad.indd 1

12Culford CulfordSchool, Connections Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP28 6TX Tel: 01284 728615 www.culford.co.uk 12 Culford CulfordConnections School, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP28 6TX Tel: 01284 728615 www.culford.co.uk

10/03/2014 09:21

© 2014 Culford School Photo credits: Warren Page, Wendy Turner, Andy Abbott, Peter Joarder 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