ASA 2022 School Tie

ASA

SCHOOL TIE Be inspired

SPACE EXPERIMENT REMEMBERED

44

A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

We have had the most exciting year in the Alumni & Development Office and are delighted to share our 2022 ASA School Tie with all our Ashford School community!

The return to in-person events over the past year has been wonderful, and something which we must highlight. From the ASA Sports Tournament in March to our sold-out ASA Summer Lunch in July, it has been a delight to meet those alumni who have been able to attend. We hope more alumni will join us at our events in 2023 as we celebrate the School’s 125th Anniversary, an incredible moment in our History. Please do look at the back page for all the activities taking place, and make sure to ‘save the dates’ in your diary!

We are always delighted to hear from alumni around the globe, so if you have something you would like to share, please get in touch by email at alumni@ashfordschool.co.uk. We can also help you reconnect with fellow alumni.

Happy reading!

Hannah Pinney (Squires, 2011) Head of Alumni & Development

DEAR MEMBERS OF THE A.S.A.,

Bonjour and hello to everyone from S.W. France,

I hope you have all had a slightly better year now that fewer restrictions are in place. It has certainly made a difference to me. I have had a few visitors to stay with me, the latest being Rae Stollard (née Sasson, Brooke Place, 1963). It was very kind of her to come - like many of my friends she was concerned enough about my state of health to travel to France to see me. Earlier in the summer when my daughter Alexandra (Knights, 1992) was staying here her friend Gina Davies (Knights, 1994) also spent two fun days with us. Gina used to stay with us in Kent a lot so is a family friend, not just Alexandra's. It was lovely to see you both and thank you.

This leads me easily into my next paragraph. Some of you already know that in February I was diagnosed with cancer of the pancreasnot something one wants to hear! I also have secondary cancer in the left hip area. I did do nine weeks of chemotherapy but it depressed me psychologically and so I have decided not to continue. I actually came out of the clinic at Easter, profiting from the fact that my lovely daughter Alexandra was visiting, with Jasper, of course, now 7, so she could be there to help me when first returning home. My "salon" now doubles as my bedroom; I have a hospital bed there with all the etceteras.

I am fortunate to be very well cared for: I have a care person who comes in first thing every morning, followed later by a nurse who washes and dresses me and returns each night to put me to bed. I also have a care person visiting for an hour every afternoon and we often go out into the fresh air for a "walk" (inverted commas because I am actually confined to a wheelchair). I am only detailing all this not to bore you, I hope, but to make you realise all the care one gets here all on the French National Health.

I am not at all depressed, the only cross I have to bear is that I am no longer able to walk a step, hence the wheelchair, but on 24 October I am having a hip replacement operation which will hopefully enable me to walk again which would be wonderful. I have so much more sympathy now for anyone having to use a wheelchair. Thank you to any of my school friends reading this who regularly send me cheery WhatsApp messages or phone me up. I expect there will be others reading this letter who are also fighting cancer, so a very big wish from me to you all.

Hannah tells me there are articles about our beloved Queen in the magazine so I will not dwell on this subject, but at her great age we can only be happy to think back on all she achieved during her long life - the best ambassadress ever.

This has been a very good summer weather-wise, and I trust you have all profited by spending more time outdoors. My family always visits during the school holidays and there are so many places of interest to see in the Dordogne and surrounding 'départements'. If any of you will be coming near me, in Villefranche du Perigord, and have more space in your car than my family ever has please ask Hannah for my details. I have been a keen member of the Byron Society of London for more years than I can remember, and I am hoping to give to School all my Byron collection which includes a Complete Works magnificently edited, and many many other books on or about the subject of Lord Byron and his times. I would be grateful if you could take at least some of them home with you to take to School.

I wish you all a very happy and successful year, please keep your news rolling in we love to hear of reunions, however small, and any memories you care to share with us. Thank you to all those who have contributed to this edition. I trust you will enjoy every page of the magazine and as always, I wish to thank Hannah and her team for all the hard work they put in for our benefit. My congratulations to Hannah too, on her well-deserved promotion!

With my very best wishes,

Carolyn Chamberlain (née Nelms, Nightingale, 1960) Your ASA President

ASA

WELCOME FROM OUR ASA CHAIR

ALEX PLAYFORD (KNIGHTS, 2007)

Welcome to the 2022 edition of the Ashford School Tie from me as your new chair of the ASA Committee.

We have had another busy year of events and returning to some sort of normality has proved challenging but hugely successful. Our ASA Summer Lunch was fantastic with over 100 attendees, former staff, past pupils and current staff alike. Lots of year groups organised tables and used it as a good opportunity to catch up! The School achieved excellent exam results and we celebrated with our Year 13 leavers at the ASA BBQ. This was followed by our ASA London drinks event at The Lansdowne Club. We will be finishing 2022 in style with the PFA Christmas Fair, Christmas Concert and Nine Lessons & Carols in St Mary’s Church. 2023 will be one of our biggest yet as we celebrate 125 years of Ashford School, and there will be a series of events focused on this special occasion (dates on the back of the magazine). Please do join us we would love to see as many of you there with us!

Tickets for our 2023 ASA Summer Lunch are already on sale, and we would love for this year to be bigger and better. The following year groups are celebrating milestone anniversaries, so do book a table together: 1963, 1973, 1983, 1993, 1998, 2003, 2008, 2013, & 2018. Get your tickets using this link: https://fixr.co/event/asa-2023-summerlunch-tickets-942206880

My aim as ASA Chair is to increase alumni engagement across our network of both Friars and Ashford School alumni, celebrate all your wonderful achievements, and re-connect with those who have lost touch. We are always keen to hear fresh ideas so if you are interested in joining us on the ASA committee, we would love to hear from you. We are always looking for stories of get togethers, fundraising events, births, weddings, and career celebrations so please share what you are up to and send us pictures.

My continued thanks go to Ashford School and in particular to Hannah Pinney and Headmaster Michael Hall who have worked tirelessly to get things ‘back on track’, both school wide and to organise events and re-engage our alumni community respectively. The committee have continued to be dedicated and supportive and I look forward to continuing to work with them in what I hope is going to be a fantastic year ahead!

I wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a wonderful 2023!

HEADMASTER’S WELCOME

HEADMASTER

MR. MICHAEL HALL

Several years ago, a member of the alumni pointed out to me that by celebrating the record-breaking success of current students, I (inadvertently) highlighted the relative underachievement’s of former students! At the time, I took the point; however, I am proposing to repeat my comparative analysis approach. This year’s A Level and GCSE students had their two years of important preparation dominated and heavily disrupted by the pandemic; therefore, for the students to achieve the very best GCSE results for at least 7 years was just the tonic the School needed as it emerges, most successfully, from the challenging past few years. I am also delighted to report that the School has a record-breaking number of pupils on roll. I am so pleased that not only do our pupils want to stay at the School through the various transition points, but we are also very popular to pupils looking to join us.

During the summer we continued our building refurbishment and improvement programme of different areas of both the Prep and Senior School sites. Most notably, the conversion of the ground floor of Brooke Place Boarding House into a Health and Wellbeing Centre, as well as providing space for our Alumni and Development Office with space for our Archives. The clever use of space means we are still able to operate the building as a boarding house as well.

Another emerging feature of the post-pandemic era is more movement in the labour market. We welcomed a significant wave of new teachers, middle and senior managers to the School this September. Whilst the loyalty, commitment and knowledge of existing staff is important, it is always energising to welcome so many new colleagues who bring fresh and innovative approaches and

In conclusion, I hope you can sense the extremely positive position the School finds itself in as we enter this academic year. The 2022-23 academic year is an important one – the 125th anniversary of the founding of the School. We have several events planned for the spring and summer of 2023 and I hope that we will welcome many alumni back to these to celebrate this key landmark in the School’s history.

ASA SPORTS REUNION & TOURNAMENT

SATURDAY 26 MARCH 2022

The sun was shining for our ASA Sports Tournament at Ashford Prep School in Great Chart, the first to be held since 2018, with an amazing turnout from alumni, staff, former staff, current students and parents. Well done to the 2022 1st Teams that took the victory this year against the alumni in both the mens hockey and ladies netball matches! These were followed by a mixed hockey match which saw an alumni team go up against current staff…The alumni triumphed with a 2-0 victory.

After the matches and trophy presentation, we headed to Matches Sports Bar in the town centre, owned by Friars alum Jon Shephard (Friars,1995) for more socialising. All the photos can be see on the ASA Facebook page – a huge thank you to Kate Wright for being our photographer for the day! Thank you to everyone for coming, for Ashford Sports Department for organising & Ashford Prep School for hosting! We look forward to more alumni joining us on Saturday 18 March 2023 for our next tournament.

Men’s & Mixed Hockey: Vasiliy Agafonov (Merchants, 2019), Laura Brightling (Knights, 2018), Ethan Broadbank (Yeomen, 2020), Jess Buchanan (Merchants, 2011), Tom Butt (Former Member of Staff), Joe Dale (Franklins, 2017), Sahil Ghale (Former Member of Staff), Piers Gray (Pilgrims, 2020), Solove Gurung (Merchants, 2020), Max Howitt (Pilgrims, 2017), Bryn Lucas (Merchants, 2021), Tristan Niewoudt (Merchants, 2020), Matt Russen (Franklins, 2017), Jo Thompson (née Howard, Merchants, 1990), Nicky Timms (née Miles, Pilgrims, 1996).

Ladies Netball: Jo Thompson (née Howard, Merchants, 1990), Lucy Piper (Pilgrims, 2017), Olivia Jefferson-Pillai (Merchants, 2021), Mia Tierney (Pilgrims, 2021), Rachel Stevens (Squires, 2021), Hannah Pinney (Squires, 2011), Alex Playford (Knights, 2007).

ASA AGM

SATURDAY 2 JULY 2022

Finally, after two consecutive years holding our AGM on Zoom, we were delighted to be able to welcome alumni back to School for an in-person meeting ahead of our ASA Summer Lunch. During the meeting, Julie Piper (Knights, 1979) was officially voted into the role of Hon. Secretary, and Alex Playford (Knights, 2007) was voted in as the ASA’s new chair. We also heard reports from Headmaster Michael Hall, Head of Alumni & Development Hannah Pinney (Squires, 2011) and a pre-recorded message from outgoing School Captain Oli Jacobs (Squires, 2022). Unfortunately, our very own President Carolyn Chamberlain (née Nelms, Nightingale, 1960) was not able to join us in-person from France, but Zoomed in for the meeting.

In recognition of Carolyn’s dedication to Ashford School and the ASA, Rae Stollard (née Sasson, Brooke Place, 1963) & Val Arends (née Davies, Alfred, 1955) presented Headmaster Michael Hall with ‘Nellie’s Knitting Needles’, beautifully framed in the Ashford School colours (you can read more about the meaning behind these on page 20). These are now on display in the Alumni & Development Office, situated in Brooke Place.

You can read the minutes in full on our Ashford School website. If you are interested in being a part of the ASA Committee, please get in touch via email (alumni@ashfordschool.co.uk).

We hope to see more alumni at our next ASA AGM on Saturday 1 July 2023.

ASA SUMMER LUNCH

SATURDAY 2 JULY 2022

After a 3 year, Covid induced hiatus, we were delighted to host our much-loved ASA Summer Lunch this July. The excitement in the run-up was palpable as the bookings came flooding in, and we were thrilled to welcome nearly 100 guests to the event, our best attendance to date, and with alumni spanning from 1955-2017. It was especially exciting to see so many year groups signing up for tables and returning to both reminisce and celebrate their time at Ashford School.

The event began with a Drinks Reception in the Rose Garden, whilst we were serenaded by our talented music students performing a wide variety of repertoire, both solo and ensemble. Thank you to the Music Department Staff, Mr Sherwood & Mrs Hall, for organising this.

We then moved into Brake Hall for a delicious two-course lunch. Our newly elected Chair of the ASA, Alex Playford (Knights, 2007) welcomed alumni past and present to the lunch, and raised a toast to Tessa Webb (Squires, 1997) whose year group attended the lunch to celebrate her memory.

Whilst digging into a delicious summery pudding of Eton Mess, Headmaster Michael Hall welcomed our guest speaker Anna Turley (Merchants, 1997) to the Brake Hall stage. Anna was the Labour and Co-Operative Member of Parliament for Redcar from 2015 to 2019. During her time in Parliament she was Shadow Minister for Civil Society and Chair of the CoOperative Party. She is currently Chair of the North East Child Poverty Commission and a Trustee of Hope not Hate. Anna gave a fantastic speech, which you can read on page 10. Thank you, Anna, for speaking!

After the lunch, a team of our newly appointed Sixth Form Prefects joined us to offer alumni tours of the School. The Prefects had a fantastic time, and loved hearing stories from our alumni about their experiences at School, and particularly any that linked to their current teachers.

Thanks must go to all the staff working tirelessly behind the scenes to make this event happen – from the facilities team to our caterers – we couldn’t do it without you. And, finally, thank you to all our attendees for coming.

We look forward to seeing more alumni for our ASA Summer Lunch in 2023 on Saturday 1 July!

Tickets for the 2023 ASA Summer Lunch are now on sale at: https://fixr.co/event/asa-2023summer-lunch-tickets-942206880

THURSDAY 8 SEPTEMBER

We enjoyed seeing many of our recent alumni return to School for the annual ASA Leavers’ BBQ! Watching the weather forecast anxiously from Monday, we made the decision to move the event from its normal location on the Edward’s Lawn into the Atrium – which provided us with much needed shelter from the rain on the day.

We were thrilled to welcome so many leavers from 2022 back, as well as 2020, and it was wonderful to hear about what they were doing. We wish them every success for life beyond Ashford School.

Sadly, during the evening, we learnt about Her Majesty The Queen’s passing and, out of respect, we finished this event early. We look forward to welcoming all our alumni back again for this event next year!

ASA SUMMER LUNCH GUEST SPEAKER

ANNA TURLEY: MY TIME AT ASHFORD

We were delighted to welcome Anna Turley (Merchants, 1997) as our guest speaker at this year’s ASA Summer Lunch. Please read on for an abridged version of Anna’s speech. A huge thank you again to Anna for speaking at the Lunch.

It’s so, so lovely to be back. To my shame this is honestly the first time I have been back since we left – and I just cannot believe it’s been 25 years. It really is lovely to see so many old friends, and also to see all the fantastic teachers who I’m so grateful to, for so much more that they will probably ever know.

I was at Ashford in the early 90s – it was a different world then! Those were the days when the school had one computer that we all took turns on, with a green screen. We all thought Mr Gould had gone a bit mad with all this talk of sending electronic letters to people around the world and having connected electronic encyclopaedias!

I also fondly remember our brilliant trips to London and Stratford for the theatre and seem to remember the teachers getting a little bit sozzled! They thought we didn’t notice! How times have changed! And I remember a certain Sixth Form trip to the Rocky Horror Show with certain teachers in full drag including fishnet stockings and suspenders. Obviously, I couldn’t possibly mention any names or suggest that those teachers may be in this very room… We loved it though and were lucky to have teachers who were willing to have some fun as well as work us hard.

And they let us have fun as well. Any school that would allow me to sing ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’ while dressed as a nun playing the keyboard as our entry for the House Music competition meant we learnt never to take life too seriously! And I am sure none of us are at all scarred by the staff appearances in the Sixth Form pantomimes!

But as well as all the fun, I’ll never forget my first report in which the then Headteacher Mrs Macaire wrote ‘Reach for the Stars’. I realise

now how lucky we were to have this culture in a school which had the best aspirations for us and wanted to give us the tools to fulfil our potential in life.

I learnt many lessons at Ashford that have stood me in good stead in my life and career in Westminster and Whitehall and I just wanted to mention a few of them today.

Firstly, when you look at the political world that I have worked in and see how it is still so male-dominated and misogynistic, I am eternally grateful that Ashford School always told us we were absolutely equal to men and could do anything at all that we set our minds to, whether that was being involved in space exploration and science, or having great careers in journalism, law, business, politics, sport and engineering. We learnt to be fiercely independent and intellectually curious and that our opinions and views were worth the same as anyone else’s.

Secondly, our school motto: ‘Esse Quam Videri. Ut Prosim’ – ‘To be, rather than to seem to be. In order that I may serve.’ I don’t think I really took much notice of it when I was a pupil here, but the words have stayed with me and held huge significance for me in my adult life. In politics and public life, it feels like it has never been more important

be rather than to seem to be. This all matters now more than ever and those words of our school motto echo often in my head these days.

The third thing that I took with me from Ashford is about friendship, diversity and teamwork. It was quite unusual then to go to a school outside a major city which had young women from such diverse backgrounds as we had here. I am eternally grateful that we didn’t just learn the Bible, but that we learnt about Islam and Judaism and Sikhism and Hinduism, and that we grew up with friends who wore a hijab, friends who had childhoods in Africa, and friends who went to mosques as well as churches.

In parliament I became good friends with Jo Cox and was of course devastated by her terrible murder. Her words ‘we have more in common than that which divides us’ have always stayed with me, and I think that is exactly what Ashford taught me – the power of friendships, of achieving more when we work together and of recognising diversity and different viewpoints as a strength, not a weakness.

And speaking of friends, I’d also like to take a moment to mention our dear friend Tessa Webb who we tragically lost in January this year. She was the best of us, and touched everyone with her kindness and will be hugely missed.

So, to end, I am so delighted to be here today with all of you, to celebrate our time at school 25 years ago and all it has given us. But I just want to share something with you before I finish, that it was a bit of a close call that I’m even here. It might all have ended one week back in 1995 when I was putting a bag of netballs back in the PE equipment cupboard after practice one evening, and one of the teachers didn’t realise I was in there and locked me in!

I banged on the door for about half an hour and no one came! To make things worse, this was late on the Friday before half term so no one would have found me for a week, and of course there were no such things as mobile phones. Luckily Ms Mearles heard me shouting and eventually rescued me, so after 25 years I want to say a huge thank you to her for saving me from an untimely death in the games cupboard!

Thanks very much again to everyone at Ashford for the fun we had and thanks for having me today!

To watch Anna’s speech in full, please visit the Ashford School YouTube channel.

INSPIRING OUR STUDENTS’ MINDS

This past academic year, our alumni community has inspired our current students by delivering both virtual and in-person career talks. Thank you to the alumni below for coming back and sharing your career journeys and knowledge with our students.

TOBY HARRIS (FRANKLINS, 2013)

•

Business Application Sales Executive at Microsoft

Career Highlight: Traveling to South Africa in 2020 to help open the new Workday office in the region, and subsequently at Microsoft, working with my customers and the global executive team to close a significant global partnership.

Favourite Teacher: My favourite teacher would have to be Mr Boyd for his inspiration, coaching and mentorship!

Favourite Memory: Participating in all the school musical productions, including Les Miserables, Sweeney Todd, Hairspray, Evita, & West Side Story.

EMMA STEVENS (NÉE KING, SQUIRES, 2002)

• Clinical Psychologist and Founder of Ashdown

Clinical Psychology Services Limited

Career Highlight: Opening my own clinic for my company.

Favourite Memory: Oh, that’s tricky – there are so many!

Probably the two classics trips I went on - one to Greece and one to Italy during GCSEs and A levels. Both were lots of fun and I learnt loads. Memories

I will never forget of seeing all the ancient ruins.

RACHAEL LUKEHURST (PILGRIMS, 1999)

•

If you would like to come back to deliver a career talk, please contact the Alumni Office at alumni@ashfordschool.co.uk

Head of Revenue Transformation at Liberty Specialty Markets

Career Highlight: Attending the maritime conference Posidonia in Athens as Marine Hull underwriter for LSM was a definite career high. A great experience.

Favourite Memory: By far my favourite lesson at school was Classical Studies with Mrs Wilkes and our study tour to Naples and the Amalfi Coast.

BECKY WISE (PILGRIMS, 2011)

• Architect at Hollaway Studio, Associate Lecturer at Newcastle University, & RIBA Mentor

Career Highlight: My favourite career moment to date is being Project Architect for the new Brompton Factory in Ashford. It's been a fantastic experience embedding the bike manufacture process within the building design, and I'm looking forward to how this will develop further.

Favourite Memory: The visit to the CERN Large Hadron Collider with Mr. Stoddart and Mrs. Martin in Year 12. Especially now with the semi-recent discoveries of new exotic particles!

MEGAN FOX (MERCHANTS, 2017)

• Laboratory Technician at Slate Hall Veterinary Services, working in Infectious Disease Control and Surveillance

Academic Highlight: My academic highlight is that during my masters I was able to conduct research that has never been done before and produced publishable results leading to new research in ruminant production (and hopefully some research papers).

Favourite Teacher: My favourite teacher was Mrs Towill. She taught me from Year 7 all the way through to Sixth Form. My passion for science started in her lessons and I wouldn’t be where I am without her. I especially loved cake Fridays with our A-level class.

© Hollaway Studio

NICOLA PRYCE (NÉE SNELSON, NIGHTINGALE, 1975)

• Author

Career Highlight:

When I received a phone call from a London agent after she read the first three chapters of my first book. She said she was drawn to my writing and wanted to see the whole manuscript. Immediately, I felt breathless and couldn’t answer her. I was literally speechless, dizzy even! Not a very promising start but fortunately it all went well after that.

Favourite Memory: My favourite lesson was English and my favourite teacher, among many, was Miss Baker. I loved her lessons and loved the way she read us Chaucer. Not only was she inspirational in the way she explained and delved into our set texts, but she would also discuss and suggest books for our own reading. Back in the ‘70’s boarders had to take her any books we brought from home for her to approve. She would initial and star them and we’d be allowed to write reviews about them to counteract any stripes we were given. Twenty book reviews equalled one star and believe me, I needed to write a lot of book reviews! Any other books, like Angelique and the King by Sergeanne Golan, would have to be read by torchlight under the bedcovers.

JAMES WILTON (PILGRIMS, 2018)

• Head of Powertrain at Team Bath Racing Electric, and Mechanical with Automotive Engineering MEng Student at University of Bath

Favourite Ashford School Teachers: It is hard to single out a favourite teacher, but Mr Stoddart, Ms Martin and Mrs Peric were some of my favourites in Sixth Form!

Sporting Highlight: Representing GB at the Youth World Championships where I made the final and being a training partner for the Tokyo games where we came away with two gold medals!

University Highlight: My time working with Formula Student and seeing the car run successfully at Formula Student Italy! We had had to fix a multitude of problems after Formula Student UK at Silverstone, and only had a day to turn the car around before we flew out to Italy! Thanks to this experience, I was offered an interview at Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains (producing engines for the Mercedes F1 team and their customer teams) where they have offered me a job and I will be starting as a graduate mechanical engineer there in September 2023!

CHESSIE WILTON (MERCHANTS, 2013)

• Assistant to Florence Pugh

SOPHIE MONTAGNE (MERCHANTS, 2001)

• Head of Operations at UK Antarctic Heritage Trust

Career Highlight: Being selected for the British Army’s Ice Maiden team and getting the opportunity to set a new record in Antarctica. Starting a completely different career since then has been life changing and given me a real sense of purpose and huge satisfaction in doing something I love.

Favourite Memory: It has to be Mr Limmer’s A Level Geography lessons when we created baked goods for that week’s topic in class. Highlights included Meera Srinivasan’s oozing volcano cake and a tundra traybake.

Career Highlight: A very good question – I'm not sure I have one highlight that stands out, but flying to shoot the opening of Black Widow in Morocco was a very special experience.

Favourite Memory: My favourite teachers were Mrs Millbery (Former Teacher of Drama) and Mrs Ball (Former Head of Psychology, 2021) because they both cared about their pupils and made every lesson so enjoyable. My favourite memory of school was performing in all the musicals we staged and creating 8PB theatre company which we took to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

ALUMNI & CAREERS

'OUR MAGISTRACY: A DEMOCRATIC JEWEL BEYOND PRICE'

‘Our Magistracy: A Democratic Jewel Beyond Price’ was released last year, and authored by Patron of the Ashford School Foundation and Former Chair of School Governors, Mr John Hosking CBE. John’s book describes the core role and character of the lay magistracy; it includes chapters on its history over the last 50 years, administration of justice in a moral vacuum, the relationship between JPs and lawyers, day-to-day management of the summary courts, fallibility of juries, personal qualities required by applicants, the future of the institution, and the Magistrates’ Association. He hopes that the book may stimulate an increase of interest in public service, and renewed support for the lay magistracy among politicians, administrators, the public and potential applicants for the Bench, not least younger candidates above the age of 18.

John has had a long association with Ashford School. He was a governor for 30 years, and chairman between 1994 - 2001, leading the Council at the time of the merger with United Learning. Career wise, John was a lay magistrate (JP) for 37 years, chairman of the Ashford Court for 8 years, and eventually chairman of the National Council of the Magistrates' Association of England & Wales.

John has generously donated a signed copy to the Somerville Library at the Senior School, and also joined us in School to speak to our Academic Scholars about the book. The event was led by Assistant Head, Tom Vafidis (Friars, 2006), and our students’ questions ranged from John’s motivation for taking up a role within the magistracy to his opinions on bail. John encouraged our students to take the optimistic view, and highlighted three areas for positivity: the beauty of the English language; the law in the UK; and the magistracy. Thank you, John, for presenting us with a copy of your book, and for taking the time to speak with and inspire our students!

LONDON NETWORKING

We held our inaugural London networking event in July 2022, specifically for those of our alumni working in the Finance Sector. The session was generously hosted by Henrietta Oxlade (Alfred, 1984) at her offices, Radcliffe & Newlands Ltd. Over her career as an Independent Financial Advisor Henri has had many achievements, in 2018 she won the London Financial Advisor of the Year in the Women in Financial Advice Awards and has been the highest fee earner at Radcliffe & Newlands over the last 5 years. Alongside Henri, our featured speakers were Senior Actuary at Lloyd’s of London Uma Diveka (Squires, 2009) & Head of Global Mobility at HSBC Georgina Hawkes (Franklins, 1995). Thank you to them all for sharing their time with us.

With a wide breadth of attendees, from those still studying at university, to those who had just joined the finance industry, to well-established, it was an interesting session with discussion topics ranging from how the pandemic had affected the industry, to the key challenges in the sector, to employability skills and mentoring.

The discussion also looked to future events, and what our alumni would like to achieve through these sessions. It was felt it would be useful for events to target multiple sectors, and consequently, we plan to focus on this for future events.

We could not host our networking events without you, and this is a fantastic opportunity to get involved with the ASA, and to help us facilitate and develop our networking opportunities. Could you offer to host us? Or could you recommend a London venue to meet at? Would you like to be a speaker? Do you have an idea of topics/areas that would be useful? If so, please contact the Alumni & Development Office at development@ashfordschool.co.uk.

LINKEDIN

Tom Vafidis, John Hosking & Michael Hall

Georgina Hawkes

Uma Diveka

Henrietta Oxlade.

CELEBRATING DEGREE RESULTS!

Congratulations to the following alumni who shared their fantastic degree results with us:

Alex Bucknall (Knights, 2013) has successfully gained his PhD in Computer Engineering at the University of Warwick. Alex’s PhD was on designing abstraction toolchains for high performance computing, leveraging reconfigurable architectures for accelerating applications such as image processing and machine learning. He developed tools that helped software engineers utilise bespoke high performance computing architectures for more generic software applications. Alex is now working as a software/hardware engineer at an internet of things startup, designing electronics and developing software that powers things from smart kiosks and petrol stations to conservation tools for wildlife research, all across the world.

Liv Boeree (Franklins, 2002) has been awarded an honorary doctorate from the Department of Astrophysics at the University of Hull. She shared the following with us:

“Life has taken many twists and turns but these days I live in Austin, Texas with my partner Igor. I quit poker a few years ago to focus on my work as a speaker and writer specialising in the intersection between technology, risk, and game theory. I remember my days at Ashford so fondly - sending lots of love over the pond to you all! And to my old classmates - we should do a reunion, right? It’s been 20 years after all!”

Henry Carlton (Franklins, 2014) Medicine University of Bristol

Willis Sullivan (Franklins, 2014) Philosophy University of East Anglia 2:1

Lizzy Aviss (Franklins, 2016) Medicine St George’s Hospital Medical School London Distinction

Kara Costello (Pilgrims, 2016) Graduate Diploma in Law The University of Law

Motunrayo (Mo) Onafowokan (Yeomen, 2016)

MA Development Communications The American University of Paris

Scarlett Carter (Squires, 2017) BSc Psychology University of Liverpool 2:1

Sophie Pinney (Squires, 2017)

Imogen Boutwood (Pilgrims, 2018)

Hana Davis (Merchants, 2018)

BA Fine Art University for the Creative Arts, Canterbury First

BA Fashion Textiles & Print University for the Creative Arts First

MA Arabic and Spanish, Literatures, Languages, and Cultures University of Edinburgh

First Class with Distinction in spoken Arabic

K-Leigh Hargreaves (Merchants, 2018) Psychology Loughborough University First

Chayce Hyde Harrison (Yeomen, 2018) BA History University of Victoria, Canada 3.3 GPA

Nellie Mtolo (Yeomen/Brabourne, 2018)

Joshua Stevens (Pilgrims, 2018)

Grace Kinnersley (Franklins, 2018)

Imuetinyan Osama Aletor (Pilgrims/ Alfred, 2019)

Matthew Clarke (Merchants, 2019)

Will Davies (Squires, 2019)

Chantal Weller (Yeomen, 2019)

BA Business Management with Combined Entrepreneurship with Minor in Fashion Management and Marketing

Richmond, The American International University in London 2:1

BSc Human Geography University of Kent First

MA Art History & International Relations University of St Andrews First

BS Financial Economics University of Kent First

BA Business with Finance University of Greenwich First Top 1% Finance student

BSc Architectural Studies Cardiff University First

BA Multimedia Journalism

Canterbury Christ Church University First

WOMEN WERE MEANT TO FLY, THE SKY WOULD BE PINK”: MY BEGINNINGS

charismatic image that my dad portrayed to the world belied a violent, abusive side which quickly became obvious behind closed doors. He made it very clear to us both that he could treat us as badly as he wished, and nobody would believe us or come to our aid. We believed him because we knew it was true. My childhood and the entirety of my mother’s married life were marred by my father’s abuse. Although it was traumatic when he died in a car accident when I was 12, it was nothing compared to the trauma of living with him.

CAPTAIN ENID OTUN

(ALFRED, 1980)

I was born to a Cumbrian mother and a Nigerian father in the early 1960s. By the time I was born my father had long since returned to his native Lagos, leaving my mum to take care of me as a single parent to a mixed-race baby in a time when mixed-race babies weren’t the ‘done thing’! Luckily my mum was a feisty lass who weathered the prejudice and rejection with a mixture of impenetrable defiance and humour.

When I was a toddler my father sent for us. Unbeknownst to my mother, he already had a wife who lived in the flat downstairs! He gained significant kudos for being the only Nigerian man in Lagos with not just one but two English wives. I gained two half-brothers and a half-sister overnight and my mum begrudgingly had to put up with a fellow wife in the flat below.

My father was a powerful, respected professional who socialised in the most prestigious circles. I used to have play dates with the children of Heads of State. Unfortunately, the charming,

After my father’s death I felt both devastated and liberated. I was sent to boarding school in Kent, England: Ashford School. My mother flew over with me from Lagos and hired a Jaguar with chauffeur so that we could arrive at the school in style. She left me with a tuck box bursting with treats and my new posh uniform. I cried for days after she left. The homesickness was hellish but, even then, I was beginning to get a feeling that I was finally free. Like many people who have experienced childhood trauma, paradoxically I didn’t really know what to do with my newfound freedom. I didn’t really know who I was, let alone who I wanted to be.

Boarding school proved to be an important time for me to experiment, my fellow pupils and I all bumbling through adolescence. Moaning and groaning our way through lessons and homework and living for midnight feasts, Saturday lunchtimes in The Wimpy and loitering around the ‘Pick and Mix’ in Woolies during our trips into town. Other proud moments come to mind: smuggling a bottle of Mateus Rosé over on the flight back from the summer break then drinking the whole bottle and rolling around drunk on the lawn in front of the Headmistress’s office! Such fun! Or not after I was caught.

Planes were already a big part of my life. I flew back and forth from Heathrow to Lagos at the end of every term, with a big red tag hanging round my neck singling me out as an ‘unaccompanied minor’. It never occurred to me to be a pilot despite all the air miles I accrued. At school I was drawn to the arts and classics but even within those subjects I didn’t see myself as an academic. I’d had all my confidence literally knocked out of me during my

“IF

childhood, along with being told repeatedly that I was stupid and good for nothing, so I certainly didn’t imagine myself doing anything exciting in the future.

I hope the next part of my story brings hope and confidence to anyone who may have had a less than perfect start to life. I realised once my father died that my mum and I were basically on our own. I didn’t have a lot in terms of family or support, but I had agency. When I was 15 my mum took me to an air show in Headcorn, where we noticed a sign advertising thirty-minute pleasure flights. I signed up, completely unaware that these thirty minutes would shape my career and character for the rest of my life. Quite by chance, the pilot on the flight often flew the Boeing 707s on the Lagos route. I excitedly sat up front with him and enjoyed chatting and watching what he was doing. Suddenly he asked me if I wanted to take the controls to see how it felt.

Before I realised what I was doing I agreed! It turned out to be the greatest feeling ever, thrilling

and terrifying to be ‘in charge’ of the plane but also just to be in the sky above the clouds with such beautiful views and such an amazing perspective. Once we had landed, to my delight the pilot told me that I had really good handling skills for someone of my age and inexperience and that I should consider getting lessons. I was over the moon. It was a huge moment for me. Not just because the flight had been so exciting but also because it was the first time anyone had ever told me I was good at something and that I showed promise!

From that moment I began nagging my mum for lessons. Eventually, she agreed, saying that she was relieved I finally had some idea of what I wanted to do. When I wasn’t learning to fly, I wrote to every major airline asking them to take me on as a trainee. Obviously, I didn’t tell any of these prospective employers that I had yet to conquer my air sickness and had none of the science or maths qualifications they required.

As the rejections came in, I persevered with my

lessons and on my 18th birthday I completed my Private Pilot’s License in a little over the 40 hours minimum.

I was finally a Pilot.

Enid went on to become the first female Chief Pilot in West Africa and forged a 25-year career in a what was then a male-dominated industry. You can find out more about Enid‘s career by listening to her podcast ‘If women were meant to fly the sky would be pink!’ and make sure to keep an eye out for Enid’s book of the same name, due to be released next year! Enid returned to give a fascinating career talk to our Sixth Formers as part of their General Studies back in March 2022.

IT TURNED OUT TO BE THE GREATEST FEELING EVER, THRILLING AND TERRIFYING TO BE ‘IN CHARGE’ OF THE PLANE BUT ALSO JUST TO BE IN THE SKY ABOVE THE CLOUDS WITH SUCH BEAUTIFUL VIEWS

ASHFORD REUNION LUNCHEON AT THE IVY CAFÉ WIMBLEDON

Pippa Jones (Nightingale, 1965) organised an Ashford School Luncheon in February 2022 and has written in to tell us about the event:

“I thoroughly enjoyed the Ashford School Luncheons at the Royal Academy and was sorry that this was cancelled last year due to Covid-19 and I resolved to arrange a mini version locally. In November I emailed six Ashford mates, with a copy to our President Carolyn Chamberlain in France, and was delighted when five of them said that they would love to attend. We fixed the date for 2 February and I booked a table for six, the maximum, at The Ivy Café Wimbledon where three of us had met before. After reminders a week before and on the day, we met at The Ivy at 12 noon. Jacquie Collins (née Sasson, Brooke Place) had travelled the furthest, from Vancouver Island in British Columbia, her sister, Rae Stollard, M.B.E. (née Sasson, Brooke Place, 1963) from Bournemouth, Anne Shattock (née Garrett, Nightingale, 1964) drove from Surrey, and Sue Davies (née King, Nightingale, 1963) and I came from Merton Park, Wimbledon. Conversation flowed from the start. It was incredible that the years rolled back to the 60s, especially as among us were those who hadn’t met since school. Photos were passed round and taken by the waiters. After ordering drinks, we studied the extensive menus, à la carte and table d’hôte. The food was delicious and Sue’s Ivy G&T a sight to behold. We ordered a couple of puds, mango sorbet, a far cry from the stodge we had on East Hill.

I thought that we had the table for a couple of hours but it was around 14.30 that Anne mentioned her parked car and we left The Ivy Café. It was time for goodbye and promises to keep in touch until the next time.

SPORTING ACHIEVEMENTS CELEBRATED IN ASHFORD SCHOOL’S PAVILLION

We really do love to be able to celebrate the achievements of our whole alumni community, and so we are delighted to see three of our sporting alumni celebrated in our Sport's Pavilion at Ashford Prep School.

The framed shirts we have on display belong to:

• Nick Smelt (Yeomen, 2015)Team GB Wheelchair Tennis

• Hamish Roberts (Knights, 2017)England Hockey

• Jo Thompson (née Howard, Merchants, 1990) - England Hockey

If there are fellow alumni who have competed in a sport at national or international level, please do let us know as we would love to be able to add your shirt to our framed collection!

CHALLENGE FOR TESSA

Gemma Bramley (Pilgrims, 1997) wrote in to tell us about the inspirational challenge a group of Ashford School alumni are undertaking in memory of fellow alumna Tessa Webb (Squires, 1997).

At the beginning of the year our dear friend, Tessa Webb, lost her life to cancer. Tessa had an adventurous spirit, a zest for life, a kind heart, a mischievous streak and a great sense of humour; everything one wishes for in a friend. She loved spending time in the countryside and had a real appreciation for the natural environment.

To celebrate Tessa’s life, several of us who were at Ashford School with her (1992-1997) decided to start a group challenge in her memory: to walk the Pilgrims’ Way, a 141mile trail from Winchester to Canterbury.

The last time many of us stepped foot on the Pilgrims’ Way was in 1996, when Pilgrims House girls walked from Ashford to Canterbury to raise funds for the Pilgrims’ Hospice. Some 26 years later, starting in April, we’ve walked or run several sections with our families. On 3 July, in Tessa’s birthday week, eight of us met at Boughton Lees to hike the last leg of route, finishing at Canterbury Cathedral, stopping briefly at Chilham to be joined by six more, including Tessa’s parents and her husband. Glorious weather helped the miles to pass quickly, as well as plenty of catching up and sharing memories of school days with Tessa.

Our quest will be complete by 2 January, the anniversary of Tessa’s passing. We are raising funds for St Catherine’s Hospice, Crawley, whose staff gave such dedicated care to Tessa and her family. We’ve still got a way to go and would appreciate any encouraging messages

or contributions you would like to give. To support us, please visit our fundraising page: https://justgiving.com/fundraising/ChallengeForTessa. We’ll be updating the page with details of the next steps in our pilgrimage in Tessa’s memory.

Team: Gemma Bramley (Pilgrims, 1997), Bea Friend (née Van Hoorn Alkema, Squires, 1997), Lorna Dodson (née Scutt, Pilgrims, 1997), Georgina Baker (née Williams, Pilgrims, 1997), Charmaine Taggart (née Arasaratnam, Squires, 1997), Becca Franklin (Merchants, 1997), Emma Mather (née Gouldstone, Pilgrims, 1995), Emily Cooper (née Howard, Franklins, 1997), and Prina Patel (Knights, 1997)

ALUMNA SELECTED FOR ENGLAND HOCKEY TEAM

After nearly forty years after her first foray with a hockey stick on Lower Nightingale Pitch with Miss Harman Clarke & Mrs Goodliffe, Jo Thompson (née Howard, Merchants, 1990) was selected in January 2022 to represent England Hockey in the Masters Women’s O50’s World Cup in Cape Town in October this year. Jo earned her first 3 caps playing and winning in the 4 Nations tournament in Nottingham against Ireland, Scotland and Wales in June 2022.

We are delighted to report that England Women’s O50’s came home World Champions. They were undefeated throughout the tournament! They beat Germany on penalties in the semi-final and took the victory after winning 2-0 to Argentina in the final. You can watch all the matches, and the final in full on YouTube: https://youtu.be/qb-O-yOYo3Q

Jo now has 9 international caps, and 2 gold medals! An inspiring achievement.

NELLIE’S KNITTING NEEDLES

At the 2022 AGM, as a fun tribute to Carolyn Chamberlain (née Nelms, Nightingale, 1960), known as Nellie, after all her years as President of the OGA (Old Girls Association) and now ASA, we have presented the school with a pair of large wooden knitting needles, mounted in a handsome box with the school crest, as a relic of boarding school life in the 1950s.

Due to illness Carolyn was unable to attend the AGM but joined us via zoom. Her friend Rae Stollard (née Sasson, Brooke Place, 1963) chanced upon these thick wooden knitting needles in an antique shop and immediately thought of her school friend Nellie who had spent so many Saturday evenings knitting dusters as a punishment at school.

“Well done that girl!” was the call of our Headmistress Miss Brake in the 1950s when you did something right and were rewarded with a star. However, the call from an angry house or form mistress was apt to be “another stripe for you foolish girl”.

ALUMNA HONOURED WITH AFGHANISTAN OPERATIONAL SERVICE MEDAL

Fleur Willson (Yeomen, 2003) has been awarded the Afghanistan Operational Service Medal with the OpPitting clasp.

The "Operation PITTING" Clasp is awarded for service in Afghanistan during Operation Pitting, which was a British military operation to evacuate British nationals and eligible Afghans from Afghanistan following the 2021 Taliban offensive. Fleur was deployed to Kabul during 2021 in these most challenging of circumstances, and along with Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and others based in London and all around the world, they worked night and day on this crisis response.

Ten stripes were the dreaded number, for then you had to give up your free Saturday morning and report in to knit the grim “dusters”. Large wooden knitting needles were given to you, with a ball of thick white cotton. You then knitted this into squares for use as dusters. Many of the dusters were sold to unsuspecting parents on the craft stall on Barnardo’s Day although they were most unsuitable for use, but like prisoners in American jails who had to sew canvas mailbags, it was a fashionable form of punishment.

Thus, Carolyn Nelms became infamous for the 23 stripes given to her in one term, which is probably a record, and incurred “double dusters” and having to give up her Saturday evening as well. She got her stripes for talking in class, being “out of bounds” and talking to boys on East Hill. The star knitter of dusters in my year was Annie Palmer (later Countess Ochs von Cassel) who was forever getting 5 stripes at a go for being caught going “out of bounds” to buy cigarettes and a bottle of gin.

When next at school as you pass by the box of mounted knitting needles, pause, take a moment and smile.

By Val Arends (née Davies, Nightingale, 1955)

STARTING MY CAREER IN ARCHITECTURE

Will Davies (Squires, 2019) wrote in to tell us what he’s been up to since leaving Ashford School in 2019.

“I graduated from the University of Cardiff with a degree in Architecture and started my role as a Part One Architect Assistant at Hollaway Studio, London. I have been working at Hollaway for 3 months and have already been involved in the design of a large-scale commercial and residential scheme. Working alongside other architects, I am really enjoying learning about what it takes to be an architect in the professional world. Working on this project has reminded me of the many hours spent in the art room, creating and drawing, with Mr. and Mrs. Rayner, as well as the D&T workshop where I spent time with Mr. Barnett sitting down talking and sketching out designs. The skills I learnt have carried me through my years at University and are something which I hope to build on working at Hollaway. I plan on going back to University to study for a masters in order to further my career, with the aspiration of becoming a qualified architect. In the meantime I look forward to my time with Hollaway as a Part One and look forward to the challenges ahead.”

BOYS HALL OPENED

Alumna Kristie Lomas (née Bishop, Yeomen, 2003) has opened Boys Hall in Willesborough, Ashford (Kent) as a Restaurant & Rooms.

Kristie and her husband Brad were captivated by this house and along with their family began renovating the estate in the winter of 2019, finally opening its doors in September 2022. Believed to have been built in 1616 by Thomas Boys, the lovingly restored venue now boasts a spacious 70-seater restaurant, bar lounges, private event space, its very own pub and 10 boutique bedrooms for those near and far to enjoy in all its restored glory.

After leaving Ashford School in 2003, Kristie gained a degree in Photography from Southampton University and then swiftly moved to London to pursue a Brands Activation role for the alcohol distributor EdringtonBeam. 18 months later she began conversations with Coralie Sleap (Yeoman 2003)

and the pair set-up their first cafe/bar called Drink, Shop & Do in Kings Cross in 2010, swiftly followed by another bar in 2012 also in Kings Cross called Keystone Crescent. By 2017 marriage, children and a move to the countryside led her back to her roots and the journey of renovating Boys Hall began.

Kristie has always been passionate about hospitality and creating spaces that entice people, satisfy their senses and ultimately give them the most

wonderful experience from start to finish.

There’s a lot on the horizon at Boys Hall with future plans to add a Garden Room in the old Victorian walled garden and luxury cabins around the pond. Watch this space… To make a booking or get in touch visit: www.boys-hall.com or email info@boys-hall.com

You can also find them on Instagram at @boys.hall

© Hollaway Studio

NEWS FLASH

Last academic year’s Ashford School Rugby Captain Anthony Mark (Yeomen, 2022) was selected for, and is now playing on, a Senior Academy contract with Saracens for the upcoming year. He was recently guest elite player for a Rugby Development day here at School.

In November, Anja Brkic (Franklins/ Brabourne, 2020) competed in the Aphrodite Cup as a member of a Serbian National Archery team. The competition was held in Cyprus, and the team returned triumphant with 12 medals for Serbia. Anja set a new outdoor Junior Women National Record, which equaled the best Serbian women result ever! An inspiring achievement – we can’t wait to see how Anja’s sporting career progresses.

Joseph Tonna (Franklins, 2019) has launched his career in the Finance sector and is now working as an independent mortgage broker offering free mortgage advice for people who are seeking a mortgage whether that be rate switches or first time buyers, as well as assisting with life insurance. He would be happy to help any fellow Ashford alumni! You can get in touch with Joseph via mobile: 07512134361.

Several of our alumni community competed in the London Marathon this year: Kara Costello (Pigrlims, 2016) raising funds for Confidance; Joseph Wilkes, son of the late and much-loved Jenny Wilkes (teacher of Latin & Classics) running for Evelina Children’s Hospital; Jess Saville (Former Teacher of PE/Games) fundraising for Alzheimer’s Society; and Grant Fryer (Friars, Tigers, 1999) fundraising for Evelina London Children’s Hospital. Congratulations to them all on this brilliant achievement.

Congratulations to Sophie Pinney (Squires, 2017) and Mary Flint (Yeomen, 2013) who have been made Captain & Vice-Captain of Canterbury Ladies First Hockey Team respectively. The team plays in the National League South, and also includes Lizzie Jenkins, who has recently joined Ashford Prep School as a teacher. Hamish Roberts (Knights, 2017) is also playing at Canterbury, and has been made Vice-Captain of the First Hockey Men’s Team. We wish them the best of luck for the season ahead.

Matt Russen (Franklins, 2017) has joined the Sports Department here at Ashford School, as a Teacher of PE & Sport. Matt’s favourite memory from his time studying here was participating in the U18 County Hockey tournament in Year 13. We wish him the best for this new role!

James Wright (Knights, 2017) is heading off to Albany in the Bahamas to start a new position as Academy Trainee Golf Coach at the renowned Championship course in Albany, the home of ‘The Hero World Challenge’.

Congratulations to Michael Etete (Squires, 2016) who has been signed by Premiership club Bath Rugby for the upcoming 2022 – 2023 season after a successful trial with the Club. Michael has played for National 1 team Leeds Tykes and Rams RFC in the third tier in recent seasons. He also played for Leeds Beckett University RFC in the BUCS Super Rugby league.

Willis Sullivan (Franklins, 2014) has recently graduated from the University of East Anglia with a 2:1 BA (Hons) in Philosophy. He wishes to send his regards to Mr and Mrs Powell, who set him on the course of studying Philosophy that has led him to the path that he is currently on.

What started as lockdown escapism for Sophie Buchanan (Merchants, 2013) in 2020 has brought cycling firmly into her life, and in May she cycled 100 miles as part of RideLondon - 27 times her commute to work! Sophie did this to fundraise for Endometriosis UK. The daily impact of living with Endometriosis can be particularly challenging, with many sufferers living with chronic pain and myriad other little-understood and under-researched symptoms. You can support Sophie's fundraising at: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/sophie-buchanan95

While visiting Madrid in April 2022, Director of External Relations Sarah Kershaw caught up with alumni Fleur Willson (Yeomen, 2003) and Jess Learmont (Knights, 2016) Jess had recently moved to Madrid having completed a TEFL course and was teaching English in a local School, while embracing the adventures that living in a new city brings! Fleur is the Consul-General for Spain and Consular Regional Director (Europe South) for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. She shared some incredible stories from her career that has spanned nearly 14 years. She's been based all over the world, including in some very challenging environments. They chatted about international travel, the many School trips they had enjoyed, work experience in France, Oxbridge, mentoring, interview techniques, Ashford School's Wider Horizons lecture series, single sex vs. co-education, and the many inspirational teachers that they remember.

Deborah Geering (née Farrant, Squires, 2003) & Helen Fairley (Yeomen, 2003) have successfully completed a 100km(!) walk across the very hilly South Downs. They were raising funds for Trailwalker UK, which supports the incredible work of both Oxfam GB and The Gurkha Welfare Trust.

Whilst our Director of External Relations Sarah Kershaw and Headmaster Michael Hall were visiting Nigeria on an Admissions trip, they had the pleasure of meeting with alumna Weyinmi Oritsejafor (Pilgrims/Brabourne, 2002). Weyinmi spoke to them about her career since leaving Ashford School and also shared her knowledge of Nigerian culture, speaking about the importance of family, tradition and religion within Nigerian families' lives. We look forward to catching up with Weyinmi when we are next back in Nigeria.

Congratulations to AJ Sharp (Yeomen, 2000), Founder of food and drink PR Consultancy Sharp Relations, who has been named one of NYC Journal’s ‘Top Ten Business Leaders to Look Out for in 2022’. The article branded her ‘the secret ingredient behind many international food brands’ success stories’ and highlighted her contribution to the food and drink industry as a motivational public speaker and food awards judge. Alongside her role at Sharp Relations, AJ has also been presenting The Food Talk Show, which currently has over 400,000 listeners and is produced and recorded with CD Studios situated in Ashford Coachworks. The show aims to publicise and highlight the work of key figures in the food and drink sector in the UK, and to discuss how they became successful and their thoughts on growing trends in the industry. Guests have included Craig Sams (Green & Blacks), Pippa Murray (Pip & Nut), Ali Campbell (UB40), William Chase (Tyrell's Crisps and Chase Vodka), Willie Harcourt-Cooze (Willie's Cacao), Tim Boldt (Gousto), Sian Sutherland (Plastic Planet) and Adam Byatt (Celebrity MasterChef) amongst

Cawston

many others. Other guests have included the founders or directors of brands such as

Press, Hackney Brewery, Doisy & Dam, Neal's Yard Dairy, Belvoir Fruit Farms, Primal Pantry, Moma, Snaffling Pig and Gusbourne Wines. You can listen to show here: foodtalk.co.uk/

Hannah Pinney (Squires, 2011) performed in the World Premiere of Dan Forrest’s “Lux: The Dawn From on High” set for treble voices. She will be going on tour to America in February, performing in both Atlanta and New York. Hannah’s choir, Vox Anima Chamber Choir, are the lead commissioning choir on this piece.

Kath Gray (Squires, 2010) works as a Broadcast Engineer, and this year worked on not only the coverage of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, but also the Commonwealth Games. Kath delivered an inspiring career talk for our students, and we hope to welcome her back soon.

Laurel Neighbour (Knights, 2007) performed on BBC Sunday Morning Live on Sunday 18 September, singing a rendition of Fields of Gold, as a tribute to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. She is now touring with Gareth Malone.

NEWS FLASH

Phoebe Robinson (née Rose, Yeomen, 2000) was appointed to the post of Director of Maternity & CYP at NHS England. You can listen to Phoebe talk on the podcast ‘The PSC In Conversation’, which shares insights into leadership, partnership and success from those working in the public services. Phoebe spoke for a special International Women’s Day episode, released on the 6 April 2022.

Alumna Jane Wisely (Squires, 1998) performed with the London Mozart Players in June 2022 at the Egerton Music Festival. Jane is a concert pianist who has performed at many prestigious venues worldwide. The programme included Haydn’s Symphony no. 49 in A minor, La Passione and Mozart’s Symphony no. 40, as well as the Mozart Piano Concerto no. 23 in A minor, K488.

Dr Anne Hamilton (née Hall, Pilgrims, 1979) attended Ashford School from 1966-1979. She specialised in microbiology, and because of the pandemic, she delayed her retirement to help out in the covid pandemic and was involved heavily. Truly inspirational. She retired in 2022.

A group of Ashford Girls reunited for lunch at the Three Chimneys in Biddenden. The girls who attended were: Sue Essex (1973), Patti Body (1972), Candy Maylam (1971), Diane Akers (1973), Hilary Dyson (1973), & Sally Stoker (1973)

Rob Playford (Friars, Tigers, 1992) was selected for the England O40s Hockey Squad, and competed in the O40s Masters for England in the Home Nations against Scotland, Wales and Ireland!

Alexandra Stanyer’s MBE (née Spink, 1975, Nightingale/ Knights) charity, Autism Early Support and Circle Centre, is celebrating its 20th Anniversary this year. This is a key milestone for the organisation, and we congratulate Alex and her team on this achievement. Since Alexandra started the pre-school nursery in her home in 2001 over 400 children have attended the specialist pre-school nursery and her team have worked with over 350 families and children through their outreach services. They have trained over 2,750 professionals through their courses and conferences.

Nichola Craven (Alfred, 1984) is now a grandma to two grandsons named Billy (from her daughter Phoebe) and Jagger (from her other daughter Florence). Congratulations Nichola!

We are delighted to share that Heather Forbes (1980) has been honoured with an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2022 for services to UK education and the promotion of the English language overseas.

Janet Lacey (née Gill, Alfred, 1972) is living on the North Island of New Zealand. After Ashford School, she completed a secretarial course, before deciding to emigrate to New Zealand. Later she trained to be an accountant. She married her husband Ricky Lacey, and together they have two children and four delightful grandchildren.

Having pursued 3 different careers over her working life, Heather Lee (née Raine, Brooke Place, 1966) is now retired and living in North Wiltshire. Dispensing cups of tea one day with a lady from the village, they shared memories of teacups at school, and rapidly realised they both attended Ashford! The lady in question was Tricia Morris (née Timbers, Alfred, 1975) who lives in the next village. Heather has also been in touch recently with sisters Jane Hall (Brooke Place, 1967), now living in Worcestershire, and Spook Barnes (née Hall, Brooke Place, 1969), now living in Melbourne Australia. Heather would love to get in touch with anyone who remembers her from Ashford, especially those in Brooke Place in the sixties. Please contact the Alumni & Development office via email if you would like to get in touch with Heather.

alumna Affra Baird (née Varcoe Cocks, Alfred, 1961)

While visiting The Hague in November 2021, our then Director of External Relations Sarah Kershaw caught up with alumna Sandy Hollander (1963). They spoke about what the former House Prefect and her friends got up to 50 years ago at Ashford School, under the Headship of Miss Nightingale (Nighty!). Sandy returned to the Netherlands after School and enjoyed a long career with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.

Jacquie Collins (née Sasson, Brooke Place, 1965), Penny Peck (née Wheeler), Rae Stollard (née Sasson, Brooke Place, 1963) met

Fellows of The Royal College of Surgeons in Bristol. Affra qualified as a Doctor in Edinburgh, married a vascular surgeon, worked as a Radiologist & settled in Bristol. Rae qualified as a Physiotherapist, and also worked as an advice worker in the Citizens Advice Bureau and as a Bournemouth Borough Councillor.

a

Sue Gibney (née Sleigh, Bridge, 1958) would love to be back in contact with former Ashfordians Rosemary Bailey, and twins Jennifer and Fiona Allan. If anyone has any information on these alumni, please can they get in touch with the Alumni & Development Office.

Rae Stollard (née Sasson, Brooke Place, 1963) met up by chance with fellow Ashford School

at

dinner with Senior

NEWS FLASH

Anthea Hughes (née Perring, Somerville, 1956) studied at the Royal Academy of Music from 1956 – 1959 after leaving Ashford School. She left with a L.R.AM in Speech and Drama. She married in 1959, and was sadly widowed in 1969 with two boys. She then remarried in 1972, and had another 2 boys. Anthea taught on and off from 1959 – 1989. She also became a magistrate and was a J.P for 23 years. Anthea is in constant touch with Hilary Williams, Jane Harring and Penny Todman, all fellow Somerville alumni.

Ricky Beets (née Chaucer Merchants, 1953) was at Ashford School from 1944-53. First in the Junior School when it was evacuated to Topsham and then at Bridge House. After that, she went into the Senior School. She was in Cranmer House from 1946-1949 and then became a Day Girl in Chaucer Merchants, leaving in 1953. Ricky would love to hear more news from girls from her era! Please contact the Alumni & Development Office if you would like to be in touch.

Mildred Bazley (née Gulley, Nightingale, 1946) would love to hear from any alumni that remember her from School, particularly those in Nightingale House. During her time at Ashford her cohort were evacuated to Exeter in Devon during the war (which, incidentally, is where she is from and still resides today!). Please contact the Alumni & Development Office to be in touch with Mildred.

SCHOOL VISITS

WE WERE DELIGHTED TO WELCOME THE FOLLOWING ALUMNI TO ASHFORD SCHOOL OVER THE LAST YEAR FOR A PERSONAL TOUR AND TO BE ABLE TO LISTEN TO ALL THEIR MEMORIES OF ASHFORD SCHOOL.

Carolyn Kay (née George, Cranmer, 1969)

Asja Mijovic (Brabourne/ Knights, 2019) & Faith Etokowo (Franklins, 2019)

Lesley Blake (Somerville, 1971) & her husband Brian, and their friends Dee & Simon

Mandy Chandler (née Quant, Nightingale, 1975)

Jacquie Collins (née Sasson, Brooke Place, 1965) & her husband David

Sadie Allen (née Lund, Somerville/Alfred, 1980) & her daughter Freya

Charlie Miao (Alfred/Squires, 2019) & his partner Ziyue

Brian Stockwell (Former Head of Science, 2002)

STUDENT WORK

A BREEZE IN

THE PARK

A warm summer’s breeze echoes along the valley hills Green and white flourishing along the trodden grounds. Men of old, and children of young: All stood along the peaceful mounds. A low swing, a memory of old Combined with the vivid setting sun. Flowers picked, as gifts to one another. Lovers rejoice, with gestures of one. As the brisk dusk settles in Caring mothers call for their kin. As the ones of old, stand to leave, The ones of grace, raise their chin.

- Year 9 Student

Stained-glass project celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, displayed at Ashford International Station.

Year 5 Textile portrait of the Queen

Student Photography Exhibition at Macknades

CONGRATULATIONS TO...

• Chantal Weller (Yeomen, 2019) & Tom Massie (Pilgrims, 2017) who got engaged on Friday 25 February 2022. They met in Year 7 at Ashford School.

• Callum Thomas (Friars/Squires, 2013) & Jess Saville (Former Teacher of Sport, 2022) on their engagement and wedding in October 2022.

• Janie Hooker (Yeomen, 2011) & Martin Heathcote (Franklins, 2012) on their engagement in February 2022 and on the birth of their baby boy Hunter Lewis Heathcote on 2 May 2022.

Alex Blincow (Squires, 2011) on her marriage to Joe Dodds on 30 April 2022.

Alex’s sister Helena Blincow (Squires, 2007) was her Maid of Honour, and Sophie Bubb (née Brough, Squires, 2011) was there recording the day!

• Hannah Pinney (Squires, 2011) on her marriage to Jack Thomson on 17 February 2022 at All Saint’s Church, Whitstable. Hannah’s sister, Sophie Pinney (Squires, 2017) was Maid of Honour; Jess Buchanan (Merchants, 2011) & Naomi Edwards (Franklins, 2010) were Bridesmaids; Matt Nicholls (Knights, 2016) played the organ/piano; alumni Alex Butter (Franklins, 2011), Caroline Welling (Knights, 2011), Toby Harris (Franklins, 2013) all attended the celebrations

along with current Ashford School staff Rachael Cox (Admissions Registrar) & Nic Creasey (Senior Boarding Registrar)!

Charlotte Walter (née Cobb, Franklins, 2011) and her partner Charlie Walter on the birth of their son Hugo Charles Walter on 16 April 2022.

• Caroline Welling (Knights, 2011) on her engagement to Vito Torluccio in November 2021.

• Alex Stevens (Franklins, 2010) on his marriage to Anna on 28 August 2022. Jack Dedman (Yeomen, 2010) was one of Alex’s two best men, and Issy Sweetland (Squires, 2013) and Geoff Perkins (Squires, 2013) also joined the celebrations.

• Alexander Tsui (Pilgrims/Alfred, 2010) on his engagement to Jennifer Wong. They live in Canada, after moving from Hong Kong.

• Phoebe Yu (Knights/Brabourne, 2008) on her marriage to Calvin Chow on the 6 August 2022. Phoebe is now working as a Piano Teacher at St Alban’s High School for Girls, and Queen Elizabeth School, Barnet.

(Squires, 2007) and her partner on the birth of their baby girl, Florence.

• Frankie Perkins (Franklins, 2006) on her marriage to Luke Pierce on 14 May in Berkshire. Alex Osborne (née Rogers, Yeomen, 2006) was both the first person she sat next to in class at Ashford School and was Frankie’s Maid of Honour. Becky Kramer (née Rogers, Yeomen, 2007) was a bridesmaid and Katie Logan (Yeomen, 2006) also joined the celebrations.

• Jessica Lunn (Pilgrims, 2005) married Quintus Dickinson on 4 June 2022 at St Rumwold’s Church, Bonnington. Alex Playford (Knights, 2007) & Hannah Pinney (Squires, 2011) sang during the signing of the register, and they were also joined by Katie Bond (Merchants, 2007), Lizzie Murch (Franklins, 2007) and Hattie McGill (Merchants, 2007).

• Gina Huxstep (Merchants, 2003) was married in June 2022 in Majorca after a 2-year delay because of Covid.

• Anna Shields (Squires, 2011) and her partner Steve Tanner on the birth of their son Alfred in November 2021.

JO NOLAN

(NÉE EVANS, PILGRIMS BRABOURNE, 1980)

What are your most treasured memories of being a student at Ashford School?

I have spent many hours pondering over this question and to say it has been difficult is an

understatement! I have such fond memories that I cannot choose just one. Singing in the choir was a very special time at Ashford School, it had a wonderful way of bringing everyone together. Of course, the teaching staff were a massive part of my school life too and even to this day when things happen in life, it takes me back to my time at Ashford School.

What advice would you give to the current students and their parents at Ashford School?

The piece of advice I would give is that education is not just academic, it is about having a wide and varied group of friends, exploring new hobbies and importantly looking after yourself and your health and well-being.

How did your experiences at Ashford School prepare you for your working life?

The excellent teaching staff gave me the

confidence to strive for greatness, to try new things and to lead a fabulous team. This confidence was instilled at a very young age. Discipline learnt through the school’s expectations has helped me to develop key skills within my day-to-day life being the Hospital Director at One Ashford Hospital. As you would expect, being in the midst of a pandemic, a hospital has to meet the highest standards of cleanliness to keep us and our patients safe.

The Covid 19 pandemic has impacted businesses in many different ways. How did your hospital adapt at this difficult time?

During the Covid 19 pandemic, One Ashford Hospital assisted the NHS with nearly 2000 surgical cases. To this day we still support the NHS with their waiting lists and are proud to be supporting our local trust.

Fast access to treatment

One Ashford Hospital is a modern, purpose-built, private hospital offering:

• Access to a wide range of surgical and non-surgical procedures and treatments

• Fast access to MRI, ultrasound and X-ray with rapid reporting

• In-house physiotherapy

• Operating theatres equipped with state-of-the-art, clean-air technology

• Children’s health services from birth onwards

• Treatment for insured and self-funded patients

• Fixed price packages for patients funding their own treatment

• Payment options to spread the cost of your treatment*

Telephone: 01233 438 169 www.oneashfordhospital.co.uk ashford.info@onehealthcare.co.uk

Tessa Webb (Squires, 1997) sadly passed away on 2 January 2022 after a courageous battle with cancer.

Heather Crease (née Tait) sadly passed away on 26 January 2021. She was one of the students evacuated to Exeter during the war. Heather attended Ashford along with her three sisters, and later her daughter Sue Childs (Former Member of Staff, 2018) joined as Head of Maths here at Ashford School.

Margaret Lurcock (1949) sadly passed away on 23 March 2022.

Brenda Taylor (née Vokins) passed away just after her 87th birthday in 2022. She had been living in Sydney, Australia, since 1961.

Former member of staff, Valerie Letcher , passed away in April 2022. She taught English at Ashford School for a year in the 1960s, and went on to become an academic who wrote extensively on pioneering British female novelists and commentators in South Africa and Canada. We were sad to hear about the passing of Valerie West (1944) , who passed away at the age of 94. Valerie attended Ashford School during the 1940s, and was one of the pupils evacuated with the School to Devon during WWII. Valerie had a long and distinguished career in the theatre, first in stage management for opera and ballet at the Sadler’s Wells theatre and later for the British Council.

We are sorry to record the death of Mrs Christiane Crabtree , who taught German at the school from the 1975 to 1995. Former Head of Languages, Michael Hale , writes: “Many former pupils will recall with gratitude her diligent and committed teaching of her native language throughout the Upper School. As well as successfully taking many girls through to GCSE and A-Level and on to University, she established a highly successful and long-running exchange with the Gymnasium in Durmersheim near Karlsruhe, led, on the German side, by the equally enthusiastic Herr Werner in a truly creative partnershi p. She also readily organised theatre and film visits for pupils.

I can testify to her competence and dependability. She was a passionate advocate for her subject.But her school commitment was only part of Christiane’s full and active life.

Her husband, Derek, was the much-loved Master of Keynes College at the University of Kent in Canterbury and so she was closely involved in University life, and indeed taught there in her retirement. Together they were active members of St Dunstan’s church and enthusiasts for the Arts, especially music and theatre.

She will be greatly missed, not only by her family, and many associated with Ashford School, but by the wider community in Canterbury, her adopted city.”

Mrs Lesley Donald much loved member of the English Department from 1983 – 1992 and founding House Tutor of Franklins sadly passed away in January 2022. Former Deputy Head Norma Smtyh writes: “She was a brilliant teacher. She was noted for her ‘tough’ approach. A former colleague remembers her declaring she was just off to ‘chew up’ any less than enthusiastic student and woe-betide anyone who did not complete coursework on time. None of this diminished her popularity, indeed it added to it for she was such good fun and so full of life. Typically, she is remembered for her performance as Otter in a comic version of ‘Wind in the Willows’ dressed in diver’s suit and goggles. She left Ashford School to be a Head of Department at Highworth and went on to become an Assistant Head. A brilliant organiser, she became responsible for the training of teachers in Ashford.

She was loyal, lively and generous, much loved by her fellow members of the English Department of the time. They will miss her immensely. Our deepest sympathy goes to her husband, Alan.”

Dinah Moss (née Cooper, Nightingale, 1953) sadly passed away earlier this year. Her friend, Carolyn Alston (née Shaw, Alfred, 1953) wrote in to share her memories: “We were friends for 80 years, beginning at Topsham, where the Junior School was evacuated during the war. I had had whooping cough during the Easter holidays and unfortunately spread the disease to all and sundry at School, so my first memory of Dinah was her sitting cross legged on her little bed, a towel over her head and a bowl of steaming Friar's Balsaam between her knees, inhaling the fumes to try and clear her chest! What a start! Later she was instrumental in me meeting my husband; then we lived not far away after Dinah married and had her 2 sons. Later still, when we moved up to Scotland, Dinah and her family visited us most summers. She travelled widely, to South Africa, The North Cape, Russia, and the Crimea, plus the South of France where her son had a house.

After school, Dinah did a secretarial course and worked for the Conservative Central Office, remembering the excitement of Suez and Party Conferences. She studied Russian and gained an O-Level in it, despite family commitments and she remained interested in Russia, its politics and culture, including Ukraine, to the end.

In more recent years, Dinah and Jenny Butt (née Perham, 1953) lived close enough to meet for lunch and discuss gardens - both great gardeners. When Covid struck, Dinah by then a widow, was scooped up by one son and brought to live in Suffolk, where I saw her between lockdowns. Undaunted, Dinah decided that she would move to Suffolk and was in the process of buying a bungalow and starting a new garden –but it was not to be. I will miss her.”

Tom Watts Travel Award APPLY NOW

Are you an alumni between the ages of 18-22 who is considering undertaking a challenging journey or expedition during your gap year, university vacation or similar period?

Apply now for the Tom Watts Travel award which offers financial support each year to alumni undertaking such journeys as fundraising treks, volunteering in the developing world, and charitable work. Past recipients have travelled to the Arctic, Kenya, and South America, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, and coached tennis in Africa.

For more information and to apply please contact the Alumni & Development Office: alumni@ashfordschool.co.uk

Deadline for applications is Wednesday 19 April 2023.

MY ROAD TO WINNING THE MELBOURNE CUP

It has been just over 20 years since alumna Sheila Laxon (née Congdon, 1970) became the first female trainer to win Australia’s most celebrated horse race, the Melbourne Cup. Here she shares a small insight into her life leading up to this historical moment. A tale of perseverance which took her from Ashford School all around the world.

I attended Ashford School for Girls (as it was back then) in the 1960s, my father having decided that my sister, Lynette, and I would be much better advantaged. Looking back at my school days, I can see how my teachers inspired my subject interests and how adept they were in ensuring we developed a good work ethic and learnt as much as we could.

During my time at Ashford, I pursued riding at very given opportunity, attending the East Kent Pony Club rallies, hunting, competing in cross country events, show jumping etc., and was invited to represent the English team in a Junior French show jumping competition.

After obtaining my O-Levels, I moved on to Canterbury Technical College, however I dropped out after the first year, ran away from home, and went to work in the local racing stables! I earned £5 a week and my board cost £3. I just loved riding the racehorses, it did not matter that I was not earning much. My mother was horrified to find I was working in a racing stable and sent me back to Canterbury Technical College where I enrolled in the 2-year Secretarial course, so I could get a “proper job”. Following my graduation, I had several secretarial jobs, but I always ensured I could find time to ride.

At 18, I decided to get on a plane for the first time in my life and fly to Australia, where my best friend from Ashford School, Karen Taylor, had moved with her parents. Australia had always beckoned to me, after reading about that enormous expanse of land with kangaroos, koala bears and duck billed platypus, and all the adventures you could have.

After staying and working in Australia, I decided to travel out to New Zealand. I hitchhiked from Auckland to Cambridge and was lucky enough to stay with a lovely family at a gorgeous 1000 acre farm on Luck At Last Road just outside of Cambridge. I spent the next six weeks rounding up sheep and cattle, show jumping with their lovely daughter, and being a polo groom at polo matches all over the country. Whilst there, I met the Argentian Polo team with Hector Barrantes (who married Princess Diana’s Mother) and Edwardo Moore, a rare 10 goal polo player. I made more contacts, collected more addresses and, when my six-month overseas trip ended, I opted to stop in Los Angeles on the way home. This was the first time in my travels that I felt really alone and vulnerable. However, it was also here that I encountered Martin Smith, whom I offered to train his polo ponies. This was one time I thought it pays to ride horses! Jack Martin Smith, his father, was a three-time Gold Academy Award winner for films such as Hello Dolly and they had the cast of Hair coming out to play polo so I groomed for them too.

I reluctantly returned home to England and found that I had done so much and experienced such incredible things, seen how different life was in other countries, that it was quite strange to return to the same old lifestyle in England.

I continued to be involved in the show jumping scene, riding with Richard Jackson at Little Petham. I married my childhood sweetheart, Tim Skinner, and we took over Coxhill Farm in Shepherdswell, which we developed into a Dairy Farm. Whilst at Coxhill, I was approached by Ron Muddle to pretrain his racehorses on the farm. I undertook this exciting new task of readying horses to go into training, as well as continuing to milk the 100 dairy cows, raise their calves, cook for the farm workers, do the books etc.

I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO RIDE A NICE MARE CALLED COURTALISTA AT ROTORUA.

I SAT BACK AND TOOK MY TIME AS THE RACE PANNED OUT AND SHE SPRINTED TO THE LINE TO WIN, BEATING THE NZ CHAMPION JOCKEY FOR SEVERAL YEARS, LANCE O’SULLIVAN. I WAS AWARDED THE APPRENTICE RIDE OF THE YEAR!

I was back doing what I loved best and this excursion back into the racing game really cemented my ambition to make horses a big part of my life. At the time, it was uncommon to be a female working in the industry, but now my unswerving ambition was to get a jockey’s licence and ride in races.

I worked with Ron & Richard and competed on the Liphook equestrian centre. In that time, I also

became good friends with David Morley (an integral member of the English polo scene) who had a show jumping / polo training facility close by. I also spent time working with the English trainer John L. Dunlop at his stables in Arundel, Sussex. It was such a hive of activity back in the 70’s with two strings of 70 horses and riders going out twice in the mornings for about an hour and a few more in the third string.

Unfortunately, my jockey’s licence did not eventuate in the UK, and so I decided to follow the sun and go back to New Zealand. It was during this time I began riding and office work for Laurie Laxon, who had a large stable with many successful horses. I rode many of them in trackwork, including Empire Rose who won the 1988 Melbourne Cup. It was also during this time that I obtained my Amateur Licence. In my first nine rides, I had four wins, a second and a third –an awesome start to my jockey career, especially as I did not have the luxury of an apprentice allowance to start race riding. I was so very happy for my dreams to be coming true!

My first ride in the Trials was on a horse called Ross Poldark who we had to coax into the barriers. I took the lead but had been told not to be too tough on him, so I cruised along and was mortified when the stable rider, John Hayes, came whizzing past me and won the trial. All I really had to do was keep pushing Ross and we would have won instead. I wasn’t going to let that happen again!

I rode in my first hurdles race on a horse called Loughrae, who had dislodged every rider so far in his career over jumps. As soon as we left the barriers, he took over and hit most of the hurdles, so I spent much of the ride trying to get my stirrups back. I managed to stay on and he won by 15 lengths. What a start to my dream career!

It was some 10 years after my arrival in New Zealand when I, at last, became an apprentice jockey (probably the oldest apprentice ever licensed). This enabled me to ride any horse that was available in the stable, and to claim an allowance to give my

mounts an even better chance of succeeding.

I was lucky enough to ride a nice mare called Courtalista at Rotorua. I sat back and took my time as the race panned out and she sprinted to the line to win, beating the NZ Champion jockey for several years, Lance O’Sullivan. I was awarded the Apprentice Ride of the Year!

Sadly, it was my last time in the winner’s enclosure as a jockey.

In January 1991, I rode a horse called Triple Crossing at Gisborne. Before the race, I had had a strong feeling that I should not ride him. I remember sitting in the barriers, them flying open, going down the back straight and then nothing. The race video shows Triple Crossing coming around the final bend, buckling and crash landing, catapulting me headfirst into the ground. The fall left me in a coma and on life-support for eight days, and it took me a while to learn how to walk, talk, write, and ride again.

However, as has been the case throughout my life, this was not going to stop me working within the

racing world. I decided I was going to ride again, so I saddled up my event horse Environ, and clambered on board with great difficulty. I had absolutely no balance and could not believe how foreign riding a horse had become. Environ was so extraordinarily patient with me, as I started again from scratch.

Looking forward a few years, it was in 1997 that I was granted my trainer’s license, and I finally traded the saddle for the stopwatch. I trained 6 horses for a couple of years, and in 1999 I took over the training of the Elkayel Stables team.

Being the first horse trainer female to win the Melbourne Cup in 2001, was incredible. I know how lucky I was to win a race like this so early in my career and to have our horse, Ethereal. The enormity of it did not really strike me until afterwards, when we were doing all the press interviews and receiving the accolades! When I look back on my life and career, I thank my lucky stars that Dad sent me to Ashford School because those few years made me realise that the world was my oyster and whatever I wanted in life I could obtain by perseverance, hard work and belief in myself.

YOUR IMPACT 2021-2022

Thank you to all our generous donors, volunteers, and supporters – your support this year has made a significant difference to the lives of students at Ashford School.

“There has yet to be a day go by when he does not come home from School with a huge smile on his face as I receive a very animated description of his day at Ashford School. We are both very grateful to the Foundation for the ongoing support, and the generous donors who make the bursary possible, and know we are in a very privileged position. Thank you.”

- PARENT OF BURSARY RECIPIENT

An excellent education changes lives, and your generosity has enabled us to increase the support the Foundation offers through means-tested bursaries by 62% for the upcoming academic year. These bursaries vary in value dependent on the family’s individual circumstances and are specifically designed to give students from families with limited means a transformational journey, leading them to a successful life and career. They also help to support current families who may be experiencing hardships, and whose children would otherwise be unable to remain at Ashford School.

The Development Office was excited to run another telephone campaign in August 2022, as an opportunity to fundraise for bursaries as well as to engage with our alumni community. We were absolutely thrilled with this year’s response, with our 9 callers speaking to over 250 alumni. Thank you to all our generous donors, and to all those alumni who had inspiring and interesting conversations with our calling team. We are hoping to meet many of you at our 125 year celebration events in 2023!

A huge thank you to our callers for their hard work and enthusiasm over the two-week calling period: Anya Parmar (Franklins, 2021), Keisha Sallis (Franklins, 2021), Rowan Mayes (Knights, 2022), George Coles (Pilgrims, 2022), Louis V (Year 13), Aryan S (Year 13), Charlotte Gardener (Yeomen, 2021), Charlotte Martin (Yeomen, 2022) & Rebecca Smith (Franklins, 2021).

ASF Patrons:

Mrs Jane Loudon, Dr Amanda Cottrell, Mr Peregrine Massey, and Mr John Hosking

ASF Trustees:

The Ven Stephen Taylor (Chairman), Mr Michael Hall (Headmaster), Mrs Nicky Brightling, Mr Rory Montgomerie, and Mrs Katie Floyd

If you would like to support the Ashford School Foundation and/or make a donation, please visit www.ashfordschool.co.uk/ supportus.

ASA PREFECT ORGANISES CHARITY DAY FOR THE ASHFORD SCHOOL FOUNDATION

Masterminded by our 2021-2022 ASA Prefect, Charlotte Martin (Yeomen, 2022), Ashford School held a charity day in May 2022 to raise money for Ashford School Foundation's Bursary Fund.

Students dressed in the School colours (red, white, grey, & navy) and alumni staff came back in their old School uniforms! There was also a delicious bake sale organised by the Prefect team, and supported by Year 12 students.

All the money raised has gone directly to the Ashford School Foundation and we want to thank all staff, parents and students who generously donated.

GraceWain(née Stuart-Smith, Knights,2001)

INSPIRING THE NEXT GENERATION OF READERS

Ashford School pupils are benefitting from an exciting new project at the Prep School, and we’d love for our alumni community to get involved.

At Ashford School, we firmly believe in fostering a love of reading in all children, and so the Foundation Trustees are delighted to be supporting a new and exciting project at the Prep School, which has seen the replacement of reading books, specifically for the Pre-Prep Library.

Teacher at the Prep, Mrs Leeann Royle tells us more:

“Through generous funding from the Ashford School Foundation, the Pre- Prep have been able to purchase lots of lovely new reading books!

We have aligned the new books with the order in which we teach new sounds in our fantastic Read, Write, Inc. phonics program. This means that beginner readers will be able to recognise and successfully decode the majority of words in their school reading books. We have purchased a mixture of reading schemes and a range of genres such as Traditional Tales and Fact Books, to give the children a wider range of reading material to learn from and enjoy. Many of the books also include activities, either at the front or the back. These encourage the children to think more about the content as a whole, and help to support the parents with home reading.”

Head of the Prep School, Mr Nick Tiley-Nunn said about the project:

“The transformational impact of producing generations of confident and strong readers, and moreover readers that love reading, is one of the top 3 things we can do as

a Prep School. Investing in their reading is the single biggest impact on their future chances in life.”

The old books will in turn be used to help the wider community and will be donated to charity or used as part of the Community Outreach FirstSteps programme run at the Prep School.

In the long-term, the Foundation Trustees hope to expand the funding available for this project. This would enable the Prep School students to not only benefit from new reading resources, but also from fantastic environments for reading. The Prep School would like to create special spaces in which the children can read around the site. This will not be possible without the support of our generous donors.

If you would like to donate to this project, or discuss opportunities to fund one of these new reading spaces, please contact the Alumni & Development Office at development@ashfordschool.co.uk.

TomVafidis(Friars,2006),HannahPinney (Squires,2011),NickyTimms(néeMiles, Pilgrims,1996),&ClaireMiller(néeRadcliffe, Yeomen, 1996)

THE LILIAN BRAKE LEGACY SOCIETY

Named after the much-loved Headmistress of Ashford Girls’ School, Miss Lilian Brake (1928-1955), The Lilian Brake Legacy Society is fo r anyone who has left a designated gift to Ashford School in their will.

Each year our Headmaster, Mr Michael Hall, hosts an event in the Spring Term for our Legacy Club members. It is an opportunity for us to say thank you to our members for their generosity, and to share exciting developments happening at Ashford School.

This year, we were delighted to invite members into the Senior School, and hosted a delicious luncheon in The Edwards Room, in Old Alf red. Members were able to go on a tour of the School with Prefects Yoris & Robyn, and also enjoyed listening to a selection of music by three of our talented musicians: Eudora, Herron & Emily.

If you have left a legacy, or are considering doing so, please let us know so that we can invite you to our next lunch on Monday 20 March 2023 and so that we can answer any questions you may have.

Legacies are one of the simplest and most tax efficient ways of making a gift, and they can be donated towards the Ashford School Foundation Bursary fund or towards a specific area of your interest. If you would be interested in joining us, and finding out more about leaving a Legacy to Ashford School, please contact the Alumni & Development Office at development@ashfordschool.co.uk.

• Sarah Kershaw (Former Director of External Relations, 2022)

• Val Arends (née Davies, Alfred, 1955)

• Hannah Pinney (Head of Alumni & Development, Squires, 2011)

• Rae Stollard (née Sasson, Brooke Place, 1963)

• Emily Hall (Director of Music)

• Becky Hogg (née Lloyd, Pilgrims, 1979)

• Michael Hall (Headmaster of Ashford School)

• John Hosking (Former Governor & Patron of the ASF)

• Sue Clarke (née Johnson, Cranmer, 1955)

Did you know that you can support The Ashford School Foundation at no extra cost to you when you shop on Amazon, through Amazon Smile. You simply have to choose The Ashford School Foundation as your nominated charity when shopping. To register for Amazon Smile, please use this link:https://smile.amazon.co.uk/ch/1165474-0

INTRODUCING OUR 2022/23 PREFECT TEAM

Dhilan (Squires/Willow)Head Boy

My name is Dhilan, and I am proudly taking the position as Head Boy for this academic year. I hope to study History and International Relations at university; I am also a keen Rugby player being a senior member in our 1st XV team at Ashford School. I am really looking forward to implementing new schemes to improve school life for all our students, including our peer mentoring scheme that aims for our sixth form students to integrate with the younger years and help them with whatever they need whilst at the school. Kitty and I hope to leave our mark on the school and be remembered for many years to come.

Kitty (Squires/Rowan)Head Girl

Being given the role of Head Girl this year, I am motivated to improve school life for all the student community. Dhilan and I both have big ambitions when it comes to this year, and we will strive to successfully implement our peer mentoring scheme and improve student integration, as well as consolidate our bonds with the wider community. Personally, I hope to go on to study English Literature at university, while maintaining my love for Drama and Theatre which I have been able to express at Ashford School through being a Drama Scholar.

Louis (Knights/Willow)Deputy Head Boy

I am really looking forward to my role as Deputy Head Boy during what will undoubtedly be a busy year for us all. I am aiming to better connect the different years at school to create a closer community feel and bond. I will be helping Dhilan, Kitty, and the other prefects to help manage the school and every individual in it. Next year I am hoping to study Human, Social and Political Sciences or Politics at university.

Alice K (Yeomen/Oak)Deputy Head Girl

I am excited to be taking on the role of Deputy Head Girl this year, I will be working closely with the Head Girl and Boy, Kitty and Dhilan, and the Deputy Head Boy Louis, to create a welcoming school atmosphere, and a sense of community within the school. One of our main priorities this year is peer mentoring, in which we would like to expand the programme, allowing more students to be able to access and utilise this.

I really believe that this will create a bond between the older and younger years, which will in turn enhance the whole-school community that we are striving for as a school. After leaving school at the end of this year, I hope to study joint honours, English Literature and Spanish at university.

Alice G (Merchants/ Rowan) - School Parliament Prefect

Through my role as senior prefect for School Parliament

I’m hoping to reach out to more students and make School Parliament more widely recognised. Hopefully with more input from different school areas we’ll be able to make changes which will benefit everyone within the school now, as well as future students. After this academic year I am hoping to go travelling and work on farms around the world, to build experience and gain skills for my career in agriculture.

Emily (Squires/Oak)Head of Academic Scholars

I’m very excited to be this year’s prefect for academic scholars. I’m hoping to use my position to strengthen our program, and encourage student leadership, whilst also re-establishing the mentorship program, which unfortunately was halted due to COVID. I believe this will strengthen bonds within the school and especially between different year groups. After my A-Level studies, I plan to study physics and maths at university, later going into academia or research.

Molly (Squires/Rowan) - Wider Community Prefect

I am looking forward to taking on the role of wider community and Alumni Prefect this academic year, and I know that it will be a busy year as we celebrate the 125th anniversary of the school. I hope that we will be able to use this year to strengthen existing connections with the local community, as well as create new links with charities and schools across Ashford. As Alumni Prefect, I am aiming to raise awareness of the Alumni network among the 6th form, in the hope that pupils will continue to be involved in the school community for many years to come. After leaving school at the end of this academic year, I am applying to go on to university to study medicine.

Fig (Merchants/ Willow) – Co-Curricular & Events Prefect

I proposed this role in the hopes of encouraging present and future generations of Ashford students to maintain and nurture an environment of artistic and creative excellence that expands beyond the central school curriculum. Throughout the course of this academic year, I am aiming to host events that act as open spaces for students to share their own writing, devising any forms of spoken word, and kickstarting a drama society that can run across all age groups, with seasons of focused practitioners and artists. These plans, along with various other creative projects, will hopefully not only connect creative minds across year groups, but also provide an interesting and nurturing space for students to share their work. Alongside my schoolwork, I am currently working towards publishing a collection of my poems towards Spring of 2023. After leaving Ashford at the end of this academic year, I will take a creative focused gap year and travel, and then I will be going on to study either at Drama School or English Literature at university.

NATIONAL CRICKET CHAMPIONS

In May 2022 our U15 Girls Cricket team competed in the National Indoor Cricket Final at Lords Cricket Ground. From over 900 entries, they played 4 other finalists from across the UK (amongst them some of the strongest cricket schools in the country) and won every game, becoming National Champions! It is rare for any school to become national champions, so this is a very special achievement. Then, in September, they were invited by Kent Cricket to be the Guard of Honour for England vs. India at the Spitfire Ground – a huge honour.

A huge congratulations to the girls and all colleagues who have guided, coached, and supported the team; in particular, Keara Stirling and Ashley Cook who coached the team.

NEW HEAD COACH FOR SWIMMING

Robin Francis OLY joined Ashford School as Head Coach for Swimming this September and will oversee the coaching programme at both sites. With over 25 years of experience as both an international athlete and swimming coach, he is ideally placed to develop the already successful swimming programme at Ashford School.

Robin started his career at York City Baths Club where he won Youth Olympic and Junior European medals before studying at the University of Bath where he trained with the high-performance swim programme. He excelled during this time, becoming the nation’s number 1 ranked medley swimmer for several years, breaking multiple British records and a European record, plus achieving World and European silver medals in the process. In 2001 he achieved the 5th fastest 400m Individual Medley (short course) time in history and in 2004 achieved his ambition of competing at the highest level in both the 200m and 400m Individual Medley at the Athens Olympic Games.

He has since turned his attention to coaching and from 2006 has helped a multitude of aspiring swimmers fulfil their potential. He has coached in South Africa, led the age group squad at the University of Bath, led clubs and most notably spent four successful years as performance coach and Head of Strength and Conditioning at Mount Kelly (formerly Kelly College). After this period of coaching, Robin focused his attention on becoming a teacher and has worked at Westonbirt School whilst continuing to coach in his spare time leading Malmesbury Marlins ASC.

ALUMNI JOINS GOVERNING BODY

We are delighted to share that alumna Jules Davies Marriott (née Davies, Franklins, 1999) has joined Ashford School’s Local Governing Body. Jules spent 11 years at Ashford School; before heading off to study Classics at Warwick University. Inspired by her time as a Commanding Officer and Wing Staff Officer in the Royal Air Force Air Cadets; Jules is a passionate advocate for developing young people and creating the leaders of tomorrow. Jules works at an executive level alongside world-renowned entrepreneurs in the entertainment and creative industries, translating their innovative visions into tangible, operational strategies. Jules specialises in identifying organisational shortfalls and assembling the multidisciplinary teams required to solve issues, create value, maximise growth and improve performance. Jules lives with her husband in Essex and enjoys renovating period homes, practising yoga and attempting to keep up with their dynamic 5-yearold daughter.

A NEW HOUSE SYSTEM

At the start of this academic year, the Senior School saw the introduction of a new set of Houses: Birch, Oak, Rowan, and Willow. This is following a pastoral restructure at the Senior School, which sees a renewed focus on each individual Year Group over Houses. A Year 7s pastoral needs are hugely different to that of a student in the Sixth Form, and this new structure will allow staff to be experts for each area, having an in-depth knowledge of the unique challenges that each year groups faces, and better support the students both pastorally and academically. This is particularly important after the challenges and impact of Covid.

The new House names were put before School Parliament, and were then presented to the whole School, with pupils and staff asked to vote on their preferred House names. The names are linked not only to Ashford School’s location within the Garden of England, but also to the wider whole School 2022-2024 Strategy, which sees Sustainable Development as a key strategic pillar. As part of this we are continuing to develop the School site with enhanced greens paces to create and encourage biodiversity; we are developing our outdoor learning and forest school, and we will also be mapping out a timeline to becoming carbon neutral.

ANNIE! THE MUSICAL

Congratulations to all the cast and crew involved in Annie, who performed to over 900 guests in March 2022. Students and staff worked hard to bring this timeless classic to life, with more than 20% of the Senior School participating in the show!

PURE GOLD!

Led by Simon Burke, Staff Sergeant Instruction for CCF and Leader of DofE, 15 Ashford School students travelled to The Netherlands in August to embark on their Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award Expedition. Steering away from the norm, the expedition was on bike, and the students took on the challenge of cycling a staggering 245km over their 4-day expedition. Temperatures soared to over 30 degrees during the week resulting in the groups having to take extra precautions to avoid heat stroke and exhaustion.

The expedition was preceded by two days of intense training in Arnhem where students practiced cycling their Dutch Gazelle bikes (not the expected Mountain bikes!) and had to prove their cycling proficiency and understanding of local cycle route rules and safety. In three groups of five, they planned routes that met the grueling distance required, and ensured they visited key landmarks to help them with their Expedition Aim: “Did Operation Market Garden work?”. This important historic event was researched thoroughly by the students and their routes included visiting the John Frost Bridge, Loernen, Ede, Wolfheze and Driel. Feedback from the assessors was extremely positive and it was commented that this group of students had shown the most maturity ever witnessed on a D of E expedition.

On completing their four-day expedition, the groups gathered at Oosterbeek Church where Ashford School’s chaplain, Reverend Bellamy joined them to share the church’s significant role in WWII. The students then made their way to the War Cemetery where Reverend Bellamy led a very poignant service. Despite their tiredness and the heat, the students paid respect to the thousands of soldiers who had lost their lives in Arnhem, reading prayers and laying a wreath.

A LEVEL & GCSE RESULT SUCCESS

In what was set to be an uncertain year for examinations, our students have done incredibly well, and will no doubt feel very proud of the results they have achieved.

We saw a 100% pass rate at A Level, with students studying a total of 21 different subjects, in addition to EPQ and BTech Sport. You can see the Destinations of our Leavers on page 51 of the School Tie. For GCSEs, we have seen the best results awarded for the last 7 years at Ashford School, an impressive 99% of all GCSE grades were awarded at 9-4 (A-C), with 59% of these being achieved at 9-7 (A*/A). The majority of this year group returned in September to continue their studies at Ashford School.

Headmaster, Mr Michael Hall, said, “I want to pay tribute to our students in Year 11 and Year 13. … They coped exceptionally well, maintaining an excellent attitude to their work, revision, and exams. The pupils should be very proud of what they have achieved”

FACILITIES IMPROVED

Over the past year substantial improvements have been made to facilities across the school: some aesthetic, some to enhance the security and safety of everyone and some more significant such as the on-going refurbishment of classrooms and boarding accommodation. Over the October half-term break, a brand-new Astroturf (with LED floodlights) was installed at the Senior School. We are most grateful to United Learning for their on-going investment and development of the school site.

Significant investment has gone into the new Health & Wellbeing Centre at the Senior School, now based in Brooke Place. This has not only vastly improved medical treatment rooms, but also enhanced space for the pastoral, wellbeing and support teams. The Alumni & Development Department now also has a brand-new office within Brooke Place, with space to display our archival collections.

Thank you to Bursar, Sarah Greig, and her team for all their hard work!

If you want to come and have a look around the School site, you would be most welcome. Please just contact the Alumni & Development Office via email to arrange a time!

UNITED LEARNING INTERNATIONAL ART COMPETITION

A huge congratulations to Kitty (Squires/ Rowan) who was selected as the runner up in the United Learning International Art Competition 2022! She was one of only 3 runners up & her painting, Cyanosis, was displayed in Japan at The National Art Centre alongside some of the best artwork from around the world. Congratulations to Kitty on this fantastic result, finishing in the top four is a brilliant achievement!

UNITED LEARNING BEST-IN-EVERYONE AWARDS

Oli Jacobs (Squires, 2022) took home the Mathematics Award for his astonishing development in the subject during his time at Ashford School. He was nominated by Dr Britton, who said his appreciation and understanding of the subject was far greater than what can be found in textbooks due to his own passion and individual research. Well done Oli!

ASHFORD SCHOOL’S NATIONAL 3 –PEAKS CHALLENGE IN UNDER 24

HOURS

While most people were putting their feet up over the May Bank Holiday weekend, a team of cadets from Ashford School scaled a combined total of over 110,000 feet, walking 50,000 steps individually and braving blizzards and fog. All this in just 24 hours. Organised and led by SSgt Katie Godlington (Merchants, 2022) and LCpl Oliver Hall, it was an inclusive expedition meaning that it was open to anyone who was keen and willing. Cadets tackled the peaks at their own pace and aimed to complete the challenge as a team.

The group left Ashford School on Friday lunchtime and set off to Ben Nevis on Saturday, where the rain began. By the top of the mountain, even the team’s waterproofs were beginning to find it difficult to stave off the weather.

“The last 400 metres of Ben Nevis was covered in snow but we took it in our stride and not one ofuschosetosititout,”saidHeadBoyOliJacobs(Squires,2022).“ScafellPikewasachallengebecause wesetoffat2.45amandencounteredthickfoganddrivingrainnearthetop.Bythetimewereached Snowdon, morale was high, even though we were exhausted but, at the time we didn’t know it!”

Oli, who has been award an Army officer scholarship and a guaranteed place at the prestigious Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, was first to return to the minibus completing the course in 23 and a half hours, shortly followed by the remaining cadets; the team time was an impressive 23 hours and 54 minutes.

The team has raised nearly £2,000 for Ashford Food Bank and the Veterans’ Association through the generous sponsorship of family, friends, and the local community.

ESSAY COMPETITION SUCCESS

Congratulations to Coco L (Y13, Brabourne/ Rowan) who was selected as a finalist in both the NCHLondon and the John Locke essay competition. Her essay for the John Locke Institute was on free will and determinism, in which she argued that there are only limited ways for free will to exist in a deterministic world (i.e. as a moral tool). In her essay for the NCH competition, she examined the impact of Covid-19 on inequalities. The competitions had over 6,000 entries, so this is a huge achievementcongratulations Coco!

TOM WATTS TRAVEL AWARD

Whilst studying at Ashford School, my favourite subjects were Psychology with Mrs Ball and Spanish with Señora Calver. I was stuck choosing between these subjects for university, but after completing the voluntary section of the Duke of Edinburgh Scheme at a Care Farm, I was inspired to study Psychology. Care Farming uses therapeutic farming practices to support its service users. The farm I volunteered for was a day service for adults and young

learning difficulties, offering the opportunity to engage with fully supervised farming-related activities. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there, particularly supporting service users with pony and donkey care, as this incorporated my equestrian skills. I enjoyed applying psychology to working with young people with additional needs and undertook a placement year during my third year at university, where I worked as an SEN teacher. It was such a rewarding experience and instilled in me that this was the path I wished to pursue after graduation.

The ASA Committee were delighted to award K-Leigh Hargreaves (Merchants, 2018) the 2022 Tom Watts Travel Award. The award was introduced in 2016 in honour of the School’s former bursar and benefactor Mr Tom Watts and is awarded to leavers and/or alumni who are hoping to undertake a challenging journey and/or volunteering. K-Leigh wrote to tell us about her experience this October.

During my final year of university, I looked for an opportunity where I could incorporate animals and psychology to benefit people with additional needs and found an equine therapy voluntary project in Argentina with a charity called Projects Abroad. Equine assisted therapy involves using horses for a variety of benefits – occupational, emotional, and communication. I applied, and was fortunate to receive the Tom Watts Travel Award, which enabled me to travel to Argentina to volunteer my time with the project, alongside additional community projects. I was also excited, as this project gave me the opportunity to use the language and communication skills Señora Calver had taught me during my A Level Spanish lessons.

I arrived in Córdoba, Argentina and met my host family who instantly made me feel so welcome. On my arrival, I enjoyed an asado – a typical Argentine meal shared with family and friends. This was a great opportunity to practice Argentine Spanish. I learnt all about my host family and had a quick insight into their customs and culture. My first full day included an introduction to Córdoba with my fantastic guide Agustina and I met two other volunteers.

During my second day, I was given the opportunity to visit a local kindergarten centre, which enables the local children to access education and two meals a day (I was told this is the only food most of the children have access to). Whilst volunteering there, I supported the staff with providing lunch and playing with the children, as well as brainstorming how to make the outside play area a secure environment. Due to vandalism, the perimeter fence had been breached and unfortunately this meant it was unsafe for the

children to play outside. We worked with the staff to decide on what could be done, including raising money and sourcing supplies. The centre receives some funding from the local province, as well as donations (such as play equipment) from Projects Abroad. It was a humbling experience b ut really inspiring too.

On my arrival at the equine therapy centre, I was briefed about the patients that use the centre, their goals, and what will happen during each session to support them in reaching them. I was told that the patients had a variety of abilities, and that I should expect to support people with cerebral palsy, autism, visual impairments, acquired paralysis, Down Syndrome a nd social, emotional and mental health needs.

We got the ponies ready, and I met the first patient – a young woman who had been using the centre for many years. Due to cerebral palsy, she told me she struggled to walk unaided, but when riding she felt free and much more mobile. We practiced a dressage test as she one day hopes to compete in para-dressage. It was very special to watch her and the pony work so harmoniously together. Another patient was a young boy with autism. I was told that when he first started coming to the centre, he was completely non-verbal. After a few sessions he engaged not only with the pony, but with Veronica, the lead therapist, and eventually the volunteers. After back-toback sessions all day, I helped feed and get the therapy ponies comfortable for the evening.

The next few days involved more sessions with lots of other patients. It was so rewarding to play a part in helping them achieve their goals. Some patients required four volunteers plus the lead therapist to support their sessions, for example due to being quadriplegic. These se ssions were particularly rewarding as they enabled the patients to have a richer occupational therapy experience than they would without equine therapy. The routine consisted mostly of preparing the ponies and warming them up, assisting the sessions (either by leading/controlling the ponies, supporting the patient’s bodies, or giving instructions) and then cleaning the paddocks and feeding. I quickly got used to the routine and by the final week every day passed too quickly! I met and supported approximately 30 patien ts during my time with Projects Abroad and hearing their stories and equi ne therapy journeys were so fulfilling.

I am so grateful to the ASA committee for awarding me the Tom Watts Travel Award. This experience was a trip of a lifetime! It opened my eyes to the lives of people living with disabilities in Argentina, as well as seeing first-hand the benefits of equine therapy. I met so many wonderful people, who m I still keep in touch with, and I hope to return one day to visit and volunteer for a longer period of time.

ASHFORD SCHOOL CELEBRATES THIRTY YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF SENDING EXPERIMENTS INTO SPACE

Written by Jessica Stockwell, daughter-in-law of Brian Stockwell (Former Head of Science, 2002)

April 12 1981 saw the start of a new era in space flight when the first ever reusable spacecraft – the shuttle – took off from Cape Kennedy Space Centre USA. Just 11 years later, on September 12 1992, the 50th shuttle mission blasted off from Cape Kennedy with a British experiment in its cargo hold – not designed by British scientists but by the girls of Ashford School.

In the 1970s, NASA developed the Get-Away Special (GAS) programme – the opportunity to send experiments into space onboard a shuttle –to foster enthusiasm for space amongst the younger generation. In 1984, ITN launched a competition for British schools to design an experiment as part of the NASA programme. Under the leadership of Brian Stockwell, then Head of Science, four girls – Sarah Brice, Amy Brown, Sheena McLaggan and Lara Jukes – volunteered to be involved. They had no idea of the journey they were about to embark on; one which would culminate in a trip to Florida 8 years later to watch the launch of the Shuttle Endeavour. They devised two experiments as part of their competition entry. The first was to examine the effects of zero gravity on the direction of growth in chemical gardens. Chemical gardens are formed when certain chemicals (in this case cobalt nitrate) are placed into a solution of sodium silicate. As the crystals dissolve, a reaction takes place causing a precipitate to form. On earth, this precipitate tends to grow upwards, imitating plant stems hence the use of the term ‘garden’. However, the girls predicted that the weightless conditions of space may affect the direction of growth and the type of structure formed. The second experiment aimed to produce Liesegang Rings in larger tubes than is possible on earth. When chemicals such as silver nitrate and potassium chromate diffuse together, a chemical reaction occurs resulting in a precipitate of silver chromate which forms a series of rings. On Earth,

rings are only formed if one of the chemicals is in gel form, or only in very fine capillary tubes, if both are aqueous solutions. This limits convection currents which cause the chemicals to mix. However, as convection does not occur in space, aqueous solutions can be used in larger tubes.

On March 5 1985, the team from Ashford School attended the competition final at the Science Museum in London. Along with five other teams, they presented their designs and underwent several gruelling hours of questioning where they explained every aspect of their project to the judges – all leading figures from the world of science. The only all-female team in the final, the girls clearly impressed the judges with their knowledge and design and were crowned winners. They were presented with their award by Arthur C. Clarke, the science-fiction author of 2001: A Space Odyssey. However, as the team were about to find out, winning the competition was just the beginning.

The initial date planned for the shuttle launch that would contain the experiment was in 1986, just one year after the competition final; but, in January 1986 disaster struck. The Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart just 73 seconds into its flight killing all seven crew members on board. The disaster resulted in a 32-month hiatus in the Space Shuttle Programme and there was concern at the time as to whether the school science project would ever come to fruition. However, NASA advised the team to continue working on their design. In actual fact, due to the various design and construction challenges encountered along the way, the project would never have been ready for launch in 1986. The break in the shuttle programme turned out to be the saviour of the project and gave the team an extra six years to perfect their design.

The first challenge was to create a structure in which to house the experiments on board the shuttle. Following advice from the University of Kent, they began by building a cardboard model of the GAS container that would be provided by NASA into which their structure would have to fit. It needed to take up no more than 2.5 cubic feet and be able to house two experiments, two cameras, flash guns, batteries and a computer controller. Once the initial design had been

finalised, detailed scale drawings and plans were produced using a Computer Aided Design program. The final construction consisted of a hexagonal box with a very light honeycomb structure made from Fibrelam, a material used in making aircraft floors. This was a suggestion by engineers from British Aerospace. The equipment would be fixed to the sides of the box with metal brackets made from a special aluminium alloy.

Another element of the development involved testing the equipment to be used. Canon lent two 35mm cameras which had to be tested for power requirements and their various functions explored. Solenoids were selected based on how much current they took, the force they exerted and whether they overheated. Batteries were tested using simple circuits to ensure they could supply the necessary power for the duration of the seven-day flight. Much development involved electronics with various pieces of kit needing different voltages which required considerable use of regulators, all needing to be tested for efficiency and any heating. Photographic flash guns were dismantled and reconstructed to produce the best photographs. A simple thermistor circuit was set up to sense the temperature which would be displayed by the computer in view of the cameras. Relays were used between the computer and equipment and were tested exhaustively to ensure reliability.

One of the most important pieces of equipment was the Scorpion computer which would automatically control the experiments once the astronaut had activated the initial switch. It would be responsible for key tasks such as operating the solenoids to release crystals into the solution and operating the

camera shutters to take photographs. Within the computer program, certain commands were repeated as a back-up to avoid failure. This repetition proved crucial to the success of the experiment. Photographs showed that the solenoid controlling the release of crystals in the chemical garden experiment failed to respond to the initial command, but fortunately did respond to the second.

Throughout the project, British Aerospace provided the team at Ashford School with support and encouragement and were instrumental in helping to prepare the experiment for launch. Once the structure was fully assembled it was taken to BA at Stevenage for final testing. They performed a vibration test on the payload to simulate the stresses that it would be subjected to during the shuttle launch. The first test was unsuccessful due to a short-circuit with one of the batteries leading to a further three-month delay. However, the second test passed without fault and the following month the school received an invitation for the payload to be included on a flight scheduled for the Shuttle Endeavour in September 1992.

Over the seven years of the project’s development, the number of girls involved had grown. At 10.23am on September 12th 1992, 12 girls (both past and present pupils) together with Brian Stockwell, made scientific history as they watched the launch at Cape Kennedy of the 50th space shuttle – the second flight of Endeavour – and the first British School Experiment in space. After the shuttle returned to Earth eight days later and the experiment was retrieved, the 66 photographs taken during the duration of the flight proved that the chemical garden experiment had been a stunning success. The images showed that, in weightless conditions, the precipitate does not grow vertically but in random directions with twisted, spiral shapes. Unfortunately due to too much friction within parts of the mechanism, the Liesegang rings apparatus failed to operate and generated no results. The greatest achievement of all, however, was the sense of empowerment the girls felt at being involved in an engineering project of such magnitude in such a maledominated field. Several of the pupils involved went on to have careers in engineering and medicine and with new developments in space exploration opening further opportunities for women in science, perhaps current students may also be inspired to pursue adventures in space.

Brian delivered a fantastic Virtual Talk for the ASA in January 2022, detailing the trials and tribulations of the Space Experiment. The full talk is available to watch on the Ashford School YouTube channel. Thank you to Brian for sharing his time with us!

ASHFORD SCHOOL REFLECTS ON ITS ROYAL CONNECTIONS

The Headmaster and Chair of Governors offer sincere condolences to the Royal Family on the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

The Monarch’s passing has caused Ashford School to reflect upon its royal connections and has engendered much activity in the School Archive.

The first indications of interest appear in the 1920s; in 1921, 6th formers went to see a film about the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII) on his World Tour –many girls appear to have been ‘overcome’, wishing to shake the Prince’s hand in real life. In the following year, 1922, Princess Mary the Princess Royal, married Viscount Lascelles in Westminster Abbey, and Ashford School was closed for the day. Not all events were a cause of celebration. In 1952, 6th formers queued at Westminster Hall to see the coffin of King George VI lying in state: ‘on top of the coffin was the Queen Mother’s wreath of white flowers, the Imperial State Crown, the Orb and Sceptre which caught the faint glimmer of winter sunlight coming through the windows...’

Royal visitors also came to the School – the royal ‘pin-up’ George Duke of Kent visited in 1937, bringing with him the deposed King of Siam who addressed Miss Brake and the whole School. On 6 December 1966, Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon opened Brake Building, and in 1971, the Duchess of Kent opened the Dining room extension and the new Junior Common Room of the Senior School.

However, perhaps the most enduring royal relationship has been with the Mountbatten/ Brabourne/Knatchbull family. Patricia, Lady Brabourne and later Countess Mountbatten was the elder daughter of Mountbatten and his wife Edwina. She was a School Governor and Patron of the Ashford School Foundation and was notable for her quiet courtesy and immense personal dignity. Her father and mother distributed the School Prizes in 1959 and the Earl arrived late by helicopter which landed on the front lawn. Miss Harland escorted him to the Odeon Cinema where prize-giving was taking place. No doubt there were cheering

crowds lining the lower High Street. There is also a Mountbatten Building at the Prep School, at Great Chart, no doubt opened by him.

Another link with the Knatchbull/Brabourne family was the tragic death of Nicholas Knatchbull, a pupil at the Prep School on East Hill from 1970-1973. He was killed aged 14 in Sligo, Ireland, with his grandfather Lord Mountbatten when Mountbatten’s boat was blown up by the I.R.A in 1979. A copy of the poem ‘Nicky’ is available in the School Archives, a tribute to a young man who died too soon.

Finally, in 2002, a party of five Ashford Schools girls – Alison Bell, Alice Churchill, Marissa Hughes, Kate Ludlow, and Gemma Williams –were invited to Lambeth Palace for the Queen’s Garden Party to celebrate the Golden Jubilee. Each secondary school in Kent had been given the task of preparing a poster and scrapbook based on a specific year of the Queen’s reign. Our given year was 1981 and the subjects covered by the group included the Royal wedding between

Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, the death of Bob Marley and the UK victory in the Eurovision song contest. The Duke of Edinburgh commended the work, much to the gratification of the girls and the supervising staff, Jenny Watson-Bore and Sandy Wootton. Although the Queen did not speak to them directly, everyone who saw her commented on her marvellous complexion and bright blue eyes. The poster and scrapbook may also be seen in the School’s archives.

Alumna Lynette Coote (née Shrubbs, Somerville, 1954) recalls a chance meeting with Her Majesty the Queen outside of Ashford School.

“One dark rather wet Friday afternoon in March 1952, I decided to break bounds and to go into town after school. I went up through Cranmer Lawn and out onto East Hill through the ‘Brooke Place’ gate – where I waited for the traffic lights to turn red. Four smart motorcyclists passed by, and as the light turned red, a beautiful limousine stopped next to me. I looked into the car and was astonished to see the Queen – sitting alone, dressed in black (since the Cour t was still in mourning for King George VI). I started to wave a greeting, but then thought that a curt sey might be more appropriate. The Queen acknowledged my curtsey with a smile and raised hand. As the car slid away, I gave a slight wave back. On my return to school, I told my friends – but they laughed and said it was all in my imagination since they knew I was a fervent Monarchist!

The following day at Saturday ‘Prayers’, the Headmistress Miss Brake said that she had had a telephone call from Lord and Lady Brabourne to say that the Que en was spending a private weekend with them, and that she had described a charming greeting in As hford by a young girl wearing a ‘red, white and blue’ blazer, and she would like to say thank you and to invite the school to be on East Hill when she passed by again tomorrow (Sunday) evening. Which we we re all very happy to do! I was reluctant to be identified as the girl the Queen had seen – but I escaped punishment since good came of my misdemeanour!

Then, for Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation in June 1953 I slept in The Mall with Margaret ‘Maggot’ Harris (Brooke Place), wearing our Ashford School Blazers. Countless American tourist s took our photograph, thinking that the Ashford School blazer was a ‘ coat for the Queen’!

Soon after the Coronation I represented Aden at the Commonwealt h Young Peoples Service at Westminster Abbey; and later that month Ashford School went to a service attended by Princess Margaret at Canterbury Cathedral. Before the Service, a lady in a very large hat walked up and down the aisle and I presumed she was looking for a seat, so I stood up and offered her my seat. She was very grateful – but said she had a seat – and she then walked u p the aisle with Princess Margaret!

On return to school I got into trouble for ‘standing up’ – desp ite all the strictures about not ‘letting the school down...’. But at the Monday Assembly Miss Brake said she had been contacted by the Lord Lieutenant of Kent who said they had been touched by an Ashford girl offering his wife her seat –and I was invited to spend a day (together with a friend) with them at the House of Lords & Palace of Westminster. I took another ‘abroad’, Judy Goddard, whose fa ther was Headmaster of St Paul’s School, Darjeeling. When in the House of Commons we were surpri sed to hear ‘Mees Judy! Mees Judy’. We turned to see Sherpa Tensing and Edmund Hilary who were also on a visit. Tensing knew Judy in Darjeeling – and the Hilary party joined us in the House of Lor ds for tea!

Years later – I met the Queen and she recalled the Ashford blaz er – and enjoyed the story of the American tourists thinking it was a Coronation special!”

Thank you to our fantastic volunteer archivist team: Jenny Watson-Bore, Sandy Wootton, Angela Burrill & Julia Smith. If you would like to volunteer or have materials to share with us, please email archives@ashfordschool.co.uk!

JULIA SMITH RECEPTIONIST

(1998-2022)

Julia has been the welcoming and reassuring face of the Senior School since she joined in September 1998. Throughout her time at Ashford School Julia has been an integral member of the support team. Her calm and caring nature made her a natural ‘go to’ for so many pupils and parents over the years. Her ability to remember the names of so many pupils and parents has been truly amazing. Julia has seen many changes over the years and often had a story to tell, especially about life on reception before computers and email, when there was just a phone, a switchboard, and a stapler! She was fond of the School herself, and each Christmas would pick a branch from the school holly tree to take back for her mum.

Julia was the font of knowledge of everything ‘Ashford School’ and is irreplaceable. We will miss her greatly, although we are pleased that we will still see her from time to time as she returns to volunteer in the School’s archive and with exam invigilation. We all wish Julia a long and happy retirement.

-TheSeniorSchoolSupportStaffTeam

CHARLOTTE WILDING TEACHER OF SPANISH & STAFF DEVELOPMENT LEAD (2008-2022)

Charlotte Wilding joined Ashford School 14 years ago, in September 2008, and it is hard to imagine Ashford School without her. She has been an invaluable member of the MFL Department, teaching Spanish and French with great expertise. She later took on the role of Staff Development Lead and Induction Manager, supporting Early Career Teachers and trainee teachers both in the Prep and the Senior School. She has written countless UCAS references and trawl forms, with real care and personal knowledge of the students, not to mention her role introducing and teaching professional coaching. Charlotte cared deeply about the individual students and always wanted the best for them. Always wise, professional and dedicated, Charlotte commanded admiration and respect from students and staff alike and she will be a huge loss to us. She was a wonderful colleague and friend, and we wish her all the very best in her new job at the Turner Free School in Folkstone.

-DeliaCalver(HeadofSpanish)

TONY WILDE DEPUTY HEAD (CO-CURRICULAR & PARTNERSHIPS), TEACHER OF SPORT (2008 – 2022)

Tony joined Ashford School in September 2008 as Head of PE & Sport. He introduced competitive sport for all and increased the fixtures programme significantly, including bringing Ashford School in line with many local independent schools by reinstating weekend fixtures... a bit of a battle at times, but totally worth it! Tony acted as Director of Years 9-11 in 2014, before becoming Director of Co-curriculum and Sport in September 2015. In September 2016 he took on the role of Deputy Head (Co-curricular and Community Partnerships). Tony’s vision, determination and drive have taken those areas from strength to strength.

COVID and the subsequent lockdowns were a difficult time for everyone. The re-opening of the school following the lockdowns was a mammoth task, and one that could not have been achieved without the input of Tony. His calm, pragmatic and optimistic approach to the situation ensured the best possible experience for our pupils during what could have been a confusing and unsettling time.

Personally, I have loved working with Tony... highlights for me have been the ski trips, Year 7 PGL weekends, gatherings in Tanya's office to put the world to rights, and the coffee... you make a great cup of coffee, and I know I still owe you many cups!!

We wish Tony all the best for his new role as Senior Deputy Head at Sherfield School!

-NicolaTimms(SeniorDeputyHead)

TOM BRAGGE

TEACHER OF ENGLISH (2014-2022)

Tom joined Ashford School in 2014 as a trainee teacher, teaching both English Language and English Literature at GCSE, through to A-Level. He was a Houseparent in his early years at the school, demonstrating his deeply caring, empathetic nature towards the students.

Tom was an inspirational teacher who went above and beyond to help his students progress. He impressed all with his deep subject knowledge, especially the Anglo-Saxon period, and his verve for scholarship inspired students. Tom could always be relied upon to set literary quizzes for students and colleagues alike with enthusiasm and brought a little bit of fun into all our lives. He had a razor-sharp lens for detail and proofreading, which was put to good use proofreading the A-Magazine and regularly moderating exam papers for the department. His Scrabble Club and Anglo-Saxon Club were always popular with students, a reflection of who he was as a person.

When I speak to people about Tom, everyone comments about him reading the Times newspaper on the lush grey sofas in the Somerville Library, openly admitting the Obituary section was his favourite. He will always be remembered for his passion for staff wellbeing and organising events such as croquet on the lawn!

The English Faculty and the library team wwish him well in his future endeavours!

-RachelSmith(HeadofEnglish)

DENISE WALSH

DIRECTOR OF SWIMMING & MULTI SPORTS (2014-2022)

Denise wrote to the school in May 2014 with the intention of hiring the pool for tutoring and the possibility of coaching school swimmers. Along with her letter, Denise included her CV that more than proved her swimming credentials - a former British universities champion, National swimming finalist, lead coach at Canterbury swimming club and a team coach for East Invicta Excel. In addition to excellent coaching credentials, it was clear that having also been the first manager of the Leisure Centre at King’s Canterbury, Denise could offer so much more, and things quickly developed as soon as Denise came on board.

Denise established our Community and Primary School learn to swim programmes (LTSP) and soon, thousands of local young people were being taught to swim in Ashford School pools by Ashford School staff. By November 2016,

Denise’s LTS programme was nominated for the prestigious TES Community Initiative of the Year Award. Denise also worked tirelessly to ensure the best provision for our own swimmers from nursery to sixth form, focusing on the elite swim squad and an inclusive programme for all.

She was also chair of the Staff Engagement Group and Head of Yeomen. Her competitiveness was evident as she led Yeomen to success , with Yeomen winning the coveted Cock Cup in all but one year (when they came a close 2nd ).

Denise now plans to spend more time with her family and young grandsons, and to travel. We thank Denise for all her hard work and commitment and hope to see her back in some capacity in the future.

-CarolineMorris(TeacherofPE&Games)

RACHAEL THORNBY PREP TEACHER (2016 –

Rachael joined Ashford Prep School in 2016. She settled in quickly and her enthusiasm and kind, caring nature shone through instantly.

During her time here, Rachael worked in both Pre-Prep and Prep. Her love of drama and dance was transferred to organising unforgettable class assemblies and year group entertainment evenings. Most memorable was the 'glow-in-the-dark' dance!

2022)

Rachael went on to lead the maths department and her attention to supporting and stretching all children was reflected in her re-structure of the planning and delivery of maths across the school. Her 'Eco-maths' day was a great success and showcased all of the staff and children coming together.

Rachael has made a great impact on both staff and children at the school. She is a great organiser, including staff socials and despite leaving teaching here, she has promised that she will continue to run themed holiday club days and has recently taken her love of the outdoors to train in the delivery of 'Beach school'. Thank you to Rachael and we wish her well with her future plans and adventures.

-RosieClifford(DeputyHeadofthePrepSchool)

RACHEL HERON

PREP SCHOOL TEACHER (2011 – 2022)

Rachel joined Ashford Friars as a Year 4 teacher, skillful and adaptable, she has taught a variety of subjects including Maths, English, History, RE and Geography. Truly empathetic, patient, and full of enthusiasm, she always found diverse ways to engage with her learners.

A natural educator, she led learning outside the classroom, and her fun-filled activities would include anything from muddy expeditions to sock puppets and magic wands; no doubt followed by an army of giggling, happy learners with beaming smiles. Always thinking of others, Rachel encouraged her students to share the same ethos: saving the environment, by collecting crisp packets, building houses for the homeless out of plastic bottle bricks and encouraging her students to write to and visit local retirement homes. Her love and passion for animals was infectious, she instilled morals and inspired children to be kind, thoughtful and caring. Fun to be around and passionate about her teaching, she would infuse the children’s experience with fancy dress themed days from Romans & Tudors to Where’s Wally. Her enrichment clubs were always full to the brim, full of creativity and unlocked enthusiasm. In her last few years at Ashford Prep, she was form tutor for Y4 & Y6, became Head of the Global Perspectives Faculty and Student Council leader.

Her enthusiasm for teaching inspired others. Rachel made you feel at ease and was always willing to go the extra mile. She was not merely a colleague but also a close friend, a voice of reason and a shoulder to cry on. She was generous with her time and energy, always willing to help and listen. Rachel created a family and community feel to our school and team and has had an enormous impact on the lives of many who have passed through the school; her legacy will live on. Her humble and calm nature enabled her to have an everlasting impact on all who had the privilege to be taught by her and work with her. We would like to say a huge thank you and wish her the best of luck with her new ventures.

-NatashaHilton(HeadofGirl’sGames)

WE SAY FAREWELL AND GOOD LUCK TO:

• Sam Alldridge – Performing Arts Technician

• Michelle Cage – Receptionist

• George Casey – Sports Assistant

• James Crookston – Sports Assistant

• Katherine Desjardins –Marketing & Communications Manager

• Verity Dunbar – Learning Support Assistant

• Lisa Druggan-Cherry –Performing Arts Administrator

• Petra Duffy – Receptionist

• Lisa Ellis – Wellbeing Manager

• Tamara Gambrell – Senior School Receptionist

• Bobby Godden – Maintenance Team

• Kathryn Hall – Head of RS

• Dominique Harmse –Marketing & Communications Manager

• Miriam Hernandez – Spanish Language Assistant

• Lucinda Hill – Trainee Teacher

• Sarah Kershaw – Director of External Relations

• Chris Liston – Head of Boarding & Teacher of Politics

• Claire Morris – Prep Teacher

• Hannah Muskett - Biology Lab Technician

• Michelle Picton –

Early Years Educator, Ashford Prep Nursery

• Jess Saville –

Teacher of PE & Games, Head of Merchants

• Stuart Sherwood – Teacher of Music

• Lynne Simmons – Finance Manager

• Bernat Sole – Assistant Houseparent

• Pam Spicer – Assistant Houseparent

• Sue Thomas – Receptionist

• Jack Tomlin – Prep School Games Staff

• Suzy Ward – Teacher of Drama

DESTINATION OF 2022 YEAR 13 LEAVERS

UNIVERSITY SUBJECT

Brunel University

The Courtauld Institute of Art

Edge Hill University

Law with Criminal Justice

History of Art

Physical Education and School Sport (2023 entry)

Liverpool Hope University Psychology

Loughborough University Architectural Engineering

Loughborough University

Product Design Engineering with an International Foundation Year

Nottingham Trent University Biological Sciences

Oxford Brookes University

Biological Sciences (Human Biosciences) (2023 entry)

Queen Mary, University of London Physics with Foundation

Radboud University, Nijmegen (Netherlands) Biology

Royal Holloway, University of London Liberal Arts with a Language Year Abroad

Royal Veterinary College Bioveterinary Sciences

University of Aberdeen Computing Science

University of Birmingham Physiotherapy

University of Birmingham Psychology (2023 entry)

University College London (UCL) Experimental Linguistics

University College London (UCL) Crime and Security Science

University of Durham Sport and Exercise Sciences

University of Essex Computer Science

University of Exeter Exercise and Sport Sciences (2023 entry)

University of Exeter History (2023 entry)

University of Groningen (Netherlands) Artificial Intelligence

UNIVERSITY SUBJECT

University of Kent

Criminology

University of Kent Law

University of Kent

University of Law

Psychology with Clinical Psychology

Law with Criminology with Foundation Year

University of Leeds Mathematics

University of Manchester Management

University of Nottingham Ancient History (2023 entry)

University of Nottingham Computer Science

University of Nottingham Mathematical Physics

University of Nottingham Mechanical Engineering (2023 entry)

University of Nottingham (Lincoln Medical School) Medicine

University of Nottingham Physics with Theoretical Astrophysics University of Nottingham Sport and Exercise Science (2023 entry)

University of Plymouth Criminology

University of Reading Consumer Behaviour and Marketing

University of Sheffield Biomedical Science

University of Surrey Psychology University of Surrey Psychology University of Sussex Business and Management Studies

University of Warwick Global Sustainable Development University of Westminster Biological Sciences with Foundation University of Westminster Business Management

Helena

Robyn Grieve (Squires, 2022)

Alice G (Rowan)

Jeremy Fong (Squires/Alfred, 2022)