Aske Report the
the newsletter of the habs foundation
2020 (number 8)
It is a pleasure to introduce this year’s Aske Report and I hope very much that you will enjoy reading the reviews enclosed within these pages. It has been the most extraordinary of years, a year that no one was expecting. What follows celebrates the resilience, positivity and creativity of our pupils and staff who have adapted superbly to unique circumstances. I have been enormously proud of them all and have enjoyed watching them rise to new challenges and do things they did not believe they could, or would ever have to, do. The year started so very brightly, full of hope and ambition, with the unveiling of our new strategic plan, devised in collaboration with the Girls’ School. For the first time in our histories, our Schools envision our futures together and have started to define how we can work together in order to prepare, as meaningfully as possible, our young men and women for the fast-changing, global community that they will inhabit. This energy, sense of aspiration and willingness to collaborate was evident in so much that followed. The love of scholarship and intellectual challenge sits at the heart of our School. Our pupils enjoyed fabulous academic success, be it in the form of public examination results or the more demanding and stimulating independent research projects they undertake for their Aske and Dawson Projects. An array of speakers brought new ideas and perspectives, from author Michael Morpurgo or campaigner Marina Litvinenko to poet Karl Nova and LSE’s Director, Baroness Shafik. Sharp minds were very much on display in the final of the Dragons’ Den competition, in which our boys and, for the first time, girls tested their creative and entrepreneurial thinking against a star-studded panel of ‘Dragons’. We continue to pride ourselves on breadth and excellence. Before lockdown hit, our bridge team had just enough time to regain the Bridge Schools Cup, the ninth win in 11 years! Our tennis players won a national title in the LTA Schools Team Tennis Competition, our gymnasts won silver in the Trio National Finals and our U15 rugby team reached a national quarter final. The institution that is HabsDash (our weekly 3.5 km community run) continued to grow and evolve, engaging students, staff Aske Report
and runners from the Girls’ School too – about 250 people run together every Tuesday and it is quite simply magnificent. Our musicians have been no less busy and brilliant. Last November witnessed a soaked but stunning performance by the Big Band in Paternoster Square as part of the Lord Mayor’s Show, and Kielan Sheard, one of this year’s Sixth Form leavers, reached the final of the 2020 Young Jazz Musician of the Year. Among the very greatest successes of 2020 was the Student Council securing the Eco-Schools Green Flag Award. The students worked incredibly hard to win this prestigious accolade and it reflects how very concerned, committed and determined they are to engage with this most crucial of issues. Since March, however, we have learnt to communicate and connect in very different ways. With the School site shut down and with pupils and staff sent home, Zoom replaced classrooms; assemblies became short films; traditional Inter House competitions morphed into House Bake Off contests and the like. We have all learned so much and will, no doubt, retain a good deal of these innovations even when the pandemic has passed. That said, I do not think I can possibly convey the sense of unalloyed joy that everyone felt as we re-opened fully in September.
Throughout the pandemic, we have been humbled to see just how many OHs are serving in the front line of the NHS every day and were so proud to be able to help them and others as our Design and Technology department produced thousands of pieces of PPE at the height of the pandemic. Many of our community, both OHs and current families, have suffered terribly this year; it has taken lives and livelihoods and changed the landscape for so many. Thanks to the generous support of a large number of parents and alumni, we have been able to provide hardship funding for many pupils whose parents have lost their incomes this year. In so many different ways, 2020 will be a year we will never forget. The School has faced an array of very real and significant challenges and no one can pretend it has been easy. However, that we have persevered, made real progress and remained both optimistic and true to our aims is a great testament to the School, our pupils, staff and the fabulous community that surround us. Thank you, as ever, and more than ever, for your continued support.
Gus Lock Headmaster 1