FOUNDATION FAMILY
JOHN LYON The 2021 School year saw a new beginning for John Lyon, with girls joining the School for the first time in its 145-year history, and a new relationship with Quainton Hall School, which has become John Lyon’s prep school.
W
hile preparations for these changes were underway, and in the shadow of continuing COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions, School life continued with much activity both inside and outside the classroom. Once again, we saw the cancellation of public examinations at A level and GCSE, replaced instead by centre assessed grades. At A level, the School again recorded a 100% pass rate across all subjects, with 32% of all grades awarded at A* and almost three-quarters (74%) at A*/A. Twenty-eight students achieved straight A*/A grades and five bursary award holders were among the top 25 highest achievers. Students headed to universities across the UK, notably Oxford, Russell Group institutions and the University of London. At GCSE, 29% of all results were the highest 9 grades, with more than half (52%) awarded a 9 or 8. Six pupils received straight 9 grades (the equivalent of a high A*). A further eight received no grade lower than an 8, also seen as an A* grade. Last year’s record number of Sixth Form Scholarship awards was beaten again, with 19 John Lyon GCSE pupils accepting an award to move into the John Lyon Sixth Form, having achieved the benchmark of at least eight 8 grades. The School’s 145th anniversary was cause for celebration at different points of the year, opening with a day of activities in May
and continuing through Summer Term and into the new Autumn Term. An anniversary logo featuring both John and Joan Lyon was introduced, a new ‘Lyon’ font based on hand-drawn lettering from a century-old School magazine created, and keyrings and pin badges made using an in-house laser cutter on sustainable materials. John Lyon’s third Talks-on-the-Hill lecture evening was held fully online with an audience of more than 200 and focused on the subject of La Peste. Guest speakers included the Chair of the National Emergency Covid Critical Care Committee, Professor Hugh Montgomery, who looked at the biology and sociology of Covid; expert in the history of plagues Dr Lori Jones, who spoke from her university in Canada; and Chaplain of St John’s College, Cambridge, Reverend Andrew Hammond, who discussed the significance of plague in the Bible. Events throughout the School year attracted a number of high-profile and interesting guests, including musician Jess Gillam, parliamentarian and journalist Lord Finkelstein, teacher and author Jane Hawking, historian Professor Kate Williams, Olympic champion hockey player Maddie Hinch,
former Test batsman Rob Key, mathematician Dr Nira Chamberlain and parliamentarian and businessman Lord Gadhia. In sport, the School was honoured to be named, for the first time, as one of The Cricketer’s Top 100 Schools, in recognition of our commitment to cricket in the curriculum, facilities, fixture programmes and coaching. It was therefore especially pleasing when our 1st XI retained the Middlesex Schools Cup with dominant displays in the competition’s latter stages including a nine-wicket win in the quarterfinal, a semi-final victory over St Benedict’s Ealing, and a huge 87-run victory over Merchant Taylors’, restricting the opposition to 41 all out. Golf proved the breakout sport of the past year, with the School’s first-ever competitive matches seeing wins over Merchant Taylors’ and Mill Hill, as well as a very narrow defeat to Harrow. Drama and music programmes were somewhat curtailed by Covid restrictions, with concerts and performances taking place largely online. Only the Summer Term saw a return to the live stage, although audiences were only able to watch from home. – Katherine Haynes, Head
HARROW RECORD
| 2021
