The newsletter of King Edward’s Witley
Ukrainian-Russian friendship overcomes differences of opinion
2
Duke of Edinburgh Gold awards for six pupils
5
Is the press always right?
6
issue 26 summer 2014
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Final fever pitch! King Edward’s excels in football and it was a proud moment in the School’s history to reach the Independent Schools Football Association final this year. The team had won through to the ISFA Under 16 Shield Final in an excellent match against Harrodian, winning 3-1. On match final day, Thursday 24th April, the sixteen strong squad travelled up to Leicestershire to play at the grounds of Quorn Football Club. The School’s passionate Director of Football, Mr Dan Abraham, had ensured no stone was left unturned with match preparation including technical, tactical and mental preparation. On match day the team was based in a hotel with healthy lunches and relaxation before the game. Playing a strong team from Moorland School in Lancashire, King Edward's dominated much of the first half. Jason Ashenden hit the crossbar with a fine effort, a David Reid effort went inches wide and Churchill Onumonu and James Frudd were a constant menace to the Moorland defenders. When Moorland did attack, the King Edward's defence and goalkeeper, James Wood, were more than a match for Moorland's academy players. Following half time, King Edward's (cheered on by nearly 200 supporters who had travelled up from Witley) had their best spell of the match but just could not find the net and the crucial moment in the game came ten minutes after the break when a looping cross from the right was met by Alex Curran to score. King Edward’s Witley U16 team
Team captain Churchill
Moorland packed their defence and King Edward's, despite their best efforts, could not find a way through. As they pushed more players forward King Edward's were susceptible to the counter attack and Moorland took advantage when Curran burst down the left to score a superb individual goal to make it 2-0. King Edward’s Under 16 boys have had a great season and to reach the final of a national competition is a huge achievement for the School. This, coupled with outstanding individual achievements with Yahoo Ho and James Frudd playing in the National Independent Schools Team, topped off a fantastic year of football. Without question, the boys will be back to challenge for the top spot next year!
Victory belles It’s not just boys that possess the footballing talent at King Edward’s. The girls are also proving that they are a force to be reckoned with, having just become 2014 champions of the first ever ISFA Under 18 South-Eastern League. Mr Andrew Wyciechowski, Girls’ Football Coach, reflects back on their achievements to date. “Girls football was first set up in the school in 2006. We played in our first tournament that year, the National 6-a-side at Bedales School and won the Under 14 National Cup. Two years later the girls again entered the National 6-a-side and this time won the Under 16 title. We also entered the Cont’d. p10 01
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Academic
Enlightening 3rd Form trip to Flanders Fields
In March, the 3rd Form set off for their annual trip to the historical city of Ypres in Belgium. Remi Trovo (3rd Form) tells the story in his own words. Our coach was very luxurious and also very clean, none of us were allowed to be sick on the coach as it had a consequence of a £40 cleaning charge! Upon arrival at Calais the Head of History Mrs Saunders briefed us on what we would be seeing. This was mainly to find out more about Ypres and its significance in the fighting during World War I. A great video was played to us on the coach explaining the basic outline of the First World War. With the video finished and with a very solemn, sad feeling in my heart we were nearing our first destination, the German graves at Langemark. Two soldiers by the names of Adolf Hitler and Winston Churchill had served in this area. At the time they were small insignificant soldiers fighting for their country, but over time they would rise to become some of the most well-known figures in history.
Independence Square Kiev
Ukrainian-Russian friendship overcomes differences of opinion In March, we were privileged to have Upper Sixth pupil Anton Salmin present in Chapel a thought-provoking eye-witness account of the recent troubles in Kiev. He told us how he had gone home to Kiev for the February half-term holiday. The story continues in Anton’s own words: “The barricades were massive: buses and burnt out cars, turned upside down … tyres … barrels – I thought nobody could penetrate them. The first thing I remember was an explosion of a stun grenade somewhere about 50 metres away from me in the sky … and about 20 minutes later, the barriers were crushed by Special Forces and it seemed as if the barriers were made out of cardboard. It was really scary.” “That night, watching the news with my family we heard that some people had been killed. The military placed solid concrete blocks onto the road so that cars couldn’t go past and it was pretty much civil war from that point.” “My mum said that she didn’t know in what country she’s going to wake up the next morning. I proposed that instead of going into Kiev, we had the money and a car so could help people in other ways. I went onto the websites that were made by some of the hospitals and medical camps where they created lists of medical supplies that 02
they required to help people. I made a list and delivered supplies to the hospitals and field camps.” Anton finished his speech with an emotional summing up of his views: “People felt they were in a fight for a just cause, but it was just a civil war: no-one actually won and people died on both sides.” Anton’s friend, Evgeny Gluzman, a Russian, then spoke about the clash of ideologies which he and Anton had experienced over this. He told us all how easy it is for someone to select evidence which supports their own views in a confrontation and warned us all that such a way of acting is false.
The German offensive plan tried to use Belgium’s neutrality to their advantage; they knew the allies were not expecting them to come through Belgium, so that is exactly what the Germans did. However, the Belgians were infuriated that a foreign army had set foot in their lands and so with the aid of French and British forces, the Belgians stopped the German advance at Ypres, preventing them from taking Paris. I, being Belgian myself, share the feeling that the people of Belgium felt when they were invaded by German forces. Upon arrival at Tyne Cot cemetery, the allied soldiers’ graveyard, we could already see a striking difference between the graves here and the mass German graves at Langemark. The Belgians hailed the allies as the “liberators” and so were willing to give them plenty of land to bury their dead. After two minutes silence to honour the fallen, we left for the Passchendaele Museum. We saw replicas of the conditions of the trenches, genuine personal items of the soldiers when they were off duty, we got to hold what a soldier had to carry and we even got to smell genuine (watered down) versions of the gas that was used. Our final stop was the Menin Gate and Ypres itself, this is a memorial dedicated to all the allied soldiers who are accounted for as “missing” and has over 54,000 names engraved onto it. Of course, since Belgium is the best place in the world for chocolate we simply could not leave without some and so we popped down to the local chocolate shop. Soon it was time to head back to Calais and sail back home. We arrived back at School late at night shattered but enlightened. Tyne Cot cemetery
There are no winners in the conflict between Russia and the Ukraine: both countries had suffered as a result and this was, for both Evgeny and Anton, a great sadness. Yet, he and Anton had remained friends, because they recognised that, while their perspectives may have clashed, their friendship was more important and could overcome such differences of opinion. KESTREL } SUMMER 2014 } ISSUE 26
Academic
Pupils at the Mount Etna summit
Sumptuous Sicilian adventure topped by Mount Etna With an early start of 4am the King Edward’s Classics students began their journey to Sicily, first stop was the capital Palermo. Soon after arriving they had the chance to stroll round the buzzing city, then spent afternoon visiting the majestic cathedrals, decorated with gold mosaics and original artefacts. They continued their whistle-stop tour of Sicily and went on to Segesta then Selinunte, archeological sites renowned for their momentous Doric temples and home to a 3rd Century BC theatre, with stunning views over the rolling landscapes as was traditional for classical theatres. The next day the group moved further round the island to Agrigento. Nicknamed “The Valley of the Temples”, it offered a fantastic insight into the daily worship of the classical gods and goddesses that were valued by so many. The temple ruins lay where they fell amongst the beautiful meadow flowers. After the obligatory sumptuous Italian lunch, students visited the Villa Romana del Casale, a picturesque villa which houses plenty of stunning floor mosaics, including animals, scenes from mythology, and even people working out in the gym! Lower Sixth pupils Caitlin Riley and Gemma Swan reported back, “one of the highlights of the trip was braving the snowy conditions at the summit of Mount Etna and warming ourselves by the roaring fire. Despite only spending a few moments outside, it’s safe to say we were all frozen! It truly was an unforgettable trip and a culturally enriching experience!”
4th Form pupils try out the climbing wall
German exchange to North Rhine-Westphalia Over the Easter break, King Edward’s pupils from the 4th Form and Lower Sixth set off to embark on a long road trip to Rheine, not far from the Dutch border in north-west Germany. The group were received warmly not only by their German “guest families” but also by the Deputy Mayor who welcomed them with drinks and a present - free entry to the town’s zoo! 4th Form pupils got to experience a morning in a German school, taking part in a cultural art project with some Polish exchange students. That evening they were treated to a “Kulturabend” (a music, art and dance show performed by the Emsland Gymnasium students). On the Friday, they set off to Moviepark Germany, a theme park abounding with white knuckle rides, 3D animations, ambitious musicals and stunt shows. After a fun-packed weekend, the Germans accompanied the group to Münster, a charming city, where they were also taken on a tour of the little-known Zwinger, a circular building with a colourful history, having served as a prison, artists' home, Hitler Youth centre and latterly as a torture chamber for the Gestapo. Other outings included a climbing wall, the chocolate factory in Cologne and every member of the group walked off with an ice-cream after
climbing up and back down the 503 steps of the Cologne Cathedral Tower, not for the faint hearted! The Lower Sixth pupils were focused on work experience with some tricky challenges to test their knowledge of the German language. As Lisa Pozhydayeva explained, “When I arrived in the house of my host family I faced my first challenge… no-one in the family except my German partner could speak English!” Nevertheless it was a great experience for Lisa who worked as an English teacher for children aged 8-10, Lisa told us, “not only did I pick up a lot of useful phrases and vocabulary but I also learned how to work with children.” Everybody on the exchange enjoyed themselves immensely, learnt more about the German language, new friendships were founded and we look forward to welcoming the Germans to Witley in June.
The Café Scientifique is open! The Café Scientifique movement started to allow people to get together to bring Science topics into conversation and to break down the barriers between the world of Science and the general public. A group of pupils from a wide variety of year groups are currently participating in King Edward’s Witley Café Scientifique events. So far this year we have hosted four evening Café Scientifique meetings including the Physics of Juggling, Dr Swan’s heart dissection and talk on emergency triage, a presentation by Mr Emsley on the possibility of extra-terrestrial life and a hard fought chemistry quiz which was won by the Grafton Geeks. A core of enthusiasts have met regularly to publish our virtual newspaper, to be found under student work on the school intranet, which covers a wide range of issues. Do please have a look. The pupils would be delighted if parents who have careers in Science would be willing to participate by offering to lead a session. If you are interested please contact Mrs Ann Hill, Head of Science, by emailing hillae@kesw.org.
Dr Swan explaining emergency triage, illustrated by the dissection of hearts
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Co-Curricular
Girls’ Club at St Dominic’s School A group of 5th and Sixth Form girls have created a Girls’ Club at a local special needs school to offer friendship and support to their only three boarding girls. St Dominic’s School specialises in the education of children with autism and has achieved Autism Accreditation. As autism affects mainly boys the girls find themselves outnumbered. The Girls’ Club provides them with the opportunity to get together with friends and do the normal girl-focussed activities that our own girls take for granted. Gemma Swan (Lower Sixth) has been involved in the project since it was established two and a half years ago. “We really love going there. We talk about boys, listen
and dance to music and do normal girlie things like nail painting, arts and crafts activities and smoothie making.” One of the girls at St Dominic’s recently celebrated her 18th birthday. The King Edward’s girls put on a party for her with decorations, a picnic, strawberries, cake, craft activities and games on the Wii. Some of them were also able to join her family and friends for her official family celebrations back home in London. Gemma explains, “We’ve made friends for life. She
Giving back
will be leaving St. Dominic’s in the Summer to go to a Community College in London, but we will remain Facebook friends. We feel we have really gained from being involved in this project. I now know much more about autism and my communication skills have really improved”. King Edward’s has a long established programme of outreach in the community, which sees pupils from 4th Form and above volunteering at schools, care homes and day centres on a regular basis.
Catherine speaking at the Annual Royal National Children’s Foundation Conference
Last term was extremely busy for Catherine Ngan (Lower Sixth) as she was getting used to the transition from GCSEs to the academic side of the IB and also had weekends packed full of volunteering and charity work which will contribute towards her Diploma. For several weekends, Catherine volunteered at a care home for the elderly in London and also helped out with the elderly and mental health patients at Blackfriars Settlement. She explained, “I made a buffet lunch and spent a lot of time chatting with them, many of which had very interesting stories to tell because they were war veterans.” Catherine was so touched by her experience 04
that she subsequently decided to do a sponsored walk to help fundraise for Blackfriars Settlement, and in a huge effort managed to raise £500. Catherine continues to volunteer weekly as a teacher's assistant at Busbridge Junior School in Godalming. In December, Catherine attended the Annual Royal National Children's Foundation speaking alongside HRH
The Princess Royal and Adam Afriyie, Conservative MP for Windsor. As this organisation covers over a third of all British boarding schools, Catherine bravely stood up and made a speech to persuade more charities to donate to help more pupils from less privileged backgrounds pay their boarding fees. She revealed, “I was quite nervous but it was delivered better than I thought so I was happy about that!” KESTREL } SUMMER 2014 } ISSUE 26
After two years of sweet and sugary baking, the third annual Inter-House Baking contest on Sunday 2 March took a rather more salty turn as houses competed in a Savoury Pie Pageant, increasing the difficulty and ramping up what is becoming a hotly-contested trophy. Each house was given nine hours in Food Technology to make their pie which would be scored for presentation, creativity, taste and overall impression. The pupils ensured their points for originality would be high by taking a well-loved English dish and combining it with ingredients and techniques from their home countries. At 4.45pm the pies were presented to a panel of passionate pie pundits ready to be sliced and served. What they saw and tasted was a fantastic variety of flavours from all over the world. In first place came the boys from Wakefield who gained 114/130 for their South African themed ‘Springbok for Spring’ port soaked pie. In second place were the boys from Grafton for their fancy bittersweet Ukrainian flaky fish pie. In joint third place the boys from Ridley and the girls from Tudor for their down-to-earth, breakfast-based pie and their rose-topped Aztec chicken pie respectively. Mr Skau would like to offer his congratulations and thanks to all those involved who worked hard to make this another excellent and exquisite event, kick-starting a yummy British Pie Week put on by our catering staff.
Co-Curricular
Springbok for Spring wins savoury pie pageant
School polytunnel project
An oasis for man, beast and insect On a very peaceful Sunday morning a small group of our community met for their usual Sunday Eucharist. Quite what inspired certain members of that congregation to dream of the day when the School had a vegetable and flower garden shall probably remain a mystery but that is exactly what happened. Mrs Victoria Attwater takes up the story. Never failing to show their support for our school projects, KESPA came up with the funds to purchase the polytunnel, planning began in earnest and gradually the plans became even more ambitious. Why stop at a polytunnel when we could have a whole gardening compound built around it; an oasis, if you will, for man, beast and insect?
their new home. Beetroot, chilli, tomatoes, pepper, radish, sweetcorn are all currently thriving. Pupils from across the age range have been keen to take part and the co-curriculum programme for this begins after the exeat. We are registered with the RHS School Garden Campaign and were awarded two raised beds in their donations.
The 56 foot long polytunnel arrived in early November but then disaster struck in the form of the worst wind, weather and rain since records began in 1910. Finally the weather improved and it seemed only a matter of time before the dream became a reality.
Other donations have come from Holyroyd Howe for a shed, packets of seeds were donated by Mrs Naomi Skau and Mrs Roberts and pots of all shapes and sizes were donated by Naomi's brother Richard Butler. Colin Gould and his team have and continue to provide a never ending supply of school made excellent compost. For all this support and much more to come, John Standen and I are very grateful.
The Easter holidays saw the grand finale for the polytunnel complete with rabbit proof fencing. Turf lifted, beds dug, cover on! Vegetables that had been grown from seed on windowsills were transplanted to
Duke of Edinburgh Gold awards for six pupils While quite a few dedicated pupils have gained their Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award through King Edward’s Witley over the years, most have done so after they have left and wrapped up exams and university applications, but this year we had a total of six pupils gaining their Gold Awards. Mr Jim Culbert, Head of D of E, reports. Louise Eimermacher and Lukas Stark, both former pupils, finished their requirements this year, but four of our current Upper Sixth, Jack Dunlop, Zhen-Kai Ong, Michael Orr and Anton Sharapov, have achieved the difficult goal of finishing all components for their Gold Award by Easter of their final year. This has never happened at the School before and these pupils are to be applauded for the effort that they have made consistently over the two years. They began their journey immediately in the Lower Sixth and, once enrolled, began selecting activities and projects from the School’s offerings to build a suitable profile. Examples include outreach, charity shop work, fitness training, amateur radio, drama, a selfdevelopment course in the Carpathians, a Christian camp and Engineering at John Hopkin’s University. The structure of the award requires the areas of
volunteering, skill, physical, residential and expedition to be tackled and this usually results in pupils leaving their comfort zone in a few of these areas to gain experience that could otherwise be missed due to School and university commitments. The feature event of the Gold Award was the assessment expedition in Snowdonia where their training in the Peak District in the preceding October and June was no real preparation for the weather encountered. The group persevered, working well together and putting their training into practice and returned with pride. The Duke of Edinburgh Award is open to all pupils, beginning in the 3rd Form with Bronze, where most of the skills are acquired for the later Silver and Gold levels. I am pleased to say that the participation is steadily increasing among the older pupils and any further details
can be obtained by emailing culbertjg@kesw.org. Let’s see if we can get even more awards next year!
D of E Survivors!
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Spring play, Pravda
Art, Music, Drama
Is the press always right? It is a challenge to communicate a sophisticated satirical message such as that represented in the play ‘Pravda’ by David Hare and Howard Brenton but King Edward’s pupils rose to the challenge putting on a theatrical triumph to packed audiences in March under the direction of Mr Jim Langan, Head of English and Drama. Mrs Sharon Gleave, KESPA Secretary, reports. Anyone sitting in the audience at Charter Hall could not help but find themselves propelled firmly into the hedonistic days of 1980s Fleet Street. Obviously life has changed so much in the intervening years, the height of communications technology then being a push button telephone, but this gritty play bobs and weaves, ducks and dives its way peppered by hiring and firing, corruption, and government leaks redolent of Thatcherite Britain. Central is South African media tycoon, Lambert Le Roux (played by Thomas Martis-Jones), a character based on Rupert Murdoch, who bulldozes his way through the business world with indiscriminate hostile takeovers of newspapers to create a monopoly, ably
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assisted by his corrupt accountant Eaton Sylvester (Lucas Simonian) whose lines were delightfully executed in faultless Australian. The play’s title is Pravda, which means Truth, but this power-crazy media mogul has little regard to veracity, in his all consuming ambition to conquer and control the industry for his own political means. In his wake he figuratively batters young aspiring journalist Andrew May (Ade Lawal), and freelance journalist wife Rebecca Foley (Virginia Steegmann), whose father Sir Stamford Foley (Remi Trovo) sells their paper the Leicester Bystander to fund his beloved racehorse obsession. This was an ambitious project with a cast of over thirty pupils – the blank stage was rarely clear of activity,
depicting well the cut and thrust of busy newsrooms, and punctuated only by the quiet voice of a member of the public, requesting a retraction of erroneous and detrimental reported ‘facts’ – this is rebuffed by May as he and his colleagues vociferously attack ‘the press is always right’. Special mention go to the principal cast, who kept a fast moving script running at breakneck speed, to Remi Trovo who fair spat his over the top opinions at the first row, and to Malika Cholwe, whose rendition of the Floyd’s Money really did leave us under no illusions that ‘Money is the root of all evil’.
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Art, Music, Drama
Heart-warming Chapel concert The eve of the Feast of St Valentine saw the culmination of half a term’s hard work for the Music Department, as a packed chapel was treated to a veritable smorgasbord of musical delights. Mr Edward Moore, Assistant Director of Music, reports. We were privileged to welcome a professional brass ensemble who opened the concert with the well-known ‘Music for the Royal Fireworks’ suite by G.F. Handel. The ensemble was soon enlarged by the School’s many brass players, all of whom enjoyed the opportunity to play pieces such as Purcell’s ‘Trumpet Tune and Air’ with musicians of such quality. Not to be outdone, the Beginner’s Wind Band, conducted by Mr Edney, Head of Brass, then turned out a highly polished performance of ‘If I Were a Rich Man’ from ‘Fiddler on the Roof’. A change of instrumental family then ensued, with an excellent performance of Albinoni’s famous ‘Adagio in G minor’ by the String Ensemble, led by the Head of Strings, Mrs Lett, and accompanied by Mr Venables, Director of Music, on the organ. 1st Form pupil Emily Trappen, by now accustomed to giving solo performances following her debut during the Carol Service, gave a flawless performance of Mendelssohn’s ‘Hear my Prayer’. Continuing in the choral vein, the Chapel Choir performed two choral classics: Mozart’s ‘Ave Verum’, accompanied by Mr Venables, and Bruckner’s ‘Locus Iste’ for which Mr Edney arranged a highly effective brass accompaniment. Determined to end the concert with a bang, the Brass Ensemble joined forces with the Chapel Choir to perform John Rutter’s epic ‘Gloria’. Conducted by Mr Moore,
Lower School flautists Assistant Director of Music, the combined forces of professional brass, the chapel’s sizeable organ played once again by Mr Venables, and the accomplished Chapel Choir negotiated their way through a fiendishly difficult but undeniably impressive work. The performance met with great acclaim from the audience, and was a suitable way to celebrate the hard work and effort of all who are involved with music here at King Edward’s. Profuse thanks to all the staff, visiting musicians and, above all, pupils who played their part in producing such an excellent celebration of the school’s significant musical talent.
IB art exhibition a huge success This year’s IB Art students previewed their work at an exhibition in the School’s newly-named Bunker Gallery to an invited audience which included members of the 1553 Guild, Old Witleians, parents, teachers and pupils. The six candidates, Max Conran, Cameron Walton, Clementine Nash, Ashleigh Turner, Olga Michaud and Ifeanyi Ikpeazu each produced a thought provoking portfolio of work across a variety of media. All but one of the artists has chosen to continue to study art at University, gaining places at prestigious Art Colleges in Leeds, Bournemouth and Falmouth.
Clementine Nash The future and technology
Olga Michaud Emotion
Ashleigh Turner The human body is the best work of art
Cameron Walton MokoJumbo
Ifeanyi Ikpeazu Around the room
IB artists
Max Conran Weird and wonderful in the city
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OUTREACH
Junior Schools’ Spring Art Competition A record number of entries were received for this year’s Junior Art Competition. The competition has quickly become a must-do event for our local Junior Schools. Not only providing a vehicle for schools to showcase the work of their most talented pupils, but also an opportunity for the young artists to see their work professionally hung in a gallery space alongside that of their contemporaries. Last year’s theme continued for this year - find a famous piece of art and recreate it in a different style; be inventive and produce something original. There were two categories, one for Years 5 & 6 (pupils aged 9 and 10) and one for years 7 & 8 (pupils aged 11 and 12). This year, twelve schools took part in the competition submitting an amazing 75 entries. The Year 5 & 6 category was won for the second year in succession by a pupil from Amesbury Preparatory School. Eleanor followed in Abbie’s footsteps with her 3D re-creation of Vincent Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. Second place was won by Jana from Hall Grove School for her interpretation of the abstract Jackson Pollock piece, The Eyes in the Heat and third prize was awarded to Elise from Busbridge Junior School for her version of Van Gogh’s Starry Night, complete with lighting effects. The winner of the Year 7 & 8 category was no stranger to our competition, having come runner up in the same category last year. This year Ross’ satirical recreation of Gaugin’s Cher Cat earned Downsend School the first prize with second place being awarded to another Amesbury pupil, Talia for her re-creation of David Hockney’s Bigger Picture using sweet wrappers. Third place was awarded to Imogen from Belmont School for her Joshua Reynolds inspired Self Portrait. In addition this year a special commendation prize was awarded to an individual entry from Daisy for her pencil drawing of the The Pop Stars’ Supper featuring the likes of Lady Gaga, Michael Jackson and Harry Styles! The prizes were awarded at a very busy drinks reception. Mrs Glynis Lamond, Head of Art at King Edward’s, said “Once again, we are thrilled by the level of talent on display. There’s a real buzz in the air, and it’s great to see so many parents and teachers here to support the children”.
A taste of life at King Edward’s Witley Every year, King Edward’s Witley runs a programme of exciting activities for pupils from our local Junior and Prep Schools. In November we began with our ever-popular Science lecture. This year we were delighted to welcome Sir Isaac Newton (aka actor Peter Joyce) to King Edward’s who enthralled audiences from fourteen visiting schools with his enthusiastic and interactive performances bringing history to life through his recounts of his work on fluxions, the spectrum of colours, the reflecting telescope, gravity and other forces, while presenting a history of the exciting times he lived. Steve Digby from Bloo House School said, “The children enjoyed their visit and were very animated afterwards. They particularly liked the water in the bucket experiment and wanted to recreate it back at Bloo House, I may limit the amount of water they use and make them wear waterproofs!”
Girls’ football festival
This half term saw another successful annual Maths and Science Challenge Day, with 11 schools taking part and our first World Arts Carnival Week. Ceramics workshop
Meet the artist
In March pupils from Conifers School, Dorset House and Great Ballard joined us for an afternoon Gospel Workshop delivered by The London Community Gospel Choir, culminating in a performance for parents and teachers. In our art department, visiting schools have taken part in ceramic workshops and had the opportunity to meet and interview our Artist in Residence, Alice KelwayBamber as she exhibited her installation Ordering Chaos and the Sports department hosted our very first Girls Football Festival. 08
Sir Isaac Newton Science lectures
Gospel workshop KESTREL } SUMMER 2014 } ISSUE 26
PROFILES
Morgan Johnson The majority of our pupils choose to go on to university but university isn’t for everyone and the IB has also been able to open doors for those wishing to get a head start on the career ladder. Morgan Johnson came to King Edward’s in the Lower Sixth having gained excellent GCSE grades at a school near her hometown on Guernsey. Having considered a number of options, Morgan and her family chose King Edward’s specifically as it offered the IB. When asked how she has found the IB, her face lights up, “I’ve loved every minute of it, and although stressful at times, I have no regrets. It was the perfect decision for me.”
Alexander Koenig and Chinonso Ojukwu, Outgoing Head Boy and Head Girl
Being Head Boy and Head Girl The job of being Head Boy and Head Girl is to be the main the connection between the students and the senior management and teaching teams, representing the student body and visiting St Bride’s Church every third to fourth weekend to do a reading.
Morgan had always thought that she would go to university, but when the time came to begin thinking about the courses to apply to, she still was undecided. A visit to a careers fair opened up a number of alternative options and Morgan applied for a one week work experience placement for KPMG in Guernsey. At the end of the week, Morgan was invited to interview for their “School Leaver’s Programme” and following a long day of interviews and psychometric tests Morgan was successful in winning one of only ten places on the KPMG Channel Islands MyCareer Training Programme. “KPMG liked the breadth offered by the IB and the work ethic it has instilled in me. The Programme is going to be hard work, but I feel well prepared for the challenges ahead”.
Morgan will begin her employment mid-August, returning back home to Guernsey. “Although I am going to miss King Edward’s terribly, I am looking forward to the new opportunities and reconnecting with my interests of sailing, coaching, St. John’s Ambulance and Sea Cadets.” We look forward to keeping in touch with Morgan and following her successful career.
Natalie Dimmock In March we welcomed Chartered Marketer Natalie Dimmock as Head of Marketing to lead the Marketing team in strategy development and implementation of a new marketing plan. A graduate of our Partner Institution the University of Surrey and more recently the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Natalie Dimmock has over a decade of marketing experience gained within the corporate sector. In the last four years she has lead marketing teams and projects in the chocolate confectionery industry at Green and Black’s Organic and latterly at John Lewis favourite House of Dorchester focusing on research and strategic planning, brand management, digital marketing, social media, PR and internal and external marketing communications. She balances her love of chocolate with (very slow) marathon running being currently in training for the Athens marathon, is an accomplished linguist and enjoys traveling to far flung destinations.
Alexander Koenig from Germany, departing Head Boy, moved to England to board starting at King Edward’s at the start of the Sixth Form. Coming from a small Bavarian village, Alex has enjoyed socialising and alongside his IB studies has enjoyed basketball and volunteering at the School bank. Chinonso Ojukwu has in contrast been at King Edward’s boarding since the 1st Form when she can remember thinking that being Head Girl was only for the “really popular, amazing, flawless people” and yet following some challenging interviews with the Headmaster she was elected! Away from her IB studies, Chinonso enjoys drawing anatomical sketches and in the holidays she hopes to visit every single art gallery in London. Chinonso and Alexander’s advice for those replacing them is, “stay humble, enjoy your time and the privileges because it will go really fast, be organised and approachable and always speak to everyone, not only your friends.” The future is certainly bright, with Alexander planning to study Design Materials and Engineering either in the UK or Germany. Chinonso will study Medical Science in London, the “best city in the world”, with the final aim of becoming a doctor. The School would like to thank both Alexander and Chinonso for their commitment in carrying out their duties and wish them all the very best for the future.
Morgan Johnson, Upper Sixth Leaver
Natalie Dimmock, Head of Marketing
Natalie explains, “I am delighted to have joined the Marketing Team at a time of change, driven by the School’s great desire to be a marketing orientated organisation, developing marketing strategy and look forward to implementing this plan supported by a great immediate team and passionate stakeholders throughout the School. Whilst we have a long way to climb and many changes to make, we must never forget that everyone has their role to play in marketing the School to their own network of friends and acquaintances… I know that, with the enthusiasm for King Edward’s Witley I encounter at each and every turn, as a team and community we are more than up to the challenge.”
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SPORT
Hockey Report Unlike many seasons previous, the frost stayed away from King Edward’s allowing the majority of fixtures to be fulfilled albeit in slightly damp conditions. Mr John Tudor, Graduate Assistant Sports Coach, reports. The Boys’ 1st X1 battled hard against some very strong opponents and were rewarded for their efforts with notable wins against Lord Wandsworth College and St John’s Southsea. The U15s enjoyed the greatest number of successes losing only one match on a day where the footballing cohort of the team were whisked away for semi-final duty. Our Under 14s and Under 13s had many epic encounters and both displayed great unity as a team. They had a mix of results but will go on to form very strong squads for next season. At the end of the season Senior Colours were awarded to Charlie Beckwith, Joe Wigmore and Philip Smyth. Inters Colours were awarded to Max Ewerth, Freddie Fulk and Jake Miller.
Condover Hall netball weekend Sixteen of our 3rd Form girls with some trepidation and a great deal of excitement, embarked on a long journey to Shropshire to take part in the Condover Hall netball weekend. The journey up was long and tiring, but any lethargy soon disappeared when we laid eyes on the wonderful mansion house that was to be our home for the weekend, explains Mrs Jemima Edney, Director of Sport. The opening tour of the facilities revealed the climbing and abseiling tower, a laser maze, a tunnelling room and a fabulous dance studio, amongst other treats. After supper the girls were whisked off to take part in their activities and were not seen again until late into the evening.
Sunday morning saw the completion of the netball tournament and some good matches resulted in the A team almost making a place in the semi-final, but narrowly losing out. The disappointment lasted about ten seconds, before the girls realised that they now had time to squeeze
in a couple more activities before our departure. Some were abseiling while the final was being played! The girls returned to school utterly exhausted, but having had a great experience away and looking forward to returning next year.
Spring is a time of year synonymous with new beginnings, which was fitting, as on 5 March King Edward’s held our first ever rugby fixture. Nick Stragallinos, Australian Gap Year Student, reports. Box Hill were an impressive looking outfit but even though many of our QMH boys had never played a game of rugby, the big hits and tackling required to succeed in rugby seemed like second nature to them. The first half scores saw King Edward’s down two tries to nil. IIn the second half, Box Hill scored three tries and put the game out of reach from our boys. Despite this, the King Edward’s boys stepped up their intensity and aggression, with notable improvements at breakdowns and monumental improvement from scrum to scrum.
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In 2012, three girls were selected to represent King Edwards’ in the National 11-a-Side Tournament at Marlborough College and Mr Wyciechowski was asked by ISFA to coach the South East team. King Edward’s won the trophy, a great endorsement of the standard of girls’ football in the School. In 2013 the School entered two teams, for the first time, in the revamped National 7-a-side competition, an Under 18 team, who reached the quarter finals, and an Under 15 team who won the cup. 2014 saw the first ever introduction of the ISFA Under 18 south Eastern League. Teams from Westminster, Bedales and Charterhouse competed to become league champions. King Edward’s won the title, winning the last game 3-2 against Bedales. This year too, we have had two girls, Emma Willett and Lianne Lafreniere, represent the ISFA South-East team at the National 11-a-side festival and again helped them to lift the trophy. Lianne has also been invited to play in the ISFA national team.
Netball Report
Lower School boys make history in rugby premiere
With the 1st and 2nd Form boys getting to put into practice structures rehearsed over the preseason, King Edward’s was fielding a team determined to set the tone for rugby at the School for the years to come.
National 11-a-side competition and for the next two years reached the quarter final stages.”
Girls’ football continues to be championed in the School. Mr Wyciechowski explains, “We are small in numbers, but always willing and able to push the boundaries. It’s not been plain sailing, there have been many barriers to overcome and a great deal of hard work and dedication has been needed too. As the only coach to have seen it through it’s been a personal triumph for me also. I can only thank the girls, both past and present, whose hard work and commitment, mostly after school, has been the rock that all this has been built on.”
On Saturday morning the girls began their netball tournament, facing teams from across the country. After a tough start the teams settled into a rhythm and the A team found some winning form. By the end of the morning, the A team were sitting in the middle of the league table with two matches to be played on Sunday. In the afternoon the girls had time to try more of the activities on offer, with the climbing tower and zip wire emerging as favourites.
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The girls’ netball season was possibly one of the most successful in recent years, as well as being the longest, with netball training and fixtures taking place in both the Autumn and Spring terms, reports Mrs Jemima Edney, Director of Sport. The senior girls were a force to be reckoned with, and conceded very few goals with Chinonso Ojukwu and Chisom Nwanoneze blocking the path to goal. For the first time in recent years we were able to put out a strong 2nd VII too, with many Under 16 and 15s stepping up. The Under 14s also had a very successful season with a huge increase in the number of fixtures played compared with recent years. Again, we were able to field a ‘B’ team who achieved a memorable victory against Lord Wandsworth College in the last game of the season. The Under 13s, many of whom were learning netball for the first time this year, developed beyond recognition with some of the younger players really beginning to shine. They have a positive future ahead of them. At the end of the season Senior Colours were awarded to Chinonso Ojukwu and Chisom Nwanoneze and Inters Colours to Matilda Pegler.
Although the final result was not flattering, King Edward’s defeated six tries to nil, the future of King Edward’s rugby is looking very promising. The team made all those supporting them proud with their attitude and efforts throughout the game.
KESTREL } SUMMER 2014 } ISSUE 26
Old Witleians and Development
Grand Hollywood Ball - another KESPA triumph! KESPA once again pulled the cat out of the bag with their sumptuous Grand Hollywood Ball. Thankfully the weather was kind, and allowed guests to step dry footed onto the lush red carpets, reports Sharon Gleave, KESPA Secretary. The KESPA Committee had done an amazing job transforming Piccadilly into an Oscar themed reception, and guests were invited to have their photo taken with a special Oscar style backdrop. Moving into the dance studio for reception drinks, Hollywood Bellinis were sipped with jazz background music. Soon it was time for dinner and going through the Exhibition Hall was transformed to a wow-factor ballroom, with search lights, elegant giant martini glass vases, twinkling lights, glitzy decorated tables, and a backdrop video of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers tripping the light fantastic.
Dinner was unrushed with three delicious courses plus cheese. Whilst dining, two magicians worked the tables doing tricks, and guests then danced the night away to the sounds of Visage Party Band, featuring young singer Dee Freer, who has recently recorded with Ministry of Sound. Sixth Form pupil Morgan Johnson when asked what her favourite part of the evening was, she replied “when we first saw the Exhibition Hall, arriving at our table we saw all the twinkly lights, with the sequins and diamontés – it was just so magical”.
put on two other successful events during the year - the Sausage Sizzle in September and a Quiz in March. Parents are welcome to join informal drop-in coffee mornings in Piccadilly Café on Wednesdays or Fridays after drop off and we are always looking for volunteers to join the committee whether you can commit to every meeting, or just feel able to help out on the day. It’s a good way of getting to know what’s going on in school. Please contact kespa.chair@kesw.org for more information.
The Ball represents the culmination of many months’ hard work and planning. The KESPA Committee
Careers Day guest speakers
Mr Alvaro Estevez with pupils
Advising and inspiring the next generation The new King Edward’s Careers Fair for the Sixth Form took place in March and was the successful culmination of initiatives to invite guest speakers, including parents and Alumni (Old Wits), to give advice, support and encouragement to our pupils. We have hosted inspirational talks on commercial piloting from Mr Robert McPhee (OW), international banking from Mr Alvaro Estevez (Bank of America) and the luxury goods sector from Mr Bertrand Michaud of Hermes. The Sixth Form Careers Fair saw six Old Wits returning to School to join parents and guests speaking on opportunities in IT, finance, insurance, business, running your own business, engineering, TV and media, the armed forces and Cordon Bleu! What was striking was how honestly the speakers explained the choices they had made on their career, and life, journeys and how well pupils responded to this with keen listening and pertinent questions.
One of the guest speakers commented, “It was a pleasure for us to attend your Careers Fair and we can only hope we managed to inform, educate and enthuse some of our audience - I know we have thoroughly enjoyed it!” Mr Keith Forster, Head of Careers, who organised the Careers Fair, commented “This was a most successful morning, which will be repeated in the future, to include younger pupils as well.”
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old WitleiANs ANd develoPmeNt
D I A R Y D AT E S Wednesday 9 July King Edward’s School Golf Day, Milford thursday 25 september Admissions Day, Witley (by invitation) saturday 27 september 10 Years of the IB Alumni dinner Witley, (by invitation)
Mr Anthony Harcourt
Welcoming new ways of giving There are different ways of giving, and giving back, at King Edward’s Witley. Nigeria. And in the autumn Old Wit Mr Anthony Harcourt arrived on site with over a thousand books for the library! Mrs Janny Harris, School Librarian, received this donation with delight, and slight dread at the task of cataloguing them all.
Mr Ron Etherington This year we have welcomed back former pupils to give careers support and advice to current pupils. We have received financial donations from Old Witleians living as far afield as USA, New Zealand, Australia and
We would also like to thank a former staff member, Mr Ron Etherington, who over several years has donated encyclopaedias to the school library, lifesaving and swimming equipment to the pool and is also a Bridewell Fellow in his own right. Ron worked at the School for 16 years, from 1994-2010, teaching lifeguarding. Pupils also benefited from hearing of Ron’s life experiences, which have included an early career as a cine cameraman before turning to teaching, school governorship, 23 years as a Special Constable and numerous voluntary and charitable activities.
Bridewell Day 2014
monday 27 october Hong Kong Reunion Reception, Hong Kong sunday 16 November Old Witleians’ football and mixed hockey, Witley Friday 12 december Bridewell Fellows’ Lunch and Christmas Carol Concert, Witley (by invitation) For more information contact oldwitleians@kesw.org Keep up to date with news and events at www.kesw.org/owa
Annual Giving Appeal in its 5th year It’s the fifth year of our Annual Giving Appeal when we contact all members of our community to ask for their support of the bursary programme at King Edward’s Witley. The Appeal goes from strength to strength and we are always humbled by the continuing commitment of Old Wits, current and former parents and staff and other friends of the School to this cause. This year the Annual Appeal has raised almost £100,000 which goes directly to funding places for children in need of a boarding school education at the School. One of our current Foundation Bursars pupils comments, “Without a bursary my life would have been very different and I’m so grateful to have been given this opportunity and will strive to make the most of it”. We would like to sincerely thank all our donors for their support.
Representatives of seven charities were awarded the Bridewell Medal by the Sheriff of the City of London, Mr Adrian Waddingham, at this year’s Bridewell Day at the Guildhall in London
For further information about donating to King Edward’s Witley please contact the Development Office on development@kesw.org and tel. 01428 686773. Please also see the Support Us pages of the website at www.kesw.org/support-us
10 Years of the IB Anniversary Dinner Calling all Alumni of the IB! We are celebrating 10 Years of the International Baccalaureate at King Edward’s with a dinner and dance for Alumni of the programme on Saturday 27th September 2014. If you were one of the first cohorts in 2004, or subsequent cohorts, do encourage your friends and peers to attend. This event is by invitation only so please get back in touch and register for your invitation at events@kesw.org 12
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