Sotoniensis 2012

SOTONIENSIS 2012 | 1

Sotoniensis 2012

CONTENTS

02

Editorial

22

Clubs & Societies

42

Creative Arts

From the Headmaster Chaplaincy Report House Reports Staff Farewells

Amnesty Group Astronomy Society Badminton Club Cactus Club The Byron Society Beekeeping Club Chess Club Cookery Club Debating Society Christian Union

Charities Commission Economics Society Fencing Club Hospital Visiting German Magazine Club Interface First Aid Club The Green Team Junior Maths Club Junior Science Club

Mountain Biking Group Medsoc Lunar Society Philosophy Academy Partnerships Table Tennis Student Investor Competition Scamp Club Young Enterprise

Geography Field Trip: Wookey Hole Guernsey Island Cricket Tour French Watersports Trip German Exchange - Mutterstadt History Trip: Berlin History Trip: Battlefields Jamaican Netball Tour Olympic Activities Celebration Day The Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition Trip Operation Wallacea

Spanish Trip: Cordoba Spanish Trip: Catalonia Spanish Trip: Salamanca Ski Trip Summer Camp Second Year Camp South Africa

Boys’ Cricket Boys’ Tennis Girls’ Hockey

Girls’ Netball Girls’ Rounders Girls’ Tennis

The Drama Department The Music Department The Art Department The Dance Department

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Trips & Visits

92

Sport

Aachen Trip Beam House Dale Fort Beaulieu Charlotte Exchange The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award French Exchange to Le Harve French Exchange to Angers French Trip to Paris Geography Field Trip: Osmington Bay Geography Field Trip: Swansea

Boys’ Basketball Boys’ Football Boys’ Rugby Boys’ Hockey

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Editorial

From the Head Master The academic year 2011/12 has been a very significant one with the acquisition of Stroud School in May 2012. This represents a major strategic change for King Edward’s as the School expands its reach to include children from the early years in a combined community of nearly 1300 pupils. A great deal of work has already taken place to cement the relationship between the two schools and arrangements for joint governance and a shared vision for our mutual future development are well underway.

S

troud is a successful preparatory and prepreparatory school and for some years has been one of our principal feeder schools both at our 11 and 13+ entry. Its acquisition will provide greater security of entry for the future and will allow us to develop increased educational continuity from the early years to the Sixth Form. We also achieve a key objective of the Sanger-Davies family by providing a secure long term future for the school they have built up over the last 50 years. Our short term objective is to improve or replace a number of the buildings on the Stroud site, whilst leaving the excellent educational standards in the hands of the current Head and his team.

Within our Governing Body we have made a change with regard to the role of the Lord Lieutenant. This position has entitled the incumbent to be one of our Ex-Officio Governors. The current Lord Lieutenant, Dame Mary Fagan, suggested that with the many calls on the Lord Lieutenant’s time, the position of Patron would be more appropriate, and this has now been enacted. There has also been a change in one of the Governors nominated by the Old Edwardians: David Creal came to the end of his second three year term and has been replaced by John Mist. With regard to Stroud Prep School, governance will be covered by a

Governors’ sub-committee consisting of four senior King Edward’s governors together with a number of the former Stroud directors, thus bringing continuity to the future development of our new preparatory school.

We began the year with 963 students on the roll with demand at every level of entry.

The senior school has made a number of changes to its facilities including refurbished classrooms, a refreshed pavilion at Wellington and an expanded music rehearsal area to cater for increased numbers.

Excellent teaching and the highly motivated nature of our students has resulted in another impressive set of academic results. The introduction of the more rigorous IGCSE has put our students under greater pressure and they have certainly risen to the challenge with increased number of A* grades. A level grades have also continued to be successful with 46% of students gaining 3 A grades or more. 13 students have been successful in their applications to Oxford and Cambridge. This constitutes 12% of the year group and improves our 5 year average of 11% proceeding to these two universities. We continue to send four fifths of our students to universities in the Russell Group.

We much enjoyed having Dr Robert Summerhayes (former pupil) as our Chief Guest at Speech Day in 2011. Dr Summerhayes kept our students enthralled with his account of his expedition by bicycle across Africa with his wife, after working on an aid project in South Africa.

The weather has not been kind to our summer sports with their Olympic theme but we were very proud to have two Old Edwardians representing their country in hockey and sailing. Iain Percy added to his tally with a silver medal. We escaped the worst of the weather at Sports Day and hosted a mini-Olympics for local

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schools on our Wellington site. There have been some outstanding performances in a number of team games as well as some very impressive individual achievements. Our hockey teams, both male and female, have been particularly successful. The boys’ hockey teams enjoyed success at regional level for the U14s, U16s and U18s while the senior team became Hampshire Champions. The senior girls’ hockey team won the Hampshire Tournament and the U14 and U16 teams qualified for the regional rounds of the national competition. The senior netball squad has also had success with the U16s coming third in their pool in the British Schools’ National Netball Finals. The U16 tennis teams had pairs in both of the Hampshire Schools’ Doubles Championships, winning the girls’ competition and retaining the title. The Year 10 girls won the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Division of the Aegon Tennis Championship. They now enter the knock out stage with the chance of progressing to the quarter finals and National Finals.

The rugby season began with the School’s annual hosting of the South Coast Tournament; we had success at many levels including the U15 team contesting the county final while the senior squad made it to the plate final in the county cup. The U14 team proved to be particularly strong and there is strength in depth with our new U12 team. Our cricketers had to endure dreadful weather but proved to be very strong at the senior level and in the U14 and U15 teams.

Other sports have kept our students active with an Olympic themed Activities Day, a very competitive Swimming Gala in July and success in basketball the Senior Colts team played in the final of the U16 division A in Southampton and the District Schools’ league. Our footballers have continued to have a run of excellent form while sailing is growing in popularity with a number of students operating at a national and international level. Athletics, fencing and table tennis

remain popular and there is increased depth for our students in dance and rhythmic gymnastics with the U19 gymnasts winning the title of National U19 Team Champions 2012 at the National Schools Rhythmic Gymnastics Championship earlier on in the year. The many individual achievements at county and national level are regularly recorded in KonnEctionS and on the website; a number are described in this edition of Sotoniensis.

The School has continued with its wide-ranging programme of School visits and expeditions. This year KES students have enjoyed visits to the USA, South Africa, Mexico, the West Indies, the Czech Republic, Spain, France and Germany. These have ranged from our musicians entertaining audiences in Prague to

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our biologists investigating the tropical forests of the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve and the reef ecology of Akumal Bay on the Yucatan Peninsula. Students have participated in historical visits to the French First and Second World War battlefields, skied in La Plagne, widened their linguistic horizons in Angers, Le Havre, Mutterstadt, Salamanca, Andalucía and Catalonia and participated in trips across the UK from regular theatre and music visits to London to geography and biology field trips to Swansea and Dale Fort. The proximity of the New Forest and Dartmoor provide plenty of opportunities for the hundreds of students who participate each year in the Duke of Edinburgh Award.

The arts have had a high profile particularly with the spectacular concert at The Anvil in Basingstoke with over 500 musicians from a range of our partner schools filling the house with orchestral and choral music including a new composition from Dr Leaman.

Regular occasions such as the Carol Service and Thanksgiving have been interspersed with a wide range of concerts and chamber events. Drama has been busy with a number of productions including ‘Ali Baba’, Alan Bennett’s ‘The History Boys’ and the outstanding ‘That Certain Uncertainty’ written and directed by Mr Herklots and Dr Leaman and performed in the Theatre Royal, Winchester. The annual art exhibition continued to impress all who attended with a blend of sculpture, drawing, painting and photography.

Charitable and community work remains a key feature of the School. In the past year over £26,000 has been raised by the students themselves for a range of different organisations including our Summer Camp for young carers within the City, the South Africa venture supporting the Goedgedacht Trust near Cape Town and the second year in partnership with St Mark’s Junior School at Lovaton. Our Green Team has good reason to be proud of its success in securing the coveted Green Flag for King Edward’s.

Our primary school partnerships have also developed in new areas including sport in addition to the wellestablished fields of art, literacy, mathematics, languages and science clubs.

We have been very well served by Aidan Stringfellow

as Head of School over the last year, ably supported by his deputies, Anna Clark, Simon McCormickCox and Jenny Swinn. Our Prepositors and Heads of House, together with the Lower School Prefects, provide excellent leadership across the School. They have all worked very effectively with a varied range of responsibilities and opportunities to develop their team work and communication skills.

We have a number of significant retirements after long service. Dr Hoskins, Mr Kelly, Mrs Lovegrove, Mrs King, Mrs Mayes, Mr Price and Mr Tasker have retired after over 100 years of combined service to the School. Mr Allen, Mr Bulmer, Mr Cherry, Mr Eades and Miss Mackintosh, have moved to other posts after shorter periods at King Edward’s. We also thank Mr Herlihy who has assisted the School this year on a short term contract to cover for illness. Amongst the non-teaching staff particular note must be made of the outstanding contribution of Mrs Kennard who retires after 6 years as the Personal Assistant to the Head Master. We also say farewell to Mr Atwal, our Classroom IT Support Technician for this year.

KESSoc continues to be fully involved in the School’s life under the direction of Mrs Swinn in her final year as chair. We are very grateful for their support for a range of activities from fencing and music to the part-funding of a youth worker in South Africa. Our alumni have enjoyed numerous reunions organised by our Development Officer, Ms Hooper, including a very successful project, led by those at the School between 1956 and 1963, to raise funds for a bursary.

The King Edward VI Foundation which helps students applying to King Edward’s from disadvantaged backgrounds goes from strength to strength.

King Edward’s has had another very successful year marked by a major investment in its future with the joining of Stroud School to the King Edward’s family. KES students have continued to distinguish themselves in many ways but manage academic and sporting achievements with an unusual commitment to the broader community as they develop into impressive young adults fully committed to playing their part in the wider world.

AJ Thould // Head Master

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Chaplaincy report I

continue to hold the School and Governors in my prayers privately, both in its corporate life and for individuals as they face illness, loss and challenge, but also at times of joy. I was privileged to conduct the marriage of Alex and Caroline Williams in July 2011, at which a number of pupils sang and performed.

The hospitalisation of Mr Herklots caused much concern to us all; he was visited by many of his colleagues and Sixth Form students, coordinated by Dr Leaman. His family also received much support from staff and friends during his long confinement. It is great to have him back with us and That Certain Uncertainty showed his creativity and humour remain undiminished.

Mrs Henderson and I attended a conference on Bereavement in October set up by the Salisbury Diocese and Sir Al Aynsley-Green (sometime Children’s Commissioner for England and one of my parishioners). Mrs Henderson fed back to the pastoral team and I was able to contribute on this subject at the support evening for parents in May. I was pleased to present an assembly on the King James Version of the Bible on its four hundredth anniversary and I was happy to make the somewhat apocryphal connection with Arthur Lake OE, believed to be one of the editors. It was very good to display the fourteenth century Vulgate Bible that must be one of our greatest treasures as a School.

A Service of Remembrance was held on 11th November: a simple and solemn occasion in the Hall, with the Book of Remembrance central and a wreath laid by members of the School in their military cadet uniforms. The Chamber Choir sang from the balcony as the names of the fallen from the School were displayed on the screen. It was a serious and sincere occasion appreciated by many, especially those with relatives serving in the Forces.

The programme of Assemblies continues to provide opportunities for pupils and staff to voice their ideas, speak of faith, perform and to look beyond the walls of the School. It has been good to hear from some new staff contributors. Of many highlights, the following stick in the mind: Beth Ashfield’s moving and inspiring assembly about her unusual choice to spend the Christmas holidays working with the homeless rather than spending it with her family and also an insight into her work with the deaf; our marking of the annual Holocaust memorial day was marked with a presentation by Lucy Sharp and Cameron Kavanagh who spoke about their visit to Auschwitz organised by the Holocaust Educational Trust. In this Olympic year we were enlightened by Mr Tesseyman about the

psychology of sporting ability and of the key role of supporters’ encouragement; the Charlotte Exchange group gave a particularly impressive account of their experiences; green issues and on-going questions about sustainable living were discussed, including seeing designs for clothing made by students; the Bee project and power of the collaboration of their communities was introduced by Mr Robinson and Mrs Potter arranged a first class and deeply moving presentation by students about the Titanic and the Southampton families touched by that tragedy. In the final assembly of the year Mr Kay introduced us to his imminent Norwegian sojourn and canine adventure, seeing his Husky sled team winning the hearts of many in the Hall.

The new Bishop of Southampton, Jonathan Frost, made a most successful visit to the School in November as part of getting to know his ‘patch’.

The Revd Erica Roberts (parent) curate at Highfield initiated and joined the visit, where the Bishop spoke to the Christian Union, a First Year and Fourth Year class as well as students and staff around the School.

He especially enjoyed the Art Department and a candid question and answer session with A level philosophers. He was appreciative of the partnerships and charitable work evident here and was encouraging to the staff engaged with this key part of our life.

Our Candlelight Carol Service was held at St Mary’s with the Heads of House reading well despite a troublesome P.A. system. It was also disturbing to see so much water ingress into the Church from the roof onto the floor. However, under the direction of Mrs Freemantle, Dr Leaman and Mr Watson a large orchestra, choir of pupils and parents, the Junior Choir and the Vocal Ensemble made wonderful musical contributions and the service proved thoughtprovoking and worshipful. The collection raised some £900 to be donated to Christian Aid (reflecting our concern for the wider world) and to the Trussell Trust, a smaller Christian charity meeting the immediate

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needs of excluded people in UK and Bulgaria.

I was delighted to be able to welcome Mr Chris Mould (Director of the Trussell Trust) just ahead of his meeting with the Prime Minister as our speaker for the Thanksgiving Service in March held in the School Hall.

He spoke powerfully about the needs of the marginal in our society and the growing demand for food banks and emergency help from charities such as his. As a school we have supported the Trussell Trust and, indeed the Southampton-based Scratch, for many years. The School sang well accompanied by Mr Hall; Heads of House, Prepositors, School Council and the Senior student team led the prayers and readings.

Holy Communion on Ash Wednesday in the Commemoration Room proved a welcome moment of calm and reflection on our discipleship at the start of Lent. The staff/parent prayer group met regularly in School throughout the year, praying for all the staff and pupils. There is a faithful body of parents that also meet in their homes to continue this fellowship and to hold us before God. I am grateful for their prayers in my ministry as Chaplain.

The Christian Union continues to be run with great dedication by Mr Robinson. CU has been exploring the relationship between science and religion and has held a number of well attended debates and discussions led by the students. Matt Fewtrell played a pivotal leadership role and it is great that he will be a continuing link with Highfield Church where he is to be an intern next year. Peter Thompson and Anna Roberts in the Lower Sixth have also been creative and encouraging to all who attend and in the supporting, expressing and exploring of their faith. Mr Singleton

works hard with the younger pupils in Interface, enriching and nurturing their exploration of faith.

June saw a modest ceremony, following on from the Headmaster’s memorable assembly on the theme of Jubilee, to dedicate a tree on the boundary of the School Field in thanksgiving for the reign of the Queen. Conducted at lunchtime just before half term, prepositors, members of the School Council, friends and staff gathered for a short service of dedication.

A plaque reads: To mark the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, June 2012 Deo Gratias.

Many students gathered from their recreation and enjoyed it, some spontaneous hymn singing broke out in addition to a valiant rendition of the National Anthem.

The Religious Studies and Philosophy department initiated a Second Year trip to the Anglo-Catholic Church of St Barnabas and the Jewish Centre in Oxford, followed by a visit to the University Pitt-Rivers and Natural History museums. I have really enjoyed working with Elizabeth Mackintosh as head of RS. She continues the line of RS Heads of Department who boldly assert the importance of the spiritual and religious life as a core component in our human experience. Her enthusiasm and modelling of the Christian values in her relationships with students and colleagues is inspiring. She has a passion for the importance of faith as a central part of many people’s values and identity and as a key contributor to society.

She has been an excellent support to me as Chaplain.

Sadly, Elizabeth’s tenure has proved shorter than she had anticipated and we wish her well at Marlborough.

Plans are well advanced for the decamping of the School to Winchester Cathedral on 20th March 2013 for the Service of Thanksgiving. I am also looking forward to renewing my relationship with the Stroud community in the coming years.

The readiness of students and staff to look to the needs of the wider world continues to be a source of great joy and hope to me. The consistent financial success of charity events is testament to this important aspect of our community but, much more so is the unsung involvement of many teaching/non-teaching staff and students across the whole school community using their gifts for the benefit of others. For me this is one of the greatest gifts we can model as a place of formation in a world that seems ever more selfserving and mercenary; it actually makes sense of the School’s claim to a Christian heritage and the vision of Capon and that of our Royal and other benefactors.

Revd Poppleton

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House Results 2011-2012

Capon

C

apon entered a new and fruitful era at the start of the 20112012 school year.

The management dream team of Jake Davies and Sophie Bentley provided the inspiration, Mr Eades a limited amount of organisation and, in a new venture, House Captains in the Upper School and Lower School.

Great credit must go to the outstanding roles played by Richard Bolton, Tabby Piggott, James Kingshott and Milly Cobb in the Upper School and the fantastic work of Hannah, Simreet, Charlie and Ed in the Lower School. Without all of their fantastic support, energy and will to win, Capon would not have been quite so successful.

The term started relatively slowly with both the Upper School and Sixth Form struggling to cope with the sheer physicality of other Houses in both hockey and rugby events. Thankfully the Lower School and First Year came to the rescue with some highly creditable performances in both football and Junior House events, indeed the ‘B’ team rugby and hockey teams were undefeated on their road to victory. The ‘A’ teams performed extremely well too, both pipped to top spot in the final round of competitions.

Following such remarkable results was always going to be tough, but Capon proved their resilience with a series of 3rd and 4th place finishes in the Quiz, Colts netball and hockey, ‘Ready, Steady, Cook’ and Senior football. Unfortunately, we then struggled in some of the Sixth Form events, our skill and flair was no match for the brutal force in new events such as Sixth Form uni-hock and boys’ hockey. Greater success was reserved for the Sixth Form girls who pulled off a minor upset to win the netball tournament.

Following more rousing speeches reminiscent of Winston Churchill in his heyday, a Jake and Sophie inspired Junior House event led to further success.

Our very talented ‘A’ team boys did not fare as well as they would have liked but the unheralded ‘B’ and ‘D’ teams stormed to magnificent victories. The girls once again showed they were the backbone of the

House with the ‘A’ team coming in second and the ‘Bs’ winning their event once more. This success proved the catalyst for a rousing performance for the rest of the year; the whole House experienced a lift and surge in spirit. To see the whole group come together in a determined effort was a truly terrifying proposition for our competitors. The speed and elegance of the Jamaican Usain Bolt was adopted as our official House mascot but, at times, we also had the poise and elegance of the Spanish football team and the raw talent and will to succeed of the England cricket team; no-one can match Capon on their day.

Capon are known to be ‘Kings of Sport’ and this was demonstrated once again when the House put in some truly magnificent performances to win overall for the first time in several years. This was the first time the incoming Heads of House Gus (the great) Wooley and Livi (the lively) Ellis were given a chance to shine and they seized the opportunity with both hands. I am eternally indebted to a few Lower School students who stood in at the last minute in several events, particularly Vicky Diaper who volunteered for every event at both Sports Day and the Swimming Gala.

Perhaps just as pleasing was the performance in more ‘academic’ pursuits where Capon have not always performed as well - coming second in First Year merits was a great result, it was also our lowest place finish as both the Second and Third Years dominated their respective totals. Boom! Overall a finish of 3rd was probably a fair reflection on a slow start but gathering momentum. We will be title challengers next year.

It has been a great privilege to lead Capon and whilst my stay has been regrettably brief I have enjoyed the experience thoroughly; this is a vibrant and dynamic House and I wish Gus, Livi and Miss Stone great success in the future.

Goodbye, good luck and good hunting.

Mr Eades

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Lake W

ith my first year heading up the Lake team complete, I can honestly look back and feel proud of the ever-growing effort and enthusiasm with which Lake have approached each and every House event. We may not have ended the year on top but we certainly provided some challenges along the way.

As Heads of House, Ria Rhodes and Adam Sluman did a fantastic job motivating and organising teams and individuals along the way; I thank them for all their time and commitment, not just this year but also over the years since they first started at King Edward’s.

The new intake of Lake First Years have really embraced what it is to have House spirit; as a group I cannot fault their enthusiasm and their unending desire to be part of everything. They certainly made sure that we were never short of volunteers and their commitment never waned even against strong opposition, particularly in the Swimming Gala.

In the Lower School, Junior House events were superbly supported by Sixth Form and teams regularly provided tense and close fought matches that left the supporters screaming with eager anticipation.

Particular success was seen in the rugby ‘A’ and netball ‘C’ competitions although it was the hockey ‘C’ team that were the only Lake team to remain undefeated and come 1st within their competition. Additional side-line support was provided in the autumn term by the first of our Upper School House Captains, Hannah Lewington and Harvey Armstrong, who provided both vocal support and Lake House banners. Well done particularly to the Second Years who came second in the merit tables, an excellent achievement and which, along with Lake’s solid performances in Sports Day, helped us take 4th place in the Allen Grant Trophy over Watts and Lawrence.

The Colts teams made the greatest contributions to our successes this year demonstrating superb performances in netball and rugby; a close fought final saw the girls narrowly lose to a strong Lawrence side but still giving us double points having played the Joker. However, it was the boys who brought us the best victory of the year with Jack Dobbie providing the final drop goal that clinched us the win against Sylvester in a nail-biting penalty kick-off in the rugby.

The Sixth Form found it hard to match all the superb achievements of the younger years until the boys turned it round in style when they dominated the hockey and uni-hock such that no other team even got a look in. We have also had a fantastically vocal Lower Sixth team at every Junior House event, with particular thanks to Pete Thompson and Angus Chaplin-Rogers

for their commitment and enthusiasm with Junior House and Sports Day events this year. The girls, whilst having a quieter year, have approached every event with admirable spirit allowing them to secure 3rd in both the hockey and the netball.

Finally, I want to say a massive thank you to all those who have participated, supported and captained the House throughout the year. Those that have put themselves forward for each event have certainly made this year’s competitions fun to be part of, as well as exciting to watch. I have never witnessed quite so many nail-biting matches and I hope that next year the score-lines more reflect all our efforts and ability.

Let’s go Lake!

Heads of House: Ria Rhodes and Adam Sluman First year Prefect: Milly Stevenson Upper School House Captains: Harvey Armstrong, Hannah Lewington, Ben Dunford, Gemma Holland-Wright Lower School House Captains: Zoe McLean, Sam Gibson, Lucy Porter, Will Hawthorne House Colours: Ben Brooks, Rebecca Collins, Ben Dunford, Gemma Holland-Wright, Rhodri Adamson, Andy Pennycuick, Jamie Rhodes, and Milly Stevenson The new Heads of House for 2012-2013 are Anna Shadbolt and Jack Culmer and, going by their tireless support and competitive nature as witnessed on the side lines of Junior House and other House events this year, I know they have high expectations for Lake next year. I am confident that they will take Lake House from strength to strength and I wish them luck in what will be a packed and fun-filled year ahead.

Dr Sinnett-Jones

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Lawrence T

he Lawrence year started off positively, with the Junior House rugby teams both playing impressive rugby, clearly showing their superiority over all other Houses. Regrettably, a few turns of fortune the wrong way caused what should have been victories, to end up as close defeats. Not deterred, both teams honourably fought on throughout the term with true Lawrence valour, but unfortunately with the best sides losing undeservedly, in what seemed a very vicious cycle, the standings were not looking as good as they should have been. By the end of the campaign the Lawrence team had shown that even the best teams can falter with unfortunate group placements and the tide of luck against them, with the ‘Bs’ only finishing 2nd in the table.

Onto the spring term and a more Lawrentian start, with the Junior House hockey and the ‘D’ team giving the spectators a truly magnificent show of speed, skill, grace and elegance to dismantle an unsuspecting Capon team in what must be the sporting spectacle of the century. Lawrence, of course, came out victorious putting ten goals past the weaker team who could only manage a meagre two. They say that the sport is the only victor in a sports match. This is untrue.

However, although once again the most talented teams wore the great scarlet of Lawrence, the match scores failed to represent how incredible the Lawrence teams were, with a final standing of around mid-table. Even with the gods attempting to stop the might of our red tide, they could not suppress such talent forever and, with numerous victories in First Year football, Colts netball and Colts cross country, this led to Lawrence topping the table on each occasion, showing what each of us really has to offer.

With so much success involving the House throughout the year, it is easy to forget about individual performances, but it is certainly worth mentioning our Colts and Sixth Form Sports Day teams. On a wet Friday in June, tradition counted for nothing. Both of

Lawrence’s eldest age groups emerged winners after a stirling effort and a giant leap forward – such was the success that we all ought to take stock, reflect, aspire and be proud. 2012 was the year of Olympian efforts not just in East London!

Lawrence, however, is not all about the talent and relentless success. The First Year trip to refine the skills of bowling and Laser Quest demonstrate this. Lawrence is about bringing people together and primarily about having fun. Mr Cherry was determined to show that his experience and skill was unsurpassable, and with quotes such as ‘I once spent a week in a bowling alley…it is all that I did’ he was sure to be a force to be reckoned with. This was noted by Mr Ayers, the Heads of House and the First and Second Years present. As a collective, the decision was made to let him have the victory and the top score. Who said chivalry was dead? The unselfish acts of the First Years here show that being a part of Lawrence is more than just personal success, and that it is the spirit and the approach to a task that is important, not the outcome.

Before the term could be rounded off and the final curtain drawn on this year’s Allen Grant competition, it was to the university swimming pool for the Gala.

The swimmers were headstrong and determined; some taking responsibility for far more than their fair share of events and everyone committing themselves to the cause until the dying moments. Belinda Groom’s early success wasn’t to be followed up by us all, but we battled in true Lawrence style and can be rightly proud, again, of the victories and the losses, the sweat on our brows and the red eyes we travelled home with.

It is this spirit that makes Lawrence such a pleasure to be a part of and it has been truly a pleasure to have such an important role within such a great team. We are proud of you all.

Jasper Evans & Annie Clarke

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Reynolds I

t has been a truly outstanding year for the Reynolds crew, with the House on excellent form across a wide variety of events and activities. Even if we didn’t top the table this year Reynolds is now nowhere near the bottom and has definitely been the most exceptional House in terms of showing our true grit and determination to achieve a massive improvement.

Our new First Years injected the House with their “can-do” spirit and entered every event with great determination. The Lower School made a supreme effort and were decent opposition in the sports played at Junior House level, with the Upper School and the Seniors performing well too. Our very efficient Heads of House, Hugo Thould and Lottie Williams, inspired great fighting, team-spirit and expertly commanded the teams in all the events.

Over the autumn term, the girls certainly showed their strength on the hockey pitch; the First Years, Colts and Seniors all finishing in the top three. In Junior House events, the boys gave brave performances on the rugby pitch and held their ground against strong opposition. The girls battled it out on the hockey pitches and secured fifth and sixth positions. Our First Year girls thoroughly deserved their first taste of victory for the House in the hockey competition where they showed everybody that they have a great talent to watch out for in the coming years. Other successes to mention include our quiz team who won, and our badminton team who took third place.

The spring term brought a new change to the House system and we voted in our first House Captains in the Lower and Upper Schools. Thanks and praise are due to all four captains (Samhita Foria, Eddy Evans, Iona Todd and Phil Normand) who did a fantastic job helping the Heads of House.

In the spring term it was the boys’ turn to shine on the hockey pitch; the Colts came second, 3 Junior House teams also finished in second place and the Seniors came in third position. The Lower School girls again showed their strength through their enthusiasm and determination, and fought hard on the netball pitches to hold their ground against very strong opposition in the Junior House events. The spring term also saw further successes, with excellent performances from our First Year table tennis team, First Year netball team, the Colts basketball team and the Lower School football team, who all won their competitions and added valuable points to the tally. The cross country held on the Wellington playing fields was another opportunity for our top athletes to test themselves; our Lower School team doing very well to finish in second

place. The Senior football and unihoc teams worked hard to secure a well-deserved second place in both competitions. The Colts girls also added valuable points to the total by finishing third in the netball tournament.

The summer term provided yet more excitement, with our celebratory Olympic theme underlying many of the events. The Upper School captains (Dan Hemingway and Gina Steel) did an amazing job inspiring a younger generation of athletes at the mini-Olympics held with six local primary schools. Helped by the Lower School captains (Dave Kelly and Amelia Beck), the grey, rainy weather couldn’t dampen their enthusiasm on our own Sports Day where we saw many strong performances from our determined runners. The Lower School proved they are a force to be reckoned with by securing second place. We showed we are a House of many talents in the ‘Ready, Steady, Cook’ competition where our team delighted the judges with their culinary skills to win second place. The House finished the year on a high note cruising to a comfortable and convincing victory in the Swimming Gala. Our First Years certainly showed their promise and talent in their own events as well as in the open races. And with our First Years in first place, the Third Years in second and Second Years in third position in the merits competition, we can really prove that we truly are the most widely-talented House of all.

So we finished the year in second place in the Allen Grant table. Half a point behind the winners! I don’t think we can ask for any more than that! Thanks must, of course, go to Hugo and Lotti who were excellent Heads of House. They were extremely organised and unfaltering in their determination and encouragement to all our House members, no matter what the event.

They thoroughly deserved their House Colours for all they did. I am sure that with Ellie Stephens and James Skinner taking over at the helm next year the House can continue to go from strength to strength!

Miss Lindebringhs

SOTONIENSIS 2012 | 13

Sylvester F

or the past two years we have either won or lost the trophy by one point. Who would have thought that this year’s competition could be even closer? It had all seemed so comfortable this time round. We’d been out in front since the first half of the first term and had simply pulled further and further clear until Easter but the late, late charge of Reynolds almost caught us unawares and, in the end, we hung on by a thread, or half a point.

It was the Sixth Form who led the way. Very ably led and organised by Heads of House, Cameron and Ellie, these two year groups have always excelled when paired together and both the boys and the girls had notable success. It was also great to see so many members of the Sixth Form ready to get involved, whether that meant coaching from the sidelines at Junior House, helping out at the House Tea (and particular thanks to Cameron and Annie for providing the live music) or playing their first hockey match for over three years. Cameron and Ellie have now handed over to Hugh and Lucy and, reinforced by the very able Fifth Year, the Sixth Form should be able to lead from the front again.

In terms of event wins it was the girls who struck first with an impressive win in the hockey; the opening event of the year. They were later to finish second in the netball and Helen, ably assisted by First Year Mhairi, conjured up a very attractive two course meal to take third place in the Ready Steady Cook competition.

The boys, meanwhile, won the Cross Country team competition despite some injuries and absences.

Headed home by Tom S (2nd) and Cameron (4th), the whole team of Aidan, Hugh and Tom W all finished close up. Tom, Cameron and Aidan also helped the football team to victory, alongside captain Mikey, playmaker Adam and the tireless Ed. On Sports Day it was Sam who accumulated more points for the House than any other Sylvester competitor.

The Colts had similar success and were ultimately to win the trophy for their age group despite the absence of the all-conquering Fifth Year on Sports Day. Led by the irrepressible House Captains, Hannah and Toby, they were particularly impressive in the hockey, winning both the boys and the girls competitions with some style. They also finished runners-up in the rugby and the football, while Josh cut a fine figure as Lionel Messi in the Olympian Debating Competition.

Hannah K and Max, the Fourth Year House Captains, also acquired a vast Junior School fan club when they helped to run the mini-olympics although their tug of war debut did not go quite as well!

The Lower School had a mixed time of things in Junior House. The stars for the boys were the hockey ‘A’ team, who won their competition on goal difference

and the netball ‘C’ Team who took the honours.

They also finished runners-up in the closely-fought rounders and football competitions. At the Swimming Gala they were able to earn what proved to be a very important second place overall behind a very strong Reynolds team. Individual winners included Briallen, who regained her backstroke title, while Maya broke another record, this time for the 200m. The most unusual win though came for Samara in ‘the Plunge’ (a specially revived old Olympic event). She also showed a liking for the other new event, the underwater swim, finishing third against older boys in an open event, swimming an impressive length and a quarter under water before surfacing.

Merits is never a strong point for the House (the current Upper Sixth are the only ever Sylvester merit champions) but James and Georgia in the Second Year and Briallen and Samara in the Third Year deserve a special mention for their top 10 finishes in their respective year groups. Thank you to Briallen and Oscar, Samara and Tom for their excellent work as House Captains.

The First Year also had a lot of success, particularly the boys. They finished second in very close competitions for the football and the table-tennis. In the swimming, Guy won the 50m freestyle and George was second in the 50m fly, against older competitors. They also both showed their class by helping out in the open events (with all our older swimmers absent due to field trip or dramatic commitments) and didn’t mind at all that they had to race against Sixth Formers. Jacob also deserves a special mention for playing a leading role in the table tennis and the football, helping the chess team to victory and winning a race on Sports Day. The girls meanwhile found things harder, but showed great team spirit.

It has been great to see such successful collaboration between the year groups this year, both in terms of competition and support. ‘Team Kavanagh’ won our Joker event (the squash) and the chess team, captained by Tom W but containing representatives of all sections of the School, achieved an unexpected success after a poor showing last year.

So it was Sylvester again in 2012 but only by a short head and now the pressure is really on. Next year we’ll be trying for our hat trick, but just watch out for those Greens.

Miss Barron

14 | SOTONIENSIS 2012 2010

Watts W

att a fantastic year it has been! Witty puns aside, let’s start with the autumn term. At the start of the year, Junior House kicked off Watts’ success with a brilliant victory for the rugby ‘A’ side coming first, as did the girls’ hockey ‘A’ team. Yvie Lock has shown outstanding promise both in the girls’ hockey and netball teams this year. The girls’ netball ‘A’ side also scooped first place in the spring term round of Junior House and the ‘B’ team were narrowly beaten to second. The Lower School are certainly to be commended for their sporting prowess. Sporting victories were also found in Colts’ football, the Junior cross country and House badminton. Other areas of success higher up in the School have been with the Senior girls’ hockey, Colts’ basketball, Senior boys’ hockey and the Senior cross country. Sport has clearly been a highlight for Watts this year and it is encouraging to see so many promising athletes in the Lower School.

Outside of sport, possibly our most notable victory this year has been in the Ready Steady Cook competition.

Armed with the formidable Harrison Lewis, our team managed to create a Heston Blumenthal-worthy quirky dish involving a burger served with lashings of melted chilli chocolate. Evidently a highlight and an event worthy of seeing off the end of the year.

It has been an absolute pleasure and honour for Will and I to lead Watts House this year and we both agree it has been a fundamental part of our time here. What has really inspired us is observing how much promise so many of our younger Watts’ students show in their House activities.

We wish Harrison and Steph all the best with their new roles and we are sure they’ll slip into them with ease and flair. Watts Power!

Kirsty Asher

SOTONIENSIS 2012 | 15

16 | SOTONIENSIS 2012

Staff Farewells Noreen Lovegrove When Noreen took on the role of Head of Biology in 2004 the Department was housed in rather oldfashioned laboratories that did not really reflect how the subject is taught in the 21st century. Noreen has led the Department through the revision of the A level course, a long-awaited change to teaching IGCSE to the Upper School and a major refurbishment and restructuring of the teaching area. These changes are never easy and it has taken all of Noreen’s calm organisation to make the transitions run as smoothly as they have. She has been a driving force in changing the dark laboratories of a few years ago into rooms which are flooded with natural light and are a pleasure to teach in. Perhaps the most obviously imaginative change is the superb fish tank that is part of the wall of one of the laboratories.

Noreen has been a very strong defender of the need for coursework to be carried out on location rather than within School. It is through her effort and energy that many groups of Sixth Formers have been introduced to field work and this has, in turn, encouraged more students to consider biology as a subject of study at university and, indeed, teaching biology as a possible career.

N

oreen Lovegrove retires this year having taught at KES since September 1994. She has been Head of Biology since 2004. As soon as Noreen joined the Biology Department she showed herself to be a very able biologist, an excellent communicator and a consummate professional. However, it is her generosity of spirit and kindness to colleagues and pupils that many will remember with gratitude and fondness.

During her time at KES, Noreen assumed leadership of the First Year Extended Project team rising to the challenge and leading this important area of the curriculum with distinction. During her time as Coordinator, the Extended Project grew from strength to strength. Of course, she never lost her love of all things biological and continued to enthuse pupils from First Year to Upper Sixth about the study of the natural world.

Noreen has also supported other trips including helping with the Operation Wallacea expedition to South East Indonesia. It was on this trip that she was persuaded, at great personal trepidation, to snorkel in the Band Sea. She overcame her fear and was rewarded with some absolutely breathtaking views.

She has also been an excellent tutor and her tact, generosity and understanding of young people has allowed many to flourish under her care.

Noreen leaves the School having made a real difference to many students and staff. She leaves the Biology Department ready for the challenges ahead.

We hope that she enjoys her well-deserved retirement and that she can now spend time pursuing all her interests and enjoying the natural world to which she has introduced so many pupils.

Mr Herklots

SOTONIENSIS 2012 | 17

Joe Allen

J

oe Allen joined King Edward’s as an NQT in September 2005, having attended the School as a pupil. He quickly gained a reputation for being a laid-back, unflappable teacher of English, and three years ago was made Secondin-Department in charge of English Language A Level, a post which he has held with success. Several students have, under his tutelage, gone on to study English Language at university, and he has worked hard to promote the subject at the School.

Joe has also been Coordinator of the Charlotte Exchange Programme. He has received glowing reviews from across the Atlantic, and his efficiency, sensitivity in dealing with delicate issues and ability to get along with anyone have made him very popular in this role. The Charlotte Exchange assemblies have been engaging and witty and this due in no small part to Joe’s intelligent input.

It is widely acknowledged that Joe has done a magnificent job in improving the standing of debating in the School and, indeed, the face of King Edward’s on the wider debating circuit. Under his guidance, and for the first time, the School entered debating teams (often comprised of wouldbe medics and economists, so not a specialised English field) in the Oxford Union and English Speaking Union competitions. They have managed the very impressive achievement of reaching the regional final in the ESU and have also reached the finals at Oxford three times in four years which has significantly raised the profile of debating at King Edward’s. It is Joe’s dedication and free giving of his time and skills which has allowed this to happen.

As an Upper School tutor, Joe has nurtured an open and relaxed atmosphere in his tutor group and is regarded as approachable and friendly. He always has the best interests of his tutees at heart and is often to be found chatting away during group base in an informal but supportive manner.

Joe has performed all aspects of his work, both inside and outside the classroom, with the minimum of fuss and has never been one to seek the limelight. He has been a true team player, always willing to pitch in and help. Whether it is helping out on trips, sporting fixtures or Open Day preparation, Joe has always been very happy to give his time, and this has been greatly appreciated. As a colleague Joe’s unflappability has made him a cricketer of some

success in the staff team and he has also been a regular and easy-going presence on the five-aside football pitch.

He is a popular and sociable colleague and we will all miss his wit and good humoured banter.

Few people know that Joe once worked as a DJ. This skill was certainly well-used in his recent promotion to Sports Day commentator. Following in the steps of the great Dave Dykes was a tough job, but Joe took on the mantle with his trademark insouciance.

Joe leaves the school to take up a post as Head of English at Reading Blue Coats. He leaves with the very best wishes of the English Faculty and the School in general.

Dr Schofield

18 | SOTONIENSIS 2012

Sue King

S

ue King joined the School in September 2003 coming from The British School of Brussels. She quickly established

herself as an excellent teacher of mathematics. The students under her care have really appreciated her patience and have been well looked after. Many students have commented that they have loved Mrs King and she is famous for her x-ray specs, magic bag of sweets and her quirky sense of humour.

Sue and her partner Peter have assisted the D of E effort at KES since 2004 and they have contributed repeatedly, attending up to 5 expeditions in each year, be it on Dartmoor or in the New Forest. In fact for a couple of

years Sue formed the back-bone of the New Forest team. Despite her poor sense of direction they did have ‘Barbara’ (apparently a GPS ‘gadget’) to help out in case of emergencies! We are most grateful for the time they both gave, willingly and always with a smile on their faces, even when conditions were appalling.

Sue has also been on the French exchange, a ski trip and taken part in Race for Life with the School.

She has been a lovely colleague to work with and we will miss her very much indeed.

Mr Collins

Derek Kelly

D

erek Kelly has worked at KES for the past 24 years. During this time, he has taught both French and Spanish to A level and has seen countless students through their GCSE and A level exams.

Derek has been a legendary figure within the Languages Faculty for decades; a mixture of the traditional school master who has conquered all emerging technologies with skill. Derek has made a significant contribution to IT in his time at KES and worked hard with Nick James to establish the Sanako media centres. He has led trips and exchanges abroad and, with Stuart Ayers, took numerous Third Years on the Le Havre exchange. Within the faculty he is respected for his forthright views on educational issues and his input into faculty discussions has been rich and varied. He has been a very popular colleague with an inimitable and shrewd sense of humour who has been supportive to all. He will be sorely missed. As Derek takes a very much deserved retirement we wish him all the best.

Although the faculty loses a stalwart with Derek’s departure we thank him warmly for all that he has done for languages over the years.

Mrs Parkyn

Paul Tasker

P

aul Tasker retired in December 2012. He taught at KES for over 20 years during which he proved to be a biologist of distinction and a fund of obscure knowledge.

Few men have such a wide range of interests with genuine expertise in everything from bees and gardening to antique pens and trains.

Paul also played a key role in the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, was a member of the Charity Committee and even ran a school tuck shop at one stage of his teaching career. He was also an Upper School tutor, PGCE mentor and was involved with photography for A level students before the arrival of Mr Piggott. He has many interests outside the School, not least his collection of vintage cars, so there is much to keep him occupied. We wish him a well-deserved retirement.

SOTONIENSIS 2012 | 19

Alex Cherry

A

lex Cherry joined the School in September 2007 and has taught English Language and Literature to AS level. As a teacher, his great strength lies in his ability to create a relaxed, informal atmosphere in the classroom, whilst still maintaining excellent discipline and focus. His energy and wit have helped him to establish a tremendous rapport with the students, and he clearly enjoys working with young people.

It is ‘energy’ that has characterised Alex’s time at the School. His willingness to get involved in all aspects of school life has been much appreciated and his dynamism and ‘can-do’ attitude have been very refreshing. Alex was taken on as Head of Sailing but he has added Cookery Club, Head of House, China trip, Debating Society, Mentor to PGCE students and Lower School tutor to his responsibilities.

Alex came to King Edward’s with a wealth of personal sailing experience, having competed nationally on the RS800 Open circuit. The sailing club members and indeed staff have benefited from his high level of personal competence in a dingy, demonstrating technique with style and finesse. His passionate encouragement and ability to improve the technique of the students have really benefited the club sailors hoping to move into racing and cruising alike. His happy and easy manner will be missed on the water

where he feels most at home.

As Head of Lawrence Alex has also been passionate in his backing for his teams, and his vocal support has enriched the autumn air during many a Junior House.

Jackie Barron, the Senior Housemistress comments on his highly motivational style and notes that his friendly, approachable manner has ensured popularity with the students. These attributes are echoed by the other Heads of House who commend his enthusiasm, positive outlook, and spirit of competition which balances a will to win with a healthy appreciation of the ethos of house rivalry. In particular Alex’s organisation of the House football events, a not inconsiderable commitment has been recognised and appreciated.

With regard to his pastoral duties, Alex is regarded as a great tutor, who is really able to create a good balance with younger students, being seen as both caring and yet commanding of respect.

Alex surprised us by jumping at the chance to become Head of Cookery. Having helped him in this enterprise, I can vouch for the organisation and energy it takes to make it work. During Foundation Studies, for example, there is barely an hour and a half available to set out enough equipment (including portable rings) and ingredients for a dozen or so students, teach some fairly inexperienced cooks how to make a main course each, and then wash up and pack away all this equipment. In some ways this is Alex at his best, at the centre of organised chaos and loving every second!

Alex is a young man of integrity and energy. He leaves the school to travel the world, and he sets off with our very best wishes.

Dr Schofield

Hilary Kennard

H

ilary Kennard came to King Edward’s in May 2006 after a career working as a PA, HR manager and marketing executive for the Rank Organisation, CTC Aviation and PriceWaterhouseCoopers. She has transformed the role of PA to the Head Master at King Edward’s over the 6 years she has held it with increasing responsibilities as a team leader, policy supervisor and inspection co-ordinator. In her final months at KES she was still eager for a challenge and has taken on a key role as Executive Assistant linking the administration teams between Stroud School and King Edward’s.

She has been an exemplary PA, constantly looking to improve the School’s administration while ensuring that her team is fully supported. She has also gone well beyond the strict remits of her role to become involved in the wider life of the School including cookery and accompanying the School’s Romania team in 2010 and the Beam House trip in 2011.

She is going to be much missed but Hilary has many interests to keep her busy. A keen linguist, she has been studying for a degree through the Open University over the past three years while sustaining her love of literature, theatre and music and pursuing her newly discovered hobby – kayaking.

20 | SOTONIENSIS 2012

Eileen Mayes

E

ileen Mayes joined the school in September 1995 coming over from the British School in Brussels. She quickly established herself as an outstanding teacher of mathematics. Eileen is at home teaching across the whole spectrum of abilities and ages and her style of teaching has appealed to many students who have appreciated her abundance of patience and willingness to ‘get the best out of them’.

Eileen has been a truly inspirational teacher and has taken many newly-appointed mathematics teachers under her wing, guiding them through the complexities of teaching this subject. She has provided resources for individual teachers and for the department and has been a great support and a listening ear giving her time freely and willingly.

Eileen has for many years organised the running of the Maths Club, the Monthly Puzzle Spot and the UKMT Junior Mathematical Challenge and Olympiad follow-on rounds. All have been run with clockwork efficiency for which we are truly grateful.

Eileen has embraced new technological ideas and ways to implement them in the classroom and she is constantly re-evaluating her teaching and passing on good ideas to others. Her pastoral skills are second to none and many a student has benefited from the quiet words of thoughtful and helpful advice. Her written reports are a legend at KES and she never fails to take the time and trouble to make sure they are accurate, detailed and extremely perceptive to each individual pupil.

Eileen has been hugely influential on many of the departmental staff and probably more than she realises. She has been a wonderful colleague in every respect and we will miss her enormously.

Mr Collins

Elizabeth Mackintosh

E

lizabeth Mackintosh joined the School as Head of Religious Studies and Philosophy in January 2011.

In just five terms she has overseen significant changes within the Religious Studies Department introducing a new short course GCSE in Religious Studies and Citizenship, a full course GCSE option in Philosophy and Ethics and a new A Level course in Philosophy and Ethics. To alter so much in such a short time is a challenge that she has risen to with considerable skill, diplomacy, stamina and style, demonstrating management and leadership of the highest calibre.

As a teacher Elizabeth’s enthusiasm for her subjects and energy in the classroom have been particularly impressive. Students have benefited greatly from her preparation, expertise and commitment. Many have taken advantage of numerous revision sessions run after School and at lunchtime to ensure that students went into examinations with no stone unturned.

Elizabeth’s contribution has extended beyond the classroom. She has organised and compered a very successful fashion show for the Charities Commission and has been a lively and enthusiastic coach to the Under 14 netball teams.

It is a great pity that Elizabeth’s stay at the School has been so short because she has been a real asset. She is leaving to take up a new post at Marlborough College. We thank her for her significant contribution and achievements during her time at the School and wish her every success in the future.

Mr Walter

Claire Griffiths

C

laire Griffiths, Finance Officer officially left King Edward’s at the start of 2012, having decided not to return from maternity leave. Joining the Accounts Department in May 2004, she attained the Association of Accounting Technicians qualification in 2008, and gave support on class trips the following year.

SOTONIENSIS 2012 | 21

Harinder Singh Atwal

H

ari joined us for the academic year 2011/2012 as Classroom Support Technician as the sandwich work-placement component of his BSc Computing at Portsmouth University. Hari’s cheerfulness, willing attitude and capability have meant that nothing he has been tasked with has been too much trouble for him. Mr Tofts even asked if he would spend five minutes with a class of First Years to answer some questions towards the conclusion of a topic on the Sikh faith. Hari jumped at this opportunity and, following the success of this one, eventually presented a whole 50 minute lesson to each of the First Year classes.

Outside School, Hari sits on his temple’s youth committee and studies the Sikh martial art of Gatka and the Indian instrument Tabla.

We wish Hari well in his final year at Portsmouth and are sure that he will find success and contentment in whatever he does.

Mr Rigg

Chris Eades

C

hris arrived at King Edward’s in 2009 following a History degree at Southampton and teacher training at Bath.

In three short years he has crammed an enormous amount into his time and has made a powerful impact. Chris is a firstrate history teacher; he has taught across all the year groups and has inspired many with his innovative and dynamic approach to all he does. Outside the classroom, Chris has made his mark in a wide range of co-curricular activities. He has been a very successful coach of the 1st XI cricket team, being responsible for notable results on the domestic circuit and the new departure of a tour to Sri Lanka in 2011, whilst he has also found time to coach rugby and, for the past year, lead Capon House.

Chris now leaves to take up a position at Bradfield College where I have no doubt that he will continue to impress as he settles into the demands of boarding school life. He goes with our very best wishes and our thanks for all he has done.

Mr Diver

Matthew Bulmer

I

n his short time at King Edward’s, Matthew has made a considerable impact. He has proved to be an energetic and inspirational drama teacher, a valued and reliable member of the Junior Drama Club team and a really creative and imaginative Director of the hugely ambitious and inclusive Ali Baba.

Matthew has also taught English and his Head of Department comments that he has been impressed by Matthew’s ambition and energy with his groups and that his lessons have been “a triumph of chaotic creativity.”

Matthew has contributed to the co-curricular sporting life at KES by running the U13 rugby team with commitment and patience.

He has demonstrated excellent man management skills and real talent as a coach.

Matthew has been an approachable and dedicated tutor and has also been supportive of colleagues offering a listening ear and practical advice when necessary. ‘Get up and go’ could be a phrase coined for Matthew Bulmer. When he undertakes to do something it is done with energy, verve and panache. We are very sorry that he is ‘getting up and going’ from King Edward’s but we do wish him every success in his new post.

Mrs Price

Dr Stephen Hoskins and David Price

T

he Biology Department is saying goodbye to two longstanding and highly valued members of staff, Dr Stephen Hoskins and Mr David Price, after 20 and 32 of service respectively. We wish them all the best in their retirement.

22 | SOTONIENSIS 2010

Clubs and Societies

Amnesty Group Amnesty International is a charitable organisation that attempts to highlight human rights abuses around the world. The main aim of affiliated school groups is to raise awareness among school communities through education and direct action. This year the KES group met regularly each week to write letters and to plan and run promotional events in School.

T

he autumn term saw the ‘Kites for Afghanistan’ campaign in which passers-by in the Crush Hall were encouraged to decorate small card kites with messages of support for oppressed Afghan women.

Well over one hundred kites were collected and sent off in support of Amnesty’s attempts to promote this issue with the Foreign Office. Later that term saw another Crush Hall stall, this time encouraging pupils to write seasonal greetings cards to prisoners of conscience across the world.

The spring term saw students collecting names for a petition encouraging William Hague to take a strong line in up-coming talks on limiting the international arms trade. And, in our final action of the year,

members of the group created a giant Syrian flag and invited pupils to pin their name to it in support of the oppressed people of that country.

All the events were organised and run entirely by the students of the group, each of which has shown impressive commitment to the cause. Special mention should go to regulars Kiah Ashford-Stow, Ros Hollinghurst, Anjelica Cleaver, Sonali Philips, Ben Jeffery, Stephen Peckham, Penelope Bielckus, Andy Briggs, Liana Price, Lauren Davies, Claudia Wyatt, Ollie Ferec-Dayson and Callum Vibert.

Dr Gamblin

Astronomy Society T

his year has seen the second batch of astronomers taking on the GCSE qualification this summer.

There has been much work to cover but it has all been extremely interesting, including observational techniques in astronomy, Newton’s law of gravity, and the detection of extra-solar planets. I hope the students had as much fun studying the subject as I had teaching them.

Throughout the year, there have also been several trips to the New Forest and to Toothill observatory which were open to all students interested in astronomy. My thanks go out to everyone who has been part of the society this year even if only for one cold dark winter evening.

Mr Simm

SOTONIENSIS 2010 | 23

Badminton Club H

aving run the Badminton Club for well over ten years it is becoming increasingly difficult to think of something original to write in this annual report.

As in previous years it has been a pleasure to supervise students of various ages and abilities while they play badminton. On some courts it has been possible to witness games that could at best be described as ‘sociable’ while on others there have been much more competitive encounters on show.

Overall, attendances were down on some years, although there were still weeks when court space was at a premium and it was necessary to use the squash courts as an overflow.

The Upper School and Third Year provided the

bulk of this year’s players. It is always difficult to remember everybody who has attended, but some of our more frequent attendees who come to mind are Rahell Ahmed, Marco Ma, Shrinivas Anikhindi, Curtis Crowley, Craig Buttle, Tom Slattery, Sophie Hunter, Sophie Arthur, Alex Ferryman, Tom Durham, Carl Wikeley, Chris Harley, Conor Healy, Adam Bull, Albert Beck, Toby Saer and Henry Marden.

My thanks go to all club members for their support, enthusiasm and commitment over the year. Once again I am indebted to Dr Gamblin for his help in running the club after school on Wednesdays.

Mr Walter

Cactus Club M

any fascinating talks and activities have entertained the loyal band of students and their guests over the past academic year. Mr Kelsey graced us with what has become an important annual event, the inaugural lecture. This year, he took as his topic ‘the Succulents of the Puglia Region of Italy’ to give a fascinating talk. Of particular note too was the talk on Rhipsalis baccifera. This tough little individual is native to both the Americas and the Old World, where it is found in tropical Africa, Madagascar, and Sri Lanka. It is thought to have colonised the Old World within the last few thousand years, probably by being carried as seeds in the digestive tracts of migratory birds. Thank you to James Mitchell for such careful research.

Our trip this year took a famous French painter as its theme. Claude Monet (1840-1926) painted a series of paintings of the Palace of Westminster, home of the British Parliament, during his stays in London between the years 1900-1904. He also spent many hours at Kew where “the man with the beard and the joie de cacti” became much loved. On Saturday 28th April the intrepid members taking part in the annual Cactus Club field trip followed the Monet Trail around the 300 acre botanical gardens at Kew. It was a great day with much laughter in the rain. This year’s expedition prize winners were James Allen, James Mitchell and Ben Wall (the current Cactus Club champion).

Jordan Florit manned our stall on Open Evening in November and certainly drew the crowds into the

Dining Room where we were based with his uniquely enthusiastic presentation of the wonders of plant hunting.

This has been another fine year for the Club. In the summer term we joined up with the new Beekeeping Club to share ideas and knowledge. The flowers of certain types of cacti produce a nectar which can add flavour and distinction to the final product. We look forward to maintaining this “entente cordiale” over the forthcoming year

James Mitchell & Ben Wall

24 | SOTONIENSIS 2012

The Byron Society

“Smiles form the channel of a future tear.”

R

ecently I came across these adventure notes amongst my papers: “This is a 12 hour adventure.

Meet at the Hill Lane Gate at 8 am prompt. We return to the same location at 8 pm. Bring a regency hamper to assuage thirst and hunger. Bring some guineas (not fowl). Be prepared to move fast and light. Rain defence advisable. Sturdy footwear. We shall go the distance. Bring a short Byron poem or extract of your choice.”

Was this an important document related to the aristocratic poet and hero beloved of Caro Lamb?

Could this be Lord Byron’s notes for his travels in Albania in 1811 with his great friend John Cam Hobhouse? Yes and no. Important certainly, but for another search for knowledge some 201 years later: The Quest for Regency London, February 2012.

Accompanying Lord Byron, Lady Anne Louise Emily Hardy and John Cam Hobhouse on this day in 2012 were Susan Vaughan (Becci Fearnley), Teresa Guicioli (Karina Rodler), Josephine de Beauharnais (Emilie Ripoche), Stephen Lushington (Ollie Hogg) who joined us briefly and emotionally at Byron’s birthplace in Holles Street, Lady Constance Spencer Smith (Rose Blackman), Alexander Mavrocordato (Harry Hazelgrove), Earl of Clare (Pierre Van Dessel), Allegra Byron (Belle Johnson), Dr James Kennedy (Alex Wilks), Susan Boyce (Louise McCann), Lady Caroline Lamb (Natalia Laverty) and Lady Jersey (Lucy Wegerif).

The Southampton stagecoach deposited the party at Kew Gardens before we boarded

the Tube to Piccadilly Circus.

Albany, Byron’s bachelor pad, was our first destination, then on to the Drury Lane Theatre to see where our hero directed operations for a time. Holles Street was the venue for a short reading at Byron’s birthplace.

“So, We’ll Go No More Aroving” captivated our fellow shoppers.

We moved on to Whitechapel Gallery to see Thomas Phillips’ oil painting of Byron in Albanina dress which usually hangs in the Ambassador’s Residence in Athens. As the light faded we set off for Kensal Green Cemetery where Hobhouse’s tomb was suitably atmospheric in the fading light! A candlelit ceremony there as the snow fell was perhaps the stand-out memory of the day.

A debrief at Lady Anne Hardy’s “House of Starbucks” at Kew was enthusiastically embraced as we waited for the mail coach back to the south coast. For the record, here is our poem: so, we’ll go no more a-roving so late into the night though the heart be still as loving and the moon be still as bright for the sword outwears its sheath and the soul wears out the breast and the heart must pause to breathe and love itself have rest though the night was made for loving and the day returns too soon yet we’ll go no more a-roving by the light of the moon Few will be able to forget, let alone remember, our early May visit to the home of Lord Byron and our opportunity to tour those other parts of the Midlands where the Byron myth was crafted. In the morning we visited Hucknall, a short distance from the abbey

where we had a 1 o’clock appointment.

Here, at the Church of St Mary Magdalene, are the tombs of Byron himself and of his beloved daughter Ada. To complete our day we called in at Castleton in the Peak District.

Near this picturesque town, set in magnificent surroundings, are the famous Blue John caverns which Byron explored with Mary Chaworth and her mother who had invited him to join a party of young people for a visit to the caves. Mary was Byron’s first true love and the inspiration for many of his poems. Here we banqueted in honour of the great poet, climbed the Heights of Mam Tor and reflected on a colossal life as we stood where Byron and his friends stood above the russet slopes of Derbyshire. A full day certainly, and one which promised to become another part of the fascinating Byron myth.

Much more could be told.

We realise that we have not mentioned the stunning Presidential Address on the topic of Byron’s animals, the wonderful speed courting or Lady Oxford’s Croquet Festival of 1813, but these stories are for another time.

However, several manuscript sheets of this report were burnt in error when we re-enacted the 1824 burning of the memoirs. It is with sadness that we end the year but the Society will gather again in September for cultured revelries and academic tours de force. The next generation of Byronists will take the helm and the adventures of Childe Harold will continue anew.

Lord Byron

SOTONIENSIS 2012 | 25

Beekeeping Club A

fter much anticipation and preparation, that included the building of a bee hive, the KES Bees arrived on 3rd May 2012. They were subsequently installed in their new home and got to work producing comb and brood.

A number of students (from the Second Year through to the Upper Sixth) have had letters signed by their parents permitting them to be on the school roof where they too can experience getting stung! However, to date, no bees have decided to sting and so we are still awaiting this experience.

We are very privileged to have Dave Norris working with us and supporting us as we get used to being apiarists. He has been a tremendous help, supplying us with much advice and thousands of bees!

After a few weeks the bees had filled several frames with honey, pollen and brood. This is necessary for the hive numbers to increase from about 10 000 to 70 000 bees. Once numbers have increased, the bees can start to really produce the honey and we anticipate a crop in early September.

Recent weather has hindered progress, with the hive lid blowing off and rain keeping the bees in the hive. However, after some careful feeding, they will be expected to recover.

KES Beekeeping Club is always happy to have visitors to the hive to view an inspection or simply watch the bees coming and going – just listen out for notices or see Ms Greenwood, Dr Gamblin or Mr Robinson..

Mr Robinson

26 | SOTONIENSIS 2012

Chess Club T

his has again been a year of new beginnings in the Chess Club, with several of the new First Years and a few new members from other age groups joining the small nucleus of existing members. A few Sixth Form players joined in for the UK Chess Challenge in the spring term, and it was one of these who emerged at the top of the table. Tom Weir used to attend the club when he was in the Third and Fourth Year, and now in the Upper Sixth returned to conquer all opponents and become the School Champion. Last year’s champion, Curtis Crowley, was runner-up and these two were joined by fourteen other pupils in qualifying from this competition for the Hampshire Megafinal in May. At the other end of the scale, there was the usual disappointing number of players not fulfilling their fixtures and thus leaving their potential opponents hanging around in frustrated expectation. Seven games in eight weeks is not a vast commitment, and I’d like to think those who undertake it should generally be able to carry it through. There are small prizes as incentives to attend at every level, not just for those who are in contention to win the whole tournament.

In the end, none of our players enjoyed great success at county level. Bijan Nader-Sepahi was eighth in the U12 boys, James Mitchell and David Veres were both joint-sixth in the U13 boys and although Matthew Fewtrell and Tom Weir were a creditable joint-second in the U18 boys, their 2.5 points (each) was still a full 2 points behind the winner. Even so, I hope all five of these still felt it had been worthwhile going up to Basingstoke for the day and experiencing the atmosphere of a “proper” chess tournament.

Our other main event of the year, the House competition, was won by last year’s woodenspooners, Sylvester, with a strong performance right through the lower boards that more than compensated for the unexpected defeat of their captain. Particularly gratifying this year was the high turnout, with most Houses not only supplying complete teams, but doing so without requiring a last-minute panic search of the Concourse for “volunteers” to draft in. The majority of Heads of House were also able to attend, and their support for this event is very welcome.

Mr Patten

SOTONIENSIS 2012 | 27

Cookery Club Debating Society M r Cherry’s Cookery Club, where do I begin?

A fun filled edible experience, all through the guidance of Mr Cherry and his Sixth Form crew. It was great fun and I loved cooking with all my friends.

The recipes were awesome and most of them I have cooked again at home, my favourite being the chocolate brownies! I don’t always have time to cook at home, and this was a great opportunity to cook great dishes. On Cookery Club nights I had lots of tasty dinners!

There were around 9 people per group in each half term course, my course being the second half of the spring term and being a First Year it was good to meet new people that I hadn’t interacted with much before.

The small group made it easy to ask questions and to get the dish right first time. Everyone brought in different ingredients and that made it interesting; to see what worked best and what didn’t work so well.

We tried out a great range of recipes, from curry to apple crumble. The only thing I found hard was remembering that Cookery Club was on Mondays!

Telling your mum on Sunday evening that you need chocolate, butter, eggs and flour for the next day doesn’t always make you very popular at home!

Mr Cherry was amazing and I would gladly go back to Cookery Club again to learn more recipes to bring home.

Jess Jerman

Christian Union T

he Christian Union has met regularly throughout the year with students from the Fifth Year, Lower Sixth and Upper Sixth attending the Thursday lunchtime meetings. We have also had the help and support of Matt Stemp from Highfield Church.

A significant focus of the year was looking at the ‘Test of Faith’ material, firstly as a group in preparation and then making it available to a wider audience.

This series gave insightful thought and prompted discussion on the issues around Science and Faith.

An often reached conclusion seemed to be that Science supported Faith rather than contradicted it.

Peter Thompson gave an excellent thought for the

D

ebating Society has continued to meet weekly on Thursdays after school this year. The year began with the now traditional debating workshops to help new members get to grips with what participating in a formal debate requires. There were some demonstrations, debating games and various mini-debates, all centred around the most common two debating formats; the British Parliamentary and Mace formats. The climax of these workshops was a first real debate of the year where the House proposed that it would “…ban the wearing of top hats on Mondays.” This rather absurd motion Edwardians should proudly wear their top hats whenever the ceiling heights permits - was defeated, and the society turned its attentions to selecting future motions which would avoid the society falling foul of any public school stereotypes.

Throughout the year the Society mixed debates in the British Parliamentary and Mace formats, and debated topics which covered a range of academic and topical areas. Members particularly enjoyed the motions “This House would ban the televised talent show” and “Schools should not provide contraception to students.”

It was pleasing once more to see the emergence of some new Fourth Year members and with these students forming a large proportion of this year’s membership the future of Debating Society looks bright. Next year it is hoped that these members will go on and test their skills in a wider range of competitions.

Mr Allen day to introduce the series and led the first session.

Matt Stemp and Matt Fewtrell respectively led the next two.

Throughout the year a fair bit of cake has also been consumed, prayer has been engaged in and discussion relating to a whole host of issues has taken our time. We are an open group and if you are in the Upper School or Sixth Form and would like to come along to Christian Union next year you will be welcome whatever stage you are at, or not at, in your faith or beliefs..

Mr Robinson

28 | SOTONIENSIS 2012

Charities Commission T

his year’s Charities Commission attendance at the Tuesday lunchtime meetings was similar to the turnout of a Peter Andre gig; numbers fluctuated, but an eager hard-core was always ready to immerse themselves into all aspects of activity. From delivering musical Valentine roses to bombarding group bases with information of upcoming events, these committed members were the beating heart of charities, and this year’s achievements can be attributed to their dedication and efforts.

The year began with a musical ‘Jeans for Genes’ day campaign.

This set an impressive precedent for the year to come. A vigorous advertising campaign began with the release of a single and video, to the tune of the well-known and universally abhorred Rebecca Black’s ‘Friday.’ Members of the whole School participated enthusiastically, donning denim on Friday 8th of October and raising £1204 for genetic disorders in the process.

Autumn set in, and charities continued to expand, with the term proving eventful and efficacious.

117 shoeboxes were filled and then packed for shipping, containing presents and essentials to be sent to disadvantaged Romanian children. On 19th October, £276 was raised for Macmillan Cancer Care, thanks to the copious quantities of cake donated for sale, whilst November’s ‘Children in Need’ week was given its accustomed enthusiastic reception from members of charities and the School alike.

KES’s own version of ‘Would I Lie to You’ was thoroughly successful, with opposite teams analysing potential truths to the pleasure

of the hungry, fee-paying crowd.

Had Dr Mackintosh worked in a brewery? Was it true that a current Sixth Form student had released his bladder for a dare during a maths lesson? All this mayhem was overseen by the omnipotent Will Holmes, England’s response to Rob Brydon. Lower School Charities didn’t let their inferior age and height discourage them from raising money, establishing a comprehensive network of stalls and games to assist the ‘Children in Need’ effort. The younger elements of our charities outfit consistently shone, under the diligent leadership of Beth Ashfield, and the School’s third most famous of the Richards’ brothers, Freddie. The First Year Fun Run for the ‘Toy Appeal’ was as enjoyable as it was prosperous. Hordes of tiny people in fancy dress orbited the School, with tutors bravely leading the charge. £2672 raised for a single lunchtime of exercise is not a bad hourly rate and the money provided more than 100 presents for Southampton’s most deprived children. The record breaking total reflects the activity of this term, the total reaching £11,982.91.

By spring, love was in the air and Charities was all too willing to fuel the capitalistically generated, Hallmark-sponsored festival that is Valentine’s Day. Members of the charities unit acted as a swarm of cherubs, delivering roses and musical renditions to the School’s members and accumulating £189 in the process. The centre-court attraction of the spring was the Click Choice Glamour Fashion Show. Hugely successful, KES pupils were endowed in garments kindly donated from designers such as LK Bennett, Kate Fearnley and Republic. Dumpster Design’s

contributions were rubbish; they were literally comprised of waste! KES’s own fashionistas Miss Mackintosh, Mrs Williams and Miss Stone organised and enacted this event seamlessly, raising £1246.21 for the Environmental Justice Foundation and ‘Well Boring’ trust.

The Summer Camp and South Africa teams have enjoyed equally successful years. Every July the Summer Camp team take a group of Southampton’s young carers for a well-deserved break. Various fund-raising efforts throughout the year fund this escapade. First and Second Year discos have been exhausting yet enjoyable and the first 24 hour ‘Rowathon’ amassed a total of over £1,700 towards this year’s camp. At the time of writing the team are yet to embark on their camp in Swanage, but undoubtedly it will be a successful trip, inevitably doused by Dorset’s continual rain. South Africa’s Burns Night raised £3,099 for the Goedgedacht Trust, and they look forward to visiting the Trust during August.

The Charities Commission unit this year has been a pleasure. The hard core was always willing to get stuck into charities; their relentless enthusiasm really putting the ‘fun’ into ‘fun’ctional events. Special thanks must go to the rock at the centre of our fellowship, charity’s answer to Gandalf, Mrs Williams.

Her organisation was the glue, nay the duct tape, that bonded the disparate characters of our dysfunctional family together. Lotti and I wish the 2012 Presidents the best of years, hoping they will find charities as enjoyable and rewarding as we have.

Lotti Williams and Jake Davies

SOTONIENSIS 2012 | 29

30 | SOTONIENSIS 2012

Economics Society E

conomics Society is a meeting of young economists that come together on Friday lunchtimes to listen to, and engage in, talks on a wide variety of economic topics. The Economics Society began the year amidst some of the scariest, and yet most interesting, economic times in recent years.

From credit crunches, to Greek debts and the slipping back into recession that the UK has experienced, it was always going to be a year full of stimulating and controversial talks and the reality did not disappoint.

The year began in style with a talk from Rajan Choudhary on the ‘EU Working Time Directive for Doctors’. This highly factual talk was in contrast to Cameron Kavanagh’s talk the following week on ‘Benefits and Social Security’. This fascinating topic sparked a debate that raged well past lunchtime, with Cameron defending his position from ever more searching questions, and the Economics Society merging briefly into politics!

The Society was also privileged

to hear a talk from Dr Ianni of the University of Southampton.

She gave us a lecture on Game theory, which is a tool that firms can use when attempting large decision making. She gave us an example of a firm being offered the advertising for an upcoming film and then she took us through an impressive number of scenarios and outcomes that the firm would attempt to map.

Moving through the year we had a trio of informative talks on the recent global crisis, with a very detailed look at ‘Collateralised Debt Obligations’ from Rikhil Ohri and a powerhouse talk on the ‘Causes of the Recession’ from his brother, Nikhil. Subhash Kachhwaha then talked us through the possible safeguards that could be put in place to prevent another recession. We then had two talks on ‘Inequality’ and ‘Social Mobility’ given by David Crowther and Tom Jordan respectively, with the latter doing extensive research into the topic as part of his Extended Project.

former pupil, who gave us a mini lecture and showed us what Economics at university was really like. This was invaluable to the many economists who hope to study the subject after KES. We concluded the year with a whirlwind tour from Aidan Stringfellow on ‘Price Discrimination’, a ‘forecast for inflation’ by the Target 2.0 team and, as part of the School’s programme of London 2012 events, we had a talk on whether the Olympics made economic sense.

We would like to thank the Economics Department for giving up their time to accompany us, everyone that gave a talk, and most importantly of course, everyone that came to listen!

Whilst economic forecasting is notoriously difficult, it is safe to say that the Economics Society next year will run as usual under the able leadership of Nikhil Ohri and Alex Jones.

David Crowther

Perhaps the highlight of the year was a talk by Paul Broadway, a

Mr Culver adds, “David has been an excellent leader of the Economics Society, organising a stimulating programme of talks and always willing to step into the breach when other speakers fell through. We wish him, and all those going on to study Economics at university, the very best of luck with their studies”.

SOTONIENSIS 2012 | 31

Fencing Club Hospital Visiting T

he 2011-2012 season saw the welcome addition of Mr Robinson to the Fencing Club, assisting Mr Kay-Kujawski with the coaching.

2012 saw various students beginning to take part in higher level events, competing on a national stage.

Several of the Sixth Form took part in the Men’s County Championships, both team and individual events, and finished the season off with the Balloon Fencing Championships.

We have also started a Junior School Partnership with Springhill Junior School. A total of sixty junior school pupils have visited us during five lunch times throughout the year for beginner fencing training courses.

The number of Fencing Club members is growing and we are fortunate enough to have a third member of fencing staff joining us in September.

O

nce a week, throughout the autumn and spring terms, a group of students volunteer to go to Southampton General Hospital to partake in the School’s Hospital Visiting scheme. This activity enables KES students to meet and talk with patients, helping to give them a much needed break from their daily routine, whilst also providing valuable feedback to the hospital in the form of completed questionnaires. At the same time, this scheme provides us with an opportunity to learn something about what it is like to be a hospital patient and helps us to develop our communication skills.

These are important life skills but also contribute towards the work experience required for studying Medicine. We have found hospital visiting enjoyable and informative for budding doctors as well as for those simply wanting to make a positive impact on patients’ recovery.

Ishika Prachee and Alex Johnston

Mr Kay

German Magazine Club G

erman Magazine Club works – and has done for the best part of 20 years now - because of its keen members. This year a core group of First and Second Years was ably led by Karina (our enthusiastic German Assistant), the very capable James Mitchell (himself a veteran of GMC last year), and two Upper Sixth Formers, Belle and Rosie, who produced GMC articles long ago in their own first year at KES. GMC is a great opportunity for beginners to explore the cultural background of Germany, Austria or Switzerland online or just find out more about a topic of personal interest in a friendly, informal setting with friends, and then use ICT to present their research.

The First and Second Years were already brimming with their own ideas, so Karina’s role was largely helping with language and providing samples of seasonal chocolates, cakes or biscuits from Germany, whilst James produced a series of

helpful templates for a highly professional finish.

The club met weekly on Tuesday lunchtimes during the autumn and spring terms and, despite the demands of many other commitments at lunchtimes, produced three very fine, full colour editions, including a very professional and topical Olympics edition.

Mrs Allen

32 | SOTONIENSIS 2012

Interface A

group of First, Second and Third Years has been meeting every Friday to explore the Christian faith through games, activities, quizzes and discussions.

Luck played a part in a number of the games, but generally it was skill that won through, especially in the ‘Drawing to Perfection’ competition, ‘Scrabble Scramble’ and the quizzes. Some weeks there were dilemmas – to be ‘Nasty or Nice?’ and ‘How to cheat yourself to a prize!’ On other occasions there were personality analysis and psychic ability

tests. Naturally there was a ‘Green Quiz’ on the 23rd March as well as some interesting mathematics and construction challenges.

Serious issues were not avoided including ‘Heaven and Hell’, ‘Unjust Persecution’ and ‘How much harm can one man do?’ Students with a viewpoint to express or those who like pondering new ideas are very welcome to attend.

Mr Singleton

First Aid Club O

ne excellent opportunity available at KES is to do the Red Cross First Aid course which teaches the essentials of First Aid including CPR, dealing with choking and putting people into the recovery position. During the course, you also learn about symptoms and treatments for common illnesses and how to deal with bites, burns and stings. At the end of the programme you are given an assessment during which the qualified school nurses put these newly acquired skills to the test with both a quiz and a practical test. During the practical examination I had to demonstrate how to correctly bandage and

elevation sling a wound, put a body into the recovery position and perform CPR on a dummy.

The course taught a lot about how to deal with medical situations in practice, putting great emphasis on how one’s own safety came before anything else and the stages of treatment from there onwards. It is a course that students won’t forget and although it is preferable never to have to put many of the teachings into practice, the course leaves you with the confidence that you could do so if required.

Annabel Winsor

SOTONIENSIS 2012 | 33

The Green Team T

his year really has seen the whole school involved in sustainability. The 23rd of March was Green Day here at KES and across the School a number of activities took place. Everyone wore non-uniform, including at least one green item, raising money for two very worthy environmental charities; Wellboring and the Environmental Justice Foundation. Wellboring helps to provide people in developing countries with clean water supplies and the EJF helps people who have been affected by natural and environmental issues across the world.

In the spirit of the day, students were asked to collect used printer cartridges; a vast number rose to the challenge and over 400 cartridges were collected and have been sent to a national firm for recycling. The total raised for our charities was £1272, a fantastic sum. Special thanks must go to Simon McCormickCox, our Green Team President, and Peter Astbury for helping to organise such a successful day. Both will be leaving KES this year and we wish them lots of luck for the future.

During the weeks leading up to our Green Day each student in the School was given the opportunity to write a Green Promise onto a ‘post it’ note. The Green Team then used these ‘post it’ notes to create a giant map of the world for display. Among the promises were, “I will bring in organic cake”, “I will only eat

rainforest alliance chocolate” and “I will not miss the bus and make my parents drive me to school.”

Another major event organised this year, in cooperation with the Charities Commission, was the Click Choice Fashion Show; a wonderful event, showcasing a vast array of different fashion outfits from our own GCSE and A level Textiles work, leading high street brands and unique independent designers. The Green Team’s Rosie Harper and Steph Bull helped to plan and run the event. The Green Team and Textiles students handmade a collection of totally recycled outfits from donated and collected items which were both colourful and unusual and proved to be a big hit on the night. The Fashion Show included work from Dumpster Design (an independent brand made by south coast designer Daisy Harris-Burland). Her collections bring new life to recycled and reused items that might otherwise be thrown away. Promoting both sustainably and choice was the main message of a very positive evening.

Another exciting development for the School was the submission of our first Green Flag application. We were awarded the prestigious Green Flag award at the end of term.

Miss Stone

34 | SOTONIENSIS 2010

Junior Maths Club I

am in the First Year and when I joined KES I was really excited about trying out some of the different clubs and societies available. I looked through the list on the school website and I found them all interesting but then I found out there was a Junior Maths Club. At first I was a little hesitant because I thought it would be in a room with a teacher telling us to do lots of really hard equations which would make my brain ache, but when I got there, there was nobody in the classroom except Mrs Mayes. I was worried that I was in the wrong room but no it was just me! I sat down and we started playing a game. At first I was confused - she was unexpectedly so nice and we

were playing a game! The game was fun too; it was almost like maths scrabble. After that first time I decided I would go again for another couple of weeks.

After a while, I told my friend Miffy about Maths Club and I suggested that we could go together. She decided to tag along for a week to see what it was like. She soon came again and again. Then we told our other friends Eva, Zara and Marrium.

Eva and Marrium liked coming and they joined the club but Zara found it wasn’t to her liking.

This was the way it stayed for a while; we played lots of games.

Eva, Miffy and I even made some origami boxes just before

Junior Science Club T

his year, Junior Science Club has been great fun throughout the autumn and spring terms. For some sessions the numbers of students peaked in the midtwenties, but we always had a dedicated core of a dozen or so enthusiastic and dedicated young scientists.

Activities ran throughout the year and have included amongst others; explosions, blood splattering, bouncing custard balls, dissections, invisible ink and an Olympic special.

Thanks to all the First and Second Years who attended, to all the teachers and technicians who contributed, and also to those Sixth Formers who gave their time throughout the year to help out.

Mr Simm

Christmas. They were fun to make (although frustrating). We played cards, snap, Sudoku etc. Recently, our other friend Abby came and we did some symmetrical drawings.

Maths Club has been great fun and I intend on going again next year, even though Mrs Mayes will not be coming back to do the club. If you are interested in Maths Club, or you just fancy staying in from the rain and playing a fun game at the same time why don’t you come along too?

Anna Pang

SOTONIENSIS 2010 | 35

Mountain Biking Group A

small group of mountain bikers took part in a number of rides during the year, mostly on and around the South Downs. In November we stayed at the School’s Rural Studies Centre at Lovaton, and enjoyed two excellent days of riding on Dartmoor in unseasonally warm and dry weather. This trip included a visit to the technical trails of Halden Forest Park where we tested our skills on their red runs.

The Mountain Biking Club is open to all members of the Upper School and Sixth Form. We ride both natural trails and purpose-built technical trails up to red standard.

Mr Turner

MedSoc T

he first talk was given to us by Hannah Thould, a former KES student and medical student at Oxford. This was a very interesting talk based on the credentials needed for medical school, and what the interview process was like.

During the year we had two presentations from Dr Dayson, the first centred around the application process for medical school and the second based on his speciality, psychiatry. Dr Dayson also brought in two medical students with him and we all found this very useful as they gave a first-hand account on the current methods of medical training.

Diana Hulbert delivered a fascinating and practical talk on the respiratory system and the workings of the brain, including demonstrations with resuscitation dolls. She demonstrated how the different layers of the brain worked with the use of chocolate, which was particularly enjoyable!

Dr Healy gave us a very interesting presentation on dermatology, including some very eye opening and shocking pictures which showed the danger of U.V damage. This talk focused on the diagnosis and research behind such problems, and it was very interesting how something so life threatening as cancer can appear as something so small as a mole.

At the end of each presentation a certain amount of time was put aside for questions to be asked to the speaker, and the MedSoc members found this very useful.

All in all it was a very successful year for MedSoc. Thanks go to Mrs Millar for overseeing and helping to organise the Society, and also to the Vice Presidents; Jonny Smith, Ellie Glew, and Connor Healy.

Harry McGhee

36 | SOTONIENSIS 2010

The Lunar Society F

ollowing on from three years of bumper crops of talks and the inevitable fallow season of 2010-11, 2011-12 proved to be an abundant year once again. Talks were delivered from teachers and students alike. The hard-core physics backbone of the society was reinforced through P. Budden’s detailed report on the progress of nuclear fusion, followed by Dr Purves’s exposition on magnetooptical cooling and Dr Gamblin’s heart-warming talk on the true meaning of temperature.

As the year progressed, the more usual balanced diet of talks spanning the scientific disciplines took hold.

A. J. Stone amused the audience with his countdown of the great mistakes in science and O. Shaw endeavoured to explain the role of Gravity Probe B. Lunar Society also played host to several Extended Project presentations, ranging from A. Clark and R. Choudhary coincidentally giving separate talks

on neuroplasticity, while P. White gave an in-depth analysis on methods for producing hydrogen for power, M. Rowland presented the history of the theories of light and culminating in J. O’Sullivan’s master plan for producing a particle accelerator.

Sixth Formers who are passionate about all aspects of science and technology and who share an ineptitude for public speaking should come along on the first Wednesday of each month to P2, where talks are given with Lunar Society’s own flair and unique style, and, most importantly, refreshments will be served.

Several members of the Society are moving on and we wish them well in their endeavours in university science and medical schools across the country.

O. Shaw & Dr. Purves

Philosophy Academy J

unior Philosophy Society has continued to grow in popularity and this year the group supported a range of whole School and national events. There has been a wide range of activities on offer for our Lower School Philosophers from the Mind Olympics, regular thoughtings sessions (philosophical poems), supporting National Storytelling week, philosophical blogging, a philosophy treasure hunt and our regular enquiry sessions using Peter Worley’s ‘If Machine.’

The Sixth Form Students enjoyed setting up the Philosophy and Academic mentoring programme and Ben Wall and Ollie Hogg’s responses to a particular ‘thoughting’ can be enjoyed in the Critical and Creative Review.

From meditation techniques to Mill’s philosophy, portraiture to Plato and from The Talk Ball to Lao Tzu, the group continues to be a great mental workout and thoroughly enjoyed by its members.

Miss Mackintosh

I

n my opinion, Philosophy Society is definitely one of the more interesting societies because there is always something completely new and fascinating to listen to!

This year, it was kicked off with a talk by Miss Mackintosh on the moral community which was really helpfully for those of us studying A level philosophy.

Next Mr Tofts spoke about Montaigne, another really interesting talk, especially for those of us who didn’t know a lot about him! Then we had a talk by Mr Coverdale on a more political aspect of philosophy entitled ‘The seductive but ultimately insane world of libertarian political philosophy’ and Mrs Price and Mr Bulmer covered the more literary side of philosophy with fascinating talks on Shakespeare and Hogarth. I think, however, Mr Piggott gave my favourite lecture.

He gave a talk on ‘Philosophy in Focus’ showing us some of his favourite photos and explaining the ways in which they can be interpreted.

These are just some of the highlights from the Philosophy Society. As you can tell, it’s definitely worth joining and not just for the tea and biscuits!

Jess Corbridge

SOTONIENSIS 2010 | 37

Partnerships T

his year KES has continued to be a hub of activity for our partnership schools, including over 550 primary school pupils and 100 KES pupils. Alongside the very popular Shirley Reading Scheme, St Mark’s Literacy and French Clubs, Springhill Science Club, Highfield Art Club and Maths Enrichment Sessions new opportunities have been developed and our links with the wider community have continued to grow and to strengthen. St Mark’s Year 4 pupils have enjoyed learning Latin with our Upper School pupils, Springhill Year 4 and 5 pupils have attended rhythmic gymnastics and fencing taster sessions and Shirley Year 6 pupils have been busy designing a computer game. In October with the London Mozart Players, twenty-two Lower, Upper and Sixth Form musicians headed off to Sunrise of Bassett care home and then to Hebron Court residential home where they gave magnificent and very touching performances. The programme included

music from Handel, Vivaldi and of course Mozart.

Residents were extremely enthused and inspired by the music which “lifted their spirits”.

Another highlight of the year was the mini-Olympics which were held at our Wellington Sports Ground on 24th May. In order to celebrate the 2012 Olympic Games and to promote team spirit and sporting talent, 120 Year 5 and 6 pupils from six Partnership Primary Schools, including Hamble Primary School for the first time, were invited to take part. The pupils had plenty of space to get involved in relay races and Tug of War competitions. The afternoon was a real success, and we hope to be able to repeat this celebration in the future. This has been a very busy year! We have many ideas for the months to come and we are looking forward to seeing our primary school friends in September.

Mrs Cottrell-Ferrat

38 | SOTONIENSIS 2010

Table Tennis I

n the Southampton Schools League at U14 level Sam Woodcock, James Young, Jacob Fay, Tom Duff and Nick Ashleigh began the season positively with a convincing 8–2 win over St Georges College. The remaining 6 matches did not go quite so well with only one match drawn and 5 losses but, against strong opposition, the team put in some fine performances and were unlucky at times, going down fighting.

In the U13 Southampton Individual Championships Sam Woodcock did extremely well to make it through to the final. This allowed him to represent Southampton in the Hampshire Individual Championships where he had some success.

In the annual First Year inter-form competition 1/2 were convincing winners, with particularly fine play from Will Thompson, 1/4 was second followed by 1/6 and 1/5. The First Year individual champion was Jacob Fay. Peter Borodzicz and Rishabh Chugh were second and third respectively.

Next season we look forward to more exciting matches and even more fun!

Mr Singleton

Student Investor Competition F

or an unprecedented fourth year running, the ‘Tenacity’ team comprising Nikhil Ohri, Andy Pennycuick and Nick Brown and led by Rikhil Ohri, qualified for the Regional Final of the IFS Student Investor share trading competition. This year they finished in 2nd in the South West Region out of the 1,291 teams that took part, and in 16th place overall nationally, from the 7,334 teams participating. In the four months of the competition, ‘Tenacity’ turned an initial investment of £100,000 into £121,000 giving an annualised return of over 60%.

The team succeeded in clearing the Regional Final to earn a well-deserved place at the national Student Investor Final held in London on April 25th. ‘Tenacity’

came agonisingly close to being crowned national champions. The team came 2nd of the 8 teams on the day. Their presentation on ‘Implementing responsible capitalism’ came in for special praise from the judges, delivered as it was with great panache, professional slides and completely without notes. Guests on the day included Faisal Islam, the Economics correspondent for Channel 4 news, and Paul Fisher from the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee. The team’s 2nd place earned them silver medals, a prize of £150 each, and £1,500 for the School.

Mr Culver

SOTONIENSIS 2010 | 39

Sailing Club T

he KES sailing club has drawn on students of all years in 2011/2012. Saturdays and Sundays, in almost all months and the worst of weathers, have played host to training sessions focused on trying out new boats and spinnaker work, to a First Year beginners’ course in the Easter holidays and to the KES Regatta in late June. If memory serves, a certain sunshine may have showed its face too – or maybe that was just March?

A strong contingent of sailors in search of vital Duke of Edinburgh skills hours has kept the attendance buoyant, complimented by enthusiastic First Years enjoying their early forays into the sport and a healthy number of Sixth Formers pursuing light relief from their studies.

The RYA qualifications gained by our fourteen First Year sailors have equipped them to become regular members of the club; without the wild and blustery conditions that have

hounded us this spring, those intrepid individuals may just have challenged some of our senior sailors at the regatta on 24th June.

Nevertheless, if the squeals and laughter after capsizes and successes are used as a yardstick, we can rest assured that they will be back.

Under the able stewardship of Charlotte Cooper, our universitybased RYA senior instructor, the four day training programme ran smoothly and although the breeze would have tested all but the Ben Ainslies of this world, not one attendee gave up the ghost and all could fairly argue that a new talent had been acquired.

The season-ending regatta was equally fraught by Mother Nature’s finest, and having launched in moderate Force 3 airs, the fleet were battered and buffeted after a sequence of blustery squalls, allayed by intermittent sunshine.

The racing was contested in a very competitive spirit by those who lasted the day; in a Laser 4.7 (the same boat sailed at the

Olympics, and the source of Paul Goodison’s gold medal in Beijing, but with a smaller rig) Tom Sansome worked the waves to his advantage and won comfortably from the ever present challenge of Will Archibald.

The slow handicap fleet was ultimately won by Sixth Former Alex Ward, who kept Cameron Thomas at bay in his Laser Pico. Without the provision of Mr Rigg’s mother ship/committee, the day could not have run so smoothly, and the club remain very grateful to him and his wife for their help.

After four years of running the sailing club, I will be leaving the School this summer to pursue, amongst other things, some of my own sailing dreams. And so to the future, to Mrs Burrows who will take charge of the club, and to all of the sailors at KES – keep enjoying the best sport in the world, and fingers crossed for another golden medal haul in Weymouth in August!

Mr Cherry

40 | SOTONIENSIS 2010

Scamp Club S

camp Club was formed in 2010 and is named after the pet dog of its first President, Curtis Crowley. Initially a Classical Greek lunchtime club, increased appeal and membership caused the club to evolve into one of the School’s most esoteric weekly gatherings, rival to the Byron Society.

In the course of the past seven terms talks have been given on a variety of topics which have included the Spartan scytale, the first ever military cryptographic device, codes in the plays of William Shakespeare, Kim Philby’s Secret War, Sherlock Holmes and the tale of the dancing men and a four-part lecture series on conspiracy theories.

Perhaps the stand-out lecture was on Violette Szabo (her monument is beside the Thames on the south side of Lambeth Bridge), the World War II French-British secret agent.

Few will forget Ibrahim Chughtai’s emotive reading of the famous

poem associated with her, “The Life That I Have”.

On 23rd June, the 100th birthday of Alan Turing, we assembled a group at the Science Museum in London and launched ourselves on the tremendous Turing Exhibition inside. Turing is best known for cracking the Enigma messages during World War II, but equally he has made his mark in the development of artificial intelligence, computing and mathematical philosophy. Rather strangely, he was awful at chess.

Yet a man who cycled to work wearing a gas mask and chained his mug to a radiator can be forgiven this fault.

In February 2012 an expedition was made to Dartmoor, a follow up to the previous year’s visit to Bletchley Park and the National Computer Museum. This Academic Study Weekend at Lovaton went “In Search of Sherlock Holmes”.

Cultural, educational and literary

angles were all covered as an Upper School team, led by Philippa White, tackled the classic Conan Doyle tale of “The Hound of the Baskervilles”, written on, and about, Dartmoor in 1901. Three explorations of the moor took place, visiting key locations, none more evocative than “Merripit Cottage” on the edge of the “great Grimpen mire” where Chapter 14 of the novel was read by the assembled cast.

Visits to the Princetown Prison Museum and four tors were undertaken. Holmes and Watson were celebrated in fine style with two presentations and three documentaries. Never were the words "Come, Watson, come!

The game is afoot. Not a word!

Into your clothes and come!" (The Adventure of Abbey Grange) more appropriate! This has been another great year for the “Dancing Men”.

Rose Blackman

SOTONIENSIS 2010 | 41

Young Enterprise Team Flux

Team Zen

P

W

rior to Young Enterprise, none of us had any experience in entrepreneurship of any kind, so we started cautiously and took our time deciding what products would be best-suited to market to the unsuspecting customers of the School. It could be said that perhaps we took too much time as, having exhausted several avenues of thought, the Christmas break came around and we were still in planning mode.

We continued our campaign with renewed vigour in January and came up with the idea of KES branded tea towels. Again, caution was our enemy as we ordered a small number of tea towels resulting in a luxury price, but they flew off the shelf and were profitable.

This success buoyed our confidence and we eagerly moved ahead to our next task, which was to present our company to adjudicators at the area Young Enterprise competition. We approached this event with a degree of confidence that our preparation did not really warrant. We were awarded the prize for ‘Best Company Report 2012’ and credit should go, particularly, to Adam Butler who co-ordinated the production of the report.

Everybody involved gained invaluable communication and teamwork skills and came away with an insight into how a business operates. We also, as importantly, had a lot of laughs along the way. We were helped a great deal by Richard Price, our Business Advisor from HSBC.

Alex Palfrey

ith Meera Thakrar and Sophie Moussa as the joint Managing Directors of Team Zen, we chose business roles within the group before beginning the more challenging task of choosing a product to make, advertise and sell. Initially this was difficult with many products either having a narrow market or being impractical to produce.

Finally, though, we decided to design and produce Christmas cards aimed at KES parents and sold them at the school production of Ali Baba.

After the Christmas period was over, we moved onto our next product – a ‘Grow your own’ herb kit.

Learning from the mistakes of the previous venture, this product was much more successful. The herb kit emphasised an environmentally friendly message, with each of three different kits containing herbs associated with different types of cuisine – Indian, Italian and British. They also contained instructions and recipe cards. We sold a number of kits at a Young Enterprise Trade Fair in Basingstoke and at the Young Enterprise Area Final we won 2 awards: Best Product and Best Trade Stand.

The Young Enterprise experience was, at times, extremely challenging but it was very rewarding and we felt our hard work paid off with our competition success. It allowed us to experience the difficulties of working within a disparate team and managing others effectively as well as putting the company’s needs before our own friendships.

Meera Thakrar

42 | SOTONIENSIS 2010 2012

Creative Arts The Drama Department

Drama & Theatre Studies I

n the autumn term the whole department’s attention was committed to Mr Bulmer and Mr Watson’s massive production of Ali Baba. This show, performed on a purpose-built stage in the Main Hall, ran for 3 nights from 30th November to 2nd December. It involved a huge number of pupils and staff – 141 pupils and 31 members of staff to be precise. Dance numbers were choreographed, singers coached, the band rehearsed, actors put through their paces, a make-up team trained, the smoke machine tested, many, many rehearsals scheduled, a magnificent set built, sound and lighting effects trialled and perfected, a mammoth effort made to coordinate props, costumes sourced and made, a front of house team put in place, publicity materials designed and printed, refreshments organised and a battalion of backstage staff recruited! It all went off spectacularly well and congratulations flowed in thick and fast. The Drama Department is especially grateful to all the members of staff who helped in so many ways; as a department of 4 we were so pleased to have so many offers of assistance.

Junior Drama Club was another resounding success throughout the autumn and spring terms with 70 participants signing up and reporting to the Dobson Theatre every Wednesday. My thanks go to Mr Bulmer, and the best Sixth Form team I have ever had, who helped me run it. Next year’s First and Second Years should note that 70 is our maximum number and there were several people on the waiting list this year who did not get a place.

Attendance at the signing-up meeting in September will be crucial to secure a place this year. We finished JDC meetings a little later in the year than usual so we could accommodate performances of some very funny and imaginative advertisements, written by the First and Second Years and directed by their Sixth Form mentors.

Scene Productions came to visit in November, bringing a very impressive and thought provoking performance of Metamorphosis to our Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Form Theatre Studies students and the Fouth Year Theatre Studies students also enjoyed a theatre day when they took part in a workshop

on Romeo and Juliet in the morning at the Globe Theatre and went to see a fast paced and very funny performance of The 39 Steps in the afternoon. Sixth Form students enjoyed trips to see Kneehigh’s very moving performance of The Wild Bride and Juno and The Paycock at the National Theatre.

The spring term saw the Sixth Form Theatre Studies students attending a performance of Our Country’s Good, a set text for the Upper Sixth and working extremely hard on their AS and A level performance pieces which they showcased to parents and friends on 14th March. The Upper Sixth devised and performed a very impressive piece of physical theatre entitled Her, Myself, Who? and the Lower Sixth proved how good they were at multi-roling in extracts from The Gut Girls by Sarah Daniels. We also hosted performances of The History Boys, directed

by Mr Schofield, in the Robert Twigg Studio in February. These performances quickly sold out and those who managed to get a ticket were treated to a very funny and at times, very poignant show. This was a real ensemble piece and all the cast deserves congratulations for outstanding performances. Mr Jones’ Third Year classes also performed a varied selection of pieces in a theatre evening for friends and family at the end of term and it is clear that there are some very talented performers coming up through the School.

In the summer term the Fifth Year students attended a memorable performance of Kafka’s Monkey at the Theatre Royal, Winchester and my group worked incredibly hard on their devised pieces for the GCSE moderation. Unfortunately, time being at a premium before they went on study leave, we were unable to provide an evening performance which was a great shame as all 3 pieces were original, well researched, well written and very well-performed. On 4th July, the second Third Year performance evening took place during which groups performed extracts from The Monkey’s Paw, The Virtuous Burglar, Billy Liar, Across the Barricades and The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole.

This academic year will see some changes in staffing. Mr Bulmer will be leaving us at the end of the year to take a up a post in Hampstead. He has

SOTONIENSIS 2010 2012 | 43

44 | SOTONIENSIS 2010 2012

not been with us long but his energy and dynamism will certainly be missed. Mr Jones is currently on a sabbatical term and we have been very fortunate to secure the services of Mrs Caroline Piggott to cover Mr Jones’ classes. We are also delighted that Mrs Piggott has accepted a permanent post and will be taking over some of Mr Bulmer’s timetable in September.

It remains for me to thank the members of my department for all their hard work over the year and to make a special mention of Niall Mason, out theatre technician, whose tireless attention to detail, infinite patience with pupils and willingness to go well above and beyond his parttime post mean that we are able to give our pupils many more opportunities than our small department would otherwise be able to provide.

Mrs Price

SOTONIENSIS 2010 2012 | 45

Junior Drama Club Aka J‘ DC’ W

hy join Junior Drama Club?

40 minute session. Some weeks, we did a part of a

Well, where do I start?! I joined the club because

project whereby Mrs Price told us what she would

I loved drama but then I quickly realised it was a great

like us to achieve, and then we had a few weeks in

way to make new friends. Mrs Price and her Sixth

our groups and with our Sixth Former to practise our

Formers make you feel so welcome at Junior Drama

‘project’ ready to perform. Over that period of time you

Club. The club is on Wednesday lunchtime but I thought

work hard but also have so much fun and such a laugh!

it was a brilliant way to spend my lunchtime!

The last thing we did in Junior Drama Club before it

In Junior Drama Club you learn lots of different skills

ended for this year was an advertisement that we filmed

such as: improvisation, body language, expressions

with lighting and costumes. Everyone putting together

and lots more. Every week you are given a task to do

all we learnt throughout the year for that performance

with whichever Sixth Former you pick. You then perform

and performing with all the lighting was an amazing

whatever you created to the rest of Junior Drama Club.

experience.

The Sixth Formers are there helping you and your friends

Junior Drama Club is a brilliant club and I can’t wait to

to improve your drama and are ALWAYS enthusiastic.

do all of it all over again next year!

They advise you on a lot of things and they are also so positive and friendly towards you.

Each week I could feel my drama improving in just the

Daisy Porter

46 | SOTONIENSIS 2010 2012

The MUSIC Department

Music at KES I

n the year of the Cultural Olympiad King Edward’s

was the turn of the Big Band under the baton of Dr

musicians celebrated in great style and scaled new

Leaman to provide Christmas carols for this very

heights.

worthy cause. On Monday 12th December over two

The year began with a visit to the Royal Opera House

hundred musicians sang and played their hearts out at

La Traviata.

the Carol Service at St Mary’s Church. They performed

After having some time to wander round the delightful

a variety of carols to complement the traditional

environs of the old market, the pupils were treated to

Christmas readings at the service. Carols ranged from

a feast for the eyes and ears as Verdi’s sublime music

the simplicity of Silent Night to Whitacre’s eight part

was presented to the audience in the surroundings

Lux Aurumque. The congregation sang heartily and

of an extravagant Enlightenment set. The heroine,

all enjoyed mince pies and mulled wine at end. Over

Violetta, stole the show with a magnificent display of

£850 was raised for charity in the retiring collection. The

vocal tenderness mixed with virtuosity and inspired a

carols didn’t stop there as a small section of singers

few of the girls to dream of the Covent Garden stage.

from the Choir went on board the Fred Olsen Lines

October saw a community project with the London

cruise ship Black Watch, which was moored at the

Mozart Players in which 21 of the School’s advanced

Queen Elizabeth Cruise Terminal. The choir sang short

musicians spent an exciting day working alongside

programme of carols in the ship’s Neptune Lounge

members of the group and joining the professionals

which was well received by cruise passengers. Mr.

in concerts at two local care homes. At the start of

Watson accompanied and Alex Ferriman was on fine

November musicians attended a concert at the Turner

form as the soloist in We Three Kings.

Sims featuring international violinist Viktoria Mullova

We opened the New Year with a fabulous jazz workshop

and the Matthew Barley ensemble. The music was a

and concert for the Big Band with saxophonist Simon

lively fusion of Jazz and gypsy music and it was so

Allen and pianist John Dickson. Together they worked

good for the pupils to see the interaction and musical

on improvisation, listening skills and general jazz

communication between such top quality musicians.

musicianship. The New Year also saw the start of

The beginning of December saw the performance

our exciting musician-in-residence project with cellist

of the pantomime Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.

Matthew Barley who brought a whole new dimension

Over 150 pupils took part in this once-in-a-lifetime

to the department in terms of improvisation and

extravaganza of colossal proportions, which included

composition. He challenged and inspired our musicians

such timeless numbers as Who’s been rubbin’ me

with complex memory work and new ways of looking at

lamp?, Temperamental Am I and Open Sesame. Some

things. He worked with the music technology classes,

very high-quality singing from principal characters

string ensemble, GCSE and A level classes, soloists

and chorus was underpinned by a band playing to an

and cello ensemble with the work coming to fruition in

exceptional standard under the baton of Mr Watson.

the Gala Concert at the Anvil. Those who had attended

What most impressed all was the consummate

the workshops with Matthew spoke of his infectious

professionalism shown by all of the students involved

enthusiasm, high expectations and challenging tasks.

in the production and it was their attitude and

Students were pushed to the limit and worked hard.

dedication that made the show the success it was.

There was a great sense of team work and it was good

While musicians were singing and dancing their way

to see so many of our advanced musicians come

through Ali Baba another contingent from the Music

away with a new perspective on composition which

Department was busy playing in the Wessex Cancer

they translated into their coursework compositions

Trust’s Carol Concert in Romsey Abbey. This time it

The highlight of the school musical year came on 14th

Covent Garden for a performance of

SOTONIENSIS 2010 2012 | 47

48 | SOTONIENSIS 2010 2012

March when KES staged a Gala Concert at the Anvil

comedy about life, love and quantum physics, written

in Basingstoke in celebration of the cultural Olympiad.

and directed by Mr Herklots and Dr Leaman. Featuring

The Olympic year provided a magnificent opportunity

cast members from all year groups, as well as a return

for KES musicians, joined by pupils from partner

to KES of former Head of School Ed Richards, the sell-

schools, to demonstrate their talents and share their

out audiences were left singing, laughing and even

music with a wider audience in a professional concert

understanding a little more about quantum physics and

hall setting. The concert featured guest choirs from 5

the world of the very small. Every member of the cast

feeder prep and partnership schools with over 240

and crew performed with exceptional professionalism

junior pupils and 250 KES performers taking part. It

and clear enjoyment.

was met with a standing ovation from the audience of

Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Choir and Big Band set

nearly one thousand parents and friends of participants.

off for an action packed tour in Prague. The six days

The concert also provided an opportunity for us to

were fast moving with sightseeing, performing three

mark the centenary of the RMS Titanic’s departure

concerts, an evening dinner boat cruise on the river

from Southampton Docks with an exciting newly

Vltava, a visit to a professional concert and a late night

commissioned work for the performers composed by

Jazz gig. It was full of fun and excitement with plenty of

Dr Leaman. March also saw the advanced chamber

music making every day. The students were excellent

ensembles playing at the opening of the Sea City

ambassadors for KES Music, great company and an

Museum in Southampton to great acclaim.

absolute pleasure to take on tour.

At the

On the last day of term the

end of the spring term many musicians excelled in the

Several musicians have excelled in other directions this

Southampton Festival of Music and Drama. There were

year and they deserve our congratulations. Third Year

13 winners of various categories, three Distinctions and

Cellist, Mike Huang, played to the Queen and the Royal

one Honours. Trophies were won by Charlotte Jones,

Family on 5th June for the Royal Lunch at Westminster

Jacqueline Mann, Emily Tam, Jenny Whitby, Josh

Hall. Mike was performing with the National Children’s

Blunsden and Alex Ferryman. The School Flute Quartet,

Orchestra of Great Britain. Nicole Coutinho-Garrido and

Chamber Choir and Luke were selected to perform in

Nick Willshire have enjoyed their places at the Junior

the Festival Gala Concert which celebrates outstanding

Department of the Royal College and Carl Wikeley at the

performances from the two week festival.

Royal Academy of Music. Well done also to Zoe Carter-

The summer term began with an excellent concert,

Tai, Carl Wikeley and Jenny Whitby who represented

organised by Upper School Music Captain Sang-Hoon

the School in the English Schools’ Orchestra at their

Oh, featuring GCSE performances and compositions,

Annual Concert in Cadogan Hall, London in October

and the same week the annual Fusion Concert

and congratulations to Fifi Smart who was the finalist

showcased musicians from all year groups in a vibrant

in a competition held by the Academy of Music and

evening of musical entertainment. The concert included

Sound. Isabelle Fuller composed a piece to accompany

ever popular Rock Academy bands, Flute Choir and the

a poem written by Oscar Sparrow as the title poem

School’s Brass Band, as well as some acoustic solo

from his latest collection and her music now features in

and duet items. It was a wonderful evening of musical

the trailer for his poetry collection which is published on

variety enjoyed by all.

Amazon worldwide.

At the end of May, several

advanced musicians from the Third Year performed solos to parents and friends. The high standard of the performances took many members of the audience by surprise as they listened to a range of Grade VIII pieces and the first movement of the Elgar cello concerto. The evening marked the first in a series of recital evenings which will be organised by Miss Collier and will continue next year providing a platform for many of our talented musicians. On July 11th and 12th, over 100 students and staff trod the boards at the Theatre Royal Winchester in That Certain Uncertainty!, a musical

Mrs Freemantle Director of Music

SOTONIENSIS 2012 | 49

Music Tour to Prague O

n the 13th July, just after lunch, 55 students

of tourists and local people. On the way home in the

boarded a coach and prepared for the 24hr

coach we were treated to some haunting recorder

journey to Prague, in the Czech Republic, where

playing by Murray Watson, who delighted us with an

we would perform 3 concerts in various places. The

eclectic mix of The Lord of The Rings and Baroque

Chamber Orchestra, Big Band and Chamber Choir

recorder sonatas.

performed a variety of pieces from Dvorak’s Slavonic

Once back in Prague a small group headed off to

Dance and Mozart’s Ave Verum to Come Together by

experience a taste of Prague’s renowned jazz scene,

the Beatles.

visiting the ‘Agarta’ jazz club where an incredible Jazz

On the way there we passed through France, Belgium

Trio (Piano, Double Bass and Drums) played a selection

and Germany, arriving in Prague several hours early

of jazz standards and original compositions. The

at around 1pm. Most of us enjoyed a sing-along near

club was extremely atmospheric, and we were all in

the end of the journey, though others were trying to

agreement that it was an unforgettable evening.

get a little extra sleep. Our first full day began with a

On the next day we had a walking tour of Prague Castle,

walking tour of the Jewish Synagogues and old Jewish

the Palace and St Vitus’s Cathedral where Mr Piggott

Cemetery in the morning with the help of our tour

pointed out the stunning Alfons Mucha Window to us.

guides Martina and Judith. We then went to Korunni

Our final concert performance was at the Prague Music

Chapel where we performed our first full concert.

Academy which was an amazing venue and where we

On the first evening of our trip, some students visited

enjoyed playing to a large audience. Our pianists also

the St Nicolas Church in Wenceslas Square; a beautiful

enjoyed performing on the impressive Steinway grand

area of the old Prague city centre. The concert featured

piano. In the evening we had a cruise with dinner on

a popular classic programme ranging from Pachelbel’s

the river Vltava, where we all climbed on to the top deck

Canon to the Largo movement of Dvorak’s New World

after dinner and took part in a spontaneous sing-along

Symphony, played by the members of the Prague

which even included the School Hymn! This was my

Radio Symphony Orchestra. It was a fantastic concert,

favourite part of the trip.

not only due to the players, but also the acoustics of the

Our final morning in Prague was spent visiting the

building which made for a truly wonderful atmosphere

15th century Astronomical Clock and doing some last

and an all-round enjoyable evening.

minute shopping in the Old Town. I really enjoyed the

The following day we travelled to a spa town,

Music Tour to Prague, and am definitely looking forward

Mariánské Lázneě, where we explored a little, viewed a

to the next one.

‘singing’ fountain, and then performed at the Main Spa Colonnades to a very warm and enthusiastic audience

Sophie Proud

50 | SOTONIENSIS 2012

Symphony Orchestra T

he Symphony Orchestra continues to go from strength to strength and has had a rewarding year culminating in the performance at the Gala Concert on stage at the Anvil in celebration of the Cultural Olympiad. The 94 players in the Orchestra opened the concert in style with a rousing performance of Holst’s Jupiter from the Planets Suite and followed this with a polished performance of the Apprentice Theme, otherwise known as Montagues and Capulets from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliette, and Badelt’s Pirates of the Caribbean. An added dimension was provided by some splendid classical ballet and rhythmic gym from Ellen Watson’s dance clubs. The Orchestra also accompanied the carols at the traditional Carol Service in December and rounded off the year with a tour to Prague.

This year we say goodbye to some top players who will be leaving KES and who will be greatly missed.

Special thanks go to Peter Budden, who played bassoon in the orchestra for his 7 years at KES, and

also to Sang-Hoon Oh, Will Holmes, Peter Astbury, Paddy Herklots, Sachin Croker and Emily Killip. As we say goodbye to those at the top of the School we welcome in many new young musicians in September.

Our brass section will be a force to be reckoned with in September with a bank of trumpets, 4 French horns, 2 trombones and a tuba player!

I would like to thank all the players for the enthusiasm they bring to rehearsals, their great sense of fun and the way they rise to the challenges of the repertoire.

Rehearsals in the Recital Room have been a tight squeeze this year so we all look forward to the opening of the new enlarged Recital Room which will give us the necessary space to spread our wings.

Mrs Freemantle

SOTONIENSIS 2012 | 51

Big Band T

his has been another successful year for the Big Band, performing yet further challenging repertoire. On 1st December the group performed in the Wessex Cancer Trust’s Carol Concert in Romsey Abbey. Playing a variety of Christmas favourites and accompanying the carols, the band were in fine form, even entertaining the masses with an improvised blues as they tucked into their end of show mince pies and mulled wine. On 31st January the Big Band were treated to an afternoon workshop from saxophonist Simon Allen and pianist John Dickson. Together they worked on the group’s improvisation and listening skills and worked on their general jazz musicianship. The students worked hard all afternoon and then presented the material they had learned that day in a concert in the Recital Room to parents. It was clear just how much they had learned during the day and the audience were also treated with a performance of Bye Bye Blackbird by Simon and John. Simon was last seen playing alongside Robbie Williams at the Queen’s

Jubilee Concert and for the students to have tuition from such a great jazz musician was truly inspiring.

The year culminated in performances of pieces by Charles Mingus, Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller in the Anvil Gala Concert. The level of musicianship was exceptional and featured some notable contributions from some of our leavers. Peter Astbury blew his trombone like never before, Simon McCormick-Cox glided his way around his guitar fretboard, Patrick Herklots transcribed his heart out filling in on 3rd trombone and Peter Budden added a touch of class on bassoon/4th trombone.

Rikhil Ohri played a vital part in the huge saxophone section sound and Sachin Croker almost destroyed the drums in his awesome solo in the Mingus piece.

A special mention must also be given to Harry McGhee for his exceptional soloing in the Benny Goodman.

Dr Leaman

52 | SOTONIENSIS 2012

Senior Choir T

he Senior Choir continues to be a popular activity in the run up to the Carol Service with the 90 strong choir enjoying the challenge of singing in 4 part harmony with the parent and staff choir at the service. This year’s highlight has to be the singing of Whitacre’s Lux Aurumque at the Carol Service; a deceptively challenging unaccompanied piece which was sung with great style.

The Choir also joined forces with choirs from 5 feeder prep and partnership schools at the Gala Concert at the Anvil; the Firefly song giving cause for much merriment. A special mention should go to Andy Morgan and Natalie Fairhurst who sang the solos in Gershwin’s Summertime for the big finale.

They were completely un-phased by the daunting size of the audience Members of the choir sang solo roles and swelled the Church Choir in Leaman and Herklot’s spectacular musical at the Theatre Royal at the end of term, and others enjoyed performing in a Chamber Choir on tour in the Czech Republic over the summer.

This year we say goodbye to Upper Sixth singers who have been leading members of the choir for many years. In particular I would like to thank sopranos Anna Clarke and Charlotte Baker who have been outstanding and who share the Merriman Choir Cup this year.

Mrs Freemantle

First Year Choir T

he First Year Choir had a busy year in 2011-12.

Numbers were strong, with over 40 singing in the Carol Concert at St Mary’s, where they performed a new version of In the Bleak Midwinter by Dr Leaman, which included three part harmony and atmospheric wintry vocal effects which matched the conditions outside of the church perfectly! At the end of term some of the singers sang a short programme of carols on board the Fred Olsen Lines cruise ship Black Watch, which was moored at the Queen Elizabeth Cruise Terminal. In the summer term members were involved as the church choir in the Theatre Royal Winchester performances of That Certain Uncertainty by Mr Herklots and Dr Leaman.

They sang their hearts out in extolling the virtues of Quantum Physics and entertained over 500 theatre goers in what was a splendid contribution to the musical.

Dr Leaman

SOTONIENSIS 2012 | 53

Wind Octet F

ormed from an amalgamation of the Saxophone Quartet and Wind Quartet, this Octet of talented wind-players first performed last year in the Turner Sims. This year has provided more opportunities to showcase our most talented instrumentalists and the group performed the Overture to Rossini’s La Gazza Ladra with poise and a wonderful joie de vivre

at the Gala Concert in March. They have also been working on a fiendishly difficult arrangement of the Overture to Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro, which will hopefully see its première soon.

Mr Watson

Senior Wind Quartet

Junior Wind Quintet

T

T

his year has seen a continuation of the excellence showcased by the Quartet last year.

The ensemble have grown in maturity throughout the year, working on performances of Mozart’s Magic Flute, Beethoven’s Diabelli and Eroica Variations, and Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in D from book 1 of The Well-tempered Clavier. A superb performance of the Mozart was the toast of the evening at the mayor’s official soiree celebrating the opening of the new Sea City Museum. Sadly, the quartet is losing one of its founder members, Peter Budden, at the end of this year, so will be on the look-out for another of that most rare and uniquely talented breed; the bassoonist.

Mr Watson

his year has seen the formation of this new ensemble, thanks to the arrival in September of that most precious of musical commodities – a French Horn player. The group, made up of pupils from years 1-4, has quickly grown into a mature and sensitive ensemble and is looking forward to its inaugural performances in Prague as part of the Music Department tour in July.

They will be performing Bach’s Gavotte in B minor and both Morning and In the Hall of the Mountain King from Grieg’s Peer Gynt suite.

Mr Watson

54 | SOTONIENSIS 2012

Flute Quartet

Chamber Choir

B

T

uilding on last year’s success in winning the ABRSM Chamber Music Prize in the National Music for Youth Festival in Birmingham, the Flute Quartet have continued to grow as a musical unit, playing increasingly challenging repertoire.

They won the Chamber Music category at the Southampton Music Festival in March this year and as result were asked to perform in the Finale Concert of top competitors. Other performances included playing to a packed Anvil Concert Hall where they performed Au Board du Torrents by Eugene Bozza as well as performing as a trio in Romsey Abbey for the Wessex Cancer Trust Carol Concert. They have continued to be a fully committed and supportive group, playing at Open Evening and in School Assembly. The performers in the group are; Tom Edwards, Zoe Carter Tai, Jenny Whitby and Emily Killip.

Miss Burns

Flute Choir T

he Flute Choir has worked particularly hard this year and the members can be very proud of their fantastic performance at the Fusion Concert in May. Our flautists have focused hard to really blend their sound during rehearsals and have studied a number of varied pieces alongside having great fun. Regular attendees have been: Georgia Bell, Eva Carlyle, Tom Edwards, Phoebe Farrell-Poulton, Zoe Hill, Charlotte Percival and Amelia Williams. We look forward to continuing our successes with new ensemble members next year.

Miss Bettle

he Chamber Choir is an advanced vocal group that began the year singing O Salutaris Hostia at the Thanksgiving Service. This was followed by a full 16 member SATB performance at the annual Carol Service with an a cappella version of O magnum mysterium. The Choir’s achievements culminated in the successful Gala Concert at the Anvil in Basingstoke with a performance of a modern piece, Imogen Heap’s hide and seek. The choir then performed at the Southampton Music Festival and were awarded distinction by the respected adjudicator, Douglas Coombes. After this performance they were invited back to sing at the festival’s high achievers concert. I am very proud of the Choir’s accomplishments this year and look forward to an equally successful year to come.

Natalie Fairhurst

2nd Orchestra T

his has been an entertaining and highly rewarding year for the newly-formed Second Orchestra. Made up of players of varying abilities up to grade 5, we have worked on a varying repertoire, including Henry Mancini’s Moonriver, Scott Joplin’s The Entertainer, and Bizet’s Carmen. It was the Orchestra’s vivacious and ebullient performance of this last piece that provided the highlight of the year in the Gala Concert at the Anvil in Basingstoke.

Joined by guest players from a number of KES feeder schools, the Orchestra rose to the occasion, missing not a single beat in their rambunctious romp through the best bits from this famous opera.

Mr Watson

Saxophone Quartet T

he saxophone quartet of 2010-11 enlarged this academic year to a quintet this academic year to enable all of the grade 8 and above saxophonists to work on challenging chamber repertoire. The group has worked on compositions by Grieg, Piazzolla, Gotkovsky and Milhaud and in the Gala Concert at the Anvil performed Sevilla by Isaac Albinez showing their virtuosity and musicianship to the full. Members of the group were also involved in the music provided at Southampton Art Gallery for a lecture on the sinking of the Titanic by an Admiral Lang, playing works by Beethoven, Mozart, Borodin and Rimsky-Korsakov. The group features the Lower Sixth students Charlie Spargo, soprano; Harry McGhee, alto; Charlotte Jones, alto; Anna Roberts, tenor and the Second Year student Nick Wilshire on baritone saxophone.

Dr Leaman

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Brass Band T

he Band has continued for the third academic year. The aim is to continue providing the opportunity for younger brass players to gain experience by performing together and with more experienced players. As a feeder for the more advanced ensembles the clientele is somewhat flexible as players tend to come and go. In May the Band opened the Fusion Concert in great style with upbeat numbers from the shows such as Fiddler on

the Roof and the Sound of Music.

James Osman and James Mitchell have achieved 100% attendance and are closely followed by Murray Watson, Tom Fay, Oliver Rose, Oliver Martin, Nick White and Oscar Herbert William. I am particularly grateful to the aforesaid players in this my final year of directing the band.

Mr Cox

Rock Academy L

ights, camera, action! This year's Rock Academy had it all! A new First Year band called 'The Black Chillies' joined the established Rock Academy bands in practices and rehearsals, building their repertoire and honing their stagecraft. Part way through the autumn term the bands took time off rehearsing to have a photoshoot with classic moody poses, instrument wielding jumps and a lot of fun!

Also, a Rock Academy first occurred that term; a masterclass! The incredible Mitch Glover, who has played for Kasabian and currently tours the world with Kosheen, came and demonstrated his phenomenal drumming and answered questions on what it's like to be a touring musician and his experiences as a pro. An inspiring masterclass from a world class professional! The highlight of this year was the Fusion concert which saw unforgettable performances from all the the Rock Academy

bands. Notable performance moments being: ‘The Black Chillies’ hyping up the audience, the Second Year band 'Bulletproof' delivering smooth and cool performances of their songs and the Sixth Form band, ‘too cool for a band name’, showcasing their talent with instrumental songs and technically demanding pieces.

Numerous Rock Academy musicians also took the role of 'session musician' to accompany many of the other acts and special mention goes to Jordan Nelthorpe-Cowne, who not only provided the PA for the concert but also played bass for most of the acts with class, style and a little swagger! Rock Academy continues to grow and help nurture the talent of the KES students and has seen both the groups and individuals flourish both personally and musically.

Mr Kotch

56 | SOTONIENSIS 2012

The ART DEPARTMENT

The Art Department

This has once again been a busy year for the Art Department. Every corner, shelf and wall seems to be bursting with pictures and sculptures; big and small. Bird and fish structures made from split cane and plaster, created by the Second Years, hang from the ceiling. Figures of ballet dancers and warriors, trick cyclists and winged monsters jostle for space in the sculpture studio and techniques ranging from dry point etching, oil painting, watercolour and mixed media, to name but a few, have been explored with amazing success.

T

he main painting studio has once again been entirely taken over by our GCSE students, primarily to facilitate the marking and moderation of their work over the last two years, and then rehung for our annual Summer Art Exhibition. It would be unfair to highlight even a few of the GCSE candidates for special mention as it would be difficult to know who to single out and to mention them all individually would take too long. Suffice to say that once again beautifully detailed crayon drawings rubbed shoulders with etchings and photographs (cleverly crafted using Photoshop) and even larger clay heads based on relatives and friends filled the last available spaces, precariously balanced on stools and makeshift stands.

With only a few students in our Lower and Upper Sixth studying Art it is more appropriate to mention each by name. It was good to see our Lower Sixth students undertake such ambitious projects both

in terms of scale and diversity of materials and techniques. A perfect example of this is the selfportrait undertaken by Ellie Alvyn. Her expressive oil painting, based on the theme of identity and linked to the work of Jenny Saville, has seemed to dominate one whole corner of the department. Alongside her, has been the experimental work of Lucy Morgan based on a visit she made to Venice at the end of last year. Her work successfully combined a range of different processes and materials and captured very well the decayed plaster and narrow canals of that famous city.

Charlotte Jones has also begun to experiment with oil paint. Her paintings of her sister were based on some wonderful photos she had taken and the influence of Sally Mann. She has also produced some excellent sketch books showing how her ideas have developed. The large oil paintings that Abigail Pownall-Gray has produced over the last year,

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again based on portraits of her sister, show a bold, expressive use of oil paint applied with a pallet knife.

Haunting photographs of landscapes, taken by Jemima Dunnett at different times of the day and during different seasons, were in stark contrast to the fairground pictures she took more recently. These captured the vibrant colours and the fun of the event.

The influence of both Martin Parr and Ernst Hass was clearly evident and it will be interesting to see what new themes and challenges she takes on in the future.

The surreal pictures of elegantly dressed ladies wearing gas masks taken by Georgina Hill are both memorable and slightly unsettling. The pictures have a timeless quality about them and her use of natural light adds a subtle dream like quality. Freya Morris based her work on the theme of nostalgia and images of childhood were cleverly blended using mixed media and cyanotypes. Using her interest and ability to collect and combine almost anything, led to a mixed media installation looking at all things domestic; this even had a most interesting soundtrack of everyday

noises which she had blended using apple software.

Much of the work of our Upper Sixth artists was even more ambitious both in terms of scale and involvement. Lucy Wegerif spent many hours producing several huge pen and Ink drawings. Her search for images to work from, led her to the New Forest Hunt kennels where she took pictures of deer in the process of being butchered. The detail she included in the drawings and her confident use of both line and tone resulted in images that were beautifully crafted and very emotive.

Fashion illustration led Ross Smith to produce a number of large, fluid charcoal drawings and he made good use of the chiaroscuro effect. He spent time experimenting with a range of different drawing media and his loose pen and ink drawings picked up on the stylised methods used by many fashion designers today.

Any one walking in Winchester High Street at the end of last year might have come upon Clara Jordon who had set up her own portable studio on the pavement, offering refreshments to anyone willing to pose for her. The resulting huge black and white pictures echoed the work of the American photographer Richard Avedon where people had been removed from their immediate environment. The result of this was to look more closely at the character without distraction. The photographs Clara took whilst on holiday in Gambia succeeded again in capturing the earthy colours of the land as well as the relationship between the people and where they lived.

The department has made several trips to London over the last year. Our Fifth Year students had the opportunity to explore the treasures of The National Portrait Gallery where they were encouraged to draw and record first hand. The National Gallery trip made by the Sixth Form artists proved to be very stimulating with students enjoying both the Degas Exhibition as well as the ‘Eye Witness’ exhibition featuring the work of the 20th century Hungarian photographers such as Robert Cappa. The Tate Modern also provided invaluable to our Fourth Years who were embarking on their Surrealist crayon drawings.

As part of the exciting redevelopment of the west wing of the School the department is due a major extension and total refurbishment next year. We look forward, with great excitement, to seeing these plans come to life. With new facilities and under the new leadership of Mr Graham Piggott, the department will be in an excellent position to offer the students of King Edward VI School the chance to express themselves through the medium of art.

Mr Long

58 | SOTONIENSIS 2012

The Drama DEPARTMENT

Dance at KES Dance continues to thrive at King Edward’s and there is now an extensive programme available with clubs running both at lunch times and after School. New additions to the dance programme have broadened the experiences for our students whilst making full use of our exceptional Dance Studio.

O

ur dance programme includes links with Spring Hill Primary School, our new Zumba Club, our successful Break Dance Club, Contemporary Dance Club and a continuation of the successful Rhythmic Gymnastics Club. There have also been opportunities to learn jive, salsa, waltz and tango in our Jive Club and Strictly KES Dancing Club. Our students are currently working towards an Olympic themed Closing Ceremony to close the School’s contributions to the Olympics in our very own House Dance Competition in September.

Our ballet dancers also had a great opportunity to work with the English National Ballet in a workshop held at KES. This was an opportunity for our dancers to learn about choreography and how we implement moves to build structures to our dances. Our clubs also contributed to the fabulous productions of Ali Baba and the Gala Concert at the Anvil, Basingstoke.

This was a display of our top class dancers

performing intricately with other areas of the Creative Arts spectrum.

Earlier on in the year six KES gymnasts took part in the National Schools Rhythmic Gymnastics Championship held at Windsor High School & Sixth Form College, West Midlands.

The girls who competed for KES were: Julia Roope & Jacqueline Man - Under 19 Ball Duet Phoebe Farrell-Poulton & Annabel Winsor - Under 19 Hoop Duet Lucia Laverty & Amelia Abraham - Under 14 Rope Duet All 3 duets won their sections so each of the girls came away with a Gold Medal. The Under 19 gymnasts also came away with a trophy and the title of National Under 19 Team Champions 2012. There were over 100 individuals taking part on the day with

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19 schools represented in the various age groups and levels of the competition. The KES gymnasts performed their routines with poise, elegance and great technical ability, which was reflected in the scores they received.

It is an exciting time to be part of dance at King Edward’s and we are certain that the programme is going to continue to grow. We are especially

looking forward to our new partnerships set up during Foundations Studies. It has been a great year for dance at the School and we look forward to the success of the programme in the future.

Miss Campbell

60 | SOTONIENSIS 2010

TRIPS & VISITS

Aachen Trip O

n 9th December 2011 a team of keen, enthusiastic pupils and staff set off, by coach, to the festive Christmas Market in Aachen under the expert guidance of Mr Kukla. For many from the beginners’ classes it was a first taste of Germany whilst other seasoned travellers, including an ever faithful group of Fifth Year Germanists and their friends, were returning to a familiar and much-loved haunt.

On arrival in Aachen, we fortified ourselves at the characterful “Alt Aachener Kaffeestuben” with a breakfast of rolls, croissants, jam, cheese or ham, before heading out under bright blue, chilly skies to the market place. The erudite Mr Kelsey took us on a brief guided tour of the remarkable cathedral which forms an impressive backdrop.

Then it was on to the wonderful sights, sounds and Christmassy aromas of the market itself, which spread plenty of festive cheer. There was Lebkuchen (German spicy gingerbread), waffles, roasting chestnuts and Wurst (sausage) to stave off hunger pangs and a huge selection of traditional Christmas decorations such as wooden tree ornaments to buy.

At the end of the day before boarding our coach again, we stopped off at a wonderful Lindt chocolate factory outlet shop and stocked up with bargain items from amongst a wide range of tasty treats.

All were in very good spirits throughout the visit, so many thanks to Mr Kukla and his team, Mr Kelsey, Miss Ridley and Mrs Allen for running this fun trip.

Mrs Allen

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Beam House T

he School has been sending a party of Third Years to PGL’s activities centre in North Devon for the last sixteen years and this year’s trip was as much fun as ever. A mixed group of twenty pupils spent a week of the Easter holiday trying their hands at a range of outdoor pursuits. Heights were a theme of many days, with climbing, abseiling, trapeze and high ropes all attempted at some point in the week. On two occasions the whole group were taken off site to the sandy beach at Westward Ho, once to brave the cold waters of the Bristol Channel in a valiant attempt to surf and again to try out blokarting. New this year, this activity involved sitting in a light canvas buggy propelled across the sand with a windsurf-like sail. Easy to pick up, fast, yet safe to race this proved a great hit. With archery, rifle shooting and quad-biking to complete the week, hardly a moment was unoccupied before we were boarding the coach back to Southampton.

Dr Gamblin

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Dale Fort A

fter the AS year had finished, it was time for the Lower Sixth Biology students to make a long journey to Dale for sun, seaweed and salt marshes. We arrived to torrential rain but the Dale staff managed to brighten our day, every day, which made up for the weather.

For the first few days, we made outings to the rocky shores of Dale where we surveyed the sand hoppers, totalled the top-shells in our transects and consumed a large amount of cake. With intermittent lectures from John and Steve, we were able to cover a lot of the course and gather information that would help us with our coursework. On one day we were taken for a trip to the saltmarsh where we had to navigate the ‘trench of doom’. Despite a few lost wellies we completed a perfect survey of the marsh and hurried back to the fort for ice-cream, strawberries and a spot of tennis in the Wimbledon final.

Day 5 arrived and so did the pilot study for our coursework. We were briefed about the numerous dangers of the rocky shore, some of which were summed up as ‘seaweed is slippy, barnacles are grippy’, and the groups of students then descended on their chosen organisms on the surrounding beaches. After analysing the results, we were all prepared for our real study the following day. Some students even managed to make the first low tide at 5.30 in the morning as they had become rather attached to their chosen organisms! At the second low tide, the majority of us left for the shore armed with callipers, quadrats and even more cake. The day ended with the best of all the meals and a wonderful view of the sunset from The Point.

The final day came upon us and we were treated to a biological boat ride from the expert himself, John Archer Thompson. After saying our goodbyes to the shore and the staff with a hefty round of applause and a few tears, we made the long trip home and were welcomed yet again by more rain here in England.

Natalie Fairhurst

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Beaulieu A

fter a tiring walk to Beaulieu Activity Centre we, 1/4, found ourselves having a sit down in one of the adventure ‘shacks’ and after a short talk with an excellent instructor about teamwork, we were off!

Our first task was to transfer two cups of water and a bell from one end of an assault course to the other without spilling half of each cup of water or ringing the bell more than 15 times. Too bad the course consisted of cargo nets, swinging bridges and rope beams! To top off the challenge, whoever was holding one of the objects wasn’t allowed to move their feet. Through a caterpillar-like shuffle of awkwardness, probably not being the most efficient solution, we only just completed the challenge but this brought our team together for the next tasks.

The ‘Night Line’, which was a simple obstacle course with a rope to guide us through it, was only hindered by the fact that we were blindfolded.

The clambering through tunnels and over walls quickly became a challenge but through continued teamwork we succeeded whilst having great fun.

A short lunch break was called for and then it was time for the leap of faith. In this activity we stood on a platform high in the air wearing a safety harness and had to jump off and try to punch a ball dangling a metre or two away. Meanwhile, on the ground, our friends would be ‘belaying’ for us (holding the rope of our harness so we didn’t fall to our doom). We all plucked up the courage to take the leap!

The final challenge, the V Cross, consisted of crossing two wires, about 3m long, in a V shape (joined at the beginning and about 3m apart at the end) to a platform between the wires, about 2.5m ahead, using only two wooden planks about 2m long and 20cm wide. It may sound easy but there were 21 of us and every time somebody touched the floor we had to go back to the beginning. After a bit of planning and improvisation, we worked out a shimmying zig-zag way to get across, which, after a few failed attempts, worked perfectly.

Overall the trip was a great success and really pulled the class together, being only a week after we all met at the start of the year.

George Cartwright

64 | SOTONIENSIS 2012

Charlotte Exchange T

his year we arrived in Charlotte just in time for Halloween. The students immediately settled in and during their first day they were in matching costumes with their American hosts, dressed as cheerleaders, hippies, and even M&Ms! They made themselves right at home, y’all! Halloween American school-style is not taken lightly: the best outfit we saw was the phantom of the opera, and we saw a hot-dog studying history.

Assemblies in the gym (sitting on bleachers: imagine any High School Basketball game in a movie and you’ll know what it looked like) were not like ours, but the pupils did a presentation at ‘Town Meeting’ and put themselves across with confidence and panache.

Pupils’ projects included a drama documentary, focussing on how drama is taught, a similar project with sport, a sculpture involving American foods, a watercolour recipe book and a Warhol-style pop art painting, which is now on display in the humanities corridor.

As well as working with mentors on projects, the students also had some great day trips, some with host families, some with the school. Engaging in (American) football games, a trip to NYC, to the largest house in the USA, Biltmore, the local theme park Halloween style, the Levine Museum of the New South, the NASCAR museum and the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, as well as a farm toasting marshmallows and making smores, the students were certainly kept busy. The trip to a local diner, a real greasy spoon, where we ordered things we would never have ordered (brains for one thing!) was a real highlight.

Whilst the farewells at Charlotte Douglas Airport were sad and teary affairs, everybody was consoled by the fact that the Americans would soon be here in Blighty. February soon arrived and before we knew it, we were making a weary eyed trip to Gatwick to collect out excited guests. As ever, the visitors were taken on several trips which included London, Bath and Southampton, but they also worked awfully hard on their study projects. We managed to get our own back on the guests for making us stand up and talk in their Town Meeting by making them perform in our assembly. A great time was had by all and when it came to saying goodbye at the end of the trip, it was all the more sadder knowing that this time the exchange really was over.

Miss Smith & Dr Gamblin

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Duke of Edinburgh Award K

ES Students applied themselves yet again to their DofE Awards during the 2011-12 school year.

The Fourth Year had 14 teams complete their Bronze Assessment Expeditions in the New Forest whilst a further 7 teams enrolled as direct entry into the Silver level of the Award; these participants will now go on to complete their Awards with further expedition on Dartmoor.

The Fifth Year and Sixth Form had a further 29 expedition teams deploy to Dartmoor, the Peak District and the Lake District to complete their Silver and Gold Expeditions throughout the course of the academic year.

It is testament to the students that enrol in this programme that KES currently has in excess of 450 Awards on-going throughout the 3 levels. The School hosted the Southampton regional Duke of Edinburgh Award Evening 2010-11, which was held in the Main Hall on Wednesday 9th November with statistics supporting the outstanding success of KES pupils.

In the 2010-11 award year, 209 participants from the Southampton region attained a DofE Award as follows: 117 Bronze Awards, of which 74 were KES pupils (63%) 63 Silver Awards, of which 49 were KES pupils (78%) 29 Gold Awards, of which 21 were KES pupils (72%) In total 144 KES Students received awards over the last year equating to 69% of the regional total.

Mr Barnes

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French Trips French Exchange - Le Havre 2

012 was yet another positive year for the longestablished Third Year Le Havre exchange with Le Collège les Ormeaux.

The French group came to KES earlier in the year than usual and found their visit in March had coincided with our unusually fine spell of weather.

They claimed that they had brought it with them from “La Belle France!” The French pupils stayed for the weekend at the homes of their English partners, having arrived late on Friday 23rd March.

Some went on excursions to places of interest in the area, others clubbed together with friends to share the experience and still others enjoyed a typical week-end in a KES family.

The French group enjoyed their customary brief visit to KES on the Monday morning, including an Assembly with a stern disciplinary message from the Headmaster. As usual, for many French pupils it all just felt like Hogwarts.

For the away leg we travelled to France during the Easter holidays for the first time ever, arriving late in the evening after a ferry crossing to Caen and a coach journey in the Le Havre football team coach!

What luck! Our visit happened to coincide with the school cross country event and our students braved the miserable weather and an appalling lack of technical clothing to participate with gusto and considerable skill in some cases. M. Bonmardion, the Head of our partner school, was so impressed that he awarded the group a special trophy for their sterling efforts.

KES students were then allowed to recover and spend some time with their families before meeting together at the school on Monday morning, when we were able to participate in a lesson, enjoy a farewell breakfast (pains au chocolat, bien sûr!) and a rather interminable presentation of some lengthy highlights from the plays of Molière. And so it was; fortified nutritionally and culturally we headed for the return trip to Caen and to KES. Highlights: visits to Etretat, Honfleur and even Paris for some. The entertainment on the ferry! Eating enormous French packed lunches!

Lowlights: Molière! La pluie!

Many thanks to all KES students and their kind host parents and to Mrs Parkyn for organising the exchange.

Mr Ayers

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French Exchange - Angers Q

ue la vie est belle en France!!

This year marked the third Sixth Form French Exchange between KES and Le Lycée St Martin.

Twenty-seven KES students spent a week in October in Angers and the French group returned to the UK in March. Angers is situated in the heart of the beautiful Loire Valley and we were fortunate enough to visit the Château Azay-le-Rideau in glorious sunshine. We also enjoyed the wine tasting at Bouvet-Ladubay and our guided tour of the Château d’Angers and the famous tapestry of the Apocalypse. KES students attended class on two days and managed to impress a number of French teachers with the fluency of their spoken French.

Here in the UK the French group, accompanied by our two French assistants, enjoyed a day in London and then another in Bath. The final evening was spent together at the oriental restaurant, Dim-T in

Paris T

here is no doubt that Paris is a wonderful city to explore even when the weather is not particularly spring like!! The group of 36 Fourth and Fifth Years made the most of every opportunity during their three day visit to Paris in April. They enjoyed singing 'Aux Champs-Elysées' on the boat and at the restaurant 'Chez la mère Catherine' to the delight of the pianist and waiters! The Eiffel Tower proved not too high for some and the Musée d'Orsay was quite inspirational for others. KES students were a pleasure to take to Paris and this was certainly a fantastic way to finish the Easter holidays.

Mrs Jones

Winchester. We are so lucky to have such a great exchange school and we hope that A level students will sign up for next year!

Mrs Jones & Mrs Cottrell-Ferrat

68 | SOTONIENSIS 2012

Geography Field Trips Osmington Bay A

s part of the IGCSE Geography course the Fourth Year travelled down to Osmington Bay in Dorset. We loaded the buses and set off on what appeared to be a sunny Friday. When we reached Durdle Door however, one of our stops on the way, the grey clouds were rolling in and, as we stood on the headland of Lulworth Cove, the rain and wind decided to turn up. However, while being blown about and soaked through, we still all managed to wear a smile while we passionately identified different rock types. We hastened our investigation as the rain began to pour and got back on to the coaches.

When we arrived at the PGL centre at Osmington Bay we waited for our rooms in the safety of the building. A quick run around for some, and a relaxing card game for others, helped to warm us all up after the rain of the day. Waterproofs on and zipped up, we sprinted out of the building up to our block of rooms and took no time to settle in. With our wet clothes hung up and dressed in our warmest gear we wandered down to supper and then settled down to bed after an exhausting first day.

On Saturday, most of us were surprised to hear that our investigation of the river Wey was still going on, despite severe weather warnings and flooding predicted to hit mid-afternoon. However, in our wellies and full waterproofs we set off. As we reached the source of the river the expression on the instructors’ faces suggested our trip might be somewhat cut short. Having informed us that the rain falling down outside had caused the river to burst its banks, many of the roads giving us access were closed and would mean that by travelling to Weymouth we would have to walk back due to the coach being stranded by the flooding. Our chances of getting in the river with all our equipment seemed quite slim. However, in true geography style we responded to the somewhat interesting conditions and went down to the middle course of the river.

Although not exactly what we had planned, the situation did allow us to see the impacts of flooding on the locals and the environment.

Sunday’s weather took a turn for the better with the sun shining and temperatures rising. The conditions were perfect for a lovely trip to the seaside. We headed off to Weymouth and, as we stepped of the coach, the delicious smells of sea salt and

fresh fish hit us. We walked through the Seafood Festival market stalls selling prawns, paella and lobster and later bombarded locals and tourists with questionnaires as we stood in the street with our clipboards. Unknown to us, the traffic was building and as we loaded the coach to drive on to Chesil Beach it was clear we were not going anywhere fast. Instead we relaxed on the beach for two hours while our poor coach driver slowly moved through the traffic. The coach finally arrived back at PGL and whilst still sunny, we had a go at the leap of faith and later a mass dodge ball tournament!

On Monday we left the PGL centre for the beautiful sand dunes of Studland Bay. We did some sand dune profiling with the PGL instructors and looked at all the different vegetation. After our hard work we sat on the dunes and devoured our lunch while looking out over Sandbanks and the sea. After some artistic sand sculptures, a final splash around in the water and some prize giving we all realised our geography fun had come to an end but not before we got a picture of Max and his passionate T-shirt with Mr Havers!

We had a great time and if we could do it all again we would, despite the rain!

Ali Diaper

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Swansea I

ronically, while the weather in England was grey and overcast (possibly due to the change in the jet stream), global warming had hit Swansea hard, experiencing the best weather in decades. There was barely a cloud in the sky for the whole week as we studied the geological, fluvial and glacial features of the Gower.

The first stop on our trip was Big Pit Mine at Blaenafon in the Welsh Valleys. Here we travelled 300ft underground in a rickety cage and almost complete darkness to an underground tunnel network including the stables for around 25-30 pit ponies. The museum also demonstrated the extreme conditions the miners of South Wales had to cope with on a daily basis, and how hard it was to live in the valleys as little as 35 years ago.

The field work we carried out varied greatly (in findings) in each location despite being spatially very close. The ‘Alpine Orogeny’, (the collision of the European and African plates) has caused a great deal of folding across Europe as far as Scotland, and the area on the Gower we studied really demonstrated this. Nearing the end of the week we even stood over the anti-cline (top of the fold) just south of Worms Head, and could visibly see the change in direction of the rock.

Our evenings were supplemented with a great deal of food, evening lessons and the daily run along Swansea sea front involving a large proportion of the group. The film night was a great success with popcorn and sweets all round.

In addition to this larking about, there was some serious work completed whilst on the trip. We spent a morning measuring the conditions of a river, including sediment present and the bank-full conditions. We carried out a study on how particle size effects the distance fallen off a cliff, with a great deal of scrambling involved.

What really stands out in most of our memories are the events that took place whilst walking the sand dune succession at Oxwich. Firstly, after posing for a photo on a rock surrounded by a small channel of water, the seaweed caught a certain member of our group out, who then slipped and fell face first into the mud and slime that formed the bank. The same person then proceeded to slip over backwards

down a muddy slope with many cries of disgust.

What added to this fine series of events was the final slip, possibly aided by a tickle whilst clinging to the side of a rock face, into a rather large, cold pool of water.

Gus Woolley

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Geography Field Trip Wookey Hole T

he school trip to Wookey Hole was amazing! If you have never been or don’t know what Wookey Hole is, it is a group of ancient chambers set into a massive, beautiful limestone scar in Somerset. From textbooks and pictures you are never really aware of how incredible something is until you see it for real.

That is why Wookey Hole was an educational but truly enjoyable day out.

First we had our cave tour. This was magical. Inside the cave you are led from chamber to chamber each one gets better and better. Once inside, it is beautiful but some chambers were spooky. The lighting inside the caves is amazing. It shows the stalagmites and stalactites off really well and illuminates parts of the limestone that feature in the many stories that your guide recounts.

Then there is paper making. This is great, especially as you get to have a go at doing it yourself. It was interesting to see how paper used to be made. I had never realised before that there was an alternative way to make paper other than with wood pulp. But there is, you can also use cottons!

For the last part of our trip we were able to visit the old penny arcade. This was great fun. You could exchange your money for old pennies to use in old arcade games. There was also a mirror maze where you had to be very careful or you could easily bang into the walls – as I found out! Overall Wookey hole

was one of the most enjoyable trips I have been on so far at KES.

Megan Dunlop

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Guernsey Island Cricket Tour E

arly on the morning of Saturday 12th May, 28 First and Second Years and 3 staff met at Southampton Airport to fly to Guernsey to take part in a 2 day cricket tour of the island. After a slightly shaky landing in a strong crosswind it was a welcome sight to be met by clear blue skies after the previous poor weather.

Bussed to different locations, both teams were soon in action. The under 12s made a disastrous start, being 4 for 3 after only 2 overs, but to their credit they still managed to bat out their 35 overs with Jacob Fay scoring an impressive 83. Setting a target of 136 to win, Elizabeth College passed the total with a couple of overs to spare, and the team was left to rue the disappointment of some dropped catches and wayward bowling. Touring is all about learning and improving and, despite losing the second match against the Guernsey Island team, the First Years bowled with greater accuracy and displayed a greater commitment in their fielding.

The under 13s played against the same opposition and lost both matches, but again demonstrated a willingness to learn from previous mistakes. Whilst never going to be able to chase a score of 200 on the Sunday against the Island team, it was to their credit that they remained focused on their batting, despite the regular updates that were being given on Manchester City winning the Premier League,

and they managed to bat out their full 35 overs.

Given that this was the first cricket that any of them had played this year because of the appalling weather, it was not surprising that the players looked a little rusty. That said, this was a great experience for the players, not only from the cricketing point of view, but also from the aspect that they were hosted overnight by some local families. This all went down very well especially as a number of them spent a few hours on the beach.

Boarding the last plane back to Southampton the players were enthusiastic about the whole experience of touring the island and have no doubt that they would choose to repeat it.

Mr Putt

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French Watersports Trip A

t the end of summer holidays, 47 students and 6 teachers went to the La Rive campsite in the south of France to enjoy a week of waterbased activities with Rockley Watersports. We went sailing on Picos (little one or two man dinghies) and Darts (four or five man catamarans) and also went kayaking and wind-surfing; all of which was enjoyed by everyone, though it has to be said that a lot of our time was spent in the water rather than actually on the boats as the lake water was so lovely and warm.

Each group of around 15 students took part in a day sail that consisted of sailing on the Darts to a beach across the lake and then having a picnic before sailing back in time for evening activities. One day, a Dart jump was set up in the middle of the lake were we were able to climb to the top of a lop-sided dart and dive off into the water.

As well as being on the water, we had the opportunity to do other things like mountain biking. On one trip we saw one of Thierry Henry’s houses and were able to stop off for traditional French food halfway through the ride.

In addition, every day there was swimming, beach games and time to relax as well as an organised evening activity for each group. One of these, the ‘egg-drop’ event, was enlivened by a very angry

French lady who came and shouted at us for being too loud (we think!).

On some days we left the camp site in our coach to visit local attractions. We went to climb Europe’s biggest sand dune, Dune du Pyla. It was amazing with a fantastic view of the forest and beach at sunset. Admittedly, the teachers did cheat a bit by climbing up the stairs in order to get to the top whereas we had to climb on the sand but, all in all, it was well worth it.

On another day trip everyone went to Aqua-land, the biggest water park in France with tons of slides and rides; a favourite was definitely ‘The Wave’, shaped like a half-pipe where you’d keep sliding up and down until you stopped. After Aqua-land we went to Biscarosse-Plage, a small market town were we could buy ice-creams, gaufres (French waffles) and souvenirs.

Despite two trips to A&E and a very long coach journey there and back everyone had a great time!

Thanks go to the instructors, our teachers and coach drivers Kevin and Clive.

Rohan Gupta

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German Exchange Mutterstadt O

n 5th May, nine German pupils, from IGS Mutterstadt School (with whom we have been exchange partners since 1999), got their first view of a cold, slightly rain-sodden Britain. They were to stay with us for a week of sometimes awkward, but mutually fun, experiences. The Bank Holiday gave them an extra day with our families, meaning we could get to know each other better. Much of the time was spent at Beaulieu Motor Museum or West Quay, with the Germans doing their best to understand what was going on around them. For their one day in school, they were mainly confused as to what we were revising for, but went along with it in good spirit. The rest of their days were spent visiting places around the South, with a day in London sightseeing and a blustery day on the Isle of Wight.

For the return leg of the exchange, the Third Year KES pupils, Mrs Allen and Mr Giles flew to Frankfurt and met our exchanges in Mannheim. Whilst in Germany, we enjoyed some trips which included

a Technik Museum (like Beaulieu), BASF Chemical Company, a day at their school, handball practice, a trip to the old town of Heidelberg, Holiday Park, a very wet theme park, a Go-Ape like activity called Kletterwald (climbing forest) and a farewell barbeque party. Although some didn’t like the height aspect of it, mostly everybody enjoyed Kletterwald, and agreed that it was a great tree-top adventure and the most fun outing of the week.

Every year, a trophy is awarded to the pupil who had the best exchange, and this year, it was granted to Henry Marden, who had overcome the awkwardness of his relationship with his exchange partner due to very different personalities. We must thank Mrs Allen and Mr Giles for this incredible experience and we hope that the exchange remains popular.

Beth Spreadbury, Tatum Rouf and Henry Marden

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History Trips Berlin N

early seventy years after the end of the World War Two, the story of the rise to power of the Nazis and the events that followed, retains the capacity to fascinate and appal in equal measure.

It is, therefore, important that this topic features so centrally in the IGCSE course and, by extension, that the King Edward’s annual Fifth Form History trip to Berlin has become a regular feature in our co-curricular offerings.

This year, nearly thirty pupils journeyed to the German capital in February, visiting all of the major sites such as the Olympic Stadium, the Reichstag and Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. The weather, happily, remained clement throughout and the trip afforded all of those who participated a genuine opportunity to look more closely into the actions and mentality of Hitler and his henchmen.

For my part, I would like to thank Miss Mackintosh, Mrs Potter and Mr Giles for giving up part of their half term break to accompany the group and thus making the trip possible.

Mr Diver

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Battlefields T

he annual History Department trip to the Great War battlefields represents a moving and important conclusion to the Third Year History course. 58 pupils and 5 staff travelled to France and Belgium this year to spend some time visiting the cemeteries and battlefields of the 1914-18 war. These “silent cities” and “shattered acres” are a haunting reminder of the sacrifices made nearly a century ago by so many young men and it would be impossible to make such a trip without gaining a clearer view of the nature of the conflict. The pupils visited all of the major sites in both the Ypres Salient and the Somme and the torrential rain encountered in the Salient meant that this particular generation of Edwardians perhaps developed the most authentic appreciation possible of the conditions under which soldiers of all nationalities laboured. I would like to thank Mrs Price, Mr Halls, Mr Eades and Mr Hunt for kindly volunteering to come on the trip.

Mr Diver

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Jamaican Netball Tour T

he squad of 18 girls, Mrs Henderson, Miss Mobbs and Miss Stockting, left school on February 9th to fly to Kingston, Jamaica. After a 10 hour flight we were met at the airport by two Edwin Doran representatives and a man from the local newspaper, before departing with our bus driver to our hotel. We were greeted with a Jamaican buffet and a few short welcomes from members of the Jamaican Tourist Board, Jamaican Netball Association and hotel staff, before settling down in our rooms.

The next day we had a tour of Kingston which included Port Royal and the Bob Marley Museum, followed by a training session at the National Stadium. That evening we headed for Usain Bolt’s sports bar called Tracks & Records. We were given a variety of different local dishes in which we all found one dish we liked, despite their slightly spicy custom!

On Saturday, we had our first netball match at the National Stadium. This match proved to be challenging to both teams, due to the highly skilled opposition and the different environmental conditions. On the final whistle of both matches, KES fell short of victory. That evening we were invited to watch two super league matches at the stadium, where our squad saw the huge support that netball has in Jamaica. Afterwards we headed for our next hotel, on the north side of the island, in Ocho Rios.

The following day we had a short bus journey to Dunn’s River Falls, where all 21 of us walked up the

falls - one of the best parts of the tour. Following this fantastic experience our driver took us to the Widows Mite orphanage for disabled children in the hills. When we pulled into the drive of the orphanage we met a girl called Sharni who was 19 years old. As soon as the doors to the bus opened, she jumped on board and started to hug every one of us to show her excitement for seeing us. Following this greeting, we moved inside the building to meet the other children. As none of us knew what to expect, some members of the squad were shocked by what we saw. After feeding them lunch, we took them outside to play some ball games and presented them with a cheque from the School, to help support the workers. After saying some heart-felt goodbyes, we went to an Italian restaurant on the cliff top for dinner.

On Monday, we had our second match of the tour against Westwood High School. After a brief tour of the school, we walked down to the netball court.

We then played our matches in concession with the whole school (700 girls) coming out to support. The seconds drew their match against a tough Junior side, but the firsts managed to gain the first win of the tour. The next day the third match was against Montego Bay High School. Again, a large crowd was out to watch the games during which both KES teams took the victory, despite a hard match in the heat. The meal for that evening was at a Chinese in Ocho Rios, with stunning scenery. The restaurant was located next to beautiful waterfalls cascading down the rocks, illuminated by fairylights.

On Wednesday we had an early start and headed for Negril beach on the West coast of Jamaica. We arrived on the beach to a view of a beautiful catamaran, and jumped on board to go snorkelling and swimming in the Caribbean Sea. Hungry from the swimming we rushed to lunch! An afternoon in the sun followed before we were taken to Rick’s Cafe. Here there was live music, cliff jumping and the best view of the sunset on the island.

On the last Thursday of our tour, we relaxed at a luxury hotel and spa before heading to our penultimate match against Herbert Morison. This was reputed to be a sporting school and knowing that they had 4 national netball players across both teams, it is fair to say that we were pretty worried about this match. Sadly, our predictions were correct for both of our sides as we scored two losses.

Next we headed for the Luminous Lagoon. We were all excited, yet quite nervous, as we set out on the

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Squad

boat in the dark. As we approached the lagoon and jumped in, we were amazed as the water glowed as we moved, with our bodies illuminating. The captain of the boat told us that the glow was due to the microbes in the mix of fresh and salt water.

This was followed by a meal at David James’ Dad’s restaurant alongside the water. Having eaten a great meal here and explored Joe James’ gallery of paintings, we headed back to Ocho Rios.

The penultimate day of our tour saw our last matches in Jamaica; at St. Hilda’s in the mountains. The B team played the Juniors and sadly succumbed to the ability of the Jamaicans but the A team managed to pull off a decent victory. February 17th is ‘Jamaica Day’ in the schools and so we were invited for lunch and to the celebrations with the whole school.

These celebrations included dancing, acting and singing from the St. Hilda’s girls to celebrate their country and 50 years of independence. Just as we have throughout the trip, we treated the Jamaican girls to our beautiful version of Jessie J’s song ‘Price Tag’. It is fair to say that the school loved our efforts to be involved in the concert, as much as we enjoyed experiencing Jamaica Day. On our last day in Jamaica, we went to the local market in Ocho Rios, and then relaxed on the beach, before departing for Montego Bay airport.

After saying some hard goodbyes to Anne, Jennifer, Antonio and Wayne we boarded our flight back to chilly England. I think we would all agree that this netball tour to Jamaica was a success, and a lifetime experience for all involved.

Ellie D’Alton

Squad: Jenny Swinn, Beth Buxey-Sofley, Frankie Dukes, Natalie Fairhurst, Alice Neilson, Ella Hall, Olivia Ellis, Leah Jones, Ellie D'Alton, Ria Rhodes, Kirsty Asher, Lotti Williams, Lucy Morgan, Anna Shadbolt, Alicia McDowell, Hattie Rawson-Smith, Emily Bevens, Gigi Hill Match Results: Firsts: Mona

Westwood Montego Bay Herbert Morison St. Hildas

9-18 L 22-10 W 23-10 W 13-18 L 16-5 W

Seconds: Mona Westwood Montego Bay Herbert Morison St. Hilda's

4-19 L 12-12 D 22-8 W 9-20 L 11-18 L

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Olympic Activities Celebration Day T

his year Activities Day took on an Olympic theme and on Friday 6th July, 409 pupils took part in the celebration day. All pupils spent the day participating in an Olympic sporting activity involved a wide range of different activities at locations based throughout the county and beyond.

The sports involved included: archery, badminton, diving, film making (with an Olympic theme), gymnastics, kayaking, mountain biking, rowing, rhythmic gymnastics, sailing, skiing, snowboarding, squash, swimming, tennis and track cycling.

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The Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition Trip F

or the second year in succession, KES were fortunate enough to secure places for a group of students to visit the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition.

The Royal Society Summer Exhibition 2012 hosted twentyone exhibits, all showcasing the most exciting cutting-edge science and technology from universities across the UK. The exhibits varied from robotic soccer, insect birth control and chemical ghosts to avalanche radar and the quantum of spin. As well as the exhibits, a lecture was available given by a renowned palaeontologist on the subject of the chemistry behind dinosaur faeces. Whether there were only a few areas of science that intrigued you, there was most definitely something for everyone to enjoy.

On arrival, the twenty-four members of the Third Year, accompanied by Drs Dean and Purves, had just three hours to work our way through the maze

of corridors and rooms to all the different exhibits. When arriving at the individual exhibits we made our way through the crowd to speak to the centre of attention, the scientists. They allowed us to question them, replying with amazing answers, with full, indepth explanations of the exhibit they were showcasing. After bombarding them with questions they handed out leaflets and goodies, further brandishing their exhibit. Although nobody manages to top Dr Dean in acquiring a telescope from the ALMA observatory stand. The exhibition gave us the chance to experience science on a greater scale, beyond our IGCSE courses.

One of our favourite exhibits was the Herschel telescope, and not just because we had the opportunity to pose for infrared photographs. This is the largest infrared telescope ever launched. This telescope may give us detailed images of the universe, which can enable us

to increase our understanding of it. In the exhibit we were shown pictures from the telescope’s latest results. The scientists at the exhibit explained to us the importance of the images for astronomy and astrophysics, and told us how the results could show the difference between infrared and normal light. However, what was most interesting about the telescope was of course how it worked.

The Royal Society of Science Exhibition was not only interesting, providing us with a feast of what science had to offer, but was also fun with the exhibits allowing us to join in games and other activities. We did not only benefit from the trip by getting free goodies, but by learning more about science, and its significance in the world that we live in today.

Raja Ohri and James Wright

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Operation Wallacea O

ur customary biennial contribution to the world conservation effort was once again organised with Operation Wallacea; this time with a select group of fifteen from the Lower Sixth and two members of staff. We had the added excitement of knowing that we would be followed everywhere by Roger the video man and his camera, introduced on the first evening as Betsy, who was making a promotional video.

This summer, the destination was the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico where Operation Wallacea has established a new project looking at the biodiversity in the Mayan jungles at the northern end of the forest that extends south as far as Guatemala and Honduras. We made our usual contribution to the habitat surveys, working in huge quadrats measuring vegetation, but there was particular significance at this new site as the data collected over the next couple of years will be used to persuade world bodies to contribute very large sums of money towards protecting the forest and providing a way of life for those living there. Without the manpower

provided by groups like ours, this simply wouldn’t be possible.

Earning our keep was a small part of the overall expedition with much more time dedicated to finding out what the scientists around the site were doing. Tim, the reptile man, was the least likely scientist with his tattoos and scary beard, but what he didn’t know about snakes we never found out.

He led entertaining walks and drives looking for any kind of frog or lizard, but he was most excited when he caught a snake, particularly at night. The bird team caught all sorts of things in their mist nets, including a falcon on one occasion, and one group glimpsed a puma while waiting for the nets to fill…well maybe! The following half an hour trying to find it did cause some to wonder what would happen if we actually succeeded. Kathy was the hugely enthusiastic scientist in charge of mammal studies and she helped us to follow tracks of plenty of animals including jaguar and tapir - a lucky few spotted an ocelot. Her real passion was her troop of spider monkeys, however, and we watched them swinging through the trees several times.

We spent time at two sites around Calakmul in the forest, which is the site of an ancient Mayan city. We visited the ruins of many buildings including temples and sports arenas which are yet to be dug out of the forest but there are some that are accessible. For many of us, one of the most enduring memories will be standing at the top of a pyramid looking down on the forest canopy stretching into the far distance.

Some made the moment even more poignant by playing Temple Run while on the temple. Conditions in the main camp were relatively civilised so the real wilderness experience was provided by the remote camp where showers weren’t terribly easy but the hammocks were really very comfortable. Nights by the camp fire were relaxing after a busy day in the jungle and toasted marshmallows added a little bit of luxury.

For the second half of the expedition we swapped hiking boots and grubby jungle trousers for flipflops and swimming shorts in the coastal resort of Akumal, a couple of hours south of Cancun. The contrast was stark, with comfortable air conditioned rooms beside a white beach and clear warm sea.

Operation Wallacea is working with other groups in this area to find ways of protecting the offshore coral reef and the large community of turtles living

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in the bay. Our main activity was SCUBA diving and some of the party spent a few days completing their Open Water certification, while those already qualified were diving on the reef as part of an ecology course.

Turtles were all over the place, easily found when diving or snorkelling and wonderful to watch and follow. We were fortunate to be able to help with a project that captured and tagged the turtles for future monitoring, although it was surprising how difficult they were to catch and hold – they are faster and stronger than you might expect. Much of the beach is a protected turtle nesting area and we were there right in the middle of the nesting season.

We saw females laying eggs in the dead of night and one group was lucky enough to see hundreds of baby turtles pouring out of a nest and heading for the sea.

Throughout the expedition we were treated to talks from experts in forest and marine ecology and we had the chance to see first-hand what they were doing and find out why it is important. The places we visited were often well off any beaten track and we were able to dive on protected reefs to see a stunning variety of wildlife. The Wallacea team were appreciative of the contribution that we made as a

group and in turn they looked after us brilliantly – it couldn’t have been more fun. Our activities are already on YouTube, courtesy of Betsy, if you want to see us in action.

Mr Hall

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Spanish Trips Cordoba T

he beginning of the Easter holidays saw twenty three Third and Fourth year Hispanists travel to Córdoba in Andalucía.

Although the weather was a bit unseasonal for this time of the year, with coats needed most days, the group really enjoyed themselves. The mornings were spent in a specialist language school and the afternoons

visiting the many historical sites Córdoba has to offer, as well as sampling some traditional tapas and “chocolate con churros”. This was an excellent opportunity to know the real Spain as the students stayed with host families and made friends with some local teenagers. Easter in Spain is a big religious affair and the group

was lucky enough to witness some of the very impressive processions that were taking place all over Córdoba that week. On the journey back we managed to fit in a visit to the Alhambra Palace in Granada.

Mrs Ladislao

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Catalonia F

orty eight members of the First and Second Years and five members of staff spent five days during the summer half term in the Catalonia region of Northern Spain. After an initial hiccup with the coach booking the tour got under way and went very smoothly.

On the first day we visited the town of Figueres for some shopping and to explore the fascinating works of Salvador Dalí in his Theatre Museum; the building itself being a work of art in its own right. The pupils enjoyed the vocabulary quest, finding objects in his paintings, and were very creative in the most artistic photograph competition.

The second day’s excursion took us to Barcelona, for a whistle-stop tour of the city’s best sites. We visited the Nou Camp Stadium, Barcelona FC’s home ground; we strolled around Parc Güell and had a picnic lunch, had a quick visit of the Sagrada Familia cathedral and drove past the most famous of Gaudi’s buildings: Casa Batlló and Casa Milá. We walked down Las Ramblas, Barcelona’s famous, bustling pedestrian street, to the Columbus monument at the port where the pupils enjoyed shopping at the market stalls. We visited Barcelona’s Olympic sites at the top of Mont Juïc, from where we were afforded stunning views of the entire city.

The following day we visited the town of Girona with its medieval cobbled streets, Arab baths and

Jewish quarter. We explored the narrow streets and walked the city walls, eating lunch in a beautiful leafy park on top of the walls. We wound our way down to the river and then introduced the pupils to the typical Spanish custom of ‘tapas’ which they thoroughly enjoyed. The late afternoon was spent in the town of Tossa itself; a very attractive and picturesque beach resort with some local cliffs and caves, which we visited in a glass bottomed boat. In our free time we wandered around the tiny streets of Tossa, shopping, eating ice-creams and playing ball games on the beach. The lovely weather allowed an opportunity to swim in the hotel pool each day. After dinner the pupils enjoyed the disco at the hotel or spent time relaxing in the common rooms.

The students had a chance to experience Spanish local life as it happens in a small village and also had to fulfil a number of tasks which involved speaking Spanish to the locals and understanding signs around the place - tasks which pushed their Spanish to new heights!

Fairly exhausted, but very cheerful, we arrived back at KES just after tea on a rainy Jubilee day for happy reunions with parents, having had a fun, as well as culturally educational, experience.

Miss Lindebringhs

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Spanish Trip Salamanca O

n 9th February 2012, 12 A Level Spanish students, Mrs Rugge-Price and Mrs Ladislao left for the annual Sixth Form trip to Salamanca, the famous, historic university town. After a smooth journey by minibus and air, and passing through snowy plains in our coach, we arrived in a very chilly Salamanca at a reasonable hour and everyone was introduced to their families and dispersed to their various houses. We met up again later to ensure that everyone was well settled and happy with their host families.

Early on Friday, the group met at Ábaco Instituto Hispánico, the specialist language school, where they were to have four hours of lessons daily.

The students were separated into two groups according to year group and received intensive classes of grammar and conversation from highly experienced teachers. KES students looked a bit shocked at the intensity of the lessons on the first day, and exhausted after listening to Spanish for so many hours on the trot, however, they soon became used to the pace and level and felt the benefit to their language.

The first afternoon, and after returning to respective houses for lunch, we followed lessons with a tour of the city, taking in the incredibly beautiful old university buildings and massive cathedral, and giving us a chance to wander round the attractive streets and get our bearings a little. This was followed by our first, but by no means last, ‘churros con chocolate’.

The pattern of the following days was similar, with students attending lessons in the mornings and meeting together in the afternoons or evenings for something ‘cultural’. We tasted tapas, climbed the cathedral tower to see far reaching views of the plains of Castille, ate more churros (quickly a firm favourite!), went to the cinema to see a film in Spanish, had a flamenco dancing lesson, rose to a photography challenge and ate dinner together in a local Spanish restaurant.

On our final day, and en route to the airport, we stopped to spend the day in Madrid. This included a tour of Las Ventas, Spain’s largest and most important bullring, regarded as the home of bullfighting in Spain.

Here we were guided around the different areas of the bullring by a local Spanish guide. He gave us a really interesting view into, and explanation of, the world of bullfighting, so foreign to most of us. I think that, despite our personal feelings on the subject, we all left feeling that we knew better how it worked, and were able to sense some of the excitement and danger, as well as the spectacle it involves.

This was followed by a stroll through the streets, venturing into the heart of Madrid, from the Prado to the Plaza Mayor and Puerta del Sol, and past the Palacio Real, whilst still leaving a little time to visit FNAC and some other shops in the centre! We drove back to the airport via the Bernabéu stadium and through the modern part of town seeing some of its fascinating architecture from the coach.

The return journey back to London was long, but uneventful, and we returned to School exhausted, but happy, having enjoyed a sociable and educational week abroad.

Mrs Ladislao and Mrs Rugge-Price

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Ski Trip O

n the 31st March we all set off to school extremely early not knowing what to expect from the 2012 KES ski trip! We arrived at KES, got into our groups to be registered and before we knew it we were on the coach on the way to the airport.

We got to the airport and the check-in went surprisingly quickly. Finally we were on the plane and the fact we were going away for a week on our own with school started to become a reality for some of us and the sense of excitement definitely kicked in.

We landed in Geneva and after the coach journey we were finally at La Plagne and ready to get in and see where we’d be staying for the next week!

After that point everything happened so quickly!

We settled into our new rooms and unpacked, had our skis/snow boards fitted and we were ready to go downstairs for our first look at where we would be eating. After dinner Mr Wood told us all the information we needed, including some of the activities we could do throughout the week including bowling, bum boarding and a quiz night.

In our skiing and snowboarding lessons we were

put into groups by ability and introduced to our instructors. All week our instructors pushed us to improve and we did so, with one of the groups who had never ever skied before doing brilliantly and ending the week on a red run. It wasn’t just the beginners who made progress though, everyone became a lot more confident.

I had so many amazing experiences and have some great memories from the trip. I made lots of new friends with people I hadn’t talked to before and, when the week was coming to an end, I just didn’t want to go home! The skiing was great with perfect snow and a lovely instructor.

I don’t think I will ever forget La Plagne 2012 as I had so much fun. All of the teachers that came with us were brilliant and I hope they had as much fun as I know all the pupils did. I would certainly do it all again. It was a fantastic experience to be part of.

Iona Rhodes

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Summer Camp S

ummer Camp aims to give a group of twelve young carers from the Southampton area a summer holiday to remember and a break from their often demanding lives. It gives the youngsters the opportunity to enjoy new experiences with the full attention of the dedicated Sixth Form team who allow them a carefree week which is both fun and safe.

The Summer Camp team is comprised of a mix of eight Upper Sixth and eight Lower Sixth students.

In order to raise funds for the camp, the team organises a variety of charity events and fundraisers. This year there were some regulars mixed with a new and exciting 24-hour rowathon which was immensely popular with students across the whole school. Over 140 students and staff took part, in total rowing a distance of 572 km and raising a fantastic £1737.46. A colossal effort was achieved by the top 3 rowers, who themselves rowed over 15 km combined, with Matt Wood claiming the prize for the furthest distance rowed. Both First and Second Year discos had large turnouts as usual with a very popular Circus theme in November and an Olympic themed BBQ and disco in the summer.

After a year’s work and preparation we finally set off for camp in mid July. Having set up the marquee and tents on the previous day, we were ready to meet the jubilant children on an early Saturday morning. With the weather just about in our favour, we spent the first day playing games, building sandcastles on the beach and getting to know each other. This was a success as by the time we arrived back on the site, the children had already decided

on tent arrangements amongst themselves. Night duty proved to be a challenge as excitement was high irrelevant of the time of the day.

We were all excited for the activities planned out for the week ahead. These included high ropes, the very trying crabbing, crazy golf and Monkey World.

Even the kayaking and Splashdown option was popular amongst everyone despite a very cold and wet day.

The high ropes course was a particularly memorable day as all the children had fun whilst working together, strengthening their friendships and facing their fears. Many of them climbed higher than they had ever done before which was a real achievement. It was great to see such positivity from the children as they bonded together to help one another achieve their goals.

Bedtimes were somewhat delayed by endless games of ‘splat’, with certain members of the Sixth Form entering the game with a competitive streak, unwilling to back down to the even the youngest camper. However, despite the allure of these nighttime games, a combined effort from many led to the construction of an impressive summer camp den.

Our last night on camp soon loomed but we were determined to make it one to remember. To start it off, we held the legendary Summer Camp Talent Night, which included an unforgettable performance of ‘Sexy and I Know It’ by Max and his Band, John’s rendition of ‘Grenade’ by Bruno Mars, and the Lower Sixth boys singing the very memorable, ‘That’s what I go to camp for.’

There was also a surprise in store for the young carers as four of our unfortunate members of the Lower Sixth endured a ‘not-so-attractive’ line up of events. Nevertheless, this ended the week on a high.

Needless to say, our last day was tainted with sadness as we had to say goodbye to the young carers with whom we had developed such great friendships with over the course of the week. Yet despite the sadness we couldn’t help but be proud, as we had witnessed them grow in confidence over such a short space of time. Summer Camp has left us all with memories that will last a lifetime and it has undoubtedly been an extremely fulfilling and rewarding experience.

Natalie Pang

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Second Year Camp E

ight staff, four Edwardians and two Upper Sixth students enjoyed the company of sixty nine Second Year students over a number of long weekends during the summer term. The trips are designed to be enjoyable for all with a broad range of activities taking place. These have included numerous team activities helping to develop communication and construction skills as well as the challenge of climbing on the Granite rock at “The Dewerstone” in the South West of Dartmoor. These camps have been taking place for over 25 years and are now based at the School’s Lovaton Rural Studies centre where students have the opportunity to camp and use the facilities in the bunk house and converted barn.

All the students are briefed and prepared to cook for

themselves on camping type stoves which brings with it a range of successes as well as challenges in the washing up stakes. The first trip this year benefited from seeing a significant amount of blue skies, the second offered a more challenging environment for all concerned but allowed many to be more aware of the skills needed to continue to enjoy the outdoors even if wellington boots were the boot of choice. A huge amount of enjoyment and fun took place on the trips and we hope that all the pupils, current and past look back with fond memories.

Mr Havers

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South Africa T

he School has continued to maintain strong links with the Goedgedacht Trust in South Africa, a charity which strives to bring young children out of poverty by following a number of different initiatives.

A group of Sixth Formers returned in August from an exhausting but productive two week visit where they proved to be excellent ambassadors for the School and left a lasting impression on the local community children and the workers at the Trust.

The primary focus of the trip is to work with the local POP (Path Out of Poverty) centres where local school children can receive a hot meal before and after school and which KES has helped to fund. Our students spent every afternoon helping children

with their homework and interacting with them on a social level and teaching them new games and songs. The bonds forged over the five afternoons became strong and by the time our students left, tears were shed on both sides.

The evening programme is more challenging and our students were asked to design a two night programme for the Goedgedacht youth workers which involved teaching others about the importance of teamwork, endurance and trust. All the activities had an Olympic focus.

The mornings were spent working on the farm itself and the team built and painted environmental structures which are to be used as interactive tools

SOTONIENSIS 2012 | 91

for the primary school children on the Climate Change Path. Other students were involved in clearing a BMX track for the pre-school children and rubbing down furniture for the pre-school and POP centres.

Prior to visiting the farm the group also spent 3 nights in Cape Town where they visited District Six Museum, Robben Island and Table Mountain.

This meant they had a thorough appreciation of the effects of the apartheid system before they witnessed first hand the segregation between the various communities in Riebeek West and Riebeek Kasteel. The interaction between the different ethnic groups is improving but there is still a long way to go to achieve any sense of economic equality. An afternoon was also spent at Newlands Sports/Science Institute in Cape Town where all the students were assessed for their fitness level. Each year, the final leg of the trip is spent in the Entabeni Game Reserve where the students had a couple of days to reflect on their experiences and also learn about poaching and its impact on the black rhino.

Mrs Evans

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SPORT AT KES 2011-2012

Senior Boys’ Basketball Report The season began with the senior team at a substantial disadvantage. Winning two championships in the previous two years meant that the team had been promoted to Division 1 of the U19 Men’s Southampton and District League.

Superior opposition, and the fact that over half the previous season’s squad were school leavers, meant that the team was always going to struggle.

Younger players were immediately drafted in – some from as low as the Fourth Year. Tim Cornish, Harvey Barr, Micah Stewart, Dan Hemmingway, Andrew Devoy and Tom Holden-Dye all served to good effect, while the dynamic duo of Alex Djukanovic and Jaz Chillana made a substantial contribution in terms of their talented defensive play and three point shooting.

C

aptain Mikey Hannides had a rather large pair of shoes to fill following the success of Jack Kelsey and Chris Ratcliffe in previous years.

Wearing two pairs of socks and even stuffing them with tissue paper could not do the trick so as a result he accepted he had to buy smaller shoes! This is not to say that he and the other Sixth Formers who remained did not step up to the plate. A key player in this respect was Andy Boyes, who although only 5 foot 10, possessed the highest jump in the team and was responsible for numerous blocks during the season. Stu Duggal was also a crucial asset, providing us with an exceptional basketball brain and much needed humour.

Initially the team was not used to playing together and lacked the necessary chemistry. The result: a defeat to Peter Symonds by 37 points to 75. Despite this start there were signs of hope. The following week we played with heart, determination and skill in a 103 to 33 win in the Hampshire Cup against Totton College. Notable performances came from Andy Boyes, who scored 22 of the team’s points and Mikey Hannides, with a personal best of 32 points. It is important not to forget the role played

by Jaz Chillana, with well over 15 assists, or the efforts of Alex Padgham and Jack Chandler.

Alex Padgham soon demonstrated his talent as a sportsman by quickly grasping the fundamentals of basketball despite not understanding all the rules at first. Jack Chandler, having been born and bred on

the streets of Chandlers Ford, quickly adapted to life on court. Those who may have considered Jack a shy or timid character were quickly proved wrong.

He quickly broke out of his shell and played with an aggression second only to that of his captain.

During the course of the season we faced Itchen College three times. Itchen were the then Division 1 Champions and, being a sporting college, had several England players in their large squad. A feature of their inherent superiority was that their smallest player was at least 5 inches bigger than our tallest player. Although we were defeated each time we played them, we were certainly no walkovers; rather we improved with each performance, scoring more and conceding fewer points. The first game, a 45 to 108 defeat was succeeded, at the third attempt, by a more respectable 56 points to 92 score line, with Jaz Chillana claiming 22 points and impressing many of the spectators.

The team was the better side in the next game against Barton Peveril College but, after a decent first half performance, the momentum slowed.

Without their captain, Mikey Hannides, who was serving a one match ban, the team eventually lost by 63 points to 84.

Regardless of these defeats, team confidence never dropped. Morale was high going into our last game of the season away to Peter Symonds, especially with the memory of the defeat at the beginning of the season.

SOTONIENSIS 2012 | 93

Coach Drew Sewell was not present yet the players had an air of confidence as Assistant Coach Smart took control.

The game was closely fought throughout the 40 minutes of normal time. With King Edward’s down by five points at the half way point, Coach Smart’s team talk gave new life to the team: a tired starting five came out for the second half with renewed courage and resolve. Stu Duggal put in his best performance of the season with 20 points and over 10 rebounds. Meanwhile Mikey Hannides led from the front with his ever-aggressive defence, breaking his scoring record with 35 points. Having scored a last second shot to tie the game 66 points to 66, Mikey almost won the game with a full court American football throw thanks to the steal of Alex Djukanovic. As we watched in slow motion, mouths open, the ball bounced around the rim and dropped out: overtime.

Despite eventually running out losers by 71 points to 73, we knew we could have done no more and were justifiably proud of the team’s performance.

This season was by no means the most successful in the history of King Edward’s basketball; however it was never expected to be, especially with so many young players so new to the sport. Nevertheless this group of players has gained some valuable experience in the top league, which will no doubt stand them in good stead next year. I have every confidence in them under the leadership of our new captain, Stu Duggal, and look forward to them building on the promise they have shown this season.

Mikey Hannides

94 | SOTONIENSIS 2012

Senior Colts Basketball Report T

he start of this basketball season saw the loss of key players from the team as they moved up to senior level. Their loss placed a great weight of responsibility upon the remaining three players Alex Djukanovic, Jaz Chillana and Folusho Olufadi.

Luckily, committed players from the year below, such as Daniel Hemmingway, Andrew Devoy, Harvey Barr, Tim Cornish, Micah Stewart and Tom Holden-Dye stepped forward to take their place.

After receiving some tough coaching from Drew Sewell, the team was as prepared as it was ever going to be for the forthcoming season.

Unfortunately Coach Sewell could not make the match so Michael Hannides generously deputised as coach. Despite the length of the game, the team swept away the opposition with a 44-23 win, Jaz Chillana having scored 23 of the team’s points.

In the next match against Noadswood School, King Edward’s demonstrated commendable talent and skill as they blew past Noadswood, doubling the opposing side’s score with a 59-24 win. Vain attempts to aggravate the King Edward’s team were brushed aside as King Edward’s finished the game and went into the holidays undefeated.

The team immediately faced Thornden, who held a strong reputation. No one on the team was fazed by this and the team’s chemistry and resilience were reflected in the 53-27 win. The team was on a high after their win but continued to train hard as the next opponents, Toynbee, were also among the more accomplished teams in the league. Determined to perform as well as in the previous match, the team gave an excellent display of tenacity as Toynbee succumbed to a 72-54 loss to King Edward’s.

As the team returned from the holiday, it became apparent to Coach Sewell that the team was suffering from a lack of fitness. He consequently pushed the team hard to get them back into shape before their away game against Cantell School. To add to the stress of their lack of fitness, Folusho Olufadi announced that he was no longer able to play for the team. Luckily, Coach Sewell was at this point able to introduce the imposing figures of Harvey Barr and Tim Cornish. The fitness sessions with Coach Sewell prevailed as the team achieved their best result of the season quintupling the opposition’s score with a 67-13 victory and with Alex Djukanovic scoring 24 of the team’s points. The next game was against St Georges, a team none of the players or

The team was allowed a well-earned week’s break before play recommenced with several games against easier opposition. First, the team travelled to Westgate School to play a shortened match.

SOTONIENSIS 2012 | 95

coaching staff knew a great deal about. The King Edward’s side needn’t have worried though as, from the beginning, the team was dominant, running out as victors by 63 points to 33. The last game of the league was against big rivals, Mountbatten School, who had a fearsome reputation. Despite attempts

by Coach Sewell and the captains to calm the team, the tension was tangible in the changing rooms.

Unfortunately, the School’s unbeaten streak was ended as, on this occasion, Mountbatten ran out victors by 68 points to 40.

The loss to Mountbatten was a heavy blow to the team’s confidence as they approached the semifinal play-offs. Having come 2nd in the league to Mountbatten, they now faced a game against the team who had come 3rd, Thornden School.

Unfortunately, Thornden were forced to pull out of the game the day before it due to be played and so the result went down as a 20:0 win for King Edward’s. This saw them through to the final against, yet again, Mountbatten.

Coach Sewell wisely used the experience of the previous game against Mountbatten to inform his training strategy. At first this seemed to have paid off as both teams were neck and neck as the match began. Then King Edward’s began to gain control of the game, having administered a slight lead.

Unfortunately after half time, Mountbatten drew level and began to pull away from the King Edward’s side, marking up a twenty points lead. Coach Sewell responded with a much needed time out and some passionate words of encouragement.

Thus rejuvenated, King Edward’s pulled the game back to within two points in the final quarter.

Unfortunately the team’s work ethic alone was not enough to win the game as Mountbatten eventually won 56-70. However, Dan Hemmingway had a magnificent game, scoring 31 of the team’s points. In the end second place in the Under 16 Southampton and District Schools’ League was a well-deserved result after all the hard work the team had put in throughout the season.

Special thanks must go to Drew Sewell for his excellent coaching and to Mr Smart for his supportive management and sensible refereeing.

Thanks also go to the scorers, Alice Davies, Hannah Lewington and Ellie D’Alton, who generously gave of their time to help officiate the games.

Alex Djukanovic and Jaz Chillana

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Boys’ Football Report I

t is often said that there can be no ups without the downs, no highs without the lows and 2011/12 turned out to be what football writers like to call a roller-coaster of a season in which both the highs and the lows figured prominently. Fine attacking football alternated with some farcical defending which made the Greek economy look solid. Controlled disciplined performances were lent colour by some more emotionally charged interludes that will last long in the collective memory and provide entertainment for years to come in their recall; even if they were not exactly a barrel of laughs at the time.

The season started with a fine performance in the September sunshine against what seemed to be a daunting team of star-studded recent leavers. They were brushed aside surprisingly easily in a 6-2 victory in which Nick Brown seemed to win the battle of the brothers and where there were lots of good all-round performances, not least from Matt Wood our very own marathon man and perhaps the fittest player to have represented the School for some time. This was unfortunately followed by a mauling from a strong Farnborough side to bring us back to earth. All this in spite of a solid defensive display from Tom Lewis at right back. The team also lost Ryan Breen in the game to not just one, but two self-inflicted injuries (one to each leg, making his return journey to the mini-bus somewhat problematical). His abrasive, competitive contributions to the midfield were sorely missed until he made a post-Christmas comeback and lent some much needed steel to the team’s performances.

Hope was reborn not long afterwards in a fiercely fought 1-1 draw against Itchen College in which former Saints Under 11 hitman Seb Lataillade returned from a rather premature retirement to add flexibility and footballing nous to the spine of the team where, over the course of the season he managed to play in goal, centre half, central midfield and centre

forward. The flames of hope were kept burning in a demolition of HCS, notable for the performance of Adam Sharpe who was perhaps our most disciplined and complete footballer in the year, and the growing assurance of Tom Capper at the back who became a real rock in the centre of defence. Hat-trick hero Mike Hannides also gave an early season glimpse of some of his many talents in an entertaining second half performance, some of it even on the pitch.

As the grey November skies closed in around us, Tim Trant bestowed rays of sunshine with his defensive solidity and attacking flair which saw him tie down the left back spot for the rest of the season.

He will hopefully form part of the core of the team next year as well. A highlight of this pre-Christmas period was a 3-2 win at Tauntons, despite injury reducing the team to 10 players for much of the second half. Arun Garewal deserves special mention here for his persistence and staying power after injuring various parts of his body in skirmishes with the opposition. The end of the Christmas term saw his inevitable defection along with the free-scoring Cameron Kavanagh of the flying shinpads to Mr Gilbert on the Dark Side.

The AS January examination schedule, and the toll it exacts on our playing strength, always provides opportunities for players who have perhaps been overlooked at the beginning of the season to claim their place in the sun. And so it proved to be when two such players (Ollie Hoghton and Andy Pennycuick) blazed a meteoric trail to Poole Grammar where, despite their best efforts and a fine goal from the latter and assisted by the former, we unluckily slipped to our first defeat against them in ten years. The entertaining journey back to Southampton could not quite lift the January gloom and neither player was ever able to force their way back into the team.

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Highs and lows can of course be experienced not just from game to game but within each individual game and from minute to minute. This was the case at Sparsholt College, a place where faint hearts rarely prosper and resilience is a basic requirement. Mike Hannides certainly proved to be resilient in one of his most entertaining games of the season. Pete Astbury also gave one of his finer performances keeping his team in the game with a series of fine saves and securing a fighting 1-1 draw and an extra point towards securing our position near the top of the league.

Sunshine and hope returned once more in our final game of the season against Magdalen College School, Oxford; a game which reflected our season as a whole. The team made a fine start playing excellent possession football with Tom Stroud contributing a quality performance of busy and combative artistry and Aidan Stringfellow looking his usual suave and sophisticated, if not overly casual, self at right back. This did not last long, however, and we went into the break a goal down.

Mutual recriminations, sulking, flouncing and pouting that would have put the Dutch half-time team meeting to shame seemed

to do the trick and we resumed the second half a changed and recharged team.

Jordan Florit put in what must have been his best performance in a King Edward shirt storming down the touchline like a man possessed, making his first ever header, looking suspiciously like having made a tackle (though this has been referred to the Dubious Tackles Panel) and adding to his already impressive tally of goals. So it was that a final victory was won and the season ended as it had begun, in a blaze of glory and glorious sunshine.

All in all, it was another highly enjoyable season in which much was learned, memories created and most of all an appetite for playing the game was formed which hopefully will last for many years.

Finally, a special thanks also to all who played a part this year, especially Jonny Smith, Rob West at centre half and the rugby trio of Adam Sluman, Rhodri Adamson and Dan Paton, not forgetting those who attended on Monday afternoons. Roll on next season which, of course, will kick off with a game against a star-studded team of recent leavers‌.

Mr Kukla

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U12 Boys’ Rugby Report A

squad of 25 players represented the School during the autumn term of 2011. While on paper the season may not appear to be a huge success, the team’s improvement was most encouraging.

The season started with a series of defeats, starting with PGS. Many teams, including PGS and St Georges School, looked very strong and played good rugby and clearly outmatched our inexperienced side, some of whom were playing rugby for the very first time.

With each defeat weaknesses were identified and improved upon and eventually the team earned its first victory: an emphatic 46-0 win against Perins School. As the team improved, victories followed and the players really started to find some form.

It was encouraging to see that the weaknesses identified in the early matches; tackling, rucking and keeping the line became our strengths and the team developed an impenetrable defence. This resulted in a run of four victories at the end of the season without conceding a single point.

Ed Dawson was awarded the ‘most improved player award’ for forcing his way into the team.

Ollie Viant was awarded the ‘best moment of the season award’ for his (what became his trademark) interception, breakaway try to win the game against St Johns College. Will Thompson who was the top try scorer was awarded the ‘players’ player award’ and Guy Ripper was awarded the ‘coach’s player award’ for consistency.

Other players that stood out were Matthew Whitehead for his ferocious tackling, Matt Mann, Scott Olive and Nick Hepworth for their excellent forward play, Alex Shadbolt for his strong running and Joe Powell for his excellent side-step. Zak Cooper came into the game more and established himself as an excellent full back when the team adopted rush defence.

Max Ivens proved to be a great front row player and Dylan Chatterley, Joe Arthur and George Cartwright were always involved in rucks and mauls. Charlie Harrigan and Jacob Fay developed a good halfback relationship. George Vincent proved to be very adaptable and Blake Miller has a lot of potential with his running ability. Matchey Lincoln proved to be very dependable and Cameron Thompson, Harry Capewell and Henry Townsend all did themselves proud.

Mr Tesseyman A Team Played:13 / Won:5 / Lost:8 / For:150 / Against:222 B Team Played:1 / Won:1 / Lost:0 / For:12 / Against:10

U14 Boys’ Rugby Report T

his is my third season of managing this group of rugby players and what an honour it has been.

Firstly let’s look at the facts; the team scored 437 against 119. That’s a lot of tries and, importantly, it illustrates a hunger to win and be the best.

The omens were good; pre-season training meant we were prepared for the first game of the season against PGS. It was extremely close and we lost by one point despite having scored more tries.

Chichester High School enabled us to put 74 for and, yes, I was annoyed when they scored a try! At this point I should record that this was very much a squad-based year. We had a large amount of injuries and this meant an organic approach to my selection.

Pupils new to KES in the year provided more depth

to a big squad and the competition for places was going to be both inevitable and disappointing for those not selected.

St Georges again proved strong and frustrating opponents but good rugby was played. Reading provided the team with another comprehensive win (67-0) but, as with all the games, the points came from thoughtful intelligent playing of the game. As the season progressed I stood noting in my coach’s book that as a team we were disciplined and structured with everyone giving 100%. Tackles were rarely missed but opportunities were eagerly seized.

We worked on getting quick ball out of rucks and the scrum to give the backs time to play it and our work rate was much more focussed and efficient.

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U13 Boys’ Rugby Report M

y final season of Rugby at KES was a great one…perhaps not in terms of results but it was great nonetheless.

The tone was set in game one: close, tense and ending in a result we did not deserve. First up to PGS away was always going to be a challenge but the boys were keen and they did not disappoint. Once we settled into our rhythm the game really began to ebb and flow and with 2 minutes left we deservedly found ourselves 17-10 up. PGS were pressing but simply could not get through. However, in the dying seconds PGS broke through and ‘scored’ under the posts. The PGS referee disallowed it, ‘held up, good defence’, he shouted before blowing the final whistle. However, as the PGS boys ran around their teacher disputing his decision, the PGS master succumbed to the pressure and posthumously awarded the try. The conversion was also allowed, thus levelling the game at 17 apiece. Throughout this all 24 KES boys simply stood and watched, shook hands, made a tunnel, thanked the referee and behaved with chivalry. I was proud of the boys on and off the pitch and they maintained this impeccable approach to the sport and the shirt all season.

We were humbled at St Georges and humbled Chichester, we had great contests at Reading and Churchers and some quite amazing second halves at Wellington. The boys are growing and when their

Philip Normand showed great pace as a wing 3/4.

Joe Trayhurn was solid and utterly committed. Ben Brooks enjoyed scoring hat tricks on a regular basis and Sam ‘Webby” Webb as flanker was simply extraordinary! Will Hawthorne was fearless all season and I sense he enjoyed playing against his twin brother at HCS – and thrashing them!

I must stress that the whole squad is to be congratulated for their combined commitment. Rob Memory provided wise support and was as keen as I to push the squad both physically and in their self-belief. In the last five games of the season we conceded only 17 points and scored 221. Make no mistake this is a top group of rugby players and for me the season was encapsulated by the last training evening.

Only a handful of the guys turned out, so Mr Powell suggested they joined in with the senior squad. If

size matches those around them, they are going to enjoy grand slam after grand slam because they can certainly play rugby. Congratulations to Jamie Morgan (our Captain) who grew in voice and dynamism game by game, David Marsh (phenomenal both in the tackle and with ball in hand) and Scott Palmer who never let go once he had sunk his teeth in. Special congratulations to Charlie Gale who was, without doubt, the player of the season and one of the most talented rugby players in the School.

Could I please take this opportunity to thank all the parents for their continued and excellent support throughout the season and also the school nurses, whose presence and skill is a constant reassurance.

Mr Bulmer

there were any jitters they weren’t on show. Max Beaver, game face on, Webby taking on the Sixth Form and Phil Normand winning the school record for length of time taken to change and actually get on the field. Thanks for making my job such a rewarding one!

Mr Piggott

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U15 Boys’ Rugby Report I

t was a pleasure to take this team. As the season progressed, the increased level of confidence in their own abilities was almost tangible. The team that started and finished the season was almost unrecognisable as they started to play for each other and believed, and indeed showed, that they would not roll over for any team. The season was built on an excellent attitude to defence which was an area they relished and demonstrated by frustrating opponents again and again with their relentless tackling and work rate.

There were a number of highlights to the season but the two main ones were; the last play winning try against Bishop Challoner School and the brutal 5-0 win against an excellent Kings side. It would be very difficult to pick out any players in front of any others but the back row consisting of M.Mitchell, M.Stewart and J.Dobbie along with the half back of J.Kingshott and D.Bickford were very influential.

The scrummaging and rucking of the pack was excellent lead by the captain Max Self and their

superior fitness was the difference on a number of occasions. The backs were excellent in defence and have started to use their impressive hands and speed to beat opponents.

Mr Mixer Played:11 / Won:6 / Lost:4 / Drew:1 Honours: County Cup Plate finalists

U16 Boys’ Rugby Report T

he results suggest that this may be viewed as a disappointing season. However, the team played with great spirit and worked hard in training; there was never a dull moment on a Wednesday or Thursday afternoon.

Andrew Morgan is to be congratulated on his selection for the County U16 squad. However, the team’s outstanding players this season were Richard Jones and Tom Simpson; it has been a pleasure to see them play. They are intelligent players who understand the game and work tirelessly for the team, whether it be supporting an attack or making tackle after tackle or winning a crucial turnover ball.

They will make a significant contribution to senior rugby over the next two years at KES. Jack Stanley grew in authority on the rugby pitch; Eddy Evans controlled our style of play until his injury ruled him out for the rest of the season, Tom Martin has genuine pace but we failed to get the ball to him early enough for him to show it.

All the players who represented the School can be proud of their contribution to this squad and I am sorry that I can’t mention them all. Dugald Rhodes

captained the side very well and I thank him for his contribution to the team both as a leader and a player. The season witnessed players making real progress with their rugby and some students making their debut for the School; I hope that they all continue to play rugby in the future.

Gentlemen; It was a pleasure to work with you.

Good luck.

Mr Wood Played:12 / Won:5 / Lost:7 / For:214 / Against:196

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Senior Boys’ Rugby Report A

rugby season is very rarely defined by one moment.

A rugby season is almost never defined by one particular encounter. However, there are few moments in my life where I can honestly step back and label them “momentous” but what happened on this day was a moment of epiphany for me. Taking a squad of warriors to my old School to do battle with one of the truly great rugby/sport playing establishments in the UK (Sam Warburton, Elliott Kear, Geraint Thomas and Gareth Bale are just a few of its recent alumni) and WINNING - yes WINNING! Even now I catch myself grinning as I replay each second of the game that we WON 11-10. I am reliving the incredible break by Will Tsang that set up the brilliant try by Rhodri Adamson, the fracas involving Dan Paton that led to the penalty that put us ahead by 1 point and the drop goal by Will Tsang that sealed the WIN for the mighty KES 1st XV. This day, this day above all others, I can label MOMENTOUS. This day embodied the whole season for me; the player’s desire, leadership and social-inclusion, the energy, commitment and stoicism on display throughout the day and the unrivalled positive attitude of the squad. Each and every one of the 42 players who have represented the senior squads this season has been an absolute pleasure to work with.

To cap off a great day in Cardiff the singing was outstanding, the food consumption was breath-taking

and the camaraderie on show throughout the entire day was astounding. Thank you for all your efforts this season boys – I leave this account having already won silverware at the HCS tournament and we now await the prospect of a 2nd shiny accolade as we play in yet another County final. You have been awesome this year boys – Mr Duncan and I will never forget it.

As a foot note, I must always thank the amazing work of the medical staff at King Edward VI School for their tireless and highly professional work they do for the rugby teams during our Wellington Sports Ground fixtures.

Mr Powell Most improved Player of the Season: Peter Thompson

Player of the Season: Daniel Paton

Parent(s) of the Season: Mr & Mrs Adamson

Moment(s) of the Season: Rhodri Adamson’s DG against LWC and William Tsang’s DG against WHS.

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U12 Boys’ Hockey Report T

he season was one of mixed fortunes for the U12s. They often met opposition who were older, bigger and stronger, which meant they had to work very hard to compete.

They showed promise in their early games against both Millfield and Bryanston, having the lion’s share of the game against Millfield and with Charlie Harrigan getting his name on the scoresheet. They struggled to contain a couple of outstanding players in the match against Lord Wandsworth and were beaten comprehensively by the older boys. Against Stroud U13, KES were under extreme pressure for the first 10 minutes but gradually found their feet and took the lead through Henry Compton before Stroud evened things up towards the final whistle.

In the B match, KES had the slight edge with Nick Ashleigh giving KES the lead and Tom Rugge-Price making it 2-0.

Against PGS and St Georges the squad had to adapt to playing 7-a-side, something which the opposition do regularly. Honours were shared against PGS, with the A team losing and the Bs dominating their game (Will Thompson and Mathew Man scoring), but St Georges were far more skilled in the game of 7s and both KES teams were outplayed. The 7s games against Stroud were keenly contested, with all goalkeepers having plenty to do. Back to a full pitch, the A and B team lost against Churchers College but the A team played some of their best hockey against the KES U13B side and both sets of parents were treated to a good display of hockey during the match, with the U12s eventually wining 1–0. The next week the U12 B team played a similar

U13 side. The U12s played well but a goal in each half gave the U13s victory.

Despite more losses than wins, the season was enjoyable. Large numbers regularly attended practices and the boys approached everything in the right spirit, listening to advice and training hard.

As they grow and gain experience, they will become more confident at moving the ball around the pitch quickly and accurately but they must be careful to keep their shape when under pressure. There is, however, no doubt that they have the potential to develop into a strong side.

Mrs Thomas Played:15 / Won:5 / Lost:8 / Drew:2 / For:16 / Against:41

U14 Boys’ Hockey Report I

t has been a delight to work with such an enthusiastic and dedicated squad who demonstrated so much enthusiasm, talent and promise. It was obvious from the start of the season that the Under 14 hockey squad was going to have a fun and inspirational season and this was true! It was great to see so many hockey players out training on a Monday evening. Some evenings we would get up to 40 boys attending and this is an outstanding achievement in itself and key to a great squad. The players were keen to learn new skills and develop their experiences in tactical awareness

and set plays. This resulted in some fine play on the pitch and therefore some excellent results. The sheer size of this particular year group meant that places for the A team were limited and competition was high. All players worked to their full potential, making team selection a very difficult decision on a weekly basis. Oscar Birnie demonstrated excellent leadership qualities as A team captain on and off the pitch with the fantastic support of Henry Marden as A team vice captain.

There were some great results against Millfield, Bryanston, Ryde, Seaford College, Churchers and

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U13 Boys’ Hockey Report A

mixed bag of results this season, with the A team proving that they will be a force to be reckoned with in future years, whilst the B team developed a nice style of hockey but found their opponents to be bigger and stronger.

However, the day that all the boys will remember will be Saturday 3rd March. We travelled to St Georges and played 7-a-side; a format that we are not used to, and a very different game to our normal 11-a-side fixtures. The boys were tremendous and showed great character, tenacity and a determination that frustrated both the St Georges teams. The A team took some time to settle down and found themselves trailing 5-3 at the start of the third and final period. Three subsequent unanswered goals secured a victory that will live long in the memory of those that played, or witnessed it. It was a superb team effort. The B team created some chances but could not find the back of the net whilst, at the other end, St Georges could not beat James Young in goal. He gave a fantastic display and as a result of his heroics the B Team secured a very good goalless draw. We sensed that St Georges were not happy and after refreshments we left with big smiles on our faces and enjoyed the trip home!

As a group of players, all those pupils who have represented the School or who have just been to the practice nights during the term have improved.

Some of them need to show a greater maturity in

Pangbourne for the A team in standard fixtures. The A team were runners-up in the National Schools’ Hampshire Cup being defeated by PGS in the final. The boys went on to represent Hampshire in the regional round of the National Schools’ competition and the boys came 3rd in the group. A

their approach to practice and warm ups. They are a talented group but need to work very hard on their basic skills if they are to maintain this level of attainment. The target must be to improve as an individual and as a team. Hard work and concentration are required!

My thanks go to Stanley Paxton for his help and effort as the team captain; he did a good job. All those who have represented the School this season can be proud of their achievements.

Mr Wood

A Team Played:7 / Won:5 / Drew:0 / Lost:2 / For:30 / Against:16 B Team Played:6 / Won:1 / Drew:1 / Lost:4 / For:5 / Against:9

very respectable position with great results against Kingston Grammar (1-1) and Hurstpierpoint College (2-0). The boys played with excellent determination and deserved the great results. The A team played in the Hampshire Tournament and finished 3rd overall in the competition.

The B team had an excellent, unbeaten season and were fantastic in training and on the pitch.

Leadership qualities by Cameron Brown ensured the team was organised and played some excellent hockey. The team beat PGS, Churchers College and were also victorious against St Georges College in an outstanding performance. An excellent team and their efforts need to be congratulated.

Miss Campbell

104 | SOTONIENSIS 2012

U15 Boys’ Hockey Report ‘A’ Team

Played:9 / Won:7 / Drew:1 / Lost:1 / For:31 / Against:11

T

he results displayed here represent a terrific season. Possibly for the first time in my experience at King Edward’s the 1st team (U15 side) did not have a single weak link. Indeed, several of the ‘B’ team players that were called upon proved that they too could not be regarded as a weak substitute of any sort.

The only shortcomings of an excellent season are revealed by the statistics. The ‘goals for’ column really should have been greater and some opposition sides were lucky to get away with only conceding 3 or 4 goals. There were also only two clean sheets. I really rate the defenders in this squad – so the goals conceded just highlight occasional lapses.

I have appreciated the effort, determination and commitment shown by this very talented group.

This approach was obvious in every performance by the team captain, Harvey Kavanagh and he led by example from start to finish.

The team as a whole enjoyed an excellent season.

January defeats of Millfield and PGS set the tone for the season and these two results, in particular, were outstanding efforts in any season. Only two matches ended with results other than a victory.

The lone defeat by St Georges was as a result of the only lacklustre display of the season and the draw at Pangbourne saw the school side totally dominate the game but fail to find the net. Perhaps the most comprehensive display came in the final game. The side produced a thoroughly excellent display in every area to defeat a strong Churchers team.

2012 will remain as an outstanding season for the U15 squad. I would like to thank every member for their application, desire to do well and also for the enjoyment that was had by all. Many of these boys have a very bright future on the hockey pitch and I look forward to following their careers.

Mr Fitzpatrick

Squad: M. Self, N. Chikliwala, J. Weatherley, H. Glew, H. Kavanagh, D. Hemmingway, H. Thould, T. Morgan, H. Butterwick, H. Rivett, M. Mitchell, B. Dunford, M. Bickford, J. Kingshott, M. White Results V Millfield V Bryanston V PGS V Seaford V St Georges V Lords Wandsworth V Sherborne V Pangbourne V Churchers

Won Won Won Won Lost Won Won Drew Won

6-1 3-1 5-1 4-2 2-4 5-1 4-1 0-0 2-0

SOTONIENSIS 2012 | 105

‘B’ Team

Played:7 / Won:6 / Drew:1 / Lost:0 / For:13 / Against:0

T

his has to be the team of the season.

Undefeated, six wins out of seven and a clean sheet defensively throughout; a pretty remarkable achievement.

I have been delighted by the commitment shown by the members of the U15 squad, notably the players in the second team. There has never been a doubt about availability, in fact the reverse was true, with people really keen to be involved every Saturday. The team played with skill, enthusiasm and real togetherness throughout the season. The individuals encouraged each other, worked well as a unit and claimed some notable scalps in the games against Millfield and St Georges College.

All the players made progress in terms of skill and tactical awareness and I look forward to them all contributing to senior hockey in the next three years.

Mr Fitzpatrick

Squad: M. Self, N. Chickliwala, R. Hickey, H. Butterwick, T. Holden-Dye, H. Mancey, A. Watson, M. Watson, L. Hutchinson, M. White, E. d’Souza, H. Jackson, C. Fong, J. Wong, A. Wu. Results V Millfield V Bryanston V Seaford V St Georges V Churchers V Lord Wandsworth V Pangbourne

Won Won Drew Won Won Won Won

3-0 1-0 0-0 3-0 1-0 1-0 5-0

U16 Boys’ Hockey Report T

his is a rather brief summary of the team’s fixtures this year with the main aim of reporting on an exceptional personal achievement.

The U16 side only exists to play in cup competitions and even the county round was really restricted this year, initially by a low number of entries and then weather forced cancellations along the way.

One game, an 8-1 defeat of HCS, was enough to see the School qualify for the regional event. This match saw Toby Edwards give the best display of finishing that I have ever witnessed in my time as a teacher. He scored all 8 goals, some of which were of stunning quality.

In the regional event, the side showed that were certainly competitive but not really capable of challenging in a further national phase. The side drew with Cranleigh, lost to Hurstpierpoint and won against Trinity.

Mr Fitzpatrick

106 | SOTONIENSIS 2012

1st XI Boys’ Hockey Report T

he start of a new school 1st XI hockey season has always posed many questions. How will the side fair with so few of last year’s 1st XI? Who will score the goals? Who will get fined most? This year was no different, as preparations began in December in eager expectation.

To be frank, this was a very good season with the boys beating Brockenhurst College, Peter Symonds College and Portsmouth Grammar School to win the Hampshire Cup and putting the West Country in its place with fine wins against Canford, Bryanston and Sherbourne. The 6-2 victory against PGS was the performance of the season. After a shaky start, we took hold of the game by keeping our shape in defence and by passing the ball so well in possession. This was a team performance that stirred the soul and ultimately won silverware for the School.

The team trained well and managed to apply one or two of the many lessons delivered by Mr Peel. We certainly improved our ‘press’ when defending and managed to dictate terms to many of our opponents.

We also changed the channels well and got the ball forward quickly. This was too much for some of our opponents and resulted in some big wins against Lord Wandsworth College and Pangbourne.

This was a fun season with less ‘ego’ than usual. The boys had a fine approach and were a real pleasure to work with. They trained hard, were reliable and enjoyed each other’s company.

We needed top performances from all our players to compete at the Regional heats and for a variety of reasons we did not get them. Although our opponents were strong, I do feel we could have done better. Under a little more pressure, too many passes went astray and there was not enough work off the ball to offer lots of easy early options to the player in possession. We tried to force it through gaps rather than having the patience and confidence to find the spaces with more passes and more movement. As usual, stepping up to this level of competition was a great opportunity to learn and something of a reality check.

Jake had a super season in goal. He worked hard and has become a good goalie. His humour and leadership make him a real asset to any team. Luke Sevier, Ed Evans, Jon Gilbert, Richard Bolton and Will Archibald played mostly at the back. Luke and Ed formed a very good central defence. Luke has athleticism and good technique but needs to keep his mobility when looking to tackle. Ed was

impressive in possession but needs to improve his positional play. Will reads the game very well but needs to adopt a calmer approach when distributing out from the back. Jon was at his best when passing the ball early and when he had the confidence to support the attack. He needs to increase the pace of his passing. Alex Palfrey is a strong and capable player who enjoyed nullifying the Arun Sandhu threat when we played Peter Symonds. I hope he will step up next year and find the will to win when the going gets tough. Richard made super progress and showed that he can contribute in lots of different positions. He needs to continue to be open minded and hard working in his approach if he is to fulfil his potential. The midfield was made up of Matt Wood, Luke Benton, Ralph Amos and Simon McCormick-Cox. Matt is a fantastic player and captain. His pace, balance, vision, will to win and goals made him indispensable. Luke is solid in possession and defence and passed the ball well.

He needs to work on his speed and add goals to his game next season. Simon has become a good all round player and offered a genuine threat at short corners. Ralph worked tirelessly and enjoyed some fine games. He has lots of potential but will need to work on his touch and receiving skills in close quarters if he is to contribute well in club hockey.

Cameron Kavanagh, Jack Culmer, Arun Garewal and Will Tsang played up front. Cameron contributed very well when not on the bench. Jack poor Jack… how pleasing it has been to see him winning races recently… we all hope you are back playing again soon. Arun showed great movement, touch and vision, Will worried even the best defences with his pace and power and could be a fine player if he ever chose to really work on his technical development.

Will had the biggest smile in the team.

Many thanks to parents for their good humour and fine support, to Hampshire Umpires Association for providing us with such good umpires, Kevin and his team for the super pitch at Wellington and for Mr Fitzpatrick for getting us so many good fixtures.

Well done to the team for playing with such spirit and for respecting your opponent and umpires as well as for playing with a smile on your face and to Matt Wood for being such an exemplary Skipper.

Mr Gilbert

SOTONIENSIS 2012 | 107

Played:16 / Won:8 / Drew:1 / Lost: 7 Honours: Hampshire Champions

Results *National Cup ** Regional Heats V Brockenhurst College* V Soton University V Canford V Peter Symonds* V Trojans XI V Bryanston V Millfield V PGS* V Seaford V Lord Wandsworth College V Reeds ** V Radley ** V Sir William Borlase ** V Churchers College V Sherborne V Pangbourne

8-2 1-2 1-0 3-1 1-3 3-2 2-3 6-2 1-3 8-2 1 - 4 0-4 1-3 3-3 5-3 6-2

St Georges 6-A-Side: Won:2 / Drew:2 / Lost:3 / Goals for:6 / Goals against:6 Full Colours: Davies, Sevier, Kavanagh, Garewal Full Colours re-awarded: Wood, McCormick-Cox Half Colours: Gilbert, Amos, Archibald, Evans, Bolton, Palfry, Benton, Culmer, Tsang, Also played: Clay, Chamberlain, Scott, Edwards, Cross, Bailey, Richards

108 | SOTONIENSIS 2012

2nd XI Boys’ Hockey Report A

season full of characters, except in the documentation of the #2ndXI exploits, which was limited by twitter. It was a season of two halves: we were unlucky not to get going quicker, but once we did…

14 Jan: Spirited performance from #2ndXI but down 1-3 to Millfield U16s. Dreadful start with skip failing to identify mascot #mustdobetter #ChrisP // Top work today with the whistle for the #2ndXI @coachmike #greathelp #dontworryaboutthepenaltystroke 21 Jan: Skipper dropped to #1stXI after failure to recognise mascot last week. Tough match at Bryanston ahead #2ndXI // #2ndXI new skipper next week… despite creating plenty of chances, the scoreline never lies so a 1-0 stuffing for us. #HTtalkneedsmoregusto // @coachmike very pretty hockey but #ballpacetastic it wasn’t. Good keeper kept numerous chances at bay. Lost to only goal #breakawaybonanza Jan 28: Not the finest day at the office… #2ndXI 0-7 #3rdXI mugged 2-3 // @coachmike turns out their U16s beat Millfield U16s 4-0. 2s played really well second half, but shipped 5. 3s lost to breakaway #lasttouch // @coachmike pace good, patterns good, grumpy at half time re 4-4-2 vs 4-3-3 but fixed that, plenty of possession but oppo did shoot well Feb 5: Fixture against Ryde lost to weather but GB win 2-0 overseas #nosnowinargentina // The Germans have just brought on a kicking back in hockey semi-final #oldschool Feb 25: #2ndXI Even Chris is relaxed with a win under his belt // Second half and some much needed width.

Lovely patterns from #2ndXI & 3-1 the position with 10 to go. // Calm possession from #2ndXI followed by a screamer top left from skipper Will #oneupandlookinggoodforit March 10: Funshine bus this morning with away day with #2ndXI – will it live up to calm and dominant possession last week? // It took a decent second half after conceding sloppy equaliser before the

break & it was far from pretty but 5-1 continues the #2ndXI charge!

17 March: Serious performance today from #2ndXI but couldn’t find that touch for the second goal. Draw a little unlucky but you’ve got to take chances. // Top work today @coachmike quality at half time & good hoovering of packed teas! #startearlyclockoffearly 24 March: Last match of the season today #2ndXI hosting Pangbourne. Big things expected. // @ coachmike #2ndXI sleeves literally rolled up here. #aslongastheywin #calypsoumpiring #fashioncrisis // #2ndXI CALYPSO (5 at HT) Hattrick of nutmegs for the talisman //@coachmike pity but expect they’ll reflect on a good season. We finished 7 up but team not happy with a lack of pen from yours truly #fair // #2ndXI 7 up & fine end to season. 2 sets of hattricks (incl awesome volley) #sharethespoils sunshine & unified performance #topwork // #2ndXI victory today accompanied by dulcet sounds from Saints supporters gently wafting up and over the city from St Mary’s // So @coachmike 5-0 & totally dominant.

5 min into 2nd half of friendly game, round keeper & shot on target. Saved by “dropped” stick // a) Penalty stroke & card (lads – red) or, given my form in this regard, b) short corner & “I’m sure it was accidental” #classic // @coachmike he pretty much threw his stick at the ball, it was almost on the goalline. To be fair he did well to hit it! #onlybeingnice The team certainly developed as the season progressed and played some controlled hockey over the closing matches. As a group, they showed good independence and a spirit of enjoyment, which is often at the heart of a competitive #2ndXI

Mr Sheppard Results: V Millfield V Bryanston V PGS V Seaford V St Georges V Lord Wandsworth V Sherborne V Pangbourne

Lost Lost Lost Won Won Won Drew Won

1-3 0-1 0-7 3-1 2-0 5-1 1-1 7-0

SOTONIENSIS 2012 | 109

110 | SOTONIENSIS 2012

U12 Boys’ Cricket Reports ‘A’ Team D

espite the effort of the weather gods to eradicate any form of summer sporting entertainment, the U12 A team have enjoyed a fairly full fixture list.

After a rain-hit first fixture against Reading Bluecoat, the season kicked off with a tour to Guernsey. That this weekend happened to coincide with the first bout of sunshine in weeks many may attribute to luck; I prefer to think of it as fate – our time had come. On our arrival in this sunny taxhaven (following an uncomfortably early start) we were escorted directly to the first venue. This was a hard-fought affair against Elizabeth College and the School side did relatively well given that this was their first outing and they were playing a side that seemed to have spent the entire winter in training. A brave stand from captain Fay (83) and Duff took the side to a defendable total; however, the Guernsey side had other ideas and pushed to victory, with ‘extras’ almost top-scoring. The second game followed much the same pattern as a few careless batting errors and some sloppy fielding put pay to hopes of victory.

Back on the mainland, the side’s next outing was a cup game against Swanmore which was won emphatically, Stelling and Upcraft carrying their bats with style. The next round of the cup saw the team decisively overpowered by a very strong Twyford side.

Against a well-drilled Magdalen side, having kept the hosts to a modest run-rate, the bowling relaxed and eventually the team was left chasing 115. Some

tight bowling and more mishaps with the bat led to another loss.

The following weekend brought visitors from ‘the island’. Ryde batted well but were outclassed by some superb spin from Duff (4-1-8) and Gupta (40-16). Compton bludgeoned the side to victory with an emphatic 40 N/O. The final game of the season was a tense affair against Hampshire Collegiate School. After scraping their way slowly to 84 (with ‘extras’ once again top-scoring), the School side whittled their way through the HCS wickets at a sedate pace and just managed to hold on to victory through some extraordinarily sharp work behind the stumps from Matt ‘Knott’ Stelling.

This has been a fabulously fun season with a talented group of cricketers and I have enjoyed every minute of it.

Mr Watson

‘B’ Team T

he U12 B team season started off in the pleasant and dreaming spires of Oxford against Magdalen College School. The newly formed team fielded very well but it proved too difficult to undo some of Magdalen’s better batters. Aiming for 128 off 25 overs, they batted well to reach 104 under the sunny skies, eventually running out of batsmen.

Following this game, it was customary for it to rain heavily preceding a match resulting in the cancellation of many matches for the U12 B team.

The second (and final) game was played at home against Ryde. Joe Powell put in an excellent

performance reaching 31 with the bat and we set a score of 107 for the opposition to beat. Once again, strong fielding and consistent bowling reduced Ryde to a lower run rate after over 6. There was no way back for Ryde from this point as run out followed run out, with Nicolas Hepworth making three of them. Ryde eventually ran out of overs and had given us a good run reaching 82. Not bad at all considering the U12B team started the game with only seven players!

Mr Mapstone

SOTONIENSIS 2012 | 111

U13 Boys’ Cricket Reports ‘A’ Team T

his term’s cricket for the U13 A team, as with all of the King Edward’s teams, was an ongoing battle against the elements. The worst spell of weather in recent memory made net practice often impossible and allowed for only three fixtures against other schools to take place. Nevertheless, some good and interesting cricket was played and the team finished with a record of two well-executed victories, over Ryde and Hampshire Collegiate School, and one defeat at the hands of a strong Magdalen College School side. It was clear from these matches that the School possesses some decent cricketers at this level and I very much hope that in years to come the conditions will be kinder and they will thus have the opportunity to grow both as individual players and as a team.

I would like to finish by noting the hugely positive contribution of Jamie Morgan, the captain, to the cricket played this term. Throughout, Jamie led from

the front with regards to his own level of performance whilst also captaining the side with intelligence and sound common sense.

Mr Diver

‘B’ Team T

his year, the team looked set to have more B team fixtures than normal, but the shockingly poor weather managed to remove all but two of the arranged fixtures.

Our first game was a rather overcast and blustery affair against a strong Magdalen College School at Wellington. The visitors opened the batting and were all out for 103 runs. Fergus O’Halloran bowled well during this innings; he bowled 3 overs and took 3 wickets, losing just 8 runs in the process.

Unfortunately, when it was our turn to bat we lost a lot of our lower order batsmen rather cheaply, so we found ourselves going from 44-1 (at the end of the 10th over) to all out for 76 at the end of the 20th. It was clear from this fixture, that we need a little more composure with the bat throughout the order if we were to become a tough side to beat.

The second and final outing for the squad’s B Team players was in a combined A/B team fixture against the KES U12 team, again at Wellington. This fixture was a morning fixture on a very slow, wet wicket and, having won the toss, our captain, Jamie Morgan,

took the excellent decision of sending the opposition in to bat first. The ‘visitors’ batted inconsistently, their final score of 77 being rather generously aided

by Fred Davies’ 23 runs. As far as our bowling was concerned Ethan Sharpe and Cameron Thomas took 2 wickets respectively. When it was our turn to bat, some spirited spin bowling from Tom Duff made it a much closer affair than it might have been. He took 4 wickets during his 5 over spell and it’s fair to say that he really made the batsmen struggle. In the end though, Jamie Morgan’s 20 runs provided a good platform from which Cameron Thomas would go on to add another 24 as the team edged their way closer to victory. In the end, we reached our target of 78 with 5 overs to spare.

Ultimately we played too few fixtures to reflect in any great detail on the boys’ standard of play. There are undoubtedly some talented cricketers in the group, and I hope they see significantly more action during next season.

Mr Allen

112 | SOTONIENSIS 2012

U14 Boys’ Cricket Report D

espite the terrible weather destroying the first two weeks of our season, the Under 14 cricket team turned out to be one of the strongest collections of cricketers in School and, with regular numbers at training exceeding 40, there would be a real battle for places in the A team.

Our season started with a tight win against a strong Canford team. The following week saw a fine performance against Magdalen, with Dan DamleyJones scoring an impressive 116. Seven days later the team beat a competitive Ryde team and this winning momentum was taken into the next game against Churchers College. Bloxham School was our first timed game and they stubbornly held on to draw after we posted 170 and HCS were next in line for a thoroughly deserved KES win. The only disappointment in the entire season was the cancelled game against PGS! It is the first time in my experience at King Edward VI School that I have coached a cricket team that has been undefeated during the season and I am very proud of the squad.

The County Cup (Lord Taverners Trophy) also saw the mighty KES team sweep through to claim the title as the best Under 14 team in Hampshire; they will play in a regional competition next summer.

I would like to thank the entire squad for their hard work and great team spirit. In particular, Charles Bolton for his impeccable captaincy, Tom Fay

for his inspired bowling and Oscar Birnie for his consistency with the bat.

Finally, I must thank the Perriams who have been incredible in all respects of their support, scoring and general company for me during the entire season.

Mr Powell

SOTONIENSIS 2012 | 113

U15 Boys’ Cricket Report I

t was wet. The wickets were slow. It was a tough season to be a batsman! The team did however have a good spirit and always played with a smile on their faces.

There were good victories in the cup against St John’s and Sherfield as well as other victories against Ryde and Bloxham. The team defended a paltry 91 runs against Bloxham due to an outstanding display in the field – no wides, no byes, pitched up seam bowling on a good length that resulted in LBWs, hitting the stumps, 2 great catches and the captain Jack Dobbie changing the field to suit the different batsmen edging closer to the target.

Daniel Hemmingway was the pick of the batsman, scoring 3 times in the 40s although the top score of the season went to Harrison Glew with his 66 not out against Ryde. The bowlers struggled for consistency and in the end were sick of me nagging

them about line and length and making the batsmen work for their runs. There is however a lot of ability in the team, with the rotating openers Tom HoldenDye, James Kingshott and Mark Mitchell usually looking the most threatening. Ben Vail and Nikil Chikhliwala both have the potential to develop into very good spin bowlers.

Overall lessons need to be learnt how to play on bowler friendly pitches where every run counts whether that be rotating the strike or bowling tight lines. Bring on the run fest next year!

Mr Mixer

114 | SOTONIENSIS 2012

1 XI Boys’ Cricket Report st

T

his has been the most frustrating season in living memory; the sheer volume of rain has meant that the number of games completed has been severely disrupted. Hopes at the start of the season were extremely high and with memories and motivations from Sri Lanka fresh in the mind of the significant majority of the squad an extremely pleasing pre-season programme was completed.

The first weekend set the tone for the rest of the season - Reading Blue Coat never stood a chance.

Greater hope was held for the match against Barton Peveril in the Altham Trophy. KES batted first making a respectable 183. It was a below par score but the outstanding bowling and particularly fielding, a trademark of the side for the two years I have had the privilege of coaching, restricted Barton Peveril to just 71. After such a confidence boost it was almost inevitable the next two fixtures against Bryanston and Alton were then cancelled and postponed.

Another confident performance against Canford saw a relatively comfortable victory and the next completed fixture was against Magdalen, a side we had not beaten in many years at 1st XI level.

The side again batted first putting on 210 and bowled out the organised Magdalen side for 146.

The season at this point was looking incredibly

promising - the side was organised, disciplined and focused; most importantly they were all available. It was the great misfortune of this cricket season that exams cut across the majority of the games and as such selection became increasingly difficult. A very disappointing performance against a reasonable Ryde side ended in a comfortable defeat though.

Due to the atrocious weather this was the first fixture away from the hallowed turf of KES and a few too many of the students appeared to treat the fixture as a “mini tour�.

Further defeats with weakened sides fielded followed against the impressive Sixth Form colleges of both Alton and Farnborough. Despite indifferent performances I was very impressed by the fighting nature the side presented. At half term the School had a mediocre record of 3-3; the side were much better than that and needed to remember this.

A wet half term heralded the return of the GCSE and AS students from exams but led to the disappearance of several Upper Sixth players. There was a further cancellation against Churchers before the School side returned to form against the MCC. This, as always, is the glamour fixture of the summer but had an extra edge following the thumping the side had been handed last year. This time the School side were very impressive restricting the MCC to 176-

SOTONIENSIS 2012 | 115

6 from 52 overs. Once again the bowlers shared the rewards with highly impressive performances from the whole side. The MCC made particular note of the outstanding fielding that the boys produced once again. The chase was set up by good scores from captain and vice captain McCormick-Cox and Adamson but was led by the highly impressive Joe Weatherley. Joe had already made a 50 earlier in the season, and now knocked a very composed 74 (not out) to see the side home in an important victory.

We had our second grudge fixture in as many days against Bloxham, the side we had lost to in the Sri Lankan final. Bloxham composed a modest 154 and KES had little trouble chasing this down.

It was a measure of just how far this side has come that the only back to back defeat from last season was suffered at the hands of an extremely impressive Edwardians’ XI. The Edwardian team, composed largely from the 2010 leavers, played incredibly well to set 191 in just 20 overs. This is the only time the bowlers were expensive all season but there was no shame in this effort, they bowled well but faced some very talented hitting. The School were never really in the chase but Jamie Rhodes can be proud of his late knock which gave the School a respectable 159 all out. The final fixture of the season was against HCS (the game against PGS lost to yet more rain).

In a declaration match KES batted first and put on a formidable 307-5 declared. HCS were never going to reach the target but batted admirably to make 211 all out. Adam Sharpe was able to take home the

match ball on his final appearance for the School having claimed a well deserved 5fer.

It has been a real honour to coach the KES 1st XI for the past two seasons; it has been a journey of undoubted fun, progression and monumental frustration! My sincerest thanks must go to Simon who was led the team with great composure for two years and he was very ably assisted by Rhodri throughout the summer. It is a shame so many games were lost to the “summer” because this team had the potential to be something very special; Full Colours: Simon McCormick-Cox (reaward) and Rhodri Adamson Half Colours: Will Tsang, Adam Sharpe, Ralph Amos, Jasper Evans Notable Contributions: Ollie Hoghton, Harry McGhee, Freddie Richards, Toby Edwards, Jack Stanley, Jack Culmer, Joe Weatherley, Andy Case, Adam Berryman, James Kingshott, Adam Sluman, Sachin Croker, Mr Piggott, The Catering Team and all coaches of the Junior sides without whom success would not be possible.

I am most indebted to the organisational impact of Mrs Hilborne and Mr Jones who has performed minor miracles in getting games on when we had no right to play!

Mr Eades

116 | SOTONIENSIS 2012

U13 Boys’ Tennis Report I

n previous years we have been fortunate enough to have a very strong top four players but this year has possibly seen the greatest strength in depth in boys’ U13 tennis in recent times. This is all the more encouraging for next season, as only one of the boys who represented the School will be ineligible for this age group next season.

In addition to the main Aegon competition we have also fielded a second team on a number of occasions and played in friendly fixtures against several schools, including playing for the first time away on the grass courts against the older pupils from Winchester College.

In the Aegon tournament we were drawn against Perins, Romsey, Toynbee, Ballard and Thornden.

Perins, Romsey and Ballard were beaten without KES dropping a set. Toynbee were put to the

sword 5 sets to 1. This left only Thornden between KES and the regional finals, for the first time since 2009. Over recent years the balance of power has swung back and forth in these fixtures. Following a rescheduling, due to the adverse weather conditions early in the term, a depleted KES team took to the Astroturf courts on a cool evening. While all players acquitted themselves well, Thornden proved too strong and took the fixture 5 sets to 1, thus ending our ambitions in the Aegon tournament this year.

If the same group of players can stick together next year, KES must be one of the favourites to recapture the Hampshire U13 boys’ tennis title.

Dr Purves

SOTONIENSIS 2012 | 117

U15 Boys’ Tennis Report A

n anticipated tennis season of matches played long into the summer evenings with vital points played out under lengthening shadows, and players energised by the warming summer sun most definitely did not materialise this year. For spectators, the customary fringe benefit of topping up the sun tan whilst watching the tennis team was replaced this season by the cost of additional umbrellas and the smell of wet cotton.

Given the truly abysmal weather that dogged the entire season, it is something of a surprise that we managed to play all our cup matches, although three friendlies were effectively rained off, or called off in anticipation of wet weather.

A brief respite from April’s torrential rain allowed the U15 team to kick off the season with both A and B teams playing against Perins School. The team ran out comfortable winners in this match.

Cameron Brown came from 5-1 down to win an epic set on a tie break, whilst commiserations went to Will Meacher who suffered the opposite experience seeing an early lead whittled away by a tenacious opponent. Charles Carpenter, Joe Weatherley, Andrew Sanders, and Adrian Chu all won their matches without forfeiting a single game.

Our second cup match against Salesian College was not an unambiguously pleasurable experience.

On arrival at 5:30pm, having missed the sunshine but hit the traffic, our opponents were unsurprisingly well warmed up, despite the steady rain. They hit our top pair cold, racing to a four game lead. The KES pair of Lewis Hutchinson and Adrian Chu dug deep, however, and won what turned out to be the crucial rubber in a tie break. Victories for Toby Saer in both singles and doubles, Ben Vail in the doubles and Adrian Chu in the singles secured the match.

We returned to School cold, wet, and hungry just before 9pm.

The match against Robert Mays in the third week in May saw the long awaited return of the sunshine.

The match was played on the astro under glorious conditions, and the School side completed an accomplished victory with all 6 matches being

completed in just over 1 hour. Adrian Chu completed a rewarding ‘double doughnut’ in his matches; the catering team did not spare the opposition’s feelings by laying on the appropriate foodstuff to celebrate this achievement in the after match tea.

The team’s success in the group stages set up a County semi-final against Kings School, Winchester, the team who have beaten us in the final for the last two years. Alas, Kings proved too strong for us again, despite a closely fought match with a very high standard of play. Andrew Sanders, Adrian Chu, Lewis Hutchinson and Charles Carpenter all played with great distinction in this match.

On the same evening as the Kings fixture, an Under 15 B side travelled to Winchester College to enjoy a fixture on their grass courts. A sterling effort from the four Third Year boys (playing up an age group) resulted in a well-earned draw, with the tie being unable to be settled, one way or the other, even on games countback.

As with last year, the season’s finale came with the Hampshire Schools’ U16 doubles tournament, with Joe Weatherley and Andrew Sanders representing the School on this occasion. The Groundhog Day theme continued as the School pair swept all before them until the final when they came up against the nemesis of the Kings School, Winchester pair. The boys therefore finished as runners up, while the girls won the competition for the second successive year.

Once again the Thursday evening sessions at the School were well attended, particularly from the lower years and we thank the coach, Paul Scullard for his efforts on these occasions.

The following players represented the School at U15 level this year: Adrian Chu, Lewis Hutchinson, Andrew Sanders, Charles Carpenter, Toby Saer, Joe Weatherley, Cameron Brown, Will Ward, Fergus Hickey, Stef Halcoussis, Will Meacher, Ben Vail.

Mr Culver

118 | SOTONIENSIS 2012

U12 Girls’ Hockey Report T

he annual KES ‘Intro to hockey and find 5 friends’ day was as successful and beneficial as ever, with a good complement of new First Years attending. By the end of the very hot day, all the girls had forged new friendships, and even learnt a bit of hockey.

As with last year, a great number of enthusiasts attended mid-week training with more than the usual interest in goal keeping! With the new acquisition of our ‘Hockey Coach-in-residence’ Mr. Peel, we were able to provide that extra expertise in all aspects of the game.

We were extremely unlucky not to have gained more victories this year. The goals just seemed to evade us! In general, we defended strongly, but could not score. The results against our two rivals, St. Georges and PGS, certainly did not reflect the endeavour the girls displayed and against PGS particularly, the A team did everything but put the ball over the goal line. This bodes well for the coming years!

The weather remained unseasonably fine, with just the odd cold snap causing some shivers at practice!

The girls have improved remarkably over these last four months; a testimony to themselves as learners.

Finally, many, many thanks go to Mr. Peel, and ‘Santa’s little helpers’: Ria Rhodes (Upper Sixth),

Ellie Stephens (Lower Sixth), Abbi Searle and particularly Hannah Larkin (Fifth Year). They are a credit to the School and have been invaluable.

Hip hip hooray for the U12s!

KJ and Mrs Williams

Results 7-a-side V Talbot Heath V HCS V Westbourne House V Norman Court U13s V Farleigh V Ryde U13s V St Georges V PGS V King’s School V Churchers V Dauntseys

A 5-0, B 3-1 A 1-1, B 9-0 A 0-6, B 7-0 A 1-7, B 5-2 8-0 0-3 A 0-4, B 0-5 A 0-5 B 3-4 4-0 2-3 2-0

SOTONIENSIS 2012 | 119

U13 Girls’ Hockey Report T

he U13 girls’ hockey team had a very successful season winning the vast majority of their matches.

The girls demonstrated excellent commitment to training, matches and to their improvement, being reflective on their performances at every opportunity. This enabled members of the squad to travel on an impressive journey of development and maturity. The vast turn-out of girls every week at training was humbling and a reflection on the girls’ impressive work ethic and resolve.

The girls turned up to every game with great fighting spirit and determination to play well. Defensively they were consistent and showed good strength, tactical awareness and started to read the game well. The midfielders worked tirelessly to link the defence and attack, demonstrating great skill and fitness. The forwards were creative and goal hungry ensuring we scored a remarkable 41 goals throughout the season!

The standard of hockey from the whole squad was high and the team spirit and commitment from the girls was commendable, ensuring they achieved some impressive results against some tough opposition. Although the squad didn’t achieve the results they had hoped for against Westbourne House and PGS, the team more than took their form during the West Hill Park Tournament, beating both sides and finishing victorious.

I have thoroughly enjoyed working with such talented pupils, who were a delight to coach.

Clare Mitchell (captain) particularly impressed

both on and off the pitch, with her outstanding organisational and leadership skills that belied her age. The whole squad should be congratulated on a very successful season and I look forward to seeing the girls progress as they move through the School.

Miss Mobbs

V KES Whitley V HCS

V Westbourne Hs

V Bryanston

V Farleigh

V Ryde

V St Georges

V PGS

V Churchers

V Seaford College V Kings School

V Dauntseys

Won Won Won Lost Drew Won Won Won Lost Drew Won Won Won Won

6-0 2-0 (A) 5-0 (B) 1-2 (A) 2-2 (B) 1-0 7-0 5-1 0-1 0-0 2-1 6-0 1-0 3-2

West Hill Park Tournament - Winners

120 | SOTONIENSIS 2012

U14 Girls’ Hockey Report T

he 2011 season was truly one to remember; made special by the enthusiastic and committed group of U14 girls that worked hard and improved each week. They were competitive throughout and always willing to learn. They thoroughly deserved their success.

The start of the season saw the school side narrowly missing out in some games that they could have won. Then, after their confidence began to grow and they got used to each other, the results started to turn in the School’s favour. Indeed, there were some very impressive wins as the team started to convert the chances that were created.

They really came to life at the County Tournament where they dominated the games they played and impressed people who were watching. They were unlucky to draw the final with Portsmouth Grammar School as KES had the bulk of possession and, unable to score, the opposition won on penalty flicks. It seemed a rather cruel way to end a fantastic day of hockey.

In the National Cup Competition, following a tremendous performance against Churchers College, the U14s just lost out by one goal to Portsmouth Grammar School in the final. However, they still went through to the South heats. It was this day that the team really came of age. They fought hard, yet showed composure. They rose to the challenge and believed in each other. It is a long time since I have seen a King Edward VI School side play as impressively at this age. They lost out on a chance of playing in the semi-finals by just one point, but became one of the top eight schools in the South! I was a very proud coach amongst a very proud group of players.

I was so pleased that they managed to finish their season with a final win against Dauntseys School.

The U14s are a very talented group of girls with lots of character and lots of potential. I will miss both their company and their fun factor. I look forward to watching them develop in the future. I hope they can maintain their commitment, will to win and love of life!

Miss Peachment

Played:20 / Won:12 / Drew:3 / Lost:5 / For:68 / Against:25 Captain: Yvie Lock Vice-captain: Primrose Merritt

Results V Canford

Lost 1-5

County Tournament Runners Up:V Hampshire Collegiate School Won 6-0 V Lord Wandsworth College Won 1-0 V Pangbourne College Drew 1-1 V Kings Won 5-0 V Bryanston Lost 2-3 V Burgate Won 7-0 V Talbot Heath Won 11-2 Semi-final V Farnborough Hill V Churchers College (cup)

Won 3-0 Won 9-0

Final V PGS V Ryde V St Georges College

Drew 0-0 Won 7-0 Lost 0-4

South heats Runners Up:V PGS (cup) V Wellington College V Churchers College V JAGS V Seaford College V Stowe V Dauntseys

Lost 0-1 Lost 0-1 Drew 3-3 Won 1-3 Won 9-2 Won 1-0 Won 1-0

SOTONIENSIS 2012 | 121

U15 Girls’ Hockey Report T

he ‘unstoppable’ U15 team have had a fantastic season and the statistics speak for themselves. It was obvious at pre-season training that these girls had skill and the right attitude to do well. We had an impressive beginning to the fixture list with consummate performances against HCS, Pangbourne and Bedales, and were only narrowly defeated by Bryanston with a 2-1 loss in a courageous performance which brought tears to the coach’s eyes!

In victory we were strong throughout the pitch, with real improvements in the midfield. As the season progressed the girls began to play more fluid hockey and this improvement meant that they were able to pass the ball around the pitch confidently and accurately. Their positioning came on hugely towards the end of the season and this was really shown off against Dauntseys in the last game of the season.

In defeat we were also strong. It took worthy opposition to defeat us and the Bryanston and St Georges teams were well-drilled and fit, but the fixtures were by no means landslides and the girls kept fighting until the bitter end, showing real psychological resilience.

To top it all off, this season has been one of huge fun. All of the girls always gave everything even in adverse conditions and their determined approach to the game meant that I was always proud of them.

They have laughed and smiled continuously (other than whilst fighting for the ball), and have been as much fun on the team bus as they have on the pitch.

They voted Hannah Kaye as the most valuable player and Rebecca Collins as the most improved of the season. Thank you, girls, for everything.

Miss Smith

Played:12 / Won:8 / Drew:1 / Lost:3 / For:41 / Against:14

Results V HCS V Pangbourne V Bedales V Bryanston V Talbot Heath V Ryde V St Georges V PGS V Churchers V Seaford College V Kings Winchester V Dauntseys

Won 1-0 Won 7-0 Won 4-0 Lost 1-2 Won 2-0 Won 5-1 Lost 2-3 Drew 1-1 Lost 2-4 Won 3-1 Won 8-0 Won 5-2

122 | SOTONIENSIS 2012

U16 Girls’ Hockey Report T

he Fifth Form of 2011/2012 produced some fine performances, made both county finals (one day tournament and national cup county round) and played with much credit in the regional event. Overall I was a little disappointed with the progress made by the squad, mainly as a result of reliance on three or four individuals. As soon as the going got tough, the weaker players lacked confidence and perhaps ability, to keep possession. This, in turn, placed an impossible burden on the more experienced individuals. The lesson to be learned is that all eleven players are vital components of a team and each individual has to accept responsibility for their share of the work.

A record of four wins and four defeats in the regular season is very acceptable given the quality of some of the opposition. In fact one of the best displays came in the defeat by St Georges where the team played with real passion and determination from the outset. (The St Georges side finished 3rd in the country).

I was very pleased with the commitment and effort shown throughout the season and, as ever, Saturday afternoon hockey was enjoyed by all.

Some individuals have very promising futures in hockey, at school and at levels beyond, others should set their sights on enjoying senior hockey through the coming years.

I thoroughly enjoyed the season and hope all the individuals will develop further and continue to enjoy their involvement in this sport.

Mr Fitzpatrick

Played:8 / Won:4 / Lost:4 / Drew:0 / For:22 / Against:19

Squad: H.Rawson-Smith, A. Searle, S. Cox, C. Lovatt, J. Roope, E. Trayhurn, L. Roberts, E. Lewis, H. Larkin, E. Davies, E D’Alton, E. Elliot, M. Normand, F. Coath, H. Brench-Jones.

Results: V KES Witley V Pangbourne V Bryanston V St. Georges V PGS V Churchers V Seaford V Dauntseys

Won Won Lost Lost Lost Won Won Lost

4-0 6-0 2-3 0-5 0-5 3-2 7-0 0-4

SOTONIENSIS 2012 | 123

Senior Girls’ Hockey Report I

t was a delight to work with such a talented, committed and enthusiastic squad this year that always ensured they set an exemplary example to the rest of the girls’ hockey teams at the School.

The season started with plenty of pre-season training and then we went to Pangbourne College to play 4 of their senior teams, each with slightly different formations. It was clear from the start that this senior squad were prepared to work hard and have lots of fun along the way. We had a large squad this year of 24 players and this was consistent throughout the year, having all girls out at training on a regular basis. This meant that we had a large pool of players to choose from which is necessary, especially when we seemed to be an “injury prone” team this year. The team was exceptionally led

by Frankie Dukes who did an outstanding job as captain and she set the tone right from the start.

Sophie Bentley was vice captain and she definitely helped with the group cohesion, making sure that all girls worked together as a unit. We had two new players join the King Edward’s team this year in the form of Jemima Dunnett and Rosie Harper. These girls proved to have an excellent season and were clearly valued by their peers. Rosie was awarded Player of the Season and Jemima was awarded the Players’ Player of the Season. Jemima also won the Most Improved Player of the Season, along with Alice Neilson. I was also delighted to see how many girls coached and helped with younger teams at the School.

It was a real delight to see the progress the girls made throughout the course of the season and the main highlight was being crowned Hampshire County Tournament winners. This is a real tribute to the excellent spirit and dedication that the team insisted on bringing to their game. These girls were an absolute pleasure to work with and they really do set an excellent example to all senior teams to follow.

Miss Campbell Squad: Frankie Dukes ©, Ria Rhodes, Hannah Kaye, Ella Hall, Jemima Dunnett, Sophie Bentley, Alice Neilson, Rosie Harper, Liberty Roberts, Hannah Larkin, Ellie Stephens, Jenny Swinn, Alicia McDowell, Ellie Glew, Jo Meacher, Olivia Ellis, Anna Clark, Annie Clarke, Sarah Barnfield, Lucy Sharp, Anna Roberts, Steph Bull, Beth BuxeySoftley and Lucy Morgan.

Results: Pangbourne College Pre-Season: Drew 1-1 Lost 2-0 Lost 2-0 Won 1-0 Regular Fixtures V Peter Symonds V KES Witley V Ryde V Pangbourne College V Bryanston V HCS V St. Georges College V PGS V LWC V Churchers College V Seaford College V Dauntseys V KES U16

Lost Won Won Won Lost Lost Lost Lost Lost Drew Won Drew Won

National Cup Fixtures V Brockenhurst College Won V Peter Symonds Lost

4-2 7-0 4-0 4-1 5-2 2-0 4-1 2-0 1-0 1-1 2-0 0-0 2-0

3-0 2-1

Hampshire Cup Tournament V Churchers College Won 2-0 V LWC Won 2-0 V HCS Won 1-0 V PGS Drew 0-0 V Brockenhurst College Won 2-0 V Chichester College Won 2-0

KES finished in 1st position and were therefore crowned Hampshire Tournament winners.

124 | SOTONIENSIS 2012

Girls’ Netball Reports

U12 Girls’ T

he U12 netballers were keen to play from the word go, with over 20 girls attending pre-season training in preparation for the term.

The first three matches ended in defeat whilst the team found their footing playing together for the first time. We had some close competition with Ellie Holland-Wright shooting well, a strong defence with Martha Lawrence and Amy Tizard holding in the circle. The ever competitive match against PGS was cancelled due to the freezing temperatures and the team continued to practice their tactics in preparation for the next match against Dauntseys.

Here the team secured a victory for the first time and were really beginning to put in to play the skills they had picked up.

After facing tough opposition from Ryde, playing a mixture of U12 and U13 netballers, our team were just pipped to the post, but put in a great performance.

Elisabeth Curzen, Maddie Deakin and Naomi Lee worked well in the centre court as did the rest of the team demonstrating the KES determination. The U12s lost to Farleigh School and then ended the season on a high with a strong victory against Lord Wandsworth College at an away match.

Overall many First Year girls represented the School at netball this season and their dedication and training paid off, even against some tricky opposition.

Mrs Penfold

SOTONIENSIS 2012 | 125

U13 Girls’ Netball Report U

nlike last year, when practices were few and far between, this year the weather enabled almost every Thursday training session to take place. There was an inordinately large number of enthusiastic and talented players, which caused a headache for initial selection; but having chosen our core16, both A and B teams were closely matched; this depth is reflected largely in the B team results.

The season started with a freezing but sunny match against St Georges. The girls did so well battling against the cold Weybridge air as well as a rather strong opposition and in adverse conditions, both teams excelled, although they came second on both counts. In stark contrast, the match against Dauntseys was played at our Wellington site in sweltering sunshine. Both teams again excelled and were much too strong for our opposition.

Throughout the season, performances were by and large well executed, with a smattering of laziness

A Played:8 / Won:3 / Lost:3 / Drew:2 B Played:7 / Won:5 / Lost:2 / Drew:0

(West Hill Park draw) a smattering of great balance and co-ordination (slippery courts at Farleigh), and a touch of good old fashioned bad luck (inexperienced umpiring).

We say a big thank you to Mrs Stockting, our coach in residence, for her regular attendance and coaching expertise.

Watch out next year for the mighty U13s!

Miss Yerbury and KJ

U14 Girls’ Netball Report T

he U14 netball teams had a fantastic season and went from strength to strength; it was highly rewarding to observe such obvious progress in terms of the girls’ drive, technique and passion for the game. Pre-season training got off to an impressive start with huge numbers of Third Year pupils turning up to express an interest and to reveal the skills and abilities already blossoming, or mastered in some cases. Mrs Stockting set the tone for the forthcoming practice and training sessions with a tough set of fitness and skill-related drills to work through.

Despite a few early defeats to Churchers and Bryanston, the girls remained utterly committed, reflective on their performance and determined for greater success. These first matches allowed the girls to settle in to their positions, or try something new, and to hone some core techniques. Playing such impressive and well-known netball schools meant the girls were ready for tough opposition and so we pushed on!

Dauntseys saw a turning point in our success. The teams were closely matched in terms of ability and we could see how far our girls had improved in just a few weeks. The matches saw the A team storm through, in the final two quarters, to a victory of 26-

19. The B team were narrowly defeated 18-20 and, having had considerable more of the play, this was unfortunate but the girls were determined to win the next games!

The final three matches saw wins across the board for both the A and B teams and the girls are to be thoroughly congratulated. Our final match of the season saw triumphant and outstanding scores of 20-5 for the A team and 30-7 for the B team. A great momentum had been built by this stage and the girls ended the season on a high. We ensured most of our players enjoyed court time and an opportunity to captain the sides; great team playing and leadership skills were apparent throughout the season. It was a pleasure to work with the girls and their highly supportive set of parents.

A season of two halves, revealing both strength and success. Well done to the U14 As and Bs.

Miss Mackintosh

126 | SOTONIENSIS 2012

U15 Girls’ Netball Report T

he U15 A team started the season with an exceptional win against St Georges despite the bad weather. The final score was 36-6 with strong leadership from Gina Steel. Throughout the season many people took on the role of captain and we won the majority of the games. One of the matches against Pangbourne was extremely tight and resulted in a draw (32-32). The team fought hard and were very unlucky not to be victorious.

During the season the A team battled against regular rivals such as Bryanston and Canford but the last match of the season ended unfortunately and showed a reverse victory to previous years. The team from LWC played exceptionally and deserved the win on the day. Special mentions go to the nominated most valuable player, Jordan Campbell, and the most improved player, Emily Ralls, who showed leadership and full commitment during the whole of the season.

The B team thoroughly enjoyed being inspired by Mr Powell. They were not as fortunate with their wins but showed sheer determination and willpower as the season progressed. The improvement in their game certainly showed after half term when their scores began getting closer to that of their opponents. The last game was phenomenal and left Mr Powell and Dr S-J feeling satisfied and proud.

The score against LWC was 28-26; a tight match which was deservedly won. Juliet Fox was named the most valuable player.

Elsa Wakeman was unable to play in the U15 team this year as she had been selected to represent England U17. We missed her presence but fully congratulate her outstanding achievements and wish her future luck.

Overall it was a great season and our endless enthusiasm kept us going; even the cold weather did not deter us and our smiles got even bigger regardless of the outside temperature.

Many thanks to Dr S-J and Mr Powell for a great season.

Milly Cobb, Hannah Kaye and Bria Ellis

A Played 8 / Won: 4 / Lost: 3 / Drew: 1 B Played 7 / Won: 1 / Lost: 6 / Drew: 0

SOTONIENSIS 2012 | 127

U16 Girls’ Netball Report W

hat an amazing season! Many of the girls actually started training back in September as the first round of the National Schools’ Tournament took place in October. PGS also organised a tournament the third week of term but this was unfortunately cancelled due to the bad weather. However, despite lacking match practice, the squad was on fighting form for the County Tournament.

During the tournament the team began to gel and match play started to flow. They outshone the majority of the other participating teams but were unable to snatch victory from Brighton College in the final. This meant they finished as County runners up but still ensured qualification for the Southern Regional Tournament in January.

The team’s first full match in January was against St Georges. After a long Christmas break and mid sessional exams the team was not at its best and the girls were disappointed with their defeat which was due to mistakes rather than the quality of the opposition. They started their next games (against Churchers) determined to win and the mid court game flowed much more easily. With less pressure, the A team shooters, Ellie and Emily, “just kept popping them in”. The B team match was very exciting too, with particular credit, for some fantastic defence, going to Abi and Izzy and solid shooting from Caja and Guneet.

The trip to the Regional Tournament in East Grinstead was a very memorable experience. It was a pleasure, as a coach, to hear the praise given to the squad by other coaches, umpires and spectators both for their standard of play and their good sportsmanship.

Following a defeat by Dauntseys, the Canford matches saw both teams back to full strength and despite the cold conditions the games were played with great spirit, resulting in two clear wins.

The trip to the National Finals in Essex was an unforgettable experience for all those who took part. The standard of play throughout the tournament was high and the team finally missed out on a place in the semi-final by just 1 point.

The season finished with two clear wins and my thanks go out to the squad who made this a very pleasurable and constructive season.

Mrs Henderson

Results V St Georges Lost 12-23 (A) V Churchers Won 24-9 (A)

Lost 11-12 (B) Regionals Runners Up: qualified for Nationals V Dauntseys V Canford

Lost Won Won

12-30 (A) 33-21 (A) 14-10 (B)

Won Won

32-13 (A) 30-3 (B)

Nationals 3rd in Pool V LWC

U16 Squad Ellie D’Alton (Capt), Isobel Bartholomew, Florence Coath, Selena Cox, Alice Davies, Emily Elliot, Leah Jones, Hannah Larkin, Emily Lewith, Guneet Mathoda, Maddie Normand, Caja Perris, Hattie Rawson-Smith, Liberty Roberts, Julia Roope, Abigail Searle, Ellen Trayhurn.

Nationals Squad Ellie D’Alton (Capt), Selena Cox, Alice Davies, Bria Ellis, Emma Falconer, Leah Jones, Hattie Rawson-Smith, Julia Roope, Gina Steele, Elsa Wakeman.

128 | SOTONIENSIS 2012

Senior Girls’ Netball Report T

he 2012 netball season has been one that I will always remember. I could not have asked for a better group of girls as my first senior team in my first year as Head of Netball.

The season got off to a great start with the girls showing their commitment and enthusiasm from day one at the pre-season fitness training. Their energy levels were impressive and I could tell it was going to be a fun year!

The girls won their first match against HCS comfortably despite the team still finding its stride and structure. A very windy Saturday in January saw the girls lose a frustrating and low-scoring game against Churchers; one fixture I know they are keen to replay next year!

Through the middle of the season the girls were challenged by some tough opposition from Bryanston, Dauntseys and Canford. The squad worked hard as a unit and their positivity paid off ensuring they achieved some good results that reflected their strong work ethic.

After half term the girls returned from the Jamaica tour pumped and eager to play the remaining games of the season. The density of their matches and training over the 10 day tour really showed in the girls’ game play. The squad went on to win the remainder of the fixtures against Ryde, Peter Symonds, Pangbourne and Lord Wandsworth College.

I have thoroughly enjoyed coaching the senior squad this year and it has been an absolute pleasure to work with such talented and committed young athletes. All the members of the squad should be congratulated on a successful season and a special thank you to Jenny Swinn for all her hard work as senior captain.

Miss Mobbs Players of the season: Olivia Ellis (A Team), Ellie Glew (B Team) Most Improved Players: Frankie Dukes (A Team), Georgina Hill (B Team)

Results: V HCS Won

Won V Churchers Lost V Bryanston Won

Lost V Dauntseys Lost

Lost V Canford Lost

Lost V Ryde Won

Won V Peter Symonds Won V Pangbourne Won

Won V LWC Won

Won

26-16 (A) 21-10 (B) 13-11 (A) 23-21 (A) 30-17 (B) 12-21 (A) 21- 30 (B) 10-36 (A) 21- 34 (B) 19-14 (A) 23-13 (B) 25-21 (B) 32-24 (A) 34- 26 (B) 23-15 (A) 26-8 (B)

SOTONIENSIS 2012 | 129

U12 Girls’ Rounders T

he summer of 2012 has been very testing. A lack of consistent dry weather has made it very difficult to get any rhythm and progress going within the sport. Practices and fixtures have had to be cancelled!

Despite this, I have been very pleased with the enthusiasm and commitment that the girls have shown. They should be commended for maintaining their great spirit and positive outlook through some frustrating times. It was a hard start to the season with the first match being played after only one possible practice. The School faced a very good side on the Isle of Wight who had clearly played together for a number of years. It was not a high scoring encounter and there were flashes of potential shown but some of the decision making could have been better. This was a problem that arose again in the match against St Georges College, where really everything seemed to go wrong and rounders were needlessly given away. The girls suffered a heavy loss but learnt some very valuable lessons.

Churchers College was the venue of the next match and the team surprised themselves with their good fielding and powerful hitting. A change of tactics also seemed to work. They lost their heads a little

in the second innings but came through to win by the tiniest of margins. It was very rewarding to see their self-confidence grow. They carried on this good form into the last match against Hampshire Collegiate School. Indeed they controlled the match and looked like a completely different side to the one that started the season! Much more thought was going into their actions. They thoroughly deserved their victory.

I hope the girls can maintain their enthusiasm for the sport in the future because there is still much to learn. They have been an absolute pleasure to work with.

Miss Peachment Played:4 / Won:2 / Drew:0 / Lost: 2

Results: V Ryde Lost 2-6 V St Georges Lost 5-32 V Churchers Won 16½-16 V Hampshire Collegiate Won 17– 3½ Squad: Sophie Fletcher, Belinda Groom, Ellie Holland-Wright, Martha Lawrence, Naomi Lee, Daisy Porter, Olivia Reeves, Flossie Rose, Rosie Searles, Iolanta Spanner, Amy Tizard, Kate Ward.

130 | SOTONIENSIS 2012

U13 Girls’ Rounders Report P

ractices were rather disrupted by the rain in the early part of the season but following just one indoor practice, the KES A team travelled to play Ryde. KES performed well in the first innings, with Julia Mead-Briggs in fine batting form and the team working hard in the field. Ryde came back strongly in the second innings, with their batters finding their form, but KES persevered and won the game by 2½ rounders. The following week, two U13 sides took on the KES U12 sides. The A team enjoyed a close fought game, with the older girls just coming out on top. The B match was a rather more one-sided affair, with the U13s proving too strong for the younger girls. KES A did not start well against St Georges, with a lack of sharpness in both fielding and batting.

The second innings was more evenly matched but KES was unable to bridge the gap created in the first innings and St Georges won the game comfortably. The B team started their encounter against St Georges very well and led after the first innings. The second innings was not so fruitful in the field or with the bat and it was disappointing that St Georges nudged ahead to win the game. The teams had more success against Churchers College where both the A and B teams performed well to win their games. Unfortunately a number of the fixtures were then cancelled due to wet weather but the girls did get to play their match against HCS, which they comfortably won 11½ to 8.

Large numbers of girls have regularly turned out to practice and they have been a real pleasure to work with. Their enthusiasm has been matched by their willingness to take on board advice and so it is a shame that the weather has cut across so many of the planned fixtures this term.

Mrs Thomas

Results: V Ryde Won 10-7½ V KES U12 A Won 13-7½ V KES U12 B Won 32-12 V St Georges A Lost 19½-10 V St Georges B Lost 21-16 V Churchers A Won 25-16 V Churchers B Won 15-13½ V HCS Won 11½–8

SOTONIENSIS 2012 | 131

U14 Girls’ Rounders Report T

he U14 rounders squad has been a pleasure to work with this year, although training sessions have been severely hampered by the weather. The season started with an excellent turn out of over 30 girls at training and there was tough competition for the team places against Ryde. Unfortunately, the match was cancelled due to the weather but two teams were able to play later that week in a friendly against the U15s. Both matches were very close and the girls put on an excellent display of fielding to keep the older girls from scoring vital points. Final score: A team lost 20½-22 whilst the B team lost 12½-15½.

The first full matches were on one of the few hot sunny Saturdays in May. The grass was cut short and the ball was running fast in the field although the nettles were also to prove an obstacle for the backstops. The A team put on a good show and only lost by 22½-26½ whilst the B team took a harder defeat losing 3½ -12.

The following Tuesday the sun stayed out and the girls enjoyed a local derby against St Swithuns. The team batted strongly and were in a good position at half time but the opposition fought back hard in

the second innings to take the match 19-15. After a break for exams, the squad returned for a busy week of three matches. The girls were a little slow getting back on form and lost on a slippery pitch against a hard hitting HCS side 21½-11. However, this seemed to deepen their resolve for a win and the next day both the A and B sides played Churchers at Wellington. The B team went off at a sprint and although Churchers came back hard in the second innings they secured a win 18½ -17. The A team made life a little harder for themselves by letting the Petersfield team take the lead in the first half but, after some very slick fielding, they fought back to a 9 all draw.

With the final south coast derby against PGS called off due to the rain, the season came to an end on a good result. The players have demonstrated they have a high level of potential and should be aiming to even the scores next year.

Well played girls; a fun if short and wet season,

Mrs Henderson

132 | SOTONIENSIS 2012

U15 Girls’ Rounders Report A

small but strong group of enthusiasts represented the U15s with 100% success this year. Practices and matches were sporadic, largely due to inclement weather, but lack of opposition and Duke of Edinburgh commitments were also contributory factors. When they did get to play, each team member brought something to the pitch. Each bat, bowl, throw, run and catch was executed with skill and accuracy and the team supported each other, both in bat and in field and were simply outstanding during this very short season.

Well done to all who represented KES. What a superb group of ambassadors! This bodes very well indeed for their sporting futures.

Squad: Emily Ralls, Emily Thompson, Juliet Fox, Gemma Holland-Wright, Ellie Gilbert, Gina Steel, Catherine Whitby, Milly Cobb, Hannah Kaye, Pip Rees and Bria Ellis.

Results: V St. Swithuns V HCS V St. Georges V U14s A&B

Won 13½-11 Won 18-10½ Won 15½-8½ Won (narrowly) both games

KJ

U16 & Senior Girls’ Rounders Report U

nfortunately due to the very early examination leave dates and the rather unusual weather, very few games have been played.

The U16s managed one very wet rounders match against Portsmouth Grammar School, where the A team won by 14½ – 10 and the B team drew 15 – 15!

The senior girls’ captain, Ria Rhodes, came back to play the only game of the season that hadn’t fallen foul to the weather. This was a close encounter with St Swithuns School. Much talent was on show, alongside the odd slip! The team did extremely well to keep their unbeaten record and win by 11½ – 9½.

Miss Peachment

SOTONIENSIS 2012 | 133

U12 Girls’ Tennis Report M

uch of the U12 fixture list fell victim to the weather this year with only three of the original matches surviving.

The first match to go ahead was a tough one for the girls, seeing the School lose 7-2 to a strong St Georges side. Ellie and Kate, playing together for the first time, won two of their three games, while Daisy and Iolanta were a little unlucky not to win a game, losing 7-5 against one of the opposition pairs.

However, the team recovered quickly and proved too strong for Perins next time out, winning 6-0, in a rather one-sided match. Kate, Daisy, Belinda and Lily all won their singles with Kate not conceding a game, a feat she repeated in the doubles with Daisy, while Belinda and Lily also won comfortably. The last fixture against Kings also survived but much of the game was played in a downpour making conditions very difficult. Eight girls braved the deluge without complaint. In the doubles there was success for Hattie and Jess and in the singles Ellie and Lily both won hard-fought matches 4-3 and Iolanta won a little more comfortably 4-2. Overall though, the match score ended 8-4 in favour of Kings. Fortunately, all

the squad players managed to play in at least one game, but hopefully next year, if the weather allows, there will be rather more opportunities for them to represent the School.

Miss Barron

Squad: Yvie Lock (Captain), Laura Birch, India Clark, Georgie Hurst, Samara Jones, Amri Mandair, Lottie Percival, Ellie Turner

134 | SOTONIENSIS 2012

U13 Girls’ Tennis Report T

here have been an impressive number of Second Year girls attending and enjoying tennis practices throughout this term despite some damp weather. They have all worked hard to learn and improve their skills and have given of their best and been totally reliable both in practices and in matches.

The following students have represented the School in tennis matches: Mary Amos, Georgia Appleby, Jana Billington, Romily Clark, Georgia Hoile, Darra McCarthy–Paul, Julia Mead-Briggs, Clare Mitchell, Seungyeon Oh, Emma Taylor, Mia Hamblin.

Emma, Romily and Jana played in the U13 Aegon matches together with Ellie Holland-Wright from the First Year. They won their match against St Swithuns B team but lost to Kings, PGS and St Swithuns A team. Julia played successfully with the U15 Aegon team as well.

In other matches the girls won against Kings but lost to St Georges College.

The following students have represented the School in tennis matches: Mary Amos, Georgia Appleby, Jana Billington, Romily Clark, Georgia Hoile, Darra McCarthy–Paul, Julia Mead-Briggs, Clare Mitchell, Seungyeon Oh, Emma Taylor, Mia Hamblin.

Mrs Lovegrove

U14 Girls’ Tennis Report T

he start of a very wet tennis season saw a good turn-out of girls at practice. Most weeks, weather permitting, between 10-20 girls regularly attended. The results demonstrate that although we did not have many games, we did play well this year with 2 wins and 1 loss.

I am unaccustomed to singling out players, but I feel Yvie Lock deserves a special mention as she represented her age group in the Aegon Competition along with 3 U15 players and finally a big thank you to Joe for his excellent coaching skills.

Mrs Stockting

Squad: Yvie Lock, Samara Jones, India Clark, Katie Billington, Lucy Porter, Izzy Monger, Iona Todd, Georgie Hurst.

Results: V St Georges V PERINS V LWC

Won Lost Won

9-7 1-3 5-4

SOTONIENSIS 2012 | 135

U15 Girls’ Tennis Report A

s seems to happen all too frequently, our first fixture was not only scheduled for the first Saturday of term, without prior training, but it was then cancelled due to the monsoon season in the south of England! The weather was against us for most of this short session; practices and matches being played in inclement weather on several occasions.

Following last year’s success, this year KES entered two teams into the National Aegon competition (comprising four singles and two doubles matches).

We have breadth in strength and talent throughout the year groups and, to this end, we introduced Julia Mead-Briggs (Second Year) and Yvie Lock (Third Year) into an already very strong squad. Our first match was against St Swithuns, to whom we lost by the narrowest of margins last summer. This year, however, although St. Swithuns put up an admirable fight, we were simply much too strong for our opposition, who were annihilated. KES A team demolished any School that got in its way, culminating in the girls reaching the finals of the Hampshire round. Their opposition would have been our very own B team, had PGS A not beaten them! KES A team now go on to the regionals.

Congratulations should also go to Miriam ChapmanRosenfeld and Juliet Fox for their victory in the Hampshire and Isle of Wight U16 Girls’ Doubles Championships. This is the second year in a row that the School has retained the title.

KJ

Squad: Miriam Chapman-Rosenfeld, Julia Mead-Briggs, Juliet Fox, Caitlin Brown, Milly Cobb, Ellie Gilbert, Yvie Lock, Gina Steel.

As ever, we are extremely grateful to Joe and George for their fun and interesting coaching. Practices were always energetic and thoroughly enjoyable.

Results: Aegon Competition V St Swithuns Won 6-0 (A) Won 6-0 (B) V Kings School Won 5-1 (A) V Priory Priory B team conceded V PGS A Lost 4-2 (B) V Perins Perins A team conceded V PGS A Won 4-2 (A) Results: Friendly matches V LWC

Won

5-4

136 | SOTONIENSIS 2012

King Edward VI School Wilton Road . Southampton . Hampshire SO15 5UQ Telephone: 023 8070 4561 www.kes.hants.sch.uk