Annual review 2013

Founded 1553

Founded 1553

KING EDWARD VI SCHOOL SOUTHAMPTON

ANNUAL REVIEW 2013

HIGHLIGHTS

Contents

28 % A* at A level, with 85% at A*, A and B

Head’s Report

grade.

Julian Thould looks back on

Over 80% of applicants

another successful year for

achieving places at the

King Edward’s

top 25 universities.

Chairman’s Report

10 offers at Oxford and

The Chairman of Governors,

Cambridge (8% of all

Brian Gay, gives an update

applications).

on new faces and new buildings at King Edward’s

Excellent GCSE results with 34% at A* and 66% at A* or A grade.

Refurbished classrooms for Humanities and Music Departments.

Culture

KING EDWARD VI SCHOOL

The latest news surrounding drama, music and art at King Edward’s

Sport & Co-Curricular

SOUTHAMPTON

Activities and achievements

New pitches for Wellington Sports Ground.

in the past year

Wilton Road Southampton SO15 5UQ Tel 023 8070 4561 Fax 023 8070 5937 Email enquiries@kes.hants.sch.uk www.kes.hants.sch.uk

Charities, Trips & Visits At home and away

ANNUAL REVIEW 2013

Staff

Welcomes, moves and farewells

Mrs Shorter joined King Edward’s in 2008.

Her attention to detail was second to none and she was outstanding in her commitment to improving the accounting function.

During her time at KES she wholeheartedly involved herself in co-curricular activities.

These included regular Duke of Edinburgh expeditions and, in 2010, accompanying the annual Goedgedacht project visit to South Africa. She has made a real difference during her time at KES and will be sorely missed.

Head’s Report The academic year 2012/13 has seen a number of significant developments. We began the year with 975 students on the roll and demand for places at the School has continued to be very strong. A major revision of our strategic development plan for the next 3 years has been completed linked to our regular surveys of parents, students and staff and our recent excellent ISI inspection report. A summary may be found on the School’s website.

The School has sustained its facilities development programme with a number of new initiatives including an expanded Music Recital Room, refurbished History classrooms, a new roof for the Biology Department and new car-parking at Wellington. Further detail is provided in the Chairman’s report.

Our students have enjoyed another very good set of academic results, notably at A2 and IGCSE. We were also particularly pleased with our Oxbridge admissions results. 10 students took up places this year and over the past 5 years an average of 11% of the year group have gone on to one of these two universities. Over 83% of our students will proceed to places in the top 25 universities or medical schools.

We were delighted to welcome Debra Searle MBE as our Chief Guest at Speech Day in 2012. Her achievements as a very well-known Atlantic rower were particularly appealing to our students.

We have had a particularly good season in terms of the School’s sport.

Hockey has gone from strength to strength. We have had one of the most successful girls’ seasons in recent years. This year saw the new structure of girls’ hockey resulting in two senior teams, combining the Fifth Year with the Sixth Form. The U14 hockey and the 1st XI hockey teams also won the county rounds of the National Schools’ County Competition. The U16 team came runners-up in their respective tournament. The U15 team enjoyed success at the South Hockey U15 Tournament, in which they too were eventual runners-up. They had an unbeaten season in regular fixtures and they show much promise as they join the senior squad next year.

This success was reflected in the performance of boys’ hockey with a number of good results and the U14s and U16s both reaching the regional heats of the National Cup. Eight KES players have also distinguished

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themselves playing for the U18 Trojans team in the National Cup and a very enjoyable hockey tour to Holland was experienced by all who took part.

The 1st XV rugby began the season with a pre-season tour to Ampleforth College. Along with the U15 team the 1st XV played well against tough competition in our own South Coast Rugby Tournament. The U15 team has gone further in the National Daily Mail Cup than any other team at KES over the past decade. Our other teams were busy with a particularly fine opening season for the U12s and a County Plate Final for the U16 squad.

It has also been a good season for netball. After a very frustrating start to the season due to the bad weather, there were some exceptional results throughout the spring term. The U16 team continued their journey to regionals finishing in 3rd place. The senior teams achieved excellent wins against both local rivals and schools with a national reputation in the sport while the junior teams also secured some impressive results.

Football has had another successful season and is consolidating its reputation as a Sixth Form sport.

Fencing, kayaking, dance and sailing have also gone from strength to strength and a number of students have achieved national prominence in sports such as squash, rhythmic gymnastics, netball and sailing. The U16 tennis teams had pairs in both of the Hampshire Schools’ Doubles Championships with the girls’ pair becoming County Champions. The many individual achievements at county and national level are too many to mention here but these are regularly recorded in KonnEctionS and on the website.

Mr Turner joined the Physics Department at KES in January 2003 before which time he had worked as a software engineer and as an exploration geophysicist in the US and Middle East. He is an effective and well-liked physics teacher who is dependable and supportive. He has a passion for cycling, mountain biking, skiing and mountain walking and has been a great supporter of the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme. In 2008 he was given the role of Head of Educational Visits and accompanied the Activities World Challenge team on their month-long trip to Bolivia in 2007. Mr Turner has also run the mountain biking club in recent years. We wish him the very best for a long and no doubt very active retirement.

Mrs Backen joined the school in 2004 and has taught throughout the school up to AS Literature and A2 English Language. During her time at KES she was a Lower School tutor, ran the Reading Scheme, took part in several Duke of Edinburgh trips and helped with the U15 netball team. She returned to teaching on a part-time basis after her maternity leave in 2008. Mrs Backen is a highly regarded and enthusiastic teacher who cares about her students and her subject. She has left the school for personal reasons and will now be able to spend more time with her two young children, Freddy and Henry, and her husband, Will.

Mrs Williams has been a valued member of the Geography Department for seven years and has helped many students to gain successful results at both GCSE and A-Level.

She has been involved in many field trips and has been an effective Lower School tutor.

Mrs Williams set up the Green Team and the subsequent Eco Garden which was a key factor in helping the School later achieve the Green Flag award. She has also been Head of Watts and has coached Lower School hockey teams. As Head of Charities for the past three years she has helped to organise many events to raise record amounts of money. She will be missed as she moves on to enjoy motherhood.

Mrs Anderson worked as a School Nurse for 6 years leaving in February to take up a post within the NHS. She was well-liked by both staff and students and was always willing to lend a listening ear and offer friendly advice, alongside her clinical duties. For several years she ran the First Aid course enabling many students to gain their First Aid certificates.

Staff Internal changes / New Appointments

Mr Peel came to England from South Africa in 2007 to play and coach for Fareham Hockey Club and in September 2012 he became the full time School Hockey coach and subsequently Head of Hockey for the 2013 season. He has become a very popular colleague and teacher making hockey easy and fun for everyone. Mr Peel leaves us to move to Holland with his wife Rachel. We wish him the best of luck.

There have been several internal staff changes. Mr Fitzpatrick becomes Senior Master, Mr Gilbert is appointed Director of Prep School Liaison and Mrs Piggott takes on the role of Head of Theatre Studies.

Miss Campbell is Head of First Year, Dr Sinnett-Jones takes over as Charities Co-ordinator and Mr Miller becomes Head of Lake. Dr Leaman is Co-ordinator for the Most Able, Dr Thomas is the new Assistant Head of Year (Lower School) and Miss Stone is Assistant Head of Year (Upper School). Miss Smith is away on maternity leave for the academic year 2013/14 and Dr Purves is the acting Assistant Head (Co-curriculum) during her absence. Mr Simm will fulfil the role of the acting Head of Physics and Mrs Barnes-Wardlaw that of acting Junior Science Co-ordinator. Mr Singleton takes on the job of Assistant Director of Studies and Mr Allen becomes Assistant Head (Digital Strategy and ICT).

Mr Powell joined the School in September 2012 and quickly established himself as an excellent teacher of mathematics. He has brought new ideas with him to the benefit of the Department and has helped with the Duke of Edinburgh Award, organised the wakeboarding activity day and helped out with the Sailing Club. Mr Powell leaves KES to visit Dubai, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and New Zealand before arriving in Sydney where he will continue working as a mathematics teacher.

Mrs Sheridan has spent just a year at King Edward’s but in that time has become a valued member of the team. She has inspired her students to new heights of creativity and quality in their work throughout the year. Within the department she quickly fitted in bringing her experience and practical and pragmatic approach to discussions and meetings. Mrs Sheridan has also involved herself in a range of co-curricular activities including Cookery Club, Sailing and the Duke of Edinburgh Award.

Mrs Hooton joined the School in September 2012 to cover maternity leave within the Geography Department and has made a considerable impact on the life of the School.

She has attended both of the residential field trips and most of the one day trips and has been proactive in forging new links with Southampton University. She has helped coach the U12 hockey squad as well as teaching Third Year games and has been involved with the Duke of Edinburgh scheme.

We wish her well in her new post at Barton Peveril College.

Mrs Hilborne joined King Edward’s as a Receptionist/Admin Assistant in the Main Office in 2010. During her time at the School she developed a number of changes to the administration processes in the Main Office as well as becoming heavily involved in the School’s sports administration. She was also actively involved with training and supporting both netball and hockey teams.

The number of visits the School organises each year continues to grow and is a major part of our educational provision. This year KES students have enjoyed visits to the USA, South Africa, Morocco, Thailand and Cambodia,

Miss Shadjareh worked as the IT Classroom Support Technician as the sandwich workplacement component of her degree course at Portsmouth University. Throughout the year she worked in a quiet, unobtrusive manner turning her hand to anything that she was asked.

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We have a number of new staff joining us this year. Mr Kent joins as the new Director of Sport, Mrs Race is the new Head of Geography and Mr Crichton will be Head of Hockey. Mr Eyssens and Mr Westwater join us to teach Mathematics, Miss Birks will be teaching Theatre Studies and Mr Brown joins the Geography Department. Dr Wikeley will be teaching English, Mr Belassie will teach Music and Srta Ibanez Manzano will teach Spanish.

The language assistants for 2013/4 are Mlle Pecheur, Mlle Casini, Srta Benito Ramos and Fraulein Paulik. Mr Jarvis joins the School as Classroom IT Support Technician for the forthcoming year. Mr Breen is appointed Finance Assistant/ Trainee.

Holland, Spain, France and Germany.

These have ranged from trekking in the remote jungles around Angor Wat to camel rides in the deserts of North Africa. Closer to home students have participated in historical visits to the French First and Second World War battlefields, skiing in La Plagne, language exchanges and study visits to Angers, Le Havre, Mutterstadt, Salamanca and Santander and trips across the UK from regular theatre and music visits to London to geography and biology field trips to Malham Tarn, Yorkshire and Dale Fort. Hundreds of our students make excellent use of the New Forest and our facility at Lovaton on Dartmoor for Duke of Edinburgh Award expeditions.

The arts have had a high profile concluding with three days of our biennial arts festival with everything from steel drums and Afro-Caribbean dance to jewellery-making, stilt walkers and Zumba. Regular occasions such as the Carol Service at St Mary’s and Thanksgiving in Winchester Cathedral have been interspersed with a wide range of concerts with the highlight being an evening event at St John’s Smith Square. Drama has been busy with a number of productions including Haroun and the Sea of Stories, Two, Just the Three of Us and The Recruiting Officer as well as numerous Junior Drama Club events.

The annual art exhibition was one of the most impressive we have had with growing prominence seen for our photographers.

Charitable and community work has long had considerable prominence at King Edward’s. In the past year over £20,000 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 our partnership with St Mark’s Junior School at Lovaton on Dartmoor. Dozens of volunteers have helped with cake sales, sponsored events, discos and talent shows. Likewise, our primary school partnerships have prospered involving a range of art, literacy, mathematics, languages and science clubs as well as special events such as the recent ‘windy racers’ day at the end of the summer term.

the last year, ably supported by his deputies, Natalie Fairhurst, Nicholas Brown and Sam Fox. 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 relatively limited number of staff leaving King Edward’s this year, but with some significant retirements after long service. Mr Courtney retired after serving as an outstanding Deputy Head (Academic) for 19 years and has guided the School through a period of major curriculum change, Mr Jones has moved to set up his own business after 26 years at the School, most notably as Director of the Sixth Form and Mrs Alexander, Head of the Learning Resource Centre, has devoted 25 years to ensuring that the School provides excellent library services to our students. Mrs Price is retiring after 15 years at the School, with 7 years as an outstanding Head of Theatre Studies. Mr Turner has retired after a decade at the School teaching physics and with particular involvement in our trips and visits programme as our Co-curricular Visits Co-ordinator. Mrs Backen is leaving after teaching English with distinction since 2004. Mrs Williams, a teacher of geography, Head of House and our Charity Co-ordinator is leaving after 7 years at King Edward’s. We are also grateful to Mr Powell (Mathematics), Mr Peel (Principal Hockey Coach), Mrs Hooton (Geography) and Mrs Sheridan (Design Technology) who have each completed a year with the School. We also thank other staff who have assisted the School this year on short term contracts. Amongst the non-teaching staff particular note must be made of the contribution of Mr Brant and Ms Shadjareh, IT classroom support technicians, Mrs Hilborne,

receptionist, Mrs Anderson, school nurse, Mrs Shorter, Assistant Bursar (Finance) and of Mr Goldie who has transferred to our new preparatory school after a decade of excellent service to the School as Assistant Bursar (Facilities).

KESSoc has prospered under the direction of Mrs Swinn and Mrs Sansome. It continues to be fully involved in the School’s life, not least through the organisation of the biennial KESSoc ball. We are very grateful for their support for a range of activities from music and kayaking to the partfunding of a youth worker in South Africa in July. Our alumni have enjoyed numerous reunions organised by our Development Officer, Ms Hooper, with much useful work completed by our legacy foundation to help students applying to King Edward’s from disadvantaged backgrounds.

King Edward’s has continued to be a very successful School offering its students a winning combination of an academic education with a myriad of co-curricular opportunities to develop their sporting, cultural and leadership skills. KES students are notable for their involvement in the wider community whether it is involvement in a local scout pack or support for aid programmes abroad. We are very proud of every one of them.

AJ Thould Head

We have been very well served by Nikhil Ohri as Head of School over 3

Head of School

Chairman’s Report It seems strange to think that I have spent 7 years at King Edward’s. In retrospect, I think what impresses me most is that no year has ever been the same; each one has brought new opportunities for both my friends and I to broaden our experiences, whether it be on sports fields abroad, concerts around the country, or simply attending to KES bees on site.

“KES has prepared me for later life like no other experience could”

Since my first experiences as a First Year, much has changed. Never before have so many clubs, fixtures, events and school trips been available to such a receptive and enthusiastic student body. I, for one, am especially grateful for the opportunity I had to help children in South Africa, as part of the Goedgedacht project. It is experiences such as this that make KES unique; it is rare to find many schools where teachers support the efforts of their students to the same degree, both in and outside the classroom.

Whilst the co-curricular opportunities at KES have expanded and developed over the last 7 years, it is fair to say the caring attitude of all staff, and genuine friendliness of pupils at KES, has stayed the same. In my first year I was once surprised by such hospitality but I now see these qualities as integral to all KES pupils, in particular in my cohort.

It is the true concern and respect each person has for one another, that I witness every day, that makes school life an enjoyable, rather than a necessary experience.

Leaving KES will not be easy for me; I will certainly miss the camaraderie of my year group and it is no surprise that my best memories at KES are shared.

However, as it intended, KES has prepared me for later life like no other experience could and for that I will be forever grateful.

Nikhil Ohri

Head of School

After a number of years of significant building activity at Hill Lane, we have now gone through a period of relative quiet although small improvements on this site have continued during 2012/13.

The work in the Music Department in the area of the enlarged Recital Room has been completed; we have extended our upgrade programme with the refurbishment of our History classrooms, the installation of new energy efficient lighting over the astro pitch, and during the summer the aged roof over the Biology Department was replaced. At the same time, our extensive maintenance programme keeps our facilities in first class order. The coming year will also see limited activity before we move forward with the plans I referred to in the last review with regards to the enlargement of the Dobson Theatre, the Art Department and the Sixth Form Concourse - a major project which will have to be spread over several years. Discussions are also taking place in terms of a significant facelift to the main School Hall - a key area in the School’s daily life but one which is beginning to look rather “tired”.

At Wellington we finally said “goodbye” to Portsmouth Football Club once they were acquired by their Supporters’ Trust. They had been our tenant there for the last eight years and even during their various periods in administration had continued to pay us their not insignificant rent - a great help in funding that facility. Our first task will be to reinstate the area vacated by their temporary buildings to provide additional car parking. Also, now that the area in front of the Pavilion has been returned to us, we will establish a ten wicket cricket square within it. At the same time we will be examining the possibility of adding a spectators’ balcony/viewing area at first floor level off the dining room to overlook what is the prime area at our sports ground.

Our Rural Studies Centre at Lovaton on Dartmoor is in very good order and we continue with regular visits to it not only for Duke of Edinburgh activities but for other team-building or educational purposes.

I am delighted to be able to say that the acquisition of Stroud School in Romsey, which I described twelve months ago as the major event of that year, has been a great success. There

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has been a considerable amount of contact between staff members at both schools and I think it is fair to confirm that both sides have benefited from this, as anticipated. We have also experienced an increased demand for places at Stroud, which has enabled us to agree plans for the construction of a new dining and kitchen facility together with three new classrooms for September 2014.

These classrooms will be located on the site of Elizabeth Sanger Davies’ house which was tragically destroyed by fire during a burglary last April.

Thankfully Elizabeth herself was rescued by the Fire Service with seconds to spare! In the short term we will cope with the extra numbers at Stroud by bringing on site some temporary accommodation for this September. Stroud’s Deputy Head, Judy Gregory, retired at the end of the summer term and I would personally like to thank her for all she has done for the school over many years, but particularly for her great support during the last twelve months.

Within the KES Governing body, as I indicated in my report last year, we welcomed onto our Board three Governors from Stroud : Sarah Mancey, Dominic Holyer, and Ben Richards. These, together with Wendy Swinn and several existing KES Governors, constitute the Stroud subcommittee chaired by Ben Richards.

There were two other changes within the KES Governing body: the retirement of Councillor Terry Matthews, an excellent nominative Governor on behalf of Southampton Council, from whom we await a replacement, and Mel Ashley who had come to the end of her term of office on behalf of Southampton University.

We were able to fill Ms Ashley’s position by moving across one of our co-opted Governors, Michael Mayes, to represent the University.

to congratulate all members of the School, both staff and students, on the excellent ISI report we received last November. Being descended on by a team of eleven Inspectors at short notice was a daunting prospect for all concerned, but the result was real confirmation of the excellent state of the School and its leadership.

The King Edward VI Foundation, under the enthusiastic guidance of Suzanne Hooper, continues to develop a greater following particularly amongst older Edwardians who appreciate the start in life which the School gave to them, in most instances with their education being free due to our status, at that time, as a direct grant school.

One group of former pupils, under the leadership of Edwardian, Peter Feltham, have pledged over £400,000 to the Foundation and their hope is that other groups will come forward to emulate what they have achieved.

I am pleased to be able to conclude my review by confirming that our School continues to be in excellent health, academically, in sport and the arts and in the multitude of cocurricular activities in which so many

of our pupils participate. We are also very strongly secure financially with a solid intake of new students this September - maintaining our numbers around 975 - and a firm indication that this level will continue over the foreseeable future.

Brian Gay

Chair of Governors

I normally leave comments with regard to staff to the Head but I feel I must refer to the retirement during the year of three very longstanding members of the School; Peter Jones, Director of the Sixth Form; Diana Alexander, Learning and Resources Manager; and Rob Courtney, Deputy Head, Academic. All three have given outstanding service to our School, for which I would like to thank them and wish them well for the future.

Whilst on this subject, I would like 5

Academic Progress The School began the year with 975 pupils on role and a ratio of 60% boys to 40% girls.

We have enhanced the School’s reputation for academic success with another set of impressive A level, GCSE and IGCSE results. 85% of our students achieved A*, A and B grades at A level with 28% of all examinations taken awarded an A* grade. The overall pass rate was 100%. Over 46% of those who took A levels this year obtained 3 A grades or more. The Fifth Year produced a confident performance with 66% of grades at A* and A and 90% at A*, A and B grades. 98% of pupils gained 5 or more GCSEs including mathematics and English, the usual DCSF measure of high standards although this is not given official recognition in the government’s league tables.

96% of all our university applicants achieved places in their chosen universities and 10 students have confirmed their places at either Oxford or Cambridge, representing 8% of the year group. In total, 83% of our Upper Sixth students will be moving on to places in the top 25 universities or to medical schools in the UK.

A Level Results 2013 40

Percentage

30 20 10 0

A*

A

B

C

D

E

D

E

A Level Grades

IGCSE and GCSE Results 2013

Percentage

40 30 20 10 0

A*

A

B

C

IGCSE and GCSE Grades

96% CF/CI Places Other University placement or PQA

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Students placed in The Times top 25 ranking universities Students in other HE institutions including music & art

*As quoted in the Times Good University Guide for the year the application was made.

“the KESSoc Summer Ball proved a big success”

KESSoc KESSoc’s calendar of social events started off with the New Parents’ Wine Tasting Evening in November which was again very successful.

to sell many “Outgrown But Not Outworn” clothes to parents. Sonia Ohri and Carolyn Vitoria provide a valuable and profitable service.

This was a chance to meet other new parents and subsequently some went on to form teams for the Quiz Night in February. This year’s KESSoc Lecture was given by Rear Admiral John Lang and we enjoyed his different view on the Titanic disaster. With ticket sales and donations, we were able to donate £600 to the Fisherman’s Mission, his chosen charity.

Funds raised by KESSoc this year have supported, amongst others, the Greenpower team, a further beehive and a bespoke PA system for the School.

Marian Capper has, after six years, stepped down from organising refreshments that have been so welcome at Parents’ Evenings and

events. Her organisational skill and humour will be sorely missed. KES PTA, as it will be called from next year, chaired by Lorraine Morgan will, I’m sure, continue to provide an important link in the KES community. I would like to thank those who have supported us over the past year and urge parents to join in whenever they can.

Petra Sansome Chair of KESSoc

With the School transformed into a circus top, the KESSoc Summer Ball proved a big success. We sold out quickly and for the first time provided after-dinner tickets. We are very grateful to Helen Ellis-Brown, who designed and organised all the invites, tickets and menus for us, despite not having children at KES anymore.

The prayer group has found its format of breakfast meetings and school sessions very successful. The group has flourished under the able leadership of Erica Roberts and Jane Thompson and OBNO has continued

This year has seen an increase in the number of reunions and other Edwardian Society sporting events that have taken place.

Edwardian Society

The golfing section continues to grow in numbers and popularity, with the team retaining the Triangular trophy in May in the competition against the Old Tauntonians and Old Symondians. The introduction of an annual Edwardian hockey match against both the KES boys’ and girls’ 1st XI teams, a girls’ netball game, as well as the revival of the John Bevan cricket cup, has also given new life to the Edwardian sporting fixture list. We are grateful to all those who have taken part and in particular to those who have captained and organised teams.

Other reunions that have taken place this year include a formal Oxbridge Reunion Dinner held at Balliol College, Oxford in April and our ever popular Poole Veterans’ and Pre 1939 Leavers’ luncheons. Many of the attendees at these latter events have been coming back to School annually for over 15 years.

In December, the Best Possible Start project drew to a close with a celebration dinner for all those alumni who had contributed. Members of the 56-63 cohort collectively pledged and donated over £440,000 for the King Edward VI Foundation, enough to fund more than a full bursary in perpetuity.

This is a truly outstanding achievement and theirs will be an everlasting legacy for generations of future Edwardians.

Our work in raising money and support for the Foundation continues in earnest, in order that the School can offer as many fee assisted places as possible to gifted children, regardless of their family’s financial circumstances.

Suzanne Hooper

Development Officer

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Drama

Art It has been another busy year with theatre trips to see War Horse, The 39 Steps, Our Country’s Good and many more including what has become an annual staff/student trip to London – this year to see the hilarious One Man, Two Guvnors.

In the autumn term the school production was the 18th century comedy The Recruiting Officer, involving authentic looking costumes and scenery, stuffed chickens and a fencing duel among its many highlights. Junior Drama Club continued to thrive with all 70 places filled within 4 minutes at the sign-up session in September and a record number of Sixth Formers volunteered to help this year. Sixth Formers also enjoyed the opportunity to be trained in stage make-up and have since set up a club for Fourth Year pupils to pass on their knowledge.

“We finished the term on a high note”

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Just The Three of Us (directed by the Lower Sixth drama students) gave us an excellent start to the spring term, followed by the A level preview evening which included a disturbing and very well-executed devised piece from the Upper Sixth, Out Of The Box and a beautifully detailed and very well characterised version of Alan Bennett’s Say Something Happened by the Lower Sixth. We finished the term on a high note with Dr Schofield’s entertaining and moving production of Two. In the summer term an imaginative and exciting Lower School production of Haroun and the Sea of Stories, directed by Mrs Piggott took place and the biennial Arts Festival and the Third Year Theatre Studies performance evenings also involved the Drama Department.

The Art Department has continued to go from strength to strength with the standard continuing to impress.

Our annual Art Exhibition was well attended with all the studios displaying work. The Upper Sixth fine artists put together a fabulous display of painting, the A level photographers were equally impressive, the Lower Sixth students’ work was a collection of bold drawings and exquisite life drawings whilst the Fifth Year provided a mixture of large colour pencil drawings and clay heads.

It is encouraging to see the growing ambition of the students especially in their examination pieces. The Fourth Years have embraced the new way of working in their sketchbooks and already their work is personal and of a very high standard. The Third Year work is increasingly bold and confident as they experiment with new processes and techniques.

The Arts Festival gave the department the opportunity to produce vast quantities of masks for the students to wear in the carnival and all agreed it was a

Music KES musicians have had another whirlwind year of exciting performances and workshop opportunities.

In November, sixty of the School’s advanced musicians performed an outstanding concert at St John’s, Smith Square whilst in December 186 singers in the combined choirs sang a variety of carols to complement the traditional Christmas readings at the annual Christmas Carol Service held at St Mary’s Church.

The Spring Concert saw 220 musicians from the Symphony Orchestra, 2nd Orchestra, Big Band, Symphonic Winds, Choirs and vocal groups perform to a full house with the usual eclectic mix of pieces, this year based around the theme of film music. The School choirs also performed at the Thanksgiving Service at Winchester Cathedral. The musical year came to a close with a tour to Italy, where musicians visited Lake Garda, Verona and Venice where the highlight was providing the choral music for mass at St Mark’s Basilica.

lovely excuse to create both the bizarre and flamboyant. Our new art partnership with Springhill Primary has been a great success and there have been trips to Oxford and London Art Galleries for our students as well as seeing sculpture in context in the British Museum and St Pancras Station.

There have also been a number of successful year group concerts, which have given students the experience of performing solos and small ensembles to parents and friends. In the local community a small group of the advanced singers performed in Zimbe! at Southampton’s Central Hall.

The Big Band performed a concert for the residents of a local care home, the School’s Octet reached the semi finals of the National Chamber Music Competition and several individuals won prizes at the Southampton Festival of Music and Drama. Students have enjoyed a range of inspiring and educational workshops from composer Edmund Jolliffe, cellist Matthew Barley, percussion teacher Paul Williams and

the percussion group JUNK, and have also been out and about to listen to top class performances at the Royal Festival Hall, the Royal Opera House, the Arena in Verona and the Turner Sims Concert Hall.

The 2013 Arts Festival, celebrating the 460th anniversary of the School, ran for three days at the end of June and provided a colourful myriad of workshops and performances which provoked enquiry and stimulated creativity. Thirty-seven visiting artists came to the School over the three days

to work with students. There were several spectacular large scale events such as the Art Exhibition, Jazz concert and the play Haroun and the Sea of Stories and the highlight of the Festival was the traditional Street Theatre held on the School field on the last day.

A magnificent carnival procession brought the event to a close.

“The musical year came to a close with a tour to Italy”

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Sport The sporting programme at King Edward’s remains very busy.

Teams have enjoyed much success at county, regional and national levels while individuals have performed on a national and international stage.

During the spring term, the School’s major sports teams fulfilled over 200 fixtures in a nine week period, the majority of these matches being hockey or netball. This illustrates the level of commitment from students throughout the School.

Sports facilities at the School have been boosted by the development of the Wellington site. Two additional rugby pitches will be in play for the 2013 season and the cricket table is being re-laid with an anticipated start date of 2015. The recent replacement of both artificial hockey pitches has been of great benefit and has contributed to the continual success for the hockey teams. Three of the girls’ hockey teams (U14s, U16s and U18s) progressed through the county rounds to reach divisional level as did two of the boys’ teams (U14 and U16).

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One of the netball teams reached regional level but the most successful team was the Rhythmic Gymnastics Squad who became national champions.

Over the past 12 months, a number of sailors have been competing at national and international level. In addition King Edward’s pupils have performed at international level in netball, cricket and squash. Two current students have also reached the English Schools’ Track and Field Championships. Wellington hosted the annual South Coast King’s Rugby Tournament which attracted schools from across England and Wales.

The most recent overseas trip was a hockey tour to Holland and a European rugby tour is planned for pre-season training in 2014.

The range of sports available at KES continues to be impressive with teams training and competing throughout the year. Some more adventurous activities such as climbing, kayaking and sailing are available as part of the extensive Sixth Form games programme with more than a dozen activities on offer to Sixth Form students each term.

Co-Curricular The co-curricular life of the School continues to flourish.

The clubs and societies have been well attended and we have welcomed new additions such as Japanese Club, Zumba and Strictly KES Dancing.

Sailing has had a healthy number of sea-bound participants, using Weston Sailing Club at weekends, and the Public Speaking and Debating Society have competed regularly, including at the Oxford Union.

KESSoc have been as generous as ever and we have benefited from

beekeeping and kayaking equipment, horticultural tools, a contribution towards the School’s Greenpower society to help them race their ecocar at Goodwood and funds towards underwater lighting effects for ‘Haroun and the Sea of Stories’.

The Allan Grant Trophy has once more been hotly contested. From chess to football to House Quiz and the new addition First Year Benchball, the House system remains at the heart of the School. Lawrence, who have not featured in the top two Houses for over five years, have had notable success Dartmoor. Armed with tent, trangia and compass, we saw some excellent examples of team work and camaraderie, with 100% success.

challenging Capon in the top spot with only the Swimming Gala, House Choir and Sports Day to go. On the last day of term it was announced that Lawrence were the winners of the trophy – an honour that has not been bestowed on them for many years.

The Partnerships programme with the local primary schools has seen a flurry of activity. The Philosophy Shop and Classics partnerships have complemented what we already did with languages, science, mathematics and literacy whilst the fencing and dance classes continue to engage both partnership and KES pupils alike. We took our third Lovaton trip with St Mark’s Primary School in July and in the summer term hosted a ‘Windy Racers’ engineering day. Both of these events were hugely popular and enjoyed by all.

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme had a total of 448 expedition places (from the Fourth Year upwards) with Bronze groups starting in the New Forest and Gold groups tackling the Lake District, Elan Valley and

“The co-curricular life of the School continues to flourish”

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Trips & Visits The trips and visits calendar of 20122013 has been a busy one.

We have sent a large number of varied excursions from Hill Lane this year, with several of these being international.

These trips have been a mix of cultural, academic and sporting excursions as well as expeditions.

Successful language exchanges and trips have taken place with the German, French and Spanish Departments and Third Years took part in a wonderful exchange to Charlotte, USA. The international expedition team this year ventured to Thailand and Cambodia to face trekking at high altitudes, and our hockey players demonstrated their sporting prowess in Holland. Historians visited Germany and France, and Classicists enjoyed what Rome has to offer.

Regular Sixth Form and Upper School field work took place in locations such as Pembrokeshire, Osmington Bay, Malham Tarn and Shirley High Street and there have been countless departmental visits to museums, galleries, theatres and castles. The Second Years once more enjoyed their time at Lovaton, which has been

used regularly throughout the year, and Duke of Edinburgh expeditions have taken place in the New Forest, Dartmoor, the Lake Disrtict and Elan Valley.

In the summer members of the Sixth Form went to Swanage and South Africa to participate in charitable activity, as did the group that went to Lovaton with St. Mark’s Primary School. The Third Years enjoyed an exciting new venture in Morocco where they slept under the stars and rode camels, among other things! It has been a delight to offer something so exciting to the younger year groups.

Organising and running trips places a huge workload onto staff, but such are the gains from these activities that they do it willingly. The breadth of opportunity and the chance to be independent and explore makes KES pupils very confident and adventurous individuals.

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Charities In the autumn term the Romanian Shoebox Appeal filled and delivered a record 255 shoeboxes to families in Romania.

The First Year Toy Appeal Fun Run also proved a success, with some innovative outfits, and enough money was raised to donate 50 presents which were delivered to children around the Southampton area. ‘Children in Need’ raised £338 through Pudsey related games and merchandise, whilst the non-uniform day and doughnut sales focused on raising money for the term’s charity; Wessex Heartbeat. The Christmas stalls proved extremely successful, raising over £600.

The spring term saw over 10 different charity events taking place.

The Lower School charities group promoted epilepsy awareness by asking pupils to create a ‘doodle’ and the Sixth Form held a well organised ‘Mr and Mrs’ quiz. The Summer Camp team also ran a hugely successful ‘Battle of the Bands’ evening, involving pupils and staff.

The summer term was quieter due to the public examinations but along with the termly non-uniform day, led by the Green Team, and doughnut sales there was time for a Twister and Dodgeball competition and some fundraising activities that formed part of the Arts Festival. Time was also spent making donations to the charities that the School has supported throughout the year.

“The spring term saw over 10 different charity events taking place.”

The South Africa team organised their main fundraising event of the year; the Burns Night, which raised over £3000 to support the Goedgedacht project. A cyclothon was this year’s Summer Camp 24 hour challenge and arguably the highlight of the term. Comic Relief Day on 15th March was marked by another non-uniform day and red nose based activities.

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Staff Mr Courtney retired at Easter after 18 years as Deputy Head (Academic). He joined King Edward’s in 1994 after a distinguished career as Head of Modern Languages at the Perse School, Cambridge and, before, at Blundell’s School, Devon. He has been an exemplary member of the Senior Management Team and has always made time for students and colleagues alike. A superb Chairman, he has supervised the re-evaluation of many aspects of the School’s curriculum and academic systems including the implementation of Curriculum 2000. He is a consummate timetabler, has a tenacious grasp of detail and has brought a very highly developed level of expertise in the use of ICT in teaching and learning to KES. Mr Courtney is a passionate gardener, a cyclist of real talent, a musician and, of course, an excellent linguist. We wish him all the best as he moves to running his plant business full time.

Mr Jones left KES at Christmas after 26 years.

He joined in 1986, initially entering the English Department, where he quickly established himself as a committed and popular teacher.

Along with Mr Dykes, he introduced drama into the curriculum and helped to establish examination courses at both GCSE and A Level.

After a spell as Deputy Head of the Upper School, Mr Jones became Director of the Sixth Form in 2005. He has introduced many new initiatives and has overseen the development of better facilities in the Sixth Form Concourse and Study Centre. He has directed and co-directed many memorable and successful productions and has also managed the U16 and the 2nd XV rugby teams with great success over many seasons. He leaves KES to start his own tour company, Single Step Tours, running trips to the battlefields of the First World War.

Mrs Alexander worked at KES for 25 years.

She joined in 1987 as a Library Assistant and was promoted to the position of Librarian in 1998. She has achieved a huge amount during her time and has converted the library into a true Learning Resources Centre with a welcoming environment that ensures that it is increasingly popular. She has been innovative and piloted the refurbishment of the library 5 years ago so that it is the cheerful space that it now is. She has also made an enormous contribution to the School’s archives, creating a digital record of over 11,000 documents, a legacy for which future generations will be truly grateful. Mrs Alexander hopes to spend more time pursuing her passion as a painter during her retirement.

Mrs Price has been a stalwart part of KES since September 1995 when she joined to teach French and drama. She gradually acquired more English teaching (whilst staging a number of drama productions), took on the responsibility for producing Sotoniensis and used her considerable knowledge of Art History to run a popular course within Foundation Studies. She left briefly in 2003 (to oversee the development of drama and the design of a new theatre at St Swithun’s School) but returned in 2006 as Head of Drama since when she has been responsible for directing and overseeing a wide range of fantastic productions.

Mrs Price has a highly organised, energetic teaching style and is a most generous and kindhearted colleague who will be sorely missed.

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