ISSUE 30 | SPRING 2020
From the Head It is difficult to imagine half a school year passing by more quickly or enjoyably. It seems only yesterday that I first arrived at King Edward’s, and yet I now feel so very settled in this wonderful School – proverbially part of the furniture! Of course, this has been helped immeasurably by the support and goodwill of the pupils; our parents and my colleagues, who have all been so ready to bid me welcome, exchange a smile and a pleasantry, and (occasionally) point me in the right direction. From seeing the School over the past months, I know too that a similar welcome has met each of our new students: they too have settled quickly in to KES life with much help and support from our extended community. So I now feel in a much better position to pass on some collected ‘first impressions’ of King Edward’s… How would I characterise our School? Many adjectives spring to mind: vibrant, busy, bustling, aspirational, ambitious. Just to glance back over the last term of academic, sporting, charitable and artistic achievements - as ‘The Edwardian’ does here - is to marvel in how we manage to fit it all in! But before any of these adjectives, I would choose ‘kind’. It is a clichéd sentiment, and sometimes wrongly undersold as a human quality. But I would take a kind School over everything else, every day of the week! In the past terms I have seen so many instances of spontaneous kindness: daily, routine gestures ranging from older pupils lending a helping hand to their younger peers through to teachers going far beyond what is required to support a struggling pupil pastorally or academically. These things always matter! It is also the case that many of our King Edward’s pupils give greatly of their (already busy) lives in offering kindnesses to the wider community – whether that be through our links with the Portsmouth Down Syndrome Association, or our annual Summer Camp for Young Carers, or a myriad of other charities and partnerships. Kindness is always the hallmark of a great School and a great community. Without it, nothing can be achieved – nothing of worth can be created. As we look to the future, my ambition
is to create a school where kindness sits alongside the highest levels of academic ambition and breadth of opportunity at the very heart of all that we do. But I also want to ensure that we are a place where young people well-suited to our school, irrespective of background, can benefit from attending this outstanding institution. Reading through this magazine, I am cheered and inspired by the stories of our Old Edwardians. Cheered that we played some part in your remarkable lives, and inspired to seek to make the same opportunities available to as many students as is humanly possible. It is an ambitious goal, but one I hope that you might share. Whilst The King Edward VI Foundation continues to support children from disadvantaged backgrounds, we want to see this fund grow and flourish, making more life-changing opportunities possible. If you feel you can support this ambition, or if you would like to offer to talk about your career, life or experience to our current generation of students, please contact Ms Hooper, our Development Officer. With my warmest good wishes, Neal Parker Head
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News from the School New Head appointed for Stroud School King Edward’s governors are delighted to announce that Rebecca Lyons-Smith has been appointed as the new Head of Stroud School, preparatory school for King Edward’s commencing in September 2020. Rebecca has over 20 years’ experience in education; she has worked in independent prep schools for the last 12 years but has also taught internationally and in the state sector. Rebecca is an ISI inspector and a governor at a local primary school and brings a wealth of educational expertise. Rebecca is currently the Headmistress at St Swithun’s Prep School, Winchester, but knows the King Edward’s family well, having previously held the positions of Head of English and Deputy Head at Stroud. Commenting on her appointment, Rebecca said, “I am thrilled to be joining the team at Stroud and King Edward’s. I will bring to the role a real passion for developing a culture of high performance within the incredibly warm family environment that makes the school so special”.
West Side Story! In November, a hugely talented and hardworking cast and crew of fiftythree students, ranging from Third Year to Upper Sixth, put on a spectacular production of ‘West Side Story’. In preparation, cast members studied characterisation development, in order to create realistic character portrayals, which they blended superbly with the complex music and choreography and heart-wrenching narrative. Audiences at the three sold-out evening performances were wowed by the professionalism of the production, in what was a magnificent display of young talent.
KES hosts an evening with Sir Ben Ainslie We were delighted to host a charity evening with Sir Ben Ainslie and Jeff Stelling in the Dobson Theatre last term. In conjunction with INEOS Team UK, our student journalism team and members of local sailing clubs had the opportunity to chat with Sir Ben before the Q&A session with the audience. The proceeds from the event were split between Prostate Cancer UK and 1851 Trust.
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Natalie Black (KES 1994-2001) Awarded CBE in New Year Honours List Natalie Black was the School’s first female Head of School at KES back in 2001. Since her years at KES, she has kept incredibly busy and is currently Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner (HMTC) for Asia Pacific. She was awarded a CBE for Public Service in the Queen’s New Year Honours List. HM Trade Commissioner Natalie Black CBE with Dr Liam Fox MP. Pic: DIT
Natalie graduated from LSE with a degree in International Relations before completing a Masters degree in Public Policy at Harvard (as a Fullbright Scholar). She is also a Policy Fellow at the University of Cambridge.
Before joining the Civil Service, Natalie was the Chief of Staff for Security at the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, London 2012 and has held other roles in government including Deputy Head of the Number 10 Policy Unit, Director of the Internet Harms Unit and Director of the Office of Cyber Security, Cabinet Office. Appointed to her current role by Liam Fox in September 2018, she now has a key role in developing new postBrexit trade agreements with Asian and Pacific markets.
Jon Laughton (KES 1973-1977) The 70s - Vinyl, Flares and successes
It is almost impossible for me to believe that it has been nearly half a century since I arrived at King Edward’s. I was a ‘fresh faced’ 14 year old who was a little cautious, due to joining in the middle of the 1973 Easter term, having moved down from the Northwest of England where, for three years, I had attended another King Edward’s – The King’s School in Macclesfield, Cheshire. The similarities between the two grant funded schools was evident – the all-male students at both
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were enrolled only on the basis of their academic ability and living in the catchment area, whilst there were identical pressures to meet high academic standards and also be active on the sports fields. The mostly male teachers were all fairly forbidding but also encouraging, with one or two terrifying individuals thrown in for good measure! Corporal punishment was still practised at this time in British education although I cannot remember this being ever carried out at KES. As a trueborn Mancunian, I was heartened to find out that the Headmaster, Mr Dobson, was someone who had also spent time in the North at Manchester Grammar School and would therefore welcome my somewhat different northern accent. However, in truth, on my first day he simply said ‘Hello’ and passed me on to the Head of Junior School, Mr Pryor (aka ‘The DEEP’ – after his initials), who took me along to my form. There I was put under the guidance of another pupil – Vivien Downer, who very
kindly and patiently showed me the ropes. The syllabus was almost identical although I did have to sit my own special unique Latin exam at the end of that academic year. In those first few months, I realised that I needed to work hard to fit in and adapt to my new schoolmates and teachers alike. Maths lessons, in particular, were an ‘eye-opener’ – the teacher, known simply as ‘Charlie’ to everyone, was a forbidding Welshman coming towards the end of his career and he took no prisoners at all! Exercise books had to be pristine, handwriting very neat with all answers correct and underlined otherwise you were in for a public ear-bashing. I immediately fell short of Charlie’s very high standards with my first piece of homework and duly received his ear-splitting advice on what I should have done. Nevertheless it worked! He also inadvertently gave me my nickname; he frequently accused me of slouching in a seat against the wall and henceforth for the next few years I was known as ‘Slouch’.
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The next academic year was the start of the two years leading to O Level examinations. I passed all ten exams in 1975 with reasonable grades and, in the process, developed an affection for literature and authors such as Orwell, Fitzgerald and Maxim Gorky, all of whom I read later as an adult. This time also fostered a love of theatre and Shakespeare that continues to this day – my wife and I being frequent visitors to Shakespeare’s Globe in London and other local theatres. Of course, fashions and musical tastes were very different in the mid-seventies – long hair and flared jeans were ‘de rigueur’ and music was all on vinyl or audio cassette. The image of any number of boys carrying the square ubiquitous HMV plastic bags, designed specifically to hold a vinyl album, is time-stamped on my memory. Albums were swapped, copied to cassette or sold. Progressive bands such as ‘Yes’, ‘Supertramp’ and ‘Genesis’ were very popular, along with more established acts such as, The Rolling Stones’, ‘The Eagles’, ‘The Moody Blues’ and the ‘Top of the Pops’ acts from those days. But by 1976, the musical ‘new wave’ arrived and punk started to take over even though this was not
something I particularly liked. In spite of my love of literature and history my chosen subjects for A Levels were maths, physics and chemistry and two years later I scraped passes that enabled me to take up a place on a metallurgy degree at Manchester University. The challenges of growing into adulthood clearly affected the parallel studying for my A Levels, but I don’t regret the fact that during most of that time I worked all weekend putting petrol in cars at the local garage in Beaulieu nor having a great social life. These things are of real significance in the way we develop and mature as members of society and the five very close friends I subsequently made at Manchester University are all still my great mates and testimony to the way in which we need to adapt to our changing circumstances. Since graduating with a BSc in 1980 I have further completed an MA in Management Learning & Leadership at Lancaster University Management School in 2004 and, in August 2019, at the age of sixty, I graduated with a distinction on the full-time MSc in UAV Technologies at Wrexham University where I am now also a fellow and sessional lecturer. My science degree enabled me
to start my career off at British Aerospace near Manchester where I rapidly ascended the management ladder, becoming an executive by the age of 24, and was fortunate to meet my wife, who also worked for the company. Aerospace and manufacturing have been the focus of my career ever since and, over the years, I have run factories in the UK and on the continent, at Production Director, Plant Manager and Managing Director level. I now run my own companies working with many of the world’s well-known aerospace companies, coaching their leadership teams, helping them become more effective in the way in which they do business, and exploiting emerging technologies. I have been very fortunate to travel all round the world on business (and for pleasure), experiencing different national and business cultures. The core values I learned in my formative years at KES (working hard, setting an example, taking personal responsibility for what you do, being a team player and supporting colleagues) have enabled me to find my way through some really challenging situations and for that I am eternally grateful - but I still cannot believe it was almost 50 years ago!
Ian Hooper (KES 1993-2000) Ian Hooper is an OE for whom health technology is playing a massive role in his career. A couple of years ago, when Ian attended his 10-year reunion, he was working for a company called Seamless that he had helped grow from start-up stage. Seamless went on to launch on the stock market on Nasdaq as Grubhub and Ian moved to help Will Shu when we was starting Deliveroo. However, rather than continue with this venture, and motivated by taking a career break to help his sister through chemotherapy, Ian then took on another big project aimed at fixing staff health.
Scooch, as the company is named, has partnered with a FastTrack leading technology company, medical professionals, behavioural scientists, Fortune 500 employers and various investors to bring the business to market. The team have spent four years honing the technology and only came to market in 2019. The concept of Scooch is simple. It encourages employers to sponsor staff to move enough to extend their life and slash the odds of chronic illness. The app connects up to smartphones and wearables to create a common medically-backed algorithm to show how much the individual is moving, regardless of
what they do. This might be on a Strava cycle, simply walking with an Android smartphone, steps counted on a Fitbit or swimming with an Apple Watch to name just a few. As the individual keeps active, they earn rewards from their sponsor. “Scooch helps employers establish a culture of health. The service puts employee health and positive change for community and environment at the heart of any company. We design bespoke reward schemes for our clients to sponsor every employee to maintain a healthy level of physical activity.” www.scooch.co.uk
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Charlie Kenny (KES 2002-2009) Disrupting the fertility industry! Charlie Kenny left KES in 2009 and took a year out travelling with friends before going on to study Business Management at Cardiff University. After university, he moved to London and joined the frantic world of advertising. Making adverts for technology was fun but Charlie had a desire to get under the hood and actually build things and so he signed up for a software development bootcamp - essentially an intensive 9am-6pm course that takes participants from no experience to job-ready in three months.
This further motivated them with the desire to build something that supported couples who find themselves in this position and give them the best chance of getting pregnant.
At his first job, working for a big data company, Charlie learned a lot. He discovered he loved technology, and everything that goes into making it, but came to the conclusion that he was an average coder at best. With this in mind, he moved into product management, finally finding his niche.
To date, the focus has been on fertility treatments and guiding couples through the rollercoaster that is IVF. The app automatically tells patients when and what medications to take, their appointment dates and they can also pay for treatment, sign their consent forms and securely message their clinical team. There is also a library of information and guidance (videos, images and text) to educate patients and help them feel more in control throughout the process.
Throughout this time, Charlie had been working on a personal venture, which he has now moved on to develop, and work on, full-time. Called ‘Salve’ (www. salveapp.co.uk), Charlie’s business enterprise is a technology platform for patients going through lifechanging treatments.
Charlie was inspired by a friend, who is an embryologist who described how high-tech and interventional treatment can be and, as a result, how hard it is to manage. Personal experience also meant that Charlie and his co-founder had people close to them who had experienced difficulties conceiving.
To date, they have supported 5,000 couples through the app and Salve is working with clinics in the UK, Germany and the US. They are now working on raising their second round of funding to expand further into the US and move the idea into other areas of medicine. When asked what advice he would give to anyone wanting to follow a similar career path, Charlie said, “I’d say my journey has been meandering albeit on purpose. Each new job was a new chapter and a lot was learned. Try different things, it helps focus the mind on what you really want to achieve during your career. Also, use your network’s network. This might not be those immediately available to you, but an individual with one extra degree of separation can really help you out sometimes. If anyone wants to get into tech there is a plethora of free educational material out there. I’d try and consume as much of that as possible first!” www.salveapp.co.uk
Hugh Donovan (KES 1965-1972) In August last year, Hugh Donovan became the 62nd member of The Extra Miler Club – those people who have visited all of the 3,142 counties, or county-equivalents, in America, including the boroughs in Alaska, parishes in Louisiana and 42 independent cities. He did all of this in less than eight months. Hugh said “I moved to the US in 1988 and was immediately impressed by its size and the diversity between states.
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My initial ambition was to visit all 50 states. A few years ago, with 49 states down and Alaska to go, I started looking for the next challenge to satisfy my love of travel and my curiosity.” Retirement in 2018 made an attempt possible and, at the start of the 2019, Hugh set himself the challenge of visiting every county within the year, including the ones in Alaska and Hawaii, and set out on his journey on 1st January from
his home in Loveland, Ohio (where there are three counties). In the first six days, he completed 197 counties and, in total, travelled over 92,000 miles. He went on 76 flights, rented a charter plane in Alaska and drove his own car as much as possible. On average, he would drive 12 to 13 hours a day, stopping only once or twice. He ended up completing his challenge in 236 days, and that included several breaks within his travels.
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His family helped him with his project. His son, Mike, and his grandson, Will, helped create the routes that Hugh would take, keeping track of his journey on Twitter and social media, whilst his daughter, Mary, created a Facebook page called Operation 3142 and regularly posted maps of his progress. Hugh’s wife, Julie, also tracked him daily on an app called FollowMee. Every night the app would send her a report of which counties Hugh had visited. On two occasions, he had to backtrack because he had missed a county. On 24th August, at 1.50 pm, Hugh became the 62nd member of the 100% club when he arrived in Clermont County. Hugh’s favourite county remains Kauai County in Hawaii and he now plans to write a book about his experience.
He also wants to go back and visit some of the counties in places like Southern Florida. Asked whether he felt he had met his objectives Hugh says; “I feel I exceeded my objectives. Clearly, finishing all 3142 counties in 236 days was a successful outcome and satisfied my competitive spirit but the number of days became a secondary consideration and I genuinely hope that others will be inspired to beat that time. I rekindled many old friendships and made multiple new ones along the way. The trip also brought all my family members much closer together, a very positive effect that I had not envisaged. I thoroughly recommend a shared family project, although not necessarily as ambitious as this one.”
There is no official record for the fastest a person has been to every county in America but, if there was, Hugh would certainly be challenging for the top spot.
Paul Downing (KES 1957-1964) Paul Downing left school in 1964, and graduated with a BSc from what was then the Hatfield Polytechnic. He enjoyed an interesting and varied career in the chemicals, plastics and oil industries, spending time living and working in Russia, Germany and North America, before retiring in 2013 at the age of 67. Despite retirement he remains busy within his local community in Bradwell, Derbyshire, where he is chair of the parish council and a director of the Bradwell Community Land Trust. When Paul and his wife Liz were living in Houston, Texas they took up astronomy, buying several telescopes, imaging cameras and associated equipment and, in addition to learning about the sky, taught himself how to take astronomical images. They were founder members of a new astronomy club in the city and Paul was President of the club for several years until they moved back to the UK in 2004. Once it became clear that he had a talent for taking images, and wishing to continue with their astro-activities, the
couple purchased and refurbished an old farmhouse in the Andalucia region of southern Spain, shipped their equipment over from Houston and established an observatory. They now split their time between Bradwell and southern Spain - the clear moonless skies of southern Spain being excellent for astronomy. They are members of the British Astronomical Association and Paul works as one of the webmasters for the BAA website. He was also made a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society for his work on astronomical imaging.
Paul specialises in Deep Sky astronomy (galaxies, nebulae and star clusters) and his images have been used in several books and astronomy journals. Currently he is working to produce a large number of images of open star clusters for a new book on the subject. More of his work can be viewed at www.paulandliz.org
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Teacher Memories Hill Lane 1954
From John Bowden (KES 1953-1958) “Bowden! You are to report to the Headmaster’s study at 2 o’clock!” The reason? During morning break time, we would play inter-form football using a tennis ball. The pitch was the area between the gym colonnade and the bicycle shed. Should someone kick the ball too high, it would land on the gymnasium roof, and I would scramble up the nearest drain pipe, gain access to the roof and return the ball to the ‘pitch’ below. If caught in the act (unfortunately too often) and normally by Mr Mason the sports, gym and maths master, but sometimes by Peter Clarkson (a fantastic master and one to whom I am eternally indebted), that terse sharp instruction was what I would hear. In 1957, I was again summoned by Dr Stroud to discuss a ‘private matter’.
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We proceeded to the school playing field and slowly walked around the 880 yard running track for the next hour or so. I was not a good student; (I did just enough to pass the end of term examinations) but I was a happy one. Dr Stroud, full of wisdom said, “John, you and I need to have a serious discussion about your studies or rather your overall lack of study. You need to work harder and apply more effort in the classroom. You will probably continue to represent the School in sport but you must apply more effort in the classroom. At present, your work/ sports split is approximately 25% work and 75% sport and that is not good enough.” My response was, “Well sir, suppose I was to do 50/50?”
His reply, “No! I will not and do not bargain. I want, need, require an immediate improvement of at least 100% in your studies. Otherwise you are wasting your time and that of the teaching staff.” At the end of my five year school career, I left King Edward’s in 1958, having gained GCE ‘O’ Levels, and also passing the National Civil Service Examination to enter the Royal Navy as an artificer apprentice (passing in the top 2% out of 1200 entrants). The work ethic engendered in me by both Dr Stroud and Peter Clarkson has served me well throughout my life and I am grateful for the tutelage of both of these men and the many other inspirational masters, too numerous to name individually.
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From Bruce Gillham (KES 1954-1957) Ken Pike - Meeting a Problem creatively – a memory of a great English teacher. It was in 1956 when, as a member of the Upper Sixth, I confided in Ken my difficulties in understanding Milton’s Masque ‘Comus’. Certainly, the content of a seventeenth century poetic divertissement was, at first sight, unlikely to attract a seventeen year old boy, however book’ish he might be. I remember that he looked at me quizzically and said: “Well you do have an advantage”. I struggled to think what it might be! However, he continued: “You do already have a grasp of the workings of dramatic presentation, don’t you?”
It was true that I was indeed a practised member of the theatre group, run by our inimitable history master ‘Dutchy Holland’. Indeed, I’d played Prince Hal in Shakespeare’s Henry IV:Part II in that year. Anyway, Ken Pike exercised a stroke of genius when he said: “What I suggest you do is to create a ‘Director’s Script’ for the play, so that with it you would be able to produce the masque for an audience at some point in the future”
Fired by this idea I did just what he suggested. As a result, I had to grapple with every nuance in the Masque, anticipate every entrance and exit, understand the necessary movements about the stage and think about all the costumes and props. In fact, I came to understand the masque in a totally practical and detailed way. Ken Pike had rescued me, and taught me many useful lessons at the same time, but most importantly showed me what creative problemsolving actually means.
Dr Lesley John Stroud - An Extraordinary Headmaster. John Stroud, my headmaster at King Edward’s School Southampton in 1956 was a most remarkable man. I first met him when I joined the School in the Lower Sixth in September 1954. He made an immediate impression on me because he was so dapper, so reassuring and so interested in all his charges. He was the first man I had ever met who kept his handkerchief up the sleeve of his jacket. His suits were always immaculate - mid brown with a mauve and purple thread running through the cloth. He was indeed the archetypal wellpresented man exuding authority without any noticeable effort. He was certainly not a man to trifle with, and I remember that the Headmaster’s notice board was an important part of his communication policy. Maybe it was in 1955, when some unfortunate wag, doubtless egged on by his fellows who saw excitement in the offing, scrawled the word ‘Bull’ all over the pristine notices. The next day began, as usual, with a full school in assembly.
The assembly at that time played a vital part in the consolidation of the school as a community of scholars. However, here we were in the midst of a crisis, assembled and fearful of what was about to happen. Dr Stroud looked straight into the myriad of eyes before him. His face was impassive as he explained what had transpired. There was little need for this as the grapevine had already informed most of us well beforehand. In fact, many of us felt the hurt as keenly as he did because most of us had received only kindness at his hands. He ended by asking the boy who had taken this action to own up there and then and take the consequences. The vast room fell silent as we all waited for the confession. At the end of two minutes, it was clear that there was going to be no easy resolution. Dr Stroud took a deep breath and expressed his regret. He was sorry for two things, first that the boy lacked the bravery to own up and second that he as headmaster, would now need to take some action. We were all agog about what the consequence might be.
Quite rightly, Dr Stroud suggested that he would have to do something in order to make his position clear. We were appalled to hear that we were all to assemble in the Hall at the end of the following day at 4 pm and stay at school in silence until 5 pm unless the boy involved presented himself to the headmaster prior to this. The following day no confession had been forthcoming and we all duly spent an hour in the School Hall. Suffice to say that no incident of this kind ever happened again to my knowledge.
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From Andrew Sandilands (KES 1965-1969) Former Head of School
KES Staff 1968
Thank you so much Mr Sergeant! Mr Sergeant was my form master, and also my maths master, in my first year at KES. It made a big difference to have a form master and teacher who smiled so much. In fact, I cannot now recall ever seeing him without his smile. I had joined KES in September 1965 entering the 4th Form after missing the whole 3rd Year for family reasons. I was in a new city, Southampton, so in new surroundings, with no friends or acquaintances outside the School. So, KES became my life. Hence Mr Sergeant’s smile was, for me, a much needed sign of warm welcome and, as I learnt, of his care for and dedication to his pupils. He was really kind to us. Maths in the 4th Form was, for me, a
mystery having missed the previous academic year. The GCE ‘O’ Level examination in mathematics loomed up. I failed mocks in maths. Well, had it not been for my maths master Mr Sergeant’s interest and generosity in giving me extra classes, together with three or so other pupils who, like me, had failed their mocks in maths, it does not seem likely that I would have passed ‘O’ Level maths at all. Mr Sergeant summoned us to classes after school in what was evidently his own time. He gave us - some three or four of
us - those extra classes calmly and carefully, never rushing us, patiently explaining what we had not understood during the year. In my case, Mr Sergeant’s reward was to see his pupil pass the GCE ‘O’ Level maths exam despite having failed mocks. Yes, I can say that thanks only to him, I did pass! I passed with a safe margin. Thank you so much Mr Sergeant. My memory of Mr Sergeant is indeed that of a kind, careful, caring teacher, dedicated to his pupils, patient and always smiling. God Bless you Mr Sergeant!
Ken Croft – Not just a good teacher. A wonderfully good teacher and person. The best! Tall, with dense, dark hair surrounding a bald pate, goldrimmed spectacles, at times a slightly stern but always friendly expression, for me Ken Croft in his teacher’s gown was an impressive figure. I first met him in the Fifth Form, in September 1966, when I started my Spanish lessons with him. Not many weeks passed before many of us after class would crowd around our lockers chuckling, or even laughing out loud, as we went over the lesson. Our source of enjoyment, of amusement, came from Ken Croft’s classes. He had a real flair for teaching. He would spice his classes with a sudden anecdote, which would often pass beyond the classroom into life in general. So he also taught us about life. I remember, even now, his comment about how hard and frustrating it would be for a person not to discover his or her vocation in life until the
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very end of it. This nearly happened to me. I came into teaching late, only after studying and working in other careers - academic research, international insurance and law. Perhaps this made me a better, or at least a more interesting, teacher in my case. I do hope so. For me Ken Croft was a born teacher. His classes were especially entertaining. Those who were my classmates (I would love to hear from them) will remember how and why Ken Croft made us smile and laugh. So, of course, we paid attention and learnt. He was the only and outstanding model for my classes at university in Barcelona and I always used my experience with him as a Spanish pupil to tell my students about what, in my opinion, made a good teacher. I will never forget the following. When I was at Cambridge – thanks principally to Ken Croft’s excellent teaching I won an Open Scholarship
in Spanish – my Director of Studies in Trinity Hall once commented to me on the outstanding results achieved within Ken Croft’s classes. Despite their small size, one or more of his pupils got into Cambridge year after year. “How does he do it?” he asked me, expecting of course a revelation on teaching methods. But I had no notion of these as a 19-year-old fresher. I simply answered, without hesitation, “He is a good teacher.” Looking back, I think this is by far the best spontaneous tribute a young lad can pay to his teacher. Of course nowadays, at the age of 69, I can say, with the experience of life and my professional knowledge as a teacher for over 30 years, that Ken Croft was not just a ‘good’ teacher, he was a ‘wonderfully good’ teacher and person. For me ‘the best’ in his profession as a Spanish teacher and certainly my role model in all those years. Can I say more?
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Reunions 25-Year Reunion
welcome back In January, we were delighted to 1994 and 1995 so many faces from amongst the ing of catch-up, leavers. Everyone enjoyed an even e been made to hav marvelling at the changes that last graced the the fabric of the School since they ance to revisit dist a e corridors. Some travelled quit Scarborough thew KES but none more so than Mat reunion date by al actu who, whilst missing out on the Edward’s King to in just a matter of weeks, dropped land. Zea New from e for a visit during a return hom
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London Universities Reunion
at In March, students currently studying for met ies ersit univ London colleges and dinner at King’s College on The Strand.
Forthcoming Reunions 2020 Poole Veterans’ Luncheon - CANCELLED Capon Club Dinner - CANCELLED Class of 1979 – 40 year reunion - CANCELLED Class of 2010 – 10 year reunion (to be confirmed)
6th May 12th June 26th June 20th November
12.00pm 7.00pm 2.00pm 7.30pm
at KES at KES at KES at KES
OE golfing events 2020 The Interhouse Challenge Shield Date: 12th May 2020
The annual Triangular match between the Old Symondians, Old Tauntonians and Old Edwardians
Venue: Rowlands Castle Golf Club
Date: 24th June 2020
Details: 1st tee at 10.30 am
Venue: Hockley Golf Club
A Stableford competition. OEs may bring a guest.
Details: 1st tee at 2.00 pm Team of 8 by selection organised by Nick Creal.
There are also three further planned events. The Under 35s v Overs at The Berkshire Golf Club (date to be confirmed), The Wally Kemp Cup and the Ray Paull Cup (venues and dates to be confirmed).
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If you would like further information about any of these events then please email the Development Office on edwardians@kes.hants.sch.uk
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Can you help with careers advice? Thank you to OE Joe Weatherley (KES 2008-2015) who came back to KES towards the end of last term to speak to our elite sports performers. Joe is a highly-rated top-order batsman, off-spin bowler with Hampshire and reigning London Cup champion with Hampshire County Cricket Club. As one of the guests programmed to speak to this group of students this academic year, he gave invaluable insights on how best to balance sporting ambitions and academic potential, based on his experience. At KES, we are fortunate to have a large number of OEs, like Joe, who are already giving their time to come in to school for specific careers lunches and events. The benefits to current pupils of hearing first-hand the experiences of alumni is immeasurable, but certainly of tremendous help when considering a particular career path, attending a specific university or HE institution or applying for jobs.
In March, pupils also benefited from a talk given by Ellie Steel (KES 2003-2010) about her GB powerlifting career to date. Ellie has been competing for Team GB for a number of years and gave an inspirational address to current students. Our Careers and HE Department are constantly seeking to expand their network of alumni, working in all types of professions, who would be willing to help with events. If you feel that you would be able to give a couple of hours of your time to help with the next generation of KES alumni, then please do contact us at edwardians@kes.hants.sch.uk We would be extremely grateful for your input.
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Obituaries Martin Cyril Hall (Former Head of Music at KES 1985-2005)
Martin retired from King Edward’s in 2010 after 25 years in the Music Department which flourished under his leadership from 1985-2005. He taught academic music well beyond the demands of the examination syllabuses and prepared many students for their transition to H.E. courses. He directed both the choirs and orchestras for many years and it is a great testament to him that so many of his students have followed successful careers in the music industry. He was an outstanding organist and accompanist and passed away in June 2019 aged 68 after a long battle with illness.
Michael James Day (KES 1951-1959) Michael was Deputy Head of School whilst at KES and played for the 1st team rugby and hockey teams. He proceeded to Brasenose College, Oxford to read Arabic and Turkish and spent most of his career in university administration, returning to Oxford to the appointments committee for some thirty years before retiring. Outside of work he was, amongst other things, a JP serving as Chairman of the Oxford bench. Michael was married to Ann for 56 years and was a devoted family man. He leaves three children and six grandchildren.
Alan Gosling (KES 1948-1951) Alan left King Edward’s in 1951 with A Levels in French and Latin. He came from a family who owned a shoe manufacturing business in Northampton but spent his career working for the Inland Revenue as an Inspector of Taxes. A committed member of the OEA, Alan was Chairman of the London Branch for many years. He had a lifelong passion for railways and was active within his local enthusiast group. His particular interest was the Midland & South West Junction line - Cheltenham Spa to Andover, and on to Southampton, crossing the Berks & Hants at Grafton Junction. He even named his house Grafton House! Alan was married to Mehala and sadly passed away towards the end of 2019.
Patrick John Rogers (KES 1950-1956) Patrick passed away in October 2019 aged 80. Upon leaving King Edward’s in 1956, he went into the RAF on a short service commission. On returning to civilian life, he joined Strongs Brewery in Romsey as a trainee salesman,
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and subsequently worked for Whitbread throughout the UK as a sales manager. He married Selina Jones, the international singing star, becoming her manager and agent which took them to venues across the country and worldwide. In later years, Patrick turned his hand to computer programming before ending his career running a print business in Southampton. A charismatic personality and keen rugby player, he will be missed by his many friends and family.
Adrian Harold Redfern Rowe (KES 1937-1943) Adrian was commonly known as Jack and, following his secondary education at King Edward’s, joined Guy’s, took the 2nd MB in 1945 (despite being interrupted by V1 flying bombs and temporarily living in an air raid shelter) and obtained his BDS in 1948. He was appointed house surgeon to Kelsey Fry (later Sir), before he was called up for national service. He served 18 months in the Royal Army Dental Corps in Egypt’s canal zone, and in Libya in a mobile dental truck. He passed the FDS exam in 1954 and in 1962, was appointed senior lecturer in the conservation department at Guy’s, being awarded the MDS degree in 1965. He was a pioneer in the area of endodontology. In 1967, he was appointed as Head of the Department of Conservative Dental Surgery and promoted to professor in 1971.This was followed in 1985 with his election to the role of Dean of the Dental School, a post he held until 1991. In 1993, his distinguished services to dentistry were recognised when he was awarded the Colyer Gold Medal of the College of Surgeons. Jack passed away, aged 93, in May 2019 after a short illness. He leaves his wife Pat and three sons.
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Snippets Alice Dean (KES 2010-2017) recently shaved her hair off (along with her dad) in their quest to raise money for PDSA (Portsmouth Down Syndrome Association). Both of them had their long luscious hair cut on 22nd December and they have so far raised £1900. Their cut hair has gone to the Little Princess Trust to make wigs for young cancer patients. https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com /Team-Dean
Hugo McCullagh (KES 2010-2017) is currently in the midst of a challenge that has already seen him complete the 2019 Nottingham Christmas Marathon and will further see him take part in the Manchester Marathon in April, scale the Three Peaks in 24 hours this summer and take on the Race to the King (two-day Ultra Marathon) in June. Hugo is seeking to raise money for two charities; Children With Cancer UK and Huntington’s Disease Association. https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com /HugoMcCullagh
Peter Jones (KES 1986-2013) Former Head of Sixth Form
Kira Fowle (KES 2014-2016) has been taking part in a selfmotivated challenge in aid of MIND (the mental health charity) in memory of her Auntie. Starting on her 22nd birthday in September 2019, she ran her first half marathon, and ran one every calendar week (twenty-two in total) completing her final run in February! She completed three official half marathons and even had to complete two on a treadmill due to Storms Ciara and Dennis. www.justgiving.com/fundraising /Kira-Fowle
Riccardo Barnard (KES 2008-2015) has completed his MPhil in Economics from the University of Cambridge, being awarded a Distinction, and has secured a job as an economics analyst.
has published a further book. Entitled ‘He did his bit’. It tells the story of Charlie Pritchard, a Welsh rugby international who played before WW1 and was tragically killed during the war. Back home in Newport, his family faced a future without a father and husband and his home team had lost its captain. All they had were memories, some photographs and a box of the rugby shirts he had swapped during his stellar career. In February, Pete held his book launch at the World Rugby Museum in Twickenham where, over a hundred years later, these shirts are now on display. Copies of the book can be purchased on Amazon.
Andrew Crossley (KES 1973-1979) is hoping to organise a reunion for the 1979 leavers. In order to gauge the amount of interest in such an event, please contact the Development Office on edwardians@kes.hants.sch.uk if you would be interested in attending so that we can forward your contact details on to Andrew.
Neil Forsyth (KES 1954-1962)
Merchandise The School has a range of Edwardian merchandise for sale. This includes bespoke gold or silver plated cufflinks, (which come in individual presentation boxes and make ideal gifts), school scarves, ties and a number of books on the history of the School. To purchase any of these items please visit the KES PAY section of the main school website. payments.kes.hants.sch.uk/shop
has released a new book entitled ‘Shakespeare the Illusionist: Magic, Dreams and the Supernatural on Film’. This was recently published by Ohio University Press.
John Evan Walls (KES 1933-1939) is trying to track down news on
Mike John Warwick Fryer (KES 1945-1951) so that he can get back in contact with his old friend. If anyone has news on Mike’s whereabouts please email The Development Office on edwardians@kes.hants.sch.uk so that we can put the two of them back in touch. 15
King Edward VI School Wilton Road Southampton Hampshire SO15 5UQ Tel: 023 8070 4561 www.kes.hants.sch.uk