Konnections Winter 2018

From The Head The new academic year began with very pleasing A Level results, the first to be reported under the new linear regime.

Excellent academic results usually lead to success in higher education applications and 95% of our students were offered places in The Times top 25 universities with twelve offers at Oxford and Cambridge.

Our students have been busy travelling the world with the School over the past six months, from the Galapagos and Cape Town to North Carolina and Tokyo and many points in between!

The sporting season got off to a good start with the South Coast Rugby Tournament in September and some impressive early results, particularly for girls’ hockey. We have also enjoyed three drama productions with Dr Schofield’s ‘The Secret Battle’ providing a particularly poignant

reminder of the costs of war in this anniversary year and Mr Garnett’s ‘Lady Windermere’s Fan’ providing a lighter touch in the run up to Christmas.

There have been some wonderful musical performances under the direction of our new Director of Music, Miss Forsey, and we were delighted to host the BBC’s Children in Need programme, broadcasting live from The Dobson Theatre in November.

A particular focus this term has been on the centenary of the end of hostilities in the First World War. We were privileged to have the Memorial Garden dedicated by the Venerable Stephen Robbins CB, the former Chaplain General of the Army. The statue, created by Mr Michael Long, the former Head of Art, provides the central focus. It is a remarkable piece of work and depicts three Old Edwardians killed in action.

The garden, designed by Mrs

Emily Peebles, our Head of Finance, is well worth a visit and we are very grateful to the Old Edwardian Association for its support in helping to finance this project.

The School has been kept busy with the expansion and refurbishment of our Dining Hall giving much increased capacity and greater flexibility. On the prep school site at Stroud, we have renovated a number of key areas and built a new classroom pod for our Key Stage 1 pupils.

KonnEctionS can only give a quick overview of life at KES with nearly a thousand energetic and fully involved youngsters. For further information, please refer to our regularly updated news section on the website and/or you can follow us on Twitter.

A J Thould Head

King Edward VI School Wilton Road . Southampton . Hampshire SO15 5UQ Telephone: 023 8070 4561

www.kes.hants.sch.uk

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Academic Prize giving 2018 This year’s prize giving took place on 14th September in The Dobson Theatre and we were delighted to welcome, as our guest speaker, British polar explorer Felicity Aston MBE who delivered a thought-provoking address to the audience. Felicity is an author, speaker, expedition leader and former Antarctic scientist and in 2012 became the first woman to ski alone across Antarctica. Prize giving provides an opportunity for family and friends to share in the formal recognition of our students’ achievements and it was a pleasure to welcome back a number of last year’s Sixth Formers to receive awards as well as so many of the current KES community. The audience were also treated to a clarinet solo by Aelfred Hillman.

European day of language Wednesday 26th September was the European Day of Languages and KES celebrated in style. In the morning, tutors conducted a survey to find out more about the languages spoken at home by our pupils whilst at lunchtime, teachers and older pupils set up shop in the Atrium, running stalls with games, activities and, perhaps most importantly, prizes!

From Spanish piñatas to Italian face painting, from a French Tour de France challenge to German culinary specialities; a great time was had by all and, we hope, many new linguists were inspired!

King Edward VI Goblet winner The King Edward VI Goblet is one of the highest accolades awarded to a student and is presented at the annual prize giving ceremony.

Each year, there are a few students in the Upper Sixth who achieve the highest standards of academic excellence whilst taking leading roles in drama and music performances, holding senior positions of responsibility and securing university places on the most competitive and demanding courses. The 2018 award went to George Budden who combined a portfolio of academic excellence alongside representing his country in the modern pentathlon, whilst maintaining a demeanour of modesty and grace.

Classicists visit Roman site Second Year classicists spent a warm, sunny day at Fishbourne Roman Palace, investigating its history and exploring the remains in October. They took part in a hands-on archaeology workshop and experienced the reality of a Roman kitchen. The trip encouraged some impressive project work in the form of films and presentations.

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Art trip to Lulworth Cove This term the annual Fourth Year Art field trip to Lulworth Cove allowed the artists to gain inspiration from the sweeping vistas that the Dorset coastline offers. The thirty students drew and painted the wonderful views with seawater for the watercolours and lots of fantastic expressive mark making. After lunch, the group trekked up towards Durdle Dor where, in strong winds, they sketched Portland and Chesil Beach; the elements making for some visceral work.

A working ‘Bombe’ At the beginning of term, Fifth Year Computer Science pupils visited the National Museum of Computing where they were given a guided tour to learn about the history of computing.

Highlights included 1980s style coding on BBC Micros and seeing some of the world’s first computers, such as Collosus. The group also viewed a new installation; a working replica of the ‘Bombe’ machine featured in the film ‘The Imitation Game’.

Broadening Horizons Extended Studies is an important part of the First Year curriculum and every Friday afternoon all First Year pupils are involved in the programme, which aims to broaden and enhance their educational experience. There are six modules on a range of topics including castles, dance, equality and diversity, food and health, iPad creativity and reality and representation and each last four weeks in total.

Field trip to Osmington Bay Fifth Year geographers had an enjoyable, if rather damp, weekend field trip to Osmington Bay in September. Stopping at Barton-onSea, the stormy weather helped to aid their assessment of the success of coastal defences, whilst the incessant rain on Saturday provided some high values for the velocity of the River Wey. Thankfully, by Sunday lunchtime, the weather had cleared up and the whole group had wholly more pleasant weather for their trip to Portland.

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First Year Transition Day In September, all new First Year pupils took part in a Transition Day, learning skills that will help them with a successful transition into senior school life. Sessions included topics such as organising yourself, mental health, cyber safety, responding constructively, the importance of respect and communicating effectively.

Lots of teamwork and working in small groups also facilitated the making of new friends.

Geographers travel to Durdle Dor Fourth Year geographers were fortunate to have splendid weather for this term’s field trip to Dorset.

They were able to practise their field sketches of Durdle Dor and work on their map skills at Lulworth Cove; all relevant to their IGCSE course.

KES hosts Classics Conference

Design Museum visit

In November, the Classics Department organised a highly successful Classics Conference. In the morning, Greek and Roman workshops took place for seventy-five local primary school children and these included a literacy workshop given by Maz Evans, author of “Who let the gods out?”, a Roman food session during which pupils were able to taste delicacies such as fish sauce, moretum, olives and apricot sauce, and a mosaicmaking workshop. Meanwhile, three lectures were provided for the older students. One hundred and sixty delegates attended from a variety of local schools and colleges. Lectures on Greek Theatre and the Augustan Mausoleum were given by Professors Edith Hall and John Pearce from King’s College, London and Professor Amy Smith from Reading spoke on Art and Athenian Democracy. All topics linked into the A Level Classics course and students found them very useful.

All Fourth Year Design and Technology students paid a visit to the Design Museum in London this term. The group partook in a museum-led design session in which they looked at the design, composition and manufacture of a range of chairs. Students also had the chance to spend time at the ‘Designer, Maker, User’ exhibition which explores design and manufacture from its inception in the late 17th century, through to the use of the latest and most modern materials and manufacturing methods, such as 3D printing and sintering.

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Co-curricular Memorial Garden dedication On November 9th, as part of the School’s Remembrance Service, we were joined by The Lord-Lieutenant of Hampshire, Nigel Atkinson Esq. and The Venerable Stephen Robbins CB, Chaplain-General 2008-11, to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the end of the First World War. This year’s Service included the anointing of the new Memorial Garden and Statue, which have been created in honour of the fifty Old Edwardians who gave their lives. At the centre of the garden is the symbol of a poppy laid into the ground and surrounded by the words, engraved in bronze, from Colonel John McCrae’s poem ‘In Flanders Fields’. A statue forms the focal point of the garden, designed and sculpted by the former Head of Art, Mike Long.

New pupils experience Tile Barn With other members of their tutor group, new First Years had the opportunity to spend a day at Tile Barn Outdoor Activities Centre in the first few weeks of term. They spent time working together on teambuilding and problem-solving tasks, as well as trying out activities that tested their personal resilience and challenged their expectations of themselves. The days provide an excellent chance to consolidate new friendships and get to know other members of their tutor group better, with lots of fun and laughter thrown into the mix too.

Honey harvest At the beginning of the new academic year, ten enthusiastic members of the KES Beekeeping Club extracted about 20lb of honey from the KES beehive under the guidance of Dave Norris (apiarist and Edwardian).

The bumper crop was then filtered and put into jars.

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The Full Monty!

Money raised by the school Charities Commission is currently funding the training of a Guide Dog for the Blind and we were delighted to welcome back Monty (our KES sponsored guide dog) in September. Monty currently lives with his puppy parents who are helping him develop his social skills and teach him familiarity with daily life, but attends specialist guide dog training classes in the week.

International Kit Car Finals The KES Greenpower racing team attended the International Kit Car Finals at Rockingham Speedway on 5th October. The team, led by Alex Everest in the Upper Sixth, made excellent use of the practice time available and delivered a perfectly executed strategy for the race.

Being able to fine tune the amount of electrical power to the engine really gave the team an advantage and enabled them to roll over the finish line having used every volt of battery power. Their overall finishing position of 21st was the team’s best result to date. With a second kit car now on site, the club is looking forward to expanding in the coming months.

Sailing Club enjoy mild weather Sailing continues to be a popular co-curricular activity amongst King Edward’s students with plenty of opportunities to take part at the School’s sailing base at SWAC. On Wednesday afternoons, Sixth Form sailors made the most of the glorious September weather in their games sessions, cruising down the River Itchen whilst practising the five essentials of sailing and finishing off with a race.

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Hi tech in Tokyo During the half-term break, a group of inquisitive students and teachers spent a fascinating time in Tokyo where they experienced a Japanese-style, high-tech trek. They visited technology companies including Sony and Toyota as well as experiencing the feeling of an earthquake in a simulator.

The week-long trip, which involved travelling by the Tokyo Underground, also took in The Imperial Palace (Higashi Gyoen), the Tokyo Sky Tree, the Ghibli Museum, Tokyo University, the National Museum of Emerging Science and Technology and a number of beautiful, peaceful shrines.

Surviving Dartmoor The final Duke of Edinburgh award expeditions of 2018 took place at the start of the half-term holiday. Five Silver practice teams headed to Dartmoor and were very fortunate to have blue skies and dry weather for the duration of the four days. The teams began with a wild camp during which they enjoyed great sunsets and the feeling of calm and remoteness away from the crowds. All the teams are now fully prepared to take on their assessment expeditions during the Easter 2019 break.

Vietnam expedition training The Vietnam expedition team headed to Dartmoor in the second week of half-term for their training expedition. The group was lucky with the weather, enjoying good views and even some sunshine during their four days of team building, navigating and expedition-living experience. Food was sourced on a budget and those in charge of catering kept the group’s energy levels high with a healthy diet of pasta, vegetable stir-fry and luxury smores. Due to the cloudless, clear night skies, the students were treated to several meteor sightings during their night walk.

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Toy Appeal Fun Run This term saw the launch of this year’s Toy Appeal with the First Year Fun Run around the School Field. Each year First Year students dress up as toys (past and present) and take part in the sponsored event to raise money to purchase Christmas gifts for the Southampton Toy Appeal.

The range of inventive costumes was, yet again, impressive and a considerable amount was raised for this worthwhile cause.

Children in Need On Friday 16th November we welcomed Pudsey, BBC Children in Need’s crew, and the BBC South Today team for a day of filming and live evening broadcast, featuring the Children’s Choir and King Edward’s Swing Band. The fun-filled day concluded a full week of fundraising activities, including a Sixth Form Mr & Mrs competition, assault courses, guess the staff baby photo competition, baking and biscuit sales, staff vs pupil dodgeball, lots of music, games and laughter.

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Creative Arts Gedanken in your Heart After last summer’s success at the Theatre Royal, Winchester, the cast of ‘Welcome to Gedanken’ revised the science-based musical farce for a smaller company and performed ‘Gedanken in Your Heart’ in the Twigg Studio for three nights. The revised and shortened show, originally adapted for the Edinburgh Fringe, was an evening of song, dance, laughter and science - an irresistible, if rather eccentric, combination!

The Secret Battle On 11th November, as part of the School’s Remembrance Day commemoration, the cast and crew of ‘The Secret Battle’ gave a fantastic performance, providing a profound and very moving insight into the experience of trench warfare at Gallipoli and on the Western Front.

The original novel by AP Herbert was superbly adapted and directed by Dr Schofield, Head of English.

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A Million Dreams First and Second Year choristers joined together with local schools to make a 200 strong choir for BBC Children in Need, broadcast live from the Dobson Theatre. The Swing Band also performed on the big night, playing live during BBC South Today. The performances were part of a truly once-in-a-lifetime event and their efforts and enthusiasm resonated across the community.

Westminster Chamber Orchestra workshop

KES string players spent the day working alongside the Westminster Chamber Orchestra in a series of workshops, culminating in a memorable and stunning evening concert. The pupils had a true experience of the life of a professional musician, rehearsing energetic works by Holst and Rawsthorne alongside reflective and evoking programme music from Sibelius.

The project, just three weeks into the start of a new school year, represents the exacting standards and passionate commitment of our KES musicians. The players’ talent shone through with opportunities for fun and musical discussion. Pupils also had time to enjoy a Mozart piano concerto with soloist Cordelia Williams.

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Carol Service Chamber, Senior and First Year choirs showcased their vocal talents in the Carol Service at Romsey Abbey in December. The Chamber Choir were accompanied beautifully by violinists Alice and Yuqing in Elgar’s ‘The Snow’. The Symphony Orchestra rallied the congregation with vibrant accompaniments in our carols and the trumpeters brought a triumphant fanfare to ‘Joy to the World’ with the Senior Choir.

Lady Windermere’s Fan In December, the cast and crew of ‘Lady Windermere’s Fan’ expertly transported their audiences back to the 1890s for a truly ‘fin de siècle’ experience. Oscar Wilde’s play explores the pitfalls of the prevalent puritan morality of his day and breaks the key convention of the Victorian melodrama by never revealing to Lady Windermere that her arch rival, Mrs Erlynne, is a lot closer to her than she would like to think.

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Sport Kings South Coast Rugby Tournament On the Sunday before the start of term, King Edward’s hosted the 15th South Coast Kings Rugby Tournament at Wellington. Nine U15 teams and eleven U18 teams from Wales and England competed in the 15-a-side pre-season competition on a glorious sunny day. The winners of the U18 trophy were Hampton School and the U15 victory went to Bedford School.

County Netball Tournaments The senior netball players achieved one win and three draws in the County Cup competition but unfortunately this was not enough for them to qualify for the next stages.

In the Smile ISNC National Cup the U13 squad progressed to the national plate competition.

They played Walthamstow Hall in the second round finishing with a convincing 24-15 victory.

The U15 side beat Farnborough Hills 56-19 to also reach the National Plate quarter-finals.

The U14 and U16 teams both finished in 2nd place in the county competition and have qualified for the regional rounds of the National Cup.

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KES Sporting Stars Rugby teams leading the pack Many of the School’s most talented sportsmen and women have continued to be busy in their chosen sport over the last few months.

This season has seen success from several of the School’s teams.

At U14 the boys have made the final of the County 10s Competition and the U15 side have progressed to the third round of the National Cup. The U16 squad reached the semi-final stages of the County Cup achieving a 7-5 win over HCS.

In hockey, Harry Croft-Baker and Rory Penrose played for the England U16 squad in a number of international matches over the summer and then, along with Alex Georgiou and Nyah Clark, were involved in the England Futures festivals in their respective teams.

Harry, Rory and Alex have since been selected for their respective England age group training squads.

Will Penrose played for one of three England teams at the School Games in Loughborough.

Lizzie and Henry Beardsall have been in action on the water.

Henry finished 5th in the National Championships in his sailing class whilst Lizzie was the leading girl in her class. She also competed in the Laser 4.7 World Championships

finishing in 28th position and was the 9th placed U16 competitor.

In netball, Charlotte Dunkley competed for the Surrey Storm academy team in the School Games National Finals. Her team finished in 3rd place.

Archie Callaghan and Dan Wickes have been selected to join the London Irish Rugby Academy.

Archie also spent the half-term playing rugby for the Exiles in Wales captaining the side for the match against North-West Wales.

Reuben Havenga finished in the top three in his class at the recent English Schools’ Swimming Association Competition. This result means that he qualified to represent King Edward’s at the National Schools’ Competition.

Olivia Keefe won bronze at the South of England Squash Championships.

Girls’ hockey tour to Holland During half-term, a group of the School’s female hockey players, from the Fourth Year and above, travelled to Holland where they experienced a very enjoyable time on their mini hockey tour. As well as sampling the delights of a chocolate factory (including a lesson on chocolate making), they took the time to visit the Anne Frank Museum and take a boat tour along the Amsterdam canals. The girls played several games of hockey learning valuable lessons that they can take forward to the second half of the season.

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1st XI reach South heats

Indoor hockey success

The 1st XI girls’ hockey team reached the south heats of the County Cup this term and missed out on progressing further by just one point.

The U14s and U16s had mixed results in their qualifying matches and were unlucky not to go further in the competition. At U13 level, the squad won all four of their group games but in a tight semi-final against Westhill Park they conceded their only goal of the tournament to lose 1-0. In the 3rd place play off they beat Farnborough to finish 3rd in the county.

The School entered boys’ and girls’ squads, at U18 and U16 level, in the English Schools’ Indoor Hockey Competition. All four teams reached the regional heats from where the U16 boys’, U16 girls’ and U18 boys’ sides progressed to the regional finals. The U16 girls’ and U18 boys’ teams did not advance further but the U16 boys’ side beat Whitgift School to win the South Championships and reach the National Finals.

These matches will be played in January.

Netballers tour Belfast A second girls’ sports tour took place in half-term as the U13 netballers travelled to Belfast. Here, in addition to playing a mini tournament, the teams faced two other clubs; the B team winning one game and losing the other whilst the A team impressed by winning both their matches.

The trip also included other activities such as a trip to the Titanic Museum and The Giant’s Causeway and a Halloween party complete with costumes.

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Summer Trips Water sports in France Towards the end of the summer holiday, forty-five Second, Third and Fourth Year pupils braved the long coach journey to the south of France to take part in the annual KES water sports holiday. They were based at The Rockley Water Sports Centre on Lake Biscarosse, near to Bordeaux. Fun instructors and light breezes provided perfect conditions for sailing, kayaking and windsurfing.

Gold DofE expedition to The Lake District The summer Gold Duke of Edinburgh expedition took place during a slight reprieve in the heatwave. With some cloud cover, a gentle breeze and good visibility, the team set off along the base of Blencathra and through the town of Keswick before camping at the base of Blaeberry Hills.

Day two involved a long walk along the ridgeline. The footing was firm due to the recent lack of rain, but the team were challenged by the lack of streams and water this had also caused. They camped at Angle Tarn at 600m above Langdale that night, before spending day three crossing the col at Esk House, descending through the Esk Valley and around Harter Fell to the hidden Duden Valley. The final day brought some gentle drizzle and a wet start but, with the finish in sight, it was an early start to cross Coniston Ridge and down to a welcoming minibus.

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Summer Camp

South Africa

The Sixth Form Summer Camp team did an amazing job providing an action-packed week for a group of Southampton’s young carers during this year’s camp. In beautiful weather they took their charges on multiple outings including, a trip to the beach, a visit to Lymington outdoor salt-water baths and a high ropes adventure. Back at camp they organised games and other activities to ensure that the children enjoyed a week’s respite from their caring responsibilities. The traditional ‘Talent Show!’ rounded off the week.

This summer’s South Africa trip saw the KES group split their time between Cape Town, the Geodgedacht Farm and a game safari. On the first part of their stay they visited sites of interest such as Table Top Mountain before travelling to the Goedgedacht Farm just outside of the city where they spent the next week assisting with the Pathway out of Poverty programme. The students helped the local children with homework, as well as taking them to the beach, and also played with, and cared for, the babies and socialised with the teenagers. Their South African experience was rounded off with a memorable stay at a nearby game park where they were able to witness rhinos, lions and elephants (to name but a few) in the wild.

Ecuador and The Galapagos A group of nineteen students and three staff headed off to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands during the summer. The expedition combined working on a biodiversity research project with the Huaorani Indians in the Amazon, with a week visiting the Galapagos Islands, learning to dive and completing a course on ecology - a truly amazing Biology field trip!

King Edward VI School Wilton Road . Southampton . Hampshire SO15 5UQ Telephone: 023 8070 4561 . www.kes.hants.sch.uk