The Vigornian December 2006 by King's Worcester

THE Vigornian

School House in the 1930s

ird from the left on the back row is John Bagenal who died in 2006. His obituary appears in OV Notes in the ﬁnal section of this magazine.

Front cover: GCSE Art students on the foreshore at St.Ives

Staff 2005-2006

Headmaster T.H. Keyes, M.A.

Second Master (Deputy Head) A.K.J. Macnaughton, M.A.

Second Deputy Miss S.E. Hincks, M.A.

Director of Studies R.C.Baum, M.A.

S.R. Davies, Cert.Ed.

P.C. Thompson, M.A.

M.J. Roberts, B.Sc.

J.M. Roslington, B.Sc., C.Sci., M.I.I.T.T.

B. Griffiths, B.Tech.

E. Reeves, M.A.

Mrs C.F. Roslington, B.A.

R.A. Fleming, B.A.

D.P. Iddon, B.A.

S. Le Marchand, B.A.

R.N.G. Stone, M.A.

R.P. Mason, B.A.

M.R. Gill, B.Sc., M.A., M.Sc.

Mrs N.R. Anstey, Cert.Ed.

S.M. Bain, B.Sc., M.Sc.

M.D. Rudge, B.A.

J.T. Wheeler, B.Sc., C.Chem., M.R.S.C.

D.G. Willmer, M.Sc., Ph.D.

P.T. Gwilliam, B.A., M.Phil.

Mrs K. Appleby, B.A.

Mrs C.M. Cox, M.A., M.Sc.

R.J. Davis, B.A.

Mrs L.M. Ghaye, B.Ed., M.A.

J.L. Owen, B.A.

C.A. Gallantree-Smith, B.A.

Mrs E.R. Hand, B.A.

T.R. Sharp, M.A.

Mrs C. Painter, B.A.

Mrs S.H. Le Marchand, B.A.

Mrs F.L. Short, B.A.

M.C. Poole, B.Sc., Ph.D.

*Mrs C.R. Horacek, M.A.

Mrs T.D. Marskell, Cert.Ed.

Mrs P.A. Edwards, B.A., M.Sc.

*Mrs J.P. Maxwell-Stewart, B.A.

Revd M.R. Dorsett, B.A., M.Th., Ph.D., Cert.

Theol.(Chaplain)

Mrs N. Essenhigh B.Sc.

R.P. Geary, B.Sc., C.Chem., M.R.S.C.

A.A.D. Gillgrass, B.A.

S.C. Cuthbertson, B.A.

C.T. Haywood, B.A.

A.W. Longley, B.A.

S.M. Atkins, B.A.

*Mrs J.D. Clark, B.Ed.

Mrs M.M. Longley, B.Ed.

Mrs J. C. Vivian, Cert.Ed.

I.C. Robinson, B.Sc.

*Mrs S.M. Beesley, B.A.

Miss J. Cooke, B.A.

*Mrs A.D. Cross, B.A. .

Mrs C.E. Battrum, B.A.

D.J. Haddock M.A., D.Phil.

A.J.M. Maund, M.A.

C.W.S. Wilson, B.A.

R.A. Ball, M.A.

Mrs A. Hines, B.Sc

D.A. Jones, M.Th

J.J. Mason, B.Sc

Mrs N. Sears, B.A.

C. Atkinson, B.Sc.

Mrs L.L. Guy, B.A.

R.J. James, B.Sc., Ph.D.

Mrs R.A. Worth, B.Sc.

E.I. Lummas, B.A.

*Mrs L. Martyn-Smith, B.Soc.Sc.

M.D. Parkin, M.A. Ph.D.

Mrs R.M. Rutter, B.A.

T.D.H. Smith, B.A.

*Mrs K.G. Adam, B.A.

T.A. Bowley, B.Sc, M.Sc.

Miss S-K Millar, B.Ed.

*Miss A-M Simpson, B.Sc.

Mrs S.K. Stone, B.Eng.

Mrs E. Allen-Back, M.A.

Miss R. Birtwhistle, B.A.

Mrs L.E. Haddock, B.Sc.

*Mrs D.J. Salkeld, B.Sc.

Mrs E. Shepherd, M.A.

Miss G.W. Smith, B.A.

B. Wang, M.A.

Miss L. Folwell, B.A.

Music:

D.E. Brookshaw, B.Mus., F.R.C.O.

Mrs V.J. Gunter, G.T.C.L., L.T.C.L.

G.M. Gunter, G.T.C.L, L.T.C.L.

*C.J.B. Allsop, B.A., M.A.

School Monitors

Anna Byrne (Ch) – Head of School

Harry Denlegh-Maxwell (Cl) – Deputy Head of School

Shaun Armitage (Os)

Andrew Blackburn (K)

Victoria Crowe (Cr)

Hayley Simmonds (Cr) – Deputy Head of School

Harriet Davis (Ch)

Harriet Driver (Br)

Claire Gott (Cl)

Simon Insley (Br)

The King’s Junior Schools

King’s St. Alban’s

Head: R.T. Bellfield, B.Ed.

Deputy: J.T. Walton, Cert.Ed., F.R.G.S.

Mrs A.D. Walton, Cert.Ed.

*Mrs L. Jackson, M.A.

Mrs R. Reeves, M.Ed.

D. Mews, B.A., B.Sc.

Mrs C. Woodcock, B.A.

*Mrs N. Cain, B.A.

Mrs K.J. Kear-Wood, B.Sc.

*Mrs J. Pitts, B.Ed.

W. Toleman, B.A.

*Mrs M.A. Keyes, M.A.

D. Braithwaite, B.Ed

Miss S. Davies, B.A.

Mrs R. Duke, B.A.

Mrs A. Hind B.Sc.

Miss H. Murray B.Mus.

M. O’Kane B.A.

King’s Hawford:

Head: R.W. Middleton, M.Sc.

Deputy: A.C. Hymer, B.A., M.A.

M.R.J. Dawes B.Sc

*Mrs J. Bayliss, B.Sc.

Miss K. Champion, B.A.

R.B. Cook, B.Sc.

Mrs J. Douglas, B.Ed.

*R. Forrester-Walker

Mrs C Knight, B.Ed

*Mrs J. Purser B.A., M.A.

Mrs C. Rawnsley, B.A.

Mrs J Redman, B.Ed.

Mrs S. Roscoe, Cert.Ed.

*Mrs J.M. Tune, B.Sc.

*Mrs G.M. Wales, B.A.

J Ward B.Sc.

J. Whitmore B.A.

*Miss E. Winscom, B.A.

Pre-Prep:

Mrs P.M. Bradley, B.Ed.

Mrs J.N. Willis, Cert.Ed., B.A. Ed.

Mrs L. Baxter, B.Sc.

Mrs J. Farmer B.Ed.

Mrs C.A. Griffin, B.A.

Miss J. Meredith B.Ed.

Mrs G. Riley, B.Sc.

Toby Lamb (W)

James Pole (S)

Leanne Sheen (W)

School Notes

HENRy VIII arrived recently. As was probably always the case, he was bigger than expected. He now presides, with penetrating (but, we hope, approving) gaze over the lower floor of our new library in School House. He is, of course, a sculpted bust (a commission from a former pupil). His arrival in the week of the official opening of the library was, for the moment at least, the final piece of the jig-saw in this huge project which dominated the previous fifteen months or so. I do not wish to push symbolism too far, but it struck me as appropriate that this great sixteenth century innovator should arrive in time to cast an eye on what one might call the final phase, in the school of which he is founder, of the move from boarding to day education as we completed the conversion of the last of the former boarding Houses to a significant new use. We move on, acknowledging the richness and importance of boarding at King’s in the past (and some of its harsher aspects too) but proud of the fact that all those former boarding houses are now well-equipped for present purposes. It was most gratifying at the most recent OV (former pupil) weekend that so many of those who returned from previous generations approved of the direction in which the school is heading, liked the new uses to which buildings had been put and yet still found here a school which promoted the best elements of the ethos, traditions and standards of their own days at King’s. May this continue so for many decades to come.

It has been a particular pleasure to have the use of the new library, a facility of particular benefit to those in their last two years here, following a year in which the latest Upper Sixth group pushed our achievements to new heights at A level and comfortably outstripped all the other Worcester schools. We have every reason

to feel now that future generations should aspire to push standards even higher. In a year’s time we will have completely refitted all thirteen of our Science laboratories and we will have a new Art Department. At that point, every building in the school (bar one which did not need it) will have had a major overhaul in recent years, and most of the outdoor spaces will have been similarly improved. If learning is to be fulfilling and inspiring, it is most helpful if it takes place in an environment that is welcoming, well equipped and well presented. All this is helped by a dedicated maintenance team which works very hard to keep King’s tidy and in good order.

you will read in the following pages of another year of high achievement in an extraordinary range of activities. I ask you to remember that most of these, in that they take place outside lessons, are done in what is, effectively, overtime. Many of our most interesting opportunities happen in the evenings, at weekends and in the holidays. That has always been the way in the most successful independent schools but it rests entirely on the enthusiasm and dedication of the teaching staff. It makes it much more rewarding for them that the overwhelming majority of King’s pupils are excellent company, work easily with adults, make excellent use of the opportunities which come their way and are always appreciative of teachers who go the extra mile.

This is a year in which we have once again had national as well as local and regional success. We were awarded The Good Schools Guide award for best

results at A level achieved by boys taking Fine Art at an independent school. Our General Knowledge and Maths Challenge teams reached national finals in major competitions as did our school newspaper in the Times Newsday competition. One of our rugby sevens teams reached the national semi-finals and a number of our rowers won medals at the National Championships, inspired, no doubt, by the latest successes of Zac Purchase (OV) who is now a World Champion sculler. Another former member of the King’s Boat Club coxed Oxford to victory over their old rivals this year. I am just as pleased, however, with some of our newer activities such as our involvement in Model United Nations competitions or in the Education Engineering Scheme since they are to do with an interest in current affairs and in practical problem-solving. These seem to me to be particularly important areas for young men and women to be interested in. There is a saying that: “Like its politicians and its war, society has the teenagers it deserves”. If that is the case, then we must be doing some things right at King’s.

P. C. Thompson

PCT, who retired this summer, is one of those we call “a legend in his own lifetime”. That is only partly due to the distinctiveness of his appearance (pipe, moustache, short back and sides, schoolmaster’s jacket, inability to be seen without tie), and only partly to the longevity of his presence on the site – thirty six years – and the range of activities he has engaged in, a few of which there is space to mention here.

His bread-and-butter job was teaching Latin – and, to compensate for the tragic lack of knowledge he sees all around him, English – grammar, to thirty six generations (or should I say cohorts?) of boys and, in later years, girls. His style was, shall we say, inimitable! you could tell something of it from simply entering his formroom: there was the teacher’s high chair and corresponding desk (now in the archives!), old-fashioned wooden chairs for the pupils, a blackboard and chalk long after most of us had moved over to whiteboards, a riotous assembly of books and papers on and under the table, a notable absence of the trendy accoutrements that he despised in other classrooms, and of course (at least in earlier years!) the pall of pipe smoke. He believes in relying on his own (considerable) voice, the textbook, and the relationship between teacher and pupils. No one he taught ever forgets his lessons or, despite the loudness and fierceness of that voice, remembers them with anything other than affection.

But he also participated at one time or another in many areas of school life outside the classroom: rowing, games (he enjoyed making life bearable for those boys who found games less to their liking), the CCF (quartermaster – a strange misnomer for one of his dimensions!), a Fourth Form debating society, not to mention various unglamorous activities such as proof-

reading documents like the carol service sheet and sorting out arrangements for scholarship exams. He’s no mean musician either, for many years contributing something big to orchestras or choirs at school concerts,

whether the instrument is string, brass, or thunderous bass voice. He produced two operettas by his beloved Gilbert and Sullivan, and his performances can still be regularly sampled in productions of the Great Witley Operatic Society. In all his activities he is a stickler for getting details right, whether of correct behaviour or of correct use of language – or what was correct in about 1952! – and he

has an encyclopaedic knowledge of all kinds of things where precision is the key: railway timetables, the scripts of Monty Python, the Latin language (of course!), the lives and dates of peers of the realm (and a good many commoners too), whole areas of modern history (not, strangely, including cricket, which you’d have thought was tailormade for his enthusiasm for statistics!).

In fact the only dates he seemed consistently to find difficulty remembering were the deadlines for end-of-term reports!

One particular area of knowledge in which PCT’s expertise is not only remarkable but of indispensable use to the School is the biographies and dates of OVs. Give him a name, and he’ll tell you which years he, or even she nowadays, was in the School, which house he was in, what his father did for a living, the names of any siblings, and often what he’s doing now. And that knowledge comes not from a mere photographic memory, but from a real interest in and affection for the pupils that he’s taught. If you want to know what a pupil’s really like, ask PCT, and you get a sympathetic insight that is seldom wrong. The memory of many OVs, and indeed present pupils, is that at certain points in Latin lessons – when, for instance, their failure to Common

find the verb was being loudly commented upon – they were frightened out of their wits; but they knew that PCT’s opinion of them as people was not influenced one jot by how good they happened to be at Latin, and in between lessons he treats them with such kindness – talking to them, watching them play rugby or netball (which must be the ultimate sacrifice!) – that their abiding memory is of a kind, thoughtful and entertaining man who really knows them. That applies equally to intellectuals and dunces, sporty types and motor-morons, model students and criminals. Those who were in his form feel particularly privileged – in fact he was a Fourth Form form-master for all his thirty six years here, and I think that’s the part of the job he loved best. His concern for his pupils is made clear by the reactions of almost any OV you meet between the ages of 18 and about 50: “Is Thompers still there?” He’s the one they remember with affection, knowing that he remembers them. What I’ve said may give the impression of a rather earnest character. Far from it! His all-embracing sense of humour keeps his feet firmly on the ground. It embraces not only all his colleagues and all those insidious innovations in teaching since 1950, but also himself. So as Common Room secretary since time immemorial, and just as a presence in the Common Room, his contribution has been an invaluable one: let no one take himself – or herself – too seriously, from senior management down. He says exactly what he thinks about anyone, and is happy for anyone to say what they like about him: all done without rancour, with no personal animus, and contributing hugely, I believe, to the wonderfully friendly and forthright atmosphere of the Common Room. PCT is indeed a legend in his own lifetime – or maybe his own lunchtime, if one remembers his scavenging

of the uneaten food on the plates of Fourth Formers, and indeed of any food he could find at any mealtime! Partly for that reason, maybe, his retirement leaves a huge gap in the School!

R.N.G.S.

Edward Reeves

We reproduce here a copy of MJR’s address to the Common Room at the end of term

Ed arrived in 1978 and was Head of Maths for twenty four years. He has been relaxing for the last four years. Colleagues may have noticed that members of the Maths Department tend to stay. That is mainly due to the

fact that Ed is such an accommodating person to work with that many of us have felt no reason to move on. He genuinely cares about his staff in the department as much as he cares for the pupils that he teaches. If one looks at the Honours Board in College Hall from the late 70s to the present day you will notice a considerable number of Double Mathematicians - in fact in two of the years there are only Double Mathematicians. Added to these there are numerous single Mathematicians. No other Head of Department could claim such a measure of success over such a long period of time.

In the light of such success it was subsequently suggested that there should be mixed ability teaching of Maths in the Sixth Form. This is the only occasion that I have seen Ed genuinely angry due to the fact that he was thinking of the welfare of the pupils. Many fail to recognise the fact that Maths is different from other subjects and quite often those who teach it are also not quite the same. Ed you are a special person - we shall miss your obtuse sense of humour - we shall miss your dog at Parents’ Evenings and all sorts of other functions - we shall miss your constant truthfulness and your ability to see through waffle and unnecessary posturing. All the best for a long and happy retirement.

Sue Beesley

Sue Beesley leaves King’s after seven years of valuable service for a career break in Lincolnshire with her two boys and partner, Mike. Despite having a significant Geography timetable she also gave an important contribution to Girls’ Games and was in charge of tennis in the school. She quickly proved to be a terrific colleague and fine classroom

practitioner being equally good at introducing ideas to younger pupils as she was preparing classes for public exams. Her excellent organisation and team skills were also put to good use outside the classroom where, despite being part-time, she gave generously of her time. Many staff and pupils will fondly remember her contributions to geography fieldwork, time spent on Lower Remove Camps and her extensive involvement in sport. We wish her every happiness in the future and look forward to hearing news of her improved golf handicap shortly!

S.C.C.

Deputy Headship of Blundell’s Junior School. During her time with us, Angela proved to be a highly motivated and effective colleague, noted for her no nonsense approach to the subject and indeed the pupils. Always scrupulous in her monitoring of students’ work, she made it possible for many students to achieve a grade in excess of what might normally be expected of them. She has recently taken up a teaching post herself at Blundell’s in the Business Studies department where we wish her every success for the future.

R.P.M.

This year the Common Room has welcomed seven new members of staff: Sarah Bradley has joined the Classics department. Educated at St Mary’s in Worcester, she moved on to Birmingham University where she studied Latin, graduating in 1992. Sarah has worked in several local schools in the Worcester area, most recently at the Alice Ottley, where she taught for four years. As well as relaxing with a good book, she has a passion for Italy and when time allows, loves revisiting Rome and Pompeii. She has three daughters and several pets, who keep her very busy in her spare time.

Angela Cross

Angela leaves us to move with her husband and two daughters to Devon where Richard has taken up the

The Mathematics and Careers departments welcome Linda (Lin) Brighton. Lin has taught Mathematics in a wide variety of schools and Technical Colleges in Brecon, Herefordshire and Worcestershire – most recently at Malvern Girls’ College and St. Mary’s Worcester. Her days of paying tuition fees are over as she has three (hopefully independent) children, one working in Homelessness, one teaching and one currently in New Zealand on a Gap year. Her interests include walking, Sudoku, eating good food and stewarding at Huntingdon Hall. Elaine Gittings joins the Economics and Business Studies department. She studied for a Combined Social

Sciences degree at Durham University and after completing her degree moved to London where she worked as banker for seven years in London, Botswana, Zambia, South Africa and the Middle East. During this time she studied for another degree, this time in Financial Services via Manchester University. After leaving the banking world she spent two years teaching English as a foreign language in Oxford, Cape Town and Dubai. Her interests include keeping fit, walking her two dogs and travel.

Adam Knowles has returned to King’s to join the Mathematics department. He took a degree in Mathematics and Psychology at the University of Birmingham before completing a PGCE at Worcester. His interests include skiing, hiking and backpacking, having travelled extensively around Australia, New Zealand and Thailand. He also plays tennis regularly for a team in Worcester.

New to the Biology department for a term as cover for Rachel Worth who is on maternity leave is Mike Newby. Mike studied Biology and Sports Studies at Loughborough University and completed an MA in Educational Studies and was a Senior Housemaster at Rendcomb College for over a decade before moving into senior management in two schools. He recently spent some time in property renovation, a passion for many years, though missed the hustle and bustle of school life and hence, returned to the classroom. Mike continues to coach and referee rugby (as a society referee for North Midlands SRFR) and has a passion for the mountains, especially Scotland and his native Lake District, having been involved in outdoor pursuits and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme for many years. His other interests include running, golf and raptor-watching. Mike is marrried with two ‘very grown’ up children.

A new addition to the Geography department this year is Daniel Orr who arrives as an NQT. Educated at Wellington School in Somerset, Dan moved north(ish) to complete a Geography (BA) at the University of Birmingham. While deciding on what path to take, Dan travelled to Italy to teach English in schools in Milan, San Remo, Rome and Venice. These experiences led to applying for and completing a PGCE at Birmingham. Time spent at an inner city school in Birmingham and a community college in Dudley during teacher training offered a challenge but did not put him off a career in teaching! Dan is looking forward to grappling with different challenges at King’s both in, and out of the classroom. Interests in a variety of sports (rugby, hockey swimming) and outdoor pursuits have lead to involvement in a number of extra curricular activities at King’s, from CCF (RAF section) to rugby coaching.

Sarah West is a new member of the Drama and Dance department. She gained a BA Hons in Dance and Theatre Arts at Birmingham University where she was also awarded a Distinction in Theatre Practice. Before joining King’s, she was Head of Dance at Matthew Boulton College of Further Education in Birmingham, and was a Drama teacher at King Edward VI College in Stourbridge. Outside of work, Sarah choreographs and dances for regional performance groups including one of her own projects; ‘Thought Patterns’, which was showcased recently at The Birmingham Hippodrome. She also directed a play which ran for a week’s residency at the Edinburgh Festival. Sarah has spent time travelling Australia and New Zealand, where she also learned to snowboard and scuba dive.

CLUBS & ACtivitieS

The Combined Cadet Force

The word seems to be spreading that CCF can offer pupils a varied and exciting time, especially if they make the effort to attend many of the varied activities that take place during the school year – once again our intake swelled the ranks considerably! Of course the dedication of the officers, SSI, and senior cadets has been a considerable influence on the continued success of the Contingent.

In addition to the regular Friday evening parades, the first term saw a very effective weekend of training for the Military Skills team who went on to meet with some considerable success in the Brigade Competition. About a week later we made our annual trip to the Brigade Orienteering Competition and the girls’ team produced a Gold medal – this was fully justified since we had the top two female cadets in Cadets Cara Evans and Amy Broomfield. We introduced our new recruits to the rigours of living in the field through their first exercise called ‘Novice Night’ held at Swynnerton Training Area – we had a record turnout with fifty four cadets taking part, and it was great to have Will and Richard Jones returning from University to assist with the exercise. It proved to be a very successful exercise, and it was a useful way of demonstrating the ideal way to conduct a section attack.

used the indoor range at School to complete our weapon training with the recruits, and provide them with their first live firing experience. In the Spring Term, we took the cadets to Kingsbury Ranges on a wild and blustery day – the flags were flying horizontally, and the wind chill factor was extreme, indeed the faces of the DDS were testament to the effects of windburn after six hours out! Despite all of this the cadets had a very successful day’s shoot – practising their zeroing and marksmanship skills. There were some surprises with one female cadet reproducing the initials of a

the other cadets to find their way onto the promotional ladder.

During the Spring half term we went to the Royal Artillery Adventure Training Centre in Dolweddelyn in North Wales for a week’s adventure training. The staff at the centre produced a very comprehensive training programme, and this was supported by some excellent cooking by Clive Pitts, one of the school’s caterers. The cadets were split into two groups and they were cycled through a variety of different activities. A particular favourite was the mining – this involved dressing in boiler suits complete with helmet and miner’s head-lamp. The group entered the mine then navigated their way through a series of climbs and descents, as well as tight spaces and decidedly wet spaces before emerging to the dank Welsh weather. Two days were spent kayaking and canoeing on the reservoir in the Vale of Ffestiniog – this proved to be great fun, and even the dips into the freezing water all seemed to be worth it when the day finished with a mug of steaming hot chocolate at ‘Pete’s Eats’, a well-known café in the area. Around the centre itself

male cadet on her target – was there some subliminal message there?

In November, a Night Navigation Exercise took place on the Malvern Hills; although the weather proved rather inclement, we once again launched the highest rocket in the county from the Worcestershire Beacon. At the end of November we went sledging at the Tamworth Snowdome before returning to school for a pizza – the weather forecast had proved too cold for an overnight stay. We then

With this preparation under their belt the March and Shoot team acquitted themselves well in the District Com petition on a very snowy Sunday on Swynnerton Training Area. For the first time a Cadre exercise was run in March to present our more experienced cadets with some challenging tasks – it was designed to highlight those cadets ready for promotion, as well as laying the ground work for

orienteering course, which meandered its way up the Welsh hillside – it was challenging but achievable, so competition was tight to be the best orienteering team. JC kindly came up to help out with the last few days of the camp, and she took

The ‘Novice Night’ group

Summer camp

part in the mountain biking and walk around the Coed y Brenin forest – a beautiful forest close to the centre. On the last day the morning was spent abseiling, although Cadet Simon East appeared to find a new way of tackling the descent – not one to be recommended to others (!), before packing up to come home – most parents reported a very peaceful weekend as their beloved recovered!

During the Easter holidays Major Davies accompanied four cadets to Easter Camp at RAF Halton in Buckinghamshire, and once again the cadets performed particularly well.

During the Summer term the RAF cadets took their Part One and Part Two examinations, and all passed (eventually). The Army Section recruits completed most aspects of their Army Proficiency Certificate and should receive their Red Stars before too long next year. The Skill at Arms team acquitted themselves well at the District Skill at Arms Meeting, and the fact that examination pressures

meant that some of the better shots, who had been fortunate enough to zero their personal weapons, could not attend meant that we were extremely delighted to reach the final of the CCF Falling Plate competition – a positive reflection on their marksmanship principles. The Shooting Club has been re-formed, and Sgt Nick Baxter has taken on the mantle of Shooting Captain – a team entered the Country Life Competition and they did extremely well to come eighteenth out of over a hundred entries.

Over the course of the year the RAF Section has had no less than nine Air Experience Flying Days and this has meant that most cadets in the Section have flown at least once. Sadly, due to increasing pressures on the school day, it has been necessary to reduce the number of days available to six in future.

The SSI, WO2 Grinnell, has also set up a kayaking club, and many of the current cadets have made the most of his expert tuition to develop the basic skills and

techniques required of a paddler. They have done the majority of training in the school pool, although they have taken to the open water twice – once at Upton Warren, and then on the River Wye. A party of eight cadets undertook an overnight trip in the Wye Valley to qualify for their Two Star Award – they are now embarking on their Three Star Award training.

In the first week of the summer holiday, a party of eleven cadets and three staff set off to spend a week with 7 Transport Regiment, Royal Logistics Corps at their base in Bielefeld, Germany. Rather than at their headquarters, we were in fact based in Fallingbostel with its excellent training area, were very well looked after and we had a splendid time. Activities included a high ropes course, a visit to the Bergen-Belsen museum, Assault Course, Command Task, Signals and Fieldcraft training, a Night Navigation Exercise, R&R at Heide Park (with the steepest wooden roller-coaster in the world) and a

Summer camp and adventure training

day on the ranges, firing the refurbished SA80 (the Regular Army’s standard weapon). The only complaint from the cadets was that we were not away for long enough! This was swiftly followed by a week at Chickerell Training Camp, near Weymouth on CCF Central Camp. The weather was fantastic, and the accommodation was excellent, although the food left something to be desired. A full and varied programme was in place with the activities including a Watermanship day, a visit to the Bovington Tank museum, Military Skills training (including an overnight phase), Command Tasks, a Range day, Sea Kayaking, Climbing, and a trip to Waterworld at Poole. The real highlight for the cadets was the fish and chip supper that was the envy of every other contingent on camp!

A party of six RAF cadets travelled to RAF Valley in North Wales with Major Davies. They had a fantastic time on what is a very active Station. They used one of the Air Force’s best flight simulators, which recreated the interior of a Hawk aircraft’s cockpit – they were able to experience flying the Hawk around a variety of terrain, although crash-landing appeared to be the favoured way to stop! The camp also had a mixed programme of military and civilian activities and it proved to be a resounding success for those who attended.

The success of this year’s training is largely due to the commitment of the officers, SSI, and CSM Helen Jones whose responsible attitude, enthusiasm and experience has been unfaltering. We have just boosted the numbers in the Contingent for the fourth year in a row, and have welcomed a new officer, Pilot Officer Orr.

A.J.M.M./N.E.

Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme

It was at precisely three o’clock on a sunny afternoon in July that the first strains of the National Anthem were played and the assembled group stood as members of the Royal Family appeared from a door to the rear of Buckingham Palace. The crowd was expectant as the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and Prince Edward walked along the long lines of people who had come to meet them and the other dignitaries present.This seems a rather strange way to start a report on the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, but this year is the fiftieth year that the Award scheme has been in operation and the Royal Garden party that I had been selected to attend, representing the Midlands, was a celebration of the many opportunities that it has inspired young people to grasp during that time. It was extraordinary to think of all of the people whose lives had been influenced by the Award, from expeditions to the Lake District to helping to clear a patch of waste ground, the variety of experience has been immense. It is easy to focus on the expedition work at King’s, as it is the most obvious activity undertaken within the school. you will read later in this report the thoughts of a few of this year’s Gold group as they

undertook the arduous expedition through Cumbria, and I am sure that you will gain some understanding of the sort of positive experience that they had, but whilst reading this it is important to remember that this is only one of five sections of the Award. The Award remains a significant challenge after fifty years and it is certain that anyone who has completed it has shown a good deal of character and determination in the process.

This year at King’s has been as fruitful as many of those before it, with many Awards being completed at all levels. It is to be hoped that the future will bring a continued commitment to the values of the Award scheme and that many of our pupils will benefit from participation in its various sections. I hope to be able to report that several of those who completed the expedition during the summer of 2006 have received their awards in next year’s Vigornian.

Gold expedition

J.T.W.

Photos:

Here is part of Stephen’s Poole’s log for the first two days of his ‘Gold Expedition.’

Tuesday 22nd August

An early rise took us to our start point at Sunny Bank for 0900. We walked for several kilometres alongside Coniston Water and into Coniston by 1000. The weather was very sunny and our backpacks heavy. We climbed out of Coniston and across Coniston Moor and reached lunch in the shadow of Weatherlam by a nice waterfall. Lunch was a very tasty four iced finger rolls and some flapjack which I ate happily in the sun. We climbed up to Weatherlam edge and

terwater and resumed the Cumbria Way which we had followed earlier in the day. The campsite was kept from us by a very steep road which really finished me off. By the time we arrived at camp I was exhausted. Piers also felt sick so we had to sort him out with some dioralyte. Our campsite is Tarn Foot farm for the night which is a ‘family only’ campsite. On arrival we set up our tent and replenished water. I ate a cooked chicken casserole. Morale has improved since we’ve had a rest and some food. The weather has clouded over recently.

Wednesday 23rd August

avoided the peak, descending towards Little Langdale through a bracken slope along an invisible path. This was very hard work and we found it hard to stay to schedule. It was physically exhausting going down rocky slopes, particularly on one’s knees. Morale was fairly low because of this. We marched on however, crossing after the tam and climbing through little Langdale. We took frequent breaks as the pack weight began to tell. Amin and Piers also ran out of water and Piers and Rich got blistered feet. We reached a small town called El -

We woke at 0700 in order to take the tents down early but were greeted by rain. I had slept through what had apparently been a heavy night’s downpour. Despite this I took my muesli in bed and packed all the kit I could in my tent to avoid the drizzle outside. We used our tent as a shelter in order to keep the kit dry while we took down the team’s tents then ours last. We got underway just before 0830 in the rain with morale fairly low but after a few hours quick marching we cheered up. We took a wrong turn near Rydal Water which wasted about thirty minutes. Climbing towards Grasmere the rain got a lot heavier and by the time we were on the main road the rain had got very heavy indeed. I found my waterproofs hot and sweaty to walk in but even so we made good time along the main road. At the turn off the sun burst through and dried all our clothes in about ten minutes and we found ourselves two hours ahead of schedule, both of which cheered us up

a lot. Climbing beside the great tongue was hot work but we made light work of it, reaching lunch beside the waterfalls. We met an ex-SAS soldier who told us some ridiculous tips during lunch. The rest of the day was sunny and we walked quickly to Glenridding. Here we camped. We got a decent opportunity to hang the tent up on arrival and it dried quickly which was good. The sky has cleared over nicely so we are hopeful for the weather tomorrow ……..

Climbing Club

Despite the temporary disruption of building works surrounding the school wall, the usual mix of novice and experienced climbers enjoyed a season of Wednesday sessions on our wall. Trips indoors to Martley and Worcester Shrub Hill quickly proved popular once the weather turned for the worse over winter and these venues also provided opportunities to develop new techniques. A further upgrade of our own facilities will offer exciting new challenges next year.

S.C.C.

Community Service

The Community Service Programme continues to attract a good number of pupils from across the age-range, covering a wide variety of activities.

The service element of D of E has provided about five pupils out of sixteen, who have been going to Nunnery Wood Primary School on a Friday lunch-time for about 30-35 minutes. This has proved to be a popular and most useful activity with a number of stalwarts - Amy Kavanagh, Kate Smith, Anjali Gondhalekar and Tom Cox.

The help we give at the Cancer Shop on The Cross has also been a key feature of the C.S.P. For most evenings of the week some of our pupils have gone into the shop to give an hour of voluntary help.

As part of Key Skills, the Upper Sixth have been visiting Pitmaston School on a Tuesday afternoon on a carousel basis. This school is the largest primary in the county and we have helped with art, literary and craft work.

The volunteer work we carry out on a Saturday morning has been provided with the help of pupils such as Sam Pearman,

Lower Remove Camps

Laurence Clarke, Ian Roberts, Andrew Wilson, Ashley Werner-de-Sondberg, Hamish Charters and James Greenwood. To these pupils I am very grateful for their commitment and service. The work we have done has involved both inside and exterior jobs.

Without the help of the following staff it would have been impossible to function as regularly as we have done: NE, DEB, DGW, ER, AJM, MCP, ES, TDS, My thanks go to all those involved.

C.G.-S.

Debating and Public Speaking

I suppose it was inevitable, or just as well, that the four speakers who won the two House Debating Competitions were also the most successful debaters at interschool level. So the winning Wulstan junior team, Lucy Boynett and Tim Rogers, were also the school junior team in the Taylor Trophy, where they made it to the second round but were defeated when having to argue that boxing should be banned. The winning Choir team in the senior competition, Liz Owen and Sarah Copsey, took part in several higher-level debates. They made it through to the second round of the Midland Competition in Birmingham, and to the finals of the Oxford Union – despite believing for a week that they had been eliminated as a result of a still unexplained error! They also competed very competently in the Durham extravaganza, as did Chris Lack and Hayley Simmonds, who had previously got as far as the second round of the Mace. In the latter competition they argued successfully that “judges should be elected” but couldn’t quite convince the unelected judges of the second round that we should change the Human Rights Act in the interests of national security. Another team to get as far as the second round was the ESU public speaking team of Cat Burt, Lucy Boynett and Ashley Werner-de-Sondberg; in fact Lucy won the “best individual speaker” award for her opposition to the motion that “human life is not sacred”. A competition with no rounds was the Malvern Rotary one-off public speaking, where Lucy Boynett and James Bartholomew did very well but

Catherine Sides, for the second time in three years, won the best overall speaker award. Several good performances in all, but hers was the one unqualified success, rewarded by a very pleasant dinner with the Malvern Rotary at a nearby golf club! The Debating Society continues to flourish on Tuesday afternoons, and affords an excellent opportunity for newcomers to develop confidence, both in speaking in public and in coping with the cut and thrust of robust arguments and “points of information” that characterize debating competitions. Our debaters are of a good standard, and can only get better with that experience. This year we plan to raise the profile somewhat by producing a video of a parliamentary debate in the youth Parliament Competition – not in the low-key way of the last five or so years, but with a seriously large House of Commons and a serious amount of rehearsal. Watch this space!

R.N.G.S.

The Great Shakespearian Debate

“Let us meet, and question this most bloody piece of work, to know it further.”

Banquo in Macbeth Act II Scene III

In February, Sarah Copsey, Catherine Sides and Elizabeth Owen, led by Mr Le Marchand, took part in the first ever ‘Great Shakespeare Debate’, along with fifteen other school teams from across the country. The event was organised by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in conjunction with the English Speaking Union and was held at the Trust’s Centre in the heart of Stratford-Upon Avon next to the birthplace itself. The event brought together elements of passionate debate, drama, rhetoric, and, of course, our much loved Shakespeare.

“She hath prosperous art, when she will play with reason and discourse, and well she can persuade.”

Claudio in Measure for Measure Act I Scene II

The competition consisted of three debates spread over two days. In the first round we won arguing against the motion ‘Shakespeare believes that in King

Lear Edgar and Cordelia are responsible for the deaths of their fathers.” In the second round we unfortunately lost by a single point in a decision that even the adjudicator had reservations about, whilst arguing, ‘Shakespeare believes that weakness is more dangerous than evil’. In the third round we secured another victory proposing, ‘Shakespeare believes that women should rule the world’ against a very strong team from St Helen and St Katherine’s School in Abingdon. However this was unfortunately not quite enough to win us a place in The Grand Final, although it was frustratingly close! We enjoyed all three debates enormously, relishing the opportunity to grasp the plays and bring them to life in argument and discussion.

“If it were done when ‘tis done, then ‘twere well it were done quickly”

Macbeth in Macbeth Act I Scene VII

One of the aims of the competition was to test students’ knowledge of the work and encourage them to expand it. To this end each team had only forty-five minutes to prepare each debate, armed with a copy of The Complete Works, a Shakespearean Dictionary and any other books they had brought along. This greatly tested each team’s knowledge of the plays and most of the preparation time was used to search for quotations across the entire canon. This revealed some obscure knowledge, often introduced with the phrase, ‘there’s a reference to this somewhere in As You Like It …’. Our team was especially commended for their knowledge both by judges and other teachers watching the debates. Sarah Copsey then went on to receive an award for her display of knowledge throughout the three debates.

“We’ll teach you…ere you depart”

Hamlet in Hamlet Act I Scene II

Another part of the two days was a series of lectures organised by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust exploring a range of topics on a Shakespearian theme. These included Women in Shakespeare, Endings, Tragedy, Past Productions and Costume. In addition the competitors were shown around the birthplace itself to give us an appreciation of the historical context of the plays.

“I do not much dislike the matter, but the

manner of his speech”

Octavius Caesar in Anthony and Cleopatra Act II Scene II

We also enjoyed The English Speaking Union’s lectures on rhetoric and dramatic speaking that allowed us to develop a level of flair and wit in our arguments and to reflect the dramatic nature of the works in quotation. Again prizes were awarded for this skill and Elizabeth Owen collected one for the King’s team.

“You have said: but whether wisely or no, let the forest judge”

Touchstone in As you Like It Act III Scene II

The Judging panels were mainly composed of students and included Lorna Shaddick, an OV, former King’s debater and Oxford undergraduate. Other judges came from the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, The English Speaking Union and the professional world. It was a display of the competition’s prestige that for The Grand Final Professor Stanley Wells, a leading critic on the works of Shakespeare, was invited as an adjudicator and also awarded the prizes at the end of the two days. Meeting such a prominent academic was an honour for all the team.

“The play’s the thing”

Hamlet in Hamlet Act II Scene II

The entire team had a wonderful two days at this hugely enjoyable and unprecedented event. For this we would like to thank SLeM for his fabulous company and innumerable cups of coffee in local cafes. We are very eager to take part in the coming year’s competition and hope that as Lucio says in Measure for Measure (Act I Scene V),“Where maidens sue, men give like gods”

Sarah Copsey, Elizabeth Owen and Catherine Sides.

Quizzes

As two of the Wulstan quiz team were members or ex-members of the School team, it was no real surprise that they won the House competition, though Gareth Ceredig did give the others a fighting chance by forget-

ting to turn up to the first-round match! The School team had for the last two years won through to the last eight in the country, and this extraordinary record was continued as the Cairns-Terry brothers, who have both been in or around that team throughout, along with Andrew Chaloner and Jed Brookes-Lewis, once again won the Severn Region and beat Exeter School in the inter-regional round. We didn’t get far in the national finals in Westminster School, but our record is nonetheless impressive! The next generation of general knowledge superkids – Robert Cowburn, Philip Dorrell, Rosie Pugh and Kate Shore – were up against a strong West Midlands region in the junior competition, and were beaten by one of the King Edward’s Edgbaston schools in the first round; but they bounced back and won the Plate competition. This year two of them – probably! – will be in the senior team and hoping to make it four in a row!

R.N.G.S.

Sixth Form Charity Committee

Once again it has been a particularly busy year for the School’s Charity Committee, which decided to focus more on involvement with the local community rather than fund raising for charities. That being said, there have been a number of Home Clothes days and, of course, the Summer Fete which raised a substantial amount for various good causes.

The annual Old Folk’s Christmas party was one of many highlights this year. Approximately eighty people from local homes and sheltered housing were entertained in the Theatre by a wonderful array of music, dance and drama all performed by the pupils. The Dining Hall, in full festive regalia, was the venue for a delicious Christmas tea and rousing carol singing. Father Christmas also paid a visit with goody bags for everyone.

In February, College Hall was taken over by 125 Fourth Formers for their annual disco, organised by the Committee. With low lights, great music and ‘interesting’ dancing, a good time was had by all. The money raised from the event went

to the Fourth Form choice of charity, The Air Ambulance.

To round off a splendid year, the Charity Committee held a Summer Party for the children of Manor Park School. King’s has built up a strong link with Manor Park through both the Fourth Form and members of the Committee who visit the children on a regular basis. The School Gardens were transformed into a wonderful party during which the children enjoyed face painting, water guns, football and music. The huge bouncy castle was also very popular with both our children and those from Manor Park! After a barbecue and ice cream, the children headed home tired but looking very happy.

The Sixth Form Charity Committee is now very well established and extremely successful. This is all down to the hard work put in by its student members and the handful of staff that help. N.S.

C.F.R.

Charity events: ‘Pink Day’ (opposite), the Coin Trail and the Manor Park Garden Party

Modern Foreign Language Society

It has been another busy social year for the Modern Foreign Languages Society, with events involving food and film being very popular. We began with a French wine tasting evening, with Mr Chris Hand providing expert information about the selected wines and snacks prepared by the students. Once fed and watered we headed down to the theatre to watch the film Les Choristes, a touching story about a music teacher and his effect on the boys who join his choir.

Just before the end of term a small group of students wrapped up against the cold and went up to Birmingham to visit the German Christmas Market. It provided an excellent opportunity for buying some more unusual Christmas presents for family and friends, with a glass of beer or warm glühwein helping to keep the cold at bay.

Another successful event of the year was a more low key German film evening for the students, who sat around on beanbags enjoying German beer and homemade canapés whilst watching the film Wings of Desire (‘Der Himmel über Berlin’).

Spanish A level students then decided they wanted to try their hand at creating some of the food they’d been learning about in lessons, and so guests were served up some delicious offerings accompanied by Spanish wine and Sangria, before watching the delightful film Como agua para chocolate.

With the previous evenings having been such successes, it was decided to have a German wine evening, again fronted by Mr Hand and accompanied by such delights as German cheese, smoked salmon and pretzels. With so many of our linguists preparing for time abroad and integrating into other cultures, the year proved not only eventful but extremely successful and my thanks go to those Sixth Formers who have maintained the necessary enthusiasm throughout.

Mathematics Department

Pupils of all ages took part in the three Mathematical Challenges, organised by the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust. King’s pupils performed well in these gaining numerous gold, silver and bronze certificates. In the Intermediate Challenge, thirteen pupils qualified for the Eu ropean Kangaroo. This is a more advanced challenge taken by pupils across Europe and beyond! Michael Cairns-Terry, Jonjo McArdle and Isabel Bateson also qualified for the prestigious Intermediate Olympiad, putting them in the top four hundred pupils in the country. Michael achieved a certificate of merit, with Jonjo achieving a certificate of distinction and a book prize, placing him in the top fifty in the country. In the Junior Maths Challenge, Maddy Shaw Roberts qualified for the Junior Olympiad.

a nail-biting finish, as it was announced that again there was a tie for first place, between King’s and WRGS! As a result King’s qualified for the National final to be held in London on 3rd July. Out of over two thousand schools taking part at the start, only sixty qualified for the final. The team put in a tremendous performance to finish in thirteenth place, beating last year’s position of seventeenth in the country.

In the Autumn and Spring terms, we once again held inter-form Maths team challenges, loosely based on the

James Mulvale. In the Upper Fourth, the winners were the same team from the previous year – U4 F represented by Bea Dee, George Holloway, Ellie Isaacs and Tom Mills.

At the beginning of the Summer term, a team of four pupils, Duncan Leeson, Jonjo McArdle, Robert Cowburn and Ellie Isaacs from the Lower Remove and Upper Fourth took part in the regional final of the Maths Team Challenge, held at Wycliffe College. For the second year running the team was involved in

In the second Inter-House countdown competition, Wulstan were the winners, beating Bright in a very closely fought contest. The winning team comprised Tom yates, Michael Cairns-Terry and Jonjo McArdle.

This year also saw the Maths department organise the first ever King’s Sudoku competitions at both Junior (L4 – LR) and Senior (UR – U6) levels. The winners of the two competitions were Hugo Watkins and Claire Hicks.

R.M.R.

Robert Cowburn and Ellie Isaacs at the Maths Team Challenge

Young Enterprise

Because young Enterprise has been so popular in recent years, it was decided that the new Lower Sixth pupils in September 2005 would have to apply to join one of three young Enterprise companies and justify why they thought they had what it took to be a modern entrepreneur. This in itself was a hurdle too far for some! The selection process was tough but the success of the three companies throughout the year showed that it worked. Verde, Milk-It and Kronos were all very different companies.

Verde

For the first time for a King’s company, Verde targeted the business community. Verde produced a CD guide to being a ‘green’ organisation. This was a brave move and one which won much applause from local companies and the general public. The team’s enthusiasm for the project clearly shone through and only the lack of time to complete their product fully for the Young Enterprise competition stopped them from going on to further rounds.

Milk-It

Milk-it raised their initial funds for their main product by holding milking competitions in and around school with Daisy the cow. The idea was to see how much ‘milk’ you could get out of Daisy in the quickest time. This proved very popular, particularly with the Fourth Forms. Sadly, the idea of selling manure from a more lifelike version of Daisy hit the rocks due to packaging problems! Milk-It’s main product was a cookery book and cake slicer and these sold in great quantities.

Kronos

Kronos’ initial product was CD clocks with original designs printed on them. Their second product was a CD guide to Worcester’s attractions. However, the clocks proved to be so popular that they concentrated their efforts on these. They won contracts with two large companies and you may still see one or two on sale in the Cathedral shop.

As usual, all of the companies were very competitive, both with each other and companies from other schools. Eventually, Kronos scooped the final prizes with awards at the recent Hereford and Worcester Area Final, including the Quinetic prize for Innovation, an award for Best Use of ICT in running a company, and the prestigious Company Secretaries Award for being the best run company in the two counties. Two of Kronos’ directors enjoyed the experience so much that they have now set up a consultancy to advise the new companies for the coming year.

J.C.V.

Milk-It

Verde

Kronos

The King’s Herald

An early start saw the King’s Herald team of Mr Roslington, James Titmuss, Ed MacKenzie and myself catch the train to London to collect our award for creating one of the best school ‘newspapers in a day’ in the country in the TES Newsday Competition. Unfortunately, our Editor and Sports Editor, Leanne Sheen and Jonathan Cairns-Terry had A2 exams so we had to deputise for them. We were heading for the House of Commons, but, after arriving early in London, we found time to pay a visit to the amazing Apple Store in Regent Street and have a play on state-of-the-art computers, iPods and other gadgets. Mr Roslington was in his element. Following a quick snack in a Whitehall café, we made our way to the House of Commons and received our V.I.P passes. The awards ceremony was

hosted by TV personality and Newsround presenter Lizo Mzimba. We were awarded with our framed certificate to acknowledge that we were one of the best three school newspapers in the country and the

press took photos. A photo of James, Ed and me appeared in The Times later in the week, apparently the winners of the competition, but we hadn’t actually won; we were worthy runners-up. When the ceremony had finished, we had a chance to socialise with a diverse set of students: there was a kilted Scottish duo who had been the only members of their team to be able to make it from Scotland because the others had been involved in a runway plane crash; and there were some gothic Germans in big black floor-length leather coats – strange considering it was a baking hot day. It was great to have a chat with them while munching on sophisticated nibblesminiature cones of fish and chips. We also had a chance to go onto the House of Commons Terrace overlooking the River Thames and the Millennium Bridge, and had an opportunity to have a look at the winning newspaper. (It was very good!) It was a fantastic trip and we’re all really proud of what the team achieved and hope that we can go one better next year and win the competition.

Sophie Le Marchand

Fantasy Football League

Sixty five teams battled it out to become winners of The King’s School Fantasy Football League this season. TAB took

Sophie Le Marchand, Ed MacKenzie, James Titmuss and JMR

Leanne Sheen

the honours of School Champion and staff winner with his team ‘Dynamos’. The runner-up place and Lower Fourth winner was David Jubb and his team ‘Banana Boys’, whilst third place and Upper Sixth winner was claimed by ‘Baghdadi Bandits’ managed by Julius Baghdadi. TAB’s team finished in the top 1% in the country where over 115,000 teams took part. The other year group winners were George Burt’s ‘Slack-Jawed yokels’ in the Upper Fourth; Jonjo McArdle and Tim Rogers’s ‘Timmy Tiptoes’ in the Lower Remove and Joe O’Connor’s ‘Obe Wan Kanobe Nil’ in the Lower Sixth. The FA Cup competition was won by James Priddey from the Upper Sixth and his team ‘The Mathemagicals’. A World Cup competition was also held this year and Alex Wood’s ‘Fantasy Fighters’ were the school winners.

A-M.S.

Robotics Club

The club continues to be popular with students who are new to King’s. There is much activity during Tuesday lunchtimes as they work out ways to build and program their robots to carry out increasingly complicated tasks.

This year our team, led by Ian Roberts, won its regional heat of the First Lego League competition which was held at Stone in Staffordshire. This meant that it qualified for the national final for the first time. The event, held at Loughborough University, was huge with over two hundred competitors taking part. Overall the team came tenth out of the twenty four teams competing which was a creditable achievement and a fitting end to their robotic careers.

I.C.R.

Model United Nations

Students are allotted countries to repre-

sent at debating conferences which bring together students from all over Britain and sometimes the world with an interest in international current affairs or public

speaking. This conference is a simulation of the United Nations itself. Each student chooses a committee whose work most interests him/her, for example, Economic and Social Committee, Human Rights Committee, Ecology and Environment Committee, Health and youth committee, Security Council.

Using a number of resources, the Internet, newspapers, daily news bulletins, past resolutions, etc, they try to get to grips with the issues on the agenda and to understand the opinion of the country which they are representing. They write policy statements, draft resolutions and amendments. They spend the conference lobbying for support and debating in committees and in the General Assembly. The emphasis is on diplomacy and resolution.

This year, twelve students have taken part in MUN conferences and a number of beginners are also looking forward to getting involved with future conferences. Delegates from KSW have so far represented New Zealand, Austria and Jordan at conferences in Cheadle Hulme and Bath. E.A.S.

At an MUN conference

Joe Blewitt and Andrew Wilson

A busy summer

I was not looking forward to the end of term. This year we knew that during the summer we had 15000 items to move into a building that looked like it wouldn’t be ready to receive them. Not only that, but everything had to come down the spiral staircase of Edgar Tower. Only thirty seven steps, but guaranteed (or so we thought) to slow the whole job down. Not so! The removal men arrived – all ten of them – with a plan. The staircase was overlaid with boards, and the spiral was turned into a very effective chute down which the long, narrow crates containing the library’s contents were slid, all to the blaring sound of Radio One. Done in two days, the school library was packed, moved, and unpacked, with only two out of 550 crates going into the wrong place. The hardest part, we thought, was over. Some weeks later and it was almost the start of term; the builders were still everywhere on both floors of the new library, with the glass bridge to the upper floor unfinished. We realised that our plans to have everything including IT installed, set up, and working perfectly by the first day of term, had been a little ambitious. We had said that we would open on the first day of term, and we did……

Now it’s almost half term, and we’re recovering from the arrival of Henry VIII (you must come and see for yourselves), a marvellous Words Alive! Week of events and the official opening performed by Roger McGough. Life has changed beyond belief for us. Now at the centre of the school site, there are pupils waiting to be let in when I arrive at 7.50 a.m., and complaining as we persuade them to leave at 5.30 p.m. In between, the Sixth Form have colonised us during the day, and the rest of the school flocks in at morning break, lunchtime, and after school. There have been rainy lunchtimes when we’ve had to turn people away! I looked at the people counter a few days ago and found it hard to believe what it read. I know that we have hosted a few events; an OV Weekend Reunion, a reception for donors to the cost of the new building, a Poetry and Prose Evening. According to the people counter, we have had 21979 visits – and that doesn’t count pupils visiting the lower floor. The counter wasn’t switched on until 18th September, so you do the maths…. we’re busy!

The Library will be open during Parents’ Evenings for current parents to have a look around – we will be pleased to see you.

Pauline Baum, Librarian

Careers

The Careers Department has moved from its quirky warren of offices at Number 12 to a suite of rooms in the new library complex. The past weeks have been occupied with finding things, labelling everything in sight and reclassifying the Careers library.

The Department has developed considerably over the past few years: not only have we begun a programme of careers talks (more of these later) but an inaugural Medical Conference is planned for the spring term of 2007 and we have a newly appointed member of staff, LB, to coordinate Gap activities.

The annual Industrial Conference is a busy two days for the Lower Sixth who are confronted with the paper tree challenge and the co-optition game. Delegates from local business and industry lead students through a series of workshops and challenges, designed to encourage team work, communication and

other skills important to business. Work placements and locations have become diverse and far flung. Wouldbe astronauts, aspiring bull fighters and meteorologists have all passed through the doors. Unsurprisingly, there is a shortage of these on the database, so if there

bullfighters or astronauts out there, we’d love to hear from you. Swan rescue, Sizewell nuclear power station (the student managing not to turn bright orange) and ITV Wales newsroom were on offer last year, along with optronics research, the NSPCC, the Houses of Parliament and Stella McCartney’s fashion studio in London.

Forensic science, architecture and law have all featured in the Friday lunchtime talks, offered to Upper Remove, Fifth and Sixth Form students. Our language speaker flew in especially from L’Oreal in Germany, clearly because King’s students are worth it. Thanks to all speakers, industrial conference advisors and those who have provided work placements, many of whom are parents or OVs.

Helen Isaacs

Swan rescue

tRAveL

Ladahk: A Himalayan Adventure

The Himalayan trip, which went to India this year, was rather more exciting than I had expected. There were floods, rock-falls, unexpected snow and an encounter with a scorpion, but my most terrifying memories are of the journeys which we took by road. As one of our tour guides said, “In some countries, people drive on the left hand side of the road, and in others they drive on the right. In India, it’s optional.” The streets of Delhi are shared by cars, pedestrians, rickshaws, cows and hawkers; lanes are nonexistent or ignored. So it was with some trepidation that we set out on a week-long road trip from the lowlands around Delhi to Kibber, the Himalayan village where the trek itself began. The experience was as alarming as I had feared. As we drove, the landscape became steeper and more arid, and the roads grew smaller, but our jeeps did not slow down. They would practise overtak ing round blind corners, blaring madly with their horns and hoping that the road ahead was clear. Our frequent stops in villages, to stretch our legs and drink some local tea, were always greeted with relief. We also found the time to look

achievement was to cross the pass of Parang La. At 5400 metres: it was well above the snowline, and the ascent was very hard, but we were rewarded by stupendous views and an hour’s walk down a snow-clad glacier.

From then on, the trek got easier, because we were going along flat valley floors. Apart from the walking, which took about six hours each day, we had hardly any jobs to do. The local crew did all our cooking and washing up; they struck camp once we had left it in the morning, overtook us during the day, and set it up again before we had caught up. For the last few days, we walked along the shores of Lake Tsomorari, a vast and beautiful expanse of water ringed with mountains. At one point we were stopped by a group of soldiers who demanded to photograph us. We posed slightly apprehensively, because they were carrying guns, but they turned out to be very friendly. They accompanied us on our walk for a while, chatting to us, and bizarrely passed round their loaded rifles for us to admire.

around several temples: each of us received a Hindu blessing and, on another occasion, were present at a Buddhist ceremony. One of the highlights of the trip was meeting a senior lama, whom we later discovered was the most important Buddhist in India. He was an amazing man, very old and very humble, who granted the group an audience and thanked us all profusely for our interest in his religion.

A few days’ driving brought us to Kibber. With a mixture of sadness and relief, we left our jeeps behind, transferred our kit bags to ponies and embarked upon the trek. The altitude was difficult at first, and most of us struggled to acclimatise, but the landscape was spectacular. We walked on giant scree slopes, and through narrow rocky gorges carved by streams. Our main

The trek ended at the village of Korzok, in considerable style. The entire population turned out to greet us, with the women wearing traditional costume and headdresses and the children standing in long rows beside the road. They were all fascinated by our digital cameras, and would crowd around to see the pictures of themselves on the screen. We were given English tea and biscuits in a marquee before being taken on a tour of the temple. There, we donated some money to help set up a scholarship fund for the children of the village.

The grant, of about a thousand pounds, was enough to secure the education of over a hundred children for a year.

The welcome to Korzok was brilliant, and possibly the best part of the trip, but the next few days were less successful. To begin with, our attempt to climb the 6000 metre Menthok peak was thwarted by heavy snow. We returned to Korzok, intending to drive by jeep to the city of Leh, but we discovered that the only

Beside sign encouraging other travellers to contribute to village education

On the way down

For me and several others, one further adventure remained.

We found a snake charmer whose act consisted of encouraging tourists to sit down beside him and then unexpectedly dropping a python round their necks. Stupidly, I volunteered to have a go, and discovered that his other basket contained a cobra.

had been blocked by a landslide so the jeeps had been unable to get through. We set off, rather optimistically, in two lorries that had been commandeered from the village, but fortunately met our jeeps quite quickly. We still had to contend with a detour across country and some flooded roads. Just one day later, the road over which we had driven was washed out, leaving several other trekgroups trapped. We continued almost unaffected and returned to Delhi for a sightseeing tour to finish off the trip. In one hectic day we saw the huge Red Fort, visited a mosque and climbed its minaret, and took a rickshaw ride through the city streets. Then we were off to Agra, the home of the famous Taj Mahal. This was another highlight: it was smaller than I had expected but every bit as impressive.

There were many wonderful memories on the trip, but my abiding memory is of the friendliness of the people. Strangers would strike up conversations with us or ask us for a photo; in villages the local children wandered around our camp, playing with a frisbee or listening to our iPods. Our crew were not just hardworking and unbelievably tough, they were also great fun. We played

Dan Leach shares his picture

On parang La

JW trying hard to entertain

An interesting path

First river crossing

them at cards and cricket during the little free time that they had, and got to know them well. Our group leader, Neeraj, was one of the most interesting people I have ever met. Above all, it was this insight into another culture that made the trip so special.

Chris Lack

Morocco

After six months of planning, fundraising and a training expedition to the very un-Moroccan climate of Snowdonia, thirteen Upper Remove pupils and two teachers jetted off to a two week adventure in Morocco.

The first two days were spent adjusting to the huge culture and climate differences in Marrakech and also bonding with our very friendly guide for the trip, Crystal. The nights were unbearable in the stifling heat of the hotel rooms but after a while we grew accustomed with waking up in a puddle of sweat. The city is incredible, it is always alive with the sounds of snake charmers’ pipes, stall holders shouting and thousands of people visiting the huge maze of Souks to do their shopping. On day three we headed for our trek stage, the ascent of Jbel Toubkal in the high Atlas Mountains (the highest mountain in northern Africa). We began the ascent in the village of Imlil which was already 1500m above sea level. The weather was still very hot even at this height so, even though we had mules to carry our heavy kit, progress was still slow. Our morale was kept high though by a combination of Hussein (our local guide) and John Harper’s witty jokes. Another day of hard trekking brought us to the base camp, Neltner Hut at 3100m. It was here that the effects of altitude began affecting some of the group with splitting headaches but despite this it did not prevent eleven pupils and both teachers from reaching the summit (4165m) early the next morning. The weather and views were spectacular and everyone experienced a great sense of achievement when they

realised what they had done. We then spent two more days descending back to Imlil and travelling back to Marrakech.

After a rest day spent seeing the sites of Marrakech we travelled to Talamanzou, a remote village which had had very little contact with the Western World, where we stayed for two nights and helped the locals to build a new school building that would provide an education to hundreds of poor children from the surrounding area. We had also raised money in England to pay for the roof materials and had brought footballs, pens, pencils and a kite for the children. Despite some people falling ill everyone had an amazing time. We were then invited to a traditional Moroccan wedding in a neighbouring village. Laura and Harvey were unofficially married and the girls were dressed up in traditional Moroccan dress while the boys took on the local men in a football match. We were all treated to amazing hospitality as we were adopted by a local family. Finally we made a teary goodbye to everyone in the village and headed back to Marrakech.

We spent a couple more days in Marrakech having a guided tour of the Souks (we could have been stuck in them for days without our guide) and lounging in the hotel pool. We also went for a day trip to the coastal town, Essaouira. Here we went on a shopping spree around the old Spanish part of the town taking advantage of the amazing bargains and sunbathed on the postcard perfect beaches. The final day was spent in Marrakech packing and doing some last minute souvenir buying, and then we went for a last meal in a traditional Moroccan restaurant. Our flights the next day were severely delayed by the terrorist scare in Heathrow and when we finally arrived in Gatwick we bade an emotional farewell to our amazing guide Crystal - the trip

Rory at Talamanzou school

The summit of Jbel Toubkal

wouldn’t have been the same without her support - and greeted our parents.

Everyone had an amazing and emotional life-changing experience that they will remember for a very long time. A big thank you must go to JTW and SCC and to Wilderness Expertise staff for making the trip possible.

Rory Johnson

French Alps

Upper Remove Geography trip

We left Worcester on a scorching day and commenced the twenty hour coach journey to the French Alps. On arrival at the beautiful alpine village of Notre Dame de Bellecombe we headed up the mountain side to an idyllic classroom in one of the many alpages. With the mooing of cows as an inspiration, Mr Gill gave us our first lesson on alpine agriculture and the formation of the Alps.

Bright and early the next day we took a short coach journey to Les Saisies, the venue for the 1992 cross country skiing winter Olympics to study the impact of tourism in mountainous regions.

Making mint tea at the school in Talamanzou

Sarah Twyman at the school

The wedding party travels in style

Marrakech

The school

A quick visit to the Beaufort cheese factory was then enjoyed by all: the cheese was delicious. We were able to see the factory at work and how the farmers have succeeded in creating a cooperative to remain profitable. On our way back to our hotel we stopped at the Roselend Barrage, an example of France’s use of alternative and sustainable energy resources. Here the artists amongst us could shine when we took detailed sketches of the barrage and surrounding physical features. After a delayed journey back due to roads closed for summer maintenance, we were sadly

unable to go swimming in an outdoor lake because of an approaching thunderstorm. We did not let this dampen our spirits though and later that evening we headed to the bowling alley in high hopes. However a rather inconvenient France-Germany World Cup match was being played that night so the alley was shut. Resigned to watching the game ourselves some of us were secretly wishing for a German victory.

Optimistic of better weather, we headed to the Glacier de Trient in Switzerland the following day. The walk to the glacier gave impressive views, but sadly our sketching skills were severely tested when the cloud came down leaving us to imagine the landscape in front of us! After a quick but very wet walk back to the dryness and warmth of the coach we had time to visit Chamonix - just as the sun came out. In the evening we all went ice skating. This turned out to be great fun with Mr. Cuthbertson displaying his immense skill at the sport.

The next day the weather improved and we were blessed with bright sunshine for the whole day. We visited the amazing Les Gorges du Fier to witness the dramatic effect of river erosion on limestone. Later we visited Annecy, Cheltenham’s twin town, with the cleanest lake in Europe. We split up into small groups to study tourism and settlement, but many people found that the crepes and glaces were more desirable! Later in the day we went swimming in an Olympic pool in the resort of Megeve

Outside the hotel

At the Roselend Barrage

Les Gorges du Fier

and in the evening we enjoyed everyone displaying their dancing styles in the hotel’s discotheque.

The final day was spent finishing off fieldwork and being a tourist in Notre Dame de Bellecombe. We enjoyed the very hot day playing tennis and eating more glaces. A prize giving ceremony was a great end to an enjoyable and productive week. Top prizes were given to Cara Evans, Joelle Gready, Rory Johnson and Dan Meyer. The prize for the worst film collection was won by Jack Everton! A big thank you to all the staff involved including Mr Orr for agreeing to join us before he had even joined the school.

Rory Johnson and Dan Meyer

Christmas Cologne trip

The Carol Service set the mood perfectly for our ‘German Christmas Market for All’ trip. I had just enough time for a brief sip of wine in the common room before I grabbed my pre-packed bag and hopped on the coach. It was a twelve hour trip to Cologne, but after my first term at King’s, sleep came easily.

The experience began in Belgium, where we stopped at a café to freshen up and get breakfast. Like they say, it is the little differences…you pay to use the facilities but the coffee is superb and cheap.

We were dropped off by our excellent travel hosts in the centre of Cologne by the Cathedral. Here we split in to groups and before we hit the markets we walked around the magnificent Gothic cathedral; this was a surreal moment having only a few hours before been in Worcester Cathedral.

Thereafter we ambled around several markets; the atmosphere was warm and alive and the “Glühwein” tasted like ‘Christmas in a boot shaped mug’.

We had lunch in a tavern and then made our way to the Chocolate Factory. I got the impression some of the pupils rushed through the history to get to the free chocolate…? But it was amazing, a warm chocolate fountain Willy Wonka style.

After investigating the candle-lit Medieval market we headed off to our simple but comfortable hotel and were all glad of a bed

Outside Cologne Cathedral

before we grabbed those last Christmas finishing touches from Cité Europe in Calais.

In forty-eight hours I had done all my Christmas shopping and travelled to four countries and I would recommend it to anyone.

L.F.

Memmingen

King’s Day over than a group of twenty nine Upper Remove students left Worcester, bound for Memmingen, in south Germany. After welcoming their German partners at Easter, it was now time for members of the English group to experience German hospitality. We were partnered with members of the Strigel Gymnasium, a grammar school which RAB has visited regularly over the last fifteen years, ever since he was the English assistant there.

We quickly found out that Memmingen is ideally situated for visits to several of the most beautiful sites in Germany. Some pupils went up the tallest cathedral spire in the world at Ulm; others visited the ‘Disneyland’ castle at Neuschwanstein. The whole group enjoyed a day’s excursion to the Bavarian capital of Munich, where we saw evidence of the recent World Cup, as well as more historical sites which reminded us that this was the home of Hitler’s Beer Hall ‘putsch’. We also went into the Alps, climbing one of the peaks and enjoying the clear air and beautiful views. There were also several mornings in school, observing the contrast between German and English lessons. One noticeable difference was acclaimed by all: when the temperature got to a certain point on the thermometer, school ended earlier than usual.

RAB’s knowledge of the area ensured that our visited culminated with a cultural highlight - Fischertag. Since the Middle Ages, local men have cleaned out the streams running through the town on a certain day in July. The night before is one of drunken revelry, before the men of the town assemble in the market square, accompanied by gun-toting comrades, dressed in the garb of the medieval militia. At a given signal, those men who

are eligible to do so jump into the streams and try to fish out all the trout. Wives, girlfriends and mothers or sisters wait on the banks with buckets to hold the fish as they are caught. It is hard to capture the excitement and noise as the first fish is landed. There are particular cheers when someone nets a large fish because the fisherman with the biggest trout is named the Fischerkönig, or ‘Fisher King’ for the next year. After his ‘coronation’ later that day, the drinks are on him for the next twelve months (which is why certain wily fishermen put their biggest catch back in the water rather than win the prize.) As can be imagined, the King’s pupils were out in force to enjoy the celebrations and witness the fishing. At the end of the day, many of us wondered why we cannot introduce such an entertaining spectacle on the banks of the River Severn in Worcester.

World War One Battlefields

This year’s battlefield trip visited the Somme almost exactly ninety years after the British launched their ill-fated offensive. Standing in No Man’s land at the Newfoundland Memorial Park, with sheep grazing contentedly amidst the old shell holes and the silence broken only by the gentle hum of a Commonwealth War Graves mower, it was difficult to realise that in this small area 20,000 British soldiers died within a few hours on 1st July 1916. The neat, well cared for British cemeteries, much smaller than their French and German counterparts, seem to hide the true scale of the disaster, yet as the students learnt the carnage was truly horrific. Despite the steady increase in the number of visitors in the past few years and the necessary but intrusive appearance of toilets and refreshment facilities the Somme battlefield still remains a place capable of arousing deep emotions even amongst those three generations removed. The simplicity

S.E.H.

In the market square with the Burgermeister

The Memmingen party

of the Hawthorn Crater cemetery, sited on the German Front Line where forty six members of the Black Watch lie buried in a huge shell hole, guarded by a bronze statue of a kilted soldier, is particularly British in its conception and execution. As one eminent World War One historian remarked “If I was going to have be buried anywhere on the Western Front this would be my chosen spot.” It took the King’s School party of thirty eight just three minutes to walk from the British lines to this spot; in 1916 it took the British Army over four months.

The 2006 King’s tour was a cosmopolitan affair with regards to staff. PTG being the only historian able to travel, the net was cast far and wide with specialists in Religious Studies, Latin and Chemistry being recruited to make up the full complement. RJJ soon revealed himself to be a closet historian, masquerading as a scientist. His enthusiasm for and surprisingly expert knowledge of the technical details of the war, and also the expedition camera, was infectious as was his ability to pass the time on the coach by discussing with the chaplain the finer points of Conference football. For the uninitiated the conversation tended to be a little repetitive. EAS provided a calm and caring presence, especially when the hotel was briefly occupied by a couple of London wide boys. Her linguistic skills ensured that vegetarians received omelettes at all times and that the staff were treated to café au lait. The Chaplain, a veteran of previous expeditions, expertly guided one group around the many sites visited, and initiated numerous discussions with the students on diverse topics such a the purpose of war; the role played by poetry in our understanding of World War One and the absence of World Cup fever amongst the populace of Bethune

The students were an entertaining, pleasant and talkative group. They responded enthusiastically to field work tasks in the ypres and Somme areas, they asked numerous perceptive questions at nearly all the sites and they approached topics such as the execution of deserters with sensitivity and maturity. The recent government decision to start the process of granting a pardon to the 352 British Soldiers ‘Shot at Dawn’ made the visit to China Wall cemetery , near ypres, especially relevant as it contains the graves of five of those executed by their own side. The itinerary this year included a visit on the last day to La Coupole, the World War Two German rocket launching site. The massive concrete domed launch pad, built by slave labour, was a vivid reminder that World War One did not turn out to be the ‘War to end all Wars’. Being in France during World Cup Final weekend was an interesting experience, not least because of the welcome absence of cars festooned with national flags. During the four days abroad we spotted just one French automobile infected with the ‘English disease’. The actual final was watched by three of the thirty four students, the rest preferring to play cricket or straighten their hair. I cannot report on the winner of the latter competition but the former was won comfortably by PTG’s team, possibly assisted by his ‘Kes’ style role as bowler, batsman, wicket keeper and

most crucially of all as umpire. Darrel Hair is a good role model for those aspiring to take future trips.

P.T.G.

Skiing

Senior

As term ended, thirty-four Fifth and Sixth form students set off to Saas Fee, Switzerland for the first week of the ski season. Snow ploughs on the motorway at sea level hinted of fantastic conditions in the resort. Sure enough, by the time we reached the village, we could see the mountains were completely snow covered, just revealing spectacular ice falls, glaciers and enormous crevices.

The party comprised of skiers and boarders of all abilities. The complete beginners made huge progress during their first week and the intermediates and advanced among us enjoyed the excellent conditions and instruction. Not content with long days up the mountain, the group took advantage of the customary ski trip evening entertainment including outdoor ice skating and swimming. Not only were the mountains of Switzerland spectacular but also the village of Saas Fee itself was beautiful and straight from the top of a Swiss chocolate box.

The week was free from injury and everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves despite some pretty chilly weather.

C.W.S.W.

Junior

Forty nine pupils went to Folgaria, Italy on the Junior Ski trip over half-term. The weather deteriorated slightly after two fantastically sunny days at the start of the week. The snow conditions were superb throughout the week and the final day tested the group’s ability in wonderful powder conditions. Spirits were high at all times - even when Ryan Air abandoned us at

Venice Treviso airport at o’clock on Sunday morning. The ski company came to our rescue and we eventually arrived back at school at 3.30 on Monday morning.

C.W.S.W.

Lower Sixth French Exchange to Reims

This was the third exchange to Reims and there were two significant differences from the two previous trips. Firstly the staff /pupil ratio must have impressed the authorities -three staff for eight pupils with SEH and MRG helping JLO to maintain order, and secondly, the aeroplane was abandoned as a means of transport in the interests of a reduction in global warming in favour of the Eurostar train service.

There were no problems until we had to decipher the seat numbers on the tickets but after that had been sorted out and most of us had walked along the length of the train carrying Rosie Loy’s suitcase (which probably contained enough clothes for three months), we were close to France. Luckily we arrived on time and met our respective partners. The next day we were in school and we participated in various lessons. Henry Dummer made a favourable impression because of his willingness to participate in French. Unfortunately we had booked the train to go to Paris on the Wednesday but because of the civil unrest at the time (protests against the new employment laws and disruption to rail and road networks) we managed to change the tickets for another day. We were able to visit the Louvre and do some shopping as well as visit Montmartre and view Paris from the top of the Galeries Lafayette.

On the other days, we visited the Champagne cellars of Piper Heideseck, visited the city of Reims, avoiding another demonstration by the youth of France, and managed to complete the town trail devised by the Trips’ Organiser, Michael. The impressive cathedral was visited as well as the Basilica of St. Rémy which is well worth a visit. We also went out for a meal in Reims,

saw “Ice Age II” in the cinema without subtitles and generally tried to speak as much French as possible. MRG was particularly impressive in this respect as, over lunch, he treated the French staff to his ideas on fast and slow food.

At the weekend pupils were with their respective families and were treated to trips to places like Disneyland Paris, or simply whisked off to country homes. The most important thing is that they spend some time alone in an environment where French is ‘de rigueur!’

The return trip was quite interesting and a little worrying as we again encountered both demonstrators and riot police trying to control them. The café in ‘la Gare du Nord’ we were sitting at actually closed for some time in case of trouble. Fortunately the mob dispersed to harass someone else and we were able to return to England unhindered.

It was a very worthwhile trip and we are happy to continue our links with this excellent school. I know that some of the contacts made in previous years have been continued and are still flourishing. Surely that is what exchanges like this are designed for. I should like to express my thanks to SEH and MRG, who ensured that everything went smoothly and to the pupils, who were positive and who gained a great deal from the experience.

J.L.O.

Le Vésinet

During the first week of the Easter holidays, a group of thirty two Upper Remove students travelled to le Vésinet, just outside Paris, on the return leg of their exchange. The French students had spent a very busy few days in Worcester the previous week, visiting the Cathedral, Stratford and Warwick Castle. Everyone seemed to get on well and our students were eagerly awaiting their visit to Le Vésinet. Despite motorway closures and long traffic jams, we arrived safely around 6 o’clock in the evening and, with excitement and nervousness at fever pitch, our students went off with their families for their first experience of life in a French family. There were various excursions arranged during the next few days to the principle tourist sites in Paris, including going to the top of the Eiffel Tower, a tour of the Musée du

Louvre (where everyone was surprised at how small the Mona Lisa was) and a visit to the Palais de Versailles. Probably the most unforgettable event was a ‘frogs’ legs and snails’ tasting session, during which some brave people ate a dozen or more snails! Lots of really tacky souvenirs were bought and nearly everyone came home with a French béret.

My thanks go to JM-S, Mr M-S, RPG and Mrs G for their help and support.

Work Experience Germany

After our AS exams, David Lewis and I spent three weeks of work experience in Kleve, northwest Germany. I spent my time at a local radio station, a fascinating experience, especially considering we were in Germany during the World Cup, while Dave enjoyed one week with a solicitor and two weeks in the district court. While in Germany, we both had some memorable experiences, including watching a World Cup semi-final on a big screen with 6,500 people, visiting Cologne and, in the case of Dave, being handcuffed to a Dutch drugs baron. All part of the job…..

James Ellingworth

Outside a Reims cafe

James Ellingworth and David Lewis

Over the summer holidays I had the opportunity to spend three weeks in Germany in order to do work experience. I spent the first week in Magdeburg in eastern Germany with a small civil engineering company, which gave me a fantastic chance to improve my language skills as well as giving me some experience in the field of engineering, the subject I intend to study at university. I was shown many aspects of the company, and taken to visit many sites on which the company were working. Staying with a host family was also the best possible way of experiencing the culture. For my third week I travelled to Kleve, a small town on the Dutch border. This was a very different experience as I was working in a large department store, but I was able to see a very different part of Germany and being immersed in the language for a third week was excellent for my fluency and will hopefully help me greatly in my study of A2 German.

Simon Holpin

During the work experience week and the first week of the summer holidays, we spent time in German schools: Tara in a Kindergarten and Sammi in a secondary school. We were completely submerged in the German culture, with non English-speaking families! Our work week was timetabled for us, and although we were very busy, we found time to see the more ‘traditional’ Germany, such as Munich and Ulm.

Working in the schools proved to be a challenging experience, but the best experience of the two weeks was the social atmosphere – living the life of 17-year-old Germans, during the World Cup especially, was fantastic!

Sammi Perry and Tara Owen

France

Three AS level students spent two weeks on Work Experience in Le Vésinet, a suburb of Paris, accommodated by French fami-

lies, before accepting their exchange partners back to spend two weeks working in Worcester.

James Bartholomew was employed in the bookshop La Plume Enchantée – “The opportunity to have day-to-day conversations with day-to-day French people, whether ordering books or watching the World Cup, was invaluable.”

George Clarke spent his work experience at Le Raisin Vert, a men’s clothing store –“Taking breaks to chat and drink an espresso with the sales assistant weren’t only fun but immensely helpful for my French.”

Clare Pitts-Tucker spent the time in a local bakery – “The experience of regular Parisian life was one I’ll never forget.”

James Bartholomew

Outside le Sacré-Coeur

Le Vésinet - trip into Paris

SpoR t

Rugby Results

1st XV

A team capable of playing some attractive rugby but one whose shortcomings were consistently exposed by opponents who had a strong pack of forwards. The lack of a powerful front five proved a serious handicap in all the key matches with the unexpected victories against Warwick and Old Swinford being the result of excellent scavenging by the back row and in the former case inspired kicking from number 10. The first practice game at the Swansea pre season training camp highlighted the problems ahead when nobody offered to play at prop, surely a first for a senior rugby squad. The introduction of an Under 16, Jake Underwood, after four matches helped shore up one side of the scrum whilst on the other side Lorcan Lynch and James Priddey nobly steeped into the breech but were much happier in the second row. The reluctance of players when lower down the school to play in different positions has long been a problem. Interestingly a crash course in scrummaging with the Second and Third XV squads revealed a number of promising props and the situation for the 2006 season is looking much more rosy with King’s threatening, for the first time for ten years to have a proper sized pack.

Charlie Fellows and James Ranson both played at representative level for the Midlands and both on their day showed themselves to be players with real potential. Neither was consistent enough in his standard of play; Fellows was inspirational against a powerful Warwick XV but distinctly under par against RGS Worcester, whilst Ranson made excellent yardage as a ball carrier but was less prominent in the ball winning department. Here the team suffered badly from the absence through injury for much of the season of Toby Fellows. This placed a lot of pressure on Dom Wood who responded extremely well but as an Under 16 on occasion found the size of the opposition an insuperable problem. The other younger members of the pack, Richard Lea, Charles Lloyd Jones and Jack Herriot all showed well in parts and gained useful experience for their Upper Sixth year.

The backs too often had to try and win games with 30% possession or less and as a result found it hard to develop the confidence which is gained from the knowledge that a clearing kick does not mean the loss of possession for the next five minutes. The lack of an experienced fly half proved critical with Charlie Fellows having to take over in this role even though he was a natural centre of

Blundell’s

KES Birmingham

Solihull

KES Camphill

Warwick

King’s Taunton

Prine Henry’s Evesham (Daily Mail)

Portora Royal, Enniskillen

Coleraine Academy

Chase

Monmouth

KES Aston

Hereford Cathedral (Daily Mail)

RGS Worcester

Bristol G.S.

Old Swinford Hospital

Lost 0 - 11

Lost 9 - 14

Lost 5 - 25

Won 31 - 10

Won 12 - 10

Lost 14 - 20

Won 29 - 0

Lost 5 - 12

Won 22 - 10

Won 19 - 12

Won 19 - 5

Won 56 - 7

Lost 11 – 19

Lost 9 - 17

Lost 13 - 20

Won 17 - 5

full back. His enthusiasm for running the ball from all parts of the field was commendable but opposing teams did find it easier to close him down at 10 then they would have done had he been playing further out. Darach Duffy was the most improved back in the side and finished the season in excellent form. His tackling improved immeasurably whilst his elusive running when counter attacking consistently troubled our opponents. Apart from these two our try scoring threat was limited with Tom Mitchell failing to recover his form of previous seasons and Andrew Blackburn showing nice touches but lacking finishing power. Tom Longley was a brave and gutsy scrum half but found it hard to compete against the more mature teams, as did Tom Gwynne. The emergence of Will Herriot as a solid centre helped stabilise the team after half-term but there is no substitute for pace and this was shown in

James Ranson wins a line-out

Tom Longley and Charlie Fellows in defence

our defeat by Hereford in the Daily Mail Cup where all Hereford’s points came from their Welsh Schools centre. Four days later this point was emphasised even more firmly when with King’s on top and leading a misplaced pass allowed the RGS flyer to intercept and

term; with up to 40 players regularly attending practices they never had time for a rest. Not for King’s the luxury of the vast back-up team so beloved of modern international teams!

Sevens

sprint 70 metres to score. Our quickest back was Ed Jones but he spent most of the season recovering his fitness following the broken leg he sustained playing football. His match winning try in the last match of the term against Old Swinford suggested that in 2006 he could be a real threat.

The half-term tour to Northern Ireland was a great success with two good games and excellent hospitality. As a squad they were a very personable group and training was always enjoyable, even the early morning runs at Swansea were quite amicable affairs. My thanks to RJD and SMB for all their support over the

As so often has been the case in recent years the Sevens season was a patchy and at times unsatisfactory affair. The First Seven on paper looked to be reasonably strong but the absence of Charlie Fellows and James Ranson from the first two tournaments

ground for King’s fell victim to blizzards thus leaving the team dangerously short of match practice as they approached the last two competitions. The King’s tournament at Droitwich saw us produce excellent form in winning our group comfortably but in the quarter-finals the physicality of Colston’s proved too much of a problem. The draw at Rosslyn Park meant that chances of progress were nil as the two strongest teams in the Festival, Colston’s and Whitgift, were both in our group. Suggestions to the organisers about the possibility of seeding fell on deaf ears. Charlie Fellows scored a brilliant try in each of our matches against these teams whilst we won our other two matches comfortably. For the statisticians our 35 – 7 defeat against Colston’s, the winners of the competition, was the best performance by any team against them, apart from Whitgift who lost by two points.

due to Midlands training weekends proved a major handicap. For King’s to be competitive against the likes of Millfield and Bryanston we have to have our best players available.

At Solihull King’s reached the semi-final only to lose by two points to Warwick in a thrilling game. Once again there was a sense of frustration as the squad was short of three first choice players owing to a football match: a full strength team may well have been able to win the whole competition.

The North of England tournament at Birkenhead, traditionally a favourite hunting

Our early exit meant that the two Under 16s, Tom Gwynne and Dom Wood, could now join their own age group and overjoyed at the prospect of playing normal size people they produced some outstanding rugby. The team reached the semi-finals, the furthest King’s have ever gone in the Under 16 competition at Rosslyn Park, and showed the benefits of their regular attendance at training. Their fitness levels were good, as were their handling skills, their defeat by the eventual winners Epsom College, was down to pace. Hopefully the experience will have whetted the players’ appetite for further success at Under 18 level, although the widespread appearance of Sports Scholars at this age group makes the competition considerably tougher.

Both King’s tournaments were well attended and showed that there is a great deal of support for this form of the game at grass root level. My thanks to all the staff who helped ensure that the two tournaments ran smoothly.

P.T.G.

Action from an Under 15 game

The Under 16s at Monmouth

Jack Everton starts another move

2nd XV

When I look back to my despondency in last year’s report it is clear that the 2005 season was a very different affair. Having said that, it was very much a season of two halves, one which was looking grim by half term; we had lost six out of seven. However, unlike last year, we weren’t being thrashed and had lost by only odd scores to strong KES Birmingham, King’s Taunton and Solihull teams. Against the latter we looked to be out of it by half time, trailing by ten points, but two well-worked tries from Ed Jones (who was coming back from injury and went on to score eight tries over the season) and Freddie Hughes brought us back into it. Just as we were looking the stronger side in this match a number of bizarre injuries to opposition players disrupted our rhythm… In our annual pilgrimage to the South West of the country, we lost narrowly to King’s Taunton, having dominated and with a memorable try from scrum half Liam Fahy.

There was always plenty of determined forward play; we were strengthened by the return to rugby from rowing of two forwards, Ed Bales and Joe Bond (who both scored tries). Matt Humphries, Chris Goodreds, Leighton Freeman and Josh Tomlinson, James Priddey and Mike Magill provided bulk (the last of these perhaps less so) and some graft up front, although a number did lack the stamina of the former rowers. The comment that I made in my notes after a close game with Warwick really highlighted our problem; we often struggled to convert pressure into points, especially when getting the ball wide. Defensively there were enough good players, especially forwards. In the first half of the term some of the back line players were lacking in effort in both defence and attack.

Some of these fell by the wayside midway through the term and consequently after that things really picked up. We had a new captain with Tom Rogers, following Will Herriot’s elevation to the first team, and went on to win five out of seven, good victories coming over Monmouth and Hereford (a game of two refs, the second allowing us a lot more of the ball than the first). The pick of them was against RGS Worcester where Joe O’Connor and Ed Jones twice converted to give us the edge 1715. However, here, as in other games, we went to sleep in the second half, with our opponents scoring twice without reply. Having good players in the loose really helped us in these final games, especially forwards who were prepared to put themselves on the ground to win the ball: these included Jack Herriot, Toby Fellows and Owen Roberts. There was also more quality in the backs and Ben Chatfield, Tom

Mitchell and Geoff Ballard contributed tries. Regular readers will know that I always like to show how many opportunities the second XV provides; a total of thirty six pupils turned out this year.

R.J.D.

Under 16 XV

Points for 323 Points against 50 W: 10 L: 2

Despite the usual loss of players to the first team the year group still had enough quality left to produce a team that played some good rugby. The team’s ability to move the ball quickly and accurately around the field helped produce some impressive victories. One of the most notable was against a King’s Taunton side that had not lost for two seasons.

After a hard opening game during which the team was bedding in a number of positional changes, it went on to beat KES Birmingham and Solihull in close games. The rest of the season saw a steady improvement in the team’s handling and running lines which led to some good scores and big wins. The season ended with a 55-0 win over WRGS and a 30-0 win over Old Swinford. The team was captained well by Andy Hughes and there was a number of players who made big improvements in their games.

The Sevens season was short but very successful. Due to cancellations the team only had the Rosslyn Park national tournament to work

towards. We went down with a strong squad which included two players from the Under 15 team. The first couple of games produced a few organisational errors but our ability to turn possession into points helped us achieve the wins. The remaining matches saw some strong team play in attack and defence. The second day brought with it stronger opponents but also brought out determination within the squad. The last sixteen match was won with a last minute try and the quarter final game was a good team display. Unfortunately we did not have the pace to prevent Epsom, the eventual winners, scoring from wide in the semi finals. Overall, with a physically small team, the boys played some of the best rugby at the tournament.

J.J.M.

Under 15 XV

The squad had a very successful season, losing only three matches. In

an extremely hard fought game, in which we showed great spirit, Warwick proved to be just that little bit bigger, stronger and quicker than us and they thoroughly deserved their victory. However, our other two losses, to King’s Taunton and Old Swinford Hospital, were a little more disappointing. Both games were extremely close and the boys found themselves on the end of a number of ‘strange’ decisions by the referees involved. It is always disappointing to lose in such a manner but I think the team did learn some valuable lessons from both these games. We did also manage to avenge the Old Swinford defeat, when we beat them fairly comfortably at the end of the season. All in all

The Upper Fourth Form tournament

England Under 21 players coach our Under 15 boys

the boys can be very proud of their efforts and I look forward to seeing them progress as players as they move up the school.

Sevens

After a good fifteen-a-side campaign the sevens season promised much and, after lots of hard work in training, we travelled down to Devon to play in the Blundells tournament. The boys played extremely well throughout the day and managed to reach the final, beating a strong Millfield side along the way. We were very unlucky to fall at the final hurdle, just losing out to Plymouth College by three points. Nonetheless things looked promising for the rest of the season. Unfortunately the next two tournaments were cancelled, which left us heading into our own tournament with very little match practice. Again the boys performed admirably but went out at the semi-final stage, where we met a very strong Warwick team, who went on to win the final comfortably. For Matt Marskell and Jack Jeavons-Fellows the season was not quite over as they stepped up to the Under 16 team, which did extremely well to reach the semi-finals of the National Schools’ Sevens at Rosslyn Park.

C.A.

Under 14 XV

The 2005 rugby season was one of huge improvement from the previous season. Although we lost three of our first four fixtures we managed to win our last six in a row including a thriller against Old Swinford in the last game of the year. The team showed grit and determination and our try of the season was scored on that

day by the powerful running of George Webster at inside centre.

The front rows were solid in scrums and mobile around the park and Rich Lonbay’s work ethic was superb this year. In the second row Matt Raven’s aggression was vital, making the hard yards when our team needed to go forward and some big tackles in defence. Our back row is one of the best in the county for our age group. It displayed a good balance of strength and power in the shape of the ever present Henry Waltier who made strong runs from number eight and Greg Campion who created plenty of turnovers and was a general nuisance to the opposition. In the backs Seb Jamous was the top try scorer. His pace was needed in our side and it made a real difference in this his first year in the King’s rugby team. Also Dave Lewis showed some tenacious running on the wing and Ollie Greenhill demonstrated good hands under pressure at

full back.

We played well all year and put in impressive performances against Old Swinford, Bristol Grammar and KES Birmingham. We avenged our defeat to the Grammar school with a 29-5 win. This was a real improvement on last year’s results and the side can take a lot into the rugby season next year.

We only had one sevens tournament this year and we have got a lot to improve on in this aspect of the game. However with some practice I am sure the side can pull together and go a long way in a few tournaments.

The team would like to thank Mr Wilson and Mr Gill for giving up their evenings and weekends to take us to matches and for training.

Rhodri Dawes. Congratulations to the team for showing determination and guts both on the training field and on match days. Their hard work paid dividends and improvement was consistent and evident in all areas. The team was very ably led by Rhodri Dawes, whose levels of skill, ability to read the game and sheer determination encouraged his team mates to battle.

C.W.S.W.

Under 13 XV

The A team’s playing record does not look impressive with five wins, one draw and ten losses in its sixteen games. If you consider that five of these losses were by eight points or fewer, then it does not look quite so bad. In addition, our forwards were probably the smallest pack in recent memory, which tended to make things difficult up front in almost every game and meant that we were starved of ball for long periods and had to expend a great deal of energy tackling. The forwards were, in fact, a tenacious bunch, none more so than Johnny Howard whose small stature belied a ferocious nature and no little strength. Mike Serafini and George Whittaker worked tirelessly in the back row to harass the opposition and seize

The Under 13s on the attack

Ed Harris has the line in his sights

on any mistakes. The second row partnership of Peter Raybone and Dan Brookes improved during the season and the front row of Pringle, Tye and Simmonds held its own on most occasions.

The backs, ably led by David Brazier who caught just about anything and tackled like Johnny Wilkinson in his prime, were usually dangerous in attack but were not the greatest defensively. Will Harris provided the cutting edge and was difficult to put down and James Doorbar jinked and linked effectively in most games. The wingers and full back (Tom Bird) were able to finish when given the ball in space and they were strong defenders. I am confident that when they grow they will be more successful as they trained hard and were keen to improve.

The B team was very succesful playing ten games, losing only three, drawing one and winning six. The Dimond twins were key players and showed that they were easily capable of playing for the A team. The back row of Fahy, Laird and Webster also played well and Robert Cowburn’s pace was too much for some teams. The C team played three fixtures, winning, losing and drawing one each, the win coming against RGS Worcester. Some of these boys will continue to improve and I suspect that they will take the place of some of the A and B team members.

J.L.O.

Football

1st XI

It is often said, in football circles, that winning teams are built on a solid defence, and it was evident throughout the season that this was one of the most prominent qualities of this year’s very successful First XI. Their achievement of remaining unbeaten all season, for the first time in the modern era, was made possible by many miserly performances from the back

Under 12 XV

With the addition of D XV fixtures this was perhaps the busiest ever season of Under 12 rugby. On first encounter, it was pleasing to note that this particular batch of players stood a little bit further from the ground than those of the previous year. After the first training session it was also immediately apparent that we possessed a very tenacious set of forwards as well as some outstanding pace amongst the backs. The universally popular first fixture against Warwick resulted in only a narrow defeat, with a battling display by the forwards. This was followed up by excellent wins against Monmouth and King Edward’s Aston. Defeats against Bristol Grammar and Bishop Vesey’s were disappointing – although our boys tried their hardest – but the side got back to winning ways as it put RGS Worcester to the sword.

After Christmas, some key injuries, added to the lack of a consistent line-up in the backs, meant that games against Monmouth and Oldswinford ended in defeats. The side showed its character though with excellent wins against KES Birmingham and King Henry’s Coventry. The final match against a strong Warwick side ended in a draw with a truly momentous effort by the forwards in particular.

Throughout a long and hard season many players stood out, particularly in the forwards, but none moreso than the captain Adam Johns, a much improved Harry Nuttall and Damon Poole. The leading try scorer by a long way was James Law – his tremendous speed bamboozling many defences. George Kitching, Sam Waltier and Will Tressider all performed consistently well too. The ‘find of the season’ must have been Angus Steele, the only boy ever to be promoted to the A XV straight from the C XV!

The B XV must have been the most successful B team in the school. After a rather shaky start against Warwick and Monmouth, they hardly lost a game. Highlights were the convincing 50 point thrashing of RGS (Will Newton being withdrawn at half-time after scoring too many tries) and the general good spirit shown by all of the team members. The C and D XV fixtures were fiercely competed and show that this year group has a lot of strength in depth.

I would like thank to DPI for his encouragement, patience and general good humour. I never realised that it would be so difficult to arrange 11 year old boys into groups of three and get them to stand on a painted white line!

R.J.J.

v. st. peter’s, Adelaide (h)

v. Bromsgrove (h)

v. marlborough (h)

v. Christ’s College Brecon (a)

v. rGs, Worcester (h)

v. King edward’s Camp hill (h)

v. Wolverhampton Grammar school (h)

v. Clifton College (h)

v. Loughborough Grammar school (h)

four, including Lorcan Lynch, Jon Bird, James Ranson, who were ably marshaled by captain Joe Street and supported by Jonathan Inglis in goal. Whilst it is certainly true that this defensive solidity provided the foundations for success, it was in going forward that this team was at its most impressive, with Darach Duffy, Julius Baghdadi, and Charlie Driscoll, along with Joe O’Connor, Craig McBride, Ben Ford at times, forming a creative midfield, that skilfully supplied the ammunition for the

attacking spearhead of Tom Gwynne, our most successful goal scorer who ended the season with a record tally of fourteen goals, and Edward Jones.

(Gwynne 2, Duffy)

(Gwynne 3, Duffy, Lynch)

Our early season journeys down the M5 to Wycliffe College have often produced close games in which our teams have struggled to play to their full potential, as the players return to play football after being confined to the oval ball game for the long Autumn term. Fortunately, on this occasion the team soon settled into an effective formation and scored freely as an impressive team performance led to four goals being scored without reply. Both Darach Duffy and Joe Street could just not manage to complete hat-tricks despite their best efforts. The next game was, I suppose, an International. The most famous sporting contests between the countries of England and Australia have been on the cricket and rugby fields, but this fixture against the Socceroos from St Peter’s College, Adelaide lacked none of the competitive edge of its more lauded cousins. When the game took place, it had not been too long since the meeting between our

played 10, Won 6, Drawn 4, Lost 0

v. Wycliffe (a)

2, street 2)

national teams had ended in a rather embarrassing defeat for Team England, and the King’s team was determined to avenge this. It was evident from the exchange of pennants that both teams were determined to attempt to play a skilful style of football. In the end the superior power and pace of the home side was the deciding factor, allowing them to gain a clear victory over our antipodean visitors. I am not sure how likely any other team representing England is to better their Australian counterparts in the near future.

The early season goal fest continued in the usually tough match ups with Bromsgrove and Marlborough. The visit of the former brought a fine display of fully committed attacking football as the King’s team swept away the opposition with a flurry of six goals, including four from Tom Gwynne. Marlborough proved a little tougher but they too could not cope with the home team’s impressive fire-power. The long journey to Brecon seemed to have taken something from the team as they struggled to come to grips with a spirited performance from the Welsh team. A solid defensive display was complemented by excellent finishing on the break to

The decreased availability of players to prepare for the matches that followed the break, owing to the greater demands of rugby Sevens, made it considerably more difficult to reach the levels of performance achieved up to this point. An impressive victory over King Edward’s Camp Hill with a weakened side proved to be the only win of the second half of term. The final three matches all ended with the scores level after tight battles for supremacy ended deadlocked. The best performance of the trio was in the exciting match against Wolverhampton Grammar School. The games with Clifton and Loughborough were really rather dour with no side really man aging to

produce the archetypal away victory by the impressive score of three goals to one. Taking into account the free scoring nature of the team in the weeks leading up to the local derby game against WRGS, twenty-one goals in five games, it was probably inevitable that this most prolific King’s forward line would draw a blank against our keenest rivals. The rather sandy St. George’s Lane pitch surface combined with the inevitable tension associated with this type of fixture helped to ensure that this rather helter-skelter affair ended with the teams sharing the Worcester City Trophy for the second year running.

2nd XI

The 2nd XI had a reasonably successful season during the Spring term. Out of a total of nine games the team won five, lost two and drew two. Captained by Simon Insley, the team had a good mix of experience and youth which combined to create some positive results. Every player who was called upon to play for the team showed great commitment and spirit both in training and in matches. As the season progressed and the teams we faced became stronger, there were clear signs of improvement in the team’s all round game. In attack the goals were well spread across the team but the top scorers were James Priddey and Craig McBride, both scoring five goals each. Good service was provided by wingers Alec Mabbott (right) and Tom Rogers (left) who often gave accurate crosses for the strikers. The 2nd XI’s season consisted of some pretty prolific results including an 8-0 win over Wycliffe College on the first match day of the season in early January and a 5-0 win over Bromsgrove later on in the season. In some of the tougher matches such as the 1-1 draw away to Marlborough and the 3-2 win over Loughborough Grammar School, the midfield ‘engine’

the ascendancy necessary to enable them to play much in the way of attractive attacking football.

Whilst it is true that the struggle with Loughborough did not really provide a fitting climax to what had been an excellent season for the 1st XI, probably the best in King’s history, the achievements of this team will live on and provide a stiff challenge to all that follow. ‘Tis not in mortals to command success, But we’ll do more, Sempronius,-We’ll deserve it.

- Joseph Addison, Cato (act I, sc. 2)

J.T.W.

was all important in getting these results. The phenomenal work rate of captain Simon Insley and stalwart Ben Ford was not over looked. Throughout every game the midfield helped out in attack and in defence and proved that drive as well as creativity is needed in order to dig out a result. The season low had to be in our most important fixture of the season in a local derby against the RGS Worcester which we lost 6-5 due to some poor defending towards the end of the game. The atmosphere in the dressing room after the game told the story, every one of us was bitterly disappointed. The team grew in confidence as the season

Joe O’Connor on the ball

Goalmouth action (note the good positioning of the referee) Tom Gwynne rises higher than the defence

went on an-Individuals improved and Robin Middleburgh’s (full back) performances were good enough to earn appearances in the 1st XI. Also, in some high scoring contests, the 2nd XI witnessed some ‘awesome’ wonder goals, in particular a well struck long range effort from Alec Mabbott against KES Camp Hill, a cheeky lob from Ben Ford against Bromsgrove and a stunning left footed volley from Alex Hale against Loughborough. The season was enjoyable as well as a success; we all look forward to next season and hope to keep our winning mentality.

Alex Hale

Under 15 XI

This was a hard-working team with plenty of excellent athletes but not a great number of natural footballers.

The skilful players, Gwynne, Meadows and Everton, tried to play football in midfield: they all looked comfortable on the ball and combined artistry with determination and a mature reading of the play. Most of our goals came from a pretty direct approach, however, with long balls over the top to Matt Marskell and Jack Jeavons-Fellows who were both formidably fast and strong and never gave up. They were responsible for a comfortable victory over Wycliffe, Matt scoring several when he could have scored several plus a lot more. We went down 0-2 against a Marlborough team that we actually outplayed, but we missed several golden opportunities to score. We lost 1-2 to Wolverhampton Grammar. To be honest, they were clearly better than us: all of their players were comfortable in possession, moved off the ball and passed accurately and crisply. We offered fantastic resistance, with brave defending from Lock, Fane, Harris, Longley and Corbett

in front of an excellent Sean Robinson in goal, and our midfield battled tirelessly in defensive mode; just occasionally we were able to mount an attack, and Marskell and Jeavons-Fellows always looked as though they could steal something for us. We beat Bromsgrove who, in the first few minutes, looked as though they would overrun us, with their England international on the right wing being a special threat. They quickly took the lead, but we were at our most determined and a wonder strike from 25 yards from Meadows and then a typically uncompromising piece of Marskell aggression and persistence saw us take a lead which we held until the end. We lost against WRGS, but it could have been a different story: we missed an early penalty, they went down the other end and scored and … the rest is history. The last match of the season (apart from a friendly against the Under 14s) saw us secure a deserved and hard-fought draw away at Clifton. Patrick Baldwin, Harry Cronin, John Harper, Ed Hartley, Sam Williams, Tom Riddell, Jonathan Wilson (Cr.) and Oli Kitching also played for the A team, and the B team, captained by Dom Horne, and involving Chris Lancashire, James Martyn Smith, Jonathan Preston, Harvey Smith, Declan Sutch, Will Sutcliffe, PatrickTaylor, Ed Tidmarsh, James Tidy and both Jonathan Wilsons played tight matches at Clifton and Bromsgrove.

These boys practised hard and with tremendous commitment: torrential rain, brutally cold winds, snow and the pitch black couldn’t dent their enthusiasm one bit. Oh, to be that age again! SLeM

v St Peter’s, Adelaide

Darach Duffy evades a challenge

Under 14 XI

Won 4, Drawn 1, Lost 1

The omens were very good in the opening game, a thumping 5-1 victory over Wycliffe College. The pace of Rhodri Dawes was a constant threat, and Dave Lewis scored a fine hat-trick which highlighted his excellent positional sense. We were even better going forward in the second game, an 8-1 thrashing of Monmouth School (Richard Barker 3, Lewis 3, Dawes 2). The game against RGS Worcester proved to be much tighter, but in the end we ran out comfortable 2-0 victors. Dawes scored first with a strong run followed by a delightful chip over the keeper, then Iliya Rasovic added a second with a well placed header. The central midfield pairing of Jolyon Hale and David Stanier bossed the game for all but a five minute spell, and Matt Raven had his best game at the back. Our next game was a new fixture, away at Wolverhampton

The Boat Club

In many respects King’s has had another very successful year on the river. Before discussing the year’s events at School, however, our congratulations go to recent OV Zac Purchase for his outstanding performances on the water this summer for Great Britain. Zac set a new world record in the process of winning the lightweight single sculls event at the World Rowing Championships here in England. Zac is likely to move into the double scull, which is

Grammar School. This proved to be our finest performance of the season. Starting the game with at least seven players suffering from heavy colds/man flu we were caught by pacey Wolverhampton attacks to go 2-0 down at half-time. To be honest I was close to throwing in the white towel! With the light fading fast King’s gambled by playing three at the back for the second half, and despite several scares soon got back into the game with a spectacular Lewis volley from 30 yards (he claims to have measured it afterwards!). A fine second by Ollie Greenhill levelled things up and in close to darkness Dan Loader and Lewis were both denied by the post. All thirteen players used came off drenched in sweat, with Charlie Titmuss being voted man-of-the-match for a really accomplished performance which featured four or five superb covering tackles. Titmuss was closely followed by Greenhill who must have covered every blade of grass on the pitch,

an Olympic event, in preparation for Beijing. We look forward to following his career and success in the years to come and onto the 2008 Olympics.

With many of our Upper Sixth athletes electing to scale down their commitment, athletes in the senior crews were greatly outnumbered by those in the junior squads this year. More encouragingly, a very healthy intake of new members of the Club in the Lower Removes, to add to large numbers moving on in the Upper Removes, put pressure on boats and coaches. The club responded with the appointment of new Junior 14 (Lower Removes) coach, Bill Needham from Worcester Rowing Club, and with his

and showed some delightful touches as the game became stretched. The lasting memory, however, was of Harry Iddon virtually begging to come off before he was sick through sheer exhaustion! It was probably predictable that we would follow this with our only defeat of the season against Clifton College. Having spurned three early chances King’s conceded two soft goals from set pieces. Not wanting to finish the season on a low we challenged and beat our own Under 15s with a brace from Dawes and yet another goal from Lewis. This was a strong squad which was always a pleasure to work with.

The B team ended up with a similar record to the As. A solid back four marshalled impressively by Alex Roberts and Alex ChestertonMatt, a hard working midfield and the flair and finishing power of Dan Loader and Oli Bath proving far too much for most of our opposition.

help the Junior 14 squad had one of its strongest ever years. There is therefore every reason to feel confident about the Club’s prospects in the years to come. This promise for the future was illustrated by the combined efforts of both the Lower and Upper Remove squads in winning the Victor Ludorum trophy at the Tewkesbury Invitation Regatta in June.

The Junior 14 girls had a particularly successful year on the water, picking up medals and tankards in virtually every event they raced in. All the girls became competent single scullers and this culminated in a singles race between sixteen of them as early as the Easter training camp at Peterborough. The girls could claim

M.C.P.

Jennie Rastall and Demi Palmer, JI4 winners at Shrewsbury

Tewkesbury J14 winners:

Vicky Howarth, Sophie Morris, Alice Wickham and Beth Sears

to be the quickest in the region, even if a lack of competition here meant occasionally they had to race boys’ crews. They were not deterred by this though, and managed to beat two boys’ octuples at Birmingham Regatta. The girls finished the season with a long trip up to Scotland for the National Championships, where they had the opportunity to test themselves against the best in Great Britain.

The Junior14 boys were keen not to be left behind by the girls when they started their rowing in January, and by the April camp in Peterborough all were capable of taking to the water in either single or double sculls. Some found swimming with their boat easier than rowing with it – but learnt a lot in the process. The boys are a strong squad and ended their season well with a bronze medal in their octuple at the Junior 14 regatta at Peterborough in June.

The Junior 15 girls (Upper Removes) were an enthusiastic group who proved to be the squad to beat in the region last year. They progressed well in sculling events and even won a couple of tankards in Junior16 events later in the season. At times the girls proved to be their own best competition for each other, such as in some memorable racing in the cold at Wycliffe in February. They were selected in the double and quad events at the West Midlands trials, and went on to race at the Inter-Regional Championships in May. The girls learnt to row sweep before the end of the year and had success in their first regatta at Reading Amateur with a second-place finish to a strong University College Dublin crew. The squad ended the season at the National Championships in Scotland, competing in the quad and double sculls, following on from further wins in the eight and the four at Tewkesbury.

The Junior 15 boys had a large squad and spent a lot of their time in the eight and four or quad. They worked hard in the first term at their sculling and over the season all members of the squad won at least one sculling event, and some picked up wins throughout the season. The boys had their first race on the Tideway this year in the Schools’ Head of the River Race, where they beat off local rivals RGS in a battle under Hammersmith Bridge. The boys raced well at local regattas too, and won medals at Evesham, Birmingham, Burton and Tewkesbury regattas. They finished a successful season with a great performance in the quad at both National Schools’ Regatta and National Championships in Scotland.

The Junior 16 girls had a very successful year on the water and were clearly the best school and club at regional trials. The girls won the four, quad and pair event, to go and race at the

Inter-Regional Regatta. The Junior 15 girls joined them in several events over the year, most successfully at Birmingham when they beat Bedford High School. The girls raced to a very creditable fourth place in the eight at the National Schools’ Regatta. A quad containing Emma Hirons and Kate Williams with two Junior 15 girls, Lucy Boynett and Katherine Rollins finished off the season well with a fourth place at the National Championships in Scotland.

The Junior 16 boys raced well last year, starting off with a strong win in the quad at Wycliffe. They then moved into the quad and pair for the summer. Andrew Finlay and Ed Mackenzie won the coxless pair event at the Inter-Regional Championships in April and before winning a bronze medal at the National

Regatta. Andrew and Edward were then joined by fellow Junior 16, Richard Payne, and by the Junior 15s, Sam Hiles and Nick Barnett (cox), to win a bronze medal at the National Championships in Scotland in July.

With the notable exception of Hayley Simmonds and Eleni Randle, who won events at Evesham and Birmingham regattas in their pair, the senior girls trained and raced rather less this year. However, they still enjoyed a number of successes over the season. With the Junior 16 girls they had a strong win at the Wycliffe Big Head over a 6km course, and at Shrewsbury Regatta a number of Upper Sixth girls returned for a win in the eight. The girls then went on to achieve fifth place in the eight at the National Schools’ Regatta. We wish the seniors who have left the Club all the best with

Schools’

Training on the lake at Peterborough

Festive fun

their year ahead. Many, we hope, will continue with the sport at university.

The rowing season finished off with the King’s Regatta and Boat Club Dinner in

Athletics

Senior

This year we again managed two training sessions per week, one at the city track and the other at the school fields. Many pupils have commitments to other sporting teams but numbers have been good and we have managed numerous fixtures.

Our showing at the District Championships was encouraging, with twenty four pupils qualifying for the County Championships, many of them as District Champions.

County Champions:

New records

Lower Fourth Girls

Sophia Carini-Morgan 1,500m .. 6min 04s

Lower Fourth Boys

James Law ............ 100m .... 13.37s

James Law 200m

Upper Fourth Girls

U4A 4 x

Harriet Morris Triple Jump 9m 35cm

Upper Fourth Boys

Joe Grisdale High Jump 1m 58cm

Under 15

Seb Jamous 100m + 200m

Under 17

Ed Hartley 400m

July. The day was lovely in the sun and most families brought a picnic and enjoyed the atmosphere on the bank while watching some close racing. Many OVs came back for the day

Edwin Elmhirst ............. High Jump

Under 19

Tom Amphlett

Javelin

Edwin Elmhirst also broke the School Record for Under 17 High Jump (now 1m 85cm) and Tom Amphlett was invited to compete at the English Schools Championships.

Fourth Form Athletics

Our showing at the District Championships was encouraging with eight pupils qualifying for the County Championships.

James Law became District Champion for the Long Jump, despite still having another year at this level and also qualified in the 100m

Katie Wreghitt was district champion at High Jump and 200m. Also qualifying second in the 100m, she was only allowed to enter one event at the County stage. She won the 200m, becoming County Champion and breaking the school record in the process.

County Champions: Under 14

Boys

Joe Grisdale ............... High Jump

James Law Relay

Girls

Katie Wreghitt

200m

to race in a variety of crews, and this always adds spice to the competition. My thanks go to everyone who supported the Boat Club in some way or another last year, and special thanks are owed to the ‘Friends of the Boat Club’ for their

tremendous fundraising activities over the year. Without the support of all concerned the Boat Club wouldn’t be the success it is both on and off the water.

S-K.M.

Inter-House Athletics

After a lot of hard work and long negotiations, we were disappointed in not being able to hold the Senior Sports Day this year. However, the Removes did manage two good afternoons of competition, both in glorious sunshine, down at the games fields.

Creighton took the honours in the Lower Remove competition, with Oswald coming second.

In the Upper Removes it was Choir who pushed Bright into second place.

Overall, in an albeit abbreviated competition, this year’s Inter-House Athletics champions were Choir.

Tamsin Layton also beat the Inter Girls High Jump record, setting a new figure of 1m 34cm.

Fourth Form Sports Day

In an excellent afternoon’s competition L4E and U4B took the honours in their respective competitions. The pupils all performed admirably, with some achieving excellent results

Mixed octuples at Peterborough

Cricket

1st XI

This was a season during which I thought we might struggle, through a lack of experience and because we would not be able to put enough runs on the board. There were only two regular members of the side who were Upper Sixth, and half the side were Fifth Form or be-

low. Although there were occasions when both my concerns did surface, they were few and far between, and the season proved to be very successful in any way you cared to measure it: we won a large number of matches, a number of batsmen scored heavily, and the spirit and enjoyment within the team could not have been better.

Tom Longley started the season in excellent form opening the batting, showing the necessary application and desire to build a big innings. Although he had a little slump in late season he had certainly developed as a player and should score heavily in 2007. Stephen Poole is a very attacking and unorthodox player who continued to improve his range of scoring shots but also worked on his defensive play. He played a number of significant innings and led from the front in terms of desire and the will to win in the field. Sophie Le Marchand did not have as prolific a season as the previous year, but did score a match saving fifty against RGS Worcester at New Road. She kept impressively all year, and her selection for England ‘A’ against the Indian Test side was well deserved. The most improved, and possibly talented, batsman in the side was Tom Bryant. He scored over six hundred runs, with a number of impressive knocks, none more so than his 99 against the MCC. It

must certainly be one of his targets for next season to score his first hundred, as well as trying to improve his shot selection in certain situations. The late middle order of Tom Gwynne, Ben Ford and Jamesyelland all made contributions, but it was the youngest of the Gwynne clan, Liam, who developed the most and he should certainly be pushing for a top three slot next season.

The bowling rarely let us down as we had so many options; eight of the usual XI were more than good enough to be used, with players such as yelland bowling less than twenty overs, when in a weaker attack he could easily have been first change. Tom Gwynne bowled with his usual consistency and control, taking 34 wickets. He was joined in the opening attack by Matt Marskell, who was young (Upper Remove), raw and quick. When he got it right, most memorably against a strong Wolverhampton GS side, he was devastating, ripping out their top five and setting us up for a comfortable win. The spin department was excellent, providing the team with the different options of right arm finger and wrist spin. Ben Ford bowled a large number of overs of orthodox off spin. He was a very attacking bowler who would constantly be trying things rather than letting them happen: this is an admirable philosophy but not always the correct one. Liam Gwynne provided the wrist spin and as his control becomes more consistent then his workload will increase. We also had the luxury of a left arm medium pacer in Liam Fahy who had the happy knack of picking up a wicket when it was most needed. He also had the distinction of being hit for the biggest six I’ve seen for a long time!

The season also saw us enter the public schools 20/20 competition for the first time. This proved a most enjoyable experience except for the fact that we were drawn in the same group as the eventual winners, Millfield. Their top three were all international players, and from three different countries, and their bowling was pretty useful too. We did lose that match but won our other two games. This should have been very good preparation and experience for next season’s competition. The team was captained by Ben Ford who did an excellent job. He was popular with the rest of the players and ensured there was an excellent ethos within the group. The biggest compliment I can pay him is to say that I needed to have less input into decision making and field placings than with any previous captain, which certainly made my job both easier and more enjoyable. My thanks, as always, go to DPI who worked as tirelessly as ever, even in his fiftieth year, and to Phil and his groundstaff for their hard work preparing the ‘road’.

A.A.D.G .

2nd XI

A combination of rain and the inability of some schools to find a team reduced our season to a mere seven games – particularly galling as, after we’d hit form with three consecutive victories in May, there was a gap of five weeks before the next match and the form had evaporated: three defeats out of three in the remaining games!

The purple patch began after losing rather tamely to Solihull, with only James Priddey and Jonathan Inglis making any serious runs; both made consistently useful scores in the first half of the season, with Inglis’s 42 against Hereford getting him promoted, terminally, to the Firsts. Against Wrekin both scored 30s, with Charlie Fellows chipping in with 20, but it was the undefeated ninth wicket stand between Kit Smith (33*) and Ben Chatfield (26*) which gave substance to the innings. In fact Wrekin were demolished for 69, with those two contributing again, Chatfield with 4 wickets and Smith with 2; Helen Bellfield began a good

run with 2 for 7, which she continued into the next game, against Wolverhampton GS where she and the other spinner Matthew Humphreys took 7 wickets for 35 between them, leaving it to Leighton Freeman to wrap up the innings with the last two scalps. Humphreys then made a useful 23 to help overhaul the opposition score by 6 wickets, with the usual sound contributions from Inglis and Priddey and most notably 54 from Fellows. The culmination of the purple patch was at Hereford Cathedral School. The spin twins, Humphreys and Bellfield, were again the most successful bowlers in keeping Hereford to a manageable 173-7 in their 35 overs. When Hugh Thomas, leading from the front as captain, and Inglis scored over 100 between them as the opening pair, victory looked assured, but the remaining batsmen contrived to throw away the advantage and it was left to a robust 14* from Leighton Freeman to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Then came the 5-week lay-off, followed

1st XI at 20/20 competition

by disappointing performances in which we batted first each time (as in our defeat against Solihull – there’s a moral here!), scored too few, and were fairly comfortably beaten. 117-9 against KES Birmingham (with Fellows making 40) was never going to be enough, and despite the best efforts of Lawrence Hughes, who bowled the first 4 batsmen, KES made it with

Under 15 XI

We didn’t score enough runs. On the occasions when we did get 200 or thereabouts – e.g. 191 against Warwick, courtesy of Sean Robinson (54) and Ed Tidmarsh (47), the opposition got more. Our batters let us down. Oli Meadows, the captain, always looked good but got out, sometimes unluckily, but also

five wickets and six overs to spare. Against Warwick we fared better, with Fellows making 60 and Humphreys, Thomas and Priddey all contributing 20s and 30s, but our 172-6 was passed in a mere 25 overs for the loss of only one wicket. The RGS game followed the same pattern: 157-9 was respectable, with 20s from Chatfield, Smith and Priddey, and an excellent 37* from the latest and best wicketkeeper, Freddie Hughes, but RGS lost only three wickets overtaking it – two of them run-outs, including a direct hit from Fellows. Conclusion: for more success next season we need (a) less rain, (b) to bowl first. Even in this season, despite a disappointing last month, there were plenty of useful performances from both batsmen and bowlers, the captain, Hugh Thomas, led with great enthusiasm and common sense, and the team played with spirit and good humour – as ever, a enjoyable lot to umpire!

R.N.G.S.

because he needed to concentrate harder and to be more patient. He got 20s and 30s, and a season’s best of 49 against Pershore, but really we needed him to be dominating the bowlers, as he is capable of doing. Tom Longley became a solid opening partner: he developed a good defensive technique and a range of attacking strokes, his top score a useful 26 against a strong KES. Ed Tidmarsh and James Martyn Smith became two of our steadiest batsmen, having started the season pretty low down the order. Both of these boys played with dogged determination, clearly desperate not to give their wicket away, and each being rewarded with a number of 20s and 30s. Jack Everton strokes the ball nicely, and played some of the best shots of the season: some strokes off his legs against WRGS were sublimely timed and for a couple of overs I dared to hope he might get us close to their daunting total. Jake Lock also batted well in this match, top scoring with 40, playing the substantial innings some of his earlier cameos had suggested he could and should be making. But we lost wickets at just the wrong times and ended up well-beaten by a team that probably wasn’t much stronger than us. There were good wins over Pershore and Brecon (Jack Jeavons-Fellows taking 619), and we lost a tight game against Hereford Cathedral, despite Chris Lancashire’s useful spell (3-11) and a patient knock from Martyn Smith (27n.o.).

There were some good bowling performances

In the field v RGS Worcester at the County Ground

from Jeavons-Fellows, and the spinners, Oli Kitching and Longley. Sean Robinson was our most consistent and dangerous bowler: he used his height well and generated some good pace, his 3 (the top 3) -19 against Warwick perhaps his best performance. He will enjoy playing on the 1st X1 square next year when he should get much more bounce. We enjoyed the company of Liam Gwynne and Matt Marskell in the midweek game against Pershore, and they made us into a pretty decent team. Next season should see these two being joined in the 1st X1 by some of our best players from this year. I think that the most difficult part of this stepup will be mental. Looking back on last season

strong with Richard Hartley and Emmie Le Marchand taking many wickets and also Harry Iddon, Chris Drew and Rhodri Dawes having their way with the ball.

King’s enjoyed a memorable victory over RGS Worcester when last batsmen Richard Hartley and Jolyon Hale scored the winning runs off the last over. The side also had a great cup run, reaching the final in which they were eventually beaten by a very strong Bromsgrove side.

Thanks go to all the players and the coaches Dr Poole and Mr Mason.

Harry Iddon

now, I think we under-achieved, the main reason being that we were not tough enough mentally, letting potentially winning positions slip, and not fighting hard enough when games were in the balance.

S.Le M.

Under 14 XI

This Under 14 XI enjoyed a very successful season, winning fourteen of sixteen games and also getting to the County Cup final. They had good victories over strong sides such as Warwick, Old Swinford, Solihull and Malvern College. Noticeable batting performances game from Rhodri Dawes with four half centuries and Ollie Bath, Richard Barker and David Lewis also chipped in importantly with the bat over the season. Bowling was very

Under 13 XI

AWL and I had been told that this team was going to be wonderful to work with as the boys loved the game, were highly talented, were happy to train hard and had a real desire to be successful. Twenty seven boys turned up at the first practice, four players sported their county sweaters and we started to get ready for the first match against Bristol. It is always nice to win the first game and they did, bowling Bristol out for only 40 runs which was a fine achievement. Our next game was against Solihull, who are always a good side, and we beat them by 8 wickets. George Burt scored 40, David Brazier was 54 n.o. and the pick of the bowlers was Jack Ellis with 4 wickets. The B team also won their match with Peter Preston being the top scorer with 24 n.o.

Victories followed against The Chase (by 112 runs), Wolverhampton (by 77 runs) and Hereford Cathedral School by 114 runs in the case of the A team and the B team won by 63 runs. May was certainly a very successful month for both teams and in particular for the following batsmen: David Brazier, Ieuan Dimond, Jack Ellis, Tom Bird, Tom Mills and George Burt. The bowlers who did well by taking 3 or more wickets in a match were George Douglas, Jack Dimond and Anthony Fahy.

Tom Wilde got his bat working in June with 44 against Pershore as did James Doorbar with 24 in the same match. David Brazier scored 51 and retired and having won this game by 71 runs we were ready to play our first cup match; it was a good preparation as we had been drawn against Bromsgrove. We bowled them out for 73 and knocked them off for the loss of only one wicket. What an emphatic victory especially as they beat us last year on their way to the final. This level of sound early order batting continued with the top three batsmen, George Burt, Jack Ellis and David Brazier all scoring fifties against Brecon and we felt ready to take on RGS in the semi-final of the cup competition. They scored 130 off their allotted overs, but we were 15 runs short in reply. What a disappointment, but if 5 catches are dropped as they were in this game then you are really letting go of The Cup as Steve Waugh said to Herschelle Gibbs in 1999.

Both teams beat KES Birmingham. Tom Bird took 4 wickets for the A team and Charles Hartwell 5 for the Bs. David Haddock blasted 51 runs, Peter Preston scored 34 and Lawrence Pardale, Jonathan Tye and Thomas Cluett all chipped in with twenty or more runs each.

July is best remembered for being the warmest since records began, not for the losses against RGS and Abberley. you leave the country to go on a GCSE field course and this is what happens! Nevertheless, we had a wonderful cricket season and it was nice to see so many parents at the matches, despite not always seeing their sons bat or bowl as much as they may have liked.

Tom Bird was a selfless, knowledgeable and positive captain of the A team and Peter Preston was equally impressive doing the same role for the B team. The leading batsman was David Brazier with 339 runs at an average of 68 per innings, next came Tom Bird with an average of 32 followed by George Burt and Tom Mills with averages of 25. Anthony Fahy took the most wickets (18) at the very economic rate of less than 3 per over followed by Tom Bird with 12 wickets, Tom Wilde with 10 and James Doorbar with 9.

M.R.G. / A.W.L.

Under 12 XI

Barely was the Sevens’ season over than the cricket season began. Winter nets had been promising and a fine crop of new talent turned up at the first practice session. Unfortunately that talent remained firmly hidden in the first game as we were bowled out for a paltry 34 runs by Solihull. The fact that we bowled well and only lost by 1 wicket could not disguise the fact that we needed to improve our batting. After some intensive practice we then embarked on a series of impressive victories. Wolverhampton (7 wickets), Nunnery Wood in the County Cup (5 wickets), Hereford Cathedral (2 runs) and Bishop’s Hereford (21 runs) all succumbed to the quickly improving team. In these games the most notable performances were 54 not out by George Hodgetts, 4 for 17 by Joe Fowles, 3 for 6 by Sam Maitland, and 3 for 3 by Harry Nuttall. The game against Hereford Cathedral was excellent. It was high scoring (158 all out against 156 for 9) and un-

Hockey

1st X1

Won 9, Drawn 1, Lost 1

Goals for: 39 Goals against: 10

As the season’s records suggest we had another very successful year. Many of our games were very comfortable wins but we were challenged in a few of our fixtures. King Edward’s High School were strong and put us under constant pressure but Sophie LeMarchand scored the

til the last ball either team could have won. We held our nerve the better and sneaked home by those two runs.

The quarter-final of the cup was against Hanley Castle who restricted us to 100 for 5. They could only score 86 all out with Adam Loader taking 4 for 24.

K.E.S. Birmingham brought us quickly back down to earth, dismissing us for 46 and knocking the runs off for the loss of 4 wickets. Only Adam Loader (15) and Sam Maitland (12) contributed with the bat. We then defeated Comberton Middle School in the semi-final of the County Cup by a convincing 8 wickets with Joe Fowles scoring 33 not out. Oldswinford provided a stern test, but their 139 for 7 was not enough to challenge us and Ben O’Hickey with 44, Hodgetts (20) and Sam Waltier (22 not out) provided the foundations for another convincing win by 6 wickets. Against Warwick we scored 162 all out with Fowles contributing a season’s best of 84, and

Warwick tried hard but could not cope with the pace of Fowles who took 7 wickets for 6 runs. Neither RJD nor I can remember such a devastating spell of fast bowling at this age group and Joe’s all round contribution to the side was exceptional. He scored over 250 runs at an average of nearly 32 and took 23 wickets. The County Cup final pitted us against WRGS and it was a fine game. They made 119 all out with Oliver Pitts taking 3 for 6 and then our much improved batting romped away with the game. Fowles, O’Hickey and Waltier provided the backbone and Nuttall smashed a quick-fire 13 when we could have collapsed. The final margin of victory was 7 wickets and the Under 12s were County Cup champions.

In the final match we played Abberley Hall and won by 6 wickets, with Jacob Wells taking 3 wickets. One or two other players deserve a mention. Joe Pantling bowled his left arm spin to good effect but not much luck and Sam Waltier was a very steady wicket-keeper. Angus Steele took some crucial wickets and was one of the best fielders in a good all round team.

The final playing record for the ‘A’ team reads: Played 12 Won 10 Lost 2

The ‘B’ team played against Solihull, Oldswinford, Warwick and R.G.S. Worcester and Abberley. Wins were recorded against Oldswinford and Solihull but we failed to score enough runs in the other games. Notable performances were achieved by Alex Osbourne who took 4 wickets for 2 runs and he also scored 30 runs against the Grammar School and in the match against Abberley Hall James Tidy took a magnificent 5 wickets for 0 runs and still ended up on the losing side! Rupert Monkhouse played well and showed himself to be a promising leg spinner and Douglas Arnot and Jonathan Richmond also performed well. All in all the early season optimism was well justified and all the boys practised hard and deserved their rewards. I am sure that they will continue to work at their skills and enjoy their cricket as they progress up the school.

J.L.O.

only goal in the dying minutes of the game. The only game we lost was to Hereford Cathedral School, always strong opposition, and although we matched them in the number of shots on goal we came away with a frustrating 2-0 defeat. We drew against King’s Gloucester after conceding a penalty corner in the last minute of the game.

We also entered two tournaments. In the Under 18 County tournament we qualified

after the first round to go through to the final where we were unfortunately defeated by our old rivals, Bromsgrove. We also entered the Sixth Form Tournament where again we qualified to go through to the final which we played against Prince Henry’s Evesham on their new astro pitch. This was quite a tough game but we maximised our chances and came away champions with a 3-0 win.

The squad this year deserved the results they

achieved as they trained hard and worked well as a team. Sophie LeMarchand again achieved the highest goal scoring record. Success was also due to excellent leadership from captain Freya Marskell who constantly worked well with her team members to get the best out of them.

J.D.C.

Full Colours were awarded to: Anna Byrne, Harriet Davis, Freya Marskell, Emma Phillips and Helen Smith and Half Colours to:

Rebecca Turner, Nicky Wilkinson, Helen Bellfield, Daisy Robinson, Rebecca Busher, Rosie Pennell, Sophie Le Marchand, Lucy Senior, Iska Lupton, Giselle Harding, Gemma Stanier, Jemima Williams, Chloe Hampson, Lowri Brown, Sally Shepherd and Harriet Driver.

2nd XI

The side had a successful season under the captaincy of Emma Phillips. Ten matches were played with four wins, three draws and three defeats. Victories were against Malvern College (4-1) King’s Gloucester (2-0), Cheltenham Ladies (4-0) and King Edward’s Stourbridge (3-0). Twenty one goals were scored and only fourteen

conceded. Anna Byrne had an exceptional season and ended her school girl career after seven years in goal. Jemima Williams just pipped Sally Shepherd to be leading goal scorer. All the girls trained regularly to keep their places and some fought hard to gain valuable first team experience. They were great company and a pleasure to coach.

F.L.S

Under 16 XI

An Under 16 squad was raised to enter a side in the County tournament. In its warm-up game they beat Chase HS 5-0, which was most encouraging. They went on to win the district round beating MGC, Prince Henry’s Evesham and The Chantry. The County tournament itself had a most exciting finish and we triumphed on goal difference.

Chase HS Draw 0-0

Malvern College Won 2-0

Evesham HS Won 1-0

Bromsgrove Won 1-0

Prince Henry’s Draw 0-0

The Midlands finals loomed so the girls tried out new patterns of play and enjoyed a 2-2 draw with Cheltenham Ladies. After the first trip to Birmingham and a last minute cancellation, the tournament finally got underway in late November at Rugby School.

The first game was against Ecclesbourne who were predominantly a side of Midlands players. Our girls looked shaky at the start but pulled together showing good team work and passing skills. Possession was even but the opposition scored from a short corner, despite an excellent first save from Becky Turner. We then faced Rugby School and applied great pressure throughout the game. Hayley Turner broke through and Emmie Le Marchand fired the clearance into the net to win the game.

The girls were under pressure to win every game now to go through to the semi finals. Bedford High caught them unawares and scored an early goal and we never recovered despite having all the possession and three attacking short corners. With our chance gone of a semi final place, we played an excellent game against John Taylor School. The girls relaxed and dominated. Lucy Senior scored twice and Hayley Turner netted in the dying seconds with a penalty corner strike. We came third in our group but the organizers stated that we had the potential to be in the final. There is always next year! Thanks to all the squad for their hard work and especially the captain Nicky Wilkinson who was exceptional and inspirational to her team.

Under 15 XI

We had a very tough start to the season against some strong opposition. The first match of the season was against Malvern College which was a good close game that we lost 1-0. Special mention goes to goal keeper Lucy Smith who made some spectacular saves. We had another close game against Cheltenham Ladies which again ended in a narrow defeat but Issy Hershman and Lizzy Stedman both were awarded Player of the Match for their determined

F.L.S.

The Midlands Regional Squad

Inter-House hockey action

attitude.

The performance of the team continued to improve and we drew 1-1 against Hereford Cathedral School and won the last game of the season 2-0 against Chase HS.

Sophy Howard, Tamsin Layton and Issy Hershman all represented the County and thanks must go Charlie Mills and Anna Pykett who captained the side. We are very grateful to Mrs Beesley who gave up her time to manage this side.

Charlie Mills

Under 14 XI

It was a pleasure to work with such a determined bunch of girls. They trained regularly and excelled in matches to have an unbeaten season. The side played seven matches, excluding tournaments, and won all games convincingly, scoring 42 goals and only conceding three. Hayley Turner and Emmie Le Marchand played regularly for the Midlands and in an international Under 16 Tournament in

Netball

1st and 2nd VII

Completely new teams were formed this year so over the season much team building took place and two good squads were eventually formed. Some of our fixtures were cancelled due to bad weather earlier in the term, so our first match was against a very strong OV team, which gave us a good run for our money! We fared much better against Prince Henry’s Evesham, which boosted our confidence in preparation for the County Tournament. We were bitterly disappointed not to get through to the West Midlands finals but will make it our goal

Holland at Easter.

It was a great disappointment that this team did not become County champions. They won the District round easily beating Hanley Castle 6-0 and MGC 4-1, and at the finals had wins over Prince Henry’s Evesham 3-0 and The Chase 2-0 but drew to Bromsgrove 0-0. Sadly they lost out on goal difference to Bromsgrove.

Opposition Result

Malvern College Won 3-0

MGC Won 10-1

King Edward’s HS Won 3-0

Cheltenham Ladies Won 3-0

Hereford Cathedral Won 6-2

Chase H.S. Won 12-0

Prince Henry’s Won 5-0

F.L.S.

Under 13 XI

The squad had a successful season, starting off slowly with two defeats against K E S Birmingham and Malvern Chase but ‘bouncing back’ with an 8-1 victory over Malvern Girls’ College.

next year. The 1st team met strong opposition in Old Swinford and Hereford Sixth Form College, but the 2nd team had more successful matches, winning both comfortably. However when we met Alice Ottley we performed well, with the 1st team winning 24 – 9 and the 2nds winning 15 – 6. An extremely strong Bablake team gave us a ‘learning experience’ and we drew on this experience in our game against King Edward’s Stourbridge which we drew 22 -22 in a very tight and closely matched contest. The Spring term began with a return fixture against King Edward’s Stourbridge, but with a different line-up we lost the match. However we picked ourselves back up again and went on to beat both Hereford Cathedral School

During the second half of the season the girls performed well in the County Tournaments. In the 11-a-side tournament we won our round by beating Malvern Chase with penalty strokes. We went into the final round to play three more matches, coming second in this tournament, losing to the eventual winners, Bromsgrove.

In the 7-a-side tournament we made it the semi-final to meet Malvern Chase yet again. The game had to be decided on penalty strokes once again but this time we were not the victors.

Well done to all girls who played this season as they all made tremendous progress and were good company and congratulation to Rachel Brand for being such a good captain.

County honours went to Rachel Brand, Lydia Harper and Lucy Scales. Lydia Harper went on to be selected for the Midlands Development squad.

T.D.M.

Under 12 XI

We regularly had over twenty five girls at practice. The standard of hockey was very impressive for this age group and the feeder schools should be commended for achieving such a high standard with them. We played eleven fixtures against other schools and in all of these fixtures we endeavoured to involve as many girls as possible. Our results were pleasing overall and I am sure that there are some hockey stars for the future in this group.

J.D.C.

17 – 13 and King’s High Warwick 22 – 20. The latter was a fantastic match in which our girls used all their skills and power to maintain a narrow lead, despite excellent opposition. We look forward to future matches against this school! We had two more losses and two more wins before the season came to an end, with the 2nd VII final game of the season, an impressive win over Malvern College 2nds, 29 – 4.

Many thanks to Claire Gott who captained the 1st team squad, and led by example, always training and playing with total commitment.

Full Colours were awarded to Claire Gott (1st VII Captain), Sophie Le Marchand, Harriet Davis, Stephanie Doolittle, Sophie Hart and Alice Hershman. Half Colours were awarded to Jenny Palmer (2nd VII Captain), Claire Pitts- Tucker, Emma Phillips, Eleanor Salmon and Sarah Lewis.

N.R.A.

Under 16

The Page and Brayford Tournament at Bromsgrove was a tough start to the season and the squad

with wins over the local schools we went onto the County finals in November. In the early rounds of this Tournament we had good wins over Holy Trinity School, St. Augustine’s and Pershore High, but failed to repeat our earlier performance against St. Mary’s Convent, losing to them in the semi-finals 7 goals to 8. This was a great surprise and disappointment to the team as well as their supporters, as they were

hoping to qualify for the West Midlands Championships. There were further defeats for this team in the following three fixtures against Bablake, Hereford Cathedral School and Dean Close, and it was not until March that they returned to winning ways. With new members joining the squad the team played with more focus and commitment with some notable wins against Wrekin College and Malvern College. As always it is in this year group that players find it difficult to balance their studies, other commitments and training; they have learnt a great deal from their year in this squad and I hope this experience will add strength to their performance in the senior teams.

Squad: Lucy Clayton, Lizzie McBennett, Lizzie Unwin, Emily McNally, Nicky Wilkinson, Alice Campion, Steph Rosoman, Sarah Porter, Imogen Schofield and Sarah Fardon M.M.L.

Under 15

The squad formed a very competitive team, which enjoyed the challenges of a closely con-

tested match. The girls thrived when put under pressure and despite the loss of any finesse to their game when that pressure was applied; they more than made up for it with good ball skills, the ability to read the game and sheer determination. During the second half of the Autumn Term when Wednesday night training was suspended because of the dark nights, the squad attended fitness sessions in the sports hall with the rowers. I think it would be fair to say they didn’t know what hit them in that first session, but to their credit they returned the following week for more of the same without complaint. The team had convincing wins against the Alice Ottley, Hereford Cathedral School and Pate’s Grammar School, but their best games were up against Bromsgrove and Bablake. Both were very close games and tested the skill and endurance of the whole team, although both games resulted in a loss, the level of play was commended by the opposition. The squad consisted of Lottie Jeavons, Issy Hershman, Charlie Mills, Lucy Coomer, Emma Robertson, Katherine Rollins, Camilla Owen, Anna Pykett and Antonia Shingler.

Under 14

The team started its season with a comprehensive set of results against local opposition in the District Tournament in November. In winning all its six games the girls scored a total of seventy one goals with only six goals scored against them. A fortnight later they represented the District in the County Tournament where they continued their successful run beating The Chase High School in the final to qualify for the Regional Tournament in January. The West Midlands Tournament proved to be the toughest competition so far in the season and with nerves playing a part as well, we went into the semi-finals where we met King Edward’s Camp Hill. By half time we were within reach of just maybe making it into the final, but it was clear in the second half that KECH, with their experience and height, knew exactly how to play us out of the game and we lost 5 – 10 to the better side. The team was bitterly disappointed but knew that they had given all they had in terms of effort and determination.

The Bromsgrove School Invitation Tournament in March gave us strong opposition from schools beyond the county. With wins against Repton, Oakham and Cheltenham Ladies College, King’s lost to Bromsgrove 5 – 6 and went into the semi-finals to meet Oundle. This was a very tight match and with the goals going with the centre pass, we lost the match 5 goals to 6 in the last minute of the game.

J.C.

The remainder of the season was a succession of wins for this team who have been one of the most committed groups of players in both training and match play throughout the season.

Squad: Vicky Heath, Emmie Le March-

Basketball

and, Sophie Dee, Louise Gwilliam, Issy Anstey, Demi Palmer, Laura Stansfeld, Beth Perry and Kate Lofthouse.

The B team had two cancellations to start the season due to bad weather, which meant it was well into November before they had their first

Basketball practices have continued on saturday mornings throughout the Autumn and spring terms. the sessions have been well attended, with a number of girls joining in on a regular basis. A number of matches were played against local club sides and promising progress was seen from all players. the Upper Fourth team, led by tom mills, peter preston and robert Cowburn was particularly strong, and the Lower remove year group had the best numbers at practice. they included ilija rasovic, Quentin elmhirst, Alastair Davey, JonJo mcArdle, ruari smithCooper, hiten patel, Charlie titmuss, tony Jeffree and rhodri Dawes.

the awards for most improved players of the season were presented to Jonathan richmond, sophie Banks, Alastair Davey and oliver richmond. the most valuable player awards were given to Jack Dodd, Andreas neophytou, philip Dorrell and peter preston. sam Johnson received Full Colours and Amin saied received half Colours.

Thanks go to Muff Murfin for his continued support of Basketball at the school – we are all very grateful for his unfailing good guidance and humour.

r.p.G.

match. This match against Bablake was the toughest of the season and although they lost quite convincingly this did not dampen their spirits at training and they went on to have wins against Dean Close and Malvern College. Their best performance of the season was against Hereford Cathedral School which resulted in a draw 10 – 10, but could have gone either way in the last few minutes of play. This year group is a very cohesive and supportive group of girls who were a pleasure to coach.

Squad: Olivia Crowe, Ros Harvey, Lucy Spring, Emma Chapman, Alice Wickham, Vanessa Horne, Jenny Geary, Sophie Newcombe, Issy Bateson, Jess Steed and Ellie Soper.

M.M.L.

Under 13

Netball training for this year group was regularly attended by plenty of keen Upper Fourth girls. Claire Gott, the first team captain, also came along to training on several occasions to work on agility and ball accuracy. She worked in particular with the A team squad before their District and County Tournaments.

The A team squad won the District Tournament in February, which qualified them for the County tournament in April, at which they beat Bromsgrove 7 - 4 in the semi final but unfortunately lost to Malvern College Prep School 3 – 7 in the final. Although everyone was disappointed not to have won the tournament, the whole squad can be commended on its standard of play.

The B team squad worked hard all season against some strong opposition, including Wycliffe Junior School A team. All those who attended training contributed to the A, B or C team squad at some stage in the season.

The Upper Fourth Inter Form competition was won by a convincing U4A.

J.C.

Tony Jeffree and Peter Anderson

Under 12

Over thirty girls attended netball training every Friday after school, all trying for places in the teams! Every girl had a chance to play in at least one match, and although we didn’t win all our games, everyone had valuable match experience. We worked hard in training to space out on the court, and give one another room to make good dodges, and our shooters practised their shooting each Thursday lunch time in Netball Shooting Club, to improve their technique and accuracy.

The A team beat St Richard’s Pinvin 10-4, and the B team by 7 goals to 1 in our first match of the year, which gave us all a good boost of confidence. The A team went on to beat the Alice Ottley and then Holy Trinity soon afterwards. We were able to play B and C teams as well against AO, and everyone had a great game, but with AO ahead at the final whistle. Our final sets of matches in the Autumn term were very tough for our players.

The Bablake A team was a very strong side, followed by RGS and Pate’s, all giving our A team tough matches. The B team did better, beating RGS 6 – 4 and drawing with Pate’s 13-13.

In the Spring Term the Under 12 A squad played three inter-school matches plus two tournaments. In our matches we beat St Richard’s Pinvin 8 – 0 and Wrekin College 16 – 7, but lost to Hereford Cathedral School against a very strong side, 2 – 7.

Our first tournament was the Bromsgrove Invitation event in January, when we met new teams and had very tough matches. We won two and lost three, ending up fourth in our section. We were disappointed not to have got through to the semi-finals. However we did much better in our final tournament of the season, which was the Under 12 District. Here we played the other schools in Worcester, remaining unbeaten and winning the tournament.

The Under 12 B squad played two matches, beating St Richard’s 10 – 5 but losing to Hereford Cathedral School, as did the C side. The B team also took part in their District Tournament for B Teams and won all but one of their matches, finishing runners-up.

The end of the season saw the Inter-Form Netball tournament, involving every girl in the year, and it was an incredibly close thing, with L4E winning by just one point over L4D.

Netball shooting club has continued every Thursday lunchtime, and has been well attended. It has certainly helped to improve the girls’ accuracy and consistency.

I would like to thank all the Under 12 netball girls for their constant enthusiasm even when the weather has been so cold at the fields, that

they can hardly feel their fingers to catch the ball! There is a great deal of potential in this year group, and much to look forward to!

Thank you also to SB and SEH for their help in training.

N.R.A.

Tennis

Fourth Forms

A wet start to the season meant some matches were cancelled but six fixtures were played with varying success. The under 12 team won one match and the under 13 team won two. Training sessions were extremely popular with large numbers of girls regularly attending Lower and Upper Fourth training on Friday and Tuesday evenings. Both Lower and Upper Fourth tournaments were fiercely competed. Results were as follows:

Lower Fourth

Runner-up

Nikita Monk Winner Grace Caldicott

Upper Fourth

Runner-up Lucy Scales Winner Rachael Brand

We are sorry to be saying goodbye to SB after many years of running Tennis at King’s. She made an invaluable contribution to the sport here, including coaching the players, managing the teams, and running all the tournaments throughout each summer season. Thank you, Sue, for all your hard work, for enthusing so many, encouraging them to develop their tennis, and represent their school. We wish you every happiness in the future.

N.R.A.

Seniors

Our senior teams enjoyed several fixtures with varying degrees of success! The Sixth Form teams struggled against very strong opposition and had little success. The under 15 team was the most successful, being undefeated. Special mention should go to Natalie Winwood and Nicky Wilkinson who were District under 16 champions and runners-up in the County finals. From the under 14 team Emily Kite and Emma Chapman were District champions, qualifying for the County finals as did Sophie Dee and Kate Lofthouse. Sophie and Kate qualified for the semi-finals but lost to the eventual winners. The senior girls and senior mixed doubles tournaments were extremely popular with a large entry in both events which were played in great spirit and this year for the first time a senior boys tournament was also held.

Ten sixth form girls enjoyed a hot day out at Wimbledon and were inspired by their favourite players.

Tournament results were as follows:

Senior Girls Doubles

Runners-up ......... Lucy Coomer and Issy Hershman

Winners .......... Claire Tamblyn and Alice Hershman

Senior Mixed Doubles

Runners-up Ed Bales and Alice Hershman

Winners James Cant and Sophie Hart

Senior Boys Doubles

Runners-up Will Herriot and Tom Mitchell

Winners ....... Alec Mabbott and Alex Hale

Under 14 tennis

Rounders

Under 16

Training for the squad took place during Wednesday afternoon games, with matches after school. Fifteen girls took part in three matches, captained by Laura Hopkins. The first match was against the Alice Ottley, who are notorious batsmen, but King’s fielded with precision and matched the batting skill of the opposition to become eventual winners. This performance was repeated against St Mary’s but the toughest challenge came from The Chase High School. An all out first innings changed the tactics of the game and King’s were slow to respond, but they worked hard and as Felicity Hill remarked they “all worked up a sweat”. Nicky Wilkinson, Sarah Porter and Felicity Hill were the highest scorers of this very short season.

J.C.

from Laura Stansfield, they finished the game with a convincing win.

Vicky Heath, Lucy Spring, Hayley Turner and Louise Gwilliam must be commended on their consistently good fielding and batting skills; all contributing to an undefeated season.

J.C.

Under 13

Under 14

As in the previous season the squad joined forces with the Under 13s on a Tuesday afternoon for training sessions. This was a small yet keen group of girls who enjoyed every opportunity of a match. The squad was captained by Ellie Soper, and the team proved to be versatile and very competitive, ensuring a season of convincing wins. This was a strong fielding side, capitalising on their accurate ball skills, even if their laid back approach did sometimes make games a little more exciting than was perhaps necessary. Certainly against Hereford Cathedral School they left it all to the last batting innings to show exactly what they were capable of, but true to form once the first big hit came

Despite clear defeats for both the A and B team squads against Hereford Cathedral School at the start of the season, rounders remained a popular after school activity with up to thirty girls from the Upper Four attending regularly. Both squads learnt that it is not enough to be able to hit well, but rather that rounders need to be backed up with accurate and decisive fielding. King’s A team didn’t look back after their first game and were dominant throughout all their matches, especially against The Chase High School Under 14 A team, which they won 22 – 7. At the same fixture the Under 13 B played a very determined game against potentially a stronger A team. Fielding was decisive around the posts, with consistently good catching from Beatrice Dee. The wins kept coming until the last game of the season against Wycliffe Junior School. In my five years of coaching Under 13 rounders, King’s have never been able to beat Wycliffe and this year was no different although this was the closest game yet with a final score of King’s 19 Wycliffe 21

Beth Jeavons was the highest scoring batsman for the A team, with Katie Wreghitt, Lydia Harper and Daisy Elt all contributing to the high scores in each match. Cath Dawson was the highest rounders scorer for the B team, closely followed by Jenny Rollins, Josie Mann and Martha Hershman.

J.C.

school. The general ability level has been excellent, so much of the training was taken up with tactical play, and learning to back one another up. The first match the A team played was a shock result as they lost 5 – 27 to Hereford Cathedral School and realised they had much more to do! Their second game against The Chase was quite different, with much tighter fielding and some really strong batting from King’s, with a win to King’s of 16 – 12 ½. The A team also played against Wycliffe, St Mary’s and Alice Ottley. The B team played similar opposition with their best game being against The Alice Ottley which we won 21 – 15 ½ . The final competitive game of the season was the Inter Form Rounders Tournament which was won by L4C.

Over the season every girl who attended training had match experience and showed pleasing commitment.

Thank you to all the girls and to LEH for her assistance in coaching this group.

N.R.A.

Fencing

Under 12

Once again Rounders has proved highly popular with girls in the Lower Fourth, with good numbers attending training every week after

With the number of fencers continuing to grow, we welcomed mr John hutton to join the coaching staff this year. Alongside professor northam he has worked to introduce a group of around twenty beginners to the sport and to prepare some of our senior fencers for competition. Five of our fencers attended the public schools’ Fencing Championships this year and enjoyed the challenge of competing in Britain’s largest fencing competition. With varying degrees of success, Andrew Chung, Lewis Chung, James Elderfield and Alex humfress have also, between them, competed in the Birmingham schools’ Championships, the Leon paul Junior series and the British Youth Championships. As they move to pastures new, special thanks must be offered to Jake Capleton, robert illing and James round, all members of the Upper Sixth, who have worked tirelessly over the last few years not only to hone their own skills but also to coach the younger members of the group. it is entirely fitting that all three were recently awarded coaching certificates by the British Academy of Fencing.

D.A.J.

Me and My Girl

Me and My Girl does not vastly increase our understanding of the human condition, as last year’s King Lear might, but it gave the audience a rollicking good time on the night. For one thing the script, brought up to date by Stephen Fry, was full of appalling puns, tortuous rhyming slang, even the odd subtle innuendo, of the kind I love but which need considerable skill and poise on the part of the actors: in this they were magnificent, giving full value to every line and – partly thanks to the radio mikes but also to excellent diction – allowing us to hear them all clearly. Much of the humour was based on the contrast between the cockney Bill, played with bubbling self-confidence by George Clarke, and the aristocratic family to which he turned out to belong. So at regular intervals Bill would produce Sir John’s pocket watch, having presumably picked the latter’s pocket (I never quite worked how this was done!), and Sir John and the Duchess would express their horror at the working-class ethos to which they were being subjected. But the aristocrats were also quite distinct characters. Sir John (Alex Gibbons) was at first the disgusted knight, often

coming out with “Oh my God” in a posh, laid-back drawl, full of witty puns and comebacks; later he came round to Bill’s side, singing a wonderful duet with him, “Love Makes the World Go Round”, and persuading the Duchess to accept Bill’s constant (and Cockney) girlfriend into the family – and of course persuading the Duchess to marry him in a wonderfully English, hamfisted way, in which he can’t get up from his genuflecting pose. Gerald (Joey Roberts) was a complete contrast: a superbly camp performance, using his whole body in a quite over-thetop manner, creating a constant visual joke to add to the verbal humour. Then there was the young Jacqueline (Laura Towey), who had been attached in some way to Gerald but now set her sights on Bill on the cynical grounds that he had more money and the title. She was delightful in her self-centredness, flirting unashamedly with Bill and narcissistically examining her gloves when not involved. The attempted seduction scene with Bill around the sofa was beautifully choreographed and executed, as it needed to be make the innuendos work, and the contrast between the assurance of Jacqueline and the awkwardness of Bill was a neat inversion of the relationship hitherto between the two cultures. The other key aristocrat was

the Duchess (Emma Baldry), who was magnificent as the boss of the family: her scornful pronunciation of Bill’s place of origin, Lambeth, was a delight, as was her dismissal of Sir John at one point (“ you futile man!”), and yet her attitude seemed based not purely on snobbery but also on a concern for the family – which made her conversion towards the end more believable than it might have been.

On the cockney side, not only did George Clarke give a top performance as Bill, both verbally and physically, but Francesca Weaver, as Sally, provided the substance to the comedy with the serious love interest. It helped that she has a lovely singing voice, so that there was real pathos in her rendering of “Once you Lose your Heart”. Although the show was a comedy, her performance made us really care about the main question: would Bill and Sally stay together, and would the Duchess allow them to stay at the family seat? The attempt of the family to force Bill into its way of thinking culminated in a wonderfully inventive scene in the library, where the statues of ancestors – made to look like those mysterious whitened street performers – came to life and moved threateningly about the room. They nearly won, but we were all glad when love and harmony prevailed.

Among the other characters, there was a wonderfully poised, Jeeves-like performance as Charles, the butler, from George Watson, and a cameo from Alex Crawford as the lawyer in suit and reading-glasses. He started his song on the worth of a solicitor in quite a sober fashion, but this soon developed into high comedy as it became a rather demented dance (all the more comic coming from a lawyer!). Twice more in the show he tried to perform it, but each time was cut off by the Duchess. And the singing and dancing in general was a great feature of the show.

I’ve mentioned some individual songs and duets, but there were some big numbers from the chorus too. Every now and then a song turned up that we realised we vaguely knew: the second act opened with “The Sun Has Got His Hat On”, an unashamedly cheerful romp with an outdoor scene full of tennis racquets. Bill’s last song was “Leaning on a Lamp-post”, and

the chorus’s main item was “The Lambeth Walk”, accompanied, like all the songs, by the splendid band, which supported the singers without ever dominating them. That song, which closed the first act, was another great romp, the large chorus performing with well-rehearsed precision but above all with infectious enthusiasm. In fact that was a mark of the whole show, which all the performers seemed to enjoy to the full, whether all together as in “The Lambeth Walk” or in sections as in the opening number. If the performers enjoy themselves, the audience are much more likely to enjoy the show!

I recently saw the professional production of the same show at Malvern, which I have to say was superb. But although the prancing around was more “professional” (obviously!) and the performers were more acrobatically trained, in terms of the imaginativeness of the sets, the ebullience of the chorus and the characterization of the main parts, our production suffered nothing in comparison. Bravissimo to all!

R.N.G.S.

Vinegar Tom

In May, Lower Sixth Drama and Theatre Studies students presented Vinegar Tom, a classic of 1970s theatre by Caryl Churchill, as their Unit 2 examination production. This play with songs powerfully depicts the persecution of unconventional women as witches in the seventeenth century and uses hard-hitting contemporary songs to strike home the message that such prejudice exists and thrives in our society today. SMA and SHLEM directed the production and Joe Shrubb composed an excellent original soundtrack for Churchill’s hard-hitting contemporary songs.

S.M.A.

Sparkleshark

With the anticipation of delightfully warm weather and a crowded summer term programme in the John Moore Theatre, the idea of staging a production outdoors can seem very appealing. On such an attractive and spacious site as ours at King’s, it could be argued that we could do far more in the way of outdoor

Me and My Girl ensemble

Bill (George Clarke) and Jacqueline (Laura Towey)

Vinegar Tom

performances than we do. There have certainly been outdoor productions in the past, such as a recent production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream by King’s St. Alban’s in the garden behind No. 12, and both the Green and the school gardens may have been used for performances in the past, or else they certainly should be in the future.

This play, however, is set on the roof of a

novels for both adults and children, and screenwriter of the film about those other East End bullies The Krays. It tells how Jake the geek (a suitably diminutive Max Taylor) uses storytelling like a modern day Scheherazade to stop a gang beating him up. ‘Sparkleshark’ is the name of the amazing dragon in Jake’s story. It’s imagination versus muscles as Jake takes on Russell, the self styled “sex-machine

council estate tower block in a run-down area of the East End. Once the decision had been made to set the production outdoors, the job then was to find a suitable location somewhere on the school campus; but where do you find a location on our beautiful site to even suggest a setting as unattractive as this play demands?

Directors LLG and Dan Hankins and designer Chris Crosswell initially wanted to use the Fourth Form playground, though this was ruled out because of its proximity to Severn Street and the sensitivities of our neighbours in that area. Eventually the Choir House courtyard was decided upon, and it served the purpose admirably, once it had been transformed into a small theatrical arena by Chris Croswell’s ingenuity. The tower block roof was suggested very effectively by the minimum of scenic devices and props, but the aerials and graffiti really said it all. This acclaimed short play, originally commissioned for the National Theatre’s Shell Connections scheme, is very well-written by the award-winning author Philip Ridley, writer of plays and

the other gang members, all eventually won over by Jake’s spellbinding fantasy, and by Dag Corbett as Polly’s disturbed brother, Finn.

The two evening performances were fortunately blessed with fine weather and were greatly enjoyed by all who saw them, so much so in fact that a third performance was hastily arranged for King’s Day afternoon, offering another opportunity to

and babe magnet” (a confident and effective performance by Jamie Tidy) with a gang of schoolgirls and boys looking on and joining in. Essentially a tale of school age bullying, this play speeds along at quite a lick with great dialogue, plenty of laughs and making some important points along the way. Like all good plays, however, it does so whilst being engaging and entertaining and without lecturing the audience. Bullied Jake retreats to the roof to escape from real life and invent his own imaginative stories, but first the girls find his hideout, then the boys. When the bullying starts fantasy is the only escape, taking everyone along for the ride. The three girls in the cast were equally outstanding: Femke Witney was excellent as Polly, the new girl on the block who befriends Jake, whilst Kate Lofthouse and Sophie Kavanagh were alarmingly convincing as the provocative pair Natasha and Carol. Impressive support was given by James Wood, Lee Jackson and Zac Chandler as

catch this splendid piece of drama. Many congratulations to the directors, cast and crew on a fine achievement.

S.M.A.

Sparkleshark

Fourth Form

Drama:

Homer’s Odyssey

The Fourth Form Drama Club’s production of David Calcutt’s adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey was an epic piece of theatre; it was also a triumph. Every aspect of the production contributed to the overall success.

The set, with its magnificent drapes and enormous Cyclops, provided an awesome stage for the action of the play and the ‘play within the play’ that takes up most of the narrative. Once again, Chris Cross-

Many wonderful individual moments of theatre stand out from the evening: the “Place of Pleasure and Pigs”, with its malevolent metamorphic maidens, played with humour and commitment by Anna Humphreys, Philippa Thomas, Ellie Radley, Lauren Davies, Rebecca Lane and Emma Hallett, and their leader, the witch Circe, most ably portrayed by Rosie Pugh; the beach, washed atmospherically with foam; Tiresias and Tiresia, delightfully played by Tomas Baer and Olivia Wilkinson, passing their eternity in the underworld with witty banter; the four-fold magnetic attractions of the two Sirens, Skylla the Sea Monster and Kharybdis the Whirlpool, very well played

well’s skill and consummate understanding of the theatrical medium brought out the excellence of the production.

Ensemble playing has become the hallmark of Fourth Form productions in particular and it was the commitment and enthusiasm of the whole company that shone out. Choral speaking makes great demands of any actor, but this company rose to the challenge magnificently, as they did to the requirement to perform a number of different roles throughout the course of the production. Whether playing Sailors, Slaves or Players, the concentration of every individual helped to focus the audience’s attention and enhance their enjoyment.

Davis and Rebecca Linfoot respectively, and the bickering, spiteful gods, with Tim Norton, Peter Raybone, Hannah Wynn, Josh Wickens, Jeannie Gibson and Hugo Watkins bringing out the different characters of each with great success. Towering over all, literally at least, was Polyphemos, whose voice was magnificently produced by PCT, himself a giant of the Fourth Forms for so long.

Every one of the principal roles was performed with understanding and focus: Hannah Patey had clearly been a caring and concerned nurse to the child Odysseus, Sean Kettle and Edward Wood portrayed strong and loyal slaves, defending

their masters, Robert Cowburn was every inch his father’s son, as the noble Telemakhos, son to Odysseus. Rhys Joseph gave an outstanding performance as Noman/ Odysseus himself, focussed, mature and dynamic throughout the entire performance. Will James, as Eurylokhos, his second-in-command, was an excellent foil and gave an equally pleasing performance.

Russell Whitehouse, Anthony Harding, George O’Connor, Charles Davis, Alec Burt and Steven Grant, as the suitors to Penelope, were a comic delight; pompous and self-serving, they provided an extra element of the audience, but certainly deserved their final come-uppance. As the faithful, waiting Penelope, Katie Baum was serene and controlled in her performance; none of those foolish suitors stood a chance against such marble fidelity!

But it is the sense of a real company production, with everyone taking a full and committed role, of which the director SMA and his assistant director JCV should be most proud. Eventually the two worlds of the play, the narrative of the journey and the increasingly ridiculous suitors in the court of the absent Odysseus met and clashed; finally “The Mask is Off and the Play is Done” and the audience left behind the magic of this epic tale after an evening of theatrical delight.

A.J.M.M.

Drama trips to London

Sixth Form

London has lived through many tragic experiences including the Great Fire brought on by a forgetful chef and the bubonic plague brought on by rats; but could it survive a Sixth Form Drama trip brought on by Mr Atkins?

Luckily Mr Atkins seemed prepared for this task, keeping his students particularly busy. The trip began with a singing workshop in the legendary Pineapple Studios. The instructor threw us straight in at the deep end, singing songs from The Phantom of the Opera. Split into pairs, the men without exception were all soon fighting for the part of Christine. The line “Say you need me with you, now and always” will always bring a tear to my eye,

by Ellie Isaacs, Kate Richardson, Katie

if only for how it sounded when we sang it. As soon as the workshop finished we were whisked away to Planet Hollywood, of course stopping on the way out to stare in awe at the professional dancers who all danced very quickly with very serious faces. Disappointingly, none of them had pineapples.

Friday night’s entertainment came in the form of Andrew Lloyd

impressed. The sets were stunning and the staging very imaginative.

After a restful night back at the hotel we were awoken for another walk into Theatreland. Allowed a couple of hours of free time everybody scattered their separate ways like ants leaving the nest. Markets, coffee shops, vintage clothing stores and all other establishments were all devoured by groups of enthusiastic and excited students eager to make the most of the time. After what seemed like no time at all, though, we were all meeting up again to head across Waterloo Bridge to the National Theatre.

Webber’s aforementioned Phantom of the Opera, which has been running at Her Majesty’s Theatre in the Haymarket for the last twenty years. If you don’t know it, a man with half a mask haunts an opera house to stop anyone putting shows on. He falls in love with an actress and allows the opera to be performed as long as she is in the lead role. It all ends very tragically: he never finds the other half of his mask. The show was a magnificent performance with everyone in the group being greatly

Mr Atkins, being a professional, made the National Theatre visit a ‘two birds, one stone’ affair. We began our visit with a very interesting and fairly humorous behindthe-scenes tour of the National’s three auditoria. We saw the Olivier’s revolving stage, the workshop where they make the props and were even allowed to watch a pre-matinee sound check. The tour guide showed us the various disintegrating stages of a fake tortoise that had to be squashed under an actor’s foot during each performance of Tom Stoppard’s Jumpers.

The second part of our National Theatre visit was to watch a matinee performance in the intimate Cottesloe auditorium of Southwark Fair, a new play by Samuel Adamson. This was a real contrast to the lavish spectacle of ‘Phantom’. This play was more of an acquired taste, though was very much enjoyed by some, and was interesting in that the action of the play was set in an area just a little way along the South Bank from the National Theatre itself. The plot is too complicated to

give you even a brief summary here, but it featured a café, a gay couple and a woman with one arm. I lapped it up.

All in all, the trip was a success on all levels. We had been to the famous Pineapple Studios, been backstage at the National Theatre, and watched two marvellous yet very different London productions; and I’ve heard London remains intact.

Joe Shrubb

Fifth Form

On a sunny day on a London street, dozens of teenagers in a row are seen clicking their heels in the air. It is not an enactment of Mary Poppins, but King’s School Fifth Form Drama students on their way to their first practical workshop.

In February the GCSE drama students were completely distracted from their mock exams by the anticipation of the up and coming trip to London. Every year the department makes a weekend trip to the big city in order to open the eyes of its students and to give them a glimpse into the theatrical world.

Whilst the rest of the school were in lessons, we assembled as an excited rabble in the King’s school bus bay and just a few hours later were skipping around the theatreland of London. Excited by everything around us, especially our luxurious hotel near Covent Garden, we were enthusiastic and open to everything.

Our first outing was to the Theatre Museum in Covent Garden, where we took part in a workshop with the theme of Stephen Mallatratt’s The Woman in Black, which we were to see later that evening. Here we explored ways of building tension and suspense and portraying these successfully to our audience. The afternoon put us in the right frame of mind for the evening’s performance and deepened our already high expectations of it.

Arriving at Fortune Theatre we were incredibly excited, having been told so much about it. We had heard from previous years that The Woman in Black was one of the scariest performances they had seen at the theatre or in films, making us all the more excited. Despite our determination to remain calm, the play succeeded in terrifying us so that not one of us was able to be left alone in a room without the light on for many months afterwards.

At ‘Planet Hollywood’

Pineapple Studios

Superb direction mixed with outstanding acting created an excellent performance we are unlikely to forget, (no matter how hard we’ve tried).

After a sleepless night with The Woman in Black drifting in and out of our dreams, we took part in another workshop in the famous Pineapple Dance Studios, this time with the theme of Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers. We were fortunate enough to have the workshop led by one of the actors in the performance that we were to see that afternoon. David Cooper, who played the part of Mickey, was a lively, energetic man who was encouraging and motivational. With two such different plots, the workshops had entirely different atmospheres. This one was far livelier and more comical than the first, which, with such a frightening plot, had little need for humour.

Apart from having the matinee performance to look forward to, we also had a tour of the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, a highly impressive theatre which is rumoured to be haunted. It was more a promenade performance than a tour, where two talented and comical actors in the guises of various famous and important figures from the Theatre’s past showed us around the theatre, improvising and interacting with us, making the tour even more interesting. Later that day, we arrived at the Phoenix Theatre in Charing Cross in high spirits, ready for the matinee performance of Blood Brothers. Although the workshop gave the impression that the performance was to be a lively humorous musical, we had been told that it was also an incredibly memorable story and one that would cause us to reach for the tissues - it lived up to its expectations. We left the theatre, a calm and thoughtful crowd, for the afternoon had made an impression on us all. Once again the acting and direction were exceptional and once again we felt incredibly lucky to have seen such a marvellous performance. Both performances were entirely different yet both exceptional, causing us to feel overwhelmed by our emotions. The trip may not have been a long one, but has definitely been a highlight of my time at King’s and was truly unforgettable.

Laura Wheaton

Music

Having welcomed two new members of staff, GMG and CJBA, to the department a year earlier, we began the Autumn Term of 2005 with an unexpected departure when Vanessa Gunter (Head of Wind) had to take what eventually became long term sickness leave. Since then we have been very fortunate to receive help in ensemble direction from Robin Thurlby, Lesley Cox and Elizabeth Rozelaar. By February it had become apparent that a new, temporary appointment was needed and we welcomed Helen Murray who has most successfully taken over much of the King’s St. Alban’s music teaching.

The 2005 House Music Competition, held at the beginning of inspection week in October, was a pleasure to experience, both in the morning’s Solo Section and the afternoon’s House Songs. It is always a source of great relief to reach the end of the competition without having to feel embarrassed by the standard of any particular performance! With this competition, and the Fourth Form Competition later in the year, it was good to report that all the performances were of an impressively high standard and most enjoyable to listen to and watch. Heather Fairs, our A Level Music examiner for the past four years,

was the excellent and helpful adjudicator. Winner of the Junior Solos was James Greenwood (piano) who played Rachmaninov’s Prelude in C sharp minor. Winner of the Senior Solos was Heather Uren who played the First Movement of Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E minor. School House, singing California Dreaming, was placed first in the House Songs.

The Winners Concert, attended by some members of the inspection team, took place the next day and featured songs from Bright, Choir and Creighton Houses, as well as solos from Jack Hamilton (violin), Elizabeth Stedman (flute), Olivia Crowe (flute), Jessica Bilson (flute), Gareth Ceredig (percussion), Peter Holder (piano) and Imogen Schofield (violin).

Centrepiece of the Autumn School

Concert was First Orchestra’s performance of Schubert’s 8th (Unfinished) Symphony in B minor. This marks a

Gamelan

Bob Chilcott leads a workshop

continuing policy of the Music Department to include study and performance of A Level set works and associated pieces. Second Orchestra began the concert with a rousing performance of a Bourrée from Handel’s Water Music, conducted by Graham Gunter. Elizabeth Rozelaar, having very recently taken over the training and conducting of Wind Band, led them most effectively in performances of the theme from Chicken Run and In the Mood. Chamber Orchestra gave commanding performances of two strongly contrasted works – Purcell’s Chacony in G minor and the Romance in C major by Sibelius. The concert ended with a large and enthusiastic School Choir singing increasingly demanding arrangements of Barbara Ann, Blueberry Hill, La Bamba and Ill Wind (Flanders and Swann’s witty take on the most famous of the Mozart Horn Concerto movements).

Towards the end of the Autumn Term many of the school’s more senior musicians took part, either on stage or in the accompanying band, in the performances of Me and My Girl in the John Moore Theatre. A full review of this most successful show features elsewhere in the magazine.

The School Choir, Keys Choir and Cathedral Choristers were all in fine voice for the Carol Service, held in the cathedral on 14th December, 2005. Carols sung included Goldschmidt’s A Tender Shoot, Nova, Nova by Bob Chilcott, Taverner’s The Lamb, a vibrant new setting, for the choristers, of Tomorrow shall be my dancing day by Adrian Lucas, Pearsall’s ever popular arrangement of In Dulci Jubilo and Naji Hakim’s virtuoso arrangement of Ding Dong! Merrily on High. It was a special treat to hear CJBA and the Cathedral Organ Scholar play Naji Hakim’s Fantaisie sur L’Adeste Fideles for two organs as the closing voluntary. This combined the full resources of the nave electronic organ with the increasingly ailing chancel pipe organ which, at the time of writing this article some ten months later, has now been fully dismantled, exposing flooring and aisle spaces that have not been seen for over one hundred years! By now the expression, “St Clement’s Concert” no longer strikes fear into the

hearts of music staff and pupils. Taking advantage of the success of last year’s reverse placement of Choir and Cham

provided a perfect opportunity to preview many of the performances that would soon be taken on another European concert tour, this time to Seville. Works performed included J.G. de Padilla’s Missa Ego Flos Campi, which we would later sing liturgically in Spain, Mozart’s 29th Symphony (First Movement) and a Concerto for Two Flutes and Cello by Telemann with soloists Elizabeth Fane, Elizabeth Stedmann and Heather Uren. Flute and Clarinet Ensembles played works by Mozart and Gershwin, while solo performances were given by Matt Kirk (viola), Owen Roberts (clarinet), Gareth Ceredig (horn) and Francesca Hunter (classical guitar). This was a most successful and much appreciated concert that continues the work of restoration fund raising for this beautiful church.

ber Orchestra it was found that the same high standards normally associated with King’s School musicians were fully in evidence in the St. Clement’s Concert held on 4th February, 2006. Once again, this year’s concert

A principal highlight of the year’s music-making was the Seville Concert Tour, held during the February half term holiday. Forty five pupils and five staff gave three very successful concerts in Seville, Gines and Carmona, as well as singing at two church services. Musical highlights abounded both vocally and instrumentally, but perhaps most memorable was the performance, unrehearsed in the actual venue, because of the constant round of religious services that day, of the Kyrie and Gloria of Kodaly’s Missa Brevis in Seville’s Iglesia Sagrados Corazones. This began with a rather startling organ accompaniment a quarter-tone flat and ended with the organ console catching fire and CJBA fleeing the smoke-ridden instrument in panic!

The Spring Term School Concert began with stirring performances from Second Orchestra of the March from the Occasional Oratorio and See the Conquering Hero Comes, both by Handel. Elizabeth Rozelaar then conducted two of her own works for Clarinet Ensemble, An Afternoon in Vienna and Rags and Riches before directing Wind Band in

Menken’s Friend Like Me and Mexican Hat Dance, arranged by W. Adams. Chamber Orchestra, with soloists, and the School Choir reprised their Telemann and Padilla performances from the recent Seville tour. It was then good to see the Fourth Form Choir back in action with a lively performance of Joseph Horovitz’s Jonah-Man Jazz conducted by CJBA, narrated by George Watson and accompanied by Peter Holder (piano) and Gareth Ceredig (drums). Highlight of the concert was Anna Byrne’s fluent performance of the second and third movements of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto, accompanied by First Orchestra.

The Summer Term School Concert gave yet more opportunities to celebrate the Mozart anniversary with performances of his Symphony 34 in C major by First Orchestra and three Divertimenti for strings played by Chamber Orchestra. Wind Band gave fine performances of Sousa’s The Stars and Stripes are Forever and Strauss’s Tritsch-Tratsch Polka. This concert also provided the opportunity to give the Kodaly Missa Brevis the performance it deserved and at the correct pitch! The full School Choir and organist, CJBA, were joined by the six excellent pupil soloists, Hannah Lucas, Heather Uren, Jemima Williams, Mary Cox, James Greenwood and Owen Roberts.

This year the Orchestral Workshop for younger players from all three King’s Schools was most successfully moved from the depths of the Spring term to the end of the Summer term. Around ninety players were coached throughout the day by GMG and an excellent team of visiting staff to prepare for the evening’s concert that featured solos and ensembles as well as the main orchestral performances of Mussorgsky’s Great Gate of Kiev and the theme from ‘Wallace and Gromit’ films.

The Fourth Form Music Competition, held on 26th June, was adjudicated by Russell Burton, former Director of Music at Hurstpierpoint College. Overall winners of this year’s competition were L4C who sang I’d like to teach the world to sing and played an arrangement of Scarborough Fair for their ensemble. Aaron Prewer-Jenkinson was a deserving winner

of the solo section with his saxophone performance of Jerome Kern’s Why do I love you.

As part of Arts Alive week the Keys Society Choir began the year with a workshop led by the charismatic choral conductor and composer, Bob Chilcott. This was greatly enjoyed by all the participants, many of whom would later benefit from workshops as diverse as Javanese Gamelan and Salsa. The Keys Society concerts have been a constant reminder of the depth and breadth of musical talent we have in every year group; however, one could only be aware that we were witnessing the swansong of a large, very committed and musically able Upper Sixth group. Matthew Kirk and Owen Roberts will long be remembered for their inventive and strange avant-garde performances, to say nothing of Matt’s imaginative programmes! For the school’s younger players the young Performers’ Concerts, organised by GMG, have again provided a well supported platform for performance similar to the Keys Concerts.

The King’s Day Service featured impressive performances by the School Choir of the Gloria from Kodaly’s Missa Brevis and Handel’s Zadok the Priest. Before the service Jeremy Owen, accompanied by Chamber Orchestra, gave a stupendous performance of Vivaldi’s Double Trumpet Concerto in C major. Earlier in the week he had performed this for the final Keys Society Concert with his teacher, Frank Stubbs. On this occasion he was joined by another top Midlands trumpeter, Andrew Stone-Fewings.

Congratulations to Heather Uren and Peter Holder who were both awarded silver medals by the Associ ated Board for their performance in Grade 8 exams. It is also a great pleasure to record that, following their successful undergraduate scientific studies, two of the most distinguished music scholars of recent years, Adrian Uren (horn) and Alan Uren (violin), have both won coveted postgraduate scholarships to the Guildhall School of Music and the Royal Academy of Music respectively.

Art

It has been a most successful year for the Art Department, beginning with the knowledge that five girls from the 2005 A level Fine Art cohort had been placed by the examination board Edexcel amongst the top ten candidates in the country. All the girls had achieved 100% at both AS and A2 levels. It ended with an award from the Good Schools Guide which declared the department the best for Fine Art at A Level for boys at any independent school. This was awarded in respect of excellent results and consistently outstanding and committed teaching over a number of years.

The department is always keen to reinvent itself and employed, for the first time, two artists-in-residence for the year to replace a full-time member of staff.

Leyla Folwell, a potter and Bing Wang, a painter shared the teaching load and led popular after school

D.E.B.

clubs, leaving half the week to pursue and develop their own work. It is never easy balancing the two halves of such a job and it to the credit of both that they taught well whilst also undertaking new and exciting work. It was good for pupils to see the business and complexities of a working studio potter and to witness the many hours of meticulous work that went into Bing’s astonishingly realistic still-life

St Ives

painting. It was gratifying that the GCSE St. Ives trip, which Leyla accompanied, fuelled her with new imagery and ideas, leading to some highly innovative and pleasing abstract interpretation. Both artists, to whom we are deeply indebted, finished the year with an exhibition in the

trip to the artists’ colony in St. Ives. Pupils visited the Tate of the West, smaller galleries and artists’ studios. Internationally known artists delivered slide talks and led workshops in the stunning landscape. The pupils worked very hard and produced high-quality coursework which, without doubt, contributed to the excellent grades achieved in the summer examination.

The opportunity that the trip provides for pupils to work with artists of high calibre and to witness their struggles and working conditions is invaluable.

We were able to host six exhibitions by visit-

John Moore Theatre Gallery. Leyla has now gone on to open a studio pottery in London and Bing has joined the full-time teaching staff at King’s.

Fifty two GCSE Art pupils travelled to Cornwall over the October half term to take part in a five day residential field

ing professional artists in the John Moore Theatre Gallery as well as three exhibitions by pupils at the school. We were very pleased that both our junior schools, King’s Hawford and King’s St. Albans, were able to use the space and to mount exhibitions. The professional exhibitions

included painting from the celebrated Welsh artist David Tress, landscape painting by Russell Gilder, constructed painting by Philip Worth, figure sculpture and painting by Richard Gilbert and a travelling exhibition by the Cornish Great Atlantic Gallery. All of these provided not only interest to the many visitors to the theatre, but also a rich base for critical and contextual studies for pupils of all ages. We were able to show a film kindly lent by David Tress and all of the other artists gave informative talks about their work. Richard Gilbert ran an excellent weekend workshop in which older pupils explored a number of sculptural techniques which enabled participants to expand their repertoire of possible approaches. A number of IT Photoshop and sculpture workshops were also led by artists Joy and Kevan Hopson. Throughout the year examination and younger pupils from the Art Department exhibited work in the dining hall, the department, Worcester Cathedral and in offices and public spaces around school. We are indebted to our technicians Roger Plant, yvonne Rousse and more recently, yan Shao who helped with the preparation and mounting of these exhibitions. The year ended with our usual GCSE exhibition in the Dean’s Chapel, Worcester Cathedral and AS and A level exhibitions in the Sixth Form Porcelain studios. This was the passing of an era since immediately following the exhibitions the Porcelain Studios were cleared in readiness for demolition and the building of our new art school. This is due for completion at the end of the summer term 2007. We have fond memories of the time spent in this building and of the

A Ceramics workshop

Theatre make-up – ‘Special Effects’

The Salsa

St Ives

many students who created diverse and ambitious work of quality. As usual, a number of students left to take up places on foundation courses or for direct entry onto prestigious fine-art courses at leading art schools and universities. We wish them well and hope that they will return to exhibit with us in the future.

E.R.H.

The Arts Alive Festival and the Fourth Forms Multicultural Day

The ‘Arts Alive!’ Festival took place between Friday 23rd and Friday 30th September. Organised to run alongside the working week, a wide range of performances, exhibitions, workshops and concerts were arranged which would appeal to and involve pupils of all ages as well as staff, parents and members of the local community.

Clement Freud opened the festival with a delightfully hilarious evening, giving an account of his life in both politics and show business. There was an exhibition of landscape painting in the John Moore Theatre Gallery, a French cultural evening, a showing of the film Les Choristes, an art lecture, a family printmaking workshop, a poetry day, salsa and gamelan workshops, jazz and dance performances, talks by the KSW artists-in-residence and a Keys Society concert which included a performance of a choral work by the composer Bob Chilcott who had worked earlier in the week with pupils. A highlight of the week was the Multicultural Creative and Performing Arts Day which involved all pupils in the Fourth Forms. They began the day in the theatre where they were given a highly entertaining account by OV Tom Hand of his gap year travels. This was followed by a breathtaking display of modern and break-dancing by visiting professional dancers. During the remainder of the day the pupils participated in two workshops from a huge range

which included African drumming and dancing, Indian pattern making and dancing, Thai cooking, stage fighting, illustration, felt-making, aboriginal mask making, story telling and Caribbean steel pan. Pupils came together at the end of the afternoon to share what they had learnt and to perform to one another. The day gave all pupils great satisfaction as well as a wider perspective of world arts. We hope it will also have inspired some, who had not previously been involved, to peruse an arts related extra-curricular event. This festival week would not have been possible without the close co-operation of the Music, Dance, Drama, Art and English Departments. I am extremely grateful to everyone who was involved.

E.R.H.

Design and Technology

The department has had another busy year. Continued growth of numbers at GCSE and AS/A2 Level has led to the appointment of an additional full-time member of staff. We were very pleased to ‘show off’ our work in a feature on the department in the nationally-acclaimed ‘Designing Magazine’. In addition to the end of year show in the Chappel Memorial Room, we have put up an exhibition of coursework in the foyer of the Malvern Theatre.

As the students move up through the years they build upon their knowledge and understanding and whilst they tend to focus upon what’s coming next, the project work undertaken in the first three years

( years 7, 8 and 9) is vital to their exam success. Manufacturing processes become better understood and subsequent projects become even more ambitious.

Despite the inevitable risk that accompanies this ambition, the success achieved by the exam groups has been evident. The success achieved by a student seems to be in direct proportion to the enjoyment he/she has taken from their work.

Clearly exam results give measurable success but it is not always quite so obvious in the lower years. However a good gauge is the look on the students’ faces as they take their finished item away with them to show their parents.

In the Upper Sixth, Charlie Fellows designed and built a contemporary outdoor bench from steel and French oak. With its removable backrest, the bench seats up to twelve people and will be situated outside the new library. Tom yates created a dual fuel BBQ which runs on either charcoal or gas. His hard work on coursework, relentless effort with theory and his 100% in the written exam and design paper earned him one of the top ten scores at A Level in the country.

In the Lower Sixth, Josh Tomlinson made an angle-poise desk light from steel which transmitted current to the halogen bulb through its isolated arms.

Notable Fifth Form projects included Edward MacKenzie’s music stand from laminated plywood, Amy Haddock’s aeroplane swing for young children and Tom Byrne’s Jack in the Box. Conrad Clarke produced an impressive travel art case.

We look forward to some more inspiring project work from next year’s bunch!

C.W.S.W.

Dance

Although we did not have a Dance Showcase this year we have still been busy on the dance front.

During the Autumn Term we invited Sam Crosby from the Pineapple Dance Studios in London to come into school to take a couple of workshops for the Upper

and Lower Removes. The whole day was a great success, the pupils enjoyed the sessions, and both boys and girls proved to be pretty good ‘Street dancers’

Later that term the Upper Sixth were able to enjoy a very different Key Skills afternoon, when another Dancer from the London studios came down to teach them a few basics in ‘Street jazz’. It was great to see them all having a go, even members of the 1st XV could show off their nimble footwork.

Both Sam and his colleague came into school for a third visit later in the year to perform at the Fourth Form Performing Arts week and teach some basic ‘Breakdance’ moves to the Fourth Forms.

Dance clubs were well attended by all years and we do hope to have a Dance Showcase next year.

T.D.M.

Breakdancing with Sam Crosby

King’s HAWFORD

Congratulations to the children in year 6 who all gained places to King’s Senior School. In particular David Chappell, William Cusack, Cossette Darby and George Preece who were awarded academic scholarships. In addition to these, Ella Fairlie won a sports award to the Alice Ottley. Lower down Harry Annable, Emelia Lavender and Ruth Lavender gained academic scholarships to our Junior School whilst Harry Guy and Hayden Lewis achieved scholarships to St. Alban’s. There has also been much success in music with Josie Cameron, Sophie Condlyffe, Hannah Robinson and Christopher Rhodes gaining music awards at Hawford and Ruth Furber an award to St. Alban’s.

Rugby continues to feature prominently and all the teams enjoyed a successful season, highlights of which included the Under 11s winning The Elms tournament for the third year in succession and coming runners up in the Warwick sevens. All the boys in years 5 and 6 had a fantastic tour to South Wales and finished with a visit to the Millennium Stadium to watch Wales v Fiji.

Many children have been involved in football both at school and in the holiday football academies which have proved extremely popular with boys and girls.

The girls hockey teams all had an excellent season with the Under 8s, 9s and 10s A teams showing particular promise and remaining unbeaten. In netball the Under 10 girls won the Bromsgrove Netball Championship against teams drawn from across the region.

Although torrential rain in May left our athletics track largely unusable everyone persevered and the girls went on to win the Blue Coat School track competition with the boys finishing as runners up.

Performing Arts continue to thrive throughout the school.

Although rain reduced the number of cricket and rounders matches during the first half of the summer term, the boys and girls showed a competitive edge at all levels with good batting, bowling and fielding skills. In cricket the Under 11s had a good season and George Preece was selected for Worcestershire County Under 11s.

Kindergarten delighted their audience with “The Christmas Journey of George and Matilda Mouse”, and year 2 chose a traditional nativity, “Nothing Ever Happens around Here”

Cross country has a keen following and teams competed at several events during the Spring term. As well as hosting our own event involving children from twelve schools, our team took part in the Malvern Prep School competition at which George Fairlie won the Boys’ event and his sister Ella came second in the Girls’ category.

to begin the festive season. Reception and year 1 took the theme of tolerance and understanding of others for their performances of “Billy No Buzz” and “Around the World with Barnaby Bear.” The Junior School production of “Excalibur” was written and directed by John Whitmore. Skilful characterisation, colourful costumes and multi-layered humour transported the audience back to ancient times. They

Bob & Pat Middleton

were scared by witches, enthralled by treachery and finally witnessed the triumph of Sir Robert of Cardiff over Sir Andrew of york!

Traditional country and maypole dancing, the dance showcase, ensemble groups, choirs, informal concerts, the Orchestral Workshop, Carol Service, Summer Concert and Lamda presentations mean there can be very few, if any children who haven’t had the opportunity to perform in some way this year!

The children had many opportunities to speak in front of others and assemblies were often brought to life with their contributions. In years 4 and 6 every child was asked to research a topic and prepare a short presentation for the public speaking competition. This year’s topics included pathology, special effects, the 2012 Olympics, local history and rugby!

The charities assembly at the beginning of the year gave children the chance to nominate their favourites and this year they voted to support Oxfam, The Blue Cross, The Red Cross and the Blood Transfusion Service. Home clothes day, a mini fete and the ever popular cake sales helped to raise hundreds of pounds. In addition a Spellathon raised £2000 for the NSPCC.

Outdoor education and activities are very much part of the culture and character of Hawford and these have been extended to our very youngest children in Kindergarten. Neither rain nor cold could dampen their enthusiasm as they explored the forest environment during their weekly trips to Forest School. The Junior School ski trip saw children, staff and parents enjoying energetic skiing in the Ziller Valley.

Numerous outings, year 2 camps to the Old Chapel, and Junior School field trips and outward bound activities to Church Stretton, Duke’s Barn, Carsington Water and Marloes

Sands together with several overnight camps at school provided a wealth of experiences, enriched the curriculum and took learning well beyond the classroom.

Science Week took the theme of Time and Temperature which prompted a whole school visit to Bristol Zoo! Back at home the Energy Dragon taught the children about energy and the need to save it and The Dinosaur Man took us back in time to provide an insight into our evolutionary history. Arts Festival took the theme of Art in the Environment and provided plenty of opportunity for dance, drama and artwork using natural materials. This year’s International Festival involved children throughout the school in a huge range of cross-curricular activities based on China.

At the end of the year we said goodbye to Sophie Clarke, Juliet Douglas, Jonathon Ward, Julie Sodzawiczny and Bob and Pat Middleton. As Headmaster, Bob brought his own style of leadership. He was well liked by the children and always took the time to talk and listen to them. He encouraged child centred learning and established a very successful mediation system. During his time with us he oversaw the rapid expansion of the school and a comprehensive programme of building and refurbishment. We wish him and Pat much happiness as they take up their new position at Heathmount School.

King’s St. Alban’s

All the children in year Six passed the Entrance Examination into the Senior School again this year. Special congratulations are due to Aliza Dee (the third of three sisters, after Sophie and Bea, to win an academic scholarship at 11+), Emily Holland, Jake Hudson and Mhairi Leeson who gained academic scholarships. Peter Shepherd achieved the rare distinction of being awarded a dual academic and music scholarship. We are proud of the high standard of work all the children produce consistently throughout the year. It is always satisfying to see the children’s hard work, and the staff’s, being rewarded in year Six .

There have been several staff changes again this year, after several last year – I hope you are following carefully!

Anna Morgan joined us to cover for Ruth Reeves during the first part of the year until we were able to welcome Ruth back full time after Christmas. Michael O’Kane arrived from Perth, Australia to teach year 3. He covered for Beryl Wilson who spent the year in Ethiopia with the VSO. Rachel Duke joined the staff on a permanent basis and taught the other year 3 class. This position became vacant as Angela Walton joined John Walton teaching 6W as a job share. John stood down as Deputy Headmaster and this position was filled by Bill Toleman. Julie Pitts returned to her job share with Chris Woodcock in year 6. Helen Murray, a harpist, covered for Vanessa Gunter during the summer term. Vanessa is recovering from a post viral infection.

Katrina Kear-Wood continued to

make progress in her fight with ME, but it is still uncertain when she will be able to return to work. Sporting highlights this year included the Under 11 football team being undefeated for the second year in a row and the Under 11 sevens rugby team winning the Warwick Sevens Tournament.

This latter achievement was particularly impressive as many of the other schools involved are bigger, single sex and some still have boarders. The fact that St. Alban’s defeated Hawford in the final bodes well for this age group when they join up in the senior school! Individual success came to Mhairi Leeson who was second in

the National Orienteering Championships and Alistair Hunt who was selected for the Under 11 Worcestershire cricket team.

Informal concerts on Friday afternoons in the chapel gave many children the opportunity to display their music talents in front of an audience. These are light-hearted events, which gently ease them into the art of performance without too much pressure. When they come to the more formal school concerts, the children are able to approach them with a greater degree of confidence. The Orchestra Workshop organised by the Music Department stretches the more able

and gives them the chance to perform with pupils from Hawford and the Senior School.

To mark Matron’s retirement on Junior King’s Day, the whole school gave a rendition of Thank you Very Much Being Our Matron. It was organised by Chris Allsop and based loosely on Thank you Very Much For The Aintree Iron by The Scaffold. It proved remarkable for its coordination and volume, while retaining musical quality.

The children supported a range of charities this year, with ever more inventive and interesting ways of raising money.

A sponsored Readathon in the autumn term brought in over £2000 for the Malcolm Sargent Cancer Fund for Children.

The harvest collection this year was for Action Aid, some of the money provided education for Nganza Kaliti for another year. Nganza lives in Kenya and St. Alban’s undertakes to pay for his schooling every year. This year, the money required was raised by donating pocket money, most of it via a cake sale! Action Aid also received a donation raised through the sale of harvest goods on the quad lawn.

On UNICEF’s Day for Change, the children enjoyed a mufti day and raised over £200 for immunisation programmes in Niger and Madagascar.

The children in year 5 organised a mini fete with games and stalls, which ran during breaks one day in July. They raised £250 for the RNLI.

Valerie Johnson, from the Amani Children’s Home in Moshi, Tanzania, visited the school in December and the children were able to present her with a cheque for £6000. This money will enable the home to purchase a plot of land which they hope will enable them to become self sufficient. It will also provide them with enough seed and stock to get started.

The School Fête was as frenetic as usual. St. Alban’s children embraced the theme vigorously. A fine selection of Victorian urchins, chimney sweeps, Sweeney Todds and Victorian gentlemen and women paraded around the Monitors’ Lawns. Briony Milner and Edward Pountney won prizes for the best costumes.

Sixty stalls and hard work from a host of volunteer parents as well as the children resulted in St. Alban’s raising well over £5000, which was a significant share of the total.

In the first week of the summer term, the whole school arts project was performed in the theatre. Creative Connexions aimed to make links between children as artists and professional artists and between art forms including art, dance, music and poetry. It focussed on developing work from a variety of genres and using this as inspiration for the children’s own composition and performance.

year 3 explored people’s feelings about rain. Introduced by a short film of the children playing in the rain, the children presented their interpretation of people’s reactions to rain in dance.

year 4 performed a narrative dance based on their own version of the traditional Russian fairy tale The Puppet Master. This started in a Russian village market square and followed the puppets’ adventures until they eventually escaped to freedom.

year 5 presented a version of the traditional American settlers’ dance – The Hoedown. As they danced, an animated backdrop of patchwork quilt squares from their ADT lessons scrolled across in the background. The children in year 6 danced a collage of scenes from everyday life set against a Lowry industrial landscape of their own drawings.

sylvIA egeRton

“Matron!” has probably been the most used word in the history of St. Alban’s.

As she would have said,” I do have a name you know,” but “Matron,” encapsulates everything about her. Sylvia Egerton was appointed when Mike Abraham was Master-in-Charge of the Junior School. She helped to maintain the status quo throughout the many changes that occurred in the nineteen years that she lived there. Her previous experience of working at Malvern Girls’ College, with SEN children in Lancashire, on the Blood Transfusion Team, general nursing and bringing up her own children meant that she was well equipped to help with the changes when the school became coeducational and boarding ceased. She carved out for herself a new role in which she worked tirelessly throughout the

pils receiving TLC, staff seeking help or a wise confidante, or parents who respected her discretion and relied on her both physically and emotionally. Children still insisted on attending her Rug Making Club even though there is no longer Saturday school. She occasionally gave children the real treat of staying overnight if there was a transport problem, and being, “a stubborn old bird” – she insisted on remaining in the Late Room after school to relieve grateful staff.

day and beyond, including helping out in Castle House.

When she went to lunch, pupils now in the Senior School, would greet her and she knew their names – and their siblings’ names. Boarders and their parents returned to visit her, remembering that no-nonsense northern attitude that belied her warmth and compassion. Who else would have been heard chuckling away at a private joke whilst ironing yet another set of rugby shirts? For that matter, who else would be adamant that rugby shirts needed ironing?

Her kitchen was always full of pu-

The choristers will miss her for she watched over them, mothered them, fed them and encouraged them and was a very welcome Matron on their foreign tours. She once wore a pedometer for the day to count the miles she was walking when ferrying pupils to and from their music lessons, not forgetting all those stairs to classrooms and to reach her flat at the top of the building. She never

wore it again and refused to tell her doctor what it read!

Children loved it when she heard them read or admired their work. She also accompanied year 6 during their visits to France and was an intrepid member on youth Hostel weekends, when she insisted on being the last to bed and the first up. The list seems endless, for she saw what needed to be done and did it, though her modesty would have disputed it. The only thing of which she ever complained was the difficulty of finding really comfortable shoes. Now that she has reached her eighth decade and surely deserves to put her feet up, she will often think of us and we will certainly remember her with our thanks and love.

ov NoteS

REUNION WEEKEND

22nd, 23rd and 24th

September

Friday - OV Golf

twenty-three ovs participated in a very enjoyable day at sapey Golf Club. the results were: rob Blakeway 37pts

Gareth Wilding 35pts

Geoff Bennett 33pts it was rather embarrassing for the organiser to win the cup but it was following a trend as son George Blakeway had organised and won the previous year. russell mason has kindly offered to organise the 2007 day in order that he can win the cup!

Rob Blakeway (H 48-55)

Saturday - Reunion Day

A feature of more recent reunions has been that all have had within them smaller reunions, and 2006 turned out to be a vintage year, with groups from 1956 (organised by roger thorn), 1961 (Donald howell, Bill Comyn, Lou Wadley and tim Wadsworth), 1966 (David thomas), 1986 (richard Wilkes and Des [ Jones] hyde), all groups celebrating significant anniversaries since leaving the school to spread their wings in the wider world. the Dining Hall was the first assembly point for most, where lapel badges were issued so

ov Committee 2006-7

president: tony halford (Cl 52-61)

Chairman: roy padden (Cl 45-52)

headmaster: timothy h Keyes (hon ov)

vice-presidents: Gareth o’hara (Ch 81-84)

Caroline horrigan (Co 85-87)

hon secretary: michael page (Cr 60-65)

hon treasurer: John potter (Cl 55-62)

hon soc secretary: Andrew Underwood (s 77-88)

Asst soc secretary: richard Underwood (Ch 68-79)

member emeritus: Alec mackie (Cl 47-56)

hon Auditor: John Wagstaff (DB 52-61)

ovCC representative: richard Wilkes (W 76-86)

ordinary members: Julia [simcock] Annable (Co 85-87)

James mills (Cr 80-87)

philip mackie (Cl 73-84)

Elizabeth [Alexander] Charman (Co 88-90)

rebecca [Day] Wynn (Co 81-84)

David rosewarne (Cl 76-83)

that those who had not met in forty or more years could recognise one anotherwithout embarrassment.The relaxed dress code, informal atmosphere, and ability to move around freely in the Dining hall allowed the years to roll back quickly, and the social cohesion of schooldays was soon in evidence again before all sat down to lunch, some of it done in old fashioned ‘school meal’ style to press a few more nostalgia buttons. not least among those attending the lunch were several retired staff, there by invitation to meet former

The London Dinner: Peter Dane, Bill Bridgens, Roger Hawes, Peter Garland and Colin Andrews

pupils, and to enjoy the moment. With old friendships re-established groups and individuals then toured round the school, looking at everything that was new or changed, and at the same time a great deal that was reassuringly familiar. Librarian pauline Baum showed ovs around the new Library with an impressive modern design and ‘state of the art’ facilities the students of the school now enjoyed.

The AGM

the 2006 AGm was held in the Lower reading room of the new Library. partners and guests of those attending the meeting were invited to attend a reception, in the Long Gallery of the Library, where they were entertained by recitals from David Brookshaw and students of the music Department. twenty two members assembled for the AGm, with richard Underwood taking the Chair. All stood in silent respect for a few moments after the names of nine ovs, whose deaths had been reported to the Club during the year, had been read out. Four Apologies for Absence were received, and the minutes of the 2005 AGm, copies of which were available to all at the meeting, were accepted. the hon treasurer, John potter, who had

been co-opted to the post following the sudden death of mick stokes, gave a detailed report of the Club’s finances; the overall picture was good. the annual review of the subscription had taken place in June, and the Committee had endorsed his recommendation that no change was necessary. he thanked John Wagstaff, penny hope and virginia iles, who had all been of great help to him. the president thanked John potter for stepping into the post at very short notice, and the 2005 Accounts were adopted. [1 Donald Howell; 2 Ray needham].

tony halford was elected as president, 2006-7, and took over the Chair; Richard Underwood retired from the room to meet his guests in the Long Gallery. there were no other elections, but there were vacancies to fill on the Committee; the AGm invited the Committee to co-opt as seemed necessary. [1 Malcolm Joyner; 2 John Turner]. Under AOB, Hugh Scurfield addressed the meeting, as he had in 2005, reinforcing the message that ovs could do much to help King’s by supporting the Development trust and its campaign to raise money to finance School enterprises, bursaries in particular: a relatively small amount per month from say twenty ovs would fund a one third bursary, and bring an education at King’s within the reach of parents on limited income.

tony halford thanked richard Underwood for carrying out his year of office with commitment and enthusiasm, and the Headmaster for his continuing support; he declared the meeting closed at 6.55pm.

The Reunion Dinner

Almost 190 members and guests were present in College hall, with richard Underwood presiding. the president’s guests were: peter Bleakman (representing the old elizabethans’ Association) and mrs Margaret Bleakman; Donald Howell, OV (Chairman of the Governors) and mrs pat Howell; Tim Keyes (Headmaster) and Mrs Mary Anne Keyes; Mrs Margaret Stokes and Miss Anna Stokes, OV; The Revd Canon Dr Alvyn pettersen, hon ov (Acting Dean of Worcester and Guest preacher) and Mrs Judith Pettersen; Mrs Susan Shaw, Hon OV; John Turner, Hon OV and Mrs Ann Turner; Ian Brown, Hon OV and Mrs Maureen Brown; and representing the school, helen Jones (K), head of school and George Kitchen (W), Deputy head. richard Underwood called the room to order and all sat down to dine after Grace, said by Dr Alvyn pettersen. the superiority of round table seating has been established by the experience of previous reunions, and has been adopted as the norm, enabling year groups to sit together, and allowing individuals to move around the hall to socialise freely. ovs present represented some seven decades of the school’s history. the toast of the school was proposed from the floor by President elect tony halford, and tim Keyes replied. he said he would try to cover the school year as briefly as possible, nevertheless the breadth and depth of academic and sporting success he had to report was impressive. in order to offer the best education possible, and for King’s to hold its place at the forefront of local education, the Governors had embarked on an ambitious programme of development at the school. The most recent example of that was the New Library; a building of which the school could be proud, its wide range of facilities already in full and enthusiastic use by students. the Development trust had been formed to help fund such projects, and to gather in funds to support bursaries. many present had received an education at King’s in the days of Direct Grant or Assisted Places, they had benefited regardless of parental income: he hoped ovs would feel able to support the Development trust to try and ensure everything that King’s had to offer would remain avail-

able to all students of the right calibre, regardless of background.

richard Underwood introduced his Guests, particularly margaret stokes and Anna stokes, there as a token of the esteem in which our late treasurer, mick stokes, was held. richard encouraged diners to support the evening’s raffle; proceeds would be split between st richard’s hospice (the Charity nominated by margaret stokes) and the mike stevens Fund. the Club acknowledges, with thanks, the donation of prizes by: Family Cellars, malvern theatre, philip serrell and the Foundation Development Office.

the Wh Chappel Award, introduced in 2005, and presented to the longest serving ov at the reunion went to peter Watson (s 38-41), who had travelled from Australia. he signed the Award Book to applause from all present.

richard wound up the formal part of the evening by thanking all those who had helped in many different ways to ensure the evening ran so successfully. he encouraged those who had not already done so to look over the wide range of photographs and other documents that Caroline roslington and members of the Archive Group had put on display in the Hall; all of it of general interest, and some of particular interest to the year groups present. richard thanked all those present for supporting the reunion and encour-

Seb Pearce and Georgia Burford at London Dinner

Peter Watson at the Annual Reunion Dinner

aged everyone to remain and enjoy the company of old friends.

Sunday

the 10.30am Cathedral eucharist was attended by many ovs and partners. ov president tony halford gave the readings, and hon ov Dr Alvyn pettersen, Acting Dean of Worcester, and Guest preacher gave the sermon. the service was followed by the chance to relax and to socialise at the headmaster’s reception held in the Long Gallery of the Library, before ovs dispersed, homeward bound: for some that was just a walk down the street in Worcester, and for a few, a journey half way round the world, either way the general consensus was that the reunion experience had been worthwhile, and one to be repeated.

London Reunion

Dinner; Friday, 21st April 2006, East India Club

the ov London reunion Dinner at the start of the easter term was a most enjoyable event with over 100 ovs and their guests present. the best represented decade of leavers was the 1990s, although we had groups going back to the 1940s. it is proving to be a particularly good occasion for young professionals in London to meet up with each other. the youngest ov present at the event this year was seb pearce (Ch 90-00), fresh from his triumph in coxing Oxford to victory in the Boat race. By kind sponsorship of the Lord Garden KCB (Cr 52-62), next year’s London reunion will be held at the royal Air Force Club on Friday, 18th may.

OVCC

the old vigornians managed to secure their position in Division three of the Worcestershire League. it marked the end of a successful but transitional year during which many new players established themselves in the First eleven while some of the older ones moved down to the seconds. Arti Fiaz (Cl 88-95), Asmat Fiaz, sam Cullen (W 93-04) and phil mackie (Cl 7384) all won individual awards at the annual presentation evening in september. Arti

was both the club’s leading wicket taker and run scorer, phil made the highest individual score. Asmat had the best bowling figures and Sam was the best young player. We’re always interested in hearing from current and former pupils at King’s, and any parents who wish to play alongside them. We’re hoping to start a junior section next year for the first time since the 1980s, so watch this space.

Phil Mackie (Cl 73-84)

BIRTHS

Sue Clements (Co 87-89): “it is with great delight that we can finally announce the safe arrival of our beautiful and precious baby boy.....he arrived on Christmas eve 2005 at 10.17am weighing a bouncing 4.5 kilos and 59 cms in length - a very long boy! his name is Lucien James Goldie and both myself and mark are thrilled to be his parents.”

Jim Fawcett (S 85-94): to Jim and Donna, a son mylo David, born on 2nd may at 04.22, and a healthy 8lb14oz. he’s our first baby so we are on a steep learning curve, but so far so good: as you can see from the attached we have already started the rugby indoctrination that living near toulouse imposes!

J-J Richardson (H 82-91):to J-J and ruth richardson a second son, Jude on 28th January 2006. Weight 7lb 7oz. Christened on 10th september 2006 at hollowell, northampton. nic sproson (W 71-76) is Godfather. matt speirs (h 86-91) and rachel [Draper] speirs (Co 90-92) also attended.

MARRIAGES

James Bader (O 84-94) married Laura Croasdell on saturday 2nd september, 2006 at st George’s r.C. Church in Worcester. the reception was at puckrup hall, tewkesbury. other ovs present included oli Woolley (s 90-94), Kris Chapman (K 89-94), phil mackie (Cl 73-84), James Underwood (s 83-88), richard Wilkes (W 76-86), and nic sproson (h 71-76). the honeymoon was spent in sri Lanka and the maldives. James and Laura are now living in Worcester; they would welcome contact with other ovs, jamesfbader@aol.com.

Chris Bailey (B 74-81): on July 8th 2006, Chris celebrated his Civil partnership to John holland at the old Library, Dulwich College, London. Chris continues to live in south east London and work, as he has for the last nine years, as a freelance historical interpreter and museum education consultant, for clients including historic royal palaces, st paul’s Cathedral and the imperial War museum.

Pauline Baseley (B 95-97) married mr Lei mashiter (of Kendal, Cumbria) on 6th may 2006 at tebay methodist Chapel, Cumbria. Bridesmaids were: miss rachel Baseley (K 92-94), and miss Anna morton (Cl 97-99). Father of the bride was mr peter Baseley (hon ov, staff 73-03).

Tom Bawden (W 84-94) married Jo Forbes in st mary’s parish Church Jersey on september 16th 2006. Ushers included Gary murphy (Cr 87-94) and robert honan (Cr 89-94); other OVs present were mike Brown (Cl 84-94), pete singleton (s 86-94)), Jon mott (Ch 89-94), Chris James (os 84-94) and Arti Fiaz (Cl 88-95). tim hickson, hon ov, (62-02) also attended. the honeymoon was spent in south West France. tom and Jo will continue to live and work in London for the foreseeable future.

Christian Harris (Cl 86-91) married Anne tiainen in parikkala, Finland in February.

Adam Howard (Cl 84-92) married sophie Goodwin on the 3rd June 2006 at st Denys Church in severn stoke, Worcs, with a reception at sophie’s father’s farm in earls Croome. michael Keel (K 89-92) was best man. Fellow ovs David richards (Cr 89-92) and Alistair Goff (o 85-95 ) also attended. As well as three of my cous-

Jim Fawcett with his son Mylo

ins, two of whom are still at King’s (emily, sophie and Jonathon howard).

Claire McConalogue (K 94-96) married richard Ayres on 12th August 2005 at st peter and st paul Church, rock, followed by a reception at the elms hotel, Abberley.

the honeymoon was in malaysia. Claire teaches at stourport high school and richard is a Quantity surveyor.

Gary Murphy (Cr 87-94) married emma Cuthell on 16th July 2006 at holy trinity Church, Lickey. Ushers included tom Bawden (W 84-94), michael Brown (Cl 84-94), Christopher James (os 84-94), Jonathan mott (s 89-94) and richard mettrick (K (84-94).

Gary and emma are now working and living in London, having spent nearly three years in Worcestershire prior to getting married.

Capt. Robert Sandford (Os 87-94) married Fiona Coldham on 9th september 2006 at Daviot Church, outside inverness. the Best man was robert honan (Cr 89-94). Among the Ushers were the groom’s twin brothers, David and ian (os 91-94). the honeymoon was spent in Argentina. “robert and Fiona are now living where the Army chooses, which currently is in Chatham, Kent!

Flt Lt Andy Sturt (K 9496) recently married shaan at Christchurch Barnston, Wirral. Andy served as an Officer in the

Royal Gurkha Rifles and the Royal Corps of signals in locations including Brunei, Bosnia and iraq rising to the rank of Captain before joining the royal Air Force. Andy and shaan currently live in northumberland where Andy is stationed as a Fighter Controller and shaan works as a nanny/nursery nurse. present at the wedding was Damian tipping, (B 86-96).

Alison Wright (Co 85-87): Alison married Keith at st martin’s Church, London road, Worcester on saturday 22 April 2006 and is now mrs marlow. her uncle,

John Wright (Cr 57-65) conducted the ceremony, her father David Wright (Cr 54-61) gave her away and brother Chris (K 80-89) was chief usher. Alison and Keith are living in Worcester and are due to move house shortly to accommodate the arrival of Marlow Junior, expected in late January 2007.

DEATHS

the following deaths have been reported to the Club:

thomas F higginson (s 26-33)

Allan en Branch (h 27-33)

robert smith (DB 29-33)

John Bagenal (s 29-34)

michael B Davies (s 34-37)

John Dh sayer (s 33-38)

s michael Lavender (s 30-39)

Cecil F Bryer (DB 33-39)

stephen W medcalf (DB 40-44)

Geoffrey e Burrows (DB 43-51)

Donald r Leonard (Ca 47-52 & staff 5868)

michael A Lees (Cr 45-55)

JA michael harris (Ca 48-55)

WJL Best (s 55-62)

David A philips (B 55-65)

AL (tony) Cubberley (staff 63-76)

richard C Gabriel (staff 67-87)

Andrew s hindle (o 82-91)

michael A stevens (staff 79-01)

OBITUARIES

John stuARt BAgenAl

Born in 1915, John Bagenal died aged 90, on 31st December 2005. his father, hope Bagenal, was a great friend of Cuthbert Creighton (headmaster 1919-1938 then 1940-1941) which enabled John and his two brothers, Beauchamp (32-36 and philip

Pauline Baseley

Robert Sandford

Tom Bawden

(s 35-37) to board at King’s and in school house. Creighton said of John in 1934, ‘i cannot let John go without a word to say how much i will miss him and how very glad i am to have had him in my house. ... because he treats me like a human being ...because of his independence of character and soundness of principles ... he is entirely wholesome and genuine.’ on leaving school, Bagenal became involved in horticulture and agriculture, ending up at Kent Farm institute in 1940. he joined the Dental Corps in the spring of 1940 but by the autumn was in the east surrey regiment. he was commissioned in the Queen’s West surrey regiment in 1943 and left for east Africa to be seconded to the King’s African Rifles and then to serve in Kenya, Ceylon, Burma, india and mauritius and was finally discharged in 1947. From the army, Bagenal joined the Department of Agriculture in Kenya as an Assistant Agricultural Officer. He climbed Mt Kenya (nelion) in 1949 and the south side to Batian in 1950. he climbed Kilimanjaro with his future wife patience Burrows, who by coincidence knew College Green through her own family there. they lived at Kabernet on the tugen hills when he was District Agricultural Office until 1964 when they moved to Nakuru as the Executive Officer to the Provincial Agricultural Board.

his service ended with Africanisation in 1967 when the family returned to share the family home of Leaside, hertingfordbury , with his parents. A spell in the Bank of england was followed by work at the Commonwealth institute of helminthology in st Alban’s, from which he resigned in 1973 through ill health. in retirement, Bagenal edited his father’s letters and then organised the family papers at Leaside which the family have lived in since 1903, despite the fact he was registered blind. he was as a keen gardener. As part of the archival work, he became in involved with the school Archive at King’s, especially contributing photographs of the school Gardens including one of the opening in 1931 featured in last year’s vigornian

he leaves patience and three children, including elinor who visited King’s this summer.

C.F.R.

geoffRey edgAR BuRRows

Geoffrey Burrows died on 13th may 2006. he had been suffering from Alzheimers. he remained interested in his old school, and the Club’s regular communications with him gave him much pleasure in his latter years.

Mrs Burrows – widow

Al CuBBeRley

tony Cubberley, who taught Classics at King’s from 1963 to 1976, died in June at the age of 66, after a long illness.

After Bolton school and King’s College, Cambridge, where he took part i of the Classical tripos and part ii of the modern Languages tripos, which allowed him almost to write his own syllabus and to concentrate, as he wished, on late Latin and early French, he came to King’s in 1963 to teach Classics.

he made a large contribution to the pastoral side of the School, first as a Tutor (or, as we say now, Assistant tutor) in two boarding houses, st.Alban’s 1963-4 and Choir house 1964-9. When the headmaster (D.m.Annett) reorganised the Fourth Forms in 1967, he appointed four young men as his new Form masters: Cubberley led the team until his departure nine years later. in his own Form, he always acquired an enviable knowledge and understanding of his boys and their families: in the last year of his life he could remember where many of them lived and what their fathers did. he enjoyed getting to know other Upper Fourth boys as the coach of the Under 13 cricket Xi for several years. it was a matter of regret to him that soccer was not then played here, since he had been a good player and would have made a good coach of school teams.

Cubberley’s enormous enthusiasm for the Classical world included a keen interest in archaeology and it was quite usual to find him in some part or other of the school and Cathedral site, with a small party of similarly enthusiastic boys, digging away to increase our knowledge and understanding of old Worcester. One of these excavations, beneath the floor of the Undercroft of College hall, yielded a discovery of the first importance: the earliest known Christian burials on the Cathedral site. he was a keen and knowledgeable musi-

cian, who left at his death a small menagerie of wind instruments, all of which he could play. his main instrument was the clarinet, which he played regularly in the school orchestra and Wind Band, as well as in the pit of the swan theatre with a local operatic society.

it would not be right, in a conspectus of tony Cubberley’s years at King’s, to omit his great love of food and cooking. he was an excellent cook and hosted the annual bachelors’ lunch on King’s Day, when each man brought a course. While the joint was naturally harry Bramma’s province, tony supplied sweets of an ever more elabo-

rate and alcoholic nature, seriously compromising the accuracy of timings taken at the inter-house Athletic sports in the afternoon. he also made a profound study of roman baking and bread, becoming an acknowledged expert on the subject. in 1976, Cubberley was appointed head of Classics at sevenoaks school, in Kent. he held this appointment for nineteen years, until his retirement. His first Headmaster there was very supportive, and Cubberley was encouraged to build up a highly successful department, in which growing numbers of Sixth Form students offered a contrast to national trends. he led many school trips to rome and pompeii. he was also a housemaster, cricket coach and musician at sevenoaks. Cubberley retired in 1995 to the house in College precincts which he had bought a few years earlier. he continued in retirement his habit for many years of residing for part of the year at the British school in Rome. There he took part in excavations with the distinguished archaeologist

A L Cubberley in 1976

professor Cozze, and worked on various publications. he was a major contributor to the Oxford Archaeological Guide to rome, the editor of notes from rome, the author of rome and the Grand tour and joint-author of twilight of the Grand tour. the Grand tour was also the subject of the entertainment From Florence to Faliraki, for pianist, two singers and two readers, which he wrote for performance in the John moore theatre in 2005. this and other projects gave him several years of active and fruitful retirement before a debilitating illness made even his much-enjoyed visits to a favourite watering-hole in Claines more arduous. his impish sense of humour and his encyclopaedic knowledge of cricket and soccer in the last sixty years never left him. He was a good scholar, a good schoolmaster and a good friend.

P.C.T.

dR MIChAel B dAvIes

michael Davies was a chorister at the Choir school and then a pupil at King’s for three years. he remained a committed ov all his life and supported the school’s recent appeal for funds to help with the new Library, attached to his old house, school. his name is perpetuated along with other donors, being etched into a glass panel in the Library. (mrs susan marshall – daughter)

RIChARd C gABRIel

richard Gabriel was born in London in 1927 and inherited from his father, who had a jewellery business, an appreciative taste in design. he attended the local grammar school where his passion for music developed. that might have been his career, but it was not an economic possibility and he turned to his other love, history. he read history at University College, London, followed by several years’ research on the elizabethan parliament. he then decided to teach, first at Hampton Grammar school, then at King’s, arriving as head of Department in 1967; he stayed for twenty years until retirement. his teaching was intelligent and exciting: there was nothing he liked more than to inspire his students to the point where they would challenge his opinions; he knew then he had instilled in

them an enduring interest in the subject. vital components of music are rhythm, timing, poetry and power. richard possessed all these and combined with his small stature made him a natural cox, and then a rowing coach. He coxed London University’s and London rowing Club’s First VIIIs; he also coxed the British Crew in the european and the Commonwealth Games. he was invited to apply for the job of coxing the UK VIII at the 1964 Olympics, but did not, deciding his commitments at hampton must take priority. As a coach he made the sport fun, and many of his crew members gained a love of the sport that remained long after leaving King’s. As well as academic and sporting duties at school, richard also took on pastoral responsibilities and was for some years tutor to Bright house, taking a particular interest in career development. he was involved also in the King’s scout troop.

retirement allowed him to indulge another passion and his collection of model GWr steam locomotives became the standard by which other collections were judged. he never regretted coming to Worcestershire: he loved the malverns, the severn and the music, whether it be at King’s, the Cathedral, in malvern or with friends. he died on 10th october 2006 and on that day the school lost a great character and a great friend. (Donald Anderton, hon ov – colleague and friend)

Many wrote expressing their regrets at the news of richard Gabriel’s death. From those messages I have selected two; they convey, as do all the others, something of the affection and regard in which the man was held. mJp

thank you for informing me of this sad news. I was one of the first four girls at King’s in 1971. mr Gabriel encouraged us to take up rowing and we formed a Ladies iv. i have no idea how good we were, but we enjoyed it enormously. mr Gabriel treated us with patience and care, never making us feel less important than the boys crews. After all this time i can still see him on his bike, pedaling along the towpath, shouting encouragement. (Cathy [hay] Devitt. ov)

i was saddened to hear of the passing of such a great character, who was associated with the best of my school experiences and memories. (paul Freeman, ov )

ChARles MIChAel lAvendeR

Born in London in 1920, but grew up in shropshire and arrived at King’s aged 10. Known by the nickname of ‘Lollie’ throughout his time at the school, mike was a keen sportsman rising to become Captain of rugby and Fives, as well as being a regular member of the school’s 1st iv he was also active in the OTC as an Under-Officer and member of the Band. he became head of school house. he went up to st edmund’s Hall, Oxford and graduated with a BA in natural science in 1942. his War service was as a chemicals expert in an aircraft factory. After the War he joined BDh in poole, as an analyst. there he met Cherie, who became his wife in 1949; they had two sons and a daughter. Later he worked for Fisons, before retiring in 1980 and moving back to his beloved shropsire. he was a keen golfer and fly-fisherman until arthritis reduced his mobility to the point where he had to use a wheelchair; but he continued to take a cheerful interest in life right up to the end. he died 24th october 2006. he was a great character of whom the school could be justly proud. he and i shared a study in school house for three years, and that was the start of a friendship that was to last a lifetime. (John reynolds, ov – friend)

Richard Gabriel

donAld leonARd

Donald was hugely supportive of King’s throughout his life, first as a pupil, then as a member of the teaching staff, as an ov Club Committee member and as a past president. he thought nothing of driving from Chatham to Worcester (194 miles) for ov Committee meetings, was never late and returned home the same evening. During his time at King’s he was a house and school monitor and he enthusiastically involved himself in school sport and was a member of the 1st iv in 1952. he is remembered with great warmth for his contribution to King’s as a maths, physics and chemistry teacher for ten years before taking up a post as Deputy head of Kergrave hall, ipswich. Donald followed a career in education and retired from the headship of a residential special school for disturbed boys in north Devon in 2002 and in 2004 he and Jo moved to normandy, France.

dAvId AlAn PhIlIPs

David went up to Keble College, Oxford in 1966, to read history. the most recent Keble College magazine “the record 2006” records that he died on 30 January 2006. After graduating he did vso in Kenya followed by social work in London. his working life was dedicated to teaching in secondary schools in Cardiff, and he had been a Labour member of Cardiff Council. Dogged by continuing health problems he was forced to withdraw from the Council as well as taking early retirement in 2005.

“I knew David Philips, only as a sixth former and undergraduate but despite having lost contact with him the best part of forty years ago i was shocked by his early death. In his sixth form years David was terrifyingly intelligent and well-read. And he was argumentative – in the best possible sense – capable of making the strongest case for either side of a debate – and relished disputation. he would have made a wonderful lawyer. it’s striking how little impact the popular culture of the 60s had on him; if he was a child of the 60s at all it was i think in the willingness to challenge untested assumptions, to question tradition and a general irreverence derived from the satire movement – the humour of peter Cook and the journal-

ism of ‘private eye’. he went up to Keble College in 1966; I followed David up to Keble a year later – i’m sure his halo effect had something to do with the College accepting me – and he was extremely kind and generous with his time in helping me settle in. But in those years people from different year groups didn’t seem to mix much and as both our parents had moved away from Worcester there was no opportunity to meet up back home. so, we drifted apart. it’s only later that you realise how much you value the friends you made when young and the formative influence they had on you. even though i last spoke to David in 1969 i liked to think of him as out there somewhere – no doubt cocking a snook at the establishment and arguing the unarguable for the relish of it.” (Frank phillips, ov – friend)

MIke stevens

We reproduce here the script of RNGS’ eulogy at the Memorial service for Mike in the Cathedral in January. it’s a tribute to mike’s huge contribution to the school over twenty two years that so many of his former pupils and colleagues are here today. And his contribution was not merely a long one; he did an incredible number of different things for all of us. For a start – the reason he was appointed in1979 – he taught two subjects, english and Classics, in both of which he was a first-class academic. His method was, shall we say, uncompromising: no courting popularity or dumbing down the academic rigour for him. one ov – among the many who wrote in with memories – said that mike had taught him Latin for two years and (i quote) “frightened the willies out of me”.

Another, who was taught english up to o Level (of blessed memory) by mike, says that in that period he didn’t really get on with Mike; but when, despite his appalling attitude to english, he got two A grades, he realised what an exceptional teacher mike must be and from then on he had the utmost respect and actually got on well with him. that’s quite a common memory: pupils might be rather scared at first, but then they realised how caring and hardworking mike was, and fear turned to respect and then to affection. one ov tells

us that when you leave school there only a few masters that you would want to meet later in life; most you are glad to forget. But mike was not just one he’d have been happy to meet, he’d have bought him a beer – though knowing the man, he says, mike would have insisted on paying!

Despite his dry performance in the classroom, he was by no means inflexible or narrow-minded in his appreciation of classical or english literature. he was a fan, for reasons i could never understand, of the songs of Bob Dylan, and he was quite happy to allow one pupil to write his o Level literary essay on Dylan rather than on shakespeare or Chaucer. that particular pupil claims he passed english Literature without reading a single book.

the other quality which pupils came to recognise was the wicked sense of humour. one who regarded mike as “by far the best english teacher i had at the school” remarks that he had the driest laidback humour he’s ever come across – by nature a type of humour not always recognised at first sight. If you messed around or didn’t do the work, he would come down hard on you; but having scolded you to the point of terror, he would always, according to one ov, leave you with a little twinkle in his eye.

We colleagues, who didn’t have to suffer the terror – except when being driven round the narrow lanes of Wales in the minibus – saw the humour all the time: mike took his work very seriously and conscientiously, but one thing he never took seriously was himself.

Apart from classroom teaching, he did a whole host of outdoor activities, ranging through cricket and rugby coaching – as a new Zealander he felt he had a particular right to do the latter - english trips to Haworth, Duke of Edinburgh expeditions, artistic tours of italy. he did these not because he got paid for them – he didn’t! – nor to advance his career or get stuff on to his Cv or any of that insidious modern nonsense, but because he enjoyed doing them and he knew that they were worthwhile for the pupils.

He had to keep himself young and fit throughout his career, especially in view of his prodigious appetite for food and drink: he was still refereeing rugby into his 50s,

walking across the countryside with giant strides that terrorised the smaller pupils, and playing cricket at an age when most of us have difficulty standing up all afternoon to umpire: in fact he scored his first ever century in his late forties, a source of enormous pride to him, and enormous envy to the likes of me. one particular interest was the old Chapel, of which he was Gauleiter for many years – in the days before it was filled with flush toilets and electric blankets.

In his extracurricular activities, just as in the classroom, he demanded of pupils and of himself the highest level of commitment and performance. there are many stories of his uncompromising attitude to lax discipline: at the old Chapel in the mid-1980s he was kept awake in the early hours by noisy Lower Fourth formers (that’s Year 7s in the banal, politically correct newspeak), and his response was to get them all up at 6 a.m. and administer a dose of pt mind you, a few years later, i’m told that the roles were reversed: when the english sixth form were trying to sleep in their tents, they were kept awake by the allnight talking of mike and the newly arrived senior mistress, one patricia sanger. the twinkle of humour was always there too: when mike and three girls turned up at their allocated bed and breakfast in haworth on one of the english trips, the landlady was horrified as she had banked on the quartet being to able to sleep two to a room. Mike was at first embarrassed, but, after the three girls had to crowd into a single room and mike got the other, he derived much amusement from telling them, repeatedly, what a good night’s sleep he’d had.

probably mike’s most memorable role was as the founding housemaster of oswald house in 1984. there are many tributes from ovs to his conscientious concern for their welfare, both the day-to-day matters and the important moments such as choice of options or universities. And they won’t know all the work that housemasters have to do behind the scenes that pupils never see.

Again mike combined the uncompromising insistence on high standards and the wicked humour. the latter was tested at the first Oswald House supper – an insti-

tution that has been in abeyance for the last ten years (sadly or thankfully, depending whether you are a pupil or a housemaster) – when the pupils of the house combined to pay for a Kiss-a-gram to invade the supper. Jamie mackie, who witnessed the event, describes the look on mike’s face as somewhere between an AllBlack in mid haka and indiana Jones when he finally set eyes on the Lost Ark.

he hadn’t been housemaster very long when an awful threat loomed: the school might decide to go fully co-ed. Sixth-form girls were oK: they were kept separate in College and eliot houses, and in any case only two sevenths of one’s teaching was of sixth forms. But if the whole school went co-ed, who knows, there could be girls in oswald. When mike’s self-image was shattered in the summer of 1986 by being bowled first ball in a staff cricket match – by a woman – it seemed his prejudices had become immovable.

But a year before the fatal change was implemented in 1991, a new senior mistress arrived to oversee the change – and the rest is history. A sixth-form girl of the time tells me that mike and patricia’s courting was all very hush-hush at first: “i was waitressing at Brown’s restaurant when i saw them both at a table! patricia seemed flustered that I had caught them at it, so to speak, and broke a glass when she saw me. she tried to offer me money (i’m not sure whether for the glass or for my silence) but i was the pinnacle of discre-

tion and didn’t mention a thing at school” – until now, that is!

Well, coeducation came, oswald moved into the modern world with mike now quite at ease with it, and in 1998 all their colleagues were delighted when mike and patricia announced they were getting married. And i’ll end by adding what a superb colleague on the staff mike was. his wicked sense of humour, mentioned often before, was always on show in the common room – not just to amuse us, but also a useful corrective to any of us who risked taking ourselves or the trivia of teaching too seriously.

i remember an occasion when i had to write some mission statement for the Classics Department – the kind of meaningless exercise that political correctness demands from time to time – and i thought i’d done it rather well.When i showed it to him, he read it through and said “Yes, that’s very good, well written. of course it’s utter tripe!”

He could see straight through waffle, hypocrisy and insincerity in others, just as he was incapable of it himself. And with his waspish remarks he didn’t mind whose pomposity he punctured! in fact his determined commitment to high standards in himself and in others and his irreverent sense of humour were two sides of the same coin. We shall remember him for his absolute integrity, his absolute independence of mind, and his absolute loyalty and commitment as a teacher, colleague and friend – in summary, a first-class schoolmaster, and a first-class bloke.

The Mike Stevens Fund has been set up as the result of a legacy Mike left to the School. The purpose of the bequest is to enable individual pupils to participate in the extra-curricular activities of the school who might not otherwise be able to do so.

Donations that enable the Fund to extend its support to such pupils are always most welcome. The Fund is overseen by the Trustees and Executive Officers of The King’s School Development Trust, registered charity number 527530.

OV NEWS

Professor Nigel D S Bax (S 56-66): nigel is professor of medical education and Director of teaching at the school of medicine and Biomedical sciences, Sheffield University. He was disappointed he could not make it to the Class of 66 reunion, and wrote just a few days before the event: “i am so sorry to say that i will be unable to attend the fortieth reunion on saturday/sunday. this is something that Deborah, my wife, and i have been so looking forward to and it is with great sadness that i write to you now. We hope that you all have a marvellous two days. memories of all of you when i saw the list of names were quite wonderful – rugby teams, biology classes, the isle of Wight, Camberley, rowing, and stories completely inappropriate to relate here! Good wishes and great affection to you all.” nigel

David Bolland (S 32-37): in november 2005 the British Legion awarded David their Gold Badge. the commendation from the Director General read: “on behalf of the Board of trustees, by whom the award is made, i have much pleasure in asking you to accept the enclosed Gold Badge in recognition of your services to our organisation. i know from the recommendation made by your Branch how invaluable your endeavours have been”. David is proud to have kept the school flag flying over the past sixty years, having been awarded the mBe (military) in 1945 for his services in the army during the war and the oBe (Civil) in 1971 for his services to the British high Commission in india.

Ben Booth (S 68-75):“Another busy year professionally. in october i welcomed Bill Gates as guest speaker to the British Computer society it Director’s group. Also in october mori, where i have worked for the past four years, was acquired by the French group ipsos. since the takeover i have had a variety of roles, but am now Global Chief Technology Officer with responsibility for the it infrastructure in the forty six countries where we have businesses.”

AJR Bowley (Cl 77-87): having earned his living as a professional singer for some years, John has changed direction, but remains involved in the field of Music. In

september 2006 he became Director of music at repton. A colleague there is timothy owen (Cl 75-84), who is Director of studies.

Stephen Coulter (S 57-66): retired in 2000 from full-time employment as a chartered town planner and has been enjoying retirement since then, but has also gone into partnership with his elder brother, roger (s 60-64), managing a development of residential and commercial property in central nottingham. stephen still lives in Worcestershire with his wife Susan; he attended the Class of 66 reunion and thoroughly enjoyed meeting former (or now even old!) friends. src@sandscape. plus.com

Richard Cunningham (Cr 57-62): richard left after Lower remove when his parents moved away and he completed his education elsewhere. he trained as a teacher and then joined the royal Army educational Corps. After twenty one years in uniform and further work as a retired Officer he retired from the MOD in 2004. His wife continues to serve as officer with the Army medical service, and is based

richard decided to join and contacted the hon sec in 2005.

Revd Brian Dickson (Hon OV): Brian, school Chaplain in the 1960s, and affectionately known to all pupils by his initials, BJD, retired to one Acre Cottage, Abberley, where he and wife, margaret, lived for some years. they moved to Ludlow in early 2005 and the Club lost contact for a while. in a chatty note to the hon sec updating his address details BJD says he is always pleased to keep up with school news and is still in occasional contact with robin mann, martin Loveless, Barney Bell & royston Grosvenor, all pupils who followed him into the Church.

Justin Doherty (W 82-89): Justin’s engagement to miss emily J Quinney of sambourne, Worcs was announced in the times on 2nd June 2006.

currently at Colchester. Army service has resulted in them living in Germany for twelve out of the past fourteen years, but their ‘real’ home is in west Dorset, where they return as often as possible.

Richard is the younger brother of Bruce Cunningham (Cr 53-62), but unlike him did not join the ov Club when he left: it was largely through meeting ovs of Bruce’s generation, such as John pickup (Cl 52-62) and David morris (s 52-62) that

James Douglas-Hamilton (Ca 56-66): James sent in news last year: “i joined HM Customs & Excise soon after leaving school and am now towards the end of a most enjoyable, if not too illustrious, career in pursuit of the wary smuggler in Fishguard, Dover and Felixstowe (where I still live). i am presently seconded, since 2003, to the european Commission in Brussels, as a ‘national expert’, involved in re-drafting eU customs legislation. this will be my last appointment as i shall retire, at least from what is now h m revenue and Customs, next year. I have been married to sue, a teacher, for thirty one years and we have three daughters, all in their twenties.” James attended the forty year reunion of the Class of 66 and in a news update he records: “As the drummer with the mighty school rock band, the Depth, of 65/66, i always envied the front men, so I am now, for about the twenty fifth time,

Bill Gates and Ben Booth

attempting to learn to play the electric guitar – ‘you’re never too old to rock and roll,’ as the saying goes.”

“i am deeply grateful to David thomas for enticing me back for the Class of 66 reunion at the OV weekend, the first time I had set foot back in Worcester, let alone the School, since I left; much had changed, but much was reassuringly (or frighteningly!) familiar – particularly ‘stale buns’! it was a weekend to treasure, with some long lost contacts re-established and many rich memories rekindled.”

Peter Durrant (Ch 56-66): married, with three children and two grandchildren, and lives in staffordshire. he spends as much time as possible at his ‘second

home’ in Cyprus. he moved into business consultancy in 1994. he retains an interest in organisational consulting, but more recently has concentrated on coaching individual managers and executives. This is either as a career coach, or as a Business Link mentor to owner-managers. peter also acts as an independent pension fund trustee. over the years, peter has held a number of volunteer, board level non-executive roles in education and health. he is currently Deputy Chair of the board of trustees at a local hospice.

Christopher D Eames (O 97-99): Christopher invited a number of friends and as-

sociates from both near and far, including members of the school, to the launch of his first private venture, a new Art Deco styled café in the heart of Worcester on 7th october 2006. Deco is inspired by his travels abroad and a desire to resurrect something of that Golden Age of style and service which was the Art Deco era. Consequently every aspect of the café has been scrutinised and researched in meticulous detail: original 1930s silver teapots are used for afternoon tea, stylish portraits adorn the walls, and the menu, with its combination of classic and locally inspired dishes, would satisfy any food lover. Deco is open monday – saturday 8.30 am to 6.00 pm and serves drinks and food freshly prepared on the premises throughout the day. As well as being a café proprietor, Christopher is an army officer, and recently passed out of sandhurst.

Jim Fawcett (B 85-94): Continues to live in France, and is now father to a young son. “i’m understanding what it is to juggle between a full (but satisfying) professional life - still flight testing

the A380 for Airbus - and a very fulfilling (if tiring in these early days) personal life! (see Births).

Revd Canon Brian L Gant (Hon OV): Brian is Team Vicar of Haxby with Wigginton and CME Officer in York Archdeaconry. e-mail brianlgant@aol.com

Lord Garden KCB (Cr 52-62). “i have been Lib Dem Defence spokesman in the Lords since the 2005 General election. Given all the military operations our forces are undertaking, that keeps me pretty busy. i have also become president of the trading standards institute, which gives me a totally different interest. i was pleased to make it to the London ov dinner this year

Gary Murphy (top), Andy Sturt (l), Alison Wright (r)

and see a number of old friends.” tim

Tony Gwynn-Jones (Cl 40-44): tony could not make the 2005 reunion, but was here for the 2006 reunion, all the way from Australia. “i remember when ‘old codgers’ who had left school twenty years previous to us boys paid visits we used to think, ‘Goodness how old can one get!’ i can’t imagine what it would be like for the current students seeing someone coming back after 60 years! however we were pretty impressed when the elder Wooten (eW 33-36 ) flew his Spitfire over College Green - we all swore that

he touched the tops of the elms! or when another ov dropped out of a convoy passing through Worcester to show off his gun tractor, limber & 25 pdr field gun in front to the Sixth Form room. to have been at KsW through the WW2 years was no doubt a very differ-

ent experience from the norm - I guess it put everything into a very clear focus for us.”

readers of this account and the 2005 vigornian article by tony Dyson ov, on the Battle of Britain monument, may like to know that eW Wooten’s name is recorded on that monument to ‘the Few’.

James Henderson-Laird (Cl 44-48): James – known as ron at school – has returned from ireland with his wife, June, and they are living currently in Worcestershire at Cotheridge. he would welcome contact with any old friends. mobile 0779 915 1414

Adam Howard (Cl 84-92): “We are living at norton just outside Worcester at the moment. After leaving King’s i achieved a degree in Business studies at Liverpool John Moore University; I then went to Australia for six months travelling and on my return worked for the nFU/nFU mutual as a group secretary in stafford before joining vodafone.” [see marriages].

Dr Jonathan Hulme (Cr 85-92): Jon e-mailed in July to give the Club a new postal address. For those wanting to make contact, his e-mail remains jonhulme@doctors.org. uk . he continues to work as a doctor specialising in critical care.

Mike Jenkins (Cr 62-65): “i left after o levels, not because i wanted to, but i had failed english Language! this was strange as i was always pretty good at it. i went in to see Ken Barnett and express my surprise, only to find that he had already submitted a complaint on my behalf. Anyway, i had passed english with a good grade, but it was then too late to join Sixth Form.

James Bader (top), Claire McConalogue (l), Kate Fox (r)

eventually i went to Worcester tech and did A levels with the idea of doing medicine at southampton. Bottled out at the last minute and proposed to a music teacher, Gaynor, I had met six times before. Silly girl said yes, so married a few weeks later in ‘73 and still married now! Daughter suzy, now 30 still living with us, and Bronwen, 16. suzy has forty one horses here in newent, a mix of Andalusians and Trachenors. She breeds and rides, and is a whisperer and therapist. shortly after marrying i saw an ad for a computer training course, sponsored by the Government, so joined, and after qualifying became a ‘systems Analyst’ working for Westinghouse europe. it with a variety of employers has been the career for both Gaynor and myself ever since, with spells out in south Africa and spain before coming back to the UK to settle in the Forest of Dean. that’s it really for me. Been around a bit, done a few things, always skint but had fun. made a lot in south Africa, but couldn’t bring anything out!”

AC (Vince) Jenkins (Cr 58-65): named Anthony Clive, but known at school as vince, a name he still uses.vince graduated Bsc (Anthropology) from hawaii, although he was equally an Archaeologist. shortly after graduating he was invited to join a ‘dig’ in northern thailand run by honolulu and Dunedin (new Zealand) universities. he discovered charred remains of peas and beans in a hearth, in a cave known as ‘spirit Cave’. this was carbon dated and found to be extremely old, in fact the oldest known cultivated vegetables. there is a question on this in ‘trivial pursuits’ - much to his amusement. After the dig, he went to Dunedin and lectured Archaeology for a short time, eventually returning to the UK via south Africa. he has always been very good at it, and now has a msc (Distinction) in artificial intelligence, but doesn’t use it.

In the UK he gained a qualification in teaching english as a Foreign Language, which he did for many years, while living in salisbury. When his wife, sue, retired from teaching in salisbury, they moved to medina sidonia in southern spain. vince is the brother of mike Jenkins, who supplied this news. John Little (S 58-65): “on leaving King’s and after a two week holiday i started work as an articled pupil with a herefordshire firm of agricultural auctioneers and estate

agents and with a short break of three and a half years in the mid 70s ( ran an industrial company in Birmingham ) i have stayed in the property world ever since. i acquired my own firm of Estate Agents in Swindon and ran it for practically the whole of the 80s and during this time i ventured into the development world (with some success) until the recession bit in 1990. i then became a director of John D Wood and Co, a well known firm of London and Country agents, until they sold out to hambro’s in the late 90s and since then I have fulfilled a similar function as a director of hamptons international, again well known in London and the thames valley and the Cotswolds. i have been married twice. in 1975 to Judith de Courcy-Wheeler for seventeen years and

of an error......or was it an era?????”

Jessica L Page (Cl 94-99): Jess worked for a short time with Flame tv but was made redundant. After a short spell working for a London theatre Group, she is now working for mtv. she was pleased to help Pam Caulfield (K 92-03), who is keen to enter the same industry, with information, advice and work experience.

Simon Townsend (Cr 56-65): simon lives in manchester, where he is a solicitor. he was disappointed he could not make the forty year Class of 65 reunion: he had to attend a family wedding; the irony there was that the wedding occurred in Worcester, on the same day as the reunion. he was down in the County again later in the year, and used the opportunity to meet up with

with whom i have four children (three girls 28, 27 and 25 and a son 19). i remarried in 2000 to susan stanley with no stepchildren but two each of horses, dogs and cats. i lead a very pleasant but quiet life in the country living near Cirencester and enjoy shooting, game fishing and riding. My office is in Burford and i am the regional Country house Director for the Cotswolds and north Wiltshire.” [John had been missing for some years when we caught up with him in December 2005, unfortunately too late for the 40 year Class of 65 reunion. But the Club has put John back in touch with a number of old friends with whom he had lost contact - mJp].

Phil O’Neill (W 82-91): phil e-mailed in January 2006 to say he had moved to tnt and is senior project manager tnt Express Specialist Services. “Is this the end

a number of old friends, none of whom he had seen in over forty years. [photo]

Robin Vincent (Cr 52-62): has been appointed a Companion of the most Distinguished order of st michael and st George (CmG) in the 2006 Birthday honours List. he also received the CBe in 2001 for contributions to the justice system. Until recently he was registrar of the special Court for sierra Leone which was created by agreement between the United nations and the Government of sierra Leone to prosecute and try those crimes and human rights abuses committed during the country’s ten year war. he is now a senior Consultant on international Criminal and transitional Justice issues and has advised recently in Baghdad on the trial on saddam hussein, in Cambodia on trials for the Khmer rouge and on more general,

Simon Townsend and friends

but related, issues in the hague, Bangkok, Geneva and new York.

Robin, a former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations, said: “it came entirely out of the blue and i am delighted – it’s the icing on the cake. i am very lucky in doing a job which fascinates me and the recognition is much appreciated. i can now look forward to a lot of mickey-taking from friends and family to keep my feet on the ground!” robin lives in Bramhall with the long suffering and ever youthful hazel. they have two sons. robin is still playing cricket and soccer, drinking wine and co-owner of a racehorse. they have maintained contact with friends in their home town Worcester and will continue to do so. robin.vincent@ukonline. co.uk

David Westgate (Cl 46-56): David remembers how the school gave him an opportunity – remarkable at the timeover fifty years ago; an experience that was to result in a friendship across na-

tional boundaries lasting just as long. [see Article below,‘ German Exchange’].

Anna Wilson (Co 90-92): Following Anna’s article in last year’s vigornian “Lost – But not Forgetting … memories of King’s” reflecting on the special enduring friendships which began at school, here is a photograph of her with her partner Graham.

Chris Wright (K 80-89): After thirteen years in London (the

Anna Wilson

last two as a partner at City law firm Bracher rawlins) Chris has returned to Worcester. he is now an associate in the Business Department at Thursfields in Foregate street and lives in Crowle. he continues to take the vigornian.

German Exchange by David Westgate

John hill’s thoughtful piece in Contact issue 14 (summer 2005), with its photo of Chappel house in 1955-6 (that’s me sitting next to Mr Richard Knight), prompts me to recount a recent fiftieth anniversary. the story begins in the autumn of 1954 and leads to celebrations in november 2004. the latter took the form of a delightful week which my wife and i spent with the family of my erstwhile German exchange-partner, Gerd Bauer. Its climax was a party for as many of Gerd’s (and my own temporary) classmates of 1954 as he could trace to invite to his home. the timing was appropriate because in november

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1954 i was still in the middle of a termlong exchange between KSW and a German grammar-school, the Altkönigsschule (it translates co-incidentally as ‘old King’s school’) in Kronberg, north of Frankfurt.

I still find it remarkable that I was allowed to stay in Kronberg for that length of time. i arrived there in late August and returned home just in time for Christmas. Also remarkable was the enlightened thinking of those who arranged the whole enterprise. We are talking here of less than a decade after the second World War and of the conviction among some far-sighted people that any such future conflicts would be best avoided by mutual understanding and good language skills on the part of the upcoming generation, based on positive personal experience. This was apparently the view of the then Languages staff at KsW - and of my own parents.

At least two other contemporaries of mine at KSW benefited from broadly similar exchanges. Mr Harry Ferrar, then Head

of Department, was certainly in favour. So, too, was Mr Alex Natan, who taught Sixth Form German though his main subject was history. his role was particularly significant, because he retained the all-important contacts with potential exchange families in Germany. Being German-Jewish himself, he had sought sanctuary in england in the late 1930s, though not before having represented his country as an athlete in the 1936 Berlin olympics. i understand he joined the KsW staff in 1951. his plan for me drew on his continuing friendship with a former fellow-athlete, by then the mother of one Jürgen Lutz, seventeen years old like me and a student at the Altkönigsschule. the inter-school agreement was that Jürgen should come to KsW, lodging with my family, for the first half of the summer term 1954. then, a classmate of his called Gerd Bauer would follow for the second half on the same basis. i would spend the whole of the autumn term in Germany, half with each family. i would at-

tend ‘Unterprima’ (Lower Sixth) classes at the Altkönigsschule - for all subjects except science.

Both Jürgen and Gerd greatly enjoyed their seven-or-so weeks at KsW. of the two, Gerd made specially good use of the facilities offered, eg the rowing. he regularly took out a solo scull on to the river. We both still laugh about his capsizing one afternoon, right by Worcester bridge in the rush-hour, to the apparent amusement of many passing bus-passengers.

As to my own stay in Germany, i can hardly exaggerate its impact. There was a welcome of real warmth at school and in both families. the classes i followed and the conversations at home did wonders for my German of course. more than that, though, i was taken to all manner of cultural and sporting events, particularly by Gerd’s parents: everything from the SixDay Cycle race at the Frankfurt stadium to the city opera-house. And i went on my class’s week-long trip, staying at a youth

hostel in the neckar valley. Unforgettable.

most enduring of all has been the friendship with Gerd Bauer - extended now to include his wife, his sons and their families. in a number of ways our lives have taken simi-

lar paths. We both married artists, for instance, both lost parents at comparable points, and so on. i cannot claim an equivalent to the distinguished career which Gerd made for himself in the German civil service, but our outlooks and europeanism remain very similar. We still correspond and visit quite regularly, and second generation exchanges have also taken place. sad to report, Jürgen suffered ill health from a quite early age and died in his fifties. Gerd and I, how-

ever, have both made it at least to retirement, and to this fiftieth celebration - as the attached photo confirms.

During the week of celebrations i was again welcomed at the Altkönigsschule and even taught a few english classes myself. For the saturday night party, about half of the ‘Class of 54’ came along. We were forty-plus with partners. The first test of course was trying to recognise each other! soon, however, the reminiscences and the storytelling, the swapping of emails and addresses got under way and toasts were raised to those who encouraged us all those years ago.

so thanks very much, KsW. i still have a school-report from the early 1950s, on which mr Kittermaster’s concluding remarks read: ‘i think we will make a linguist of him’. ‘they’ did their best. Perhaps the next to carry forward the exchange will be the Bauer and Westgate grandchildren.

Le Potager

Special Celebrations

Dinner Parties

Weddings

For details, contact Karen or Chris Scales t: 01584 881 545 e: scalesblakeho@aol.com

Games fields looking East

UNIVERSITY PLACES AWARDED IN 2006

shaun Armitage University of Durham Geography

William Armson Sheffield Hallam University Film and media production

Julius Baghdadi University of Bristol environmental Geoscience

Lauren Baldwin Cardiff University education

edward Bales University of Leeds sports materials technology

naomi Barnby University of Leeds Childhood, education & Culture

Andrew Blackburn the University of nottingham Geography

Lowri Brown University of Leeds microbiology

Anna Byrne St Peter’s College, Oxford University modern Languages

Jonathan Cairns-terry the University of Warwick mathematics

James Cant the University of manchester French studies

Jacob Capleton the University of Warwick philosophy with psychology

emily Clarke the University of Liverpool medicine

sophie Codd the University of manchester internation management with French

harriet Davis the University of Warwick history of Art

Harry Denlegh-Maxwell University of st Andrews philosophy

Alexander Dobbins the University of Birmingham electronic and electrical engineering

harriet Driver University of Bristol German and italian

Liam Fahy the University of hull Business economics

Charles Fellows Loughborough University product Design and technology

Amy Ferris Cardiff University medicine

Joshua Fitzgerald The University of Sheffield mechanical engineering

Ben Ford University of Leeds Sport and Exercise Science

Leighton Freeman University of the West of england Applied Biological sciences

Kate Fulton University of Exeter Drama

Beth Ghalamkari Keele University physiotherapy

Alexander Gibbons Oxford Brookes University real estate management

Claire Gott University of southampton Civil engineering with Architecture

Laura Greenhill Oxford Brookes University Geography/physical Geography

Clare hampson University of Bristol Archaeology and Anthropology

David hardwick the University of Birmingham music

sophie hart the University of nottingham Geography

Bethany hartley royal veterinary College, London veterinary sciences

Leanne hemming the nottingham trent University Fashion marketing and Communication

rachael herbert University of Bristol medicine

Will herriot the University of edinburgh Geology and physical Geography

Claire hicks the University of York theoretical physics

stephen humphreys University of southampton Geography

Kate iddon the University of Durham Arts Combined

robert illing the University of Aberdeen Gaelic studies and German

richard ingram Loughborough University industrial Design and technology

ella James University of newcastle upon tyne Fine Art

ralph Jay theUniversity of Warwick mathematics

matt Jeynes the University of York english/philosophy

hannah Joyce Oxford Brookes University

Business and mamangement

Joshua Kelly University of Wales institute, Cardiff sport Coaching

Alice Kirrage University of st Andrews Classics

peter Lewis Oxford Brookes University music

Alexandra Lyons the University of manchester international management

michael magill Loughborough University Chemical engineering

samantha mcCarthy Bath spa University Fashion and Textile Design

hollie meredith the University of Birmingham hispanic studies

thomas mitchell University of Wales institute, Cardiff Leisure and sports management

Abigail moore the University of Durham ecology

Alice neal the University of nottingham veterinary medicine and surgery

Joseph newcombe University of Leeds medicine

Charlotte nock Cardiff University european politics and international relations

Felicity ounsted the University of York mathematics/philosophy

Jenny palmer Loughborough University psychology

suraj patel the University of manchester Biochemistry

elizabeth pearson University of the West of england physiotherapy

Alexandra Pereira the University of manchester Language, Literacy and Communication

emma phillips University of Leeds Criminal Justice and Criminology

James priddey University of Bristol Geography

eleni randle Oxford Brookes University Geography/physical Geography

Benjamin riddell the University of Durham natural sciences

owen roberts the University of Durham music

tom rogers University of southampton Civil engineering with Architecture

James round the University of Worcester Creative media and media & Cultural studies

natasha shaddick the University of manchester French and spanish

Leanne-marie sheen Girton College, Cambridge University modern and medieval Languages

Danielle shingler University of the West of england english and media & Cultural studies

natalie shingler the University of manchester French and spanish

hayley simmonds newnham College, Cambridge University natural sciences

todd simpson the University of Durham General engineering

helen smith University of Bristol German

Joe street University of Wales, swansea sports science

Lucy studd the University of Birmingham Drama and theatre Arts

mikila sutch University of Bristol physiological science

Alex Szymanski the University of Durham General engineering

Joanna taylor selwyn College, Cambridge University medicine

James titmuss the University of nottingham physics

James tomlin University of Bristol economics and Finance may tsang Oxford Brookes University Architecture

William Unwin Loughborough University industrial Design and technology

Francesca Weaver Birmingham school of Acting Acting

thomas Yates University of Bath mechanical engineering

The Vigornian 2006

Editor: Peter Iddon

Design & Typesetting: John Roslington, assisted by L6 ICT students

Will Ayrton, Tom Dunlop, Ryan Finnegan, Adam Law and Natasha Rodley

Photography: Special thanks to John Wheeler, Simon Cuthbertson, Nicki Essenhigh, Chris Crosswell

OV News: Mike Page

The Vigornian December 2006

THE Vigornian

Staff 2005-2006

School Notes

CLUBS & ACtivitieS

The Combined Cadet Force

Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme

Climbing Club

Community Service

Lower Remove Camps

Debating and Public Speaking

The Great Shakespearian Debate

Quizzes

Archives

Sixth Form Charity Committee

Modern Foreign Language Society

Mathematics Department

Young Enterprise

Verde

The King’s Herald

Fantasy Football League

Robotics Club

Model United Nations

A busy summer

Careers

tRAveL

Ladahk: A Himalayan Adventure

Morocco

French Alps

Upper Remove Geography trip

Christmas Cologne trip

Memmingen

World War One Battlefields

Skiing

Senior

Junior

Lower Sixth French Exchange to Reims

Le Vésinet

Work Experience Germany

France

SpoR t

Rugby Results

1st XV

Sevens

2nd XV

Under 16 XV

Under 15 XV

Sevens

Under 14 XV

Under 13 XV

Football

1st XI

Under 12 XV

2nd XI

Under 15 XI

Under 14 XI

The Boat Club

Athletics

Senior

Fourth Form Athletics

Inter-House Athletics

Fourth Form Sports Day

Cricket

1st XI

2nd XI

Under 15 XI

Under 14 XI

Under 13 XI

Under 12 XI

Hockey

J.D.C.

2nd XI

Under 16 XI

Under 15 XI

Under 14 XI

Netball

1st and 2nd VII

Under 13 XI

Under 12 XI

N.R.A.