The Vigornian December 2008

The Vigornian 2008

Front cover: The front cover of the 1993 Vigornian shows Lower Remove pupils Lauren Lawson and David Woodcock on the school climbing wall. We have recreated this picture showing Lauren, now a member of staff, along with Adam Knowles, also a past pupil of the school and a present member of staff.

Inside back cover: A selection of other Vigornian covers from the 1990s.

The Vigornian 2008

Editor: Peter Iddon

Design & Typesetting: John Roslington

Photography: Front cover Simon Cuthbertson. We are very gratfeul to all contributors of photographs.

OV News: Elizabeth Charman, Mike Page

vigornian

Common room notes

CLUBs & ACtivities

trAveL sport

CreAtive & performing Arts

JUnior sChooLs

ov notes www.ksw.org.uk

Headmaster T.H. Keyes, M.A.

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

Second Deputy R.A. Chapman, B.Sc. Director of Studies R.C.Baum, M.A.

M.J. Roberts, B.Sc.

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

B. Griffiths, B.Tech. (Careers)

Mrs. C.F. Roslington, B.A.

D.P. Iddon, B.A.

S. Le Marchand, B.A.

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

R.P. Mason, B.A.

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., PhD.

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., PhD.

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., PhD., 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.

Miss J. Cooke, B.A.

Mrs. C.E. Battrum, B.A.

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

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

School Monitors

Staff 2007-2008

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., PhD.

Mrs R.A. Worth, B.Sc.

E.I. Lummas, B.A.

M.D. Parkin, M.A. PhD.

Mrs R.M. Rutter, B.A.

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

*Miss A-M. Simpson, B.Sc.

Mrs S.K. Stone, B.Eng.

Mrs E. Allen-Back, M.A.

Mrs L.E. Haddock, B.Sc.

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

Mrs E. Shepherd, M.A.

B. Wang, M.A.

Mrs S.C. Bradley, B.A.

Mrs L. Brighton, B.Ed.

Miss E. Gittings, B.A.

A.J. Knowles, B.Sc.

M.J. Newby, B.Ed.

D.N.M. Orr, B.A.

Miss S.A. West, B.A.

Miss O.K. Beveridge, B.Ed.

J. Chalmers, B.Appl.Sc.

A.G. Deichen, B.A.

R.S. Gilbert, M.A.

N. J. Fowles, B.A.

Miss S. Hirner, B.A.

Miss L. Lawson, M.A.

Miss C.M. Lea, B.Sc.

Miss J.C. Mosley, B.A.

Mrs L.A. Walmsley, 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.

Heads of School: Emma Hirons (Ch) and Edward MacKenzie (W)

Deputy Heads of School: Alice Campion (W) and Peter Siviter (S)

Jo Blewitt (W)

Colette Brown (Cr)

Jack England (K)

Lucy Clayton (Os)

Lizzie Grew (S)

Tom Gwynne (K)

Kit Smith (Br)

Lizzie Isaac (Br)

Laurence Szymanski (Cr)

Holly Mitchell (Cl)

The King’s Junior Schools

King’s St. Alban’s

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

Deputy: W. Toleman, B.A.

*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 B. Wilson B.A.

*Mrs. N. Cain, B.A.

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

*Mrs. J. Pitts, B.Ed.

*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.

J. Bailey B.Ed.

I. Fry M.A.

Miss F. Dolphin B.Sc.

King’s Hawford

Head: J. M. Turner, B.Ed., DipEd, ACP

Deputy Head: A. C. Hymer, B.A., M.A., D.P.S.E.

Junior Staff

Mrs J. Bayliss, B.Sc.

Mrs L. Baxter, B.Sc.

J. Broderick, B.Ed.

R. B. Cook, B.Sc.

Mrs L. Cross, B.Sc.

M.R.J. Dawes, B.Sc.

Mrs A. Elliott, B.A.

Mrs D. Goodayle, B.A., QTS

Mrs C. Knight, B.Ed. OCR

Ms K. Turk, B.A., M.A.

D. Peters, B.Mus.

Mrs C. Rawnsley, B.A. Assistant Head

Mrs J. Redman, B.Ed., I.Med., M.A. Applied Linguistics

Mrs S. Roscoe, Cert.Ed., LUIE

Mrs J. Swinson-Davis

Mrs J. M. Tune, B.Sc.

Mrs G. Turner, Cert.Ed. Pre-Prep Staff

Mrs P. M. Bradley, B.Ed. Head of Pre-Prep

Miss K. Champion, B.A.

Mrs J N Willis, B.A. Ed. Head of Early Years

Mrs J. Farmer, B.Ed.

Mrs C. A. Griffin, B.A.

Mrs H. Fowler, B.A., OCR Cert

Mrs G. Riley, B.Sc.

Dominic Wood (Cr)

Sophie Watkins (Cl)

Nicola Wilkinson (K)

Kate Williams (Cl)

Mrs J. Wilson, B.Ed.

School Notes

“Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till its gone?”. So sang Joni Mitchell in the song ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ 1970. Perhaps CAMRA might have used the song effectively in rallying opposition to the purchase by King’s of The Salmon’s Leap and The Alma pubs but all the clientele had already followed the yellow brick road (if I may keep the colour code consistent) to other local hostelries. I had more in mind, however, the chill wind that has been blowing through the economy. In the cold light of the new recessionary dawn in which this country finds itself, the last ten years of steady growth, investment and development at King’s look like something of a golden era the like of which we may not see repeated for a little while. Where reality diverges from the words of the song, however, is in the fact that all that has been achieved is not gone, and we are, I fervently hope, all the more likely to survive what lies ahead, with appropriate tightening of belts, because of what has been achieved in recent times academically, pastorally, in the improvement of the site and, crucially, in the mobilising of support for bursaries from OVs. This is one area where we cannot sit on our laurels. It is more important than ever that we increase our capacity to help families to keep or to send children here.

Returning for a moment to the development of the site, we started the last academic year with a stunning new Art School and the new library has continued to win local, regional and national awards. It has also been graced by the addition of a remarkable work of art, a piece of stained glass, created by Tony Bolland (OV). It

depicts, in a stylised way, the tree of knowledge, represented as the body of the learning of thousands of years shown by forms of writing and alphabets from the earliest civilisations to the language of modern computers. Into, through and out of the tree runs a column of brightly coloured segments of glass which represent the path of a young person through education or, perhaps more particularly, through the wealth of knowledge contained in the library. These segments, insubstantial at first, merge their colour with the tree and meander through it, exploring the different opportunities for learning, before emerging strong and confident on the other side, ready for what lies ahead beyond school. It encapsulates brilliantly the joy of learning, the development of character and the process of reaching maturity with ideas and values honed by the wisdom of the ages. The message is both optimistic and inspiring. Better still, it depicts what we see for real over the course of each year here: King’s pupils thriving in this beautiful place with its special atmosphere, and the oldest going on to university and what lies beyond with a natural confidence and a strong sense of purpose. We pride ourselves on the fact that King’s has such breadth of opportunity and that, for instance, success in sport is only one of many ways in which a boy or girl can achieve the respect and admiration of peers and teachers. Most of our most talented pupils are allrounders. It is therefore all the more gratifying when some do go on to reach the top in sport, and good to report that a number have in recent years. I will focus on just two here: Luke

Narraway and Zac Purchase. Earlier this year, Luke became the first ever King’s pupil to go on to play rugby at senior level for England. This summer, Zac, a supreme oarsman, became our first ever winner of an Olympic Gold Medal. We are hugely proud of them both. They were all-rounders in their time here too and are also two of the most charming young men that you could wish to meet (but don’t wish to meet them at Twickenham or on the river if you value your self-esteem!).

As I write, the first group of independent schools is undergoing formal scrutiny by the Charity Commission on the subject of Public Benefit. For all the column-inches written about this topic, and for all the sniping at perceived privilege and the unfair retention of charitable status in independent schools, I think it most unlikely that either the Charity Commission or the government is hoping to take any scalps. They would both like us to be good members of our local communities. We hope that we are, and will continue to be just this. We are doing our best to increase our bursary funding, we are working with local maintained schools, Primary and Secondary, we are sharing our facilities with as many organisations as we can, we are developing good and productive relationships with many Worcester institutions and businesses, and many of our pupils (more each year) are engaged in charitable fundraising and community service of different kinds. We are not doing these things because we feel that we have to tick certain boxes. We are doing them because it is good for our pupils; looking after their welfare is our primary charitable object.

Janet Maxwell-Stewart

Pupils, parents and colleagues will have fond memories of Janet Maxwell-Stewart; she was second to none at listening, caring and offering support whether in the classroom, in School House, in the Common Room or in a restaurant abroad! Her professionalism was appreciated by everyone in every sphere of the job which extended well beyond the confines of the classroom. Indeed, teaching was very much a career and life-style choice rather than just a job. Despite the fact she worked part time during the last few years, her commitment was as full as anyone’s. Those who experienced her expert organisation, reliable thoroughness and sheer sense of fun on any school trip will recall activities as varied as midnight swimming, lazy champagne lunches, entertaining anecdotes and demonstrations of Flamenco dancing. Whether in the Himalayas, France or Spain she was always the first to volunteer her talents, and thereby to encourage the participation of all.

Coaxing, cajoling and persistence were also hallmarks of her classroom technique. Her patience seemed infinite and benefited all her students, from the real high flyers to the more reticent. These same qualities were always in evidence pastorally too in School House; she was willing to spend many hours dealing with individual pupils’ issues, offering advice and a shoulder to cry on.

One thing is certain – Janet will never have to worry about how to fill her time. Visiting Norway where she will have the opportunity to practise her newly-acquired skills in speaking

Norwegian, planning with her usual efficiency the long-distance walks she and Alasdair hope to complete and hopefully being persuaded to accompany MFL department trips from time to time should be enough to stave off any boredom. Thanks to her love of languages and new cultures, and her desire to continue learning and exploring, many interesting and exciting opportunities will surely present themselves over the coming years!

K.A.

Sarah weSt

It’s hard to believe that after just two years we’re already saying goodbye to Sarah. After waiting so long for a second full-time drama specialist, it is particularly hard for me, but we’re not just losing a colleague, many of us are saying goodbye to a very good friend. I knew she wouldn’t stay forever, but it was a bit of a shock to discover that we were going to lose her quite so soon.

I think it’s fair to say that initially one or two eyebrows may have been raised when

– or “Miss Pest” as she came to be known to certain colleagues in the drama department - was first appointed. She did not fall immediately into the typical King’s mould. By that I mean she was not as old and boring as the rest of us. Despite being an experienced teacher and not really being quite as young as she looks, Sarah still looks young enough to be mistaken for a Sixth Former, and indeed was on more than one occasion. We saw immediately that she was enthusiastic, loud, forthright, outspoken, but also incredibly friendly, chatty, outgoing, caring and funny.

Within no time at all Sarah seemed to know everybody and everybody seemed to know Sarah. Sarah proved herself to be an absolutely outstanding teacher and a really caring and thoroughly professional and efficient Fourth Form tutor. When the idea was suggested that we should appoint a teacher of both Drama and Dance, I was concerned that we wouldn’t be able to find someone good enough in both disciplines. I needn’t have worried, though, because Sarah is brilliant at teaching both. She is a fantastic and inspiring drama teacher. Her lessons are fun and exciting, her enthusiasm and energy is infectious, but she also keeps a very tight lid on discipline. Her students know exactly where the line is and they cross it at their peril. She’s a brilliant communicator, she explains things with great clarity, and pupils of all ages, from Lower Fourths to Upper Sixth, really responded well to her enthusiastic, fun, but disciplined approach. She’s also a highly creative and talented person in her own right, and this has been shown clearly through her directing and her choreography. The fabulous King’s Dance Company, which she founded, will be her legacy. The standard of her productions at King’s was outstanding, and she demanded nothing but the best from her cast and crew, whether it was a difficult Sixth Form exam play such as Sarah Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis, which she did with AS students, or the wonderful Pirates of Penzance, which she co-directed with the Fourth Forms as her final show here.

We’re really going to miss Sarah here at King’s. We thank her for being a good friend and a fine teacher of Drama and Dance. She leaves with our best wishes for whatever lies ahead and wherever life takes her in the future.

S.M.A.

Five teachers have joined the Common Room at the start of this Autumn term:

Ben Humphrey has joined the Drama and Theatre Studies department. After leaving King’s, Ben took up a place at The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School where he trained for three years and won the Newton Blick Award for most versatile leading actor. Since leaving Ben has appeared in various radio plays for the BBC and played many roles in professional theatre including the title role in Aladdin at the Worcester Swan theatre. As well as acting Ben has continued his educational work, having taught at various schools around the country and before taking up his position at King’s was the Director of Youth Theatre at the BOVTS. Ben is thrilled to be back at King’s for the coming year and looks forward to giving as many Merit papers as he received.

Sarah

Joanna Lucas is the new Head of the school’s Learning Skills department but has had an association with King’s ever since she moved to Worcester in 1996. Her children, Hannah and William, have been educated here, her husband Adrian is Master of the Choristers and Organist at Worcester Cathedral and she herself has worked as a part-time member of staff in the Learning Skills department. Joanna originally gained a degree in History of Art from UEA but trained as a teacher specialising in dyslexia shortly after moving to Worcester. Since then, she has worked at The Alice Ottley and St. Mary’s Convent as well as running a private practice, using physical exercise and sound therapy to help overcome behavioural and specific learning difficulties. She enjoys being with her family, and when time permits, she can be found working in the garden,

cooking on the Aga or curled up reading a good book.

Jenny O’Bryan (née Clee) is the third OV to join the Biology Department in recent years. After studying Biology at Nottingham University she joined the Army serving in Northern Ireland and Kenya. Upon marriage she swapped Army life for Management Consultancy with PA Consulting Group, but then found Veterinary Practice Management more her style. The arrival of two children heralded a foray into a joint venture with her husband running their own restaurant. Three years later the lure of Biology became too strong and she completed her Teacher Training at the University of Worcester last year. Jenny will be teaching all three sciences, looking after a Fourth Form and helping out with the CCF. When family commitments allow Jenny

enjoys horse riding and visiting as many wine growing regions of the world as possible! The Modern Languages department has welcomed Rosanna Shearburn. Rosanna had a ‘varied career’ before embarking on a PGCE in Spanish and French at the University of Worcester, including spells as a translator, in interpreting, and working in consular and trade affairs for the Spanish government in West Africa. Early in her career she was the voice on the tannoy at Gatwick Airport! Rosanna has lived in Spain, Portugal and Ghana, and relocated to Worcester from Manchester in 2003. She loves travelling, reading, gardening, walking her dog on the Malverns, and spending time with her family.

Gwyn Williams has joined the Business and Economics Department after completing his teacher training in Gloucestershire schools. Gwyn has moved into teaching after a successful career as a senior manager with Royal Mail, where he managed sorting and delivery offices in various locations including Oxford, Hereford and Worcester, Gloucester and Bristol. He completed his degree in International History and Politics from the University of Leeds in 1986. A qualified cricket coach, he still plays what he describes as “ugly cricket” for Tewkesbury Cricket Club. He is a keen Gloucester and Welsh Rugby supporter (which he accepts is a strange combination) and is eternally grateful that Luke Narraway opted to sign for a “proper rugby club”.

JMO’B

BTH

CLUBS & ACtivitieS

The Combined Cadet Force Army Section

After a very successful but busy Summer Camp at Wathgill in Yorkshire, the section returned for this year’s training in high spirits. The numbers of recruits has once again increased and the CCF as a whole is thriving. We have welcomed two new members of staff to the Section, Miss Mosley and Capt O’Bryan, both of whom have offered invaluable commitment, enthusiasm and experience. The enthusiasm and determination demonstrated by the cadets has been evident during every Friday evening parade, whilst the first term saw a very successful Biennial Inspection at Swynnerton Training Area, followed immediately by an opportunity for the recruits to have their first taste of living in the field with a weekend exercise (Exercise Basic Basha) – once again nearly seventy cadets and recruits took part. For most it was a first opportunity to sleep out under a make-shift shelter, as well as a chance to do a Night Navigation exercise around the area – they also had on the ground training in various military skills including a section attack on the Sunday morning. In November, a Night Navigation Exercise took place on the Malvern Hills; the views of fireworks in Worcestershire were wonderful although the Contingent Commander nearly came to grief as he launched one of the rockets from the Worcestershire Beacon! In the Spring term, the Adventure Training camp took on a new form with day visits to local centres for a heady mix of climbing, kayaking, archery and high ropes work; some of the cadets enjoyed the activities so much that they signed up for a second round! Later in the term the cadre exercise – Exercise Cadre Chaos - again saw a high level of attendance with real promise being shown by the prospective NCOs. Both the first year cadets and the cadre performed well and the level of leadership demonstrated certainly bodes well for the future. In the Summer term a young Skill at Arms team acquitted themselves well at the District Skill at Arms Meeting. A small but enthusiastic group also much enjoyed a visit to the Central

Vehicle Depot at Ashchurch. In the first week of the summer holiday, we attended Camp with the Royal Engineers at Fremington near Bideford as the conclusion to a busy but highly successful year’s training. This was an excellent week: a huge amount of planning had been required of Mr Grinnell, but the resulting camp,

with visits to the Royal Engineer Commando Base at Chivenor, Lazerquest in a very muddy wood, sea-kayaking and coasteering on the wonderful North Devon coast and a taxing but highly enjoyable overnight exercise on the Braunton Burrows, was hailed a great success by all who took part.

RAF Section

RAF Summer Camp, held at RAF Spadeadam near Carlisle, was very successful and set the Section up very well for this year’s activities. The good news is clearly spreading about the range of activities that is offered by the CCF, and as a result the size of the RAF Section increased to over sixty cadets. We have welcomed former pupil Richard Jones to the Section, whose youthful

enthusiasm has already proved invaluable. In addition to the regular Friday evening parades, the first term saw many cadets attending many of the CCF military training weekends where they honed their military skills – one of the big events was our Biennial Inspection, followed by an exercise for our new recruits in October, Ex Basic Basha, where the numbers attending once again increased, with nearly seventy cadets experiencing life ‘in the field’ on Swynnerton Training Area. The RAF Section also once again achieved real success in the CCF Orienteering Championships both at District and National level, coming away with almost every possible cup. During the Easter holidays Major Davies took four cadets to RAF Easter Camp, and as ever our cadets performed particularly well. During the Summer term the Part One, Two and Three cadets took their exams, and they all passed with outstanding marks. Over the course of the year the Section has had no less than seven Air Experience Flying Days at RAF Cosford and this has meant that all the cadets in the Section have flown at least once. We have also been fortunate to have two gliding days at RAF Little Rissington. In the first week of the summer holiday, eleven RAF cadets attended a very successful RAF Summer camp at RAF Linton-on-Ouse, with a huge variety of opportunities to experience the life of an RAF station, and several other RAF cadets took part in CCF Central Camp at Fremington.

A.J.M.M.

National and regional orienteering competition winners

Adventure training

Duke of Edinburgh Award

JTW writes …..

A review of the year of the Duke of Edinburgh Award at King’s usually has a somewhat familiar look, but this year there are several notable differences to the norm. As usual, participants at all three levels of the Award have continued to work very hard on the wide range of activities needed to complete the Service, Skills and Physical recreation sections. The Expedition training programme included many practice expeditions and culminated with qualifying expeditions in the Peak District for Bronze, the Yorkshire Dales at Silver and the Lake District at Gold.

The main change for this year is that many more participants have completed awards at all three levels. During the course of the year twenty five gained Bronze Awards, thirteen gained Silver, and nine completed the Gold Award. The most remarkable fact of all is that seven completed the Gold standard whilst still at school. They are Amy Haddock, Ian Roberts, Lucy Senior, Amy Procter- Nicholls, Andrew Wilson, Kate Williams and Lizzie Isaacs. Congratulations to them all on a splendid achievement.

The expedition continues to be one of the most memorable parts of the Award. Here Beth Stone describes the final day of the four day Gold Qualifying expedition.

“We had decided to leave earlier and we met our assessor at 7.15am before setting off on our climb up High Street. The climb seemed okay after the previous day’s efforts and I was relieved to find that I was not in too much pain. Walking in the cool of the morning was very pleasant. The rain held off and we had clear views across the valley and of the tarn as we passed; I really appreciated the beauty of the place and felt sad that I was leaving it behind to return to Worcester.

The atmosphere in the group was light hearted and funny, and it was an enjoyable day of walking. As we approached the last couple of kilometres we all seemed to find an extra burst of energy and walked so fast that we were almost running.

Coming down the final little road to the finishing point we were all on a complete high. It was strange thinking this was the last expedition that I would do for D of E and thought back to my Bronze practice expedition, how much I had improved since then and all of the marvellous experiences I and my groups had had.”

Climbing Club

The Climbing Club has interested a number of pupils (and staff) across all ages during the past year. Regular use of the school wall was made during lunch break and after school on most Thursdays where novice and technical climbers alike found challenge scaling up the end of the Fourth Form Block. Trips to indoor facilities were particularly welcome when the weather deteriorated during the winter months. The highlight of the year was a trip in the summer term to

with teaching basic strokes and boat control. Most sessions began with a warm-up of relay races and the students would split into smaller groups to improve their turning strokes with help from the seniors.

Kayaking was also introduced this year as an option in Sixth Form games. The sessions were filled instantly and students travelled each week to Upton Warren for a ninety minute lesson on the lake. We began by covering basic skills and then moved on to more advanced turning strokes and paddling techniques. In one of the sessions we also had the opportunity to try out different boats; short boats, double kayak and canoes.

Both the games sessions and the pool sessions have been a great success. A river trip is planned for next year on the River Wye, in the hope that advanced moving water techniques in grade II water can be applied without capsizing!

Cara Evans

Symonds Yat where the real rock gave a proper climbing experience. Thanks should go to DG and Sarah Fardon (U6th) for their invaluable assistance in coaching younger climbers throughout the year.

S.C.C.

Kayaking

The kayaking group has nearly tripled in numbers this year with a large number of keen and excitable Fourth Form students joining the group. As the numbers were so vast the club was split into two; we ran a junior session in the pool first, with the assistance of Sixth Form students, and then had a senior session afterwards. The junior students all had varying degrees of experience so we began

Sub Aqua Club

The school’s Sub-Aqua club has re-started after a few dormant years and with the active support of ‘Worcester Divers’, I am looking forward to future years of the club. We have our first cluster of divers through the theory section, and have passed all the pool and closed water skills of the BSAC Ocean Diver qualification. When the water gets warmer we will venture to the sea and complete the training.

The more experienced divers recently enjoyed the opportunity to dive at Cromhall Quarry. We have offered ‘try-dive’ evenings to all pupils from school who are possibly interested in joining. There is a growing enthusiasm

and members’ numbers are increasing.

If you would like to know more about the club or are interested in offering support or would like to come along on any trip, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

J. Bailey

Community Service

This year has seen more successful activities. The Upper Sixth visited St. Clement’s and Stanley Road Primary Schools, both schools using the skills of our pupils to help to develop the potential of their pupils. At St Clement’s, our volunteers worked on numeracy and literary skills, assisted by CML, whilst at Stanley Road, NF helped the younger pupils with their art project. This term they have been involved with metal work. The visits to Nunnery Wood Primary School continue to be a success and a popular choice of extra-curricular activity with some keen and interested pupils from King’s taking part. The pupils at the Junior schools really enjoy our visits which are of great benefit to the schools concerned. Those involved with literacy enable a number of younger pupils to make further progress beyond what they are able to do in the normal classroom situation.

The Saturday morning decorating and gardening work has continued to be well supported by our pupils, both boys and girls. This term we have carried out two gardening jobs in Worcester and Kempsey. Some pupils choose to do this work as part of the Duke of Edinburgh scheme (Service Award) or for altruistic reasons. There are a number who, unable to do either the Nunnery Wood scheme or take part on a Saturday morning, organise

their own service near where they live. For whatever reasons, the pupils’ help and the time and efforts of the teachers also involved are greatly appreciated.

C.A.G-S.

Quizzes

The House competition was won by Wulstan, who beat Bright fairly comfortably in the final. Its captain was Michael Cairns-Terry, who has been in the School’s junior or senior school team for the last five years. For the first time during his participation the senior team did not win through to the national finals, but finished third in the Severn Region. In the junior competition we also entered two teams, and one of them managed fifth place out of fourteen – very commendable, but not enough to move on to the national rounds.

R.N.G.S.

Debating

The senior and junior competitions were won by Wulstan and Creighton respectively, the Wulstan team of Lucy Boynett and Tim Rogers being also the school team in many competitions. In the new “Three Counties” parliamentary debating competition run by Malvern College they came sixth out of twenty four, almost making the final. We did get through the first round of the Mace, but not quite to the national round, and the same team won through to the finals of the Oxford Union Competition. In the local competition at Birmingham our team consisted variously of Lucy Boynett, Ashley Werner-deSondberg and Rory Johnson, who won through the first round but not to the finals; Ashley

won a special prize for his individual speech in the second round. Most successful was the team in the Malvern Rotary public speaking competition: Ariel Swyer, Robert Cowburn and Rebecca Linfoot won the team prize with three excellent speeches. Robert had earlier won the prize for best individual speaker in the ESU public speaking competition in Worcester. So there is plenty of young talent waiting to take over after the Boynett-Rogers era, and on Mondays at four o’clock they can sharpen up their skills at the weekly debating club.

Archives

We got off to a flying start with Will Harris sporting a pre war blazer and a 1960s’ boater and cane to promote interest in the Archive Group as an activity. Josh Sinclair, Verity Geeves, Sophie Turner, Hannah Cluett and Lucy Clayton-Smith were among many who came to give a hand over the year. The major concern was to set up our new HQ in Edgar Tower where we celebrated progress with a Christmas tea with all the tinsel, greenery and good cheer we could muster.

The exhibition area was ready for public viewing on King’s Day with stalwarts Patrick Baldwin, Jamie Tidy, Ollie Cox, Andy Hewitt and Tom Hallett doing their stuff in showing visitors around the displays. Philippa Tinsley (College House 1984-86) gave us two display cases from Worcester City Museum where she is director. Credit goes to the maintenance men who heaved them up the stairs. Problems have included the carpet, pigeons who see every open window as a potential

Ashley Werner-de-Sondberg, Rory Johnson and Matt Faulkner with Donald Howell and David Mills

R.N.G.S.

Cromhall Quarry

Fort Royal Garden Party

nesting box and the prohibition on the use of nails or screws into the stone. The exhibition is open to all, including present pupils and we have had a goodly stream of OV visitors, reliving their days at King’s through their own graffiti.

The big happening was at the 1541 Lunch held in the Tower, quite a strain for the catering staff, but an excellent venue for Sixth Form archivists and venerable OVs to chat about old times. The results can be heard on the Archives page on the web site as Ashley Werner-de-Sondberg, Rory Johnson, Matt Faulkner and Patrick Baldwin quizzed Donald Howell (School House boarder 1953 - 1961), David Mills (Hostel House boarder 19441953), John Entwistle (Choir House boarder 1948 - 1954) and Hugh Scurfield (Chappel 1943 - 1954). It was such a successful venture thanks to technology and JMR that more will follow.

Family history and academic research are among the busiest activities in which the school registers and Vigornians play a major role in finding King’s pupils who have been lost by friends and relations. Many have had young lives cut short by war or accident. John Frearson (Cl 1986 - 87) was able to acquire his uncle’s school boater over the internet and alerted us to his story. F.J.Frearson was killed in November 1944, aged 22, in a mid air collision over Holland with another Lancaster bomber as his plane slowed to escort it to safety. Their plane crashed with the loss of the whole crew of eight while ironically most of the other crew survived. A world war earlier, a similar air accident killed Owen Bennett (Day boy 1913 -1916), a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Naval Air Service aged 19, in 1918. Both are remembered in College Hall and with the latter we helped the research of the Abberley War Memorial. Rachel Hard, Katherine Gilmour, Felix Porter, Emily Phillips and Frances Phillips did the searches amongst other tasks.

As ever, OVs have been generous with donations of photographs and other material for us to add to the data base and archival boxes, but members of the public contribute too.

Michael Orchard’s cousin sent us his Rugby cap and 1936 school photograph. He was a Castle House boarder 1935 - 1937. We thank them all.

C.F.R.

Charity Committee (Sixth Form)

Events old and new have contributed to this being an exceptionally busy and successful year for the School’s Charity Committee. Events which have become a staple for the Committee have grown and developed whilst new events such as the Inter House Pancake Race and monthly House Cake Sales have proved to be very popular.

The Autumn Term was dominated by preparations for the Old Folk’s Christmas Party which again was an outstanding success. More than eighty people from local sheltered housing and homes were entertained by our pupils in the theatre before partaking in a festive Christmas Tea in the Dining Hall. Father Christmas accompanied by two elves put in an appearance to

distribute the carefully prepared goodie bags to our visitors.

Numbers exceeded all expectations for this year’s Fourth Form Disco in College Hall and a huge £650 was raised for the County Air Ambulance. The Fourth Form have since decided to sponsor ‘A Mission’ next year when they hope to raise £1500 which is how much it costs to fly the helicopter each time it is called upon.

The highlight of the year though was the Fort Royal Garden Party. This is a regular event but never has it been so popular or busy! The School Gardens were once again transformed into a veritable feast of fun with, amongst other activities, bouncy castles, dancers, Punch and Judy, music and multi coloured parachutes. More than 190 guests joined our Sixth Formers in glorious sunshine to enjoy all that was on offer and sample the delights of the barbecue.

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 Junior Challenge, four pupils (Gordon Templeton, Peter Shepherd, Andrew Lovelock and Sophie Halliday) qualified for the prestigious Junior Olympiad. Unfortunately, the answer sheets for the Intermediate challenge were lost, somewhere between King’s and the UKMT offices in Leeds. This meant that the pupils from the Removes and Fifth Form who took part were unable

A.S.

Pancake racing

Pink Day

The School Fête

performances.

At the beginning of the summer term, four pupils from Upper Fourth and Lower Remove (Lauren Davies, David Jubb, George Preece and Sophie Halliday) represented King’s in the regional final of the Maths Team Challenge held at Wycliffe College. In a hard fought contest, with some very challenging questions in four different rounds of competition, King’s won the regional final with 184 points, with Pate’s Grammar coming second on 172 points and RGSAO third on 167 points. As a result King’s qualified for the national final held in London on 23rd June. This is the third time in the last four years that we have reached the national final

Young Enterprise

Sixty pupils in the Lower Sixth joined the Young Enterprise Company Programme this year and formed four companies which started trading in September. The companies were: Button-It

‘Button-It’ had two environmentally friendly products – hand made bags and their very colourful energy saving button for use with a computer.

KI5

– a fantastic achievement given that only sixty schools are selected from the more than two thousand taking part.

In the Autumn and Spring terms, we once again held inter-form Maths team challenges, loosely based on the national competition, as well as the second Inter-House team challenge. This was a similar format but with more practical activities included.

During Science week in November, the Maths department hosted numerous events. These included a talk, with practical demonstrations, on ‘Boomerangs and Other Spinning Things’ from Hugh Hunt from Cambridge University, daily Maths puzzles, Maths trails and a workshop on polyhedra.

A.H.

‘KI5’ produced slate coasters and table mats which proved to be very popular (if somewhat

through – a total of forty five pupils. These companies were KI5, New Vibe and Swish. This was held at St Mary’s Convent and, again, the companies were judged on their stands and this time they had to give a presentation in the theatre to a large audience and answer questions from the judges while on stage. In a

‘New Vibe’ sourced a really unusual product made by a women’s cooperative from the Philippines – bags and aprons made from recycled juice cartons. These were very popular and they sold a large quantity. They also branched out into hand made juggling balls.

Swish

‘Swish’ capitalised on the annual King’s v RGSAO rugby match and made supporters’ scarves which quickly sold out. They then went on to design and made an environmentally-friendly ‘eco garden box’.

All of the companies made a large number of sales and enjoyed great success at the Christmas Fair in Friar Street and the Young Enterprise Spring Fair in the Guildhall. As well as gaining tremendous experience from running the companies there is a competition element to the programme. The first round was in the Guildhall in February where twenty three companies from South Worcestershire schools set up their trade stands and set about selling to the public. They were also judged on their stands by a panel of local business people. Each company submitted a business report and the marks from these two events were combined to give a top eight through to the next round. King’s were delighted to get three companies

The Maths Team Challenge

Swish

New Vibe

Button-It

K15

close run challenge, all three companies from King’s were through to the next stage, the Strategic Final, which is when six companies from Herefordshire and Worcestershire battle it out to represent the two counties.

The Strategic Final was hosted by Malvern St James and was a highly charged event with everything to play for. All of the King’s companies put on a very polished show and delivered confident presentations. From this stage only one company goes on to the West Midlands Final and we were all delighted when the winners were announced as Swish.

Swish had a super time at the West Midlands Final which was held at the University of Stafford. This was a whole day event with intensive judging by two panels and the companies had to give their presentations in a TV studio. These were streamed live over the Internet - no pressure knowing that half the school back in Worcester would be watching! By the time the evening presentations in the Theatre came round everyone was much more relaxed. Swish took two prestigious prizes - they were judged to have the Best Trade Stand and Marketing and to be the Most Entrepreneurial Young Enterprise Company in the West Midlands.

J.C.V.

Fantasy Football League

Sixty two teams battled it out to become winners of The King’s School Fantasy Football League this season. St. Alban’s managers dominated the top of the league where William Palmer took the honours of School Champion and Year 6 winner with his team ‘Tibberton Reds’. The runner-up place went to Charlie Norton and Will Davies and their team ‘d-generation-x’, whilst third place was claimed by ‘Liverpool City’ managed by Oliver Tonks. William’s team finished in the top 0.5% in the country where over 100,000 teams took part. The other year group winners were James Burrows’ ‘Diggers Diamonds’ in Year 5, Martyn Bowles’ ‘amazing’ in the Lower Fourth, David Jubb’s ‘The Super Svens’ in the Lower Remove and Mrs Duke’s ‘Dukes of Hazard‘ from the staff. The FA Cup competition was won by Michael Hines from Year 6 in St. Alban’s and his team ‘Mitch’s Men’.

Engineering Education Scheme

From October to April four students from the Lower Sixth worked with Yamazaki Mazak to solve an engineering problem. Hamish Charters, Jess Harris, James Greenwood and Angus Morgan were taking part in this year’s Engineering Education Scheme, the aim of which is to give Lower Sixth students a good idea of how engineers plan and carry out a project. Their task was to design a new test rig to replace an existing unit to test tailstock cartridges. After a couple of site visits, a residential workshop at Birmingham University and many hours of discussion at school they finalised their design and produced a CAD prototype which was then manufactured.

They presented their ingenious solution, which greatly simplified the operation, at this year’s celebration day held in Solihull in April. The feedback from Mazak was very positive and three of the four are now convinced that Engineering is the right course to study at university.

I.C.R.

A-M. S.

Robotics Club

On Saturday 8th December a team comprising eight boys from the Lower Fourth took part in a regional heat of the First Lego League competition at Meole Brace College in Shrewsbury. After a shaky start in the first round they made modifications which took them into fourth place after the second round. Further improvements took them into the semi-finals and then into the final. After two excellent performances and a nail biting wait the team were judged the winners and awarded the Performance Award trophy for the best robot on the day; an excellent result for such

an inexperienced team. Unfortunately when the marks from the other areas of the competition were added the team just missed out on the overall winners’ trophy and a place in the national final. At least it gives them something to aim for next year!

The Library

The “new” Library continues to be very busy, both in terms of use by teaching departments, and for pupils’ independent use. During the busiest week, twelve different classes were timetabled to come in for project work or silent reading, there was a one day Industrial Conference for Sixth Form, and Mrs. Walton

and her class from St. Alban’s visited for a taster afternoon. The record for pupil use during a single Long Break stands at just over three hundred (in April), so you can see we are ever more popular! Notable highlights for the year included an author visit by Joanne Harris

I.C.R.

Tom Gorner and Sam Vella have a frustrating moment at the FLL competition

The team with Andrew Miller from Mazak and ICR

in September, and a national conference for school librarians in January. We participated in the Science Alive! Week by devising and running a “Body in the Library” Quiz, the idea for which has now been passed on to seventy other schools. King’s Day saw the Library fulfilling its role as a display space, with masks and totem poles made by the Lower Removes on display, and the “Fragments of the Day” exhibition initiated by NF.

The Library building continues to win awards for its design both locally and nationally.

Pauline Baum

Careers

Now firmly established on the ground floor of the library, the Careers Department has enjoyed another busy year. Its resources continue to be used regularly by sixth formers.

At the end of Science Week last year, the Department hosted its first healthcare conference. With 250 students attending, both from King’s and local state and independent schools, twenty advisors offered workshops on midwifery, mental health (no coincidence that this was located next to the careers offices), general practice, physiotherapy and surgery. There were also key note speeches on the admissions process and medicine in the twenty first century.

This year the theme will be ‘life as a medical

student’ when OV Simon Potter, currently in his final year at Nottingham University, returns to talk to students seriously considering medicine as a career. Another new initiative will be our first law day, to be run in conjunction with local solicitors Harrison Clark. A series of legal workshops, followed by a mock trial presided over by a real live judge in wig and gown, will be offered to sixth formers interested in law.

The dining hall was awash with three metre high birds of paradise, complete with exotic fruit, during our Business Conference. This was one of a series of team exercises presented to the Lower Sixth by our advisors who join us from various local and national companies, including Rabjohns, Land Rover and Costain. Once again, it was good to have so many OVs returning as advisors.

Marine biology in Wales, Jonjo O’Neill’s racing yard, shoe design at Debenhams, snakes and monitoring fish behaviour at Cambridge University were all new placements on the work experience list. Several students chose to spend the week out of the area, whilst others were placed in local businesses, with special needs and primary schools and in laboratories and law firms. One pupil, in a local hospital, was mistaken for a medical student and nearly had the chance to perform an endoscopy. Once again, language students took advantage of two weeks abroad. Our thanks go to all OVs and parents who helped provide places. Please contact us if you can assist with work experience, gap years or careers talks.

The programme of careers talks continues and visiting speakers earmarked for the coming weeks are a psychologist, a Year in Industry student and a linguist.

‘An AMAZING year!! … completely changed me as a person.’ ‘The best bits were working with the most incredible children I’ve ever met.’

‘I learned that everyone can make a difference’

Gap Years continue to be popular and recent placements have ranged from volunteer work in Cape Town and Nepal to a Year in Industry at Qinetiq, Malvern.

H. Isaacs

OV Vicki Crowe on her Gap Year

Learning how to suture

Shoe design, Debenham

Anna Pykett wrote an article on The Ryder Cup

Lower Remove Camps

Chess

Chess Club took place over the Autumn and Spring terms and was mainly attended by Lower and Upper Fourth pupils. In most sessions they played competitive games against each other in a bid to gain places on a leader board. A few players rose up through the ranks rapidly having mastered the three and four move checkmates, closing out their matches quickly. There were also many much more closely competed games that couldn’t be completed during the hour long sessions, instead having to be finished the following week. Luke Stevens and Aaron Pardoe-Davies played well and held the top spot on the table for a number of weeks, but Jonjo McArdle was a late contender, rising up many places over the course of the term. Luke managed to see off the challenge to finish at the top –congratulations to him. The standard of all the members of the club rose over the course of the year, so well done to all who played.

coordinating the campaign and checking the generous contents of the many boxes which were brought in.

In the Spring term, with the onset of Lent, we took the theme of Temptations and different members of the group led thoughtful Bible studies on such topics as Food, Work (or rather, laziness!) and Money. During the Easter break we went once again to the Far Forest Centre for a few days, this year enjoying a wealth of craft activities as we thought about ‘Our Creative Creator’. In the summer term we enjoyed meeting informally and supported one another in prayer through the exam season, as well as saying farewell to Michael Cairns-Terry who has been part of the group throughout his time at King’s.

M.A.K.

Literary Society

A.J.K.

Christian Union

At the beginning of September the arrival of half a dozen keen new Lower Fourth Formers did much to reinvigorate the group, meeting for the first time in the newly designated Chaplaincy room in number 12. We started the year by following a ‘Light’ version of the well-known Alpha course which gave us an opportunity to ask questions about the Christian faith and discuss aspects with which we have difficulties. As always our programme was interspersed with social events and all our discussions were fuelled by copious quantities of biscuits and squash. Leading up to Christmas we were privileged to be able to help the Fourth Forms with their annual collection for Operation Christmas child,

The Literary Society met twice this year; in February we enjoyed “A Leap in the Dark” on the evening of February 29th, reading literature either written by women or that women might use to propose to men on the one day in four years that, traditionally, they may! The Severn Room was bedecked in pink and a romantic, candle-lit supper added to our pleasure. We finished the summer term with the customary “Poetry and Pimms” in the School Gardens. The theme of the poetry this year was “Summer Days and Summer Nights” and, having retired to the Severn Room for a light summer buffet mid-way through our readings, we returned to the Gardens to brave the darkening greenery and end the evening with a rousing rendition of “Summer Nights”. In 2009 we plan to add play-readings and a formal dinner to our programme, involving the students more in the planning and organisation of events. All ideas for new activities are very welcome.

A.J.M.M.

Lower Remove Camps

This year there were eight separate Lower Remove Camps organised in House groups. These took place towards the end of the summer term and included a full programme of outdoor activities based partly at the Old Chapel and partly at a bunkhouse near Symonds Yat. Each House group was accompanied by a team of staff and two senior pupils from the House.

S.C.C.

Comments from the pupils

“I met new people and got to know students in other Houses much better... I learnt new skills and tried out things that I would be afraid to do by myself.”

“I think I got closer to others in my House and also saw a different side to the teachers... the Sixth Formers were great“

I think that we are now a much closer group than we were before camp...”

“Our House really bonded... the Sixth Form were real stars”

“The food was excellent... Camp helped me to get to know more people in my House and I really enjoyed it...”

“I found the activities challenging but in a good way... I felt the House has really bonded and I talk to more people in my House now...”

“The bunkhouse was awesome with a great field to play in... I feel I know our Heads of House much better now...”

“I really enjoyed camp and thought the activities were really fun... it was great having the chance to get to know people a bit better...”

The Himalayan Club

Morocco

The Himalayan Club has had a very busy and successful year. In October 2007 a group of six students paired off with a similar number of blind or visually impaired students from New College, Worcester, for a short trek in the Jebel Sahro in Morocco. This trek was the culmination of a year’s training in which the King’s students learnt how to guide, to understand the needs of their partners, while they in turn learnt to trust their new friends. The training paid off, for when we reached the rugged mountains everybody coped very well

and gained a great deal from the experience. Spirits were high throughout, none more so than when we spent a couple of nights sleeping under the stars on the Sahara Desert leg of the trek. This first joint venture was deemed to be such a success that during Easter 2009 it is to be repeated with Nepal as the destination.

India

At 4:00am on the morning 10th July a coach pulled away from school carrying a party of twenty-nine students, seven staff and doctors for the first leg of a month long adventure in India. Our journey took us to Ladakh, known as Little Tibet, in the north-west of the country, an area visited by the Himalayan Club on two previous occasions. Having acclimatised to the already high altitude in Leh with visits to a variety of monasteries, we set off on our seventeen day trek. The weather was particularly kind to us throughout the trek, giving us bright, clear and sometimes very hot days, but none of the torrential rain we had experienced on a similar trek two years previously.

The trek took us over high, 5000m, passes, through remote and spectacular valleys and into friendly communities. It was in the community of Hankar where we spent some valuable time. Despite many trekkers passing through the village, that is all they ever do. We stopped, talked to the village council and found out what their greatest needs were. The school needed painting, so we painted it. The school needed educational material and equipment, so we gave it. The children needed toys, so we gave them. The wall around the school needed repairing, so we repaired it. The parents wanted new winter uniforms for their children, so we provided the money for them. The monastery needed a new roof because it leaked, so we provided the

money for that. Finally the ancient Thanka paintings in the monastery had been damaged as a result of the leaking roof, so we gave the money to have them restored. None of these took too much effort or cost a great deal but it meant so much to the community. In turn it meant so much to us for they invited us into their houses, entertained us and became our friends for the few days we spent there amongst them.

Reluctantly leaving Hankar behind us, we continued on our trek, climbing ever higher. Some days were harder than others but we remained motivated as we neared our eventual goal, Stok Kangri. Rising to 6153m, Stok Kangri is the highest peak in the Stok range and was the high point of the 2003 expedition.

On the day of our ascent we were woken at one in the morning. The air was crisp under a star strewn sky. Noodle soup at that time of the morning is difficult to swallow but we knew we would need the calories later in the day. At 2:15 we set out from base camp with a mixture of excitement, determination and fear, but relieved that that for which we had been waiting had now arrived. Gradually, the first faint glimpses of the dawn cast a light on the task ahead. It looked steep. It looked high. Closer, though, we could now see the glacier which stood between us and the mountain. It proved to be no obstacle, giving us access to the mountain without difficulty. As we climbed away from the glacier the sun began to warm us. It was stunning, with an orange glow bouncing off the snow and illuminating us as we climbed. Once we gained the ridge we thought it might become a little easier but we had three rock buttresses to skirt round, and with snow on the ground

Scenes from the village of Hankar

Scenes from the village of Hankar

Scenes from Stok Kangri

and precipitous drops, in places, these took longer than they might otherwise have done. The summit was getting closer but it still evaded us. With only a few metres to go we had to put crampons on to give us some grip on the snow leading up to the summit. Nine and a half hours after setting out we reached the summit. What a wonderful feeling it was on the top. Of the thirty three who set out that morning, thirty one stood on the top. The views were stunning, although there had been a buildup of cloud as the day grew older, even to the extent of thunder and lightening rattling around just the other side of the next ridge. Having spent an hour on the summit we picked our way precariously down the face of loose scree, eventually reaching base camp seventeen hours after we had left it. We were all tired but extremely happy with our achievement.

The next day we headed back down to the village of Stok and the end of our trek. That day, normally a pleasant stroll, proved to be interesting; a terminal moraine of a side valley, having collapsed, released millions of tons of water, rock and mud to sweep down the valley and obliterate the route.

Our month in India concluded with an early morning visit to the Taj Mahal to watch the sun rise. A fittingly spectacular end to a spectacular expedition and experience.

The French Alps

Fieldwork is about experiencing real places to broaden knowledge, aid learning and develop understanding. The annual Geography Alps trip achieves precisely this and

last summer it was thoroughly enjoyed by a party of thirty three Upper Remove pupils and four staff. An efficient coach journey took us to Le Bettex, a small alpine resort sitting above St Gervais at 1400m. The backdrop could not have been more perfect with stunning views of Mt Blanc clearly visible.

Eager to explore our surroundings we set off for Mont D’Arbois making good use of the ski lift, much to the delight of the group who were somewhat apprehensive over the prospect of a 450m climb having just got off the coach. From the top we were able to appreciate the scale of the Mt Blanc Massif and identified the folded rock formations that resulted from Africa’s collision into Europe some thirty to forty million years prior to our visit!

Throughout our stay the weather was perfect and full days in the field became the norm. Excursions to a wide variety of fieldwork sites gave pupils opportunities to explore the traditional agriculture, local resources, the importance of tourism and the formation of the Alps themselves. The most memorable visit was to Chamonix where we took the cable car to Le Plan de l’Aiguille (2317m). A dramatic view of the Bosson Glacier provided a perfect classroom backdrop before walking to the Mer de Glace where further views of the glaciated landscape were admired.

Swimming in Lake Annecy proved to be equally popular whilst ice skating in St Gervais and bowling in Megève gave everyone much to do in the evenings. The impromptu disco on the last night also provided

much entertainment!

The routine of a prompt start in the morning continued into the final day and after the customary second helpings of croissants and pain au chocolate we began work. As field notes were being written up and essays constructed I was once again struck by the positive approach of the party. Throughout the trip the pupils were great company and showed genuine enthusiasm for the geography that they had come to study (even when writing an essay at 8:15 in the morning!). Thanks to DNO/CML/A-MS for their invaluable assistance and good company throughout.

John Walton

Le Bettex, with Mt Blanc in the background

The Bosson Glacier

German Work Experience

In 2008, some of our Lower Sixth students studying German for their A levels travelled to Hamburg, Cologne and Stuttgart in Germany or Graz in Austria for their work experience. For two or three weeks, they stayed with a host family and worked in a variety of placements, ranging from primary schools, Kindergartens, architects, lawyers and doctors to car dealerships. Free time and weekends were spent exploring the many tourist sights of the area and meeting new people. The students came back even more enthusiastic about learning German than before they went out.

Here is what some students said about their stay in Germany:

“My time in Germany was very good, especially because of the host family. I met lots of new people and had a great time. The work placement with a lawyer was fun; one day I went to court and saw a trial between two taxi drivers who had had a fight. Everyone at the office was friendly and I spoke a lot of German. I am glad that I can put that I have work experience in Germany on my CV.” (Hugh Brooks)

“I worked in a law office in the centre of Hamburg. The boss and his colleagues made me feel very welcome and helped me learn a lot about the structure of German law. I sat in on meetings with clients as well as visiting the civil and criminal courts. My host family in Hamburg were really friendly. They took me to many different places and showed me Hamburg and the surroundings. After two weeks in Hamburg I travelled to Memmingen where I worked in a shop. I learnt how a shop is run in Germany and my German improved significantly.” (Dan Meyer)

“My work experience in Germany was great. I understood a lot of what people said and could join in with their conversation.” (Patrick Taylor).

S.H.

Exchange Trips

• Memmingen

After successfully welcoming thirty two German students to Worcester, it was now time for our Upper Remove students to travel to Memmingen in Bavaria and experience German family and school life for themselves.

We flew from Stansted to the small airport of Friedrichshafen, situated by the beautiful Lake Constance. From there it was only a one hour coach trip to Memmingen where we were met by the German students and teachers. The following two days were spent with the

group; the first day we got to know Memmingen in the rain but we were expertly guided by one of the German teachers and the second day we walked through a mountain gorge, the amazing ‘Breitachklamm’, where our students on the one hand made excessive use of photographic opportunities and could on the other hand test their fitness levels before the ‘bigger’ mountain walk which was to happen a few days later. The weekend was spent with the host families where the Upper Removes could really use their language skills, get to grips with the local dialect and experience family life first hand. The families offered a wide range of trips and events and all students met up enthusiastically yet tired on Monday morning. The morning was used to extend and revise German with RAB and SH, as well as attending lessons with German pupils in all subjects. Especially in English lessons our students were welcome guests! As school in Germany starts and finishes earlier than in England, the students spent the afternoon with their exchange partners shopping or meeting friends.

Two days of the week were again spent at school and on another day we travelled to Munich by train where we were introduced to the capital of Bavaria by our expert guide. A further day was spent walking in the mountains where we could experience some fantastic views over the ‘Allgäu’ region, most of us being suitably daubed with suntan lotion.

As with previous visits the last weekend involved the highlight of our stay; the Fischertag. Every year Memmingen celebrates the Fischertag (Fisherman’s day), recreating medieval traditions. Every male inhabitant of Memmingen is able to take part in this extraordinary event: diving

Patrick Taylor and Dan Meyer

Upper Remove students in Bavaria

into the stream in the centre of town, trying to catch a fish with a net. Whoever catches the heaviest fish is crowned the Fischerkönig (Fisherman’s king).

So after a very enjoyable twelve days in Bavaria we left Memmingen with many fond memories- the students had been looked after very well by their host families and had made good friends with their exchange partners and others. After a quiet flight and coach trip back everyone agreed that it had been an excellent visit and that they had not only benefited linguistically but also culturally from staying in Germany for a while. Thanks go to the students: their positive attitude, great approach and excellent company made this trip very successful.

S.H.

• Zaragoza

Katie Davis and Lauren Bath from the Upper Removes write…

After an early start we flew to Madrid from Birmingham. On arrival we collected our bags and got on a coach for several hours going through Spanish countryside. At about midpoint we stopped for supplies (chocolate, drinks and forgotten essentials). We finally arrived at school on schedule but quite tired and as soon as we had settled in and met the family and the home, we were taken out for dinner, although some people were allowed to unpack.

Over the next two days (the weekend) we were taken on a variety of activities, including a visit to a theme park and a local disco.

On Monday we got to visit the school and experience some of the students’ daily life. After this we went to see the Aljaferia Palace and had a guided tour of the regional parliament. On the way back we stopped for an unscheduled visit of the bullring although some of the queasier didn’t enter. We soon found out that Spanish families finished school earlier than us and had lunch at home, at around 2 o’clock. Most of us thought that we’d never be able to eat again (or get very fat during our stay).

Tuesday we went on a trip to Barcelona and saw the football stadium (this held more interest for the boys) and the Sagrada Familia Cathedral. Later we went shopping in Las Ramblas (this was the girls’ revenge) and had a late return to Zaragoza after some pit stops along the way.

Wednesday was our catch-up-on-sleep-day. After a late start we visited the Old Quarter where we visited two different cathedrals and a lot of us bought “lucky” Virgin Mary ribbons, to protect us on our travels, and again had lunch with the host families, with the afternoon off and an evening of activities with our exchanges and others.

Thursday brought us another taster of school life in Spain and then we travelled to the Loarre castle where several movies had been filmed. We were given a guided tour by a Spanish translator/guide. In the afternoon we sadly packed our bags and had a brilliant farewell dinner, when we were presented with lots of food and leaving gifts of mugs and bandanas. The next morning we woke early and had a tearful departure from the school but we were slightly reassured by the fact that we would see our friends again in one week and five days.

The Spaniards arrived in Worcester on a Wednesday and we opted to let them settle in rather than go out as we live further apart than them. On Thursday they had a guided tour of the school and visited the Guildhall and the town. Again we had a quiet evening in. The Spaniards were surprised to find that we eat at school and go home much later than them.

On Friday they visited Oxford and returned home as school ended. Some went shopping for gifts while a few hosts did extracurricular activities. Friday evening and the rest of the weekend there were many get togethers and parties, including trips to the safari parks and Birmingham Bullring.

Monday, they visited Stratford, and had fun arriving back at school at the same time as Friday.

Tuesday meant they visited the cathedral and the Porcelain where they painted plates. In the evening we had a leaving dinner too and presented them with our gifts of photos in frames and t-shirts and more! It was a very enjoyable evening with a meeting of just the students afterwards! Wednesday morning we got up bright and early to see them off. There were few who didn’t cry and as the bus pulled away many chased after it to get a second chance of waving goodbye.

The exchange was very enjoyable and everyone gained a lot out of it including many memories and a greater understanding of the two languages. The activities we participated in were educational and interesting and those the hosts took us on were very enjoyable. Not only did we bring back souvenirs but there were also many friendships formed during the trips and many promises were made during departure to keep in touch and maybe meet up again in the future. This has been the first of many successful exchanges!

• Le Vésinet

Twenty eight Upper Remove pupils and four staff spent six days in

Zaragoza

Some of the French exchange group

Le Vésinet, Worcester’s twin town, just twenty minutes by train outside of Paris. The usual visits were eagerly anticipated but sometimes plans did not quite work out as hoped. On the day we had decided to go up the Eiffel Tower there were massive traffic problems in Paris, due to the Olympic flame making its way down the Champs Elysées to the Tower. The Tower was obviously closed but what really held us up was the fact that all the roads in the vicinity were closed due to ‘Free Tibet’ demonstrations and the huge number of riot police with batons and shields who were milling around the area. It was quite exciting sitting and watching it all from the bus but I would not like to have been anywhere near those policeman! We did visit Notre Dame, Sacré Coeur, Versailles and had a trip along the Seine on a “Bateau Mouche”. The usual activities were arranged by our host families and several of our students visited Parc Disneyland at the weekend. The visit was a resounding success, not only from an academic point of view but also because of the friendships which were forged. The return of the French students was eagerly awaited and their stay in Worcester was equally enjoyable.

K.A.

Skiing

Senior Trip to La Plagne

The group comprised thirty six pupils and four staff and this year travelled to the resort of La Plagne in France. Despite the delays, flight cancellation and (as seems customary these days) significant lack of luggage on the far side, the group was in remarkably high spirits by the time we arrived at the resort. Even the faulty fire alarm (which repeated itself every twenty minutes or so for a couple of evenings) couldn’t

dampen spirits.

The skiing was near perfect, thanks to the incredible snow and excellent weather conditions. For the most part it felt as though we had hired the whole resort to ourselves as there were very few people sharing it with us. Whilst we had a small number of injuries, the trip was a huge success and everyone went away with fantastic memories of a great week’s skiing.

My thanks go to JJM, FLS and CML.

Junior Trip to Austria

This year’s trip went to Nassfeld. Fifty five pupils from Years 8 to 10 went with six staff during February half term. The skiing was excellent and the resort had a lot of variety to test all abilities. The weather also played its part, providing perfect conditions for skiing. The quality of the instruction was exactly what one would expect from an Austrian ski school, helping students to progress well through the week.

The hotel had its own sports hall and cinema areas which helped provide good entertainment in the evenings. I would like to thank the staff for all their hard work in making the trip a great success. J.J.M.

Rugby tour to South Africa and Namibia

Forty five players (involving Under 16 and Under 15 teams) and five staff were part of this summer’s tour to South Africa and Namibia,

On arrival in Cape Town, we experienced the spectacular views from the top of Table Mountain before moving on to Stellenbosch. Each team played three games against very physical and committed opposition, making it very difficult to create scoring opportunities. This was most evident against Paarl Gimnasium, one of the strongest rugby schools in South Africa, where all of the players really stepped up to the challenge.

In between fixtures we visited Robben Island where we were given a tour by a former inmate, and we received great hospitality when we were shown around Langa, the biggest Township in Cape Town. After six games in South Africa we had won three and lost three. We then travelled north to Namibia, where the games were played in more challenging conditions due to the heat. The two squads came out with two wins and a draw across the four matches. Around Walvis Bay the desert offered a number of entertaining activities including quad biking

and sand boarding down 80 metre high dunes. We then travelled to Etosha National Park to go on a safari where we were lucky to see a wide range of animals and birds close up, including elephants, giraffes, rhinoceros, lions and many more.

The tour offered a wide range of experiences, allowing the boys to sample two very different cultures in terms of how rugby is played and what the countries had to offer. The players were a credit to King’s School, both on and off the field. I’d like to thank the staff (AADG, CA, JLO and CWSW) who put in a lot of time and effort that helped with the smooth running of the tour.

J.J.M.

First World War Battlefields Trip

‘There is a zone

Wild and lone

None claim, none own, That goes by the name of No-Man’s-Land; Its frontiers are bastioned, and wired, and mined, The rank grass shudders and shakes in the wind, And never a roof nor a tree you find In No-Man’s-Land.’

It says something about the lasting legacy of the First World War that many everyday phrases came into popular use at the time. ‘Noman’s-land’ is one of the best known of these, and the existence of this often narrow strip between the opposing sets of trenches remains an intriguing aspect of the conflict on the Western Front. Men engaged in a murderous struggle against one another spent much of their time in trenches which were within earshot of their enemy. On occasion the enemy could be heard shouting, singing or laughing, but was almost never seen. Soldiers on the Western Front lived with the ever-present risk of death, but very rarely ever came face to face with an enemy who lived often no more than a stone’s throw away.

The width of no-man’s-land was something the fortyone pupils from the Lower Removes could experience for themselves on this year’s trip when we visited the Newfoundland Memorial Park on the Somme, and later in the trenches above the tunnels of Vimy Ridge. On both these sites nature has been allowed to reclaim an area blasted by years of trench warfare, but whilst the grass has grown back, the evidence of shells and explosives continue to scar the landscape. At Vimy Ridge the whole ground has the appearance of some verdant moonscape, covered with the craters of huge mines. Whilst it might be possible, in a childish manner, to clamber over reconstructed trenches, it requires very little imagination to recreate the terror of men exposed to such inhuman and overwhelming forces, where death could be as sudden as it was violent. For those whose imaginations are slow to fire, the cemeteries and memorials which invariably accompany such sites should have underlined the point.

benefit of visitors but the power of association remains very strong. It is impossible to visit Newfoundland Memorial Park or Vimy Ridge and not feel somehow the reverberation of the events that took place there. Once again our pupils responded very well to what they saw, often with a mixture of quiet reflection and questioning. All left such sites with a much richer appreciation of the topic they were studying.

Our programme involved visits to a variety of other sites too, ranging from cemeteries to museums. It may be true that some pupils need to be encouraged to stop and to look more closely on occasion, but quite a number were still absorbed with exhibits well beyond the time allocated for studying them. This would seem to bode well for these pupils, all of whom have begun their GCSE History course this year.

The weather was not always very kind and on more than one occasion we had to time our exit from the coach to dodge the worst of some very heavy showers. The weather also interfered with the traditional programme of wholesome sporting contests organized by PTG in the

It is to experience such places that we continue to take this trip every year. Critics might argue that these sites have been sanitised for the

grounds of the hotel. A hastily improvised quiz kept our party busy though, and maintained some element of competition, even if the hotel manager seemed unimpressed. Perhaps the questions about staff who share the same name with the Governor of California did not readily translate into French.

Before retiring to prepare another trip for the present Lower Removes in the summer of 2009 I should thank those staff who gave up their time to make it all possible, and particularly A-MS and RJJ who joined the History Department on temporary attachment. Meanwhile, PTG provided his accustomed wisdom and experience to complement JCM’s youth and enthusiasm. It is always a tremendous reassurance to have the support of such a team when running a trip.

North African graves at French National Memorial, Notre-Dame de Lorette

Tyne Cot Cemetery

SpoR t

Rugby Results

Played 20 Won 13 lost 7

1st XV

A season which began and ended brightly but in between contained too many under par performances raising doubts about the commitment of certain members of the squad. Injuries to senior players took a heavy toll with Tom Gwynne lasting only 15 minutes of the first trial match before being sidelined for two months with a cracked collar bone whilst Vaughn Thomas’s shoulder problems meant he too played less than half the games. Dom Wood’s recovery from a cruciate ligament operation was heartening but given the serious nature of his injury he had to limit his appearances, playing for only 35 minutes a game in the first part of the term.

Similarly Jack England found it hard to regain his form of the previous year following his shoulder damage. All this resulted in greater pressure than usual being placed on the less experienced members of the squad and although they showed plenty of potential in fine victories over tough opponents such as Blundell’s, Portora and King’s Parramatta at other times they struggled to cope, most notably in the dismal defeats against The Chase in the Daily Mail Cup and against Monmouth when a comfortable lead was

Blundell’s (H) Won 27 – 17

KES Birmingham (H) Won 21 – 5

Solihull (A) Lost 15 – 22

KES Camphill (H) Won 42 – 12

KES Stratford (Daily Mail) (H) Won 52 – 3

Warwick (H) Lost 10 – 31

King’s Taunton (A) Lost 0 -32

Chase H.S. (Daily Mail) (H) Lost 5 – 6

Portora Royal (A) Won 34 – 0

Royal School Armagh (A) Lost 25 – 31

High School Dublin (H) Won 20 - 0

Chase H.S. (H) Won 19 – 0

Monmouth (H) Lost 15 – 16

King Henry’s Coventry (A) Won 55 – 8

KES Aston (A) Won 48 – 8

Hereford C.S. (A) Won 46 – 12

Bristol G.S. (H) Won 20 – 0

RGSAO (Sixways) Lost 12 – 20

Bishop Vesey’s (A) Won 17 – 11

King’s Parramatta Sydney (H) Won 19 - 14

thrown away in the last five minutes of the game.

The weak link of the side was the pack and this was cruelly exposed at Sixways when RGSAO scored three driving forward tries, against the two fine three quarter scores achieved by King’s. Referees are undoubtedly affected by the sort of play they see in the Premiership and this meant that in numerous matches, lead blocking, pre binding and accidental offside were ignored allowing stronger packs to launch waves of attacks eventually wearing down our defence. The habit of repeatedly penalising the defending side in such circumstances has undoubtedly been a cause of the steadily rising injury toll amongst school teams, as players encouraged by their coaches will tackle endlessly and eventually damage themselves. This season the ELVs at senior level have sensibly allowed driving mauls to be tackled from the outset but strangely this rule has not been applied to school levels encouraging sides to adopt a limited and potentially dangerous game plan.

The backs on occasion produced some fine running rugby. Duncan Meikle took time to adjust to the faster pace of First XV rugby but turned in some fine performances in the latter stages of the season, whilst Liam and Tom

Gwynne confirmed that they were talented and entertaining players. Jack Everton missed much of the season with a broken thumb but returned with some style against RGSAO whilst both Andrew Hughes and Tom Bryant were capable of making excellent breaks making the three quarter line on occasion a potent force.

The two Under 16s in the team, Rhodri Dawes and after half-term Henry Waltier showed excellent promise so it was particularly disappointing to lose them both at the end of the year. Rhodri would have been captain in the 2009-10 season and his mature reading of the game stood out even when playing with boys two years older than him. Waltier learnt quickly and his decision to follow the Bromsgrove trail highlights the problem King’s has had in recent years in competing against Academies and ‘recruiting’ schools when trying to retain our better players. Even so prospects for 2008-09 look reasonable as the Seconds had a strong season based round a Lower Sixth squad, whilst a back row containing Sean Robinson and Jack Jeavons-Fellows will pose problems for most school boy teams. Whether we can overcome the loss of six first team certainties to other educational and sporting establishments remains to be seen.

My thanks to SMB and RJD for their continued support

and to the ground staff who ensured that King’s fields were in excellent shape despite the occasional intrusion from the river.

Sevens

First VII

A brilliantly sunny and perishingly cold morning greeted the squad as they met at 7.00 a.m. in the middle of half-term for the traditional trip to Brecon. For the first time ever the squad returned undefeated, and in one piece, as on arrival the frozen state of the pitches gave the organisers little option but to cancel the tournament. This in some respects was good news as with numbers at training failing to make double figures the chances of success were slim. At the Marches and the North of England a side consisting mainly of Upper Sixth players underperformed and this led to a radical change of approach with a clear out of senior players allowing younger and keener Lower Sixth and Fifth Formers to have their chance.

The benefits of this change of tack were seen at Solihull where a series of fine victories was achieved . The star performer in the early rounds was James Bennett but unfortunately by the time of the final against our local rivals Old Swinford he was recovering in the Medical Centre having taken a bad knock to the head, whilst Dom Wood was also sidelined through injury. A spirited fight back in the second half saw King’s lead by two points with just thirty seconds to go but one missed tackle undid our chances of overall victory. The decision of the tournament organisers to allow the final to be refereed by an inexperienced 18 year old whilst one of the top rated referees in the Midlands watched the carnage from the sidelines was somewhat strange.

P.T.G.

Invigorated by our experiences at Solihull the team then moved on to the King’s tournament at Droitwich. We were comfortable group winners, gaining revenge over Old Swinford in the process, and then destroyed Bromsgrove in the quarter-final by six tries to one, before losing by the narrowest of margins to Ellesmere in a tremendous semi-final.

Confidence was high for the National Sevens but as at Brecon the weather had other ideas and the Festival Tournament had to be cancelled owing to the arrival of the monsoon over South West London. This was a major blow as we had a very favourable draw and were looking in excellent form on the training pitch. Once the players realised that to compete at Sevens tournaments where you are up against some of the best players in the country, you have to train on a regular basis, results improved dramatically. In 2009 this young squad, despite the loss of Rhodri Dawes, has the potential to bring home some silverware, but only if it heeds the lessons of 2008 and is fully committed from the beginning of term.

P.T.G.

2nd XV

Putting aside our two encounters with teams from the deepest south west, against Blundell’s and King’s Taunton (both games in which we conceded forty points), this was an extremely good season for the 2nd XV. We lost just two other fixtures, both by four points, away to KES Birmingham and Solihull, which is no disgrace. All other sides were brushed aside, often with some disdain. Highlights would have to be defeating Warwick, when we managed

not to be distracted by having to move pitches nor by the arrival of an Air Ambulance, and the comfortable win over the RGSAO, where a score of 22 – 3 flattered them.

It was good to see a side putting so many points on the opposition, a grand total of 331, and to see so many coming from quick, determined running by the backs. 172 points were conceded, half of those in two games! Will Harris was a star performer with a total of twelve tries; to think what might have happened if all the team could catch! A particular mention should go to the captain Jon Bird; he was inspirational in his example and perhaps best showed this with his awesome footballing skills that clinched an unlikely victory at Rendcomb. He was great at hitting the line and was unlucky not to feature

leading by example in the forwards, slowly but surely the team began to find its feet. Overall, the season could be described as mixed, with some excellent results, interspersed with some disappointing defeats. The highlight would probably have to be the narrow victory over Monmouth, where the boys showed grit and determination to win a very hard-fought match.

Sevens

in the 1st XV, which was to the second team’s gain. Well done to all those who played in the most successful 2nd XV for many years.

R.J.D.

Under 16 XV

Having lost their main play-maker, fly-half Rhodri Dawes, to the 1st XV, the season was always going to be difficult for the team but Oliver Greenhill stepped into Rhodri’s shoes and managed to control the team’s pattern of play. With Henry Waltier also

The Sevens season looked promising as training went well and the team looked like it had some potential. Unfortunately the Warwick tournament was cancelled and we ended up with a much depleted fixture list. Our first foray came when we travelled down to Blundells, some way into the season. It was obvious that other teams had benefited from having already played and it took us a while to find our feet. As with the fifteen-a-side season, we had mixed fortunes. Due to some less than ideal preparations the day before, the boys were lacklustre and our performances were disappointing. However, after some stern words before the final game, they did finish well, again hinting at the promise that had been shown in training. As we headed to the National schools Sevens, the return of Dawes also strengthened our chances. In the pool we played extremely well and it soon became obvious that the fight to top the group and progress further as winners would be between ourselves and a strong Millfield side. In a very hard fought match we couldn’t have asked for any more effort from the boys as they played their hearts out, neutrals on the touchline agreeing that we deserved to win. Regrettably, due to two very controversial refereeing decisions, we found ourselves back on the minibus, heading home.

The year ended with a fantastic tour to South Africa and Namibia, which was thoroughly enjoyed by all (and is documented elsewhere in this magazine).

C.A.

Under 15 XV

Played: 18, Won: 11, Lost:6, Drawn: 1 Points For: 57, Against: 238

Although the season ended with eleven wins out of eighteen it was hard work for all concerned. We got off to a poor start due to a lacklustre performance. The team’s response to this was positive with a hard fought victory over KES Birmingham. The squad trained well through out the season looking to address their weaknesses. They improved their ability to win

quick ball and linked well between the forwards and backs. The only draw of the season came against KES Five Ways in the Daily Mail Cup which put us in the Vase competition. We progressed through to the national knock out stage with some good wins before losing in the quarter finals against strong opposition. The best performance of the season came in the 17-14 victory against RGS Worcester. We played the game at a high tempo and played positive rugby through out, scoring three tries. The team was captained well by David Brazier and Michael Serafini and Jonny Howard were the two most consistent performers.

J.J.M.

Under 14 XV

The team I inherited this season was a spirited and cheerful bunch and this was just as well as things didn’t always go quite their way. The start to the campaign was tough as the first opposition team to be encountered was large (to say the least) in comparison to our boys. A couple of matches into the season and already confidence (and bodies) were a little bruised. Always giving of their best, and always prepared to play to the final whistle, the boys fought some very hard battles, coming out on top more times than not. The team was very ably led from the front by Harry Nuttall who would never shy away from contact. In fact he would look for hits to make which often led to us turning over possession and provide us scoring opportunities. The best moment of the season for me, and I imagine for some of the team, was the conversion that won us the game against Bishop Vesey’s. Charlie Silk stepped up and slotted the ball from the touchline in the last play of the game, quite against the odds in the windy conditions and contrary to plans of the somewhat ‘creative’ referee. All in all this was a really good season against some much bigger teams.

C.W.S.W.

Under 13 XV

This was a most enjoyable season for many reasons: the boys were keen to learn; they loved to train; they were as talented a set of ball players as I can remember; and we won all but one of our matches. The only thing that goes against this bunch of players is a collective lack of size – I blame the parents! There were many highlights as the year progressed with sizeable victories over Solihull, Bristol, Bishop’s Hereford, Bishop Vesey’s and Old Swinford. The match with the RGSAO was closer than it should have been and the only loss came away at Warwick with a 7 – 5 reverse.

The forwards, although small, were mobile and versatile with the back row being a constant source of frustration to the opposition and an excellent base from which we could launch counter attacks. The backs threw the ball around like seasoned professionals, and with the pace and footwork of David Serafini on the left wing we always had a scoring option. What was also impressive was the number of times we managed to deny the opposition any points. Much of the credit for this should go to a great team work ethic but also to the hard hitting ‘first up’ defence of the centre partnership of Will Meikle and Richard Clive. The team was well directed from fly half by George Preece and ably led by George Fairlie.

We played some excellent sevens in the two tournaments that survived the weather; at Solihull we lost in the semi-finals to Warwick in a very close encounter and at Rosslyn Park in the most atrocious conditions I can remember we won our group and first knock out game before losing 21- 19 for a place in the last sixteen. All in all a very productive and successful season.

A.A.D.G.

Under 12 XV

It was quite apparent from the first training session that this set of boys had tenacity, pace and some difficulty working out their left from their right. This latter point will become interesting when we welcome them onto the nation’s roads in a few years time. A playing record of won five, lost six, drawn two was a highly satisfactory one, considering that many of the defeats were only by one score.

Good wins against Monmouth, Bishop Vesey’s and King Edward’s Birmingham, were the highlights of the season. Ed Rowley, Reuben Walker and Charlie Lamb put in some aggressive displays to secure good quality ball. Brandon Wain was a lively (i.e. noisy) and inventive scrum-half and the team was ably captained by Will Dovey. Alex Parker, when he wasn’t talking, often made some ‘hard yards’. Winning the RGSAO Sevens tournament by beating Solihull, Oldswinford and the hosts was a pleasing way to end a season of promise. As they had done all year, Ryan Kisten and Martyn Bowles scored some spectacular tries. Was that a tear in the eyes of DPI after one particular side-step from Ryan (or perhaps it was just a cold afternoon?).

The B XV, when bolstered by the try scoring ability of the fastest number eight you’ll ever see, Sev Naraine, had a good season too, with impressive victories over RGSAO and Solihull. It was good to see some of the team’s members getting a go in the A XV and more than holding their own.

The C XV enjoyed their rugby and were always competitive. Oppositions were impressed at the strength of the King’s coaching set-up as this team was often accompanied and coached by Worcester Warrior Charlie Fellows.

1st XI

2008 was the second season that the first XI competed in the Mercian Independent Schools’ Football League. We had an enthusiastic group of players, many of whom, including the captain Jonathan Bird, had already had at least one season playing at this level. We were confident and determined that we could do well in the league this year. The season didn’t start well, however, and after conceding an early goal in our first game, a hard working, but rather disorganised King’s team came away from Bromsgrove with no points and much thinking to be done. Dom Wood, who battled hard in the middle of midfield, was the only player who came away with any credit. Improvements had to be made if we were to prevent another defeat in our second fixture at Clifton College. Our friends down in Bristol always give us a tough game and it would be interesting to see how our players reacted. It was clear from the first whistle that we had a point to prove and after dominating the game for the first twenty minutes confidence began to

return. A 0-0 draw was probably a fair result as Clifton came into the game in the second half, but improvements had been made and, as Clifton eventually won the Mercian League, this proved to be a very creditable result. The defence looked far more organised and stood firm against late Clifton pressure. Our spirit was exemplified by Jonathan Bird who marshalled the back four with determination, despite receiving a deep cut to his head.

The first goals, and with them the first victory of the season, came away at Malvern College. Two fine strikes from Tom Gwynne were enough to defeat a tough Malvern side. Good saves from Sean Robinson, missed chances and a little bit of luck all contributed to the victory and we were delighted to come away with the win, even though our goal did lead a rather charmed life at times. A draw at home to Uppingham in our next league game felt more like a defeat after we conceded two late goals to leave the final score at 4-4. Credit to the away team for not letting their heads drop, but after a hat trick from Liam Gwynne, making the score 4-2, the game should have been over. We certainly did not want to give any goals away in our next game as King’s met RGSAO at St.George’s Lane to play their annual derby match. The Grammar team were undefeated going into the game and were confident they could come away with another victory.

twenty minutes. A foul on Tom Gwynne, when he looked certain to score, saw their keeper sent off and a goal from Jack Everton in the dying minutes was disallowed. It was testament to how well we played that when the final whistle blew with the score at 0-0, we were disappointed that we had not won all three points. The next two games both saw King’s record 1-0 victories. A late goal from

season. A record of three clean sheets in a row was ended by defeat in our final game against Monmouth. Two deflected shots were enough to give Monmouth the win and ended our season as it had begun; with a loss. Between those two results the team had made great progress and to suffer only two defeats is very creditable. Losing the first game meant that we were always trying to catch up, so to finish

Despite good possession in the first half they could not break down our disciplined defence and clear cut chances were at a premium. On another evening, we might have won the match after creating good chances in the last

Liam Gwynne was enough to defeat Wellingborough and, despite plenty of Loughborough possession, King’s created the best chances and won courtesy of Andy Hughes’ first (and only) goal of the

joint second on points in the league is most pleasing.

At times this season the team played some great football and, at other times, some rather ordinary football. By far the most impressive aspect of the season was the attitude of the team. In defeat and victory they always conducted themselves in an exemplary manner and played the game as it should be played. They were a real credit to the school.

Jonathan Bird captained the team in a quietly efficient manner. He led by example on the pitch and the fact that we recorded clean sheets in half of the matches we played reflects how well he organised the defence.

Tom Gwynne will be sorely missed; his goals have won us many games over the years. The goal scoring record for the first team that he set when he was in the Fifth Form will be very tough to beat. Not only is he one of the most skilful players we have had in recent years, he is also one of the most honest, humble and hardworking.

Worcester News

Worcester News

Dom Wood never let the team down and always worked hard in central midfield. His commitment, tough tackling and bravery never deserted him. Other players who are leaving us this year are Jack England and Ryan Finnigan who both played in defence for the second season running, Andy Hughes played up front and Sam Carey and Tom Battrum made regular substitute appearances.

2008 was the first season since football has been introduced at King’s that JTW has not been involved. Over the years he has been in charge of football, coached the first XI to great success and has been instrumental in raising the profile of the sport at this school. Hundreds of boys, at every level, have benefited from the tireless work he has done behind the scenes. I am sure they would all like to pass on their thanks. John has decided to take a break from football and now spends his Saturdays watching Wolverhampton Wanderers.

C.H.

2nd XI

The side had a very successful season during the spring term, losing only one game. Captained by Will Harris and Tom Battrum, the team had a good mix of excellent athletes and skilful footballers. It is exciting to see promising young players such as Ollie Greenhill (electric down the flank), Harry Iddon (good in the air), Matt Raven (no fear in tackling), and Nat Corbett (often ‘showing off’ his silky skill), growing in confidence and technical ability, who will certainly work hard to make their mark in the 1st XI next year. Jack Jeavons-Fellows and Ollie Meadows proved to be the spine of our team and John Harper scored some crucial goals.

The most exciting game was the first match against a well prepared Bromsgrove side. It was also the only game we lost this season. We found ourselves 2-0 down only five minutes into the game. Encouragingly players did not give up and continued to work with the ball and stretch the opposition. A few changes at the interval saw us gradually get back into the game. Our desire and determination finally paid off as Meadows, an outstanding midfielder throughout this season, scored directly from a corner kick. Five minutes later, we were back on level term thanks to Sam Carey and Laurence Szymanski’s goals. Just when we thought we might snatch a point, they scored through a counter attack in almost the last minute of the match. Although we went home empty-handed, I felt this was probably the most important ‘win’ of the whole season, as the players had showed tremendous spirit and commitment. Unfortunately, this

proved to cost us dearly, as later in the season we were margined out of the league final on goal difference.

The match against our local rival RGSAO was always going to be the highlight of the season and a tough game. This year we faced a very strong side with lots of threats in the first half, but we offered excellent resistance with solid defending from Harris, Raven, Iddon, and Szymanski (often in a rugby style). Eventually Meadows scored from the penalty spot to give us the lead, but this only lasted a few minutes as they equalised by taking

advantage of sloppy defence from us. It was John Harper’s last minute individual effort of dribbling through at least three defenders before slotting the ball in from an almost zero angle, which gave us a classy winner. I was so excited afterwards I admit to embracing (accidentally) one of the RGS boys on the touchline. Man of the match Tom Byrne (he voted himself), who was previously known as a striker, a defender (the list goes on…), finally discovered his talent in goal and was outstanding throughout the season.

It is a fact that in the football season these boys have to not only improve their skill and fitness, but to do it under all weather conditions, stormy rain, brutal wind, blizzards and the most fearful floods, can only make them stronger both physically and mentally. The list below, which sums up this season, is the testimony of our players:

“Always want more - always give more”

“Be fresh and well prepared to win”

“Stay grounded as a player and as a person”

B.W.

Under 15 XI

What do I remember about the trip to Clifton College? Sausage and chips in the bar afterwards was one of the highlights; the other - watching Gillette Soccer Saturday telling us hysterically that Liverpool were losing to Havant and Waterlooville. Oh and we lost on a sloping pitch in a howling gale. On another windy afternoon we took on Malvern College. We snatched an early lead through Anthony Fahy’s opportunism and then the game, evenly contested, became an end-to-end affair, with Malvern desperate for an equalizer that never came. An audacious chip from 35 yards by Joe Grisdale sealed it for us.

We never really got going against Wolverhampton Grammar: the match didn’t start because the pitch was frozen. This didn’t come as a complete surprise to some of us because it had been about minus 10 overnight and was still minus 5 as we travelled. But everyone, parents included I’m sure, was still grateful to AADG for sending us on a nice jaunt to the Black Country on a lovely winter’s morning.

We dominated against Wellingborough, taking the lead through Grisdale but then the opposition somehow managed to score two in quick succession, completely against the run of play. It’s a funny old game. We dominated the rest of the match as we struggled increasingly desperately to grab the equaliser. In the end, it came, courtesy of Stuart Whitehouse, and although a draw was a relief, we know we should have won.

We were second best against WRGS, conceding an early goal and being under pressure more or less throughout. But we defended magnificently and snatched a late and unlikely equalizer through Alan Frost, only then to lose it with the last kick of the game. “If you can meet with triumph and disaster ...”.

Mike Hedges, converted from a left back to a right wing in an inspired tactical manoeuvre, gave us an early lead against Monmouth (he says it was from the edge of the box, but he means the six yard box) and we defended stoutly for much of the rest of the game, David Haddock, Ali Stavert and skipper Tom Cluett rocks at the back, and James Doorbar playing the Jan Tomaszewski role in goal (remember him?). Eventually we conceded an equalizer, but we couldn’t really complain about sharing the points.

It was an enjoyable season. In addition to those already mentioned, there were good performances from Jack Ellis, Tom Bird (when allowed out by WCCC Academy), Lambros Pardale, Dan Flamank and Tom Wilde.

S.Le M.

Under 14 XI

The A team had a very impressive season, ending with a record of four wins, two draws and no losses. Convincing victories against RGSAO, (3-1 including a 35 yard wondergoal from George Hodgetts) and Clifton College (4-0) were certainly highlights, but a goalless draw against a strong and well organised Monmouth side gave just as much satisfaction. The defence was strong and well organised, and Adam Loader made some excellent saves on the few times it was breached. A five man midfield was always combative and worked hard to support the strong running George Kitching who scored six good goals. Joe Fowles captained the side with maturity, enthusiasm and good sense. The B team remained unbeaten after their first match, a 3-1 victory over RGSAO being one of the highlights. Sean Kettle proved to be a reliable and thoughtful captain.

M.C.P.

The Boat Club

The season began with glorious warm and long autumn evenings, an ideal environment on the river, a stark contrast to the previous weeks of summer rains and much of the county under flood waters. This offered an excellent opportunity for the newest intake, J14 Girls, and the other members of the Boat Club to focus on their technical development,

and provided a broad and solid base for great achievements throughout the season.

Competition

One of the unique aspects of being involved in the Olympic sport of Rowing at King’s is the ability to regularly compete against the best in the country. We regularly attend national and indeed, international competitions, where you may find yourself lined up against someone from Europe or competition from as far afield as Canada, The United States or Australia. King’s rowers have represented their school in these competitions with distinction over the years and this past season was no exception. The early season head races provided an opportunity for members to race in Worcester, where the girls shone, with many wins, including the First Eight. The Monmouth

Head saw the senior and J16 Girls continue their winning ways, with Grace Wright gaining her third win, in as many races. The boys weren’t to be outdone and secured wins in the small boats, with Andrew Finlay taking out the single scull in morning and afternoon divisions in the overall fastest time. The Wycliffe head attracts entrants from all over England; of the nine crews we entered we achieved six podium results and a win for the J16 Boys’ quad capped off a superb performance for the club. The National Sculling Head and Schools’ Head of the River are the finale to the long distance head races and King’s were well represented and achieved many fine results. The J14 Girls gave an insight into great performances ahead with a spirited seventh place in their competition.

After the Easter break, and our rowing

Durham regatta

Shrewsbury Regatta

camps, the focus turned to the regattas, with the excitement of side by side match and multi lane racing. Birmingham Regatta was the first opportunity for the J14 Boys to race and provided some stiff competition. The boys rowed well after little time to prepare and caught the bug to get that first winners tankard. Jonathan Males was the standout performer, with a win in his single scull event. Shrewsbury Regatta was an outstanding day for King’s, with wins in every age group. In fact we had to take home so many winners’ tankards that it was simply impossible to carry them home, without filling large bin liners. Katherine Rollins excelled here with

wins in her single, four and eight. After an exhausting eleven races this was an exceptional performance.

The National Schools’ Championships started in magnificent fashion for us, with the J14 Girls quad scull winning the silver medal, an outstanding performance against, quite simply, the best in Britain. Unfortunately most of our other crews were unable to demonstrate their form, with high winds causing a cancellation of the last two days to the regatta. The summer races provided events for the junior and senior members at various regattas, with the juniors at Peterborough and Tewkesbury, where the J14 Boys tasted their

first delights of victory. The seniors went to Marlow and the Henley races, demonstrating an ability to perform in all levels of competition. The senior girls travelled to Durham International Regatta, and hosted by Yarm School, were victorious in the Senior 3 Coxed Fours, beating a highly fancied German crew in the final.

Rowing Camps

The annual Easter training camps took place in the last week of the break, with our juniors at Peterborough and seniors a new location of Wimbleball Lake in Somerset. The junior camp was a great opportunity for the young ones to enjoy a camp experience, with lots of technical work and ‘fun’ in the boats. Falling out of the single scull and learning the fine art of racing on a multilane facility, with some evening entertainment it proved to be a great event.

The senior camp was basically a work and assessment camp, where we endured four seasons in a day, with rain, hail, sleet and snow followed by blazing sunshine. However, the water was excellent and we were able to row every session. The squads were tested with a gruelling regime of seat racing and after many thousands of strokes rowed we returned fitter, stronger and determined to build for the future.

King’s Regatta and boat naming

The annual King’s Regatta was back with a vengeance after the previous cancellation, and was held in excellent conditions, allowing the students, staff, parents and OVs an opportunity

Peterborough camp

J14 girls at Tewkesbury

to race in various combinations during a relaxed and fun afternoon. There was no lack of competitiveness from the youngest members to the ‘more experienced’ seniors and the coveted pewter tankards were awarded to the top crews. The fiercest battles were fought for family honour, where brothers and sisters put sibling rivalry aside to decide the top sibling double scull of the season. The Pain boys took the mantle on the day, but the talk soon moved to who would be next season’s top guns in a highlight of the fixture.

We were also able to honour two very significant contributors to the Boat Club over many years, with the naming of two boats, the latest additions to our fleet. The DenleghMaxwell family have had a long association with the Boat Club, having had four children rowing over the years, but significantly both Cecelia and Stuart have given extraordinary support through the ‘Friends’ and in every facet of the functioning of the club. The ‘JGB’ was also named at the regatta, recognising the enormous and longstanding support of our Bursar, Galen Bartholomew.

Social

The Friends of the Boat Club continue to support the functioning of the club through their fundraising and social events. The Quiz Night stretched the brains in October and was followed by the excitement and ferocious activities of a Beetle Drive in February. Both nights raised vital funds for the club and were well attended by enthusiastic and loyal supporters of the club. The social highlight of the season was the Annual Dinner and Prize giving function held at the Worcestershire County Cricket Ground, a departure from the usual school venue. The occasion was a delightful night of great food, company and some dancing, with a celebration of the many successes of the season and recognition of some exceptional individual and crew performances and contributions to the club. There was no better way to finish the 2007/8 season than to be able to watch OV Zac Purchase win an Olympic Gold Medal in Beijing. Congratulations to Zac and his doubles partner Mark. The Boat Club can be proud of its association with such extraordinary performances. Finally, thank you to those who put so much into the sport; the coaches, parents, other staff and most importantly the students themselves. The season was a tremendous success for all and a springboard for the years ahead.

J.C.

Athletics

Because of pressures from other sports we didn’t always have our best athletes available again this year. Despite this, we still managed our usual practices at Nunnery Wood and the school games fields each week, which were attended by a core group of committed pupils. We had a number of fixtures against RGSAO and Hereford Cathedral School, with the highlight being the Lower Remove boys’ hard fought victory.

In addition participants acquitted themselves well at District level. Eight pupils were District Champions, with a further eighteen qualifying for the County Championships, by placing in the top two positions in their respective events.

At the County Championships, Emmie Le Marchand and Elliot Werner-de-Sondberg did particularly well, winning the Intermediate Girls 800m and the Junior Boys High Jump respectively. They went on to represent the county at the Mason Trophy and both performed well.

Fourth Form

Sports Day 2008

The Fourth Form Sports Day was a great success. On a pleasant afternoon at the end of the Summer term the whole of the Lower School headed down to the games fields. The vast majority of pupils were involved, with the majority competing in at least one event. As well as being a great advert for ‘Sport for All’, the day also produced some impressive performances, with three school records being broken.

Lower 4th Upper 4th

1st L4E 323 pts 1st U4F

New Records

Lower Fourth Boys

Edward Rowley Javelin 28.00m

Upper Fourth Girls

Georgina Ormandy High Jump 1m 37cm

Upper Fourth Boys

Tom Stock

Victor Ludorum David Serafini

Victrix Ludorum Hilary Brown

House Athletics

This year we decided to try a new system which involved having two Inter House competitions. The Removes had their competition at the games fields, which proved to be easier to run and allowed more pupils to compete. It was a fantastic afternoon and the general consensus was that it was a great success. In a very close contest Chappel just managed to squeeze out Kittermaster to take the top spot.

Results

1st Chappel 749pts

2nd Kittermaster 746pts

New Records

Freya Hodgetts set a new school record for the Junior Girls High Jump, clearing 1m 37cm.

Harry Nuttall also set a new record in the Junior Boys Shot with a distance of 12m17cm.

Lower Remove

Victor Ludorum Harry Nuttall

Victrix Ludorum Freya Hodgetts

Upper Remove

Victor Ludorum Joe Grisdale

Victrix Ludorum Harriet Morris

Senior Sports Day

The second Sports Day was held at the Nunnery Wood track and was competed for amongst the Sixth and Fifth Form. This allowed more pupils to be involved and it was again felt that the afternoon went extremely well.

In a well contested competition, competed for in good spirit, Choir were the eventual winners.

Ros Harvey and Lizzie Unwin set new records in the 1,500m and Javelin respectively.

C.A.

Cricket

1st XI

After the trials and tribulations of last summer when we were more likely to have played water polo than cricket at New Road, it

was very satisfying to get twenty one 1st X1 matches during the summer of 2008. Of these fourteen were won which was an excellent record, fully reflecting the positive manner in which we played our cricket. In many ways this was down to the leadership qualities of Tom Gwynne who did an outstanding job captaining the side on and off the field. He had the utmost respect from the boys and I pursued as “hands off” an approach to the intricacies of the game as I can remember. For Tom this was the culmination of over five years in the team, playing over one hundred matches, taking over one hundred wickets and scoring well over fifteen hundred runs, not a bad effort as he never came in above number five. The season also marked the end of serious contributions to King’s cricket from both Tom Bryant and James Yelland. Tom scored three hundreds out of a total of seven in the first team this year. He is a tremendously attacking batsman who, when he gets the mental side of the art established, should make plenty of runs on a regular basis at a higher level. James is a natural timer of the ball who always makes batting look easy: frustratingly he never scored as heavily as he should, but with his useful medium paced bowling was a permanent fixture in the side for four years.

I spent a lot of time during the preceding winter worrying about where our runs were going to come from: Liam Gwynne and Tom Bryant were the only ones on paper with hundred scoring potential. It turned out to be wasted energy on my part as

for the vast majority of the season we scored heavily with Oli Meadows scoring nearly five hundred runs opening with Liam, James Yelland managing just over five hundred at number three and Tom Bryant amassing over seven hundred at number four. The batting was led from the front by Liam whose 822 runs were always worth watching and with another year to come he has the unenviable task of trying to better this year’s performance. He also managed three hundreds, regularly making runs in key games. Notable victories for the side came against the MCC, Monmouth, Bromsgrove and KES Birmingham (for the fifth year in a row). The win over Bromsgrove by 8 wickets was particularly pleasing as they had an excellent top six on paper, but we reduced them to 45-6 and eventually dismissed them for 110.

The bowling was impressive virtually all year. There was only one person in the team who the captain wasn’t prepared to bowl and this gave him options for all situations. Sean Robinson developed impressively as the season progressed, adding pace and hostility to an already consistent line. With continued improvements to his action over the winter he could be genuinely quick next year. We were lucky to have three spinners, the pick of whom was Tom Bird. Still only in the Upper Remove he bowled just short of two hundred overs of quality left arm orthodox at an economy rate of 2.6. The measure of his skill was that many opposition batsmen refused to take him on and were simply content to play him out without losing their wicket. One of his challenges for this next season will be to get this type of player out, whilst maintaining his economical style. I would also like to congratulate him on representing the Midlands at the Bunbery Festival and his recent promotion into the senior academy at Worcestershire CCC. Both of these bowlers

will be back next year, and should be backed up by the maturing Joe Fowles and the possible development of two left arm quick bowlers. There were very

They scored 262 – 6, including two hundreds. We started well, faded in the middle, and then a brilliant captain’s innings of 98 from Tom Gwynne got us to the last ball with three needed to win, two to tie. Tom was run out by inches on the second. It was a superb effort and showed his ability to respond to the big game: in all his first team appearances against the RGSAO he has never failed to get a fifty or five wickets, and on one occasion got both.

few low points to the season, but the loss by a single run to RGSAO obviously hurt. In terms of a game of cricket it had everything.

Schools’ cricket faces many challenges: exams, the weather and in certain schools the tendencies of some players to think their priorities lie elsewhere. Cricket at King’s seems to flourish quite comfortably despite these problems and much of this is down to the commitment and hard work of the boys themselves. The ability of the River Severn to stay within the confines of its designated course this summer meant that DPI was back to his laid back self. He continues to show incredible enthusiasm and dedication to King’s cricket even after twenty eight years, and I thank him for his tireless energy and support. The groundsman seems to face a harder challenge every year and it was incredible to find our first home pitch of the season, less than five weeks after the river had flooded, having both pace and bounce. Phil does a superb and often thankless job, and I know the boys are both proud and privileged to play at New Road week in, week out. A wonderful season, which I will remember for a long time, finished with an enjoyable and successful tour to Jersey where the side won all of its three games.

A.A.D.G.

2nd XI

All our games nowadays are limited-overs, which means no boring draws but some occasional inevitable-from-an-early-stage defeats. Being 9 for 6 against Bromsgrove, when chasing 182-2, meant that the only interest in the rest of the match was in whether the tail-enders could make 50 – which they did, just! That was by

far our worst performance of the season, but in general our batting lacked the depth to challenge the better opposition teams. The opening partnership of Harry Iddon and Chris Drew turned out to be remarkably successful, but the tail started shortly after they were out, despite some decent innings from time to time from David Lewis, Henry Waltier, Jolyon Hale, and – later in the season – Lawrence Szymanski and the injury-recovered Kit Smith. Richard Hartley made an adventurous 35 not out in the lost match against King’s Gloucester, but his main contribution was as a mean fast bowler; the combination of him, Richard Winwood and David Lewis meant that we seldom let the opposition bat with the freedom they liked – no side ever made 200 against us – and the spinners Oliver Kitching, Jack Longley and Tom Byrne made valuable contributions on occasion. But their skill was not really matched by the batting. So of the eight games we won only three. But, as always in recent years, the spirit and effort of the team were beyond criticism, and Tom Byrne’s captaincy was the most helpful and “proactive” I can remember. They seemed to be enjoying themselves, and – most importantly – were fun to umpire!

R.N.G.S.

Under 15 XI

The Under 15s had a very successful season, the highlight of which was our triumph in the County 20/20 final when we skittled the tournament favourites, a Prince Henry’s Evesham team full of county players. We then represented the county in the regional finals played at Loughborough Grammar School, where we succumbed to the hosts and eventual winners.

We enjoyed some excellent Saturday wins. The defeat of Bromsgrove was thanks in large measure to Tom Mills’s 71 and tight bowling and tidy fielding. Jack Ellis’s magnificent 126 and Tom Wilde’s spectacular hat-trick secured a 150-run victory over Bristol Grammar. King’s Gloucester were beaten by 9 wickets, key dismissals for Ellis and Peter Preston, and Mills, Ellis (78*) and David Brazier chasing down Gloucester’s 144 in only 17 overs. Ellis struck the ball beautifully, and Brazier accumulated runs, as he did for much of the season, with an inevitability borne of an excellent technique and good concentration. He was also a confident and imaginative captain, always keen to attack and often willing to experiment. We lost to WRGS, two daft run outs at the top of the batting order not helping, and Ellis’s 64 the one highlight. There were 50s for Brazier (against Hanley Castle), Anthony Fahy (Hereford Cathedral)

and David Haddock (Pershore High School), and impressive bowling performances from Will Lucas, Fahy, Preston, Haddock, Wilde and Ellis. James Doorbar looked a very talented batsman but, despite several starts, he couldn’t go on to make a decisive contribution. Other regular members of a very friendly and enthusiastic team were Stuart Whitehouse, Mike Hedges, Tom Cluett (who hits the ball unbelievably hard) and Lambros Pardale, and there were occasional appearances from Jac and Ieuan Dimond and Ed Scott Dickins.

s. Le m.

over the season and were very well captained by Dougie Arnot, who ended up in the A team because of his strong all-round performances.

M.C.P. / J.J.M.

Under 13 XI

This group of boys was held in high regard for their achievements on the sports fields during their first few terms at King’s. As such, there was a sense of anticipation for the season ahead. Unfortunately, the cricket season started with ideal rugby weather!

Our first fixture at Monmouth saw us struggle to score enough runs and then cope

Under 14 XI

This was rather an inconsistent season in which more games were lost than won. Joe Fowles (when not playing for the First XI) and Angus Steele proved to be very effective opening bowlers and all the support bowlers contributed several good spells. The batting, however, struggled for consistency especially against the better opposition attacks. George Hodgetts seemed to be in good form for most of the season, averaging over twenty, but never went on to make a fifty. Skipper Ben O’Hickey played some very pleasing shots but also got out too often when well-set and on top. A composed undefeated seventy from Fowles and a violent career best of seventy three from George Kitching made good watching but in both matches no-one else made fifteen so the games were lost. The potential is there but it has to be matched by a determination to improve technique and concentration; what could be more enjoyable than batting all afternoon?

The B team had a considerably better record

with some powerful hitting by their middle order. In fact this was to be a trend throughout the summer, in which our generally smaller boys were unable to impose themselves with bat or ball on generally slow pitches and outfields. That said, the A XI won nine of their thirteen games and the B XI played with enthusiasm and no little success in their four matches.

After our first outing, the As went on to beat Solihull, Wolverhampton GS, Hereford Cathedral School and Bromsgrove before half term. During this spell, George Preece accumulated runs and protected his wicket with maturity. He had good partners at different times in Alex Spring, who was our Mark Ramprakash, always getting a start but never going on to build the big score you hoped for and George Jeavons Fellows, who relied more on his good eye than sound technique. The pick of the bowlers for accuracy and economy was Toby Sitch and he was supported by the pace of captain Alistair Hunt. George Fairlie, Greg Shine and Preece also bowled well, but all were susceptible to “going

for a few”.

After half term, the As beat KES Birmingham, who had beaten our next opponents RGSAO. Although confidence was high, their openers batted very well and scored 235 in their thirty overs! Always too big a total to chase we ended on 167 for 6. We then had comfortable wins over Bishop’s Hereford, The Chase, Bristol GS and Old Swinford. During this run of games Neils Emmerson and Sami Marks made good contributions and it was good to see their confidence grow. Preece and Spring continued to score runs.

Our last two games were lost. In the penultimate game to RGSAO this time we didn’t set a big enough target batting first and then we played out a comical end of season game in the rain at King’s Gloucester where we went from 99 for 1 to 118 all out in the space of four very wet overs.

Throughout the season the boys practised and played with real enthusiasm. Much progress was made and there are several good prospects in this group. My thanks go to them, their ever supportive parents and MJN and RJJ for their time, help, expertise and support.

A.W.L.

Under 12 XI

The Under 12 XI had an interesting season which featured some very close games, nailbiting finishes and some excellent cricket. The highlights of the season were the two games against RGSAO and the County Cup final. The first was the spectacular collapse of the opposition when 46 for 1 chasing 75, who then succumbed to Brandon Wain and Alex Parker operating in tandem. They finished on 72 all out! The second match was a less tense affair and was notable for a spectacular innings of 63 from Charlie Lamb. The Cup final was played on King’s Day and our opponents Haybridge came within 9 runs of defeating us but our bowling and fielding was just strong enough to prevail. The team was most ably led by Will Dovey, who was by far the most consistent batsman since he scored 273 runs during the season at an average of over 27. Ed Rowley also scored a half-century and he needs to work on his shot selection and defence.

Our bowling options were plentiful and varied. The year group is blessed with leftarmers and spinners as well as one or two quite rapid bowlers. Will Dovey again shone but Wain, with 18 wickets was easily the highest wicket taker. Patrick Harrington was naggingly accurate all season and both Miten Patel and Chris Colenso had their moments. One very pleasing aspect was the tigerish fielding which

often caught out the unwary. Chris Colenso and Lewis Richardson both produced run outs of which Jonty Rhodes would have been proud. All in all the playing record of ten wins and four losses was a fair reflection of the team’s ability.

Many thanks go to all the boys who practised so hard every week and who had less opportunity to play.

J.L.O./R.J.D.

Hockey

1st XI

This was yet again a triumphant season for the 1st XI. The side played fifteen matches of which it won fourteen and lost one, scoring a massive total of eighty one goals and only conceding eleven. Lucy Senior carried out her role as captain efficiently and kept a good team spirit throughout the season. We will miss the 2008 leavers - Nicky Wilkinson had a spectacular season, always leading the team from her sweeper position, Becky Turner impressed many with

her tenacious goalkeeping, Sarah Porter managed to surprise us when the ‘heat was on’, Lucy Senior ran away with the title of top goal scorer and Lizzie Unwin kept us entertained at the back with her silky skills.

The highlight of the season was beating our rivals Bromsgrove mid season; this is the first time this has happened since I started teaching at King’s. As ever this was an extremely fast and furious game which really could have gone either way, but thanks to ‘the goal of the season’

from Emmie Le Marchand we came away victorious.

Our only loss was in a new fixture against Rugby School. Although defeated it was worth it just to see the level at which our girls can compete. We were all amazed by the set up at Rugby and the facilities and are looking forward to the fixture next year.

Hayley Turner and Emmie Le Marchand both played at Midlands level and Hayley went on to be selected to represent England in the Under 16 tournament in Holland during the summer.

Full Colours were awarded to: Becky Turner, Lizzie Unwin, Lucy Senior, Sarah Porter, Nicky Wilkinson.

Half Colours were awarded to: Vicky Heath, Hayley Turner, Emmie Le Marchand, Issy Hershman, Charlie Mills, Laura Stansfeld, Sophvy Howard, Lucy Spring, Lucy Smith, Anna Pykett, Camille Owen.

Competitions

Chappel beat Kittermaster 2-1 in the House competition final and U4B and L4F won their respective Fourth Form tournaments

2nd XI

The 2nd XI had a promising season. They had some tough matches but played well as a team to secure some good wins. Some of the juniors played in the seconds to give them valuable senior experience.

The side lost 3-1 against Malvern College which was a frustrating start as for most of the match the score had stayed 1-1. Issy Anstey scored a great goal which was set up by Kate Lofthouse. Sadly we let in some soft goals to lose. The defeat against Hereford Cathedral was tough and competitive and we played well against Pate’s but communication let us down at a critical defensive point and one of our players ‘took out’ our goalkeeper in a 2-0 defeat. Solihull was a good confidence boost to win 6-0. We also won 3-1 against Malvern St James and here it was pleasing to note a general improvement in play. This improvement continued in the match with Bablake which ended in a 4-4 draw. The team performed really well, helped out by some talented juniors. Travelling to the prestigious Rugby School was a great end to the season, despite a 3-0 defeat. Goalkeeper Lucy Smith was player of the match as we were under constant pressure.

Anna Pykett was a successful captain and a good motivator which helped out the juniors immensely.

J.D.C.

Hayley Turner

fixtures, contributing to the 2nd XI squad as well as their own year group side. There is a good level of talent in this squad and all players have made good progress throughout the season.

Under 14 XI

A small squad of players trained on a regular basis at UCW at a very unpopular time of Friday night! The first match did not go well against Malvern College and we lost 5-0. A lack of marking led to a loss of possession and then a loss of confidence. The game with Prince Henry’s was much better and ended in a 2-0 win. Grace Caldicott built the attack from deep in defence and Amy Bateson scored twice. The team went into the County competition feeling hopeful. The first round went well as King’s finished winners, beating Prince Henry’s, Evesham and Pershore HS. The team dominated the competition but the second round was very different. Despite defending well against Bromsgrove we lost 2-0

Under 15 XI

The squad joined players from the Under 14s to train at UCW on a Friday night so the first challenge was beating the Friday night traffic! The U15s are a well established team with many of the A team playing for the Worcester Club. The team’s coach is well known by many of the girls from the Worcester Club so continuity in training became apparent on the astro. The team got off to an excellent start playing Chase HS in their first match and scoring four goals in the first twenty minutes. The forwards played well together keeping the ball in the attacking half and continued to do so in all of their matches. Three key players, Lucy Scales, Rachael Brand and Lydia Harper often played two rounds when away at

and then we drew 0-0 with Malvern College which was pleasing considering our earlier defeat. We had a frustrating draw against Malvern St James and eventually took third place.

We had another frustrating game against Hereford Cathedral as the score remained 1-1 until the end when the opposition scored twice in the final minutes. Our heaviest defeat was against a very strong Pate’s side. We did lose two key players through injury but we could not cope with their relentless attacks. We also lost to Malvern St James on a rather bumpy pitch but we beat the RGSAO 5-0 in a feisty game with Lilly Hallett scoring a hat-trick. The final match against Bablake ended in a 0-0 draw.

J.C.

F.L.S.

1st XI

Under 13 XI

The squad had a very successful season. It started off slowly with a 0-0 draw against Warwick and a 1-1 draw against Hereford Cathedral. This gave us a chance to see where our weaknesses were and with a few changes we soon started to get the ball into the back of the net. We were very successful against Solihull, taking an ‘A’ and a ‘B’ side and coming away with two good victories. We seemed to get into our stride after that and had good victories against Hillstone, Malvern St James, KEHS, Chase HS and Bablake. Unfortunately we ended on a low note losing to RGSAO by one goal in our last match of the season, but I do feel the team has the ability to come back next year even stronger. There is a great deal of talent in this squad and all players have made a great deal of progress throughout the year. Laura Pykett was very strong in goal and Jess Longley certainly made her mark in defence. Aliza Dee and Issy Brand performed well on the two wings and Charlotte Houlbrooke, Becky Brunt and Alice Wright became a confident trio in the middle, with Georgie Ormandy proving solid in attack. I have high hopes for this squad next year and look forward to seeing them develop.

T.D.M.

Under 12 XI

This year group bodes well for the future of hockey at King’s. We have a large group of very talented girls, who completed the season unbeaten in their regular fixtures. They played ten matches in which they scored sixty one goals and only conceded seven. Flo Hershman was top goal scorer, closely followed by Tilly Hallett.

Most of their matches were easily won but the highlight of the season was to play RGSAO on their new astro and come away as 5-0 victors.

J.D.C.

Netball

Competitions

The Under 16 and Under 14 teams this year both made it to the West Midlands Tournament. The 16s were unlucky not to go through to the National Finals, losing by two goals in the semi final. The Under 13 and Under 12 A and B teams were District Champions.

The inaugural competition on the King’s netball calendar was the Inter House netball competition with Wulstan becoming Champions. The competition was well fought out by all Houses. The Lower and Upper

Remove girls stepped up to the challenge of playing with and against the senior girls and playing strong and competitive netball.

U4F and L4F battled it out in their respective year groups to become Form champions.

I’d like to thank the coaches and umpiring staff for their contributions to helping my first season run smoothly. Well done to all players for their commitment and effort this season at training and matches.

1st V11

The netball season was full of fixtures against many competitive schools. It was going to be a year of change for the girls with a new coach coming to the school to take over the very knowledgeable and enthusiastic NRW.

The team was captained by Nikki Wilkinson, her previous experience in the first team adding knowledge and versatility. The squad consisted of thirteen members from the sixth form. We were able to add two new girls to

Caroline Park intercepting at WD and Issy Hershman and Lucy Clayton shooting well from various distances we leveled the score 6-6 to go into extra time. The girls tried their hardest to refocus but were outplayed 7-12 in the end. It was a well contested game in which all squad players supported one another and gave100% effort. A lot of positive netball played throughout the competition gave me an opportunity to see what the girls needed to work on for the beginning of the season in January.

With the netball season shorter we were still able to cram in fifteen fixtures during the term. The fixture list was varied and tight but it gave opportunity for the squad to move around and play some tough matches against strong opposition. Our first match against Cheltenham Ladies’ College gave the squad a good start. Strong play by Lucy Coomer, JJ Bowles and accurate shooting by Lucy Clayton made King’s winners, 35-17. The season continued with consistent efforts by Caroline Park intercepting ball against tough opposition, Nikki Wilkinson maintaining focus through the centre court and the shooters gelling together as a unit. Other wins were against King’s High Warwick, Pershore High School, Old Swinford, RGSAO, Pate’s Grammar, Hereford

the sixth form, Caroline Park, a defender and Katie Hurst, a shooter. This put the remainder of the squad on their toes to gain a position in the starting seven for the first team. With a new kit, new coach and new girls the season began very positively. With the Under 18 County Championship in the first few weeks of the Autumn term we had limited time to prepare fully with only one match against the OVs, but this gave me as coach an opportunity to play out different combinations. We played Malvern St James, St Mary’s Convent, Prince Henry’s, Kingsley, Haybridge and South Bromsgrove in the rounds and came away with one loss to South Bromsgrove. This put us in second place and a place in the semi final against Bromsgrove which we knew was going to be a tough encounter. With Lizzie Woodhouse fighting for every ball at GD,

Cathedral, Dean Close, Shrewsbury High School, Hereford Sixth Form College and Malvern College. The matches we lost were tough and physical games against Bablake, Bromsgrove and Wrekin. The girls learnt from these experiences and just made their efforts more determined for the next fixture.

One win that is fixed in many of the minds of the first team players is the game against RGSAO. Being local rivals both sets of players played strong and consistent netball, but our girls’ focus on the court to get the positive result was outstanding. Good and consistent performances by Caroline Park and Lizzy Unwin had a positive effect on the team. Lizzy

took control through the centre court and combined well with Hayley Weaver, Camille Owen and Charlie Mills. Great shooting by vice captain Alice Campion from all angles of the circle lifted the girls on many occasions. Also JJ Bowles and Anna Pykett were very consistent in their efforts in the defence circle throughout the season. Overall this was an excellent effort by all members of the team.

O.K.B.

Under 16

The District tournament took place in October before the school netball season had started but with such a cohesive group of girls they took the District title scoring a total of fifty six goals and conceding only eight. Vicky Heath and Issy Anstey were a great combination in the shooting circle, complimenting each other throughout the season.

Woodhouse and Hattie Bevan limited the opposition’s goal opportunities, Nikki Wilkinson used her drive and control through the midcourt, combining well with the speed of Emma Robertson and Lucy Coomer around the circle. Katie Hurst was shooting ball from all areas of the circle and Lucy Clayton’s strong attacking skills from the post, combining with Issy Hershman around the circle, gave the girls a wellearned win of 35-16.

Full colours were awarded to Nikki Wilkinson (captain), Lucy Clayton (vice captain), Hattie Bevan, Lizzy Woodhouse and Lizzy Unwin. Half colours were awarded to JJ Bowles, Lucy Coomer, Issy Hershman, Katie Hurst, Caroline Park and Emma Robertson.

O.K.B.

2nd V11

The girls had a very good season, winning twelve of their fourteen matches. They played good consistent netball against RGSAO, Bablake, Cheltenham Ladies’ College, Malvern College and King’s High Warwick, only losing to Worcester Sixth Form College in their first match and Hereford Cathedral in which they only lost by three. Captain Emily McNally

Demi Palmer frustrated the Bromsgrove attack in a superb display of non contact netball. A most satisfying win!

The Regional round was held in Walsall in January in the customary wind and rain. Katie Wreghitt, Kate Lofthouse and Sophie Dee provided both solid attack and defence in the centre court with Emmie Le Marchand linking attack and defence throughout the day.

In the semi final we met a very tall Thomas Telford team and by half time we were two goals in the lead. Tension mounted and the supporters held their breath - could we hold on for the next seven minutes? It took only two mistakes in the second half to lose the match and our dream of reaching the National Finals slipped away again. Concentration in the last few minutes when under pressure was our weakness and I only hope that if we are ever in the same position again we get the ending right.

In November their performance in the early rounds of the County tournament was

clinical in the manner in which they defeated their opponents and they went into the final to meet Bromsgrove. At half time the score was 5 – 2 to Bromsgrove and it took seven minutes for us to realise that we had to play a faster game with as much accuracy as we had done in the early rounds. In the second half we played with very few errors matching Bromsgrove goal for goal and each turn over ball was converted into a goal; the final score was 9 – 7 to King’s. Vicky Heath shot from all areas of the circle and kept her head under pressure, assisted, most effectively, by Beth Jeavons who had been ‘borrowed’ from the Under 15 squad. The defence of Beth Perry, Laura Stansfeld and

Kate Lofthouse improved significantly throughout the season, but it was Laura Stansfeld who caused most trouble for the opposition; her timing and agility gave her more interceptions than most and her calm temperament aggravated her opponents to our advantage. Emmie Le Marchand worked hard on her captaincy, including all and always being open to others’ ideas; the result was a confident team that worked for each other and was a joy to watch in action. Its drive, desire to win and discipline was an example to all and it was a privilege to be a part of this team’s successes and failures over the last three years.

M.M.L.

Under 15

With thirty five girls coming to training in the Autumn term I was very impressed with the commitment and enthusiasm to be involved in netball. With the announcement of the Australia tour in 2009 the girls’ enthusiasm for netball increased, and at one stage we were able to play A, B, C and D teams against Malvern College. This was an opportunity to take all girls in a games lesson to play in a netball match and for some of the girls it was the first time they had represented King’s.

The 15A squad played thirteen matches, winning seven, against Cheltenham Ladies’ College, Pershore High School, Malvern College, RGSAO, Pate’s, Bromsgrove and Shrewsbury High School. They also had several close encounters, losing by an average of three goals against King’s High Warwick, Hereford Cathedral and Dean Close. The A team had some real talent and good versatility

and they worked well as a unit. The girls were eager to learn more about the game and their positions and with continued commitment, enthusiasm and improvement these girls will be vying for senior positions in the coming season. Led by Katie Wreghitt, the team should be pleased with its efforts.

The B team tried its best this season and won three, drew one and lost five matches. Led by TDM, who had the difficult task of putting all the squad on the court, the girls were versatile with court time and put in maximum effort every opportunity they were given. With continued improvement from Jess Forsyth and Lydia Tidmarsh and maximum effort by Catherine Dawson these girls are all pushing

their way towards an A team position in the future.

The 15C girls were coached by JC who worked hard to improve the skill and enjoyment of netball. The girls played four matches, winning one and losing three.

O.K.B.

Under 14

The team got off to a slow start by losing to Malvern College and took time to step up to the faster play involved at this level. By the time the District tournament came around their confidence had improved and we made it through to the finals. In a hard fought battle and after extra time we lost to Blessed Edward’s by one goal but qualified for the County Finals. The girls were now fired up and beginning to believe in themselves and were enthusiastic at training. In the early rounds we won all our matches and made it through to the semi finals against Blessed Edward’s. Before they could remember the previous encounter they were on the court and such was their confidence they sailed into the final by

winning 11 goals to 4. This was a very different team from the one that played at the District tournament. However, we did not get too carried away as we met Bromsgrove in the final and were runners up, losing 7 goals to 15. With the Regional finals looming we increased the training time and I was impressed by the progress this team had made over such a short space of time. In the early rounds of the tournament we lost three matches that we possibly could have won, but it was not to be. The girls were thrilled to have made it this far but realised they required a lot more practice to match the standard on the day. They ended the season with convincing wins over Malvern College in both A and B teams, which was a satisfying end to a very successful season.

M.M.L.

Under 13

The under 13s showed talent, enthusiasm and commitment to playing good netball. With up to thirty six players attending training on a Friday night, the girls were able to consistently show their skills and challenge themselves. The girls mainly trained as one big squad throughout the Autumn term up until the final few weeks before Christmas when they were put into A, B and C squads to prepare for the fixtures in January. These teams consisted of

Hillstone and Pate’s and two losses against Bromsgrove and Shrewsbury High School. The girls’ skill and ability on the netball court helped them to become Under 13 District Champions and a place in the County Championships. Some outstanding netball was played by Jess Longley, Olivia Clayton and Becci Brunt in goals, Hilary Brown, Molly Farmiloe and Jo Stormonth Darling in defence and Georgie Ormandy, Aliza Dee and Grace Bradley in the centre court. All these girls contributed to a pleasing semi-final place.

With a lot of talent in this year group the B team won eight of its nine matches. The girls improved thanks to individual squad coaching from JC who took responsibility for the B team, increasing their ball skills and overall court awareness and knowledge of the game.

The last two matches of the season gave the Bs opportunity to play girls a year older and with a strong effort and positive attitude they came away winners against Shrewsbury 14B and Malvern College 14B. Charlotte Houlbrooke’s calm and vision through the court and Elise Bue’s shooting under the post proved to be invaluable in these matches.

The C team continued to train hard throughout the season under the expert eye of EG, playing four matches and winning three against RGSAO, Solihull and Hillstone.

twelve players. They didn’t start playing many of their matches till February because of poor weather but they still had nine wins against Bishop Perowne, RGSAO, Holy Trinity, St Mary’s Convent, Hereford Cathedral, Solihull,

January’s weather saw two C and D matches cancelled, but the girls didn’t give up coming to learn new skills at training. Consistent improvement and outstanding commitment throughout the year were shown by Hanna

Khogali, Cecily Nichols, Issy Brand, Madeleine Driskel and Rachel Bilson. O.K.B.

Under 12

With over thirty girls regularly attending the weekly practices it was possible to put out four teams a week. Our two Junior schools, St Alban’s and Hawford, had supplied us with very competitive and competent players and along with many girls new to King’s we had some very promising squads. The first match against RGSAO was a tough start for our B and C teams, but our A team played a very controlled game and had an easy win. When it came to the Bromsgrove tournament we couldn’t produce the same flowing game and lost to Winterfold in the final after extra time was played. The A team was a very successful team, and finished the season undefeated in the full game as well as winning the District Tournament in March. The B team showed most progress over the year and with five out of eight wins, many schools would have been happy to have this team playing as their A team! It was no surprise that they won the B tournament in March. The C and D teams played five and two matches respectively and were successful in most of these matches.

M.M.L./C.M.L./S.C.B.

Tennis

Tennis Training was again very popular and at times we needed to use the courts at Cripplegate Park as well as our own. Along with the clubs after school, there has been an opportunity for pupils to have coaching with Jane Poynder on Saturday mornings. The fixture list has been expanded and the girls have enjoyed regular matches. We had good wins over RGSAO and Hereford Cathedral at all ages, and most competitive games against Malvern College and Cheltenham Ladies at senior level.

The mixed senior tennis has been popular with some close matches played. There was also a mixed doubles coaching session on Monday nights that was attended by Fifth Formers and the Sixth Form, enabling partnerships and tactics to develop. The senior mixed doubles tournament was played in great spirit but was highly competitive, with pairs racing against the clock to try and take as many games as possible from their opposition. It was eventually won by Luke Brocks and Jordan Ray, and the high standard demonstrated the strength of our mixed teams.

There have also been further opportunities for boys to play tennis, including a Lower and Upper Removes boys tennis tournament,

which was won by Stuart Whitehouse and David Haddock in a well fought final against James Doorbar and Ed Harris. It was encouraging to see a large number of budding tennis players from both year groups participating in the event. We also entered two pairs of Fifth Form players for the Under 16 Boys’ County Doubles Tournament, a first for King’s. Sam Brunt and James De Cothi were unlucky to lose several of their matches in tiebreaks against good opposition. Ilija Rasovic and Charlie Titmuss, however, managed to reach the final unbeaten before losing to a very strong pair. This was a fantastic achievement as the standard of the competition was very high, and bodes well for the future of boys’ tennis at King’s.

In other competitions, Luke Brocks beat Laurence Szymanski in the final to win the plate competition of the Scott and Smythe Cup, whilst Charlie Mills reached the semi finals of the girls’ singles. Niki Monk and Grace Caldicott came third in their group in the Under 14 County Competition, and their play showed how much they had improved as a pair over the course of the term.

We were fortunate to be allocated Wimbledon tickets again, so a group of eight Sixth Formers and staff went down to watch several exciting matches. The best of these was a nail-biting five set match between Lleyton Hewitt and Robin Haase, which Hewitt managed to win.

A.J.K.

Under 13

The Upper Fourth tennis club was well supported with over twenty five girls attending the coaching sessions after school. The results in the matches improved as the season progressed and although many of the matches only involved small numbers we did endeavour to try and play all the girls who attended training.

In the girls singles tournament we had Rebecca Brunt and Jess Longley due to play a final but because of injury this was unfortunately not completed.

The high point of the season was a mixed tournament that we introduced. In total twenty four couples entered the tournament and the standard of the boys and girls was very impressive. The whole event was played in great spirit and Aliza Dee and George De Cothi came away triumphant.

J.D.C.

well as having a lot of fun.

A squad of eight girls played matches during the term and were on the whole pretty successful, only losing to Cheltenham and Malvern Colleges, and we had very good results against Hereford Cathedral, Malvern St James, Solihull and RGSAO. The first pair was Caitlin Powell and Charlotte Collins, second was Poppy Doorbar and Holly Hudson, third Florence Hershman and Hannah Jeavons and fourth pair Francis Taylor and Corah Lewis.

Towards the end of term we held the Under 12 singles competition, with twenty one girls entering. Semi-finalists were Caitlin Powell, Tilly Hallett, Charlotte Collins and Flo Hershman, with Charlotte beating Caitlin in the final.

T.D.M.

Rounders

Under 15

The squad met for training after Games lessons on Thursdays. These were very well attended all season by strong A and B teams. The A team, captained by Jessie Meikle, won convincingly against Chase HS, Dean Close and Malvern St James. This team of girls proved to be versatile and very competitive and as a strong fielding side they were able to capitalise on their accurate ball skills from deep field through to the post positions. Although competitive when it mattered they were prone to becoming a little too laid back when in bat, making some of their matches a little too close for comfort. Lucy Scales was the highest scorer of the season, which was quite a feat considering she was absent for many of the matches due to her tennis commitments. Beth Jeavons and Rachael Brand proved to be reliable scorers in her absence.

Under 14

Under 12

This year we had over thirty girls attending training on a Friday afternoon; all girls made a great deal of progress throughout the term as

Training for the squad took place after school on Tuesdays in the Summer term. Sessions were well attended, although several players were unable to turn out for matches due to tennis commitments. Fixtures were played with enthusiasm by, among others, Niki Monk, Olivia Davies, Lucy Gurney, Sophie Banks and Lauren Davies and were led by a rota of captains, such as Izzy Amos, Jeannie Gibson and Charley Wain. Despite the fact that the weather was often poor, the team still delivered exciting and challenging matches, including those against Malvern St James, Pate’s Grammar School and Cheltenham Ladies’ College.

L.E.H./ S.C.B.

J.C.

Under 13

The girls had eight fixtures. Two were cancelled, against Cheltenham Ladies’ College and Bromsgrove due to bad weather but the team had three wins against Malvern St James, RGSAO and St Mary’s Convent and lost narrowly to Hereford Cathedral and Chase HS. We had an average of twenty girls committed to practices on Tuesday nights and most participated in a fixture. The team was captained by Elise Bue who was an influential bowler and all round player who scored numerous runs for the team and caught many of the opposition out. Some fine performances in the field came from Jo Stormonth Darling, Grace Bradley and Georgina Ormandy who caught and showed good accuracy throwing to the post. Charlotte Houlbrooke also displayed outstanding second post fielding throughout the season. Other girls who put in consistent efforts and commitment to the team were Molly Farmiloe, Madeleine Driskel, Ella Griffee and Olivia Clayton.

Under 12

A large number of girls trained regularly and numbers kept increasing as the season went on. The girls had excellent spirit and were keen to do better and tactical play improved alongside individual skills. Catching as a team was one of our strengths in the field. Batting was generally good and team work on the whole was excellent.

The season started well with a good win over Cheltenham Ladies College of 16 to 6.5. In the second game we were slightly depleted against Hereford Cathedral because of tennis fixtures and the A team lost 15.5 to 10 but the B team won 19.5 to 10.5. The matches against Chase were a highlight with three teams playing and all winning!

Victory against Malvern St James was clear from the start and we won 26 to 4. Bromsgrove was rained off but we managed a good win over St Mary’s later on that week, 11 to 9.5.

RGSAO was a tough fixture, the A team winning with the narrowest of margins of 16 to 15 and the B team losing by two rounders. We struggled in the final match of the season against a very tough Pate’s side. The A team lost 15 to 7 in the best match of the season and the Bs had a great win, 17 – 11.5.

The squads showed great promise which bodes well for a possible unbeaten season next year.

F.L.S./ S.C.B.

Basketball

A great many matches were played this season across the whole age range. The combined Fourth Form team showed great determination and teamwork to win six of its eight matches. Alex Parker and Sam Webb were awarded Most

Haddock, Charlie Titmuss and Peter Preston. At Under18 level Peter Anderson captained a side which contained a number from the Under 16 side together with Tom Dunlop and Michael Cairns-Terry. They managed a good win in a very tight match over the Pacers Basketball Club.

Valuable help has been received from Aleks Racic and Muff Murfin this season. Without their valuable giving of time to the school the players would not have seen the same levels of success.

Improved Players at this age group for the considerable progress they made, whilst Sami Marks and Amy Geary were given Most Valuable Player awards. Good support was provided by Elise Bue, Kate Robinson, Vanessa Gott, Calum Robinson, Neils Emmerson and Hugh Rhodes.

For the first time ever King’s fielded an all girls basketball team – Sophie Banks and Charlotte Milner joined the above named girls to convincingly win their match.

The Under 16 side played in the Worcestershire Club League, winning four of its six matches to finish in second place. The players themselves voted Tom Mills as their Player of the Year with Jon-Jo McArdle voted the most Improved Player. The coaches’ award went to Ilija Rasovic. Committed performances were seen from Quentin Elmhirst, Ruari Smith-Cooper, David

Fencing

September this year saw an influx of around twenty new beginners to the school club. Of those who continued fencing throughout the year, all went on to pass their bronze awards with the foil. In addition to their fencing at club sessions, several pupils have begun private lessons with Professor Northam this year and their competitive fencing has benefited accordingly. Alex Humfress achieved a national ranking of eleventh in his age group for Sabre and both he, James Elderfield and Eliot Jones have attended a number of open competitions as well as the Leon Paul Junior Series and the British Youth Championships. Eight of our fencers attended the Public Schools’ Championships in Nottingham; we look forward to this number continuing to grow in the year to come.

O.K.B.

R.P.G.

School Drama Productions

Macbeth

Building on a long history of fine classical productions at King’s, the main theatrical event of last year was Shakespeare’s Macbeth, one of the bard’s best known and most popular plays. Shakespeare’s shortest and most accessible tragedy is a violent thriller about how ambition and evil turn a Scots nobleman to treachery, murder and damnation. The last time it had been previously produced at King’s was in December 1988.

This production had a contemporary feel. It was clearly a twentieth century European setting without being more specific than that about time period or location. The original idea had been to set it in a Scotland resembling Stalinist Russia, but infuriatingly we were beaten to the idea by the much acclaimed West End production starring Patrick Stewart coincidentally running at the same time as we were rehearsing. There were still allusions to the Stalinist regime, particularly through the pre-show film montage of armies on the march through war-ravaged streets and ruined cities, though our production was equally reminiscent of post-war Berlin or London or even modern-day Bosnia, Chechnya or even Iraq. Our set (another stunning design by our Technical Theatre Manager Chris Crosswell) reinforced this idea: the impression was of a disused factory or some other industrial building, presumably reduced to its derelict state through enemy fire, shelling or aerial bombardment. This gloomy and stark brickwork, metal bridges and gantries and

broken windows provided a wonderfully atmospheric environment for this thrilling play full of terror, dark deeds, evil forces and bloody murder, particularly when working with Chris’s highly effective lighting. The set incorporated such details as a man-hole cover from where witches and at one point an apparition

appeared, and which also became the witches’ smoky cauldron. EIL in the DT department had realised Chris Crosswell’s design for a functioning industrial fan high up in one of the brickwork flats. This began whirring menacingly whenever evil deeds were being plotted or arranged, the intention being to create a visual stimulus to help heighten the dramatic tension in such scenes.

The Macbeths - Jack England and Charlotte Ireland

Jack England

Ed Brew (Malcolm), Josh Crow (Ross), William Sutcliffe (English soldier) and Richard Lonbay (Lennox)

William Sutcliffe as The Porter

All in all the production proved to be a truly frightening experience, though I was never in fear that the standard of acting would disappoint. It featured a strong cast led by Jack England and Charlotte Ireland as a tormented Macbeth and a ruthless Lady Macbeth. One of the most enjoyable and rewarding aspects for me directing this production was the rehearsals I spent alone with these two highly talented Sixth Form actors, discussing the characters and their scenes, trying out different ideas, approaches and interpretations in an attempt to unlock the potential of the text to move and to excite in performance. Jack and Charlotte were totally committed and professional in their approach, and in my opinion they produced two excellent performances. It was a privilege to work with them. There were many other highly capable actors and fine performances in this production too, for example from Luke Lupton (Banquo), Ed Brew (Malcolm), Josh Crow (Ross), Luke Bilson (Macduff), Emma Fernell (Lady Macduff) and Laura Hopkins, Hannah

Sheeran and Olivia Hennessy as the Witches. Many others performed equally well in smaller roles. The only particular criticism I heard was that at times some of the cast were rather quiet and difficult to hear. This problem perhaps arose in part from our trying to maintain an intimate feel: large parts of the play are set at dead at night where the characters are trying not to disturb those sleeping nearby. There was an excellent team behind the scenes including David Hedges (special video effects and follow-spot), and Luke Armitage and Leanne Fata (Stage Management). I would like, however, to give a particular acknowledgement to Andrew Wilson and Jonathan Nichols who between them operated lighting and sound for this as well as numerous school productions since they were in the Fourth Forms when they first worked on the musical Once On This Island Junior. I would like to pay a particular debt of gratitude to them for their outstanding contribution to extracurricular drama during their time at King’s.

This was another visually impressive production, but this was not only down to the design skills of Chris Crosswell as production designer. The costumes were contemporarylooking in most respects and helped reinforce for the audience comparisons with recent and current wars in Europe and beyond. Macbeth’s hired assassins were shady characters in ‘hoodies’ who filmed their murders on mobile phones, another contemporary reference. The special effects make-up looked tremendous, particularly with regard to the weird-looking witches, gruesome apparitions and the pale and blood-spattered ghost of Banquo. Once again I am grateful to the staff and students from Worcester College of Technology’s degree course in Media Make-up and Costume for their outstanding support. Thanks also to our good friends Miles Foster and Ingrid Statman of Peregrine Theatre who came in to choreograph the very exciting stage fights.

The cast of Macbeth

Pirates Of Penzance

When SAW and I decided to take on the Fourth Form play I did not realise we would be taking on a cast of ‘thousands’ or so it seemedfifty eight pupils to be precise!

I should have known from the beginning that we had a task on our hands when so many turned up for auditions. There was so much talent to choose from we decided to take them all on, (only the audience could really decide if we made the right decision,) and we were pretty pleased with the final outcome.

Tackling a Gilbert and Sullivan production was no easy task, (especially when we have an expert on our doorstep) but with DEB at the helm we knew we were in safe hands and he guided us all through unfamiliar territory with his usual flair, patience and expertise.

The whole musical is full of satire which was often lost on some of our pupils, but they came to understand the plot eventually, I think.

There are some wonderful characters in this play and they came alive just in time. Jack Guy was larger than life as the ‘Pirate King’ (I do not think his grand entrance on the rope went smoothly on any performance, which added to the humour even more) and Tom Gorner was a very able ‘Major General’, singing ‘I am a very Model Major General’ every night without fault, a ‘major’ task for most adult performers. The part of Ruth was played by Charlotte Collins, not an easy role to play as she was supposed to be about forty eight years old. She took on the role with confidence and

performed to a high standard throughout the play. The two main characters were played by Harriet Duddy (Mabel) and Tom Busher

(Frederick). They told the story beautifully and with Harriet’s stunning voice it was easy to be taken in by the paradox that was unfolding as the storyline developed.

The majority of the cast was taken up by the three chorus groups; The Daughters, ably led by Emily Barker, Miranda Phillips and Felicity Holehouse, were a group of innocent young girls who were shocked by the Pirates at first but were forced to admire the charms of such a motley crew; The Pirates, with Sam Allen playing The Pirate King’s side kick, were a bunch of Cornish rebels, who were dark and dangerous, oh oh oh.

The Policemen did not enter until Act Two, coming in rank and file, ably led by Nat Swyer, Issy Brand and Georgie Halford. They portrayed a

fumbling bunch of cowards who did their best to help the ‘Daughters in Distress’.

The production was a great challenge to everyone involved, but we think it was a great success. The whole cast performed with enthusiasm, and produced a wonderful show which gave the audience a wonderful evening’s entertainment and sent them home with a smile.

SAW and I were very pleased with the final outcome and enjoyed watching the cast perform to such a high standard.

Jack Guy (Pirate King), Tom Busher and Charlotte Collins (Ruth)

Harriet Duddy (Mabel) and Tom Busher (Frederick)

The Cast of Pirates of Penzance

The Daughters

As usual these productions cannot be performed without lots of help and expertise in the background and thanks must go to Chris Crosswell for his wonderful set design and production of the play, DEB our Musical Director, Andrew McClymont, Stage Manager, Assistant Stage Managers Faye Brookes-Lewis and Sian Maguire and Lighting and Sound Sam Vella, Ellie Arnot and Eleanor Wetton. I would also like to thank LLG, JC, Nicki Slack, Tamsin Layton and Ellie Nicholls for their help in this production and to Mrs Collins for organising such a great after show party.

T.D.M.

Removes Drama

The Exam and Show and Tell

This year the Removes Drama Club presented two one-act comedies from the National Theatre’s Connections scheme, The Exam by Andy Hamilton and Show and Tell by Laline Paull. The National Theatre’s Connections programme has been running for several years now and has produced a large number of excellent plays for young people to perform, many serious and dramatic in nature as well as comic, and all about an hour or so in length when performed. As well as offering an excellent service for young people interested in theatre, Connections is also nurturing new writing for the theatre and keeping many new as well as more experienced playwrights busy, and that is incredibly important.

The Exam is a comedy about three sixteenyear-olds going through the ordeal of high exam pressure. Each has to survive a powerful barrage of self doubt, parental pressure and

adult incompetence. Andy Hamilton is bestknown as the creator of Channel 4’s satirical comedy Drop the Dead Donkey as well as numerous other comedy writing/performing credits on TV and radio. Lily Charters, Steven Grant and Sean Rankine were the three exam candidates in The Exam. The three were hardly off stage and did particularly well to learn such a large amount of lines between them. Georgia Taylor and Vladimir Djuric were hilarious as two incompetent and highly unprofessional teachers conducting their extramarital affair in earshot of the three youngsters, even whilst one of them was supposed to be invigilating the exam! Alec Burt (complete with white cat) was very amusing as the sinister ‘Ex’, the voice of the exam paper as imagined by one of the three teenagers as a sort of James Bond-style villain in order to increase her motivation whilst under exam pressure. George O’Connor, David Turner, Helen Rowland, Serena Sidaway, Maddy Shaw Roberts, Olivia Wilkinson and Will James were excellent as the various parents and auntie offering support and encouragement through a succession of clichés and comic lines.

Show and Tell is a farce about teenage love, friendship and a hamster called Stephen. Best friends Oli and Jo, identical twins Alex and Toby, and nerdy Bunce, become obsessed with the secret life of their sexy new supply teacher. In between trying to get off with each other, shaking off weird and clingy parents and making an earth-shatteringly important documentary, they find there are hi-jinks to be had in a gang that gets it completely wrong. Laline Paull writes for film and television (including the hugely popular Cold Feet) as well as the stage. The key roles here were played very well by Lucy Robinson, Rosie Pugh, Ben Engstrom and Will Stratton as the central four school pupils, George O’Connor, a hilariously convincing nerd as Bunce, Helen Rowland as the misunderstood supply teacher, and Polly Osborne, Emma Pearman, David Turner, Ellie Isaacs, Alex Taylor, Philippa Lucas and Jack Thwaites as the embarrassingly eccentric parents. Katie Lawrence was appropriately cast in the cameo role of the punky Agatha at the end of the play.

A number of other conflicting commitments meant that the summer term proved to be a very difficult time for these particular year groups to pull a production together, particularly of two challenging and complex comedies such as these. Nevertheless the cast of about twenty five young actors did a great job and the end result was very entertaining. A final thanks to Bryson Kisten who did an excellent job at short notice operating lighting.

S.M.A.

Curricular Drama

We generally get very good houses for the major extracurricular theatre productions each year, but audiences are building for the examination performances generated by the ‘A’ level, AS and GCSE Drama courses also. I think this stems from a growing realisation of how good much of this stimulating and entertaining work can be rather than the fact that entry is generally free of charge to curricular performances! Following a pattern established in recent years with very little deviation, the season of curricular work began in November with the short plays devised and performed by the A2 Drama students. Then in early March the A2 students performed their Unit 5 pieces, edited versions of published plays adapted and directed by student directors. This was closely followed at the end of the spring term by the AS Drama students and their staff-directed double-bill of Jim Cartwright’s Two and the absurdist classic The Bald Prima Donna by Eugène Ionesco. In May the Fifth Form drama students performed their GCSE exam pieces, a collection of play extracts under the umbrella title Stage Bites! There were no less than four A2 Devised Plays this year as this was one of the biggest Upper Sixth Drama groups we have ever had. The standard was also probably the highest we have ever seen achieved. The four plays collectively made for a pretty heavy evening as they all dealt with very serious and unpleasant themes: Fragments of Hatred with various forms of self-hatred, Closed Doors with family tensions and secrets, Because I Love Him with a naïve girl whose dreams of romance ends in being raped, and b.r.b. (be right back) about three girls, all linked by an internet chat room, who as a result of rape, depression and drugs respectively are driven ultimately to take their own lives. What was uplifting about four such dark and frankly depressing plays was that each was very thoughtfully constructed and executed using many interesting and original dramatic techniques, and there was also a very high standard of acting demonstrated. Two ‘verbatim’ documentary plays were used as the basis of the Unit 5 adaptations. Verbatim plays are documentary accounts of real events where the dialogue is entirely comprised of the actual words of those involved. The first play The Colour of Justice, based on transcripts from the inquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence, was cleverly directed by Rebecca Leach who did a magnificent job of adapting what was intended to be staged very naturalistically into a heavily stylised short version. The substantial editing

Tom Gorner as the Major General

did nothing to diminish the power of this piece, dealing as it does with the allegations of racism made against the metropolitan police. Becky managed to obtain some fantastic acting performances from her cast, some of whom, along with Becky herself, were

awarded full marks by the visiting examiner. The second play, directed by Laura Copsey, was Guantanamo- Honor Bound to Defend Freedom. This is the story of Moazzam Begg and other so-called ‘illegal combatants’ who were held in Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay, the words of the play taken directly from interviews with former Guantanamo prisoners, their families and lawyers, from the letters of those still incarcerated and from the public pronouncements of politicians such as Jack Straw and Donald Rumsfeld. There were some effective scenes in this very thought-provoking and challenging piece.

The Bald Prima Donna, directed by SMA in this production, was first performed in the 1950s and is a classic of the genre of theatre known as ‘the theatre of the absurd’. It appears to have the form of a conventional play but is actually devoid of any central dramatic argument or meaning. It is concerned instead with the impotence of language. Our standpoint in this production was that it was the unpredictable randomness of what the characters say together with the rhythms and sounds of the words themselves that make it such a worthwhile play to perform, simply because the sheer craziness of the language delights the ear and is very funny. Our intention was to play up the comic possibilities of the text and to play it unashamedly for laughs. We tried to incorporate many examples

of visual jokes to complement the funny lines, rejecting any attempt at naturalistic acting in favour of a highly stylised way of performing, a larger-than-life overplayed acting style incorporating formalised, choreographed or synchronised movement to create interesting and amusing pictures, proxemics and stage ‘business’. We were once again assisted by students from the Media Make-up and Costume degree course at Worcester College of Technology to create make-up reminiscent of the styles prevalent in the theatre of the first half of the twentieth century, reinforcing the non-naturalistic

was directed by SAW. The play is set in a pub and is intended to be played by just two actors, a man and a woman, who play the landlord and landlady, but also all the other male and female customers respectively. In this production the parts were shared between a cast of six. The play offers insight into the lives of both

hosts and customers. The central concept of this production was the idea of façade, the characters juggling their public faces with their private emotions. An interesting idea was to place some of the audience on stage sitting at bar tables as though they were other customers in the pub, the intention being to give the performance a more intimate atmosphere and make the audience feel more involved in the action. As the play goes on the mood switches from a broadly comic one to a darker atmosphere where themes of love, loneliness, crisis and conflict are explored seriously.

There were some excellent performances in both The Bald Prima Donna and Two, with several students again being awarded full

The Bald Prima Donna

The Colour of Justice

marks by the visiting examiner. The same was true of this year’s excellent GCSE practical exam pieces. The Fifth Form exam pieces this year were taken from plays in a variety of different styles: Gizmo by Alan Ayckbourn, dealing with the comic implications of a new invention designed to make a disabled person walk again; Neville’s Island, a black comedy by Tim Firth, about four middle-managers shipwrecked on an island in the Lake District during a team-building exercise; Fumed Oak by Noël Coward, a somewhat un-pc comedy about a hen-pecked man finally leaving his repellent family; The Actor’s Nightmare where an accountant suddenly finds himself unexpectedly on stage, mistaken for an actor, and expected to play a leading role in a succession of classic plays; and My Sister in this House, a chilling piece about a notorious murder that took place in France in the 1930s,

and the strange circumstances that led to it. Thanks for those who came to support these examination groups this year. If on the other hand you missed this great variety of curricular drama in 2007/08 I hope that after reading this you will want to come to see exam performances in the future. I am certain you won’t be disappointed. S.M.A.

Performance, Public Speaking, Musical Theatre and Devised Performance, all leading to exams with The London Academy of Dramatic Art (LAMDA) grades 1 to 8, though it is not compulsory for pupils to be entered for examinations if they would rather not take them. Nevertheless LAMDA qualifications are good things to have as many now have equivaleznce with mainstream qualifications such as GCSEs and A levels and consequently can add to UCAS points when applying for a place at university.

As in previous years, a number of pupils were entered in the Poetry, Prose and Drama classes of the Worcester Competitive Arts Festival in March. Once again our pupils were very successful with many first and second places achieved. A number of pupils went on to perform at the Winners’ Gala.

A number of Sixth Form leavers obtained their LAMDA Grade 8 Gold Medal exams last July with highly successful results. Jack England, Emma Fernell and Hannah Sheeran all achieved Distinction in Acting, George Austin-Cliff Distinction in Public Speaking and Ellie Keehan, Laura Hopkins and Rebecca Leach all achieved high Merits in both Acting and Verse and Prose. Charlotte Ireland was successful in gaining a place on the three-year professional acting degree course at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London. Many congratulations to them all. Susan Finch

Drama Trips to London

Fifth Form

Speech and Drama

Two members of the Speech and Drama teaching team, Kate Fitzpatrick and her daughter Rebecca left King’s at the end of 2006-07. This was in many ways the end of an era, as it had been Kate and I who had got Speech and Drama tuition going at King’s nine years ago. Since then Mary Kavanagh, who also teaches at King’s Hawford, joined the team and in 2007 we were joined by two more specialist performance teachers, Leanne Hollyhead and Robert Huguenin.

Speech and Drama lessons generally take place at lunchtimes, after school and at weekends. The age range is 7 to 18 years and all teachers aim to increase personal confidence and performance skills. There are a diverse number of subjects for the pupils to study such as Acting, Verse and Prose, Reading for

The highlight of the year for most drama students is their annual overnight trip to London. The Fifth Form trip took place during the first weekend in February as a welcome treat immediately following mock exams and took a very similar form to previous trips in recent years, leaving Friday morning and returning on Saturday evening. Firstly we gave the students a bit of a fright with a performance of The Woman in Black on the Friday evening preceded by a really enjoyable workshop on the play; then on the Saturday morning the students participated in a workshop relating to Blood Brothers followed by a tour of the magnificent Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and then a matinee performance of Blood Brothers before returning to Worcester on the Saturday evening. As always the trip was greatly enjoyed by all the Fifth Form drama students who had been greatly inspired, I’m sure, by all they’d seen.

Blood Brothers workshop

Sixth Form

The Sixth Form trip took place in the middle week of the Easter holiday and was definitely the highlight of any Sixth Form drama student’s year. A group of thirty students, accompanied by Mr Atkins, Miss West and Mrs Hand, travelled by coach to London. Our base for the four day trip, The Strand Palace Hotel, was ideally situated allowing easy access to ‘Theatreland’ and the many other attractions of central London.

As with most Sixth Form trips, a system of remote supervision operated, providing opportunity for small groups to plan independent itineraries around the timing of our pre-booked theatre trips. Despite the weather remaining dry, most decided that the Tube seemed a far more attractive way of getting around the city than walking, with some even going one stop to completely eliminate the need for walking at all! Once in possession of an all day travel pass, the freedom of London was ours and we were able to head off in different directions. Everyone made best use of free time to cram in what was important to them, whether it was shopping or visiting galleries and museums, tours of Madame Tussauds or taking in the sights and sounds of Covent Garden.

The main focus of our trip was of course the performances. During our few days we saw an impressive five performances representing a variety of genres. We began by a trip to the very crowded Old Vic, where we saw American playwright David Mamet’s Speed-The-Plow starring Kevin Spacey, Jeff Goldblum and Laura Michelle Kelly. This was about writers in Hollywood preferring to churn out the same storylines guaranteed to make them money compared to those that had any intellectual depth. Opinions amongst the group about the play were divided, some thinking that a wide knowledge of the industry was needed for the audience to fully understand the plot; with others thinking that it was relevant to most areas of life. Day Two saw even more theatrical activities packed in with two productions, one a double bill, and a tour of Drury Lane which was very funny with certain characters from the theatre’s past (such as Nell Gwyn) ‘come to life.’ We then moved on to the first performances of the day, which was a double bill of one-act plays by Harold Pinter, The Lover and The Collection, with a brilliant cast including Timothy West, Gina McKee and Charlie Cox. The set for both plays was particularly impressive as the cast used one room in a house but by means of lighting and movement made it seem like two. This overcame the difficulties inherent in

staging theatrically two pieces originally written for television.

The evening performance was one everybody had been looking forward to, the musical version of Billy Elliot, and it was worth the anticipation. With an incredibly talented cast, we looked on with amazement at the dance moves involved in the show. The use of space was excellent as cast members simply wheeled on and off huge bits of set representing entire buildings, making it seem so simple!

Day Three was our last day in London and time for one more show before the long journey back to Worcester. We had free time in the morning and some went shopping whilst others tried to cram in every sight in London before we saw Lord of the Rings in the afternoon. The show itself proved that some knowledge of the story was required before attempting to understand any of this three-hour epic, but it is safe to say that everyone was blown away by the special effects, though with a production budget of over twelve million pounds, I suppose we had a right to be! The actual content of the show impressed far less than the spectacular staging.

Overall everyone involved had a very enjoyable time and left with some fantastic memories of ‘Theatreland.’

Kathryn Gilmour

Dance

Early in the Spring term we held our first ‘informal evening of Dance’ which proved to be very successful, giving an opportunity to the many girls who dance to a high standard outside school to perform and share their work. The audience was treated to many varied pieces, and we will certainly repeat his event next year.

The ‘Upper Fourth Day of Dance’ took place during the summer term; professional dance company ‘2-Faced’ were invited to school to give an energetic performance followed by workshops for each class in which pupils learned some break-dancing skills. This was a successful day, enjoyed by all the pupils who took part.

King’s Dance Company has met every week throughout the year and has performed in three school shows. The last performance was with the Keys Society, when we performed with the choir in the cathedral. A collaboration with the Dance

Artist in Residence has resulted in the making of two short dance films, which we look forward to screening next year. A professional dancer from Motionhouse Dance Theatre came to teach a workshop for the day, and then we went to see him perform at Malvern Theatre. It is with regret that we say goodbye to Laura Hopkins, the principal Dancer of the company, and Becky Leach, as they leave the School. They have been enthusiastic role models as well as talented dancers and we all wish them every success for the future.

Lower Sixth students Lara Raybone, Louisa Tomlin, Ellie Nicholls and Hannah Cox choreographed dances for enthusiastic Fourth Form dancers, resulting in over fifty students performing in dance pieces and we hope to continue with this scheme next year.

T.D.M.

Music

It was a pleasure to see the revival, after several years’ absence, of the Huntingdon Hall School Lunchtime Concerts, now sponsored by the University of Worcester. King’s School musicians inaugurated the 2007/8 season in early October with a concert of instrumental and vocal music.

A week later the 2007 House Music Competition was adjudicated by Derek Harris, Director of Music at King’s School, Gloucester, who awarded first place to School for their performance of Take That’s ‘Shine’ in the afternoon’s House Song Competition. In the morning Jolyon Loy (voice) won the Senior Solo Competition and Aaron Prewer-Jenkinson (saxophone) was the Junior Competition winner. The next day there was an opportunity for a large audience to hear the four top House songs and a good number of the winning solo items in the annual Winners Concert.

The Autumn School Concert provided a showcase for all of the school’s large ensembles. Second Orchestra, conducted by GMG, opened with a stirring performance of a ‘Minuet and Air’ from Handel’s ‘Water Music’. Wind Band, conducted by Elizabeth Rozelaar played the March from Vaughan Williams’ ‘Folk Song Suite’. As the first, during the year, of a large number of solo performances by the school’s leaving musicians, Imogen Schofield (violin) gave a most atmospheric and controlled performance of Vaughan Williams’ ‘Lark Ascending’, accompanied by First Orchestra. Chamber Orchestra then gave a glowing performance of Britten’s ‘Simple Symphony’. The concert ended with a large School Choir giving full-bodied and

stylish performances of Parry’s ‘Never Weather Beaten Sail’ and arrangements of ‘Stranger in Paradise’ (after Borodin), ‘Buffalo Gals’ and ‘Old McDonald had a Farm’.

The Carol Service, held in the Cathedral on 12th December, featured performances by the School Choir of Boris Ord’s ‘Adam Lay y’Bounden’, Judith Weir’s ‘Illuminare’, ‘Jerusalem’, Samuel Scheidt’s ‘In Dulci Jubilo’ and Simon Preston’s arrangement of ‘I Saw Three Ships’. The Cathedral Choristers sang ‘This Little Babe’ from Britten’s ‘Ceremony of Carols’ and the Keys Choir sang Francis Poulenc’s ‘Quem Vidistis Pastores’.

The first major concert of the 2008 Spring Term was the St. Clement’s Church Concert held on Saturday, 2nd February. It provided the perfect opportunity to perform some of the works that would be taken to Prague a week later. The concert began with two movements from Giovanni

Croce’s ‘Missa Percussit Saul’. George Austin Cliff, Lucy Butterworth, Hannah Sheeran and David Wilkins played an arrangement of Elgar’s ‘Chanson de Matin’ for clarinet quartet. Chamber Orchestra played ‘Sentimental Sarabande’ and ‘Frolicsome Finale’

Peter Holder, James Greenwood and George Austin-Cliff

Alex Cardone-Noott and Robert Battrum

Bright House song

from Britten’s ‘Simple Symphony’ and later accompanied Bach’s D minor Double Violin Concerto in a performance given by soloists Harry Geeves, Amy Haddock, Alex Lindner, Jack Hamilton and Olivia Wilkinson. James Greenwood and Jolyon Loy, accompanied by Peter Holder, performed Bizet’s ‘Pearlfishers Duet’; this was to prove as popular with Czech audiences as it was with the capacity

audience at St. Clement’s. As a centerpiece the choir gave a moving performance of Bach’s motet, ‘Komm, Jesu, komm’. Lucy Boynett, accompanied by Imogen Schofield and Peter Holder, gave a most expressive performance of Mozart’s ‘Laudate Dominum’. Lizzie Stedman gave a nimble, liquid performance of the first movement of Lennox Berkeley’s ‘Flute Sonatina’. The concert ended with choral items including Bob Chilcott’s ‘Buffalo Gals’ and

Eric Whitacre’s ‘Sleep’. During the February half-term fifty six pupils from the Upper Fourth to the Upper Sixth, accompanied by DEB, GMG, CJBA, KA, SAW and Lesley Cox, went on a most successful six day concert tour of Prague and the Czech Republic. Ten pin bowling, supper on a River Vltava cruise boat, a glass works tour and a walking tour of old Prague were all provided. A select group of older pupils were in wonder at the treasures (including original manuscripts and performing parts of Beethoven, Haydn and Mozart) in the Lobkowitz Palace. We gave concerts at the Community Centre Church of Mother Teresa, the House of Culture in Podebrady Spa and St. Nicholas Church on Old Town Square in the centre of Prague. The latter concert, especially, proved to be most memorable; it began with a performance on the church steps of Bob Chilcott’s Advent anthem, ‘Nova, Nova’. Retreating in to the warmth of the church we found that the audience had swelled as a result of this performance to fill the entire nave. The generous acoustic and enthusiastic audience lifted the performances to new heights and gave the performers great final memories of a most enjoyable musical holiday.

The Spring term School Concert gave a large school audience a further opportunity to hear the ‘Pearlfishers Duet’ and the Bach Double Violin Concerto, while Wind Band played ‘Roman Holiday’ by our own Richard

Kittermaster perform at the House Song competition

An entry in the Fourth Form Music competition

Percy and Second Orchestra gave a beautiful performance of Tchaikovsky’s ‘Song Without Words’. First Orchestra rose to the challenge of Brahms’ Academic Festival Overture and School Choir ended the concert with Chilcott and Rutter arrangements of ‘Londonderry Air’, ‘Sourwood Mountain’ and ‘Ev’ry Time I Feel the Spirit’ along with Guy Turner’s ‘Tequila Samba’.

The Summer School Concert gave one of the last opportunities to hear performances from a remarkable group of leaving pupils and staff. The concert began with Chamber Orchestra playing an arrangement for string orchestra of the ‘Allegro Moderato’ of Borodin’s Second String Quartet. Alison Uren conducted a

virtuoso performance of her own ‘Carnival Suite’ played by the Senior Flute Ensemble. This was to be Alison’s final school performance before retiring from more than a decade of extremely successful flute teaching and ensemble coaching

at King’s. We are extremely grateful to her for the inspiration that she has brought to the school’s musical life during that time. Continuing the practice of performing at least one of the AS Level set works each year, First Orchestra accompanied three gifted soloists in Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto. Peter Holder played the first movement, George Austin-Cliff forsook his clarinet to play the second movement and James Greenwood played the third movement. The concert ended with the School Choir giving a fine performance of Jean Langlais’ demanding ‘Messe Solennelle’. This was the best way for us to give Peter Holder, one of the finest young organ players to emerge from King’s in recent years, a concerto-like opportunity as organ accompanist. Peter goes on next year to be organ scholar at Southwell Minster before beginning his higher education.

The Fourth Form Music Competition and Winners’ Concert were held in the second half of term after a great deal of work from pupils and staff alike had gone into creating choirs and ensembles out all

Emma Robertson and Jolyon Loy

Peter Holder

The choristers rehearse

Elizabeth Stedman, Colette Brown and Helen Conway

of the twelve Fourth Forms. Song winners this year were L4C singing ‘I just can’t wait to be King’ and U4B who sang ‘Elvis ain’t Dead’. L4D and U4C were Ensemble winners with Bernstein’s ‘Skye Boat Song’ and ‘Peter and the Wolf’ respectively. Hanna Khogali (violin) was the Upper Fourth Solo winner and Charlotte Collins (voice) was winner of the Lower Fourth Solo. Overall Form winners were L4C and U4C. It was with the greatest pleasure that we welcomed back Daniel Phillips, now Director of Music at King’s College School, Wimbledon, to be our excellent adjudicator. The Winners’ Concert, held two days later, was a great success.

Following the pattern of recent years, GMG and his able support staff ran a very successful Orchestral Workshop for around ninety young players from King’s St. Alban’s and years 7 to 9 from the senior school. In the evening parents were able to come to hear a concert in the John Moore Theatre featuring the large orchestra and the numerous groups that had rehearsed during the day. This and the regular Young Performers Concerts, all organized by GMG, prove as ever to offer a stimulating environment in which our younger musicians can shine. This year has seen the departure of Peter Holder, their regular and indefatigable accompanist. I hope that, before long, he will be replaced by the next generation of pupil accompanists!

The Keys Society had a most successful season of concerts this year with soloists and instrumental groups taking part from every level of the senior school. The March concert was most unusual in that it was held in the nave of the cathedral, at very short notice, rather than College Hall. This was a bit of a blow for those who needed a piano for their performances; the cathedral piano leaves a lot to be desired! However, the acoustic for choral items, especially Eric Whitacre’s ‘Water Night’, was wonderful, the setting even more magical than usual, above all for a first venture to combine a choral performance (Eric Whitacre’s haunting ‘Sleep’) with dance, choreographed by SAW, from the King’s School Dance Company. The May concert was notable not only for its many fine solo performances, but also two settings of John Masefield’s ‘Sea Fever’ by members of the A2 Music set; Jolyon Loy, one of this year’s regular choir conductors, conducted the choir in his setting while Harry Geeves, composer of the other setting led a string quartet accompanying Jolyon Loy and Hannah Sheeran. The final concert of the year was held the night before King’s Day and was notable not only for

the large number of leavers performing, but also for the strength of future talent to be heard from the Lower and Upper Removes. The Keys Choir triumphed in one of Bach’s greatest works, the double choir motet ‘Singet dem Herrn’. Poignantly the concert ended with a surprise extra item; the very large group of leavers sang Lizzie Grew’s arrangement of ‘So Long, Farewell’ from ‘The Sound of Music’, complete with choreographed departure and surprise reappearance on the gallery of all the performers. We shall greatly miss this cheerful, zany and immensely able group of musicians, who have given so much to the school’s music over so many years.

The next day, in the King’s Day service, Peter Holder provided voluntaries by Messiaen and Mulet and gave two final, dazzling accompaniments to the full School Choir in Vaughan Williams’ ‘O Clap Your Hands’ and Parry’s great anthem, ‘Hear my Words, ye People’ in which the soloists were Hannah Lucas and Jolyon Loy and the chorus the entire leaving Upper Sixth group of choir members.

Congratulations to Lizzie Grew who goes to Christ Church, Oxford to read Music under Stephen Darlington (OV), George AustinCliff who has won a choral scholarship to St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge and Jolyon Loy who has won a choral scholarship to Magdalen College, Oxford.

D.E.B.

Art

This September the Art Department moved into a magnificent new Art School. Built over three floors, the new building offers five spacious studios, offices, workshops, an IT and library area and a double volume gallery. The building designed by award-winning architect John Christophers of Associated Architects is a clever marriage between a former restaurant, once belonging to the Worcester Porcelain, and a light-filled modern structure. From day one it was obvious that it was going to be a delight to work in such an inspirational building which would, undoubtedly, give further scope to the creativity and ambition of pupils of all ages. Early in October the Art Department took part in the national ‘Big Draw’ Campaign. We arranged a day of drawing which was specifically designed to attract large numbers to the Art School. One hundred and seventy five pupils, parents and staff from across the King’s Foundation, as well as visitors from the local community, joined together to produce drawings which filled our new gallery to overflowing. Inspired by the work

Art students working in Cornwall

of Henri Matisse, participants who ranged in age from two to eighty five years of age drew dancers who performed to jazz music. It was a satisfying day of collaborative activity where the different ages worked happily side by side and with a great deal of enjoyment. The opportunity to explore and make use of the new building was also much appreciated. Each year we strive to create opportunities for pupils to share their work with a wider audience. Lower Sixth pupils exhibited a diverse selection of drawing, painting and textiles in the Dean’s Chapel, Worcester Cathedral in late September. The exhibition

Art School Opening

Our magnificent new Art School was opened by artist Derek Nice on 2nd February 2008. He flew in from Malta especially for the occasion, for which we were most grateful.

In 2000 Derek mounted a wonderful exhibition and completed a highly successful residency at King’s. Since that time he has remained a friend of the department and we have watched the blossoming of his career, as a painter and sculptor, with interest and appreciation. He shares the department’s love of the sea and all things nautical and he was a fitting choice.

The day started with a champagne reception in the Art School Gallery for local dignitaries, special guests, governors, OVs, staff and friends of the department. This was followed by a magnificent lunch which provided an opportunity for former art students and members of staff to reminisce about life in the King’s Art Department, exhibitions and Cornwall trips. We were delighted that a number of former A Level Art students responded to a request to provide information about their post- school training as well as their current jobs in the professional art world. Many of the replies were exhibited in the Art School and provided much interest and inspiration for current pupils as well as visitors.

After lunch we were joined by current pupils and parents. Derek gave a touching and pertinent speech and declared the Art School open. Throughout the afternoon the studios remained open for inspection and a cream tea was provided in honour of the department’s strong links with Cornwall. It was a very relaxed and happy occasion and a carnival atmosphere was created by live steel pan music.

E.R.H.

attracted hundreds of visitors and much favourable comment. The work was strong, mature and technically accomplished and suited the soaring spaces of the Cathedral. Upper Sixth pupils exhibited powerful largescale oil-paintings and textiles in Malvern Festival Theatre throughout the winter months.

During the October half term two groups of GCSE Art pupils visited St. Ives in Cornwall for an action-packed residential course. Based in a hotel in the heart of the old town and surrounded by artists’ studios and stunning sea and landscape, staff and pupils leave refreshed and inspired. A great deal is packed into

the five days during which the pupils meet and work with artists and visit galleries to explore a wide range of work and influences. Without doubt, this annual trip continues to exert a huge and beneficial influence over our department’s curriculum and teaching, and the understanding and enthusiasm of pupils.

The John Moore Theatre Gallery hosted four professional exhibitions which were visited by pupils of all ages. The Great Atlantic Gallery from Cornwall presented a selection of original lithographs by luminaries including Henri Matisse, Eric Gill, and David Hockney. These were mounted alongside the work of

emerging artists from the South West. One of the exhibiting artists, Catherine Harvey Jefferson, spent a weekend at King’s and led a very successful printmaking workshop for A level pupils.

The highlight of the year was the official opening of the Art School in January by artist Derek Nice. Derek exhibited at King’s and was artist-in-residence seven years ago. He created a strong impression then and we have since followed the blossoming of his career with interest. We were delighted to welcome him back and he delivered a speech which touchingly demonstrated that he both understood and supported our artistic vision. A large number of special guests, dignitaries and visitors enjoyed a reception, lunch and an opportunity to explore the studios. In honour of our Cornish connection, a cream tea was served in the afternoon and a carnival atmosphere created by live steel pan music.

This year Nathaniel Fowles, a painter, joined us as full-time artist-in-residence. He has proved an engaging and likeable character who has made full use of his time in the Art School. He has worked in his studio on a new set of paintings, taught younger classes and ran a film and video club as well as‘dropin’ art sessions. Elsewhere in the school he has helped with rowing and became an indispensable all-round extra pair of hands and general enthusiast for many Common Room activities. Perhaps his greatest achievement,

however, was to organise a community art project entitled ‘Fragments of the Day’. Several hundred pupils, staff and parents from the three King’s Foundation Schools selected and then illustrated a particular time of day. Their work was exhibited in the John Moore Theatre Gallery and later at Hawford. Both the activity and exhibition created much interest and a warm response from all ages.

Our Chinese technician Yan Shao ran a lunchtime Chinese and Arts and Crafts Club for Fourth Formers. This proved popular and the topics covered included painting, mask making and origami. Chinese food was served at the final session of the year. Life Drawing was held on Monday evenings in the Lower Sixth Studio and rapid and pleasing progress was made by a dedicated class of A level pupils, other Sixth Formers and adults.

The year ended with the GCSE, AS and A level exhibitions held, for the first time, in the Art School. Several pupils made sitespecific work which made use of the double height spaces and large walls afforded by the new building. It was obvious that our much improved working conditions had not only been enjoyed by pupils and staff, but also inspired work which demonstrated an increase in ambition and scale. The exhibitions attracted extremely high grades and special commendations from the exam board. A number of Upper Sixth artists moved onto prestigious art schools and universities and we wish them well and hope that they will return to exhibit with us in the future.

E.R.H.

Design and Technology

Once again, anyone popping their head round the door into the Design and Technology department would have been struck by the energy and purpose of the students and staff. Still being encouraged to think big and outside of the box, this year’s crop of Fifth and Sixth formers turned up with flair and imagination by the bucket load.

Before making the decisions which shape the final outcome of their projects, our young designers are always pushed to experiment in the early stages of a project. This phase of testing the boundaries often results in an enormous variety in the work produced. This variety is not just evident between projects, but is also shown within the individual projects themselves. Take, for example, Lizzie Unwin’s dual purpose coffee table. The contrast of

modern and traditional materials (plywood and iroko) and the somewhat ‘heavy’ aesthetics and constructional feel hides the detail, care and attention to the accuracy in its manufacture. Conrad Clarke’s artist’s store box, Gordon Robinson’s waste disposal sorter and James Sleigh’s DJ mixing desk all show diverse skills and a willingness to push the boundaries. Two projects of real triumph were Adam Law’s reclining sun lounger and Ryan Finnigan’s extending chair. Adam used steel and Iroko (hardwood from the old Chemistry benches) to create a very accomplished product worthy of being sold by any top

quality retailer of designer furniture and Ryan’s clever chair design allows for it to be pulled out to sit two people.

On occasions, people looking at the final products have a good understanding of the complexities of manufacturing them. More frequently, the hard work, problem solving and ingenuity is missed. It is easy to see a highly polished piece of work in front of you without fully understanding the processes involved in its conception and manufacture. Needless to say, the students spend a long

time learning and developing their skills and understanding of materials, their properties and potential. This process starts when they join us in the Lower Fourths and begin our foundation course. Covering plastics, metals, woods and textiles alongside graphics, ICT and CAD/CAM through a number of projects gives the students a confidence to experiment, gain the understanding and learn the skills that prove so vital in the years to come.

C.W.S.W.

Part of the DT Show

Ryan Finnigan’s chair

Adam Law’s sun lounger

JUNioR SChooLS

K ING’S H AWFORD

We were very pleased to welcome Dan Peters, Head of Music and Performance, and Jason Broderick, Junior Class Teacher and Head of Boys’ Games, at the start of the year. Jo Swinson-Davis joined us for the Autumn term, successfully taking on the role of art teacher until January when Kathy Turk joined us as Head of Art and DT. We were delighted with the Year 6 results for the King’s entrance examination, with a number of strong performances reflecting both the tremendous efforts of the children but also their teachers throughout their time at Hawford. All the children seeking places were successful and special congratulations must go to Millie Cornock who gained an academic scholarship. In addition Edgar Elliott gained an award to King Edward VI, Edgbaston and Sophie Condlyffe achieved an award to Dodderhill.

Improvements to the Hawford site this year included a new reception and office area and enhancement to the Cobb, including the addition of a splendid clock tower. We are particularly grateful to the Parents’ Association who started a major fund raising initiative to provide an enclosure for the swimming pool, thereby allowing it to be used all year round.

Junior children. Not to be outdone the staff entertained the children on the last day of term with their version of The Night before Christmas.

In March, Years 3 and 4 performed in their very first junior production, ‘The Snow Queen’. The performances were packed with great singing, enthusiastic participation and convincing acting. Years 5 and 6 also performed in their own production in June. Wind in the Willows was a huge success, with all three sell-out performances. Again the singing was excellent, and at points, nearly raised the roof!

The Summer Concert was the musical finale

The public speaking competitions for both Years 4 and 6 proved very popular and the winning entries featured Ruby Lavender (Y4) and Edgar Elliott (Y6). The poetry competition was held during Arts Week and we were delighted to welcome Mr Maund as our guest and judge. The winning entry was The Lion and Albert, performed most ably by Matthew Emeny. Arts Week took the theme of a Venetian Carnival and on the final day the school erupted into a grand finale! All pupils from Kindergarten to Year 6 looked magnificent in their costumes and Venetianstyle masks. A great procession was followed by each year group in turn performing its own particular dance, appropriate to a ‘Carnavale di Venezia’.

Informal concerts were held throughout the year allowing many children the opportunity to play to an audience for the first time. In addition Dan Peters established an exciting programme of musical events. A Night of Disney, in November, included debut performances from the newly formed ensembles. The choir sang excerpts from the ‘Jungle Book’ and there were some sensational dances choreographed by Mrs Goodayle. There was an extraordinarily busy day at the end of the first term when every child in the school performed on stage with back to back performances of The Paper Boy’s Christmas (Kg and Reception), The Bell that Cried (Years 1 and 2) and an evening concert by the

of the year. To finish, the orchestra played Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty Waltz and the combined junior and senior choirs performed Karl Jenkins’ Adiemus. A truly fitting finale to a very musical year!

In February both our junior and senior dance troupes took part in an informal dance showcase. The troupe was made up of thirty five girls from Years 3-6 who performed to an upbeat piece of music, whilst using pom poms. Every child in the school has also had the chance to perform to their parents through our extensive programme of lively and interactive year group assemblies which this year have included A Roman Feast (Year 3), Dr. Who and his Tardis (Reception) and The Ancient Olympic Games (Year 6). Year 6 also took part in a Shakespearean evening of drama, dance and music in the Summer term.

Janet Redman successfully took over the role of Coordinator for Outdoor Education this year. A full programme of activities form Year 2 upwards took place together with numerous trips and outings for all the children over the course of the year. A new addition to the children’s camping activities was a Family Campout and BBQ at the start of the year. This was so popular it looks set to become an annual “wake-over”! A number of parents and children also enjoyed a school ski trip to Austria during the Easter break. Hawford has enjoyed another successful year on the sports fields. Notable achievements included the Under 11 hockey team winning the Bluecoat Indoor Tournament and the Worcestershire County Tournament which allowed them to finish the season playing at the Regional Finals. The Under 11 netball team competed in the IAPS competition and came second in its group. In rugby the boys grew from strength to strength as the season continued and there were some fine individual and team skills displayed throughout the term. A highlight was our Under 10s taking part in the International Festival in France and bringing back the silverware on offer and memories for years to come. It was a successful football season for all age groups with the

Under 10s losing only one game and the Under 9s losing just two. Thankfully the 2008 cricket season did not suffer from the monsoon conditions experienced last summer and as a result the King’s Hawford cricketers experienced some notable successes. The Under 9s and Under 8s both had unbeaten seasons with the Under 8s winning the St Alban’s cricket festival. After weeks of preparation and timed efforts, seventy five races took place on the track and twenty six field events started off the morning of our Sports Day. The Apache Relay and Dodge ball competition provided new events for the Houses and the House Cross Country was enjoyed by all the children, from

Year1 upwards.

One of our new initiatives this year saw the school embark on the Eco Schools’ Project in an aim to become more environmentally friendly as a community. Another was the development of Forest School which aimed to use the natural environment to provide experiences, challenge creative skills and extend the physical abilities of our younger children. Both these ventures have proved so

successful they have now been fully embedded in our wide and diverse curriculum.

Events during charity week included busking, ice-cream and cake sales, a penny trail, painting and three legged races. In this week alone over £1250 was raised.

At the end of the year we said goodbye to Mike and Anita Dawes as well as Kate Champion. We wish them all well, as we do Laura Cross, who started her maternity leave at the end of term.

K ING’S S T. A LBAN ’S

All the children in Year Six again passed the Entrance Examination into the Senior School.

Continuing the impressive record of scholarship awards over recent years, Georgia Radley, Eleanor Weaver and George Farmiloe gained academic scholarships and Jack Furber a music scholarship. Particular congratulations are due to Helena Gunter and David Hui who achieved the rare distinction of being awarded dual academic and music scholarships.

The staff in King’s St. Alban’s are proud of the high standard of work all the children produce consistently throughout the year. It is always satisfying to see the pupils’ hard work, and the staff’s, being rewarded through these Year Six results.

Following Beryl Wilson’s retirement, Fleur Dolphin joined the Year Three team. Jonathan Bailey moved to Year 6 at Easter when Dennis Mews retired and Ian Fry joined us at the same time to teach Year Four and take over responsibility for boys’ games. Ruth Reeves, who retired at the end of the year, was replaced in September by Eleanor Wyatt.

Alex Hind managed to reach the end of the summer term, just, before embarking on her maternity leave. Eve was born on July 24th Alex’s position in Year 5 will be covered by Liz Lewis and by a certain Nicky Wilson on the games fields. Nicky’s experience in charge of girls’ games in the Senior School prior to her retirement simply seemed impossible to pass over!

It became apparent that Dennis Mews was considering retirement when his beloved

Porsche 911 was traded in for a camper van. He duly left us in April, having been at the school since 1990. One of the new vehicle’s first trips was in the footsteps of many years of King’s St.Alban’s French trips. Dennis was looking forward immensely to being able to visit Normandy and Brittany without having to count children.

Dennis made an enormous contribution to school life. He was in charge of the Mathematics curriculum and the I.T. curriculum. He led several children and teams of children to be National Orienteering Champions – having been a talented competitor himself, ran the chess club, the indoor football club, countless boys’ games teams and took many trips to the Old Chapel and France.

His vast experience, deep understanding of how children learned and calm, unfailing optimism will be sadly missed. So too, will his love of chocolate biscuits, “Oh go on, just one then,” and his wit: “If you are coming up to the I.T. Room today, please bring a writing impediment with you,” and to the flustered child, or adult, who had lost something, “Don’t worry, everything must be somewhere...”

His wife, Pat, will appreciate being able to keep a closer eye on him though. When Dennis first started work at King’s, he was provided with a packed lunch. It was nine years before Pat discovered that Dennis had been eating it at break time and then eating a school lunch too! She may also, possibly, encourage him finally to locate the kitchen which he thinks is, “Somewhere at the back of the house.”

Ruth Reeves taught at King’s St.Alban’s for twenty three years. At that time, it was a school

DM

RR

Artist’s impression of the new St. Alban’s Pre-Prep Department

in which boarding predominated and there were still lessons on Saturdays. Girls would not make an appearance for nearly a decade.

Ruth believed wholeheartedly in the importance of extra-curricular activities. She ran trips to Youth Hostels all over the country, was a talented pianist whose willingness to play in assemblies was hugely appreciated, managed the library, was a selfless helper at school fêtes, ran the Inter-House Quiz, organised book stalls and even had the boys in her form enthusing over cross stitch!

Her unfailing support for charitable causes was remarkable. The school still supports a Kenyan boy’s education at her instigation and she was the enthusiastic motivator behind many of King’s St.Alban’s fundraising activities. Ruth’s generosity extended to opening up her house and garden to staff and children. Many of her classes have had terrific fun chasing around attempting a plant quiz!

As staff, we all benefited from her simply encyclopaedic general knowledge.

sense of humour. John Walton was the victim when Ruth faked injury from a bird attack when on a school trip to Switzerland. He ended up as her personal porter!

We shall all miss Ruth’s special gifts. She was a patient and skilful teacher, her amazing ability to conjure a marvellous sound from a

The more obscure a topic, the more Ruth was likely to know about it. She also had a keen

group of children with recorders was a true testament to this. We shall also miss visits from her dog, May, who would occasionally be found wandering around school during the day trying to find her mistress!

In addition to the competitive inter-house sporting calendar, there were A team and B team fixtures in all the main sports, for boys and girls this year.

Sporting highlights included the Under 11 7s rugby team winning the Salver at the Warwick Sevens Tournament and the King’s Hawford Sevens Competition.

There have been a number of outstanding individual successes. Brothers Alfie and Barney Sears represented Worcestershire at cricket

in the Under 11 age group and Henry Wilde played for Worcestershire at Under 10. Will Davies, Michael Hines, Gabriel Elsden and Mackenzie Pemberton-Whiteley all played for their District cricket teams.

Charlie Norton played tennis for Worcestershire and the Midlands at Under 12 level, while Eleanor Hatt represented Worcestershire at Under 10. Alexandra Styles and Sarah Graham swam 100m front crawl for Worcestershire. Alex is also a member of the Midlands and National Squads. Helen Jubb was a Worcestershire swimmer at Under 10 level. Daisy Nichols has played hockey for Worcestershire and Lulu Smith has represented Worcestershire at Athletics (100m sprint) at Under 13 level.

Informal concerts on Friday afternoons in the chapel, run by Graham Gunter and Helen Haggarty, again gave many children the opportunity to display their musical talents in front of an audience. These events gently ease the children into the art of performance without too much pressure. Hopefully, they will then be able to approach the more formal school concerts and exams with a greater degree of confidence. The Orchestra Workshop organised by the Music Department stretched the more able and gave them the chance to perform with pupils from King’s Hawford and the Senior School. Chris Allsop’s chamber choir provided Year 6 boys with a suitable challenge, culminating in a superb performance on Junior King’s Day in College Hall. The Flute Choir were winners at the Worcestershire Competitive Arts Festival for the third year running. Helena Gunter was selected to play in the National Children’s Orchestra; Jack Furber played in the Worcestershire Intermediate Orchestra and the Worcestershire Youth Brass Band, but sadly was unable to play in the National Children’s Orchestra this year due to Cathedral Choir commitments.

acquired brain injury.

The traditional ActionAid fundraiser, for which the children helped sell harvest festival perishables on the quad and spent their pocket money at the Lick Child Poverty cake stall, brought in over £800. It is through this charity that we support the schooling of Nganza Kaliti, who lives in Kenya.

The annual choristers’ pancake race around

significant share of the total.

At some stage in the year, money was also raised for the RNLI and the British Red Cross.

Every year through the taught curriculum and supported by a programme of visiting professionals, the children create a production illustrating the connections across the arts.

This year the children were encouraged to find ideas for their art, dance, drama, music and writing through studying some of the huge variety of cultural influences and backgrounds present in British society today.

the Cathedral cloisters donated money to the Noah’s Ark Trust for bereaved families.

One of the most important aspects of life at King’s St.Alban’s is encouraging the children to learn about and care for the needs of others. A vast range of fundraising activities was started this year with a sponsored Readathon in the autumn term which brought in £2,250 for The Malcolm Sargent Cancer Fund for Children and the Roald Dahl Foundation. These charities support children in Britain suffering from cancer, Hodgkin’s disease, leukaemia, epilepsy, blood disorders and

Also during the Spring term, £200 was raised for UNICEF to help their project to provide clean water in The Gambia.

The School Fête was as frenetic as usual. St. Alban’s children embraced the theme vigorously. An impressive selection of cowboys and Native American Indians graced the school lawns, manning an inventive assortment of over sixty Wild West themed games and stalls.

Hard work from a host of volunteer parents, as well as the children, resulted in St. Alban’s raising over £5000 which again was a

Year 3 thought about their immediate rural environment and talked about how their cultural identity is linked to their sense of place. For inspiration, the children considered how professional artists have responded to the English landscape, for example Edward Elgar, Beatrix Potter and the interpretation of her work by The Royal Ballet. The children in Year 4 considered how their cultural identity is linked to their sense of history through looking at myths and legends. They explored the legend of King Arthur and researched historical art forms such as tapestry, manuscript illustration and heraldry.

In Year 5, the children examined some of their cultural customs and drew links between their cultural identity and their sense of tradition. They explored traditional folk customs, in particular Morris Dancing and The Green Man. As well as the dance and music for the production, they created some wonderful outdoor sculptures. The broad cultural make up of Britain today provided the focus for Year 6. To consider how traditions, histories and the origins of other cultural groups all affect their cultural identity, they researched artists who fuse cultural art forms and took this inspiration into their own artistic experiments. The children looked at the impact that different historical and cultural influences can have on established arts and discussed the idea that a world culture is emerging.

Individual success in the arts was achieved by Catherine Nielson and Rosie Cant dancing at Her Majesty’s Theatre, London, Rosie was a winner in the Young Writer’s Academy poetry competition and for the third year running, The Flute Choir won at the Worcestershire Competitive Arts Festival.

ov NoteS

Rick Phillips (Cr 76 - 83) and Kate [North] Phillips (Co 81-83)

OV Notes

London Reunion

Friday 1st February

Over 120 OVs gathered at the RAF Club on Piccadilly for the 8th OV London Dinner, among us recent leavers, Honorary OVs and fellow OVs from as long ago as 1945. The evening started with Tim Keyes, catching up on how the school and our successors continue to flourish – even producing players for the England rugby side. Although it may only have been two years of my education that were spent at King’s, I certainly agree with the Headmaster’s belief that it is far more than academic education alone that the school offers (even if I never managed to represent the country). It was great to be reminded of those good years by being surrounded by King’s chat.

After an excellent meal, the President of the OV Club, Ian Smith (Cr 73-78), did a great job of

OV COMMITTEE 2008-09

President: Caroline [Horrigan] Krolikowski (Co 85-87)

Chairman: Roy Padden (Cl 45-52)

Headmaster: Timothy H Keyes (Hon OV)

Vice-Presidents: Gareth O’Hara (Ch 81-84)

Elizabeth [Alexander] Charman (Co 88-90)

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: James Mills (Cr 80-87)

Philip Mackie (Cl 73-84)

Rebecca Day (Co 81-84)

David Rosewarne (Cl 76-83)

Jenny [Clee] O’Bryan (Co 88-90)

Suzie Gilhooly (E 90-92)

Alex Thomas (Cl 85-94), Miranda Rennie (B 92-94), Tom Bawden (W 84-94), Claire Jones (Cr 92-94), Gary Murphy (Cr 87-94)

rounding up his first year of the committee, and not embarrassing his daughter, Kate (Cr 00-07) too much…

As a nod to the heady days of Images we five from ’94 trooped off to a nightclub (although, unlike the plastic pints of ‘blastaway’ offered in the nineties in Worcester, they asked what bottle of spirits we wanted brought to our table, at great expense). These things always seem a good idea at the time but are not: what was definitely a good idea was coming to the dinner.

Miranda Rennie (B 92-94)

Princeton Reunion

5th and 6th April

The charming university town of Princeton has been home to Michael Pimley, (H 61-71) his wife, Kim, and their son, Oliver, for over ten years.They most generously shared their beautiful home with 26 OVs and their guests for a memorable reunion weekend in April. It transpired that there was an ‘away’ team (from the UK) and a ‘home’ team (US-based OVs). The combination created a warm and vibrant occasion with the Headmaster, his wife Mary Anne, and the home

team helping to bring alive the King’s of today to those who have not seen for the school thirty years or more.

The two formal occasions of the weekend were a dinner on Saturday evening and a brunch on Sunday, both held in the special surroundings of the Pool Room and hosted by Michael and Kim. At other times a group visited the museum and art gallery on the Princeton University Campus and met informally in the Tap Room Bar at the Nassau Inn. Wherever people gathered there was a constant buzz of conversation, lots of laughter, a sharing of memories and current news of personal achievements. The away team

Princeton OV Reunion

were made to feel most welcome and the home team were warm in their praise for King’s both past and present.

To everyone who attended – you helped create a very special occasion. To Michael and Kim – your hospitality was simply superb. Thank you all.

Carol

Bawden

Director, Development Trust

1541 Society

The inaugural meeting of the 1541 Society was held on Wednesday, 30th April. Members met for lunch in Edgar Tower. Afterwards Sixth Form members of the Archivists Club asked questions about OVs’ memories of King’s and recorded their anecdotes to begin a lasting Oral Archive.

weekend. Application forms will appear nearer the day but as the event is becoming more and more popular we would advise early response.

RPM

Saturday - Reunion Day

105th Annual Reunion Weekend, Worcester

19th, 20th & 21st September

Friday - OV Golf

The sun certainly did shine on the righteous this year as 34 OV golfers once again descended on Upper Sapey Golf Club for the latest instalment in what has become a tremendously popular OV Golf Day. A mixture of three and four balls provided great entertainment for all involved and Stuart Preece (Ch 75-81) eventually emerging as the winner. Indeed Stuart’s individual score was so high that he carried his other team members, Richard Underwood (Ch 68-79) and Nick Hickey (Cr 72-79), to the team prize. After the golf, we were once again treated to the culinary delights of the Sapey Carvery and thereafter the jocular delights of John Shervington (Cl 73-83). Plans are already being made for Stuart to defend his trophy next year on the Friday of the OV

A regular feature of all Reunions in recent years has been groups of contemporaries coming together. Backed by administrative support from the FDO where needed, reunion groups flourished once again in 2008, all there celebrating a significant anniversary. Or using that as a convenient excuse to enjoy one other’s company! Groups this year were: 1st XV Rugby 48/49, led by Robin Jones; Class of 67, led by Brendan Boyle; 1st XV Rugby 77/78, led by Ian Smith; Class of 83 led by Kate [North] Phillips; Class of 93, led by Steve Perera; Class of 98, led by Jon Turner and Lauren Lawson-Pratt; 60th Anniversary of the OVCC, led by Alec and Phil Mackie. The Dining Hall was the first assembly point for many, with lapel badges issued to help with identification and prevent any gaffs! The one thing that has become obvious to those of us observing as regulars at the reunion is how quickly old friendships are reestablished and whether it be 5, 20, 40 years or more, the cohesion of year groups, and groups within groups is soon evident. After lunch, OVs were taken on guided tours around the entire campus, looking at all the things that have changed, allowing even more recent leavers to think: “It wasn’t like that in my day.” And yet there is so much about the whole of King’s that remains familiar, even to those of us who left 60 years ago. Some OVs even took to the Severn in the afternoon, re-living their glory days as stars of the Boat Club; and it was good to see amongst them Gerald Lindner,

rowing in an VIII with others and at not far off 80, three times the age of some of the younger crew members.

The AGM

The 2008 AGM was held in the Chappel Memorial Room; partners and guests of those attending the Meeting were invited to attend a reception, in the Cathedral Chapter House. Eighteen members assembled for the AGM, with Ian Smith taking the Chair. All stood in silent respect for a few moments after the names of eighteen OVs, whose deaths had been reported to the Club during the year, had been read out. There was one Apology for Absence. Printed copies of the Minutes of the 2007 AGM had been circulated and accepted as a true record of the Meeting; there were no matters arising not listed for discussion on the Agenda. The Hon Treasurer, John Potter, gave a detailed report of the Club’s finances; the overall picture was good, but the Club had a major liabilities arising from forward commitments to Vigornian subscribers, and that liability had to be covered by reserves. Subscriptions to the Vigornian magazine had been increased, with an annual payment option introduced. He thanked the FDO and Penny Hope from the Bursary for the help they had given him over the year. No change in the basic subscription was necessary presently, but an increase might be prudent in the near future. The 2007 Accounts were adopted [proposed, Donald Howell; seconded, Gerald Lindner].

Caroline Horrigan (Co 85-87) - now Mrs Krolikowski - was elected President, 2008-9 [proposed, Ian Smith; seconded, Roy Padden] and took over the Chair from Ian Smith, who left the room to receive his guests in the Chapter House. Elizabeth [Alexander] Charman (Co 88-90) was elected a Vice-President; Jenny [Clee] O’Bryan (E 88-90) and Suzie Gilhooly (E 90-92) were elected to serve on the Committee. Under AOB, Hugh Scurfield addressed the meeting, reminding those present of the School’s excellent record and present standing; he encouraged OVs to continue supporting the Development Trust. Money was necessary for capital projects and to support bursaries; currently the School was supporting nearly 80 students with bursaries of varying amounts. All this was good, and the generosity of OVs had been important as

Caroline Roslington, School Archivist and Hugh Scurfield (Cl 43-54), Chairman of the Development Trust

Andrew Robinson (Ch 67-77), Phil Warner (Ca 60-67) and Nick Fairlie (H 72-77)

surplus fee income was not sufficient to support the objectives of the Headmaster and Board of Governors. Caroline Krolikowski thanked Ian Smith, the Committee and the Headmaster for their support and closed the Meeting at 6.53pm.

The Reunion Dinner

Just short of 200 members and guests gathered in College Hall, this time with the tables and seating arranged to give extra room and freedom to move between tables. Prepared by Club volunteers, the Foundation Office and by Cara Roslington with her Archive team, the Hall had a welcoming feel to it. John Walton (Hon OV) acted as MC, enabling the President to concentrate on entertaining his guests and his own reunion group. Dinner began with Grace, said by the Revd Canon Francis Wooley. Guests of the President were: Mr Tim Keyes (Hon OV) and Mrs Mary Anne Keyes (Hon OV); the Revd Canon Francis Wooley (S 56-61), Guest Preacher; Mr Keith Bridges (Hon OV) and Mrs Jane Bridges (Hon OV); Mrs Barbara Curle (Hon OV) Mr Tim Curle (Cl 62-72); Mr Stewart Davies (Hon OV) and Mrs Vivien Davies; Mr Peter Diamond (Hon OV) and Mrs Rosemary Diamond (Hon OV); Mr Laurie Green (Cl 65-70), Governor and Mrs Josie Green; Mr Donald Howell (S 53-61), Chairman of the Governors and Mrs Pat Howell (Hon OV); Mr Paul Thompson (Hon OV); and representing the School, Rory Johnson, Head of School and Emma Robertson, Deputy Head. For the 2008 Dinner the Hall had been ‘turned sideways’ with the lectern for announcements and speeches placed in front of the World War II Memorial. Not only did this create more space on the floor but allowed diners easier access to the dais where Cara Roslington’s archive exhibition, concentrating on the reunion groups attending, was staged; as ever, the exhibition proved to be a huge attraction. Those attending and who had not already done so were encouraged to support the raffle, the proceeds of which were to be split between The Mike Stevens Fund, and the President’s chosen charity, AtaxiaUK. Gerald Lindner (S 43-46) was the winner of the Chapel Memorial Award as the oldest OV attending the Dinner, having kept in contact with the School and the Club for over 60 years. President Elect 2008-9, Caroline Krolikowski proposed the Toast of the School and in reply, the Headmaster was able to report another successful year: the Schools continued to stand tall on the education map of Worcestershire and beyond, with exemplary achievements in all parts of the wider education process. The only bad news Tim Keyes had to give out was the abandonment of the OVCC 60th Anniversary celebration match, due to be played on the County Ground on Sunday:

recent rains and flooding had left the pitch in an unplayable condition. The President thanked members of the FDO, Richard Underwood, Caroline Roslington, and all others who had contributed to making his year as President a pleasure and the evening a success. Special thanks were also due to Richards Sandy Accountants and to Hallmarks Solicitors who had sponsored the Dinner: Rob Richards (Cr 79-84) is the senior partner of Richards Sandy and Richard Wilkes (W 76-86) is a partner in Hallmarks.

Sunday - The Cathedral Service

OVs and guests assembled in the Cathedral, along with regular worshippers, for the 10.30am Eucharist Service. The preacher was the Revd Canon Francis Wooley, who had travelled from Cambridgeshire to attend the Reunion, and the service at the invitation of the Dean. Themes from the readings given earlier by OV President, Caroline Krolikowski, formed the basis of his sermon, which was both amusing and thoughtful. The service was followed by a reception, hosted by the Headmaster in the New Library. Unfortunately Canon Wooley had to leave after the service to travel on to another engagement, but other OVs enjoyed one last chance to be together. Tim Keyes explained to a number of OVs and guests the symbolism behind the stained glass panel in the foyer of the Library, the work of OV Tony Bolland (S 52-60) and due to be dedicated officially later the same week.

Mike Page

OV Netball

Saturday 20th

September

This promised to be a particularly competitive match with many of the 1st Team players having to play against their sisters and England U21 Squad member Sammi Perry making an appearance for the OV team. However, the girls kept their heads and their knowledge of one another’s playing style helped them steadily to gain control to win by 19-17.

OKB

OVCC

The OV cricket team had a good season. There was a concerted effort to rebuild after the floods and relegation in 2007 and the

loss of our best player and captain, Arti Fiaz, to Ombersley. The First XI narrowly missed out on promotion from Division Four South, finishing in third place. The Seconds were more consistent and were second in the corresponding secondXI league. The Sunday side had slightly more lows than highs but played some enjoyable games (against tougher opposition than in recent years) and there were very strong performances throughout the season from the club’s younger players.

Keith hitchcock’s first Xi in the early 1950s

The only real low came in September when a special 60th anniversary cricket match, which had been organised to take place at the County ground, had to be cancelled because of more unseasonal flooding. It was a huge disappointment as so many former players had planned to attend and some were intending to play. The school has, however, produced a wonderful 60th anniversary booklet. You can order a copy from the Development Office. We hope to rearrange the match for next season, though it may have to be played at King’s rather than the County Ground.

Tom Weston, with help from Liam Fahy and James Bader, took over the captaincy of the First XI this season. As far as I am aware, he is the youngest ever first-XI captain. Without Arti Fiaz and with the longest injury list in recent memory (half a dozen regular players suffered lengthy layoffs), the third-place finish was a considerable

Back Row: Sammi (B 00-07) and Elizabeth Perry, Alice (O 00-07) and Issy Hershman Front Row: Sophie (Cl 96-07) and Emmie Le Marchand

achievement. The OVs arguably had the best bowling attack in Division Four. Azmat Fiaz (Arti Fiaz’s brother), Charlie Daniell, Adam Phillips, Steve Protherough, Will Smith and Rowan Davison all bowled superbly.

Sam Cullen made a strong impression with bat and ball. It was batting frailties that ultimately cost the side promotion.

Steve Poole, Osman Fiaz, James Bader and Duncan Hughes all scored well, but only rarely did all four score on the same day, and it was even rarer for the lower order to make a meaningful contribution.

Dave Mendham dominated the Second XI with both bat and ball. Tim Race, Paul Judge, Will Ballard and Phil Mackie all made invaluable contributions. Unfortunately Mackie was often called up to the firsts and when he and Mendham were unavailable, the Seconds struggled. Nonetheless finishing second was a terrific performance.

occasional spinner; Preece bowls accurate leftarm medium pace. Lower remove Dougie Arnot made a big impression with his left-arm spin and his enthusiasm both on and off the pitch. Will

The Sunday side was built around captain Dan Wheeler, James Gommersall, who batted and fielded superbly all year, and the veterans Andrew Judd and Nic Sproson. The main problem the Sunday side has was being able to select the same team in consecutive weeks.

Twenty five OVs spent a happy week in Devon at the beginning of July. Everyone played at least one game and we were blessed with some of the best weather of the summer. Tim Race won the award for Tourist of the Year, for his stamina both on and off the pitch. Paul Judge came a close second.

There are match reports and photos from every game on our website http://oldvigornians. play-cricket.com/home/ - we’re gradually putting all the information on from previous seasons, too. We have a dearth of material from the 1980s and early 90s, so if anyone has any photos, please let me, or the Development Office know.

This year we fielded more young players than at any time in the previous decade.The youngest, Harry Hodgetts, Miten Patel & Charlie Lamb were all in the Lower Fourth. Niels Emmerson, George Preece and Alex Spring all showed great maturity and ability - though they were still in the Upper Fourth. Emmerson bowls tidy legspin; Spring is an accomplished batsman and

Lucas, from the Upper Remove bowled some devastating spells. When he fills out and gains some more pace he will be a real handful: he can already hit the ball a long way. Fifth formers Harry Iddon, Hiten Patel and Rhodri Dawes showed their promise and made debuts for the first eleven. Dawes’ innings against Canon Frome was one of the best of the season. Tom Gwynne, the school captain, made his league debut, and we hope will play more often when he returns from Australia next summer along with Tom Bryant. Rich Winwood made an auspicious debut against Nacton, and we hope he, too, will play more often when he’s down from University next year. A dozen students also played, most have already been mentioned.

Award (the Panter Shield) for the second time. James Gommersall, who has scored 498 runs this season, was presented with the Sunday Player of the Season by club captain, Phil Mackie. Steve Poole won the Mackie Cup for the Performance of the season - his 165 not out against Barnard’s Green.

Phil Mackie, OV

OVFC

The OV Football Club, established by Paul Judge and Tom Guest in 2006, endured a difficult first year, finishing third bottom of Division 4 in its debut season. Last term, however, (after a rigorous summer fitness regime) the club excelled, winning all but two of its 24 league games and topping Division 4 by 15 points.

L to r roy northall, vice-chairman of the Worcesteshire fA, presenting the Worcester League Division 4 trophy to paul Judge (W 83-93), tom guest (s 90-97), Jim reece , Dan Kendrick (o 93-98), sunny shejipal , rich galloway (o 87-95) and tim race (o 88-93).

And OVs have continued the good form into this season in Division 3, drawing 1-1 in its first league game against a solid Anchor team, before beating Perdiswell 5-0 and Villagers 3-2 to move into the top three in the table.

Leading scorers so far are Will Smith and Ollie Mathew, with three goals each, and the evergreen Rich Wilkes with two. Joe O’Connor has also notched one from midfield.

Congratulations to Dave Mendham who won the Bailey Cup for the Player of the Season. Dave was leading run scorer and wicket taker. Will Smith won the Young Player of the Year

Other team regulars include Alex Cross in goal, Tim Race, Sunny Kumar, Geoff Ballard, Jon Squire and Tom Squire in defence, Pete Gill, Danny Kearney, Julius Baghdadi and captain Dan Kendrick in midfield, with Luke Turner also performing well up front.

Dan Kendrick, OV

David Mills (H 48-53) – OV, Governor, Trustee

David Mills has retired as a Governor and Trustee of the School after 64 years of association as pupil, parent, OV and Governor over which time he made a significant contribution to the development and running of the school. After a 64-year association with King’s through three generations of Mills, the family is immensely proud of my father’s contribution to the success of the School today. Long before he joined the Board of Governors he was an active parent; there can be few people in Worcester or even pupils that haven’t been persuaded to purchase a remnant from the King’s School Fete carpet stall! On a more serious note, my father has always been a leading contributor within the local community and as Governor he has taken tremendous pride in helping to secure the future of the School that has served his family so well. He may be retiring from the Board, but I have no doubt that he will continue to be an active supporter.

Stewart Mills (S 70-78)

David Mills chaired the School’s Health and Safety Committee for fourteen years. With his manufacturing background, David was ideally suited to this role and those who have sat on his committee will agree that his approach could be described as friendly but brisk!

All incidents brought to the committee’s attention were dealt with thoroughly with a view to learning from experiences, both good and bad, and avoiding the ‘blame culture’ wherever possible. A key concern was to ensure that risk assessments and the policies and procedures necessary to underpin the school’s approach to Health and Safety were in place. The business of a Health and Safety committee varies enormously from the very serious to the relatively mundane. There is a danger that an apparently trivial issue can conceal a more important point; David was always aware of this and would drill down if he felt an item contained unfinished business. It was all done with a smile and a sense of humour, so that the committee’s time was used effectively and its business was covered in sufficient depth

became chairman of the school’s Health and Safety Committee and in 1998 he was appointed to the governors’ Finance and General Purposes Committee. He took a leading role in the establishment of the Foundation Development Office and was a Trustee of the Development Trust. On his retirement as a governor in July this year, David wrote generously that his time on the King’s governing body had been one of the most satisfying periods of his life. He repaid us handsomely in giving King’s 19 years of devoted and loyal service. We benefited greatly from his wide experience and invariably cheerful downto-earth approach. I thank him most warmly and wish both David and his wife Margaret a long and happy retirement.

Donald Howell (S 53-61), Chairman of Governors

Galen Bartholomew, Bursar

David Mills was a King’s Scholar and a boarder (H 44-53). As Production Director of Brintons, the prestigious Kidderminster carpet manufacturing company, an OV and father of two OVs, he was very appropriately qualified to join our governing body in 1989. In 1994 he

In 2001 when a full-time Foundation Development Office was established, the school was setting out on an unknown journey. The two guiding objectives of the office were to build relationships with the school community and encourage philanthropic gifts for bursaries and capital development. But who would lead the school into this new territory? David, with his affection for, and commitment to King’s took up the challenge. Throughout the whole learning

process, David was a rock of support in everything that we did – he guided us with a gentle but firm hand. He recognised from the outset how important it was to value OVs, parents, staff and friends of the school and to make sure that they knew this. He was conscious of the sensitivities and difficulties involved in fundraising and always led by example. And it was all done with a warm smile and a wry humour that helped keep our feet firmly on the ground. King’s is fortunate indeed to have had such a man at this crucial time. Personally, I am indebted to David for all his support and encouragement and wish both him and Margaret a very happy ‘retirement’.

Carol Bawden, Director of the Development Trust

With all the pressures on a Head of a school these days, it makes a huge difference to have a supportive governing body. There is no-one who has been more generous in his friendship and support than David. He and Margaret have been hosts to Mary Anne and me in their home on many occasions. He has been delightful company twice on visits to the USA for OV reunions. I shall greatly miss his wise and practical contributions at governors’ meetings, based on his deep understanding of and affection for this school. I shall always be grateful for his readiness to take on a special task on behalf of King’s. Despite his commitments to many other organisations to whom he gives freely of his time, he has never turned down a request for help. His part in getting the Foundation Development Office off the ground, in patiently leading a committee of staff to sensible and sound conclusions in a Pay and Conditions review (a daunting task!) and in overseeing Health and Safety at the school, in addition to the many other obligations of the role of governor, constitute a degree of involvement and commitment that no school has a right to expect from one person. I am deeply grateful for his unstinting generosity of spirit towards King’s. In seeing him less often from now on, I shall really miss those twinkling eyes and the infectious laugh. He has the gift of making people feel good about themselves. He and Margaret will always be very welcome guests at King’s. They have become very special friends to me and to the school.

David Mills (H 48-53)

Caroline Horrigan (Co 85-87) and Andrzej Krolikowski

* Paul Gould (K 91-96) and Anna Molle

Rebecca Birtwhistle (Cl 91-98) and Toby Smith (staff 03-07)

Robert Stringer (Cr 87-97) and Angela Brady

Ashley Haynes (B 91-96) and Carlie Thelwell

Mark Foster (Cr 94-96) and Susie Wallace

Sarah Stratton (O 96-01) and Simon Day

Georgina Dalton (W 93-99) and Kristian Hampshire

* Photography by Angela Lloyd-James (Co 78-80)

*Left to right standing: Debra Parker (0 91-98), James Newby (Cr 90-98), Claire Gilbert (W 96-98), Emma Sargent (W 95-98 ), Daniel Pawsey (O 91 -98) was best man, the Bride Zoe Witowski (Cr 91-98) and the Groom Ben Cox (O 88- 98), Jeannie Needham ( K 92--99), Sam Pearse (Ch 92-97), Jenny Pearse (née Hall, W 96-98), Tom Cox (O 95-00), Will Leah.Left to right kneeling: Toby Smith (Staff 03-07), Rebecca Smith (née Birtwhistle Ch 91-98), Lauren Lawson-Pratt (Ch 91-98, now staff), Brendan Rolle-Rowan (S 93-98), Rose Rolle-Rowan (née Panter, S 91-98).

Rob O’Neill (Cl 82-89) and Kathy Flitton

Sarah [Edwards] (Co 87-89) and Chris Flowers

Deaths and Obituaries

Peter Stretton (Ca 25-31)

Tony Averill (H 27-34)

Richard Fyson (Ch 31-34)

Ronald Dowdell (DB 32-34)

John Francis (DB 32-37)

Frank Lawrey (H 33-35)

Ian Glover (Ca 34-37)

Martin Anstey (DB 34-39)

CM (Colin) Meade-King (Staff 35-38)

Trevor Layton (H 37-40)

Christopher Sampson (S 37-42)

Roy Gill (DB 38-44)

Freeman Payne (DB 42-46)

Richard Martindale (H 44-47)

Ray Godsall (DB 42-50)

David Canin (H 48-53)

Peter Grieves (Cl 48-58)

Tony Jerram (50-55)

Christopher Eames (H 54-60)

Michael Stokes (W 58-65)

Michael Butler (Staff 58-61)

Alistair Watson (W 59-62)

Tessa Penn (Twinberrow) (Co 77-79)

Andrew Dolton (Cl 74-79)

Obituaries for Tessa Penn and Andrew Dolton will be in the next edition of The Vigornian.

PeteR stRetton (Ca 26-31) tHe oldest ov

GWP Stretton passed away peacefully on 13th May 2008, aged 95 years. Peter was the oldest living OV. Issue 21, December 2007 contained a letter describing his memories of the school and subsequent career as a chemist. Peter, who is survived by two sons and a daughter, greatly appreciated his association with the school and contact with King’s Connect.

Geoff Stretton (son)

RiCHaRd fyson (31-34)

Born in India, but schooled in the UK, Richard left King’s in 1935, attended the Imperial Service College and then joined the Navy, where he rose quickly through the ranks and took part in some of the major early engagements of the war at sea. Later in the war he volunteered for special service and was trained in beach reconnaissance. His skills in that field were put to good effect when he took command of the secret and elite No 2 Combined Operations Pilotage Party, that reconnoitred enemy-held coastal positions, then guided in the commando attack to best effect. This was in the closing stages of the war in the Mediterranean. He was awarded a DSC for his leadership, skill and resourcefulness in clandestine operations. In 1947 he left the Navy and moved to Oxfordshire, taking up a career as a cabinetmaker, making furniture for, among others, the Bodleian Library and St George’s chapel,Windsor. Also he found time to be active in a number of

community affairs, including membership of the Rural Industries Board and as a councillor for Witney Rural District. Richard married Isabella Marguerite Payne, and they had five children.

Daily Telegraph 3/1/08

Colin MaRtin Meade-King (staff 35-38)

Colin was at King’s for three years on his way up the teaching career ladder that was to take him to the headmastership of Plymouth College in 1955. Known to his colleagues in Plymouth as MK – and to the boys as ‘Butch’ (apparently from the Tom and Jerry cartoons) - Colin was to be a much-respected Headmaster for 18 years. Regarded as strict but always fair, he commanded rather than demanded respect from the Common Room, the Governors, the pupils and the wider community. His name is perpetuated at Plymouth by the naming of Meade-King Hall shortly after his retirement, a building that was very much one of his own projects. With typical modesty, he made little of his many and widely recognised achievements at Plymouth with the comment: “I think with shame about all those things I intended to do in 1955 and never managed to tackle.”

Southern Cathedrals Festivals.

Trevor died at the age of eighty-five after a long illness. He is survived by his wife, Pauline.

Information supplied by Peter Oades, OV

CHRistoPHeR saMPson (s 37-42)

Plymouth Herald 16/05/08

Colin Meade-King was an energetic coach of both rugby and cricket, (and an Oxford Cricket Blue himself). He was popular with players because he encouraged interest in both games by arranging days out to watch or play matches away from the usual school timetable.

Ronald Anstey, OV

Colin Meade-King was always kind and friendly. My most vivid memory is of him abandoning a French lesson on the day of the Anschluss of Austria by Germany to give us a full explanation of the historical background, which he felt it was important for us to understand. It was most interesting.

Dr Gerald Jones, OV

tRevoR layton (H 37-40)

Having been a chorister at Salisbury Cathedral School, Trevor came to King’s as a scholar in 1937 to live in Hostel until the evacuation took him to Criccieth and lessons in a hotel room. Later he served in the RAF and after the war became a solicitor, practising in London. We both had a long involvement with the Salisbury School Association and met over the years at the

Setting aside further education Chris joined the RAF after leaving King’s and saw active service as a bomb aimer, serving in Coastal Command. The war over, he went to Trinity College, Dublin and took a degree in modern languages, French and German; Classical Studies were more a penance for him than a pleasure, but did serve to train his mind. He taught in Monmouth and Hull, staying in Hull for some time because it had a large Danish community, and his wife was Danish. He added Danish and Russian to the list of languages in which he was fluent. He moved on to become a College of Education lecturer and an examiner in German, being responsible for setting up the Northern Examining Board’s German GCSE. His first wife died in 1964, but he re-married and he and his wife Rachel had two children. Chris was a devoted family man and also actively involved in the local community, being a founder member of the Knutsford Town Twinning Association, a Samaritan, secretary of the district Scouts, the allotment Society, and involved actively with the local church as well as other activities. He played tennis until well into his seventies.

He was a lovely man, kind and brave; we have been very lucky, and we knew it. Chris died on August 20th 2007 after a short illness. Guided by his quiet but firm Christian faith he had asked for an uplifting funeral service to celebrate his life rather than mourn his passing. As well as two children we have been blessed with two grandchildren.

Rachel Sampson, Widow

Christopher Sampson (S 37-42)

Roy gill (38-44)

Roy followed his father, Frank, to King’s and then joined him in the family agriculturalmachinery-hire business. With the passage of time the business concentrated more and more on the plant-hire side and Frank Gill & Son (Plant Hire) became the premier name in that field in the Pershore area. In later years Roy sold the controlling interest in the company and then concentrated on small-tools hire, a business which once again he built up to be the leader in the Pershore area. That company he ran for several years (counting amongst his customers the OV Club Hon Sec), retiring eventually to Peopleton, where he and his wife Diana took an active part in local village and church life until his death.

Mike Page, OV

JoHn fReeMan Payne (dB 42-46)

John Freeman Payne died on March 21st of this year. He attended the King’s School from 1942 to 1946, when he received his certificate. He kept in touch with a number of fellow students for years. We lived at Huntlands in Whitbourne and travelled by train every day, he to King’s and I to the AO.

Freeman worked with a printing company for a number of years then when he heard that the business would be moving to Florida he decided to make a change. While still with the company he returned to college, completed the requirements for teaching and taught at a local high school. He enjoyed his career with the teenagers. What patience! And they loved him. He worked until he was seventy because he just did not want to retire.

Every summer he travelled all over the place as sailing was a major joy for him: down to the Caribbean sea, up north around Canada, always off somewhere. He also enjoyed going for summer courses at Cambridge: he loved a challenge.

Freeman never married but had many wonderful friends and was always busy! He was a great brother and uncle to my three children and four grandchildren.

Jennifer Wilson (Payne), sister

RayMond fRanCis godsall (dB 42-50)

Ray Godsall, who died suddenly in 2007, was an all-round sportsman at King’s in the immediate post-war years where he played fives, rugby and cricket. It was in cricket which he excelled for the Old Vigornians CC.

Following National Service, he trained as a teacher at the Teachers’ Training College at Henwick, Worcester (now the University of

Worcester) and his first teaching appointment was at Nunnery Wood Secondary School, Worcester.

In the 1950s and early sixties, Ray played cricket for the OVs. He was a prolific batsman and agile wicketkeeper, regarded by team members and opponents alike as one of the best club players of that era.

Ray captained the Club during the early sixties before moving to play for Colwall, whom he also captained before retiring from the game. Ray was Headmaster of Drakes Broughton Middle School, Worcestershire, for 12 years until he retired from the profession.

Ray lived at Newland near Malvern where he was Chairman of the Parish Council and Chairman of the governing body of the local school at Madresfield following his retirement. He was much loved and respected member of his local community and is sadly missed by all his contemporaries from King’s, and the OVCC.

Alec Mackie, OV

During an Army career of more than 30 years, he saw service in Jamaica, Guyana, Belize, Germany, Gibraltar, Cyprus, Libya, Sudan, Zimbabwe and, memorably, Sabah, as well as Northern Ireland. He retired from the Army as LieutenantColonel, and then enjoyed a second career at GCHQ, Cheltenham.

Originally a Fladbury boy, he died suddenly in his garden in Badsey on 3rd April this year, leaving a widow, Barbara, whom he married in 1973. There were no children. He served as President of the OV Club in the Millennium Year.

James Jerram (Cl 50-58)

PRofessoR MiCHael ButleR (staff 58 -61)

a l o JeRRaM (CR 50-55)

Tony Jerram was the eldest of three dayboy brothers at King’s in the 1950s. After school, he went on to Sandhurst, and was commissioned with the Worcestershire Regiment, where OVs were well represented in the Officers’ Mess.

I last saw Michael (‘Bod’) Butler in the autumn of 1970, in the old arts block of Birmingham University. I had recently graduated with a degree in German, and was about to start on my Cert. Ed year, with a view to teaching German and as little French as possible. He was just embarking on what was to be a long and extremely distinguished career at Birmingham. Ten years earlier, Bod had been my first German teacher. Faced in the Lower Remove with a choice of the ‘3 Gs’ – Geography, German or Greek – I had opted for German. Little did I know then that Bod would kindle in me a life-long interest in that language. He was born in Nottingham in 1935 and from there went to Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, where he graduated in 1957. He took a diploma of education at Trinity College, Oxford, then took up his first teaching post – at King’s – in 1958. It was during his three years here that he married Jean Griffith. After teaching a year in Pforzheim (1961-62), he returned to the UK as head of German at Ipswich School, where he taught for eight years. In 1970 he was appointed a lecturer at Birmingham. Which – as they used to say in the days when there were continuous performances in cinemas – ‘is where we came in.’ He gained his doctorate – on Max Frisch – in 1973. Developing his talents as a teacher, researcher, administrator and, eventually, public orator, he became a senior lecturer in 1980 and was awarded a personal chair in modern German literature in 1986. He led the German Department at Birmingham from 1984 until 2001, and was a prominent figure in university life. His honours included his election as vice-president, then president, of the Conference of University Teachers of German (1994-99), the conferring of a Doctor of Letters by the University of Cambridge (1998), and the Cross of the Order of merit (Bundesverdienstkreuz) of Germany (1999). Michael Butler officially retired in 2001, but he continued to contribute to the life of the department and the university as an

emeritus professor. He listed his hobby in ‘Who’s Who’ as ‘avoiding retirement’. Nice one!

Elis Jones OV

MiCHael stoKes (58-65)

Mike Stokes had a very successful time at King’s: he went on to A level; he became a School Monitor and a sergeant in the Army section of the CCF; a keen sportsman, he was a regular of the 1st XV and Captain of Tennis. On leaving King’s he entered the property world, going on to become a Chartered Surveyor, eventually running his own business. He was an enthusiastic participant in the Class of ’65 40-year reunion in 2005 and enjoyed being back in contact with old friends. Mike was keen to help organise another reunion of our year, and we had started making plans when he informed me he had terminal cancer, and his life expectancy was measured in months only. He died in August 2008. I am grateful to his wife Tricia who volunteered to prepare the piece below at what must have been a very distressing time.

Mike Page, OV

Michael always involved himself with organisations dedicated to helping others whether it was Round Table, 41 Club or Rotary. He was president of Stafford Castle Rotary 2007/2008 although he was forced to hand over to his successor earlier than he would have wanted because of his illness. During his year he was instrumental in many projects including the distribution of aquaboxes, maintenance work at a school for pupils with special needs and the provision of computer software for the local branch of The Samaritans. Michael was passionate about Worcester Rugby Club and would have loved the new stand. His other passions were golf, growing vegetables and enjoying real beer. Michael was an honest, loyal and trustworthy man. He had high ethical standards in his professional life as a Chartered Surveyor. He was a loving husband and father, and a true gentleman.

Tricia Stokes, Widow

I knew Mike Stokes only for a short period as we shared a passion, and adjacent seats, at Worcester Warriors for about the last three years of his life. Mike was very easy to build a friendship with quickly. He came across as an optimist (that has helped in the first few seasons in the Premiership!) and a man who would not let things get him down. It seemed typical of him that when his illness, and its likely outcome, was diagnosed, his concern was to ensure that Tricia got a decent seat in the new East Stand, would be surrounded by people she knew, and would carry on supporting the Warriors.

Ian Smith, OV

OV News

1940s

Peter W. Prestage (Ch 41-49)Peter and Gill (née Browne, ex Alice Ottley) reached their ‘golden’ wedding anniversary on 11th January 2008 and celebrates on the Isles of Rarotonga and Aitutaki in the South Pacific.

1950s

Francis Burns (Cr 42-50) Francis is still involved with Robert Dover’s Cotswold Olimpick Games, held annually on Dover’s Hill above Chipping Campden and recognised by the BOA. He suggests you go to www.olimpickgames.co.uk to find out more.

Peter A.D. Brown (H 49-56) Editor of the Vigornian 1955-56 Peter is still living in SW France and occupies his time designing websites, running an on-line business selling silk jackets and accessories, sailing, painting, and moderating ArtForums.co.uk.

For the second year running, Peter came second in the international ‘painting in the street’competition in Auvillar. He was the webmaster for the 2003 Hostel Centenary website which has had over 1,250 visitors and, as it continues to have ‘hits’, it has remained on the web. Peter is still in touch with those with whom he rowed in the First IV 1956. He was Secretary of the King’s Art Circle and used to go out painting landscapes with Meriel Kittermaster and the late Miff Campbell. He keeps up the friendship with Meriel Kittermaster, who is living in a retirement home in Dorset.

1960s

Tony Culyer (Ch 57-61) Tony Culyer has found a reason for prolonging his and Siegi’s stay in Toronto for a few more years: he has accepted a newly-created post as Ontario Chair in Health Policy and System Design at the University of Toronto. His connections with York and NICE continue. They live right downtown near the St Lawrence market and the email address is tonyandsiegi@sympatico.ca.

Aedan Kerney (B 56-63) I have just completed 40 years teaching music at Boundstone Community College in Lancing. I became an MBE and was given the Lifetime Achievement Teaching Award for S.E. England, both in 2004. My wife, Jill, son, Damian, and daughter, Rebekah, are all teachers. Our first grandchild, Emma, was born in January.

Nigel Davies (S 59-63) I retired 4 1/2 years ago from our post office and newsagent’s business, after 9 years, moving from suburban Hale, Altrincham, to the Pendle area near Burnley to be in the country. I have spent 3 very happy years there, becoming Parish Councilor, P.C.C. member and verger at St Peter’s Church, Burnley. I even started to learn to play the organ. However, Pendle proved too far away for family left behind in Hale so I returned a year ago. I have just been elected Churchwarden at St. Peter’s Church, Hale. I am also a very proud grandfather to 2 girls, aged 7 and 5 yrs.

Andrew Jameson [Fizzog] (Cr 51-58) I’m living in Gilbert Road, Malvern and would be happy to see OVs if they like to get in touch (on 01684 572466). Old friends will be gobsmacked to know that I’ve joined the Society of Friends (Quakers) and am helping to organise Malvern Quaker Week at the moment. I’m retired but still lecturing on Russian language and culture, and “How to be a professional translator”. My wife Melanie is a dyslexia specialist and helping to improve the treatment of dyslexic people in the British legal system. Still no grandchildren, dammit, anybody got one spare?

Michael Coley (Ch 57-64) I still live in Gunning, a village in rural New South Wales, 40 miles north of Canberra and 150 miles southwest of Sydney. Since retiring from full time work in 1998, I have pursued community work in health, tourism and economic development, and the arts. I was recently appointed to the Greater Southern Area Health Advisory Council and elected to Upper Lachlan Shire Council (michael. coley@bigpond.com).

Bernard Leeman (Ca 59-64) I’m working in Shanghai, China. My new book, due for publication in January 2009, is Mandela, Sobukwe, Leballo and Mokhehle. I recently enjoyed linking up in Australia with Chris Barlow (Ca 59-64), who has

Tony Culyer (Ch 57-61)

Peter Brown (H 49-56)

just retired as CEO of Melbourne Airport.

Graeme Mulcahy (Cl 56-65) Hello from Cartagena, Colombia! My wife and I are currently travelling extensively by yacht. Having crossed the Atlantic at the beginning of 2007, we travelled through the Lesser Antilles and up to the Eastern Seaboard of the USA last year. This year we have visited The Dominican Republic, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, and Venezuela, eventually arriving here in Colombia. Our plan is to transit the Panama Canal early next year and cross the Pacific to Australia.

Martyn Pellew (S 62-66) Martyn is Group Development Director for local harbour authority plus logistics and port services operators PD Ports Limited based in the North East. He is a Deputy Lieutenant of the county of Durham and chairman of the Tees Valley Chamber of Commerce. He also has nonexecutive directorships of Pearson-Harper Ltd and Business and Enterprise North East Ltd. but still finds time to fit in regular golf.

Nicholas Cleobury (Ch 58-68) I have just conducted Jonathan Dove’s FLIGHT for British Youth Opera and as well as UK concerts in the near future will conduct in Lithuania, Albania, Denmark and Israel. I shall also direct a Come and Sing the Faure Requiem in College Hall on March 7th 2009. For more information about this, please see www.NicholasCleobury.net.

David Gale (Cr 59-69) David has lived in Lyme Regis since 2005 and continues to work parttime as a freelance construction consultant.

1970s

Geraint Davies (Cl 65-72) Geraint Davies, the founder of Montfort International plc and current Managing Director, established in 1982 in Perth Western Australia what was to become one of Australia’s leading financial-planning companies of that period, specialising in Australian financial advice for UK emigrants. In 1992, Geraint returned to the UK to form Montfort International plc. This was to be the very first UK-to-Australia (or any country for that matter) pension-transferand-financial-migration advice service. He now commutes between UK and Australia and New Zealand.

Tim Lovegrove (Cl 66-74) I’m still with the British Heart Foundation in Stratford upon Avon raising funds for heart medicine (I have been with the foundation since 2002). I myself had ‘keyhole’ surgery in the summer at Warwick hospital where the staff were wonderfully kind and clever. I am now happily recovered and have returned to cycling and fitness training.

Clive Marks (S 69-74) It is with great pleasure that, at the age of 51, I am able to announce to my fellow Vigornians that I have finally become engaged. Never having been married before,

I must be one the oldest Vigornians to get engaged. Mark and I met almost a year ago and went to Paris for Easter. The photo was taken by a passer-by immediately after we had become engaged. Apologies for the Teletubby-style aerial apparently sticking out of my head! We plan

to have our Civil Partnership next April, with a grand picnic, and then start our honeymoon with a trip on the Orient Express.

Peregrine Letcher (S 74-77) Peregrine has been head of Paul Jackson Estate Agents in Lymington since taking over the business in 1992. He celebrated 20 years of marriage to Elaine in August 2008 and they have three children: Sarah-Jane (16), Eleanor (13) and James (11).

Simon Oldroyd (Cr 72-77)

Simon is still married to Gill (sister of A J Boyle (Cr 70-77)) after 28 years and is now groupsales and marketing director for a ‘design and build’ company. Eldest son, Jamie, has just graduated from Durham with first-class honours and youngest son, Ben, is at Oxford. Simon is somewhat bemused as those who knew him will testify that he never let academic achievement get in the way of his education!

Piers Letcher (S 73-78) Over the past decade

Piers has continued to divide his time between writing guidebooks (Croatia is now in its third edition [Bradt Travel Guides] and has been published this year in Italian and Polish); writing speeches and other materials for the SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations’ specialized agency for communications, ITU; writing corporate communications for a diverse range of clients from Switzerland, the Middle East, the USA and the UK; and writing occasional pieces for the Guardian as well as other (mainly) UK-based publications. In April he celebrated 10 wonderful years of marriage with Sarah Parkes, who also together they spend half their time bringing up Piers’s children from his first marriage, Brice (14) and Alec (13). After 25 years in France, Piers and Sarah have just had their applications for French

nationality accepted.

Nikki [Townsend] Bradshaw-Smith (Co 76-78) I’m now living in Kings Bromley, Staffs in 1790s farmhouse with husband, Charles, and four children, although two are now at university. My brain is slowing clearing so I’m returning to more regular Educational Psychology work for Staffordshire LEA from September. My particular interest is in autism-spectrum disorder.

Richard Jeynes (Ch 69-79) I have just returned from leading an expedition to Morocco. The expedition was searching for the remains of ‘lost’

Geraint Davies (Cl 65-72)

Piers Letcher (S 73-78) and family

Clive Marks (S 69-74)

Foreign Legion outposts and was very challenging. I shall be giving a talk on the expedition at the Royal Geographical Society in London in November.

1980s

Ian McAndrew (W 74-81) Ian is living in Rome running language schools. He is married to Aurelia and they have one son, Alexander.

James F S Larkin (S 74-81) James was appointed as Director of the Radiation and Health Physics Unit at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg at the beginning of the year.

Peter Turner (W 77-82) I am currently based in Brussels, working in European Commission with responsibility for aid programmes in Afghanistan and travelling to Afghanistan periodically. Most

including as head of the UK-Government aid programme in Kosovo.

Rick Phillips (Cr 76 - 83) and Kate [North] Phillips (Co 81-83) are now living in Cairo, Egypt with their 3 children: Anna(14yrs), Joe (12yrs) and Sam (9yrs). Rick continues to work for Actis Private Equity. Kate is researching a guidebook, which involves generally exploring and swanning around the city.

Christopher Bennett (Ca 77-84) Christopher has now been living in Jersey since May 2000 with Zeph and son, Max, (10). He runs Dominion Real Estate, which he founded three years ago and is also a Judge at Jersey horse-racing meetings.

Caroline Horrigan (Co 85-87) The wedding of Caroline Horrigan to Andrzej Krolikowski took place on 19th April 2008 at Worcester Register Office. OVs in attendance at the ceremony were

an evening reception at Whitbourne Village Hall. Caroline and Andrzej honeymooned in Morocco and Cornwall.

Andrew Underwood (S 77-88) Andrew continues to enjoy life back in Worcestershire and is pleased to see some of his other OV contemporaries “seeing the light” and moving back for the delights of country living! With 3 young children (all girls 3,6 and 9!) life tends to be very busy but equally rewarding. In September Andrew and various other OVs (including staff members Messrs Roberts and Mason) joined in celebrating with Fanos Hira his 40th birthday; a great night was had by all and surely sets the tone for celebrating a few other OV 40ths over the coming years? Andrew is enjoying supporting the school through his involvement in the King’s School Development Trust, whilst juggling his career at KPMG, where this year he has been made a Partner in the Advisory practice.

Marianne Bell (Co 87-89) Never a dull moment here with twin boys (Henry and Toby – now 2) brothers to Isobel (5). I returned to work as Editor of BBC Radio Berkshire in search of some sanity! I’m living in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire with my husband, Jim.

Sarah [Edwards] Flowers (Co 87-89) Sarah finally left the UK in April 2006 and returned to her childhood home, the Southern Highlands of Tanzania. Since arrival in-country, Sarah has been employed as Operations Manager for a local company, managing two tea transport contracts, a mechanical tea harvesting project and more than 2,000 ha of forest.

On March 15th 2008 Sarah married Chris Flowers, a tea planter, at St John’s Church, Mufindi. Despite being held in the middle of the wet season, the wedding day was uninterrupted by rain, which was very fortunate or many guests may have found themselves stuck on the dirt roads. The ceremony was a traditional Anglican service, led by an old Tanzanian friend of the family and was followed by an equally traditional Southern Highlands booze up. The marquee was transported 650km for the event, but more significantly, the wedding cake was moved in three separate cars over 50km of very rough road and still managed to arrive undamaged. The bride and groom left the church on board a log haulage trailer!

As well as a substantial crowd from the surrounding area, guests also traveled from the UK, Australia and USA. Amongst these was Kirsten Wrigley (Co 1987-89), who did a fantastic job of the bride’s hair and make up –despite starting with a very rough, old canvas!

Dr and Mr Flowers continue to reside on Itona Estate with their two fat Tankanyika Terriers!

Bruce Haines (Cr 84-89) Since 1996, Bruce Haines has worked as an exhibition curator at

four of the UK’s major public art institutions. In 2006 he founded Ancient & Modern (www. ancientandmodern.org), a commercial gallery in London, representing contemporary artists as well as showing the work of other historically interesting figures. His next project is as Curator of the Wales Pavilion at the Venice Biennale of Art in 2009.

Rob O’Neill (Cl 82-89) Rob married Kathy Flitton on Saturday 21st June 2006 at St Mary’s Church West Chiltinton, Sussex. The reception was at Duncton Mill, Petworth. The best man was Ross Coley (B 83-90). Other OVs present were Keith Norman (K 83-90), Tim Armstrong

boy, Zachary Alfred, on September 10th adding to the family a little brother for Wallace and Minnie.

Toby Moody (K 80-91) I continue to be a TVMotorsports commentator for the MotoGP championship after 13 years, plus other events such as Le Mans 24 hours and Dakar Rally. I’m also writing for autosport.com, presenting major events for two and four-wheeled manufacturers. I’m still involved at Shelsley Walsh hill climb where I aim to clinch a class record after being so close in September 2008!

D Morton (Cl 84-91) I have moved to Dulwich and a new job as Assistant Head at Alleyn’s School, Dulwich.

(Ch 84-90) and the groom’s father, Michael O’Neill (Cr 44-49). The honeymoon was spent in Madagascar.

Jonathan Smith (B 82-89) 2008 was a busy year for Jonathan, who was awarded a PhD from Sheffield University in environmental engineering, and has recently left the Environment Agency to lead the Soil and Groundwater research programme at Shell. He lives near Chester with his wife, Kirsten, and son Jacob (3).

1990s

Nigel Roughton (Cr 85-90) I am currently serving in Wiltshire having recently completed three years of Battery Command. The highlight was six months in Iraq where my Battery was responsible for providing protection to the UK’s base at Basra from indirect fire attacks by rockets and mortars; we saved many lives. Having previously served with him in the UK, I had the pleasure of meeting up with Ross Haines (Cl 84-95) towards the end of my tour. Rosamond and I now have a wonderful baby son, Max, who is keeping us both very busy!

Vanessa [Haines] Fisher (E 89-91) I’m delighted to say that Guy and I have had a baby

Richard Mutter (Ch 81-91) Collette and I have had a little boy, Henry, born 13th October 2007.

Howard Stanton (S 84-91) I am very much into the life of the town I am living in (Kudat, Malaysia) and enjoy the peace: no honky-tonk bars, a few great restaurants and small, little-beer houses but nothing too flash. I have

I am also helping to look after an orphanage with 50 kids; they all call me uncle - makes me feel 105 - but I love it. They are some fantastic kids: courteous, well-behaved, ambitious and highly motivated to achieve. We have just celebrated the harvest festival, nothing like “All things bright and beautiful “ that I sang as we celebrated harvest festival when I was a kid – this version involves bikini contests and rice wine!

Clare [Skinner] Proctor (Co 89-91) I married Tim Proctor (brother of Sarah) in 2004. We have a son, Angus John, born Feb. ‘06 and a daughter, Violet Jennifer, born Feb. ‘08. We now live in Columbus, Indiana.

Mark Peters (W 85-92) Ethan Peters was born at Lenox Hill Hospital, New York City, April 28th 2008 weighing 6lbs 4oz.

Suzie Gilhooly (E 90-92) Suzie was promoted to Associate at Harrison Clark LLP on 1st September 2008, having qualified with the firm three years ago. Suzie lives in Worcester (overlooking the playing fields of KSW’s arch rivals!) and would love to hear from anyone she knew on suzieg@breathe.com.

Anna Wilson (Co 90-92) Arthur George Hughes was born to Anna Wilson and Graham Hughes on 29th Jan 2008. He weighed only 3lb 13oz but is now 8 months old and thriving!

Bart Borchardt (Cl 83-93) Bart and his family (wife, Caroline, and boys Ferdinand and William) have now moved to Luxembourg where Bart is helping Vodafone establish the Vodafone Procurement Company. Bart would love to hear from any of his contemporaries via facebook or Bart.Borchardt@vodafone.com.

signed up as a volunteer fireman with the town fire brigade. Also, I’ve bought some land and am looking at setting up my own resort.

In my spare time I am trying to keep fit (trying): I have entered a half-marathon. With the food being so good over here I have put on a couple of pounds but have been tearing around the jungle tracks on my bike, discovering the small villages and the places that the jungle hides.

James Riley (W 88-93) James married Sarah Henning on 29th April 2008 in Stresa, Italy. He is currently a jeweller and lives in Cheshire.

Jim Fawcett (S 85-94) It’s been a busy year for Jim with successful completion of training to be a flight-test engineer in April at the French EPNER flight-test school, and the birth of a second child, Amelie Jennifer, on 21st Augustt.

Apart from running around after two children, life at work is busy with lots of testing of brand-new Airbus aeroplanes. The view from the ‘office’ at 39 000 feet makes it all worthwhile. Any OVs visiting Toulouse, feel free to look us up: jim.fawcett@free.fr.

Helen [Webster] (S 92-94) and David Bates are proud to announce the birth of Darcey Olivia, born on Saturday 10th May 2008 weighing 8lbs.

Zoë [Marchant] Beaudro (Os 93-95) and Peter Beaudro (W 88-95) Our daughter, Robyn Lyra, was born at our home in Stroud (as planned) on 13th January 2008.

Chris Lewis (Cl 86–95) Karinya and I are still working in Juba, Southern Sudan. Karinya is

Toby Moody (K 80-91)

Jim Fawcett (S 85-94)

working for CBM as an ophthalmologist, operating in Juba Teaching Hospital, and supervising other programmes such as setting up training courses. I am working for Tearfund/W.H.O. supporting the Ministry of Health in coordinating the health sector in Southern Sudan. Southern Sudan has some of the worst health indicators in the world with one in eight women

dying related to child birth and one in eight children dying before the age of 5 years. We have been working here since September 2005, spending the first couple of years working for Medair ‘in the bush’ before taking up our current roles. We keep our website regularly updated: www.lewisabroad.co.uk.

Nicholas Checketts (W 91-96) I am delighted to announce the birth of our first child, Harry Jonathan Checketts, who arrived on 4th August 2008. He is healthy and keeping both my wife (Sarah) and me entertained throughout the day and night. Other news is that, after 7 and a half years working for RollsRoyce in Derby, I left earlier this year and now work for Meggitt PLC as a European Category Manager in Strategic Sourcing. I also graduated from Southampton University with an MSc

in Global Supply-Chain Management. We are still living in Repton, Derbyshire where Sarah is Head of Spanish at Repton School. There is a strong connection to King’s at Repton with three OVs and one former teacher on the current staff. Long may the link continue!

Paul Gould (K 91-96) Paul married Anna Molle on Saturday, 12th July at St Peter’s Church, Droitwich Spa.

Ashley Haynes (B 91-96) Ashley married Carlie Thelwell on September 6th at Pershore Abbey. A reception followed at the Dormy House Hotel, Broadway. They honeymooned in Hawaii, Las Vegas and Chicago (where Ashley’s work had taken him previously and a city he liked). Best man was Nick Hall (O 91-96) and Ben Griffiths (Cr 91-95) an usher. Other OVs present were: Andrew Benvie (K 91-96), Lidia Benvie (K 93-04), Clare [Freeman] Mico (K 94-96), Simon Mico (O 85-95), David Wallet (S 89-99), Claire [Wood] Turner (O 91-98), Jon Turner (W 87-98), Tim Morris (Ca 65-71), Rachael [Penney] Smart (Cl 93-95), Jon Smart 9Cl 85-94) and Mike Page (Cr 60-65).

Ashley and Carlie met in Worcester but live and work in London where Ashley is an investment banker and Carlie a High Court Judge’s Clerk. In spite of the current turmoil in the banking

With 30 years experience in all aspects of Commercial and Corporate Insurance It’s got to be worth a call!

Chris (Cl 86-95) and Karinya Lewis

industry, Ashley is confident that his employer, Deutschebank, is well placed to ride out the storm.

Mark Foster (Cr 94-96) I married Susie Wallace at Farrows Farm in Ashwell Hertfordshire on 27th September 08. My best men were Scott Moorhead (Ch 88-96) and Tim Roberts (K 86-96) and Dan Ott (Cr 91-96) was an Usher; also there were Jeremy Robertson (S 92-97,

Rijan Slater (B 92-97), Ben Winter(Ch 87-97), Dan Ford (W 89-96)and Tom Wyse (Ch 91-96)!

Unfortunately Jon Webb (Ch 86-96) and Matt Pearce (Cl 89-96) couldn’t be there.

Sarah [Godfrey] Gorev (B 94-96) My husband (Gil Gorev) and I had a beautiful baby boy, Ethan, born on 24th January.

Eleanor Doodey (B 95-97) I have had a baby girl on 12th January, Afton Grace Orr Carmichael. She is doing really well. I am continuing to sing and work as lead teacher of vocal studies for Kirklees Music School.

Stringer (Cr 87-97)

Robert Stringer (Cr 87-97) I am happy to announce that I got married on Friday 7th September to (Stringer now!) at Sefton Park Palm House in Liverpool where we live. On our return from honeymoon, I have just finished a week of rehearsals with

The Australian Pink Floyd Show with whom I will be playing keyboards on their Arena tour of the USA and Canada in Nov/Dec. Exciting times! Adrian Freeman (W 85-95) and Sarah Smart (Cl 91-96) We married in July 2002 and have two small children, Jenny and Oliver. Adrian did not

Adrian Freeman (W 85-95) and Sarah Smart (Cl 91-96)

Robert

expect to marry anyone from King’s especially as Sarah’s brother, Jonathan (Cl 84-94), married another OV Rachael Penney (Cl 93-95).

Rebecca Birtwhistle (Cl 91-98) The marriage of Rebecca Birtwhistle (Cl 91-98, Staff 04-07) and Toby Smith (Staff 03-07) took place at the Chapel of King’s College, Taunton on 12th July. Despite the location it was also a King’s Worcester affair with many OVs and former colleagues joining in the celebrations: Simon Cuthbertson (staff) was Best Man; Lauren Lawson-Pratt (Cl 91-98) and Zoë Witowski (Cr 91-98) were ‘Best Ladies’; William (Cl 84-91) and Tom Birtwhistle (88-95) were ushers; and during the service Katie Adam (staff) read and Mark Dorsett (staff) preached the sermon. Ben Cox (O 88-98), Tom Clarke (B 93-98), Kathryn Foskett (née Williams) (Ch 93-98), Claire Gilbert (W 96-98), Kirsty Johnson (W 91-96), Kenji Lim (O 92-99), Debra Parker (O 91-98), Rose Rolle-Rowan (née Panter) (S 91-98), Brendan Rolle-Rowan (S), Charlotte Smith (née Wilkinson) (L4D), Penny Bradley, Jo Cooke, the Dorsett family, the Horàcek family, the Haywood family, Sarah and Emmie LeMarchand, Ian and Alison Robinson, Paul Thompson, Angela Walton, and the Wangs (all staff and families) were among the guests. And, in keeping with

KSW tradition, the photography was expertly undertaken by Tom Bader!

Ben Cox (O 88-98) and Zoe Witowski (Cr 91-98) married at St Michael and All Angels Church, Great Witley on Saturday 30th August. The photographs were taken by Angela LloydJames (Co 78-80) of Angela Lloyd-James Photography.

Robert Webb (Cl 91-98) Since graduating from the University of Leeds I have been studying violin and singing as a postgraduate at Birmingham Conservatoire. I have been appointed Bass Lay Vicar Choral at Lichfield Cathedral, starting in September 2008.

Pieter Van Zyl (K 93-98) I am currently working as an Airline Pilot, Senior First Officer on the Boeing 737-800 in Europe. In 2007 I re-located to the Czech Republic where I am setting up a country-club hotel in my spare time!

Cassie [Bray] Cartwright (O 92-99) Harriet Isobel Cartwright was born on 3rd December, 2007.

Georgina Dalton (W 93-99) Georgina married Kristian Hampshire at St. John The Baptist Church, Crowle, on August 23rd, followed by a reception at Wood Norton Hall, Evesham. OVs attending were her sister Joanna Dalton Cl (94-04); guests

included Ben Etty-Leal (Cl 89-96), Peter Jennings (B 97-99), Jenny Pearce (Cl 92-99), Anna Stokes (Cr 97-99), Ellen Brigden (Cr 94-04), Vanessa Gill (Cl 94-04), Kate Herriot (Cr 94-04), Rose Palmer (B 98-04), Harriet Priddey (B 93-04), Naomi Roberts (Cl 93-04) and Lucy Smith (Cr 93-04). The couple, both doctors, are now living in Guildford after their honeymoon on the Maldives.

2000s

Sarah Stratton (O 96-01) The wedding of Sarah Stratton and Simon Day was held on September 5th, at St. Mary’s Church, Kempsey. The reception was held at Dumbleton Hall in Evesham. Richard Taylor (S 96-05) Richard Taylor (S 96-05) and his father, Steve, cycled from Land’s End to John O’Groats in July 2008 raising £5,000 in aid of St. Richard’s Hospice, Acorns Children’s Hospice, St. Paul’s Hostel and Maggs Day Centre. The ride took 14 days, covering 1017 miles without any punctures or mechanical problems. While he was away, Richard learnt that he had been successful in gaining a 2:1 BA (with Hons) in Art and Design at the University of Worcester.

UNIVERSITY PLACES AWARDED IN 2008

Name INstItutIoN

Luke Armitage University of Cumbria

George Austin-Cliff St Catharine’s College, University of Cambridge

William Ayrton University of Portsmouth

Emma Baldry University of Loughborough

Jeffrey Ballard Oxford Brookes University

James Bartholomew University College London

Harriet Bevan Nottingham Trent University

Jon Bird University of Loughborough

Edward Brew University of Southampton

Colette Brown University of Leeds

Tom Bryant University of Exeter

James Bullock University of Exeter

Hannah Button University of Worcester

Thomas Byrne Royal Holloway, University of London

Michael Cairns-Terry Jesus College, Oxford University

Charlotte Cameron University of Birmingham

Thomas Chilton University of Bath

Lucy Clayton University of Nottingham

Laura Copsey University of Exeter

Sarah Cowburn University of Durham

Catherine Cranton Cardiff University

Alexander Crawford University of Durham

Laura Dobbins Aston University

Annie Duffy University of Leeds

Henry Dummer Royal Agricultural College

Edwin Elmhirst University of Reading

Jack England University of Exeter

Sarah Fardon University of Nottingham

Leanne Fata University of Manchester

Emma Fernell University of Manchester

Jessica Foster-Morison University of Reading

James Gear University of Birmingham

Harry Geeves University of Leeds

Georgina Grant University of Newcastle upon Tyne

Sophie Green University of Gloucestershire

Elizabeth Grew Christ Church, Oxford University

Thomas Gwynne University of Exeter

subject

Outdoor Leadership

Modern and Medieval Languages

Music and Sound Technology

Communication and Media Studies

Economics/Geography

Law with French Law

Coaching and Sport Science

Civil Engineering

Law

Biology and Mathematics

Exercise and Sport Sciences

English

Horticulture

Geography

Physics

Drama and Theatre Arts

Mechanical Engineering

Medicine

Animal Behaviour

Arts Combined

Business Management

Theology

Computer Science and Mathematics

Economics and Philosophy

Property Agency

Biomedical Sciences

Exercise and Sport Sciences

Management Studies

Law with Politics

Drama

Food Science

Theoretical Physics

Music

Ancient History and Archaeology

Events Management and Hospitality Management

Music

Exercise and Sport Sciences

Name INstItutIoN

Amy Haddock University of Durham

Alexander Hale University of the West of England, Bristol

subject

General Engineering

Property Management and Investment

James Harris University of Wales, Bangor Psychology

Darren Hau University College London

Statistics, Economics and Finance

David Hedges University of Plymouth Design: Photography

Emma Hirons Worcester College, University of Oxford Medicine

Andrew Hughes University of Loughborough

James Hughes University of Glamorgan

Rowena Illing University of Edinburgh

Jonathan Inglis University of Wales Institute, Cardiff

Industrial Design and Technology

Graphic Communication

Scandinavian Studies

Sport Management

Charlotte Ireland Mountview Theatre School Acting

Emma James University College, Falmouth Art

Benoit Jamous University of York

Physics with Astrophysics

Anthony Jay Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh Chemistry

Rebecca Jeavons-Fellows King’s College London

Business Management

Harriet Jeffery University of Sheffield Sociology

Samuel Johnson University of Worcester

Edward Jones Queen Mary, University of London

Sport Business Management

Mechanical Engineering

Luc Jones University of Birmingham Medicine

Eleanor Keehan University of Bristol Law

Philippa Kent-Davis University of Worcester

Business, Innovation & Human Resource Management

William Keyes University of Exeter German and Arabic

George Kitchen Aston University

Business and Management

Rosie Knight Cardiff University Psychology

Richard Lea Oxford Brookes University Real Estate Management

Kate Lewington-Williams University of Durham

Natural Sciences

Alexander Lindner University of Edinburgh Mathematics and Music

Charlie Lloyd Jones University of Wales, Swansea Business Management

James Long University of Nottingham

Industrial Economics

Jolyon Loy Magdalen College, Oxford University Modern Languages

Iska Lupton University of Manchester

Drama and English Literature

Edward Mackenzie Magalene College, University of Cambridge Engineering

Robin Middleburgh University of Newcastle upon Tyne Medicine

Holly Mitchell University of Durham

Natural Sciences

Zoe Monkley Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge Natural Sciences

Joseph Murphy University of Glasgow

English Literature/Film & Television Studies

Name INstItutIoN

subject

Jonathan Nichols University of Durham Geography

Samuel Pearman University of Nottingham Environmental Science

Rosie Pennell University of Leeds Chemical and Materials Engineering

Emily Phillips University of Exeter Law

Amy Ponsford University of Liverpool Physiology

Amy Procter-Nicholls University of Leeds Geography

James Riley University of Reading Building Surveying

Ian Roberts University of Reading Cybernetics

Joseph Roberts University of Reading Film & Theatre

Tom Roberts University of Southampton History

Stephanie Rosoman University of Leeds Nursing (Child)

Olivia Salmon University of Nottingham Finance, Accounting and Management

Imogen Schofield University of Bristol Veterinary Science

Lucy Senior University of Durham Geography

Hannah Sheeran University of Leeds English and German

Peter Siviter Royal Veterinary College, University of London Veterinary Medicine

Christopher Smith University of Liverpool English Language and Literature

Lawrence Szymanski University of Birmingham Medicine

Lycia Terry University of Central England, Birmingham Interior Design

Joshua Thomas Oxford Brookes University Architecture

Jimmy Tsang University of Exeter Biological Sciences

Rebecca Turner Nottingham Trent University Coaching and Sport Science

Jacob Underwood Bath Spa University Creative Writing

James Ward Brunel University Industrial Design and Technology

Sophie Watkins Cardiff University Architectural Studies

Nicholas Weaver Cardiff University History

David Webb University of Nottingham Geography

Polly Whittaker University of Wales, Swansea International Business Management (North America)

Lara Wilkinson Cardiff University Law

Nicola Wilkinson University of Loughborough Information Management and Business Studies

Andrew Wilson University of Newcastle upon Tyne Architectural Studies

Richard Winwood University College London Mathematics and Statistical Science

Dominic Wood University of Nottingham Geography with Business

Thomas Wood University of Birmingham Chemical Engineering

Elizabeth Woodhouse University of the West of England, Bristol Business Studies with Marketing

James Yelland Nottingham Trent University Accounting & Finance

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