The Dolphin - 2015

The Dolphin 2015

EDITOR’S LETTER

by James Plummer

D

oes this sound familiar?

“GCSEs don’t compare with the O Levels we had to do.”

I wonder how many parents have made this claim and how many students have disagreed. Hundreds of students took to Twitter this year after a particularly hard IGCSE Maths paper and the infamous AQA maths question about Hannah’s sweets. We may never truly know whether O Levels were harder but there are some experiences that we can all relate to, whether we took our exams in the Sixties and Seventies or in the more recent past.

We have all been there, that moment outside the exam hall minutes before your exams are about to begin.

We all know those people with textbooks who saunter past you with an impossible question on electrolysis - and the joy in their eyes when you get it wrong. Every school has that group of “nerds” who turn up two minutes before the exam begins with no notes and a wide grin across their faces as if they have already seen the paper. And there is the joker who has spent all night thinking of some witty comment to shout just before entering the exam hall which is greeted by a vicious “shhhhhh!” from a grey haired examiner in crocks.

It is well known that every school buys tables with different length legs. No matter where you sit, or what impossibly difficult angle you tilt your table at, it must just be accepted as part of an exam that your table is going to rock from side to side. As you look around, more confidence is lost when you see the meticulous arrangement of highlighters and colouring pens that you have never even seen before. After the examiner has read your last rites, silence falls upon the hall for a moment. This is the most intense moment of the exam – everyone knows that the speed at which you turn over your paper is absolutely crucial to gain that extra half a second. In my experience I

have seen some horrendous mistakes at this crucial stage.

I have seen papers ripped and false starts that would make Marion Ajijala blush on the King’s 100m track. Following a clean start in exams such as History, five minutes of intense writing ensues before the writing speed returns to its normal pace after a minute has been taken to shake your writing hand. In the case of Maths exams, students will all look up to make eye contact with a friend. Not a good idea with invigilators around.

When the exam finally finishes, you will look up to see a few students with extra time who have finished half an hour before you. After the exam, they will then complain about how boring they find extra time. Whether it’s this, or just that you realise you should have put in some extra revision, leaving the exam hall invariably prompts a tide of emotions. There are the people who will come out crying but who you know will still beat you on results day. And of course there will be those who will say “that was really easy”, only to be told by our friends with the textbooks that the accurate answers bear no relation to what everyone has written. Annoying!

Contrary to what our parents say, exams are actually becoming harder and harder, partly thanks to the former Education Scretary Michael Gove, so it is important to see the lighter side of the ordeal.

The front cover shows a portrait of his mother

by Old Brutonian James Hayes, an artist with an immense reputation. On the back is an impressive example of an Old Brutonian’s work lit up in the concrete sails of one of the world’s most iconic buildings, the Sydney Opera House. Ben Casey is CEO of Spinifex Group, specialists in video and graphics. The two artists feature in an exhibition of Old Brutonians’ work called “Diversity”. Mr Spilsbury started putting the exhibition together in April, fulfilling a long held ambition, and it’s an extremely good show.

The title interested me. In this issue of The Dolphin, Kitty Geach writes about the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack, an article that has been made even more significant by the recent horrific events in Paris.

Diversity is, ostensibly, a positive word, but the Paris attacks, both in January and as we go to press, might not have happened if France had been a less diverse nation.

The Chaplain would certainly point to the importance of diversity advocated by Christ who “gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers.” Although potentially dangerous, as shown in Paris, diversity must therefore be a force for good.

Mr Oulton tells me I should have pressed Robin Grint (Old Brutonian interview, page 8-9) for more details about his nephew Rupert who played Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter films. Why? I think it works the way I did it, just dropping in this detail at the end of the interview, thus ending it on a high. It’s modern journalism. It’s time for Mr Oulton to move with the times! I hope you all enjoy this issue.

The Dolphin 2015

NEWS, FEATURES AND COMMENT

CONTENTS:

20:

Henry Eriksson on hockey’s success story

21:

Felix Pinney aims for the Olympics

22-23:

Coffee Break

5-6: Old Brutonian Anna Watts helps edit prequel to To Kill a Mockingbird; Callum McFarlane tries

to emulate Harper Lee

24-31:

Saratoga Trunk

32:

Call of Duty

7:

A Day in the Life of...Director of Choral Studies, Ashley Marshfield

33:

Chaplaincy

34:

A Helping Hand

8-9:

Old Brutonian interview: Robin Grint reveals his family connection to a Harry Potter star

35-41:

Curtain Call

10-11:

Dieter Fleischmann returns to King’s 42 years after a post-war exchange

42-45:

The Trumpet Shall Sound

46-48:

Lift Up Thy Voice

49-53:

Valete

54-63:

Pastoral Heart

64-105:

Sport

106-112:

Prizegiving

1: Editor’s letter

3-4: Bruton the new Notting Hill? Sophie Finch investigates

12: Former Argentinian conscript’s gratitude to

Seamus Harness’ father for return of Falklands diary 13:

Alison Grant on why she loves Gogglebox

14-17:

World War One Centenary: James Plummer on the deaths of 11 Old Brutonians in 1915; Rufus Wright on School life during the war

18:

Abrahall’s Analysis: Kitty Geach reviews implications of Charlie Hebdo

19:

The Dolphin Essay: Eleanor Pettus explains how King’s survived the Reformation

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Bruton, the new Notting Hill - “the most fashionable place in Britain” A silly season story, or have journalists hit on something? A sceptical Sophie Finch investigates

I then turn to The Sunday Times. An Old Brutonian from the 1970s, Roland White, declared in that newspaper that “a Somerset town has been hailed as the most fashionable place in Britain.”

Seriously, I thought. In Britain?

White went on: “The church looks pretty much the same as it did when I was expelled from the choir for talking too much. The 16th-century dovecote still looks down from its hilltop perch over the town. And King’s School still resembles a film set for Goodbye Mr Chips. It is all very reassuring.

“Welcome to Bruton, a small town in Somerset that is surprised, and modestly flattered, to have become the most fashionable place in the known universe. Chelsea?

Pah, far too flashy. Chipping Norton? Sorry, chaps, you’ve had your moment. Over the summer, Bruton has been hailed as the new Notting Hill. It has been featured in Country Life and across seven glossy pages of Vogue magazine. If things carry on like this, it can only be a matter of time before Gwyneth Paltrow arrives to pitch her organic yurt on the sports field.”

Extraordinary, I thought. But some journalism needs to be done here, so what did I find in my travels?

Was this just a souped up silly season story? Is it just a coincidence that a journalist on Vogue is married to Nick Allott, theatre impresario Cameron Mackintosh’s right had man, who lives in the area. Or is there just a tiny little grain of truth in the comparison?

Bruton and Notting Hill both certainly have a unique and quirky aura. Bruton is in a sense very traditional, however, places such as the At The Chapel, which combine Bruton’s conventional architecture with modern flavours and a contemporary style, give Bruton a sense of anachronism. Notting Hill on the other hand combines retro style with an unorthodox contemporary characteristic.

For all sorts of reasons, I believe the notion that Bruton is the next Notting Hill is slightly senseless.

Whilst Bruton is slowly turning into a more avant-garde destination, Bruton’s function remains that of a small country town. In many people’s eyes it would be a shame if the town’s atmosphere was lost in favour of a more

A

s journalistic assignments go, it wasn’t bad. Mr Oulton and half the world, it seems - had read all those articles comparing Bruton to Notting Hill and wondered, in his innocence, whether there was any truth in them. My task, should I choose to accept it, was to walk round Bruton - easy - and then walk round Notting Hill - not so easy, but fun, if potentially expensive - trying to work out why Vogue magazine had devoted seven pages to the similarities between the two.

My first job was digging out those articles suggesting a new phenomenon had taken root in the sleepy Somerset town where I go to school. It’s like Notting Hill in the early days, suggested a headline in The Times.

Bruton? Seriously?

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better suited to the contemporary galleries in Notting Hill.

The one accurate link between the two lies in the diverse food culture of both areas. At The Chapel has certainly attracted many tourists to Bruton, as well as being an extremely popular place to eat locally. As suggested by many, it provides the perfect balance between fine dining, and a comfortable environment. On top of this At The Chapel now run the Roth Bar & Grill, which has helped attract those who are less interested in art to visit Durslade Farm. One can also eat in Truffles, or buy pizza from the Pizzarova van that visits Bruton every week. Notting Hill obviously has endless restaurants and cafes, such as Artesian Bakeries (similar to At The Chapel), pubs, burger bars and Juice bars (not dissimilar to the Green Monkey). A major focus of the video analysis released by the BBC was the Godminster Farm shop. This was dubbed more of an art gallery due to its very arty layout. Notting Hill was also brimming with creative delis and cake shops which attract the fashionistas and hipsters.

It is events such as the Notting Hill Carnival and Bruton’s Pack Horse Fair that give these locations their identity, adding to their atmosphere and sense of community. However it is ultimately the city feel of Notting Hill that dictates that it will never be similar to country towns like Bruton. In Bruton, there is less risk of being mugged. The pleasantries of Bruton are considered alien in Notting Hill: smiling at someone in the street up there is possibly the most offensive act anyone can commit. On the other hand there is a great deal of decorum in Notting Hill; that would be criminal in Bruton - just see the reaction you get if you try and take a selfie on the High Street.

So, on balance, and I have tried to be balanced here, I’m not sure what the fuss is about. House prices may have gone up as a result, and that’s all to the good for our parents and their friends, but personally, I hope that Bruton recovers from the trauma of being compared with the arrivistes of Hugh Grant land, remembers its country roots, and remains the unspoilt, rather tired, but oh so charmingly un-Notting Hill town it has always been.

An appropriately named hot spot in Notting Hill

exclusive and trendy ambience.

To be honest, I struggled to find any similarities between Bruton High Street and Portobello Road. The only realistic comparisons I could draw were the two pubs, the Sun Inn, and The Castle. We know about the Bruton hostelries, and Notting Hill also has at least one pub bearing both these names. But a pub is a pub, whether in Bruton or Notting Hill.

The ‘hipsters’ and ‘hippies’ that are creeping into Bruton are not proof of a likeness to Notting Hill.

In my view, they are merely evidence that such characters can no longer be escaped, no matter where you are. The shops? Notting Hill’s main income is high end shops and boutiques; there is also the endless ‘rustic’ tat they sell to bohemians and hippies. Bruton, on the other hand, doesn’t really do shops in the same way. There are two Notting Hill style antique shops, sure, but the town is more about food and education.

A key link Vogue found between Bruton and Notting Hill was the influx of celebrities. In Bruton, we have Nicholas Cage, Stella McCartney, Ben Goldsmith and Alice Temperley. With Notting Hill, the rumours are endless, with everyone from Harry Styles and Robbie Williams, to Claudia Schiffer - and again Stella McCartney.

However it’s more likely that celebrities are moving into Bruton, not because of its trendy reputation, but because it’s a countryside location which provides a privacy impossible to find in a city.

According to national newspapers, this mixture of musicians, artists and fashionistas are being attracted to the ‘Bruton Buzz’ by the opening of Hauser and Wirth’s Durslade Farm. The gallery certainly has a unique approach to art, which is perhaps more suited to the cosmopolitan lifestyle. As suggested by many reviews, the art is perhaps too quirky for its surroundings, and would perhaps be

The Notting Hill equivalent of the Bruton hostelry

•

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Old Brutonian helps edit prequel novel to To Kill a Mockingbird Anna Watts describes her career progression from King’s to Random House and a plum job editing recently discovered Harper Lee novel

A

fter arriving at King’s it quickly became apparent that my favourite subject was English. It never really felt like work and I used to love creative writing (although would be humiliated now to read the deep musings of thirteen year old me).

Throughout school English was a highlight and the syllabus took us from Shakespeare to Iain Banks and from Philip Larkin to Chaucer, covering all forms and epochs. On leaving school I decided to study French and Spanish at Edinburgh, overwhelmingly due to the heavy weighting towards literature the course provided.

Here was a whole new bank of writers and novels to read (although admittedly it was a bit harder reading them in another language).

After my degree I carried on at university teaching Spanish literature to first years and researching a Masters in Latin American Literature, which involved dedicating a whole year to studying just one book. When I realised my time at university was almost up and that I would now have to figure out how to get a job I was a bit stuck. I couldn’t think of any jobs where they would just pay you to read books and I couldn’t really think of anything else I wanted to do. So like most graduates I struggled for a little while, and the idea of ever getting any job, let alone one I actually wanted, felt like a distant hope. That was until I was offered a job at Random House publishers where from the sounds of things they really did just want to pay me to read books!

My three years at Random House have so far brought me into contact with some of the most exciting writers and books of our time, with this year allowing me the incredibly opportunity to work on Go Set a Watchman, the recently discovered novel by Harper Lee, author of the world-famous classic To Kill a Mockingbird.

I have also worked with other amazing authors such as

Sebastian Faulks, Donna Leon, Robert Harris and Michel Houellebecq (and once had a long phone call with Daniel Day Lewis…!) As a 3rd Former starting out at King’s I never would have been able to imagine being in this situation and so I am still aware now that I am fortunate to have a job that I love and a passion that was encouraged so much at school.

Title of Doom Callum McFarlane, a Third Former at the time of writing, tries to outdo Harper Lee with his own alternative extract from the Mockingbird prequel (to be read with a Deep South accent).

I

watched almost contently as Jem climbed down from his tree house and heaved Scout into the air. Dill contemplatively picked his nose, as he stared across at my shutters. It was a bright day, so I moved away just in case I was spotted.

“Who lives there?” I heard Dill’s shrill voice inquire.

“Oh, just Boo Radley.”

‘Boo Radley?’ I allowed myself a short moan, reminded that the children still believed I was ‘Boo’, the town madman, a story spread by Atticus, my ex-husband, and his friends, in order that the children nev-

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er uncovered my existence.

I had promised Atticus that I would never let the children find out the truth, so long as I could watch them play every day.

I fell asleep, lulled by the larking of my son and the giggles of my daughter.

I woke to a rapping on the shutters, quickly standing to see who it was.

I was shocked; Jem Finch, my own flesh and blood, was standing less than a metre from me. I looked at the scared lines on his face, the sweat shining on his forehead. He looked so much like his Grandfather.

I wanted to examine him further, to touch him, to talk to him, but too late.

Nathan was a chief cook and bottle washer, but when it came to children he was all bowed up and he broke the silence of the evening with his shotgun, firing into the air.

Jem hurtled like the athlete he was, and in no time at all he had scarpered all the way over the cabbage patch and back to the fence. His pants got stuck but all was dandy as he slipped back yonder, over the fence.

I waited a time, and went to collect the pants. They were nice, of good quality and make, disregarding the tear in the side. I set about mending them, but found myself out of practice, and so did the stitching all cattywampus. I folded them neatly (I had not forgotten that) and laid them on the fence, ready for my darling to collect.

I missed him, I really did. I was suddenly come over by a thought.

I began imagining what could have been, if Atticus’ hadn't gone and decided to defend niggers, much like the current one, and I hadn't been forced out of shame and lust, to run away with Nathan.

I dug out my old chest of mementos, from the time I was mother and began hankering to share them.

I wanted Jem to see his old spelling medal, the models I made of him and his sister, and even their grandfather’s old pocket watch.

I watched Scout take it the next day.

I then proceeded to put, every few days, an item from the children’s childhood into the knot in the tree.

The joy on the children’s faces, as they discovered, for the second time (although they didn't know it) some of the treasures of their childhood, was mirrored tenfold on mine, and I knew that the joy flooding my body was something I wanted more of.

I constantly toyed with the idea of meeting Jem and Scout, in secret, but would always find myself at the same conclusion, that they would be horrified to know that I no longer loved Atticus, that I ran off with another man, and most of all, had been lying to them their whole lives.

All the things that Atticus had been trying to protect them from.

I knew it would be best to love them from a distance.

At least for now.

A week later, I had made up my mind; I crept, in the dead of night, to the crooked old tree by our house, and placed in it a wad of gum.

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A day in the life of... the Director of Choral Studies

School arrive at St Mary’s, building up the sound until the Rev gives me a signal to quieten everyone down by suddenly dropping the volume. There are three rousing hymns to play during the service and I particularly enjoy it when the sopranos have a great descant to get stuck into and I can put the Rev off by going ‘off-piste’ with the harmony. At the end of the service I play some music whilst everyone heads back to School.

After church it’s time to meet my tutor group of Lyon 3rd Formers – checking school planners and the day book for any rewards and sanctions to follow up and having a chat about the news or articles from The Day. After tutor time there are still two lessons to go.

Following lesson 7, I have one of my favourite rehearsals of the week to run – chamber choir. This group of singers are very versatile and sing music ranging from Renaissance polyphony to modern day arrangements. The rehearsal is fairly short, ending just after 17:20 so that I can arrive at Lyon House in time for 1730 roll call, but we always cover a lot of music.

It’s now 17:44 and just one minute until 1st prep begins. There are the usual suspects who have not handed their phones in quite yet and the Lower Sixth Former on duty is chasing up the remaining devices. Every once and a while, things get really interesting with the latest replica of a smartphone complete with functioning buttons and an authentic looking headphone socket handed in, in place of an authentic phone – the only trouble is that they don’t power up and raise suspicions. Of course there are those who prefer the old school method of handing in a basic model second handset and keep the smartphone…

After a break for supper and roll call, 2nd prep begins and the pressure is on to complete the day of work before 20:45. The tutor patrolling the house during prep time presents its challenges for the boys who are not doing what they should be doing and gaming or watching YouTube videos. Unfortunately for them, I am aware of the four finger swipe on the Mac and a relentless sound of clicking as I enter a room immediately raises my suspicions.

20:45 marks the end of prep and next comes the sudden rush to sign out to the Gym, JCR, one of the other boarding Houses or in the summer to Abbey field. Bedtime for the 3rd Form is approaching and the Sixth Former on duty ensures that they get to bed on time.

At the end of the evening Mr Hamilton meets me in the tutor’s office and I talk to him about the evening, report to him any boys who have signed in late or who were late to bed, hand over any fake phones, confiscated laptops, iPads or even hockey sticks and head home exhausted after a busy but rewarding day. By the time this article is published it will be irrelevant as I’ll be in a new position as a Housemaster and my daily routine will be very different, but this has been the pattern for the past five years!

Ashley Marshfield reviews his life in the Music Department, knowing things would be slightly different when he started combining this job with his new life as Housemaster of New House

A

typical Wednesday (week B) begins with my alarm waking me at 06:30. After a snooze or two I get up, shower and dress for the day, choosing coordinating tie and cufflinks along the way. I then make a cup of tea before heading out to the garden to feed and water three hungry rabbits before leaving the house to make the journey from Street to Bruton which takes about 35 minutes in the morning.

On arrival at school I meet with Mr Gorodi to talk through the day and discuss any matters arising before heading to my office to start up my computer and check for any emails that have come through. Before I know it, it’s already 08:40 and time to begin a full day of teaching.

Lunch time arrives and it’s a quick turnaround as the Fourth Form are on late lunch and there is the School service at St Mary’s to get to in time to check that the organ is behaving itself. I improvise organ music while the whole

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OLD BRUTONIAN INTERVIEW

JP: What was the School like when you were here?

RG: The School had about two hundred to two hundred and thirty people. You have a few more now. And then I was in Priory where I think there were nine or ten in our dormitory in Barclay House.

Did Harry Potter’s Ron Weasley glean acting tips about boarding school life from Old Brutonian uncle Robin Grint?

JP: Why did you stay with the vicar when you first came to Bruton?

RG: When I first came to Bruton in about 1943 I think I was eight and we moved away from London to get away from the bombs because we lived near a small arms factory in Enfield which was later hit. I shared a room in the vicarage with another boy and then a few weeks later my mother moved down with my other two brothers as well.

JP: Do you have happy memories?

RG: Yes, it was okay living there. We weren’t allowed to talk to my mother though. Father Ashcroft said, “no, treat it as though you are at boarding school!” and that was that.

JP: What was the sport like?

RG: The only thing that I could do was run. There was a cricket team but they were all duffers! Absolutely useless they were!

Robin Grint tells James Plummer about his life at King’s during World War Two - adding a postscript as he finished the interview that his nephew is Rupert Grint, the actor who plays Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter films

JP: Were the rules more relaxed when you were at School?

RG: In some cases they were and in some they weren’t.

When we were living in Pitcombe Vicarage, Father Ashcroft allowed us to use his shotgun six days a week and we used to shoot rabbits. But then on the other hand, the punishments were pretty grim. Oh yes, you could get six of the best quite easily. And that happened at all schools, whether it was from a prefect or from a master. It wasn’t a big deal really.

JP: And did you eat the rabbits after you shot them?

RG: Oh yes, you’ve got to remember that during the war everything was rationed. We only had the vegetables that we grew to eat really. No bananas, oranges, nothing like that.

Anything that grew was fine but anything that had to come in from abroad was off the menu. They were bringing in arms and goodness knows what else from abroad. Certainly not bananas or oranges or anything like that.

JP: Could you explain who “cuckoo Jones” was?

RG: Well I’m not sure you should put this in print! He was quite old and bald! Poor man, he was driven absolutely demented because everywhere he went, everybody in the School, if they saw him, they used to go “cuckoo” and he would turn around and mouth some obscenity! And so he became known as “cuckoo Jones”.

JP: What did people do at the weekends?

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RG: Some people used to go to the pubs but I preferred to go to the cinema although it was supposed to be forbidden. But you see we had an arrangement with the manager of the Plaza cinema in Wincanton not to put the lights up in the interval because otherwise we would be seen, so he kept the place in darkness because you never knew when there was going to be a master!

JP: What did you do after you left School?

RG: After I left Bruton, I went to do commercial correspondence, English and Maths at Pittman’s in London. I managed to pass! It was a great surprise to me. I went there for 6 months but all I was really interested in was cars.

JP: So how did you go about setting up your car business?

RG: My brother Christopher and I set up the family business of Dolphin Garages named after King’s. We started in London but then moved out to Cockfosters next to the underground. We were selling Toyota and Datsun cars and after about thirteen years of business we sold that and began to play around in the car aftermarket.

JP: And are your family still in the car business?

RG: Yes, after all of their travels doing Thailand and Australia they all ended up at a slightly loose end and so decided to continue the family business which is really rather nice. Then one of my grandchildren is a Red Bull demonstration driver.

All my grandsons went into the car business. I do have a nephew, however, who wasn’t interested in this line of work.

Rupert ended up playing Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter films instead!

Rupert Grint Grint, born 24 August 1988, was cast as Ron Weasley at the age of 11, having previously acted only in school plays and at his local theatre group. From 2001 to 2011, he starred in all eight Harry Potter films alongside Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson.

Beginning in 2002, Grint began to work outside the Harry Potter franchise, playing a co-leading role in Thunderpants. He has had starring roles in Driving Lessons, a dramedy released in 2006, and Cherrybomb, a small budgeted drama film of limited release in 2010.

Grint co-starred with Bill Nighy and Emily Blunt in Wild Target, a comedy. His first film project following the end of the Harry Potter series was the 2012 anti-war film, Into the White, in which he has a supporting role.

In 2013, Grint’s new film CBGB was released and he has been cast in CBS’s new pilot Super Clyde. Grint made his stage debut in Jez Butterworth’s Mojo in October 2013 at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London.

Ron Weasley told his friend Harry Potter in 1991: “I’m the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I have got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left — Bill was Head Boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch.

Now Percy’s a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they’re really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it’s no big deal, because they did it first.”

Shades of the Memorial Hall?

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Happy memories brought back for former German schoolboy who spent two weeks at King’s on an exchange visit in 1956

HOW DID THE OPPORTUNITY COME ABOUT? I do not know whether it was initiated by King’s or by my school in Germany. I believe it was King’s. It was offered as an exchange both ways with us coming over here, 15 boys, for a fortnight, and that was followed then by a return visit of the same number of boys from King’s to Hamburg.

Last October, Dieter Fleischmann revisited King’s 58 years after spending a fortnight here on an exchange visit from his school in Hamburg. Only 11 years after the end of the Second World War, Lucy Tyack suggested it must have been rather a daunting experience, travelling abroad at the age of 14, and at such a time. Herr Fleischmann, who has lived in England for more than 40 years, told Lucy that the boys did encounter some anti-German behaviour in London, but they had “felt welcomed” within the School. Here is an account of their conversation, and a record of the exchange in the 1956 issue of The Dolphin.

DID YOU ALL COME OVER IN A BIG GROUP? Yes, which was more of an adventure then because it was by train. It was a long way by train.

WHEN YOU WERE HERE, DID YOU TAKE PART IN LESSONS AND NORMAL DAILY ACTIVITIES? Partly yes, it was well balanced so that we were not disrupting the normal education process, but yes we were participating in English lessons and of course sport activities. It was a full programme, but one got a feeling of how an English boarding school works, as that was something totally alien to us - we came from a grammar school which was academically on the same level. We stayed in the sanatorium but obviously there were a few who stayed with families here.

DID YOU PLAY GAMES HERE? We took the opportunity of playing tennis which was not freely available back home. And of course there was the gallant effort to introduce us to cricket. A fortnight doesn’t produce results! But I don’t think we took to it that greatly.

Cricket is a bit like marmite, you either like it or you hate it.

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE FOOD? I’m sure that the quality of the food was not as good as it was today. You have to realise that in 1956, neither Germany nor England was particularly spoiled as far as food and choices were concerned - it was 11 years after the war.

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AS IT WAS QUITE NEAR TO WHEN THE WAR ENDED DID YOU FIND THAT THERE WERE ANY HOSTILITIES?

have holidays all over the world. In those days travel was very limited, time consuming and expensive.

IS THERE A VIVID IMAGE THAT STAYS WITH YOU FROM YOUR TIME HERE?

You may find this silly but we were introduced to traditional jazz by the other boys. We were very taken with that. They introduced us to what was a craze in those days, a new and upcoming band called Chris Baber. In our free time they played their 45 records and when we got home we all started shopping around to find more jazz in Germany.

No, but I think we were actually within the confines of the School so we didn’t really have a lot of contact with Bruton.

Remember we were all only four years old at the end of the war. We felt welcome and treated well.

ARE THERE MANY DIFFERENCES NOW COMPARED WITH 1956?

The differences are huge. I mean all the new, modern facilities. It’s amazing. It has come a long way, of course, for the better. I mean it was a very traditional School and it’s very nice to see how it has progressed. And also the fact that you have co-education, which obviously wasn’t around in those days. You also have students from various countries worldwide, which gives it a much wider perspective. And of course you have a very young Headmaster and young teachers. In those days, they were all a bit old.

The Dolphin 1956 The first impression our German visitors gained of Bruton must have been very confused, for they arrived in the evening of our second Leave Sunday. They were greeted by the sight of hundreds of high-powered cars and bus loads of rowdy students converging like the spokes of a wheel on Plox. But, in spite of this initial confusion, they soon settled down and slipped quite easily into the School routine.

On the following morning the Lower Modern Sixth took the eighteen boys on a conducted tour around the School and the outskirts of Bruton. Immediately a few of them came to the conclusion that Bruton was “Eine Kuhstadt” which, being translated, means “a one-horse town”. But they were not to be confined to the “Kuhstadt” all the time that they were here, for coach trips had been arranged to take them to places of interest. They visited Bath and Bristol and saw a production of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” - previously they had been given a lecture about the play by Mr White, and so they did know something about it. They also visited Glastonbury, Longleat House, and a certain brewery in Shepton Mallet. On the visit to Longleat they were misguided into thinking that they were to visit “Ein altes Schloss” (an old castle), and some were very surprised when they saw it. On the visit to Shepton Mallet each boy was presented with a bottle of this unmentionable brew, and the journey back to Bruton was conducted in high spirits. They also visited Wells, Clarks factory at Street, Wookey Hole, Cheddar Gorge, Abbotsbury and Weymouth; some also went to see the “Marriage of Figaro” at Bournemouth.This was obviously a very well prepared itinerary, for they visited all the most interesting places. Having seen all the big towns, their first impression of Bruton being a “Kuhstadt” was confirmed, but even so, I think they found the peace of Bruton to their liking.

When asked whether or not they had enjoyed their holidays, all, without exception, replied in the affirmative. Some thought the visit to “Macbeth” was the most interesting thing they had done. Others voted for the visit to Shepton Mallet; and many couldn’t say which was the most interesting thing, for they had enjoyed it all. The rest of their time was spent at the swimming pool and on the tennis courts; not having a pool of their own at their school, they wanted to make the most of our pool while the weather was warm. One evening they played a game of cricket and enjoyed it so much that they asked to play again another evening, which they did.

COMPARED WITH YOUR SCHOOL IN HAMBURG, WAS KING’S DIFFERENT OR WERE THEY RUN THE SAME WAY? I think it was similar in some ways. There was similar discipline. There was a lot more respect probably than you have nowadays. The only big difference was that my school was a non-boarding school, so we were moving around freely. In Bruton, you couldn’t just wander off into town, whereas at my school you were free to move around.

DID YOU FIND BOARDING HERE WAS WHAT YOU EXPECTED? I think it was quite a culture shock coming here, as I’m sure it was quite a culture shock for the boys coming to Germany. This is, of course, in the country, whereas we were part of a city, although outside the city we had countryside. It was not dissimilar but still the approach to freedom was a different one.

HOW WAS YOUR ENGLISH IN THOSE DAYS Our English was very basic although people did understand us and respond. We had all been abroad before. Austria, Switzerland, all sort of German speaking counties. We saw for the first time how useful it is to learn a language.

Originally, we started off with Latin, which was fantastic. As a living language, however, English was a different culture.

There were different attitudes and tastes. I think it is something that I have kept over all those years. As a result I am quite happy to have lived here for over 40 years. I’m not saying that Bruton was the reason for it but it did give us a first taste of England.

SO DO YOU THINK THAT IT WAS A POSITIVE EXPERIENCE? It was a very positive experience, and probably a bit more of an adventure than travelling nowadays. Today, young people

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Former Argentinian conscript “happy and very grateful” for return of long lost Falklands diary

of an Argentine conscript who had arrived on Mount Tumbledown on 8 April 1982. He had made entries every day until mid May after which the pages were blank. I was intrigued. Why had he stopped writing? Perhaps he had become bored with the repetitive nature of his life on the mountain or maybe he had been injured or even killed by the shelling which the Royal Navy undertook prior to the battle. It was difficult to solve the conundrum so the diary was put in a drawer and forgotten about until a strange turn of events.”

These events centred on Seamus’s marriage to Tamsyn, whose great grandfather emigrated to Argentina in the late 1800s and started a sugar plantation. He then bought a large ranch which some of her cousins now run.

With this connection in mind, Neil showed her the diary and asked if she could find somebody over there who could research the owner. They made tentative enquiries in Buenos Aires but found that the Malvinas War is still a very sensitive topic so decided not to pursue it. However, when they subsequently visited her relatives, a friend of the family decided to take the matter up. She researched the conscript’s name and found out that he was still alive and working for the Argentine Ministry of Defence. Tamsyn’s cousin Jenny has now spoken to Mr Salas, and sent the following message to Seamus and Tamsyn: “He is a very nice man, of course, with a lot to say about the conflict and how awfully they have been ignored in this country by all, especially the government. He says he is so fortunate to have a lovely wife and two daughters who give him much support. The whole thing is so very tragic but you’ve no idea how happy this has made him, so thank your dad, Seamus, for keeping it all these years. Mr. Salas wants your dad to know he is so very grateful to him.”

In the last issue, we reported that Neil Harkness, the father of Art teacher Seamus Harkness, had picked up an Argentinian conscript’s abandoned diary on Mount Tumbledown during the Falklands War. Thirty three years later, a friend of the family has tracked down the diary’s author, Mr Victor Salas, who works for the Argentinian Ministry of Defence in Buenos Aires, and returned it to him. Here is a resume of the story and Mr Salas’s grateful response.

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his is how Neil Harkness recalled the moment he found the diary on Mount Tumbledown shortly after the end of the pivotal Falklands battle - and then went about, many years later, trying to find its author.

“The scene that greeted us was quite chastening for the ground was littered with the panoply of war from weapons and ammunition to personal effects. Amongst the debris my eyes alighted upon a small black notebook which appeared in remarkably good condition, bearing in mind that the ground was frozen. It transpired on opening it that this was the diary

Neil Harkness (right) returning from the Falklands on HMS Invincible

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Why I and other King’s staff love Gogglebox

immediately bellowed ‘this is scripted’. She thought the actors looked the same with their big lips, gelled hair and orange features. Their orangeness reminded Mr Marshfield of an oompa loompa, well at least the actors do not sport green wigs. Could Chloe be the new Cruella de Vil in the next 101 Dalmatians with those big lips and unmoveable botox features, shouted Mr Marshfield? Some of the language needed explaining to Ms King and she struggled to understand their accents, despite being from Watford. In fact, what does ‘mugged off’ mean?

Then Nanny Pat appeared in a tiara and trainers.

It was her 80th birthday and everyone appeared to be dressed as royalty with union jacks strung out over a country mansion. The trumpets and bugles sounded as Nanny Pat entered the scene but Mr Marshfield grumbled under his breath that they were out of tune. Things went downhill rapidly at this point as Jessica Wright then mimed a song out of time with the music and Mr Marshfield had to block his ears and shake his head in disgust. Is that how everyone celebrates their birthday in Essex? Fran then began to cry in a wedding dress……why a wedding dress….. or was it Danni or Georgia – they all look the same, cried Mr Marshfield. All was well because she kissed and made up with her old partner Pete who had been disloyal.

Ms King had more input with her Rada training stating determinedly: ‘They are untrained, semi-literate, trying to improvise and it doesn’t work.” She could not believe that it was a popular programme and that it appeared to be celebrating mindless stupidity. Steady on Ms King - it’s easy watching over a Margarita pizza after a long day in the classroom.

In the final round up chat, Mr Marshfield, Ms King and I were not sure we had understood much of the programme. Ms King thought the pug was the highlight of the show but the best argument for education and the message to TOWIE? ‘Go back to college!’ ‘That’s 45 minutes of our life not back’ muttered Mr Marshfield as he pushed the sofas back in the Common Room and let the boys in after their prep. And so life returned to normal.

by Alison Grant

M

s King, Mr Marshfield and I are all fans of Gogglebox. We all ensure we have a weekly dose, even if it means watching it as a repeat on Saturday night. We love the programme because the couples watching the TV are brutally honest and they say what we are all thinking; it’s a bit like being with a friend and having a laugh, reminiscing over the week. They are witty and cheerful and it is great fun at the end of a busy week. The programme is completely up to date, reviewing and commenting on the news and other major events that we have often missed.

Over a pizza, Ms King, Mr Marshfield and I gathered in New House Common Room to watch an episode of ‘The Only Way is Essex’ in the style of Gogglebox. The choice of programme was imposed on the group by Mr Oulton. Ms King, Mr Marshfield and I endeavoured to stay positive to keep in the spirit of the Gogglebox couples. Ms King put on her Drama specialist hat (although she probably had never taken it off) and

The Only Way Is Essex: (Left to right) Maggie King, Alison Grant and Ashley Marshfield

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WORLD WAR ONE CENTENARY Old Brutonian buried alongside inspiration for Peter Pan

Private in Princess Patricia’s Light Infantry, a crack regiment which was singled out by Lord Kitchener for the honour of being the first Canadian regiment selected for service at the Front. They suffered considerably in February, and Clayton fell near La Brasserie, being killed by a piece of shrapnel while on duty in the trenches.

“We are permitted to print the following extracts from letters. Lieut. Colquhoun says: ‘Private Clayton was a splendid soldier and one of the most popular men in the Company. He proved himself a brave man among brave men, and he died a hero’s death.’ Corporal Leaky, of his Platoon, writes: ‘We all loved him as a gentleman, and as most of us were acquainted with him both in a social and business way in Saskatoon, we feel his loss very deeply.’

“These appreciations bear out what we knew of Clayton at School. He was always a very popular boy, being of an extremely affectionate and lovable disposition.

Though not by nature gifted with any great athletic ability, he was a real ‘trier’ and it was by his perseverance and keenness that he became as useful to the School as he undoubtedly was. His influence was always for the best. All of us who knew him personally feel his loss very much.”

Denys Brinckmann and Hugh Glynn Baker were two Old Brutonians fighting in the battle of Ypres in 1915.

Brinckmann was described at school as a man of great ability who left King’s in March 1913 and went straight on to Sandhurst where he gained a prize cadetship. Baker, on the other hand, had left King’s in 1894 to farm in the beautiful North Pender Island, located in British Colombia, Canada, where he enjoyed some peaceful years before the outbreak of war. Baker was quick to join the 1st British Colombian Regiment in the Canadian army at the outbreak of the war whilst Brinckmann joined his father’s old regiment, the Royal Irish Fusiliers. Baker met his death on April 24th 1915 aged 34. Perhaps even more shocking for King’s was the death of Brinckmann at the age of 19, killed near Ypres in June from a machine gun bullet through the head. The Dolphin reported: “Though not conspicuous at games, he was very keen and quite promising; he represented the School at hockey, and if he had remained at Bruton, he would certainly have a place in the football XI. He was of a reserved and retiring disposition, but was much liked by all who knew him well. Owing to the excellent reports of him we had from time to time, his career in the Army was followed with interest by us all at the School, and it was with great regret that we heard of his death in action near Ypres on June 10th.”

As we watch our cricket teams do battle in early June - the period when Brinckmann died - it’s hard to visualise what the battle in France and Belgium was like 100 years ago. It’s easier to imagine what life was like for two Old Brutonians who enjoyed much sporting success while they were still at school. Edward Burdett and John Martyr dominated King’s sport from 1895 to 1898.They both played first XI cricket and football, with Burdett captaining the football team. He was described as “a strong, venturesome and resolute character” who typified King’s spirit on and off the field. Both men married before heading off to the Front, Burdett in 1913 to Miss

James Plummer tells the story of how 11 Old Brutonians died in 1915

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s you walk through the neatly kept Vormezeele cemetery in Belgium, you might just close your eyes for a moment and imagine a 10 year old boy called George Llewelyn Davies utter these words: “To die will be an awfully big adventure.”

Eleven years after expressing this view to JM Barrie, who then gave these same words to his best known literary character Peter Pan, Davies was buried in this cemetery after being shot in the head at the age of 21. For many of the young soldiers fighting in the first two years of the Great War, fighting in France and Belgium was still an adventure, even if the prospect of dying was not as the young Davies had suggested.

Next to Davies’s grave, you read the name AG Clayton who died on the 15 February at the age of 21.

Arthur Clayton was one of the 11 Old Brutonians who died in this second year of the war. Clayton had been a member of New House, a School Prefect in his final year, and a Sgt. in the O.T.C. He made his mark as a sportsman, playing in both the Hockey and the Cricket XIs. When he left King’s in July 1911, he moved to Canada where he worked for the Bank of Montreal at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The Dolphin describes what happened next:

“Soon after the outbreak of war he enlisted as a

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by a buzzing crowd, on a warm summer’s day.

It is impossible to capture the feeling of loss that was felt everyday throughout the war. The deaths of soldiers at the front left a hollowness in those around them, “a gap that nobody could fill”, according to a friend of Old Brutonian Arthur Muller (Commander of the H.M.S. Racoon) who died of septic poisoning in the Eastern Mediterranean at the end of August 1915. Extracts from the private diary of Sub-Lieut. E. Lyon Berthon, recorded his death in this way:

“August 26th. We were allowed to leave the patrol and go to Mudros early, on account of the Captain (A.G. Muller), who was very bad. The Captain and Doctor were discharged to the Blenheim.

August 31st. Just as we were going into Suvla Bay a wireless message arrived. I think it was the worst knockout bit of news that it had ever been our lot to receive by wireless. ‘Return immediately to bury the body of your late Commander’.He was one of those hard nuts who would not go sick until they could hardly walk, and it was undoubtedly due to that ‘stick it’ attitude that he lost his life. If he had gone sick before leaving harbour about six days before, instead of deliberately going to sea, knowing that he would be in pain for three days at least, the doctors probably could have saved his life.

‘The funeral was arranged on board, with the escort and all the little things which make up a service funeral. We went alongside the Blenheim and almost immediately the body was lowered over the side on a

Mabel Tuson and Martyr in 1914 to Miss Evelyn Knox, bringing in a whole new dimension to the war. It is hard for us to imagine what it must have been like for these young men to go to war. It’s actually just as hard for us to imagine what it must have been like for those loved ones left behind.

Arthur Clayton’s final resting place Mrs Burdett must have had a wave of fear as she received the telegram to hear that her husband was hit in April 1915; she must have been enormously relieved that he was fighting again only a few days later. On June 25th 1915, nothing could have prepared her for the knock on the door from a soldier holding the fateful telegram bringing news of Burdett’s death. Martyr’s wife had to undergo a similar experience when she heard that her husband had been wounded in Gallipoli in August, dying the next day. Perhaps the best way to remember these men is not by their battle or by their name, but by picturing them together as we see many boys at Bruton now, side by side on a cricket square, surrounded Peter Pan cemetry: Voormezeele Enclosure No 31

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“Much liked”: Hugh Baker remembered at the Menin Gate

stretcher, wrapped in a White Ensign. The escort was marched aft, and a sentry was placed at the head and the foot of the body. Slowly, with colours at half-mast, we steamed out of harbour. As we passed each battleship, officers saluted. The Captains of the Destroyers in harbour attended the funeral. When three miles out, we stopped.

The bell was tolled, the escort fell in, and officers came on deck. The time was just after sunset when we ‘Committed the Body to the Deep,’ with full Naval Honours. After the three volleys, ‘The Last Post’ was blown. ‘We went back to harbour again. In the Wardroom that evening, there was a strangeness about, quite unlike anything else, a gap which no-one could fill.’

It’s impossible to single out any of these gallant Old Brutonians. However, one image, one memorial, is striking. The name of John Martyr is one of 21,000 names inscribed on the Helles Memorial, Turkey. The memorial stands 30 metres high, the clear white obelisk acting as a beacon to ships passing through the Dardanelles. So, standing far away on a cliff top in Turkey, there is some corner of a foreign field that is forever Bruton.

Menin Gate

Geoffrey Mervyn Underhill Wilson: Born Aug. 5th, 1894 K.S.B. Sept. 1908 to Dec. 1912 Capt. Wiltshire Regt.

Killed in action at Loos, France, Sept. 26th, 1915, aged 21 Jocelyn Alfred James Gale: Born July 3rd, 1894 K.S.B. Jan 1909 to July 1910 Private, Hon. Artillery Co. Killed in action in France, Sept. 30th, 1915, aged 21

Other Old Brutonians who fell in 1915: John Ramsay Cox: Born June 29th 1873 K.S.B. April 1885 to Dec. 1887 Captain, Worcester Regt.

Killed in action at Neuve Chapelle, March 11th, 1915, aged 41 Henry Creswell Delamain: Born August 19th, 1896 K.S.B. Sept. 1908 to October 1914 2/Lt. Dorsetshire Regiment Accidentally killed in England (motorcycle accident), 17th April, 1915, aged 18 Evelyn Claude Culling: Born Nov. 3rd, 1885 K.S.B. Sept. 1900 to March 1904 Captain, 2nd Canadian Infantry Killed in action in France, April 24th, 1915, aged 29 Edward Burdett: Euston Post Cemetry

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hung over the School like a cloud. With the constant mention of Kaiser William and the Germany advance continually ringing around everyone’s heads, it was impossible to ignore that life wasn’t normal. By January 1915 there were 141 Old Brutonians serving in His Majesty’s forces, quite a number for such a small school.

Many Housemasters and Headmasters had grown fond of these young men - they obviously found this period deeply distressing and traumatic. You only have to stand in the Memorial Hall today and look at the panels to realise the extent of the death toll.

I decided to do some research by reading the 1915 and 1916 copies of The Dolphin. This is what I found.

Brigadier H. W. T. Marden, who attended King’s from 1909-1917, recalls that “for the Christmas term it was decided that John Speed and I should sound the Last Post every evening from the Headmaster’s lawn to remind the local townsfolk that a war was on”. This acknowledges that the pupils were always aware of what was happening overseas. The Headmaster, Mr Norton, made sure of this.

For some pupils however, the war was an excuse to be lazy, as Lord Grey of Condor remembered. “As far as school work was concerned I remember clearly hearing that the average duration of life in the trenches was ten days and that was just an excuse I needed to do minimal work - why work when later one would probably get killed in the war”. Although this attitude towards their school work didn’t reflect the thoughts and feelings of all the pupils at King’s during the war, it was prevalent - and arguably understandably so.

Despite the war being at the forefront of everybody’s minds, sport at King’s continued as normal, with football played in the Winter term, hockey in the Easter and cricket in the summer. As expected King’s regularly excelled in this area, particularly in hockey, highlighted in 1914 where the Ist Xl had an unbeaten season, winning all their six matches. In 1916, however, only one hockey match was played - against All Hallows.

The other three games were cancelled , due to weather conditions described as “perfectly appalling” and “worse that it had ever been before”.

It is strange to think of ourselves as a piece of history, but I suppose that is what we are. Every pupil at King’s contributes to a happy, successful environment. The pupils attending King’s during the war years made their own particular contributions - it is almost unimaginable what they must have all been going through.

What life was like for King’s Bruton pupils during the war years

by Rufus Wright

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oday, stress for a King’s Bruton pupil would be caused by having to perform in the classroom, gain good grades in public exams or even to excel on the sports field. These are normal. I then cast my mind back 100 years.

How would pupils then be feeling about their lives?

The tragedy of the Great War

1915: hockey Ist XI

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ABRAHALL’S ANALYSIS

e-Taiba, an Islamic militant organisation, killed 164 people and wounded at least 308 people in a series of 12 coordinated shooting and bombing attacks lasting four days.

The rise in attacks is mainly due to Isis and people from this country and other countries joining the terror group. We are all at risk, but, ironically, so are peaceful Muslims who are in danger of being targeted just because they share the same religion as the terrorists. We often hear on the news that these Muslims don’t feel safe in their homes due to the attacks.

Our parents lived through a period of great uncertainty from another terrorist threat, the IRA. Although we occasionally hear reports suggesting some of these terrorists are still at work in Belfast, it’s clear that the enemy now are based in Syria and Iraq, as well as Afghanistan.

For me, the most shocking attack in this country was the murder of fusilier Lee Rigby who was brutally killed by two Muslim extremists because they wanted to avenge all the Muslim soldiers who had been killed by British armed forces. All these attacks have resulted in a major increase of police and security forces helping to minimise the threat to the public. I don’t think these attacks can be stopped completely. These terrorist groups have massive support. However, we can try to decrease the risk of attacks happening in this country and others.

So who are ISIS? It’s an extremist rebel group that controls part of Syria and Iraq. In June 2014 they declared themselves to be an Islamic state, but this name has been widely criticised by other Muslims who refuse to acknowledge it. It claims religious, political and military authority over all Muslims worldwide. The United Nations have held ISIS responsible for all human rights abuses and war crimes.

Isis is a constant threat to countries all over the world. They post videos online showing the execution of their victims, sometimes a journalist, sometimes an aid worker, always someone with a family whose terror cannot possibly be imagined. These extremists are trying to recruit more Isis members, including young teenage girls. This is putting huge pressure on border controls in this country and the borders of Turkey and Syria.

These young girls that do go out to join Isis don’t tell their families. We have recently heard about three school girls flying out to Turkey after talking to Jihadists on Facebook. Women and girls can fight but only in extreme cases. If they do reach the Syrian border, they invariably end up in arranged marriages with Isis members.

I think it is extremely important that we stop these young people from flying out to these dangerous places.

The impact of terrorism is huge no matter what religion you are. People are still shocked and appalled by the bombing of the twin towers in 2001. After all these years, America is still trying to rebuild what was left after that terrible outrage. After the attack on Charlie Hebdo, we are entitled to worry that 9/11 was not an isolated case. How many more Charlie Hebdos are we to experience before we can all, once again, feel safe in our beds, at home, and abroad?

Kitty Geach reviews the implications of the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack, wondering when we will ever feel safe again.

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ver the years there have many acts of terrorism all over the world, so I suppose we should be getting used to them. I’m writing this article shortly after the attack on the offices of the satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, in Paris. Few of us had ever heard of it, but we’re all very aware of it now. Twelve people – 10 journalists and 2 policemen – were killed by two masked men carrying Kalashnikovs who burst into the office in central Paris and opened fire – all because the journalists had printed some cartoons the gunmen had massively disapproved of.

Admittedly, many of us might disapprove of the magazine’s cartoons mocking Muhammad, father of the Islamic faith, but was it right to kill people for it?

But then we’re not these people who feel that terrorism is a legitimate way of dealing with things they disapprove of. These are difficult and dangerous times.

The current trend for mass killings seems to have started in Mumbai in 2008 when 10 Pakistani members of Lashkar-

• Since this article was written, ISIS have again attacked Paris, this time killing 129 people.

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THE DOLPHIN ESSAY

commission to look at monastic lands did not generally exempt dependent organizations—schools or anything else. Schools whose endowments were held in trust by monasteries, therefore, were positioned poorly to survive the Reformation. To survive, they required the assertive cooperation of the abbot and schoolmaster — the abbot had to explain to the crown that the school’s resources were distinct from the monastery’s endowment and the schoolmaster had to agree with the story. Of course, the monastery looked wealthier (and therefore the abbot’s pension could be larger) if the school’s lands belonged to the monastery holdings. Additionally, if the schoolmaster was one of the monastery’s employees, he could receive a pension. Thus, neither abbot nor schoolmaster had an incentive to have a school recognized as “independent.”

While we have evidence that many school founders entrusted lands to local monasteries for the purposes of funding education, the commission that closed the monasteries rarely recognized these charities and continued them.

At Bruton, the school fell because the schoolmaster, contrary to the fairly recent foundation documents, persuaded the crown that he was the monastery’s employee and not the schoolmaster of an independently constituted school. There is even one piece of circumstantial evidence that the crown knew this to be a lie but desired the school’s endowment; the schoolmaster maintained the use of his former house and garden — a possible payout. Whether or not his cooperation was purchased, he desisted from all of his teaching duties and turned to brewing beer in the former schoolhouse, much to the town’s displeasure. The town immediately began a petition process to recover the land from the crown to no avail.

Several other schools found themselves in the same boat. Faversham’s school was betrayed by the abbot over the schoolmaster’s objections. Gervaux Abbey had owned property for two schools that were noted by royal documents as “independent,” but the lands disappeared anyway. The timely intervention of a bishop saved the Gervaux schools. Faversham and Bruton had to wait until the more favorable reign of Edward VI to recover their lands. Significant in both the Faversham and the Bruton cases was the retention of the foundation documents.

Both being relatively recent foundations (Faversham, 1526; Bruton, 1519), the schools had the legal paperwork to protect themselves, and the local authorities were invested in their continuance. The loss of both endowments and recovery only after a lengthy petition process indicates how vulnerable any monastically held school could be at the time of dissolution. The nature of the documentary evidence also suggests the reason for the systematic devaluation of monastic contributions to education—we know of Faversham and Bruton only because they successfully made their cases to Edward (a decade later) and recovered their endowments at that time.

Bruton ended up recovering its land during the reign of Edward VI, in part because it was such a recent foundation that it had preserved its original deeds. This proved (at least to Edward’s satisfaction) that the school had been something fundamentally separate from the local monastery.

Eleanor Pettus, a student from California who visited us last year to carry out research in the School’s archives, chose to write her thesis on the effect of the Reformation on English schools, notably King’s Bruton. Here she explains why.

B

efore the Reformation came to England, Bruton’s grammar school would have seemed well positioned for years of educating because of the size of its endowments and the care that its founders took in crafting its constitution.

Unfortunately, when Henry VIII closed the monasteries, Bruton—like many of England’s schools—lost its school lands. While this story is known to those connected to the school, Bruton’s story is extremely important in telling the true story of English schools during the Reformation. Because Bruton was eventually refounded, its documents survived. For over a century, historians have argued that the Reformation helped schools. Bruton’s case shows that they could be harmed; the surviving evidence demonstrates why schools were especially vulnerable during the collapse of the monasteries.

The men who gave the land to Bruton’s school in 1519 were especially careful by early Tudor standards in their foundation construction. They knew that schools sometimes closed because the teacher decided he didn’t want to teach (and just kept the rents for himself); they also knew that if the school was owned by another local organization (such as a monastery), the monks might keep the endowment and fire the teacher. Thus, when Bruton’s founders gave the school land to the Abbot of Bruton, they made him accountable to their own heirs as well as two other heads of near-by religious houses. The abbot of Bruton was to pay the schoolmaster a yearly salary and maintain the school property. He could not dismiss a teacher without the support of the other religious houses.

Furthermore, if the abbot of Bruton failed to appoint a replacement schoolmaster after a death or departure, the other houses could fine the abbot until he found a teacher.

With a structure such as this, Bruton’s founders reasonably assumed that their school would last for centuries. It would have, except for the dissolution of Bruton Abbey and the seizure of the school’s lands with the abbey’s lands.

When Henry VIII closed the monasteries, his

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A Hockey Success Story ...

Coach Henry Eriksson traces the cause and effect of King’s stellar performances in recent years

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n the last three years, we have been turning heads at county, regional and national level with the standard of both our indoor and outdoor hockey. We have been playing against – and invariably outplaying – the biggest schools in the country, producing five teams that have qualified for the National Finals, and our rivals are trying to work out how this is happening. With only 330 pupils to choose from, the rivals are asking themselves, how is it that King’s manages to consistently put out teams with this high level of skill, verve and phenomenal team spirit?

How is it, they wonder, that the King’s Under 16 girls’ indoor team reached the semi-final of the National Finals in January this year, winning all their group games and only failing to reach the final on penalty flicks? How is it, they ruminate, that the King’s girls’ U14A outdoor team came top of the SchoolsSports.com National Performance League last season, winning every game?

The list of achievements doesn’t end there. How did the boys’ Under 16s only narrowly miss out on a place in the final of the 2014 National Schools Outdoor Finals, losing out on goal difference before finishing fourth overall?

How did the Under 16 boys manage to reach the National Indoor Schools Outdoor Finals in the same season for the first time in the School’s history? And, most recently, how did King’s manage to have nine girls selected for West JRPC (Junior Regional Performance Centre), the highest number in the School’s history?

Furthermore, it’s not just schools in this country asking these Mike Stride questions. As a warm-up for the National Finals, we took our Under 18 boys’ and girls’ teams as well as our Under 16 girls to take part in the Nayan Youth Cup in Lund, Southern Sweden last November. Playing against teams from Sweden, Denmark and Germany who play

a lot of indoor hockey, we surprised all of our European opponents, winning both the boys’ 17-19 and girls’ 14-16 age categories.

To those in the know, answers to some of these questions were in evidence at those National Indoor Finals in January when the Under 16 girls lined up for their first group game against the hosts, Bromsgrove. To win, the girls knew they had to play particularly well, partly because Bromsgrove is an excellent hockey school, partly because of the large and enthusiastic home crowd, but mainly because of the familiar looking coach perched in the Bromsgrove dug out. Effervescent Ben Dudley had only recently arrived at Bromsgrove after two highly successful years as the King’s Bruton coach, so he knew what his new team would have to do to beat his former charges. In the end, he was reminded of the quality of the King’s youngsters who proceeded to beat his new team 3-2 before storming through the other group matches, beating Richmond School of North Yorkshire 7-1, Cranleigh School 5-2, and renowned hockey school Ipswich 5-1.

During his time at King’s, Ben had transformed the School’s fixture list, found a sponsor for the School’s hockey, and, perhaps most significantly, introduced indoor hockey. A former junior England goalkeeper, he had brought a strong playing pedigree to his role at King’s, but it was his coaching that started to transform the School’s teams. He had been an excellent goalkeeping coach but if anything, he proved to be an even better outfield coach.

The opportunity to bring about change at a small school like King’s had been sufficient to lure him away from his first coaching post at Bromsgrove. His energy and enthusiasm soon rubbed off at the School and considerable hockey success soon ensued.

When Ben returned to Bromsgrove, he handed over the reins at King’s to me - a friend, team-mate, and captain of the Swedish outdoor and indoor teams. I’ve enjoyed some playing success - I competed at the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup held in Leipzig in Germany

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section of the Dorset Young Farmers and then came 6th= at the Schools Challenge in April.

It was in Holland that Felix had his big break.

Shooting in front of a large audience of the best shots from 16 nations, Felix held his nerve and hit all targets presented. In the shoot out of ‘sudden death’ that followed, he came a respectable 3rd shooting against ages up to 21 years old. He finished the Grand Prix after two days of competition, coming a very creditable 11th in his section which did not distinguish between seniors and juniors.

where my side finished sixth. However, it’s the coaching at King’s that gives me the most satisfaction. It is a pleasure to coach the pupils here. They take their hockey very seriously which has been demonstrated by the deserved success they have achieved. I am very proud of how their hockey, both indoors and outdoors, is developing. Playing indoor hockey is contributing significantly to the high overall standard of hockey at King’s.

...and another one in clay pigeon shooting Felix Pinney is aiming (in both senses of the word) for Olympic selection

F

elix arrived at King’s Bruton mid way through the 4th Form. He chose King’s, in part, because of the promise to allow him to follow his passion for clay shooting. Thanks to the fantastic support and encouragement he has received, Felix has begun to achieve some rewarding trophies in the sporting classes, most recently coming 3rd at the Junior Shoot Off in the Dooehaut Mees Grand Prix in Holland.

Felix started training at the Purbeck Shooting School under the tutelage of owner and Managing Director Graham Brown. Graham is well known for his shooting ability and international course design. Graham has selected a handful of juniors to coach and took Felix on in January this year. Felix has trained every week since and was rewarded for his efforts by being selected for the UK squad to go to Holland in August this year.

The sport involves a series of layouts, including singles and pairs of clays, and a full range of sporting shots, including overhead, crossers, battue, loopers, rabbits and chandelle, to mention a few.

Felix’s competition experience grew when he won the junior

This was despite his gun failing on the second day. He finished on a borrowed gun but never lost focus and concentration. Since then Felix has remained in good form and not only won a further two junior competitions but he has also qualified as an official referee in the sport.

Felix shoots Fitasc, perhaps the most demanding form of clay shooting with a never ending variety of target presentations. To cope with this demanding discipline he uses a Beretta DT10 12 bore over and under with a bespoke monte carlo stock . His ambition is to represent England at both junior and senior levels provided this can be managed around his GCSE exams this year.

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COFFEE BREAK The Ayes Have It

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A ÂŁ15 At The Chapel voucher for the first accurate completion of the Word Search on P23 and identification of the (lettered) eyes from the following list of staff and pupils: Sam Innes, Louis Tuson, Gabriel Pugh, Nigel Wilson-Brown, James Plummer, Alison Grant, Herbie Shone, Emily Simper, Mark Hambleton and Janice Jeffery

F

G A

H B

I

C

J

D

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King’s Bruton Word Search C N D O U D B T C A Y E A M K O F O B P N D A J V R D J R C P R V Y U S V P C F D Y U I J V O E X L G P E O K G H E A J D Z C P C N Y M O K W Z K Q X S P O R T S H A L L O A V F L D S T G Y M A B N F R W Y Z D C D E H G C B Y E Y J G Y Y S N Q M N H E Q T D Z H Z G Y Z I D T A S I D N O L H M V G H G B P W B P L O T Z X S E S B F E E R C N M F Y Y P C U C E L N L Y L A O Y P G U I I T O N P O M C C T B D U P J B S U A N I D N O U H T D O V T S K Words BACKWAY CHAPEL DOVECOTE GYM HYDE LONDIS LYON NEW

SPORTS HALL 23

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enjoying the local hospitality and a few members of the group learning the local dance, an early night was had by all ready for a busy day in Tortuguero.

Day two saw the group set off on a tour of Tortuguero National Park, famous for its diverse range of habitats and turtle nesting grounds. A boat ride through the rainforest saw the group come in to contact with monkeys, giant spiders, crocodiles, lizards, tortoises and incredibly rare birds. The tour ended with the group visiting the turtle sanctuary and taking a walk along the spectacular Caribbean coast. The group took the opportunity to prepare parts of the beach ready for the turtle nesting season and hopefully some arrivals later that evening. It was here that the group were able to enjoy tucking into some recently fallen coconuts.

On the walk back to the boat the group saw its first snake, a Green Vine snake. As darkness fell the group enjoyed a late dinner and some entertainment before boarding the boats again. After a walk through the rainforest we arrived at a section of the beach where there were reports of turtles nesting. As we approached the beach it was clear that a Giant Green turtle had made its way up the beach.

The group watched from just feet away as the turtle laid its eggs and then made the journey back into the sea. This was a truly unforgettable experience and something that will forever be remembered by all who were on the beach that night.

The following day we were disappointed to be leaving the comfort and the amazing setting of Tortuguero. However, this was short lived as we arrived at the Pozo Azul tented camp.

A collection of tents hidden in the rainforest that allowed the group to hear and see all that the rainforest had to offer. Snakes on the path and lizards in the bathroom were just a few of the obstacles that the group faced. This incredible camp was to be our base for the next two nights. That evening we enjoyed some of the local delicacies and had an early night ready to take on the mighty Sarapiqui River the following day.

The start of Day 4 saw the group wake to a stunning morning in the rainforest. After a good breakfast of beans, rice, eggs and fresh fruit all were ready for rafting on the Sarapiqui river. The Sarapiqui River offered some superb level 3 rapids and everyone thoroughly enjoyed tackling them head on. As the river meandered through the rainforest we were fortunate enough to see monkeys swinging overhead and sloths high up in the branches. After an

SARATOGA TRUNK Costa Rica

by Daniel Cupit

W

hile most students were enjoying the opportunity to rest in the first week of the summer holiday, a group of students and staff set off for a 10 day adventure in Costa Rica, writes Dan Cupit. A country full of opportunities for adventure, with great Biological significance and crucial geographical influences. After a 12 hour flight the group arrived in San Jose ready to start their adventure.

The start of day one saw the group head out of the capital and into the rainforest.

However, this was sooner than had been anticipated and the rainforest started in the suburbs of the capital.

A clear reflection of the importance of conservation in Costa Rica and an example of why Costa Rica is one of the most remarkable and bio-diverse countries in the Life on the ocean wave world.

We drove through the spectacular Braulio Carrilo National park on our way to the Caribbean side of the country. Our destination was a boat dock to board our river launch and head deep into the rainforest through the canals and rivers of Tortuguero. The beauty and scale of the rainforest was incredible and it left the group feeling stunned at what they were travelling through and even more excited about the final destination. Our destination for the evening was Pachira Lodge in Tortuguero. Set on its own island just behind the coast, Pachira Lodge was home to a population of giant crabs, howling monkeys, lizards and giant ants. We arrived just in time to lend our support to the Costa Ricans as they took on the Netherlands in the World Cup. After

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hour paddling we were able to enjoy a well-deserved break and tucked into some pineapple before plunging back in to the rapids.

After a morning on the Sarapiqui we returned to the centre to enjoy a lovely lunch looking out over the Sarapiqui and were visited by a hummingbird and the very famous Jesus Christ lizard that can walk on water!

That afternoon we enjoyed a trip around a frog and butterfly farm and were able to see some of the many types of butterflies and frogs that are found in the various habitats around Costa Rica.

The following day we left Pozo Azul camp for Arenal Volcano. Stopping in La Fortuna we were incredibly lucky to see a tree that was inhabited by giant iguanas. The group arrived at the base of the Arenal Volcano and started a trek up an old lava flow to an observation point. On the side of the volcano the views of the lake and La Fortuna were simply incredible. Hotel Arenal Paraiso was our base for the night and this fantastic venue allowed us to freshen up after a day scaling the volcano and to see some more fantastic wildlife.

Later that evening we headed to Tobacon hot springs, undoubtedly the best hot springs in Costa Rica and arguably one of the best hot springs in the world. Set in the rainforest this venue allows you to swim and relax in pools and rivers that are naturally heated by the volcano. With crystal clear water, water falls and the volcano towering overhead this really was a once in a lifetime experience. After relaxing in the pool we were able to enjoy a fantastic buffet dinner before heading back to the hotel.

Day seven saw us leave Arenal for the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. Set at over 2000m above sea level and ascending above the clouds, Monteverde is a unique reserve that is home to huge numbers of animals and mammals as well as being one of only six habitats in the world where all six species of the cat family are found. The group enjoyed a tour around Monteverde before visiting hotel Heliconia for the night.

Day eight saw us head up to the top of Monteverde for the spectacular Canopy Sky tram. A network of zip lines that descend over a 1000m down the mountainside allowed everyone to fly above the canopy and through the clouds.

Suspended above the canopy you really began to appreciate the scale of the rainforest and its incredible beauty.

After the thrill of the sky trek, we headed to a snake sanctuary to see some of the many species of snake found in Costa Rica. Home to many venomous and non-venomous snakes, the group got the opportunity to see these and get close to them.

The final day of the trip involved a visit to a coffee plantation and chocolate processing area. Understanding how coffee is grown, roasted and shipped was very interesting and it was clear just how important coffee is to the Costa Rican economy. Everyone loved the opportunity to taste chocolate and to make their own sugar palm juice. After trying out the local transport of ox and cart, the group enjoyed lunch at the plantation before heading back to San Jose.

An incredible 10 days in Costa Rica had come to an end. An unforgettable experience in a truly remarkable country. A trip full of experiences that will stay with everyone for years to come.

Does it float your boat?

Bugs Life

Is there a hole in my bucket?

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Battlefields

by Mark Hambleton and Tim Fletcher

South Wales Borderers had tried to hold up the German advance during the race to the sea, almost 100 years before to the day. The signs of that day have almost disappeared but the terrain remains the same, and there are still screw pickets used as part of the fencing.

From Gheluvelt we went on to Tyne Cot, the largest Commonwealth cemetery, where the students spent time reflecting on the 3rd Battle of Ypres and how the war must have affected those left behind. The German cemetery at Langemarck and British Memorial at Ploegsteert also help convey this, and add to one’s appreciation of the scale

Pause for thought - Alex Keeley

F

inally we were ready to go. After what had been several weeks of badgering students for passport details and making sure they had the right footwear we set off for France and the annual Battlefields Trip had begun. Its focus remained the Ypres Salient and the Somme despite the attention being given to the centenary of the outbreak of the war. However 1914 was not ignored, and we spent time on the Monday hearing about the stories of the three Old Brutonians killed in 1914 around the Ypres Salient, Harold Hippisley, Eric Barnes and Stanley Henson. There was a poignancy about all three, yet it was the story of Henson’s body being recovered during the Christmas truce that perhaps hit home the most.

The day before we had visited Vimy Ridge and under a lowering sky heard a recently unearthed account of the attack at Easter 1917 read out as we huddled in the shelter of the memorial. It is always an impressive sight and from the top of the ridge it is easy to appreciate its strategic importance. We squeezed a visit in to the sobering German cemetery of Neuville St Vaast, before heading to the hotel and a surprisingly good dinner.

Our departure on the Monday was delayed by the Rev spending hours looking for his boots and refusing to leave the hotel until he had found them. Eventually Gheluvelt was the first stop, for it was here in 1914 that the

Never, never land: Peter Jenkins, Cosmo Williams Cardaras, Toby Doig

of the war. The preserved trenches at Sanctuary Wood and the Bayernwald provide a sense of what the war was like, and add another dimension to understanding them.

In the evening Rupert Leschallas and Harriet Papenfus laid a wreath at the Menin Gate during the Last Post ceremony, perhaps a more daunting task than usual due to the larger numbers there.

Our day on the Somme again got off to a bad start as the Rev discovered his footwear had been declared illegal by the French authorities for falling foul of tight Bovine TB restrictions. He spent the day fretting about being arrested by the gendarmerie but (un)fortunately was enticed out of the coach at some of the sites, after a bit of a set to.

The day focused on the events of July 1 1916 and the disaster that befell the British that day. At Newfoundland Park one is able to walk through and between the front line trenches, and the tale, well told by Mr Bunday, of the trench raid brought it to life even more. At the Sunken Lane students were able to watch (through the miracles of modern technology) the footage of the Hawthorn Ridge Mine going off from the spot it had been filmed, and see the Lancashire Fusiliers sitting in the very lane in front of

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At Thiepval, under Lutyen’s arch to the Missing of the Somme, students read Reported Missing by Anna Keown which provided a moment of apposite reflection. Finally, at Serre, in the cemetery where many of the Accrington Pals lie buried, we had our own, more private act of commemoration, as the sun fell.

Our final visit of the trip was to the Wellington Quarries at Arras, which gives the pupils an opportunity to appreciate what it must have been like living and fighting underground. This first-hand experience shows that the war is not all black and white and is more than just trench warfare.

Our final port of call was to France’s smallest MacDonalds who had not been forewarned that we were coming but nevertheless coped admirably after a bit of scratching around. Overall the trip was a great success, and all the students returned home safely and enriched, despite a near miss with an unexploded grenade at the Ulster Tower.

Menin Gate: Harriet Papenfus and Rupert Leschallas

Going, going: Billy Tarlton

Arras: exit to battlefield

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Casualty List: Sophie Tyack

The Dolphin 2015

History trip: Krakow and Warsaw

By Lucia Pretor-Pinney

lunch at our hotel, which consisted of soup to begin with and then some sort of chicken meat balls with mashed potato and cabbage (this menu was something we would all become very familiar with by the end of the trip) we visited The Schindler Factory Museum which gave us an overview of Polish History during World War II. Having seen the film ‘Schindler’s List’ I knew quite a bit about the story. It was therefore fascinating and rather surreal to be able to actually walk through the very factory from where Schindler was able to save so many Jewish lives.

On our second day after donning as many layers as physically possible, heeding the warning that it would be bitterly cold, we embarked on our visit to Auschwitz Birkenau. Nothing could have prepared us for the chilling and shocking experience. It is easy to underestimate the horror of the atrocities of concentration camps when simply reading about them in a history textbook, but when you actually walk through the same gates as prisoners, you can’t really put into words the eerie atmosphere. What shocked me most was the vastness which was especially apparent at Birkenau. Many of the huts had been burnt but you could imagine them stretching for miles as far as the eye could see in the vast expanse of the landscape. Despite my many layers I was chilled to the bone not only physically but emotionally. I can only begin to imagine the freezing conditions the prisoners experienced without the luxury of a woolly coat and I suddenly felt very stupid feeling so cold when the victims had to endure the unbearable and unrelenting weather for far more than a couple of petty hours.

The cathartic experience made me extremely grateful for the life that I lead and the world that we now

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ull, grey and industrial were my first impressions of Poland on stepping out of the coach, having never been to this country before. I didn’t really know what to expect, perhaps grey soviet architecture covered in blankets of snow. Indeed there was snow although not quite as idyllic and picturesque as I had imagined; it suddenly dawned on me that when living with snow for more than the odd week we experience here in England the magic would probably wear off.

Having arrived in Poland our first stop was a tour of the old town of Krakow, including Wawel Hill, the Royal Castle and Wawel Cathedral. This is often described as the ‘Polish Mecca’ due to its great significance as the Polish political power centre, the formal seat of the Polish monarchy until 1611 and the residence of the Polish president during the 20th century until the invasion of Poland at the start of World War II.

We were also given a tour of the old town including the Main square or Rynek. In the centre of the square was the Adam Mickiewicz Monument. Legend has it that in order to secure good exam results one must hop around the monument five or six times, therefore unsurprisingly Polish students gather here during end of year parties celebrated 100 days before the results. After

Museum of Polish Jews, Warsaw

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Auschwitz Birkenau

live in - although it is certainly not perfect we have learnt a lot and have come a long way since the horrors of World War II.

The afternoon involved a little lighter sightseeing experience around the beautiful and remarkable Wieliczka salt mine, a UNESCO world heritage sight. The mines extend 327 metres in total but we only reached a depth of 135 metres which was definitely far enough underground for me! The underground chapel of St. Kinga was particularly incredible especially considering it was carved out by hand. We had supper in the restaurant 125 metres below the surface - not surprisingly, it consisted of soup, chicken and potatoes and then an apple pie to finish.

The following morning we were given a guided tour of Nowa Huta, the Socialist Realist District built around the Lenin Steelworks. On our way we stopped off at an old cinema which boasted a fascinating photography exhibition depicting Polish life throughout the Soviet era. We were also lucky enough to have a tour around the bunker underneath the cinema - although admittedly it was rather dark and dingy it was an extremely interesting experience. After lunch in the Nowa Huta district we continued on to the capital, Warsaw, and after a five hour journey we arrived in the snow.

On our first morning in Warsaw we began with a visit to the museum of the Warsaw Uprising. I was incredibly shocked by this museum as I had little knowledge of the Uprising and no idea of the scale of devastation. The Uprising in 1944 only lasted for 63 days, yet roughly 85% of the city was destroyed. In the afternoon we travelled to Palmiry cemetery located in the middle of a forest, one of the many German sites for the mass execution of Jews. It is estimated that around 1,700 Poles were murdered there between 1939 and 1941. It was extremely chilling and poignant walking through the rows of graves shrouded in the evening light and the setting sun. However what I found particularly touching was the display of mundane

possessions of the victims such as wedding rings and wallets used to identify the bodies and the fact that many were never identified and their families never knew what became of them. Yet despite the secret circumstances of their deaths they will never be forgotten.

Our last morning began with a guided tour of the city focusing on the Cold War era; this included a visit to the Polish Peoples Republic Warsaw Museum.

This museum was by far the smallest we had visited but it was designed to look like an authentic scene of that time, including a kitchen and bedroom and crammed full of many wonderful examples of everyday items. I have always been fascinated by displays such as these as it gives you a real sense of what life was like; it is almost as if you can experience it for yourself.

We also visited the Museum of Polish Jews which was situated on the site of the war-time ghetto, the largest of all the Jewish occupied ghettos in all of Nazi occupied Europe during World War II and home to at least 400,000 residents from the surrounding areas; it is estimated that 300,000 of these Jewish inhabitants died.

As we arrived we huddled around a memorial for the Jews outside the museum, a large stone block with statues of Jewish people emerging and standing tall whist others were laid down. To me it represented the community’s strength and resilience and was a testament not only to those who died but to the people who lived on with the horrific memories of their ordeals.

The exhibition itself depicts the life of the vibrant Jewish community that thrived in Poland up until the Holocaust. After lunch at the University Library restaurant, and then some shopping, we departed for the airport and arrived safely back in England. At first glance Poland did indeed appear the epitome of a former grey Soviet country; when you look deeper you discover its abundance of rich and cultural history as well as the deeply moving scars left by the atrocities of the 20 century.

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Spanish trip: Salamanca

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e left School at 1:15 pm and headed to Bristol airport. We landed in Madrid at about 9 pm Spanish time and got to Salamanca at around 11. The bus stopped about 5-10 minutes from our houses, and our Spanish “mothers” were waiting for us. We got our bags out of the bus and our mothers took us to their houses. Our mother cooked a quick meal while we unpacked our bags. We had an omelette, bread with butter and a tomato soup. It was simple but delicious. After we ate we went to bed and slept perfectly. (Amber-Rose Salmon-Brown)

The first morning, our “mothers” walked us to the language school where we met a few of the teachers and then we went out for a breakfast of chocolate con churros.

This was the first time we saw the city in daylight and we thought it was absolutely beautiful, especially the buildings and cathedral. Chocolate con churros are a delicious Spanish speciality and are basically long doughnuts with melted chocolate. We all enjoyed them a lot! (Lucy Little)

Every day we had three lessons in the mornings, from 10 am until 2 pm. For our first two lessons we learnt and revised grammar. For example, we went over tenses, verbs and verb endings. For our second lesson we had a different teacher - in this lesson we did vocabulary and speaking. Throughout all the lessons our teachers only spoke Spanish; this was really helpful because it meant that we could get an ear for the language and understand more Spanish outside the classroom. Not only were the lessons really helpful for learning, our teachers also made them fun so that we could enjoy them more rather than it feeling like we were back at school. (Beth Pretor-Pinney)

On our second night in Spain, we had a salsa class in ISLA. Our teacher was very enthusiastic, however,

Salamanca Cathedral

because we weren’t used to the Spanish way of life yet, we were all slightly less enthusiastic and awake. We began with ‘simple’ steps which quickly confused us. It was fun to see everyone testing their salsa abilities and our teacher was very motivating though this did not mean that we understood the steps. Even though we all enjoyed the class, we were all very relieved to go home and get to bed after a long day of school and activities. (Freya Thorner)

On Thursday afternoon we went to see the cathedrals of Salamanca. The new one is called Catedral Nueva and the old one is called Catedral Vieja de Santa María.

They are next to each other and both are very big and have many stairs. The old cathedral was built in the 12th century and the new one in the 15th century. They are still looking very good after their restoration in the 17th century after the big earthquake of Salamanca. We went up the tower and sat in one of the cathedrals under the bells. I really enjoyed this trip and would love to do it again. (Max Behm)

During our trip to Spain we were tasked with the challenge of taking four outstanding photographs which included monuments and which showed good artistic skills. This led to us traipsing around the wonderful city of Salamanca in search of the best locations for photographs.

I don’t know about the boys’ group but we ended up with about ten more photos than we actually needed and so had a very hard time narrowing down the four best photos. This activity was one of the best because we were allowed to walk around Salamanca and see in more detail some of the beautiful sights that we had been shown previously in a quick tour. Both teams (a boys’ team and a girls’ team) then entered their chosen photos to one of the members of ISLA. We then had to wait until the end of the trip to find out who had won. The winners were the girls’ team comprising Amber, Philly, Beth, Freya, Lucia, Lucy, Lottie and Kitty.

We all won key chains that bring good luck. (Philly Deacon)

Lucy Little and Beth Pretor-Pinney leapfrogging in the Plaza

Salsa confusion

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Geography trip: Sorrento

by Dan Hodder

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he geography department ran its biannual trip to Sorrento this year with much success and a huge amount of enjoyment. After arriving at our hotel and settling in for the evening we headed up Mount Vesuvius on the first day for a guided tour of the crater and summit of the volcano. The quality of questions and the eagerness of the students to learn about the tectonic activity and the fate of Pompeii below were impressive and we enjoyed a lovely morning touring the site in beautifully warm Italian sunshine after the relative damp and cold of a British spring. Following our morning activities we took the students down to Herculaneum the amazingly well preserved seaside town engulfed by the eruption in AD79. After lunch at a local pizzeria the students spent the remainder of the afternoon touring the site and simply trying to take in the scale of the eruption, devastation and human tragedy which unfolded in the few brief moments all those years ago.

Saturday saw the group up early for our day looking at tourism on the island of Capri. This for many represented a real highlight with a boat trip, ski lift ride and free time to eat as much ice cream and pizza as possible!

Our boat trip was blessed with warm spring sunshine and almost the entire small vessel to ourselves. Following the tour we headed to the top of Capri via the novel mode of single seat ski lift which allows you a tranquil and private moment to climb the steep side of the island’s main peak peering over garden walls and into olive groves as you slowly climb to one of the most breath-taking view points it is possible to imagine over the Bay of Naples.

Sunday took the group to Pompeii, still a place that while I have visited it a number of times before has the ability to surprise you. The scale and size and the fact that one can walk for twenty minutes in any direction and pass houses, shops, theatres, café’s in the same way one might walk around any modern city still humbles and astounds.

This slightly damp day really demonstrated to me what a special group of both staff and students I had come away with. Rain is always bad news on trips, students are tired,

(Left to right): Georgia Dimdore-Miles, Imogen Moore, Beth Pretor-Pinney, Anne Price, Rebecca Bracey, Daisy Mant

cold and wet and can quickly lose interest in the attraction of the event they are attending. Not this bunch and it is to the credit of every student on the trip how well they behaved and listened and asked intelligent thoughtful questions. I left Pompeii a little damp but hugely impressed with both the site and the kids.

Monday, our departure day, included a trip to a collapsed volcanic system called Solfatara which I would recommend to anyone. Following this we headed to Naples for a new part of our trip which I had picked up on TripAdvisor for a guided tour of the underground tunnels in Naples. This was very special indeed. A network of Greek, Roman, World War 2 and modern tunnels which stretch for 200KM under the city. Navigating by candle light in these narrow passages listening to the history of Naples was for me one of the great highlights of the trip. Thank you to Mr Lowry, Miss Flavell and Miss Swindall who were fantastic help and assistance during the trip. Also thank you to the students – you were really a very special group and I was privileged to show you just this little part of the geography of a unique site in Italy.

Myles Yeandel

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CALL OF DUTY

luck at his next school.”

Despite these kind sentiments from Evie, it would be remiss of me not to mention the other staff who have willingly volunteered their time to help make CCF run smoothly: Mr Barrow, who becomes the new Contingent Commander, together with Mr Steeds, Mr Jeffrey, Miss Flavell, Miss Liddell-Grainger, Mr Harkness, Mr Davies, Mr Beverly and Mr Saunders. In addition, I must say a huge thank you to Mr Charlton, who has done huge amounts of work to keep the Contingent functioning.

by Al Moxham

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he Combined Cadet Force (CCF) offers all pupils at the school the chance to undertake a variety of adventurous activities, and aims to develop resilience and teamwork. More importantly, it aims to put responsibility into the hands of senior pupils, and for those who assume roles as NCOs and help to run the Contingent, it offers unparalleled opportunities to cultivate leadership and planning abilities. This year’s NCO cohort have been an excellent bunch, led by Evie Gravatt who has been the epitome of enthusiasm. I’ll let Evie give a flavour of the year…

“CCF this year has been immense. Firstly, the Biennial Inspection, undertaken by Air Marshall Bollom CB FREng RAF (currently the Chief of Material and Chief Engineer for the Royal Air Force) was a success.

Secondly, each section has had myriad trips offering pupils the opportunity to get out of Bruton and experience new things. The highlight for the RAF section, led by Susie MacDonald with great energy, was the opportunity to go flying with the RAF. Cadets were paired up with an experienced pilot in tiny, two-man “Tutor” planes where they had the chance to take control of the aircraft, with many attempting aerobatics! The Army section especially enjoyed shooting at Yoxter Ranges and lots of different exercises. The Navy section, led expertly by Octavia Cobb, also had a very exciting year, which involved visiting HMS Bristol in addition to several sailing trips in the summer term. Sadly this year we say farewell and a big thank you to Mr Cowley who has led the Navy section for several years, as well as running the preparation of many Ten Tors teams. Lastly we say farewell and a huge thank you to Mr Moxham, Contingent Commander, who has lead the CCF with enthusiasm and drive: we wish him

Next term will begin a year of transition for the Contingent. The CCF at King’s will become a voluntary activity, with the schools resources concentrated on the Army and Royal Navy sections; the RAF section will be mothballed. This will mean that reluctant pupils will not be compelled to take part, and overall should lead to a more dynamic organisation, able to run a greater variety of activities.

Certainly, the proposed programme is vibrant, with activities ranging from shooting, climbing, orienteering and military exercises, to sailing, kayaking, archery, hill walking, Ten Tors and leadership training. There are also overnight and week-long exercises and residential camps, as well as opportunities to gain expertise in a number of adventurous activities. I have enjoyed my time with the CCF whilst at King’s, not least because of the fantastic quality of the staff and NCOs who have chosen to take part, but I have no doubt that bigger and better things lie ahead.

Reporting for duty, Mr Charlton, Sir

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who have their own place on the Chaplaincy team purchased by their commitment year after year. I can’t say how grateful we are for the Rantis, Jakes, Frankies, Davids, Johns and so many more of this world who give and give to God’s work at King’s with such selfless effort.

Sundays saw a consolidation of our move into the Fitzjames’ Theatre from the Memorial Hall and St Mary’s. I love the location which gives exactly the relaxed and informal atmosphere to our gathering that I have wanted to create for some time. Huge thanks go to our Theatre Manager, Will Stainton, for his easy and friendly help Sunday after Sunday through the year, and a big ‘Well done!’ to the pupils and staff who come along and engage so positively and helpfully as we meet as a boarding community to sing, hear, and encourage one another.

We were also privileged to welcome back Rev Rico Tice as our Lenten Addresses speaker. Rico is one of the country’s best known preachers and church leaders in from All Soul’s Langham Place, London. He is author of many books as well as the acclaimed ‘Christianity Explored’ course used by so many churches across the world. Rico brought with him the boundless energy, direct words and deep love of people that he is known for wherever he speaks. Many were touched by what he had to say and King’s is once again indebted to him and the visiting team around him who gave so much for our good. The Lenten Addresses are a very special time of year and our long line of speakers have done us great service with the unswerving support of the Headmaster and his SMT. As every year we once again encouraged all who could to enroll on Easter Revision and Summer Camps. What a great way they are to meet up with like-minded friends from King’s and beyond and to make real strides in faith that just can’t be made in the busyness of school life. The Lymington Rushmore staff are a great blessing to us at King’s and a regular feature on our speaking programme and Lenten Addresses teams. They really are a true partner in the ministry of the Chaplaincy and I know only too certainly how important those camps have been to many who have now left King’s and are growing away in their faith.

And so the year ended with our next team heading off to the orphanage in India. Only a team of two this year, but what a team Tabby and Flora were, keeping the baton moving from year to year and being the next link in the chain of our King’s presence of love and care among the hundreds of children we have sought to serve for so many years now. Thank you and well done to them both!

CHAPLAINCY

by Nigel WilsonBrown

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race and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Not long ago those words from the beginning of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians were the morning focus for our team of Berean readers. Berean notes, daily-written Bible readings and comments fired into the inbox of all who ask for them, have become a staple spiritual food for over 80 staff and Old Brutonians and over 50 pupils through 2014-15. Those two words, grace and peace, book-end the extraordinary body of truth that these readers are coming increasingly to understand through time in the word day-byday; God’s free gift of forgiveness and peace with Him, all at the expense of Christ. That simple kernel of truth is at the very heart of all we do and say on the Chaplaincy year by year, and through Bereans the same message is now being reinforced and rejoiced-in within the staff communities of other schools we enjoy a relationship with here at King’s. It’s been great to see the reach of the Chaplaincy’s service extend out beyond the edges of our own community and into the lives of others who have chosen to receive.

We’ve had a brilliant time in Chapel this year and spent time delving into all sorts of texts from the Bible. We gave ourselves a huge challenge in the Christmas term by attempting to preach single-sermon ‘hits’ on the core message of some hidden gems of the Old Testament.

Then we took some time in the challenging and strikingly pictorial words of the Book of Revelation before running up to Easter with a little series on the stunning character of the Jesus whose cross dominates that special time of the Christian year. In the Summer term we returned to the demanding standards of true spiritual life in Paul’s teaching on the fruit of the Spirit, seeing how each element of the truly godly character finds its most perfect expression in His Son Jesus. What a super Chapel year it was!

TGI continued to go from strength to strength in its new home in the JCR. Converting the room from its usual daily look to what I can only say resembles the inside of a London Club takes quite some effort from the Chaplaincy team of muscular helpers, but it’s worth every heaving puff of breath and every dripping bead of sweat.

Talks were given by speakers from inside and outside the King’s community and we welcomed back many regulars

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A HELPING HAND

by Georgie MacLeod-Ash

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his year I was fortunate enough to be given the responsibility of Community Service Prefect. Part of this responsibility involved helping Mrs Bray assign all of the sixth formers, who had chosen to do Community Service, the placements that would be best suited to them to do every Friday afternoon for two terms.

Both years I helped in schools local to Bruton, although each provided a very different experience and I took very different things away with me from each school.

For the first year, I helped in Bruton’s local primary school.

It seemed very intimidating at first having to look after and help teach 20 overexcited five and six year olds and I began to wonder what I had let myself in for! However, after the first couple of weeks it was incredibly rewarding to see how excited the children were to see you every Friday afternoon and I began to form bonds with both the children and the teacher I was assisting.

Whilst teaching 20 five and six years old how to count and spell three letter words became rather monotonous, I began to realise how important these years of teaching were as it provides the basis of future education which depends on these key stages of your learning. As well as being incredibly rewarding to witness the development of the children’s social skills and learning over just two terms, it was also enjoyable to be among such lively members of the Bruton community. In contrast, I spent my second year helping to teach French to year 6 and 7 at Hazlegrove, King’s preparatory school. Similarly, it was very daunting knowing that I was having an influence on preparing the children for their Common Entrance exams and future at secondary schools. However, I valued the opportunity I was given and really enjoyed being challenged a bit more by teaching at a more advanced level. Studying French at A Level myself, I was really able to help the children enthusiastically and will admit that it definitely benefitted me revising a few of the basics too!

Edie Bruford writes:

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he past two years of community service have been really enjoyable. Last year I visited the Castle Cary Primary School every Friday afternoon which was really fun to get to know the children of year 2 and help them during their ‘golden time’. Although it was very sad to leave them all I was lucky enough to be in Bruton this year and I really enjoyed helping Mandy in the Brainwave charity shop.

At the beginning of the Lower Sixth, I found it very intimidating going into a completely new environment and the thought of looking after 20 children aged 6 and under seemed rather daunting. However, as the weeks went by I became very attached to the children in my class and it was very sad to leave them at the end of the Easter term. One of the highlights of going to Castle Cary Primary School was definitely helping them prepare for their Christmas Carol Service as it was heart-warming to see all the children’s huge smiles and them enjoying all the singing so much, although of course there were a few being silly, it added to the fun of it. I would like to thank everyone at Castle Cary Primary School for being so welcoming and giving me such a good Community Service experience.

During my upper sixth year I was very excited to be helping Mandy in the Brainwave charity shop in Bruton with Izzy Longpre. It was really lovely to be able to help the local community and the experience of working in a shop was also really useful as I would like to possibly work in retail in the future. Apart from this, the best moments of this year’s Community Service were definitely getting to know and gossiping with Mandy as well as giving her a helping hand during the busy Friday afternoons.

Overall, I never realised how rewarding Community Service would be and I am so pleased that I was able to spend my Friday afternoons doing something to help others.

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CURTAIN CALL

the sheer guts of the youngsters who are willing to step onto the stage and share their hard work with all who attend the shows. Heartfelt thanks to all who take part, on and off stage, and to the many who come to the performances time and time again, often at the end of busy and exhausting weeks, to support the students in their endeavours and to celebrate their achievements. We have even more treats in store for you next year….

End of Year Report

Twelfth Night

reviewed by Jamie Barron

by Maggie King

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his production of Twelfth Night really did make music the food of love, with an ever-present black-tie band adding to the ambience of the 1920s jazz-club theme. This was a slick yet rumbustious performance, with a great deal of physical action to enliven Shakespeare’s story of love unrequited, thwarted, confused and finally gratified.

Ben Piggins sensitively conveyed suave manabout-town Orsino’s changing personality and, as the play progressed, he showed his developing relationship with Cesario and the relief this brings him from his unhappy infatuation with the Countess Olivia. Played with poise and elegance by Octavia Cobb, we saw Olivia develop from a demurely depressed widow to an impassioned woman who doesn’t let concealment feed on her damask cheek.

Dapper and foppish in straw boater, striped blazer and bow-tie, the cane-wielding Sir Toby Belch (played by Luke Rowlands) had the audience in stitches with his amusing timing and awkward movements; he was joined in the comic relief department by Callum Thorner, reprising the role of ‘drunken buffoon’ with éclat as Sir Andrew Aguecheek.

The star of the show was Susie MacDonald’s Viola, played touchingly and with great panache throughout – Susie showed Viola’s initial distress, resourceful recovery (donning bland suit and flat-cap), and entanglement with Olivia and Orsino very effectively. Rory Cadbury was heartfelt in his rendition of Sebastian. As the disguises piled on and the confusion and deception increased, the cast managed wonderfully to keep up the momentum through an excellent depiction of the Illyrian midsummer madness.

Hugh Pomeroy’s Malvolio began very properly, apparelled in perfect butler’s garb, with an enthralling mixture of malevolence and charm; making his descent into delirious gaudiness in his duped effort to attract his bemused employer all the more striking. Hugh clearly revelled in the garish cross-gartered yellow stockings, and by the end of the play when we see him battered and dishevelled he has certainly won our sympathy.

Annie Black provided marvellous entertainment as the Clown, performing conjuring tricks and her own excellent poetry. As the whirligig of time brought us to the end of the performance, the hard work and dedication of the cast was palpable, as a many-layered play was brought to a highly satisfying conclusion with the aid of some splendid 1920s-style dancing.

Head of Theatre Studies

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he Drama Department continues to thrive and to attract new students with a range of strengths and interests in the Performing Arts. Highlights this year have been as varied as ever: The AS Drama & Theatre Studies production of Lovesong by Abi Morgan, with accompanying monologues from Tennessee Williams and Peter Shaffer pieces, were a great success. Although a small group, the acting skills here have progressed rapidly to produce fine, confident and flexible performers. Similarly, the GCSE group showed impressive creativity and dexterity in their unique renditions of O, What A Lovely War by Joan Littlewood; both groups created imaginative, compelling performances.

The A2 Devised Piece was challenging and surprising; it certainly showed the students at their creative best.

4th Formers gave energetic and confident performances in their Commedia dell’Arte routines for Trinity Guildhall exams, making the most of the Physical Theatre skills they’d acquired during the term.

In terms of extra -curricular Drama, there was plenty of talent and enthusiasm on display this year: Twelfth Night, our Christmas Production, was a roaring success; beautifully played lead roles coupled with a robust supporting cast made for two evenings of delightful, festive entertainment. The Jazz Band offered the perfect backdrop to the mayhem (all carefully choreographed, of course) on stage. Although played in the heat of the June sun, It Snows showcased the strength of talent in the junior years. This was a heart-warming, gentle, gem of a tale, staged most ably by its young cast and crew. Finally, but not least, the two House Plays from Wellesley and Blackford gave audiences a good deal of pleasure at the end of the Lent term: Blackadder and Ladies’ Day provided laughter aplenty for all lucky enough to attend the shows.

Every year I am impressed by the depth of talent, the willingness to learn, the enthusiasm to be involved and

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Viola and Orsino: Susie MacDonald and Ben Piggins

Not at one: Hugh and Olivia

Hugh Pomeroy’s Malvolio

Rory Cadbury and Octavia Cobb: Sebastian and Countess Olivia

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Sixth Form Plays reviewed by Maggie King

The God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza Scary: Emily Clothier

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irected by Susie MacDonald, the play is, on the face of it, very simple. Two boys, Benjamin and Henry have fought in the playground, one armed with a stick, breaks the other’s teeth. The parents meet to discuss how best to resolve the childish dispute. So begins the play.

A thin veneer of politeness and social niceties soon slips to reveal a host of frustrations, resentments, snobberies and bickering between the adults, culminating in a chaotic, alcohol fuelled final scene. Susie played the control freak, Veronica, forcibly, Ben Stevens as Michael was suitably languid and resigned to being bossed about, and Charlotte Ask’s Annette looked nervous and edgy throughout, whilst Rory Cadbury as Alan was permanently attached to his mobile phone, and showed palpable dislike for the righteousness of Veronica. The subtle interplay between each character was evident and carefully controlled towards the dramatic climax. Perhaps not a play for hamster lovers, but everyone else surely enjoyed this gem of a production.

Twinkle: burglar Ben Piggins

The Virtuous Burglar by Dario Fo

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n increasingly complicated plot this farce builds in momentum and silliness from beginning to end: just when you are led to believe the plot cannot get any more twisted and layered, it does. Directed by Hugh Pomeroy, Fo’s farce is a delightful one-act play. Ben Piggins played the burglar with genuine glee, and a twinkle in his eye; Lucien Carey’s lover was appropriately clueless as he was amorous; Cara Valentine played the mischievous mistress with conviction. It was clear to all that she and her lover would never quite get as far as the bedroom!

Emily Clothier as the burglar’s wife was scarily indomitable and would surely frighten anyone into a life of crime. Jill London and Angus Fox as the second set of would-be lovers were extraordinarily dishevelled and confused, and Hugh Pomeroy’s guest appearance as the second bungling burglar of the night capped off the night of frivolity and madness. All the stage was in disarray by the final scene: what a fitting way to end a night of glorious comedy.

Huge congratulations especially to Susie and Hugh, who encouraged, enthused and organised the whole kaboodle!

Mischievous: Cara Valentine

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Wellesley House Play - Ladies’ Day reviewed by May Bullock

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his year Wellesley performed “Ladies’ Day”, a heart-warming comedy about four factory workers and their day out to the York races, as our House Play.

Caitlin Marsh, Rosie Hunter, Daisy Mant and I played Shelley, Jan, Pearl and Linda, the slightly crazy foursome who spend their days packing fish in Hull until Pearl decides to take a trip to Ladies Day to celebrate her retirement. What ensues is a mixture of scandal, hangovers, gambling and a good time.

The cast as a whole – Isabelle Longpre, Georgia Dimdore-Miles, Kiara Jones, India Hutton, Hebe Young and Jemima Owen, along with extras – Eva Kehrbusch, Oona Goebbels, Anne-Sophie Al-Bazaz and Helena Cornett were great. All the girls had a hilarious time in rehearsals practising northern accents and working through the comical script. As a House, Wellesley did not only appreciate the kind praise and laughter we received after our performances but we also grew closer after the hours spent rehearsing and set designing on the weekends.

The light hearted play was definitely what the school needed after a long and cold term leading up to external examinations. However, it must be said that the success of the production simply could not have been possible without the guidance and never ending support from our director whose unwavering dedication just goes to show how great a resident tutor - Miss Flavell - was to us over the past few years. A huge thank you must also go to Mrs Deaney for all her support and freshly baked goods in rehearsals as without them they would definitely not have run so smoothly.

Jemima Owen and Hebe Young Caitlin Marsh and Jemima Owen

Isabelle Longpre and Rosie Hunter

Daisy Mant

Kiara Jones

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Two other lead roles were Archie Cobb who played the role of George and Mark Catley- Day who played the role of General Melchett. Archie thoroughly embraced the character of George and his witty lines such as “well cover me with eggs and flour and bake me for 40 minutes” and ‘accidently’ hitting his head twice in one act was very entertaining.

Mark Catley- Day was great on stage using his high pitched,

Blackford House Play - Blackadder Goes Forth reviewed by Octavia Cobb

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or its House play, Blackford House presented a fresh interpretation of two classical episodes from the BBC 1 British sitcom ‘Blackadder Goes Forth.’ The first was “Corporal Punishment” set in the trenches where Captain Edmund Blackadder ends up shooting General Sir Anthony Hogmanay Melchett’s pride and joy, a carrier pigeon who was relaying a message for them to go over the top into No Mans Land.

With George and Baldrick then accidently revealing to General Melchett that “Captain Blackadder definitely did not shoot that delicious plump-breasted pigeon” a court case takes place. During this court case, thanks to the clumsiness of Private S Baldrick, Blackadder ends up having the ‘less than knowledgeable’ Lieutenant George Colthurst as his defence. This inevitably sentences Blackadder to death by firing squad in which he was relying on George sending a message to his Uncle to save him but instead Blackadder was saved by George’s Uncle who questioned why “George hadn’t messaged him earlier.”

In revenge, Blackadder sends George and Baldrick on a ‘mission certain death’ into No Man’s Land.

After an interval, the second episode was “General Hospital” which involved a German spy, who was leaking the British battle plans back to the Kaiser, being located in a hospital. Blackadder and Baldrick set off with the intention to find the spy, having been promised that Blackadder would become head of mission ‘Winkle’ if the spy was found. Short for ‘winkling out the spies.’ Darling followed along as he didn’t trust Blackadder but found himself landed as one of the lead suspects along with ‘Mr. Smith’, an injured soldier with a thick German accent and Nurse Mary. But the spy is not who it seemed….

Not only did Will Kingsberry and Nick Poll provide a consistent drive and enthusiasm throughout but they also worked well together to embrace the lead roles as Blackadder and Baldrick. Blackadder’s control and witty

Egg and flour: Archie Cobb

loud shouts about Blackadder killing his beloved Pigeon, his preposterous ginger moustache and not to forget his story of a Major who was “Poo-pooed” to entertain the audience.

The supporting roles of Jake Lane as Captain Darling, Jack Hudson as Nurse Mary and Tom Hudson as Sergeant Jones (Commander of the firing squad) supplied another thoroughly entertaining layer to this play. Jake was claimed to “bottom fondle” Blackadder whom then claimed it was his hobby as well as his job. Jack was outstanding as Nurse Mary and managed to win the audience over simply with his presence in a nurse outfit, high pitched voice as well as his constant reference to “fluffy pillow...dozy land” and his “fluffy bunny act.” Tom Hudson was an excellent Sergeant Jones and took advantage of the Theatre entering from all areas including the side door. The dual work throughout this production was very commendable.

Credit also has to go to the witty jokes from the firing squad, Perkin’s sarcasm and Mr Smith’s German accent. The scene changes were slickly done by all of the back stage crew and the lights and sounds were well choreographed. A memorable production.

Close: Jack Hudson and Archie Cobb

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Even closer: Will Kingsberry and Jack Hudson

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Junior Play: It Snows

to the conclusion that they were worlds apart and would never work together. However one morning the cast awoke to a winter wonderland as it had snowed! The mood of the play had changed - it was no longer bitter and mournful but joyous and jubilant. The effects of the snow brought the previously disassociated groups of people together and gave Kaitlin and Cameron the fortitude to approach each other.

This play was well rehearsed and the choreography of the snow ball fight, expertly devised by Mr Stainton, was excellent. The story line was endearing and represented exactly what it is like to be a teenager.

by Matty Sweeting

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n the Summer Term, eleven Third and Fourth Formers presented us with the compelling play It Snows, by Bryony Lavery. As soon as the curtain was drawn I knew this would not be a traditional school play due to the moody lighting, indie playlist and simple, but effective, set.

The play began with Cameron ( Tom Hudson) as a lone figure on stage giving us an emotional but heart warmingly humorous speech. I began to get an insight into the interesting character that Cameron was. After the first scene I was dying to know what direction the play was going to take us in. Kiara Jones played Kaitlin, a cool, popular and pretty girl who had a crush on Cameron. She executed this role perfectly - she looked comfortable on stage and her lines flowed as if they were her own words.

The rest of the cast brought the play to life with enjoyable dance routine and exciting fight scenes showing off the wide range of ability in the cast. Kaitlin, an aspiring actress, made commands on stage like lights down and lights up showing off the skill of the technicians, Dan Wylie and Albert Shuck who did an excellent job of making sure the play ran smoothly. Once we had been introduced to Cameron, an antisocial and awkward teenage boy and Kaitlin, a cool funny and talented teenage girl, I had come

Huw Downes Kiara Jones

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THE TRUMPET SHALL SOUND End of Year Report

by David Gorodi, Director of Music

Lucy Tyack

from Britten’s Ceremony of Carols with Charlotte Ask performing a solo beautifully. The Military Band led the parade on Remembrance Sunday in their new Royal Navy uniforms; they looked and sounded superb. The final stand -out event was a trip to hear Glyndebourne Opera perform Mozart’s La Finta Giardiniera – a brilliant day out.

In the Spring Term the stand out events for me were Dominic Peckham’s visit; he took the assembly and got the whole school singing and laughing within minutes; he was equally brilliant with the choral workshops he ran for the various choirs. The Inter-House music festival was as always a wonderful event with some excellent solo performances, Lucas Gorodi and Tom Hudson winning the senior and junior solo rounds for Blackford House with New House winning the ensembles. The girls’ Houses won the honours in the evening with Arion House winning overall. Evensong at Wells Cathedral was a very special event; it was lovely having so many parents and staff there to enjoy the Chapel Choir singing in such wonderful acoustics. The Big Band were brilliant, both in Nunney Church and in Swing into Spring, as were the other Jazz ensembles (the Temperance 7 in particular excelled).

I was very proud of our musicians when we performed at Codford Church; the acoustics were very dry but our musicians still performed at a very high standard, Lucy Tyack and Jake Lane giving memorable solo performances. One of my favourite concerts of the year is the community concert which is held on a Friday afternoon for senior citizens; together with the BTEC hospitality group we provided a memorable afternoon for an audience of around 80.

I very much appreciated Ella Corlett’s performance; she sung a Mozart aria at the request of one of the audience who used to sing herself. The two stand-out moments from the Spring concert have to be the Chapel Choir’s performance of Allegri’s Misere; Sophie Finch and Ella Corlett were magnificent as were Callum Thorner and Sam Young who were both singing from the balcony. My other top moment was Sophie Sage singing “At last” with the Big Band - she has simply the perfect voice for this genre of music.

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nother fantastic year of Music here; students at King’s performed in over 40 concerts, but it’s not just the number of concerts nor the standard of music which impresses but also the breadth of music which is covered - it is truly impressive for a small school. Five Choirs, four Jazz Ensembles, a Piano Trio and a String Quartet, a Wind Quartet and a Wind Quintet, a Military Band capable of Beating retreat, a Show band: this is not, by far, an exhaustive list.

Looking back over the year there are many highlights. I always enjoy the New Scholars’ and Award Holders’ concert in September, and this year was no exception. But the real stand out performances from the Christmas Term for me was the Chapel Choir singing Evensong at Tewkesbury Abbey (it’s fantastic to sing in such a building steeped in history and with wonderful acoustics).

Another favourite moment of mine was the performance of Rutter’s Magnificat; the rehearsals never went that well until on the day when Mr Marshfield brought it all together. The Winter concert was excellent; for me the two stand-out moments were the Orchestra’s performance of Mussorgsky’s Night on a Bare Mountain and the Girls’ Chamber Choir who sung four movements Callum McFarlane

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Callum Thorner, it was a wonderful way to end an incredible concert. I haven’t mentioned all the items from the concert –just my favourites! The other stand out performance from the Summer Term was the Military Band who performed Beating Retreat; this is the first time for four years that the band has been able to put this on. Directed

by Mr Lambton, the 30 strong band was led by Drum Major Callum Thorner who was outstanding, as was the band keeping excellent lines, they looked exceptionally smart in their Royal Navy uniforms.

My thanks to the music staff, particularly Mr Marshfield, and my congratulations to the students who excelled well beyond expectation in so many different areas.

Lucas Gorodi

Without doubt, despite a number of excellent performances the two-stand out events in the Summer Term were the Summer concert and Beating Retreat, although the 4th Form concert was exceptional too – this year group is excellent. The Summer concert had so many exceptional moments. It opened with Lucas Gorodi playing the 1st movement from Franz Strauss’s Horn concerto; this piece calls for excellent technique, more like a clarinet concerto - Lucas’s warm sound and dexterity brought this music to life. Hugh Pomeroy then performed the last movement from Haydn’s trumpet concerto; Hugh has a light, bright sound which was exactly what was needed - there are some very difficult passages for the trumpet which Hugh brought off expertly. Octavia Cobb then performed Un Bel di from Puccini’s Madame Butterfly; this is a difficult aria because of the tempo changes; the Orchestra followed Octavia really accurately, Octavia herself sounded stunning, the best I’ve heard her perform- I’ll never forget this performance.

The Military Band featured Jake Lane who played Harlem Nocturne; Jake has a very special sound, it was magical to hear in the Memorial Hall.

The Choir’s performance of Ave Maria set by Bruckner was beautiful, I love Bruckner motets so this was a real treat for me. The Wind Quintet played all three movements from Mozart’s Divertimento No. 8; this is without doubt the best I’ve heard them and I’ll be very surprised if they match this standard of attention to detailed articulation and dynamic control in the future – stunning. Again it was the unaccompanied Chapel Choir item which for me stood out –Wood’s Nunc dimittis, really beautiful and of course it sounded even better in the Memorial Hall, as was the Chamber Choir’s performance of Guerrero’s Ave Virgo sanctissima - it’s incredible to hear music of this complexity sung by students.

The concert finished with the Big Band, firstly featuring Lauren Glover performing Artie Shaw’s clarinet concerto; it was stunning; after she finished, the applause lasted a good 3-4 minutes. The final piece of the night was an arrangement of Bruno Mars’s Uptown Funk sung by

Ben Fearn

Sophie Sage

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Eleanor Little and Jennifer Paterson

Lucy Little

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Spring concert in full flow

Charlotte Mansergh Tom Hudson-

Huw Downes

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LIFT UP THY VOICE End of Year Report

by Ashley Marshfield, Director of Choral Studies

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Yassi Arnold

t has been another outstanding year for choral music at King’s; here are just some of the highlights. During the Christmas term the School Choir were kept busy mastering John Rutter’s setting of Magnificat, complete with its challenging Latin-American style rhythms in preparation for a joint performance with Bruton Choral Society, professional orchestra and soprano soloist. The Memorial Hall was absolutely packed for an enjoyable afternoon rehearsal and well-supported early afternoon concert with a massed choir of over one hundred singers.

The Chapel Choir performed a service of Choral Evensong at Tewkesbury Abbey in November. It was a first visit to Tewkesbury for the Chapel Choir and the choir took full advantage of the fabulous acoustic. The music for the service included: Sanders Responses - now a firm favourite of the choir, Sumsion’s setting of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in A, and the anthem was Bullock’s Give

us the wings of faith. The choir also enjoyed the opportunity given by the duty verger to explore the magnificent building and learn about the rich heritage and historic importance of the site.

At the end of term the candlelit Carol Service in St Mary’s Church is always a very special and memorable occasion. This year the School Choir performed (at the Headmaster’s request) Elizabeth Poston’s beautiful setting of the 18th century poem Jesus Christ the apple tree. In contrast to this deceptively simple work, the School Choir also performed, with aplomb, Philip Stopford’s uplifting carol A child in born in Bethlehem. Meanwhile, the Chamber Choir performed two anthems. The first, Mary’s Lullaby, composed by John Rutter and secondly, Eric Whitacre’s ethereal Lux Aurumque with Sophie Finch performing the soaring soprano solo brilliantly well.

At the start of the Spring term we were fortunate to have a morning of choral workshops with Dominic Peckham. Dominic is one of the UK’s finest young and dynamic choral and orchestral conductors. The morning began with a whole school workshop in assembly; within minutes Dominic had the entire pupil and staff body singing in a variety of styles including beat boxing! During the remainder of the morning Dominic led fantastic workshops with the School Choir, Girls’ Chamber Choir, Chapel Choir and finally the Chamber Choir. So much was learned about the importance of good posture and effective breath control. Dominic was very impressed by the standard of the choirs at King’s and encouraged all members of the Chamber Choir to audition for the National Youth Choir of Great Britain. We look forward to welcoming Dominic back to King’s in 2016.

The cathedral visit in the Spring term saw the Chapel Choir make the short journey to our local cathedral at Wells to sing Choral Evensong. What an occasion it was - we had the largest congregation at any service the Chapel Choir have had to date. The chanting of the psalmody was particularly memorable with several members of the congregation and clergy commenting on the clarity of the diction. The music for the service included Wood’s setting of the canticles in D major and the anthem Wood’s Expectans expectavi. The clergy were very impressed with

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the standard of singing and we are booked to sing again at Wells in the Summer term 2016.

Within the spring concert a particular highlight of the year for me was the Chapel Choir ‘s performance of Allegri’s iconic Miserere complete with an impressive solo quartet and plainsong duet. The performance used the space in the Memorial Hall well with the plainsong duet placed in the gallery door at the rear of the hall. Another choral highlight of the concert for me was the Girls’ Chamber Choir performing Schubert’s setting of Psalm 23 The Lord is my Shepherd with excellent intonation and choral blend.

At the start of the Summer term King’s choirs travelled to Hazlegrove to perform in the annual King’s and Hazlegrove Joint Choral Concert. All the King’s and Hazlegrove choirs performed individually with a particularly enjoyable performance by the School Choir of Handel’s Zadok the Priest and a jazz choral arrangement of Come fly with me. The evening concluded with Fanshawe’s The Lord’s Prayer from the African Sanctus performed by the massed choirs of both schools with over one hundred voices.

The Chapel Choir returned for a third visit to sing Choral Evensong at Bristol Cathedral in April. The Chapel Choir always enjoy singing at Bristol with its wonderfully generous acoustic. The service was a particularly memorable occasion as in absence of the Canon Precentor the office was chanted by the Choir Prefect, Callum Thorner.

This was very appropriate as it was the Upper Sixth Former’s final cathedral visit with the Chapel Choir.

Callum performed this role with distinction and great professionalism.

Towards the end of term the Summer concert contained many choral highlights and was a fitting conclusion to an impressive year of choral music at King’s.

The School Choir performed a medley of Duke Ellington’s greatest hits alongside Bruckner’s Ave Maria a challenging piece for double choir. The Chapel Choir’s performance of Wood’s Nunc Dimittis in B flat was stunning – I did not think it would be possible to reach such a level of excellence within a school choir. The Chamber Choir sang Guerrero’s Ave Virgo Sanctissima, a wonderful work of renaissance polyphony alongside a contemporary and fiendish arrangement of Nobody does it better. The Chamber Choir had been working on this steadily for the past year and they mastered it brilliantly - the audience loved it. Well done to all the choirs on a fabulous year of hard work – I look forward to more next year!

Arion celebrate winning Inter-House singing competition

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VALETE Harriet Feilding

when she joined the Chapel Choir. She loved joining Ashley Marshfield and the choristers at Evensong in local Cathedrals and she always took her participation in the Choir very seriously. Harriet is also a campanologist (Google it) and would occasionally work late to enable her to join similar enthusiasts on Wednesday evenings at St Mary’s.

A Bursar inevitably has to say no to many people when they come to her with requests for finance and it can be an isolating position. Harriet however also took time to find out about the lives of many of the staff in our community and she often provided much valued support to individual members of staff, support that was always kept low-key and confidential. Inevitably Harriet found the increased demands of HR compliance onerous and it was no surprise when the Governors decided to create a new HR Manager post but Harriet deserves our thanks for dealing with the huge task of staffing at both schools for most of her time as Bursar.

It was sad to say goodbye to Harriet last December but good to know that she now could spend quality time with her husband Jocelyn and no surprise that she was quickly in demand to work for various charities and schools.

Harriet can look back with pride at what she achieved in her time as Bursar and I am very grateful for her guidance and support.

by Ian Wilmshurst

I first met Harriet properly in my first week as Headmaster of King’s in September 2009. We sat down together at lunch in the school Dining Hall to discuss ‘affairs of state’ and Harriet made it clear to me that there was plenty of work to be done on King’s finances. Harriet had joined King’s as Bursar in October 2008, having previously been Bursar at Stonar School, and I quickly came to appreciate her sharp intellect, ability to plan and skill at accountancy. It is to Harriet’s great credit that she left last December with the finances of both King’s and Hazlegrove in such a healthy state.

It is important to understand that the Bursar at King’s is also the Bursar at Hazlegrove. Both are busy, complex and inevitably demanding schools for a Bursar and Harriet had to work with and work for both schools, both sets of staff and both Headmasters. Harriet regarded King’s and Hazlegrove with equal affection. She loved spending time at Hazlegrove and always returned to King’s with stories and anecdotes about the younger prep school children and about Hazlegrove in general. The eight mile drive from King’s to Hazlegrove was part of Harriet’s weekly routine; she never weakened her focus, interest or understanding of both schools.

As a trained chartered accountant Harriet clearly was comfortable with figures and she helped me as a new Headmaster come to understand the intricacies of management accounts. She worked very closely with our Finance Bursar, Sarah Blundy, to ensure that the accounts were clear and accurate for the Governors and also that there were never any concerns for the Auditors. Harriet also was adept at dealing sensibly and reassuringly with a succession of school Bank Managers. She summoned me in my second week to meet the Bank Manager who wanted to see if the new King’s Headmaster (me) passed muster. I think I passed the ‘test’ but it was Harriet rather than me who guided King’s finances into calmer water over her time as Bursar here.

Harriet was also a member of both senior leadership teams at Kings’ and Hazlegrove. Harriet was always keen to be involved in King’s SMT discussions and decisions, even if they did not directly affect her work. I came to appreciate and rely on Harriet’s perceptive and sound judgement. She understood whole school issues and could anticipate conflicting scenarios. Harriet understood King’s and understood the inherent challenges of a school of our size. She helped me plan through a series of changes and I valued her opinions; I never regretted sounding Harriet out and I took care to listen to what she had to say (I even sometimes followed her advice!). Harriet has sharp intellect, as one would expect from an Oxford graduate, but she also has a great sense of humour. Harriet was, and is, very good company and many of our meetings together were interspersed with her stories and jokes.

Harriet loves music and Art and it was no surprise

Harriet still standing but Blue Peter is now in small pieces in a shed in Crewe

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Douglas Barns – Graham

in his hockey coaching where he was extremely effective.

Having had two sons who played in his teams, I had first-hand knowledge of his ability to enthuse his teams: the players really felt that they were playing for him. Coaching alongside him was always a pleasure and he quickly latched on to the opposition style of play and was even quicker to deduce ways of counteracting their threat.

None of this was really a great surprise given how much experience Douglas had in playing the game in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

What was a surprise to me, and something that I only found out in the last couple of years as we began to discuss the Centenary of the beginning of World War One, was that his knowledge of the War in general was excellent.

Perhaps this should not have come as a great surprise given how well read he is, however what was a surprise was that he had an interest in folk music and that he even wrote songs about the war. Add to this his in-depth knowledge of the night sky and his keenness to get the school observatory open at every opportunity, one begins to see that Douglas is a man of many parts.

Perhaps the greatest accolade that I can pay Douglas is that in all our many conversations over the Masters’ Common Room kettle, I never heard him say an unkind word about anyone.

His generosity of spirit and good humour will, along with everything else he did, be greatly missed. We wish Douglas (and his family) all the very best for his well-earned retirement – for me the hockey season will not be the same!

Come back and see us soon Douglas!

by Nick Bunday

I

first met Douglas on the side of a hockey pitch over a decade or so ago. My overwhelming memory was that of a passionate man desperate to get the best out of his charges. First impressions are seldom wrong and as I got to know him better, it was clear that Douglas was a man of great passion and conviction in whatever he was doing, not just on the side of the hockey pitch!

Douglas, a graduate of Cambridge University, came to King’s in 1998 to fill the post of Head of Chemistry having taught the subject in many schools in Scotland and New Zealand. His knowledge of the subject was such that whilst in New Zealand he wrote a successful text book which is still in use there today. Douglas decided to return to the UK to ensure that his own children could have the best possible education, and after a short while working as a supply teacher in the (Scottish) Borders, Douglas came to King’s seventeen years ago as the Head of Chemistry.

In a career at King’s which spanned three Headmasters, Douglas became synonymous with all things Chemistry at King’s, happy to spend time explaining that odd (to a Historian) language of letters and numbers.

I understand that his many references to dinosaurs and crème eggs have gone down in the folk lore of the Chemistry Department!

Douglas’s willingness to give time to anyone who required it was not just constrained to his laboratory but wherever he could add value. An example of this would be

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David Cowley

by Jim Byrne

D

by Wayne Spilsbury

avid is one of those kind souls who finds it very difficult to say no. He has always been very conscientious and even when he has been wearing numerous different hats has always tried very hard to do all of his jobs to the best of his ability. He has always looked to the good in people. Even when someone has been underperforming, David will find time to help them do their best.

David is one of those quiet people who doesn’t make a big show but gets on and gets the job done.

I will miss David - he and I have had fun and difficult times together. The best times have always been because of the positive relationship he has developed with the students. I did question his judgment when he first arrived; I couldn’t understand why anyone would swap the Australian climate for Bruton and the wonderful weather we can get here.

I am certain he will be happy back in Australia where it will be good for him to rest. I understand he plans to work in a school in Sydney; those students and staff will be lucky to work with a gentle man who will always be ready to help and support them in whatever way he can.

D

avid came to King’s with his family in 2007. He quickly established himself as a respected colleague and Head of Department. It was obvious from the start that David was keen to bring his wealth of experience to creating a new approach to Design Technology in addition to traditional skills. Design drawing was developed in order to make a solid foundation for unique and personalised student projects and the School has continued to enjoy the prestige of Arkwright Scholarship awards.

New innovations have been introduced with laser cutting and 3D printing. These swift-moving new technologies have allowed King’s to keep pace with the world of design and manufacturing. The annual Art and Design Technology show always saw the lower floor of the Design Centre bristling with exciting and increasingly wellmade work, all testimony to David’s patient support and leadership.

There was a friendly and supportive relationship with the art department. David was always amenable to collaboration, generously offering expertise and also happy to request support from ourselves.

Overall I am most aware of David as a selfless and kind man. We were usually too busy to spend any significant time together, such is the treadmill of teaching at King’s, but I would be honoured if Dave felt that I was one of the circle of friends he will remember. I know that his fondest memories of King’s will centre on when his children were here. Stephanie and Tom gained a lot whilst here but also gave back hugely with their enthusiasm and good spirits. I am sure that David would appreciate me also paying tribute to Anita, who has been a great support to David as well as making her own special contribution to King’s.

Keep a tinnie cool for me, Dave.

by Stuart Hamilton

I

count myself as being an extremely lucky Housemaster to have had someone like David as my right hand man in Lyon House. He has been unswerving in his support for the charges he has looked after in Lyon as well as the rest of the boys and me. He has a dry sense of humour that immediately endeared him to the men of Lyon and I often entered roll calls that he was taking to hear thunderous laughter. This said there was a serious side to David.

He showed good insight into teenagers and was often highlighting problems before they happened. He was a great communicator and was a very open and approachable person. Knowing David, he will not want much fuss. Simply – he will be missed by the Lyon community but I hope he will remember us enough to come back and visit when he is back in these cooler climes.

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Hannah Williams

by Beth Griffiths

W

hen Miss Williams first arrived at King’s, with her ‘Welsh twang’, her manicured nails and her blonde hair, many people did wonder if the Cardiff girl would ever be able to settle into the sleepy, old Bruton way of life...but she didn’t just settle in, she took Bruton by storm and she is leaving a huge mark on life here! She came, she conquered, she left!

Miss Williams will be remembered as the fitness crazy blonde who in her short time here at King’s took the girls’ netball through the roof and left a big lasting impression in Priory House. Although others will also remember her for her gorgeous, famous, rugby playing boyfriend!

Miss Williams graduated from the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff in 2011 and then went on to be student Vice President at the University for a year. She then arrived at King’s (3 days late because of her personal training) in September 2012, to become Resident tutor in Priory, Mistress in charge of Netball and a full time member of the PE department. It was clear from the start that she meant business; Hannah was also quickly signed up as an Officer in the CCF, she set up a school link with Keinton Netball Club and very quickly her Priory House nights became famous! After her first year at King’s the Headmaster was so impressed with her that he allowed her to join the Graduate Training Programme to complete her teacher training, which she passed with ‘outstanding’ honours during her second year and then this year she successfully completed her NQT year.

As if that wasn’t enough, in Hannah’s second year here she made King’s history by taking the U14s through to the Regional Netball Finals and to prove it wasn’t a fluke, she did it again with the new U14s the following year. Then to finish off her final netball season earlier this year she led the U16s to win the County Cup, once again making netball history at King’s.

Finally she has organised and run two very successful Priory charity netball tournaments and in doing all of this she has instilled a love of netball into many of the girls here, which is no mean feat. It is unbelievable how she has raised the standard of the game to a completely different level throughout the whole School in such a short period of time. She is quite simply a netballing superstar!

Miss Williams is going to be greatly missed by so many people in our school community. She has a huge personality that all of us have warmed to and her kindness, patience and loyalty have been ever present over the three years. She is now heading off for a new challenge, as Girls’ Games Co-ordinator at Llandaff Cathedral School in Cardiff and we all wish her the best of luck.

Lea Koves

... and by Zanna Wilson-Brown

by Emilie Loveless

It was wonderful to find in Lea a real faith in Jesus. She was delighted to find many Christian activities going on through the week at King’s and become a regular at the Ladies staff group, where she showed a talent for leading the study and a heart for prayer.

Lea was also a regular at the Tuesday morning staff fellowship and helped Emilie Loveless lead the Lower 6th Girls’ group.

Lea has been an outstanding French Assistant this year. She is positive, encouraging, professional and above all else she has been a great credit to the French! Lea has worked on a one to one basis with the Sixth Form who have loved her sessions and benefited hugely from her idiomatic approach.

She has also worked with the Fourth to Fifth Form and has not been phased by bigger groups or shy speakers.

Lea has worked closely with Hazlegrove and has formed close bonds with some of the staff there. She is able to work with students of all ages and relates to people on a personal level.

We will miss Léa next year; she is irreplaceable and will be a hard act to follow!

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Graham Saunders

writing reports, or wiping the floor with Mr Beverly in the Bath Half Marathon, everything he did here was done with the greatest of love and respect for King’s.

He leaves us to take up his second teaching post at The King’s School, Grantham. More importantly, he leaves us to re-locate to be with his wife Kim, as they await eagerly the arrival of their first child in the autumn. A big man, with a big voice, and a big heart: he will be missed.

by Mark Hambleton

Graham Downer

by Nick Bunday

G

raham Saunders started his senior schooling here at King’s in the September of 1998. Back then, he was a wide-eyed boy, innocent of experience.

After King’s, he spent some time as an RAF Officer before returning to King’s to study for a GTP while teaching Mathematics and working as Resident Tutor in Old House.

Things were going swimmingly well until he was undone by a shock injury on the volleyball court. Despite the confines of his regulation NHS wheelchair, he displayed customary grit in still managing to complete his teaching whilst reeling around his classroom with poise and vigour - fans of the 1970s US cop drama ‘Ironside’ can, no doubt, picture the scene.

Graham taught here with humour, high-standards and an assured confidence. Students respected his unequivocal style, and revelled in his tales and asides – most of which tended to end in a recounting of yet another remarkable victory for Mr Saunders. Stepping out of the classroom (when he was physically able to do so) Graham re-lived previous boyish glories as Master i/c Cross-Country.

Here, he proved a motivator, organiser, and writer of detailed weather reports for The Dolphin, containing, on occasion, reference to some runners.

In 2014, Graham moved from Resident Tutor in Old, to his old stomping ground of Lyon. Here, he quickly re-established himself as an immovable object, and set about the task of moulding the irresistible force that was his 5th Form tutor group. In this role, he displayed the subtlety of napalm, yet guided his boys with an irrepressible sense of humour, and precise judgement. The boys of both Lyon and Old will miss his care, his wit, and the deep-seated ambition he held for them.

Graham’s leaving will be keenly felt among the Common Room, where his sense of humour and startling honesty ran riot. When Graham was a boy at King’s, Charles Oulton, his then English teacher quite rightly identified “some promise”. Indeed, the School found much of merit in young Graham, who duly returned his service as Mr Saunders. Whether in the classroom, on the rugby field,

G

raham Downer was with us for only the briefest of periods but left behind a legacy that will be remembered for a good deal longer.

Graham arrived at King’s to teach Business Studies and Economics, but was also involved in the coaching of sports teams (most notably rugby) and tutoring in Blackford House. Having undergone his PGCE training at the University of Bath, Graham had been teaching at the Commonwealth School in Swindon and then the Kings of Wessex Academy in Cheddar before coming to King’s last year.

Graham’s knowledge of the business world was not merely theoretical, gleaned from dusty books: before becoming a teacher he had worked in a number of multi-national firms in such diverse fields as office furniture and orthopaedic implants. Graham carried out various roles such as marketing and product management in these huge, market leading firms, which enabled him to bring experience of the wider business world to his lessons.

Graham played a full part in the wider school. His tutoring of the 4th Formers in Blackford was excellent, based on his care and desire for each of them to do their very best. Graham advised, prodded and cajoled as and when required.

Blackford and the wider school community has much to be grateful to Graham for. His quiet, understated manner will be greatly missed by all, along with his dry sense of humour. He leaves us to take up a post as the UK Marketing Manager for ‘Teachit’ in Bath, a subsidiary of AQA which produces tailored resources for the teaching profession. We wish Graham and his family the very best of luck for the future, safe in the knowledge that in his new role we may well see him back at King’s. We certainly hope so!

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PASTORAL HEART Arion House

by Gilly Bunday

Olivia Fantoni, Sophie Liddell-Grainger, Gilly Bunday, Octavia Cobb, Olivia Harrison, Emily Clothier, Susie MacDonald

ever did I think I would be writing a House report and never did I think, as a mother of sons, that looking after girls would be such fun! The girls have had a superb year – they have worked extremely hard and achieved so much.

In September, the House welcomed eight new girls into the 3rd Form, all of whom, I am pleased to say, have settled in well and look as though they have been here for ages. Later that month, the biggest change of all hit Arion – I took over as Acting Housemistress. This, added to the ups and downs of Matrons, has brought a challenge to all the girls, but they have taken it in their stride and impressed me hugely with the manner in which they have coped with change and with me!

There are many highlights but, for me, the stand-out highlight was winning the inter-House music competition. The individual rounds were superb with Esther’s rousing rendition of Skyfall, the House Ensemble’s (Sophie, Occi, Skye, Liv and Imo) performance of Say Something by A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera and Lucy and Sophie’s duet of Pie Jesu, which despite now hearing at least five times, reduces me to tears every time.

However, the icing on the cake was the entire House’s stirring rendition of Bastille’s Pompeii (with Abs’ solo) which brought the house (aka Mem Hall) down and crowned us as the overall winners. Staying on the music front, in February, Liv co-organised a superb evening of music with A Night at the Opera to raise funds for the Indian Orphanage project; our budding musicians have played and sung in countless concerts and seven of our girls have taken grades in instruments and singing. Particularly impressive was Occi’s Grade 8 Singing, Lucy’s and Imo’s Grade 7 Singing and Charlotte’s Grade 7 Violin. If you missed Swing into Spring, you will have missed Imo’s fantastic voice and seeing Emma and Hetta as two of the only three 3rd Formers in the Big Band. All wonderful achievements!

The Inter-House Netball was another memorable afternoon. We won – and we won in style. The inters, ably led by Megan J, won by some considerable margin and were extremely impressive. The House was in fine fettle and everyone (except a couple of girls who were off games) was involved. The Inter-House Cross Country also demonstrated yet more sporting talent – with Occi, Philly, Susie, and Sam coming in the top 10 of the senior girls’ race and Katie, Abs and Taesha all coming in the top ten of the junior girls’ race – with Arion again, the overall winners amongst the girls’ houses. Congratulations too to the many who have represented the County in one or more sporting fields.

Very sadly, all good things must come to an end and as I hand the House back to Mrs Griffiths and we come to the end of the Summer term, I must also sadly say farewell – not only to the Upper 6th (Liv, Occi, Susie, Emily and Olivia) but also to Philly, who leaves after completing three years at King’s. Good luck and best wishes to you all.

And last but not least, I now turn my hand to thanks – for there is a long list. To Suzie and Lee who have worked tirelessly to keep the House clean, to Pat and Emma and the bevy of other Matrons, Mel, Claire, Janice, Nicky and Debs who have filled in the gaps and kept the House running smoothly, to the tutors, who have kept the girls focused and given me great support and most of all Miss L-G, for being the most hard working Assistant Housemistress, and who, this year, has taken a particularly heavy work load. My last and largest thanks go to the girls in the House, led so brilliantly by Liv, her Deputy, Occi and the House Prefect team of Susie, Emily and Olivia – all of whom have been superb in setting the most wonderful example to all the girls. Thank you to all of you – I have had a great time and will miss you.

N

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Blackford House

by Nick Bunday

T

he days last forever yet the weeks fly by. This quote seems to sum up life in Blackford. Once again the boys have packed so much in to this year – the days must be long for them to have achieved so much and yet this year has flown by at breakneck speed!

This year has been packed with so many highs on individual levels as well as collectively. The highlight for Blackford as a whole was the House Play, which entertained the School for two consecutive nights during the Lent Term. The boys chose to do two scenes of Blackadder Goes Forth, very apt in the centenary year of the starting of the First World War. The entire House pulled together to put on a truly excellent play. The stage set was inspirational, the stage crew exceptionally slick, the front of house team efficient, but the stars of the show were the actors, some of whom had a huge number of lines to learn. The fact that there was only one stumbled line on the two nights is testament to the effort that the boys put in to getting the basics right. What is more difficult to gauge is comic timing, but this the boys had too in spades. All in all it made for a very proud Housemaster, who in the post-performance party even succumbed to eating a slice of Sun Inn pizza in celebration of the boys’ efforts!

This year, Blackford’s performances in the Inter House Competitions have been hallmarked by good humour and participation rather than perhaps by results. This however is a positive quality but the House has been competitive in most sports even if we have not won.

The debaters did very well and won a number of debates, whilst our musicians were disappointed not to have won the overall cup having won the individual rounds and come second in the ensemble – but being the best overall boys’ house will have to suffice for this year!

We have been pleased to welcome a delightful bunch of new boys to the House this year including, in no particular order, Jeremy Ye, Felix Pinney, Jacob Burgess, Huw Downes, Ben Fearn, Sam Houldsworth, Lluis Montelat, Lucas Rabenau, Billy Tarlton, Olly Tincknell, Luke Tuckfield, Jinyuan Zhang and Charlie Cross. We also welcomed for either one or two terms Peter O’Connor (the Kiwi Hockey exchange), Franz Tschersich and Raimon Pujol. They have all fitted into Blackford and its caring ethos with an alacrity that does them credit.

However, it is at this time of year, as the House Report is written, that one realises that there are a number of boys who will soon be picking up their Blackford Old Boys’ ties and leaving the House. The loss of so many

House photograph: Back Row (left to right): Florence Cobb, Emma Walker, Charlotte Ask, Millie Regan, Megan Ward, Megan Jones, Lucy Tyack, Harriet Matthew, Sophie Finch, Sam Walker, Jo Adams, Hannah Snow, Katie Hawkins, Olivia Williams, Hetta Campbell, Issie Hawkins.

Middle Row (left to right): Elli Cooke, Emily Wastell, Skye Neal, Emma Houldsworth, Philippa Deacon, Imogen Moore, Taesha Wolfe, Sophie Tyack, Cara Valentine, Tilly Houldsworth, Abagael Hyde, Chloe Slingo, Kitty Geach, Esther Adenuga.

Front Row (left to right): Miss Muriel Capren, Mrs Louise Bray, Mrs Patricia Stokes, Susannah MacDonald, Mrs Sharon Carpenter, Emily Clothier, Miss Sophie Liddell-Grainger, Mrs Bethany Griffiths, Olivia Harrison, Mrs Gilly Bunday, Octavia Cobb, Mrs Melanie Bowes Lyon, Olivia Fantoni, Mrs Zanna Wilson-Brown, Mrs Emilie Loveless.

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always brings sadness, and this year is no exception, but we wish them all well for the future. They are the excellent Head of House Will Kingsberry, Deputy Head of House Nick Poll, and House Prefects Lucas Gorodi, Jake Lane, Sam Chan, Cam Main, and Hugo Cockram. We also say a very fond farewell to Adedapo Adejonwo, Simon Chu, Harry Ewins, Tom Sellar, Hamish Ryall and James Ask. All of you will be missed greatly and we thank you for the many contributions that you have made to Blackford during your time here.

Running a House such as Blackford requires a team effort and many people should be thanked. Claire, Amy, and Laney have worked tirelessly all year to keep the house clean – not an easy task with 51 boys! We have some excellent Tutors in Mrs Vigers-Belgeonne, Mr Eriksson, Mr Walker, Mr Downer and Mr Barrow all of whom regularly go that extra yard for the boys. I am very grateful to our Resident Tutor Mr Davies and the excellent Matron, Janice, ably assisted by Sue and Claire. Finally Gilly deserves all our thanks – for most of the year she has run Arion whilst doing all that she does for Blackford at the same time.

Sadly we have to say goodbye to Mr Downer as he leaves the School and Mr Eriksson who leaves us to become the Resident Tutor in Lyon – we wish them the best of luck in their new endeavours.

The future remains bright for Blackford. This year our Common Room, Games Room and kitchen will be refurbished and hopefully the flat roof replaced with something slightly more weather tight! However the House is about the boys, not the bricks and mortar, and therefore I have every right to be optimistic that Blackford will remain the nurturing, caring, hard working house that it is. Well done everyone this year – it has been a cracker!

Back Row (left to right): Ryan Longman, Max Cohen, Jack Potter, Matt Tomes-Smith, Archie Warsap, Mark Catley-Day, Harry Atkinson, Tom Colebatch, Archie Cobb, Jack Hudson, Rory McAfee.

Third Row (left to right): Tom Hudson, Jinyuan Zhang, Archie Potter, Tom Sellar, Daniel Wylie, Ollie Tincknell, Rory Crockatt, Freddie Nickerson, Alen Safaryan, Ollie White, John Nishanov, Jimmy Zhu, James Plummer, Lluis Montalat, Raimon Pujol.

Second Row (left to right): Ben Fearn, James Ask, Billy Tarlton, Hamish Donnelly, Franz Tschersich, Albert Shuck, Adedapo Adejonwo, Simon Chu, Jeremy Ye, Hamish Ryall, Toby Kingsberry, Luke Tuckfield, Lucas Rabenau, Jacob Burgess, Sam Houldsworth, Huw Downes.

Front Row (left to right): Mrs Janice Jeffery, Lucas Gorodi, Mrs R.A. Vigers-Belgeonne, Samuel Chan, Mr T.R.N. Walker, Jake Lane, Mr S.A.K. Davies, Will Kingsberry, Mr N.P. Bunday, Mrs Gilly Bunday, Nick Poll, Mr C.A Barrow, Cameron Main, Mr O.H. Eriksson, Hugo Cockram, Mr G.J. Downer, Harry Ewins.

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Lyon House

contingent from Lyon’s Sixth Form involved in the 1st XV. As a result we managed to win both the Senior and Inters Inter House rugby with the Juniors coming second. The challenges on the sports field were always addressed by the boys of the House. Unfortunately we did not rise to the challenge of the Inter House debating competition. I hope that one year this competition with be embraced by the boys of Lyon.

Now there is a challenge for the Jamie Vita new Upper Sixth.

Before we knew where we were the Spring term was upon us with all that it entails. The highlight again was the House singing competition which always impresses me. Year in year out the House always sets a good standard. We did not hit the highs of the year before but we held our own and produced what I would call a par performance by our standards. In other areas we did well, winning the senior Inter-House hockey and were well represented in school teams.

The business of academic endeavour continued with most of the House getting down to some hard work, especially

by Stuart Hamilton

O

nce again I write this report after a very busy Summer term. There seems to be less and less time but still we manage to pack in a great deal of activity outside the curriculum. The whole year has been full of activities that have entertained and developed the boys in Lyon.

The year started with our usual week of activities in the evenings so the new boys get a chance to meet and get to know more pupils in the House. The highlight always seems to be the evening of acting and the football evening. We did eventually get down to the business of the term and there seemed to be a good work ethic and most pupils got down to their academic work.

The annual tag rugby festival was a success in that we entertained the School on a Sunday afternoon and raised some money for the charity Blue Skye Thinking.

What was really good to see was that all members of the House pulled together to deliver all their jobs and we even managed to win the trophy for the first time since 2007.

In fact the House did well in the first half of term winning both the junior and senior badminton, something we have not achieved before. We then followed this up by

Back Row (left to right): Thomas Dickson, Alexander Artemenko, Chris White, Jordan Adams, Harry Corbett, Milo McCloud, Nathaniel Mainoo, Rufus Wright, Tavish Smibert, Max Behm, Ben Thomas.

Third Row (left to right): Yusei Fukazawa, Rhodri Harper, Jacob Ide, Chan Hok Pan Moriz, Harry Woolway, Edgar Leung, Hugo Tyson, Harry McHugh, Mike Stride, Ivo Wright, Oliver Crossfield, Robert Jin, Danil Suetin, Peter Nefedov, James Mitri.

Second Row (left to right): Sean Lock, Hugo Taylor, Myles Yeandel, Toby Doig, Edward Bascombe, Tom Williams, Henry McCosker, Thomas Alderton, Luke Hyde, Anton Radalov, Seb Claas, Aaron Zhou, Finlay Rose, Joe Carretta, Toby Rogers, Guillermo Garcia-Valdecasas.

Front Row (left to right): Mrs D. Biddiscombe, Edwin Leung Kwok Hin, Mr W.Stainton, Corey Yung Hon Tam, Mr W. Spilsbury, James Laver, Mr D. Cowley, Hugh Edgar, Mr R.S. Hamilton, Mrs E.J. Hamilton, Bastian Maiworm, Mr T. Fletcher, Owen Mansfield, Mr A.J. Marshfield, James Evans, Jamie Vita, Josh White.

Below: James Evans

winning the senior and junior football. This was the first time in recent history that we had done this. Much credit for this must go to Hugh Edgar and the senior boys as well as Tom Williams who was good at organising the junior teams.

A number of pupils were involved in rugby teams during the term with a large a

those who had endured their mock examinations. The rest of the term was busy for the examination year groups getting their course work done and dusted.

The final Inter-House competition this term was the cross country; we did not win anything collectively but there were some excellent individual performances from Henry McCosker and Hugh Edgar.

The many examination term started with more examinations in the first half of term. It was a short period of revision before the main bulk of examinations started.

The boys of the House were involved in a variety of sports

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New House

by Will Dawe

Time to say goodbye: Leavers’ Ball

with representation in tennis, cricket and athletics at all levels. The most important day for Lyon House boys in this term is the Inter House Athletics - the Challenge Cup has been in the House for over a decade. The senior boys geared the troops up with a House night at the track.

The House did a wonderful job with a number of great performances culminating in the winning of the Challenge Cup.

With examinations over and the business of the year virtually done, I did not expect to see something new from Lyon House. The performance and togetherness of the execution with the tug of war rope was a revelation to me and made the competition look like it was men against boys. It confirmed the health of the House and that the future for the House looks bright and positive.

Before I sign off I have all limbs crossed for the academic results and I hope that the boys get the rewards they deserve. My final word as always goes to the members of staff who support both me and the boys. The matrons, Debbie, Sue and Kirsty; the tutors, Mr Fletcher, Mr Spilsbury, Mr Marshfield, Mr Stainton, Mr Saunders and Mr Cowley.

There are a number of changes in the pastoral team for next year. We say goodbye to Mr Marshfield who become Housemaster of New. Mr Saunders departs for a new job. Mr Cowley leaves to move back to Australia. I would like to say a personal thank you to David as over the years he has been an outstanding House tutor, always giving time for the boys and has been a great support for me. The House wishes him well for the future and we look forward to him visiting us in the future.

O

n December 18th 2006, over a glass of something Scottish and peaty, my predecessor Malcolm Parr gave me a compassionate and thorough précis of the New boys he was handing over to me. The conversation flowed and I couldn’t wait for term to start three weeks later. My final year in New House started with the same, very familiar butterflies in the stomach. On reflection, the past twelve months in the fortress have been about individual effort, group endeavour and the final curtain.

Firstly, individual effort. The boys have worked hard throughout the year on their academic studies. I am optimistic for some excellent results from the boys at GCSE and A level. Sam Innes, Myles Jenkins and Guillermo Brey led the way in the race to win the highest tally of Headmaster’s Commendations. Matthew Solway retained his place in the Bath Academy Under 18 Rugby Squad and threw the discus for Somerset in the South West Athletics Championships. Toby Clothier and Tom Westropp enjoyed a fine season’s rugby for Castle Cary Under 16s and Arthur Harman took plenty of wickets for Frome Cricket Club.

The sporting future of New House looks bright. At InterHouse level, the Juniors won the rugby, cross country and tennis and came second in most other competitions. Our Seniors have also shone in most sports - they too picked up silver in most competitions, notably the Inter-House tennis.

Sam Innes, Peter Jenkins and Myles Jenkins triumphed in the Junior Inter-House debating competition and Hugh Pomeroy, Josh Hope-Kibble and Josh Teuber also gave a good account of themselves in the competition. The Rhino Society, New House’s public speaking forum, continues to flourish. We heard ten enthralling talks on topics as diverse as Chili Peppers, the Philosophy of Belief, The Gastronomy of Spain and the Bloodhound Car. The Inter-House music competition saw the New House ensemble triumph with an electrifying rendition of Paolo Nutini’s Pencil Full of Lead. Callum McFarlane, Dennis Kuzovlev, Oscar Farrell and Hugh Pomeroy sparkled in the solo round. The New House Song 2015 did not make the podium (why not?) but was given a

Full house

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Back Row (left to right): Rory Cadbury, Jack Lawrence, Daniel Solway, Will Hillier, Matthew Solway, James Whitaker, Joe Early, Joe Combs.

Third Row (left to right): Harry Hoult, Tom Westropp, Christo Bradstock, Josh Teuber, Benson Hung, Eddy Morris Adams, Joseph Croney, Freddie North, Edward Jiang, Tom Philp, Tom Woods, Denis Kuzovlev, Toby Clothier.

Second Row (left to right): Harvey Robinson, William Sandy, George Wroth, Myles Jenkins, Peter Jenkins, Barney Brown, Fionn Mohan, Arthur Harman, Harry Deakin, Denis Leung, Josh Hope Kibble, Jacob Sykes, Benjamin Best, Callum McFarlane, Finn Weatherhead, Sam Innes, Harry Macleod-Ash, Guillermo Brey Gallart.

Front Row (left to right): Paddy Moore, Ross Duder, Serafim Gunin, Ruth Brannagan, Matthew Pryke, George Beverly, Hugh Pomeroy, Angela Ashworth, Connor Deacon, William Dawe, Dominic Baldwin, Rob Lowry, Nico Hayward, Angus Fox, Kevin Chan, Benjamin Piggins, Mr David Gorodi, Luke Rowlands, Charles Oulton.

Boy (Angus Fox) and to Head Boy (Hugh Pomeroy). Both Angus and Hugh have done a huge amount to ensure that the Band of Brothers ethos is lived out. So too has Connor Deacon, who led the House with the right blend of drive, competitiveness and humanity. My thanks and best wishes go to them all.

The final curtain. Being the Housemaster of New House for the past nine years has been an enormous privilege. It has been the most rewarding, absorbing and challenging roller-coaster ride that I have ever been on.

A great many people have contributed to this unique experience and I owe them a huge vote of thanks. First and foremost I thank the New House boys. They have tolerated my eccentricities, foibles and mood swings.

They have kept my feet on the ground, laughed at my rotten jokes and ensured that I have not taken myself too seriously. The boys’ parents have been supportive, kind and forgiving when I got things wrong. Jake Eggertsen and George Beverly have proved to be outstanding residential tutors. Their energy, creativity and leadership of the boys have made everything so much easier and enjoyable. The outstanding New House tutor team has been unswerving in their commitment to the boys and in their support of me. Ruth Brannagan deserves a medal for her patience, kindness and willingness to burn the candle at both ends for the boys. She has been a babysitter, friend and trusted colleague throughout my time in New House. I will miss joshing around with our lovely cleaning ladies. They have made my life, and the boys’ lives, that much brighter. Katie, Chloe and Imogen have ridden the rollercoaster alongside me and I thank them for their love and support and for putting up with my idiosyncrasies and my absences. Too often supper has been interrupted, delayed, left in the oven or fed to Pablo and Rafa. So, as I dust down the files for Mr Marshfield and, like Malcolm Parr did with me, prepare him a glass to accompany my handover chat, I make a toast to New House. With Mr and Mrs Marshfield at the helm, backed up by Dan Solway (Head of House) and Eddy Morris-Adams (Deputy Head of House), this wonderful House is in safe hands.

passionate second airing at the New House concert in May. This was a memorable night of music-making with many memorable performances from the boys and the House staff. Who will forget Matron’s folk song or Matthew Pryke’s All of Me?

Some wise old bird once said that Housemastering is ninety per cent joy and ten per cent utter exasperation.

He was right. The greatest joy comes from seeing and accompanying the boys on their journey from wide-eyed fledglings into self-assured and service-hearted young men.

This year we lose Guillermo Brey (talented and ever-smiling Spaniard) and Eudes Locqueville (kind-hearted Frenchman) in the Third Form. In addition, we say farewell to Barney Brown (drummer extraordinaire), Jack Lawrence (everyone’s friend), Joe Early (New House’s best pool player) and Edward Jiang (robust rugby player). Our Upper Sixth leavers were a gifted and thoroughly pleasant bunch with a pastoral heart that never stopped beating. Serafim Gunin has been a friend to all and has solved many an ICT problem. Luke Rowlands made an impression on us all with his loyalty, kindness and modesty while Matthew Pryke has kept us all on our toes and has charmed us for five years. Kevin Chan proved to be a welcome addition to the Sixth Form with his maturity and humility. Ben Piggins has ensured that there has never been a dull moment in New House. His many gifts will take him far in life. We also say farewell to Dominic Baldwin (cricketer and bon viveur extraordinaire), Nico Hayward (as laid-back and friendly a character as you are ever likely to meet). We also say goodbye to Deputy Head

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Old House

as well as sporting and artistic and I look forward to seeing these boys shine in the future.

As ever at this time of year we will say goodbye to our Upper Sixth, and also one or two boys who were only staying for a year, as well as one of our Fifth Form boys who will not be joining us for the Sixth Form. This year’s Sixth Form have been hard working as well as nurturing to those below them in the House and the School. They have been fun to be around and have really captured the spirit of Old House. They have been superbly led by Callum Thorner who has worked tirelessly towards the success of the House as well as the happiness of all the boys who live and work here. He really has been the model of how a Head of House should be and I will personally miss him hugely next year - he has been a rock and one of the finest young men that I have had the privilege to work with over the years. He joins the India Team who over the next few months along with Chris Pang, Ben Stevens and Ed Andrews will go to India for two months to work with the orphans in what will be a fantastic (but also a physically and emotionally draining) experience.

I know that the boys leave the School at the end of the summer, either to further academic study or to return next year to continue their journey, safe in the knowledge that they belong to a very special and a very supportive group of people who went to King’s School, but also to a very exclusive and privileged bunch that can call themselves ‘Old House Boys’. It is a honour for me to be able to call myself their Housemaster.

Malcolm Jeffrey

O

ld House has once again enjoyed a wonderful year of effort and success, showing determination, tenacity and a delightful House spirit based on a common aim and a good deal of respect for each other.

The boys have achieved notable academic and sporting success, not least of which has been winning the InterHouse Squash Tournament and the Intermediate team winning the Athletics. On top of all this Old House is maintaining and developing a reputation as a sociable and a welcoming House.

I have said this before, but the success and the reputation of the House is all down to the boys and the effort they put in to every situation; we are blessed in Old House with some fine young men who are not only fun and friendly but also thoughtful and considerate. It has, once again, been a privilege to have been the Housemaster of Old House for another year and I have enjoyed every minute of it.

One of our successes (although unfortunately not eventual winners) was the senior debating team who were fantastic in the preliminary rounds. I am at pains to point out that the boys are completely self-motivated as well as being unaided in their writing and their delivery. They were unfortunate to lose out to the eventual winners and although they did not make the final they were clearly a group of talented and intelligent young men.

The Inter-House Music competition was a very closely fought affair. Although there was a “wee” bit of a discrepancy between the comments made about the Old House performances and the marks awarded, it was once again a superb day of showcasing talent as well as the inherent sense of fun the boys and girls of King’s School possess. I was unbelievably proud to watch performances from Sam Young as well as the ensembles. The whole House choir were spectacular as well and produced a polished and enthusiastic performance of their medley, with everyone taking part. Well done boys!

The House has obviously got a keen competitive spirit which was evident at the Inter-House athletics. Up against county record holders and Somerset athletes Old House fought hard and the Intermediates managed to secure victory over the other boy’s Houses, which is testament to their skill as well as their training and determination. It bodes well for the future and I am sure that next year we will see the teams build on this year’s success.

We have had a good year and a very pleasant time with our new arrivals and although we will say goodbye to one or two of them they have settled well and achieved much.

Notable successes have been academic

Back Row (left to right): George Cameron, Joss Gray, Yan Le, Bertie Hancock, Max Briston, Alistair Sanford, William Luck, Nikita Bogachev.

Third Row (left to right): Henry Leung, Peter Knospe, Tris Wrighton, Henry Oliver, Tim Khvan, Felix Hemsley, Jacky Wong, Samuel Young, Henry Smith, Jared Newton, Jinjin Bai, Gabriel Airey, Sam Hung, Barney Latham, George Weymouth, Theo Barratt.

Second Row (left to right): Bertie Hughes, Nick Longpré, Simon Wimmer, George McGregor, Alex Enderby, Austin Ransom, Connor Theo-Jones, Angus Owen, Simon Shih, Cosmo Williams, Jonathan Boyle, Adam Griffiths, Rupert Leschallas, Jaime Colomer, Ben McClean, Henry Vickery.

Front Row (left to right): Mr Tom Loveless, Marcus Bell, Mr Mark Hambleton, Chris Pang, Mr Seamus Harkness, Lucien Carey, Mr Jamie Barron, Edmund Lawson (Deputy Head of House), Mr Malcolm Jeffrey (Housemaster), Callum Thorner (Head of House), Mrs Cecilia Jennings (Matron), Ed Andrews, Miss Nanette Archer, Rafe Fraser, Mr Al Moxham, Eben Latham, Ben Stevens.

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Priory House

by Emily Simper

Y

et another hectic year has passed quickly by in Priory, full of events of all sorts as well as, of course, arrivals, departures and examinations.

One of the best things about Priory has to be our House evenings, which is the time in the week when the girls can really relax and get to know other girls in the years above or below. This year we have had the usual BBQs, quizzes, baking evenings and, once again, many House nights in the Christmas term were devoted to making Christmas decorations, biscuits and bird feeders for our stall at the Christmas Fayre, which very pleasingly raised over two hundred pounds for the Indian Orphanage. We have had our annual Priory’s Got Talent, The P-Factor, Wi Dance competition and some really fun joint BBQs and games nights with Old and New House.

Our Christmas Party at Mill on the Brue was a great evening, especially the dancing, whilst our annual Priory House Netball Tournament was a terrific success thanks to the organisation of Miss Williams and the Prefects. To thank the Upper Sixth for all of their work over the past year, we had a luxurious trip to Bath Spa followed by Wagamamas and it was an evening that I think we will all remember for the relaxation, fantastic food, but most of all each other’s company.

The Inter-House competitions have, as always, been a highlight and everyone has taken part, competed for the House and given it their all. Our Junior Sports team have shone this year winning the Hockey, the Athletics, the Squash and five of the top ten places in the Inter-House Cross Country, with Sophie Hamilton winning the Junior Competition and Beth WilsonBrown the Senior race.

The Inter-House debate has been strongly contested this year and we were thrilled that both our Senior team (Ellie Longman-Rood, Beth Wilson-Brown and Ellie Loughrey) and our Junior team (Mattie Sweeting, Molly Hunter and Anna Wilmshurst) made it to the final and, although they were both beaten, the girls debated extremely well.

In the Inter-House Music Competition we were

Callum Thorner

Upper Sixth leavers

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thrilled to be awarded second place overall, and huge thanks must go to Edith Bruford for taking charge of the Music. Not only did she sing in the House Ensemble along with Becky Bracey, Clara Bracey, Charlotte Mansergh and Jill London, she organised and conducted the girls in their superb House Song of ‘Wish I was a punk rocker’ which featured a gorgeous solo from Yazzi Arnold.

Edith, as Head of House, and her Deputy, Georgie MacLeod-Ash, have been excellent role models for the girls this year and, along with the other Priory Prefects (Evie Gravatt, Helena Davidson-Houston, Elodie Wallace, Rhianna Brunt, Christina Witte, Ellie Longman-Rood and Jill London), they have been an enormous help to me in the running of Priory.

However, it is time for the Upper Sixth, Yuki Lau, Annie Price, Amber-Rose Salmon-Brown and Julia Feron, to move on to new academic challenges. We will miss them all. Moreover, we are going to miss having Mrs Wilmshurst as a Priory Tutor as she leaves us to start her own pharmaceutical company. Finally, we have to say goodbye to Miss Williams as she moves to Cardiff to take up the position of Head of Girls’ Games at the Cathedral School, Llandaff. Miss Williams has been a wonderful Resident Tutor for three years and an excellent Temporary Housemistress for a term. She has been enthusiastic, patient, kind, and a wonderful role model for the girls. She will be missed by all of the girls and especially by me, but she has promised to come back and visit. Thank you also to all the Tutors and to Jane, our fantastic matron, for helping make it another terrific year in Priory. The newly-refurbished House, the arrival of baby Luke and a superb group of talented Third Formers have all added to the Priory Spirit and tremendous family atmosphere we all enjoy so much. We are very much looking forward to 2015/16.

Back Row (left to right): Alexandra Ogurtsova, Yuki Lau, Scarlett Wright, Beth Wilson-Brown, Sofia Smith, Sophie Williams, Charlotte Meyer, AmberRose Salmon-Brown, Sophie Belchambers, Becky Bracey, Lucie Moore, Amy Williams.

Third Row (left to right): Francesca Redpath, Sophia Duval, Charlotte Mansergh, Clara Bracey, Harriet Wakelin, Ella Corlett, Ellena Loughrey, Olivia Hughes, Alex Howard-Harwood, Annie Price, Anna Wilmshurst, Victoria McCabe, Molly Hunter.

Second Row (left to right): Alex Keeley, Lena Matkevich, Harriet Papenfus, Mattie Sweeting, Ellie Longman-Rood, Christina Witte, Helena DavidsonHouston, Evie Gravatt, Elodie Wallace, Chloe Dawe, Sophie Hamilton, Annabel Black, Olivia Hamilton, Yazzi Arnold.

Front Row (left to right): Charlotte Oulton, Mary Wells, Andrea Maistrello, Anne Sherrard, Georgie MacLeod-Ash, Hannah Williams, Emily Simper, Jane Trevaskis, Edith Bruford, Maggie King, Helen Wilmshurst, John Slingo, Emma Thwaites.

Theme night

Preparing for the Inter-House country

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Wellesley House

by May, Rosie, Caitlin and Daisy were ably assisted by Isabelle, Hebe, Kiara, Georgia, India and Mima with Oona, Anne, Eva and Helena as well dressed extras. The girls all did brilliantly giving two flawless performances with northern accents and lots of laughs along the way. Very well done girls and a huge thank you to Miss Flavell in her role as director, creative director and ‘best boy!’

I will greatly miss my Upper Sixth who leave this year - you have made Wellesley a better place; thank you, we will all miss and remember you. Thank you, May, for your leadership, maturity, direction and loyalty; Isabelle, for your guidance and sensitivity; Rosie,for your passion and reliability; Lauren, for your creativity and dependability; Eunice, for your unwavering commitment and to Nicole for your methodical approach to everything.

Finally thank you to my very loyal and hardworking House team for everything you do - I could not do it without you. To my tutors Kate Flavell who leaves her role as Resident Tutor to become Head of Biology, to Sadie Osborne, Bridget March and Harriet Swindall who leaves the team to take up residency in a rival House, to Gail de Mora and Sally Locke, to my matrons - Barbs and Debs, and to my cleaners - Nicky and Annie.

To our leavers this year - May, Isabelle, Rosie, Lauren, Eunice, Nicole, Eva, Moni, Sole, Oona, Sasha, Charlotte, Helena, Anne, Marga, and Lotta - good luck for the future, ‘follow your dreams’ and stay in touch.

by Juliet Deaney

O

n speech day last year, I could not have been more proud of all my girls when Wellesley were announced the inaugural winners of the George Beak Bailey Trophy - ‘the top performing House in academic effort and House competitions’ - and they have continued this year in the same vein. During the Prefect training last June, I remember my then Lower Sixth girls saying that they wanted to be remembered as ‘my best Upper Sixth Form ever’ and they have not disappointed.

May - Head of House, Rosie - Deputy Head Day, Isabelle - Deputy Head Boarding and Lauren - House Prefect responsible for the Arts have been instrumental in leading the House to much success, organising a fun and structured House night activities programme, along with raising a total of £704 for charity through making cakes and selling them at break time and more.

During the Christmas term, the Senior Debating Team of May, Jenny and Daisy were delighted when they beat Priory House in the final and subjects they debated during the term included the Elgin Marbles to the US Electoral College System to the Privacy of the Royal Family.

We then went on to win the Science quiz, Senior Hockey, Senior Athletics, Senior Badminton, Relays, Senior and All Stars Netball and more - thank you Rosie for all your team organisation and touchline encouragement and support.

The House Music Competition is always a fiercely fought battle and all the girls spent many hours rehearsing their House Song ‘Buttercup Baby’ and they were so happy to finish second - thank you Lauren for your patience and musicianship.

As well as team success there have been many individual successes - Sophie (as Captain) and Kitty (as Navigator) led the 35 mile Ten Tors Team home in record time, Eleanor, Lucy and Lauren all achieved Grade 8 on their respective instruments, Sasha won the Painter Stainers Art Award, Mima captained the U16 Indoor Hockey Team, Ellie’s sketches earned her ‘The Headmaster’s Easel Award’, Ellen won the Hepthalon with 4457 points and the academic achievement and sustained hard work of Jessica, Kitty, Holly, Daisy, Freya, Georgia, Hebe, Lucia, Ellie, Ellen, Caitlin, May, Rosie, Isabelle, Lauren and May were all recognised on Speech Day.

This year was once again Wellesley’s turn to take to the stage and perform a House play. After sifting through various scripts the girls decided on ‘Ladies’ Day’ based on a day at the races. The leading characters played

Back Row (left to right): Brogan Sellar, Theresa Mölbert, Beth PretorPinney, Lucia Pretor-Pinney, Eleanor Little, India Hutton, Ella Hanegraaf, Anne Al-Bazaz.

Third Row (left to right): Charlotte Vec, Ellen Barber, Kiara Jones, Caitlin Marsh, Oona Goebbels, Lottie Latham, Sophie Wichary, Freya Thorner, Daisy Mant, Lucy Little, Kitty Mant, Alexandra Kostyuk.

Second Row (left to right): Kitty Taylor, Monica Echeverria, Ellie Smith, Jemima Owen, Jenny Paterson, Lottie Gould, Eva Kehrbusch, Holly White, Sophie Sage, Georgia Dimdore-Miles, Jessica Longman, Hebe Young, Soledad Muñoz-Rojas.

Front Row (left to right): Miss Harriet Swindall, Mrs Barbara Atkins, Mrs Bridget March, Miss Kate Flavell, Eunice Wan, Isabelle Longpre, May Bullock, Mrs Juliet Deaney, Rosie Hunter, Lauren Glover, Nicole Wan, Dr Sadie Osborne, Ms Sally Locke, Mrs Gail de Mora.

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The last two home games of the season saw victories over Monkton Combe (34-5) and Wycliffe College (48-5).

Both were good victories and yet there was a slight anti-climax in both as King’s led the Monkton game at half time 29-0 and drew the second half 5-5, and similarly against Wycliffe they led 36-5 at half-time and won the second half 12-0. Was it a lack of fitness or killer instinct, or did the opposition rally and play better?

Thus as an attacking force the side was very good; 63 tries in only 14 games, a strike rate of 4.5 tries a game.

Twelve different try scorers and a back line that accounted for 48 of the tries. Half of the tries converted, a good return from the two kickers, Dominic Baldwin and Rory Cadbury.

A defence that was meaner than Mr Barrow’s face! Usually conceded a try a game (Dauntsey’s was an exception). The boys tried to play an exciting brand of attacking rugby and succeeded. They worked extremely hard in training and were a dedicated and enthusiastic set of players, who were a pleasure to coach for myself and Mr Stefan Davies.

SPORT RUGBY Ist XV

T

he losses: there were five in total and they were all unique in their own way.

Dean Close was the first loss of the season in the first game, and was by a narrow margin of four points, 12-8.

This was a much improved performance against opponents who had defeated King’s 81-5 in 2013. King’s were missing four key personnel through injury and athletics; Harry Corbett, Matthew Trickey, James Plummer and Owen Mansfield were all unavailable, and their absence was felt by the team. However, King’s could / should have won. Leading 8-7, playing on ‘Slopey’ due to injury to Cameron Main, King’s did not need to force the play, but to play the field position and keep Dean Close hemmed in trying to play up the slope. However, a loose pass from a scrum and three passes later Dean Close had scored and won the match.

West Buckland (A) should be the game to remind the boys never to assume anything on a sports field. Losing Tavish Smibert to a knee injury early in the game was challenging, especially as we had already lost Rory Crockatt to injury earlier in the week (broken collar bone). King’s dominated the first half in terms of possession and territory and yet turned around 21-0 down. Poor passing gifted two intercept tries, which were gratefully received by West Buckland and not being clinical in attack saw the side lose their second game in succession 21-12. Over confidence perhaps? But a lesson to take every match on its own merits.

Dauntsey’s was a lesson that needed to be learnt on the Thursday before halfCaptain Harry Corbett in command term. They were a good side and reached the last 16 of the RFU Natwest Cup; King’s were a good side and playing well and full of confidence.

King’s could/should have been 12-0 up before Dauntsey’s scored their first try.

Again, the Achilles heel of the side, not taking advantage of the scoring opportunities,

Craig Barrow looks back to the future after a successful season of nine victories

T

he wins: the nine victories were memorable for the fact that they were comfortable victories, great tries were scored, defence was resolute, and yet King’s did not play for a full seventy minutes or express their real potential which was probably the only reason why Mr Barrow did not smile as much during the season!

The 18-5 win at Queen’s College, Taunton was a workmanlike victory and a very necessary one after the start of the season had begun with two defeats. Clayesmore (483) tested the patience of the team as did the 46-0 win over Milton Abbey. King’s dominated possession in both games and were a standard higher than their opponents, but probably had too much possession and rather overcooked the play, as is the case in such matches.

King Edward’s Bath (A) saw King’s win 32-20 in a game of contrasting styles. The opposition scored three tries – all utilising a catch and drive line-out move 5 metres from the King’s line, in their traditional fashion. King’s Bruton scored five tries, all outstanding. Four of them were running tries aided by great support which began in our own half, and the fifth was a catch and drive line-out by six King’s forwards, against eight KES Bath forwards, as King’s had two players in the sin-bin at the time.

Wellington (38-0) and Sexey’s (71-0) were games that King’s dominated and they scored many good tries.

Downside away is always challenging and the 25-12 win was satisfying but closer than it should have been, as our normally tight defence was exposed just before and after half –time. This caused the side to go into their shell and play a tighter game, which Downside preferred, rather than playing the expansive game which had seen King’s lead 20-0 after twenty minutes of the game.

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Standing (L to R): Bastian Maiworm, Nat Mainoo, Matt Trickey, Matt Solway, Mark Catley-Day, Dan Solway, Rufus Wright, Jamie Vita, Rory Cadbury.

Sitting (L to R): Eddie Morris-Adams, Jared Newton, Benson Hung, Dominic Baldwin, Harry Corbett (capt), Jack Hudson, Harry Atkinson, Jamie Laver, James Plummer.

cost the side dear. Turning round at half time only trailing 17-0, I thought the game was still winnable but Dauntsey’s played some wonderful rugby in the second half and taught the side a lesson they needed to experience to come back stronger as individuals and as a team.

The last two defeats against Prior Park and Christ College Brecon in the space of nine days were perhaps the hardest two defeats to take. Both defeats were away and by two points, but both defeats were the result of the last play of the game when King’s were leading the matches.

Both games were a great advert for schoolboy rugby. They brimmed with skill, intensity and real desire. Plus, the body language of the boys after the second defeat at Brecon showed the heartache they felt, the effort exerted and the pride that the boys display when they pull on a King’s Bruton 1st XV shirt.

At Prior Park, King’s outscored their opponents by three tries to one and led 17-16 with one minute remaining on the clock and had possession of the ball. However, a desire to run the ball when perhaps a big kick down field would have sufficed, saw the ball dropped and a penalty awarded for a resultant offside was kicked and King’s had lost a pulsating game.

At Brecon, King’s led 10-7 and had dominated a second half where the Brecon full-back had pulled off two try saving tackles, when they finally surrendered possession and Brecon worked the ball up field to score in the corner.

The conversion was missed but time had expired and King’s had lost 12-10.

These two games should motivate and drive the boys on in the fallow period before September 2015 to train and practice so that these results become a memory in a distant Dolphin report.

Summer Terms.

Dauntsey’s 1st XV who defeated King’s 66-0 showed the level of fitness and conditioning that the side should aspire to. This side contained thirteen U6th boys and it showed in the second half of that match. If the current squad can strive to get better in their conditioning and core skills, then the development of game management becomes much easier as you are operating on the front foot and usually playing a game where you are leading.

The current squad must also encourage the development of the 2nd XV and U16 XV crop of players who will aspire to make the 1st XV in all aspects of the game. These players will be key to the performances of the side and they must press for the places and not assume that the side is already selected. As we experienced during the 2014 season, injuries happen and the 1st XV lost both first choice props for the season after just two games.

The mantra for 2015 must be the following: Scoring four tries a game, if you do you will probably win the game. Young players are adventurous and ambitious by nature - let them play. Focus on the performance. Want to attack….The defence is predictable. Practise attack. Games: Keep attacking… it won’t always work (85%). If the squad continues to follow these principles, then 2015 could be a very special vintage.

Played 14, Won 9, Lost 5, Points For 407, Points Against 182,Tries Scored 63, Conversions 34, Penalties 8, Top Try Scorer Matthew Trickey 22 Full Colours: Harry Corbett, Matthew Solway, Matthew Trickey. Half Colours: Jamie Vita, Dominic Baldwin, Owen Mansfield, Jamie Laver, Daniel Solway, Jack Hudson. Bath Academy U18 Matthew Solway, Daniel Solway

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he future: this is a side with great potential for the 2015 season as it only says goodbye to the following U6th players: Dominic Baldwin, Jamie Vita, Jamie Laver, Owen Mansfield and Bastian Maiworm.

The lessons learnt from the season just gone have been well documented and they must be worked on in the Easter and

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Crash tackle

James Plummer on the attack

1ST XV RESULTS: V Dean Close (H) lost 8-12 V West Buckland (A) lost 12-21 V Queen’s CollegeTaunton (A) won 18-5 V Clayesmore (A) won 48-3 V Milton Abbey (H) won 46-0 V KES Bath (A) won 32-20 V Wellington School (A) won 38-0 V Dauntsey’s (A) lost 0-66 V Sexey’s (H) won 71-0 V Downside (A) won 25-12 V Monkton Combe (H) won 34-5 V Prior Park (A) lost 17-19 V Christ College Brecon (A) lost 10-12 V Wycliffe College (H) won 48-5

Dominic Baldwin clears his lines

Jack Hudson breaks through

Matt Trickey on a charge

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However, a slight slip-up in defence and a dubious decision left King’s with a narrow defeat to ponder.

After suffering such a dramatic loss and giving everything, it is very easy for teams to fold. However, it was crucial that the 2nd XV got their season back on track against a strong Wellington side. After 55 minutes of very close rugby, King’s approached the final play of the game slightly behind Wellington. Wellington thought they had the game in the bag and didn’t expect Connor Deacon to launch himself over a ruck and snatch a win from the jaws of defeat to the delight of all the King’s players.

By now players were really starting to step up and demonstrate huge amounts of skill and commitment. While all players have been brilliant it is important to highlight the great efforts of the back row ( Archie Cobb, Cameron Main, Marcus Bell, Callum Thorner) who between them proved to be one of the most mobile and aggressive back rows on the circuit. They have been well supported by Nico Hayward and Paddy Moore in the positions of second row.

Outside the forwards, Angus Owen and Matthew TomesSmith have been strong in attack and defence and Sam Young has demonstrated real pace on the wing.

The next game of the season saw local rivals, Sexey’s, visit King’s and leave having lost 66-0 in just over 40 minutes of rugby. An outstanding performance that contained some of the best tries you could wish to see on a schoolboy rugby pitch.

The following weekend the 2nd XV beat a Downside team in wet conditions before struggling to three narrow losses against Prior Park, Christ College Brecon and Monkton Combe. All the team knew they needed to finish the season with a win and this was achieved with a gritty and determined display against Wycliffe on the final weekend of the season. Despite some horrendous tackles and decisions from the opposition, King’s tried to play some good rugby and kept their discipline when the opposition failed. A great win of 50-5 to end the season.

Cameron Main: This is mine

2nd XV Dan Cupit and Will Dawe pay tribute to the skill and team ethic of a special team

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t was clear from the first training session of the season that this was going to be a special 2nd XV. While the skill level was far greater than in previous years, the team ethic in a very close group of players was also superb. Led

by Angus Owen, the 2nd XV offered huge potential both in attack and defence. The first game of the season against Dean Close is usually a very demanding fixture and it was a similar story again this year. The 2nd XV played some superb rugby and ran out narrow losers (12-6) in a brilliant game to start the season.

Next on the fixture list were local rivals Clayesmore. King’s approached this game with confidence and played some brilliant rugby in tricky circumstances away from home. King’s were deserved winners 52-12. With this win, the 2nd XV gained momentum and welcomed Milton Abbey to King’s on a sunny Saturday afternoon. Another strong performance and another impressive win (78-12) demonstrated the quality of the team.

The team then travelled to King Edward’s Bath for what is traditionally a very hard fixture and yet again it proved the case. Despite defending for 70% of the game, King’s approached the last few minutes with a narrow lead.

Standing (L to R): Nicholas Poll, Cameron Main, Edwin Leung, Eben Latham, Nico Hayward, Paddy Moore, Joss Gray, Matthew Tomes-Smith, Archie Cobb, Harry Woolway. Sitting (L to R): Callum Thorner, Connor Deacon, George Weymouth, Connor Theo-Jones, Angus Owen (capt), Marcus Bell, Yusei Fukazawa, Samuel Young, Rafe Fraser.

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3rd XV: Standing (L to R): Harry Deakin, Ben Thomas, Hugh Edgar, Marion Ajijala, Jimmy Zhu, Alen Safaryan,Will Hillier, Ben Piggins, Will Kingsberry, Charlie Denison-Pender, Tom Sellar, John Nishanov, Franz Tschersich. Sitting (L to R): Hamish Donnelly, Henry Leung, Robert Jin, Ben Stevens, Ross Duder (capt), Corey Tam (v capt), Ed Andrews, Austin Ransom, Nicholas Longpré.

3rd XV Graham Saunders and Graham Downer review a successful season with four victories

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his was a fantastic season for the 3rd XV. Credit goes to every boy who wore a shirt for the team; we certainly had the pick of some very talented individuals. Some early victories against Dean Close and King Edwards, Bath, were unfortunately tempered by a couple of defeats against Wellington and Sherborne. However two solid victories to close the season against Monkton Combe and Christ College meant that the team finished having won four matches and lost two. At the start of the term there wouldn’t have been many who wouldn’t have bitten their right arm off for that result!

Throughout the season, captain Ross Duder led by example on the pitch and demonstrated superb running and tackling. Often the last man, Ross would ensure that the opposition were halted in their tracks while also contesting heavily for possession in open play. The forward pack were very dominant in both the scrum and the breakdown, and developed a much more strategic view to the ruck as the season unfolded, choosing not to over commit and allowing overlaps to be created to move the ball quickly forward and gain territory. The lineouts were also instrumental in keeping and contesting possession; with the boys opting to only contest with four, that gave much more versatility in the field of play. In the backs, we saw some excellent rugby from Hamish Donnelly as scrum half. Hamish used the ball to great effect with runs, switch passes and loops to draw in, fix and beat the defence. Charlie Denison-Pender proved that his skills in running and contesting on the wing were worthy of regular team selection and he was often in the breakdown ready to support and move the ball forward. Solid central performances from Corey Tam as vice-captain also meant that the ball was recycled effectively and momentum carried into each phase of play. Overall, the team should be immensely proud.

Under 16A

gone narrowly down to a less able side. Performances from Peter Knospe and Jack Potter showed a desire to win and a determination that gave the coaches a real sense of pride. Mr Jeffrey and Mr Evans wrote of the match: “King’s Bruton Under 16A team played well against a bigger and stronger West Buckland team. There were some good individual performances from the players as well as a good team spirit maintained throughout. However West Buckland were lucky to punish King’s in the first half after a couple of mistakes leaving the boys with much to do.

Despite some hard fought-for tries from Jack Lawrence, Jordan Adams and Harry McHugh (although they were very much a team effort) they lost 24 - 17. Despite this their pride is intact and they are hungry for more action next week. Man of the Match is Jack Potter”

The next two matches against Queen’s College and Clayesmore were comfortably won and our fixture against Milton Abbey was cancelled, although many of the squad “played up” in the Second XV. The following week we played KES Bath away and despite a fanatical desire to win, the boys were

Malcolm Jeffrey applauds his side for their strength, team spirit and gentlemanly conduct

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nce again the coaches of the Under 16 XV found themselves with an array of talent and a huge degree of commitment amongst the boys. It is rare to have found such a supportive and cooperative team spirit and it was a privilege to coach, as well as referee the boys.

The first match of the season saw them win 48-12 against Dean Close, with tries aplenty from Harry McHugh, Jordan Adams, Oscar Farrell, Jack Potter and Freddie North. Captain Harry McHugh inspired with his actions, tackling like a man possessed and showing an understanding of the game many professional players would be proud of.

The team spirit was in evidence again when they faced West Buckland and they never once gave up despite having

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we played KES Bath away and despite a fanatical desire to win, the boys were punished: “King’s played with determination and unending grit against a bigger, stronger and better drilled Bath side who were still rocked at times by King’s tenacity.

Unfortunately they lost to a better side but the spirit and the determination were always obvious. Huge pride felt by Mr Evans and Mr Jeffrey. Man of the match was Peter Knospe”. The grudge match took its toll on players and a bruised team made its way back to Bruton.

A win against an aggressive Downside followed by a loss against Monkton Combe showed how much they had put in so far. They then travelled to Prior Park School, losing a tight, competitive match. Despite King’s holding an early lead, Prior Park clawed their way back in the game establishing a lead of their own, which a converted try by Harry McHugh reduced towards the end. The key to success is making your tackles and keeping the ball and King’s let themselves down in that regard.

So we found ourselves at the end of the season with four matches won and four lost, the same position that the same team (U15XV) had been at the end of the 2013 season; this year they also faced the same opposition, Wycliffe College, a fixture that they had lost the previous year. 2014 proved to be a very different contest; Wycliffe had clearly come for a fight and King’s not only contained their aggression but countered it with superb attacking rugby. The sense of pride and honest commitment was palpable as King’s crushed their opposition 66-7. The season ended with a game that exhibited some of the true spirit of rugby; strength, aggression as well as gentlemanly conduct won the day (from both sides) and the boys of King’s School celebrated a winning season.

Mr Evans and Mr Jeffrey had a fantastic season with a great bunch of young men who clearly love the game as much as their coaches. We played on superb pitches at home, kept in immaculate condition by Adie Davies and his ground staff; we were fed royally by the staff in the catering department and we were consistently supported by the parents of the players as well.

It is always with a sense of pride and some sadness that we pass our players on to bigger and better things and we wish them all luck for their future rugby career, some of which will be glittering.

Under 16 A: Standing (L to R): Harry Hunter, Edward Jiang, Alex Artemenko, Bertie Hancock, Jack Lawrence, Yan Le, Jordan Adams, George Cameron. Sitting (L to R): Thomas Alderton, Ryan Longman, Hugo Tyson, Oscar Farrell, Harry McHugh (capt), Christo Bradstock, Jinjin Bai, Sam Hung, Peter Knospe.

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Under 15A

Under 15B

Seamus Harkness watches his players galvanise themselves into a fighting unit with self-belief and heart

Tim Walker and David Cowley reflect on a season that came into its own at the end

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espite having an immensely hard fixture list, the team managed to have a strong finish to the season with a win. The final match epitomised the determination of a number of the team to succeed, even when the odds were against us for much of the term. The term was split between matches where we were competitive (Dean Close – where we should have won – Wellington and Wycliffe and even Monkton Combe) and those where we could not really get into the game. Despite this, the boys trained well with a number making great personal strides forward. Try scorers for the term were Carretta (6), Kuzovlev (4), Zhou (3), Enderby, Philp, Hoult and Best with conversions from Garcia (3) and Potter. My thanks go to Joe Carretta and George Wroth who captained the side and those who put their hearts into each match and finally succeeded.

t always feels strange to return to school in September in baking hot sunshine to start training for the term ahead.

The boys returned from the long summer holiday where exercise and fitness seem a distant memory, and were then subjected to the moans and groans of aching bodies as the muscles start to be reused again. This year the summer holiday was abruptly curtailed in the first game as the boys received a thumping from a quicker, more aggressive Dean Close. It was the wakeup call they needed. In the next game they were much more competitive and fought out a good game against West Buckland but sadly were unable to deal with a powerful centre who ran in four tries.

Queen’s Taunton was a turning point as the team began to settle into a cohesive unit and we finally established a back row formula that could be put up against the best; they consisted of Toby Clothier, Tom Westropp and Rory McAfee who were to be outstanding all season. We won this match convincingly and played some exceptional rugby, solid in defence and creative in attack.

Clayesmore proved to be too strong and punished us for some sloppy defence work as did Wellington who had some excellent runners and were hard to break down in defence. Beating King Edward’s Bath in a very close encounter before half term cemented some confidence for the team and they began to play with more pride and belief - it was a wonderful game to watch as the score undulated tensely with King’s coming out as the eventual winners.

After half term the boys really found their rhythm.

Barney Latham was able to show his versatility between scrum and fly half and made some excellent breaks and tackles whilst providing an integral link between the forwards and the backs. Captain Henry McCosker proved that he has an excellent pass as well as an effective boot and was able to secure us territory. Our full back Theo Barratt was like a wall in defence and felled many a giant while our strike runners Oliver White and Henry Oliver were able to find space frequently and get on the score sheet.

The pack, although not the biggest, were gutsy in defence and dogged at the break down securing lightening quick ball or keeping the opposition attack out with intelligence, strength and teamwork. The combination of our locks proved to be vital with Archie Warsap, easily our most effective rucker, and Will Luck, who was like a gazelle, winning lineout after lineout to secure us a lot of possession. Tom Williams, who was very competitive all season, won a vast amount of our scrums for us, as well as being able to hook the opposition’s ball too.

Towards the end of the season it felt like this fine bunch of boys had galvanised themselves into a team that had a massive amount of self-belief and heart; they were enjoying their rugby, and their success and knew that they were building a future together with one eye on next season.

Under 15 A: Standing (L to R): Archie Potter, Toby Clothier, Tom Woods, Henry Oliver, Will Luck, Archie Warsap, Oliver White, Rory McAfee, Dan Wyle, Denis Kuzovlev. Sitting (L to R): Myles Jenkins, Tom Williams, Tom Westropp, Henry McCosker, Alex Enderby, Theo Barratt,

Under 15 B: Standing (L to R): Raimon Pujol, Oliver Crossfield, Tim Khvan, Tom Philp, Simon Wimmer. Sitting (L to R): Guillermo Garcia-Valdecasas, Sorravee Jampathipphong, Harry Hoult, George Wroth, Aaron Zhou, Barney Bown, Myles Yeandel

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Under 14A

Under 14B

Stuart Hamilton reviews a productive season of attacking skills and tenacious defence

B team rugby is more than a balance sheet of results, says Al Moxham

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ith a good intake of boys, and a number of them being new rugby scholars, the hopes for the season were high. After a good week of sorting out and training we went into the first game with optimism. We soon realised that we had some way to go as a complete Dean Close side put us to the sword and beat us comfortably. However there were some notable performances from Toby Rogers and Ivo Wright who stood out through the rest of the season. The following week we bounced back with a good win against West Buckland with Tristano Wrighton to the fore. After two games of the season it was clear that it was going to be a 50/50 season.

A run of hard fought matches v Queen’s Taunton, Clayesmore, King Edward’s and Wellington showed us that we could compete, but unfortunately the results did not go our way. In fact the Clayesmore match should have been a draw if the referee - I don’t know who he was - missed a blatant knock on in the run up to their match winning try.

The Rev has not let me forget it!

After half term we beat Downside in a well fought match; Jacob Sykes was on fine form with the ball in hand.

A heavy loss to Monkton at home was hard to take because at times we looked like we had the better of them up front, but alas their backs were too classy for ours and we did not cope well when the ball went out wide.

The final three games of the season were three good wins v Gillingham, Christ College Brecon and Wycliffe College. In the final game we had everyone back from injury and there was some great play that I hope the players remember and take into the next season.

Overall it was an extremely successful and productive season which saw all the boys who played for the team improve their attacking skills and show plenty of courage and tenacity in defence. I would like to thank the Rev for his wisdom and support and the boys for their willingness and enthusiasm in all the challenges they met in training and in the matches on a Saturday. I hope they can take confidence from their achievements and strive to be the best they can be next season.

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team rugby is about much more than results: it is about performance, and about seeking to unite a disparate variety of skills and experience into a coherent whole. Above all it must also be about fun, and this year’s 14Bs cohort was undoubtedly that: they had a fantastic attitude to their rugby, and a collective determination to do the very best that they could whatever the circumstances.

The term began with a narrow loss to a physically larger team at Queen’s Taunton. Having led at half time, and following some excellent breaks from Sam Innes and Luke Tuckfield, the team battled bravely and were desperately unlucky to lose out. However, their attitude, desire and ambition were all excellent and set the tone for the season.

Unfortunately, the team then faced a series of fixtures against physically much larger teams including Clayesmore, King Edward’s Bath and Wellington School.

Olly Tincknell led from the front, and there was some first rate driving play from Finn Weatherhead together with some superb elusive running by Guillermo Brey Gallart.

However, despite the team’s courage and unstinting effort, as well as some fantastic rucking and scrummaging, they were ultimately overpowered in all three fixtures.

The final fixture of the season was against Monkton Combe, and the King’s team put in a blistering first half performance, with Sean Lock omnipresent. They should have been much further ahead at half time but let a number of scoring opportunities slip by. In the second half they lost their shape a little and Monkton sneaked by to record a narrow victory. Despite the disappointment, once again the team had competed with a depth of character and determination that was of huge credit to them all.

Overall, therefore, it might be thought that this was a disappointing season for the 14Bs. However, that would be to miss the point entirely: if the balance sheet includes levels of determination, enthusiasm, courage and teamwork, then it was a supremely successful season for an excellent group of young men.

Attack: Sam Houldsworth and Jaime Colomer Berrocal Who wants it? Harry McLeod-Ash

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GIRLS’ HOCKEY

the 1st XI were determined to end the season on a high and they did not disappoint. Against a direct and physical Monkton Combe side, King’s had far too much quality for their opponents as they recorded a 4-0 victory. This positive result gave the girls confidence as they went into their final fixture of a long season against more new opposition in the form of Sherborne Girls. Once more, this was a very tight encounter and nothing could separate the sides as it was settled by a 1-1 draw.

On reflection, in what was a very tough season in terms of the level of opposition, the 1st XI were successful in terms of the quality of hockey that they played and I am very pleased with the improvements that were made by both individuals as well as the team itself. I would also like to thank the girls who played in their final hockey season for King’s and who have been outstanding. Captain Emily Clothier, Rosie Hunter, Elodie Wallace, Octavia Cobb and Georgie Macleod-Ash can be very proud of their commitment, endeavour and dedication to King’s hockey and they leave big shoes to fill. Well done on your fantastic efforts again this season.

1st XI Henry Eriksson reports on a roller-coaster season

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he girls’ 1st XI hockey team enjoyed a successful season despite not getting the results they perhaps deserved at times. With the fixture list having evolved since last season and with tougher opposition to play, the King’s girls knew that the season ahead would be a challenge. However, the team went from strength to strength during the course of the season and they can be proud of the quality of hockey they played.

Having enjoyed a full pre-season schedule which included two days of training at school before playing in a triangular tournament with Lord Wandsworth College and KES Southampton, the 1st XI were high in confidence going into their season opener with Canford in a new block fixture. The standard of hockey played was very high by both teams. King’s were somewhat unfortunate to lose 3-0, a result which did not reflect how even the match was; there were some very encouraging performances in particular from Ellen Barber, Octavia Cobb and Mima Owen.

In their next fixture, King’s travelled to Prior Park in yet another new block fixture to play against a side who try to play good hockey. Unfortunately, King’s started slowly and allowed Prior Park to take an early lead with a well-worked goal. Despite this setback, King’s continued to improve and in the end were unlucky not to get something from the game as Prior held on to win 1-0.

Against Wells Cathedral in their next full fixture, the 1st XI were rewarded by a good performance with a 3-0 victory as goals from Ellen Barber and Lucia Pretor-Pinney were enough to secure the win to restore some confidence in the squad. In their final match before half term, King’s faced Bristol Grammar School for the first time. In a match where King’s created a number of chances, their lack of composure in front of goal cost them as BGS scored two late goals against the run of play to win 2-0. On reflection, after the first half of term, the girls had played well against some very good teams and not been rewarded in terms of the results achieved.

Despite a difficult start to the season, confidence remained high going into the second half of term and this was demonstrated in the first match back against King Edward’s Bath where although the final score was a 1-1 draw, the team showed great signs of improvement. In the next fixture, King’s welcomed Blundell’s where for the first time they were playing like for like i.e. King’s 1st XI versus Blundell’s 1st XI. Again, a very close fought encounter was won 1-0 by the visitors, however, once more this is a result that could quite easily have gone the other way. On the day, Millie Regan in the King’s goal was outstanding once again. With only two matches of the season left to play,

Daisy Mant

Lucia Pretor-Pinney

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Standing (L to R): Emily Wastell, Charlotte Mansergh, Octavia Cobb, Beth Pretor-Pinney, Cara Valentine, Sophie Sage, Lucia Pretor-Pinney, Rosie Hunter (Club Capt), Abagael Hyde, Katie Hawkins. Sitting (L to R): Elodie Wallace, Jemima Owen, Daisy Mant, Emily Clothier (Capt), Georgie Macleod-Ash, Marie Jeltsch, Millie Regan.

Millie Regan to the rescue

Jemima Owen Katie Hawkins

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2nd XI

and a real highlight to the season. The final game against more new opponents in the shape of Sherborne was a tense encounter where the Ladies once again fought hard to overcome a good team – a fitting end to a great season which meant that we ended up with six wins and five losses, which against much more proficient opposition than we have faced in previous years was a great testament to this team of special Ladies who worked hard for each other and refused to give up.

In such a great season it would be invidious to name names as they were all fantastic, but it should be noted that Hannah Snow was not only the Coach’s but also the Players’ Player Of The Season, whilst Sophia Smith was the Most Improved Player and Annie Price was the leading scorer with five goals. I would also like to thank the Captain Edith Bruford who sadly was unable to play after the first couple of games but always remained supportive, and the Vice Captain Brogan Sellar who stepped up superbly to fulfil the duties.

Finally I would like to thank Olivia ‘Hedgehog’ Harrison, Susie ‘Don’ MacDonald, Jill ‘Ill’ London and Edith ‘Skip’ Bruford who I have had the privilege of coaching for the last three years – I will miss them but hope that they continue to play hockey in the future. Well done to the entire squad – great tenacity and great fun. I have very much enjoyed coaching this very special team and I am proud of their performances – as they should be.

Nick Bunday goes upmarket in sporting parlance as he reports on a season of two halves

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o use footballing parlance (which is something that I generally do not like to do!), this was a season of two halves. Ultimately, however, history will record that this was a winning season during which the Ladies had to call upon great reserves of determination.

With the marked recent improvement in the standard of girls’ hockey at King’s, it was right that sooner or later stronger opposition was needed – last season the Ladies 2nd XI had only conceded one goal. However, the start to this season really was a baptism of fire, away at the much larger Canford. Playing on their water-based astro, (which, interestingly, was only watered after the conclusion of our game!) and on a piping hot afternoon, the Ladies never really got going. The skills were still too rusty, the patterns of play insecure and as a consequence the Ladies were well beaten by six goals. The next game was against another new set of opponents in Prior Park and was a much closer game. Sadly in a game that ebbed and flowed the opposition scored with only a few minutes of the game remaining, so the Ladies lost their second consecutive game, although the performance was much better.

In the third game of our season the Ladies faced St Mary’s Shaftesbury, who, with no 1st XI fixture, took the opportunity to give five of their 1st XI squad a run out. The Ladies, despite their frustration, fought hard and took the lead through an Annie Price Penalty Corner, but the superior fitness of the opposition meant that that they equalised just before half time. The second half was very even, but again fitness told as St Mary’s scored twice in the last five minutes. The next game was against a very good Queen’s Taunton side and to be frank, the Ladies did well only to lose by a single goal. However, the Ladies fought hard and I remember writing on the Sports Site that with determination such as they displayed ‘our time would come’.

And so it proved to be in the very next match when the Ladies beat Wells Cathedral School with two Oona Goebbels’ goals – this was a great performance and relieved the pressure on the Ladies who were fearing a ‘beaten’ season! The next fixture was against more new opponents in the shape of Bristol Grammar School where the Ladies were disappointed to lose by two goals having played some nice hockey. So, at the half way point of the season, the Ladies had played six and lost five having conceded thirteen goals and only scored three.

There then followed an incredible run of five straight wins with the Ladies beating Bruton School for Girls (1st XI), King Edward’s Bath, Blundell’s, Monkton Combe and Sherborne. The Ladies deserved the many plaudits that they received for this impressive run as they really did have to dig deep and display great tenacity, especially given their first half of the season. Nowhere was this more evident than against Blundell’s (away …a long way away!) where playing them ‘like for like’ for the first time ever, we managed to defeat a much more skilful and faster team by playing as a team and imposing our patterns of play on the opposition. It was a ‘whole-team’ performance

Susie MacDonald running rings round her opponent

Hannah Snow injects a penalty corner

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2nd X1: Standing (L to R): Miss O Goebbels, Miss G Dimdore-Miles, Miss B Wilson-Brown, Miss H Snow, Miss S Smith, Miss A Price, Miss E Loughrey, Miss O Hughes. Sitting (L to R): Miss C Marsh, Miss S MacDonald, Miss B Sellar (v capt), Miss E Bruford (capt), Miss O Harrison, Miss G Macleod-Ash, Miss E Houldsworth

3rd XI Sophie Liddell-Grainger watches her team work hard and fight to the final whistle, beating Wells Cathedral School along the way

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he 3rd XI Hockey Team had a hard season playing ten matches against some tough competitors. The girls did really well, playing some outstanding hockey. Having only been back for a short while, the team’s first match was against Canford School; the girls put up a good fight, but unfortunately they did not go on to win it. After this, the team came back to training and improved on their skills and team work. This paid off in their next match against Prior Park, which they drew 3-3, with Hebe Young and Rhianna Brunt scoring the goals.

This gave the team confidence to go out against some strong schools, so much so that they beat Wells Cathedral School 2-0, with Lucy Tyack and Jo Adams scoring the two winning goals. This was an excellent match for the team putting all their skills and team work together; they came away having played an outstanding game of hockey. During the Wells game the team made some brilliant passes especially the backs, made up of Jennifer Paterson and Kitty Geach, who made some very productive passes up the pitch to help the team score the winning goals.

This brought us to the half way point of the team’s season. They carried on working hard during training and learnt some more complex skills during this time. Against Monkton Combe they won 3-0 with Sophie Finch and Rebecca Bracey scoring goals. Unfortunately against Blundell’s we did not do so well. However it was a good game against a strong side. The team worked well together and played some super hockey. One person who I think needs a special mention is Tilly Houldsworth who was the outstanding goalie. The score in the second half was 0-0, which I think shows how much they had improved by then. This sums up the season for the 3rd XI: working hard and always putting up a fight until the match is over. The 3rd XI have been a joy to coach and I hope they had as much fun as I had.

3rd X1: Standing (L to R): Jenny Paterson, Yuki Lau, Jo Adams, Sophie Finch, Lucy Tyack, Lucie Moore, Imogen Moore. Sitting (L to R): Ellie Smith, Kitty Geach, Rhianna Bront, Evie Gravatt, Becky Bracey, Tilly Houldsworth, Hebe Young.

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4th XI Hannah Williams and Sophie Liddell-Grainger reflect on an enthusiastic and fun-filled season

The 4th XI had five matches this year, winning two of them. The girls worked hard, learnt a lot, and most importantly had fun!

The first match of the season saw us face an incredibly strong Canford who were too much for us to handle, especially in the first game of the season. The second match of the season saw us come up against an evenly-matched Prior Park team. From the starting whistle the girls fought hard and played some skilful hockey. Goals by Jo Adams and Imogen Moore resulted in us achieving a well-deserved 4-2 victory. The 4th XI then faced Queen’s College, Taunton. This game saw the girls playing more of the smart, skilful and decisive hockey they had played in the previous week. Strong defence and quick passes in from our wings saw us take away an impressive 4-0 victory.

The match against Bristol Grammar school was more of a training game for us, and allowed the girls to develop their match play and allowed new players to get a feel for the game. A heavy defeat of 9-0 didn’t dampen the spirits of the 4th XI, a creditable effort against very strong opposition. We knew the final game of the season against Blundell’s was going to be tough.

Taking forward what they learnt in the match against Bristol Grammar School, the 4th XI squad worked hard and managed to keep the score line narrow with just a 4-0 loss. Well done girls on a fun and enthusiastic season; there has been a lot learnt, and there is plenty to take forward into next year. A special mention to Jo Adams who was top goal scorer of the season - well done Jo.

4th X1: Standing (L to R): Charlotte Vec, Harriet Matthew, Sam Walker, Olivia Williams, Theresa Mölbert. Sitting (L to R): Ellie Smith, Annabel Black, Julia Feron, Jo Adams, Soledad Munoz-Rojas, Yuki Lau, Hebe Young.

Mant has been a solid rock on which all of the side’s success has been built. Over the course of the season she has made some outstanding saves. The confidence this has brought to the side has allowed everyone to push that little bit higher and work a little bit harder. Across our back four we must have one of the strongest and most able defences at this age level anywhere in the country. The combination of Megan Jones, Sophie Wichary, Holly White and Charlotte Mansergh have made opposition attacks weak at the knees.

The most significant development in this group has been the way they have not only become stronger

Under 15A Dan Hodder applauds the defence and passing game of his maturing and talented team

I

t has been wonderful to coach such an enthusiastic and talented group of young women this season. In every position across the pitch you get a real sense of the ladies always giving their best and in training always challenging themselves to improve and get stronger. In defence Kitty

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defensively, but how they now really represent the first line of our attack. A more patient and deliberate form of passing has been developed over the season with the ladies willing to pass the ball between them under pressure to find the best way forward. This is a sign of a maturing and talented group of girls who are already gaining the skills needed to play the game at a very high standard.

In the midfield Katie Hawkins, Emily Wastell and Megan Ward have been the engine room of the side running the “hard yards” from defence to attack all season long. Megan Ward’s goal against Prior Park must be the highlight of the season so far with her 40 yard run and finish – something very special to witness. Elsewhere, Emily and Katie have played with huge commitment this season so it has been really special to see them representing the 1st XI in games, prior to putting on an U15 shirt and doing it all over again.

Up front Harriet Wakelin, Charlotte Mayer, Charlotte Gould and Abs Hyde have been formidable with each of them finding the back of the net frequently over the past ten weeks. While all have improved and developed, I have been really impressed by our two wingers Harriet and Abs who have both not only scored a number of goals, but also worked their socks off to be in the correct places on the field at all times. At centre forward Charlotte Gould and Charlotte Mayer were fantastic, putting together a number of excellent performances and picking up regular goals for themselves and the team.

Charlotte Mansergh launches an attack

Abagael Hyde

Megan Jones wriggling through

Under 15 A: Standing (L to R): Katie Hawkins, Megan Jones, Charlotte Meyer, Megan Ward, Lottie Gould. Sitting (L to R): Sophie Wichary, Holly White, Charlotte Mansergh, Kitty Mant, Harriet Wakelin, Abagael Hyde, Emily Wastell.

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Under 14A

in the midfield, and broke up many opposition attacks as well as contributing to our movement going forwards.

They were all ably supported by Kiara Jones (scorer of a crucial goal against Bristol), Indie Hutton (who scored with her first touch against Prior Park and put away the vital chance against Blundells), and Harriet Papenfus and Esther Adenuga who worked hard in training and grew stronger and stronger as the term progressed. Both added to our goal tally as well.

The last game against Sherborne was the only time we struggled to score, and it looked like being one of those days, until finally a short corner came off, the full time whistle came and we could relax, and reflect on this record: away wins against Canford, Bristol Grammar School and Blundells, and home wins against Prior Park, Bromsgrove and Sherborne, amongst others. It doesn’t get much better than that. The only down side to the season was our inability to compete in the Under 14 County Tournament due a calendar clash. Given our results against teams who went to the regional finals and did well there I think we’d have done well. Thus this is their next challenge – to do well in the cup as Under 15s and 16s. Bring on 2015.

Tim Fletcher loses count as the goals fly in during a remarkable season of 10 games and 10 victories

P

utting into words the scale of this term’s achievement was not easy, and it has been hard doing the team justice. A tougher fixture list than previous years had increased the challenge for all the girls, but it was one that this group rose to with real determination and professionalism throughout the term. There were moments when we wobbled – notably against Bristol Grammar School and Sherborne, but for the most part they played with a belief and composure that belied their age and experience.

Right from the first moments of the season against Canford through to the last minutes against Sherborne, they were determined to play good constructive hockey, even when straining for that elusive goal in the final match of the term. The very first thing they did as a team was to play the ball round the back, and it was on our back four that much of our success was built. Molly Hunter, who led the side with a quiet authority, and Emma Walker were outstanding all term, and were superbly supported at half back by a combination of Flo Cobb, Lottie Latham and Anna Wilmshurst. Behind them Izzy Hawkins and Clara Bracey did a sterling job in goal, and Clara in particular was thrown in at the deep end against Bristol Grammar School having never kept goal before. She proved to be a natural and was player of the match that day, making several brave saves. Between them they only conceded six goals all season, and this reliability gave the freedom to those further forward to attack at liberty.

And attack they did. The combination of Olivia Hamilton, Sophie Hamilton and Vicky McCabe proved the undoing of many sides, and it was goals galore at times during the season, to such an extent that we lost count in a couple of matches. There were some sublime finishes amongst them, and the goals of both Vicky and Olivia in the big match against Blundells will live long in the memory. That game had an incredibly high intensity and high pace affair with both sides throwing everything at it.

Jess Longman worked tirelessly alongside Sophie and Vicky

Played 10 Won 10.

Vicky McCabe

Standing (L to R): Lottie Latham, Isabella Hawkins, Taesha Wolfe, India Hutton, Emma Walker, Flo Cobb, Kiara Jones, Anna Wilmshurst, Elli Cooke. Sitting (L to R): Yazzi Arnold, Jessica Longman, Vicky McCabe, Sophie Hamilton, Molly Hunter (capt), Olivia Hamilton, Clara Bracey, Esther Adenuga, Harriet Papenfus.

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Junior B Anton Kok applauds the highest goal scoring junior B team in recent years

The Junior B girls have had an impressive season. This term’s hockey has been exceptional, with some superb performances throughout the season. The style of play has been excellent, especially the cohesion between the midfield and forward players, which demonstrated the way hockey should be played. Consequently, this resulted in 16 goals being scored during the season, the highest tally scored by a junior girls’ team in recent years. Their biggest victory was a 6-0 win against Prior Park early in the season. During training and matches, they gelled well as a team and worked hard for one another, resulting in them putting strong oppositions under pressure and causing surprise upsets, beating the visiting Bristol Grammar School 2-1 and Monkton Combe 3-1.

Each player has improved throughout the season, particularly some girls who were relatively new to the sport. Special mention to Amy Williams, Henrietta Campbell and Taesha Wolfe, who scored the bulk of the goals this season. Commendation to Sophie Tyack who played an excellent sweeping role in the team. Our strong defensive skills coupled with quick responses from the midfielders have often lifted the whole team’s efforts and motivation.

Sadly we are losing our 4th Form players next season; they have contributed much robustness in their stick skills and will be missed. Sophie Williams has led by example as captain in the Junior B squad. She ensured the team was well prepared and organised before each match.

The Junior B team will move from strength to strength, with the remaining strong 3rd Form hockey players, and our budding goalkeeper Ella Hanegraaf, already performing well in their respective team positions.

Played- 9

Won -5

Lost- 4

Drew -0

Goals scored – 16

Junior B: Standing (L to R): Alex Howard-Harwood, Amy Williams, Anne Al-Bazaz, Ella Corlett, Ella Hanegraaf, Hetta Campbell, Skye Neal, Chloe Slingo.

Sitting (L to R): Kitty Taylor, Sophie Tyack, Frankie Redpath, Chloe Dawe, Sophie Williams, Mattie Sweeting, Sophia Duval, Esther Adenuga, Lena Matkevich.

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BOYS’ HOCKEY

a very accomplished performance where solid defence courtesy of Harry Woolway and Josh White and creativity in attack was enough to give King’s a famous 1-0 victory. A fantastic individual reverse stick strike from Chris White with only three minutes to go meant King’s were able to progress in the competition.

With some quality opposition to play after half term, King’s came back after the break and quickly picked up where they left off. Playing Bryanston for the second time this season, King’s did an excellent job of not becoming complacent as they ran out 6-1 winners. Equally, in their next fixture and playing against Sherborne School like for like at senior level for the first time, another very high quality game of hockey was won 2-1 by King’s with Stride and Latham getting on the score sheet. Playing with some tired legs following their efforts against Sherborne two days before, King’s produced a professional performance to beat a talented King Edward’s Bath team 2-1 on a difficult playing surface with Angus Owen scoring the all-important winning goal.

The following Tuesday saw King’s travel to Taunton where they lined up against King’s College to contest Round 4 of the National Plate. In what was a very physical and tense match, King’s had too much for King’s College as they eventually ran out 4-1 winners with goals from Stride, Latham, Max Behm and Harry Hunter with a ferocious strike. This victory was enough to set up a quarter final showdown with Magdalen College, Oxford.

Howeverhowever, King’s had to first test themselves against Exeter School who had qualified for the national Cup semifinal. In what was a close match, King’s ended up losing 1-0 and in reality this could very well have gone either way as in the second half especially, King’s had enough chances to get something from the game.

Finally, King’s faced Magdalen College with the opportunity of securing a place in the semi-finals and a trip to play at the Olympic Park, however it wasn’t meant to be as Magdalen went through on penalty strokes following a 2-2 draw. Whilst there was obvious disappointment at the final whistle, the boys must reflect on what has been a truly outstanding season with some fantastic and consistent results against very tough opposition.

I would like to take the opportunity to thank all the boys for their efforts this term but especially Mike Stride who did a fantastic job as captain, Peter O’Connor who returns home to New Zealand following his exchange and finally the upper sixth leavers, Josh White, Chris Pang, Angus Owen and Eben Latham. I am very proud to have been associated with such a fantastic group of lads.

1st XI Henry Eriksson reports on a season of 11 victories in 14 matches as well as a Plate quarter final place in the Under 18 Boys’ National Schools Competition

T

he boys’ 1st XI had what can only be described as an excellent season, playing fourteen matches, winning eleven and losing three, scoring fifty-one goals and conceding only seventeen along the way. This season saw King’s enter the Under 18 Boys’ National Schools Competition for the first time and the team did superbly well to reach the quarter final of the plate competition where they narrowly lost on penalty strokes.

Having completed a gruelling pre-season the weekend before during which wins against Christ College Brecon and Stamford School gave a very positive glimpse of the potential for the season ahead, the season began with a home match versus West Buckland. Despite not quite reproducing some of the excellent play seen in pre-season, King’s ran out comfortable 4-0 winners with goals coming from Chris White, Eben Latham, Captain Mike Stride and Harry Hunter.

This victory was to be the final preparation before welcoming Millfield to King’s in Round 1 of the National Cup. A high quality game, played at a great intensity, saw Millfield race into a two goal lead. However, having regrouped at half time, King’s came out with all guns blazing and very quickly reduced the deficit before pulling it back to 2-2. Unfortunately for King’s, they couldn’t quite make their pressure count as Millfield scored a late winner despite the best efforts of the outstanding Jack Hudson in the King’s goal. Fortunately, all was not lost as King’s automatically qualified for the plate competition.

Before meeting Bryanston in Round 1 of the plate, King’s played Warminster, winning a physical game 4-1, showing too much quality for their opponents. In their second midweek fixture in as many weeks, King’s lined up against Bryanston. A fantastic start by King’s, which saw them go 3-0 up in fifteen blistering first half minutes, was enough to unsettle Bryanston and they could not prevent King’s from recording an outstanding 7-2 victory with goals coming courtesy of a Mike Stride hat-trick, a brace from Chris White, a penalty corner from Rory Cadbury and a great opportunist strike from defender Archie Cobb who could not quite contain his excitement at having scored.

Going from strength to strength King’s had comfortable 4-1 and 7-2 victories against Clayesmore and Monkton Combe respectively in their next two fixtures before comprehensively beating Downside 6-1 away in Round 2 of the National Plate competition. This victory set up a very difficult third round match away against Rugby School. Taking four hours to get there, King’s produced

Clean pair of heels: Chris White

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1st X1: Standing (L to R): Chris White, Archie Cobb, Max Behm, Peter O’Connor, Josh White, Eben Latham, Rory Cadbury, Angus Owen. Sitting (L to R): Chris Pang, Hamish Donnelly, Harry Woolway, Mike Stride (c), James Plummer, Harry Hunter, Jack Hudson.

2nd XI Seamus Harkness revels in the Gentlemen’s direct approach and sense of fair play

A

fter an extremely impressive previous season, the Gentlemen’s XI had set themselves very high standards for the new one and this wasn’t just about wins on the score sheet and aiming for an unbeaten season; they were more interested in the holistic approach, sportsmanship, style, fair play and the quality of their goals.

Under the guidance of Colonel Bunday in the previous two seasons, these stalwarts of the Upper 6th now had the task of taking the new members of the team under their wing and showing them how the Gentlemen play.

Luckily for us, in the first match they had lost none of their motivation and simply played some outstanding hockey to overcome a dumbstruck West Buckland 5-1 with man of the match Josh Hope-Kibble getting an audacious hat-trick. We couldn’t have had a better start. Sadly the away trip to Clayesmore put a spanner in the works. Although we totally outplayed them in the second half, our opponents just hung on desperately to clinch a 1-0 victory. It was immensely frustrating but proved to the men that they need to take their chances when they arise.

The team then began to build some momentum and play some slick hockey with wins against Bryanston, Sherborne and Monkton Combe. The Gentlemen’s juggernaut was moving at full speed and sides simply could not cope with our direct counter-attacking, quality defending or movement of the ball. Cameron Main was our mainstay in the centre with James Evans and Corbett shoring up our defence and the impassable Nat Mainoo in goal. Jamie Laver caused all sorts of problems to the opposition’s defence with his chasing and harrying.

Archie Cobb starts a new move

Chris White continues it

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Connor Deacon at the heart of things

Mention must also go to the new recruits from the 5th form who did an outstanding job all season, such as Josh Teuber, Oscar Farrell and Ryan Longman.

Towards the end of the season we met our match and it is fair to acknowledge that King Edward’s Bath were simply faster, stronger and more skilful than us so it was no shame to lose to them. We were however delighted to draw with Exeter who are normally an incredibly strong side and we had them on the ropes from start to finish; we should have won but we were happy to accept a moral victory. It was an absolute pleasure to coach the Gentlemen’s X1 as they played this beautiful game in exactly the way it should be played and they supplied us with some wonderful moments and happy memories. Finally, I must thank my co-coach Nick Bunday for all his experience and help.

Ryan Longman

Jordan Adams

2nd XI. Standing (L to R): Mr RF Longman, Mr JJ Adams, Mr OP Farrell, Mr MGJ Catley-Day, Mr HEG Corbett, Mr DT Baldwin, Mr JD Teuber, Mr JW Laver, Mr FT Tschersich. Sitting (L to R): Mr GSC Airey, Mr ADD Fox, Mr JOW Evans, Mr CJ Deacon, Mr CPC Main, Mr JM Hope Kibble, Mr N Mainoo.

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3rd XI

4th XI

Rob Lowry and Graham Downer praise their side for giving it their best shot

Dan Cupit praises the enthusiasm and commitment of his players

T

he 4th XI development squad were always going to find this season a challenge given that many had only recently been introduced to the game of hockey.

However, the enthusiasm and commitment of many new players and the skill and experience of many of the older players made for an exciting squad to both coach and watch over the 10 weeks of the Easter term.

The team started brightly with a narrow loss against Taunton and showed that they could play some exciting and explosive hockey when required. However, the 4th XI struggled against some oppositions due to the physicality they brought to the game at this level and the fact that many teams used the 4th XI to develop very talented younger players. However, there were some fantastic games and some very credible results. Freddie Nickerson led the team well and scored some superb goals from the middle of the pitch.

The final game of the season was against Taunton School for the second time in ten weeks. However, the 4th XI proved how much they had developed over the season and turned an early season loss into a thrilling draw away from home. The 4th XI should be delighted with the progress they have made this term and all that they have achieved over a busy season of hockey.

T

o summarise the performance of the 3rd XI in one phrase: “A season of two halves”. The core of the team performed well throughout the season, with fitness levels improving game on game. It was to their credit how they adapted to an ever-changing squad - one which changed as a result of call ups from the 4th XI and spill overs from the 2nd XI.

The season started strongly with the team energised by attacking runs from Jordan Adams and defensive skills from Oscar Farrell. In goal, Harry Ewins took the mantle - a position he crafted to be his own, earning him the vice captaincy to boot. Midway through the season, however, our luck changed and we posted some close defeats. All the boys tried their best with some good passing and tacking displayed in each game.

In the end, the season hinged on a final game against King Edward’s Bath which was always going to be a tough game to win. A 5-0 defeat actually belied a very strong outfield performance from the boys - there were several chances to score and some great defensive play. Sadly though it was this lack of goal scoring which inevitably led to more defeats than wins. Not for want of trying but in the end wins against Warminster, Clayesmore and Sherborne were surpassed by defeats to West Buckland, Queens College, Bryanston and King Edward’s Bath. Praise should go to the entire team who wore their team shirts with pride.

Cameron Main lets fly

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Under 15A

Under 15B Tim Fletcher is all eyes as his skilful side improve their results from last season, showing their real mettle in the final match

Amid a spot of coaching, Jamie Barron does some sleuthing about a mystery player

L

ent Term 2015 for the U15B hockey XI will go down in history for three reasons: 1) Because it will be known as the Season of a Thousand-andOne Captains (or three for anyone who wishes to be pedantically accurate) 2) Because of ‘The Mystery of the Player Who Only Played for Fifteen Minutes All Season’ 3) Because we won three matches. Captain Number 1 was Arthur Harman, a strong leader and the season’s most consummate biffer-in of goals, hammering in a goal against West Buckland and three against Warminster. Such was his magnificence that he ascended to a better place, and the boys bade him farewell.

Captain Number 2, serving two terms of office, was Joe Carretta, who led us to victory at the Battle of Sherborne Field, a most rewarding afternoon at the fray, winning 4-nil on away territory. This game is twinned with that against Warminster as the strongest victories – the gentlemen of the astro played splendidly on these occasions, with some excellent team-work and clever positioning across the board.

Captain Number 3 was Myles Yeandel, who guided them through a chilly afternoon away at Bryanston – although a relatively promising first half, by the time the second half was under way triumph faded away into the distance. However, the chaps played stoutly nonetheless, and their spirit remained undefeated even if the scoreboard was less than rosy.

Memorable vignettes include the rousing hip-hiphooray offered weekly for our opponents, regardless of the outcome of the match, led sonorously by Captain Carretta (although sadly not always returned with the same gusto by our counterparts); Albert Shuck’s great efforts as goalkeeper throughout the season; some steady tactics and positioning from Messrs Wylie and Warsap in defence; and a solid goal apiece popped in by Archie Potter (sailing past Clayesmore) and Tom Woods (delivering the maiden goal of the season against West Buckland).

And what about the elusive Mystery Player?...

You’ll find him standing proudly in the team photograph...

Some sources swear to having seen him play as sub for a quarter of an hour on Mordor against West Buckland...

What was his identity?... Will we ever know for certain?

H

aving reached the Regional Finals the previous season, there was a real hope that this group of boys would be able to build both on that success and their experiences in Holland at the World Youth Hockey Tournament the previous summer. In many respects they did not disappoint. They played some excellent hockey throughout the term, and improved many of their results from last year.

The season started with a good performance against West Buckland, although the problem that was to beset them at the start of the season in front of goal meant that they only came away with a draw when they really should have won. Patience was rewarded against Warminster the following week with a good 3-0 win, only for the optimism to be dissipated by two defeats against Clayesmore and Monkton Combe. In each game we were partly the architects of our own downfall, defending rather naively and throwing away a two goal lead in the latter.

To their credit the boys worked very hard in the long gap that ensued between fixtures, and were well prepared for the Bryanston match. The game turned at 1-1 thanks to Arthur Harman’s goal, and resulted in a well-deserved 3-1 win which set the tone for a remarkable eight days. In that time they beat Queen’s Taunton 7-1; Sherborne 5-0 and King Edward’s 5-0. In each of the games they improved significantly, playing quick, incisive hockey that used the width of the pitch well. In addition the problems in front of goal went away, with Tom Williams, Alex Enderby and Barney Latham all finding their range more regularly. Tom Williams’ effort against Queen’s, on the volley with his first touch of the match, was particularly memorable. The team’s success was built on a solid defence, with Henry Oliver, Simon Wimmer, George Wroth, Guillermo Garcia and Myles Jenkins looking increasingly composed, knowing that they had the security of Will Luck in goal behind them.

The final match was a mark of how far they had come. Although they lost, they more than held their own against a high quality Exeter side, and showed real character to come back into the match having gone 2-0 down. It was a fast paced affair, and probably the best performance that they had produced, and a fitting finale.

What was particularly pleasing about this season was the improvement all the boys made both as a team and individually. Rory McAfee and Toby Clothier worked tirelessly in midfield, as did Henry McCosker when he wasn’t injured, and Ollie White worked hard up front without ever quite finding his touch in front of goal. Much of what we did revolved around Barney Latham, and he will benefit hugely from his opportunity in New Zealand, and strengthen any side he plays for over there. All in all the future is bright for this group of boys, and I look forward to more success for them as they move up to the senior teams next year.

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Under 14A

Under 14B

Stuart Hamilton watches his side learn lessons about hockey and life

Will Stainton opts for honorifics in tribute to his hard working and determined team

F

F

or me this has undoubtedly been the hardest season that I have endured as a coach of any sport! At many times during the experience when I was trying to motivate the boys a less well known Churchill quote came to mind. “Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.” I must say that this was very true of the boys in the team. No matter what the adversity, they showed great determination to keep going and working on the skills they had learnt throughout the season.

In our training and in the early part of the season we seemed to be shaping up well with a reasonable amount of skill on show. Unfortunately our team was short of physical presence, which time and time again opposition teams exploited.

The principles of shape and the passing game we were trying to develop was worked on in training and at times things looked really good. The difficulty came in losing our defensive shape when things did not go our way.

The idea of marking players was a difficult one to master and it was made more difficult by the opposition tending to be faster and stronger. The number of fifty-fifty challenges we lost during the season was our downfall. Our ability to transfer from attack into defence was slow and it was exploited. It was compounded by the fact that we did not mark tight enough all season in the D. This combined with the search for a goalkeeper meant that our results did not really corresponded to the way in which we were playing hockey.

This all said, the season was not all doom and gloom. There were at times great pieces of play that showed that there had been improvements. Peter Jenkins was a star all season, playing with dexterity, skill and tenacity at the back, often at times under extreme pressure. They all showed at times that they could play hockey in the right way and they never lost sight of that. At times when the execution was poor it cost us dearly but at times we showed sides, which were beating us comprehensively, that we could play hockey. The physical difference was an underlying problem which will be less evident as they progress up the school.

Everyone learnt a lot in the face of adversity especially about themselves as people. I would encourage them all to play some indoor hockey and get involved in some club hockey if they can. If they do this they will only go from strength to strength.

Finally, I would like to thank Mr Eriksson for his support and advice, as well as the various people who umpired for us. My last word is for Mr Stainton who continually relinquished B team players. I look forward to the next season.

irst and foremost, a brilliant first season of hockey at King’s Bruton for these new, young hockey players, attempting the 11-a-side game for the first time. Both Mr Wilson-Brown and myself must, therefore, congratulate the gentlemen on a thrilling season.

Our results were: played 6, won two, drawn 2, lost 2, goals for 10, goals against 8, goal difference 2. This could not show a more even picture.

The season began at home on a cold Saturday afternoon on Hippisley against Warminster School. The Spanish international, Mr Montalat Verheyen, sporting the Captain’s armband, took the squad out for their first pre-match warm up which, as always, was focused and determined. This first match was a resounding victory of 4-0, with a secure 3-0 lead at the half time whistle. Three of the players, including one of our other international signings, Mr Wrighton, managed to get their names on the team sheet; Mr Locke with 2, Mr Rabenau with 1 and Mr Wrighton with 1 goal. A great team performance for the first match of the new season. The following week, the U14B team made the short trip to Bruton School for Girls for a fixture against Clayesmore School. Despite having the majority of the chances in front of goal, as a team, we could not capitalise on this and settled for a 2-2 draw. This match did, however, see the new signing of Mr Bascombe score a fantastic goal from a penalty corner.

After about a month of training, the following fixture saw the team travel to Bryanston School in Dorset.

This provided the first disappointment of the season and showed the damage of a month away from competitive fixtures. The match ended 0-2. However, the sun rose again in Dorset the following Thursday at Sherborne School.

After watching the U14A’s victory, the U14Bs continued the same style and determination their peers had shown for the previous hour. With the half time score even at 0-0, the boys stepped up their work rate and came out 2-1 winners. A well-deserved away victory. Despite this return to form, weary legs took hold for the third game in a week against KES Bath at home. Again, the half time score was promising at 0-0, but two early goals in the second half meant that the boys were chasing a victory. Mr Bascombe stepped up to take the mantle and pulled one goal back late on in the game. A well fought loss, 1-2.

The final match of the season was away at Exeter School. This match was a true test of endurance after a long journey and watching the U14A’s match. Despite this the score at half time was 1-0 from a well-crafted piece of open play initiated by the Kenyan International, Mr Doig. The second half saw an unfortunate equaliser from a penalty corner, ending the match 1-1. Special mention must go to Mr Taylor, who for the first time in the season, stepped between the posts and kept the deficit to just one goal.

An excellent first season at King’s. Mr WilsonBrown and myself are exceptionally proud and honoured to have worked with the team this season and wish them all the best for their future in hockey.

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NETBALL

The second match of the triangular match was against St Mary’s. Having never beaten them at 1st team level we knew that we had our work cut out. The 1st VII went out strongly but their shooter proved too much for us to handle in the first half. Some clever through court work by the Pretor-Pinney sisters allowed Cara Valentine to make some strong drives under the post allowing us to stay neck and neck with St Mary’s up until the end of the third quarter. The final quarter was by far the best of the match: defensively we hassled their attack which saw us turn ball over and successfully convert these interceptions into goals.

With just two minutes remaining we were ahead for the first time in the match. A nail biting finish and a very well deserved win for the 1st VII.

Ist VII In her valedictory netball report, Hannah Williams heaps praise on her team for their skill and never say die attitude

Saturday 24th Jan Vs Queen’s College Taunton - Won 28-16 Players of the Match: Megan Ward and Beth Pretor-Pinney

A tough fixture and one in which we knew we had to work hard if we were going to gain any success. From the first whistle King’s were tenacious, hardworking and clinical with their play. Queen’s did not give us any space, and we battled hard throughout the first half to ensure that they did not get ahead. Level pegging at the half time whistle the girls played an outstanding third quarter with Megan Ward and Beth Pretor-Pinney picking off some excellent interceptions allowing us to dominate Queen’s and take a 6 goal lead going into the final quarter. In the final quarter we had proved how well we could play and the 1st VII convincingly outplayed Queen’s with an extremely well deserved victory of 28-16. An impressive match with exciting potential for the future

Lucia Pretor-Pinney dictates play

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aturday 10th Jan vs Blundells - lost 20-26 Player of the Match: Rosie Hunter

The first game of the season saw us face a tenacious and skilful Blundell’s. This was the first time in King’s netball history that we were able to play them like for like.

As a big and successful school we knew that the match was going to be tough. The girls went out hard from the first whistle and displayed some excellent through court play.

An impressive 1st team debut for Rosie Hunter who fought from the first to last whistle stealing some very good interceptions saw her being awarded Player of the Match. Well done also to Megan Jones and Megan Ward who stepped up for their first game in the 1st VII and slotted in as if they had been in the 1st squad for years. Although disappointed with the score, I was by no means disappointed with the play. The first game of the season gave us lots to work on, but also gave us loads to take forward and grow with.

Saturday 31st Jan vs Wells Cathedral - Drew – 19-19 Player of the match: Beth Pretor-Pinney

A tough match against Wells Cathedral saw the girls tested both on skill level and physicality. The match was close throughout but a tactical move by Mrs Griffiths changing Octavia Cobb and Cara Valentine around in the last quarter worked wonders and after trailing closely throughout we were able to secure a draw. A nail biting match and I am told that Mrs Griffiths could not bring herself to watch the final minute of the game. I am so pleased that the girls did not come away disappointed after last year’s defeat Well done.

Saturday 17th Jan vs Clayesmore - Won 20-10 Player of the Match: Octavia Cobb

On Saturday 17th Jan King’s played Clayesmore and St Mary’s in a triangular match. Jemima Owen made her 1st VII debut and came out with determination and strength helping our defence steal ball at every chance.

A very well deserved win of 20-10 saw the 1st VII rise in confidence and team spirit. Player of the match was Octavia Cobb who held some outstanding balls on the back line and shot exceptionally throughout the match.

Thursday 26th Feb vs Kings Taunton – Lost – 21-23 Player of the Match: Cara Valentine

A frustrating fixture for our 1st VII. After leading all the way through the match, King’s Taunton came out unexpectedly hard against us in the final quarter, snatching a win. Carrying two injuries in the squad, the girls did very well against a traditionally strong opposition. Lots of positives, however, with plenty to work on leading into the weekend matches

Saturday 17th Jan vs St Mary’s Shaftsbury - Won 16-15 Player of the Match: Cara Valentine

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Saturday 28th Feb vs Sherborne - Lost 23-25 Players of the match: Lucia Pretor-Pinney and Megan Ward

After a narrow defeat on the previous Thursday, the girls were keen to come out strong and rectify the mistakes of their previous match. The level of netball was outstanding; Octavia Cobb played one of her best matches for King’s, supported by a very skilful Lucia Pretor-Pinney; as a duo, they worked extremely well. All girls gave 110% throughout the match, and the score was even from the first whistle. Unfortunately we were unlucky in the final quarter seeing another very narrow defeat by two goals.

Ist V11: Standing (L to R): Cara Valentine, Megan Ward, Sophie Finch, Megan Jones. Sitting (L to R): Lucia Pretor-Pinney, Beth Pretor-Pinney, Octavia Cobb (captain), Rosie Hunter, Jemima Owen.

Saturday 28th Feb vs Downside – Won 27-7 Player of the Match: Megan Ward

game underway on the outdoor courts, much to the 1st VII’s disappointment. Five minutes into the first quarter we could tell that the game was going to be one of our most physical yet. Every player fought hard, whilst still playing sportinglyand keeping their dignity. After a few bumps and falls and with minutes to go, we made a crucial interception in defence which allowed us to break their centre and go one goal ahead. It was a close call, but we finally came out victorious winning 22-21

After just missing out against Sherborne we worked even harder against Downside to ensure we secured a victory. The girls played very hard with tenacious defence from Jemima Owen, Megan Ward and Sophie Finch only allowing 7 goals throughout the entire game. This match allowed us to put into practice all we had worked on throughout the season, and the netball played was very encouraging, A great win girls - well done.

A mid-week County Cup tournament in Taunton allowed us to play a number of schools from Somerset in the U19 age bracket. The girls were a credit to the school, exceeding expectations and finishing a creditable 3rd overall. The U19 squad played outstandingly with some exceptional play from Beth Pretor-Pinney and Player of the Tournament, Cara Valentine.

Thursday 12th March vs Bruton School for Girls – Won 34-16 Player of the Match: Sophie Finch

In our penultimate match of the season, we played a mid-week fixture against local rivals Bruton School for Girls. An enjoyable match which allowed me to promote a number of 2nd team players. The girls played well securing a 34-16 win, and a special mention to Sophie Finch who played outstandingly against their 6ft 4” shooter.

Saturday 7th March vs Monkton Combe – Won 22-21 Player of the match: Octavia Cobb.

After playing Monkton Combe at the end of last season, we knew this was going to be a tough and evenly contested match. After being unable to play indoors due to a number of reasons, we finally got the

Saturday 14th March vs Taunton – Lost 18-25 Player of the Match: Jemima Owen

Cara Valentine

A tough finale for the season against a strong Taunton School. The girls played an exciting first half and we were only trailing by one going into the final quarter.

Unfortunately Taunton got the better of us, taking a lead into the final few minutes of the game. An exciting game which showed lots of potential and displayed how well the girls have progressed throughout the season. Well done.

As it is my final Dolphin report, I would like to say congratulations to all of the netball teams at King’s who have gone from strength to strength over the past three years. Also a huge thank you to all of the netball staff for making our success possible. King’s netball will always have a big place in my heart and I will miss you all sorely. Good luck for next season, keep working hard, progressing and going onwards and upwards.

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2nd VII Alex Ireland reviews an injury struck season for her positive and determined team.

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2nd VII: Standing (L to R): Hannah Snow, Samantha Walker, Lucy Tyack, Edith Bruford. Sitting (L to R): Annie Price, Olivia Harrison, Susie MacDonald, Daisy Mant, Georgia Dimdore-Miles.

he Second’s squad has consisted of nine highly versatile players who have played in a positive and determined manner all season. They started with a tough match against Blundell’s, losing 9-17, despite some strong centre court play from Suzy MacDonald and Hannah Snow. The following game was a pleasing win v Clayesmore School with fantastic shooting from Annie Price and Edie Bruford. The following four matches were tough, with some key players carrying injuries. The girls fought hard, however, they lost to St Mary’s, Queen’s, Wells and King’s Taunton. Both Daisy Mant and Georgia DimdoreMiles played exceptionally well throughout these games.

The following weekend they played Sherborne and Downside with a win and a loss. Against a very tall Downside team, Sam Walker was challenged regularly in defence, and Lucy Tyack worked hard to feed the circle under pressure. The end of the season demonstrated how far this team has progressed, with wins over Monkton Combe, Bruton School for Girls and Taunton School. Olivia Harrison, Daisy Mant, Hannah Snow and Suzy MacDonald played exceptionally well throughout these games in their various roles.

Under 15A Captain Megan Jones is euphoric after seeing her side win the Under 15 County Cup

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he Under 15A netball team had another outstanding season. After having their first fixture against Blundell’s cancelled, the side kicked off the season with a triangular match against a strong St. Mary’s School and Clayesmore. The team were very excited, and proved this by gaining a 15-6 win against St. Mary’s, thanks to Harriet Wakelin who made some very skilled interceptions down the court and was awarded player of the match.

The game against Clayesmore proved to be a nail-biting fixture for all the team. It was very close up to the last quarter when Clayesmore began to dominate, resulting in King’s losing 7-14, with Harriet Wakelin being awarded Player of the Match again.

The team’s next fixture was against Queen’s College, Taunton. From the moment the players stepped onto the court we knew it would be a challenging fixture. With a lack of players due to injuries, this meant that Sophie Hamilton had to step up to play, a year young. Her play was excellent throughout the match resulting in her being awarded Player of the Match and resulting in King’s scraping a tight win, 22-20.

Wells Cathedral School was King’s next fixture. King’s played exceptionally well throughout the court, gaining a 27-19 goal victory. Emily Wastell was awarded player of the match.

The side then faced Downside school. With excellent defending by Charlotte Gould and Megan Jones, Downside were unable to score more than four goals throughout the entire match. Great through court play from Charlotte Mansergh allowed excellent shooting opportunities from Katie Hawkins and Millie Regan resulting in a 25-4 win. Player of the Match was deservedly awarded to Emily Wastell who made interceptions against players twice her height.

The County cup was next for the Under 15 squad. The girls were all very excited and wanted to show what they could achieve. It was an amazing day of netball, with King’s gaining victories against Wells Cathedral, Haygrove School, Queen’s College Taunton, Crispin School, King’s College Taunton and Taunton School. This resulted in the Under 15 squad winning the title of Under 15 County Cup winners, with player of the tournament being awarded to Victoria McCabe. This was a huge achievement for King’s and all of the squad were buzzing after such a great day.

With the next fixture against Monkton Combe, we were all very excited to play again after the County Cup. We went out with a very strong start and brilliant shooting from Katie Hawkins allowed us to win 24-8, with Player of the Match being awarded to Katie Hawkins.

Bruton School for Girls was next for the Under 15As. It was a very good match with solid defending from the back.

Good shooting enabled a 42-8 win. Player of the match was awarded to Millie Regan, who proved very skilful and accurate in the shooting circle.

The last match of the season was against Taunton - we had previously drawn with them at the County Cup. King’s started off well with one point between the sides, but unfortunately Taunton took it away in the final quarter, resulting in a loss for Kings, 23-30.

The Under 15 team had an amazing season, especially because we won the U15 County Cup.

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Under 15 A: Standing (L to R): Lottie Gould, Megan Ward, Katie Hawkins, Millie Regan. Sitting (L to R): Emily Wastell, Harriet Wakelin, Megan Jones, Abagael Hyde, Charlotte Mansergh

Under 15B Kate Flavell reviews a successful season for her ever improving team

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his term’s Under 15 B Netball squad was energetic, diligent and determined. After several training sessions establishing positions, we headed off to our first match against Blundell’s which we successfully won 10-7.

Although we weren’t victorious in the next two matches against St Mary’s Shaftesbury and Clayesmore, the U15Bs still showed tenacity and these losses gave them the opportunity to work on group weaknesses during their training sessions.

By the third week of term, things really started to improve when we played Queen’s Taunton. The girls knew they were up against strong opposition but they dominated the game from the outset and consequently they secured a well-deserved 23-3 win.

From here on to the end of term, the team had a flurry of success with some impressive wins over tough sides, including Wells (21-5), Chilton Cantelo (23-18), Sherborne School for Girls (13-9), Monkton Combe (18-16) and Bruton School for Girls (19-7).

The side was captained by Charlotte Mansergh, who led the squad by example. As Centre, she moved around the court brilliantly; her standard of play excelled as the term progressed. Holly White was also a priceless team member, her intercepting skills and aggression at Goal Defence were second to none. Also moving around the court well were Sophie Wichary and Ella Corlett. Sophie’s skills improved dramatically over the term and Ella soon began to show a natural flair for a rediscovered sport.

Our defence consisted of Holly White, Sophie Williams, Kitty Mant, Mattie Sweeting and Charlotte Meyer, who all worked together brilliantly and proved to be very versatile players. Sophie used her height advantage to snatch many rebounds, whilst Kitty used her speed around the court to slow down the play of the opposing team. Mattie often kept the game under control in high pressure situations and although this was Charlotte’s first time of playing Netball, she took to the game brilliantly.

Amy Williams and Skye Neal were the shooters for the season. Their confidence in their shooting abilities went from strength to strength, scoring ambitious shots against strong defenders.

Our final match of the season, against a strong Taunton School side, put an end to our winning streak of six games.

Despite the tough nature of this match, the girls never gave up which demonstrates clearly what a determined side the team was this year. Every member of the squad should be extremely proud of their improvement and success over the season.

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Under 14A

Under 14B

Alex Ireland sees her talented side reach the Regional Finals

Pip Atkinson-Kennedy enthuses over her committed, dynamic and skilful group of players

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he Under 14 A team have gone from strength to strength this year. They are a very talented year group, and this has pushed the standards higher and made the fight for places very competitive.

The season started with the focus on the County Tournament, where a place in the top 2 would lead to the schools representing Somerset at the Regional Finals. The girls travelled to Millfield with a positive attitude and a strong squad. Although they got off to an apprehensive start, drawing with Queen’s Taunton, we then won against King’s Taunton (8-1) and Chilton Cantello (22-0), only losing to Millfield in our pool.

The semi-finals were against Taunton School, which was a very tough game, however they pulled together and won by one goal, meaning King’s Bruton had qualified for the Regionals for the second consecutive year and had Millfield again in the final. Florence Cobb performed very well all day in the shooting circle with very high scoring stats. Despite coming runners up, this was a fantastic result and meant there was a great deal of training to do before the Regionals in January. At the same time four girls also gained a place in the Somerset Satellite Academy - well done to Victoria McCabe, Florence Cobb, Olivia Hamilton and Molly Hunter.

January unfortunately started with a cancelled game against Blundell’s, followed by three very impressive victories over St Mary’s, Shaftesbury (35-5), Clayesmore School (33-3) and Queen’s Taunton (32-13). Isabelle Hawkins played very well as both GA and WA. With some intense coaching, the girls were ready for the Regional Finals in Bournemouth.

The tournament started with an impressive draw against both Colyton Grammar and Wycliffe College (both whom later qualified for the semi-finals) and wins against South Wilts Grammar (5-3), Truro School (11-8) and Queen Elizabeth (11-6). Unfortunately the girls struggled under the pressure against KES Bath and we lost the only game of the day (5-7), just missing out on a place in the play-offs. Despite this the girls were a credit to themselves and only losing one game all day is a fantastic result. Olivia Hamilton played exceptionally well all day, while there were also strong performances from Molly Hunter and Victoria McCabe.

The U14s have continued to improve and build on the lessons learnt from playing at the higher standards set at the Regionals. They played Sherborne Girls, winning 27-4, and Downside, winning 31-4. This was despite every girl playing out of position with Emma Walker shining in defence. Monkton Combe were the next opponents with a very impressive score of 50-3 to King’s, which is more than a goal a minute, with Anna Wilmshurst playing very well.

The last game of the season was against Taunton School, who are very strong. After a slow start and a tense match the girls eventually lost by one goal, 21-22.

he Under 14 B squad had to be one of King’s biggest and most versatile netball teams. With at times 14 in the squad, patience, understanding and a sense of humour were qualities that the players had to show on Saturday afternoons. A tough first match against Blundell’s but a narrow defeat of 10-12 warmed our defence up for the season and a tenacious Sophie Tyack was awarded Player of the Match.

The following Saturday we played our first triangular match against St Mary’s and Clayesmore. The shooters were on real form and Taesha Wolfe shot with brilliant consistency assisting the team to win both matches - individually, she could take responsibility for a huge percentage of the 67 goals scored that afternoon in the two games and thus deservedly was awarded Player of both matches.

The centre third players of Jess Longman, Hayley Clarke, Yassi Arnold, and Harriet Papenfus developed great counter attacks established by Sophie and India Hutton to enable Lottie Latham, Ether Adenuga and Taesha to take control of the attacking circle and secure another superb win against Queen’s Taunton.

The match against Wells Cathedral School showed courage, commitment and amazing resilience against a very physical and verbal opposition. With three of the squad selected for the Regional Finals squad we made a few radical changes and Hetta Campbell stepped up to shoot with sheer brilliance . Although we were definitely the shortest team by a long way, Hetta’s cool, calm composure under the post gained us another convincing win, 20-4.

The Chiltern Cantelo match was played mid- week and this had to be a record for how many we could put in the squad; 14 players rotated round, we kept our nerve and although incredibly close Taesha scored the clinching goal for an 18-17 win.

The Sherborne, Downside triangular match up at Hippersley had to be one of the coldest, windiest Saturday afternoons. Sherborne tried hard to get through our defence, but Jess, Sophie and India were too strong and their attack only managed to score 5 goals to Tasha, Clara Bracey and Lottie’s consistent 17.

Downside really didn’t know what had hit them with all the 14Bs on form and a dominating win of 27-2 secured our last win of the season.

In our last two matches against a strong Bruton School for Girls A team and a very well disciplined Taunton side, our players demonstrated great skill, patience , speed and agility which bodes well for next year.

It was a pleasure coaching such an enthusiastic, committed, dynamic and skilful squad and they truly deserved their tremendous track record of 7 out of 10 wins.

Well done to everyone who played during the season.

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Harriet Wakelin

Hannah Snow

U14A: Standing (L to R): Isabella Hawkins, Emma Walker, Flo Cobb. Sitting (L to R): Olivia Hamilton, Kiara Jones, Molly Hunter, Victoria McCabe, Anna Wilmshurst.

Vicky McCabe

Hannah Snow

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CROSS COUNTRY

Junior Girls’ race to become county champion.

The next event was the Marden Trophy hosted

by King’s this year for the first time as a relay. The girls’ race consisted of 11 four woman teams with King’s fielding Senior and Inter Teams. Despite strong efforts neither team was able to claim a victory but Sophie Hamilton came second in the fastest leg competition. In the boys’ race, two Senior teams and an Inter Team raced against a very strong field. Despite some tight competition, King’s were not able to compete with strong teams from Claysmore and Downside made up of county champions.

Two big events finished off the season: the Sherborne and Bryanston Relays. The Sherborne event saw many King’s students improve their position over runners they were beaten by at the beginning of the season. This was also true at the Bryanston Relays as both Senior Boys’ and the Senior Girls’ teams improved their positions.

As I move on from King’s I will remember the cross country term with great fondness. During my time in charge I have been fantastically supported by Emily Simper, Melanie Bowes-Lyon, Malcolm Jeffery, Mark Hambleton and Mary Wells. I have enjoyed helping all athletes develop no matter what their level of ability. Well done to the boys squad: Bastian Maiworm, Hugh Edgar, Edwin Leung, Ed Andrews, Joe Croney, Marcus Bell, Sam Young, Henry Smith, Ross Duder, Harry Atkinson, Joss Gray, Ben Stevens and Charlie Denison-Pender.

It was an excellent season for the girls with strong showings at the County Championships and the South West Championships for Georgie MacLeod-Ash, with Beth Wilson-Brown and Sophie Hamilton running at the National Cross Country Championships. Also competing for the girls: Helena Davidson-Houston, Elodie Wallace, Emma Houldsworth, Julia Feron and Annie Black. Thank you all for a very enjoyable year of cross country.

Graham Saunders bids a fond farewell to a sport characterised by the enthusiasm and team spirit of King’s runners

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ross Country this year has grown with students attempting the sport for the first time, joining familiar faces from last year. Bastian Maiworm and Georgie MacLoed-Ash led the team with enthusiam and by setting a good example. From the beginning of the season all students showed enthusiasm and an excellent team spirit working together to get the best results.

The first event of the season was at Downside. The squad consisted of many first time runners ready to tackle a demanding course. Despite some apprehension all students ran well showing incredible amounts of determination.

In the Senior Boys race Bastian Maiworm was the first to finish closely followed by Hugh Edgar and Edwin Leung.

Beth Wilson-Brown and Georgie MacLoed-Ash were the first girls home. All students represented themselves admirably.

The next race was a big meeting at Bryanston with more than 1000 students in attendance. Again, all runners fought hard against a large field. The stand out performance was from Sophie Hamilton coming third in the Inter Girls race against students two years older than her.

In the Christmas term many King’s athletes were selected to run in the Somerset County Championship.

In the Senior Boys race Hugh Edgar and Ed Andrews ran in a very competitive field, Hugh finishing 15th and 17th respectively. Beth Wilson-Brown, Georgie MacLoed-Ash, Ellen Barber and Emma Houldsworth fought a strong wind that had built during the day. Georgie and Beth finished high enough to be selected for the Southwest Championships while Ellen made the reserve list. Sophie Hamilton rounded off a very successful event, winning the

Standing (L to R): Emma Houldsworth, Julia Feron, Ben Stevens, Ed Andrews, Charlie Denison-Pender, William Hillier, Joss Gray, Bertie Hancock, Harry Atkinson, Joe Croney, George Weymouth, Serafin Gunin, Annabel Black. Sitting (L to R): Henry Smith, Helena Davidson-Houston, Edwin Leung, Georgie MacLeod-Ash (vc), Bastian Maiworm (c), Hugh Edgar, Elodie Wallace, Marcus Bell, Beth Wilson-Brown.

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EQUESTRIAN Pip Atkinson-Kennedy reviews a successful season for King’s riders and looks forward to next season with two more strong equestrians in the saddle

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ur equestrian team competed in the first competition of the season at the Cattistock pony club One Day Event held at Aldon. Three riders - Lena Matkevich, Anna Wilmshurst and Mima Owen -made up the King’s team competing in the 80cm class. Three superb scores in the dressage gave the team a good foundation on which to go into the show jumping, where they had three brilliant rounds. They then went out onto the cross country course - all came home safely and with very few accumulative points. To her surprise Mima was 6th individually, Anna was 8th individually and Lena was also 8th in her section individually - with these 3 scores added together the team was a very commendable 2nd overall.

Lena and Anna then represented King’s at the Leweston Inter Schools Show Jumping, but the twisty course on grass proved quite challenging to both ponies.

On the same day as Leweston, Kitty Mant and Lottie Gould competed in the Stonar ISODE. Both girls competed in the 90 cm class and had relatively successful rounds against strong competitive opposition.

Four King’s riders represented the School at the Mendip Farmers Eventers Challenge held at King Sedgemoor Equestrian centre.

Anna Wilmshurst competed individually and then as part of a team with Daisy Mant, Ellen Barber and Kitty Mant who flew in after her 10 Tors training weekend on Dartmoor! We were standing in a strong team position but our Chef d’Equipe Julian Mant persuaded Kitty to ride a tight line into the final fence which her pony Fred decided was too challenging and thus dropped us a place in the overall scores.

Lottie Gould was the only King’s rider to compete at the Mini Stonar, but riding her new horse she was very pleased with his performance and is now looking forward to an exciting partnership. Although a quieter season this year we look forward to a strong acquisition of riders for the season ahead with Honor Mant and Millie Toulson-Clarke joining us.

Anna Wilmshurst

Kitty Mant

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CRICKET

those other players who played for the 1st XI this year but especially Harry Corbett, Hamish Donnelly, Barney Latham, Arthur Harman - and also Archie Cobb for his appearances in the Festival.

Thanks to Andrew Keenan and his team for providing lunches and teas throughout the season. Thanks must also go to Mark Davis, our newly appointed coach. He has had a huge impact on many players this season and I hope that a purposeful winter programme will develop the cricket further at King’s. My final thank you goes to Aidie, Marcus and Martin for producing the great pitches we play on. Having just visited Malvern and Radley Colleges, our pitches are still the best. I look forward to next season.

1st XI Stuart Hamilton thanks his enthusiastic team for giving him one of his best cricket seasons as a coach

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his Cricket season has been one of the best for me.

There is no specific reason for this but a number of factors that combined to produce some fine team performances and wins as well as some individual improvements.

Firstly I would like to praise this team for the manner in which they held themselves all term. They were very enthusiastic and always willing to go beyond what was asked of them. There was many a time that I would get a text message asking me if they could use the bowling machine. This dedication to their cricket shone through in their performances and I hope that it will continue in the winter so that we can maximise the improvements we have made this year.

The team started off with a good win at Downside.

Scoring over 200 in April has not been a common sight for our 1st XI – but a number of good partnerships set the foundation for a good bowling performance and a win. The next game against Exeter saw our batting perform again scoring 175 in a twenty over match. It was unfortunate that the rain came and the match was abandoned with us in the driving seat. We the followed this up with good wins against the Wiltshire Queries, King Edward’s Bath and Monkton Combe. The latter was extremely satisfying after being put in on a wicket that could only be described as a snorter. We were 20 for two off 12 overs at one stage! We drew against the MCC with a really young side due to examination commitments. We then lost our next two matches narrowly which was a shame. For me, if we had just done certain elements of the game differently we would have been capable of beating both Taunton and Clayesmore. These disappointments did not get us down and we won the next two matches against the Old Brutonians and St Lucia College from South Africa. These two matches served to prepare us for the 1st XI festival at the end of term.

Unfortunately we lost all three matches in the festival but not after putting ourselves in positions to win. In the two run chases we had set up there was no scoreboard pressure at all but we still decided to bat in what can only be described as a manner that did not fit the match situation – it was slightly frustrating to say the least.

A few thank yous. I would like to thank Joshua White for his dedication, skill and leadership. Dom Baldwin for being himself. Eben Latham for his fielding genius against KES. Cameron Main for his quick runs.

Chris White and Harry Woolway for their unswerving enthusiasm. Matthew Tomes-Smith for his determination.

Rory Cadbury for his style. Freddie Nickerson for being a partnership breaker and finally Jack Hudson for his continual commentary behind the stumps and his occasional six or I should say sixes. I also thank all

Josh White relishes the battle...

...which he wins

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Ist X1: Standing (left to right): M. Tomes-Smith; C. White; F Nickerson; E. Latham; C. Main; H. Donnelly.

Sitting (left to right): R. Cadbury; H. Woolway; J. White; D. Baldwin; J Hudson

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Rumour has it, however that he was actually sent spinning off the Grandstand roof by the standards of journalism perpetrated by the editor of this publication. Editor’s note: For Mr Fletcher, this report is unusually relevant to the subject he was commissioned to address, so, as a reward, I will resist the temptation to comment on his rather perplexing aside!

2nd X1 Tim Fletcher has the Trevor Bayliss touch as his newly promoted opener, Mark Catley-Day (watched by his Housemaster and fellow 2nd XI coach, Paul Firebrace aka Nick Bunday) sets the tone for a successful season

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ad Father Time still been on his perch at Lords at the start of the 2015 season he would have purred with pleasure at the news emanating from BA10*.

An unbeaten season, including the rarities of a win against Taunton, a century (or two if one counts the final T20 jamboree against the King’s Cavaliers), a slip catch, and cricket played at breakneck speed, with the 2nd XI scoring at a remarkable 7.5 an over throughout the season.

There were some nerves at the start of the first match. Promoted to open the innings, naturally, was Mark Catley-Day, who hadn’t made a single run the previous season. We needn’t have worried as he bludgeoned his way to a magnificent 101 not out, out of a total of 235-3 declared. No one could remember the previous 2nd XI century, nor a total as commanding as this, and it set the tone for a thoroughly enjoyable season, despite a serious shortage of schools prepared to put out a 2nd XI team.

That total of 235 included one of the most shambolic run outs one could imagine, and a classy unbeaten 50 from Mike Stride. Needless to say we skittled out a demoralised Downside team for 65, with all the bowlers (notably Jack Potter) contributing, along with Josh Hope-Kibble, our reliable keeper who chipped in with a stumping.

This form was continued into the next game against Monkton Combe, who we bowled out cheaply before Archie Cobb and Harry Corbett knocked off the runs inside 7 overs.

Taunton, as expected, proved a tougher nut to crack, but the damage was done at the start by Tom Colebatch and Jack Potter who reduced Taunton to 9 for 3 (all caught by Harry Corbett) before they recovered to declare at 155-8, despite a good spell from Hamish Ryall and Bertie Hancock in the middle. A good opening stand between Rufus Wright and Mark Catley-Day set up our chase, with another good innings from Archie Cobb and Mike Stride nearly getting us home, before a flurry of wickets created a few anxious moments. Harry Hunter saw us home with a lusty blow to record a rare win against these opponents. Clayesmore seemed, entirely unjustly, to upset us, and we bowled an unfortunate barrage of beamers at them, although Tom Colebatch produced an excellent spell of 4-10 which meant we bowled them out for a little over a hundred. That proved relatively easy to chase down for the loss of just three wickets, with Harry Corbett finding some good form, which he continued into the T20 bash against the Cavaliers the following Saturday.

The hallmark of this group of boys was the fun they had both in matches and practice, and they played the game in the right way with enthusiasm and verve, and it was a shame they didn’t have more opportunities to implement their style of cricket, one that the New Zealand tourists of 2015 saw fit to copy.

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am writing to inform you all, writes Mark Catley-Day, that I have been called up to the England squad as the 13th man to play against the West Indies for England’s final test. My unbeaten 101 caught the eye of the selectors and they now see me as the next big threat in international cricket. It is however with a heavy heart that I am giving up my guaranteed future rugby career. If you ever need me you’ll find me in my nets with my Hunts County Steelback 2 cricket bat which was kindly donated by the School from the under 14 B’s team bag.

My eternal thanks go to the terrible spin bowler of Downside who gracefully let me smash him all over the park; without his commitment to predictable, medium slow, wanna be leg spin, I never would have made it. My thanks also go to Mr Fletcher for his incessant cricket chat and undying love for the 2nd XI.

2nd XI: Standing (L to R): H. Ryall, O. Mansfield, R. Wright, T. Colebatch, J. Hope-Kibble, H. Donnelly.

Sitting (L to R): M. Catley-Day, M. Stride, A. Cobb (Capt), H. Corbett, J. Potter.

*Father Time was, according to the MCC,

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Junior B Dan Cupit reviews an exciting season for his developing side

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he Junior B cricket team started the season with a very spirited display at local rivals Downside School. After a very solid batting display from the team with exceptional contributions from Holly White, William Sandy and William Luck, we then demonstrated great promise with the ball. However a solid stand by one of the opposition batsman meant that this game ended in a promising draw.

The team then faced strong opposition from Exeter and Monkton Combe schools. However, against strong A-team cricketers the Junior Bs built some fantastic partnerships with the bat and demonstrated they were a fielding side of some note.

Continual improvements were made ready for the Taunton game.

On a glorious sunny day the Junior Bs batted batted first and posted a promising score of 119 for the loss of 7 wickets.

In the field it was a devastating spell of bowling from Holly White (5 wickets) that led to a well-deserved victory.

The final game of the season was a tough match against local rivals Clayesmore. The teams were evenly matched apart from one batsman from the opposition team who hit an unbeaten 119 runs. However, King’s showed huge promise and determination with both the bat and ball despite chasing a huge total of 230 runs. Unfortunately the King’s batsmen struggled to match the big hitting seen in the previous innings and finished second.

This was an exciting season for a developing team and all players showed huge promise. The team was incredibly well led by Captain Holly White and she was well supported by all players in this team.

Junior D

most (friendly) balls of the season at twenty-three.

Taunton’s initial tactics were to attempt to call every batsman out, but when they found this had no truck with me or my counterpart they subsided somewhat. Cosmo did a very good job batting; and Harvey faced the most (official) balls of the season – 22, scoring 12 runs before the ball sailed straight into a fielder’s hand. Facing him, Tom made some excellent decisions – many of which were very close calls. Thanks to his good judgment he managed to find 11 runs from 11 balls, a splendid achievement, earning him Man of the Match. When it came to Taunton’s turn to bat, they knocked the ball everywhere, and on attempting to retrieve a ball that had gone for four (and into a ditch), Huw valiantly jumped in to find himself in three inches of water! Bowling was calm and collected from Tom and Archie, and energetic from Harvey and Albert. The chaps behaved splendidly, and there was a terrific display of good sportsmanship from the King’s chaps at the end of the game (which this time we only lost by eight wickets).

In a change to usual proceedings, we fielded first against Clayesmore’s batsmen – Tom had two great early successes, bowling their first two batsmen, but their third, fourth and fifth proved much trickier, and in total their side managed to ramp up 170 runs by the end of their twenty overs. Almost every player had a go at bowling, and this fair and inclusive spirit is one of the most admirable things about the team. Although batting proved to be a little rusty, there were nonetheless some great successes – Nine, who had joined us with some reluctance at the eleventh hour, hit the ball for four off only the sixth ball he had ever faced, running seven off ten in total; and Seb kept going very steadily and defensively, facing seventeen balls. Well done to Jonathan for scoring nine off eight balls before being caught, an impressive achievement! Man of the Match went to Luke Tuckfield for some excellent fielding and some solid bowling. Although the scoreboard declared a loss by 139 runs, it was actually a very successful match in terms of the chaps’ swifter fielding, sportsmanship, good sense, good humour, team spirit and optimism.

It has been a privilege to coach the gentlemen of the Junior Ds, and I have been consistently impressed with their undaunted positivity, energy and enthusiasm.

Jamie Barrow applauds every run and wicket (although the Editor will have to read his report again to see if there were any)

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feel sorry for so-called ‘better’ teams. For them, hitting the ball for four; taking a wicket; and connecting leather and willow successfully when at the crease are matters of relative indifference. For the Junior Ds, these are moments of victory to be savoured. The chaps have trained with good humour and enthusiasm, and have retained a positive, gentlemanly sense of fair play and team spirit throughout, which does them great credit.

Aiming for twenty-five overs against Exeter proved overly-optimistic by about the end of the sixteenth. We proceeded swiftly through the batsmen to Luke Tuckfield, who was caught on 9 off 17 after a valiant effort against some strong bowling from Exeter and collecting one of the match’s two fours. Archie Warsap, captaining wisely, was eventually caught on 4 off 14. At one point whilst fielding, Cosmo made a valiant attempt to catch the batsman, but he found to his detriment that whilst hands have some ball-catching potential, knees have virtually none. Slogging it out bit by bit we finally managed to rack up an immense 26 runs, which were promptly dispatched by the first three opposition batsmen, 23 of which were scored by one dreadful show-off. Charles Cross, keen and careful, achieved the highest score of both the match and the season, with 14 off 11 and stayed in till the end. He was presented with the Man of the Match and was only ever seen again at the occasional training session – cricket’s loss was tennis’s gain. The chaps remained commendably determined, positive and with an unbroken spirit, and we only lost by nine wickets in the end.

We embarked on a friendly match as the rain started to fall, where Exeter somehow managed to score roughly a hundred runs more than we did. This was not for want of trying, and our batting had warmed up considerably as Jacob Burgess, Archie Warsap and Tom Hudson all scored magnificent fours, Archie facing the

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GIRLS’ TENNIS 1st, 2nd and 3rd VIs Emilie Loveless reviews an impressive season in which the First pair didn’t drop a single game

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he Girls’ Senior Tennis Squads have had an outstanding season this year with the 1st VI remaining unbeaten, with impressive victories against teams such as Prior Park and Clayesmore. First pair, Cara Valentine and Olivia Hamilton, didn’t drop a single game, while Captain Lucia Pretor-Pinney and her partner Georgina Macleod-Ash have shown great resilience and determination, often coming back to win games they were down on.

Fifth formers Jemima Owen and Beth Pretor-Pinney have been very consistent this year and played an aggressive serve and volley game. We have been hugely impressed with their team spirit and positivity and were grateful to Georgia Dimdore-Miles who stepped in to play at Prior Park with Olivia Hamilton.

The Seconds, made up of Daisy Mant, Sophie Finch, Georgia Dimdore-Miles, Hannah Snow, Emily Clothier, Elodie Wallace, Edie Bruford and Olivia Fantoni also had a very successful season with only one loss against Wells Cathedral School. Particular mention must go to Sophie, Daisy, Hannah and Georgia for their dedication this year despite exam commitments.

Despite it often being difficult for schools to play a third team, the Thirds had four fixtures, again with only one loss. Jenifer Paterson and Octavia Cobb proved an exceptional pairing. Good communication and an ability to read each other’s game meant they were the pair to beat (which few did!). Eva Kehrbusch, Yuki Lau, Ellie Longman-Rood, Alexandra Orgutsova were much valued players and we look forward to seeing you develop your tennis next year.

Under 15 and Under 14 VIs Angela Ashworth enjoys some superb tennis and fantastic company

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s I sit back to reflect on the past term, I must say that working with this year’s Under 15 and Under 14 tennis players has to be one of the highlights. Training sessions, led by Dan, have been great fun and yet have pushed each of the girls to improve their play and the skills he has worked on have been increasingly evident in the fixtures we had.

The first match of the season against St Mary’s Shaftesbury is always a tough one, but our teams rose to the challenge with the As narrowly missing out on victory in the very last set and the Bs securing a comfortable 6 - 3 victory. The next Saturday saw us travelling across to Wells Cathedral School, where we were lucky that the rain held off long enough to complete all of the sets. Both the As and the Bs secured 5 - 4 victories after some nail-bitingly close play as both teams were evenly matched. Lottie Gould and Sophie Wichary deserve a special mention, having played an incredibly close final set which finished at an impressive 12 games to 10 in our favour. This success was followed by victories against Downside (9 sets to 7), KES Bath U15A’s (5 sets to 1), Clayesmore (7 sets to 1) and Warminster U15B’s (5 Sets to 4). Other matches proved to be closer than the result often indicated and the squad should be commended for their cheerful approach towards every game, even in the face of defeat.

I would like to commend the pairing of Kiara Jones and Megan Ward, which proved to be formidable throughout the season. Both girls have demonstrated considerable skill on the court with accurate serving and power to baseline shots.

They will be exciting to watch over the next few years.

It has been a joy to work with this squad over the past term and I cannot wait for next year so that I can enjoy yet more superb tennis and fantastic company.

This year’s squad has included: Anne Al-Bazaz, Ece Celebri, Florence Cobb, Chloe Dawe, Lottie Gould, Kiara Jones, Kitty Mant, Vicky McCabe, Frankie Redpath, Matilda Sweeting, Harriet Wakelin, Megan Ward (captain), Emily Wastell, Sophie Wichary, Taesha Wolfe.

Ist VI: Back (left to right): Georgia Dimore-Miles, Beth Pretor-Pinney, Jemima Owens, Georgina MacLeod-Ash. Sitting (left to right): Olivia Hamilton, Lucia Pretor-Pinney

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1st V1: Standing (L to R): J. Owen, G. MacLeod-Ash, O. Hamilton.

Sitting (L to R): B. Pretor-Pinney, L. Pretor-Pinney, C. Valentine.

3rd V1: Standing (L to R): J. Paterson, E. Longman-Rood.

Sitting (L to R): H. Davidson-Houston, O. Cobb, Y. Lau.

2nd V1: Standing (L to R): E. Clothier, S. Finch.

Sitting (L to R): D. Mant, G. Dimdore-Miles (Capt), H. Snow.

Junior Girls: Standing (L to R): K. Jones, F. Redpath, F. Cobb, H. Wakelin, C. Dawe, T. Wolfe.

Sitting (L to R): S. Wichary, L. Gould, M. Ward, K. Mant, M. Sweeting.

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BOYS’ TENNIS Ist and 2nd V1 Henry Eriksson reviews a mixed season in which his players invariably bounced back after setbacks

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he boys’ 1st and 2nd VI tennis teams enjoyed a mixed season which included some very impressive performances and results. Having enjoyed a very productive pre-season under the tutelage of new coach Dani Cahill, the boys were in high spirits going into the season opener versus Downside. However, on a windy afternoon away at Downside, the boys did not produce the performance of which they were capable and as a result both the 1st and 2nd VI went down 5-4. Fortunately, this spurred the boys on to train hard the following week in preparation for one of their hardest fixtures of the season away against Monkton Combe on their grass courts.

This fixture was James Laver the highlight of the season as both the King’s teams expertly adjusted to the different surface and produced outstanding performances with the 1st VI winning 6-3 and the 2nd VI winning 7-2 with every pair playing their part.

This victory was a real confidence booster for the 1st VI as in their next fixture they demolished Clayesmore 8-1 with the pairings of Angus Fox and Chris Pang, James Evans and Harry Macleod-Ash, as well as Angus Owen and Lucien Carey all significantly contributing to the win. In the final fixture before half term, King’s welcomed a very talented Queen’s Taunton side and the 1st VI had their work cut out as they lost 7-2. Equally, the 2nd VI of Jamie Vita and Milo McCloud, Henry McCosker and Guillermo GarciaValdecasas and Nick Longpre and Rory Mcafee, put up a good fight but could not prevent Queen’s from winning 5-4.

King’s responded brilliantly in their next fixture with local rivals Wells Cathedral as the 1st VI won 5-4, having held their nerve to win the three deciding rubbers to seal victory. With only Dauntsey’s School left to play in the final fixture of the season, King’s knew that this would be a very tough contest. It most certainly turned out to be just

1st V1: Standing (L to R): L. Carey, C. Pang, A. Owen.

Sitting (L to R): J. Evans, A. Fox (Capt), J. Laver.

this as Dauntsey’s recorded convincing victories. However, there was improvement on previous performances in recent years as the pairing of Milo McCloud and Jamie Vita won a set for the 2nd VI as well as Jamie Laver and James Evans in the 1st VI who went agonisingly close to winning a set which they eventually lost 10-8 in a tie-break.

I would like to thank all the boys for their commitment to tennis this year and as we say goodbye to a number of upper sixth pupils, next season will be exciting as the rebuilding process begins. I wish Angus Fox, Chris Pang, Angus Owen, Lucien Carey, James Evans, Jamie Laver and Jamie Vita the best of luck as they leave King’s. Many thanks also to Dan Cahill and finally to Al Moxham for all he has done for King’s tennis.

James Evans

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SWIMMING

Corbett, Ben Piggins, Lucy Tyack and Taesha Wolfe.

Two days after the Taunton School gala, the team headed off to Sherborne School to complete against some other big swimming schools, including Canford, Blundells and Sherborne. Unfortunately, due to the swimmers being a very talented bunch, we were missing quite a few of our number as they had been chosen to play cricket and tennis or compete at an athletics match, including the Boys’ Captain. However, Benjamin Piggins stepped in to help Olivia Harrison captain the team. The team welcomed Jinyuan Zhang to his first ever match for King’s and admired his efficient Breastroke. Every single member of the team gave their all and we held our own in every race, coming away with individual wins from Samantha Walker in 100m Individual Medley; Abbie Owens in 50m Fly; Rory Crockatt and Ryan Longman in 100m Freestyle.

There were sixteen second places – one each for Sophie Tyack, Alistair Sanford, Harry Deakin, Abbie Owens, Charles Cross, Julia Feron, Samantha Walker, Senior Boys Medley relay team of Harry Atkinson, Gabriel Airey, Rory Crockatt and Ben Piggins, and 16 & under Freestyle relay team of Ryan Longman, Charles Cross, Alistair Sanford and Harry Deakin; two each for Ryan Longman and Ben Piggins; and three for Gabriel Airey. Although we only managed to come fourth overall in the Junior and Senior Girls, and third overall in the Junior and Senior Boys’ age groups, we were very pleased with our achievements, as we were the only school competing without our own pool! This resulted in us being awarded Team of the Week – congratulations everyone! Swimmers of this match were Rory Crockatt, Abbie Owens, Alistair Sanford and Sophie Tyack.

For the final match of this season the swimmers competed at Millfield School in a rematch against the Sharks. The King’s team were baying for success, but unfortunately some ex-squad swimmers from Millfield just pipped some of our swimmers to the post. Nevertheless, we competed well and although the final result was close, the Sharks were victorious. However, the team is looking forward to revenge next year and maintaining our still unbeaten record of no home match defeats. I hope that the two Wright brothers join us again next year and make the team soar to success.

A big thank you to all the swimmers and to all our many supporters from this season – you have again been phenomenal and without you this season would not have been possible. A final and massive thanks must also go to Mrs Crockatt who has unswervingly supported the entire team and been great company along the way.

Last, but not least must come the very…sob…sad au revoirs to some very important swimmers this year. From the Upper Sixth, Olivia Harrison, Jake Lane, Jill London and Benjamin Piggins; and from the Fifth Form Philippa Deacon and Julia Feron. Keep on swimming!

Sadie Osborne is poolside as her swimmers make valiant efforts in a number of close races

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fter all the hard training by the swim team over the first two terms, thirteen swimmers headed to Queen’s Taunton for our first fixture of the year.

Excitement was high and the team, captained by Rory Crockatt and Abbie Owens, got off to a very fast and efficient start to the season. The first challenge was the pool size (17.75m!), then came the one end only pool, no diving blocks…and the male Individual Medley swimmer ranked fourth in Europe for this event! However, in true King’s style, Gabriel Airey and Rory Crockatt stepped up to the blocks for the 4 x 2 lengths Individual Medley and took him on. Although we came second overall we had a lot of great swims from the whole team. We were very proud of our win from Samantha Walker in the 4 lengths Backstroke.

Swimmers of this match were Matilda Houldsworth, Emma Walker, Samuel Houldsworth and Ryan Longman. New recruits for this match were Abbie Owens, Toby Clothier, Emma Walker, Sam Houldsworth, Ryan Longman.

On a high from our performances at the Queen’s Taunton match, we were thrilled to be taking one of the biggest swim teams of recent years to race against Wells Cathedral School. Unfortunately, the swimmers lost a very closely fought match, despite some very solid performances, including great debut performances from Henrietta Campbell, Hayley Clarke, Toby Doig, Julia Feron, Peter Jenkins, Kiara Jones, Luck Tuckfield, Sophie Tyack, Taesha Wolfe Ivo and Rufus Wright. The entire team was brilliant.

Swimmers of the match were Hayley Clarke, Kiara Jones, Jake Lane and Ben Piggins.

Within the same week we headed off to Millfield School to race against the Millfield Sharks. Excitement was high after last year’s matches. New swimmers for this match were Charlotte Ask, Harry Atkinson, Charles Cross and Philippa Deacon. As usual there were numerous very, very close races and if sheer volume and enthusiasm had decided the race outcome, then we would have won every time. Despite this defeat the swimmers were keen to glean a victory at the rematch later on in the season.

Another challenging match against Taunton School resulted in all of the swimmers competing valiantly, again against some of Somerset’s top ranked swimmers. The team equipped themselves very well indeed and everyone was ecstatic when Lucy Tyack won her Senior Girls 50m Freestyle in style. Swimmers of this match were Harry

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ATHLETICS Pip Atkinson-Kennedy continues to be amazed by the impressive performances of King’s athletes in track and field

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he Athletics season again started off with the top multi eventers competing in the Somerset Combined Events Championships held at Millfield and the rest of the athletes competing in our home match on Farr field.

Matthew Trickey won the senior boys Decathlon, Ellen Barber won the senior girls Heptathlon and Victoria McCabe won the junior girls Pentathlon with a new county best performance. Other King’s athletes competing were Oliver White who was third in the inter boys Octathlon; Jacob Ide and Jacob Sykes competed in the junior boys Pentathlon. Four other junior girls experienced the Pentathlon on the Sunday - Taesha Wolfe, Esther Adenuga, Molly Hunter and Anna Wilmshurst.

At our meet held on the Saturday we had eight teams competing: King’s, Sherborne boys and girls, Bryanston, Canford, Kingswood, Downside, Milton Abbey and Wells Cathedral School. There were four teams:boys U17 and Open and girls U17 and Open. With nearly 300 athletes competing, the rain held off until the last few events and the athletes achieved some impressive performances both on the track and in the field events.

Being the first meet of the season it was fantastic seeing some of the 3rd Form getting involved and many of the King’s athletes were achieving PBs (Personal Bests) Most notable performances on the day in the A string were:-

Sophie Hamilton leads from the front...

In the overall team results King’s achieved an impressive overall win in the Open Boys team competition, the U17 boys team were 2nd overall and both girls’ teams were a commendable 3rd overall against some very tough competition.

In the Super 8s competition our athletes competed against Sherborne, Cheltenham College, Portsmouth Grammar School, King’s Taunton, Taunton, Blundells and Millfield.

It’s an exciting competition where 8 boys and 8 girls compete in a track event, a field event and a relay. We had some incredible results and numerous PBs but the highlight of the afternoon are the relays where everyone in the team has to run. The 4 x100 were closely fought races but the junior medley team nailed what they thought was a great 2nd place to then be elevated up to 1st as Portsmouth Grammar School ...as sister Olivia goes for another PB were disqualified.

The senior team (made up of two 3rd Form girls, one 4th Form girl, one 5th Form boy and four 6th Formers) demonstrated sheer class in the changeovers and dominated the race beating Millfield convincingly into 2nd place.

The senior team won the team competition and

Under 17 Boys Harry McHugh – 1st 100m and 200m Jordan Adams 2nd 400m Alex Enderby 2nd Hurdles Henry Oliver 2nd Long Jump Under 17 Girls Megan Jones 1st Javelin Freya Thorner 2nd Triple Jump Charlotte Mansergh 2nd Hurdles Open Boys Edwin Leung 1st Triple Jump Harry Ewins 2nd Hurdles Jake Lane 2nd 800m Matt Solway 2nd Shot and Discus Bastian Maiworm 2nd Javelin Lucas Gorodi 2nd Long Jump Open Girls Beth Wilson-Brown 1st 800m Caitlin Marsh-2nd Javelin The U17 boys relay team were first, the Open girls were 2nd and the U17 girls and Open boys teams were 3rd.

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Sophie Hamilton ran a national entry standard time of 4:50 in the senior girls 1500m.

An inter boys and inter girls team competed in the English Schools Cup trophy competition in which every athlete has to do two events. Each performance accumulates points for the team and the overall team score is then compared nationally with all the schools for the south of England; unfortunately the boys were unsuccessful this year but the girls for the first time in King’s history qualified for the South ‘B’ Finals held at Exeter. We were conscious

that the relay team must not get disqualified this time and gain valuable points and with all the girls performing to their best they achieved a commendable overall score of 357 resulting in us winning the ‘B’ final and putting us in the top 10 schools in the South of England.

The prestigious 11 School Meet held at Millfield gives our athletes a chance of competing against 10 other teams from the South West, Wales and even Southend!

We had 4 teams competing: the U16 girls, U16 boys, U17 boys and U20 boys.

Notable achievements of the day were:Vicky McCabe performed a national entry standard and PB of 5:35 in the long jump and another PB of 26.8 in the 200m and won both events. She also came 2nd in the high jump.

Harry McHugh won the U17 boys 200 with a PB of 23.5 and was 2nd in the 100m with another PB 11.1.

Jordan Adams won the U17 boys 400m and came 2nd in the high jump. Ollie White was 2nd in the U20 boys 400m and 2nd in the U17 boys 100m hurdles, Henry Oliver won the U17 boys LJ and Alex Enderby was 2nd in the U16 hurdles.

Matt Trickey was 2nd in both the Shot and the Discus with a PB of 12.99 in the Shot 1cm off national qualifying standard!

Sophie Hamilton was 2nd in the U16 girls 800m, Megan Jones was

Vicky McCabe clears with ease

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in 4th place and knew she had to jump over 5:51in her last attempt. Rising to the challenge she jumped a huge 5:53 which broke the South West Championship record and secured her first place again with a National Entry Standard and puts her in the top 3 in the country.

These outstanding performances by our athletes secured their selection to represent Somerset at the English Schools Championships held at Gateshead, where Victoria pulled out an incredible last minute jump in the final of the JG Long Jump to achieve an amazing 3rd place and bronze medal. Matt was pleased with his 7th place in the SB Shot, Ellen was again a 7th in the SG Javelin and Sophie ran a courageous run in the JG 1500m.

Ellen Barber, Matt Trickey, Harry Atkinson, Oliver White and Victoria McCabe all competed in the South West Schools Combined Events Championships, where again they achieved truly superb performances. Ellen won the SG Heptathlon, Matt won the SB Decathlon and Victoria was Second in the JG Pentathlon. Harry and Oliver were both part of the Somerset winning teams so all 5 King’s athletes have been selected to represent Somerset at the English Schools Combined Events Championships at Bedford in September.

Another amazing season of athletics with some truly incredible performances and another opportunity for making history at King’s with the girls’ achievements in the ESSA cup. Well done to everyone who represented the School and the county this season.

3rd in the Javelin and Esther Adenuga was 3rd in the 100m.

The U20 boys relay team made up of Nat Mainoo, Edwin Leung, Jordan and Harry ran an impressive 46 secs to claim a well-deserved 2nd behind the top Millfield relay squad.

Over 60 King’s athletes competed at the Yeovil Area Championships on the Wednesday before the Athletics finals on the Friday before Half Term. With a number of our top athletes unable to compete due to examinations we still managed to win the junior girls, junior boys, inter girls and inter boys team trophies and get 55 athletes selected to represent Yeovil at the County championships.

On the first Saturday after Half Term 55 of our athletes competed in the Somerset Schools Championships.

It was an incredibly successful day and a number of our top athletes performed to their best and secured National Entry Standards. Victoria McCabe achieved two National entry standards in the High Jump and Long Jump and missed out on the County record in the Long Jump by 1cm! Sophie Hamilton also achieved a National Entry Standard performance in the 1500m.

The most notable achievements on the day were :4 x 1st Ellen Barber 1st SG high jump and Javelin Vicky McCabe 1st JG LJ NE std Sophie Hamilton 1st JG 1500 NE std 7 x 2nds Jake Lane SB 800m Vicky McCabe JG high jump NE std James Plummer SB 3000m Henry Oliver IB LJ Daniel Solway SB 400 m Harry Atkinson SB 400 m hurdles 11 x 3rds Matthew Solway 3rd SB dis and shot Felix Hemsley 3rd IB 400 hurdles Olivia Hamilton 3rd JG Javelin Jacob Sykes JB hurdles Rhodri Harper JB 300m Tom Westropp IB high jump Megan Jones IG Javelin Caitlin Marsh SG Javelin Sophie Hamilton JG discus Jordan Adams IB 400m

From these results 5 of our King’s athletes were selected to represent Somerset at the South West Schools Championships.

Matthew Solway competed in the senior boys discus, Matthew Trickey came fourth with a National Entry Standard of 13:31 in the senior boys Shot.

Ellen Barber came 2nd in the senior girls’ High Jump and then went on to win the senior girls Javelin with another National Entry Standard throw of 41. 43m Sophie Hamilton ran a fantastic tactical race in the junior girls 1500m just getting ahead of the Dorset runner in the last 10m to claim a well-deserved win with a season best and National Entry Standard time of 4:47.

Victoria McCabe came second in the junior girls High Jump but the highlight of the afternoon was Victoria’s performance in the Long Jump. Up to the final jump she was

Dan Solway: jumping long

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Ellen Barber: over we go Peter Knospe lengthens his stride Ollie White takes the bend

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PRIZEGIVING End of Year report

by Ian Wilmshurst Headmaster

Senior Warden, Governors, Ladies and Gentleman, it gives me great pleasure to welcome back to King’s, as our Guest of Honour, Luke Lloyd Davis. Luke was Head of School in 1996 and he has had a successful and interesting career since leaving School, and we look forward to him presenting the prizes and to speaking to us later. As you can see from the back of the programme, Luke was also in a very successful Rugby 1st XV and you will also see in the photograph an eminent, skilled and experienced rugby coach. You will also see Gareth Evans in the photo. But more of Gareth later.

This has been an interesting year for me as I look back on 6 years of headship and look forward to our 500th anniversary. It was at the Leavers’ Ball this time last year when a parent asked me how long I had been Headmaster. I told him I had been 5 years then as Headmaster and he said, “Well done, Headmaster. When you arrived we had a sweep stake and we didn’t reckon you’d last more than 2 years”. So I am still here after 6.

I have had my appraisal this term along with surveys of parents, prep school Heads and staff. I will be writing to all parents giving feedback from the Parents Survey, but I would like to take this opportunity to mention some of the findings.

The overall feedback was incredibly positive and I am grateful to parents for taking time to complete the survey. It was clear from the responses that you value the size of our school, our community and our pastoral care. However, there are areas that I will be focussing on in the future and I would like to take this opportunity to mention 3 in particular:

The tutoring at King’s can be outstanding and I am very grateful to the staff who provide such a high level of pastoral care for individual pupils in their tutor groups. However, the situation is too variable and, as of September, I will be making it very clear the expectations for all tutors. There will be three, short, extra tutor periods a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 8.30am to provide more contact time. Each tutor will contact the parents individually every half term to ensure that you have regular communication with your son or daughter’s tutor.

I am also looking to further improve our support for pupils in 6th Form through the appointment a new Senior Management post of Head of 6th Form starting in September 2016. I anticipate there will be plenty of interest in this post; the Head of 6th Form will be in charge of the academic progress of all pupils in the 6th Form, from transition from 5th Form through to progress on to Higher Education or the world of work.

I will be interviewing next week for a new post of Head of Information Systems who will be responsible for all information systems in the School, particularly in leading the development of ICT within the curriculum. I anticipate that this appointment will be starting by January 2016 at the very latest.

There has also been some feedback from parents about the lack of a swimming pool at King’s. We use Hazlegrove’s pool and I am delighted that our School Swim Team is so strong and so popular. If you look at the front of your programme today you can see an aerial view of the School which shows you some of the challenges we face on our campus. You can see behind Old House the disused swimming pool and beside it the 17th century wall that was in danger of collapsing as the river was on one side and the swimming pool on the other. This will be the site of a new Music School. You can quite clearly see from the photograph that our current Music School beside the Memorial Hall is small and really not fit for purpose being in the wrong location next to a railway line, a road and the Memorial Hall which is our main examination hall. Therefore in 2018/19 we will be opening a new Music School on the site of the old swimming pool, which will open up the historic core of the School.

The squash courts will then move to the location of the first tennis court – you can just see that on the photograph, beside the Sports Hall – and the best location for a new swimming pool, and indeed probably the only location for a swimming pool, would be on the site of the current tennis and netball courts behind me. Tennis and netball would have to be relocated up at Hippisley where the new tennis and netball courts were built last September. However, the School has a problem in that the area behind Blackford and up to the Abbey Fields – and you can see it where the cars are parked on the photograph – this area, called The Glebe, is rented from the Church. We would not be able to build a swimming pool on this site unless we owned the land, and for a new swimming pool I am certain we would need to welcome community use and need plenty of space for parking. So the long term plan is to look to build a swimming pool on that site, but I am certain that we would not have planning permission, for the reasons I have explained, to open a swimming pool for 2018/19.

I think it is appropriate that we celebrate our 500th with a new Music School at this important location at the heart of Kings’.

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It has been another year of outstanding musical performances under the leadership of David Gorodi supported by Ashley Marshfield.

We have over 40 concerts a year and the recent Summer Concert was as good as I have experienced, whilst the Military Band in their new Royal Naval uniforms were outstanding in Beating the Retreat.

The Choir continues to grow in size and repertoire. I am always proud of our choristers but particularly so when the Chapel Choir sing Evensong so well in local cathedrals including, now, Wells Cathedral.

My thanks go also to Maggie King and Will Stainton for all their work with our Drama.

I am amazed a school our size can put on a whole School play, two House plays per year, Head of House Olivia Harrison shows off House Cup with Arion Housemistress Beth a Junior Play and also two outstanding 6th Form Griffiths Plays - for which my thanks to the Head Boy and Head Girl, Hugh and Susie. Indeed one of the advantages of moving the squash courts to the site beside the Fitzjames Hall would be that the new squash courts would have a retractable wall which would allow the sprung floor to be a multi-use space used for Drama lessons and indeed for Dance.

As I am sure we are all aware, Bruton is now one of the most fashionable places to live in the UK and I have been working closely with Hauser & Wirth Somerset at Durslade Farm as one of their neighbours. I am very hopeful that Hauser & Wirth will help us as we look to further develop our provision of Art and we are planning to floor over the foyer in the entrance to Art to create a new Art Gallery for the presentation of the wonderful work that Wayne Spilsbury and Seamus Harkness, supported by Mary Wells, continually encourage our pupils to create.

Earlier this week the Duke of Edinburgh Gold cyclists returned after a gruelling but successful expedition, while our Silver D of E cyclists successfully completed their expedition the week before. My thanks go to Tom Loveless and Harriet Swindall for all that they have done to create such a vibrant part of the extra-curricular programme at King’s. As of next year we will be adding Walking to our Duke of Edinburgh programme to complement our cycling expeditions.

One of the annual highlights for me is to welcome back the King’s Ten Tors team and this year was no exception. This is a gruelling undertaking and my thanks go to Paul Charlton, Seamus Harkness, and Craig Barrow amongst other staff who helped train and support the pupils in this demanding but very rewarding two days on Dartmoor.

Sport continues to be a major part of life at King’s and I am amazed at the numbers of boys and girls participating in sport at all levels, and indeed the success of our sport, against what inevitably will be opponents from much larger schools.

It has been a very strong Rugby term with some excellent play by the 1st XV and by the junior teams. Our Netball teams have been very competitive and I will be thanking Hannah Williams in more detail shortly.

My thanks to Stuart Hamilton for all his hard work with our Cricket and we have some very strong junior cricketers who had an enjoyable Cricket Festival this week at Merchiston, while the 1st XI will be starting their Cricket Festival on Monday. This is certainly the strongest 1st XI in my time as Headmaster at King’s and I have thoroughly enjoyed watching them play some excellent cricket this term on Adie’s wonderful pitches. The other teams were very strong with an unbeaten 2nd XI while we could certainly put out a 3rd XI more often although sadly other schools seem to struggle in this busy summer term to put out teams.

We had another very successful season with our Hockey and, one of my many highlights was watching the U16 girls play such outstanding Hockey in the National Indoor Finals. The U14s girls were unbeaten while the boys 1st XI had an excellent run in the National Cup. My thanks go to Henry Eriksson and it is not surprising that King’s now has a national and international reputation for the quality and standard of our hockey.

We are missing today four of our top athletes who are competing in combined events and our Athletics is growing in strength and reputation regionally and indeed nationally. It is a wonderful experience as a Headmaster to watch our athletes compete as they all give 100% individually, but they also all support each other. This athletics success would only be possible with the dynamic leadership of Pip Atkinson-Kennedy and so many supportive staff.

Today marks the end of our first two-year cycle of BTECs and it is only appropriate that I thank Anton Kok for his organisation as Director of Studies, Nanette Archer, Craig Barrow and Rose Vigers for their inspirational leadership in introducing respectively the BTECs of Health and Social Care, Sport and Hospitality to King’s. Rose receives wonderful support from Jenny Leaming, Sophie Liddell-Grainger and Lottie Carpenter. The Bistro is now an integral part of life at King’s.

The BTECs offer an accessible, relevant and exciting 6th Form programme It gives me great pleasure to take the maybe unusual step in Prize giving in giving out the following certificates separate from the main presentation of BTec certificates; Level 3 subsidiary diplomas in Health and Social Studies to Rhianna Brunt and Ross Duder along with Level 3 credit diplomas in Hospitality to Rhianna, Ross, Nick Poll and Connor Theo-Jones. Please can Rhianna, Ross, Nick and Connor come forward?

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our staff for their dedication, professionalism and commitment in providing such a high quality education both in and outside of the classroom for all the boys and girls at King’s.

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Inevitably it is now time say good-bye to members of staff who are leaving us today:

We sadly say good-bye to Graham Downer who has been teaching Economics and Business Studies. I am grateful to Graham for all his hard work this year and for involving himself wholeheartedly in many aspects of the school life and for his willingness to volunteer to help whenever the need has arisen.

We also say good-bye to Graham Saunders who has been here for three years. Graham is an Old Brutonian and he has taught Maths, been a Resident Tutor in Old House, has coached Rugby, been an excellent Master i/c Cross Country. Graham leaves us to move to Lincolnshire to be with his wife, Kim, and they are expecting their first baby in the autumn. We wish Graham and Kim the very best of luck.

Finally this year we say good-bye to Lea Koves who has been an outstanding French Assistante. I have always said to Emilie Loveless, our Head of MFL, that French Assistantes in my experience rarely get involved in life outside the classroom.

Lea has certainly been the exception that maybe proves a rule. She has involved herself 100% in life at King’s and she has been a wonderful addition to the Common Room. Ladies and gentleman, can we thank both Grahams and Lea for all they have done for King’s and wish them well for their future.

Hannah Williams and Al Moxham both were trained up through the GTP Scheme, expertly managed by Alison Grant, although their routes to King’s were slightly different. Al Moxham wrote to me when he was a serving Army Officer in the Royal Engineers to see if there was a possibility of a Physics teaching job at King’s. It is always difficult to recruit Physics teachers but the key aspect of Al’s letter that stood out for me was the line in which said he was trained in diffusing IEDs. I was ending my honeymoon period as Headmaster, I thought that having a bomb disposal expert on the teaching staff maybe very useful to my health and welfare.

Al has been an outstanding Schoolmaster, Tutor and Contingent Commander of the CCF; his dedication and commitment have been an example to us all. Al, thank you very much for all that you have done, and I have no doubt that you will be an outstanding Head of Department at Warminster.

Hannah Williams came to us a year after leaving university. One of the key roles of a Head is the appointment of staff and on the whole you like to think you get it right, but with Hannah I made a mistake. The mistake I made was not to appoint Hannah. She was number 2, but the person who was going to be appointed Head of Netball and Resident Tutor decided to withdraw. I therefore rang Hannah and asked if she was still interested in doing the job. I was making these phone calls during the Easter holiday, in the Lake District, and I remember being at the bottom of a garden, the only place where there was mobile reception in our rented cottage and having several conversations with Hannah trying to persuade her to come to King’s. My wife, Helen, was understandably a little bit annoyed at this intrusion to the holiday and I remember her saying “This had better be worth it”. Well, as Helen will agree, it certainly has been worth it and we will miss Hannah hugely, not just in PE but with her leadership of Netball and also as Resident Tutor in Priory. It is to Hannah’s great credit that she was Acting Housemistress to cover Emily Simper’s maternity leave and she did this so well and without any reduction in her timetable. I am sure if I had said to Hannah, in that Lake District conversation, that she would be running a boarding house within 3 years, she probably would not have accepted the job.

I had a phone call from Hannah’s new Headmaster – Hannah is going on to be Head of Girls’ Games at Llandaff Cathedral School – and this phone call Well done: Ian Wilmshurst was also in the Easter holidays when I was skiing in France. So I took this phone call on our chalet balcony. My advice to the Llandaff Head was to avoid my mistake in not appointing Hannah immediately. He heeded my advice and Hannah leaves for Cardiff with our very best wishes. My only final comment to Hannah is, “You’re on your own now. I will not make, or answer, any future phone calls in my holidays on behalf of your career”. I am sure Hannah will keep in touch and can you all join me in thanking Al and Hannah for their contributions to King’s.

David Cowley sadly cannot be with us today, but he leaves us to return to his native Australia after being Head of Design Technology, and outstanding Resident Tutor in Lyon, co-ordinator of Ten Tors, officer i/c of the RN section of the CCF. David has given so much to the DT pupils and to many boys and girls outside the classroom. I am very grateful for all he has done, particularly his initiative to

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re-introduce sailing to our extra-curricular programme.

Douglas Barns-Graham retires after 17 years at King’s in the Chemistry Department. Douglas has been an inimitable and inspirational hockey coach, he has introduced astronomy to many pupils, and he has been a House Tutor as well as being an integral part of the Friends’ Burns Nights.

It was great to see Douglas back from his short illness this term and I am grateful for all that he has done as a Schoolmaster and Head of Department in Chemistry during his time at King’s. Ladies and gentleman can you join me in thanking David and Douglas for all they have done at King’s and wishing them the very best for their future.

Finally, three members of staff are leaving their current roles although Guest speaker Luke Lloyd Davis they are staying on at King’s. Will Dawe completes nine years of outstanding Housemastering of New House and as from September he will become the 2nd Deputy Headmaster. I am very grateful to Will for all that he has done for so many boys in New House and I would also like to pass on my thanks to Katie for her support of Will. I know that Will has been thanked by the boys in New House separately, but I think it is appropriate as a School we give Will a round of applause to show our appreciation and ask him to come up and collect a gift.

Anton Kok stands down as Director of Studies but he will continue as a part-time Physics and Maths Teacher and will also continue for one year before he retires as Master i/c Timetable. Anton is a marvel. He is meticulous, a problem solver, always upbeat regardless of what is thrown in his direction, and above all he has the best interests of the boys and girls at King’s at heart. I can give him any problem with the timetable or staffing or pupils’ academic programme, and Anton will find an effective and positive solution. It has been great to go to the Far East with Anton, and especially to spend time in the back street restaurants of Hong Kong with him as he practises his O Level Mandarin on some unsuspecting Hong Kong waiter or waitress.

Anton has been a huge support to me since I started as Headmaster in 2009 and I am so grateful to him for all that he has done to help me and to help King’s pupils. I am delighted he will be staying on next year and I will do all I can to persuade him not to retire this time next year. On behalf of the School I would like Anton to come forward and collect a gift.

And finally, Gareth Evans will stand down after 14 years of service as Deputy Headmaster. He will be staying on as a Teacher and also, importantly, he will be taking over the strategic role of Director of our 500th celebrations. As I sit in my study, I always know Gareth is coming down the corridor. If its winter, he has that unfeasibly large trench coat, the size of a four man tent, and I hear the rustling as he walks, or in the summer the light disappear behind his shadow as he ducks his head to get through the door. Gareth, like Anton, has become a very good and loyal friend to me as Headmaster. I use the word “passionate” about Gareth because that is what he is. He is passionate about so many things: his family, King’s Bruton, Economics, his faith and Welsh Rugby– not necessarily in that order. He is a first-class Schoolmaster; in the classroom, around the school, on the games field, a firm and fair disciplinarian, a trusty Deputy in my absence, and a good and loyal friend and confidante to many in the Common Room. When Gareth comes to me with a problem that needs solving, he uses two stock phrases. Firstly, “I thought you would say that, Headmaster” on hearing my decision which means he agrees with me and I have made the right decision, or “Do you want more time to think about that, Headmaster?” which means I have made the wrong decision and I should change it and agree with him. Which I invariably do!

Gareth has also introduced the word “contemporaneous” to me. Although I was aware of its existence, I had never heard it said and I cannot do justice to the way that Gareth says it in his Welsh accent. His ‘contemporaneous notes’, I quickly worked out, are his notes taken as the pupil gives their first version of a disciplinary event, normally full of discrepancies and lies. So I will miss Gareth’s company as Deputy Head, his managing and manipulating of my decisions always in the best interests of the School, and also his contemporaneous notes. Gareth, thank you very much for your exemplary Deputy Headship. On behalf of the School I would like Gareth to come forward and collect a gift.

Before I ask Luke to present the prizes I would like to wish Ashley Marshfield and his fiancée Kerri along with Stefan Davis and his fiancée, Charlotte, the very best of luck for their weddings this summer. I would like to thank Sharon, my PA, for her unstinting support to me, to Emma Cobb and the Friends for a wonderful 60s night and their ongoing support for King’s, to Alison Grant and Dan Cupit for all their hard work in SMT (I wish them well as they replace Gareth and Anton respectively) and to our new Bursar Louis Tuson who settled in so quickly and effectively into this complex and demanding role. King’s and Hazlegrove are certainly very lucky to have Louis as our Bursar.

And finally, I would like to thank my wife, Helen, for her love and support but also thank her for her role as Marketing Manager and as House Tutor in first Old and then Priory House. Helen calls herself “polyfilla” as I get her to fill any gaps but despite me ignoring her resignation she decided to step down from her roles in marketing and as a tutor (I think she is still planning to stay married to me but I will keep you posted on that). It is safe to say that Helen’s Tutees are very important to her. On many occasion I have gone into our kitchen, saw there has been some baking or hot chocolate on offer and I say, “Oh, that’s nice”, and she will say “Don’t touch it, that is for my tutees”. So, Helen, I would like you to accept a small token of appreciation from one of your tutees to thank you for all you have done with Marketing and as a Tutor in Old and Priory.

I would like to finish with a quote about King’s Bruton, taken from my appraisal, and given by a local prep School Head. We love King’s because it is rural, small, full boarding and day, and takes the greatest care with our former pupils.

Learning Support is good and it accommodates the academic, the sporty and the non-sporty.

Thank you for all the ways that you the pupils and the parents make this such a special school in which to live and work. I am very, very proud to be Headmaster of King’s School, Bruton.

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2015 PRIZES

Business Studies: Beth Wilson Brown Chemistry: Henry Smith Mathematics: Henry Smith

THIRD FORM Achievement Prizes for academic excellence Esther Adenuga Olivia Hamilton Sophie Hamilton Samuel Innes Emma Walker Anna Wilmshurst

Design & Technology: Max Briston Economics: Lucia Pretor-Pinney Geography: Lucia Pretor-Pinney Spanish: Lucia Pretor-Pinney

Commendation Prizes for sustained hard work Guillermo Brey Gallart Jacob Burgess Benjamin Fearn Molly Hunter Jessica Longman Lena Matkevich

FOURTH FORM Achievement Prizes Myles Jenkins Barnaby Latham Kitty Mant Skye Neal Emily Wastell Holly White

Commendation Prizes Chloe Dawe Charlotte Gould Katie Hawkins Charlotte Mansergh Millie Regan Harriet Wakelin Oliver White

English: James Plummer

FIFTH FORM Achievement Prizes James Ask Daisy Mant Alistair Sanford Joshua Teuber Freya Thorner Samantha Walker

BTEC Sport: Harry Woolway

French: James Plummer Philosophy and Ethics: James Plummer Food Technology: Scarlet Wright Further Mathematics: Gabriel Airey Physics: Gabriel Airey History: Samuel Young Physical Education: Milo McCloud Psychology: Matthew Solway Theatre Studies: Rory Cadbury Theatre Studies: Caitlin Marsh BTEC Health & Social Care: Matthew Tomes-Smith BTEC Hospitality: Christopher White

UPPER SIXTH Subject Prizes: Biology: Callum Thorner Business Studies: Edward Andrews

Commendation Prizes Georgia Dimdore-Miles Julia Feron Ryan Longman Ellena Loughrey Rhianne Price Hebe Young

LOWER SIXTH

Design & Technology: Hugh Edgar Economics: Christopher Pang Hannah Snow English: Ellie Longman-Rood French: May Bullock

Subject Prizes

History: May Bullock

Biology: Beth Wilson Brown

Further Mathematics: Samuel Chan

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Physics: Samuel Chan MOST IMPROVED ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE PUPIL – JUNIOR: Jinyuan Zhang

Geography: Helena Davidson-Houston German: Matthew Pryke

MOST IMPROVED ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE PUPIL – SENIOR: Christina Witte

Home Economics: Rosie Hunter Mathematics: Corey Tam

O.B.A. PRIZE: for excellence in G.C.S.E. Samuel Young

Philosophy and Ethics: Hugh Pomeroy Physical Education: Angus Fox

VINEY PRIZE: for achievement in G.C.S.E beyond expectation with continued progress in L6: Beth Wilson Brown

Psychology: Jill London Spanish: Georgina MacLeod-Ash

HENRY DEANESLEY PRIZE: for Chemistry in 6th Form: Harry Atkinson

Theatre Studies: Nico Hayward BTEC Health @ Social Care: Rhianna Brunt

THE TREMLETT PRIZE: for Historical work: Hugh Edgar

BTEC Hospitality: Nicholas Poll O.B.A. PROGRESS PRIZES: for progress not exclusively academic: Edith Bruford Isabelle Longpre Georgina MacLeod-Ash

BTEC Sport: Elodie Wallace MUSIC PRIZES Headmaster’s Prize for Music: Lauren Glover

HUGH SEXEY’S MEMORIAL PRIZES: for contribution to School life outside the classroom Evie Gravatt Olivia Harrison

Slogrove Trophy: Lucas Gorodi Bill Gordon Jazz Trophy: Jake Lane Band Shield: Hugh Pomeroy

ART PRIZES

Junior Award: Eleanor Smith Senior Award:

Scarlet Wright

History of Art:

Helena Davidson

ALEX EDWARDS CUP: for loyalty and service to the School community Nicholas Poll SIR DAVID ALLEN PRIZE: for public speaking: Samuel Young SLOMAN CUP: for contribution to the dramatic arts: Benjamin Piggins

The Worshipful Company of

GIBBS CUP: Hugh Pomeroy

Painter-Stainers School Prize in Art: Alexandra Kostyuk

NAMED PRIZES

3RD FORM READING PRIZE: for outstanding performance in the Accelerated Reading Scheme: Benjamin Fearn

GALBRAITH CUP: for contribution to girls’ sporting achievement both in School and at representative level: Ellen Barber CONEY CUP: for contribution to girls’ sport on and off the field: Octavia Cobb PINEO BOWL: for contribution to boys’ sporting achievement both in School and at representative level: Matthew Trickey

DAVEY PRIZE: for creative writing: Annabel Black STRAYT PRIZE: for Biology (Junior): Holly White

RIDLEY CUP: for contribution to boys’ sport on and off the field: Joshua White

FLEISCHMANN PRIZE: for Lower School German: Skye Neal

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HEADMASTER’S PRIZES for Outstanding Academic Achievement: Samuel Chan for Deputy Head Girl: May Bullock for Deputy Head Boy: Angus Fox for Head Girl: Susannah MacDonald For Head Boy: Hugh Pomeroy GEORGE BAILEY BEAK TROPHY For the top performing house in academic effort and house competitions: Arion House

Orchestrating: Head Boy Hugh Pomeroy

In charge: Head Girl Susie MacDonald

Back Row (left to right): Eleanor Longman-Rood, Olivia Harrison, Callum Thorner, Bastian Maiworm, William Kingsberry, Octavia Cobb, Evie Gravatt.

Front Row (left to right): Helena Davidson-Houston, Angus Fox, Susannah MacDonald, Mr Ian Wilmshurst, Hugh Pomeroy, May Bullock, Marcus Bell.

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