The
Heron The Newsletter of Loughborough Grammar School Edition 10 October 2014
October 2014
Six of the Best
Tonnes of Tons
In 1989 Wayne Dessaur averaged 85.90 for the 1stXI and his record stood for 25 years despite the best efforts of some quite excellent batsmen since. This long–standing achievement has finally been bettered, however: Eben Kurtz this season has averaged a staggering 106 in 10 innings. He hit four centuries, including 146 not out against the MCC, and two fifties in his ten innings. His success was recognised at a national level when he was selected to represent the MCC at Lords in August.
World Beater Just when we thought things could not possibly get any better for Ben Dijkstra, he did it again – twice! Having taken four national titles during the cross–country season this year, often against opponents a year, or more, older than him, he won the Triathlon Gold Medal at the Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China during the summer holiday as the youngest competitor in the event by some margin. A couple of days later he went on to win a second gold medal in the mixed team event. This is a remarkable feat and we are immensely proud of Ben.
Hockey Hero David Condon (OL 2004 to 2009) thrilled our aspiring Year 6 and & hockey players when he suddenly appeared at one of their first training sessions. David is now a regular fixture in the Senior Great Britain Hockey Squad and was part of the England XI that won the bronze medal at this summer’s Commonwealth Games.
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1.97 All eyes were on James Taylor, seen here clearing the bar in the Senior High Jump on Sports Day. James broke our longest–standing School athletics record with a jump of 1.97 metres at the County Championships in late June: could he go higher? The previous record of 1.96 metres was held by Simon Timson and was set 25 years ago in 1989. Sadly, on a very blustery day and on a grass run–up, the task proved too much for him and James had to be satisfied with winning the competition with a jump of 1.90 metres.
Sailing for Britain Sam Smith of Year 13 represented Great Britain at the Sailing World Championships in Germany in late July. He and his helm made up a seven–boat team and were selected after a rigorous selector programme earlier in the year. It was just reward for two years very hard work.
Bowling them over It was great to see Harry Gurney (OL 2000 – 2005) back at LGS again to pass on some words of wisdom to the lads in the Under 13 Cricket Squad. We were very lucky for him to make time to come and see us as he was off to Durham immediately he left for a Twenty20 Blast match. He spent well over an hour with the lads and they were clearly delighted to be able to talk to him and to learn just what bowling, in particular, is all about. As always Harry was only too keen to chat with everyone and some Fairfield boys, who were playing on the 1stXI Field, were especially delighted when he began signing autographs on anything they had to hand: books of course, bats, pads and, somewhat strangely, the lenses of a pair of sunglasses!
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October 2014
In the Field
Lighting up Yorkshire Twenty cadets from the CCF Army Section attended the Central Camp at Wathgill, near the Catterick Garrison in Yorkshire in the early part of the summer holiday. The boys had an extremely busy week, packing in a wide range of activities including canoeing, archery, climbing, a confidence course, rafting, orienteering, leadership exercises, clay pigeon shooting and, of course, core military skills of marksmanship and fieldcraft. The camp culminated in a tactical overnight field exercise where the boys put into practice the infantry skills they had honed during the week via a range of recce patrols and section attacks, as well as fighting off a night attack under the light of parachute flares.
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October 2014
Ground Crew The Section was engaged in its usual Summer Field Day exercises at the RAF College at Cranwell though without the normal “under canvas” conditions, due to an Air Cadet Organisation embargo on overnight camping which is currently in place. Accommodated, therefore, in the Candidates’ Mess, on Thursday evening the Basic Section cadets prepared and enjoyed their Field Rations in the Department of Initial Officer Training area of Cranwell (Reeves’ Plantation); mapped the area in an orienteering and reconnaissance activity; and then took part in a navigation and equipment gathering exercise in the growing darkness (although the darkness was briefly dispelled by the spectacular Graduation Ball firework display at the nearby College!)
Friday morning was spent taking part in a variety of activities including a teamwork exercise using the Low Ropes course at the College and a demonstration of how to prepare rabbits and pigeons for consumption in the field by Sergeant Robbie Stewart of the RAF EOD Team from St George’s Barracks at Bicester. For a very happy few – actually, six – a thirty–minute Air Experience Flight in a Grob Tutor was the highlight of the two days as normal flying opportunities have resumed after a two year break in service. Many more flying opportunities will be available next term and the primary reason for joining the RAF Section will once again be open to all.
Field Day Frolics The June Field Day always allows some well–earned respite from academic work and this year, Year 9 travelled en masse to Rutland Water and climbed aboard their bikes to circumnavigate the reservoir. Year 10 headed just up the A6 to Kegworth where they burnt off a lot of energy paintballing.
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October 2014
Alpine Adventure This year the Aosta valley in northern Italy provided a stunning backdrop for the annual Year 8 residential adventure. Camping in Villeneuve, the 28 boys and 4 staff enjoyed a wide range of activities from paddle–boarding to climbing, abseiling to cave squeezing, but the highlights of the trip were the cable car ride to the top of Mont Blanc and the white–water rafting. Are we jealous – oh yes!
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October 2014
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Celebrating Success
October 2014
Buchan the trend It is 2014 and we are in Loughborough for the ninth WHOLE SCHOOL BOOK: John Buchan’s classic ‘The 39 Steps’. Written in 1915 but set in that long summer of 1914, Europe is plunging towards war and it is up to adventurer and patriot Richard Hannay to avert disaster. Chased by the authorities and the enemy, framed for a murder he did not commit, Hannay goes to ground in some of the most beautiful parts of Scotland, always one step ahead of the villains, refusing to give up, even when all appears lost… All the boys of LGS received their copy of this fantastic book on 13th June (the book climaxes on 15th June 1914) along with a literature guide, a massive bag of sweets, a specially commissioned commemorative sticker and a sensational bookmark/postcard of the stunning painting, ‘The 39 Steps’ by Adam Simpson, specially licensed from the artist and Dark City Gallery for this year’s book. ‘The 39 Steps’ is our ninth Whole School Book following on from HG Wells’s ‘The War of the Worlds’, Arthur Conan Doyle’s ‘Hound of the Baskervilles’, PG Wodehouse’s ‘Mike and Psmith’, Hergé’s ‘Tintin’, Paolo Bacigalupi’s ‘Ship Breakers’, John Wyndham’s ‘Midwich Cuckoos’, Philip K. Dick’s ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’ and Ray Bradbury’s ‘Something Wicked This Way Comes’. Taken together, the Loughborough Grammar Whole School Book Library is an essential reading list for any educated boy!
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Smooth as silk
Sky high
Jonathan Adkin QC returned to the school for the first time in 23 years for Senior Prize–Giving. In his time at school he made his name as not only an academic but also on the rugby field, where he played tight–head prop for the 1st XV and especially with the scouting movement where he ended up as quartermaster and was heavily involved in building the Scout Centre. After reading History at Oxford he entered the legal profession and specialised in commercial and chancery litigation becoming a QC in 2013. He has acted in some of the most prominent cases of recent times and is described as: ‘Technically superb and very determined…a superb rounded advocate whose advice is always spot–on….gets right to the top of even the most tangled legal puzzles… e ff o r t l e s s l y good.’
Junior Prize Giving this year saw one of our distinguished old boys, Robert Tansey (LGS 1982–89) return to his old stamping ground to hand out the prizes and chat with the prize– winners. Robert was the middle of three brothers who were educated at LGS. Robert joined BSkyB ten years ago as its Director for Brand Strategy and Marketing and from there became Executive Director for Sky Creative. He was the architect of Sky’s partnership with British Cycling and, when Team Sky was formed, he became Chairman of the Operating Board and created, from scratch, the high– performance sports team culminating in successive victories of the Tour de France. He currently is Development Director for Sky Sports and still is Chairman of Team Sky.
October 2014
This is the BBC… On 11th October 2014, 15 pupils from Year 8 took part in a day of radio and journalism related activities. Jo Hayward, from BBC Radio Leicester, came to the School and spoke to the group about the ethics and the work that goes in to making clips for the radio. First they were introduced to the idea of general structure of a radio clip: the different parts, links and where they went in the clip. The group then made an introduction for a radio clip, followed by a vox–pop using the views of the group. The afternoon session revolved around recorded interviews with the Headmaster and Deputy Headmaster concerning their views on the 2014 School Book: The Thirty Nine Steps. Ms Hayward then took the group through the practicalities of broadcasting and the rules laid down by the BBC with regard to approaching interviewees and witnesses to events. Finally, the group produced a three and a half minute audio clip which was aired on 16th June. At the end of a full and interesting day, quite a few of the group expressed serious interest in pursuing journalism in its widest sense as a career.
Qwerky Curriculum On Friday the 4th of July, Loughborough Grammar School sent a team to QWERKY Physics held at Uppingham Community College. The team – Daniel Cropper, Mengwen Li, Harry Foot and Darpan Rekhi – participated in physics–based challenges in an inter–school competition organised by the Institute of Physics involving eight challenges and a poster round. The competition began with shorter challenges, investigating principles such as gravity, magnetism, friction and inertia. Whilst the experiments were relatively simple they provided surprises: the team ended this section in fourth place. The next round comprised longer investigations into terminal velocity and surface tension with more emphasis on experimental design and prior knowledge. The first challenge, involving dropping pennies into oil and water, proved to be the most difficult as the boys’ knowledge of surface tension was limited. This was followed by investigating friction and gravity using coffee filters. The boys’ poster was based on gravity and was marked in the three categories: “physics”, “phun” and “phlair”. They secured third place. There followed an engaging lecture performed by a team of eight volunteer Sixth Formers and, full of liquid nitrogen, plus one or two mistimed explosions, was thoroughly entertaining. A presentation from each the top three teams, which included LGS, rounded off a very enjoyable, if somewhat nerve–wracking day.
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October 2014
Diverse Drama Anything but Grimm! Grimm Tales took place on Thursday 5th and Friday 6th October 2014 in the Drama Studio. This was a Key Stage 3 production involving 17 students across the Grammar and High Schools. Grimm Tales is a series of classic fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm, adapted for the stage by writer Carol Ann Duffy. The play aims to take the audience on a journey with the Brothers Grimm into the bright, warped world of a child’s imagination. Set in a Victorian child’s bedroom with a forest feel, the cast took the audience on a journey to see these tales in a physical style. The stories included Hansel and Gretel, The Golden Goose, Little Red Cap, Rumplestiltskin, Snow White, Musicians of Bremen and Ashputtle. The cast worked tremendously hard to make this an energetic, ensemble piece with twists and turns, showing these classic stories like never before.
Ali Baba and the Seven Thieves Year 6, under the direction of Mrs Lax and Mrs Welsby, produced a vibrant and very amusing interpretation of the well–loved Ali Baba story which left their parents wanting more. On a colourful set, designed by Mr Viccars, lit by lanterns whose colours were ever changing to suit the mood, the boys achieved wonders in the two weeks they had to prepare the show. The narrators were word perfect; the forty (seven actually) thieves – there were rumours of walk–out over pay – were suitably frightening; Ali and family were almost too nice … and then there were the donkeys!!
Kafka’s Court Staged in May, the Year 12 Theatre Studies performance piece, which formed part of their overall AS assessment, was Kafka’s “The Trial”. The combined LGS and LHS group was divided into two and, whilst the two groups performed the same piece, their interpretations were very different and both were thought–provoking. Clearly the examiner was impressed, as the AS Drama results show.
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October 2014
Seven Up
Once again the weather was kind and the populace turned out in their droves to enjoy the delights of the Year 7 Fete. The stalls seem to proliferate year on year and the boys come with even more ways of separating their long–suffering parents from their money. But, it was all in a good cause (several, actually) and an impressive £1600 was raised with some of the money going to the Chipako School in Zambia, some to Rebuilding Sri Lanka and the remainder to the Parents’ Association whose involvement was invaluable on the day.
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October 2014
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