from
Issue No 7, 2020
An Online School
A full remote teaching and learning programme came into operation from the start of the summer term. King’s Education Online
has had an excellent engagement level from pupils, reflecting their commitment and that of their teachers, as well as full support and
encouragement from home. A wide-ranging “Preparing for University and Enrichment” programme has also been put together for 6a pupils. Highly varied topics include “Political Thought from Plato to NATO”, “Challenges facing Business in the 21st Century”, “Architectural Drawing Techniques” and “Artists of the Italian High Renaissance”. Nor has the co-curricular
An Historical Perspective
side of school life been neglected, with pupils able to choose from no less than 80 different afternoon activities, including sessions as varied as “Chinese Culture in Poetry”, “Basic Bike Maintenance”, “Quick Dog Training Tips”, “Fitness Programming and Nutrition” and “King’s Does Desert Island Discs”.
Few people living through the outbreak, with The Cantuarian COVID-19 pandemic have noting “the term came to an abrupt experienced a crisis like it. As and undignified end”. Headmaster we are so often reminded, these Norman Birley ended the year by are “unprecedented” times. Yet telling the boys, “Remember that throughout history, there have if anyone feels unwell it is his duty been similar moments. The to report at once, and not carry school’s archivist, former History scarlet fever germs all over the teacher Peter Henderson, has country.” In Tudor times the school been looking back at comparable was affected by plague, being crises which have affected King’s “King’s Scholars in Cornwall, 1944.” forced to break up early in 1575 and the wider world. (Read the Full Article here) with the schoolmaster and scholars told to return The school was even forced to leave Canterbury in by September 1st. There have been many other the Second World War and it is perhaps telling of the disruptive periods in the school’s long history, but magnitude of current circumstances that 2019-20 as Peter Henderson concludes: “If there is a positive will be the first academic year since 1945 that has not conclusion to be drawn from this brief account, been completed in The Precincts. 1928 Speech Day it must be that both the School and the Cathedral arrangements were cancelled amid a scarlet fever survived and that life carried on.” Edited by David Hopkins, Head of Prep School Liaison (dnh@kings-school.co.uk)
Working with the community King’s links with the community have been even more important than ever during the crisis. Amongst many initiatives by staff and pupils, The DT department, led by Matthew Rolison has been producing face shields for the Kent & Canterbury Hospital and local care homes. Linacre House raised over £1800 for the homelessness charity Porchlight through a virtual distance challenge. Pupils, families and staff combined to cover nearly 800 miles, after various fundraising events for the charity had to be cancelled including the Headmaster’s participation in the Paris Marathon. Star runner Matt Stonier (featured in a separate piece) completed a 24 hour relay with six other young Invicta East Kent and Ashford AC athletes to raise £2700 for the NHS.
Playing for England and Harlequins Ludo Kolade (Cumnor House) has achieved some notable successes this year in his burgeoning rugby career. The 16 year old 5th Former was selected as an England Academy player in August. Ludo also plays for Harlequins Youth section and was nominated for England by Quins Academy coach Mark Mapletoft. Ludo made an impressive debut
for Harlequins Under 18s in January against Bath, scoring a try and coming close to a second in a tight match. King’s Head of Rugby Mat Lister fully supports Ludo’s Quins involvement, frequently driving him up to the west London club’s training sessions, while Mark Mapletoft travels to Canterbury every month to work with Ludo on a oneto-one basis.
Food Bank Support Luxmoore House once again supported Canterbury Food Bank in 2019-20, continuing their drive over the last two years. Students and staff from around the school, as well as from Luxmoore itself, donated non-perishable goods in yellow bins located at the girls’ boarding house and in the pupils’ social centre. Canterbury Food Bank is a community project and charity which provides emergency three-day food parcels to individuals and families in short term financial crisis across Canterbury, Whitstable, Herne
Bay and surrounding villages. It was chosen as the school’s Support Staff Charity of the Year and it’s been great to see contributions coming in from across the King’s community and boosted by Luxmoore’s special initiative. Pictured are: Liza Barkova (International School of Moscow), Tabby Butterfill
(Wellesley House), Leona Gao (YK Pao School), Evie Hemming (Broomwood Hall), Scarlett Hounsell (Junior King’s), Bella Lester (Brambletye), Martha Roberts (Saint Ronan’s), Perle SeulRiordan (Ecole Jeannine Manuel, Paris), Raya Wood (Broomwood Hall), Abi Brooke (Junior King’s), Margo
Grivnyak (Bishopstrow College), Liv Hancock (Saint Ronan’s), Annette Lam (Diocesan Girls’ School Hong Kong), Daisy Rex (Wellesley House), Freya Siebert (Cumnor House), Rosie Smith (Windlesham House), Tia Radkiewicz (Cranleigh School)
Top grade for Allegra Allegra Hinds (Highfield School) gained the highest Cambridge IGCSE English Language mark in the world last June. On receiving her result, Allegra was delighted to learn she achieved an A* but only discovered later that she had also received the very top grade when the Outstanding Cambridge
Learner Awards—which recognise exceptional learner achievement in Cambridge examinations—were announced. A Sports Scholar and honorary King’s Scholar, Allegra is now studying Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry and Economics at A Level.
Lacrosse Development
A key feature of sport at King’s is the variety that allows all pupils to find an opportunity that is right for them. One of those choices is offered by the Lacrosse Club which accommodates a Development Team for those looking to learn and enjoy the sport in a more relaxed environment as well as 1st and 2nd Xs for those who want a more competitive experience. 1st X captain, Millie Lark (Hazelwood
School), is one of those who has benefited from the Lacrosse set-up and is now part of the South East England squad, on the pathway to the full national team. For Millie, one of the best things about Lacrosse at King’s is the close bond amongst the club’s members.“You play with people across all different years and rather than the 1st Team being just Sixth Form, there are girls from across the school, which is really nice.” That community feeling is fostered by our Head of Lacrosse Mrs Rajska, while sports teacher Amelie Blum works specifically with the 1st X.“Mrs Rajska is really good,” Millie continues. “She oversees the whole club…Amelie takes the 1st Team and joined last year having played for Frankfurt in Germany, so it’s been really good to have her experience as she’s really improved the team. The club plays school matches as well as local universities across both the Autumn and Lent terms, with the National Schools Championships taking place at the beginning of March.
Cambridge Rocket Launch In March a King’s team travelled to Cambridge where they successfully launched their very own satellite after undertaking a complex engineering project led by the Physics department over several months. The launch was part of Cansat, a competition run by the European Space Agency which challenges participants to build a satellite that can sit inside a container the size of a drink can and is capable of climbing 300m into the air before parachuting safely back to earth. The team led by Physics teacher Dr Fede Elias, threw themselves into this extremely technical project in which months of hard work went right down to the wire. Last minute technical errors had to be fixed, with the team working into the night, before an early start for Cambridge the next morning. On the day itself there were some data transmission issues, but the launch was a great success with all the hard work paying off. Dr Elias said: “I can’t stress enough how proud I am of this team who did not want to leave the lab until everything worked. There were cries of joy and heads shaken in frustration, but overall there was the determination to succeed.”
• Freddie Holland (Junior King’s) • Alexander Roskill (Lycee Francaise Charles de Gaulle) • Francesco Leung (Wah Yan College Hong Kong) • Dasha Chistova (American School of Grenoble) • Lidia Stroganova (Moscow State School) • Roman Sokolov (Junior King’s) • Elena Merican (The British School of Kuala Lumpur) • Kevin Wu (Wellesley House)
Little Shop Of Horrors In The New Malthouse Theatre
“Flo and Alex with the rest of the cast”
Packed audiences filled The Malthouse for four straight nights in December as musical theatre returned to King’s for the first time in seven years. The curtain finally rose on Little Shop of Horrors following hundreds of hours of rehearsals and production work across the Autumn Term. The two lead parts were taken by Alex McGovern (St Edmund’s) and Flo Roberts (Wellesley House and Marlborough House) and the show proved a huge success. Making a production of this nature possible is the stunning new Malthouse Theatre which was formally opened in November by The High Sheriff of Kent, Paul Barrett, with the help of
actress Joanna Lumley, OBE, FRGS. Housed in a Victorian Malthouse on its own 4-acre site next to the King’s Recreation Centre, the Malthouse Theatre seats an audience of 334, with additional standing room. To incorporate the King’s highly-regarded musical heritage, the Malthouse includes an orchestra pit, and state-of-the-art technical rigs for sound and light. Additional studio spaces for dance and drama teaching feature a sprung floor built to a specification set by the Royal Ballet. The Malthouse adds a new dimension to dance and drama at King’s. Alex and Flo and all the other cast members certainly did the wonderful new venue justice.
Handel at Greenwich In November the Crypt Choir and Chamber Orchestra had the pleasure of performing in the stunning Old Royal Naval College Chapel in Greenwich. Our musicians were accompanied by soloists from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in a performance of G.F. Handel’s Dixit Dominus, written when the composer was just 22 and living in Rome. The programme also included excerpts from Handel’s Water Music Suite no 1 and Richard Strauss’ Serenade for 13 Winds. It was an incredible experience for pupils to perform in such an inspirational venue.
We were delighted to welcome many parents of performers as well as guests from a number of Prep schools, including Arnold House, Broomwood Hall, Dulwich Prep London, Pembridge Hall, Saint Ronan’s, Salisbury Cathedral School, Spring Grove, Wellesley House and Westminster Abbey Choir School.
Prep School Hockey Great Britain and England hockey player Grace Balsdon was a guest coach at our annual Prep School Hockey Festival in September, and afterwards gave an inspiring talk on resilience. Over 100 pupils from eight local Prep schools attended the event in the Autumn Term, with masterclass stations on offer throughout the day before a mini
tournament, a questionand-answer session and an autograph opportunity with Grace. Speaking in Birley’s Pavilion at the end of the day, Grace said: “I wish I could have had the opportunity to come to something like this when I was a child. It was great to see the way you all performed out there in the tournament. The tournament says a lot about your character
as a person. Are you willing to do the tough stuff, when your team is in a bad situation, that makes you a resilient person? That’s what your teachers and coaches are looking for. That’s what I’m still doing today, and those are important
values that will make you successful.” Following on from this successful day, the first Hockey Festival for Under 11 boys took place in February and also looks set to become a permanent fixture in addition to the now wellestablished girls’ event.
School of Rock Star Oscar Rice (Arnold House) made one last appearance in March at the Gillian Lynne Theatre, Covent Garden as Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “School of Rock The Musical” came to the end of its run after more than three years. Chosen to play Zack Mooneyham (guitarist) in 2018 when he was eleven, Oscar joined other child cast members who were invited back for the grand finale of the
show. Oscar played Zack in Casts 4 and 5 and took to the stage alongside the other Zacks, past and present.There were emotional speeches from director Laurence Connor and Lord Lloyd Webber himself. The audience raised the roof and it was an electrifying end to the hugely successful smash-hit show, which has inspired hundreds of children to pick up an instrument and take up music.
Stepping Out
During autumn half term, 16 Sixth-Formers completed their Duke of Edinburgh Gold Expedition in the Lake District. Whilst the weather favoured them for the majority of their four days in the North West, the 70km walk was completed on challenging terrain with some considerable hills to walk up and down. All enjoyed the camaraderie and sense of achievement in finishing the expedition, along with their trusty mascot Gimli to keep them company, and fulfilled the requirements to pass this section of their award. Joshua Hughes (The Hall), Ollie Vis (Tanglin Trust School Singapore), Annabel Walker (Walthamstow Hall), Rina Enkhbayar (International School of Ulaanbaatar), Kirstie Main (Holmewood House), Isabella Rush (Simon Langton Girls’ School)
Great Debaters Debating at King’s goes from strength to strength and the school has had a splendid year of success. At the end of November the school’s senior pair of Fraser McConachie (Saint Ronan’s) and Ben Helme (Junior King’s) won the prestigious London School of Economics Schools Debating Competition. As a team they came first in each of the four opening rounds, and then won the overall competition in the Gold Final debate. In the individual competition Fraser also came 3rd out of 196 speakers and Ben came 6th. Early in 2020 three of our four teams qualified for the regional round of the Oxford Debating Competition after a superb day at Dulwich. The teams who qualified were Ben Helme and Eoin Pickstone (The New Beacon), Hannah Edwards (Blackheath High School) and Alex McGovern (St Edmund’s), Isabel Breslin (James Allen’s Girls’ School) and Gus Statman (Saint Ronan’s). Josh Platt (Sandroyd School) and Josie Patterson (Junior King’s) narrowly missed out. Ben and Eoin were also all set to bring
the season to a wonderful climax when they won qualification for the Cambridge International Finals. They took part in the South-East Regional qualifiers and won through as one of only four teams our of 52 competing to qualify. Sadly the Finals in March had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 crisis.
Matt Triumphant Matt Stonier (Danes Hill and Junior King’s) rounded off a cross country season he will remember for life by winning the English Schools Championships in early March, his sixth major victory of the year and second national title in a week. Despite more muddy conditions at Sefton Park in Liverpool, the same course on which Matt qualified for his first Great Britain selection just a few months beforehand, the 18-year-old put in another impressive strategic performance to outsprint North Yorkshire’s Josh Dickinson by two seconds. The win further demonstrates Matt’s phenomenal form after he won the UK InterCounties Championships just a week earlier, adding to victories at The South of England Championships and a Cross Cup event in Belgium and other successes too, giving him the wonderful record of six victories in seven races he competed in this season. Matt’s success in such a short space of time is testament to the hard work he has put in as well as the support he has received from coaches and understanding teachers, including our head of cross country Mike Mawby with whom he trains at the local athletics club.
Solo Winner George Titterton (Northbourne Park) won the prestigious King’s Open Soloist Competition in February. Playing the horn, George’s performance of the challenging final movement from Larrson’s Concertino No.5 took the top prize in an extremely strong field. The competition was exclusively for musicians who are at least Grade Eight, making for a top rate standard across all 16 entries and giving adjudicator Katherine Baker,
Talented Young Musicians
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principal flute in the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, a difficult task to select the winner. This year’s event was a rebrand of the Recital Competition which dates back to 1997, with a number of its winners going on to have professional careers in music; one example being concert soloist Leonora Dawson-Bowling. We look forward to seeing George and other participants in this year’s competition hopefully go on to similar heights.
Two of The King’s School’s talented young music scholars performed for the National Children’s Orchestra (NCO) in Manchester’s 2,300-capacity Bridgewater Hall earlier this year. Following a residential course in Lancashire, Tommy David (Dulwich Prep Cranbrook) featured on trombone while double bassist Theo Outram (Junior King’s) was chosen to accompany acclaimed young saxophonist Jess Gillam. The NCO holds a highly competitive audition process every autumn, and those accepted are offered places on residential courses across the country with the aim of nurturing their musical talent and enthusiasm. Very well done to both boys.