Master’s Review So much has happened at and to Marlborough in the last few years. Covid had an unimagined if not unimaginable impact upon our lives. Whether through suffering or upheaval, powerlessness or disconnection, each one of us was sorely tested.
I
don’t often find myself lost for words, but I do find it difficult to articulate just how proud I am of every pupil and of every member of staff, receiving and delivering an education and supporting each other endlessly. It is also difficult to articulate just how grateful I am to each member of our community for their loyalty, their patience and their understanding as we worked so hard to somehow deliver the undeliverable of a full boarding education and experience through the medium of a screen. The resilience, the agility and the indefatigable allegiance of our community to this special place was inspiring. I would imagine that there is not one of us who returned to site, once restrictions began to lift, who didn’t feel an acute sense of relief and good fortune that our community had remained strong and together throughout this most challenging period. And our Marlburians flew when they arrived back on site, fully engaging in College life once again, and quickly consigning restriction
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The Marlburian Club Magazine
to a thing of the past. My huge thanks to our brilliant former Second Master, Bill Nicholas (CR 1998-2022), for his leadership in managing the complexity of Covid logistics throughout and I wish him, Sheryl and their children, Georgie and Jonty, every happiness as their family moves on to Shawnigan Lake School in British Columbia. There have been countless outstanding pupil achievements during the course of the 2021/22 academic year. In every area our pupils have excelled, delighted, entertained and progressed. Every single Marlburian is bright and each one of them relishes a challenge. In 2021, 57% of our (I)GCSE results were graded 8 or 9, the equivalent of an A*. Five pupils achieved 9s in every subject and 40 pupils achieved 8s and 9s in every subject. Sophie Herrmann (DA U6) and Allegra Hannan (NC U6) achieved an extraordinary 12 grade 9s. At A level, our results were record breaking: three quarters of our results were A or A*.
On the musical front, we saw a return to full live musical concerts with an audience, after a fractured and frustrating 18-month absence. A special thank you to the choir, particularly for their outstanding contributions to the Advent and Christmas Carol services, to confirmation and a world premiere of Paul Mealor’s In This Place, commissioned by the College and performed by our Chapel Choir, the Choral Society and Orchestra alongside their weekly support of Chapel services. Individual successes have included five Advanced Diplomas, nine Grade 8 Distinctions, Choral Scholarship Awards for Edward Beswick (C1 2017-22) to New College, Oxford, and Isabella Morley (DA 2017-22) to Christchurch Cathedral, British Columbia; and awards of places at London Conservatoires for Emily Ambrose (MO 2017-22) and Henry Dukes (BH 2017-22) at the Royal College of Music and Trinity College of Music, respectively. From orchestral to band concerts, lunchtime recitals to the Remembrance Day service, Battle of the Bands to the Scholars’ Concert in London, there is so much to be grateful to our musicians, pupils and staff for. And so too do all of our sportswomen and men deserve our thanks and congratulations. The 2021/22 academic year was phenomenal for Marlborough sport, and it is incredibly exciting to see so many pupils
